Science Trivia Questions

What genetically-inherited disorder [in humans] can prevent death from a common disease?

 

Where are you if a dimension of space, and the dimension of time, have reversed roles?

 

Sickle cell trait (meaning that the person is a carrier of sickle cell, but doesn't have the actual disorder) can prevent death from malaria.

 

What didn't exist in the early 1900s, but now almost everyone [in the developed world] has millions and even billions of them?

 

Sickle cell ...

Oops - already answered!

 

Units of personal digital storage capacity?

 

Hot on the trail but I was thinking in terms of a physical object.

I used to have boxes of them.

 

Name at least one time machine in common use.

Time machine: Any device that affects time.

 

Clock?

 

Haha, I clarified what I meant after you posted.

Great answer though!!!

I mean a device that physically affects time - fundamentally.

 

I think one might argue for GPS in that the system relies on time, and a major component (the satellites) have clocks that run at a different rate than those on earth's surface due to relativity.

In fact, I believe there are corrections made based on the elevation of each satellite, as time is warped by proximity to mass. I think I read that their elevation can vary by as much as 17 miles due to the shape of the orbit.

 

Satellites... but also cars, bicycles, skateboards...

Any machine that enables motion affects the passage of time. Based on pure physics and ignoring any issues with the electrical system, the clocks in your car slow down when you drive, compared to clocks at rest wrt to the road.

 

Hmmm. Boxes of something physical that people in the developed world commonly have millions of, but had none of 100 years ago?

Yikes!

Bits of memory is physical when in your phone, on a cd/tape, thumb drive, etc.

I'll have to keep thinking!

 

Great point! Sneaky in its prevalence!

 

What is memory?

 

Ah - huge hint. Transistors?

That should work. Much more explicitly physical than my previous.

 

What has happened is amazing. Though transistors of this size are still needed where large currents are involved, this is not true for memory and switching in computers.



When I was a kid, all transistors were this big. Now the cutting-edge transistors used in chips are 45 nanometers, which is about half the size of a typical virus; less than 1/1000th the diameter of a human hair, and only 450 times bigger than the smallest atom.

The number of transistors in a typical microprocessor

 

What scientific theory has correctly predicted more than all other theories combined?

 

What common form of transportation gets the equivalent of 300-600 miles per gallon of gas, for one person?

 

Where would you have to locate a wind turbine for generating electrical power, if you want typical wind speeds of 100 - 200 mph?

Note that power goes as the cube of the wind velocity. So if the wind speed is increased 4 times, say from 40 to 160 mph, the power available goes up by a factor of 64.

 

I would guess walking is incredibly efficient compared to gasoline engines.

I doubt wheels really improve on the efficiency of walking. Wheels are great for loads, but ...

 

Question: How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

Answer: As much as the volume of ground a groundhog could grind if a groundhog could grind ground.

 

I always throught a woodchuck would chuck as much wood as a woodchuck could chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood.

 

Packing peanuts?

Of course, I can't see "billions" of them. A few million, yes, if you have a lot of boxes.