See if you can beat the winning team at the end of the article!
The air is electric with excitement and trepidation. Ph.D. students, research assistants, and postdoctoral fellows alike have gathered in The Wistar’s Grossman Auditorium for one of the year’s most anticipated scholarly summits: The Wistar Institute Postdoc Appreciation Week Trivia Extravaganza.
Every year, the Wistar Trainee Association — currently led by Dr. Brennah Britten and doctoral candidate S.K. Reiser — celebrates Postdoc Appreciation Week, an opportunity to spotlight the contributions of postdocs to their labs. Because principal investigators (known more commonly as PIs) spend most of their time planning and managing the work of their laboratories, a good deal of on-the-ground science is led by postdoctoral fellows: Ph.D.-bearing scientists on the road to becoming PIs themselves. In the words of Wistar PI Daniel Claiborne, “By the time you’re a postdoc, you’re a scientific machine: from executing experiments to analyzing data to writing papers, you can (and do) do all the steps of producing research.”
But today, lab coats and nitrile gloves have been set aside in favor of raw determination. “We’re feeling all righty,” said one trivia team (team name: All Righty). “Oh, we’re very confident,” said another team, who’d named themselves, “The [Redacted Name of a Popular Burger Restaurant] Haters” — so-called because they had successfully lobbied for a trivia luncheon of Mexican food in lieu of hamburgers.
Contestants weathered four rounds: general science trivia; Wistar-specific trivia; a picture round requiring the recognition of esoteric scientific instruments; and Philadelphia trivia provided by one trivia-enthused Wistar PI.
S.K. Reiser and doctoral candidate Ilan Kirkel alternated as hosts, each holding court with merciless adherence to the competition’s rigor. “You either get full marks — or nothing!” said Ilan when asking which two elements were liquid at room temperature.
The competition kept a brisk pace, only pausing when Dr. Jason Diaz , education director in the Hubert J.P. Schoemaker Education and Training Center, interrupted to lament everyone’s missing an easy question in the Wistar trivia round. “If you’ve ever passed our office, you should have known whose ashes are kept here — I’m very disappointed!”
After a whirlwind three-way race between the top teams — [Redacted Burger Restaurant] Haters, Shine, and D&D — the final winner-take-all event was revealed: a Wistar yo-yo competition, with authentic Wistar-branded yo-yos. Dr. David Stieg of the [Burger] Haters faced off in the dramatic finale against Dr. Brennah Britten of Shine. But after Dr. Stieg walked the dog, catted the cradle and generally wowed the room with his yo-yo prowess, the winner became clear.
The winners went home with Wistar goodies, a sense of accomplishment, and 23 points to their name — plus the satisfaction of having enjoyed their preferred lunch.
Can you beat the winning Wistar trainees? Test your knowledge below!
For each correct answer, award yourself one point. The photo round is not included:; to test your score against the winning team, add 5 points to your total, which is what the winning team scored in the photo round.
QUESTIONS
Round One: General Science
- What is the average lifecycle of a red blood cell?
- Which two elements on the periodic table are liquids at room temperature?
- At what temperature are Celsius and Fahrenheit equal?
- What does LASER stand for?
- How many bones do sharks have in their bodies?
- What is the only planet that spins clockwise?
- What instrument is used to measure wind speed?
- What is the smallest named interval of time?
Round Two: Wistar History
- Who founded The Wistar Institute?
- When was The Wistar Institute founded?
- Who was the first female scientist at Wistar?
- How many PIs are there at Wistar?
- What was the first vaccine developed at Wistar?
- Whom is the tower at Wistar named after?
- Which cytokine was discovered at Wistar?
- Whose ashes are kept at the Wistar Institute?
Final Round: Philadelphia Trivia, Courtesy of a Generous Wistar PI
- When it opened in 1874, which family attraction —the first of its kind in America—charged visitors 25 cents to enter?
- Philadelphia’s border with New Jersey is created entirely by what river?
- A historic street in Philadelphia, with 32 houses built between 1703 and 1836, is called what?
- What museum at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia contains historical anatomical specimens, wax models, and antique medical equipment?
- What dialect, primarily spoken by Mennonites and Amish, is spoken by over 300,000 people and is named as a combination of where it was developed and the language it is a dialect of?
- Identify the following pattern: 40 37 36 33 30 22 19
- In 1775 Philadelphia, John Behrent built the first American version of what instrument?
- A statue of whom sits at the top of Philadelphia city hall?
Bonus: Identify the following Wistar PI:
- “This PI has grandparents born in Ecuador, Ireland and Spain. They are the first in their family to graduate college, and their favorite movie is The Warriors.”
ANSWERS
Round One: General Science
- What is the average lifecycle of a red blood cell? 120 days
- Which two elements on the periodic table are liquids at room temperature? Mercury and bromine
- At what temperature are Celsius and Fahrenheit equal? Negative 40
- What does LASER stand for? Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation
- How many bones do sharks have in their bodies? Zero (sharks only have cartilage)
- What is the only planet that spins clockwise? Venus
- What instrument is used to measure wind speed? Anemometer
- What is the smallest named interval of time? The Planck Time/Duration/Interval
Round Two: Wistar History
- Who founded The Wistar Institute? General Isaac Jones Wistar
- When was The Wistar Institute founded? 1892
- Who was the first female scientist at Wistar? Helen Dean King
- How many PIs are there at Wistar? 34 (33 also acceptable)
- What was the first vaccine developed at Wistar? Rubella (rabies also acceptable)
- Who is the tower named after? Robert and Penny Fox
- Which cytokine was discovered at Wistar? Interleukin-12 (IL-12)
- Whose ashes are kept at the Wistar Institute? Isaac Wistar’s
Final Round: Philadelphia Trivia, Courtesy of a Generous Wistar PI
- When it opened in 1874, which family attraction —the first of its kind in America—charged visitors 25 cents to enter? The Philadelphia Zoo
- Philadelphia’s border with New Jersey is created entirely by what river? The Delaware River
- A historic street in Philadelphia, with 32 houses built between 1703 and 1836, is called what? Elfreth’s Alley
- What museum at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia contains historical anatomical specimens, wax models, and antique medical equipment? The Mütter Museum
- What dialect, primarily spoken by Mennonites and Amish, is spoken by over 300,000 people and is named as a combination of where it was developed and the language it is a dialect of? Pennsylvania Dutch/German
- Identify the following pattern: 40 37 36 33 30 22 19 SEPTA Trolley Lines
- In 1775 Philadelphia, John Behrent built the first American version of what instrument? Piano
- A statue of whom sits at the top of Philadelphia city hall? William Penn
Bonus: Identify the following Wistar PI:
- “This PI has grandparents born in Ecuador, Ireland and Spain. They are the first in their family to graduate college, and their favorite movie is The Warriors.” Dr. Maureen Murphy