Indian Food
This is the most common type of bread served in Indian restaurants in the United States.
What is naan?
Despite its popularity in the United States, naan is much less common in India than other forms of bread, the most common of which is roti.
This is the pH of a neutral solution at 25 degrees Celsius.
What is 7?
The pH scale is a logarithmic scale, meaning a change of 1 pH indicates 10x. Although it typically goes from 0 (strongly acidic) to 14 (strongly basic), the strongest known acids are beyond -20.
This term refers to an API operation that can be applied multiple times without changing the result beyond the initial execution
What is idempotence?
Examples of idempotent operations include: multiplying by one, adding zero, and removing spaces from a string.
This person often eats soup from a can.
Who is Renee?
Brian would never do that.
This country launched the Mir space station.
What is Russia/Soviet Union?
Mir was the largest artificial satellite orbiting Earth from 1986 to 1996, maintained a continuous human presence for nearly 10 years, and orbited Earth over 85,000 times.
This ingredient, derived from the root of a "giant fennel" herb, is sometimes considered a substitute for garlic and onion for those whose dietary restrictions forbid them.
What is hing/asafetida?
Hing is known for its strong sulfurous smell when raw, but mellows into a deep umami flavor when cooked in hot oil or ghee.
This is the planet in our solar system which has over 250 moons.
Saturn has so many moons that scientists are still discovering new ones. It has more than twice as many moons as the planet in second place, which is Jupiter.
A variable can has values that can change, this computer science term refers to a value that is constant.
What is a literal?
Examples of literals include integers or text strings, and are held constant over time.
While attending college, this person played on an Ultimate Frisbee team.
Who is Brian?
Ultimate Frisbee is a game where players try to pass a Frisbee downfield to an "end zone" to score points, while the opposing team attempts to block or intercept the passes.
The country of Morocco is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and this other major body of water.
What is the Mediterranean Sea?
While included in some varieties of biryani, this ingredient famously never belongs in a Hyderabadi biryani.
What is tomato?
In Hyderabad, if you add tomato, it's not biryani.
These are the building blocks of proteins, of which 9 are considered "essential" in the human body.
What are amino acids?
Referring to other amino acids as "non-essential" is misleading and refers only to dietary concerns. Despite being called "non-essential," they are so important your body will make them if they are not consumed in food.
This person, famous for backpropagation in neural networks, is considered the "Godfather of AI."
Who is Geoffrey Hinton?
In 2023, Hinton announced his resignation from Google, saying he wanted to "freely speak out about the risks of AI" and said he has mixed emotions about his life's work.
This person has a degree in Biomedical Engineering.
Who is Renee?
She's smart.
A large copper statue, The Statue of Liberty, was a gift finished and dedicated to the United States in 1886 from this European country.
What is France?
The Statue of Liberty symbolizes the 100 year anniversary of US independence from England, in which the French army played a decisive role in the victory.
Called "baingin" in Hindi, "aubergine" in British English, in American English, this vegatable is called this.
What is eggplant?
Additionally known as brinjal, member of the nightshade family is technically a berry because it grows from a single flower and contains multiple seeds.
This was the first spacecraft to enter interstellar space.
What is Voyager 1?
Voyager 1 was launched in 1977. Amazingly, it was already passing through the Kuiper belt (the edge of the planetary system) when the Kuiper belt was discovered in 1992, and passed the heliopause into interstellar space in 2012.
This company created the first computer to use a mouse.
What is Xerox?
The first computer to use a mouse was invented by Xerox in 1973. The first commercially available computer with a mouse was released by Xerox in 1981.
Brian and Renee both competed in triathlon in college, but only this person competed in one with an "open water" swim.
Who is Renee?
Triathlon is a race that includes swimming, biking, and running. An "open water" swim is one which takes place in a natural body of water. Renee competed in a triathlon in Wilmington, NC in which the swimming portion was in Wrightsville Sound.
India is the world's largest producer of milk, with production coming from cows and this animal.
What is a buffalo?
While the production from cows has been increasing in recent years, buffalos still contribute approximately a third of India's supply of milk.
This orange spice (or "masala"), is sometimes referred to as a flower because of how it looks, but it is actually the outer covering of a nutmeg seed.
What is mace?
Sometime ground and sometimes use whole, mace is bright orange, has a similar flavor profile to nutmeg, and is commonly used in both sweet and savory dishes.
This protein, infamous for its role in allergic reactions, also plays a role in the human brain as a neurotransmitter.
What is histamine?
Histamine is a neurotransmitter in only the most "ancient" parts of the human brain, and is also a major neurotransmitter in more ancient organisms, such as arthropods (a group of animals that includes lobsters).
This is the year Microsoft Excel was released
What is 1985?
Excel secured its dominance over competitors (such as Lotus 1-2-3) with features such as pivot tables and the ability to "drag" formulas, as well as bundling with other MS Office products.
Although they didn't meet until the BPR project, Renee and Brian both attended this university at the same time.
What is NC State University?
With nearly 30,000 students at the time, (we assume) Renee and Brian (probably) never met.
This famous Indian poet from the Bengal region was the first person from Asia to be awarded a Nobel Prize.
Who is Rabindranath Tagore?
Tagore's poetry was so deeply moving it was considered by many to be long-lost classical writing. His most famous collection of poetry is called Gitanjali. He was a polymath also known for philosophy, painting, and musical composition.