Quiz - 61

1. 100 years ago this month, on August 17, 1908, the first animated film was premiered. Name the film and its maker.

2. What commodity does the index Live-ex 100 track?

3. Name the hormone responsible for stimulation of milk secretion during lactation and uterine contraction during birth, and which is also released during orgasm

4. What term describes the method of purchasing wine 12 – 18 months before it is actually bottled, while still in a barrel?

5. Standing next to the grave of the poet John Keats in Rome is that of his painter friend who nursed him during his final months. Name this painter, whose letters are the definitive account of Keats’ final months.

6. What movement did Marc Kelly Smith, a construction worker turned poet, create during November 1984 in Chicago?

7. If the hormone Ghrelin increases the appetite, name the hormone that suppresses it

8. Name the dining society in London, that took its name after Christopher Cat, the owner of the inn where the diners met, that flourished for a couple of decades beginning 1690, with a strong leaning towards Whig policies.

9. Its original name in Arabic is Jabal Tāriq meaning "mountain of Tariq". By what name do we know this place today?

10. The Orange Revolution happened in Ukraine. Where did the Rose Revolution take place?

Answers to Quiz - 60

1. Name the French monk of the Dominican order and a close friend of Pierre de Coubertin who coined the slogan of the modern Olympics - Citius, Altius, Fortius (Faster, Higher, Stronger).

Henri Didon

2. The distance over which the Marathon was run at the first Olympics in Athens in 1896 was 24.85 miles (40kms). In which Olympics was an extra 2 kms added and why?

1908 London

3. Name the Russian gymnast who holds the record of having won the most number of Olympic medals (18)

Larissa Latynina

4. Where is the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee?

Lausanne, Switzerland

5. What dubious distinction is held by the Swedish modern pentathlete Hans-Gunnar Liljenwal?

The first athlete to be disqualified at the Olympics for drug - 1968 Mexico City

6. What is the ‘Antwerp Ceremony’ held during the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games?

The ceremonial handing over of the Olympic flags by the mayor of the city that organized the games to the IOC president who then passes it on to the mayor of the next city that will host the games

QUIZ - 60

1. Name the French monk of the Dominican order and a close friend of Pierre de Coubertin who coined the slogan of the modern Olympics - Citius, Altius, Fortius (Faster, Higher, Stronger).

2. The distance over which the Marathon was run at the first Olympics in Athens in 1896 was 24.85 miles (40kms). In which Olympics was an extra 2 kms added and why?

3. Name the Russian gymnast who holds the record of having won the most number of Olympic medals (18)

4. Where is the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee?

5. What dubious distinction is held by the Swedish modern pentathlete Hans-Gunnar Liljenwal?

6. What is the ‘Antwerp Ceremony’ held during the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games?

Answers to Quiz - 59

1. What American political action group composed of conservative, fundamentalist Christians was founded in 1979 by evangelist Rev. Jerry Falwell?

Moral Majority

2. What famous German youth movement was started in 1901 in the town of Steglitz?

Wandervogel

3. What is the name given to the biological process of a living organism approaching an advanced age?

Senescence

4. Name the term coined by Dr. Bruce McEwan of Rockefeller University to describe the damage suffered by the human body as it fights and adapts to a stressful environment.

Allostatic Load

5. What are Habstars?

Stars that could set up favorable conditions for life as we know it on Earth

6. What did Alfred Winslow Jones, a sociologist and financial journalist pioneer in 1949?

The world’s first modern Hedge Fund

7. In which sport would you encounter the term En passant?

It is a special capture mode by pawn in the game of chess

8. Name the 15th Century king of Hungary, known often as the ‘raven king’, who is most famous for having built one of the finest libraries

Matthias Corvinus

9. After what fictional character is the famous coffee chain Starbucks named?

Captain Ahab’s first mate in Hermann Melville’s book Moby-Dick

10. Name the largest crater of earth’s moon, which until recently was also believed to be the largest of our solar system

South pole Aitken

QUIZ - 59

1. What American political action group composed of conservative, fundamentalist Christians was founded in 1979 by evangelist Rev. Jerry Falwell?

2. What famous German youth movement was started in 1901 in the town of Steglitz?

3. What is the name given to the biological process of a living organism approaching an advanced age?

4. Name the term coined by Dr. Bruce McEwan of Rockefeller University to describe the damage suffered by the human body as it fights and adapts to a stressful environment.

5. What are Habstars?

6. What did Alfred Winslow Jones, a sociologist and financial journalist pioneer in 1949?

7. In which sport would you encounter the term En passant?

8. Name the 15th Century king of Hungary, known often as the ‘raven king’, who is most famous for having built one of the finest libraries

9. After what fictional character is the famous coffee chain Starbucks named?

10. Name the largest crater of earth’s moon, which until recently was also believed to be the largest of our solar system

Answers to Quiz - 58

1. What term describes a snatch of song or music that keeps playing itself in one’s mind?

Earworm

2. Established in 2000 and referred to as African Booker, what is the annual award for African writing?

The Caine Prize

3. What are aerological days?

Days agreed upon internationally to carry out intensive observation of the earth’s atmsosphere.

4. What parasitic fungus that grows on caterpillars found in certain parts of Nepal is highly prized as an ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine?

Yarchagumba

5. What style of novel writing actually describes a real-life story thinly disguised as fiction?

Roman à clef

6. What medical term describes the condition of excessive body hair?

Hypertrichosis or Werewolf Syndrome

7. What or who is the Tasmanian Devil

The largest carnivorous marsupial which is found in the wild only in the Australian island state of Tasmania

8. What substance is responsible for the yellow colour of turmeric?

Curcumin

9. What kind of commercial fishing technique uses hundreds of baited hooks strung out on a single line?

Longlining

10. What term in linguistics describes a word or phrase that is borrowed from another language by literal word to word translation?

Calque

QUIZ - 58

1. What term describes a snatch of song or music that keeps playing itself in one’s mind?

2. Established in 2000 and referred to as African Booker, what is the annual award for African writing?

3. What are aerological days?

4. What parasitic fungus that grows on caterpillars found in certain parts of Nepal is highly prized as an ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine?

5. What style of novel writing actually describes a real-life story thinly disguised as fiction?

6. What medical term describes the condition of excessive body hair?

7. What or who is the Tasmanian Devil

8. What substance is responsible for the yellow colour of turmeric?

9. What kind of commercial fishing technique uses hundreds of baited hooks strung out on a single line?

10. What term in linguistics describes a word or phrase that is borrowed from another language by literal word to word translation?

Answers to Quiz - 57

1. What is the name of the stretch of sea that separates mainland England from the Isle of Wright?

The Solent

2. What term in archaeology and anthropology is used to describe the transition from a nomadic way of life to a permanent settlement?

Sedentism

3. What is the name of the vast depression covering as much as 40% of the surface of Mars, believed to be the largest asteroid impact crater known anywhere in the solar system?

Borealis Basin

4. Who is a pescatarian?

A person who is a vegetarian with the exception of eating fish

5. Which civilization is credited with having created the first known pottery in the world?

Jomon people in Japan, dating back to 14th Century BC

6. What is the name of the new theory developed in 2004 to explain the origin of the planets in our solar system?

Nice Model, after the city of Nice in France, where the scientists met to put forward the theory

7. In honour of whose martyrdom is the bull running ceremony observed in the streets of the Spanish town of Pamplona every July?

Saint Fermin

8. What are Imbrium, Serenitatis, Crisium and Nectaris?

Prominent craters on the moon

9. Name the English intellectual, pamphleteer and inventor who had a great influence on American and French revolutions through such powerful works like Common Sense and Rights of Man.

Thomas Paine

10. What is the name of the former landmass in the North Sea that connected Great Britain and mainland Europe?

Doggerland

QUIZ - 57

1. What is the name of the stretch of sea that separates mainland England from the Isle of Wright?

2. What term in archaeology and anthropology is used to describe the transition from a nomadic way of life to a permanent settlement?

3. What is the name of the vast depression covering as much as 40% of the surface of Mars, believed to be the largest asteroid impact crater known anywhere in the solar system?

4. Who is a pescatarian?

5. Which civilization is credited with having created the first known pottery in the world?

6. What is the name of the new theory developed in 2004 to explain the origin of the planets in our solar system?

7. In honour of whose martyrdom is the bull running ceremony observed in the streets of the Spanish town of Pamplona every July?

8. What are Imbrium, Serenitatis, Crisium and Nectaris?

9. Name the English intellectual, pamphleteer and inventor who had a great influence on American and French revolutions through such powerful works like Common Sense and Rights of Man.

10. What is the name of the former landmass in the North Sea that connected Great Britain and mainland Europe?

Answers to Quiz - 56

1. What term named after a famous American singer-actress describes the phenomenon on the internet when an attempt to remove or block a piece of information backfires and actually increases its popularity?

The Streisand effect

2. What branch of applied chemistry deals with the production of industrial chemicals from agricultural feedstock?

Chemurgy

3. Name the social psychologist who conducted a series of famous experiments on ‘obedience to authority’ at Yale University in 1961-1962, in which ordinary people were found willing to give apparently harmful electric shocks to protesting victims, simply because a scientific authority commanded them to.

Stanley Milgram

4. What endangered animal of New Zealand, resembling a lizard, is often termed as ‘living fossil’?

Tuatara

5. What hallucinogenic substance is derived from certain types of mushrooms called magic mushrooms or shrooms grown in parts of South America and Mexico?

Psilocybin

6. What is the popular name of the 1984 US Law that stimulated the generic drugs industry and gave it considerable clout in patent litigation?

Hatch Waxman Act

7. Name the American tailor who in 1924 invented and patented the necktie as we know it today.

Jesse Langsdorf

8. In which part of Europe is the language Euskara widely spoken?

The Basque province in North-East Spain

9. Name the Hungarian writer who in 1929 proposed in his short story ‘Chains’ the concept of ‘Six Degrees of Separation’, according to which everyone in this world is separated from everyone else by six links.

Frigyes Karinthy

10. What are metabolomes?

The complete set of intermediates and products of the process of metabolism in a living cell.

QUIZ - 56

1. What term named after a famous American singer-actress describes the phenomenon on the internet when an attempt to remove or block a piece of information backfires and actually increases its popularity?

2. What branch of applied chemistry deals with the production of industrial chemicals from agricultural feedstock?

3. Name the social psychologist who conducted a series of famous experiments on ‘obedience to authority’ at Yale University in 1961-1962, in which ordinary people were found willing to give apparently harmful electric shocks to protesting victims, simply because a scientific authority commanded them to.

4. What endangered animal of New Zealand, resembling a lizard, is often termed as ‘living fossil’?

5. What hallucinogenic substance is derived from certain types of mushrooms called magic mushrooms or shrooms grown in parts of South America and Mexico?

6. What is the popular name of the 1984 US Law that stimulated the generic drugs industry and gave it considerable clout in patent litigation?

7. Name the American tailor who in 1924 invented and patented the necktie as we know it today.

8. In which part of Europe is the language Euskara widely spoken?

9. Name the Hungarian writer who in 1929 proposed in his short story ‘Chains’ the concept of ‘Six Degrees of Separation’, according to which everyone in this world is separated from everyone else by six links.

10. What are metabolomes?

Answers to Quiz - 55

1. What term originating from London’s Savile Row, usually applied to a suit is used to describe something that is made exactly to a customer’s specification?

Bespoke

2. Name the behavioural economist who suggested ‘The Endowment Effect’, according to which people place a higher value on objects they own than objects that they do not.

Richard Thaler

3. Robot, introduced and popularized by Karel Čapek’s play R.U.R, is derived from the Czech word robota. What does robota mean in the Czech language?

Labour

4. It is referred to as Contraterrene in Science Fiction. By what name do physicists call it?

Antimatter

5. The site of what cataclysmic event that took place on June 30, 1908 is marked by a totem pole dedicated to Agdy, the God of Thunder?

Tunguska Explosion

6. A sequel continues a story begun in a previous film. A prequel narrates the story prior to that of a previous film. But what is a requel?

A movie with the same subject matter as an earlier film, but not a remake of that film

7. What kind of fear is Scolionophobia?

Fear of schools

8. In what field do you use the term Jansen’s Alpha?

Finance, specifically portfolio management

9. What is the practice of people consuming insects for food known as?

Entomophagy

10. Name the pioneering Rock and Roll musician whose trademark instrument was the rectangular guitar?

Bo Diddley

QUIZ - 55

1. What term originating from London’s Savile Row, usually applied to a suit is used to describe something that is made exactly to a customer’s specification?

2. Name the behavioural economist who suggested ‘The Endowment Effect’, according to which people place a higher value on objects they own than objects that they do not.

3. Robot, introduced and popularized by Karel Čapek’s play R.U.R, is derived from the Czech word robota. What does robota mean in the Czech language?

4. It is referred to as Contraterrene in Science Fiction. By what name do physicists call it?

5. The site of what cataclysmic event that took place on June 30, 1908 is marked by a totem pole dedicated to Agdy, the God of Thunder?

6. A sequel continues a story begun in a previous film. A prequel narrates the story prior to that of a previous film. But what is a requel?

7. What kind of fear is Scolionophobia?

8. In what field do you use the term Jansen’s Alpha?

9. What is the practice of people consuming insects for food known as?

10. Name the pioneering Rock and Roll musician whose trademark instrument was the rectangular guitar?

Answers to Quiz - 54

1. Believed to be extinct until it was rediscovered in 1986, Rhinoptilus bitorquatus is a rare nocturnal bird found in the south-eastern part of India. What is its popular name after its original discoverer in 1868?

Jerdon’s Courser

2. What is name given to the portable wooden or metal board used in monasteries to summon the faithful to prayer?

Talanton

3. What are words derived from names of places called?

Toponym

4. What term coined by Robert Fuller describes the discriminatory and exploitative practice towards people who rank lower in a hierarchy?

Rankism

5. Produced in the gut, which hormone stimulates our appetite?

Ghrelin

6. What is a tuxedo designed for a woman called?

Tuxeda

7. In which sport, would you use the phrase Charity Stripe?

Basketball, The Free-Throw line

8. What language uses the Katakana script?

Japanese

9. Literally meaning white liquor, what popular Chinese spirit distilled from grains is classified according to its fragrance?

Baijiu

10. What is the name of the carpets, often used as prayer rugs, produced in many parts of Central Asia by tightly interweaving the warp and weft strands of the weave to produce a flat surface?

Kilims

QUIZ - 54

1.Believed to be extinct until it was rediscovered in 1986, Rhinoptilus bitorquatus is a rare nocturnal bird found in the south-eastern part of India. What is its popular name after its original discoverer in 1868?

2. What is name given to the portable wooden or metal board used in monasteries to summon the faithful to prayer?

3. What are words derived from names of places called?

4. What term coined by Robert Fuller describes the discriminatory and exploitative practice towards people who rank lower in a hierarchy?

5. Produced in the gut, which hormone stimulates our appetite?

6. What is a tuxedo designed for a woman called?

7. In which sport, would you use the phrase Charity Stripe?

8. What language uses the Katakana script?

9. Literally meaning white liquor, what popular Chinese spirit distilled from grains is classified according to its fragrance?

10. What is the name of the carpets, often used as prayer rugs, produced in many parts of Central Asia by tightly interweaving the warp and weft strands of the weave to produce a flat surface?

Answers to Quiz - 53

1. Despite path breaking inventions like printing, compass, gunpowder etc, scientific and industrial revolutions that took place in the western world eluded China. Name the reputed British Sinologist who posed this interesting conundrum, which is since then identified with his name.

Joseph Needham, Needham’s Grand Question

2. Instituted in 2001, the Ashden Awards are given for excellence in the field of sustainable energy. By what popular name are these awards called?

Green Oscars

3. What is the name of the energetic freestyle dance form that originated among the African-American community on the streets of Los Angeles as a creative outlet for youths on the edge of criminal activities?

Krumping

4. This month we are celebrating the centenary of an accidental invention by Thomas Sullivan, a New York merchant. What is this invention used by millions of people today?

Tea Bag

5. Which awards are widely touted as the Oscars of the food world?

James Beard Foundation Awards

6. What solo collection for Dior catapulted Yves Saint Laurent into stardom at the age of 21 in 1958?

Ligne Trapeze

7. What does the Baltic Dry Index measure?

Bulk shipping rates

8. In United States what does a Code Red Day signify?

Unhealthy levels of air pollution

9. Name the economist considered as the first proponent of Value Investing?

Benjamin Graham

10. Name the French town that hosts world’s leading international festival for animated films in every June?

Annecy

QUIZ - 53

1. Despite path breaking inventions like printing, compass, gunpowder etc, scientific and industrial revolutions that took place in the western world eluded China. Name the reputed British Sinologist who posed this interesting conundrum, which is since then identified with his name.

2. Instituted in 2001, the Ashden Awards are given for excellence in the field of sustainable energy. By what popular name are these awards called?

3. What is the name of the energetic freestyle dance form that originated among the African-American community on the streets of Los Angeles as a creative outlet for youths on the edge of criminal activities?

4. This month we are celebrating the centenary of an accidental invention by Thomas Sullivan, a New York merchant. What is this invention used by millions of people today?

5. Which awards are widely touted as the Oscars of the food world?

6. What solo collection for Dior catapulted Yves Saint Laurent into stardom at the age of 21 in 1958?

7. What does the Baltic Dry Index measure?

8. In the United States what does a Code Red Day signify?

9. Name the economist considered as the first proponent of Value Investing.

10. Name the French town that hosts world’s leading international festival for animated films in every June.

Answers to Quiz - 52

1. Coined by the American writer Sylvia Wright in 1954, what term describes the misinterpretation of a line or lyric due to hearing it wrongly and mistaking it for similar sounding words or phrases?

Mondegreen

2. What measures the effect of food on our blood glucose levels?

Glycemic Index

3. Which American Civil War General dubbed as ‘Young Napoleon’ by the press was sacked by Abraham Lincoln and went on to challenge him unsuccessfully in the presidential election of 1864?

George B McClellan

4. Name the popular Italian bread which in Italian means slipper, because of its resemblance to slipper?

Ciabatta

5. What ancient port city is the precursor to modern city state of Singapore?

Temasek

6. What did the American circus acrobat George Nissen invent in his garage in 1936?

Trampoline

7. George W Ferris built the first Ferris Wheel in 1893 for the World Fair at Chicago to commemorate a very famous event. What event?

400^th Anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s landing in America

8. The House of Habsburg has ruled many countries in Europe, among them Austria, Hungary and Spain. But in which country is the seat of origin of the Habsburg Dynasty located?

Switzerland

9. Glioblastoma is an aggressive and near incurable form of tumour. Which part of the body does it affect?

Brain

10. What is the name given to the uprising led by the Russian army in December 1825 to protest against Nicholas I’s ascension to the throne?

The Decembrist Revolt

QUIZ - 52

1. Coined by the American writer Sylvia Wright in 1954, what term describes the misinterpretation of a line or lyric due to hearing it wrongly and mistaking it for similar sounding words or phrases?

2. What measures the effect of food on our blood glucose levels?

3. Which American Civil War General dubbed as ‘Young Napoleon’ by the press was sacked by Abraham Lincoln and went on to challenge him unsuccessfully in the presidential election of 1864?

4. Name the popular Italian bread which in Italian means slipper, because of its resemblance to slipper?

5. What ancient port city is the precursor to modern city state of Singapore?

6. What did the American circus acrobat George Nissen invent in his garage in 1936?

7. George W Ferris built the first Ferris Wheel in 1893 for the World Fair at Chicago to commemorate a very famous event. What event?

8. The House of Habsburg has ruled many countries in Europe, among them Austria, Hungary and Spain. But in which country is the seat of origin of the Habsburg Dynasty located?

9. Glioblastoma is an aggressive and near incurable form of tumour. Which part of the body does it affect?

10. What is the name given to the uprising led by the Russian army in December 1825 to protest against Nicholas I’s ascension to the throne?

Answers to Quiz - 51

1. What is the name of the membranous sac that surrounds and protects the embryo in mammals?

Amnion

2. In which city would you find the hotel Mr. President, with each room designed and named after a current or past world leader?

Belgrade

3. Who is believed to be the originator of the term ‘Epiphenomenalism’, which holds the view that mental events are caused by physical events in the brain.

T.H.Huxley

4. In what field are the Whitley Awards given out?

Conservation of Nature

5. What device invented by Abraham-Louis Breguet and patented in 1801 is used in expensive mechanical watches to maintain accurate time?

Tourbillon

6. What famous incident took place in the British House of Commons on May 7 and 8 of 1940, which ultimately led to the resignation of the then Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain?

Norway Debate

7. What term coined by C.H.Waddington in 1942 describes the idea that environmental factors can cause an organism’s genes to behave differently?

Epigenetics

8. He died in a plane crash in 1998 and in 1999 an annual award for Global Health and Human Rights was instituted in his name. Name this former director of World Health Organisation’s special programme on AIDS.

Jonathan Mann

9. What are microbes that thrive in extreme physical conditions called?

Extremophiles

10. What diagram was popularized by the American Libertarian party to illustrate their view that libertarianism stands for both economic freedom and personal freedom?

The Nolan Chart