A Medley of Motley Miscellany [4] Quiz

Answer: Mycology

Mycology is the branch of biology devoted to the study of fungi, including mushrooms, molds, yeasts, lichens, and other fungal organisms. All the stuff that will kill you, make you high as a kite, or taste great sautéed in butter. The word comes from the Greek mykēs, meaning fungus or mushroom. Pier Antonio Micheli is generally considered the father of scientific mycology in the 18th century.

Heinrich Anton de Bary also deserves a shout-out here as the founder of modern mycology.

Answer: Babe Ruth

It sounds dumb. It sounds made up. But yes, Babe Ruth's cabbage-leaf trick is one of those goofy pieces of trivia with solid historical support behind it. Ruth played in an era when baseball uniforms were considerably less comfortable than modern-day gear, and afternoon games could get brutally hot for the players. During at least one summer heat wave, Ruth would slip a cabbage leaf under his cap while playing the outfield.

Interestingly, Ruth apparently didn't just grab a cabbage out of the kitchen and slap it on his head. Accounts say the leaves were cooled, sometimes in ice water, before he put them under his cap. At least one source says he would change the leaf every couple of innings. So, if you want to be a legendary Hall of Famer, start with a trip to the produce section.

Answer: British Columbia

Victoria, the capital of British Columbia, is located on the southern end of Vancouver Island. If you're a dumb American like me, you might expect the capital to be Vancouver (it's vastly larger and the only place around there you've actually heard of), but nope. Victoria has held the job since 1868, when the capital was moved there from New Westminster. British Columbia then joined the Canadian Confederation in 1871, with Victoria remaining the provincial capital.

Answer: Peanut

Scientists are always making life difficult.

But yes, peanuts have been lying to us their entire lives. Despite having "nut" right there in the name, they aren't actually nuts at all. They're legumes, and their pods develop underground. After the peanut plant flowers above ground, the not-nut is pushed down into the soil, where the familiar peanut pod matures. So, botanically speaking, your peanut butter sandwich has more in common with beans than with walnuts.

That's not all, though. Hazelnuts are the only genuine botanical nuts of the group; pine nuts are naked seeds, and walnuts are technically the seeds of drupes. Your whole life has been a lie.

Answer: Jupiter

The Sun is what happens when you buy way too much hydrogen and helium at the grocery store, add an absurd amount of gravity, and let fusion take over.

Jupiter is what happens when the store is starting to run a little low on hydrogen and helium. You still have absurd amounts of gravity squeezing everything tightly together, but no fusion.

As you travel downward through Jupiter, the pressure gets so intense that hydrogen changes from a gas into a dense fluid. Even farther down, the pressure is high enough to strip electrons from hydrogen atoms, creating metallic hydrogen, which can conduct electricity. Scientists think the movement of this electrically conducting material helps generate Jupiter's massive magnetic field.

Jupiter doesn't really have a solid "surface" that you could land on. The atmosphere gradually gets denser and transitions into fluid, so there isn't a neat boundary where you can say, "Okay, here's the ground." According to NASA, the liquid metallic hydrogen region is roughly 25,000-40,000 kilometers in depth, depending on the model. So if you're ever planning a trip to Jupiter, pack accordingly.

Answer: Money

An interesting distinction here is that 1 Timothy 6:10 says that "the love of money", not money itself, is the problem. The verse goes on to say that some people, because they coveted money, wandered from the faith and brought themselves many sorrows. So the target of the warning is greed and an unhealthy attachment to wealth, rather than simply having a few bucks in your pocket.

Many modern Bible translations give the passage as "a root of all kinds of evil" rather than "the root of all evil." But the KJV's wording is the one that is quoted and paraphrased so often.

Answer: Richard Simmons

Milton Teagle "Richard" Simmons was one of the biggest names among American fitness personalities of his day. His whole thing was trying to make working out seem fun rather than intimidating. He openly talked about his own early struggles with weight and encouraged people who didn't fit the stereotypical image of a fitness buff to get moving.

His eccentric personality, cringeworthy short shorts, striped tank tops, unending enthusiasm, and "Sweatin' to the Oldies" videos made him a household name.

He died at his Los Angeles home on July 13, 2024, one day after turning 76.

Answer: Crushed carmine beetles and ants

Cleopatra used crushed insects to produce a red lip color, with carmine beetles being the key pigment. "The Smithsonian" describes the traditional recipe as red pigments made from mashed-up beetles and ants, while "National Geographic" also says that Cleopatra was dabbling with carmine, a deep-red pigment derived from insects. Carmine has a long history as a red coloring agent, and it's still used in some cosmetics today. Maybe it's Maybelline, but it's still crushed bugs.

Answer: Water Lilies

Claude Monet and Van Gogh are both known for their colorful, impressionistic paintings. "Water Lilies", however, is one of Monet's subjects. He repeatedly painted the lily pond at his home in Giverny, eventually producing a huge number of variations on the theme.

"The Potato Eaters" came from Van Gogh's early Dutch period, while "Irises" and "The Starry Night" were painted in 1889 during his time in the south of France. The takeaway: if you're looking at dreamy ponds and floating lilies, there's a very good chance you're looking at Monet. Funny-looking stars in the sky with swirls all around? That's Van Gogh.

Answer: Africa

The lesula, found in Africa, is a great example of how "new to science" doesn't always mean "nobody knew this animal existed." Local hunters and residents had long known the monkey as the lesula, but it wasn't recognized by the scientific community as a distinct species until researchers encountered it in 2007.

The first scientific encounter was actually with a captive juvenile female being kept in the town of Opala. Later that year, researchers found lesulas living in the wild. The species has a fairly restricted range in the forests of the central Democratic Republic of the Congo, between the Lomami and upper Tshuapa rivers.

Answer: Charrería

Mexico's government describes charrería as the country's "national sport," and it was officially declared a national sport in 1943.

What is it? Charrería is a traditional Mexican "equestrian discipline" involving horseback riding, cattle work, roping, and a whole series of specialized events called suertes. If it sounds like a rodeo, you're not entirely wrong. The difference is how the events are treated. Rodeos are generally speed competitions meant for entertainment. Charrería is deeply tied to tradition and is all about style, grace, and good execution. It's a formal affair with strict etiquette, opening parades in traditional garb, and live mariachi music.

Answer: Inca

Machu Picchu sits about 2,400 meters above sea level in the Andes of present-day Peru. The Incas built the walls, terraces, ramps, residences, ceremonial structures, and agricultural areas into an extremely steep mountain landscape. Not bad. The stonework is particularly impressive, with the buildings and terraces integrated closely with the surrounding rock. UNESCO calls it "a masterpiece of art, urbanism, architecture and engineering".

The site was constructed during the height of the Inca Empire and was abandoned sometime after the Spanish conquest in the 16th century.

Its exact purpose is still debated, although evidence points to a combination of religious, ceremonial, astronomical, residential, and agricultural functions.

Answer: Nutmeg

Grenada's flag was adopted when it gained independence from the United Kingdom on February 7, 1974. It has a red border, green and gold sections, and seven gold stars. The six stars in the border represent the country's six parishes, while the central star represents the capital, Saint George's.

And if you look, you'll see the nutmeg pod, sitting right there on the left side of the flag. It's not there just to spice things up. Nutmeg has a long history as an important crop for Grenada. That's how they got the name "Isle of Spices". The country is known for its nutmeg production, so putting the spice on the national flag is just the 1970s version of product placement.

Answer: Pink Floyd

"A Momentary Lapse of Reason" was a pretty dramatic turning point for Pink Floyd. Roger Waters had been the band's main songwriter and creative muse for years, but he left in 1985. David Gilmour and Nick Mason decided to continue under the Pink Floyd name, with keyboardist Richard Wright returning as well.

The resulting album was released in September 1987 and reached number three in both the UK and U.S. charts. While opinions on the album remain mixed to say the least, songs like "Learning to Fly," "On the Turning Away," and "Sorrow" all became mainstays of the band's post-Waters era.

Answer: To feed scavenging birds

Sky burial is connected to Tibetan Buddhism and the belief that consciousness moves on after death while the physical body is basically an empty soda can. Offering that body to other living creatures is seen as an act of generosity and a reminder of the impermanence of physical life. To belabor the soda can analogy, it's the Tibetan Buddhists' version of recycling.

There were practical reasons for the custom as well: much of the Tibetan Plateau has rocky or frozen ground that can make digging graves difficult, while firewood has historically been scarce. It probably doesn't look pretty with vultures pulling pieces of Grandma off her skeleton, but if Tibetan families are cool with it, I'm sure the vultures are as well.