Читать книгу Astrobiology - Charles S. Cockell - Страница 30

1 Write a short essay explaining why providing a single agreed definition of life is difficult.

2 Describe at least two features of things that are generally agreed to be alive. Discuss whether similar or identical features can be found in any other matter that is generally agreed to be non-living.

3 Life does not violate the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Provide at least two lines of evidence for this statement.

4 Discuss and describe one experiment that has been used to disprove spontaneous generation. What are the controls in this experiment?

5 Explain why attempting to derive an agreed upon operational definition of life might be important in searching for life elsewhere.

6 Describe at least one idea held by the ancients about the nature of life and discuss whether you think this idea was completely wrong or whether it had elements of truth in our efforts to understand the nature of living things.

7 What is a “dissipative structure?” Explain the relevance of this concept for understanding life.

8 “A virus is not alive.” Discuss this statement.