Q 01/05

Which physicist explained in 1926 why stirred tea leaves collect at the centre of the cup?

A) Niels Bohr

B) Albert Einstein

C) Max Planck

D) Erwin Schrödinger

Answer · why

B) Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein solved the tea leaf paradox in a paper about how rivers erode their banks. Friction slows the liquid near the bottom, setting up a sec...

Q 02/05

Oobleck, a cornstarch goo that stiffens when hit, takes its name from a book by which author?

A) Roald Dahl

B) Maurice Sendak

C) Dr. Seuss

D) Shel Silverstein

Answer · why

C) Dr. Seuss

Dr. Seuss invented the word for his 1949 book Bartholomew and the Oobleck, in which a sticky green substance falls from the sky. The real mixture acts...

Q 03/05

Which sticky sweetener burst from a Boston storage tank in 1919 and swept the streets as a deadly wave?

A) Maple syrup

B) Corn syrup

C) Caramel

D) Molasses

Answer · why

D) Molasses

Molasses weighing about 13,000 tons surged through the North End at an estimated 35 miles per hour, killing 21 people. The tank that burst stood 50 fe...

Q 04/05

Which shear-thinning hazard of adventure films is too dense for a human body to sink into fully?

A) Quicksand

B) Peat bog

C) Whirlpool

D) Deep snow

Answer · why

A) Quicksand

Quicksand is about twice as dense as the human body, so a trapped person cannot sink much beyond the waist. The real dangers are exposure and a rising...

Q 05/05

Which bubble effect lets the pistol shrimp stun prey and also wears away fast-spinning ship propellers?

A) Cavitation

B) Convection

C) Condensation

D) Effervescence

Answer · why

A) Cavitation

Cavitation occurs when low pressure opens vapour bubbles that then implode with a shock wave. The shrimp's snapping claw fires a bubble at about 90 km...