FunTrivia Sci / Tech Mix: Vol 9 Quiz

Answer: biosphere

The word "biosphere" was coined by Austrian geologist Eduard Suess in his four-volume treatise "The Face of Earth" to describe the place where all Earth's life dwells. The biosphere extends above the atmosphere for few kilometers and to the bottom of the ocean where deep-sea vents were found.

The difference between ecosystem and biosphere is that the former can be simply defined as a single community of living organisms while the later is the global sum of all ecosystems on Earth.

Question by player pomophagist44

Answer: the eye

The conjunctiva is the membrane over the front of the eyeball. It is what is inflamed when you suffer from "pink eye".

Question by player NikkidT

Answer: Insulin

Sucrase is an enzyme. Adrenaline is the hormone secreted by the adrenal gland. Insulin is secreted by the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas.

Question by player tritran5555

Answer: sulphur

Skunks produce an oily spray from anal glands as a defence when threatened. The skunk's spray's unpleasant smell is due to a mixture of sulphur-containing compounds called thiols, sometimes referred to as mercaptans. These compounds are also used as a safety measure to provide a smell to the odourless natural gas. Sulphur compounds are also responsible for unpleasant aromas from rotten eggs and garlic.

Question by player Upstart3

Answer: Motorway road signs

One of a team of four or five young artists led by Jock Kinneir, Margaret Calvert and her colleagues were charged with designing the UK's new road signage in accordance with the requirements of the Anderson Committee of 1957. The need arose due to the anticipated opening of Britain's first motorways and it had been recognised that drivers travelling at much higher motorway speeds would need a larger and clearer range of motorway signs.

The team broke new ground with their designs using, for the first time ever, both upper and lower case letters and a new range of highly noticeable colours; virtually all road signs in the UK until this time had simply displayed black upper case letters on a white or cream coloured background; the new motorway signs first appeared on the Preston by-pass in 1958.

In 1963 the Warboys Committee was charged with carrying out a complete redesign of the United Kingdom's non-motorway road signs.

Question by player SisterSeagull

Answer: H1N1

The pork industry took a financial hit when the flu first was called the 'swine flu' by the media because people incorrectly assumed the flu could be caught from eating pork. H1N1 however is only transmitted from human to human. The letters H and N stand for two surface antigens found on type A flu virus'. H stands for 'hemagglutinin' an antigen which helps the influenza attach to a target cell in the host. N stands for 'neuraminidase' an antigen which helps the virus penetrate the cell. There are several versions of these surface antigens and thus the number.

There are however subtle differences within each number. H1 and N1 are the same basic antigens which were responsible for the 'Spanish flu pandemic' of 1918 which resulted in 30 to 50 million deaths.

The current H1N1 may not be as deadly. Due to the potential seriousness of a 'Spanish flu like outbreak' for several decades now the trivalent flu shots available in the US have contained H1N1 antigens. Due to the frequent shifting of the type A virus however the flu shots only provide protection for 6 months to a year and thus the potential need for revaccination each year.

Question by player rxbigdawg

Answer: ferrum - iron

Ferrum is the Latin for iron, hence the chemical symbol "Fe". Hydrargyrum (Hg) is Latin for mercury. Argentum (Ag) is Latin for silver, and the basis for the country name "Argentina". Aurum (Au) is gold, and the basis for the famous Bond villain Auric Goldfinger.

Question by player evil44

Answer: Calcium carbonate

Calcium carbonate is used to form the shells and carapaces of many marine creatures as well as the material making up reefs (secreted by the coral polyps). An increase in the carbon dioxide gas concentration in the air results in absorption of some of this gas into the seawater - or freshwater - where it reacts with water molecules to form carbonic acid.

This acid can then dissolve the calcium carbonate in the same way the carbonic acid leaches away limestone to form caves. Sodium chloride is the dominant salt in seawater.

Question by player MikeMaster99

Answer: Non-living things

Abiotic factors are anything that affects the environment which is not living. Biotic factors are the living things in an environment, which would include marine life and bacteria.

Question by player salami_swami

Answer: fossilized wood

When dead plants and animals decay, they produce carbon dioxide, a gas composed of carbon and oxygen. That carbon from the ancient plants remains in the earth in the form of fossil fuels such as gas, oil and coal. These energy sources make the world work. Wood is not a fossil fuel because fossil fuels are carbon based and take a long time to develop through the decaying of plant or animal matter. Wood however, could have grown from planting it in just a few years, as opposed to millions of years which is the time taken by fossil fuels. And fossilized wood is formed from the petrification of wood--the wood matter has been replaced by stone, becoming essentially a mineral.

Question by player Billkozy