General Science Mixed Quiz: Set 141

Pedology is the study of soils, including their formation from parent rock, their profile and horizons, their classification and their fertility, and it is the science behind soil surveys and land capability maps.

Seismology is the study of earthquakes and of the passage of seismic waves through the earth, and it is from seismic wave records that the layered structure of the interior of the earth has been worked out; the instrument used is the seismograph.

Pasteurisation is not sterilisation: it is a mild heating that kills disease-causing organisms such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Salmonella and Brucella and most spoilage bacteria, while leaving the taste and nutritive value of milk largely unchanged.

The sino-atrial node is a small patch of specialised muscle tissue in the wall of the right atrium near the opening of the superior vena cava, and it generates the impulse that sets the rate of each heartbeat without any outside stimulus, which is why it is called the pacemaker.

Speleology is the exploration and scientific study of caves, their formation, the limestone features such as stalactites and stalagmites that develop in them, and the animal life adapted to permanent darkness.

The correct answer is A, Karl von Frisch, who decoded the dance language of bees: a round dance for a source near the hive and a waggle or tail-wagging dance for a distant one, in which the angle of the straight run shows the direction of the food relative to…

In lyophilisation the material is first frozen and then placed under a strong vacuum, so that the ice changes directly into vapour without passing through the liquid state.

The formula T₀ = 2π√(L/g) holds only for small swings; at large amplitudes the period grows.

Cryogenics deals with the production of very low temperatures and with the behaviour of materials at those temperatures, where liquefied gases such as liquid nitrogen, oxygen and hydrogen are used; it is applied in rocket engines with cryogenic upper stages, in superconducting magnets and in the preservation of biological material…

A beam seen from the side is visible only because tiny particles send some of its light sideways. Light travelling in a straight line cannot enter our eyes unless something redirects it towards us.

Indian food standards divide preservatives into two classes. Class I preservatives are the natural ones that cooks have always used, and no limit is placed on the quantity: common salt, sugar, dextrose, spices, vinegar or acetic acid, honey and edible vegetable oils.

Gamma rays sit at the far end of the electromagnetic spectrum, with the shortest wavelength and therefore the highest frequency and energy.

Phycology, also called algology, is the study of algae, the simple photosynthetic organisms that range from the single-celled Chlamydomonas to the large brown seaweeds, and it covers their classification and their uses as food, fertiliser and a source of agar.

The mole is the chemist's counting unit: one mole of any substance contains the Avogadro number of particles, about six followed by twenty-three zeros, whether those particles are atoms, molecules or ions.

Lumps of calcium carbide hidden in a crate of mangoes react with the moisture in the air and release acetylene gas, which forces the fruit to colour quickly, though the pulp inside stays unripe and tasteless.

The brain is the organ that interprets pain, but its own tissue has no pain receptors, so cutting or pricking it causes no sensation; the covering membranes, the blood vessels and the scalp do have receptors, which is why a headache hurts.

Herpetology is the study of reptiles such as snakes, lizards, crocodiles and turtles, together with amphibians such as frogs, toads and salamanders, and in India it includes the work on snake venom and antivenom at institutions that maintain snake parks.

That Act consolidated several scattered food laws, the most important of them the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act of 1954, into a single statute and created one authority to lay down science-based standards for food, regulate its manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and import, and licence food businesses; its headquarters is…

Nephology is the study of clouds, their formation, classification into types such as cirrus, cumulus and stratus, and their part in rainfall, and it is a branch of meteorology, the science of the atmosphere and the weather.

Codex Alimentarius is Latin for food code, and the Commission of that name draws up model standards, codes of practice, and limits for additives, contaminants and pesticide residues, which member countries use when writing their own food law and which serve as the reference in international food trade.