| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| William Ferrel proposed that this phenomenon deflected air to create prevailing westerly winds. This phenomenon which occurs relative to an inertial frame is far to small to affect the draining of water in toilets, contrary to popular myth. For the point, name this phenomenon responsible for the counterclockwise rotation in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise rotation in Southern Hemisphere of hurricaines. | Coriolis Effect |
| In 1974, this procedure was originated by Frank Jobe, who who became the subject of a documentary in the 30 for 30 series. A portion of the medial elbow is replaced in this procedure, which sees a replacement tendon from another part of the body often used. This procedure, formally known as ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, was developed in the employ of the Los Angeles Dodgers. For the point, name this surgery named for a baseball pitcher. | Tommy John Surgery (accept Ulnar Collateral Ligament Reconstruction or UCL before "ulnar" is mentioned) |
| In 1957 the B.F. Goodrich Company patented a conveyor belt with this shape, which only has one edge and one side. This simplest non-orientable surface can be constructed by giving a segment of paper a half-twist and linking the ends together. Johann Benedict Listing co-discovered this shape, in which two of these shapes can be created by cutting a Klein bottle in half. For the point, name this “strip” named for a German mathematician. | Möbius Strip (or Möbius Band; or Möbius Loop; prompt on “Twisted Cylinder”) |
| In the early nineteenth-century a spot sometimes named for Poisson was central to proving this theory, which was confirmed by an 1920s experiment which involved a nickel target. The aforementioned experiment carried out by Davisson and Germer confirmed this theory, which was promoted by Louis de Broglie. Considered an example of complementarity, this is, for the point, what quantum mechanical theory claiming that entities have two natures? | Wave-particle Duality (accept Particles behave as waves or vice-versa; accept de Broglie Hypothesis before "de Broglie" is mentioned) |
| In 2015, this company announced that it would buy Alcatel–Lucent S.A. for 15.6 billion euros. Originally, this company was founded as a combined venture with the German company, Siemens, before it bought the latter's shares. Surpassing Motorola to become the leading seller of mobile phones in 1998, this is, for the point, what Finnish electronics and telecommunications company known for its widely recognized ringtone? | Nokia Corporation (or Nokia Abp; or Nokia Oyj; accept NSN; accept Nokia Siemens Networks) |
| This element is placed inside a petri dish during a starch hydrolysis test to determine if test microbes can break down starch into maltose. A deficiency of this least reactive halogen may lead to the presence of a goiter, which is caused by an underactive thyroid. For the point, name this chemical element that is easily attained in one's diet through the consumption of table salt. | Iodine (or I) |
| This group of organisms includes an example called Haloquadratum walsbyi. This group of organisms is one of the two classified from the breakup of Monera. The specimens of this group of organisms were first discovered as extremophiles, living in places such as the Grand Prismatic Spring of Yellowstone. For the point, name this group of organisms which, with bacteria, are one of the two prokaryotic kingdoms. | Archaea (or Archaeon; or Archaebacteria) |
| Booster bags are among the items that often serve as one of these eponymous objects. Wallets can act as one of these objects to prevent a form of "skimming" that can steal payment information with contactless cards. RF receivers are among the items often protected by these objects sometimes known as their namesake's "shields." For the point, name these devices that serve as barriers against electromagnetic fields. | Faraday Cage (or Faraday Shield) |
| This problem can be solved in exponential time by both the Held-Karp and the Christophides algorithms. One greedy but suboptimal approach to this problem uses the nearest neighbors algorithm. This NP-hard problem is equivalent to finding the minimum weight Hamiltonian cycle on a graph. For the point, name this optimization problem which seeks the shortest path to visit each of a group of cities on a map exactly once. | Travelling Salesman Problem (or Travelling Salesperson Problem; or TSP; accept Hamiltonian Path Problem; accept Hamiltonian Cycle Problem) |
| This institution was chosen by George Ellery Hale to administer his namesake telescope at the Palomar Observatory, which remained the largest telescope in the world for over 25 years. This institution, which is closely affiliated with the Mount Wilson Observatory, was the site where The Feynman Lectures on Physics were first used. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory is associated with, for the point, what rigorous STEM university in Pasadena? | California Institute of Technology (or Caltech; or CIT) |
| Leydig [[LAY-dig]] cells produce this compound when exposed to luteinizing [[LOO-tee-in-"eye"- zing]] hormone. Low levels of this compound can lead to gynecomastia [[gai-neh-koh-MASS-tee-uh]] and infertility. Anabolic steroids use natural androgens [[AN-droh-jens]] like this compound to promote muscle growth. For the point, name this compound, the primary sex hormone in vertebrate males. | Testosterone (prompt on "Androgen" before mentioned) |
| This man originated the telegony theory of pregnancy, by which paternity could be shared by multiple men. This man is the namesake of a chewing organ possessed by sea urchin’s known as his “lanterns.” This man claimed that humans were distinguished from animals and plants by the type of soul that they have, as described in De Anima. For the point, name this ancient Greek biologist and philosopher who tutored Alexander the Great. | Aristotle (accept Aristotle's Lantern) |
| During this mission, the words "Farewell, Aquarius, and we thank you" were stated by Joseph Kerwin. Fred Haise served as LM pilot during this mission, whose other participants included Jack Swigert and Jim Lovell, the latter of who commanded it. The failure of a service module's oxygen tank resulted in this 1970 mission being aborted. For the point, name this Apollo mission that aimed to achieve the program's third lunar landing. | Apollo 13 (accept 13 after "Apollo" is mentioned; prompt on "Apollo" before mentioned) |
| The 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash, and Michael W. Young for their work on circadian rhythms, which involved isolating a gene from this animal. This animal was a basis of research done by Thomas Morgan Hunt, whose research showed that genes are carried on chromosomes. For the point, name these "model organism," an insect whose scientific name is Drosophila melanogaster. | Fruit Fly (accept Common Fruit Fly; accept Lesser Fruit Fly; accept Drosophila melanogaster before mentioned) |
| Danish scientist Ole [[oh-LAY]] Rømer was one of the first people to attempt to complete this task by timing the eclipses of the Jovian moon Io [[“EYE”-oh]]. Hippolyte Fizeau notably conducted an 1849 experiment to perform this task, which inspired Léon Foucault's [[FOO-cohs]] later attempts. This task was ultimately declared to be complete at a 1983 meeting of the CGPM. For the point, name this task, finding a physical constant that is roughly equal to three million meters per second in a vacuum. | Calculating the speed of light (accept synonyms for "Calculating"; accept [a]Calculating c) |
| Epithelial cells called Paneth cells are found in this organ's crypts of Liberkühn, and the mucus membrane that line these organs contain groupings of lymphoid follicles called Peyer's patches. The rotavirus primarily infects the enterocytes of this organ, which is is divided into the duodenum, the jejunum, and the ileum. The longest segment of the gastrointestinal tract is, for the point, what organ that connects the stomach to the colon? | Small Intestines (or Small Bowel; prompt on "Intestines") |
| Antony Joseph claimed that, since 1997, about 50 countries have reported being affected by this phenomenon, significant examples of which impacted Kiribati between 2015 and 2016. Zooxanthellae are a type of algae that are expelled from the polyps of the affected organisms during this process. In 2016, up to 50% of the Great Barrier variety of one location's central organism died during this process. For the point, name this process in which certain reefs turn white in color. | Coral Bleaching (accept synonymous answers) |
| This film was the earliest film that 2017 Nobel Prize winner Kip Thorne worked as a consultant on. This film features Dr. Hugh Mann, who claims to have lied about the habitability of a planet before trying to take over the Endurance. Joseph A. Cooper, played by Matthew McConaughey, enters a tesseract after having been chosen as a pilot for a NASA mission. For the point, name this 2014 science fiction film directed by Christopher Nolan. | Interstellar |
| This state is home to Biosphere 2, the world's largest enclosed ecosystem. This state's Kitt Peak National Observatory was home to the first telescope to search for near-Earth asteroids. This state is home to an observatory where Clyde Tombaugh made the first discovery of an object in the Kuiper Belt, at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff. For the point, name this state where Tucson is nicknamed the "astronomy capital of the globe." | Arizona |
| In a skeleton equation depicting one of these reactions, it takes two molecules of ethyne and five molecules of oxygen to produce two molecules of water. The chemical reaction explaining the fate of the Hindenberg is depicted by a combination reaction and these exothermic reactions, which typically involve a hydrocarbon. Fireworks demonstrate, for the point, what reactions where a compound and oxygen produce heat? | Combustion Reactions (prompt on "Exothermic"; prompt on "Redox") |
| In the METAR system, this phenomenon is classified as either GR or GS, depending on its mass. The number of layers found in this phenomenon is believed to indicate how many passes up through a storm cloud they underwent. This phenomenon is suspended on updrafts until they reach a large enough mass to fall, unlike graupel or sleet. For the point, name this form of precipitation which takes the form of frozen drops of liquid. | Hail (prompt on “Precipitation”; do not accept or prompt on answers such as "Ice Pellets”, “Sleet,” “Graupel,” or “Snow”) |
| The Araucaria Project is a joint international effort to improve upon a system of this quantity. This quantity is calculated as the reciprocal of the parallax angle. Parsecs are one unit for measuring this quantity, which, with relation to the Sun, can be defined in terms of astronomical units. For the point, name this unit that measures the space between astronomical bodies. | Distance (accept Length; anti-prompt on “Parsecs" before mentioned; anti-prompt on “Astronomical Units;" anti-prompt on “Kilometer”) |
| The deep form of this system can cause the fractional crystalization of magma in the mantle. The average amount of time that a molecule of this system’s namesake substance will reside in a given area is known as the residence time. One part of this system is characterized by the transport of its namesake substance through advection and desublimation. For the point, name this system that consists of the movement of its namesake substance through processes like evaporation and precipitation. | Water Cycle (or Hydrologic Cycle; or Hydrological Cycle) |
| This disease was allegedly spread by an army of Jani Beg under the Golden Horde, when they catapulted corpses into the Crimean port of Kaffa to infect the Genoese. An outbreak of this disease was stopped by the Great Fire of London. This disease inspired the children's rhyme "Ring Around the Rosie." For the point, name this disease responsible for wiping out one-third of Europe's population in the 1300s during the "Black Death." | Bubonic Plague (anti-prompt on "Black Death") |
| David Clark Company was responsible for the production of the Gemini G4C type of this article, in which they are needed in order to engage in EVA or extravehicular activity. The SK-1 was a Soviet article of this type that was employed by Yuri Gagarin. In case of a loss of cabin pressure, these are worn as a matter of caution within the vehicles as they travel to such locations as the ISS. For the point, name these articles of clothing worn by astronauts. | Spacesuits (prompt on "Space Helmet"; prompt on "Pressure Suit"; prompt on "Pressurized Suit") |
| An excessive growth of this substance is called hypertrichosis. A waxy, protective film called vernix caseosa combines with the lanugo type of this substance to cover the body of a newborn baby. The contraction of the arrector pili muscle causes the raising of this substance, which occurs when a person gets goosebumps. For the point, name this substance, whose overgrowth is also known as "werewolf syndrome." | Hair (accept Lanugo Hair; accept Hair Follicle) |
| These events are known as meteorological or hydrological if the cause is natural and agricultural if it stems from human activity. Plants that have adapted to be able to survive these events are known as xerophytes. The intensity of these events is measured with the Palmer Index, which is based on the supply and demand model of soil moisture. For the point, name these extended periods of low precipitation. | Drought |
| This process can be carried out by applying a coagulant and applying dissolved air flotation. Alum and iron(III) [["Iron Three"]] salts can be used for this large-scale examples of this process through flocculation. Sedimentation basins are used in this process is used to reduce turbidity. This process can be carried out using slow sand filters, activated carbon, or reverse osmosis. For the point, name this process of removing impurities from water to make it drinkable. | Water Purification (or Water Distillation; or Water Deionization; prompt on "Water Treatment") |
| The Santa Ana winds can maintain and spread these events in along the U.S. pacific coast. The risk of these events occurring is visually depicted with semicircular charts with subsegments ranging from blue to red, and these events are assigned letter classifications depending on how many acres they destroy. Natural varieties of these events are typically caused by lightning strikes. For the point, name these events that Smokey the Bear warns about. | Wildfires (or Forrest Fires; or Bushfires; or Wildland Fires) |
| The Haustorial type of these organs are used by parasitic organisms to absorb resources from their hosts. Gravity detecting statocytes make up the mucilage secreting caps of these organs. Regions under the influence of these organ’s secretions are known as the rhizosphere, which is also where fungi form symbiotic mycorrhiza. For the point, name these plant organs which draw nutrients and water from the soil. | Roots (accept Haustorial Roots) |
| In one appearance, this man claimed, "I'm about to bake raps from scratch like Carl Sagan." That appearance in Epic Rap Battles of History saw this man compare himself to a supercomputer when facing Albert Einstein. Eddie Redmayne portrayed this physicist at the University of Cambridge in the 2014 film The Theory of Everything. For the point, name this English physicist who made use of a text-to-speech voice synthesizer. | Stephen Hawking (or Stephen William Hawking) |