Q 01/05

Geosmin, the compound behind the earthy taste of beets, also creates which familiar outdoor smell?

A) A freshly mown lawn

B) Rain on dry ground

C) A struck match

D) Salty sea air

Answer · why

B) Rain on dry ground

Rain on dry ground stirs up geosmin too, part of the scent known as petrichor. Human noses are so sensitive to it that a few parts per trillion are en...

Q 02/05

Which character in the American sitcom The Office runs a 60-acre beet farm with his cousin Mose?

A) Michael Scott

B) Stanley Hudson

C) Dwight Schrute

D) Darryl Philbin

Answer · why

C) Dwight Schrute

Dwight Schrute sells his beets to local shops, restaurants and beet stands. The family farmhouse has nine bedrooms and a single bathroom, tucked under...

Q 03/05

For roughly one person in ten, eating beets harmlessly turns which bodily fluid pink or red?

A) Sweat

B) Tears

C) Saliva

D) Urine

Answer · why

D) Urine

Urine turns pink because betanin, the red beet pigment, can pass through the body without being broken down. Doctors call it beeturia, and it is more ...

Q 04/05

In which country is a slice of pickled beet a traditional hamburger topping, alongside pineapple and fried egg?

A) Australia

B) Canada

C) South Africa

D) Ireland

Answer · why

A) Australia

Australia's takeaway burgers usually come with sliced beet, and one with every extra is known as a burger with the lot. New Zealand burgers carry beet...

Q 05/05

Which French ruler toured a pioneering beet sugar refinery when wartime blockades had cut off cane sugar?

A) Louis XIV

B) Napoleon I

C) Louis XVI

D) Charles de Gaulle

Answer · why

B) Napoleon I

Napoleon I visited Benjamin Delessert's refinery, and Delessert received the Légion d'honneur for his beet sugar. By 1880 beets supplied more than hal...