What are the Rules for Math-Sci-Tech Trivia, Part V?

[Gokul43201]

The Rules

#1. No Googling until I announce a free-for-all,
#2. No more than 2 answers per person until the free-for-all

------------------------
Please read the rules
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The Questions

1. Trivial question to get started. If 4 \times 5=12~,~~4 \times 6=13~,... then 4 \times 13=?2. For decades, a box labeled Costa Cider sat under the sink in the home of a pathologist. This box contained a pair of large jars. What is the significance of these jars?3. My favorite Roman scholar, Pliny the Elder, was in charge of the naval fleet stationed near Naples, when a rare event occurred. In his eagerness to observe the phenomenon, Pliny took some ships and headed towards it. However, curiosity killed the cat and Pliny died that day.

What was the event?4. Upon his divorce and his wife's subsequent marriage, he had this to say: "Had she taken a bullfighter I would have understood, but an ordinary chemist…"

Who said this?5. What is the special significance of the phrase "Who ordered that?" to the field of physics? (I'm looking for the name of a person and a thing.)6. What is common to the Burnet moths, tobacco smoke, and cherry pits (no smart-ass responses)?7. Former US President, James Garfield remained in his deathbed for over two months, after being shot, in July 1881. Given the medical capability of the time and the risk involved, White House surgeons were extremely reluctant to operate on the President without a good knowledge of the location of the bullet.

While in Boston, Alexander Graham Bell heard about this and suggested that perhaps his own invention was just the thing for this problem. The White House accepted Bell's offer, and using his invention, he tried to help the White House surgeons. Despite several successful trials prior to this (on injured soldiers), he failed with the President. (Garfield died in September that year.)

This invention was an early prototype of what? And why did Bell's attempt fail?8. What is considered to be the first successful bombing by unmanned airborne drones?9. This element was discovered by German chemists who were looking for traces of thallium in samples of zinc ores. A brilliant bluish-violet line in the sample's spectrum revealed the existence of the new element.

Name the element.10. And finally, this is about one of my favorite people. What follows is a quote.

There was, of course, X. He came down from Y to consult a little bit, to help us if we had some problems. We had a meeting with him, and I had been doing some calculations and gotten some results. The calculations were so elaborate it was very difficult. Now usually, I was this expert at this; I could always tell you what the answer was going to look like, or when I got it I could explain why. But this thing was so complicated I couldn't explain why it was like that.

So I told X I was doing this problem, and I started to describe the results. He said, "Wait, before you tell me the result, let me think. It's going to come out like this (he was right), and it's going to come out like this because of so and so. And there's a perfectly obvious explanation for this --"

He was doing what I was supposed to be good at, ten times better. That was quite a lesson to me.

Who is X? (No points for identifying the narrator.)

------------------------------------------

Note: Quotes may be translations from another language.

 

[George Jones]

5. What is the special significance of the phrase "Who ordered that?" to the field of physics? (I'm looking for the name of a person and a thing.)

Rabi; muon.

 

[Danger]

no smart-ass responses

Sorry dude; that let's me out.

 

[Gokul43201]

5. What is the special significance of the phrase "Who ordered that?" to the field of physics? (I'm looking for the name of a person and a thing.)

Rabi; muon.

Correct, George. (story to be filled in later)

I edited the OP (perhaps just after you started reading it) to allow 2 answers per person. Just letting you know, in case you missed that.

 

[Math Is Hard]

2. For decades, a box labeled Costa Cider sat under the sink in the home of a pathologist. This box contained a pair of large jars. What is the significance of these jars?

I think I remember this. The jars contained Einstein's brain?

 

[Gokul43201]

2. For decades, a box labeled Costa Cider sat under the sink in the home of a pathologist. This box contained a pair of large jars. What is the significance of these jars?

I think I remember this. The jars contained Einstein's brain?

Correct. There was a thread about this here a while back, no?

Wow, this is going fast.

 

[George Jones]

Just letting you know, in case you missed that.

Thanks. OK, not 100% sure, but I'll say

10. X = Schwinger

 

[3trQN]

10) The narrator is Feynman i think, and i think he's talking about Oppenheimer?

 

[Math Is Hard]

Correct. There was a thread about this here a while back, no?

I believe there was. That reminds me I need to order "Driving Mr. Albert" for summer reading.

 

[Gokul43201]

OK, not 100% sure, but I'll say

10. X = Schwinger

Nope, not Schwinger. I never thought of Schwinger as the guy with the physical picture; more of the math genius type. And though Schwinger had a nice car (a '64 Iso Rivolta, with license plate number 137 ) I don't know enough about him that he'd make my list of favorite people.

The 1964 Rivolta

http://www.bigeasydave.com/images/revoltaside-thumb.jpg

That's the end of your quota, for now George.

MIH has a spare (unless she's used it while I've been typing this).

 

[Danger]

I think I remember this. The jars contained Einstein's brain?

There! See! A perfect moonshine response on the tip of my typing finger, and I'm not allowed to use it!
This thread sucks.

 

[Gokul43201]

10) The narrator is Feynman i think,

Good guess (as I imagine, did George as well). Yes, it is.

and i think he's talking about Oppenheimer?

Not Oppie. It looks like you've got the right time-frame in mind as well, but at that time, if I'm not mistaken, they both (O & F) worked at the same place.

 

[Gokul43201]

There! See! A perfect moonshine response on the tip of my typing finger, and I'm not allowed to use it!

Hey, I didn't disallow smart-ass answers for all questions - only the specific one.

Say, could you pour me some of that moonshine you've got there on the tips of your fingers?

 

[George Jones]

Now that we know for sure that Y = Feynman, I'll tell the story behind my guess.

Already at Los Alamos, Feynman had a reputation as a good lecturer. I think that there's a story similar to your story, but with "calculations" replaced by "lectures," and with X = Schwinger. This led me to believe that maybe they talked about calculations.

Schwinger was an amazing lecturer.

 

[George Jones]

Say, could you pour me some of that moonshine you've got there on the tips of your fingers?

I'm trying to relate this to Supertramp, and the best I can do is "Which Sister are you talking about?"

 

[nrqed]

The Rules

#1. No Googling until I announce a free-for-all,
#2. No more than 2 answers per person until the free-for-all

------------------------
Please read the rules
------------------------

3. My favorite Roman scholar, Pliny the Elder, was in charge of the naval fleet stationed near Naples, when a rare event occurred. In his eagerness to observe the phenomenon, Pliny took some ships and headed towards it. However, curiosity killed the cat and Pliny died that day.

What was the event?

I *think* I know that one..Wasn't it the eruption of the Vesuvius which led to the destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum?

And I knew the "Who ordered that?" one (being a particle physicist)!
But George got it first.

 

[Omega_6]

4. Upon his divorce and his wife's subsequent marriage, he had this to say: "Had she taken a bullfighter I would have understood, but an ordinary chemist…"

Was this Pauli?

 

[nrqed]

The Rules

#1. No Googling until I announce a free-for-all,
#2. No more than 2 answers per person until the free-for-all

------------------------
Please read the rules
------------------------

10. And finally, this is about one of my favorite people. What follows is a quote.

There was, of course, X. He came down from Y to consult a little bit, to help us if we had some problems. We had a meeting with him, and I had been doing some calculations and gotten some results. The calculations were so elaborate it was very difficult. Now usually, I was this expert at this; I could always tell you what the answer was going to look like, or when I got it I could explain why. But this thing was so complicated I couldn't explain why it was like that.

So I told X I was doing this problem, and I started to describe the results. He said, "Wait, before you tell me the result, let me think. It's going to come out like this (he was right), and it's going to come out like this because of so and so. And there's a perfectly obvious explanation for this --"

He was doing what I was supposed to be good at, ten times better. That was quite a lesson to me.

Who is X? (No points for identifying the narrator.)

------------------------------------------

Note: Quotes may be translations from another language.

I would think that X is Hans Bethe!

 

[Pyrrhus]

I think X is Fermi. If i can recall from the book, Surely you're Joking, Mr Feynman.

 

[Gokul43201]

I *think* I know that one..Wasn't it the eruption of the Vesuvius which led to the destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum?

And I knew the "Who ordered that?" one (being a particle physicist)!
But George got it first.

Yup! Vesuvius, it was, alright.

Speaking of hooch, one of the reasons I like Pliny the Elder was for his famous hangover cure - owl's eggs. Works like a charm (or so they say, regular eggs do it for me).

 

[Gokul43201]

Was this Pauli?

Pauli is correct. Who else would have the gall to some something like that?

Pauli also casually made statements like "I don't like Solid State physics, though I invented it" - I think he said this to Weisskopf in their first meeting. This was when Pauli had just accepted Weisskopf as a postdoc(?), and the first thing he tells Weisskopf is something like "I wanted Bethe, but Bethe now works in Solid State physics, so I settled for you."

 

[Gokul43201]

I would think that X is Hans Bethe!

No. See below.

I think X is Fermi. If i can recall from the book, Surely you're Joking, Mr Feynman.

Correct. And that was my source for the quote.

 

[Moonbear]

Well, I'm not so sure about the moth, but based on the other two choices, I'm going to guess for #6 that they all contain cyanide.

I'm going to contest the answer to #2 though...I know for a fact that that's where we put the pickle jars with tribdog's testicles after The Suggestion Box closed. (That's what you get for only forbidding smart ass answers on one question.)

 

[Gokul43201]

Well, I'm not so sure about the moth, but based on the other two choices, I'm going to guess for #6 that they all contain cyanide.

Correctomundo.

The Burnet moths have a whole lot more than the other two.

Here's a nice pic (and some discussion about the cyanide) :
http://www.treknature.com/gallery/Europe/Bulgaria/East/Burgas/photo41857.htm

 

[Danger]

tribdog's testicles

Aren't those just a myth, like the Golden Fleece? So far, there seems to be no evidence that they actually exist.

 

[mattmns]

#7 Metal Detector. It failed because the bed that the president was on had metal in it (it was an early prototype of a box-spring matress, I believe).

When I took the second semester of US History our teacher told us this story

 

[Moonbear]

Aren't those just a myth, like the Golden Fleece? So far, there seems to be no evidence that they actually exist.

Now, he'd expect something like that from the sisters, but from you? Ouch! Anyway, we know they exist. We keep them in the jar right next to the pickled onions and pickled squirrel heads.

 

[Gokul43201]

#7 Metal Detector. It failed because the bed that the president was on had metal in it (it was an early prototype of a box-spring matress, I believe).

Nice.

I meant for the metal detector to be the early prototype, but nevertheless, you have it.

When I took the second semester of US History our teacher told us this story

The things they have to do to make you pay attention during class, eh? But it is a pretty neat story!

 

[NoTime]

#1 4x13=20

 

[hellraiser]

1.) 20 (twenty)

 

[Danger]

Now, he'd expect something like that from the sisters, but from you? Ouch!

I readily admit that it's below my normal standards to attack an individual on such a basis. In a more facetious mode, most of the older guys here are used to it. I'll never stop razzing the old farts (yes, plural, Integral... you're not the only one ).
Trib is a different situation. Considering that I had no idea who he was, I found his personal sniping at me when I was nominated as 'funny' to be totally non-humourous and very mean-spirited. In fact, every post that I've seen of his was sour in some regard. Towards the point of getting that across, I posted the foregoing. My apologies to anyone who might happen to like the guy.

 

[Gokul43201]

#1 4x13=20

1.) 20 (twenty)

Sorry folks! But that was the bait you were supposed to take.

Now if either of you has something more to add in support of your answer, and it comes close to what I'm looking for, I'll give it to you.

But now, it's time to hit the sack.

 

[d_leet]

I'll give number one a shot.

4x13 = 20 because.., and I think what the reason you're looking for is because 4+13 = 17 which adding 3 is 20, this is the same pattern as in the other two since 4+5 = 9 which adding another 3 gives 12 and for 4x6, 4+6 gives 10 and adding 3 gives 13 so the pattern is axb = a + b + 3.

 

[3trQN]

1) 4 x 13 = 52

And grrrrr @ 10) being Pauli :(

 

[Astronuc]

9. Indium - which is in the same group as Ga and Tl. Ga is used in blue LED's IIRC.

#7 Metal Detector. It failed because the bed that the president was on had metal in it (it was an early prototype of a box-spring matress, I believe).

When I took the second semester of US History our teacher told us this story

My high school teacher in US History told us about Garfield's death, but not about the involvement of Bell and his early metal detector. The doctors (I think at Walter Reed Hospital) attempted to use metal probes, inserting them into the wound. However the bullet had traveled downward from the entry wound. The probes damaged internal organs. There was also the matter of using unsterilized instruments.

 

[Gokul43201]

I'll give number one a shot.

4x13 = 20 because.., and I think what the reason you're looking for is because 4+13 = 17 which adding 3 is 20, this is the same pattern as in the other two since 4+5 = 9 which adding another 3 gives 12 and for 4x6, 4+6 gives 10 and adding 3 gives 13 so the pattern is axb = a + b + 3.

While that's a sensible shot at the pattern, it still falls short of my demands.

3trQN, it's not 52 either. Though it would've been funny if everyone was guessing 20, and I came out and said, "Sorry folks, it's obviously 52!" As for Q10, the answer to that was Fermi (see post #19), not Pauli. Pauli is the answer to Q4.

Astro, Indium is the correct answer. It was named so for the indigo line (bluish-violet) in the absorption spectrum.

And blue LEDs are made from Gallium Nitride (GaN). It's a b!+ch to make, but a beauty to play with!

 

[Gokul43201]

So, the questions still standing are :
1. Trivial question to get started. If 4 \times 5=12~,~~4 \times 6=13~,... then 4 \times 13=?

AND

8. What is considered to be the first successful bombing by unmanned airborne drones?

-----
Q8 is a bit of a toughie, but I expected people to have been familiar with the content of Q1. I guess English teachers are not as good as History teachers.
-----

And the following questions have been answered :

2. (jars in Costa Cider box contain) parts of Einstein's brain

3. (the event that killed Pliny was) the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79AD

4. (the physicist with less respect for chemists than Ernest Rutherford is) Wolfgang Pauli

5. (the "Who ordered that?" particle) is the muon, the heavy and "undesirable" cousin of the electron. The quote is from Isidor Isaac Rabi (the particle theorist who won the 1944 Nobel prize and went on to found the Brookhaven National Lab).

6. (what is common to the Burnet moths, tobacco smoke, and cherry pits) is that they all contain cyanide (HCN).

7. (Bell's invention was an early prototype of ) the metal detector - the reason it didn't work was that the White House bed had metal springs (which had also just recently been developed, and could be afforded only by the elite) which was making the background noise so high, that the signal from the bullet was essentially undetectable. Too bad they didn't have lock-in amplifiers!

9. (the element with the indigo spectral line) is Indium, which lies in the same group as Thallium. The chemists credited with its discovery are Reich and Richter.

10. (X is His Eccelenza) Enrico Fermi - of that rare breed of physicist who was a better theorist than most and a better experimentalist than most, as well.

-----

Questions 1 & 8 are now open to everyone, and so is Google. It's a FREE FOR ALL ! Even if you've used your 2 shots, you may go again, as many times as you wish.

 

[George Jones]

1. Trivial question to get started. If 4 \times 5=12~,~~4 \times 6=13~,... then 4 \times 13=?

4 x 13 = 1A

 

[Evo]

#8 The MQ-1 predator? That's the armed version of The RQ-1.

Edit: oh wait, I read the question wrong.

June 12th 1944, the First V1 bomb dropped on London.

 

[George Jones]

8. What is considered to be the first successful bombing by unmanned airborne drones?

The Blitz.

 

[Gokul43201]

4 x 13 = 1A

Of course it is!

Did you folks never read Alice in Wonderland?

Charles Dodgson (aka Lewis Carroll) was a mathematician. In chapter 2 (A Pool of Tears) after Alice scares away the rabbit inadvertantly, and is very confused about all the weirdness :'I'm sure I'm not Ada,' she said, `for her hair goes in such long ringlets, and mine doesn't go in ringlets at all; and I'm sure I can't be Mabel, for I know all sorts of things, and she, oh! she knows such a very little! Besides, SHE'S she, and I'm I, and--oh dear, how puzzling it all is! I'll try if I know all the things I used to know. Let me see: four times five is twelve, and four times six is thirteen, and four times seven is--oh dear! I shall never get to twenty at that rate! However, the Multiplication Table doesn't signify: let's try Geography. London is the capital of Paris, and Paris is the capital of Rome, and Rome--no, THAT'S all wrong, I'm certain!

The trick is to find the base (clearly the equalities do not hold in base ten) where the numbers on the RHS make sense.

4*5=12 (b18)
4*6=13 (b21)

and so, by extension...

4*7=14 (b24)
4*8=15 (b27)
4*9=16 (b30)
4*10=17 (b33)

here, one cheats and keeps the LHS base 10 while changing only the base for the number on the RHS...

4*11=18 (b36)
4*12=19 (b39)

and finally

4*13=1A (b42)

This is why Alice will "never get to twenty at that rate!"

Q8. It's not the MQ-1, the V1s or the slightly earlier Blitz (were there unmanned drones during the Blitz?)

 

[Evo]

I can't find any "successful" armed unmanned drones prior to 1944. The Curtis-Sperry was a failure. Are you referring to the TDR-I's?

 

[NoTime]

The Lewis Carroll answer came up when I clicked this screen, but

#1 I figured 4=7 and x=+
Given the rules = none then this is just as good as anything

#8
I recall something about doing it with a balloon.
Late 1800's.

 

[Gokul43201]

#8
I recall something about doing it with a balloon.
Late 1800's.

Close enough.

This was during the Risorgimento, the revolution in Italy during the mid-1800s (to throw out the Austrian Empire).

On August 22, 1849, the Austrians, who controlled much of Italy at this time, launched some 200 pilotless balloons against the city of Venice. The balloons were armed with bombs controlled by timed fuses - they are also said to have used fuses electrically activated via signals fed up trailing copper wires (to be confirmed - Ed.). Some of the bombs exploded as planned but the wind changed direction and blew several balloons back over the Austrian lines. This is, by most accounts, the first recorded action of its type.

http://www.ctie.monash.edu.au/hargrave/rpav_home.html#Beginnings

Five months before the bombing, the Viennese Press exposed the Austrian plans, and Scientific American wrote an article about it in March 1849. Apparently, none of this help the Venetians as much as the winds.

The above link has some great descriptions and related stories. A very interesting read!

 

[Evo]

Close enough.

This was during the Risorgimento, the revolution in Italy during the mid-1800s (to throw out the Austrian Empire).



http://www.ctie.monash.edu.au/hargrave/rpav_home.html#Beginnings

Five months before the bombing, the Viennese Press exposed the Austrian plans, and Scientific American wrote an article about it in March 1849. Apparently, none of this help the Venetians as much as the winds.

The above link has some great descriptions and related stories. A very interesting read!

Sorry, but I've got to argue with you here. I thought about baloons, but you specifically used the word "drone", so I ruled them out. The definition of drone is "an unmanned airplane, helicopter, or ship guided by remote control".

The balloons were not guided by remote control. They were launched "troops scurried around with them to launch them into the proper wind currents". The balloons themselves weren't guided. ppttthbbbttt The firing mechanism for the bombs doesn't count.

Therefore I did correctly site the first "drones".

 

[Gokul43201]

That then, is the end of the game.

The answers and answerers :

1. 4 \times 13=1A~(base~42) from Alice in Wonderland and a little extra arithmetic (also note, the answer to the question about Life, the Universe and Everything, is embedded in there) - George

2. (jars in Costa Cider box contain) parts of Einstein's brain - MIH

3. (the event that killed Pliny was) the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79AD - nrqed

4. (the physicist with less respect for chemists than Ernest Rutherford is) Wolfgang Pauli - Omega-6

5. (the "Who ordered that?" particle) is the muon, the heavy and "undesirable" cousin of the electron. The quote is from Isidor Isaac Rabi (the particle theorist who won the 1944 Nobel prize and went on to found the Brookhaven National Lab). - George

6. (what is common to the Burnet moths, tobacco smoke, and cherry pits) is that they all contain cyanide (HCN). - Moonbear

7. (Bell's invention was an early prototype of ) the metal detector - the reason it didn't work was that the White House bed had metal springs (which had also just recently been developed, and could be afforded only by the elite) which was making the background noise so high, that the signal from the bullet was essentially undetectable. Too bad they didn't have lock-in amplifiers! - mattmns

8. (the first successful unmanned aerial bombing was the) balloon bombing of Venice by the Austrians in August 1849. - NoTime

9. (the element with the indigo spectral line) is Indium, which lies in the same group as Thallium. The chemists credited with its discovery are Reich and Richter. - Astronuc

10. (X is His Eccelenza) Enrico Fermi - of that rare breed of physicist who was a better theorist than most and a better experimentalist than most, as well. - cyclovenom That's all folks (I've got a Part VI in the works - it's going to be different)

 

[Evo]

CHEAT! You changed the wording for question #8 in your recap.

 

[Gokul43201]

And while what follows might look like a shameless plug, it really isn't!

So, if you enjoyed this quiz and are relatively new here, you might like to look at some of the earlier quizzes on this theme.

Math-Sci-Tech Trivia Quiz
Math-Sci-Tech Trivia, Part II
Math-Sci-Tech Trivia, Part III
Math-Sci-Tech Trivia, Part IV

 

[Gokul43201]

CHEAT! You changed the wording for question #8 in your recap.

Of course, I did. With those words, it would have been all too Googlable !

 

[Math Is Hard]

Another great quiz, Gokul! Thanks!