Which astronomer became the first woman to win the Annie Jump Cannon Award in Astronomy, in 1934?
Answer
Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin
89685 Intermediate Trivia Questions
89685 public questions at this depth. How many can you answer?
Which paleontologist discovered the first known dinosaur eggs in Mongolia during the 1920s?
Answer
Roy Chapman Andrews
Which astronomer showed in 1925 that hydrogen and helium dominate the composition of stars?
Answer
Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin
Which bacterium causes Legionnaires’ disease, a severe pneumonia often linked to contaminated water systems?
Answer
Legionella pneumophila
Which bacterium produces light in a famous symbiosis with the Hawaiian bobtail squid?
Answer
Aliivibrio fischeri
Which bacterium was Alexander Fleming studying when he noticed penicillin’s antibacterial effect?
Answer
Staphylococcus aureus
Which bacterium produces insecticidal crystal proteins used in biological pest control?
Answer
Bacillus thuringiensis
Which bacterium is famous for surviving intense radiation and extreme dehydration?
Answer
Deinococcus radiodurans
In Tex-Mex cuisine, what is a comal primarily used for?
Answer
Cooking tortillas
What type of cheese is most commonly used in Tex-Mex chile con queso?
Answer
American cheese
Who is credited with inventing nachos in 1943?
Answer
Ignacio Anaya
Which San Antonio restaurant is credited with popularizing the puffy taco?
Answer
Ray’s Drive Inn
In the 1913 Franck–Hertz experiment, what did collisions between electrons and mercury atoms reveal about atomic energy?
Answer
Quantized energy levels
In the 1843 Joule experiment with falling weights, what did the measured water heating demonstrate?
Answer
Mechanical work converts to heat
In the 1886 Hertz experiment, what did sparks across a gap prove about James Clerk Maxwell’s theory?
Answer
Electromagnetic waves exist
In Ørsted’s 1820 experiment, what did a current-carrying wire deflect near a compass?
Answer
The compass needle
In the 1881 Pasteur anthrax experiment, what protected vaccinated sheep from the disease?
Answer
An anthrax vaccine
In Stanley Milgram’s obedience experiment, what authority figure instructed participants to continue the procedure?
Answer
An experimenter in a lab coat
Which mineral is the largest gem-quality diamond ever discovered?
Answer
Cullinan Diamond
What is the name of the process in which sedimentary layers are turned into rock?
Answer
Lithification
Who first proposed the theory of continental drift?
Answer
Alfred Wegener
Which volcanic mountain on Mars is the largest volcano in the Solar System?
Answer
Olympus Mons
What is the name of the giant crystal cave discovered beneath Naica, Mexico?
Answer
Cave of the Crystals
What engine powers Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket?
Answer
Rutherford
What is the name of Rocket Lab’s launch complex on New Zealand’s Māhia Peninsula?
Answer
Launch Complex 1
Which British pie combines diced beef and beef kidney in a rich gravy, usually beneath a pastry crust?
Answer
Steak and kidney pie
Which British dish is a fillet of beef coated with pâté and wrapped in puff pastry?
Answer
Beef Wellington