SCIENCE QUIZ

ARUN P T

SCIENCE AND ART

1.

The film focuses on an outbreak of a fictional virus called Motaba in Zaire and later in a small town in the United States. This was modelled on a real life virus. Identify the virus.

EBOLA

2.X is officially known as an Einstein–Rosen bridge, is a hypothetical topological feature of spacetime that is much like a tunnel with two ends, each in separate points in spacetime. Certain types of X would allow travel in both directions from one part of the universe to another part of that same universe very quickly or would allow travel from one universe to another. The theory of general relativity predicts that if X exists, they could allow time travel. Interstellar, the new sci-fi film by Christopher Nolan, chronicles the adventures of a group of scientist explorers who use X to travel through different dimensions and cover vast distances in order to bring back food to their dying planet.

Identify X.

WORMHOLE

3.In "The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, the Saint-Mérans and the servant Barrois are consecutively poisoned to death having ingested beverages containing a poison. In "The Sign of Four" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, where Bartholomew Sholto is killed by a poison dart. Dr. Watson confirms it was poisoning, causing tetanus, thus the devilish grin on the dead Sholto's face. The same poison appears in many of Agatha christie’s novels like The Mysterious Affair at Styles, The Coming of Mr Quin and How Does Your Garden Grow?

It is derived from a tree.

Identify the poison.

STRYCHNINE

4.This vehicle was invented by Dean kamen. To move forward or backward on it, the rider just leans slightly forward or backward. To turn left or right, the rider turns the right handlebar forward or backward. Ironically the owner of the company that makes this vehicle died in an accident while riding this vehicle.Identify the name/brand of this self balancing vehicle which Kamal hassan is seen riding in the stills from the movie Dasavatharam.

SEGWAY

5. In film making and video game development, it refers to recording actions of human actors, and using that information to animate digital character models in 2D or 3D computer animation.

Name this process of recording the movement of objects or people.

PERFORMANCE CAPTURE OR MOTION CAPTURE (MOCAP)

6. In the movie “The prestige” one magician , convinced that his rival does a certain trick by means of a machine he bought from the famed scientist, visits him in Colorado Springs (USA), where he has electrified (literally) the entire town in exchange for being able to use the town generator for his own experiments in transmitting energy without wires.

The scientist , according to the movie, actually hits upon a way, not of transporting objects, but of duplicating them. Identify the real scientist portrayed in this movie.

NICOLA TESLA

7. KSSP has launched a new online science magazine in Malayalam.

Charles Darwin proposed the theory of universal common descent through an evolutionary process in his book On the Origin of Species, saying, "Therefore I should infer from analogy that probably all the organic beings which have ever lived on this earth have descended from some one primordial form, into which life was first breathed.” Name the online science magazine by KSSP which is named after “the most recent organism from which all organisms now living on Earth descend”.

LUCA- LAST UNIVERSAL COMMON ANSCESTOR

8.

The picture on the right shows something that has been done for the first time in the world.What is the significance?

Kodomoroid and otonaroidTHE WORLD’S FIRST ROBOT TV

NEWSREADERS(BY HIROSHI ISHIGURO).

9.

The bearded man on the extreme left in the picture below is a fictional scientist or inventor created by an Indian writer featured in a series of science fiction books written in an Indian language. This Indian character was modelled on another fictional scientist created by a world famous English writer who is known more for creating another one of the most iconic and famous characters in literature.

Identify the two authors.

SIR ARTHOR CANON DOYLE AND SATYAJIT RAY

10.

The picture on the right shows a Chinese goddess and the picture on the left shows her pet rabbit. What is the significance of this mythology in the light of a recent technological achievement of china?

The name of China’s first lunar lander was called change (goddess of moon) and their first lunar

rover was named yutu (jade rabbit).

SCIENCE AND SPORTS

11. The International Cricket Council used it for the first time during the semi-finals and final of the Under-19 Cricket World Cup in the UAE.Besides the ICC under-19 World Cup, the stumps have been used in T20 competitions in New Zealand, Australia, India and the West Indies.The inventor Bronte Eckermann said this about how he got the idea for the invention- “My daughter was playing with a ball that lit up when it was thrown. I was hoping to produce something that would add value to cricket”. Identify the invention.

Zing LED glowing bail-stumps

12. Identify this event that happened in Lake baikal featured in the photos below.

Sochi winter olympics torch relay in lake baikal.

13.

What did these people featured in the photo achieve?

Brazilian neuroscientist Dr Miguel Nicolelis and his walk again team with paralysed Juliano pinto who wore the “ironman suit”to kick off the ball ceremoniously in the

inauguration ceremony of FIFA worldcup.

14.

The photo features LZR Speedo swimsuit worn by swimmers which is now banned. Use of such suits have been used as an example of an unethical practice in sports. It had lead to coining of a new term indicating the unethical practice. Identify the term.

TECHNOLOGY DOPING

15. Due to a rare genetic disorder Matthias Schlitte came with a powerful right arm to the world. He made this imbalance to his advantage and opted for a career as Armwrestler. He is a seven-time German champion and 14-time international champion.He goes by his nickname hellboy. He is also addressed by the media after a popular cartoon character. Identify the cartoon character.

POPEYE

16. The Company owned by nelson brothers was asked by the US Forestry Service for a reliable way of marking trees from a distance because some trees were across a stream or thick brush. The invention that resulted from the above request lead to development of a particular sport.Identify the sport.

PAINTBALL

17.

Identify the sporting event (name of the cup) in which these robots compete. In the earlier version the robot on the top was used. Now the four legged variety has been replaced by the two legged ones.

ROBOCUP OR Robot Soccer World Cup

18.

The DARPA Grand Challenge is one of the toughest competitions in the world. In the first edition none of the teams won. Even in the later editions very few teams complete the race.

Identify the nature of competition.

Prize competition for American autonomous vehicles, funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency of USA

19. The beverage was first developed in 1965 by a team of researchers at University of Florida, to replenish the combination of water, carbohydrates, and electrolytes. It was done at the request of from Florida football club (whose logo is featured on top) head coach Ray Graves. Originally produced and marketed by Stokely-Van Camp, the e brand was purchased by the Quaker Oats Company in 1983, which, in turn, was bought by another company in 2001.

Identify the brand of beverage.

GATORADE

20.

What is Desso Grassmaster?

It is a sports playing field surface composed of natural grass combined with artificial fibres.

SCIENCE AND COMMERCE

21.After successfully producing and supplying tyres for Indian defence helicopters, the company has now started supplying indigenously developed tyres for Sukhoi 30 MKI, the most advanced fighter aircraft group in the IAF fleet. The development marks one of the significant steps in defence’s indigenisation programme. This will result in significant savings as its tyres will be priced 30-40 per cent lower than the tyres the IAF used to procure from outside the country.

Name the only Indian company to make tyres for Indian defence helicopters and aircraft.

MRF

22. Edmund Albius was born in St. Suzanne, Réunion. His mother, a slave, died during his birth, and he was adopted by his master, Féréol Bellier Beaumont. In 1841, Albius at the age of 12, discovered something significant. After Albius’s discovery, Réunion became for a time the world's largest supplier of this commodity. In 1848, France outlawed slavery in its colonies, and Albius left the plantation for St. Denis, where he worked as a kitchen servant. He was convicted of stealing jewellery and sentenced to ten years in prison, but the sentence was commuted after five years when the governor granted him clemency in light of his enormous contribution. Albius died in poverty in St. Suzanne in 1880.Identify his contribution.

Edmund Albius discovered an easy method of pollinating vanilla orchid by hand which led to development of

commercialisation of vanilla production.

23.It is black, lightweight and slim. It weighs 0.5 kg and it is said it could be carried in a purse or bag. It is priced at Rs 1,22,360.00. It is named after the name given to a 23-year-old woman who was gang raped in Delhi in December 16, 2012.

Identify the product and the name of the product.

Nirbheek revolver made by Indian ordnance factory

24.

CONNECT

TS GANESH THE ONLY COFFEE PLANTER WHO PRODUCES KOPI LUWAK IN INDIA

25. Engineered for a combination of thinness, lightness, and damage-resistance, it is used primarily as the cover glass for portable electronic devices including mobile phones, portable media players, laptop computer displays, and some television screens.Even though the product was used until the early 1990s in various commercial and industrial applications, including automotive and aviation it came into consumer electronics when Apple asked Corning for a toughened glass that would eventually go into the iPhone.

What is the registered trademark for toughened glass manufactured by U.S. glassmaker Corning Inc.

GORILLA GLASS

26.Recently a jewellery chain launched a innovative custom designed jewellery. The HELIX - DNA jewellery collection entails unique designs encrusted with your own DNA. For inscribing DNA in a jewellery one has to go to a company store and give DNA sample through a collection kit which is then sent over to technology partner iDNA.iDNA will then generate a graphic image of the sample which is then embossed on the jewellery.

Identify the name of the jewellery chain.

KALYAN

27.This electric scooter you see on the right is designed, produced by an Indian company for the USA market.The scooter boasts of features like a huge cargo bay for carrying luggage, detachable battery for easy recharging and ability to sync the vehicle with the smart phone.

It is called GenZee.

Identify the company.

MAHINDRA

28.

Why was this Mumbai restaurant in news recently?

They delivered pizza using a drone

29.In late 1983, Rob Campbell and Taylor Pohlman founded Forethought, Inc in order to develop object oriented bit-mapped application software. In 1984, they hired Bob Gaskins, a former Ph.D. student at the University of California, Berkeley, in exchange for a large percentage of the company's stock. He and software developer Dennis Austin led the development of a program called Presenter.

It was originally designed for the Macintosh computer. This company was later bought over by another company.

What is the present name of ‘presenter’?

POWERPOINT

30.Before 1959, only two-point lap belts were available in automobiles. The two-point belts strapped across the body, with a buckle placed over the abdomen, and in high-speed crashes had been known to cause serious internal injuries.A relative of a company’s CEO Gunnar Engelau had died in a car crash, which helped motivate the company to increase its safety measures. So the company hired Nils Bohlin, who had designed ejector seats for Saab fighter airplanes in the 1950s, to be the company's first chief safety engineer. Within a year, Bohlin had developed the three-point seat belt, introduced in cars in 1959. In the interests of safety, the company made the new seat belt design available to other car manufacturers for free.

Identify the company.

VOLVO

SCIENCE AND INDIA

31. Recently a android mobile application was developed by ‘Sparknova’ a company in Technopark.

The uniqueness of this app is that it has been developed for a exclusive purpose of helping people to contact a particular person.

Identify the person.

VAVA SURESH

32. CONNECT

Akhouri Sinha, adjunct professor in the Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Development at the University of Minnesota, was recognised by the US

Geological Survey, which named the mountain Mt Sinha (990 M) in Antarctica, for his work he did as an explorer in 1971-72.

33. Ravish Malhotra born on 25 December 1943 in Lahore (now in Pakistan) is a retired Air Commodore of the Indian Air Force. Ravish Malhotra was awarded the Kirti Chakra in 1985. Malhotra is the Co-Founder & Chief Mentor of the aerospace division of Dynamatic Technologies.There was a time whenIndia followed his every move.

Why was and is , he famous?

Ravish Malhotra served as backup for Rakesh Sharma on the Soyuz T-11 mission which launched the first Indian citizen

into space, but unfortunately himself never went to space.

34. The idea for the device came to Manu Prakash, assistant professor of bioengineering at Stanford, from a toy music box (featured on the bottom left). The box used a tiny hand crank to pull a paper ribbon through a set of pins on concentric disks. Prakash got the idea that the rotating pins could also be used to pump fluids through tiny channels or to control valves and droplet generators in a programmable fashion. Like the music box, the device includes a hand-cranked wheel and paper tape with periodic holes punched by the user.

(a)What did Manu Prakash invent based on the toy ?(b) Also identify the other invention (featured on the bottom right) he is known for.

(a) portable, programmable chemistry kit could be used around the world to test water quality, provide affordable medical diagnostic tests, assess soil

chemistry for agriculture or serve as a snake bite venom test kit costing less than 5 dollars..

(b) Foldscope is an optical microscope that can be assembled from simple components, including a sheet of paper and a lens costing less than a dollar

35. He worked on the acoustics of musical instruments. He worked out the theory of transverse vibration of bowed strings, on the basis of superposition velocities. He was also the first to investigate the harmonic nature of the sound of the Indian drums such as the tabla and the mridangam.

Identify this famous Indian scientist who did research on Indian musical instruments.

SIR C V RAMAN

36.It is a colloquial Hindi-Urdu word that can mean an innovative fix. It is often used to signify creativity to make existing things work or to create new things with meagre resources. It is increasingly accepted as a management technique and is recognised all over the world as an acceptable form of frugal engineering at peak in India.For example the picture on the right shows a vehicle which uses agriculture pump set for the engine and the body is made of parts taken from multiple sources.People in parts of northern India do call such vehicles by this word.

Identify the word.

37. The cryostat is a large, stainless steel structure (3,800 ton steel) surrounding the vacuum vessel and superconducting magnets, providing a super-cool, vacuum environment. It is one of the largest components of the project. cryostat will be the world's largest high-vacuum pressure chamber ever built. It will be made by Indian company Larsen and Toubro.India, being one of the seven Members of the international project based in cadarache, France, is in charge of procuring the cryostat. The picture on the right shows a cake modelled on the cryostat of this project.

Identify the project.

ITER

38. The launch of 125 cc TVS-Flame(bottom) has become a dispute between Bajaj Auto and TVS Motor over patent. Flame was in news because of a suit filed by Bajaj Auto alleging a patent infringement. In September 2007 Bajaj claimed that the technology used is a violation of their indigenous technology (patent no 195904) under the Patents act. After the Chennai high court restrained TVS from launching the bike in the original version. So TVS made a change and sold the bike. TVS finally started selling the original version after Supreme Court allowed it to sell the vehicle. Now the model has been discontinued and replaced with new model called phoenix.

Identify the technology over which the two companies had a dispute.

Twin spark plug

39. He is an American scientist of Indian origin, inventor and entrepreneur. He was born on the 2nd of December, 1963 to a Tamil Family in Bombay, India. At the age of seven, he left with his family to live in the United States. In 1979, as a 14-year-old high school student at Livingston High School in New Jersey, he invented something and patented it. This invention has led to a controversy in the

recent years. In 2009, he was hired by CSIR Tech and fired very shortly thereafter which also created controversy. In September 2014, he married American actress Fran Drescher.

Identify the person and his invention which is controversial.

“EMAIL”

40.The picture on the right features Mr Bojji Rajaram. He is a inventor who worked as an engineer for Konkan railway corporation. He is known for two of his inventions. One is the anti collision device (raksha kavach) a rail safety device to prevent accidents. Both his inventions have been covered by channels like national geographic and discovery.In the national geographic programme on ACD he was asked to stand between two moving trains fitted with ACD as a confidence test. Both the trains stopped well in advance.As of now both his inventions have not been adopted in India.The other invention was abandoned when there was an accident resulting in death of a person.

Identify the other invention.

SKYBUS METRO

AVIAL - mixed

41. CONNECT.

The Barn owl and red sand boa are both popular with fraudsters who lure people into buying it for huge sums of money claiming that these animals will

bring good luck and lot of money.

42. Photographer Nick Brandt has captured haunting images of the lake and its dead in a book titled "Across the Ravaged Land“. Brandt discovered the remains of flamingos and other animals.

He took these creatures as he found them on the shoreline, and then placed them in 'living' positions and took photographs. The alkaline water in Lake Natron has a pH as high as 10.5 and is

so caustic it can burn the skin and eyes of animals that aren't adapted to it. Where on earth would you find this lake?

TANZANIA

43.The Derweze area is rich in natural gas. While drilling in 1971, Soviet geologists tapped into a cavern filled with natural gas. The ground beneath the drilling rig collapsed, leaving a large hole with a diameter of 70 metres (230 ft) .To avoid poisonous gas discharge, it was decided the best solution was to burn it off. Geologists had hoped the fire would use all the fuel in a matter of days, but the gas is still burning today. Locals have dubbed the cavern "The Door to Hell".It is also called as the most beautiful ecological disaster.

Where is this derweze or darvasa gas crater? (name of the country)

TURKMENISTAN

44.The mechanical elephant is 12 meters high and 8 meters wide, made from 45 tons of wood and steel. It can take up to 49 passengers for a 45-minute walk. It is part of an artistic, touristic and cultural project.Where will you find this elephant?(name of the country)The theme park where this machine is found is a tribute to a world famous author pictured below.

NANTES, FRANCE

45.This 64-year-old Japanese-American man who lives in California, makes parts for model steam trains using computer-aided design, and has spent the past few years battling ill-health, first prostate cancer, and later a stroke. He had added Dorian Prentice to his actual name in 1973.A journalist of Newsweek Leah McGrath Goodman claims he blew the cover of this person and has found his true identity. After this article the press and media swarmed this man’s house. This person refused to meet or answer the media and refuted the newsweek allegation.

What did ‘Newsweek’ claim?

Dorian Prentice SATOSHI NAKAMOTO(or) Dorian S Nakamoto is the actual founder of BITCOIN,

the cryptocurrency

46. CONNECT

Coconut crab is claimed to be largest land-dwelling arthropod in the world.The carnivorous crabs can weigh up to 9lbs (4kg) and have large claws with which to crack open coconuts. They are found in the area (garder island, south pacific ocean) where Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan are thought to have disappeared during their bid to circumnavigate the

globe. A 1940s investigation suggested that Ms Earhart and her navigator's remains could have been carried off and hidden by coconut crabs.

47. Eugene Goostman is a 13-year-old boy from Odessa, Ukraine, who has a pet guinea pig and a father who is a gynaecologist. He is not very good in English communication and has less than average general knowledge.

What did Eugene Gootsman achieve recently?

Eugene Goostman is a chatterbot that convinced many humans that they were chatting with a human. The Goostman bot has competed in a

number of Turing test contests since its creation and had won prizes. On 7 June 2014, at a contest marking the 60th anniversary of Turing's death, 33% of the event's judges thought that Goostman was human.

48. Puli Space Technologies (named after the puli, a small dog breed) is a company established by individuals in June 2010 in order to take part in Google Lunar X Prize Challenge and other competitions, and further to facilitate development of space industry in this country, to promote scientific thinking and encourage students to choose scientific careers.

Identify the country.

HUNGARY

49. Whole genome sequencing (also known as full genome sequencing, complete genome sequencing, or entire genome sequencing) is a laboratory process that determines the complete DNA sequence of an organism's genome at a single time. The first two genome sequences belonging to individuals were made (2007) available to researchers within a few days of each other.One is X and the other belongs to J. Craig Venter (top), who as president of the Celera Corporation started a human genome project in competition with the government. X and Dr. Venter are both taking a considerable personal risk in making their genomes publicly available. they are, in principle, exposing all their imperfections to public view for the sake of advancing research.

Identify X (bottom).

JAMES WATSON , one of the co founders of Double helix structure of DNA

50.

Amarula is a cream liqueur from South Africa. It has an alcohol content of 17% by volume.

What is the connection between the elephants and this brand?

Elephants enjoy eating the fruit of the marula tree. Because of the marula tree's association with elephants, the distiller has made them its symbol and supports

elephant conservation efforts, co-funding the Amarula Elephant Research Programme at the University of Natal, Durban