Welcome to the Nerdy Pursuits round of the Noblesse Oblige Triviathon!

Please answer the following questions and submit your answers by email.

01. Order these sets from most inclusive to most restrictive: whole numbers, integers, counting numbers.

02. What's the best algorithm to search an evenly-spaced, sorted list?

03. What amino acid isn't, technically, an amino acid?

04. What aptly-named particle holds atomic nuclei together?

05. Who wasn't able to cross all of the bridges of Konigsberg once?

06. The sun lies on the main diagonal line of what diagram?

07. 0! = ?

08. A cube is a 3D shadow of what?

09. What is the area of a triangle whose sides are 9 inches, 15 inches, and 24 inches long?

10. Why are fewer babies born on the weekends?

11. What's wrong with this code?
#include <stdio.h>

int main (const int argc, const char **argv) {
  int num;
  printf("Enter a number: ");
  scanf("%d", num);
  printf("You entered: %d\n", num);
  return 0;
}

12. Complete this logic and execute a Syllogistic fallacy of the undistributed middle: "All badgers are adorable. Scruffy McCutepaws is adorable."

13. Why does water expand when it freezes?

14. Why are manhole covers round (in addition to being easier to roll around).

15. Simplify this boolean expression: AC+AB+CD+AC+ACD+BD+BCD

16. find the right inverse of the following matrix:
[1 2 3]
[0 2 1]

17. What boolean logic function does this circuit implement?


18. What is the short form of this infinite sum?


19. GCC 1.21, upon encountering a #pragma statement, might attempt to solve the Tower of Hannoi problem. What additional conditions would be necessary for this attempt?

20. In accordance with RFC 793, the procedure to establish a connection is called the ??? Handshake

21. You are given two spheres that are identical in all properties (material, size, mass, etc) save one: one is hollow inside. How you can you easily determine which sphere is the hollow one?

22. Two uncharged plates hanging parallel to each other are pushed towards each other by what?

23. e^-i*pi = ?

24. Identify the Nash equilibrium (if there is one).


25. You are working with the 2009 US Census data. Ideally you would want to control for state, year, and person fixed effects. How many of these can you identify (including interactions)?