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South African (Off-Topic) Quiz

DamhuisClan

By DamhuisClan
in South Africa

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DamhuisClan

+DamhuisClan

Posted
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Posted

My interpretation you are not allowed to search for the answers on the internet. PAF is OK, so I would think is emailing them. As long as they didn't google the answer either.

 

If you jump in your car, go to the library, look it up in a book, and answer, then that is still acceptable.

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Discombob

+Discombob

Posted
Posted

Discombob - you go ahead with a question. I'm not coming up with something right now. Over to you...

 

Wow Mr pooks, that is a kind and noble gesture!

Now what should it be????

 

Vikings are often depicted with ravens hanging around, and some Vikings had the raven as their official emblem.

Why would this be?

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Discombob

+Discombob

Posted
Posted

well, you are both kind of right.

Carbon Hunter was right in saying as a navigational aid, but Team Ginger gave slightly more correct details

There is one flaw in Carbon Hunters theory though, and that is the fact that the Raven is a non migratory bird, and thus would not specifically be used to find home over vast expanses of water.

 

In fact its the opposite. Ravens were used to find new land. The discoverer of iceland was in fact a Raven!

The reason Ravens were good for this is that Ravens cannot land on water, and as they are non-migratory, do not fly over the sea willy nilly.

So if a Viking was out at sea, they released the Ravens, who flew high up and could thus see if any land was in sight. If there was no land in sight, the Raven would return to the boat.

if land was in sight, the Raven would fly there, and the Vikings would follow the raven to land.

 

Due to the fact that Carbon hunter got the basic idea first, but was slightly wrong, and Team Ginger got it more correct, I will say that whichever of the 2 of you is first to ask the next question, can go ahead!

 

The race is on!

 

And while on the subject of migratory birds, although this is not an official question, can anyone tell me the air-speed velocity of an unladen African Swallow :)

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cincol

+cincol

Posted
Posted

And while on the subject of migratory birds, although this is not an official question, can anyone tell me the air-speed velocity of an unladen African Swallow :)

 

This one I could google as it is not an official question!! ;)

 

http://www.style.org/unladenswallow/

Estimating the Airspeed Velocity of an Unladen Swallow

Hashing out the classic question with Strouhal numbers and simplified flight waveforms.

 

"Although a definitive answer would of course require further measurements, published species-wide averages of wing length and body mass, initial Strouhal estimates based on those averages and cross-species comparisons, the Lund wind tunnel study of birds flying at a range of speeds, and revised Strouhal numbers based on that study all lead me to estimate that the average cruising airspeed velocity of an unladen European Swallow is roughly 11 meters per second, or 24 miles an hour."

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Discombob

+Discombob

Posted
Posted

And while on the subject of migratory birds, although this is not an official question, can anyone tell me the air-speed velocity of an unladen African Swallow :)

 

This one I could google as it is not an official question!! ;)

 

http://www.style.org/unladenswallow/

Estimating the Airspeed Velocity of an Unladen Swallow

Hashing out the classic question with Strouhal numbers and simplified flight waveforms.

 

"Although a definitive answer would of course require further measurements, published species-wide averages of wing length and body mass, initial Strouhal estimates based on those averages and cross-species comparisons, the Lund wind tunnel study of birds flying at a range of speeds, and revised Strouhal numbers based on that study all lead me to estimate that the average cruising airspeed velocity of an unladen European Swallow is roughly 11 meters per second, or 24 miles an hour."

 

Ahh, a very useful fact if you ever need to cross the Bridge of Death!! Nice one!

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Discombob

+Discombob

Posted
Posted

Is it the anti swine flu board ?

 

Swine

Influenza

Research and

EXamination Board

 

Nice ring - but nope. :)

 

I asked a friend, which is apparently allowed.

She googled the answer. Is that allowed ;)

 

I would say if you don't know the answer, you certainly arent going to guess it!!!!

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Carbon Hunter

+Carbon Hunter

Posted
Posted

OK - this seems to be a little obscure - I thought it may have been more widely known.

 

SIREX is a wasp that bores a hole into mature Pine trees and then lays it's eggs. The larvae destroys the trees making them useless for consumption in industry.

 

This is bad news as the wasp has spread from the W Cape at an alarming rate and now threatens the entire SA Forestry industry.

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the pooks

+the pooks

Posted
Posted

OK - this seems to be a little obscure - I thought it may have been more widely known.

 

SIREX is a wasp that bores a hole into mature Pine trees and then lays it's eggs. The larvae destroys the trees making them useless for consumption in industry.

 

This is bad news as the wasp has spread from the W Cape at an alarming rate and now threatens the entire SA Forestry industry.

 

We had mature pine tree windbreaks on the farm and some trees would mysteriously just go brown and dead with all their leaves on. Later the windbreak was so patchy one cuts the whole thing down. I wonder if this was not the cause. We have replaced some of the windbreaks with beefwood, but the beefwoods have very aggressive root systems and one does not know what is the worst - the wind or the loss of production due to competition from the trees. The first few rows of vines next to the trees are really puny.

 

PS: I see now you did not imply that the trees were killed off, so maybe it was not the cause.

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Carbon Hunter

+Carbon Hunter

Posted
Posted

Close enough - the answer is 22. I was surprised by the high number. You're it FE

 

Who was your OC with the VC?

 

Albrecht, HermanHerman Albrecht South African 1900* Second Boer War Imperial Light Horse Ladysmith, South Africa

Beauchamp-Proctor, AndrewAndrew Beauchamp-Proctor South African 1918 First World War No. 84 Squadron RFC Western Front, France

Clements, JohnJohn Clements South African 1901 Second Boer War Rimington's Guide Strijdenburg, South Africa

Crowe, JosephJoseph Crowe South African 1857 Indian Mutiny BB07878th Regiment of Foot Boursekee Chowkee, India

D'arcy, HenryHenry D'arcy South African 1879 Zulu War Frontier Light Horse Ulundi, South Africa

Danaher, JohnJohn Danaher South African 1881 First Boer War Nourse's (Transvaal) Horse Elandsfontein, South Africa [16]

Faulds, WilliamWilliam Faulds South African 1916 First World War BB0011st South African Infantry Delville Wood, France

Hartley, EdmundEdmund Hartley South African 1879 Zulu War Cape Mounted Riflemen Morosi's Mountain, South Africa

Hayward, ReginaldReginald Hayward South African 1918 First World War Wiltshire Regiment Fremicourt, France

Hewitt, WilliamWilliam Hewitt South African 1917 First World War BB0022nd South African Light Infantry Ypres, Belgium

Martineau, HoraceHorace Martineau South African 1899 Second Boer War Protectorate Regiment Mafeking, South Africa

McCrea, JohnJohn McCrea South African 1881 First Boer War BB0011st Cape Mounted Yeomanry Tweefontein, South Africa

Mullins, CharlesCharles Mullins South African 1899 Second Boer War Imperial Light Horse Elandslaagte, South Africa

Nesbitt, RandolphRandolph Nesbitt South African 1896 Mashona Rebellion Mashonaland Mounted Police Salisbury, Rhodesia

Norton, GerardGerard Norton South African 1944 Second World War Kaffrarian Rifles Monte Gidolfo, Italy

O'Toole, EdmundEdmund O'Toole South African 1879 Zulu War Frontier Light Horse Ulundi, South Africa

Ramsden, HoraceHorace Ramsden South African 1899 Second Boer War Protectorate Regiment Mafeking, South Africa

Reid, OswaldOswald Reid South African 1917 First World War King's (Liverpool) Regiment Dialah River, Mesopotamia

Robertson, ClementClement Robertson South African 1917 First World War Queen's Royal Regiment Zonnebeke, Belgium

Sherwood-Kelly, JohnJohn Sherwood-Kelly South African 1917 First World War Norfolk Regiment Marcoing, France [17]

Smythe, QuentinQuentin Smythe South African 1942 Second World War Natal Carbineers Alem Hamza, Egypt

Swales, EdwinEdwin Swales South African 1945 Second World War South African Air Force Pforzheim, Germany

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Fish Eagle

+Fish Eagle

Posted
Posted

Close enough - the answer is 22. I was surprised by the high number. You're it FE

 

Who was your OC with the VC?

 

Quentin Smythe - Danie Theron Combat School, Discobolos, near Kimberley.

He was a lieutenant then, and was my company commander for 3 months.

 

Phew, I wasn't expecting my wild guess to be anywhere near correct, so I haven't got anything ready.

Puts thinking cap on.......

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Fish Eagle

+Fish Eagle

Posted
Posted

Adam's calendar - is that one of those astronomical observatories from the Draviadian society that are so prevalent around Mpumalanga (similar to the Stone Huts cache of gerhard near Machadodorp)?

 

Special because it was doner by primitive "Iron age" people?

You're on the right track - it is an ancient calendar, but not Iron Age.

That's good enough for the "what" part of the question.

 

Still need "where" - I'm looking for the town name that it's nearest to.

And "why is it so special".

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Fish Eagle

+Fish Eagle

Posted
Posted

OK - i guess it is linked to the Dravidian cultures that proliferated in the Mpumalnaga (BaKomati) region. I know of an excellent one in Groenvalley between Badplaas and Barberton - so I'll go with Badplaas

 

And that it is the oldest one found so far?

Badplaas - nope.

Oldest one - yep.

75,000 years old which puts it as Old Stone Age (Paleolithic), and probably the oldest known man-made structure on earth.

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cincol

+cincol

Posted
Posted

Kaapschehoop?

Well done - all yours!!

 

It's about a 7 km walk SSE of Kaapsehoop at about S25°37.904 E030°45.602

You can clearly see the trees at the North/South marker stones on Google Earth, but the smaller stones are barely visible.

 

Adam's Calendar

 

WOW - that was a pure guess based on where you had been caching recently! :D

 

The link is extremely interesting. Thanks for the information. I will spend some quality time following up this weekend - something to do during this lousy weather that prevents us from caching for a while!

 

Stonehenge has a famous "brother" in County Cork in Ireland. What is it called? {Either of the 2 names it is known by will be acceptable}

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