This is going to be a weekly quiz on topics from Science and Mathematics. Every week, we will upload 5 questions. The answers to those questions will be uploaded in a week. You can try and answer them in the comments section and later match your answers with the correct ones. While answering questions, try and also mention your name, if not via an account, then at the end of your comment. Answers without names will be removed.
Set 3:
1) X was at the centre of two unrelated controversies involving the politics for selecting the winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics. The first came when the 1974 prize went, in part, to Antony Hewish for his leading role in the discovery of pulsars. Promptly X made an off-the-cuff remark to a reporter in Montreal that "Yes, Jocelyn Bell was the actual discoverer, not Hewish, who was her supervisor, so she should have been included." This remark received widespread international coverage.
The second controversy came when the 1983 prize went in part to William Alfred Fowler "for his theoretical and experimental studies of the nuclear reactions of importance in the formation of the chemical elements in the universe." The controversy arose because X had been the inventor of the theory of Y in the stars with two research papers published shortly after WWII. So some suspicion arose that X was denied the third share of this prize because of his earlier public disagreement with the 1974 award. British scientist Harry Kroto later said that the Nobel Prize is not just an award for a piece of work, but a recognition of a scientist's overall reputation and X's championing many disreputable and disproven ideas may have invalidated him.
Give X and Y.
(Question by Rudra, II Physics)
2) X is perhaps one of the few physicists known well to chemistry students. In 1958, X fell ill with pancreatic cancer. When his last assistant, Charles Enz, visited him at the hospital, X asked him, "Did you see the room number?" It was number Y. Up until his death X had been preoccupied with the question of why the fine structure constant, a dimensionless fundamental constant to characterizing the strength of the electromagnetic interaction between elementary charged particles, has a value nearly equal to 1/Y independent of the system of units used. X died in that room on 15 December 1958.
Give X,Y.
(Question by Rahul, II Physics)
3) X is a weather phenomenon in which luminous plasma is created by a corona discharge from a sharp or pointed object in a strong electric field in the atmosphere (such as those generated by thunderstorms). The electric field around the object in question causes ionization of the air molecules, producing a faint glow easily visible in low-light conditions. Russian sailors have seen it throughout the years. To them, it is "Saint Nicholas" or "Saint Peter's lights". X is named after the patron saint of sailors. The phenomenon sometimes appeared on ships at sea during thunderstorms and was regarded by sailors with religious awe for its glowing ball of light, accounting for the name. Give X.
(Question by Rahul, II Physics)
4)X says it's created the lightest metal ever, a microlattice material which it describes as 99.99% air. Weight savings are crucially important in the industry this company operates in. The microlattice looks like a sponge or a mesh, and is simultaneously flexible and very strong, according to X. X describes the new microlattice as an "open cellular polymer structure." The main use of the material would be structural components, such as sidewall or floor panels.
Which company is X?
(Question by Adis, II Physics)
5) Y came up with its food product X which turned out to be the same as one of the subatomic particles discovered lately. X combines the words 'new,' 'nutrition' and Z, with the added element of unbelievable speed. This delicious breakfast treat was aimed at inspiring a new generation of scientists. Here's a cartoon in which the Yellow part stands for X.
Give X, Y, Z. (Hint Z is also a product of Y)
(Question by Chaitanya, II Physics)
Answers for Set 2:
1) Cherenkov radiation.
2) Hair.
3) Imaginary counterpart.
4) Dyson.
5) The structure of benzene discovered by Kekule.
A
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