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The Cosmic Perspective: Chapter 24 Vocabulary

Terms in this set (9)

Astrobiology
The study of life on Earth and beyond; it emphasizes research into questions of the origin of life, the conditions under which life can survive, and the search for life beyond Earth.
Fossils
relics of organisms that lived and died long ago.
Geological time scale
The time scale used by scientists to describe major eras in Earth's past.
Theory of evolution
The theory, first advanced by Charles Darwin, that explains how evolution occurs through the process of natural selection.
Natural selection
The process by which mutations that make an organism better able to survive get passed on to future generations.
Mutations
Errors in the copying process when a living cell replicates itself.
Habitable Zone
the range of distances from the Sun in which a planet like Earth could have oceans and surface life.
Orphan planets
planets that do not orbit a star.
Drake equation
an equation that lays out the factors that play a role in determining the number of communicating civilizations in our galaxy. Gives a very rough estimate.
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