Category: Brain Teasers

Trivia: What is the busiest train station in the world?

Pantitlán, Mexico City
People’s Square Station, Shanghai
Grand Central Terminal, NYC
Shinjuku Station, Tokyo

Correct Answer: Shinjuku Station, Tokyo

So why is this answer correct? : Join the 3.6 million passengers who travel through Tokyo’s Shinjuku Station daily. The rail station first opened in 1885 as a less-traveled hub until new rail lines were introduced in the 1920s. Today, the station has 36 platforms, serving as the primary connecting hub for traffic between West Tokyo and other major districts in the city.

Trivia: Which country’s subway system is called the U-Bahn?

Australia
England
Germany
China

Correct Answer: Germany

So why is this answer correct? : The “Untergrundbahn,” which translates from German as “Underground Railway,” opened in Berlin in 1902. There are other German subway systems by the same name in Munich, Hamburg, and Nuremberg, as well as a U-Bahn in German-speaking Vienna, Austria. Berlin’s U-Bahn is the most extensive network in Germany, with 10 lines and 173 stations.

Trivia: The Chunnel connects England with what country?

Ireland
Germany
France
Belgium

Correct Answer: France

So why is this answer correct? : “Chunnel” is the nickname for the “Channel Tunnel,” which is 31.35 miles long and connects the station in Folkestone in Kent, U.K. with Coquelles in Pas-de-Calais, France. The tunnel goes beneath the Strait of Dover in the English Channel, going from England to France in 35 minutes.

Trivia: What dog breed lends its name to a North American bus company?

Greyhound
Schnauzer
Airedale
Rottweiler

Correct Answer: Greyhound

So why is this answer correct? : In 1914, a car salesman from Hupp Motors began a transport service for miners in Minnesota, charging 15 cents for a ride in the “Hupmobile.” The service took off, and in 1921, the company acquired its first buses. The buses were gray, and people started calling them “greyhounds.” The company’s name was officially changed to Greyhound in 1930, the same year it unveiled its now-famous dog mascot.

In the 1959 movie “On the Beach,” which takes place after a nuclear exchange has destroyed much of the planet, Gregory Peck plays the captain of what submarine?

USS Sawfish
USS Amberjack
USS Grunion
USS Halibut
USS Rasher

Correct Answer: USS Sawfish

What is the name of the computer that mistakenly tries to launch a nuclear attack on the Soviet Union in the 1983 movie “War Games”?

EMERAC
HAL
WOPR
Alpha 60
ROK

Correct Answer: WOPR

Who plays the U.S. President in the 1964 nuclear-crisis film “Fail-Safe”?

Fred Astaire
Henry Fonda
Rock Hudson
Cary Grant
Charlton Heston

Correct Answer: Henry Fonda

Trivia: Newton’s second law of motion says that force is equal to what?

H2 + O2
Height times velocity
Mass times acceleration
Distance divided by time

Correct Answer: Mass times acceleration

So why is this answer correct? : The formula F = ma refers to Newton’s second law of motion, in which force = mass x acceleration. This pertains to the behavior of objects for which all existing forces are not balanced. In this formula, the acceleration of an object depends on the net force acting upon the object. It is dependent on the object’s mass, meaning an increase in mass results in a decrease in acceleration.

Trivia: What is NOT a type of fossil fuel?

Coal
Natural gas
Oil
Nuclear

Correct Answer: Nuclear

So why is this answer correct? : Fossil fuels are made from decomposing organic matter that has turned into carbon compounds found in the Earth’s crust, such as plants and animals. Most of the total energy used in the U.S. comes from these fuels. Because new deposits take millions of years to form, fossil fuels are considered nonrenewable resources. Scientists are researching alternative power sources, including renewable sources like geothermal energy and wind power.

Trivia: What do Punnett squares predict?

Velocity and direction
Traits of offspring
Mass
Barometric pressure

Correct Answer: Traits of offspring

So why is this answer correct? : Punnett squares are used in the study of genetics to determine the traits of offspring based on prominent parental traits. Punnett squares reveal four possible outcomes for traits given the dominant and recessive alleles of the parents. For example, if an organism with the genotype Gg has an offspring with another organism with the genotype Gg, the four possible offspring genotypes are GG, Gg, Gg, and gg.