Trivia

[kristina]

I don’t want to keep you in suspense, so I answer it straight away:

Stoday, you are right, it is the Differential gearing which enables the rear wheels
of a car to turn at different rates & the earliest mention I can find for the Differential is 1902.
It is a most extraordinary piece of gearing and it made an enormous contribution to wheeled vehicles.

Sorry YLGuy, it wasn’t power steering.

Sorry cariad/Gwyn that Stodard beat you to the post on this one.
Yes, the whole unit is referred to as a Differential axle
but it was specifically the gearing mechanism which I was referring to,
so it has to be given to Stoday.

Over to you Stoday.

[Stoday]

What color is the breast meat of the Dodo? Light or dark? And why?

You've got to say why otherwise one of the first two to answer would get it right.

[Stoday]

OK! I just made a tactical error in telling Gwyn that I thought Stoday was a civil engineer, and he then retracted his agreement with/respect of Stoday's answer and muttered "Pfft! What the hell does a brickie know about it?" Just the messenger here....

Well, the engineer bit's right, but I'm not civil in either sense!  Electrical.

[kitkatz]

What color is the breast meat of the Dodo? Light or dark? And why?

You've got to say why otherwise one of the first two to answer would get it right.

They are extinct so who knows? Never seen one! 

[cariad]

OK! I just made a tactical error in telling Gwyn that I thought Stoday was a civil engineer, and he then retracted his agreement with/respect of Stoday's answer and muttered "Pfft! What the hell does a brickie know about it?" Just the messenger here....

Well, the engineer bit's right, but I'm not civil in either sense!  Electrical.

Love it!

Gwyn's response, rather unsurprisingly: Bloody sparky!!

What color is the breast meat of the Dodo? Light or dark? And why?

You've got to say why otherwise one of the first two to answer would get it right.

I am going to take a guess at this. As a longtime vegetarian, I'll warn you not to expect much!

Dark. Isn't dark meat richer and has a higher fat content? I think the dark color must come from increased blood flow in that area, probably because they had an odd shape and needed extra blood supply in order to hold their heads up and be able to walk? I am looking at the top of a little box I bought in Mauritius, a place rather obsessed with the dodo. It has a little picture of the bird painted on top. Not the most scientific of sources, I'll grant you.

If that's wrong, I'll guess light!

[YLGuy]

If that's wrong, I'll guess light!

 
Gotta cover all the bases.

[Stoday]

Yup, the Dodo was a flightless bird that used to be found in Mauritius. Although there's no remaining evidence for the color of breast flesh, there are good reasons that suggest it's light/white. So although Cariad got the habits of the Dodo right, she probably came to the wrong conclusion that the flesh was dark.

So why is it probably light?

[Riki]

I'll take a guess at the why

If dark meat is because of increased blood flow, and they were flightless birds, so since they wouldn't need the increased blood flow through the breast and into the wing to help them fly, it would leave the breast meat white.  but, I'm only guessing.  I've no idea what a dodo looks like, except for the one in looney tunes cartoons.

[Stoday]

You've got it Riki. Your go now.

White breast meat is associated with birds who fly infrequently and only for short durations. E.g. chickens, pheasants, turkeys. Birds that fly for long durations have breasts with dark meat, e.g. ducks, geese.

I tried for a question that could be answered by anyone yet could not be found in Google.

[Riki]

Holy Crap!!  I was only guessing!!  *LOL*  ok.. I'll be back later with a question...

[Riki]

ok, got one.

This morning, a 15 metre white spruce tree was cut down with much fanfare in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia.  It was lovingly wrapped to keep it from being damaged, and loaded on a truck.  This has happened annually since 1971.  Where is the tree going, and why?

[kitkatz]

A 15-metre tree from Nova Scotia is on its way to Boston as part of an international Christmas tradition that has been going on for almost 40 years.
This 15-metre tree will be erected in the Boston Common on Dec. 2. This 15-metre tree will be erected in the Boston Common on Dec. 2. (CBC)

The province has sent a tree to Boston every Christmas season since 1971 to thank people in that city for their help in the aftermath of the devastating 1917 explosion in Halifax.


Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/story/2010/11/16/ns-christmas-tree-gift-boston.html#ixzz15W2FVJyI

[Riki]

yeah.. you got it, Kitkatz.. *G*

I actually love this, being originally from Nova Scotia.  We learned about the Halifax explosion in school, but I didn't know about the tree until I was much older.  I also like that since we get most of our American channels from Boston, I can watch the lighting ceremony on tv.  I sometimes wonder how many Bostonians know the history behind the tree, or if they even know that it comes from Nova Scotia

[kitkatz]

2 part questions

On the X-Files What is Fox Mulder's middle name? What is David Duchovny's (actor who payed Fox Mulder) middle name?

[kristina]

William ?

[kitkatz]

Yes to both!  You are up!

[kristina]

Thank you, kitkatz. Here is my question:

What makes the No.78 Shoreditch-to-Dulwich bus more famous than any other bus in history?

[kristina]

I just thought it might be a bit unfair just to give you the number of the bus

because the incident is actually all about Albert Gunton and his heroic deed.

[galvo]

In 1952, passengers on a No.78 bus got more than they’d bargained for when they found themselves caught on the south bascule as it was starting to rise. A temp watchman was filling in that day and something to do with the signalling to clear the bridge went wrong. Albert Gunton, the driver of the bus, had to make a split-second choice. He sped up and jumped the gap, landing safely on the north bascule which had not yet begun to rise. He was awarded the sum of £10 for his quick thinking.

bascule [ˈbæskjuːl]
n
1. (Engineering / Civil Engineering) Also called balance bridge counterpoise bridge a bridge with a movable section hinged about a horizontal axis and counterbalanced by a weight Compare drawbridge
2. (Engineering / Civil Engineering) a movable roadway forming part of such a bridge. Tower Bridge has two bascules

[kristina]

Yes, galvo, it is absolutely spot-on.

I was beginning to wonder
whether I had given enough information
but you came up with the answer.

At the point when the bus driver Albert Gunton
had to make a decision must have been one of incredible tension
and the risk he took was breathtaking.

Over to you, galvo.

[galvo]

If I asked you who won the Academy Award for the best  actress in a motion picture in 1928, and also required you to nominate the name of the film, some of you would say - Janet Gaynor in "Sunrise", others would nominate - Janet Gaynor in "Street Angel", and yet others would offer Janet Gaynor in "7th Heaven". AND YOU WOULD ALL BE CORRECT!!!!!!

How could this be?

[okarol]

In 1928 Janet Gaynor became the first winner of the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performances in three films: Seventh Heaven (1927), Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927) and Street Angel (1928). This was the only occasion on which an actress has won for multiple roles. This rule would be changed three years later by AMPAS.

[galvo]

okarol, you take the cake!

[okarol]

What male body part did Mademoiselle magazine find to be the favorite of most women?

[Stoday]

I'll guess: bum