10. This one word term comes from the practice of Barbershop singers who would
play a single tune before singing – that tune would determine how the rest of
the song would be performed.
Today, this term is often used in tech seminars or conferences for the speech
that lays down the underlying theme of the conference.
What term?
Q.3
13. Captain EO was a 3D science Fiction film
directed by Francis Coppola and produced by
George Lucas. This film was shown in
Disneyland from 1986 to 1996, after which it was
replaced by another.
In 2010, Disneyland started showing this film
again as Captain EO tribute.
Why?
Q.4 Fan made poster, not original
16. Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle is a
young adult novel written by Stratemeyer
Syndicate writers using the pen name
Victor Appleton.
While Tom Swift is working on his latest
new invention, the electric rifle, he meets
an African safari master whose stories of
elephant hunting sends the group off to
deepest, darkest Africa. Hunting for ivory
is the least of their worries, as they find
out some old friends are being held
hostage by the fearsome tribes of the red
pygmies.
Q.5 How do we better know this book?
19. This brand, with the tagline “Hardware for Shoes” created
controversy in 1995 due to various reasons. The print ad
outraged groups ranging from Women’s rights to Animal rights.
The ad was withdrawn and all participants were booked for
promoting indecency.
Q.6
22. The Apollo program was a set of missions from 1963 to
1972 that was designed to land humans on the Moon
and bring them safely back to Earth. Six of the missions
(Apollos 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17) achieved this goal.
Apollos 7 and 9 were Earth orbiting missions to test the
Command and Lunar Modules, and did not return lunar
data.
Man stepped foot on the moon for the first time during
the Apollo 11 mission. NASA, along with other space
agencies plans to send the first woman to the moon by
2024. What is this program named as?
Q.7
28. The total solar eclipse of 29 May 1919 was one of the most awaited ones.The eclipse
was the only chance to “turn off” the light from the Sun in order to observe the stars
near it.
The observation of light deflection was performed by Arthur Eddington and his
collaborators by noting the change in position of stars as they passed near the Sun on
the celestial sphere.
Why was the scientific community waiting for this solar eclipse?
Q.9
31. Soviet pilot and cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to travel into space
on 12 April 1961 Some sources claimed afterwards that Gagarin had remarked
during the flight “_____________________________”, which become controversial.
But no such words were recorded in the official transcript of the flight and his friends
later said the phrase had originated from an anti-religion speech given by Soviet
leader Nikita Khrushchev.
What famous words?
Q.10
34. The following image shows the planetary nebula Sharpless-2188. It is popularly
known as the ___________ Nebula due to its resemblance to something from the
tech world.
FITB. Pic in the next slide
Q.11
35.
36.
37.
38. X is an astrophysicist and faculty member in Caltech's Physics Department. He was
part of the team to launch the New Horizons space probe to collect data about the
Pluto system and beyond.
For his discovery of a planetary object beyond the Kuiper belt, 2008 NQ17 (aka
"Planet Bollywood"). He was featured in People magazine's "30 Under 30 to Watch“
list He is also known for a publication on Kuiper belt object size distribution, having
run a simulation to correct for the observational efficiency, and was awarded the
Newcomb Medal. He also suffers from a medical issue known as selective mutism.
Who?
Q.12
41. Mattress maker, Casper, created a chatbot which is more active
than usual between 11PM to 5AM. Why is it so?/Who all does
the chatbot aim to chat with?
Q.13
44. The image show in the following slide is from a restaurant called Cafe
Blue Box in New York.
What very famous meal is being served here since 2017, a meal
which you couldn’t have eaten previously. The meal in question shot
into limelight in the 60’s and has been a mainstay since then.
Q.14
48. In 2004, the European Space Agency launched the Rosetta probe on an
audacious mission to chase down a comet and place a robot on its surface.
For nearly three years Rosetta had been hurtling through space in a state of
hibernation.
What was the two word tweet that came up on the Twitter account of the
Rosetta Mission after the probe woke up. The tweet probably served as an
introduction to a field for most of us.
Q.15
55. This device, created in 132 AD by famous
chinese astronomer Zhang Heng consists of
8 dragons with copper balls in their mouths.
A toad is placed below the heads of each
dragon.
Typically, this device was situated at the
capital where the emperor lives, for the
emperor to take some ‘action’ based on the
device’s output.
Q.2 What is the purpose of this device?
58. In 1956, the Hacienda hotel opened in Las
Vegas, Nevada, but it faced a problem. It was
not in a convenient place. All the popular casinos
were a mile north along the famous Las Vegas
strip. Luckily, a slot machine mechanic claimed
to have a solution. The hotel then funded him
with $100,000 with which he made some
modifications to a used Cessna 172. He
removed everything in the cockpit except the
pilot’s seat, and installed a mattress and sink.
What did he go on to do, something that made
sure Hacienda hotel was on everyone’s minds?
Q.3
59.
60. World record of flight
endurance
(more than 64 days long
continuous flight)
Car used to refuel the plane
61. Irish astrophysicist Susan Jocelyn Bell, June 1967.
She, along with her supervisor, Anthony Hewish,
discovered X for the first time. Hewish received the
Nobel Prize for it in Physics in 1974, but Burnell was
excluded. The event sparked much controversy. The
existence of X were stipulated since many years but
weren’t discovered.
Interestingly, the signal from which X were discovered
were used as the album cover for Y’s album Z. The
iconic image will be an eternal trademark of the
alienated generation of the 80s.
Q.4
64. This word has recently been accepted into the
Oxford english dictionary and has its origin in
Punjabi, referring to quadricycles powered by diesel
engines originally intended to power agricultural
irrigation pumps.
They are a.k.a kuddukka and pietereda in various
parts of India.
The word has now come to symbolise a business
principle and was popularised in international
audiences by a book written by Jaideep Prabhu.
Q.5
67. At its core, SOS is a disease of distraction, and it affects entrepreneurs
specifically because of the qualities that make them unique. Entrepreneurs tend to
be highly motivated. They crave new technology and new developments. And they
aren’t afraid to start new projects and create new things. Ordinarily, these are
great characteristics, but when SOS sets in, it forces you to chase project after
project, and change after change, never settling with one option.
It’s called SOS because it’s the entrepreneurial equivalent of a small child chasing
after _____ _______.
Q.6
70. Rather than a conventional ____ story, Under a
Yellow Sun is presented as a novel written by X.
The book follows David Guthrie, a fictional
character who bears more than a passing
resemblance to his fictional author. The comic
periodically switches to X's perspective as he
juggles his responsibilities as a novelist,
journalist, and _______.
Q.7
73. The mysterious X Centurion, otherwise known as the Black Card, is unlike most credit cards: The
invite-only slice of anodized titanium is designed for the super rich. Details are limited but, in order to
get this exclusive card, the main thing you need is a well-padded bank account — and celebrity status
doesn’t seem to hurt.
Y broke his out in a recent episode of the Netflix show, “_______ in Cars Getting Coffee.” In fact, were
it not for Y, the card might not exist. “Do you know why there is a Black Card?” he asks fellow _______
John Mulaney. “Me.”
As Y tells it, when he was a spokesperson for X in the 1990s, a member of the crew at a shoot once
asked him if he had the Black Card. “There’s only three in the world,” the man said. “The Sultan of
Brunei has one, the president of _____________ has one, and I thought you would have the third
one.” The next day, Y says, he called up the president of X, who told him the card doesn’t exist but that
maybe it should. When the company finally issued the card in 1999, Ygot the first one.
Q.8
77. A X is a fictional magical artefact from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth
legendarium.It is described as a crystal ball, used for both communication and
as a means of seeing events in other parts of the world or in the distant past or
in the future.
The Lord of the Rings features Middle-earth's network of seven Xs, which are
used in some climactic scenes by major characters: Sauron, Saruman,
Denethor and two members of the Fellowship of the Ring - Aragorn and Pippin.
The fact that this big data company is named after X makes sense, because
numerous articles jokingly claim “X knows everything about you”.
Q.9 Paypal Mafia
78.
79.
80. Why do old timers still prefer to write the name of the language, FORTRAN in
all caps, despite the fact that ANSI declared it could now be typed as “Fortran”
in 1985?
Q.10
83. Unlike most other science fiction shows,
the space scenes in the show ‘Firefly’
were different and were first of its kind.
The creator of the show, Joss Whedon
said that he prefers portraying the scene
in a scientifically accurate manner rather
than dramatizing the sequence.
What was different in the show’s space
scenes that not only was scientifically
accurate but also saved a lot of money for
the studio.
Q.11
86. In 1949, Joe Woodland drew something in the
sand of Miami's beaches which gave rise to
something which is still very much in use.
Woodland was inspired by his Boy Scouts days
when he learned Morse code: "I remember I
was thinking about dots and dashes when I
poked my four fingers into the sand and when I
pulled my hand toward me and I had four
lines”. His original patent for the idea consisted
of concentric circles with a bulls-eye, much like
a dart board.
When IBM bought his patent, they changed it
to what we see today and started implementing
the idea by printing it on glossy papers.
WHAT?
Q.12
89. X is a next-generation wearables
research platform developed by
researchers at the MIT Media Lab.The
goal of the X project is the development
and prototyping of new techniques of
human-computer interaction for body-
worn applications X is a metal found in
Middle-earth. It resembles silver but is
stronger than steel, and much lighter in
weight than either.
What is X, which is conveniently a
wordplay on the university’s name and a
very famous suit.
Q.13
92. In Cuban mythology, bats are considered a good omen, they symbolize
good luck and fortune.
In 1862, when the founders of a brand bought a tin roofed factory to start a
distillery, they discovered a family of bats inhabiting the roof.
What brand?
Paying tribute to these two reasons what did the owners do?
Q.14
95. The advantages of basing them upon an aspect ratio of √2 were noted in 1786 by
the German scientist Georg Lichtenberg.
Nobel prize-winning chemist Wilhelm Ostwald also proposed a method in the early
1900s: a rectangle which,when folded in half across its length, retains the same
proportion, and forms the next smallest size.
It became a standard in 1922.What?
Q.15
99. Young X was a sickly child. To shore up his health, he was allowed to sleep until 11
o’clock every morning, a habit he maintained throughout his adult life. During one of
these mornings abed, X watched a fly flit across the ceiling. He realized he could
describe the fly’s movements and its location by measuring its distance from two
perpendicular walls.
Id X and what did he create?
Q.1
100. While strolling through a Budapest park in 1882 as the sun was sinking, X pondered
why his contemporary’s invention didn’t work.
He recited a stanza from his favorite play, Faust, in which a scientist trades his soul
for knowledge. X’s prodigious brain, possibly desperate to find a new topic,
conjured up the design for a reliable and efficient ____________.
Id X and what did he create?
Q.2
101. In 1896, physicist Y was fascinated by the recently discovered X-rays. He thought
that naturally fluorescent minerals produced X-rays after prolonged exposure to
sunlight. To test his theory, he let mineral samples soak up the sun and then
wrapped them in black cloth with a photographic plate, expecting the resulting X-rays
to create weak images.
On a February day too overcast to work, Y wrapped up a plate with a sample of
___2____ and left it in a drawer for the next few days. By the time he opened the
bundle, the ____2__ had burned its own image on the film, as clear as if it had been
exposed to bright sunlight.
Id Y and what did he discover?
Q.3
102. In 1928, X had the archetypal eureka moment—and unlike the tale of Archimedes,
this one’s true. Believing that there was a substance in snot that worked as an
_______, he smeared a set of utensils with bacteria and his own special X phlegm,
and left the dishes while he took a two-week vacation.
When he returned, the mucus had not killed any of the bacteria, but mold had drifted
in from a nearby lab and contaminated one utensil. All the bacteria close to the mold
were dead. Closer examination of the mold showed that it was producing Y, that
killed the bacteria.
Id X and Y
Q.4
103. X contributed to fields as diverse as astronomy, architecture, paleontology, and
physics, but his most important accomplishment was in _____. In 1665, he built his
own ____1__ and began exploring. When he used his __1__, he saw infinitesimal
rectangles. X thereby discovered Y.
Id X and Y.
Q.5
104.
105. 1. Descartes, Co-ordinate system
Tesla, Alternating Current/rotating Magnetic field
Henri Becquerel, Radioactivity
Fleming, Penicillin
Robert Hooke, Cells
107. In 2001, when the Baltimore Ravens and the New York Giants faced off for Super
Bowl XXXV in Tampa,a new video technology made its debut.
The technology created huge controversy with one magazine calling it “Snooper
Bowl” while another magazine published an article saying “Don’t Tampa with My
Privacy”.
What was the purpose of the technology that drew such extreme opinions
Q.16
108.
109. Facial Recognition – that
matched faces in the crowd with
a database of
criminals/troublemakers to
apprehend them in advance
110. Their development is credited to American psychologist Edward Lee
Thorndike who created the prototypes in the early 20th century.
However, they were popularized by Frederick J. Kelly who used them
extensively at the University of Kansas and later adapted by Lewis
Terman, who is best known as the inventor of the Stanford-Binet IQ
Test.
The first ever large scale project that involved them was the Army
Alpha, which was used to assess the capabilities of World War I
military recruits. What are we talking about?
Q.17 Akkad Bakkad Bambe Bo
113. A 2006 study by Dr. Doron Nof, a Florida State University professor of
oceanography suggested that temperatures dropped to -4 degree Celsius for up to
two days once every 30-60 years, in a period between 2,500 to 1,500 years ago.
This was in stark contrast to the odds of such conditions developing in the low-
latitude region that Dr. Nof had studied (1-in-1000). The existence of such
conditions could create a floating patch of ice from the salty springs along the
region’s western border. This would be hard to spot, especially if rain had
smoothed the surface of the region under study.
What was this study trying to explain which happened near the sea of Galilee
Q.18
116. Initially, i.e. circa 1986, hands could be used. However, when this arrangement
failed, a mounted infrared system was developed, which detected
movement in cheek muscles. The most integral part of this mechanism is a
grey box in the office of one Mr Sam Blackburn, that contains the only copy of
the final desired output, which he tried to reverse-engineer as the company that
made them has gone bankrupt.
But this system failed gradually as well, to limit the output to one unit per
minute. Hence, eye-tracking systems and brain scanning were considered as
future modalities. What are we talking about?
Q.19
119. It was made by a US Company called David Clark and consisted of 4 layers: -
● An internal “comfort liner”
● A gas membrane
● A restraint layer then helped to maintain shape -
● External layer of Nomex to protect from fire and extremes of temperature
Its primary purpose was to prevent a condition called ‘ebullism’ which means is
the formation of gas bubbles in bodily fluids due to reduced environmental
pressure. It was used in October 2012 for a highly publicized event.
What are we talking about?
Q.20
122. “Where the streets have no name” , the first song on U2’s blockbuster 1987
album, “Joshua Tree”, begins with 40 seconds of ambient noise. A guitar
arpeggio enters and accelerates into the driving rhythm of the drums and bass
that arrive around 1:10. Nearly two minutes pass before Bono breathes the first
lyrics. Such leisurely intros are no more, says Justin Kalifowitz of Downtown
Music Publishing, a rights manager.
Nowadays, Songs are getting snappier, with shorter intros and earlier choruses.
What economical/technological reason can explain this shift?
Q.21
123.
124. Streaming services (which make up 80%
of revenue for music industry in the US)
pay the artist only if a user streams the
song for more than say, 30 seconds
125. AARP The Magazine is sent on a bi-monthly basis to every single
member of the AARP (American Association _______ People). This
lifestyle magazine is the most circulated magazine in the of the United
States, with over 23 million copies circulated in 2015 alone.
Their content primarily focuses on health and age-related topics, and it
often features interviews from older celebrities. Its previous name was
Modern Maturity.
AARP is a non-profit organization with the mission to enhance the
quality of life for all as they age. Started in 1958 by Dr. Ethel Percy
Andrus to promote her philosophy of productive aging. What is the
subject of AARP The Magazine?
Q.22
128. The current curator is British former computer journalist and magazine publisher
Chris Anderson. This idea was conceived in 1984 by architect & graphic
designer Richard Wurman in 1984. At that time a confluence of three major
sectors was observed.
Every year they give out prizes which in 2017 was won by Raj Punjabi. He is the
co- founder & CEO of Last Mile Health. As the name suggests it caters to save
lives in world’s most remote communities by pairing up with the government in
that area.
What idea was thus started?
Q.23
131. Ammonium ferric citrate and potassium ferricyanide coated
on paper or cloth was used to reproduce images.The result
is a copy of the original image with a clear background area
rendered dark and the image itself produced as a white line,
making it difficult to alter or add new information to the
document.
Which commonly used word is derived from this now
obsolete technology?
Q.24
134. The man shown in the picture is a NASA scientist who is
famous for proposing a very well-known theory.
The caricature creatively depicts his theory. Try to figure out
the theory from the image.
Although, he proposed the aforementioned theory in 1978,
it suddenly shot into prominence in 2013.
Name/Explain the theory? Why did it gain popularity in
2013?
Q.25
135.
136.
137. Kessler Syndrome- A chain reaction of
collisions between orbital technology
139. Last year, the Wired published a two-part feature called "The Rise and Fall of
____ ____". It’s an in-depth look at the investigation into ____ ____ , and
making things even more interesting, it happens to profile an investigator who
was stealing bitcoin, selling secret information, and generally deceiving the
government throughout the investigation.
Recently, the Coen Brothers have signed on to help script Dark Web, a film
based on the aforementioned feature.
Also referenced in the latest season of Mr. Robot, who knows whether the
Chinese have any hand in it, just like its ancient namesake.
FITB, to get the subject of the latest project by the acclaimed director duo.
Q.26
142. Teledynamics is a New-Jersey based automated, monorail system creator company
formed in 1982. They are present in a wide range of customer applications like
hospitals, laboratories, corporate offices, etc.
September 2016, they were part of a New York based project, which had them
create 24 red cars running on rails and with a central basket which had to be vertical
for any kind of motion. This was essential because the items inside these baskets
would be old and valuable, available only at request.
The new system inserted a new lease of life in a 122-year old system, speeding up
the process and making it easier to take care of, because of the bulk of items to be
transported this way.
What first of its kind landmark project did they take care of?
Q.27
145. The reason for this particular piece of trivia is supposedly rooted in the spelling and
phonetic rules of Greek and Latin. The letters ‘i’ in Latin and ‘iota’ in Greek were
used to serve the purpose, lading to what we see today.
However, since the pronunciation was more like the ‘y’ sound in English, it lead to
the complete redundancy of the thing in question. A common example of this can be
seen in many Greek and Latin texts where Jesus was pronounced more like ‘Yeh-
soos’.
What are we talking about?
Q.28
148. In 2012, Dr. Ryan St. Clair of Weill Cornell Medical College was asked to
analyze the injuries sustained by 2 guys named Harry and Marvin in 1990.
The diagnoses included third degree burns to the hands that posed a high risk
for infection and contracture, blowout fracture of bones around the eyes due to
impact from a 4-pound steam iron, gunshot injury to the scrotal region, a full
thickness scalp burn likely to cause necrosis of the skull bone, potential loss of
teeth and fracture of many bones from a hit to the face, injury to the back of the
head from a snow shovel impact etc.
Dr. St. Clair opined that it was unlikely that Harry and Marvin would have
remained alive after these injuries.
Who exactly were these two people?
Q.29 Maaaarrvviin??!!?? Where’s Kevin?
151. According to research conducted earlier this year, X might’ve contracted
Mesothelioma or Asbestos Poisoning due to the events that preceded X’s long
journey to the East.
The theorists also claim that X would’ve been dead within 6 months since the
start of the expedition and wouldn't have reached the intended place.
The event that preceded which caused the poisoning, also devoured lives of
another 1,50,000 people.
X? What event?
Q.30 We didn’t start the fire
155. The X was the first widespread animation device
that created a fluid illusion of motion. The X is
regarded as one of the first forms of moving
media entertainment that paved the way for the
future motion picture and film industry. Like a GIF
animation, it can only show a short continuous
loop.
The first part of the term X comes from the root
Greek word φενακίζειν, meaning "to deceive" or
"to cheat", as it deceives the eye by making the
objects in the pictures appear to move.
Q.
158. Created in 2008 by Jeff Atwood and Joel Spolsky, X is a question and answer
site for professionals as well as enthusiasts. Back when work had just started
Jeff Atwood decided to run a logo design contest on 99designs. He eventually
chose a logo that was the best visual representation of the name X. The
ones below were the runners-up:
What site?
Q.
159.
160.
161. An observed cultural phenomenon, X (two words), burst into mainstream when
the media and production company,Y, made a certain change to its releasing
style in 2013. Researches suggest that X due to its compulsive nature might
represent an addiction.
Z is an event/act in a condensed time period that is similar to X, in the context of
television. Z can either be producer-created or user-created. While X sounds
almost pathological, Z sounds more celebratory and might remind you of a sport
that has been dominated by Kenyans and Ethiopians.
X? Z? What change did Y make in 2013?
Q.
162.
163. X: Binge Watching
Z: Marathon
Netflix started releasing episodes of
its serial programming
simultaneously.
164. Astronomers have defined a new class of celestial objects called "Ploonets”.
When a gas-giant migrates and gets too close to its star, the star's gravity can
eventually eject a body from the gravitational field, therefore changing its
classification title.
Aptly named, since they skirt the line between two types of cosmic bodies, what
exactly are Ploonets?
Q.
167. Pseudobulbar affect(PBA) typically occurs in people with certain neurological
conditions or injuries, which might affect the way the brain controls emotion.
Episodes may also be mood-incongruent and may switch between emotional
states.
Where in 2019 has PBA been most famously referenced to?
Q.
