Physics
Chemistry
Biology
Astronomy
Current Trends in Science
100
What is the fundamental idea behind a laser?
Population inversion
100
Which ubiquitous compound has more density in the liquid state than in the solid state?
Water
100
Regulation of internal environment, i.e. temperature is known as ____________________
Homeostasis
100
What term do astronomers use to describe the two times a year when day and night are of equal length?
Equinox
100
If 2-D Quantum State Teleportation is to Qubit, then 3-D Quantum State Teleportation is to
Qutrit
200
Which inter-molecular force allows lizards to stick to walls?
van der Waals forces
200
What is the significance of the following insignias?
100 years of International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) and 150 years of the discovery of the Periodic Table by Mendeleev.
200
What is the method of heat transfer through which a human body loses heat to the surroundings?
Convection
200
On this day in 2006, the International Astronomical Union approved a reclassification of the solar system. What was the event?
Pluto was demoted from planet to dwarf planet
200
What was unique about the Israeli spacecraft called Beresheet that almost made it to the moon in April?
Beresheet was the first stage of a privately-funded initiative to transfer living DNA to the moon. It was carrying a cargo of dehydrated microscopic lifeforms known as tardigrades.
300
The following graph indicates two Maxwell - Boltzmann distribution curves.
What series of actions could cause the distribution graph to change from curve 1 (in green) to curve 2 (in red)?
Allowing some of the gas to leave, and then cooling the remaining gas will produce the change seen in the distribution graph.
300
Which is the last element to be named after a living scientist?
Oganesson is named after Yuri Oganessian.
300
Why does Mustard burn your nose?
More receptors in the nose than in the mouth for the particular chemical which is responsible for wasabi's strong flavor
300
What is the most powerful energy signature in the universe, second only to the big bang?
Gamma-ray burst
300
Which alkali metal ion batteries have been observed to perform better than current lithium-ion batteries with their liquid electrolytes? What is the phase of the electrolyte in such batteries?
Solid-State Sodium-Ion Batteries
400
"Roger Clemens was stuck on a lake,
With no wind, oars, or fuel — big mistake!
So he thought like a rocket,
And emptied his pocket,
And left all his change in his wake."
Which conservation law is referred to here as applied to rockets?
Rockets make use of conservation of momentum, by ejecting small particles with very large speed.
400
Why does the volume of water in a glass of water decrease when a teaspoon of salt is added to it?
Because of ordering of water molecules around the dissolved ions.
400
The azure ROSe did effectuate cell demise.
What is meant by the above riddle?
Blue light creating Reactive Oxygen Species which can lead to apoptosis.
400
Why the most massive stars have the shortest life?
The more massive a star is, the hotter it burns.
The hotter a star burns, the faster it uses up its fuel.
400
'Survival of the laziest' is the key behind mollusk species that have gone extinct over the past 5 million years and ones that are still around today. Which particular life process does it refer to?
High vs. Low Metabolic Rate
OR
High vs. Low Energy Requirement
500
How long would it take for a change to be felt for Earth if the Sun suddenly changed its mass distribution, e.g. if it exploded sending its mass in different directions at high speeds? Why?
8 minutes (or 8 minutes 20 seconds) as the gravitational waves produced from such an event would travel at the speed of light in vacuum.
500
"
through sophia's hand
oldest is my existence
sourest doth I do taste
"
Which chemical species is referred to in the above haiku? Explain.
Helium hydride ion, noted to be the strongest acid and the earliest molecule in the universe
500
What will you be led to if a phospho-diester linkage is broken and phosphate is removed?
Nucleoside
500
In this DC comics episode, Astronomer Neil deGrasse Tyson is seen suggesting Superman to use a powerful telescope to watch the destruction of his home planet Krypton. Is it really possible to look back in time by looking through a telescope? Why or why not?
Yes, because light takes time to travel from that object to your telescope, and you see the object as it appeared when the light left that object.
500
Which technique, so common to medical diagnostics, was used recently to obtain this image of a single atom?
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)