Rosebery #12 Flashcards
The name of which ancient city of the Mali Empire has historically been used in Western culture as a metaphor for a mysterious, faraway place?
Timbuktu
In 1928, Alexander Fleming noticed that one of his cultures of staphylococci bacteria had been contaminated by which mould that somehow inhibited their growth?
penicillium
What five-act play in verse by Henrik Ibsen was first performed in 1876, with original music composed by Edvard Grieg?
Peer Gynt
What phrase in social science describes a situation in which individual users acting according to their own self-interest deplete a shared resource, contrary to the common good of all users?
tragedy of the commons
What metric prefix is usually attached to “metre” when describing the size of atomic nuclei?
femto-
What type of radiation is emitted when an excited nucleus returns to its ground state, which often occurs following nuclear reactions such as nuclear fission or fusion?
gamma
What co-discoverer of nuclear fission did not share the Nobel Prize for its discovery with her collaborator, although she later received other honours, including having an element named for her?
(Lise) Meitner
At the time of its dissolution in 1991, what centralized socialist state was the third most populous country and the largest by landmass?
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (or USSR or Soviet Union)
In which former Soviet republic was the Baikonur Cosmodrome, from which the Sputnik and Vostok missions were launched, located?
Kazakh(stan)
What 4-year bloodless revolution led to the restoration of the independence of the Baltic States: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania?
Singing Revolution
At the time of the dissolution of the U.S.S.R. in 1991, how many Soviet Socialist Republics were there (including the occupied Baltic states)?
15
Identify both the superhero alias and the given name of the Marvel character played by Ryan Reynolds in a 2016 movie and its 2018 sequel.
Deadpool and Wade Wilson
What extinct group of marine molluscs, commonly found in the fossil record, are more closely related to octopuses and squid than to the nautilus that they superficially resemble?
ammonite(s)
Glyptodonts were a subfamily of megafauna, native to the Americas, most closely related to which smaller and more lightly armored surviving species of mammals?
armadillo(s)
Which order of marine reptiles has come to be identified with the Monster of Loch Ness even though the order went extinct 65 million year ago?
Plesiosaur(ia)
What is the the colloquial name for the phorusrhacids, the large carnivorous flightless birds that were the largest species of apex predators in South America during the Cenozoic era?
terror birds
The song “Piano Man” is often considered the signature song of which artist?
Billy Joel
The song “Dancing Queen” is often considered the signature song of which group?
ABBA
The song “Before He Cheats” is often considered the signature song of which artist?
Carrie Underwood
The song “Mr. Brightside” is often considered the signature song of which group?
The Killers
The song “Hotel California” is often considered the signature song of which group?
The Eagles
The song “. . . Baby One More Time” is often considered the signature song of which artist?
Britney Spears
The song “Smells Like Teen Spirit” is often considered the signature song of which group?
Nirvana
The song “Radioactive” is often considered the signature song of which group?
Imagine Dragons
For which U.S. state was Hillary Clinton a senator, from 2001 to 2009?
New York
In 1780, which Italian physician and physicist discovered that the muscles of dead frogs’ legs twitch when stimulated by an electrical spark?
Luigi Galvani
What creature was adopted as Scotland’s national animal by King Robert in the late 1300s and today appears on the right side of the royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom?
unicorn
What 20th century Dutch painter eventually limited himself to painting only in red, blue, yellow, black, white and gray and only along horizontal and vertical lines?
Piet Mondrian
SNOLAB, the underground physics laboratory in Sudbury, had its beginnings in the SNO experiments designed to detect which fundamental particles?
neutrino(s)
What term is used to describe a manmade stone landmark or cairn used by the Inuit and other peoples of the Arctic region of North America?
inukshuk
What is the sum of the complementary angle of and the supplementary angle of 60 degrees?
150 degrees
What was the first modern African republic to declare its independence, in 1847, following its beginnings as a settlement of freed and free-born black people from the United States?
Liberia
Which Renaissance artist sculpted the Bronze David, the first large-scale free-standing nude statue sculpted since antiquity?
Donatello
hich sculpture, created by sculptor Paul Landowski and built by engineer Heitor da Silva Costa, stands on Mount Corcovado overlooking Rio de Janeiro, Brazil?
Christ the Redeemer
The Mannekin Pis, sculpted by Hieronymus Duquesnoy the Elder, is one of the most famous attractions of which city in Belgium?
Brussels