1. The document describes the rounds and structure of the ScEnt finals competition, including sample questions from round 1 on identifying YouTube channels and songs, and scientists from round 2.
2. Round 3 involves questions going clockwise about getting laid vs watching Star Trek, a wooden piece flown to space station, and explaining a campaign for breast cancer clinic.
3. Round 4 is an alphabet soup round involving identifying letters corresponding to scientists, athletes, movies, and events.
4. 1 Which channel, which song?
Mitchell Moffit and Gregory Brown are an openly gay couple who met while
studying biology in university. They made their sexualities and relationship public
online in 2014, in response to homophobic comments and in order to be visible
role models for young gay people interested in science.
The have been running a YouTube channel since 2012, and a song they made in
2013 went viral, a part of it even featuring on TBBT. In January, two years ago,
something happened, which meant the song had to be updated. This task was
described by Moffit as a thankless one, but someone had to do it.
6. Channel: ASAPScience
Song: THe Periodic Table Song (the event was the addition of nihonium,
moscovium, tennessine, and oganesson)
7. 2 Name this scientist
The first chairman of the UGC, was also the first director general of CSIR. This
same man was also one of the first professors in Chemistry at BHU, and also
wrote the Kulgeet (BHU song). He refused personal monetary benefit from his
research fundings and advocated for their usage towards strengthening the
research facilities at the University. This prompted Meghnad Saha to write, “You
have hereby raised the status of the university teachers in the estimation of public,
not to speak of the benefit conferred on your Alma Mater”.
Since 1958, CSIR has been giving out awards for excellent scientists who made
significant contributions in various fields under the age of 45 in his honour.
10. 3 ID X
X is a BBC children’s series produced by Ragdoll productions for children aged
between 1 and 4. However, it received a large cult following from a certain
community consisting of older people due to the mixture of bright colours, unusual
designs, repetitive non-verbal dialogue, ritualistic format, and the occasional
forays into physical comedy, which appealed to a demographic who perceived the
programme as having psychedelic qualities.
13. 4 ID X and the (male) protagonist
The protagonist of X, Broken Angels and Woken Furies is a native of the planet
Harlan’s world. He is of Japanese and Central-European descent. During his
teens, he killed his father to save his sister from an abusive parent. After leaving
the Envoy Corps, he became a mercenary, and was eventually imprisoned for his
crimes. As a punishment, his cortical stack was stored for decades at a time
before being paroled to work in high-risk situations.
15. X - Altered Carbon
Protagonist: Takeshi Lev Kovacs
16. 5 The practice of X can involve performing one or
more items on this list (non-exhaustive) by
yourself/without professional medical help. ID X.
1. Having polymerfoam implanted into the shins to provide improved protection
from fracture.
2. A vibrator being implanted on a man’s pubic bone to provide pleasurable
stimulation at will.
3. Subcutaneous foot sensors to enhance one’s ability to feel earthquakes.
4. Implanting a biometric sensor in an appropriate region of the body to
continuously monitor vital signs.
19. 6 Which god is being praised here?
“All hail our galactic goat father of 1,000 arms. Father of time, Father of space,
Father of Azathoth, origin of origins, the alpha and the omega, holy white sheep of
the woods with infinite young. Creator of origins, creator of the heavens, creator of
the outer gods. God of the Behemoth and Leviathan. God of gods, Lords of lords,
God of the Yellow sign.”
25. 8 A picture of what is likely to cause X aggression?
X aggression is the almost overwhelming urge to do something violent to an object
we find X. The more X the object was, the more violent was the response of
people. The verbal responses were along the lines of “So X I could die/scream/eat
you/maul you/etc”.
Participants in the study were given bubblewrap to pop while looking at objects.
People who saw objects that could be described as X tended to pop 25 to 50%
more bubbles than people who saw neutral objects.
I don’t need the adjective X.
27. X = cute
Will accept baby/puppy/dog/cat/kitten/panda (not the one in this room)/anything
that I think is cute
28. 9 Who is the author?
This is a still from a film showing a fictitious book first mentioned in a real 1914
novel, in which the protagonist refers to it as “a book which ascends to such
rarefied heights of pure mathematics that it is said that there was no man in the
scientific press capable of criticising it”.
57. 2 What was the hype about?
A piece of wood, gifted by the Royal Society, was flown to the International space
station in 2010 and then returned back to earth. This created quite a buzz at the
time.
61. 3 Put funda
This is a massive campaign to generate awareness and collect funds for the
Breast Cancer Clinic at the Charlotte Maxeke ____________ Academic Hospital
or treating the patients. The entity performing this campaign has done so six times
in the past, the most recent being yesterday. This entity has never faced an
unsuccessful outcome whenever they have performed this campaign.
67. 5
There are many reasons for the disappearance of sparrows from the urban areas
of India. These include cell phone towers, concrete structures, no place to nest, air
conditioned supermarkets, people being less tolerant, etc.
Another reason for this disappearance in Tamil Nadu is the use of chalk powder or
white rock powder brought from some regions of Andhra Pradesh and Goa to
perform a particular activity. What activity? Why does it affect sparrow population?
69. Kolam used to be made in the past with rice flour, which sparrows used to eat
during the day.
70. 6 Which character and what did the author have in mind?
This young character is one of the most beloved children's characters, and the
author of this book originally had a different character in mind while writing the
book. His agent however told him it would be a bad idea considering that he would
need to understand 'The American Sensibility', and would also portray an
incredibly cliched idea in the book first published in 1964. This author was also
dogged in a controversy when a set of characters in the same book were thought
to be hardworking African Pygmies, before finally bringing to the rather quirky
characters they are known to be.
73. 7 The reason behind what is explained thus? Also FITB
The fact that the __________ series is about a single man who predicts the future
of mankind, establishes a long-term plan for the progress of human civilization,
and is viewed as a legendary savior for the entire course of human history as a
result of that surely isn’t a metaphor for anything here.
75. Foundation series by Asimov is in the cargo of the Falcon Heavy, along with the
Tesla Roadster and Starman.
76. 8 What is the purpose of this food?
Chankonabe is a stew made with a chicken broth soup base with sake to add
flavour. The rest of the ingredients are high protein sources such as chicken, fish,
tofu or/and wagyu beef along with vegetables. There is no fixed recipe for
chankonabe. It is made uniquely by each okamisan. However, this dish causes
the slowing down of one’s metabolism, especially if one naps after consuming the
same. This means, even with vigorous exercise, one will not lose weight.
78. To help sumo trainees gain weight and maintain it despite exercising vigorously
79. 9 ID X and Y
This question is here because Armageddon, which released about two and a half
months after Deep Impact, does not qualify to be called Sci-Fi, despite its box
office collections.
American hard rock band X had 3 songs in this film, including Y, their biggest hit,
which debuted at no. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100, where it stayed for four
weeks. It reached no. 1 in several other countries too. Y helped open X up to a
new generation, while still remaining a slow dance staple. Interestingly, Y was
nominated for the Oscar for the Best Original Song and the Razzie for the Worst
Original Song.
82. Round 4
Sci + Ent alphabet soup
15 letters, A to O
4 points per letter
83. Alphabet soup - 15*4 = 60
Although A was a successful racecar driver in the IMSA camel GT series, A once
said, “I was a lot more badass as a runner than I was a driver”, referring the the
Olympic gold at the 1976 games in B, in the event C. A starred in the movie D in
1980, which went on to win the Razzie for the Worst Picture. A officially became E
in June 2015 and completed the F last January. An F is something we have all
joked about in the context of the British Monarch G, and a fearsome Indian warrior
king H.
84. ...continued
While F’s are a marvel of medicine for human beings, it naturally occurs in I’s. This
brings about a factual error in the film J, where the eponymous protagonist’s
father should have undergone an F.
I’s live in a symbiotic relationship with K’s, a predatory coelentrate, which unlike
L’s, do not exhibit an M stage in their life cycle. The box L, found around Australia
possesses potent venom, which can be fatal to humans. A victim’s wound must be
treated with N, to prevent the further release of venom from its nematocysts.
E is a big fan of O, which becomes N when exposed.
87. Answers
A - Bruce Jenner
B - Montreal
C - Men’s Decathlon
D - Can’t Stop the Music
E - Caitlyn Jenner
F - Sex change operation
G - Victoria
H - Chhatrapati Shivaji
I - Clownfish
J - Finding Nemo
K - Sea anemone
L - Jellyfish
M - Medusa
N - Vinegar
O - Wine