Welcome to another round of Friday quizzing. And with Halloween just around the corner, what further excuse is needed to have a quiz devoted to all things ghoulish and gory…
Round 1 – Pumpkins, parties and pyrotechnics
We kick off by looking at some Halloween staples through a scientific lens (sort of)…
- In an attempt to get into this year’s Famous Scientists’ Halloween Ball, I dressed up as, logically enough, a famous scientist in order to blend in. I made myself up to look like a handsome man (there was a lot of make-up involved) from the early 19th century, and I carried with me some of my discoveries, including sodium, potassium and magnesium, and my most famous invention, a safety lamp in which the flame is enclosed inside a mesh screen. Who did I dress up as?
- As well as being excellent for carving into scary or amusing faces, another important attribute of pumpkins is that they are monoecious. What does monoecious mean?
- You are in attendance at a Halloween bonfire and find a bit of metal on the ground. You toss it onto the fire, and it burns with a bright red flame. What metal could this have been?
Round 2 – Blood and Gore
- Human blood gets its red colour from hemoglobin, which contains iron. Many molluscs and arthropods have blue blood because their blood instead contains hemocyanin – which instead of iron contains which other metal?
- People with which human blood group are known as universal donors? And which blood group is possessed by universal receivers?
- What is the name of the Oscar-winning 2006 documentary about global warning that was written and presented by former US vice president Al Gore?
Round 3 – The Picture round
Pictures this week come from the aforementioned Famous Scientists’ Halloween Ball. We dispatched a paparazzo to take some pictures of famous scientists in fancy dress as they entered the party. Can you see through their cunning disguises and identify the scientists in the pictures below?
1.
2.
{credit}Original photo by David Shankbone{/credit}
3.
{credit}Original photo by Paul Clarke{/credit}
Round 4 – Ghoulish nature
How many of these demonically-named flora and fauna can you name?
- The New World mammal Desmodus rotundus is known by what English name, which comes from its habit of feeding on the blood of livestock?
- What is the Halloween-esque name of plants of the genus Hamamelis?
- What is the English name of the carnivorous marsupial Sarcophilus harrisii, which takes its name from the only island where you can still see it in the wild?
Round 5 – LETHAL WEAPONRY
All of the following questions’ answers can be formed from the letters of HALLOWEEN PARTY.
- In biology, what is the plural term for the taxonomic rank that comes below kingdom and above class?
- What is the term used to describe the measure of the total energy of a thermodynamic system?
- What is the name of the flammable, colourless liquid with the formula C2H6O, and which is an essential ingredient of many a tipple imbibed at Halloween parties?
Good luck, enjoy the quiz – and don’t have nightmares! Answers will be revealed at some time on Halloween…
Were you a trivia wizard, or were you bobbing for apples in an empty basin? Time to find out:
Round 1 – Pumpkins, parties and pyrotechnics
1. I went to the ball as the dashing Humphry Davy.
2. A monoecious plant is one in which a single plant carries both male and female reproductive units (either consecutively or at the same time).
3. Calcium, lithium, rubidium and strontium are all possible candidates (and thus all correct answers), depending on the precise shade observed.
Round 2 – Blood and Gore
1. Molluscs and arthropods get their blue blood from the presence of copper.
2. Those with blood group O are universal donors, and those with AB are universal receivers.
3. Al Gore’s film was called The Inconvenient Truth.
Round 3 – The Picture Round
1. This wannabe Jack Sparrow is in fact the world’s most famous theoretical physicist, Stephen Hawking. He spent the entire ball talking about quasaaaarrrrrs and pulsaaaaarrrrrs.
2. This rather sinister-looking hooded figure is a heavily made-up Richard Dawkins. Last year, he decided to dress up as God, and thus he didn’t turn up at all.
3. And talking of being heavily made-up, this glamour-puss is Professor Brian Cox, who claimed to be dressed up as “aerodynamic drag”.
Round 4 – Ghoulish nature
1. Desmodus rotundus is better known as the vampire bat.
2. Plants of the genus Hamamelis are commonly known as witch-hazel.
3. And this cuddly creature is the Tasmanian devil.
Round 5 – LETHAL WEAPONRY
1. A phylum comes between kingdom and class, and the plural term is phyla.
2. The total energy of a thermodynamic system is its enthalpy.
3. Finally, ethanol has the formula C2H6O and is the alcohol found in alcoholic drinks.
Have a Happy Halloween, and look out for the next quiz at the usual time this Friday.