Science Quiz #287
Science and Nature Quiz for 16 July 2014
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1
Q1.
On 30 August 2012 NASA launched Radiation Belt Storm probes to look at the two doughnut-shaped Van Allen radiation belts of high energy particles encircling the Earth. Three days after the launch they discovered what?
A
The main probe sensors failed
B
The magnetic field holding the belts in place showed a weak point, which strengthened a week later
C
The proportion of alpha particles in the belts was increasing
Select from the options above.
2
Q2.
In 1960 an international agreement defined the metre in terms of the wavelength of the light from which gas, when burnt?
Select from the options above.
3
Q3.
Why, during World War I, were some munition workers nicknamed "canary girls" or simply "canaries"?
A
They sang to ensure that they didn't bump into each other when their vision was obscured
B
They wore yellow overalls
C
Handling TNT can cause the skin to turn bright yellow-orange
D
They did most of their work in blast-proof cages
Select from the options above.
4
Q4.
Which of these is the greatest angle?
Select from the options above.
5
Q5.
A study of bacterial DNA through the 1960s and 1970s isolated and identified a new branch of the tree of life many of whose members live in places extremely hostile to other forms of life. What is it called?
Select from the options above.
6
Q6.
In October 2010 it was announced that the longest genome (genetic code) of any organism belonged to what?
Note: This question was updated in January 2024
Select from the options above.
7
Q7.
Gynophobia is an abnormal fear of what?
Select from the options above.