The All New All New Groundspeak UK Pub Quiz

[+RetallickRamblers]

Thought someone here might know this. Is the latin name (but commonly used) for a particular breed of domesticated insect.

Edited February 10, 2013 by RetallickRamblers

[+MTH]

The only domesticated insect I can think of is the Honey Bee, possibly Apis something something?

[+Pajaholic]

Clutching at etymological straws, the only domesticated insect that I can think of is the honey bee and I suspect that the "A" comes from the same root as "Apiary", which is a "posh" name for a beehive, and that one of the "M"s comes from the latin for honey (Mellitus or something like that). Perhaps the other "M" comes from a region name (it won't be "west" as that's occidentus IIRC).

 

Anyway, best guess is the honey bee. You said these creatures are confined to the margins of Britain, which tells me I'm wrong but hopefully it'll give someone else a clue?

 

Edited to add: I see MTH pipped my guess to the post. (When will I learn to post first and add explanations after! ...)

Edited February 10, 2013 by Pajaholic

[+RetallickRamblers]

That'll do. Actually apis melifera melifera the black european honeybee. Now almost or completely lost to crossbreeding with other subspecies.

So a ding to MTH.

[+MTH]

Sticking with the animal kingdom, the Ratel is more commonly known in English by what name?

[+MTH]

Not even a guess? This is not entirely unconnected to the previous question...

[+Pharisee]

A guess you want... a guess you'll get!

The only "Ratel" I can think of is a mechanised troop carrier used by the South African army. The British used something similar called a "Scorpion".... so is a Ratel a South African Scorpion?

 

Edited cos I can't speel

Edited February 11, 2013 by Pharisee

[+MTH]

I expect the SA troop carrier was named after this animal, but it's not a scorpion.

 

There is a slight connection to the previous question.

[+civilised]

There is a slight connection to the previous question.

 

A domesticated scorpion ?

[+Simply Paul]

Ha! The 'slight connection' made my penny drop. It's that charming creature that's usually known as the Honey Badger these days.

[+MTH]

Ding for the Honey Badger. Remarkable animals.

[+Simply Paul]

I first heard about them on Top Gear and it's all true; fearless and keen on going for the dangly bits. Thanks for the Ding.

 

A change of direction...

I've discovered a game called Kerbal Space Program (highly recommended) and it's taught me a lot about orbital mechanics in recent weeks. So here's a question about changing orbits. You may have heard of retro engines which face in the direction of travel. 'Retro-fire' is used to slow a ship by applying a retrograde force, perhaps to perform a 'de-orbit burn' to push a spacecraft into an atmosphere. Over the Earth that's reentry, over Mars or another planet with an atmosphere it would be aero-breaking (to change a fly-by orbit using friction) or aero-capture (to pull a fly-by into orbit or to slow an orbit enough that you're landing. It can't be reenty if you've never been in that atmosphere before) So! My question is this: What's the opposite of retrograde?

[+MTH]

I always thouhht retrograde referred to the appatent backward motion of the planets when viewed from earth. The opposite I assume is simply forward motion.

[+Betelgeuse]

Prograde.

[+Simply Paul]

Prograde.

Gets a Ding. You thrust along your line of motion to raise your apsis (apogee, aphelion), or periapsis (pericentre, perihelion), or both. That's a prograde force.

 

What MTH describes is apparent retrograde motion caused by one object 'over-taking' another in their orbits, but some bodies have true retrograde motion, where the secondary object (star, planet, moon) is orbiting in a direction opposite to the spin of its primary. In our solar system the biggest body to do this is Triton, the moon of Neptune. While Venus spins in the same direction as the other planets around the sun, it spins on its own 177-degree (upside-down) axis backwards. Pluto's 120-degree axis means it's technically spinning retrograde too, although it spends a long time with a pole pointing sunwards. And that's science

 

Over to Betelgeuse.

Edited February 13, 2013 by Simply Paul

[+Betelgeuse]

As well as some moons, many comets have a retrograde orbit especially those originating from the cometary body rich region of space toward the limits of the solar system. What is this region of space called?

[+Simply Paul]

I could jump in but I'll give it 24 hours. Looking forward to 2012DA14 tomorrow. I just hope the clouds part on time.

[+MTH]

Would that be the Ort Cloud?

 

Some interesting pictures from Russia on the news this morning.

[+MTH]

Link http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21468116

[+Betelgeuse]

Would that be the Ort Cloud?

 

Some interesting pictures from Russia on the news this morning.

 

DING! Oort cloud. Named after the dutch astronomer Jan Oort who posited its existence in 1950. He was a remarkable chap who also discovered the galactic halo, the direction and distance of galactic centre and, although it wasn't postulated at the time (1920s), the evidence for dark matter. The Oort cloud itself is thought to be the remnants of the protoplanetary disc that formed the solar system.

 

The CCTV video of the fireball over Russia was incredible I would have loved to have seen that first hand!

 

I'll be out tonight with my telescope if the skies clear.

 

Over to you...

[+MTH]

On to heavenly bodies of a different sort

 

The Misfits is well known to be Marilyn Monroe's last completed film. But the question isn't about her.

 

Which other Hollywood icon was also making his last appearance in the same film?

[+Simply Paul]

Fun fact: He was married to the first female war-related US casualty of World War II.

[+civilised]

On to heavenly bodies of a different sort

 

The Misfits is well known to be Marilyn Monroe's last completed film. But the question isn't about her.

 

Which other Hollywood icon was also making his last appearance in the same film?

 

Clark Gable - King of Hollywood

[+civilised]

Fun fact: He was married to the first female war-related US casualty of World War II.

 

Carole Lombard - very up to date actress

[+MTH]

Ding for Clark Gable.

 

'Working with Marilyn Monroe on "The Misfits" nearly gave me a heart attack. I have never been happier when a film ended.'

 

Amazing what you can learn from an in-flight magazine!

[+civilised]

Of the 19 9/11 hi-jackers, how many were Saudi Arabian ?

[+civilised]

Is it too hard ?

[+MartyBartfast]

OK I'll guess 3.

[Team Noodles]

it was definitely the bulk of the lot, so guestimating 14

[+civilised]

It's close enough - 15 out of 19.

 

DING to Team Noodles

[Team Noodles]

It's close enough - 15 out of 19.

 

DING to Team Noodles

Cheers!

 

I'll stick with the theme, what are the names of the airlines the 4 hijacked planes belonged to?

[+Simply Paul]

I'll stick with the theme, what are the names of the airlines the 4 hijacked planes belonged to?

United Airlines and American Airlines?

[Team Noodles]

I'll stick with the theme, what are the names of the airlines the 4 hijacked planes belonged to?

United Airlines and American Airlines?

That's a DING!

[+Simply Paul]

That's a DING!

Thanks very much. I knew United Airlines (from the United 93 film) but American Airlines was a semi-guess.

 

Ok, what would I mean by "cum hoc ergo propter hoc"?

[+welshsprite]

That's a DING!

Thanks very much. I knew United Airlines (from the United 93 film) but American Airlines was a semi-guess.

 

Ok, what would I mean by "cum hoc ergo propter hoc"?

with this, therefore because of this ?

[+Betelgeuse]

You'd be pointing out a logical fallacy - correlation doesn't imply causation.

[+Simply Paul]

Both answers are correct, but welshsprite gets the Ding for the literal translation. Over to you!

(Housepoint to Betelgeuse)

[+welshsprite]

This is my first attempt at this so be gentle with me...

 

How many letters in the Welsh alphabet?

[+Pajaholic]

IIRC, the 'proper' letters are: A B C Ch D Dd E F Ff G H I J L Ll M N O P R S T U W Y. So there are 25 of those. However, there are also soft and nasal mutations (ph, rh, th, ng), which might be considered letters. So I'll try 25 without mutations and 29 with.

[+TheOldfields]

I'll take a guess at 22. The usual less the vowels plus the 'clearing your throat' noise.

[+welshsprite]

IIRC, the 'proper' letters are: A B C Ch D Dd E F Ff G H I J L Ll M N O P R S T U W Y. So there are 25 of those. However, there are also soft and nasal mutations (ph, rh, th, ng), which might be considered letters. So I'll try 25 without mutations and 29 with.

 

DING! Correct. As a primary school teacher we say there are 29 letters to the alphabet.

[+Pajaholic]

Diolch yn fawr!

 

Staying with all things Celtic. What is the Scots Gaelic equivalent of a "Twmpath"?

[+welshsprite]

I know, I know (jumping up and down with my hand up). However I'm going to leave it to someone else because I don't want to embarrass myself with my attempt to spell it!

[+Betelgeuse]

Ceilidh

[+Pajaholic]

DING!

 

Over to Betelgeuse...

[+Betelgeuse]

A ceilidh is an informal gathering with music and dancing but what does the word ceilidh actually mean?

[+Simply Paul]

I had this in a pub quiz some years ago, when it was asked what ceilidh and Sputnik had in common. I guessed at they both meant companion and got the point. How's my luck this time?

[+Betelgeuse]

I had this in a pub quiz some years ago, when it was asked what ceilidh and Sputnik had in common. I guessed at they both meant companion and got the point. How's my luck this time?

 

Your luck holds true. A DING! for you, sir.

[+Simply Paul]

Your luck holds true. A DING! for you, sir.

Thanks very much. Taking a tangent, Sputnik is an interesting object. Although the original is long-since-burnt-up, several 'contemporary', Soviet-made copies exist - either development or back-up units. Most are in museums (as are many replicas) but one is owned by a remarkable individual with a link to Geocaching. The second person to wear the Union flag in orbit, the second in orbit to be the child of a previous generation 'naut (their father Owen flying on Skylab and a shuttle mission) and the only private individual to own an object on the moon. They would have been the first 'space tourist' if it wasn't for the Dot-Com crash, are a keen magician, and shot a short sci-fi film while in space; the first. They also officiated over the first zero-gee wedding, on a 727 'vomit comet'... But who are they?! (I used Google to set the question but please don't to answer it. There should be enough info above for you to get the name I'm after.)

[+Simply Paul]

This is easier than it appears. How many cachers do we know who've been into orbit..?