General knowledge from all books and reads

Question 1

Greenhouse gasses are the main contributors of global warming. What are the main gasses and how are they produced.

Answer 1

The main green house gasses are c02, methane and nitrous oxide.
C02 is produced through burning of fossil fuels. Methane through livestock, rice cultivation where flooded paddy fields create the anerobic conditions for methane producing bacteria to florish. The bacteria breakdown organic material in the soil and release methane as a bi product. Food in landfills also decompose and escape into atmospyhere as methane. In landfills you could capture the methane and use it as a fuel source. Nitrous oxide is a bi product through the fertiliser industry.

Question 2

When artic warms, it causes jet streams (fast movign air) to influence weather patterns to become more erratic and can cause colder temperaturs.

Question 3

Ice ages are caused by earhts orbit changes and solar radiation.

Question 4

Whilst C02 is the most abundant of the greenhouse gasses accounting for 2/3 of emissions (thanks to cement and fuel consumption). How much more effective is methane and nitrous oxide?

Answer 4

methane is 20 times more affective at trapping heat so is just as bad. Nitrous oxide is a 100 times worse at trapping.

Question 5

Turbines is a machine used to generate electricity from sources susch as water, steam and wind. How does it work?

Answer 5

The turbine converts the energy of a moving fluid into mechanical energy which is then used to turn a generator to produce electricity.

Question 6

Even though an electric car maybe made through burning of fossil fuels (for electricity generation), the cars are still more energy erfficient that the general cars and they produce less emissions in the tailpipe.

Answer 6

According to studies even the dirtiest electric grids in the US, electric cars still produce less global warming emissions than gas powered cars.

Question 7

What caused the financial crisis of 2018

Answer 7

The global financial crisis of 2008 was triggered by a boom in the housing market which led to a high demand and high prices and lenders to meet the demand started issuing a lot of subprime mortgages. These mortgages were bundled with other mortgages and sold as a security to investers and was called mortgage backed securities. The lenders (banks and mortgage companies) would sell these mortgage loans to investment banks who would bundle them together and sell it as a security. As more and more people began to fail on their mortgage payments the loans collapsed which dmagaed banks and had a ripple effect on the economy leading to a recession

Question 8

What is tokenism?

Answer 8

Tokenism refers to the practice of making symbolic gestures of inclusion and diversity without actually taking any meaningful steps towards true equality or diversity. In other words it involves making appearances. You’d really want to avoid creating this perception of tokenism. Tokenism is not limited to just diversity and inclusion. Politicians can make tokenistic promises

Question 9

What is Racism?

Answer 9

Racisim is excluding or unfairly treating someone purely on the basis of the color of their skin. It is a form of prejudice. Prejudice on the other hand is not limited to just race but can be on several basis, such as gender, intelligence, race, religion, sexual orientation. Agesim or racisim are forms of prejudice.

Question 10

Explain what leads to a reduction of the Ph level in oceans

Answer 10

When carbon dioxide (CO2) is released into the atmosphere, it can dissolve into the ocean, where it reacts with water molecules to form carbonic acid. This increase in carbonic acid then leads to a decrease in the pH level of seawater, making it more acidic.
The ocean plays an important role in regulating the Earth’s climate by absorbing about one-third of the carbon dioxide emitted by human activities. However, this absorption comes at a cost, as it leads to a decrease in pH levels and a shift towards acidity.

Question 11

Consequences of ocean acidification?

Answer 11

Ocean acidification can have severe consequences for marine life, especially organisms such as corals and shellfish that build their shells and skeletons from calcium carbonate. The increased acidity of ocean water makes it more difficult for these organisms to form and maintain their shells, which can ultimately lead to their death. Additionally, changes in the chemical balance of seawater can have cascading effects on the entire food chain, impacting the survival of species from plankton to larger fish and marine mammals.

Question 12

Facebook, meta and google own a big chunk of underwater/submarine cabling. Over the next few years its expected that 30% of worldwide investment will be coming from them

Question 13

How is green hydrogen made?

Answer 13

Green hydrogen is made through a process of electrolysis whereby water is split into hydrogen and oxygen using energy sources that are renewable such as wind and solar. Requires a lot of electricity so its expensive.

Question 14

How is blue hydrogen made? What is the process called

Answer 14

Blue hydrogen is produced through a process called steam methane reforming which seperates hydrogen from natural gas. However this process produces carbon dioxide which is a green house gas. It is considered blue because the carbon dioxide can be captured through methods such as carbon capture and is stored underground.
The process for steam methane reforming is steam reacts with CH4 to produce hydrogen and co. Then more steam reacts and C0 turns to C02.

Question 15

Hydorgen is being considered to be mixed with natural gas before bringing it into our homes. This would be a slightly better environmental option.
Additionally homes need to have good insulation for heat pumps to provide heating and heat pumps are a lot more expensive too. So Hydrogen and natural gas mixture is a good alternative.

Question 16

What type of hydogen is produced mostly today?

Answer 16

Most hydrogen produced today is grey hyrdrogen which is used for oil and gas refinement and ammonia production.

Question 17

Developed by the Greek philosopher, Socrates, the Socratic Method is a dialogue between teacher and students, instigated by the continual probing questions of the teacher, in a concerted effort to explore the underlying beliefs that shape the students views and opinions

Question 18

Explain phtosynthesis

Answer 18

Photosynthes is the process by which plants absorb sunlight and CO2 to produce glucose and oxygen. Both essential for life on earth. They do so through clorophyl, A compound in green plants, which allows them to absorb the light. They are also good at absorbing blue and red light and not green and that is why plants look green to us.

Question 19

Stability AI is open source. Open AI started by Sam Altman and Elon musk was with the intention that AI is too powerful to be in the hands of corporate and so to have it open but it has been less so since then

Question 20

Why do elevators have mirrors outside?

Answer 20

Elevators have mirrors outside so that it makes people more patient. Anecdote of calling engineers to make a fast elevator to reduce waiting time. Realised you don’t need to reduce waiting time, you just need to make the people more patient.
Similarly why airports make you walk all this distance whilst your luggage is coming to keep you patient.

Question 21

Elaborate on quantum mechanics

Answer 21

Quantum mechanics is the branch of physics that deals with the behavior of particles at the subatomic level, such as electrons, quarks, and photons.
One of the key principles of quantum mechanics is superposition, which is the idea that a particle can exist in multiple states simultaneously. This concept is often explained using the metaphor of Schrödinger’s Cat, which can be considered both alive and dead until it is observed.
Another important principle is quantum entanglement. This is a phenomenon where two particles become interconnected in such a way that the state of one instantly influences the state of the other, regardless of the distance between them.
- The principles of quantum mechanics have several potential applications in technology:
- Quantum Teleportation: This involves transferring the state of a particle to another particle, which has been achieved experimentally with particles like photons and atoms.
- Quantum Computing: Using principles like superposition and entanglement, quantum computers could perform calculations at speeds unattainable by classical computers. This could revolutionize fields like cryptography, complex system modeling, and material science.
- Quantum Communication: By using entangled particles, ultra-secure communications could be developed where any eavesdropping would be detectable due to changes in the particles’ states.
- Miniaturization: Quantum technologies could potentially lead to the development of smaller, more efficient devices.

Question 22

What is a plutocrat

Answer 22

plutocrat is when your power originates from your wealth

Question 23

Delineate the whale oil industry

Answer 23

In the 18th and 19th centuries, whale oil, particularly from sperm whales, was widely used in lamps for lighting. It burned brighter and cleaner (i.e., produced less smoke and odor) than other animal fats, making it a popular choice for indoor lighting. It was also used as an ingredient in soap, and for industrial lubricants, among other applications.
This demand for whale oil resulted in a substantial increase in commercial whaling activities, which indeed led to significant reductions in whale populations around the world. Whaling was a major industry in the 19th century, particularly in the U.S., where cities like New Bedford and Nantucket in Massachusetts were centers of the whaling industry.
The introduction of petroleum products, such as kerosene, in the mid-19th century began to replace whale oil for lighting and other uses. Kerosene was cheaper, more plentiful, and easier to produce than whale oil, making it a better choice economically. The discovery of oil fields in Pennsylvania in the late 1850s and subsequent developments in refining crude oil into usable products spurred this shift away from whale oil.

Commercial whaling continued into the 20th century for other products, such as whalebone (used in corsets and other clothing items) and later for whale meat.
It was only in the latter part of the 20th century that international agreements were established to protect whales and regulate whaling, due to the recognition of the threat it posed to the survival of many whale species.

Question 24

What is the natural gas and coal debate?

Answer 24

In terms of combustion, natural gas is cleaner than coal. When burned, natural gas releases about half the amount of carbon dioxide that coal does, along with smaller quantities of other pollutants. It is also highly efficient for energy production. For these reasons, natural gas is often promoted as a ‘bridge’ fuel in the transition from high-carbon energy sources like coal to renewable energy.
However, there is a significant issue with natural gas: methane leakage. Methane is the primary component of natural gas, and it is a potent greenhouse gas – over a 20-year period, it is over 80 times more potent at trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
While estimates of the extent of methane leakage vary, some studies suggest that if leakage exceeds a certain threshold (estimates vary from about 2% to 3.2%), the immediate climate impact of natural gas could be worse than that of coal.
Gas-fired power plants can be ramped up and down relatively quickly to match energy demand, making them a good complement to intermittent renewable energy sources like wind and solar.

Question 25

Why does the ocean appear blue

Answer 25

The ocean often appears blue because water molecules absorb colors in the red part of the light spectrum more strongly than those in the blue part of the spectrum. Blue light is thus reflected back to our eyes.

Question 26

What amount of heat and carbon dioxide does the ocean absorb

Answer 26

In terms of heat, the ocean absorbs about 90% of the excess heat trapped by greenhouse gases. This helps moderate global warming, but also leads to sea level rise and changes in ocean currents and weather patterns.

In terms of carbon dioxide, the ocean absorbs about a quarter of the CO2 humans release into the atmosphere, again helping to moderate global warming, but leading to ocean acidification, which poses a threat to marine life, particularly shell-forming organisms and coral reefs.

Question 27

What is the stratosphere? What are the other 2 layers called?

Answer 27

Stratosphere is the second major layer of Earth’s atmosphere, just above the troposphere, and below the mesosphere. The stratosphere extends from about 10 to 50 kilometers (6 to 31 miles) above the Earth’s surface.

Question 28

Delineate the impact of volcanic erruptions on the atmosphere

Answer 28

Volcanic eruptions can have significant effects on the Earth’s atmosphere and climate. During a large eruption, a volcano can eject a massive amount of material, including gas and ash, into the atmosphere. While some of this material remains in the lower part of the atmosphere (the troposphere), major eruptions can push some of it into the stratosphere.
The two main volcanic gases that reach the stratosphere are water vapor and sulfur dioxide. Once in the stratosphere, sulfur dioxide can react with water to form sulfuric acid droplets, creating what is known as a volcanic aerosol layer. This layer can persist in the stratosphere for a couple of years before eventually falling back to Earth.
This volcanic aerosol layer has the ability to reflect sunlight back into space, which can lead to a cooling effect on the Earth’s surface. A notable example of this was the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines, which resulted in a significant amount of material reaching the stratosphere and caused a global temperature decrease by about 0.5°C (0.9°F) over the following year.

Question 29

What do you call a government which is part dictatorship and part democracy

Answer 29

Anocracy

Question 30

What are Semitic languages?

Answer 30

The term “Semitic” originates from Shem, one of the sons of Noah mentioned in the Bible, who is believed to be the ancestor of various ancient Middle Eastern peoples. The Semitic language family includes several major languages, such as Hebrew, Arabic, Amharic, Aramaic, and Phoenician, among others. These languages are characterized by certain linguistic features and share common roots, although they have evolved over time and developed distinct dialects and scripts.
Semitic-speaking civilizations include the ancient Mesopotamians (who spoke Akkadian), the ancient Hebrews, the Phoenicians, the Carthaginians, the Nabateans, and the ancient Arabs.
These civilizations have left lasting legacies in areas such as religious texts (e.g., the Hebrew Bible, the Quran), ancient myths and epics (e.g., the Epic of Gilgamesh), legal codes (e.g., the Code of Hammurabi), monumental architecture (e.g., the ruins of Palmyra), and trade networks (e.g., the Phoenician maritime trade).

Question 31

Mary Shelley

Answer 31

Mary Shelley wrote the novel Frankeinstein which in an interesting way might be the first depictions of modern day AI. Electricity as a force at the time was poorly understood and not in any real use in a practical way. Victor Frankeinstein had to leave his monster to be self taught. Which again is interesting as women at the time had to teach themselves mathematics, latin, greek and natural sciences. All the masculine subjects because it was assumed women didn’t have the brains for concentrated study and too much study would make them go crazy. Frankeinstein is originally supposed to be like us but it doesnt turn out that way. Is there something to be taken from this?

Question 32

Lord Byron, Ada lovelace and Charles Babbage

Answer 32

Lord Byron one of the greatest english poets was also the father of Ada lovelace one of the pioneers for applications of calculations in machines.
At 17 Ada was invited to a party at the house of charles babbage. Babbage had persuaded the government 17k (17M) pounds to make his difference engine. This was a crank handled adding machine designed to calculate and print the logarithmic tables used by enginneers, sailers, builders etc. His idea was to mechanise repetitive work. Babbage was a professor of mathematics at Cambridge university.
A working section of Babbages difference engine was on display in his drawing room (you can see this in the science museum in london). Ada was fascinated by it. They started exchanging letters. That year he put together a new calculator which was called the analytical engine and this was the worlds first non human computer (even though it was never built).

Question 33

The analytical Engine

Answer 33

The Analytical Engine was to be a general-purpose, fully program-controlled, automatic mechanical digital computer. It would be able to perform any calculation set before it. There is no evidence that anyone before Babbage had ever conceived of such a device, let alone attempted to build one. The machine was designed to consist of four components: the mill, the store, the reader, and the printer. These components are the essential components of every computer today. The mill was the calculating unit, analogous to the central processing unit (CPU) in a modern computer; the store was where data were held prior to processing, exactly analogous to memory and storage in today’s computers; and the reader and printer were the input and output devices.
Data (numbers) were to be entered on punched cards, using the card-reading technology of the Jacquard loom. Instructions were also to be entered on cards, another idea taken directly from Joseph-Marie Jacquard. The use of instruction cards would make it a programmable device and far more flexible than any machine then in existence. (In 1843 mathematician Ada Lovelace wrote in her notes for a translation of a French article about the Analytical Engine how the machine could be used to follow a program to calculate Bernoulli numbers. For this, she has been called the first computer programmer.)

Question 34

A tabulating machine

Answer 34

A tabulating machine is an early kind of mechanical computer used for counting and sorting information. It was invented by Herman Hollerith for use in the 1890 U.S. Census, and it dramatically sped up the process of analyzing census data.
The machine worked by reading data that had been punched into cards, known as punch cards. Each card represented a single record, and the positions of the holes in the card represented different pieces of information about that record.
Here’s an example: Let’s say you were using a punch card system to keep track of a city’s population. Each card might represent one person. A hole punched in one position could mean the person is male, while a hole in another position could mean the person is female. Other positions could represent different ages, occupations, or birthplaces.
The tabulating machine would then read these cards by passing them over a set of pins. Wherever there was a hole, a pin would go through and complete an electrical circuit, which the machine would count. In this way, you could quickly count how many males or females there were, how many people were of certain ages, and so on.
By sorting and re-sorting the cards based on different hole positions, the machine could also group the data in various ways. This allowed statisticians to quickly analyze large amounts of data in a variety of ways.
Punch card systems were widely used in the early to mid-20th century for a variety of data processing tasks, from scientific research to business administration. They were the main method of input for computers until the mid-1970s, when they were largely replaced by more modern forms of data storage and input. Hollerith’s Tabulating Machine Company later became part of IBM, which played a crucial role in the development of modern computing

Question 35

Solid-state drives (SSDs)

Answer 35

Solid-state drives (SSDs) store data using a type of non-volatile memory known as NAND flash memory. Unlike volatile memory (such as the RAM in a computer), non-volatile memory does not lose its information when power is removed. This makes it suitable for long-term storage of data.

The basic storage unit of an SSD is the flash memory cell, which can store one or more bits of information. Each cell consists of a transistor with a floating gate that can hold a charge. The presence or absence of this charge represents different states, which the SSD controller interprets as binary data (1s and 0s).

Question 36

Alan Turing

Answer 36

Alan Turing the british mathematician who designed the engima code breaking machine was interested in whether a computer could originate as well as learn independantly of human input. The 1950 turing test is a machines ability to appear to humans as equivalent to or indistinguishable from other humans. Google says google duplex has already passed this test (at least when booking an appointment for you). Turing thought machine intelligence would have exceeded ours by 2000 (that has not happened yet but we are getting close).