What Does the Moon Smell Like?: 151 Astounding Science Quizzes (7 page)

metres (49 ft) tall.

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UNDERWATER RAINFORESTS

Supermales

The sun has just set on another beautiful day in para-Q

dise. It’s dusk in the tropics. There’s a gentle breeze, and beneath the surface of the calm turquoise

waters, a small group of fish is ready to rock on the coral reef. A big, macho supermale parrotfish is getting the superstar treatment from his enthusiastic female groupies. As far as they’re concerned, he’s the hottest hottie on the reef, and they all want to mate with him and have his babies. They won’t be disappointed. After all, he
is
a supermale. How does a guy get a job like that?

How do parrotfish become supermales?

a) dominant males fight for the position

b) females undergo a sex change

c) fertile females choose the healthiest male

d) males eat a special diet to grow bigger than the other males

79

Supermales

How do parrotfish become supermales?

A

a) dominant males fight for the position

b) females undergo a sex change

c) fertile females choose the healthiest male

UNDER

d) males eat a special diet to grow bigger than the other W

males

ATER

RAINFORESTS

CORRECT ANSWER:

b) females undergo a sex change

And no reconstructive surgery is required!

Surgeonfish need not apply. You’d think that males would be the natural choice, but in a weird and won-derful parrotfish twist of nature, only females become supermales. They’re all born with spare male parts.

When the local supermale dies, some of the biggest females activate the male within, and one becomes the new resident supermale. The makeover is complete, both inside and out. He even changes colour.

The females are attracted to his distinct new colours and markings. The supermale stage is the terminal phase for parrotfish, meaning they soon die of old age. The ability to change sex is a brilliant survival strategy. It ensures that there will always be a male to mate with the females and produce the next genera-tion of parrotfish.

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Life’s a Beach

Parrotfish are always looking for something to eat.

Q

Luckily, their favourite food, the algae that grow in and around corals, are always on the menu. While they’re munching on the algae, they bite off hunks of UNDER

coral and grind them up with their fused teeth, which resemble a parrot’s beak. Chomping on coral may WA

sound destructive, but it’s actually a win-win-win TER

situation. The parrotfish don’t go hungry, and they RAINFORESTS

keep the corals healthy. The third win is a product of the parrotfish’s hearty appetite. Hunks of coral go in one end, and sand comes out the other. How much sand?

How much sand can a big parrotfish make in a year?

a) 1,000 kg (2,200 lb)

b) 100 kg (220 lb)

c) 10 kg (22 lb)

d) 1 kg (2.2 lb)

81

Life’s a Beach

How much sand can a big parrotfish make in a year?

A

a) 1,000 kg (2,200 lb)

b) 100 kg (220 lb)

c) 10 kg (22 lb)

UNDER

d) 1 kg (2.2 lb)

WATER

CORRECT ANSWER:

RAINFORESTS

a) 1,000 kg (2,200 lb)

No one has actually followed a big parrotfish around for a year and collected and weighed the sand that comes out of its rear end. But according to the best estimates and when you consider that a parrotfish spends most of its waking hours grazing on coral, it’s entirely possible that it could process a whole metric tonne of sand in a year. So, if you’re lucky enough to find yourself on a tropical beach, blissfully wriggling your toes in fine, white sand, remember the parrotfish and its contribution to the environment. Parrotfish are some of the unsung heroes of the reef. In an

Australian study, damaged coral reefs that were grazed by parrotfish recovered, while those that were deprived of parrotfish died from an overgrowth of algae.

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Better than the Best Tropical

Fish Tank

The most complex, densely packed ecosystems on the Q

planet are tropical rainforests and coral reefs. A whopping 25% of all ocean fish species, as well as hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of varieties of UNDER

life call coral reefs home. The numbers are even more amazing when you consider that reefs cover less WA

than 0.1% of the sea floor. All the world’s coral reefs, TER

put together, cover less area than Spain. They’re RAINFORESTS

spread out across the world in 80 geographical loca-tions. When it comes to having the largest areas with coral reefs . . .

What are the top four countries?

a) Australia, Fiji, Belize, Mexico

b) Belize, Australia, U.S., Cuba

c) Indonesia, Australia, Philippines, France

d) Philippines, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Greece 83

Better than the Best Tropical

Fish Tank

What are the top four countries?

A

a) Australia, Fiji, Belize, Mexico

b) Belize, Australia, U.S., Cuba

c) Indonesia, Australia, Philippines, France

UNDER

d) Philippines, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Greece WATER

CORRECT ANSWER:

RAINFORESTS

c) Indonesia, Australia, Philippines, France

The top three countries, with half of the world’s coral reefs, are Indonesia, Australia, and the Philippines.

So what’s France doing in the top four? You had to factor in France’s many warm weather territories with impressive reefs, such as Martinique and French Polynesia. Most of the world’s coral reefs are in trouble these days, due to the triple threat of climate change, pollution, and overfishing. Have you ever snorkelled or dived on a healthy coral reef? It’s awesome — better than the best tropical fish tank you’ve ever seen, by a factor of a gazillion. If the underwater rainforest experience appeals to you, get to it as soon as you can. If conditions don’t improve, the reefs will never be better than they are today.

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DIGITAL ANATOMY

Powerful Digits

If you’ve ever tried rock climbing, or even just Q

watched someone else do it, you know that it takes balance, coordination, and strength. Sometimes

climbers have to hang on by their fingertips. So they must have super strong fingers, right? Have you ever wondered how many muscles there are in your fingers? If not, you will now.

How many muscles are there in your fingers?

a) 0

b) 12

c) 14

d) 28

85

Powerful Digits

How many muscles are there in your fingers?

A

a) 0

b) 12

c) 14

DIGIT

d) 28

AL

ANA

TOMY

CORRECT ANSWER:

a) 0

Would you believe there isn’t a single muscle in any of your fingers? Your grip strength comes from muscles in your palms and forearms. Your finger bones are connected to those muscles by tendons, which pull on, and move your fingers, a lot like the strings of a marionette. In a sense, your fingers move by remote control, and they’re controlled not just by tendons, but by the puppet master in your head, your brain.

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A Digital Advantage

Athletes are always looking for the edge in competi-Q

tion, that special something, that little bit extra, that can make the difference between winning and losing.

But no matter how hard they train, or how mentally DIGIT

prepared they are, there are some things that athletes AL

can’t learn or practice because they’re either born ANA

with it, or they’re not. Like toes, for example.

TOMY

What would be an advantage for a sprinter?

a) big toe and second toe of equal length

b) big toe longer than second toe

c) second toe longer than big toe

d) short toes

87

A Digital Advantage

What would be an advantage for a sprinter?

A

a) big toe and second toe of equal length

b) big toe longer than second toe

c) second toe longer than big toe

DIGIT

d) short toes

AL

ANA

TOMY

CORRECT ANSWER:

b) big toe longer than second toe

A long, strong big toe can work to a sprinter’s advantage. Leaning his or her full body weight into a robust, firmly planted big toe lets a sprinter accelerate more quickly than runners with smaller, weaker piggies. A strong big toe is also a plus in skiing. You can’t cut an edge without planting your big toe. The bigger and stronger it is, the better, for some sports anyway. For non-athletic types the big piggy’s edge may cut in a whole other way. According to my unofficial survey, the longer the big toe, the more quickly it pokes holes in your socks.

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Significant Digits?

Take a look at your fingers. Which is longer — your Q

index finger, or your ring finger? If you’re female, chances are that both are about the same length. If you’re male, your ring finger is probably longer than DIGIT

your index finger. In both sexes, finger length is influ-AL

enced by exposure to male hormones in the womb

ANA

before birth. Finger length has been studied more in TOMY

men than in women, and some researchers believe that the relative length of a male’s fingers may be subtle clues to his mental and physical makeup.

Men with a significantly longer ring finger are more likely to be . . .

a) better at reading maps

b) better athletes

c) physically aggressive

d) all of the above

89

Significant Digits?

Men with a significantly longer ring finger are more A

likely to be . . .

a) better at reading maps

b) better athletes

DIGIT

c) physically aggressive

AL

d) all of the above

ANA

TOMY

CORRECT ANSWER:

d) all of the above

On average, men whose ring fingers were a lot longer than their index fingers were found to be all of the above, in various studies. How seriously should we take this stuff? At this point, probably not too seriously. If the studies are to be believed, males with ring and index fingers closer to the same length are more prone to depression, but women with the same finger ratio are not. Some studies have found that men and women with longer ring fingers are more likely to be gay, but in other studies, no correlation between finger length and sexual orientation was found. My vote for the most amusing finding goes to this little gem: women with longer ring fingers slammed the phone down harder when they were

frustrated. I think we need a study to determine the relative finger lengths of the people who come up with studies like that!

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GERMyNATION: ON THE JOB

A Steaming Hot Cup of . . .

Hot on the trail of working germs, The Germinator, Q

a.k.a. microbiologist Dr. Chuck Gerba, with his tire-less team, collected 7,000 samples from a variety of offices. One of the items that they tested were coffee mugs. Everyone’s mugs were sampled, from the presi-dents and higher ups, down to the lowliest workers.

There turned out to be more in the mugs than just steaming hot coffee, and it wasn’t sweet or white.

Whose mugs contained the most fecal bacteria?

a) data processors

b) middle managers

c) technical support

d) top executives

91

A Steaming Hot Cup of . . .

Whose mugs contained the most fecal bacteria?

A

a) data processors

b) middle managers

c) technical support

GERMyNA

d) top executives

TION:

CORRECT ANSWER:

ON

d) top executives

THE

JOB

The higher up in the company they were, the more fecal bacteria in their coffee mugs. It seems counterintuitive to find the poopy germs associated with toilets in the mugs of the most pampered workers in the corporate world. Dr. Gerba thinks it’s because the top executives had people to clean their mugs for them. The ones doing the washing up, and serving coffee to the boss in a “fresh” mug, were using sponges or dishrags contaminated with fecal bacteria.

They washed the mugs, but not the dishrags, which the germs were busy populating. Most regular workers weren’t as vigilant about washing their own mugs, and so didn’t smear germs into them with the dishrag as often. Finally, a legitimate excuse for not cleaning your dirty mug at work.

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The Top 10 Most Contaminated

Things in Your Office

The Germinator and his team sampled various sur-Q

faces in offices including desktops, phones, computer mice, keyboards, microwave door handles, elevator buttons, photocopier buttons, photocopier surfaces, GERMyNA

toilet seats, fax machines, refrigerator handles, and water fountain handles. They were hunting for

pathogens — the bad bacteria, such as E. coli, pneu-TION:

monia, and salmonella, which can make you really ON

sick.

THE

JOB

Where did they find the most germs?

a) elevator button

b) phone receivers

c) photocopier start button

d) toilet seats