Vital Organs
Fire
Periodic Table
Cameras
Inventors
100
What are some of the important internal organs in your body?
Brain, lungs, liver, bladder, kidneys, heart, stomach and intestines.
To survive and reproduce, the human body relies on major internal body organs to perform certain vital functions. When two or more organs along with their associated structures work together they become component parts of a body system.
100
What is the valve that connects firefighters to a water supply so they can fight fires.
A fire hydrant
Fire hydrants are also known as fireplugs or Johnny Pumps. From the 16th century, as wooden mains water systems were installed, firefighters would dig down to the pipes and drill a hole for water to fill a “wet well” for the buckets or pumps. This had to be filled and plugged afterwards, hence the common US term for a hydrant, 'fireplug'. No one knows who invented the fire hydrant, because its patent was destroyed in a fire in 1836.
100
The US five-cent coin takes its nickname from what element?
Nickel
The name derives from the German Nickel for "deceptive little spirit" because miners called mineral niccolite (NiAs) by the name Kupfernickel (false copper) because it resembled copper ores in appearance, but no copper was found in the ore. Nickel was discovered by the Swedish chemist Axel Fredrik Cronstedt in the mineral niccolite in 1751. Today, most nickel is obtained from the mineral pentlandite. Most of the world's supply of nickel is mined in the Sudbury region of Ontario, Canada. It is believed that this large deposit of nickel ore is a result of an ancient meteor impact.
100
What are some different types of cameras?
Camera Obscura, Daguerreotypes (Plate Camera), 35mm Camera, Polaroid Camera, Reflex Camera, Disposable Camera, Digital Camera and Smartphone Camera
After the first permanent photos in the early 1800s, photography developed even further in 1839 with the invention of the metal plate process called daguerreotype by Louis Daguerre. This format uses a copper plate coated with silver chloride that must be sensitized in iodine and developed using hot mercury. While that sounds complicated by today’s standards, it revolutionized photography of the era with a more efficient approach.
100
George Washington Carver was famous for finding 518 uses for which legume?
Peanuts!
So many of us know George Washington Carver as the man famous for giving us peanut butter (bless him), but he’s responsible for much more. As an agricultural chemist, in an effort to increase the profitability of sweet potatoes and peanuts (which thrived in the South as opposed to dwindling cotton supply), Carver began conducting experiments in 1896 and created 518 new products from the crops. They include ink, dye, soap, cosmetics, flour, vinegar, and synthetic rubber. He publicly revealed his experiments in 1914.
200
True or False: You get a new stomach lining every three to four days.
True!
The mucus-like cells lining the walls of the stomach would soon dissolve due to the strong digestive acids in your stomach if they weren’t constantly replaced. Hydrochloric acid, the type found in your stomach, is not only good at dissolving the pizza you had for dinner but can also eat through many types of metal.
200
True or false: Fire can double every 30 seconds.
True
Given the right conditions, it takes just ½ a minute for a fire to double in size. This is why it’s crucial to evacuate a burning building as quickly as possible. Just for reference, a house can be completely engulfed in flames in just 2 ½ minutes.
200
The elements scandium and thulium are both named after which region of Europe?
Scandinavia
Scandium is mainly used for research purposes. It has, however, great potential because it has almost as low a density as aluminium and a much higher melting point. An aluminium-scandium alloy has been used in Russian MIG fighter planes, high-end bicycle frames and baseball bats. Scandium iodide is added to mercury vapour lamps to produce a highly efficient light source resembling sunlight. These lamps help television cameras to reproduce colour well when filming indoors or at night-time. Thulium is an easily workable metal with a bright silvery-gray luster. It is fairly soft and slowly tarnishes in air. Despite its high price and rarity, thulium is used as the radiation source in portable X-ray devices, and in some solid-state lasers.
200
True or False: The first color photograph was taken in 1961.
False, it was 1861!
In 1861, Thomas Sutton suggested the process to create the world’s first color image. The result of layering three separate images of red, green, and blue filters. These were then projected onto a photosensitive plate with the corresponding filters.
200
True or False: Brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière created the first in home television.
False, they actually invented the cinema!
The Lumière brothers—yet another pair of pioneering Frenchmen—invented the cinema. Seriously! They patented the cinematograph, and their first movie, released in 1894, is considered the first real motion picture in history. They patented several significant processes leading up to their film camera, most notably film perforations (originally implemented by Émile Reynaud) as a means of advancing the film through the camera and projector. The cinématographe — a three-in-one device that could record, develop, and project motion pictures — was further developed by the Lumières. The brothers patented their own version on 13 February 1895.
300
What is believed to have once been a vital organ that is often removed now?
a. Liver
b. Appendix
c. Kidneys
d. Brain
b. Appendix
Several biologists support the theory that the appendix is a vestigial organ that was once used by our herbivorous ancestors. It was found that in herbivorous vertebrates, the appendix is comparatively larger and it helped in the digestion of tough herbivorous food such as the bark of a tree.
300
What causes fire to be different colors?
a. Temperature
b. Oxygen Levels
c. Water
d. Wood
b. Oxygen Levels
One of the interesting facts about oxygen and fire is that varying degrees of oxygen can change the colour of a flame. A blue flame means lots of oxygen, while a yellow flame = low oxygen supply. Another interesting fact about oxygen is that it can change the temperature of a fire. The more oxygen there is, the hotter the flames are.
300
Which metallic element is the main component of steel?
a. Gold
b. Iron
c. Tin
d. Platinum
b. Iron
The body of an adult human contains about 4 grams (0.005% body weight) of iron, mostly in hemoglobin and myoglobin. These two proteins play essential roles in vertebrate metabolism, respectively oxygen transport by blood and oxygen storage in muscles. To maintain the necessary levels, human iron metabolism requires a minimum of iron in the diet. Iron is also the metal at the active site of many important redox enzymes dealing with cellular respiration and oxidation and reduction in plants and animals.
300
What color light is used in a dark room when developing photographs?
a. Green
b. Yellow
c. Blue
d. Red
d. Red
Red lights are used in photography dark rooms, military bunkers, submarines, and anywhere you might find yourself working in the dark. It gives you light to see by, while at the same time keeping your eyes adjusted for the dark. Darkrooms used red lighting to allow photographers to control light carefully, so that light-sensitive photographic paper would not become overexposed and ruin the pictures during the developing process.
300
Shirley Jackson was known for her research which lead to the invention of what?
a. Portable panini press
b. Portable fax machine
c. Portable television
d. Portable cellular phone
b. Portable fax machine
Jackson, the first African American woman to earn a doctorate at MIT, is responsible for monumental telecommunications research that led to the invention of products such as the touch-tone phone, the portable fax machine, fiber optic cables, solar cells, call waiting and caller ID. In 2014, President Barack Obama named her the co-chair of the President’s Intelligence Advisory.
400
What organs do we have more than one of? Which organs can we survive with only part of?
We have 2 lungs and 2 kidneys.
The human body may appear fragile but it’s possible to survive even with the removal of the stomach, the spleen, 75 percent of the liver, 80 percent of the intestines, one kidney, one lung, and virtually every organ from the pelvic and groin area. You might not feel too great, but the missing organs wouldn’t kill you.
400
What are the three components that make fire?
Heat, oxygen and fuel
Oxygen, heat, and fuel are frequently referred to as the "fire triangle." Add in the fourth element, the chemical reaction, and you actually have a fire "tetrahedron." The important thing to remember is: take any of these four things away, and you will not have a fire or the fire will be extinguished.
400
What is the most common gas in the Earth's atmosphere? What are some other gases in the atmosphere?
Nitrogen is the most common gas in Earth's atmosphere. Other gases include Hydrogen, Oxygen and Helium.
These gases are found in atmospheric layers (troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, and exosphere) defined by unique features such as temperature and pressure. The atmosphere protects life on earth by shielding it from incoming ultraviolet (UV) radiation, keeping the planet warm through insulation, and preventing extremes between day and night temperatures. The sun heats layers of the atmosphere causing it to convect driving air movement and weather patterns around the world.
400
The word "camera" comes from the Latin "camera obscura". What does that phrase mean?
"Dark Room"
The camera obscura is an optical device that creates an image by focusing rays of light onto a screen or sheet of paper. Its benefits for artists were noted by the Venetian nobleman Daniele Barbaro in 1568: "There on the paper you will see the whole view as it really is, with its distances, its colors and shadows and motion, the clouds, the water twinkling, the birds flying. By holding the paper steady, you can trace the whole perspective with a pen."
400
What was Archimedes famous for inventing?
The Catapult (as well as the pulley, lever and cog)!
Archimedes was undoubtedly one of the big names of engineering in the 3rd century BC. Although few details of his life are known, he is regarded as one of the leading scientists of classical antiquity. We owe it to Archimedes for inventing the pulley, the lever, the catapult and the cog… not to mention the Archimedes screw. And where would fluid mechanics be today without that original Eureka moment?
500
What is the function of the following vital organs?
1. Lungs
2. Stomach
3. Liver
4. Kidneys
1. Allow us to breathe by bringing oxygen into our bodies and sending carbon dioxide out.
2. Holds food and mixes it with acid and enzymes that break down the food.
3. Processes blood and breaks down, balances and creates the nutrients. It also metabolizes drugs into forms that are useful to the body.
4. Remove wastes and extra fluid from your body, as well as removing acid produced by cells and maintaining a healthy balance of water, salts and minerals.
500
Can fire burn on other planets? Why or why not?
No, fire can only burn on Earth (as we know so far!)
Fire can exist on no planet known to man, other than Earth itself. This is because the rest of the planets in our Galaxy don’t have enough oxygen to support the burning of a flame.
500
Name the Element using its chemical symbol:
1. H
2. O
3. Au
4. K
1. Hydrogen
2. Oxygen
3. Gold
4. Potassium
500
What are the following camera settings used for?
1. Aperture
2. Shutter Speed
3. ISO
1. The size of the opening in your camera lens. This determines how much light enters your camera and hits the image sensor. Your lens aperture settings will also impact the depth of field in your photograph.
2. the speed at which the shutter of the camera closes. A fast shutter speed creates a shorter exposure - the amount of light the camera takes in - and a slow shutter speed gives the photographer a longer exposure.
3. ISO Sensitivity is a standard set by the International Organization for Standardization that represents sensitivity to light as a numerical value. A higher number indicates a higher sensitivity and a greater ability to capture light.
500
Besides being known for her work as an actress in the Golden Age of Hollywood, what else was Hedy Lamarr famous for?
Lamarr invented Frequency Hopping, a method of transmitting radio signals by rapidly switching the carrier between different frequency channels.
Lamarr wanted to aid the Allied forces during World War II. She explored potential military applications for radio technology. She theorized that varying radio frequencies at irregular intervals would prevent interception or jamming of transmissions, thereby creating an innovative communication system. Lamarr shared her concept for using “frequency hopping” with the U.S. Navy and codeveloped a patent with Antheil 1941. Today, her innovation helped make possible a wide range of wireless communications technologies, including Wi-Fi, GPS, and Bluetooth.