Can You Pass a Simple True or False Science Challenge?
by Carolyn Fleming
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Whether we notice it or not, science rules our lives. Our bodies are governed by biological processes. The planets move according to astronomical principles. Your cell phone functions with help from semiconductor integration, rechargeable batteries, and GPS. But let’s take a few steps back and see how much you remember from science class and how much you’ve paid attention to more recent discoveries. All you have to do is answer a few true-or-false questions.
1: True or False: The Sun revolves around the Earth.
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Actually, the Earth and the other planets in our solar system revolve around the Sun. One Earth orbit around the Sun takes about 365.26 days. We add one extra day to our calendar every four years, on leap years, to even things out.
2: True or False: The fastest land animal is the kangaroo.
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Actually, the cheetah is the fastest land animal, able to travel up to 70 mph. Its feet have special pads that help with traction, and its long tail helps with balance. A kangaroo has powerful hind legs, but its top speed is about 35 mph.
3: True or False: The value of pi is approximately 3.14.
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The value of pi is an irrational number, meaning that it never ends. To 12 decimal places, its value is 3.141592653589, but it will go on and on forever. Pi, which is often represented by the Greek letter π, is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. So, if a circle has a diameter of 1, its circumference is 3.141592653589… .
4: True or False: Killer whales are actually dolphins.
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It’s true: Killer whales, or orcas, are dolphins, not whales. Of course, they are exceptionally large dolphins. Most killer whales live in social groups called pods, and they communicate underwater with clicks and whistles.
5: True or False: Neptune is the largest planet in our solar system.
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Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system—nearly 11 times the size of Earth. The planets in our solar system, ranked by size from largest to smallest, are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Earth, Venus, Mars, and Mercury. And then there’s Pluto, which is classified as a dwarf planet these days.
6: True or False: Nocturnal animals are active at night.
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Owls, tarantulas, and aardvarks are nocturnal. Nocturnal animals are active at night and sleep during the day. Conversely, diurnal animals are active during the day and sleep at night. Animals that are active at twilight are crepuscular, and animals that are active at odd times during day and night are classified as cathemeral.
7: True or False: In order, the colors of the rainbow are red, violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, and orange.
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The colors of the rainbow in order are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. You can remember these colors by turning their initials into a name: ROY G. BIV. However, some people feel that indigo is just a transition between blue and violet, and it should not be thought of as a distinct color in the rainbow.
8: True or False: The bones in the human inner ear are known as the hammer, anvil, and stirrup.
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The Latin names for the hammer, anvil, and stirrup are the malleus, incus, and stapes. Incoming sound waves vibrate the eardrum, and those vibrations then travel to the three tiny bones, then on to the fluid-filled cochlea in the inner ear.
9: True or False: Gold is the only metal on the periodic table that is not naturally silver or gray.
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Gold is not the only non-silvery or non-gray metal on the periodic table—there’s also copper. Both gold and copper are excellent conductors of electricity.
10: True or False: AB-negative is the rarest blood type.
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AB-negative is the rarest blood type, found in about 1% of the population. O-positive is the most common. People inherit their blood type from their parents. People with type O blood are called universal donors because type O can be used to treat any patient.
11: True or False: A person who weighs 150 pounds on Earth would only weigh about 25 pounds on the Moon.
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That 150-pound Earthling would weigh different amounts on different worlds, depending on the gravitational pull. They would weigh about 57 pounds on Mars, 379 pounds on Jupiter, and a mere 10 pounds on Pluto.
12: True or False: The boiling point of water is 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
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This is a tricky one—the boiling point of water is 100 degrees Celsius, not Fahrenheit. Using the Fahrenheit scale, the boiling point of water is 212 degrees.
13: True or False: No bird can fly backward.
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The amazing hummingbird can fly not only backward, but also sideways or up and down. It can even hover, by flapping its wings in a figure-eight motion, which it does while sucking nectar from flowers or drinking from a hummingbird feeder.
14: True or False: Fluffy, cottony clouds are called cirrus clouds.
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In fact, fluffy, cottony clouds are called cumulus, from the Latin “cumulo,” which means “heap” or “pile.” Cirrus clouds are delicate and feathery.
15: True or False: Pregnant elephants carry their young for up to 22 months.
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Elephants have a long gestation period, from 18 to 22 months. Manatees carry their young for 13 months, camels for up to 15 months, velvet worms up to 15 months, and rhinoceros up to 18 months. Humans have it relatively easy, by comparison.
16: True or False: An eggplant is a fruit.
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Botanically speaking, an eggplant is a fruit because it has seeds. Any part of the plant that involves seeds and reproduction is a fruit, and an eggplant has seeds. Similarly, tomatoes and bell peppers are fruits. However, in the culinary world, eggplants, tomatoes, and bell peppers are thought of as vegetables because they are savory.
17: True or False: Stomach acid can dissolve stainless steel.
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Not that you should consider ingesting pots and pans, but stomach acid is really strong stuff. Your stomach lining has to endure constant contact with this acid, so the lining is totally renewed and replaced every four days.
18: True or False: Human taste buds have receptors for at least five types of taste.
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The five recognized types of taste are sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and the more recently added umami. The Japanese word “umami” means “savory” or “meaty.” Researchers are considering a few other types of taste, including metallic.
19: True or False: A group of apes is called a shrewdness.
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It’s true! Collective nouns for animals tend to be imaginative and thought-provoking. For example, a group of camels is a caravan, a group of hyenas is a cackle, a group of zebras is a zeal, a group of porcupines is a prickle, a group of squirrels is a scurry, and a group of lemurs is a conspiracy.
20: True or False: The periodical table lists chemical elements in order by atomic number.
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Did you see what we did there? It’s called the “periodic” table, not the “periodical” table. In the periodic table, hydrogen is listed first, with the symbol H, because it has an atomic number of one. In order by atomic number, the next few elements are Helium (He), Lithium (Li), and Beryllium (Be). A periodical, incidentally, is a magazine that's published on a regular schedule, like Time, People, Good Housekeeping, or Game Informer.
