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Human Health
Who discovered penicillin ?

You answered "Alexander Fleming" Scottish scientist Alexander Fleming's discovery in 1928 of penicillin, the first antibiotic to successfully treat infections caused by bacteria, had far-reaching implications for medicine. What is the most prevalent noncontiguous disease in the world? Correct! Tooth decay is believed to be the most prevalent noncontiguous disease in the world.

What causes the skin malady known as acne? Extra oil production during the teenage years makes many in this age group suffer a skin inflammation known as acne. Who developed a vaccine against polio? Jonas Salk invented a vaccine against polio that, after being introduced in 1955, saved millions of people from the disease. If you lined up all the neurons in the brain end to end, they would stretch: The brain's 100,000,000,000 neurons would stretch approximately 621 miles (1,000 kilometers). They would be too narrow to see without a microscope, however!

What percentage of our body energy is used to power the brain? The brain uses some 20 percent of all caloric energy. This is about twice the amount required by chimpanzees and other nonhuman primates. On average, how many times does the human heart beat each minute? The heart muscle beats an average of 70 times per minute. More than 1 gallon (3.8 liters) of blood pass through the heart every minute. For what organ is dialysis used? When the kidney fails in its work of filtering impurities in the bloodstream, artificial filtering called dialysis is often used. What is the main organ of the cardiovascular system? The heart is the main organ of the cardiovascular system, which supplies blood to the body. What are the chambers of the heart called? The chambers of the heart are called atria and ventricles. There are two of each. What is another word for the alimentary canal? The alimentary canal and the digestive tract describe the organs through which food passes in the human body. What is the part of the eye where the image must be focused? The eye contains a lens that bends light rays so that they meet, focusing on a part of the eye known as the retina. Which of these is found in the brain?

A convolution is an elevation or fold on the surface of the cerebral cortex. Which of these are found in the eyes? Cones are photoreceptor cells in the retinas of vertebrates. They are essential for distinguishing colors. How many leaves are produced on an elm tree each year? Do growth rings really tell you the age of a tree? From deforestation to redwoods, learn more about trees in this quiz. Elms produce many leaves each year. A single elm tree can produce a million leaves each year. Most trees of that productivity are very old. About 20 percent of the "greenhouse effect" is the result of deforestation. Scientists estimate that deforestation contributes about one-fifth of the greenhouse effect. Trees help capture carbon dioxide, keeping it out of the atmosphere.

Most redwood trees are very old. Old-growth redwood forest accounts for only about 5 percent of the tree's rangeabout 100,000 acres (40,500 hectares). The giant tree is found in the American states of California and Oregon. A reed is a kind of tree. A reed is a kind of grass. Typically it has hollow stems and grows in water. Some reeds can grow to be very tall, but they are not trees.

You can tell a tree's age by counting its growth rings. Trunks of trees in temperate zones grow by adding an extra layer of wood each year. By counting these rings, scientists can tell how old the tree is and what the climate was like each year. The largest tree leaves can exceed 10 meters in length. The leaves of the raffia palm and Amazonian bamboo palm can reach lengths of 65 ft (20 meters). The mahogany tree is native to India. Mahoganies grow in the tropics of the Americas. West Indies mahoganies grow on islands in the Caribbean Sea and in the U.S. state of Florida. Big-leaf mahoganies grow in Central and South America. Trees can grow only below altitudes of 2,000 meters. In most parts of the world, trees can grow at altitudes above 6,560 feet (2,000) meters. In the warm tropics they can grow at altitudes of 13,123 ft (4,000) meters. In basic pasteurization, at what temperature is milk heated (in centigrade)? Milk is heated to 145.4 degrees Fahrenheit (63 degrees centigrade) for 30 minutes to produce basic pasteurization. This kills many bacteria. In kilometers per second, what is the escape velocity needed for a rocket to leave Earth? No matter what its size, a spacecraft or rocket has to go 6.96 miles per second (11.2 kilometers per second) or faster to leave Earth. This is called "escape velocity."

How many kilometers is Uranus from Earth? Uranus is approximately 1,783,940,000 miles (2,870,972,200 kilometers) from Earth. It lies on the far edges of the solar system. How many kilometers is a nautical mile? A nautical mile is one minute of arc on Earth. It corresponds to slightly more than 1.1 miles (1.8 kilometers). What unit measures food energy? A calorie is a measure of the amount of energy a food can produce. The body changes the calories in food to energy. Which of these helps measure time? A pendulum is a weight that is found at the end of a rod or line. It swings back and forth, helping measure time in old-fashioned clocks. What does an barometer measure? A barometer measures air pressure. This allows scientists to predict changes in weather. How far is Betelgeuse from Earth? Orion's second brightest star, and the eleventh brightest star in the sky, is Betelgeuse. A red supergiant, it is about 520 light-years away from Earth. When do humans grow When do humans grow fastest?fastest? During the first year of life, healthy babies triple their weight. Babies have to eat a great deal to keep up this fast growth!

What is the ratio of sand to water for the best sandcastle? According to a scientific study published in Europe in 2005, the sturdiest sandcastle is 8 parts sand to 1 part water. How many computer languages are in use? There are about 2,000 computer languages in active use, whereas there were only 15 in use in 1970.? A network designed to allow communication within an organization is called: An intranet is a private computer network, usually within an organization or group and is limited to its members for sharing information. Which of these products is not made by the Apple Corporation? The IMAX, which stands for "Image Maximum," is a large-screen motion picture technology invented in Canada. What is the name for a computer pointing device? A mouse allows a computer user to move to different parts of the screen without a keyboard. Which of these is not a kind of computer? A Lada is a kind of car manufactured in Russia. The others are brands of computers sold worldwide. Which of these is not an early computer? NASA stands for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. It is an agency of the U.S. government.

Who founded Apple Computer?

Steve Jobs founded Apple Computer with Steve Wozniak and another partner in 1976. Jobs became the chairman and CEO of Apple in 1996. Which of these is not a peripheral, in computer terms? A peripheral is a device that attaches to a computer. The motherboard is within the computer and controls its ability to receive and process electronic signals. Which of the following is not one of the early "protocols," or ways to use the Internet? The early use of the Internet relied on protocols for transferring files or remote control of other terminals. Blogging did not emerge until later, in the 1990s. What does the Internet prefix WWW stand for? The World Wide Web dramatically increased the use of the Internet. Tim Berners-Lee established the convention in 1989. At 1,000 kilometers an hour, how long would it take to go from Mars to the Sun? If a spacecraft were to move at 621 miles per hour (1,000 kilometers per hour), it would take 26.1 years to travel from Mars to the Sun. How fast does solar wind travel, in kilometers per second? Solar wind, gas released from the surface of the Sun, travels at 250 miles (400 kilometers) per second. This wind can travel far into space. How long would it take to journey to the center of the Earth at 100 kilometers an hour?

If we had a vehicle capable of traveling at 62.1 miles an hour (100 kilometers an hour) to the center of the Earth, it would take 64 hours to do so. How fast does the fastest tectonic region move, in centimeters per year? The fastest-moving tectonic region on Earth, the East Pacific Rise near Easter Island, moves at 6 inches (15 centimeters) a year. How fast does the slowest tectonic region move, in centimeters per year? The slowest tectonic region on Earth, the Arctic Ridge, moves at about 1 inch (2.5 centimeters) a year. How fast does the Mid-Atlantic Ridge move each year, in centimeters? The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is an undersea tectonic zone. It moves at about 2 inches (5 centimeters) a year. On the Beaufort scale, what is the speed of the least severe hurricane, in knots? On the Beaufort scale, a hurricane begins at 65 knots. This is the equivalent of 75 miles an hour (120 kilometers an hour). How fast does lightning travel, in kilometers per hour? Lightning travels at a little more than 224,000 miles per hour (360,000 kilometers per hour).. In what country was Albert Einstein born? Albert Einstein was born March 14, 1879, in Ulm, Wrttemberg, Germany. What theory is Einstein famous for?

Relativity, which is subdivided into "general relativity" and "special relativity," is an important concept in physics. What is cosmology? Cosmology is a branch of astronomy and metaphysics that deals with the nature and structure of the universe. It was launched in part by the work of Albert Einstein. At which of these institutions did Albert Einstein teach? Einstein was a professor at the University of Berlin from 1914 to 1933. He subsequently taught at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, New Jersey. Why did Einstein leave Germany, never to return? Einstein, of Jewish descent, left Germany in 1932 because of aggression from the Nazi party. In what year was Albert Einstein awarded the Nobel Prize? Albert Einstein won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921. What does the "E" stand for in the equation E = mc 2? The "E" stands for energy; the "m" and "c" stand for mass and the speed of light, respectively. If you lined up all the neurons in the brain end to end, they would stretch: The brain's 100,000,000,000 neurons would stretch approximately 621 miles (1,000 kilometers). They would be too narrow to see without a microscope, however! What percentage of our body energy is used to power the brain?

The brain uses some 20 percent of all caloric energy. This is about twice the amount required by chimpanzees and other nonhuman primates. On average, how many times does the human heart beat each minute? The heart muscle beats an average of 70 times per minute. More than 1 gallon (3.8 liters) of blood pass through the heart every minute. For what organ is dialysis used? sport curat When the kidney fails in its work of filtering impurities in the bloodstream, aeditor rtificial filtering called dialysis is often used. What is the main organ of the cardiovascular system? The heart is the main organ of the cardiovascular system, which supplies blood to the body. What are the chambers of the heart called? The chambers of the heart are called atria and ventricles. There are two of each. What is another word for the alimentary canal? The alimentary canal and the digestive tract describe the organs through which food passes in the human body. What is the part of the eye where the image must be focused? The eye contains a lens that bends light rays so that they meet, focusing on a part of the eye known as the retina. Which of these is found in the brain? A convolution is an elevation or fold on the surface of the cerebral cortex.

Which of these are found in the eyes? Cones are photoreceptor cells in the retinas of vertebrates. They are essential for distinguishing colors.

Earth revolves this many meters per second at the equator:

Earth revolves 1,532 feet per second (467 meters per second) at the equator.

Which of these is not part of Earth?

The stratosphere is part of Earth's atmosphere, but not part of Earth itself. The other three are the planet's layers.

What is the average surface temperature of Earth?

The average surface temperature on Earth is 57 F (14 C). It would be well below freezing were it not for greenhouse gases that trap warm air in the atmosphere.

Which of these is not part of Earth's crust?

The ionosphere is part of Earth's atmosphere. The sima and sial are the upper crust, and the "Moho" discontinuity is at the base of the crust.

What is Earth's predominant environment?

Most of the world is covered by water, and most of that water is about 3,123 feet 4,000 meters deep. Deep ocean is therefore the world's most common environment.

How old is sunlight by the time it reaches Earth?

It takes 8 minutes for sunlight to travel from the Sun to Earth.

How much of the Earth is covered with oceans?

About 71 percent, or nearly three-quarters, of our planet's surface is covered with oceans.

What is diatomaceous earth made of?

Diatomaceous earth is made from the fossilized remains of tiny marine organisms, particularly diatoms. It is used as a natural insecticide.

Who was the first person to orbit Earth?

On April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the first human to circle Earth in space. John Glenn followed on February 20, 1962.

What is the reflectivity of Earth's surface called?

The albedo effect refers to the reflectivity of Earth's surface. About 30 percent of shortwave radiation is bounced back into space by clouds, dust, snow, and ice.