Cold, Hard Facts Trivia Quiz

Answer: Frozen

Released in 2013 as one of the top-grossing Disney movies of all time, "Frozen" became a cultural phenomenon that revealed the Disney brand's continued staying power throughout the decade, and though it pointed at the high likelihood of original ideas being key to their success, "Frozen II" was released in 2019 (and hey, it did better in the box office!).

But the popularity of the "Frozen" name didn't stop conspiracy theorists who, for many years, believed that Walt Disney's corpse (or at least his head) was cryogenically frozen after his death in 1966 instead of cremated per his death certificate. When "Frozen" was released, these same theorists put out the notion that the whole franchise was a ploy to sanitize Google search results for the phrase 'Walt Disney Frozen', which would have originally fed back to the urban legend.

Answer: Harbin

The Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival started in 1963 in one of the coldest reaches of Northern China and has since become an international affair, taking in all winter enthusiasts from December to February on an annual basis and showcasing a festival of lights and activities surrounding the colder months. Ice for the festivities is pulled from the nearby Songhua River in blocks and then crafted into meticulously-designed sculptures across the festival ground.

The Flamenco Ice Tower, built in 2019 on the grounds, was deemed the tallest ice sculpture in the world at 31m tall.

Answer: Yes

While the Falls definitely froze over several times, they did not freeze completely solid. Way back when, the Niagara River was a bit more able to freeze over further upriver, allowing the flow over the Falls to have a lower volume and facilitate freezing over, but even when this occurred, there was no way to stop the 85 million litres from rushing over every minute. This is why, even in modern times, when the Falls freeze over, it's only on the surface and it's usually for a very short time.

Many years ago, some visitors even walked across the ice at the top of Niagara Falls...but that came to an end when a group fell through.

Answer: Rubbing alcohol

Alcohol has a lower freezing point than most other liquids you'd drink (NOT that I'm saying you should drink rubbing alcohol!), but it doesn't necessarily mean your drinks can't freeze. Most conventional freezers are set to temperatures that can make ice cubes, so that rules your non-alcoholic beverages (like tap water and lemon juice) out of the question. Both red and white wine can freeze as well, or at least condense into a thicker slush, and at a low enough temperature, other alcoholic drinks can too. Once you get to a high enough proof, however, it's a lot harder to make solid. Rubbing alcohol, or isopropyl alcohol, requires a temperature closer to -89.5 degrees Celsius to freeze.

Answer: Footwear

Crampons are metal devices that attach to footwear that can be used, securely, to kick into and grab onto sheer ice walls, allowing one to hold on or ascend higher while still maintaining a grip. Although primitive ice cleats were used by climbers hundreds of years ago, crampons are a relatively modern invention, having been first conceived in the early twentieth century. For modern climbers, especially those going for more technical, vertical climbs, they're an absolute necessity.

Answer: Lake Garda

While the Grand Canyon is a major example of erosion caused by the Colorado River, Lake Garda, found in Northern Italy at the foot of the Alps, is a clear example of glaciation, having been created due to the recession of glaciers at the end of the last ice age more than ten thousand years ago. Lake Garda, specifically, formed in a moraine, a landform created specifically due to the debris carried by a glacial sheet during this time period.

Other regions similar to this include the North American Great Lakes, Antarctica, and the Patagonian Icefield in South America.

Answer: Frog

Frogs in the Northern Hemisphere that can accomplish this feat have been found in Canada, Alaska, Europe, and Japan, and they do so by creating bodily chemicals that allow them to withstand being, effectively, frozen into a frogcicle for weeks at a time. Provided that the frog's internal water doesn't freeze completely (which it avoids with urea and glucose) and the weather doesn't drop far too low, wood frogs and moor frogs basically antifreeze their way back to full functionality when the weather is right.

Answer: Europa

While Io is covered in massive active volcanoes, and the small moons of Mars (Phobos and Deimos) are mostly rock, the Galilean moon of Europa, which orbits Jupiter, is like most other satellites in the solar system in that it's covered with ice and rock. One of the smoothest celestial bodies in the solar system, it's believed that the layer of ice surrounding it operates similar to the land masses of Earth, shifting due to tectonic movements brought on by bodies of water still flowing beneath. More interesting is the possibility of cryogeysers on its surface, occasionally shooting super-cooled plumes into its thin atmosphere, reaching higher into its sky than Mount Everest.

Answer: Blue

Encountered in the latter half of the game when Link is seven years older, you'll find red ice in the Zora's Domain (and later on in Ganon's Castle) which, as you'll be quick to discover, has frozen over during Ganondorf's reign over Hyrule. In order to save the Zoras and gain access to the Water Temple under the surface of Lake Hylia, Link will need to enter the Ice Cavern, save the King Zora, and get the Iron Boots, otherwise he'll never reach the lakebed.

Answer: Kelvin

While most of the world uses Celsius to measure temperature (and the U.S. uses Fahrenheit), Kelvin was instituted as the base upon which temperature is measured for the sake of physics. Absolute zero is, thus, -273.15 degrees Celsius (or -459.67 degrees Fahrenheit). It's a unique number because it's hard to determine if it's even achievable as a temperature (in a practical sense); the average temperature of the universe hovers closer to 3 kelvins in the vastness of space.

To explain a little bit more using water, water certainly does freeze at 0 degrees Celsius, but water molecules do still move to a small extent not visible to the human eye (that's thermodynamics for you!). At absolute zero, water molecules come to a stop. In fact, so do all other molecules.