Question 1: What phenomenon explains why a spinning ice skater speeds up when pulling in her arms?
Question 2: Which space agency landed the first humans on the Moon?
NASA's Apollo 11 mission successfully landed the first humans, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, on the Moon on July 20, 1969. Armstrong's famous words "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" were broadcast to millions around the world.
Question 3: In which country did the domestication of coffee plants first occur?
Coffee plants are believed to have been first domesticated in Ethiopia, with the legend of Kaldi, the goat herder who discovered the energizing effects of the coffee cherry. Coffee cultivation and trade began on the Arabian Peninsula, with Yemen playing a significant role in the history of coffee.
Question 4: If you were to order "Escargot" at a restaurant, what would you be eating?
Escargot is a dish typically served in French cuisine that consists of cooked land snails. They are often served as an appetizer and are usually prepared with butter, garlic, and parsley.
Question 5: Which television show featured a fictional charter company called "Island Hoppers"?
Magnum, P.I. was a television show that aired from 1980 to 1988 and starred Tom Selleck as the private investigator Thomas Magnum. The show was set in Hawaii, and "Island Hoppers" was the charter helicopter service owned by Magnum's friend T.C.
Question 6: What is the name of the highest-grossing movie of all time (not adjusted for inflation)?
As of my knowledge cutoff in 2023, "Avatar," released in 2009 and directed by James Cameron, regained its title as the highest-grossing movie of all time after a re-release in China. Previously, "Avengers: Endgame" had briefly claimed the title in 2019.
Question 7: Who was the first female Prime Minister of a European country?
Margaret Thatcher was the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, serving from 1979 to 1990. She was known as the "Iron Lady" for her strong-willed leadership and was the longest-serving British prime minister of the 20th century. Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka was the world's first female prime minister in 1960, Angela Merkel was the first female Chancellor of Germany, and Vigdís Finnbogadóttir was the first female President of Iceland.
Question 8: What was the name of the first electronic general-purpose computer?
ENIAC was completed in 1945 and was designed to calculate artillery firing tables for the United States Army's Ballistic Research Laboratory. It was enormous in size and is considered a significant milestone in the development of computing technology. Its construction was led by physicists John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert at the University of Pennsylvania.
Question 9: Which of these ingredients is commonly used to make the Italian dish Tiramisu?
Tiramisu, a popular Italian dessert, means "pick me up" or "cheer me up" due to its caffeinated components like coffee and sometimes chocolate. The dessert mainly consists of ladyfingers dipped in coffee, layered with a whipped mixture of eggs, sugar, and mascarpone cheese, and flavored with cocoa. Mascarpone, with its smooth and creamy texture, is essential to achieve the rich and indulgent quality of the dish.
Question 10: When was the Kyoto Protocol initially adopted?
The Kyoto Protocol was adopted on December 11, 1997, and entered into force on February 16, 2005. It was an international treaty that commits state parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, based on the premise that global warming exists and human-made CO2 emissions have caused it. The protocol was named after Kyoto, Japan, where the negotiations took place.
When an ice skater pulls in her arms, she reduces her moment of inertia, basically the 'spread out' of her mass relative to the axis of rotation. According to the principle of conservation of angular momentum, if no external torque is acting on the skater, the product of the moment of inertia and the angular velocity (the speed of rotation) must remain constant. So, by reducing the moment of inertia (pulling arms in), the angular velocity (rotational speed) must increase, resulting in the skater spinning faster.