THE SOUTHWORTH PLANETARIUM 207-780-4249 www.usm.maine.edu/planet 70 Falmouth Street Portland, Maine 04103 43.6667° N, 70.2667° W Founded January 1970 "We'll leave the night on for you." THE DAILY ASTRONOMER Friday, January 8, 2016 Quiz: Brain of Portland 2016 Part I Well, we are absolutely galvanized with excitement because, after long months of waiting, the next season of BBC Radio 4's "Brain of Britain" begins on Monday, January 11th. For the benefit of those who've just boarded our train, "Brain of Britain" is a general knowledge quiz that can include questions about, well, anything: mythology, mathematics, geography, history, science, astronomy (which is sort of like a science, we guess), philosophy, literature, art, classical music, news events, and any other intellectual pursuit. In honor of this show, we devised our own version "Brain of Portland." Throughout the year, we offer a few of these quizzes. Each quiz contains more questions than the one preceding it. All these quizzes lead up to the ultimate 200 question "Brain of Brains" quiz that will post the first Friday in August. (The DA school year slams to a close in early August.) We started this "Brain of Portland" quiz last year and during the ensuing months have modified the format somewhat. Initially, we just posted the questions without including choices to make it more challenging (i.e. because we're lazy sods who will use any excuse to get out of work). We also meshed all the questions together in one long string. Now, we divide the questions into 10-question segments so a player needn't have to scroll down half a mile to access the answers. We did post a Brain of Portland quiz earlier this academic year, but since we all enjoyed that prolonged hiatus, we're beginning again with the first "Brain of Portland" quiz. It will contain 20 questions! We hope you enjoy these quizzes as much as we enjoy crafting them! SECTION I QUESTIONS 1. "Ill met by moonlight, proud Titania" were the first words spoken by which character in Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream?" a. Robin Goodfellow b. Oberon c. Titania 2. A Stop sign* is shaped like a regular octagon. What is the sum of the interior angles within any Stop sign? a. 360 degrees b. 720 degrees c. 1080 degrees 3. Who composed the opera "L'oracolo in Messenia?" a. Vivaldi b. Rossini c. Handel 4. Four chemical elements were recently added to the Periodic Table of the Elements. What is now the highest atomic number that appears on the Periodic Table? a. 117 b. 118 c. 120 5. Which planet was once known as "Eosphorus," the 'Dawn star?' a. Venus b. Mercury c. Mars 6. Which play by George Bernard Shaw was the only one to have been set in America? a. Man and Superman b. The Devil's Disciple c. Mrs Warren's Profession 7. The Oresund Strait separates which two countries? a. Madagascar and Mozambique b. England and Ireland c. Denmark and Sweden 8. Symbols from which language were imprinted on The Stela of Samontu? a. Cuneiform b. Egyptian Hieroglyphics c. Sanskrit 9. If Sam is twice as old as Lilah is now, but eight years ago was four times older than Lilah, how old is Lilah now? a. 12 b. 20 c. 24 10. German philosopher Leibniz referred to which English philosopher as "that profoundest examiner of basic principles in all matters?" a. Isaac Newton b. Thomas Hobbes c. John Locke *Stop Sign: If you're a Portland motorist and therefore uncertain about these objects and their purpose, please refer to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_sign SECTION I ANSWERS 1. b. Oberon 2. c. 1080 degrees To calculate the sum of the interior angles within any polygon, use the formula (n-2) x 180 degrees. n = number of sides. An octagon has eight sides, so the sum of its interior angles is (8-2) x 180 = 6 x 180 = 1080 degrees. 3. a. Vivaldi Composed in 1738 4. b.118 An official name has not yet been adopted for this element 5. a. Venus 6. b. The Devil's Disciple (It was set in Revolutinary War era New Hampshire) 7. c. Denmark and Sweden 8. Egyptian Hieroglyphics 9. a. 12 10. b. Thomas Hobbes SECTION II QUESTIONS 11. The Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, a designated World Heritage Site, is shared by Canada and which American state? a. Montana b. North Dakota c. Washington 12. Which character from the Arthurian legends had an encounter with the Green Knight? a. Sir Lancelot b. Sir Galahad c. Sir Gawain 13. Who painted "The Plum Estate?" a. Ando Hiroshige b. Jan Vermeer c. Claude Monet 14. On this day (Jan 8) in history, which American President delivered his "Fourteen Points" speech? a. Franklin Delano Roosevelt b. Woodrow Wilson c. Dwight Eisenhauer 15. You have a jar containing a small amount of bacteria. The bacteria number doubles every minute. Exactly an hour after receiving the jar, it is full of bacteria. How long after you received the jar was it half full of bacteria? a. 30 minutes b. 45 minutes c. 59 minutes 16. About 250 cities around the world have been designated as World Heritage cities. As of now, only one US city is a World Heritage City. Which city is it? a. Boston b. Philadelphia c. St. Augustine, Florida 17. Betelgeuse, Sirius and which star comprise the "Winter Triangle?" a. Procyon b. Polaris c. Alnilam 18. A block sliding down an incline plane is impeded by which type of friction? a. static friction b. kinetic friction c. rolling friction 19. When Paris was instructed to select the most beautiful goddess of three competitors, which goddess did he choose? a. Athena b. Hera c. Aphrodite 20. What is the largest city in the tropics? a. Sao Paulo, Brazil b. Mexico City, Mexico c. Manila, Philippines SECTION II ANSWERS 11. a. Montana 12. c. Sir Gawain 13. a. Ando Hiroshige 14. b. Woodrow Wilson (1918) 15. c. 59 minutes 16. b. Philadelphia 17. a. Procyon 18. b. kinetic friction 19. c. Aphrodite Aphrodite curried Paris' favour by offering him the most beautiful woman in the world. He chose Helen of Troy for his bride. She, alas, was already betrothed, which necessitated her abduction that then precipitated the Trojan War 20. a. Sao Paulo, Brazil Quiz written by Edward Gleason Manager, Southworth Planetarium