Scientific consensus supports the idea that living organisms require oxygen. Then, a scientist discovers a type of bacteria that metabolizes sulfur instead of oxygen, and thus survives in environments without oxygen. The scientist concludes that a diverse group of many different organisms could live in an oxygen-free environment. Why are some scientists skeptical of the scientist’s results and conclusion?

Question

Scientific consensus supports the idea that living organisms require oxygen. Then, a scientist discovers a type of bacteria that metabolizes sulfur instead of oxygen, and thus survives in environments without oxygen. The scientist concludes that a diverse group of many different organisms could live in an oxygen-free environment. Why are some scientists skeptical of the scientist’s results and conclusion?
A.The results are different from the scientific consensus.
B.The conclusion shows the scientist is not open-minded.
C.The results will be difficult for scientists to reproduce.
D.The conclusion needs to be supported by more evidence.

GPT 3.5 · Answer

D. The conclusion needs to be supported by more evidence.

Some scientists may be skeptical of the results and conclusion because they may believe that more evidence is needed to support the claim that a diverse group of organisms could survive in an oxygen-free environment. The discovery of a bacteria that metabolizes sulfur instead of oxygen is a significant finding, but further research and experimentation may be needed to confirm that other organisms can also survive in such environments. Thus, the conclusion may be premature without additional evidence and data to support it.