Who Won the 2006 Belarus Election and What Is Their Background?

AI Thread Summary
The discussion revolves around a challenging quiz on major physics news from the year, prompting participants to test their knowledge. Key topics include the identities of famous physicists featured in a composite image, the classification of dwarf planets by the International Astronomical Union, and notable events such as the opening of a new synchrotron facility and significant scientific achievements. Participants share their quiz scores, express surprise at the lack of engagement with the quiz, and provide answers to various questions, including the total cost and specifications of the Large Hadron Collider. The conversation also touches on the humorous side of science, with participants making light-hearted comments about quiz performance and the nature of scientific inquiry. Overall, the thread highlights the intersection of physics knowledge and community engagement in discussing recent developments in the field.
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Do you think you followed all the major physics news of the year? If you think you do, take this quiz and see how much you know. This is NOT an easy quiz by any stretch of the imagination.

http://physicsweb.org/articles/world/19/12/1/1

Zz.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
C. Which two famous physicists are "morphed" in this composite?
I don't know, but I see Einstein in there.[/color]

19. "You know, a lot of people probably think math and science isn't meant for me – it kind of seems a little hard, algebra. I can understand that, frankly."
I don't know, but it was multiple guess after all, and I can see Bush in my mind's eye saying something like this.[/color]

9. Which three astronomical bodies have been classified as "dwarf planets" by the International Astronomical Union?
This one is fresh in my mind: Ceres, Pluto, and UB313.[/\color]

So I got one right, and two sort ofs.
 
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The other one is Maxwell. That's actually a good photo-chop.
 
I don't know about you guys, but I myself score MUCH better on _evo's_ quizes :)
 
SimplePie said:
I don't know about you guys, but I myself score MUCH better on _evo's_ quizes :)
That's because they're all tests that I have passed. If I can pass them, your cat can pass them, blindfolded, and with one paw behind his back. :biggrin:
 
I'm surprised the quiz hasn't generated more response in this thread.

Here are some answers that I googled.

A. Whose manuscripts were bought by the Royal Society for £1.15m? Robert Hooke. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2006-03-28-hooke-papers_x.htm

B. Which new synchrotron facility will open its doors next month? I'm not sure, but I think it's probably CERN's Large Hadron Collider. I can't find the date the question refers to.

C. This has already been addressed.

D. Which cluster of galaxies provided astronomers with evidence for dark matter? Galaxy cluster 1E 0657-56, fondly known as the "bullet cluster". http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060824.html

1. Which space probe carrying cometary particles landed in Utah on 15 January? The Stardust capsule. http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/space/01/15/stardust/index.html

2. 2. Which country's presidential election featured a physicist and a mathematician? I haven't figured out a successful search yet.

3. Who became the third physicist in a row to win the £795,000 Templeton Prize for progress in science and religion? John D. Barrow in 2006 after Charles H. Townes in 2005, and Charles F. R. Ellis in 2004. http://www.templetonprize.org/bios.html

4. What is the "hottest topic in physics" according to a citation analysis devised by Michael Banks of the Max Planck Institute in Germany? Carbon nanotubes. http://www.boingboing.net/2006/05/12/quantifying_hot_topi.html

5. What is the ideal angle for throwing a football as far as possible, according to researchers at Brunel University? In the range of 25 - 30 degrees, depending upon the individual. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2006-03-28-hooke-papers_x.htm

6. Which Nobel laureate returned to the US after just two years as president of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology? Robert B. Laughlin http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/tech/200603/kt2006032217244111780.htm
 
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jimmysnyder said:
I'm surprised the quiz hasn't generated more response in this thread.

We're busy sending the answers to get the £50. :rolleyes:
 
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More answers.

7. Who was revealed as the "world's most creative physicist" by a statistical analysis of research papers? Philip Anderson. http://physicsweb.org/articles/news/10/8/13/1

8. Which Nobel laureate took the lead role in a scientific opera? Frank Wilczek. http://latticeqcd.blogspot.com/2006/10/nobel-prize-winning-opera-singer.html

9. Which three astronomical bodies have been classified as "dwarf planets" by the International Astronomical Union? Ceres, Pluto, and Eris http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwarf_planet#List_of_dwarf_planets

10. Which two physics Nobel laureates died this year? Milton Friedman. http://www.hoover.org/pubaffairs/releases/4667846.html , and Raymond Davis. http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/pubaf/pr/PR_display.asp?prID=06-69

11. The foundation of the Joint Institute of Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia. 50. http://www.jinr.ru/about.htm

12. The birth of Nikolai Tesla. 150. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikola_Tesla

13. The brightest supernova in recorded history. 1000 (years since the light of it reached earth, the actual anniversary is different). http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap030317.html. Add 7100 according to this site. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0303/05brightest/

14. The discovery of the first high-temperature superconductor. 20. http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Solids/hitc.html

15. The death of Ludwig Boltzmann. 100. http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Mathematicians/Boltzmann.html

16. The birth of James Clerk Maxwell. 175. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Clerk_Maxwell
 
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Evo said:
That's because they're all tests that I have passed. If I can pass them, your cat can pass them, blindfolded, and with one paw behind his back. :biggrin:

I don't have a cat but if I had one with that much hubris, I'd throw him out the door! :)
 
  • #10
Some more answers:

17. "Crick would have been sacked for being idle and Watson would have been told to piss off and stop messing about with his grant."
E. Robert May, former president of the Royal Society.
[PLAIN]http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,1651779,00.html[/URL]

18. "If people don't have a good sense of humour, they are usually not very good scientists either. They don't realize that science doesn't need to be boring to be good."
D. University of Manchester physicist Andre Geim
No url. I got this by process of elimination.

19. "You know, a lot of people probably think math and science isn't meant for me – it kind of seems a little hard, algebra. I can understand that, frankly."
B. US President George W Bush
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/02/20060203-6.html

20. "We will have to use brain-augmentation technology to do new physics within 50 years."
F. Ian Pearson, futurologist at BT.
No direct quote.
http://www.btinternet.com/~ian.pearson/web/future/nbicby2030.htm

21. "There is about a 95% chance that the US will use nuclear weapons against Iran by the end of the year."
G. University of California San Diego physicist Jorge Hirsch
http://physicsweb.org/articles/world/19/6/3/1

22. "In a world that is in chaos politically, socially and environmentally, how can the human race sustain another 100 years?"
C. Cambridge University theorist Stephen Hawking
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20060704195516AAnrdOD

23. "I would probably kill someone if I saw them torturing a cat."
A. Brian May, Imperial College physics graduate and guitarist with rock band Queen
http://www.banguniverse.com/newsitems/view/23
 
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  • #11
Evo said:
That's because they're all tests that I have passed. If I can pass them, your cat can pass them, blindfolded, and with one paw behind his back. :biggrin:

The expression is: with his hands closed and one eye tied behind his back.

:biggrin:
 
  • #12
Evo said:
If I can pass them, your cat can pass them, blindfolded, and with one paw behind his back.

DaveC426913 said:
The expression is: with his hands closed and one eye tied behind his back.

Brian May is going to get you guys for this.
 
  • #13
Here is the last batch of answers. There is an unnumbered question:
What do you remember about the facts and figures (about the Large Hadron Collider)?
The answer in my case is nothing. I should get credit for this answer as it is correct. For everything else there's google.


24. What is the total cost of the LHC accelerator?
3.03 billion Euros
http://public.web.cern.ch/Public/Content/Chapters/AskAnExpert/LHC-en.html#q3

25. What is the circumference of the LHC ring?
27 km.
http://lhcb-public.web.cern.ch/lhcb-public/

26. How many superconducting dipole magnets will be used to steer protons around the ring?
about 9300
http://public.web.cern.ch/Public/Content/Chapters/AskAnExpert/LHC-en.html#qa1

27. What energy will protons be accelerated to?
7Tev
http://public.web.cern.ch/Public/Content/Chapters/AskAnExpert/LHC-en.html#q11

28. How many circuits of the ring will a proton complete each second?
11245 cps
http://public.web.cern.ch/Public/Content/Chapters/AskAnExpert/LHC-en.html#qa1

29. How much does the ATLAS detector weigh?
7000 tonnes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATLAS_experiment

30. What quantity of data will be recorded each year by the LHC experiments?
15 Petabytes
http://www.ercim.org/publication/Ercim_News/enw59/unterkircher.html
 
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  • #14
The answer to no2 is Belarus.
 
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