Miscellaneous XIII Trivia Quiz

Answer: There never were any.

No snake fossils have ever been found. The glaciers receded about 14,000 years ago and not one snake fossil! Sounds like my kind of place.

Answer: Yes

Tassels, the male part of the plant emerge and shed pollen for a week or two, fertilizing the silk strands below. A pollen grain takes about 24 hours to move down the silk to the ovule where fertilization occurs. The ovule then develops into a kernel. And there you have it --- the birds and bees of corn plants!

Answer: All are correct

Meat has hardly any of the 2 mentioned chemicals. These chemicals are common in the flesh of fin fish----especially in cold water surface-dwelling fish such as the cod. Ocean fish start to smell bad faster than fresh water fish such as the bass.

Answer: No

There is little hope in cutting down the transmissions of colds by the use of a mask since most authorities believe that colds are spread from the nose to hand and then from hand to nose. And so, if you have a common cold and if you are considerate of other people, frequent hand washing helps a lot.

The influenza virus does travel easily through the air as a passenger on water droplets so a mask may help in this case.

Answer: True

Volunteers isolated from all evidence of day and night and left to set their own sleep patterns tended to settle into one long sleep session and a session of 1 or 2 hours after the middle of the main sleep. People permitted to sleep as much as they want will sleep 10.3 hours out of every 24, just like monkeys and apes do.

Answer: The culprit is in the back of the palate.

There is a mass of nerves (sphenopalatine ganglion) that stretches from the back of the palate into the head and causes constriction and dilatation of blood vessels. In this case, it is the DILATED blood vessels and these are known to case several kinds of headaches.

Answer: 1.5 degrees F per hour.

Rigor mortis is not a good way to determine the time of death as it is gradual, not even noticeable for sometimes 3-4 hours after death. This timing also depends on several factors such as the person's activity just before death and the temperature of the body's surroundings. Livor mortis, the pooling and settling of the blood starts immediately after death and this takes about 12 hours.

Answer: 92

This happened in Canada and there was one who was at least 85 in the United States. Organs may come from newborns on up, with no specific age limit. At one time, there was more of an age limit but now, it is decided on a case-by-case basis.

Answer: Palms of hands and soles of feet may turn a deep yellow.

Carrots contain an orange pigment called beta carotene that the human body converts to vitamin A that is stored in the liver. Excess amounts of beta carotene are stored in fatty tissues, especially the skin. The skin may turn a deep yellow, especially the palms and soles.

The eyes remain white so the condition is distinguishable from jaundice. The coloration quickly ends when the carrots are taken away from the diet.

Answer: They are activating another sensory organ.

Cats and other animals have an extra olfactory organ called Jacobson's organ. It is a little pouch above the hard palate that helps them smell other cats or prey. There is a chemical in catnip that also causes this response. At mating time, the male cat will often show an open mouth response to the urine of a receptive female and this this called the Flehmen response.

Answer: True

After thousands of years of compression of the ancient snow grains, the impurities have moved to the boundaries of the grains and have been flushed out. The final ice, especially if it comes from a single crystal (and a crystal can be as large, or larger than a refrigerator ice cube) is much purer than the original precipitation form------almost as pure as triple distilled water.

Answer: Deadly

Even a few leaves falling into a small pool could kill a dog after having a thirsty little drink. Oleander contains cardioactive glycosides which are similar to digitalis but much, much more toxic. Even the stems are very poisonous and there are stories of children being poisoned by roasting hot dogs over a fire of oleander wood.

When I was in junior high school in Florida, a neighbor was killed by inhaling the smoke of the oleander trimmings he was burning.

Answer: 2.7 cups

Popeye's favorite, a half cup of canned spinach including the liquid has about 1.85 mgs. of iron. Other good sources of iron are dandelion greens (and some people call them weeds and pull the good plant out of their yard!) and dried fruits like peaches and apricots. Organ meat such as liver is even better.

Answer: 55 degrees F

Core body temperature can only be measured by sensors inserted in the digestive tract. Regular thermometers cannot be used. Hypothermia is considered to exist whenever the core temperature is below 95 degrees. Medical literature does contain very few cases where core temperature dropped to 55 degrees F and the person did live.

Answer: Looking at the pelvis bones.

The bones that forensic anthropologists really look at are the 3 pelvic bones. In general, female pelvises are somewhat broader and more basin-like. Male pelvises are more narrow and a little constricted. In the male skull, the lumps behind the ears are relatively larger but this is not as reliable as the pelvis.