1) Slaked lime, while daily coming in contact with this structure over the years, created so much
damage that in 2013 the authorities had to plan installing special glass covers to the bases of the
structure in order to prevent such contact. The base of the hangers of the structure, which was
6mm, corroded more than 50%, endangering the whole structure itself.
Which famous structure in India is being talked about? Which daily human activity caused such
contacts with slaked lime?
Howrah Bridge, Kolkata. Eating paan and spitting on the pillars caused this.
2) Compared to steel (of the same diameter), it is found to be five times stronger. It has been
suggested that a Boeing 747 could be stopped in flight by a strand of only half an inch diameter.
It is almost as strong as Kevlar, the toughest man-made polymer. It was traditionally preferred
as cross-hair for guns during WWII and beyond due to it being thin and strong. Which protein
fiber is being talked about?
Spider silk.
3) The phenomena occurs around September to November. However, some other conditions are
also necessary for the phenomenon to occur. The air must be foggy, cloudy or misty. If there is
slight rain, it would be even better. The wind must be from south to north. It should be
moonless dark nights. And the best time is between 7 PM and 10 PM. Which famous, or rather
infamous, phenomena in India is being talked about, which might remind you of lemmings?
Jatinga “mass suicide”
4) Connect
I’m looking for Golden ratio, as I’ve specifically written the equation. But Fibonacci Numbers
should also do.
5) As a Princetonian, he was the recipient of Carnegie Scholarship for mathematics, and shared his
room with a certain Charles Herman, a literature student. He earned a Ph.D. degree in 1950 with
a 28-page dissertation on non-cooperative games. After winning the Nobel Prize for economics
in 1990’s, he very recently has won the Abel prize as well. Who?
John Forbes Nash, Jr
6) What is this cartoon a reference to? Or, identify X, Y and Z.
X= DNA Double Helix Structure, Y= Francis Crick, Z=James Watson
7) Modern canvas, used for painting, handbags, shoes etc., is usually made of cotton or linen,
although historically it was made from another plant. The word ‘canvas’ itself is derived from
the 13th century Anglo-French canevaz and the Old French canevas, both of which may be
derivatives of the Vulgar Latin for "made of ____". Which genus of plants, which includes three
different species?
Cannabis.
8) Which ‘object’ has been maintained since 1947 by the members of the Science and Security
Board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (which has also been depicted on every cover of
the Bulletin), who are in turn advised by the Governing Board and the Board of Sponsors,
including 18 Nobel Laureates?
Doomsday Clock
9) Identify this accomplished tabla player, who studied under gurus such as Zakir Hussain.
Prof. Manjul Bhargava
10) What did Microsoft include in their operating system in order to teach and get the users
acquainted with the drag and drop feature, which was one of the most popular features that
was introduced in Windows 3.0?
Solitaire.
11) After a series of amicable arguments about art vs. science with his artist-friend Jirayr “Jerry”
Zorthian, the person and Zorthian agreed that they’d exchange lessons in art and science on
alternate Sundays. Who, thus started drawing at the age of 44 in 1962, apart from being a great
scientist, a graphic novel hero and a bongo player among many others?
Richard Philips Feynman
12) X noticed that in the movie Titanic, in the scene when the ship sank, the night sky showed a star
pattern much different than what was really there on that night. He wrote Cameron a letter,
later met, and therefore in the 3D re-release fifteen years later, the sky was redone with X’s
help. Who is being talked about?
Neil Tyson
13) What practice in modern day Mathematics did the German word ‘Zahlen’, meaning ‘to count’,
give rise to?
To denote the set of integers by Z
14) a) When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost
certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.
b) The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into
the impossible.
c) Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
What are they?
Clarke's Law
15) When a popular and bigger website links to a smaller site, it causes a heavy increase in traffic to
the smaller site. This results in overloading of the smaller site, causing it to slow down or even
temporarily become unavailable. This is called the ___ effect, whose name comes from the huge
influx of web traffic that would result from the technology news site _____ linking to websites.
FITB.
Slashdot
16) Richard Garriott, while engaged in his main work, filmed this 8 minute movie from a script and
production elements he contracted from fantasy novelist Tracy Hickman. The movie stars Yuri
Lonchakov, Michael Fincke and Greg Chamitoff as themselves. Either name this 2008 movie, or
tell me what was so special about this movie?
First movie filmed in space, Apogee of Fear
17) Though in the first millennium the focus was to include more details to the single coloured
objects, from around 1000 A.D. the focus shifted to blue and white, for around 400 years. During
this period, though, the quality was quite poor. Later, in around 15th century, they turned to
rough-pink and coral red. What object is being talked about?
Ceramics or ceramic pots.
18) _____ facial tumour disease (DFTD) is an aggressive non-viral transmissible parasitic cancer
among a certain rare species. It causes tumours to form in and around the mouth, interfering
with feeding and eventually leading to death by starvation. First official case encountered in
1996, it is said to be responsible for the near extinction of the species and spreads by biting.
Which rare species?
Tasmanian Devil.
19) The third of Basil Valentine’s keys shows a dragon in the foreground and a rooster eating a fox
eating a rooster in the background. The rooster symbolizes gold and the fox represents X. X first
appeared in the work of the European alchemist Pseudo-Geber, dating from the early 14th
century. Which ‘royal water’ is being talked about?
Aqua Regia
20) Being the current Deputy Director of the MRC Laboratory for Molecular Biology (LMB) and a
Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, this person will take up a famous post on 1st December
2015 which was previously taken up by famous scientists like Isaac Newton, Humphry Davy,
Ernest Rutherford etc. Who and what post?
President of the Royal Society to be taken over by Venky Ramakrishnan.