FunTrivia Sci / Tech Mix: Vol 19 Quiz

Answer: Mean

In mathematics, the mean is simply another word for average. The mean that is most commonly used in day-to-day life is the arithmetic mean, i.e. the result obtained by adding all of the numbers together and dividing by the number of numbers. However, other means, such as the geometric mean, are more useful in some mathematical situations.

Question by player pagea

Answer: Iron lung

Iron lungs relied on negative pressure to help inflate a patient's lungs. Because the patient was almost totally encased by the machine, basic nursing care was very difficult. Some patients lived for years in iron lungs. The technology has been largely supplanted by various positive airway pressure devices, including mechanical ventilators and CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machines.

Question by player Chuckbirdsdad

Answer: Go viral

An image, video or article is said to have gone viral if it is quickly shared through various social networking sites with large number of people viewing it and/or sharing it in a short span of time.

Question by player zorba_scank

Answer: Myanmar

The mineral kyawthuite is so rare that, in fact, there is only one example that has been found. Classified as a waterworn crystal in 2015, the gem was discovered in the Mogok region of Myanmar by gem prospectors. Faceted, it is only small at 1.61 of a carat, and is a deep orange in colour.

Incidentally, some of the world's priciest gemstones come from Myanmar. Pigeon's blood rubies are one of the most sought after, and, except for coloured diamonds, they command higher prices per carat than any precious stone in the world. Myanmar also boasts deposits of jade, sapphires, diamonds, tourmaline, peridots, garnets, topaz, lapis lazuli, and amber.

Question by player heatherlois

Answer: Schrödinger

Schrödinger's cat was an imaginary thought experiment used to help explain the possible states of subatomic particles. Imagine a cat in a sealed box with a vial of poison and a Geiger counter. One cannot know if the cat is dead or alive without opening the box, so after awhile it becomes both.

The true outcome is only known only when the box is opened. From this experiment Schrödinger coined the term entanglement in reference to quantum mechanics.

Question by player ToeKneeK

Answer: Apple iPod

'iOS' is short for 'iPhone Operating System'; it's the backbone for an Apple device. The iOS, updated through iTunes, often gets refined for different products in the Apple line ranging from the iPod to the iPhone to the iPad to Apple TV. It has the same function as Windows Vista or Linux or Mac OS X...it's just for your Apple handheld device instead.

Question by player kyleisalive

Answer: Virology

Although her career was tragically cut short by her untimely death, her studies on the structure of viruses proved correct. At the time they were contradictory to the accepted theories of other eminent virologists. Together with Kenneth Holmes (her PhD student) and Aaron Klug they published studies on the tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) and researched the structure of the polio virus. Continuing after her death, Klug went on to be awarded the Nobel Prize (1982) in Chemistry.

Question by player sally0malley

Answer: Oxygen

All life requires energy, and trees are no exception. Their leaves contain the green pigment chlorophyll, which enables them to convert carbon dioxide and water into energy and oxygen. The energy is stored in the form of sugars and the oxygen is released into the atmosphere.

The Amazon rainforest is often called the 'lungs of the world' because of the large amount of oxygen its trees provide. This is one of many reasons why we need to preserve our rainforests.

Question by player mazza47

Answer: 22

The average human body has roughly two square meters, or 22 square feet, of skin. There are three layers of skin. The outer layer is known as the epidermis, then comes the dermis which is where the blood vessel and nerves are found, and finally the third level is the subcutaneous fat layer. About 30,000 dead skin cells are falling off of our bodies each minute and the entire epidermis is replaced anywhere from roughly one to one and one-half months depending on the condition of the body; estimates differ.

Question by player habitsowner

Answer: Beta test

The software release cycle actually has many stages. Software will frequently see multiple alpha, beta and release candidate versions before it finally is ready to be sold on the open market as a finished product. Microsoft and Google are both known for "beta testing" their software before it's released.

Question by player kscleaves