Up to date with new questions at 2:50 p.m. ET on January 15, 2026.
Welcome again to Atlantic Trivia! Are you hungry for extra?
I hope that whereas I’ve been away, you have got been having fun with loads of meals for thought—actually. Analysis reveals that berries assist enhance reminiscence and {that a} walnut-heavy food plan is related to increased cognitive efficiency. Fatty fish and leafy greens are linked to slower cognitive decline. Caffeine is a mind enhance too.
A problem: Mix all these substances, Chopped-style, into the proper pre-trivia meal.
In the meantime, I’ve been away these previous few weeks pondering principally about rooster parmigiana. It’s not mind meals per se, however I reckon we are able to name it creativity gasoline—as long as it’s eaten for breakfast. That’s the suggestion within the first version of my new publication, Higher With Time, an eight-week course of the way so as to add oomph to numerous elements of the day. Join it right here.
However first—finally—trivia!
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Thursday, January 15, 2025
- What artist who since releasing his first single in 2016 has been Spotify’s most streamed artist in 4 separate years—and the one amongst his friends to carry out nearly solely in Spanish?
— From Spencer Kornhaber’s article on how this artist amassed an Anglophone viewers - What model of protein bar named after a very ripped specimen of Michelangelo’s comes wrapped in gold foil and has roughly the protein-to-calorie ratio of boiled egg whites?
— From Rachel Sugar’s essay arguing that American shoppers have entered “late-stage protein” - What title that’s shared with a biblical monster did the thinker Thomas Hobbes give to an imagined omnipotent ruler who he argued would ship humanity from chaos?
— From Gal Beckerman’s essay on how Hobbes has been misunderstood over the centuries
And by the best way, do you know that the physique turns all these egg whites and whatnot into tens of 1000’s of various sorts of proteins? Many of those have daunting, sciencey-sounding names—however there’s additionally the group referred to as “hedgehog proteins.”
Cells depend on these proteins to know the place to go and what to show into throughout embryonic growth. They’re so named as a result of disabling them in fruit flies causes embryos to develop irregular spikes.
People have three separate hedgehog proteins, two of which—the Indian and desert varieties—are named after actual species. The third (sigh) is called after probably the most well-known hedgehog of all: Sonic.
Till tomorrow!
Solutions:
- Dangerous Bunny. Spencer writes that Dangerous Bunny’s efficiency in Spanish is a part of the “iron core of id” that has made him so fashionable, however his music’s emotion is universally intelligible. “Universality can shear artwork from its social context,” Spencer says, and as Dangerous Bunny gears as much as play the Tremendous Bowl, he wonders: “Does what’s misplaced in translation matter?” Learn extra.
- David. One bar has 28 grams of protein jammed into 150 energy, which is completely optimized and mainly joyless, Sugar writes. Protein followers say that cavemen prioritized this macronutrient; an overwhelmed Sugar thinks “the very best a part of being a caveman can be not worrying about protein.” Learn extra.
- Leviathan. Many within the Trump administration speak like top-grade Hobbesians, Gal writes, however their rhetoric ignores a component central to the work of the Seventeenth-century thinker: that the Leviathan would require the consent of the ruled; this was the best way to flee human nature’s horror. In Trump’s orbit, Gal writes, “it’s horror all the best way down.” Learn extra.
How did you do? Come again tomorrow for extra questions, and if you happen to assume up an awesome query after studying an Atlantic story—or just wish to share a truth—ship it my means at [email protected].
Wednesday, January 14, 2025
- What epithet for mitochondria, the physique’s microscopic vitality producers, is so ubiquitous that it has change into its personal meme?
— From Bonnie Tsui’s article about how muscular tissues carry “reminiscences” of strengthening and weakening - What thinker recounted in his early work Apology how his former trainer denied being a “corrupter of the youth” earlier than being executed for the cost?
— From Adam Kirsch’s essay on the perennial concern of philosophy’s affect on younger minds - The Espacio Lejano House Station is a radar system that China operates within the Patagonian desert beneath a 50-year lease from what nation?
— From Simon Shuster’s article on an space of the world that China gained’t simply be shooed away from
And by the best way, do you know that mitochondria will be shared amongst cells? If wanted—typically in cases of mobile misery—the organelles journey from one cell to a different through little bridges referred to as tunneling nanotubes.
I can not assist however anthropomorphize this unbelievable phenomenon: a knock on the cell membrane. Neighbor, can I borrow a cup of adenosine triphosphate?
Solutions:
- The powerhouse of the cell. As with the remainder of the physique, genes govern these industrious organelles, and repeated cases of muscle disuse and weakening are proven to suppress the genes that make mitochondria carry out at their finest, Tsui stories. In different phrases, every time you weaken, it turns into more durable to get stronger once more. Learn extra.
- Plato. Plato was a pupil of the thinker Socrates, whom Athens pressured to drink poison when his affect grew too nice. Right this moment, Texas A&M directors are equally spooked by Plato, whom they faraway from a category syllabus. Plato might need seen this coming, Adam suggests, satisfied as he was that the battle between philosophy and society is “inevitable.” Learn extra.
- Argentina. The seize of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro is in keeping with Donald Trump’s plan to reestablish dominance in Latin America, Simon writes, however China will likely be exhausting to catch after years of a “methodical, nicely financed, and chronic” marketing campaign to make itself indispensable within the area. Learn extra.
Tuesday, January 13, 2025
- What geographic line passes by means of eight nations (together with Mali), three continents (together with Antarctica), and a royal observatory?
— From Alexandra Petri’s record of issues on the globe that Donald Trump may wish to purchase along with Greenland - One of many stars of TV’s ice-hockey romance Heated Rivalry cautioned straitlaced viewers that “you miss the story” by skipping over what elements of the present?
— From Religion Hill’s article on what Heated Rivalry understands higher than most romances - Residing in exile for the reason that 1979 Islamic Revolution, former Crown Prince Reza is a member of what dynasty that had dominated Iran since 1925?
— From Karim Sadjadpour and Jack A. Goldstone’s evaluation of the circumstances needed for Iran’s regime to break down
And by the best way, do you know that when the aforementioned dynasty took energy in 1925, its nation was nonetheless recognized to the world as Persia? It wasn’t till 1935 that the shah requested the worldwide group to begin calling the place Iran, to raised replicate its make-up (not all Iranians are ethnically Persian).
This was usually accommodated. Then Winston Churchill received concerned; the British premier apprehensive that the brand new title was too near Iraq’s and would trigger confusion throughout World Conflict II, when each nations have been occupied by the Allies. He requested a brief swap again, and the Iranians—or Persians?—amazingly agreed.
Solutions:
- The Prime Meridian. The spot for 0° longitude was picked to cross by means of the observatory in London’s borough of Greenwich, however the imaginary line traverses a lot of the world that maybe it “might be helpful for spycraft,” Alexandra muses in her newest satire. Learn extra.
- Intercourse scenes. Religion agrees with the Heated Rivalry actor, writing {that a} “frank intercourse scene” reveals a lot extra about characters than the mere implication—say, with a cutaway to breeze-ruffled curtains—that they’ve been intimate. But intercourse, Religion stories, is vanishing from our TV and film screens. Learn extra.
- Pahlavi. The exiled royal is a pacesetter of the opposition to the Islamic Republic regime in Iran—a various coalition that Sadjadpour and Goldstone rely as a precondition for counterrevolution. Their essay names 4 extra bins to tick, and so they write that Iran may be very near doing so. Learn extra.
Monday, January 12, 2025
- What Nineteenth-century statesman and fighter is called El Libertador for his independence marketing campaign in northern South America (together with within the nation that now bears his title)?
— From Vivian Salama’s article on the possibility of a domino impact after Nicolás Maduro’s seize - English settlers who got here to colonial America have been thrilled to hunt the continent’s bountiful deer; the animals again in Britain couldn’t be freely shot, as a result of they legally belonged to what particular person?
— From Yasmin Tayag’s essay on venison consumption in america - A Dostoyevsky story a couple of character who faces a extra gifted, extra fashionable look-alike at work is an inspiration for what 2010 psychological thriller that facilities on the efficiency of a unique Russian’s work?
— From Religion Hill’s article on the film’s theme of girls navigating hyper-competition
And by the best way, do you know that venison, which comes from the Latin for “to hunt,” as soon as referred to any wild sport? That meant deer, but in addition hare, boar, some goats, and elk and their ilk.
That catchall spirit lives on at present in South Africa. As a result of the nation’s continent has no native deer species, venison there means meat from eland, kudu, gemsbok, springbok, or impala—which, to avoid wasting you a search, are all species of antelope.
Solutions:
- Simón Bolívar. El Libertador’s dream of a united Latin America was one shared by Venezuela’s and Cuba’s socialist leaders, significantly relating to the connection between their two nations. Nonetheless linked the states are, Vivian doesn’t assume that Donald Trump’s blow to Venezuela will convey concerning the regime’s demise in Cuba. Learn extra.
- The King. The English hunted down the colonies’ deer inhabitants to about 1 % what it had been in precolonial days, however the animals bounded again in an enormous means and at the moment are typically a nuisance. Yasmin’s resolution: Eat them. Learn extra.
- Black Swan. That different Russian’s work is Tchaikovsky’s ballet Swan Lake, which—no spoilers—takes a toll on Natalie Portman’s character, particularly as soon as a fellow dancer performed by Mila Kunis begins respiratory down her neck. Religion writes that Black Swan’s story is eminently recognizable nicely past the ballet world. Learn extra.
