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20 random thoughts Send a noteboard - 03/08/2013 06:44:22 PM

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Test Your Geekdom


View original post Vol XVIII: The Science of Sci-Fi


View original postGeekdom isn't all about knowing your films and comic characters, so today’s quiz will focus on science, history, philosophy, and other real world concepts... or at least the various technobabble and gibberish which often take their forms in film and literature.


View original postGood for 30 possible points, Good Luck!


View original post1. This 1999 film by the Wachowski Brothers was heavily inspired by the Allegory of the Cave.



View original postName the film


View original postName the philosopher credited with the Allegory of the Cave

No idea on either. I do not even know who the Wachowski Brothers are.



View original post2. This author is often credited with popularizing robots with his 3 Laws of Robotics and his robots featuring positronic brains, both of which have been heavily borrowed by other writers. While the former is typically explained in each of his many stories on robots, the latter is never explained, beyond the assumption it functions on positrons, which are a real particle.


View original postName that Author


View original postName the anti-particle of the positron

Isaac Asimov and electron


View original post3. Also known as an Einstein-Rosen Bridge, this hypothetical object allows one to travel from one place to another instantly, and is a common method of faster than light travel in Sci-Fi. One of the better known examples is from a TV series in the 1990s, part of a famous Sci-fi Franchise that takes place on a space station located in deep space near such an object that exits on the other side of the galaxy.


View original postWhat is the common name for an Einstein-Rosen Bridge?

worm hole


View original postWhat is the name of TV series mentioned?

Deep Space Nine


View original post4. This type of radiation is typically produced by Nuclear reactions, such as an exploding nuclear bomb, and is often used to give fictional characters incredible abilities rather than cancer, and sometimes turn them green. Perhaps the most famous example is a Marvel Comics character best known for his anger management issues. That character himself is often considered inspired by a 1886 novella by Robert Louis Stevenson, which revolves around a person suffering from a psychological condition very popular with writers and explored with a DC Comic’s Batman antagonist known for flipping coins.


View original postName the radiation type

Gamma Rays


View original postName the Marvel Character

The Incredible Hulk


View original postName the 1886 Novella

no idea


View original postName the psychological condition

split personality


View original postName the DC villain

Two Face


View original post5. This Astrophysical Principle is the philosophical consideration that observations of the physical Universe must be compatible with the conscious life that observes it. It was once discussed by this late SF writer known for his stories about hitchhiking as follows, “Imagine a puddle waking up one morning and thinking, 'This is an interesting world I find myself in — an interesting hole I find myself in — fits me rather neatly, doesn't it? In fact it fits me staggeringly well, must have been made to have me in it!'”


View original postName the principle

No freaking idea but it sounds like one of those blatantly obvious ones that is worded to sound much deeper than it really is.


View original postName the Author

Douglas Adams



View original post6. This unit of measuring vast distances sounds similar enough to a unit of time that it is probably no surprise this fictional spaceship pilot once claimed to have made the Kessel Run, a race of a set distance, in 12 of them, even though the goal of races is usually to do them in the shortest time and shortening the distance is usually called cheating. On the other hand this character is a notorious cheat, and his creator does often get time confused, such as not knowing who shot first.


View original postName the unit of measure

light year


View original postName the character mentioned

Hans Solo


View original postName the creator mentioned




View original postName the character that creator claims shot first

George Lucas

Green dude whose name starts with a G. Sorry even though I was the target generation when that show came out and watched it about 20 times in the theater I am not cool enough to be that geeky.



View original post7. This 1956 film, an example of “So bad, it’s good” sort-of stars Bela Lugosi and had an allegedly intelligent alien from outer space claim "a ray of sunlight is made up of many atoms.", making it unsurprising their plan failed just like the 8 before it.


View original postWhat particle is a ray of sunlight composed of?

photon


View original postWhat is the name of the Film?

bad Bela Lugosi movie from the 50s? Sorry no idea


View original post8. This fictional material is named after a fictional origin world of a famous protagonist which just happens to be named identically to a real world chemical element discovered in 1898 by Chemists Sir William Ramsay and Morris Travers.


View original postWhat is the name of the fictional material?

Kryptonite


View original postWhat is the name of the real world material and the fictional world?

Krypton


View original postWhat is the name of the aforementioned protagonist?

Super Man


View original post9. The material mentioned in the previous question is known to weaken the protagonist, who is otherwise nearly invincible. There is a common phrase referring to a mythological figure and part of his anatomy that is used to describe such things as areas of weakness or vulnerable spots.


View original postName the Mythological Figure

Achilles


View original postName the portion of his anatomy which was weak

heel


View original post10. There is a scientific law, named for a pair of common geometric shapes, which states that if you increase size of an object proportionally its area increases by the square of that increase and its volume by the cube. This is often cited as the reason very large fictional creatures, such as dragons, could not fly, or why this famous giant fictional reptile - who is often headed straight for Tokyo - could not exist.


View original postName the Law

High School geometry was so long ago.


View original postName the Tokyo-bound reptile

Oh no they say he's got to go go go Godzilla


View original post11. This hypothetical particle is a frequent tacky plot device for allowing time travel or faster-than-light communications, such as the Fatline communication method described in a popular science fiction series written by Dan Simmons.


View original postName the hypothetical particle

No idea.


View original postName the first book of the aforementioned series

Hyperion


View original post12. This 1982 film based on a story by Phillip K. Dick features a Voight-Kampff machine, a means of determining if someone is a human or not, and seems inspired by a test designed by a famous mathemetician and early computer scientist. A real world example of this test is CAPTCHA codes, used to determine if data is being sent by a human.


View original postName the mathematician and test

Turing Test


View original postName the 1982 film

Blade Runner


View original postPrevious Quizzes


View original post<a href="http://www.readandfindout.com/community/messageboard/238696/">Vol I: Quotes</a>


View original post<a href="http://www.readandfindout.com/community/messageboard/239423/">Vol II: The Sequel</a>


View original post<a href="http://www.readandfindout.com/community/messageboard/247217/">Vol III: Openers</a>


View original post<a href="http://www.readandfindout.com/community/messageboard/247345/">Vol IV: Name That Toon</a>


View original post<a href="http://www.readandfindout.com/community/messageboard/248198/">Vol V: The Sincerest Form of Flattery</a>


View original post<a href="http://www.readandfindout.com/community/messageboard/248494/">Vol VI: Big Dumb Objects</a>


View original post<a href="http://www.readandfindout.com/community/messageboard/248899/">Vol VII: Apocalypse How</a>


View original post<a href="http://www.readandfindout.com/community/messageboard/249448/">Vol VIII: Time Loop</a>


View original post<a href="http://www.readandfindout.com/community/messageboard/249923/">Vol IX: You Bet Your Life</a>


View original post<a href="http://www.readandfindout.com/community/messageboard/252076/">Vol X: Parodies</a>


View original post<a href="http://www.readandfindout.com/community/messageboard/256717/">Vol XI: Zombie Apocalypse</a>


View original post<a href="http://www.readandfindout.com/community/messageboard/267484/">Vol XII: Humanitarians</a>


View original post<a href="http://www.readandfindout.com/community/messageboard/267576/">Vol XIII: Scary Movies</a>


View original post<a href="http://www.readandfindout.com/community/messageboard/276191/">Vol XIV: Circle Quiz 2.0</a> or the <a href="http://www.readandfindout.com/community/messageboard/237230/">Scif-FI Circle Quiz</a>


View original post<a href="http://www.readandfindout.com/community/messageboard/277252/">Vol XV: Comic Crossover</a>


View original post<a href="http://www.readandfindout.com/community/messageboard/277461/">Vol XVI: A Novel Idea</a>


View original post<a href="http://www.readandfindout.com/community/messageboard/277806/">Vol XVII: Quotes II</a>

This message last edited by random thoughts on 03/08/2013 at 06:48:44 PM
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Test Your Geekdom, Vol XVIII: The Science of Sci-Fi - 03/08/2013 03:44:44 PM 633 Views
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Argh, science! 21 points! - 05/08/2013 10:19:57 PM 470 Views

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