What Does the Moon Smell Like?: 151 Astounding Science Quizzes (6 page)

grounded for good in 1961.

* If you account for inflation, $10 million is about $68 million today.

SmellyMoon_Final 4/21/08 10:30 AM Page 62

SmellyMoon_Final 4/21/08 10:30 AM Page 63

Flying Pie Tins

A frisbie by any other name is a flying disc, and the Q

very first frisbies were metal pie tins. About 125 years ago, William Russell Frisbie’s bakery supplied pies to universities in the northeastern U.S., and because IFOs:

video games hadn’t been invented yet, students flew IDENTIFIED

the empty metal pie tins for fun. They were the only frisbies you could get for the next 60 years or so, until two guys in California, Warren Franscioni and Walt Morrison, came up with a revolutionary flying disc FLYING

made out of plastic.

OBJECTS

What were their flying discs called?

a) Flyin’ Saucers

b) Frisbees

c) Pluto Platters

d) Martian Flyers

63

Flying Pie Tins

What were their flying discs called?

A

a) Flyin’ Saucers

b) Frisbees

c) Pluto Platters

IFOs:

d) Martian Flyers

IDENTIFIED

CORRECT ANSWER:

FL

a) Flyin’ Saucers

YING

OBJECTS

Franscioni and Morrison’s discs were sold as Flyin’

Saucers. It was a catchy name that was in sync with the UFO craze of the times, but the discs didn’t exactly fly off the shelves. Morrison refined the disc by adding a slope to the outer third, called the Morrison Slope. The new and aerodynamically

improved discs, called Pluto Platters, were launched, but they didn’t really take off either. It was only after another design overhaul, and Wham-O®’s marketing of playing Frisbee as a new sport, that the flying disc finally became a huge hit in the late 1960s — more than 125 years after the first Frisbie pie plate was flung.

SmellyMoon_Final 4/21/08 10:30 AM Page 64

SmellyMoon_Final 4/21/08 10:30 AM Page 65

Fantastic Plastic Flying Discs

Once the flying disc caught on, there was no stop-Q

ping its fans. These days there are flying disc competitions for men, women, children, seniors, people in wheelchairs, and dogs, to name a few.

IFOs:

There are regular discs, mini discs, and the special-IDENTIFIED

ized discs used in disc golf, a game similar to regular golf. The first official disc golf course opened in California in 1975, but these days, there are more than 2,000 disc golf courses worldwide. All that activ-FLYING

ity keeps more than 60 flying disc manufacturers in business. Maybe you knew these things, but what OBJECTS

else do you know?

Which statement about flying discs is NOT true?

a) A Frisbee innovator’s ashes were put into special edition discs.

b) A sea lion holds the world record for distance in the non-human category.

c) About 100 million Frisbees have been sold in the past 50 years.

d) The U.S. Navy built a Frisbee launcher.

65

Fantastic Plastic Flying Discs

Which statement about flying discs is NOT true?

a) A Frisbee innovator’s ashes were put into special A

edition discs.

IFOs:

b) A sea lion holds the world record for distance in the non-human category.

IDENTIFIED

c) About 100 million Frisbees have been sold in the past 50 years.

d) The U.S. Navy built a Frisbee launcher.

FLYING

OBJECTS

CORRECT ANSWER:

c) About 100 million Frisbees have been sold in the past 50 years.

That statement is NOT true. It’s estimated that about 200 million Frisbees have been sold — more than the number of baseballs, footballs, and basketballs combined. The U.S. Navy, in addition to building a Frisbee launcher, spent about $400,000 to test discs in a wind tunnel for a flare launcher prototype.

“Steady Ed” Headrick’s ashes were pressed into discs after he was cremated. He came up with the ridges on the top of the Frisbee, called the Lines, or Rings, of Headrick, to stabilize its flight, and he’s also known as the father of disc golf. A sea lion set a world record by throwing a flying disc 9.76 metres (32

ft) at a zoo in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1996. The record for the longest non-human catch, 118.8 metres (390

ft), was set two years earlier by a Californian whippet hound named Cheyenne-Ashley.

SmellyMoon_Final 4/21/08 10:30 AM Page 66

SmellyMoon_Final 4/21/08 10:30 AM Page 67

CELLULAR BEINGS

Cell Mates

What do you have in common with ants, sharks,

Q

apple trees, hummingbirds, and elephants? Here’s a hint. It’s simple, but more complex than anything inanimate. Another hint? It’s small. An amoeba consists of only one. One what? Ah yes, a single cell.

Cells are like the teeny, tiny bricks of anatomical structure. We all know they’re tiny, but how tiny are they really? Maybe you’ve heard an old saying about angels dancing on the head of a pin? Well, what if simple cells could dance like angels?

About how many cells could crowd onto the

head of a pin?

a) 10

b) 100

c) 1,000

d) 10,000

67

Cell Mates

About how many cells could crowd onto the

A

head of a pin?

a) 10

b) 100

CELLULAR

c) 1,000

d) 10,000

BEINGS

CORRECT ANSWER:

c) 1,000

One thousand simple cells could rip up the dance floor on the head of an average pin. A typical human cell is about 10 micrometres across — that’s just ten millionths of a metre, or about one 2,500th of an inch. Can you say microscopic? Here’s another way to imagine how truly tiny typical human cells are. Say your hair is of average thickness, with each strand about 100 micrometres across. Ten cells could hang out, side by side, across one of your head hairs. If you’ve got coarse hair, five cell buddies could join them.

SmellyMoon_Final 4/21/08 10:30 AM Page 68

SmellyMoon_Final 4/21/08 10:30 AM Page 69

Forensics 101

Criminologists use DNA to identify both victims and Q

perpetrators. If you’ve watched forensics shows on TV, you’ve seen the investigators collecting blood samples at the gory crime scene. The DNA is extracted from CELLULAR

the blood and analyzed at the state of the art lab in record time, and by the end of the hour, science has triumphed over crime, thanks to the DNA in the blood BEINGS

sample. So, have you learned anything about forensic science by watching TV shows? Let’s find out.

Which blood cells are used for DNA analysis?

a) platelets

b) red blood cells

c) white blood cells

d) all of the above

69

Forensics 101

Which blood cells are used for DNA analysis?

A

a) platelets

b) red blood cells

c) white blood cells

CELLULAR

d) all of the above

BEINGS

CORRECT ANSWER:

c) white blood cells

From watching forensics shows, you might get the impression that red blood cells are used in DNA analysis. But they can’t be used, and neither can other blood cells, called platelets, because these types of cells don’t contain DNA. White blood cells do contain DNA, and they’re the ones that are analyzed in real forensics labs.

SmellyMoon_Final 4/21/08 10:30 AM Page 70

SmellyMoon_Final 4/21/08 10:30 AM Page 71

How Human Are You?

One hundred trillion. That’s an estimate of how many Q

cells make up an adult human body. Hard to imagine, isn’t it? When you look in the mirror, you see a flesh-and-blood human being, not a huge collection of CELLULAR

cells. Based on what you can see, you might assume that all your cells are true human cells. Ahhh, but are they really?

BEINGS

What percentage of the cells in your body are true human cells?

a) 10%

b) 30%

c) 60%

d) 90%

71

How Human Are You?

What percentage of the cells in your body are true A

human cells?

a) 10%

b) 30%

CELLULAR

c) 60%

d) 90%

BEINGS

CORRECT ANSWER:

a) 10%

Only about 10 trillion of those 100 trillion cells are true human cells. Brace yourself if you’re squeamish, because this means that there are close to 90 trillion bacteria crawling around in your body! Most of them make a living in your gut. Your gastrointestinal tract is sterile when you’re born, but by the time you’re just one month old, about 500 species of bacteria have moved in and set up permanent colonies. It’s a good thing too, because without them, we wouldn’t be able to digest our food.

SmellyMoon_Final 4/21/08 10:30 AM Page 72

SmellyMoon_Final 4/21/08 10:30 AM Page 73

ONE OF A KIND: PLATYPUS

The Platypus’ Secret Weapon

Close relatives of today’s platypus were already on the Q

scene when the dinosaurs ruled the earth. Fast-

forward 110 million years to 1799, when the first Australian platypus pelt arrives in England. No one can believe it’s for real. It looks like a duck’s bill has been sewn onto a beaver-like body. It has to be a hoax. The claim that the bizarre-looking creature is an egg-laying mammal doesn’t fly either. Most scientists ridicule the poor platypus and insist the pelt is a fake. Can you imagine how they would have reacted if they’d been told about the platypus’ secret weapon?

What is the platypus’ secret weapon?

a) a honk so shrill it can shatter glass

b) skunk-like scent glands under its tail

c) toxic saliva

d) venomous spurs on its ankles

73

The Platypus’ Secret Weapon

What is the platypus’ secret weapon?

A

a) a honk so shrill it can shatter glass

b) skunk-like scent glands under its tail

c) toxic saliva

ONE

d) venomous spurs on its ankles

OF

AKIND:

CORRECT ANSWER:

PLA

d) venomous spurs on its ankles

TYPUS

The platypus is the most venomous mammal on the planet. Males have a spur on each ankle that can deliver enough poison to kill a small dog, or cause a human excruciating pain. All platypuses, or platypi if you prefer, are born with the spurs, but females shed them as they mature. In males, the spurs are connected to venom glands in their thighs. Aside from self-defence, it’s thought that the venomous spurs may be used during territorial fights between rival males. The poison is at its most toxic during mating season. Ouch.

SmellyMoon_Final 4/21/08 10:30 AM Page 74

SmellyMoon_Final 4/21/08 10:30 AM Page 75

Hunting Like a Platypus

A platypus spends most of its days in the water hunt-Q

ing for food. Every minute or so, it returns to the surface to breathe and, if it’s been successful, to eat whatever it’s caught. That sounds pretty normal for a ONE

semi-aquatic mammal, but the platypus is very far OF

from what you’d call a
normal
mammal.

AKIND:

Which animal hunts the most like the platypus?

PLA

a) beaver

TYPUS

b) hammerhead shark

c) pelican

d) sea lion

75

Hunting Like a Platypus

Which animal hunts the most like the platypus?

A

a) beaver

b) hammerhead shark

c) pelican

ONE

d) sea lion

OF

AKIND:

CORRECT ANSWER:

PLA

b) hammerhead shark

TYPUS

What could the imposing hammerhead shark possibly have in common with the cartoonish platypus? They both have a sixth sense, powered by special organs for sensing and locating the electrical currents given off by other animals. The platypus’ organs are in its vel-vety bill, and not only do they detect electrical fields, but they can generate them too, and detect a potential meal by the way it distorts the fields. The platypus is the only mammal that uses electrolocation. Unlike sharks, which use all of their senses to hunt, the platypus dives with its eyes, ears, and nos-trils squeezed shut. It relies on electrolocation and its sensitive bill for survival. It’s a unique way for a mammal to hunt, but the
modern
platypus has been around for at least 60 million years, so it must be working.

SmellyMoon_Final 4/21/08 10:30 AM Page 76

SmellyMoon_Final 4/21/08 10:30 AM Page 77

Motherhood: Platypus Style

When a female platypus is ready to give birth, she Q

goes into her breeding burrow, and plugs the hole up with leafy stuff. Then she lies down, usually on her back, and lays two, sometimes three, small, leathery ONE

eggs about the size of marbles. The eggs stick

OF

together, and to the female’s fur, and she holds them A

against her belly with her tail. After about 10 days of KIND:

this unusual form of incubation, the tiny babies break PLA

out of their shells using a “milk tooth,” just like baby TYPUS

reptiles. What happens after that?

How does a mother platypus feed her newly hatched babies? She . . .

a) catches insects for them

b) nurses them

c) regurgitates food for them

d) teaches them how to hunt

77

Motherhood: Platypus Style

How does a mother platypus feed her newly hatched A

babies? She . . .

a) catches insects for them

b) nurses them

ONE

c) regurgitates food for them

OF

d) teaches them how to hunt

AKIND:

PLA

CORRECT ANSWER:

TYPUS

b) nurses them

Platypus females nurse their babies, despite not having any nipples! Her mammary glands secrete

milk through the pores of her skin. It pools in furrows on her belly, and the tiny babies lap it up while cling-ing to mom’s fur. Platypus babies are about the size of raisins, or soybeans, when they break out of their eggs, but after four months of mother’s milk, they’re about 30 centimetres (12 in) long. At that point, the juveniles leave mom’s burrow and make their own way in the world. When they reach maturity, they’re about 42 to 45 centimetres (16 to 18 in) long. They’re not very big, but if we grew at the same rate as a platypus, an adult human would grow to be about 15