Our Planet and its People Quiz

Answer: Peter Higgs

In the sixties, Peter Higgs predicted the existence of an elementary particle which conferred mass but it was not until 2012 that it was detected by the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. He shared the award with Belgian physicist Francois Englart.

Answer: Glass

Glass is an example of an amorphous solid as the particles are not arranged in a rigid framework with fixed positions.

Crystal glass is, confusingly, not crystaline. The term is descriptive, meaning clear and brilliant. It derives from the word cristallo used in the fifteenth century by Venetian glassmakers who first made glass without any discolouration.

Answer: The spectral classification of stars

Astronomers classify stars according to the wavelengths of their light and associated temperature with 'O' representing the hottest 'blue' stars. Our sun is a G-type yellow star.

Answer: They get taller

This happens because the huge decrease in gravity means that the vertebrae of the spine are less compressed resulting in height increases of up to two inches.

Microgravity also causes internal fluids to move to the head. This can cause nasal congestion and eyesight problems may develop as pressure is put on the optic nerve resulting in visual disturbances. Sleep is difficult in weightless conditions and many of the crew need sleeping pills.

These issues resolve after return to earth as do most other health changes but it is an area of intense study as planned space missions become longer.

Answer: It was similar in size to a small modern male

The beach at Happisburgh in the UK is an ongoing archaeological site where flora, fauna and flint tools dating from the Pleistocene have already been found.

The footprints, thought to be a mix of children and adults, are amongst the oldest found outside Africa. Originally made in soft sediment then preserved as sand built up on top they were finally exposed by storms and coastal erosian but scientists had to record their data quickly as they were soon washed away by the tides.

Answer: Their excrement is an allergen

Their excrement is an allergen for millions of people worldwide. The reaction may be mild or in rare cases life threatening when strong asthma attacks are triggered.

Answer: A mass of undifferentiated nanoparticles

Grey Goo is a term coined to express the worry that the development of nanothechnology could get out of hand with self-replicating particles consuming everything in their path until only a sludge or 'grey goo' remains. The term originated with engineer K. Eric Drexler, a pioneer in the field.

Scientists do not accept that it is a likely scenario due to the energy requirements and to the wide range of natural molecule diversity and structure which would make assimilation difficult.

Answer: Red hair

Pheomelanin is carried by a recessive gene which means that a copy must be inherited from both parents in order for it to be expressed.

Scotland has the highest percentage of redheads in the world with almost half of the population carrying at least one copy of the gene.

Answer: Maxwell's Demon

Nineteenth century physicist James Clerk Maxwell used the idea to explore the second law of thermodynamics which says that things which are in contact with each other, given no other influences, will eventually share the same temperature.

Maxwell postulated a being which ushered the faster moving particles in a divided container into one side and the cooler (slower moving) ones into the other. Later, Lord Kelvin named this little gatekeeper a demon, meaning an imaginary being rather than anything naughty.

Schrodinger's Cat concerns quantum superposition and the paradox of elementary particles appearing to be in two different states at the same time. Monkeys and Typewriters, relates to infinity, and The Chinese Room comes from philosopher John Searle who used it to suggest the limitations of artificial intelligence.

Answer: Toxic air, little or no free oxygen, but say hello to the first life on the planet

Beginning 3.8 billion years ago, the Archean is the first of the geologic time periods after the earth's crust stabilised. The first life appeared in the sea and descendants of these ancient bacteria are still around in Australia (Sharks Bay) where their colonies produce structures called Stromatolites.

The so called 'Age of Fishes' was the Ordovician starting almost 490 million years ago. A few hundred million years later Tyrannosaurus Rex flourished in the Cretaceous and early man and mammoths co-existed in the Pleistocene a mere two or three million years ago.