Mark Brader:
> These questions were written to be asked in Toronto on 2015-11-30,
> and should be interpreted accordingly... I will reveal the correct
> answers in about 3 days.
Yes, well, at least it didn't get all the way to 4 days this time.
Sorry about the delay.
> For further information see my 2015-08-18 companion posting on
> "Questions from the Canadian Inquisition (QFTCI*)".
Game 10 is over and the winner is JOSHUA KREITZER. Hearty
congratulations!
We will now move on to rounds from the Final of that season,
posted one at a time.
> * Game 10, Round 9 - Science - Lives of the Stars
This was the hardest round in the original game.
> 1. Stars are "born" from the accumulation of clouds of hydrogen
> gas in which appropriately-nicknamed regions of space?
Stellar "nurseries". 4 for Dan Blum, Björn, Dan Tilque, and Pete.
> 2. Stars are powered by nuclear fusion. In the first stage of
> its existence, the "young" star will be powered by the fusion
> of two atoms of ordinary hydrogen into which heavier isotope
> of hydrogen?
Deuterium (hydrogen-2). 4 for Peter, Erland, Dan Blum, Joshua,
Dan Tilque, Calvin, and Marc. 2 for Björn.
> 3. "Baby" stars that aren't large enough to sustain the fusion of
> ordinary hydrogen end up as which kind of star? Despite the
> name, they would probably appear magenta or dark red.
Brown dwarf. 4 for Peter, Dan Blum, and Dan Tilque.
> 4. As a star "matures", it moves from creating <answer 2> to
> creating heavier elements. In our sun, the primary source of
> energy is the proton-proton ("p-p") reaction, which ultimately
> creates atoms of which element?
Helium. 4 for Peter, Erland, Dan Blum, Joshua, Björn, Dan Tilque,
Calvin, and Marc.
> 5. Stars somewhat larger than our sun generate most of their
> energy using the CNO cycle. Besides hydrogen and <answer 4>,
> what *three* other elements are involved in the CNO cycle?
Carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen. 4 for Peter, Erland, Dan Blum, Joshua,
Björn, Dan Tilque, Calvin, Marc, and Pete.
> 6. The heaviest stable element created by ordinary stellar fusion
> is this metallic element, the commonest on Earth by mass.
> Name it.
Iron. 4 for Peter, Erland, Dan Blum, Joshua, Björn, Dan Tilque,
and Marc.
> 7. Since fusion only creates elements up to <answer 6>, we know
> that certain heavier elements found on Earth, such as gold, lead,
> or uranium, must have originated in one of which cataclysmic
> events?
Supernova. 4 for Peter, Erland, Dan Blum, Joshua, Björn, Dan Tilque,
and Marc. 2 for Calvin.
> 8. After a Type II <answer 7>, what is left of the original star
> is typically one of these objects, on the order of 10 km across,
> with a mass perhaps twice that of the sun. What objects?
Neutron star (also accepting pulsar). 4 for Peter, Erland,
Dan Tilque, and Marc. 3 for Calvin.
> Please decode the rot13 for the last two questions only after you
> have finished with the rest of the round.
> 9. A neutron star is prevented from collapsing by an exclusion
> principle, which states that two identical fermions (neutrons in
> this case) cannot occupy the same quantum state. The principle
> takes its name from the physicist who won the 1945 Physics
> Nobel for proposing it. Who?
Wolfgang Pauli. 4 for Peter, Dan Blum, and Marc.
> 10. Our sun is too small to become a neutron star. After a number
> of explosive events, the sun will finally become one of which
> type of star, fading to black over trillions of years?
White dwarf. 4 for Peter, Erland, Dan Blum, Joshua, Dan Tilque,
and Marc. 3 for Björn.
> * Game 10, Round 10 - Challenge Round - Imaginary Challenges
> These questions are about things which don't exist. Or -- this is
> important -- they are, at least, things which *originally* didn't
> exist; but since they were invented, some of these imaginary things
> have actually been turned into real things. That doesn't change
> the fact that they started off being imaginary.
> A. Imaginary History, or Events which Didn't Happen
> A1. The Bolsheviks did not kill all the children of Tsar
> Nicholas. One of his daughters feigned death and escaped
> to the West. Or so it was said, but in fact, she was an
> impersonator named Anna Anderson; recent DNA tests have
> confirmed that the princess in question died with the
> rest of her family. Name the Romanov princess who did not
> actually survive.
Anastasia. 4 for Erland, Dan Blum, Joshua, Björn, Jason, Dan Tilque,
Calvin, Marc, and Pete.
> A2. In 2004, "60 Minutes" uncovered what were claimed to be
> memos from the 1970s, in which Lt.Col. Jerry Killian
> criticizes the performance of one of his subordinates.
> In fact, the memos were forged using Microsoft Word, and
> the subsequent scandal cost Dan Rather his job. Name the
> lieutenant who was not actually criticized by Lt.Col. Killian
> (or not in these memos, anyway).
George W. Bush. 4 for Dan Blum, Joshua, Jason, Dan Tilque, and Marc.
> B. Imaginary Geography, or Places which Didn't Exist
> B1. Many have sought to find the location of Atlantis. The most
> important sources for the Atlantis legend are the works of
> this man, in particular "Timaeus" and "Critias", which used
> Atlantis for allegorical purposes. Name the author.
Plato. 4 for Dan Blum, Joshua, Björn, and Dan Tilque.
> B2. Expeditions in search of this legendary location inspired
> explorers such as Pizarro, Orellana, and Sir Walter Raleigh.
> Although the city was never discovered, the searches for
> it contributed to the exploration of Colombia, Venezuela,
> and the Amazon River. Name this legendary city, famous
> for its wealth.
El Dorado. 4 for Peter, Erland, Joshua, Björn, Jason, Dan Tilque,
Calvin, Marc, and Pete.
> C. Imaginary Literature, or Works which Didn't Exist
> C1. Written by the Mad Arab Abdul al-Hazred, and often bound
> in human skin, readers of this book are likely to encounter
> madness and misfortune. In fact, this book was the invention
> of horror author H.P. Lovecraft. Name the book.
"Necronomicon". 4 for Dan Blum, Joshua, Jason, and Dan Tilque.
> C2. Written by John Shade, this 999-line poem is the subject
> of a commentary by Charles Kinbote. Ultimately, the poem
> is the creation of Vladimir Nabokov, and shares its title
> with the Nabokov novel in which it appears. Gave that title.
"Pale Fire". 4 for Joshua. 3 for Dan Blum.
> D. Imaginary Sports, or Sports & Games which Didn't Exist
> D1. Quidditch was a fictional sport invented for the Harry Potter
> series. There are three types of balls in a Quidditch game.
> The most important is the Golden Snitch. Name either of
> the other two types of Quidditch balls.
Bludger, Quaffle. 4 for Björn and Pete.
> D2. "I call Ledgerman!" Ben Wyatt is the creator of the
> "punishingly intricate" board game Cones of Dunshire.
> In fact, Ben is a fictional character portrayed by Adam
> Scott on which television series?
"Parks & Recreation". 4 for Peter and Dan Blum.
> E. Imaginary Science, or Science which is No Longer Scientific
> E1. Before the discovery of oxygen, what was the fire-like
> substance which was supposedly contained by flammable
> objects and released during the process of burning?
Phlogiston. 4 for Erland, Dan Blum, Joshua, Björn, Dan Tilque,
Calvin, and Marc.
> E2. Until its existence was disproved by the Michelson-Morley
> Experiment, what substance was proposed as the medium
> through which light waves propagated? The full 2-word name
> is required for full points.
Luminiferous ether. 4 for Peter, Dan Blum, Joshua, and Dan Tilque.
3 for Björn, Calvin, and Marc.
> F. Imaginary Music, or Bands which Didn't Exist
> F1. With a core lineup of David St. Hubbins, Nigel Tufnel,
> and Derek Smalls, along with a varied collection of drummers,
> this imaginary heavy-metal band had non-hits such as
> "Give Me Your Money", "Bitch School", and "Big Bottom".
> Name the band.
Spinal Tap. 4 for Peter, Erland, Dan Blum, Joshua, Björn, Jason,
Calvin, Marc, and Pete.
According to Gareth Owen, the first-quoted title is wrong and should
have been "Gimme Some Money". But if he's not even going to bother
entering, I don't see why we should pay any attention to him! :-)
> F2. Consisting of Ron Nasty, Dirk McQuickly, Stig O'Hara,
> and drummer Barry Wom, this imaginary band had a career which
> was curiously similar to that of the Beatles. Their history
> is documented in the movie "All You Need is Cash". On two
> occasions they appeared on "Saturday Night Live" with guest
> host Eric Idle. Name the band.
The Rutles. 4 for Peter, Dan Blum, Joshua, Jason, Dan Tilque,
Marc, and Pete.
Scores, if there are no errors:
GAME 10 ROUNDS-> 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 BEST
TOPICS-> His Ent Spo Mis Geo Can Sci Cha SIX
Joshua Kreitzer 28 36 12 28 40 12 24 40 196
Dan Blum 28 24 28 24 31 8 36 39 186
Stephen Perry 36 40 40 39 0 16 -- -- 171
Peter Smyth 16 8 32 32 31 11 36 20 167
Dan Tilque 32 4 24 16 24 4 36 32 164
Marc Dashevsky 8 32 24 16 25 0 32 27 156
"Calvin" 24 8 32 32 23 0 17 19 147
Pete Gayde 20 24 36 15 16 20 8 20 136
Erland Sommarskog 12 0 12 10 32 4 28 16 110
Björn Lundin 19 4 7 4 -- -- 25 27 86
Jason Kreitzer 4 24 0 8 16 0 0 24 76
Bruce Bowler 0 24 18 12 -- -- -- -- 54
--
Mark Brader | "If communication becomes impossible, it is expected that
Toronto | both parties will... notify the other that communication
m...@vex.net | has become impossible..." --memo to university staff