Welcome to the Friday quiz! Among the offerings this week are the start of what will be a recurring A to Z round, and some food and drink testers for you to chew on.
Round 1 – Scientific Inspiration
Edison famously said that genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. Here’s a round dedicated to that vital 1% (the alternative of a round about perspiration didn’t appeal).
1. King’s School, Grantham and Woolsthorpe Manor are among those who claim ownership of the original tree, while its descendants can supposedly be seen at Trinity College, Cambridge and the University of York. Which tree is this?
2. In one of the most famous tales of scientific inspiration of all time, who cracked the problem of how to establish whether King Hiero II had been ripped off by a dishonest goldsmith?
3. In 1865 the German chemist August Kekule is said to have had a dream about a snake eating its own tail – a dream which gave him the idea needed to make what scientific discovery?
Round 2 – Food and Drink
1. A recent Nature news article reported that genetic links have been found to distinguish those people who like and those who dislike which notoriously divisive herb, known by different names on either side of the Atlantic?
2. If you put together the surname of the English scientist and philosopher, born 1561, who is credited with inventing the scientific method, and the English town after which a common species of tern is named, what popular breakfast item do you get?
3. What is the name of the French physician and chemist who gave his name to the chemical reaction that is involved in the browning of meat?
Round 3 – The Picture Round
In today’s picture round you’ll see picture of three animals that are endemic to one particular region of the world. All you have to do is identify the region to which they are endemic:
1.
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2.
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3.
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Round 4 – A to Z
Part one of a recurring series. This week, questions based on A-C – next week it will be D-F, and so on.
1. What A is the name given to differing forms of the same element – for example, diamond and graphite?
2. What B is the science of mechanics that deals with the flight, behavior, and effects of projectiles?
3. What C is the name given to the scientific study of beetles?
Round 5 – Missing Words
In this round, you will see two words in each question – you need to put a new word in between these two words to create the names of two animals. For example, if the clue was “Bengal shark” the answer would be “tiger”, giving “Bengal tiger” and “Tiger shark”. Which words should be inserted between each of these pairs?
1. Trapdoor Crab
2. Indian Shrew
3. Short-horned Warbler
Answers will be revealed on Monday. Have a great weekend!
Answers as follows:
Round 1 – Scientific Inspiration
1. This is the tree from which Isaac Newton saw an apple fall (although not onto his head, as often reported) and which supposedly set him off on a train of thought that led to him developing his theory of gravity.
2. How to tell if a gold crown has had some cheaper and less dense silver mixed in with it? Why, you simply submerge it in water, use the volume of water displaced to calculate its overall density, and you have your answer. When Archimedes thought of this, he cried “Eureka” and cavorted naked through the streets of Syracuse. (And it turns out that King Hiero II had indeed been ripped off.)
3. It was this reptilian symbolism that is said to have given Kekule the idea of the ring structure of benzene.
Round 2 – Food and Drink
1. The herb in question is coriander, or cilantro, depending on what side of the Atlantic you are on. You can read the article here: https://www.nature.com/news/soapy-taste-of-coriander-linked-to-genetic-variants-1.11398
2. The English philosopher and scientist is Francis Bacon, the town after which a tern is named is Sandwich – put them together to get a bacon sandwich.
3. When you brown off some meat in a frying pan, bake some bread, or fry some onions the reactions that cause the browning are known as Maillard reactions, after Louis-Camille Maillard.
Round 3 – The Picture Round
1. This is a Galapagos Tortoise – endemic, of course, to the Galapagos Islands.
2. Probably the most famous fact about lemurs is that they are native to Madagascar.
3. This is a Kakapo, the highly endangered flightless parrots endemic to New Zealand.
Round 4 – A to Z
1. This A is for allotrope
2. This is the science of ballistics
3. The study of beetles is coleopterology
Round 5 – Missing Words
1. Spider
2. Elephant
3. Grasshopper
Have a great week, watch out for some more quiz fun on Friday.