Mini Mind Marathon Trivia Quiz

Answer: Scotland

Dull is a small village in Scotland with a humorous name that catches people's attention. Even though it sounds boring, it has a unique claim to fame. In 2012, Dull became twinned with a town in the United States called (would you believe it) 'Boring'! Twinning towns is like making them official friends, and this pairing was done mostly for fun because of the silly names.

The connection between Dull and Boring has made both places popular for jokes and tourism. Visitors often take pictures with signs and enjoy the humour of living in, or visiting, a place with such unusual names. It shows that even small villages can have interesting stories.

Fun fact: In 2013, the Australian town of 'Bland' joined the fun, forming the unofficial 'Trinity of Tedium' with Dull and Boring. Yawn! I hope you haven't nodded off reading this!

Answer: Antarctic Desert

The largest desert in the world is the Antarctic Desert. Even though we usually think of deserts as hot and sandy, a desert is actually any place that gets very little rainfall. Antarctica is extremely dry, cold, and covered mostly in ice, which makes it a desert.

Despite being freezing, the Antarctic Desert is home to some hardy animals, like penguins and seals, and scientists who study its unique environment. It's a reminder that deserts aren't always what we imagine, because they can be icy, vast, and still the driest places on Earth.

Answer: J and Q

In the English alphabet, all letters appear in at least one chemical element symbol-except for J and Q. Chemical symbols are usually one or two letters taken from the element's name, often based on Latin names, which is why some letters are missing.

Even though J and Q are common in words, they just never made it into the symbols of elements on the periodic table. If new elements are discovered and named creatively, it's possible J or Q could make a debut someday. But for now, they remain the alphabet's chemical outcasts.

Answer: Sudan

Sudan is the country with the most pyramids in the world. Most people, myself included, think of Egypt when they hear 'pyramids', but Sudan actually has over 200 pyramids, mostly built by the ancient Kingdom of Kush. These pyramids are smaller and steeper than the famous Egyptian ones, but there are more of them!

Sudan's pyramids were tombs for kings and queens and show how advanced the ancient Kushite civilisation was. It's a surprising fact that makes Sudan a hidden treasure for people who love history and archaeology. They're part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and offer a rare glimpse into the legacy of the 'Black Pharaohs' who once ruled both Kush and Egypt.

Answer: True

Surprisingly, apples and tomatoes both have more genes than humans. Apples have 57,000 genes and tomatoes 31,760, while humans have only 20,000-25,000

I think it's amazing that fruits, though so common, can be genetically more complex than we are. This shows that nature can be full of unexpected surprises!

Tomatoes, apples and some other fruits have undergone multiple genome triplications. This process, known as polyploidy, is common in plants and dramatically increases gene count. However, good news for humans: More genes don't mean more intelligence. It just means more biological instructions for building and maintaining them.

Answer: Venus

The hottest planet in our solar system is Venus. Even though Mercury is closer to the Sun, Venus has a thick atmosphere full of carbon dioxide that traps heat, making it hotter than any other planet. In fact, it's hot enough to melt lead!

Mercury lacks a substantial atmosphere, so while it gets scorched during the day, it also loses heat rapidly at night. Venus is covered with clouds of acid and has surface temperatures over 450°C (850°F). Being closer to the Sun doesn't always make a planet the hottest, as its atmosphere plays a huge role.

Answer: It had the same text in Greek, Demotic, and hieroglyphs

The Rosetta Stone helped people decode Egyptian hieroglyphs because it had the same text written in three scripts: Greek, Demotic, and hieroglyphs. Scholars already knew Greek, so they could compare it with the hieroglyphs and figure out what the symbols meant.

Before the Rosetta Stone, Egyptian hieroglyphs were undeciphered for over 1,400 Thanks to its discovery, languages that had been a mystery for thousands of years were finally understood. It allowed scholars to unlock millennia of history, religion, and culture that had been sealed in stone. It was like a secret key that unlocked the world of ancient Egypt.

Answer: To analyse fragments and reconstruct compositions

AyseDeniz Gokcin is a boundary-pushing pianist and composer who blends classical tradition with cutting-edge technology. Known for her bold reinterpretations of composers like Chopin and Bach, she's also a pioneer in using AI to regenerate lost or unfinished works. Her concerts often challenge audiences to distinguish between original, AI-generated, and her own compositions.

She achieved this, because AI has helped bring lost classical music back to life by analysing fragments of old compositions and reconstructing the missing parts. It studies patterns in the music and predicts what the rest of a piece might have sounded like.

AI models are trained on large datasets of classical compositions, learning the structure, harmony, and phrasing typical of specific composers or eras. When given a fragment, the AI can generate stylistically consistent continuations, much like a musical version of predictive text.

Answer: Fermented soybean paste

Miso is a thick paste made from soybeans, salt, and a special kind of mould called koji. Sometimes rice or barley is added too. It's left to ferment for weeks or even months, which gives it a strong, savoury flavour. People in Japan have used miso for hundreds of years, mostly in soups, sauces, and marinades.

It's known for its deep taste called umami, which makes food feel rich and satisfying. Miso also has healthy bacteria from the fermentation process, which can be good for your digestion. There are different types of miso. Some are light and sweet, others are dark and salty, and each adds a unique flavour to cooking.

Answer: Salvador Dalí

'The Persistence of Memory' was painted by Salvador Dalí in 1931. It's famous for its melting clocks and dreamlike landscape, which make it a classic example of surrealism. Dalí's painting makes people think about time, dreams, and reality in strange and imaginative ways. It's one of the most famous artworks in the world and shows how art can stretch the imagination.

It's housed in the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York and is one of the most iconic works in modern art history. Dalí's surrealist vision continues to inspire interpretations, from psychological readings to philosophical musings on memory and existence.