1. Name the scholar who claimed that the solutions to his questions came to him in his dreams, whispered by his village goddess Namagiri. He was the first research scholar of Madras University (the post was created for him).
2. What is the popular name of the imaginary belt across the sky in which the sun, moon, and all the planets can always be found?
3. This German microbiologist was an assistant to pioneering bacteriologist Robert Koch. He developed the technique of agar culture to purify or clone bacterial colonies derived from single cells. This advance made it possible to rigorously identify the bacteria responsible for diseases. Name the common object found in microbiology labs that is named after him?
4. This printing and reproduction technique was invented by Chester Carlson in 1938 who called it ‘electrophotography’. It was later renamed ‘xerography’ (from a Greek word meaning ‘dry writing’) because the process used no liquid chemicals. The first commercial machine was released by the Haloid Photographic Company in 1960 with the name ‘X’. What is ‘X’?
5. Which part of a car is responsible for removing benzene in unleaded petrol?
6. The common industrial solvent (CH3)2CO is used in nail polish removers, facials, and paint thinners. The old German version of its name gave its name to an associated group of chemicals. Name the solvent. Which associated group of chemicals got its name from it?
7.If a group of sepals is called a calyx, which word describes a group of petals?
8. The labelling of fertilisers varies in terms of analysis methodology, nutrient labelling and minimum nutrient requirements. The most common labelling convention is known as the NPK system. What do these letters stand for?
9. The Sierra de la Plata (Silver Mountains) was a mythical source of silver in the interior of South America. The legend began in the early 16th century when castaways from an expedition heard native stories of a mountain of silver in an inland region ruled by the White King. None of these legends were proven but these ‘silvery’ stories became the basis for the naming of a country. Name the country.
10. In June 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi proudly said that India had spent less to reach Mars ($74 million) than movie producers spent on a 2013 Hollywood space blockbuster. Name the movie.
11. Which American physical chemist is known for the discovery of the covalent bond and his concept of electron pairs? His dot structures and other contributions to the valence bond theory have shaped modern theories of chemical bonding.
12. Which glycoprotein molecule is present in human plasma but is missing in serum?
13. Curcumin, which has a distinctly earthy, slightly bitter, slightly hot peppery flavour and a mustardy smell, is the active ingredient found in a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial plant of the family Zingiberaceae native in southeast India. Which plant is this?
14. Which mathematical symbol first appeared in the book The Analytical Arts Applied to Solve
Algebraic Equations by Thomas Harriot (1560-1621), possibly derived from a Native American symbol?
15. Dr Shuji Nakamura received the Millennium Technology Prize in 2006, and a Nobel Prize for Physics in 2014. His prize-winning contribution lay in the development of a laser/LED that is used in devices that read a dense high-speed stream of data on optic disc data storage formats. His invention has revolutionised the video industry. What did Dr Nakamura invent?
answers
1. Srinivasa Ramanujan
2. The Zodiac
3. Petri dish, named after Julius Petri
4. Xerox
5. Catalytic converter
6. Acetone; Ketone
7. Corolla
8. Nitrogen, Phosphorous, Potassium
9. Argentina
10. Gravity
11. Gilbert Lewis
12. Fibrinogen
13. Turmeric
14. The greater than sign (<)
15. Blue LED (Light Emitting Diode). This makes the BluRay disc possible