Raccoon Intelligence 🦝
We all know Dasha is very smart - much smarter than a raccoon. How do raccoons rank in terms of intelligence relative to monkeys, cats, dogs, and crocodiles?
A. Raccoons, monkeys, cats and dogs, crocodile
B. Monkeys, raccoons, cats and dogs, crocodile
C. Monkeys, cats and dogs, raccoons, crocodile
D. Monkeys, cats and dogs, crocodile, raccoons
B. Monkeys, raccoons, cats and dogs, crocodile
Who was the first Soviet to win a Nobel prize and in what year?
A. Ivan Petrovich Pavlov in 1904
B. Nikolay Semyonov in 1956
C. Tamm, Frank, and Cherenkov in 1958
D. Mikhail Gorbachev in 1990
B. Nikolay Semyonov in 1956
Dasha loves Olympics. What year were the Olympics held in Atlanta?
A. 1950
B. 1994
C. 1996 - the year Dasha was born!
D. 2000
C. 1996 - the year Dasha was born!
Fun fact: For the first time in Olympic history, every one of the record 197 national Olympic committees invited to compete sent athletes, sending more than 10,000 contestants participating in a record 271 events.
Which early civilization is associated with the first known evidence of boxing? Hint: it’s not Moscow between 1996-2018.
A. Ancient Egypt
B. Ancient Rome
C. Ancient Greece
D. Ancient China
A. Ancient Egypt
We know Dasha loves to vote whenever she can. Unfortunately the 1996 presidential election happened a few months before she was born. Boris Yeltsin was elected to his second term as president.
A. Vladimir Putin
B. Mikhail Gorbachev
C. Gennady Zyuganov
D. Nikolai Ryzhkov
C. Gennady Zyuganov
Raccoons are so intelligent that scientists (like Dasha) want to study them more. However, they consistently run into a barrier. What is it?
A. In lab studies, raccoons would frequently find ways to escape from the lab, often hiding in air vents or other secret places for long periods of time before attacking when caught
B. In some experiments, raccoons were taught how to obtain food by repeating certain actions. Instead of repeating those actions, raccoons often broke the experiments, finding creative ways to get their food faster, quicker, or in higher quantities, often by cheating the system.
C. Difficulty in obtaining grant funding
D. All of the above
D. All of the above
FREE
Yay!
The Atlanta airport has been the world’s busiest by passenger traffic for many years in a row. Dasha has been one of these passengers, contributing to the count.
Since what year has ATL had this honor?
A. Since 1950
B. Since 1996 - the year Dasha was born!
C. Since 1998
D. Since 2022
C. Since 1998
Dasha may be turning 28, but the sport of boxing is much older. How old is the first known evidence of boxing (to the nearest 1000 years)?
A. 1000 AD
B. 0
C. 2000 BC
D. 3000 BC
D. 3000 BC
1996 was an exciting time for Russia’s economy (most likely because Dasha was born). In 1996, estimates place 51% of the Russian economy as what?
A. Oil & natural gas
B. Agriculture
C. Pug exports
D. The shadow economy
D. The shadow economy
Racoons are found all over - in both urban areas and in the wild. Just like Dasha. What is the relative intelligence of urban raccoons vs. wild ones?
A. Urban raccoons are smarter than wild ones
B. Wild raccoons are smarter than urban ones
C. They are about the same,
D. They have evolved so much that they’re actually different species and can’t be compared effectively
A. Urban raccoons are smarter than wild ones
The shape memory wire Nitinol reforms to its original shape when deformed at room temperature and heated. In what year and for what purpose was this material discovered?
A. 1923; guitar strings
B. 1943; paper staplers
C. 1959; missile nose cones
D. 1960; lightweight aircraft wiring
C. 1959; missile nose cones
Dasha isn’t the only foreigner in Atlanta. Which rapper said he was from Atlanta only to later make headlines when he was deported to the UK?
A. Post Malone
B. Gucci Mane
C. Young Thug
D. 21 Savage
D. 21 Savage
Dasha is obviously our favorite female boxer. In what Olympic year was Women’s boxing officially recognized by the International Olympic Committee?
A. 1896
B. 1964
C. 1996
D. 2012
D. 2012
Someday, Dasha will be on Wikipedia’s list of famous Russians born in 1996. For now, everyone on that list is famous for their athletic achievements. What is the most common sport?
A. Figure skating
B. Gymnastics
C. Volleyball
D. Chess
A. Figure skating
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Which element is solid at room temperature but melts if you hold it in your hand?
A. Mercury
B. Gadolinium
C. Indium
D. Gallium
D. Gallium
Dasha has always been called “Dasha”. However, Atlanta wasn’t always called Atlanta. Which of these was not a former name?
A. Terminus
B. Peachfield
C. Thrasherville
D. Marthasville
B. Peachfield
Terminus – This was Atlanta’s original name in the 1830s, referencing its role as the end of the Western & Atlantic Railroad line.
Thrasherville – named after a local merchant in the area
Marthasville – Atlanta was briefly named Marthasville in the 1840s, after Governor Wilson Lumpkin’s daughter, Martha.
Dasha and boxing are both hardcore, but boxing used to be even more hardcore: done with bare knuckles. What early civilization introduced boxing gloves to the sport (and in what decade)?
A. Romans, 30 BC
B. Greeks, 1000 BC
C. Sumerians, 30 BC
D. Chinese, 1000 BC
A. Romans, 30 BC
Dasha loves the Moscow Metro. Which of these Moscow Metro stations was opened in 1996?
A. Cherkizovskaya
B. Dostoyevskaya
C. Park Pobedy
D. Lyublino
D. Lyublino
Just like Dasha, raccoons have excellent memory. They are able to learn solutions to problems and recall them for a long time after. How long?
A. Up to four months
B. Up to one year
C. Up to three years
D. Up ten years
C. Up to three years
Soviet scientists played a role in discovering Dubnium - the chemical element with atomic number 105. Which of the following statements is not true about Dubnium?
A. It is named after a science town called Dubna where the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research is located.
B. Before being called Dubnium, it was called ‘Nielsbohrium’ (Ns) in the USSR and called ‘Hahnium’ (Ha) in the US.
C. Before being called Dubnium, it was named ‘Joliotium’ (Jl) after the French physicist Frederic Joliot-Curie.
D. Its practical applications range from aircraft parts, to rocket engines and alloys.
D. Its practical applications range from aircraft parts, to rocket engines and alloys.
My favorite street in Atlanta is Peachtree because Dasha lived on it. However, it’s not the only “Peachtree.” How many streets in Atlanta have a variant of “Peachtree” in their name?
A. 8
B. 26
C. 41
D. 71
D. 71
What is an early term for a boxer that also includes one of Dasha’s cherished animals?
A. Raccoonteur
B. Hedgehoger
C. Pugilist
D. Spongebob
C. Pugilist
Follow up info: It is a derivation from the Latin pugil, “a boxer,” related to the Latin pugnus, “fist,”
In 1996, an American businessman who pursued a joint venture with a Chechen was murder in what was suspected to be a hired hit. In which iconic Moscow location did the murder occur?
A. Red Square
B. the Metro
C. Sokolniki
D. McDonalds
B. the Metro