competitions & quizzes...pit your wits & win with Planet Science
spy gadget quiz
SPY GADGETS THAT ROCKED THE WORLD
Throughout history, International intelligence agencies have been engaged in a battle of technology and ingenuity. If you can outwit the enemy, you win.
To check out YOUR Spy-Q (like IQ – gettit?) we’ve interrogated secret agents from around the world and come up with ten techno-espionage questions.
Get them all correct, and you could win a false moustache and a copy of Robert Churchhouse's fascinating book, ‘Codes and Ciphers’ thanks to Cambridge University Press.
GOOD LUCK!
01 What was the name of the machine that the Germans used in World War II to encrypt their radio messages?
Sphinx
Enigma
Mirage
Mystery
02 Which of the following animals has been used for centuries by spies to send messages?
Hippo
Giraffe
Hare
Carrier pigeon
03 In 1945 the Soviet Union gave the U.S. Embassy in Moscow a large wooden reproduction of the Great Seal of the United States. It hung over the ambassador's desk for seven years before what was discovered?
A listening device
A pinhole camera
A radiation detector
A small homing device
04 In 1978 the Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov was killed in London by which KGB designed weapon?
A keychain gun
A poison-pellet umbrella
A Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife
A poison-squirting button hole flower
05 The fastest and highest flying 'air-breathing' plane is a spy plane built for the CIA to gather intelligence. Which bird was the plane named after?
Dodo
Blue Tit
Blackbird
Emu
06 Which of the following James Bond gadgets is still just science fiction?
Miniature ring camera
Blue X-ray glasses
Cigarette lighter communicator
Pager
07 The Americans placed a listening device outside a Soviet military base disguised as what?
A woodpecker
A tree stump
A large mushroom
A telephone box
08 Secret intelligence can be concealed by shrinking the information into a microdot. When was this cunning idea first tried out?
1593
1852
1917
1994
09 Which of the following gadgets was actually employed by KGB operatives during the Cold War?
Explosive milk bottle
Weaponry detecting rake
Lipstick pistol
Ski pole gun
10 Many spies encode their messages so their enemies can't understand them. What is 'Science Year' written in Morse code?
o— — — o— —o—o —o— o— o—ooo ooo —o—o o—o — — — o—
ooo o— o—ooo — — — — — —o ooo o— — — oo— — — o— —o
o— oo o—o o— —o — — — o—o — ooo o o— —
ooo —o—o oo o —o —o—o o —o— — o o— o—o
Answers:
1= Enigma • 2= Carrier Pigeon • 3= Listening device • 4= Umbrella • 5= Blackbird• 6= Blue x-ray glasses • 7= Tree stump • 8= 1852 • 9= Lipstick pistol • 10= The last option!
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