Enhancing My Viridity Trivia Quiz

Answer: Aurora

The magnetic pole "Northern Lights" (Aurora Borealis), and the southern hemisphere "Aurora Australis", display stunning dancing lights high in the day and night sky. Electrically charged particles are thrown from the sun's atmosphere into the poles areas, where they collide about 50 to 400 miles (80-640 kilometers) above the earth. Blues, violets, and red or purple are caused by nitrogen emissions, while oxygen molecules create the more frequent greens and yellow-greens.

This light show can be seen a good distance from the poles, if conditions are right. Aurora is the Latin word for dawn, sunrise or coming of light.

She was the Roman goddess of daybreak, sibling to the sun and the moon. Borealis, you know it, means northern.

Answer: Patina

Various metals and even stones, wood and leather may develop a thin tarnish or coating on the surface, called a patina, or "verdigris" on weathered copper, brass or bronze. A patina deliberately created, say on a chest of drawers, is called "distressed". For some a patina is deeply attractive and suggests authenticity and age, adding to value. A patina also protects an item, and should not be cleaned or removed without careful consideration.

Wearing a finger ring of metal, especially copper or nickel, may leave a green band, so you've been patinated! Silver and gold can do it too. It's generally harmless, and suggests more about the chemicals in your body than the jewelry. The term patina comes from the Latin and Italian, meaning a shallow layer of deposit, or a shallow dish.

Answer: A bloom

An algal bloom (also called a marine or water bloom) is a rapid multiplication of algae in an aquatic system, into the thousands and millions of algae cells per milliliter. A bright green bloom is caused by the bacteria cyanobacteria (blue-green algae). As the algae bloom they die, the dead material feeds the bacteria so more algae grow, forming surface scum or a colorful mat. It sucks up all the oxygen in the water, killing plants, fish and insects. Some algae species give off neurotoxins, harming larger wildlife and also humans, leaving a dead ecosystem. These are called Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs), for example, a Red Tide.

Blooms are caused by changes in temperature, sunlight or water flow, chemistry of the water, excess fertilizers and pollution. One million fish have died in one bloom lasting just two weeks. In the case of algae bloom, green is mean. But red is dead.

Answer: Bile

Bile, a greenish-yellow fluid, is secreted by the liver and stored in the gallbladder, discharged to help process fats and digestion. Since ancient times and in modern Chinese medicine, bile is associated with a peevish, resentful or sickish nature. To "feel your bile rising" is to seethe with anger, jealousy, or bitterness. To be "green around the gills" is to be shockingly pale with a green hue, or looking queasy. Your vomit can turn green and very bitter with bile, because of a simple cause like binge drinking, bile reflux where bile backs up, or a more serious problem in the intestines. Stools may turn green for either simple or serious reasons. If you look green, are repeatedly vomiting green or have green stools, don't panic, but do check in with your doctor. Because, as Kermit the frog tells us, "It's not that easy being green".

Answer: Infection

A green discharge is generally (though not always) a sign of infection. A normal discharge is clear, turning yellowish-green and then a thicker, deeper green as the body counter-attacks an invader with an army of infection-fighting cells. A smelly, green pus is a clear sign of infection and warrants a call to your doctor. Even urine, feces, fingernails and the tongue can turn green, giving your MD important information about your health. The photo shows a staph bacteria invader (shown in gold), and a white blood cell defender (in blue).

Gangrene, from the Latin and Greek "to gnaw", is a very serious decay or death of living tissue, often owing to an infection, or a lack of blood supply. Green skin or pus is often present. Gangrene can refer to social or moral decay, too.

Answer: Cast iron pan

Sometimes cooking eggs in a cast iron pan turns them green. Eggs naturally contain sulfur and hydrogen, which react with iron to form a greenish ferrous (iron) sulfide. This reaction can make a green ring around the yolk of an overheated hard-boiled egg, too, as can placing eggs in a stainless steel bowl. It's harmless, this green, so no need to say, like Dr. Seuss, "I would not eat green eggs and ham. I do not like them, Sam-I-Am". Of course, if you "would not, could not" then avoid iron, and lower the heat. Some say add a splash of lemon juice to your eggs before you cook them.

Some chickens lay colorful egg shells naturally, including green, light green, blue green and olive green. These chickens are affectionately called Easter eggers. The photo hint is cast iron.

Answer: Hair

People with blonde hair in particular may emerge from a swimming pool to find their hair is green. It's true chlorine in the water does that, but it's more the combination of chlorine and copper. Copper is found in most water sources, including your home taps. In a pool chlorine and copper bind together, form a film, stick to the proteins in each hair strand, and ta-dah, green hair.

There are preventatives: Wet your hair before you go in. Put leave-in hair conditioner on. Wear a swim cap. And wash your hair as soon as you get out. Or, if it's green already: coat your hair with tomato juice, V8, ketchup, lemon juice, baking soda or an aspirin solution for 15 to 30 minutes, then wash and rinse. To purposely green your hair, for St. Patrick's Day or a sports event for instance, use green food coloring. It's temporary and won't damage your hair. The photo is of green algae. A special type of chloroplast makes some of them bright green. Those finger-like appendages help them move around.

Answer: Toxins

When exposed to light potatoes may turn green, a natural process of chlorophyll production called "greening". But, greening also produces toxins, like poisonous levels of solanine. Solanine protects the potato from insects and bacteria, but in humans it can break down neurotransmitters, damage cell membranes and upset the intestines. A greenish potato isn't always toxic, but solanine is most present in the skin, "eyes" and sprouts, so if you see these, or the taste is bitter, best not to eat it. Eating just one such potato can cause headache, vomiting, nausea, and stomach pain. An extremely toxic potato can cause paralysis, coma and even death. It won't help to peel, boil, bake or microwave a green potato. Happily farmers and producers pay careful attention to "greening" so it's rare we'd find one in a grocery. Store your potatoes in a dry spot, away from light.

The photo is of the Famine Memorial created by Dublin sculptor Rowan Gillespie, presented in 1997. It remembers the "Great Hunger" of 1845-1949, caused by a fast-moving mold disease of potatoes called Phytophthora infestans, or late blight. Due to political, economic and weather factors, the potato blight raced across Ireland's croplands destroying the only food most people had, causing a profound starvation of one million or more, followed by a massive migration away from their homeland. Late blight also killed thousands across Europe, and is believed to originate in South America, so to call this event the "Irish Famine" is considered incorrect.

Answer: False

False. Robert Bruce Banner (called David on TV) was created in 1962 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby of Marvel Comics. Banner is a nuclear scientist accidentally blasted with gamma rays. Afterward Banner often says, "You wouldn't like me when I'm angry," because anger and anxiety transform him into a hulking, green-skinned giant with superhuman abilities and a very bad temper. Stan Lee originally colored The Hulk gray so he'd look "creepy", but the gray varied too much from page to page, so The Hulk became green.

Gamma rays are invisible to us. They are faster and far more penetrating than X-rays. Blasted by gamma radiation, Banner would sustain terrible radiation burns, and thereafter die from organ and central nervous system failure. Human cells can ionize and mutate when exposed to gamma rays, though, lending perhaps a fantastic credence to Lee's premise. A "manta ray", shown in the photo, is a large, generally harmless Ray fish. It looks eerie though. A stingray can be dangerous, as it has a barb or stinger.

Answer: Comet

A layman's description, how a comet turns green: icy comets often plummet through space from beyond Neptune toward us. As they near Jupiter they warm, which changes their chemical make-up. The comet develops two tails, a blue ion tail, and a grey, as well as a "coma"--a gaseous cloud. As the comet gets closer to the sun collected dust particles, changing surface ice, sunlight exciting electrons and other chemical conditions cause some comets to turn green. Sometimes even bright and glowing green. Such a comet may be nicknamed The Hulk.

If the earth passes through a comet's long trail of debris, we are treated to a gorgeous meteor shower. The photo is a White-tailed Tropicbird.