5 Trivia Questions That Stumped The Bay Area's Brightest
by Bill Disbrow
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) - San Francisco's glittering new Exploratorium played host to a battle of brains Wednesday night as the crew from the California Academy of Sciences made the trip across town for a trivia night showdown.
About 160 employees from San Francisco's two premiere science-based attractions split up into teams to answer dozens of trivia questions. Over pints and pinot, the contestants faced-off to see which institution boasted the best brains.
As you might expect, the squads nailed many of the questions, but a few turned out to be tricky. Here they are:
Q: What are the 5 states in the U.S. with the highest tourist revenue?
A: California, Florida, New York, Nevada and Texas
Q: Under a once-common legal concept, an animal or inanimate object that caused the accidental death of a person was termed "deodand" and became property of the state. What invention led to so many accidental deaths that it led to deodand being abolished?
A: Trains or the rail system
Q: What agency is responsible for establishing and maintaining acceptable safety practices regarding blood borne pathogens in the adult film industry?
A: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
Q: Nitrogen freezes at 63k (-346 degrees Fahrenheit). At what temperature does it boil?
A: 77k (-321 Fahrenheit)
Q: Name each of the four fundamental forces and the elementary particle that acts as its carrier?
A: Electromagnetism & photons, gravity & graviton, strong nuclear force and gluons, weak nuclear force and W & Z bosons or weak bosons
The questions were created by a four person panel, two employees from each institution. The quiz was held inside the Kanbar Forum at the Pier 15 museum.
To determine a winner, the five highest scores from the smaller groups representing each museum were tabulated and compared. In the end, the home team edged out the Academy of Sciences crew by a few correct answers.
"From what I understand, the first place team for each institution was tied, but they took the top five and averaged their score. They had the higher score," said Matt Wandell, a biologist at the Academy's Steinhart Aquarium. "It was an inaugural thing. I think it will definitely happen again. It's a rivalry now."
Wandell said he looks forward to a rematch, and hopes the Academy will play host next time around.
"Everybody loved it. The (museum) directors were both there cheering us on," said Wandell. "It was a lot of fun."