BTS (business, technology and science) Quiz finals

BTS Quiz Vindhuja, Krittika, Jyotesh
BTS (Business, Technology and
Science) Quiz Finals
Jyotesh (Jmin)
Krittika (RM – Relationship
Manager)
Vindhuja (V)

Rules
• 12 clockwise, 12 anticlockwise dry questions
• +10/-5 on pounce, +10 on bounce
• Teams to make a whatsapp group (named Team 1 BTS etc) and invite
QM (+91 9818752517) to it. QM to be tagged in pounces on this
group.
• One written round

Clockwise

Q1
When Bal Gangadhar Tilak was describing his theories on Vedic origins,
he referenced a place that many would refer to as the “farthest North
one could go”.
A name used for this became a cause for controversy in 2018 and was
instead substituted by another name which means “sky” or “cloud” in
2019.
This is a roundabout way of referencing what in-the-news item from
2019?

Safety slide

Answer

Q2
During the Napoleonic wars, Britain lead
a doomed expedition into the invasion
of the Netherlands, to distract Napoleon
from his attack into Austria.
Napoleon ordered something done,
which was a failure as a direct military
obstacle but proved to be formidable for
other secondary reasons?
What were those secondary reasons,
which lead him to quote: “We must
oppose the English with nothing but
______, which will soon devour them
all” (blank is good enough for reason).

Answer
Breached the dikes to flood the area. The water led to mosquito and
waterborne diseases
“We must oppose the English with nothing but fever, which will soon
devour them all”

Q3
This cactus was named
because of its reddish top
resembling a similar red
covering elsewhere in the
world.
This cactus, along with a
local term meaning “island
string” hence names which
geographical entity?

Answer
Turks and Caicos islands

Q4
The space race excited people around the world, including a grade
schoolteacher in a land-locked country that had become independent in
1964.
He trained potential candidates by spinning them around a tree in an oil
drum, weightlessness training by swinging in a tree swing and teaching them
to walk on their hands, “the only way humans can walk on the moon”.
The former president of the country, when interviewed in 2016, said “It
wasn’t a real thing… It was more for fun than anything else.” A darker
explanation proposed by some points to the schoolteacher’s trauma due to
imprisonment during his work in the country’s resistance movement, years
earlier.
Which country (named for its famous river)? What name was given to the
astronauts?

Answer
Zambia, Afronauts

Q5
People are great at finding hidden symbolism in a company’s logo –
whether or not the company in question intended it.
One such case is that of a company whose grand revenue plans hinge
around the fact that data is one of the most valued commodities in the
world right now.
Internet sleuths quickly identified the backhanded compliment the
company was paying to one of the world’s other valued commodities.
Which company and which other commodity?

Answer
Jio, “data is the new oil”

Q6
When this platform was acquired, it relied on P2P technology, which
made it inefficient for mobile devices as it put too much burden on the
customer side.
They started transitioning to cloud-powered servers in 2013, but the
transition took many years and was confounded by multiple design
changes and overhauls.
All of these led to increased unreliability in the core functionality and a
drop in useability perception.
This is cited as a technical reason for which surprise failure in recent
times?

Answer
Why Skype lost to Zoom

Q7
To celebrate a victory, this conqueror ordered on his Chief of Staff to
arrange for a rabbit hunt. The man collected a colony of rabbits and
released them on the hunting ground. However, instead of running
away, they bounded towards the hunting party.
A historian reported that "with a finer understanding of strategy than
most of his generals, the rabbit horde divided into two wings and
poured around the flanks of the party and headed for the imperial
coach.“
Who was this famous conqueror? Why did the rabbits not run away?

Answer
Napoleon
The chief of staff had picked up tame rabbits that didn’t fear humans

Q8
Connect the three images. The two on the right are linked by a
controversy (2-3 key words needed)

Answer
Amitava Ghosh’s Calcutta Chromosome is based loosely on Ronald
Ross (middle pic).
The controversy was that Ronald Ross discovered the transmission of
the malarial parasite for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize for
Medicine in 1902. However, Giovanni Grassi (right) who had
independently discovered the entire transmission route of the malarial
parasite was left out since Ross accused him of fraud.

Q9
Lou Henry was studying geology in the 1890s when she met her future
husband. Lou’s husband went on to become a mining engineer in the years
that followed, while she herself was unable to continue with geological
fieldwork (Victorian sexism ). However, she continued to maintain an
interest in geology, especially in the history of the science.
Lou and her husband worked on a translation of the Renaissance work about
mining and refining of metals, De Re _________ , published in 1556.
Identify Lou’s husband, whose name became associated with an engineering
marvel built years later.
What is the blanked out word in the name of the book that Lou translated
(the word will be familiar in a very different context)?

Answer
Herbert Hoover
Metallica

Q10
The LAL test uses a substance called Limulus Amebocyte Lysate to
detect Gram-negative bacteria. This test has been used extensively in
the pharma industry to check for contamination. While an alternate
test exists, concerns arose in 2020 over increased testing requirements
due to COVID vaccine development, and the impact this would have on
the environment.
What is the source of Limulus Amebocyte Lysate, which led to these
concerns ?

Answer
Horseshoe crabs

Q11
The right-most image was produced by an interactive
app, whose name is a pun on a French artist and the
abbreviated form of the machine learning framework
used.
What was this app called?
The framework used here involves two entities
working together.
One entity tries to create candidates while the other
tries to distinguish these candidates from the “true”
set.
These two entities try to outwit each other. The
“contest” ends when the entity which creates the
candidates is able to fool the distinguisher half the
time.
From the above description, what’s the machine
learning framework called?

Answer
GauGAN
Generative adversarial networks

Q12
This six-letter word comes from Greek, where it had several senses including:
• Good order, harmonious arrangement
• Ornaments of women’s dress
The present English meaning was popularized in the 19th century when a
German author published the five-volume treatise “ ______: A Sketch of a
Physical Description of the Universe”. It was translated into multiple
languages and influenced writers, artists and scientists such as Emerson, Poe,
Whitman among others.
What word (same as the blank)?
Who was the author of this book ?

Answer
Cosmos
Alexander von Humboldt

Written round
5 questions with a common theme
+10 for each individual question
+10 for the theme
Think different for the theme. (It’s not Apple, Inc.)
All answers to be submitted together at the end with the theme

Q1
In an experimental solution to a variant of the Travelling Salesman
problem, a famous computer scientist used an unusually twisted
technique to get inefficient longer paths eliminated in favour the
shorter ones.
He used different elements capable of getting strung together to
represent the different cities, and then exposed the result to a hostile
environment, which meant that only the shortest ones survived.
Who is this famous computer scientist? What “elements” did he use?

Q2
Whenever a particular phrase was used in 2020 to describe the
pandemic, the creator of the phrase said that it “irritated” him. He says
that those who describe it as such fundamentally misunderstand the
nature of the pandemic and of his creation.
He did not intend the phrase to be used as a cliché for every bad thing
that surprises people. Instead, he, along with others such as Bill Gates,
had been warning the world about this possibility for years, and the
world was now paying the price for not taking preventative actions.
Give the creator and the phrase.

Q3
In 2011, a pharma company was trying to develop a condom that reduced
erectile dysfunction. To do this, they added a vasodilating substance, and had
to research how to keep that substance on the condom without degrading it.
Another innovator about 150 years ago had similar problems in trying to
make the same substance “stick” and maintain the integrity of its container,
for an “anti-medical” purpose. His ultimate solution became extremely
popular and rapidly blew up to dominate its industry.
What substance, and what was the 150 year old innovation?

Q4
X.LGBT, Inc, is a tech start-up with the ‘mission to restore agency and dignity to transgender individuals in their
process of gender transition via technology solutions’.
Following a new round of funding from Chelsea Clinton, the Gaingels venture investment syndicate, and other
investors, the app's transgender critics worry that it benefits cis-gender heteronormative millionaires like
Clinton, while others claim it tries to define the gender transition process in too clear-cut of a manner.
X has 3 apps on offering- Clarity, Bliss and Solace.
Clarity is service designed for those who are just beginning gender transition, to help them personalize and
then track their personal goals for identity, expression and even who they may seek in terms of a romantic or
sexual partner.
Bliss, functions as a money tool to give breakdowns of how much users should save for various future goals in
the transition process.
Solace, the flagship app offers information spanning from how to find health insurance coverage, to directions
on finding lawyers who can assist in initiating the process of name-changing.
ID X.

Q5
For over 12 years from 1992 to 2004, the researcher William A. Watkins
tracked anomalous whale calls in the central and eastern North Pacific.
Watkins noted that only one series of these calls has been recorded at a time,
suggesting that a single whale produced the calls. Unlike other whales whose
calls are typically in the range of 10-40 Hz, this song was recorded at 52 Hz.
The popular press interpreted this to mean that this was “the world’s
__________ _______”, although many scientists rejected this idea, saying
that it other whales “can hear this guy, they’re not deaf. He’s just odd.”
As a result of the unusual calls, what was this whale nicknamed ?

Written round - Answers
5 questions with a common theme
+10 for each individual question
+10 for the theme

A1
Leonard Adelman (of RSA fame)
He used DNA

A2
Nassim Taleb, Black Swan event

A3
Nitroglycerin
Dynamite

A4
Euphoria

A5
The world’s loneliest whale

Theme
BTS songs
DNA
Black Swan
Euphoria
Dynamite
Whalien-52

Anticlockwise

Q13
In 1985, a 2-year old Hungarian girl called Susan moved to the United
States. Her parents had sewn 900 GBP into her teddy bear in order to
beat the Hungarian government’s regulations about taking foreign
currency out of the country.
While Susan grew up to become a two-time Olympic gold medalist in
rowing, her mom continued to work as a biochemist, despite many
setbacks.
On November 8, 2020, Susan’s mother reportedly remarked to her
husband “Oh, it works. I thought so” and proceeded to celebrate by
eating chocolate-covered peanuts.
Who is Susan’s mother ?

Answer
Katalin Kariko, who discovered (with Drew Weissman) the
modifications to RNA that make mRNA vaccines possible

Q14
“The Qin Dynasty is ruined with the burning of bamboos and fabrics.
The Hangu Pass and the Yellow River guarded the residence of the
ancestor of the Chinese dragon in vain.
Before the ashes in the burning pit turned cold, a riot had already
started in Shandong Province.
It turned out that Liu Bang and Xiang Yu were both uneducated
people.”
Why is the above Tang dynasty poem suddenly in the news?

Answer
Meituan’s CEO Wang Xing first posted, then deleted this poem on
social media leading to a sharp drop in its share price (as it could be
seen as critiquing the Chinese government)

Q15
The person in the image is an American
sound engineer who established two major
audio electronics companies which are
both named after him.
He first founded the company X in 1927
with a partner, manufacturing speakers for
radio sets and professional equipment for
the then-growing film industry. The partner
passed away in a plane crash leading to
financial issues for the company. This
person was then forced to leave the
company and started another one, Y, in
1946.
Give both company names

Q16
XY is an Indian business district developed as a cluster for biomedical research,
training and manufacturing. (Logo on next slide).
It was commissioned in 1999 as S. P. Biotech Park, in a public-private partnership
with Bharat Biotech International alongside private infrastructure companies such
as Shapoorji Pallonji Group and ICICI Bank .
It has India’s largest concentration of multi-tenanted lab space in an organized
cluster.
XY has been recognized as the Swiss hub of India, housing major Swiss companies
like Novartis, Lonza and Ferring located within 1 km of each other.
ID the appropriate name of this scientific district now under high security.

Q17
Chinese researchers found that very few of those hospitalized for COVID-19 were
users of X. Less than 6% of patients were observed to be users of X, in comparison
to 30% in the general population of similarly-aged people.
The use of X is very common in China and since the outbreak of COVID-19,
admission of patients with X has fallen, as noted by the researchers.
However, the research is inconclusive to mandate the use of X/ similar items. Users
of X tend to be older and hence, less likely to leave their homes thereby
minimising exposure.
X may offer direct protection from exposure or have over time, altered personal
hygiene practices of individuals.
ID X

Answer
Glasses!

Q18
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., and Jeep maker Stellantis NV said they’re
prepared to announce a new strategic partnership in the Electric Vehicles
segment.
Hon Hai would oversee design, components and supply chain management
for the venture.
In October, Hon Hai unveiled its first electric vehicle chassis as well as a
software platform aimed at helping EV makers get models to market faster.
Name another key activity that Hon Hai is better known for.

Answer
Main assembler of Apple Inc.’s iPhones

Q19
From September 1991 to April 2017, over 30,000 weddings have been
hosted at X locations with 1,300 in 2013. In 2016, there were 4,000
ceremonies at 11 per day.
The ceremonies were initially permitted only before 7:30AM, but have now
grown into a business of their own with the special programme, X's Fairy Tale
Weddings & Honeymoons- complete with a dress line and a TV series.
The X’s Wedding Pavilion is a Victorian wedding chapel on a private island
accessible by footbridge. The chapel has two views of _______ _____ and
seats 250. (image on next slide)
ID X, FITB

Answer
X- Disney
Disney's fairytale weddings and honeymoons
Blanks: Cinderella Castle

Q20
X was at one time considered a symptom of psychosis,
but it is now seen as a normal human tendency. The
Rorschach inkblot, a projective test, uses X to elicits
thoughts or feelings of respondents that are "projected"
onto the ambiguous inkblot images.
In 1954, this phenomena made its way into public
consciousness when Canadian tabloids made a “sinister”
discovery leading to conspiracy theories and a recall.
ID the phenomenon X. What did the tabloids observe
and where?

Answer
X-Pareidolia
A devil in the Queen’s curls on
Canadian Bank Notes

Q21
A paper on semiconductor technology by research scientists from X, the
National University of Taiwan (NTU), and Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT) announced a breakthrough in the use of 'beyond-silicon'
and 2D materials in electronics.
This is said to extend the applicability of a certain law, not based on physics,
but an empirical relationship linked to gains from experience in production,
the physical limits of which are predicted to be reached by computers in the
2020s.
ID X and name the law in question

Answer
TSMC, Moore’s Law

Q22
X is one of the first consumer electronic products to support a new wireless
technology, ultrawideband, considered far better than other similar devices
that rely on Bluetooth.
Ultrawideband could become the next wireless standard that succeeds
Bluetooth. It could lead to better wireless earphones, keyboards, video game
controllers — you name it. In this case, Ultrawideband works like sonar,
unlike Bluetooth that uses a continuous signal for the same purpose.
The $29 product is not as loud as it’s competitors and requires a separate
accessory to hold it, which is also sold by the manufacturer for $35.
ID X

Answer
Apple AirTags

Q23
An entire case (12 bottles) of Pétrus was sent to be aged under unique
conditions in 2019.
After 440 days, 3 bottles have now been opened for testing. This version of
the wine is said to be slightly softer and more aromatic.
Christie’s is set to auction a bottle for $1 million in a carefully crafted case
inspired by works of literature and pop culture.
What makes this wine special?

Answer
They were aged in space

Q24
X’s concern for buoyant markets with inequalities worsened by the Covid-19
pandemic was made apparent in periodic video messages to the masses.
In a letter to the World Bank - IMF (dated 11th April 2021), X echoed similar
sentiments.
These opinions are said to be based on the experiences of X’s upbringing in
an economy plagued by crises.
X’s opinions have communist connotations according to some - ironic,
considering a predecessor of X is said to have been pivotal in bringing the
Berlin Wall down.
ID X

Answer
Pope Francis

Thank you for taking part !

Extra questions

Extra1
The fate of the Chángzhēng wǔ hào, the mission launcher for the first
module for China’s space station, has reminded experts of a 1979 incident.
In 1979, the president of the Esperance local government area in Australia,
symbolically “fined” NASA USD 400 for a similar occurrence.
What was NASA fined for ?

Littering, due to pieces of Skylab landing in the Australian outback

Extra2
Described below is the fundamental idea behind the working of an iconic
gadget, popularised in the 1980s, familiar to most of us growing up.
“Use of photo-sensing cells to detect scanning lines on a monitor screen and
using synchronization information to calculate the scan line position at the
time of detection.
Use of photo-sensing cells to detect IR emitters placed nearby the display.”
Image from patent application on next slide.

Answer
Video Shooting Series
light gun/ NES Zapper

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