Trivia

[natnnnat]

Taking jbeany and moving on from there, 
old circumference = C
new circumference = C'

C = 3.14 times d

C' = 3.14 x(d+2)
   = (3.14 times d) + (3.14 times 2)
   = C + (3.14 times 2)

so the increase = 3.14 times 2
                      = 6.28,   so ylguy is right.

[kristina]

Sorry, YLGuy, jbeany and natnnat,

The question didn’t ask for the calculation,
it only asked for how many feet of extra rail you would need.
There is only one size for the length of extra rail you would need
however big the circular pond is.

How many extra feet of rail would you have to buy
if you decide to increase the diameter of the circular pond by two feet?

[kristina]

P.S.

On reflection I think that YLGuy’s answer of 6.28,
though it is not a measurement in feet and inches,
is, nevertheless, a very accurate figure.

The question has always held some fascination
because it doesn’t matter how big the circle is
(even if you put a rope around the equator
and needed to increase its lengths to raise it one foot
off the earth’s surface), you would always increase
the circumference by exactly the same amount for any size of circle.

Over to you, YLGuy.

[YLGuy]

The hard hat was invented for the construction of what?

[cath-hater]

Hoover Dam?

[YLGuy]

Yes! I thought I would pose a question in honor of the upcoming Las Vegas trip.

[Stoday]

Another answer for Kristina:

Any diameter, so assume zero. Extra 2 means enlarged dia of 2, hence extra fence of 2pi ft = 2 X 355 / 113

[cath-hater]

Another easy one to look up? Approximately how many pints of blood does a normal human kidney receive in an hour?

[kristina]

They receive approx. 120 pints of blood per hour ?

[cath-hater]

kristina does it again ! over to you girl.

[kristina]

Thank you, cath-hater, here is my question:

What stone unlocked the secret of an ancient language ?

[MooseMom]

The Rosetta Stone?

[kristina]

Well done, MooseMom, yes it is the Rosetta Stone.

The stone was found in 1799 by a Frenchman excavating near Rosetta in the Nile Delta.
It has an inscription in three different languages – the hieroglyphic, the demotic, and the Greek.

This stone furnished the French Egyptologist Jean Champollion (1790 – 1832) with the key to decipher the Egyptian hieroglyphics.

Over to you, MooseMom.

[MooseMom]

What is the origin of the nighttime wish, "Sleep tight!"?

[cath-hater]

Some believe that it came from the rope nets that people slept on before mattresses were invented.  The ropes were tied into a sort of weave like pattern to sleep on. So in order to get a good night sleep, the ropes had to be "tight".

[MooseMom]

That's correct enough.  Mattresses had already been "invented", but since they could be filled with anything from feathers to straw, they tended to sink below the surface of the bedframe.  They were then held in place by a structure of ropes that had to be tightened so as to keep the mattress "firm".

Well done, cath-hater!

[cath-hater]

Okay folks. Here's a 5-parter.

A PROCESS that turns tree sap into a vauable industrial product.

1 What is the process called?
2 The process is named after the Roman God of _______ ?
3 What is the final product?
4 What is the chemical used in the process?
5 What is the chemical's atomic number?

[Stoday]

1 What is the process called?
Vulcanisation

2 The process is named after the Roman God of _______ ?
Fire

3 What is the final product?
Motor tires, condoms  rubber goods.

4 What is the chemical used in the process?
Sulfur. (The English spelling "sulphur" has now been officially superceded by "sulfur")

5 What is the chemical's atomic number?
16

[cath-hater]

Great job Stoday! Over to you.

[Stoday]

None of the actresses playing Cleopatra look like she did. They differ in one very marked characteristic.

What was it?

How do we know what she really looked like?

[kristina]

As far as I know, none of the actresses playing Cleopatra
was Egyptian/Greek/Macedonian - that might be a difference.

Another difference might be, all the actresses playing her were beautiful,
and I suspect, she was not.

In coins (did the coin-edger really see her?) –
and in a Roman sculpture (the Romans generally hated her)
Cleopatra is depicted as rather ugly.
 
Timomachus was commissioned - by Marc Anthony - to paint her
and he painted her beautiful, but he would do that, wouldn’t he?

But we know as a fact that Cesar and Marc Anthony fell for her.

Perhaps they were inspired by her very rational, intelligent ruling,
her political foresight and her great diplomatic skills ?

[Stoday]

Over to you, kristina.

We know what Cleopatra looked like from her coins, which show her to be very different from actresses who play her. Particularly her nose; she had a prominent hooter.

As to her beauty, that's difficult because ideas of beauty change. Look how they've changed over the past 300 years or so. Beautiful women were much fatter only 100 years ago. The fashion for skinny women is rather recent. If there's such a significant change over one or two hundred years, how much more change is there over 2000 years?

Personally, I find that fat women tend to be more sexually attractive than skinny ones.

[kristina]

Thank you Stoday.

Here is my question:

According to an old proverb,
the smallest pig of a litter
will follow its owner anywhere.

What is the name of this pig
and what famous person is it frequently depicted
standing at their side?

[kristina]

It seems to be difficult, so here is a little clue:
The little pig is associated with a Saint.
But what do they call the little pig of the litter that follows the "owner" ?
Another clue is that the name of the little pig can be found in the name of the Saint.
 

[jbeany]

The smallest member of a litter is called a runt.

A runt that follows its owner is called a Tantony Pig.  The original tantony pig was Satan, who appeared as the form of a wild boar to attack St. Anthony.  When St Anthony defeated him, the boar was transformed into a small, domesticated runt who followed St. Anthony everywhere.  Tantony is a contraction of St. Anthony - and calling someone a tantony pig was a insult, implying the person was a mindless follower.

St Anthony founded a hospital order.  The locals donated their runt pigs for the hospital to raise.  The runts were allowed to wander the city freely, looking for scraps.  The order put bells on them to identify them.  Tantony is also now used to described the peal of bells during bell-ringing, especially when collecting for charity.