1 / 10 |
On August 18th, 1868 French astronomer Pierre Janssen was in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh observing a Solar Eclipse. He noticed bright yellow lines at a wavelength of 587.49 nm in the spectrum of the chromosphere. This led to the discovery of the element that is named after Greek personification of the sun. Which element is this? 

2 / 10 |
Quite abundant in its natural yellow crystal form, this element has been known since ancient times and is called ‘gandhaka’ (the smelly) in Sanskrit. The English name can be traced back to the Porto-Indo-European word ‘Swelp’, which means ‘to burn’. What fiery element is this? 

3 / 10 |
Found as gas at room temperature, this element has a characteristic yellow-green appearance with an acrid smell. When Sir Humphry Davy confirmed it to be a new element in 1810, he named it after the Ancient Greek word for ‘pale green’. What element is this that one might have last encountered in a public swimming pool? 

4 / 10 |
One of the strongest metals found, this element resistant to corrosion and strong acids. Prussian chemist Martin Klaproth named it after the pre-Olympian gods of Greek Mythology. Named after the twelve children of the primordial parents of Sky and Earth, which element is this that is best suited for fixing fractures in the bone? 

5 / 10 |
This element is steel-grey in colour but is very lustrous, reflecting multiple colours, almost 70% of the visible spectrum. The element also formed very colourful compounds, which led to its Greek name meaning ‘colourful’. What element is this that gives a sleek look to any item coated in it? 

6 / 10 |
Naturally found in the Earth’s crust, this notoriously toxic heavy metal’s name can be traced to the Arabic word ‘al-Zarnik,’ meaning gold-coloured ointment. What element is this that led to the death of Napoleon I? 

7 / 10 |
The element Selenium was discovered by Jacob Berzelius who thought it was very similar to the element ‘Tellurium’, which is named for the Earth, ‘Terra’. So, he named it after what he believed was the Earth’s closest relative. Found in photocells and anti-dandruff shampoo, after what entity is Selenium named?

8 / 10 |
Technetium, atomic number 43, is the lightest element whose isotopes are all radioactive. Its properties were predicted by Mendeleev before it was discovered. Finally, in 1937, it was confirmed at the University of Palermo who wanted to name it ‘Panormus’. It was eventually named after the Greek word ‘Technetos’. What does it mean, a reference to its record on the periodic table? 

Answer : ‘Artificial’, as it was the first man-made element.

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9 / 10 |
Antimony is a lustrous grey metal, and its compounds have been used in medicine and cosmetics since ancient times. By itself the element is toxic, and one theory is that it killed a lot of people from a certain profession who were all involved in making it. ‘Anti-moine’, which in old French would be ‘killer of’ what group of people who did these experiments inside religious establishments? 

10 / 10 |
Holmium is a rare-earth element which has the highest magnetic permeability and hence is used for the pole pieces of the strongest static magnets. It gets its name from the Latin name of the capital city of the country where it was discovered. Which city is this, whose name still carries a part of the Latin word? 

1 / 6 |
The ability to metabolize alcohol effectively is an evolutionary adaptation found in populations with a long history of agriculture and fermentation. Which enzyme is responsible for this adaptation?

Answer : Alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH)

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2 / 6 |
______ is a structural adaptation in the human foot that provides leverage and shock absorption during walking and running, distinguishing us from other primates.

3 / 6 |
Which gene, known to affect skin pigmentation, underwent a mutation around 20,000 to 50,000 years ago, allowing humans in Europe to have lighter skin?

4 / 6 |
Humans have evolved to have a specific type of sweat gland that helps with thermoregulation by secreting water and salts. What is the name of this gland?

5 / 6 |
The ability to store large amounts of fat in the body as a survival mechanism in times of food scarcity is an adaptation known as what?

6 / 6 |
Identify this evolutionary adaptation highlighted in redin the human hand, which includes a muscle absent in some people and considered vestigial but was once used for climbing and grasping in our primate ancestors. 

1 / 10 |
Born this day in 1620, Jean Picard was a French astronomer who conducted an arc measurement survey in 1669 by measuring one degree of latitude along the Paris Meridian using triangulation along 13 triangles stretching from Paris to the clocktower of Sourdon. He became the first person to accurately measure what we now know is 51,00,72,000 km2. What did he measure?

2 / 10 |
At 02:56 Coordinated Universal Time in 1969, Mare Tranquillitatis (The Sea of Tranquillity) became an important part of human history. It is made up of mostly basalt and has a slight bluish tint due to higher metal content and was chosen because it is relatively level. What happened at this place 46 years ago?

Answer : Neil Armstrong stepped out on the moon

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3 / 10 |
On July 21, 2011, NASA’s 32-year-long Space Shuttle program ended with the landing of Space Shuttle OV-104 on mission STS-135 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The 135th and final Space Shuttle mission was to deliver a payload to the International Space Station (ISS). The shuttle was named after a research ship, which itself was named after a mythical lost continent. What was the name of the shuttle?

4 / 10 |
This planet takes 165 Earth years to complete one full orbit around the sun and was discovered by a bunch of astronomers on the night of September 23-24 in 1846, based on mathematical calculations. Which planet is this?

5 / 10 |
Soviet cosmologist Igor Novikov put forward the existence of a hypothetical object as part of a solution to one of Einstein field equations. It is a region of spacetime and singularity that cannot be entered from the outside, although energy-matter, light and information can escape from it. A reference to a more famous object that does the exact opposite, by what name are these known?

6 / 10 |
Assembling of the ISS involved a lot of mechanical work, such as welding, which would be easy on Earth, but close to impossible in space. In the vacuum of space, it’s difficult to control shielding gases or generate heat using traditional welding methods. In reality, if two surfaces of the same metal are brought close to each other and pressed, there is an exchange of electrons and they get fused. What is the name of this method?

7 / 10 |
The region of space in which a mass’ magnetic field dominates is known as its magnetosphere. Earth’s field stretches 64,000 kilometres. The largest and strongest field belongs to a planet whose sphere is so big it could engulf the sun. If it was visible it would actually be larger than the moon in our sky. Which planet is this?

8 / 10 |
Lucy is a star in the constellation of Centaurus. which was first thought to be a dim white dwarf but it subsequently turned out to be incredibly dense, with the mass of the Sun crammed into an object only a third the diameter of Earth. Astronomers were able to study the vibrations of the star and discovered the reason for its extremely dense core, hence naming it ‘Lucy’. What had the star’s carbon core crystallised into?

Answer : Diamond (Lucy in the sky with diamonds)

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9 / 10 |
The time taken for this planet to revolve around the sun (on year on Earth) is only about 88 Earth days long. However, it has a very slow rotation around its own axis, hence each ‘day’ on this planet is 176 Earth days long. Which planet is this, where a day is twice as long as an year?

10 / 10 |
In 2009, astronomers were able to do a chemical analysis of the centre of the Milky Way and they discovered that there was a huge cloud of ethyl formate which slowly dispersed across the galaxy. This leads us to understand the prevalent smell and flavour of our solar system. What alliterative combination of a berry and a drink did astronomers use to describe the taste of the Milky Way?