Hypothesise This! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Odd looking plants growing in a graveyard

Hyponasty is a term for the upward bending of part of a plant, caused by greater growth of the lower side than of the upper side.

There are several plant "nasties", including among others:
photonasty - the response to light such the opening of a flower;
chemonasty - the response to nutrients in the soil;
hydronasty - the response to water.

Sprinkle some hyponastic, photonastic, chemonastic, hydronastic parsley on your breakfast eggs! That's not too nasty!

Answer: An economist

Hypothecation is allocation of revenue raised by a tax for a specific purpose. For example, road taxes used to fund transport infrastructure. It also means to pledge something of value to a creditor as security, without actually delivering it. This is frequently done in the gold market, where ownership of gold is transferred without leaving the vault where it is stored.

The word "hypothecate" is often incorrectly used instead of "hypothesise", as in for example, "The professor hypothecated that ice will float in water." The correct word in this context is "hypothesised".

Answer: An underfloor heating device

The hypocaust was developed by the Romans over 2000 years ago, and was composed of a raised floor supported by columns with an attached furnace. Hot gases from the furnace flowed through the space below the floor to heat the floor and the room above. Potential problems with the invention would have been the creation of deadly carbon monoxide fumes leaking into the room, the risk of fire, and a limited ability to control the temperature. Personally, I think I'll stick to my aircon unit!

Answer: A part of a fruit

Fruits typically (but not always) consist of various components, including a pericarp, or outer layer, composed of the skin, exocarp, the flesh, mesocarp, and the stony pit, or endocarp, which contains the seed. The fruit sits in a receptacle called the hypocarp, which joins it to the stem. Enough nutty carping on about fruit - on to the next hypo!

Answer: I have low blood pressure.

Hypotension, or low blood pressure, can be life-threatening in severe cases. It can have multiple different causes, including severe bleeding, shock, medications, dehydration, heart problems, and many others. According to the Mayo Clinic, a blood pressure reading of 90 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) or less systolic blood pressure (the top number in a blood pressure reading) or 60 mm Hg or less diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number) is generally considered low blood pressure. Do you know your blood pressure? If you suspect you have hypotension, see your doctor.

Answer: Something in my head

Hypophysis is the technical name for the pituitary gland, a gland attached to the base of the brain. It is called the "master" endocrine gland, as it affects many bodily functions including body growth, bone and muscle mass, fat distribution, metabolism, the ovaries and testes, pregnancy and childbirth, breast milk production, water/salt balance in the kidneys, temperature regulation, pain relief, and more besides. For a small gland the size of a pea, that's quite an impressive job!

Answer: Use more precise descriptions

A "hyponym" is a word that is a more precise description of something described by another more general word, known as the superordinate. For example, "house" and "shed" are hyponyms of "building". Related to hyponym is "synonym", having the same or nearly the same meaning, and "antonym", having the opposite meaning.
So I guess antonym must be the antonym of synonym, and hyponym is the antonym of superordinate but a hyponym of word. Or something. Actually I just wanted to use them all in one sentence.

Answer: Circles

Imagine a small circle rolling around the inner circumference of a larger circle. Now imagine a point on the smaller circle and the path it draws out as the smaller circle moves. That path is a "hypocycloid". The Spirograph toy popular in the 60s and 70s let you draw epicycloids, epitrochoids, and hypotrochoids and a few other "oids".

It probably couldn't draw exact hypocycloids because the pen would have to have been positioned precisely on the edge of the two circles. And by the way - hypocycloid is a hyponym of hypotrochoid.

Answer: Hire a veterinary surgeon

"Hypoderma", also known as cattle grubs, bot flies, or heel flies, are parasitic insects that attack cows, sheep, horses, deer and similar animals. The flies lay eggs on the animal's skin. The resulting grubs penetrate the skin and migrate through the fat beneath, forming painful lumps and creating breathing holes that apart from the obvious distress to the animal, can seriously degrade the value of the hide. Occasionally, grubs can migrate to the brain, causing severe neurological disease and blindness.

The bad news is that they can also infect humans. Yuk!

Answer: Anemia turning my skin green

Hypochromic anemia can result in a green tinge to the skin, and for this reason was once called "chlorosis" or "green sickness". Hypochromia is a result of insufficient hemoglobin in the red blood cells, which appear paler than normal when examined under a microscope. The most common cause (in the USA) of hypochromia is not enough iron in the body. If you experience dizziness or lightheadedness, weakness, fatigue, headache, rapid or irregular heartbeat or chest pain, especially after exercise, then you may be anemic. Don't wait until you turn green - ask your doctor for a check up!