Daily Trivia Quiz - Day 149 (2026-03-08)

Question 1

Before radio time broadcasts became common, some towns paid workers to carry accurate timepieces door-to-door and synchronize clocks. What development largely replaced this practice?

Accepted Answer

Broadcast time signals

Question 2

Before spring mattresses were cheap, what nightly task kept rope beds comfortable?

Accepted Answer

Retightening the bed ropes

Question 3

In the 18th and early 19th centuries, some institutions let the public pay to observe people with mental illness. This practice treated patients as what?

Accepted Answer

A public spectacle

Question 4

Rail crews once sang while lifting tracks together. Why did the singing matter?

Accepted Answer

It synchronized their timing

Question 5

When blobs of lava are thrown through the air, they can harden before landing. What shape do they commonly form?

Accepted Answer

Streamlined forms (such as rounded or spindle-shaped volcanic bombs)

Question 6

Some 1800s social gatherings featured guests watching ancient mummies being unwrapped. People treated it as what?

Accepted Answer

Entertainment

Question 7

Mantis shrimp can monitor different parts of their surroundings at the same time. Which visual adaptation makes this possible?

Accepted Answer

Eyes that move independently

Question 8

A bombardier beetle keeps two chemicals apart until danger appears. What happens when it finally mixes them?

Accepted Answer

A hot spray blasts out

Question 9

After staring at a waterfall, nearby still rocks can seem to drift upward. This illusion happens because your motion system does what?

Accepted Answer

Overcompensates in the opposite direction

Question 10

On freezing nights, slender columns of ice can grow upward from moist soil and even lift tiny stones. What is this ground-ice phenomenon called?

Accepted Answer

Needle ice