2026 Contest Results
Selkirk Alliance for Science hosted a weekly online science trivia contest to test the scientific knowledge and information search skills by participants. They were allowed to use Internet search engines or reference materials to find the answer. We thank all participants who entered the contest, and hope that a new awareness about science will bring informed decisions in daily life.
Our purpose is to increase personal understanding of the nature, value, and integrity of science that can benefit all communities.
No purchase was necessary for anyone to enter or win the contest, and the rewards could be entertaining, educational, and free science prizes.
Answers to the 2026 questions are provided below, so feel free to share with family, friends, and neighbors.
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Question posted January 5, 2026
What is the term for using plants to extract heavy metals from the soil for commercial value?
Answer: Phytomining (Answer “d”), is the commercial process of utilizing plants to chemically bond with certain metal ions so they can be extracted for monetary value. In theory, it causes minimal environmental effects compared to surface mining. Several startups are investigating the process for mining critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel from existing mine tailings. Surprisingly, scientists long ago imagined extracting dissolved minerals from ocean water, but the low concentration of minerals made that process uneconomical. Today, scientists at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Sequim, WA are exploring whether a mineral-concentrating seaweed can reshape the way minerals are obtained. Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytomining and
Question posted January 12, 2026
​Human activities and developments in wildfire-prone landscapes impact when and where wildfires start, bringing vulnerability and risk to people, property, the economy, and the environment. The 2025 Community Wildfire Protection Plan for Pend Oreille County (https://www.pendoreille.gov/media/25126) notes that during the 20 years of 2004–2023 Pend Oreille County experienced at least 793 wildfires totaling 33,014 acres.
Question: Between July 15, 2021 and August 29, 2023, how many local human evacuation orders did Pend Oreille County issue due to wildfires?
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Answer: Pend Oreille County issued 17 evacuation orders (Answer d.) during the two-year time period of July 15, 2021 to August 29, 2023. Depending on multiple factors, evacuation orders recommend either preparing to go, being instantly ready to go, or actually evacuating to safe zones and shelters. Everyone should browse this entire 40-page protection plan (especially Figures 13-3 and 13-17) to understand and prepare for the worsening threat.
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Question posted January 19, 2026
What country has the new world record for the longest horizontal lightning discharge reported by the World Meteorological Organization?
Answer: The United States (Answer b.) now owns the world record for longest horizontal lightning discharge ever reported. That lightning megaflash occurred on October 22, 2017 and extended 515 ± 5 miles from eastern Texas to near Kansas City, Missouri. Lightning is commonly perceived as a local hazard where personal safety is at risk if thunderstorm lightning or thunder can be seen or heard. However, the record-breaking single megaflash had continuous long horizontal flashes that extended for hundreds of miles through the clouds, initiating hundreds of cloud-to-ground strokes along their paths. Megaflashes occur in regions of organized storm systems that may seem inactive with pauses of 30 minutes or more between flashes. Source: https://journals.ametsoc.org/configurable/content/journals$002fbams$002f106$002f9$002fBAMS-D-25-0037.1.xml?t:ac=journals%24002fbams%24002f106%24002f9%24002fBAMS-D-25-0037.1.xml
Question posted January 26, 2026
Correlation and causation are common terms for evaluating the relationship between two or more things (variables). Correlation means that a change in one thing tends to change the other thing(s) in a specific way (e.g. positive or negative). Causation means that a change in one thing is the cause for change(s) in the other thing.
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Question: When plants in a sunny window are observed to grow more quickly than plants in a dark room, what is the relationship of sunlight to plant growth?
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Answer: Sunlight is correlated, but not necessarily the cause, with quicker plant growth (Answer b.) because the analysis did not identify if other causal variables were involved. For example, the rooms might have other variables such as different: (1) species of plant, (2) length of sunlight or dark exposure, (3) fertilization, and (4) soil moisture or depth. Some people may casually assume cause without knowing the extent of study comparisons. Source: https://www.snexplores.org/article/scientists-say-correlation-causation-definition-pronunciation.
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