TRIVIA ARCHIVE

TRIVIA QUESTIONS

What is lighter: warm air or cold air?

Warm air

The molecules in cold air are packed closer together making it more dense and heavier than warm air. Air expands when heated. The more water vapor is in the air, the less dense it becomes.

A baseball will travel further on a warm humid day. The air is less dense and the ball travels with less friction.

What is the process that circulates air around the globe?

Convection

Air tries to equalize things and wind acts to keep things in balance. Warm air, being lighter, rises and cool air falls.

Convection makes the Earth livable by removing excess heat from the surface and transporting it high into the atmosphere.

Weather at the equator is generally stable and predictably fair. Warm moist air rises until it hits the tropopause (the invisible barrier between the troposphere and the stratosphere) where it spreads out. It then travels away from the equator and moves toward the poles. As it moves, it cools and then sinks.

If warm air did not rise into the atmosphere, what would be the average temperature on the surface of the earth?

125° F

The Earth absorbs heat from the sun. Convection helps to make our planet livable by moving excess heat from the surface and transporting it into the atmosphere. As warm air rises, cold air rushes in to replace it.

The average temperature of the surface of the Earth is 59°F. Without convection, researchers have estimated that the surface air temperature would rise to ~125°F.

At times, air temperature feels colder than the thermometer reads. Why?

Wind

The human body works to maintain a consistent temperature. It will lose heat through convection. Our bodies transfer heat from our skin to the atmosphere surrounding it.

When wind blows across your skin, you lose heat which makes you feel colder. As the wind blows faster, heat is carried away at an accelerated rate. Two effects operate. One is that wind causes skin to equilibrate with the air temperature faster. The other is that it speeds the evaporation of skin moisture which is a cooling effect.

Wind chill is the perceived decrease in air temperature due to the combination of wind and temperature. Meteorologists use the wind chill index, a system that takes into account the cooling effect of the wind speed in addition to the thermometer reading.

Wind chill temperatures are always lower than the air temperature. If it feels warmer, one refers to the heat index.

True or False: Wind chill can make an inanimate object feel colder than the surrounding air.

False

Living beings may feel colder than the temperature around them but wind chill does not affect inanimate objects the same way.

Wind helps warmer objects reach the air temperature more quickly than without it, just like skin, but the object will not be colder than the surrounding air temperature no matter how fast the wind blows, unless you first wet it and get the cooling effect of evaporation.

What is the result when excess water vapor condenses and rises?

Cloud formation

All clouds are made of the same thing: condensed water or ice.

Clouds form when warm rising air cools to the point where some water vapor molecules “clump together” faster than they are torn apart by thermal energy.

What is the name of the low-pressure area where trade winds meet at the equator?

The Doldrums

You may be familiar with the phrase “in the doldrums”, meaning a period of stagnation or slump, but it is an actual place on Earth.

Trade winds are the prevailing pattern of easterly surface winds found near the equator. Doldrums are found between the belts of the northern and southern trade winds where the winds are neutralized. The Doldrums are known for their calm atmosphere. The lack of wind can trap sailing ships for days and even weeks.

It is believed that the word doldrum, meaning a fit of sloth or dullness, was already in use in the early 19th century. The region now known as The Doldrums was not named until later that century when ships unable to progress were described as being “in the doldrums”.

What is larger: a virus or a bacterial cell?

Bacteria cell

Bacteria are unicellular microorganisms, typically a few micrometers long, and varying in shape.

Bacteria are prokaryote cells with no true nucleus. They consist of a semi-fluid substance bound by a plasma membrane. They contain enough DNA to program metabolism and just enough enzymes and cellular equipment to sustain themselves and reproduce.

Bacteria are structurally simple and very small, typically 1 -10 µm in diameter. A virus is even smaller, typically 20 – 450 nm in size

What happened that finally allowed scientists to see viruses in the 1930s?

The invention of the electron microscope in 1931

Viruses had been identified by the late 1800s, but they were too small to be seen with the optical equipment at the time. In 1931, the electron microscope was invented by two German researchers. Electron microscopes can see objects as small as the diameter of an atom. Researchers began to get a look at these simple, tiny, biologically active particles.

Viruses are not cells. They have no nuclei or organelles. They cannot carry out metabolic activity. They are made up of RNA or DNA, a protein covering, and an enzyme or two. In their infectious state, viruses attach to a cell and hijack its replication process. They use the cell’s equipment make copies of themselves, take over the cell, and proliferate wildly.

Viruses cause smallpox, polio, German measles, chicken pox, mumps, and influenza.

Noble laureate Peter Medawar described viruses as “a piece of bad news wrapped in a protein.”

What cellular structure is the primary site for protein synthesis?

The ribosome

Ribosomes, particles made from ribosomal RNA and protein, are the organelles that carry out protein synthesis.

Ribosomes are found suspended in the cytosol of the cell, or attached to the outside of the nuclear envelope or endoplasmic reticulum.

Ribosomes consist of two major subunits. The small subunit reads the base sequences of messenger RNA and the large subunit joins the amino acids to form a polypeptide chain. The two subunits come together to translate the RNA. Once finished, they split apart.

In eukaryote cells, what cellular structure is the primary site for converting DNA to RNA?

The nucleus

DNA is organized into chromosomes and stored in the nucleus of a eukaryotic cell. DNA is transcribed into RNA within the nucleus. That RNA strand then travels outside the nucleus to the ribosome where it is translated into protein.

Bacteria lack nuclei. Their DNA is not segregated from ribosome. Bacteria can begin to build proteins while the DNA is still being translated.

What is our body’s first line of defense against invading foreign substances?

Our immune system

The immune system is a combination of biological structures and processes within an organism that protects the organism from disease.

We are born with an innate immune system that recognizes a broad range of microbes. It detects the difference between own healthy cells and the invading agents and then activates an immune response to destroy the unwanted cells.

We can also acquire immunity. If we have been exposed to microbes, abnormal body cells, toxins, or other unwanted foreign substances, our bodies react and learn how to fight off these types of infections.

Our immune system helps our bodies to adapt to changing external circumstances.

What major medical tool helps to prevent viral infections?

Vaccines

Vaccines are harmless variants or derivatives of pathogenic microbes that stimulate the immune system to mount defenses against the actual pathogen.

Once our bodies have encountered a specific pathogen, it retains an immunological memory that remembers how to fight off subsequent infections.

Vaccines have controlled many infectious diseases throughout the world including polio, measles, diphtheria, pertussis, rubella, mump, tenatus, and eradicated smallpox.

What major medical tool helps to prevent viral infections?

Antibiotics

Our bodies are composed of eukaryotic cells. Bacteria form their own kingdom distinct from eukaryotes or prokaryotes. Bacteria’s machinery for DNA replication, transcription, translation, and basic metabolism is different than ours.

Antibiotics are drugs that have been developed to specifically inhibit processes in bacteria without disrupting them in the host.

Not all bacteria in our bodies are bad or even unwelcome. Some types of bacteria help us maintain our normal healthy processes.

Do we have more human cells or microbial cells in our body?

Microbial cells. More. Much more.

The human body is a nutrient-rich, warm, and moist environment. Many microorganisms have evolved the ability to survive and reproduce there. Microorganisms like bacteria reside on all surfaces exposed to the environment like the skin, nose, eyes, and mouth. They are also found inside the body with the vast majority in the large intestine.

Bacteria produce chemicals to help us break down and harness energy from our food. Researchers believe that bacteria also help boost immunity by protecting us from disease-causing bacteria that might come from food and water.

Our bacteria help us keep a healthy physiology unless their number grows beyond their typical range due to a compromised immune system, or microbes populate atypical areas of the body due to poor hygiene or injury.

Bacterial cells are much smaller than human cells. There are at least ten times as many bacterial cells as human cells in the body (approximately 10¹⁴ versus 10¹³ ).

You could say a human organism is only about 10% animal cells.

The mass of microorganisms found over and in our bodies is studied as one unit. What is it called?

Microbiome

Each one of us is an organism and a densely populated ecosystem.

The collection of microbes inhabiting our bodies is called our microbiome. Some researchers consider it a “newly discovered organ” since its existence was not generally recognized until the late 1990s.

The interaction between our bodies and our microbiome is complex and dynamic.

The microorganisms that inhabit our bodies help us to digest food and absorb nutrients. They manufacture vital vitamins and anti-inflammatory proteins. They train our immune system to combat infectious intruders.

When was the first antibiotic discovered?

1928

Alexander Fleming discovered the first antibiotic, penicillin. Since its first use in the 1940s, medical care was transformed. Antibiotics have dramatically reduced illness and death from infectious diseases.

Fleming’s discovery helped conquer some of our most ancient scourges including syphilis, gangrene, and tuberculosis.

Because bacteria are living organisms, they can evolve to reduce or eliminate the effectiveness of drugs. Fleming very early discovered that using too little penicillin or using it for too short of a time could cause the bacteria to become resistant to antibiotics.

He cautioned antibiotics should be used only when there was a properly diagnosed reason for it, and that if it were to be used, never to use it too little or too short a time.

What do we call microorganisms that are beneficial to health?

Probiotics

Probiotics are also referred to a “good bacteria” or “helpful bacteria”. Most of the bacteria found in our bodies are in the stomach and intestines. A decrease in good bacteria can cause digestive problems.

Probiotics have been around for a long time. They can be found in fermented foods and cultured milk products. Probiotics are also available as dietary supplements but the FDA has not approved any health claims for these products.

When antibiotics are used to kill infectious bacteria, they kill the good bacteria along with it

A recent study* in the Journal of the American Medical Association supported taking probiotics when taking antibiotics. The research suggested that the probiotics reduced the side effects of the drug, helped the “good bacteria” to recover quickly, and restored balance to the body.

*Hempel, Newberry, Maher, Wang, Miles, Shanman, Johnsen, Shekelle (2012) Probiotics for the prevention and treatment of antibiotic-associated diarrhea. JAMA 307(18):1959-1969.

New research suggests we should “feed” our good bacteria with complex carbohydrates. What is this “food” called?

Prebiotics

Prebiotics are special forms of ingredients found in food that nourish the good bacteria (or probiotics) already in the digestive system. The body does not digest this type of dietary fiber made from plants.

Prebiotics are allowed to pass to the large bowel and colon where they can act as a kind-of fertilizer to promote the growth of good bacteria. Prebiotics can be found in chicory root, artichokes, garlic, leeks, onions, and bananas.

Why does popcorn pop?

Because of water inside the kernel

Each popcorn kernel contains a small amount of water stored in a circle of soft starch inside a hard outer casing.

When heated to ~450°F, the moisture turns to steam creating pressure within the kernel. As pressure builds the casing gives way, allowing the water to escape as steam and turns the kernel inside out.

Can any type of corn pop?

No

Popcorn is a type of maize (or corn), a member of the grass family, scientifically known as Zea mays everta. Of the six types of corn – pod, sweet, dent, flour, flint, and popcorn – only popcorn pops.

Popcorn differs from the other types of corn in that it has a thicker hull and a dense starchy center. The hull allows the natural water within the kernel to build up pressure as it is being heated. When the kernel finally explodes, the starch spills out giving popcorn its familiar shape.

FUN FACT:
Popping corn is the number one use for microwave ovens.

Georges de Mestral, a Swiss engineer, went for a walk in the woods in 1941. After examining the burrs that clung to his trousers – and his dog – he wondered if this concept could be turned into something useful. What did Georges de Mestral invent?

Velcro

After walking in the woods in 1941, French engineer George de Mestral loosened a burr stuck to his dog’s fur and examined it under a microscope. A cocklebur is a maze of thin strands with burrs, or hooks, that grab onto fabric or fur.

After nearly eight years of research, de Mestral successfully reproduced the natural burr-like attachment with two strips of fabric. One side had thousands of tiny hooks and the other had tiny loops. When pressed together the two sides form a strong bond. He named the invention “velcro” – a combination of “velvet” and “crochet”.

Velcro is considered to be a “zipperless zipper”. It is strong, easily separated, durable, washable, and won’t jam like a zipper.

What is the new type of science that looks to Nature for models of problem-solving methodology?

Biomimicry

Biomimicry (from bios meaning “life”, and mimesis meaning “to imitate”) is the study of organisms and ecosystems intended to guide the search for sustainable solutions to living on Earth.

Animals, plants, and microbes are the consummate engineers. They have found what works, what is appropriate, and most importantly, what lasts here on Earth.

The idea is that Nature has already solved many of the problems that we are grappling with: energy, food production, climate control, transportation, packaging, and more. By examining Nature, we can extract solutions that work in the most effective and efficient manner. We can learn from the natural world to solve our human problems.

After 3.8 billion years of evolution, Nature is a model of what works and what lasts.

The Eastgate Centre in Zimbabwe based its ventilation system on the air circulation systems found in the mounds of what type of insect?

Termites

Termites in Zimbabwe build gigantic mounds where they farm a fungus that is their primary food source. The fungus must be kept at exactly 87° F while the temperatures outside range between 35°F at night and 104°F during the day.

The termites open and close a series of vents throughout the mound over the course of a day. The air is sucked in the lower parts of the mound and pushed up through channels throughout the structure.

The termites constantly dig new vents and plug up old ones to keep the temperature steady.

The ventilation system at the Eastgate Centre, modeled after termite mounds, was made without conventional air conditioning and heating. Like a termite mound, air is drawn in through the first floor and is pushed up through vertical supply ducts. Fresh air replaces stale air and exits through exhaust ports on the ceilings of each floor.

The Eastgate Centre, built using biomimicry principles, allows the building to maintain a constant comfortable temperature with dramatically less energy consumption – it cost less than 10% to run this building compared to conventional buildings of similar size.

Swimsuit manufacturers based the design of competitive swimwear on the skin of what sea-based animal?

Sharks

Competitive swimmers would like to replicate the high-speed efficiency and buoyancy that sharks have developed over their 400 million year evolutionary odyssey. Although sharks seem to glide effortlessly through water, their skin is anything but smooth.

The skin of a shark is made up of very small individual scales called dermal denticles or “little skin teeth”. Each scale is ribbed with longitudinal grooves that help move water over the shark more efficiently than a smooth surface. The scales channel the flow of water and speed up the slower water at the skin surface.

Speedo designed swimsuits for competitive racing based on the patterns and movement of sharks’ skin. These sharkskin-inspired suits received a lot of attention when Michael Phelps wore them in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

In fact, twenty-three of the twenty-five records broken in the 2008 Olympics were made by swimmers wearing LZR racer swimsuits. Some people believe these suits are so technologically advanced that wearing one is essentially “technology doping”.

After the Olympics, the world governing body for swimming placed stricter restrictions on wearing these types of sharkskin suits in competition.

Next week's question:

Butterfly wings have superhydrophobic areas that repel water. What do we call areas that attract water?