Topic: Science quiz for the American public.

[Nemesis]

Take the quiz below (created by the National Science Foundation for research purposes) to test your science savvy. The answers are after the jump.

1. The center of the Earth is very hot.
2. All radioactivity is man-made.
3. It is the father’s gene that decides whether the baby is a boy or a girl.
4. Lasers work by focusing sound waves.
5. Electrons are smaller than atoms.
6. Antibiotics kill viruses as well as bacteria.
7. The universe began with a huge explosion.
8. The continents on which we live have been moving their location for millions of years and will continue to move in the future.
9. Human beings, as we know them today, developed from earlier species of animals.
10. Does the Earth go around the Sun, or does the Sun go around the Earth?
11. How long does it take for the Earth to go around the sun?

By Jess Zielinski

Link to answers.

Naturally I scored 100%.   

[Bonk]

I did not score 100%, I got 9 out of 11, therefore the test must be flawed! 

Seriously though, questions 1 and 7 invalidate the quiz as neither is proven. (personally I suspect the mantle has a greater temperature than the core, both are certainly hot, but it is a relative thing... and as for the universe beginning with a "huge explosion" no - certainly not an explosion as such)

I suspect this is a feel-good test, typical government stats collection to paint a pretty picture. Too bad its authors were not better scientific test makers.

[Centurus]

I got 100%, however, the answer to the last question, one year, I feel is a bit vague, since we normally measure a year as being 365 days, when in reality it's more like 365 1/4 days, which is why every 4 years we have an extra day in February.

[Beeblebrox]

Color me at 100%.  Not to sound stuck up, but the quiz was sort of basic common knowledge questions.

[FCM_SFHQ_XC]

Color me at 100%. Not to sound stuck up, but the quiz was sort of basic common knowledge questions.

Put these questions in today's high school class(not the AP, but like Honors level or below), and you'll probably see 1 or 2 questions answered correctly

[Centurus]

Actually, all of these questions I had on quizzes and tests when I was in grade school, except for the one about lasers.  Learned that in high school.

[marstone]

Take the quiz below (created by the National Science Foundation for research purposes) to test your science savvy. The answers are after the jump.
3. It is the father’s gene that decides whether the baby is a boy or a girl.

   Actually it is the lack of the second x chromazone that make a baby a boy (not actually having the y but it is normal that way)
 

7. The universe began with a huge explosion.

   Theory so far.

9. Human beings, as we know them today, developed from earlier species of animals.

  Macro evolution is still a theory also.

10. Does the Earth go around the Sun, or does the Sun go around the Earth?

   Check out the other board with the posts about the Earth being the center of the universe (it's good to chuckle at)
 

11. How long does it take for the Earth to go around the sun?

   See 10 above, if the websites pointed to are true  then this one has no answer.

[Centurus]

*smacks Marstone with a rubber chicken and turns him into Paris Hilton's talent*

[marstone]

*smacks Marstone with a rubber chicken and turns him into Paris Hilton's talent*

now that is just cruel.  Turn me into nothing.

[Nemesis]

There are definitely errors in the quiz.  In fact to score perfect you have to understand what they THINK they are asking and make the appropriate answer to that. 

[Soreyes]

Easy-Peasey. 11 out of 11

The fun began after I gave the test to some of my Collage Educated Co-Workers
It seems that they all missed Questions 3, 6, and 8. Got into a heated discussion about question 8. I finally blurted out "WTF do you think Earthquakes are"

[GE-Raven]

I knew the answers they wanted on all 11...

That being said their were more than a few questions that are no where near "factual" enough for true and false answers.  I suppose if they were prefaced "According to the "blank theory"" they would be decent.

Odd that of all the iron clad questions that COULD be asked...  Nah.. I am just looking to pick a fight.

GE-Raven

[GE-Raven]

So given my above I thought I would create my own 11 questions if people want to answer them they surely can:




1.  A right triangle has three sides of equal length.
2.  The speed of sound is constant.
3.  The speed of light is constant.
4.  All amphibians spend at least part of their life in water.
5.  1000 molecules of Iron weighs more than 1000 molecules of Zinc.
6.  Cartesian Geometry is named after the person who invented it
7.  The Whale Shark is a mammal.
8.  The tomato is indigenous to the North American Continent.
9.  The Average temperature of the North Pole is Colder than that of the South Pole.
10.  Yeast is:  Bacteria, Virus, Fungus, Single-celled Animal  (Choose one)
11.  Sun spots are hotter then the surrounding areas of the sun.

GE-Raven

[Tus-XC]

eh, 2 and 3 can be tricky as they are dependent on the medium they are traveling through .  For 3 you should add 'in a vaccuum'  to be more precise.  Of course i could say true for 2 if i added if the medium it were traveling through had a constant density, temperature, and consitency

[GE-Raven]

eh, 2 and 3 can be tricky as they are dependent on the medium they are traveling through .  For 3 you should add 'in a vaccuum'  to be more precise.  Of course i could say true for 2 if i added if the medium it were traveling through had a constant density, temperature, and consitency

I stand by the questions as worded.  I didn't say they were all "easy"... some may be awfully tricky.

GE-Raven

[Corbomite]

So given my above I thought I would create my own 11 questions if people want to answer them they surely can:




1.  A right triangle has three sides of equal length. (False)
2.  The speed of sound is constant. (False)
3.  The speed of light is constant. (True)
4.  All amphibians spend at least part of their life in water. (True)
5.  1000 molecules of Iron weighs more than 1000 molecules of Zinc. (Not sure what it is your getting at. Iron and Zinc are elements and Zinc is heavier)
6.  Cartesian Geometry is named after the person who invented it (Don't know, but I'd guess no)
7.  The Whale Shark is a mammal. (False)
8.  The tomato is indigenous to the North American Continent. (True)
9.  The Average temperature of the North Pole is Colder than that of the South Pole. (Don't know, but I'll say yes)
10.  Yeast is:  Bacteria, Virus, Fungus, Single-celled Animal  (Choose one) (Bacteria)
11.  Sun spots are hotter then the surrounding areas of the sun. (False, I think)

GE-Raven


BTW I got the original 11 all correct.

[Bonk]

My answers to Raven's quiz:

1.  A right triangle has three sides of equal length. -false
2.  The speed of sound is constant. -false
3.  The speed of light is constant. -false (everyday refraction, Bose-Einstein condensates etc...) It is constant in every frame of reference in the same medium however.
4.  All amphibians spend at least part of their life in water. -can't think of one that doesn't
5.  1000 molecules of Iron weighs more than 1000 molecules of Zinc. - You can't have molecules of Iron or Zinc they are elements not molecules and 1000 ATOMS of iron mass less than 1000 atoms of zinc at natural isotopic abundances
6.  Cartesian Geometry is named after the person who invented it - Correct: Rene Descartes
7.  The Whale Shark is a mammal. -false
8.  The tomato is indigenous to the North American Continent. - True
9.  The Average temperature of the North Pole is Colder than that of the South Pole. - Dunno?
10.  Yeast is:  Bacteria, Virus, Fungus, Single-celled Animal  (Choose one) Single-celled Animal
11.  Sun spots are hotter then the surrounding areas of the sun. -Dunno?

Only one flawed question that I see (#5). Much better questions. Again, I get nine out of eleven, well my old analytical prof always said I was a solid "B student". 

[GE-Raven]

My answers to Raven's quiz:

1.  A right triangle has three sides of equal length. -false
2.  The speed of sound is constant. -false
3.  The speed of light is constant. -false (everyday refraction, Bose-Einstein condensates etc...) It is constant in every frame of reference in the same medium however.
4.  All amphibians spend at least part of their life in water. -can't think of one that doesn't
5.  1000 molecules of Iron weighs more than 1000 molecules of Zinc. - You can't have molecules of Iron or Zinc they are elements not molecules and 1000 ATOMS of iron mass less than 1000 atoms of zinc at natural isotopic abundances
6.  Cartesian Geometry is named after the person who invented it - Correct: Rene Descartes
7.  The Whale Shark is a mammal. -false
8.  The tomato is indigenous to the North American Continent. - True
9.  The Average temperature of the North Pole is Colder than that of the South Pole. - Dunno?
10.  Yeast is:  Bacteria, Virus, Fungus, Single-celled Animal  (Choose one) Single-celled Animal
11.  Sun spots are hotter then the surrounding areas of the sun. -Dunno?

Only one flawed question that I see (#5). Much better questions. Again, I get nine out of eleven, well my old analytical prof always said I was a solid "B student". 

Actually after typing number 5 I checked it... Even is a single atom is all there is (in the case of elements) it can and often is referred to as a molecule.  Hence the reason the "Mole" is important.  For instance Oxygen, Nitrogen, Hydrogen, and Cholorine are all Elements that always appear in binary as a molecule of two atoms.  However to clear it up... Fe and Zn can and do appear in single atom "molecules".  This is what I am referring to in the "weight" question.

Also not to be a jerk... but you answered 9... you actually have at least one answer that is incorrect... if you want I can PM the answers.

GE-Raven

[Nemesis]

Also not to be a jerk... but you answered 9... you actually have an answer that is incorrect... if you want I can PM which one it is.

GE-Raven

#8 -South America.

For instance Oxygen, Nitrogen, Hydrogen, and Chlorine are all Elements that always appear in binary as a molecule of two atoms.

Ozone = O₃

#9 false (You don't specify, pole as in axis of rotation or magnetic which could change the answer.)

#11 False - they are "dark spots" only in comparison to the hotter regions around them.

[GE-Raven]

Also not to be a jerk... but you answered 9... you actually have an answer that is incorrect... if you want I can PM which one it is.

GE-Raven

#8 -South America.

Oops missed this one... actually two wrong then LOL

For instance Oxygen, Nitrogen, Hydrogen, and Chlorine are all Elements that always appear in binary as a molecule of two atoms.

Ozone = O₃

Fair enough... however Ozone is not a molecule of Oxygen... it is a Molecule of Ozone...  A Molecule of Iron has a specific structure, as does a Molecule of Zinc.  It happens to be a single Atom of that element.

#9 false (You don't specify, pole as in axis of rotation or magnetic which could change the answer.)

#11 False - they are "dark spots" only in comparison to the hotter regions around them.

May be different in Canuckistan... however in the U.S. North Pole and South Pole always refer to the axial poles.  If you mean magnetic you insert the word Magnetic.

I should have said "at least" one answer wrong :-p... to be honest I didn't look close enough... just at the one that jumped out at me... which btw you didn't mention.

GE-Raven

[GE-Raven]

Answers  - Spoiler below













[spoiler]

1.  A right triangle has three sides of equal length. - False - a right triangle by definition can't have equilateral sides

2.  The speed of sound is constant. - False - it changes speed due to medium

3.  The speed of light is constant.  - False - it also changes speed due to medium

4.  All amphibians spend at least part of their life in water. - True

5.  1000 molecules of Iron weighs more than 1000 molecules of Zinc.  - False - Zinc is heavier

6.  Cartesian Geometry is named after the person who invented it - True

7.  The Whale Shark is a mammal. - False - a whale shark is a large shark, not a whale at all

8.  The tomato is indigenous to the North American Continent. - False - It actually originated in Peru, though the first Europeans probably were introduced to the import in Central America.

9.  The Average temperature of the North Pole is Colder than that of the South Pole. - False - It isn't even close... the South Pole averages some -58 F  The North Pole is around 0 F

10.  Yeast is:  Bacteria, Virus, Fungus, Single-celled Animal  (Choose one)  - It is from the Fungus family, which in turn makes it a plant.

11.  Sun spots are hotter then the surrounding areas of the sun. - False - Sun spots  (also called Sunspots) are actually 1000-2000 K colder than surrounding areas of the sun.


[/spoiler]

Should work as a spoiler for answer.

[Nemesis]

Ozone = O₃

Fair enough... however Ozone is not a molecule of Oxygen... it is a Molecule of Ozone...  A Molecule of Iron has a specific structure, as does a Molecule of Zinc.  It happens to be a single Atom of that element.

We need a chemist in here .  A Molecule is a group of Atoms bound together.  An Element is a single Atom.  Don't forget the periodic table is more fully named "The Periodic Table of the Elements".  The data on the periodic table is for individual atoms (aka elements) not for a molecule composed of those atoms. 

You stated:

For instance Oxygen, Nitrogen, Hydrogen, and Cholorine are all Elements that always appear in binary as a molecule of two atoms.

Ozone is a molecule composed solely of 3 Oxygen atoms. You specified the element oxygen not the molecule which shares the same name.    Your statement thtat the element oxygen always appears as an binary molecule is false based on the existance of ozone.

H₁ can also exist in nature (its believed to be the source of the Jovian magnetic fields.

I'm not actually sure but I seem to recall N₆  being synthesized a few years ago.

[GE-Raven]

http://www.nyu.edu/pages/mathmol/textbook/compounds.html

Textbook entry.

Regardless of what was said about Oxygen (molecule or atom).  The functional definition of a molecule is:

A molecule is the smallest particle of a substance that exists independently. 

Which means a single atom of a substance can be a molecule if that is the way it "exists independently".   So I would believe that Oxygen = O₂  and Ozone = O₃ as both substances are made of oxygen atoms, but have different properties.

Regardless, Iron and Zinc can and do exist at an molecular level (That molecule having a single atom).  So the "weight" of 1000 of those atoms would also be the weight of 1000 of the molecules.  In the case of elements that exist independently the term is interchangeable.

GE-Raven

[Centurus]

Here's a question for all youse dimwits!!!

Ginger, Mary-Ann, Marilyn Monroe, or Ingrid Bergman?

[Nemesis]

Here's a question for all youse dimwits!!!

Ginger, Mary-Ann, Marilyn Monroe, or Ingrid Bergman?

Assuming that you mean as the actress (or character) was at a time of my choosing, Mary-Ann. 

[Panzergranate]

Here's one science question that over 90% of University Biology students failed when asked on a TV survey in both the US and UK, back in the late 1980's....

Where does a tree source 99% of all its raw materials for growth??

Another for all those who think they know physics....

If you strip off all the electrons from the atoms in any substance, what are you left with??

And an interesting science fact,,,,

At any women's convention, playing the theme tune for any popular soap opera will see all the women present shut up and listen.,,,, playing any theme tune for a male orientated programe auch as sports, action adventure, etc. will see them just yack louder.

The mother passes on the gene that will determine "wedding tackle" size, which in turn, determines if premature baldness will occur. One of natures cases of "swings and roundabouts".

[Corbomite]

3.  The speed of light is constant.  - False - it also changes speed due to medium

I don't agree with this. Since light will go back to it's "natural" speed after leaving the medium, it is time that changed not the speed of the light.

[marstone]

Here's one science question that over 90% of University Biology students failed when asked on a TV survey in both the US and UK, back in the late 1980's....

Where does a tree source 99% of all its raw materials for growth??

Another for all those who think they know physics....

If you strip off all the electrons from the atoms in any substance, what are you left with??

And an interesting science fact,,,,

At any women's convention, playing the theme tune for any popular soap opera will see all the women present shut up and listen.,,,, playing any theme tune for a male orientated programe auch as sports, action adventure, etc. will see them just yack louder.

The mother passes on the gene that will determine "wedding tackle" size, which in turn, determines if premature baldness will occur. One of natures cases of "swings and roundabouts".

tree's get the most of the raw material for growth (mainly carbon) from the air.

you strip the electrons off and you are left with the nucleus made up of neutrons, and protons

[Bonk]

We need a chemist in here . 

I am a chemist. My original response is still correct.

3.  The speed of light is constant.  - False - it also changes speed due to medium

I don't agree with this. Since light will go back to it's "natural" speed after leaving the medium, it is time that changed not the speed of the light.

No relativity is involved in refraction.

[Corbomite]

We need a chemist in here . 

I am a chemist. My original response is still correct.

3.  The speed of light is constant.  - False - it also changes speed due to medium

I don't agree with this. Since light will go back to it's "natural" speed after leaving the medium, it is time that changed not the speed of the light.

No relativity is involved in refraction.

I think there was a physicist a few years ago that said he had proved that light will do whatever it takes to not lose speed, no matter what it was traveling through. Changing light's direction does not imply it slowed down, just that it found the fastest route to your eye (not necessarily a straight line) which may cause an optical illusion. I'll try to find the story.

[Corbomite]

Well I can't find the original story yet (tons of links to "Speed of Light"), but I'll keep looking.


This link at least describes what I'm talking about (of course I have no idea if this guys knows what he's talking about!  )


http://www.wisegeek.com/does-light-always-travel-at-the-same-speed.htm


"...For example, the speed of light through air is very close to the speed of light in a vacuum. Depending on how dense the transparent media is, it can slow light to a greater or lesser degree. Water and glass can slow light to 3/4 and 2/3 of c, respectively. Different wavelengths of light also travel at different speeds through different media. For example, blue light travels a different speed than red light when passing through a prism, causing the two to separate in a process called dispersion.

In reality, the speed of light never actually slows down. It is just delayed as the photons are absorbed and re-emitted by atoms in the intervening space. When a light beam exits a transparent medium into a vacuum, it continues traveling at the same rate as when it originally entered, without any added energy. This shows that slowdown is merely illusory."

[Bonk]

Interesting concept, but it is no illusion:
http://www.europhysicsnews.com/full/26/article1/article1.html

The fact of the matter is that we do not really comprehend electromagnetic radiation yet and the same goes for gravity, we can empirically describe either, but when it comes right down to it, it is all still magic to human perception.

edit: additionally, this paragraph is a tautological non-sequitur

In reality, the speed of light never actually slows down. It is just delayed as the photons are absorbed and re-emitted by atoms in the intervening space. When a light beam exits a transparent medium into a vacuum, it continues traveling at the same rate as when it originally entered, without any added energy. This shows that slowdown is merely illusory."

It never slows down, but it is delayed.... um yeah, I'll have to try that on my supervisor next time I'm late. This shows our lack of understanding of electromagnetic radiation, we do not have the language to describe how it actually works.

At least that is my take from what information I have gathered over the years.

[Dracho]

Enter the heretic

Physicists: Faster-Than-Light Travel Might Be Possible
Thursday, August 14, 2008

By Jeremy Hsu
Space.com

Travel by bubble might seem more appropriate for witches in Oz, but two physicists suggest that a future spaceship could fold a space-time bubble around itself to travel faster than the speed of light.

We're talking about the very distant future, of course.

The idea involves manipulating dark energy — the mysterious force behind the universe's ongoing expansion — to propel a spaceship forward without breaking the laws of physics.

"Think of it like a surfer riding a wave," said Gerald Cleaver, a physicist at Baylor University. "The ship would be pushed by the spatial bubble and the bubble would be traveling faster than the speed of light."

In theory, the universe grew faster than the speed of light for a very short time after the Big Bang, driven by the dark energy that represents about 74 percent of the total mass-energy budget in the universe.

Strange as it sounds, current evidence supports the notion that the fabric of space-time can expand faster than the speed of light, because the reality in which light travels is itself expanding.

Cleaver and Richard Obousy, a Baylor graduate student, tapped the latest idea in string theory to devise how to manipulate dark energy and accelerate a spaceship.

Their notion is based on the Alcubierre drive, which proposes expanding space-time behind the spaceship while also shrinking space-time in front.

String theorists had believed that a total of 10 dimensions exist, including height, width, length and time.

The other six dimensions exist largely as unknowns, but everything is based on hypothetical one-dimensional strings.

A newer theory, called M-theory, suggests that those strings all vibrate in yet another dimension.

Manipulating that additional dimension would alter dark energy in terms of height, width, and length, Cleaver and Obousy theorize.

Such a capability would permit the altering of space-time for a spaceship, taking advantage of dark energy's effect on the universe.

"The dark energy is simultaneously decreased just in front of the ship to decrease (and bring to a stop) the expansion rate of the universe in front of the ship," Cleaver told SPACE.com. "If the dark energy can be made negative directly in front of the ship, then space in front of the ship would locally contract."

This loophole means that the spaceship would not conflict with Einstein's Theory of Relativity, which states that objects accelerating to the speed of light require an infinite amount of energy.

However, the Baylor physicists estimate that manipulating dark energy through the extra dimension requires energy equivalent to the converting the entire mass of Jupiter into pure energy — enough to move a ship measuring roughly 33 feet (10 meters) by 33 feet by 33 feet.

"That is an enormous amount of energy," Cleaver said. "We are still a very long ways off before we could create something to harness that type of energy."

The workaround solution may leave fans of Einstein pleased. But for now, faster-than-light travel remains, like Oz, a pleasant fantasy.

[Dracho]

And more relevant to Bonk's point

Quantum Signals Move at 10,000 Times Speed of Light
Thursday, August 14, 2008

By Charles Q. Choi
Livescience

Strange events that Einstein himself called "spooky" might happen at least 10,000 times the speed of light, according to the latest attempt to understand them.

Atoms, electrons, and the rest of the infinitesimally tiny building blocks of the universe can behave rather bizarrely, going completely against the way life as we normally experience it.

For example, objects can sometimes be said to exist in two or more places at the same time, or spin in opposite directions simultaneously.

One consequence of this murky realm of quantum physics is that objects can get linked together, such that what happens to one instantaneously has an effect on the other, a phenomenon dubbed "quantum entanglement."

This holds true no matter how far apart these objects are from each other.

Einstein rebelled against the notion of quantum entanglement, derisively calling it "spooky action at a distance."

One could instead argue that an entangled object releases an unknown particle or some other signal at high speeds to influence its partner, giving the illusion of a simultaneous reaction.

In the past, experiments have ruled out any suspects for such hidden signals from the realm of classical physics. Still, one exotic possibility remains — that such x-factors instead travel faster than the speed of light.

To investigate this possibility, scientists at Geneva in Switzerland began with entangled pairs of photons, or packets of light.

These pairs were then split up and sent over fiber optic cables provided by Swisscom to stations at two Swiss villages some 11 miles (18 kilometers) apart from each other.

The stations confirmed that each pair of photons had remained entangled — by analyzing one, scientists could predict aspects of its partner.

For any hidden signal to travel from one station to the other in just 300 trillionths of a second — the rapidity at which the stations could accurately detect the photons — any such x-factor had to go at least 10,000 times the speed of light.

As much as Einstein might have disliked the notion of quantum entanglement, he also revealed that signals could not get transmitted faster than light.

Any faster-than-light "spooky action at a distance" is therefore implausible, said researcher Nicolas Gisin, a physicist at the University of Geneva.

Instead, "what's fascinating here is that we see that nature is able to produce events that can manifest themselves at several locations," he said.

In a sense, these instantaneous events "seem to happen from outside space-time, in that it's not a story you can tell within space-time," Gisin told LiveScience. "This is something that an entire community of scientists is already studying very intensively."

Gisin and his colleagues detailed their findings in the August 14 issue of the journal Nature.

[marstone]

It never slows down, but it is delayed.... um yeah, I'll have to try that on my supervisor next time I'm late. This shows our lack of understanding of electromagnetic radiation, we do not have the language to describe how it actually works.

I think the point trying to be made that light doesn't slow down is that it instantly goes back up to speed without added energy, if it truly slowed in the sense we think of it should stay at that speed when leaving the medium as it would have lost some energy when it slowed.  But since it goes back to normal without the added energy shows that maybe it didn't truly slow but took many short turns or such so it traveled a longer path then the straight line, thus seeming to slow down.

[Corbomite]

It never slows down, but it is delayed.... um yeah, I'll have to try that on my supervisor next time I'm late. This shows our lack of understanding of electromagnetic radiation, we do not have the language to describe how it actually works.

I think the point trying to be made that light doesn't slow down is that it instantly goes back up to speed without added energy, if it truly slowed in the sense we think of it should stay at that speed when leaving the medium as it would have lost some energy when it slowed.  But since it goes back to normal without the added energy shows that maybe it didn't truly slow but took many short turns or such so it traveled a longer path then the straight line, thus seeming to slow down.

Exactly. I don't agree with the statement that the photon gets absorbed and then re-emitted. I think that photons that actually hit the nucleus of an atom are absorbed and turned into heat. The ones that pass close without hitting have their trajectory altered by the warp of space by the matter in it, however small. Those photons pass around the nucleus and meet up on the other side when space "straightens out" again. This can be seen in practice now as scientists work on this:


http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/07/01/invisible.cloak/index.html?iref=newssearch


and


http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/08/11/invisibility.cloak.ap/index.html?iref=newssearch

[Panzergranate]

Einstein stated that light had finite speed.... however, folks who don't understand what the word "finite" means often quote the science myth that "nothing is faster than light", which is wrong as this is not what "finite" means.

As for the question as to what does one have if one removes all the electrons from an atom, for a bonus point, can anyone five the scientific name given to this fourth state of matter??

[Corbomite]

Einstein stated that light had finite speed.... however, folks who don't understand what the word "finite" means often quote the science myth that "nothing is faster than light", which is wrong as this is not what "finite" means.

As for the question as to what does one have if one removes all the electrons from an atom, for a bonus point, can anyone five the scientific name given to this fourth state of matter??

Generally the fouth state of matter is called Plasma.

[KBF MalaK]

100% tho I wasn't sure about 3 and 6 but my best guess proved correct. Question #7 "The universe began with a huge explosion" I believe is still being debated but generally accepted as true, and #11 "How long does it take for the Earth to go around the sun?" is so freeking generic I can't imagine anyone getting it wrong- I answered it 'Slightly less than 365 days'.

[marstone]

100% tho I wasn't sure about 3 and 6 but my best guess proved correct. Question #7 "The universe began with a huge explosion" I believe is still being debated but generally accepted as true, and #11 "How long does it take for the Earth to go around the sun?" is so freeking generic I can't imagine anyone getting it wrong- I answered it 'Slightly less than 365 days'.

found this looking for the year we skip a leap year.

Currently, the earth circles the sun in 365.242189 days

[KBF MalaK]

100% tho I wasn't sure about 3 and 6 but my best guess proved correct. Question #7 "The universe began with a huge explosion" I believe is still being debated but generally accepted as true, and #11 "How long does it take for the Earth to go around the sun?" is so freeking generic I can't imagine anyone getting it wrong- I answered it 'Slightly less than 365 days'.

found this looking for the year we skip a leap year.

Currently, the earth circles the sun in 365.242189 days

DOH, I can't believe I typed 'less' when I meant more.

need MORE beer !

[marstone]

100% tho I wasn't sure about 3 and 6 but my best guess proved correct. Question #7 "The universe began with a huge explosion" I believe is still being debated but generally accepted as true, and #11 "How long does it take for the Earth to go around the sun?" is so freeking generic I can't imagine anyone getting it wrong- I answered it 'Slightly less than 365 days'.

found this looking for the year we skip a leap year.

Currently, the earth circles the sun in 365.242189 days

DOH, I can't believe I typed 'less' when I meant more.

need MORE beer !

 

[Panzergranate]

Colour is caused by the eye interpreting the spin rate of a Photon.

A Photon is a ballistic particle, and as with a bullet richcheting off of a hard object, its spin rate is modified. A bullet makes that classic richochet sound which is dependant on what it hits. Bullets bouncing off nickel based armour sound different to brick, concrete or stone.

Anyone who was schooled in and/or understands the physics ballistics will understand that the energy expended by a ballistic object on a target is G=MV(Squared) + spin rate. For those confused by this, try to push a drill bit through wood without turning the drill on.

Unlike a drill, where the source of spin rate energy is supplied, a bullet or Photon is more akin to a spinning top whereby the spin rate is pre-determined from initialisation.

Any contact with another object will "scrub off" some of the spin energy.

In the case with Photons, this change of spin rate is directly related to the colour we see.

The rate of spin of an object can also be described as its frequency and this led to the false belief that light was a wave rather than a particle. However, a recreation of the grating experiment with a jet of fine sand finally nailed the "wave theory" argument firmly into its coffin.

Eyes are marvelous pieces of kit, being able to interpret the spin rate energy of a stream of Photons and convert them into electro-chemical signals to the brain of a creature.

[Death_Merchant]

Unbelievable.....

Simply unbelievable that US educated adults would not get 100% on this.

I should have stayed in academia. Sure looks like one more science faculty member in this country wouldn't hurt....

[Panzergranate]

Hey, 100% of lawyers would fail an honesty test....