A NASA Scientist Receives Remotely Sensed Data Indicating That the Planet

question 83

Multiple Choice

A NASA scientist receives remotely sensed data indicating that the planet R contains no oxygen gas in its atmosphere. From this she concludes that complex multicellular organisms are unlikely to exist on planet R. What factors lead to this conclusion?

• A)No other principal electron acceptor is a gas, and so energy-intensive modes of life are unlikely on this planet.
• B)Oxygen is produced by complex multicellular plants, and so the absence of O₂ suggests that complex multicellularity never evolved on planet R.
• C)Oxygen is produced by microorganisms in the ocean, and so the absence of atmospheric oxygen suggests that no oceans exist on planet R.
• D)The scientist is wrong; complex multicellular organisms on planet R could respire using sulfate ions.

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