Jump to content

The All New All New Groundspeak UK Pub Quiz


Recommended Posts

Dr Wothers got a youngster to cut some ice using a disc of diamond made by chemical vapour deposition. It went through like a knife through butter. He explained that it felt so cold to the youngster and cut through the ice so easily because it was a good conductor of heat, and used half a dozen youngsters to demonstrate that to be because of it's molecular structure. Until recently, carbon in diamond form was the best-known conductor of heat. However, there is a recently discovered form of carbon, graphene, that is an even better conductor.

 

So carbon, in graphene form.

Link to comment

A very full answer from Pajaholic earns the first BONG of the year with another BONG for the extra detail.

 

If you haven't seen the programmes yet then try to catch them on iPlayer - fascinating stuff and some great demos. Now where can I get some neodymium magnets?

Link to comment

Thanks for the BONGs! Those Christmas Lectures are fascinating and immensely entertaining IMO.

 

Changing the subject, my son now lives in Melbourne and saw in the New Year from the top of Mount Dandenong, so a question about that region:

 

On Mount Dandenong is a sanctuary in which can be found the preserved home and many works of which sculptor?

Link to comment
With regards to the quiz question, my guess is Rodin.

Not Rodin.

 

The sculptor in question is famous for his inclusion of Australian Aboriginals in his work and, FWIW, initially came to my attention thanks to Billy Conolly waxing lyrically about him in an episode of his "World Tour of Australia" series.

 

In the interest of keeping the thread moving, I'm happy for online mapping to be used to help answer this question.

Link to comment

Since Stargazing Live is on at the moment and this hasn't been answered in a while, I'll jump in with a guess at astronomers, as I've half-a-feeling there is such a group. Note sure about that past-tense in the question though... :(

 

On a side note, over 250,000 views! Which I think may make this the second-most viewed thread on Groundspeak's forums? Thanks everyone!

Link to comment

Wasn't it a group of spies in WW2?

I suspect that it would be irregular troops rather than spies. Irregulars are special forces, resistance cells, guerrillas, etc. In WWII, these would probably have been coordinated by the Special Operations Executive (SOE). So I wonder if the Baker Street Irregulars might have been one or more of the groups controlled by SOE during WWII.

Link to comment

Since Stargazing Live is on at the moment and this hasn't been answered in a while, I'll jump in with a guess at astronomers, as I've half-a-feeling there is such a group. Note sure about that past-tense in the question though... :(

 

On a side note, over 250,000 views! Which I think may make this the second-most viewed thread on Groundspeak's forums? Thanks everyone!

 

I believe there is but it's not the group I'm looking for. :)

Link to comment

Wasn't it a group of spies in WW2?

I suspect that it would be irregular troops rather than spies. Irregulars are special forces, resistance cells, guerrillas, etc. In WWII, these would probably have been coordinated by the Special Operations Executive (SOE). So I wonder if the Baker Street Irregulars might have been one or more of the groups controlled by SOE during WWII.

 

Close, maxx but they weren't just spies. Pajaholic was much closer with his irregular forces although espionage was one branch of their activities.

 

It was the SOE itself that was based at 64 Baker Street during WWII so the DING! goes to Pajaholic.

 

Over to you sir. :)

Link to comment

Thanks for the unexpected ding!

 

Loosely related: One of the SOE operations was to thwart the Nazi atomic bomb programme by sabotaging the plant that produced heavy water. The saboteurs became known as the Heroes of Telemark, which gives the link to my question:

 

In which variant of which activity would you find a Telemark turn? (and bonus kudos if you can describe one!)

Link to comment

Skiing

 

Not sure I can describe one though. Is it where you plant a pole and jump into the turn with both skis parallel?

 

Isn't it the way ski jumpers land... sort of knees bent, one ski in front of the other.

 

EDIT... Ignore that.... Should have read the question properly!!

Edited by Pharisee
Link to comment

Skiing

 

Not sure I can describe one though. Is it where you plant a pole and jump into the turn with both skis parallel?

 

Isn't it the way ski jumpers land... sort of knees bent, one ski in front of the other.

 

EDIT... Ignore that.... Should have read the question properly!!

I think that's the Telemark landing, the Telemark turn is the same sort of movement to make a turn in cross country skiing.

Link to comment

Perhaps I should read the question and not answer the question I expect it to be :rolleyes: having missed the "which variant" part.

 

However I'm pretty sure you can use it in most forms of skiing - downhill, slalom or cross-country.

Edited by MTH
Link to comment

I think that's the Telemark landing, the Telemark turn is the same sort of movement to make a turn in cross country skiing.

That'll get you a DING!

 

It would have been difficult to respond to MTH or Pharisee without giving the answer away. MTH described a Christiana (or parallel) turn used by Alpine skiiers. Ski jumpers land in the Telemark position but use a Christiana turn to stop, so I couldn't give the ding to Pharisee either.

 

A Telemark turn is used in cross-country, Nordic, or Telemark skiing. In those disciplines the bindings allow your heels to rise. It's impossible to use a Telemark turn in Alpine skiing because the bindings won't allow your inside heel to rise off the ski. The turn is made with the outside ski well-forward, outside heel flat, inside heel raised, and with most weight on the outside ski. In contrast, the Christiana (stem christie) turn has the weight on the inside ski and the inside ski slightly forward of the outside.

 

Over to MartyBartfast...

Edited by Pajaholic
Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...