Challenger Series: Challenge Questions Flashcards
What TV show is credited with popularizing the verb self-destruct?
Mission: Impossible
The 1960s and 1970s television show Mission: Impossible featured a tape
recording containing sensitive information that typically ended with the statement “This tape will self-destruct in five seconds.” Prior to the show, self-destruct was typically used as an adjective—a self-destruct mechanism, for example.
Who said it? “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward
justice.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr., often used this saying, one version of which had
originally been delivered by Unitarian minister and abolitionist Theodore
Parker in an 1853 sermon. In these words, Dr. King riffed on a message
delivered by American Transcendentalist Theodore Parker: that the “moral
universe” bends toward justice.
Who said it? “When people show you who they are, believe them.”
Oprah Winfrey
This is a piece of wisdom Oprah Winfrey distilled from Maya Angelou, who
had warned against staying in relationships with people once they have
revealed a toxic trait.
Uranium was named after which of the following: a country, a dog, a
planet, or a scientist?
A planet
The planet Uranus was discovered in 1781 by William Herschel. In 1789,
German chemist Martin Klaproth discovered the element uranium and
named it after the newly discovered planet. Neptunium and plutonium are
also named for celestial bodies in our solar system.
Which element is most abundant in both Earth’s crust and the human
body?
Oxygen
Oxygen constitutes nearly half of Earth’s crust and around two-thirds of a
human body’s mass.
Which inventor, who was awarded some 35 patents for electrical
inventions, was known as “the Black Edison?”
Granville T. Woods
Granville T. Woods, who was awarded some 35 patents for electrical
inventions from 1884 to 1890, was known as “the Black Edison.” In 1885 he
patented the “telegraphony,” a device an operator could use to send both
telegraph and voice messages.
This prominent African American abolitionist and businessman
invented new sails and tools that helped ships move faster and more
easily.
James Forten
James Forten began working with his father as a sailmaker at the age of just
eight. He perfected the modern design for a ship’s sail, therefore allowing
ships to maneuver better and maintain higher speeds.
True or False: As early as 1950, it was proposed that computers could
be programmed to acquire abilities rivalling human intelligence, such
as playing chess.
True
The mathematician and engineer Claude Shannon proposed in 1950 that
computers could be programmed to play chess, and he questioned whether
this would mean that a computer could think.
How many zeroes are in a googol?
100
A googol is 10 raised to the power of 100, or 1 with 100 zeros after it.
A googol is defined as the number 1 followed by 100 zeros, which can be
written as 10 raised to the power of 100 (10^100).
True or False: Ralph Baer, the “Father of Videogames” is best known
for his groundbreaking work creating the first video game console, the
Magnavox Odyssey.
True
