Which sport returned to Olympics in 1988 after 64 years?
- (A) Judo
- (B) Tennis
- (C) Croquet
- (D) Canoeing
Check AnswerExplanationTennis returned as a full medal sport at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, after its last Olympic appearance was at Paris in 1924. This 64-year absence paved the way for professionals to play Olympic tennis for the first time.
Who was the first Asian to have received the Nobel Prize?
- (A) C.V. Raman
- (B) R.N. Tagore
- (C) Mother Teresa
- (D) I.A. Bunin
Check AnswerExplanationRabindranath Tagore, also known as R.N. Tagore, created history by becoming the first Asian to receive a Nobel Prize. Tagore won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913 for his poetry book “Gitanjali”, also known as “Song Offerings”. This was a major milestone in history, as Tagore became the first non-European and the first Indian to receive this prestigious global award.
Who defined the “Law of Gravitation”?
- (A) Newton
- (B) Archimedes
- (C) Galileo
- (D) Faraday
Check AnswerExplanation
The Universal Law of Gravitation was described by Sir Isaac Newton in his 1687 Principia Mathematica”. It states that all particles in the universe attract each other with a force proportional to their combined masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. Newton’s great contribution was to extend the world of falling objects, as in the case of the falling apple, to the world of heavenly bodies, as in the case of the orbiting Moon.
Archimedes: While famous for his work on buoyancy and levers, Archimedes’ Principle.
Galileo: Galileo demonstrated that bodies fall at the same acceleration regardless of their mass, which is an understanding of falling bodies, but he did not define gravity as universal attraction.
Faraday: Michael Faraday is famous for his contributions to the fields of electromagnetism and electrochemistry.
The credit of developing the polio vaccine goes to:
- (A) Jones Salk
- (B) Alb E. Sabin
- (C) Selman Waksman
- (D) J. Perkins
Check AnswerExplanation
The breakthrough in polio vaccination was first achieved by Jonas Salk, who first developed the original inactivated (killed virus) vaccine. Salk was the first to reach the milestone in the early 1950s, was able to create the inactivated poliovirus vaccine, which used a killed virus. It was declared safe and effective on April 12, 1955, making it the first successful polio vaccine.
Quick Info: Albert E. Sabin developed the oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) using a live-attenuated (weakened) virus. Although his vaccine eventually became the primary tool for global eradication due to its ease of administration (drops or sugar cubes), it was introduced later, entering commercial use in the early 1960s.
“ZERO (0)” was invented by:
- (A) Indians
- (B) Egyptians
- (C) Iranians
- (D) Greeks
Check AnswerExplanation
The invention of the zero is closely related to Indian scholars, especially Aryabhata in the 5th century and Brahmagupta in the 7th century. They worked with it as a number and a placeholder for the decimal system, going beyond the use of symbols for “nothing”.
Quick Info: Al-Khwarizmi did not invent zero; he adopted it from Indian texts and systematically explained its use as a placeholder in the positional decimal system.
The velocity of light was first measured by:
- (A) Einstein
- (B) Newton
- (C) Ole Roemer
- (D) Galileo
Check AnswerExplanationDanish astronomer Ole Rømer was the first person to make a real, number-based discovery on the speed of light, way back in 1676. Prior to Rømer, many scientists had held on to the notion that light was transmitted almost instantly.
Ole Rømer based his observation on his observation of the eclipses of Io, which is one of the moons of Jupiter. He noticed that the timing of these eclipses changed as the Earth approached Jupiter in orbit. Rømer understood that this was not related to the internal workings of the moon but was, in fact, related to the speed at which light was transmitted. Rømer calculated that light takes 22 minutes to travel through the diameter of the Earth’s orbit.
Logarithm tables were invented by:
- (A) John Napier
- (B) John Doe
- (C) John Harrison
- (D) John Douglas
Check AnswerExplanationThe Scottish mathematician John Napier introduced logarithms. He introduced them in 1614 with a book titled “Mirifici Logarithmorum Canonis Descriptio,” or “Description of the Wonderful Canon of Logarithms.” The book contained the first logarithm tables, which were developed to simplify complex calculations such as multiplication and division.
Who discovered circulation of blood in the human body?
- (A) Edward Jenner
- (B) Joseph Lister
- (C) William Harvey
- (D) Robert Hooke
Check AnswerExplanationThe famous English physician, William Harvey (1578-1657) is historically credited with the discovery of blood circulation in the human body. His famous book, “Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus,” published in 1628, was the first detailed and accurate explanation of the circulation of blood through the body, accomplished through the action of the heart.
Velocity of sound is maximum in:
- (A) Water
- (B) Air
- (C) Steel
- (D) Vacuum
Check AnswerExplanation
The fastest speed that sound can travel is in steel. Sound waves are mechanical waves, which means that they need a material to travel through. They travel the fastest in solids because the material is more tightly packed, making the vibrations travel faster than in liquids or gases.
Steel (Solid): ~5,960 m/s (meter per sec.)
Water (Liquid): ~1,480 m/s (meter per sec.)
Air (Gas): ~343 m/s (meter per sec.)
Vacuum: 0 m/s (Sound cannot travel through a vacuum).
Which of the following vitamins can be stored in the liver?
- (A) Vitamin A
- (B) Vitamin C
- (C) Vitamin D
- (D) Vitamin K
Check AnswerExplanation
Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin that is stored in the liver in the form of retinyl esters. In the liver, it tends to accumulate in the space of Disse in stellate cells. If the body needs to utilize some of its stored vitamin A for purposes like seeing or fighting infections, the liver draws upon its reserves of the vitamin.
Vitamin C: This is a water-soluble vitamin. The body does not store it in significant amounts; any excess is excreted through urine, meaning it must be consumed daily.
Vitamin D: While Vitamin D is fat-soluble and is stored in the liver and fatty tissues, it is not considered the “primary” vitamin stored there in the same massive concentrations as Vitamin A. Much of it also undergoes chemical conversion in the liver rather than just storage.
Vitamin K: Vitamin K is also stored in the liver, but only in very small amounts that are depleted rapidly. Because of its high turnover rate, the body requires a more frequent supply compared to Vitamin A.
