Quiz # 27: How do you tell identical twins apart?
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Q 1 What is the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet?
A Delta
We get our own latin letter D from it, but in Greek it is pronounced like the "th" in "that" or "this".
Q 2 How many cylinders does the engine in the new Bugatti Chiron have?
A 16
The Chiron uses the same basic engine as the Veyron - an 8.0-litre, quad-turbocharged X16 that develops nearly 1500 horsepower. If you are a car nerd the following video tour of the car will not seem long enough.
Q 3 What was Hamlet's father's name?
A King Hamlet
Called "King" to differentiate him from Prince Hamlet, he is referred to as 'Ghost' in stage directions for the play.
Q 4 Who first measured the speed of light?
A Römer
Römer noticed, while observing the motion of one of Jupiter's moons (IO), that the time of each eclipse varied. He theorised that this was because the distance between Jupiter and Earth changed, and made some clever calculations that took the time differences and the orbits of the Earth and Jupiter into account. His calculation was about 27 percent under the correct value, but it was still a remarkable feat for the time.
Bradley improved on Römer's calculation, but it was not until the invention of lasers that the speed could be accurately measured.
Q 5 When was the first commercial bungee jump?
A 1988
While there were some paid jumps prior to 1988 the first fixed commercial jump site was at Kawarau Bridge in Queenstown. New Zealander A J Hackett popularised the endeavour after first bungee jumping off the Upper Harbour (Greenhithe) Bridge in Auckland in 1986.
Q 6 How long is the US-Mexican border?
A 3145 km (1954 miles)
This is the border along which US Presidential hopeful Donald Trump wants to build a wall. US comedian John Oliver looked into the actual cost of the wall on his weekly show Last Week Tonight. (Video contains strong language.)
Q 7 How long is the US-Canadian Border?
A 8891 km (5525 miles)
There are 13 US states along the southern side of the border, while eight Canadian provinces (or territories) line the northern side.
We do not know of any proposals to build a wall along it.
Q 8 How can you tell identical twins apart?
A Fingerprints
Because identical twins come from the same egg, their DNA is the same but their fingerprints are not.
Q 9 How many steps are there to the top of St Peter's Basilica in Rome?
A 551
There is an elevator that cuts the trip down to 320, or you could take this pictorial tour.
Q 10 What is the Moon 'made' of?
A Green cheese
The earliest documented used of the phrase "the moon is made of green cheese" is in The Proverbs of John Heywood, published in 1546. Heywood also coined the phrases, "the more, the merrier" and "a penny for your thoughts".
There is no limit to human gullibility. In 1638, the English philosopher John Wilkins wrote "You may… soon persuade some country peasants that the moon is made of green cheese, (as we say)."
