Stuff, with gloating

I amused myself today by forwarding to my Brats a science quiz I found in one of my newsgroups. Apparently, these are ten (variably) basic questions - posed by a bunch of appropriately reputable scientists - to which everyone should know the answers. In case you're interested, here are the questions.

1. What percentage of the earth is covered by water?

2. What sorts of signals does the brain use to communicate sensations, thoughts and actions?

3. Did dinosaurs and humans ever exist at the same time?

4. What is Darwin's theory of the origin of species?

5. Why does a year consist of 365 days, and a day of 24 hours?

6. Why is the sky blue?

7. What causes a rainbow?

8. What is it that makes diseases caused by viruses and bacteria hard to treat?

9. How old are the oldest fossils on earth?

10. Why do we put salt on sidewalks when it snows?

Extra credit: What makes the seasons change?

The Brats, incidentally, did pretty well on this, though Boy's contribution seems to have been mostly typing the answers. Bun was most indignant to learn that I, too, have a reasonable clue as to why the sky is blue. "But, it's PHYSICS!" she cried. Hah, say I.

And for something completely different, more icon boasting under the cut.

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