WSC 2025 (2)

If fire were discovered in 2024, which intellectual property issue would most likely arise according to the text?

• Fire could be copyrighted but not patented.

• Fire could be patented, though international recognition would be debated.

• Fire could only be trademarked under international law.

• Fire could be owned under ancient-style communal agreements.

Which ancient weapon used fire as a central destructive element, becoming infamous in Byzantine warfare?

• Black Powder

• Greek Fire

• Fire Striker

• White Phosphorus

Greek Fire’s closest modern military equivalents include:

• Dynamite and TNT

• Napalm and White Phosphorus

• Gunpowder and Thermonuclear weapons

• Smoke Bombs and Incendiary Flares

In prehistoric times, fire was not only used for cooking and protection but possibly also for:

• Generating energy from wind

• Primitive forms of animation

• Weaponizing mammoth tusks

• Creating musical instruments

Which method of starting fire relies on focusing sunlight?

• Fire Striker

• Flint & Steel

• Lenses

• Hand Drill

What was the primary composition of the earliest Chinese fireworks?

• Gunpowder made of saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal

• Explosive clay mixed with resin

• Flint dust combined with steel shavings

• Phosphorus and potassium nitrate

Why were early towns and villages often reliant on designated fire-tenders?

• To prevent arsonists from attacking communities

• Because it was harder to restart a fire than to keep it alive

• To control smoke pollution in small spaces

• Because mythologies demanded religious fire-keepers

Which painting depicts a famous urban disaster caused by fire in the 17th century?

• Georges de La Tour | Magdalen with the Smoking Flame

• Jan Griffier | Great Fire of London, 1666

• Paul Sandby | Windsor Castle on 5th November

• J.M.W. Turner | The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons

Which composer’s work is most directly celebratory of fireworks as a royal spectacle?

• Igor Stravinsky | Feu d’artifice

• George Frideric Handel | Music for the Royal Fireworks

• Claude Debussy | Feux d’artifice

• Oliver Knussen | Flourish with Fireworks

Which modern pop song frames fireworks as a metaphor for inner strength and empowerment?

• halyosy | "Fire@Flower"

• Katy Perry | "Firework"

• Billy Joel | "We Didn’t Start The Fire"

• Johnny Cash | "Ring of Fire"