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War of the Minds - Archive - War VIII

An Internet Contest

We have a winner of War VIII

Drew Smith - Instructor, School of Library and Information Science, University of South Florida, Tampa has accumulated 1020 points.

Archives - War VIII

Archives of Previous Battles - War VIII

War VIII - battle 14
1. Forestry
What is the scientific name of the only five needled pine species native to the eastern part of North America? What does the term, "five needled pine", mean? (It doesn't mean that there are only five needles on the tree.)
see Answer
2. Computers
If I have a 35mm color photographic negative so that the negative image is 35mm X 2/3 of 35mm and I scan it into my computer in 24 bit color using the maximum resolution of my scanner which is 1200 dpi X 1200 dpi and I then print the resulting bmp file on my printer at 300 dpi what size will the print be in inches and how many bytes will the resulting bmp file require on my hard disk drive?
see Answer
3. Philosophy and Science
What type of microscope provided the first images of individual atoms on the surfaces of materials and can image atomic details as tiny as 1/25th the diameter of a typical atom, which corresponds to a resolution several orders of magnitude better than the best electron microscope. Who invented this microscope and when?
see Answer
4. Agriculture
What is this food plant that becomes much in demand during the holiday season?


see Answer
Points on this battle were won as follows:
1. Forestry
Pinus strobus (the Eastern White Pine). On a five needled pine, the needles are in bundles of five. White Pine is a five needled pine native to southern Canada, the Lake States and the eastern United States.
See http://www.hcs.ohio-state.edu/hcs/TMI/Plantlist/pi_robus.html
2. Computers
The print will be 5.51 inches x 3.68 inches. The bmp will take 5,473,086 bytes of hard disk space.

First, convert mm to inches.  Since you're scanning at 1200 * 1200 dpi, 

multiply by 1200.

length: 35 mm * (1 in / 25.4 mm) * (1200 pixels / 1 inch) = 1654 pixels

width:  (2 / 3) 35 mm * (1 in / 25.4 mm) * (1200 pixels / 1 inch) = 1103

pixels

  

Since it's in 24 bit color, each pixel takes 3 bytes of memory.

number of pixels = 1654 * 1103 = 1824362

1824362 * 3 = 5,473,086 bytes

       

The size of the picture when you print it at 300 dpi is the length and width 

in pixels divided by 300 (or simply the original size multiplied by 4.) 

length: 1654 pixels * (1 inch / 300 pixels) = 5.51 inches width:  1103 pixels 

* (1 inch / 300 pixels) = 3.68 inches
The typical 35mm slide is actually 36mm by 24mm, or about 1.4in by 0.94in. At 1200 dpi scanning, this results in about 1700x1134 pixels. At 300 dpi printing, this results in an image about 5.67in by 3.78in. The amount of hard drive space taken up by such an image is 1700 times 1134 times 3 (3 bytes are equivalent to 24 bits), or approximately 5.8 meg of space.
3. Philosophy and Science
The scanning tunneling microscope (STM), invented in 1981 by Heinrich Rohrer and Gerd Karl Binnig.
See http://www.invent.org/book/book-text/89.html
See the entry for "scanning tunneling microscope" at http://www.britannica.com
4. Agriculture
The cranberry. The principal kind cultivated is the species Vaccinium macrocarpon.
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War VIII - battle 13
1. Forestry
What is the term for chemicals responsible for the astringent taste of unripe fruits and used in the process of transforming animal hides into leather. They are extracted with hot water from the bark of chestnut and oak.
see Answer
2. Computers
Who, in the mid 1970s, first used the term "Information Superhighway" to describe what we now call the internet?
see Answer
3. Philosophy and Science
Tom and Joe are big baseball fans. Tom is a Met's fan and Joe is a Yankee's fan. Joe had to work during a recent World Series game and since he would have no access to TV or radio he asked Tom to videotape the game for him. During the game while Tom was taping it began to look like the Mets might lose. So Tom, being religious, got down on his knees and prayed for the Mets to come from behind.
Tom did not tell Joe the outcome of the game but just gave him the videotape. Later, while watching the tape, Joe began to think his favored Yankees might lose so he also said a prayer trying to influence the outcome of the game.
Now some people might say the Joe was foolish praying to influence the outcome of a game that had already been decided and was recorded on videotape. They might even think that Joe was more foolish in his praying than Tom.
Based on his philosophy, how do you think John Calvin would feel about this question? Would he feel that Joe was more foolish than Tom? Why or why not?
see Answer
4. History
On a winter night in 373 B.C. an earthquake caused a tidal wave that caused an entire city to sink beneath the sea and all the people were said to have perished. For several centuries after the disaster writers reported that the ruins of the city could still be seen on the sea floor, just offshore. Then all traces of the city disappeared from history. Recently archaeologists think that they have discovered the location of the city. What city is this and where, in general terms, is it located?
see Answer
Points on this battle were won as follows:
1. Forestry
Oak, hemlock, and chestnut trees have tannin, a bitter chemical which protects the trees. Since ancient times people have extracted the tannin from trees and used it to preserve leather.
See http://edtech2.coe.uni.edu/facstaff/kuse/tannery.htm
2. Computers
Catchphrase used to describe a futuristic system of universal, internetworked communication services. Attributed to Vice President Al Gore as early as 1979.
See The EdWeb Dictionary
Ralph Lee Smith (a journalist).
See http://www.isoc.org/inet96/proceedings/e2/e2_1.htm
However, many sources seem to support Al Gore's claim that he coined the term.
3. Philosophy and Science
"In particular, it must be our anxious care, whenever we are ourselves pressed, or see others pressed by any strait, instantly to have recourse to him not only with quickened pace, but with quickened minds; and again, we must not in any prosperity of ourselves or others omit to testify our recognition of his hand by praise and thanksgiving. Lastly, we must in all our prayers carefully avoid wishing to confine God to certain circumstances, or prescribe to him the time, place, or mode of action. In like manner, we are taught by this prayer not to fix any law or impose any condition upon him, but leave it entirely to him to adopt whatever course of procedure seems to him best, in respect of method, time, and place."
--"Of Prayer" by John Calvin
According to this excerpt, Joe did what he should. The fact that the outcome of the game had already been decided should not be taken into account, since God is not confined by circumstances.
4. History
In 373 BC, the Classical Greek city of Helike was destroyed and submerged by a catastrophic earthquake and seismic sea wave. The ruined site is now believed to be on land, buried in the coastal plain near Aigion, on the southern shore of the Gulf of Corinth.
See:
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War VIII - battle 12
1. Forestry
About 3600 pounds of hardwood, 128 cubic feet but actually only 65 to 90 cubic feet, probably around 80. What is it? Why the differing numbers of cubic foot volume?
see Answer
2. Computers
In 1969, a Columbus, Ohio insurance company purchased a mainframe computer that was more powerful than needed. The company leased the excess capacity to other companies. This evolved into what service?
see Answer
3. Philosophy and Science
Whooping Cranes are a very endangered species with only about 300 to 400 left in the world and only between 100 and 200 of these migrating in the wild from northern to southern North America with their habitat west of the Mississippi River. Since young birds learn the migration routes from older birds there are no longer any whooping cranes left which know the migration routes in eastern North America. The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service hopes to reintroduce this species to the eastern United States. How do they theorize they can overcome the fact that no cranes know those migration routes? (Now, in the autumn of 2000, they are in the process of testing their theory. How?)
see Answer
4. Math
Given a square whose side is 2. The middle points of its adjacent sides are joined by straight lines forming a second square inscribed in the first. In the same manner, a third square is inscribed in the second, a fourth in the third, and so on indefinitely. Find the sum of the perimeters of all the squares.
see Answer
Points on this battle were won as follows:
1. Forestry
A cord. The quantity of actual wood volume differs depending upon the size and straightness of the sticks that make up the cord, since that will change the amount of actual wood that can be packed into the 128-cubic-foot dimensions of the cord. See http://muextension.missouri.edu/xplor/agguides/forestry/g05450.htm
2. Computers
CompuServe (the first online service I ever used!)
3. Philosophy and Science
In a recent, partly successful project, the FWS placed whooping crane eggs in the nests of sandhill cranes, a slightly smaller species which, at about half a million birds, is the most abundant crane in the world. Wild cranes have to learn migratory routes from their parents, and the chicks hatched in captivity lacked natural parents. As wild whoopers sometimes migrate with sandhill cranes, sandhill foster parents offered some hope that whoopers from collected eggs could be reintroduced into the wild and learn natural migration rituals.
In the latest attempt, whooping cranes hatched and reared in captivity will be taught to follow an ultralight aircraft, which will guide them between winter and summer breeding grounds. Early aircraft migration experiments along the Rocky Mountain Front suggest that the plan might work, though whether the birds will breed with one another remains a question. See http://www.nwf.org/wildalive/crane/bigpicture.html.
4. Math
This is a problem in determining the sum of an infinite convergent series, for which the formula is S=a/(1-r), "a" being the first term and r the ratio of successive terms.
The perimeter of each successive square formed is given by the series
* 8, 8/SQRT(2), 8/{SQRT(2})^2, 8/{SQRT(2)}^3, ....
I found it easier to handle by separating this series into two separate series by taking alternate terms.
This resulted in the following two series:
* 8,4,2,1,.... and
* 1/SQRT(2) x {8,4,2,1....}
The first of these has the sum 16, and the second 16/SQRT(2), which total 27.313
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War VIII - battle 11
1. Forestry
This forester is looking through an instrument with 3 widths of field of view. They are marked 5, 10 and 20. What is the instrument called? For what is it used? What are the meanings of the numbers: 5, 10 and 20?


see Answer
2. Computers
For what might I use my cmf and voc files? Specifically what type of files are these?
see Answer
3. Philosophy and Science
In 1733 Richard Saunders saying he was "excessive poor" began publishing for "some considerable share of the profits" and added to the end of his name the title, philom. What did he publish? Who was he? What is the meaning of the title, philom.?
see Answer
4. History
Where and when in history might we find helots, perioeci and Spartiates?
see Answer
Points on this battle were won as follows:
1. Forestry
A keyhole prism. It is used to tally trees based upon their size. The numbers refer to basal area factors. See http://www.cfr.washington.edu/cfrweb/fmwebsite/Skills/skillspages/VegTerrain%20Field%20Procedures.htm
Another term for this instrument is simply an "angle gauge".
2. Computers
They are both used for storing sounds. CMF (Creative Music file) and VOC (Creative Voice file) are formats created by Creative Labs Sound Blaster products.
CMF files are similiar to Midi files and VOC files are similiar to WAV files.
3. Philosophy and Science
Benjamin Franklin used the pseudonym Richard Saunders when he published "Poor Richard's Almanac". Philom stands for "philomath", which means "lover of learning".
4. History
In ancient Sparta, Greece. The Spartiates were the ruling class, the perioeci were freemen, and the helots were serfs. See http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/GREECE/SPARTA.HTM
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War VIII - battle 10
1. Forestry
A forester may use the term "stratify" in two ways. If he is operating a nursery and he says he will stratify tree seed to enhance germination, what does he mean? (He might also say he will scarify tree seed to enhance germination. What does that mean?)
He may be involved in a timber cruise and he may say that he will stratify his data. Would the purpose of this be to: Explain.
see Answer
2. Computers
What is the status of the RSA patent? What is the RSA patent?
see Answer
3. Philosophy and Science
To an ornithologist a bluebird is Sialia wilsonii. What is a bluebird to a gem dealer?
see Answer
4. Agriculture
When I was growing up on a farm in Kentucky in the 1960s we had several dairy cattle including holsteins, jerseys, guernseys and a brown swiss. Sometimes when we would return to the house from milking the cows in the morning my dad would place a phone call to a local technician. Later that day or the next day the man called would arrive in our driveway in a white truck with an enclosed bed and the letters "KABA" on the doors. He would get out and he and my dad would examine a catalog the technician brought. Afterward he would open a stainless steel container in the back of the truck and a fog of evaporating liquid nitrogen would emerge. The technician would then remove a labeled strawlike glass tube containing a milky looking frozen liquid. My dad would write a payment check and give it to the technician and we would go into the barn to take delivery of the product purchased. What was my dad purchasing? (Not necessary for credit, but do you know, or can you guess, what the letters, "KABA" meant?)
see Answer
Points on this battle were won as follows:
1. Forestry
"You can grow such seeds by fooling them into behaving as if winter were over. Just pack the seeds into plastic bags along with moist potting soil, and keep the bags in the refrigerator or garage. Exposing seeds to this combination of coolness and moisture is known as stratification."
See http://www.thonline.com/News/112397/Features/84660.htm
Scarification refers to using chemicals or mechanical means to create cuts (in other words, scars) in order to allow water to enter the seed.
See http://echonet.org/teacherresource.htm#seeds
In the case of a timber cruise, stratification of the data (subdividing the heterogeneous data into several more homogeneous groupings) increases the precision of the sampling, and therefore the coefficient of variation should decrease.
See http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/revenue/manuals/scaling/Ch9-01.htm
2. Computers
The RSA patent was released into the public domain by RSA Security on September 6, 2000. (The patent would have expired in any event on September 20, 2000.) The RSA patent was for an algorithm that provides "a public-key cryptosystem that offers both encryption and digital signatures (authentication)."
See http://www.rsasecurity.com/developers/total-solution/faq.html
3. Philosophy and Science
"Mixture of Azurite and dark red Cuprite. May also contain green Malachite and white Calcite."
See http://www.minerals.net/mineral/extended/bluebird.htm
4. Agriculture
Frozen bull semen. According to the October 24, 1993, issue of the (Louisville) Courier-Journal, "KABA was formed in 1946 as the Kentucky Artificial Breeding Association. In 1965 it joined with three other artificial-insemination businesses to form Select Sires Inc. Select Sires now operates 12 farmer-owned cooperatives, which cover all 50 states and sell bull semen throughout the world."
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War VIII - battle 9
1. Forestry
This summer the trees in my southern pine plantation began to die so that the stand looked like that in the photo below on the left. On closer examination I found sawdust at the bottom of the trees and pitch tubes as pictured in the photo on the right below on the trunks of the trees. What forest pest is killing these trees?


see Answer
2. Computers
Not too long ago it was necessary to connect two computers in a LAN. The two computers were in two different buildings about 250 feet apart. I ran a twisted pair cable through an underground pipe to connect the network cards on the two computers. I also ran a 12/3 electrical cable between the two buildings so that I could plug the computer in one building into the electrical system of the other building. Why did I not just plug that computer into an electrical outlet of that building instead of running an extra electric cable?
see Answer
3. Philosophy and Science
What was the position on suicide of each of the philosophers below?
see Answer
4. Culture
Oh mother, tell your children
Not to do what I have done
Spend your lives in sin and misery
In the ? ? ? ? ?
see Answer
Points on this battle were won as follows:
1. Forestry
Pine bark beetles. See http://www.ces.uga.edu/pubcd/b1097-w.html
2. Computers
To prevent ground loops. The following explanation appears at http://www.cpe.surrey.ac.uk/support/arti/POWER.HTM:

Ground Loops and LANtastic 2Mpbs Adapters

A more common, and less well-known power problem deals with ground-loops. A ground-loop can occur between equipment that has an electrical (wire) connection with another piece of equipment.
A network cable can be the electrical connection necessary to create a ground-loop. The actual cause of the problem, though, deals with different ground potentials at each piece of equipment.
If ALL electrical equipment in the network is plugged into electrical outlets that are on the same ground/breaker box then ground loops are not a consideration. In the case of networks where the equipment is accessing power from more than one power source [i.e.; different buildings, older buildings, buildings where additions have been made are typical examples] then ground loops will occur under the some conditions.
NOTE: Surge protectors, Surge Supressors and UPS devices DO NOT protect your network from ground loops. Ground loops bypass these protective devices since the source of the differing voltage is the ground itself and the voltage does not pass through the device.

Common Causes of Ground Loops

A computer connected to a true ground through the power cable is connected to second computer via network cable. The second computer is plugged into a different ground source. This may occur in the same building if different breaker boxes feed different power lines. If a power surge occurs via lightning, power company problems, etc, then a difference in the voltage of the different ground sources will cause the voltage to dissipate down the network cabling.
This voltage is passed through the network card, and if it is of sufficient power, can burn out the transceiver or another component of the card.
The most common cause of differing ground potentials is running cabling for a single network to more than one building. This configuration is not recommended under any circumstances! Using the example given above, but placing the two computers in different buildings, the voltage difference can reach several tens of volts. If network connection is required between buildings, a non-metallic (i.e. fiber-optic, T1 link, infrared) transmission line should be used.
3. Philosophy and Science
http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/s/suicide.htm is an excellent essay on suicide, which describes the positions of many prominent philosophers on the subject. Using information from this essay, the following may be summarised:
4. Culture
... House of the Rising Sun. This is part of the lyrics of the song of the same name, performed by, amongst others, the Animals.
see http://www.leibnitz.de/RISINSUN.htm
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War VIII - battle 8
1. Forestry
Peshtigo, Wisconsin was only about 240 miles north of Chicago on October 8, 1871. That night the great Chicago fire was started, it was said, by Mrs. O'Leary's cow. However, the Chicago fire was not the big news in Peshtigo the next day or, for that matter, during the entire month of October. Why not?
see Answer
2. Computers
If I designate my hard disk drive, C, on my Windows '98 computer as a shared network resource, I will have to give it a resource name such as "C". I can, of course, give it any name I choose such as "Master" or "Marketing" or "Mary". I might even add a $ sign to the end of the resource name as in "C$". If I do this what will be the effect?
see Answer
3. Philosophy and Science
Aristarchus of Samos wrote a treatise On the Sizes and Distances of the Sun and Moon and was said by Archimedes to be the first to hypothesize that the fixed stars and the sun remain unmoved, that the earth revolves about the sun on the circumference of a circle, the sun lying in the middle of the orbit. In his treatise, Aristarchus reported a method to determine the sizes relative to the earth of the sun and the moon and also their relative distances from the earth. What was his method of determining these?
see Answer
4. Math
A man offered me a motorcycle two years ago for $1,024.00; a year later his price was $640.00; a little while after he asked a level $400.00; and last week he was willing to sell for $250.00. The next time he reduces the price I shall buy. At what price will I purchase if he makes a consistent reduction?
see Answer
Points on this battle were won as follows:
1. Forestry
At about the same time that the Great Chicago fire broke out, a more deadly but less famous fire started in Peshtigo.
See http://www.iswonline.com/archives/eclectic/peshtigo.html
2. Computers
The resource will no longer show up in the Network Neighborhood folder of another computer on the network. See "Tips of the Week" at http://www.winmag.com/columns/insider/2000/12.htm
3. Philosophy and Science
http://www-spof.gsfc.nasa.gov/stargaze/Sarist.htm explains in some detail Aristarchus' method. My attempt at summarising it, follows:
Aristarchus started from an observation of a lunar eclipse, during which the Moon moves through the Earth's shadow, and what Aristarchus saw convinced him that the shadow was about twice as wide as the Moon. Suppose the width of the shadow was also the width of the Earth (actually it is less). Then the diameter of the Moon would be half the Earth's. Aristarchus next tried to observe exactly when half the moon was sunlit. For this to happen, the angle Earth-Moon-Sun must be exactly 90 degrees. Aristarchus then estimated the angle Earth-Sun-Moon as being equal to 3 degrees. Using the circumference of the Earth's orbit around the Sun as a basis, he then estimated the Earth-Moon distance to be about as long as an arc of that circle, covering only 3° or 1/120 of the full circle. Given that the circumference is 2*pi*(Earth to Sun distance), it follows that Earth-Moon distance is 1/19 of the Earth-Sun distance, making the Sun (according to Aristarchus) 19 times more distant than the Moon. Since the two have very nearly the same size in the sky, even though one of them is 19 times more distant, the Sun must also be 19 times larger in diameter than the Moon. We should note that his method does not really work, because in actuality the angle he estimated, far from being 3 degrees, is actually so small that Aristarchus could never have measured it, especially without a telescope. The actual distance to the Sun is about 400 times that of the Moon, not 19 times, and the Sun's diameter is similarly about 400 times the Moon's and more than 100 times the Earth's.
4. Math
Each successive price is 62.5% of its predecessor. The next price will thus be $156.25.
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War VIII - battle 7
1. Forestry
What is Anthracnose?
What is Annosus?
If I have a southern pine plantation which of these two would be of concern to me?
see Answer
2. Computers
The program fragment below can be used to encode one string of characters, A, by use of another "key" string of characters, B. The encoded string of characters is then printed out. What will be the printout of this particular set of strings of characters? 

     A$="SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPEALIDOCIUS"

     B$=SPACE$(40)

     FOR Z=1 TO LEN(A$)

        MID$(A$,Z,1)=CHR$(ASC(MID$(A$,Z,1))+ASC(MID$(B$,Z,1)))

     NEXT

     PRINT A$

see Answer
3. Philosophy and Science
This genus contains trees of myth and of religious significance in England and it contains shrubs in North America. It has poisonous leaves and seeds although the fruit pulp is not poisonous. The picture below is typical of its fruits. Name the genus.


see Answer
4. Math
An equilateral triangle has its base, which is 10 inches long, lying in a horizonal plane. The plane of the triangle meets the horizonal plane at an angle of 47 degrees 12 minutes. Find the shortest distance from the opposite vertex of the equilateral triangle to the horizonal plane.
see Answer
Points on this battle were won as follows:
1. Forestry
Anthracnose is a leaf spot or leaf blight caused by a fungus, commonly found in shade trees. According to the following source, "Sycamore, ash, oak, maple, and walnut commonly exhibit symptoms each spring."
http://www.ianr.unl.edu/pubs/plantdisease/g1200.htm
Annosus is a root rot caused by a fungus, commonly found in conifers. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, "Slash and loblolly, the most commonly planted species of southern pine, are very susceptible to this disease." http://willow.ncfes.umn.edu/fidl-annosus/fidl-ann.htm
Therefore, Annosus should be of concern if you have a southern pine plantation.
2. Computers
supercalifragilisticexpealidocius
In other words, if the input string (A$) consists of 40 or fewer uppercase letters, the output string will consist of the same letters in lowercase. B$ is a string consisting of 40 spaces. The ASCII value of a space, in decimal, is 32. Therefore, the loop replaces each character in the input string with the character that has an ASCII value that is greater by 32. As it happens, in the ASCII character set, each lowercase letter has a decimal value 32 greater than its corresponding uppercase letter.
3. Philosophy and Science
This is the Yew or Taxus genus.
4. Math
You first work in the plane of the triangle. The triangle's height (distance from its base to its vertex) is 10" x sin 60 = 8.66."
*This 8.66" long "height line" is now at 47.2 degrees to the horizontal plane.
*The perpendicular to the horizontal plane from the vertex is therefore (10" x sin 60) x sin 47.2 = 8.66" x sin 47.2 = 6.354"
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War VIII - battle 6
1. Forestry
At Lake Tucurui in far northern Brazil they are cutting Brazilnut wood, mahogany, ipe, angelim, jatoba and massaranduba. Spread over 1,110 square miles the timber, worth at least $100 million, has been dead for fifteen years. The logging operation is unique. Why is the logging operation unique, what killed the timber and why is the timber still valuable after being dead for so long?
see Answer
2. Computers
What does the program below do and what is the name of the algorithm demonstrated? 

    FOR Z=1 TO 10

       A%(Z)=RND*1000+.5

    NEXT

    N=1

    WHILE N>0

       N=0

       FOR Z=1 TO 9

           IF A%(Z)<A%(Z+1) THEN SWAP A%(Z),A%(Z+1):N=N+1

       NEXT

    WEND

    FOR Z=1 TO 10

       PRINT A%(Z)

    NEXT

see Answer
3. Philosophy and Science
The first successful measurement of the speed of light was done a hundred years before the American revolution. Who measured it and how was this accomplished?
see Answer
4. Literature
Where? 

    Where the old Flotilla lay:

    ..................

    Where the flyin'-fishes play,

    An' the dawn comes up like thunder outer China 'crost the Bay!

see Answer
Points on this battle were won as follows:
1. Forestry
Lake Tucurui was formed when the world's fourth largest hydroelectric dam was built in 1984. The flooded land was thickly wooded and the trees were preserved by being submerged. Several companies are now cutting the wood, as explained in the website http://www.woodtechmag.com/0998news/story5.htm.
The logging operation is unique because it necessitates retrieving wood which has been underwater for years, thus being preserved in its pristine state.
also see: href="http://www.aquaticcellulose.com/html/company/industry.html
2. Computers
The program looks like the good ol' bubble sort algorithm. First an array of 10 random numbers is generated, then the WEND loop looks at the first number in the array and compares it to the next and swaps their position in the array if the first is less than the second. it's called a bubble sort because the smaller (lighter) numbers 'floats' to the top of the array by being swapped in place by larger numbers.
A bubble sort will keep making passes thru an array until nothing gets swapped, which is the purpose of setting N to iterate plus 1 for each successful swap test in the IF line. N goes to 1 whenever there is a swap. If there are no more numbers to swap than N stays =0 and the WEND condition clears and the pooter prints out a sorted list.
3. Philosophy and Science
In 1676, the danish astronomer Ole Römer measured the speed of light by studying the period of Jupiter's moon Io. Since Io enters Jupiter's shadow once every revolution, he calculated the length of the period by noting the time at which Io entered or exited the shadow on successive revolutions. He found that the length of the period varied significantly. The longer than average lengths were observed when the Earth was moving away from Jupiter. The distance traveled by the Earth during Io's revolution added to the distance that the light coming from Io had to cross, thus adding to the apparent lenght of Io's revolution. The shorter than average lengths occured when Earth was moving towards Jupiter. The average lengths occured when Earth was at its farthest or closest to Jupiter, meaning that Earth did not significantly move towards or away from Jupiter. He understood all this to mean that light had a finite speed, not an infinite one as had been supposed until then. He then estimated that light would take approximately 22 minutes to cross the diameter of Earth's orbit (this value is actually 16.5 minutes). A few years later, using the best estimate of the diameter of Earth's orbit then known, Huygens estimated the speed of light at 2.1 x 10E8 m/s. Later measurements have shown the speed of light to be closer to 3 x 10E8 m/s. 

 "THE HISTORY OF VELOCITY OF LIGHT"



GALILEO



In 1667,  Galileo suggested a method for actually measuring the speed of

light.   The method was to take two people A and B, covered lanterns to

the tops of hills that are separeted by a distance of about a mile. First

A uncovers her latern.  As soon as B sees A's light, she uncovers her own

lantern.  By measuring the time from when A uncovers her lantern until A

sees B's light, then dividing this time by time by twice the distance

between the hill tops, the speed of light can be determined. Galileo was

able to determine only that the speed of light was far greater than could

be measured using his procedure.  Althougt Galileo was unable to provide

even an approximate value for the speed of light, his experiment set the

stage for later attempts.



ROMER



The first successfull measurement of the velocity of light was provided by

the Danish astronomer Olaf Romer in 1675.  He based in measurement on

observations of the eclipses of one of the moons of Jupiter.  As this moon

orbits Jupiter, there is a period of time when Jupiter lies between it and

the earth, and blocks it from view.  Romer noticed that the duration of

these eclipses was shorter when the Earth was moving toward Jupiter than

when the Earth was moving away. He correctlly interpreted this phenomena

as resulting form the finite speed of light.  



Geometrically the moon is always behind Jupiter for the same period of

time drign each eclipse.  Suppose, however, that the Earth is moving away

from Jupiter.  An astronomer on Earth catches his last glimpse of the

moon, not at the instant the moon moves behind Jupiter, but only after the

last bit of unblocked light form the moon reaches his eyes. There is a

similar delay as the moon moves out form behind Jupiter  but, since the

Earth has moved father away, the light must now travel a longer distance

to reach the astronomer.  The astronomer, therefore sees an eclipse that

,lasts longer the actual geometrical eclipse. Similarly, when the Earth is

moving toward Jupiter, the astronomer sees and eclipse that lasts a

shorter interval of time.



From observations of these eclipses over many years, Romer calculated

the speed of light to be 2.1*10^8 m/sec.  This value is approximately 1/3

too slow due to inaccurate knowledge at at that time of the distances

involved.   Nevertheless, Romer's method provided clear evidence that the

velocity of light was not infinite, and gave a reasonable estimate of its

true value-not bad for 1675.



FIZEAU



The French scientist Fizeau, in 1849, developed an ingenious mehod for

measuring the speed of light over terrestrial distances.  He used a

rapidly revolving cogwheel in front of a light source to deliver the light

to a distant mirror in discrete pulses.  The mirror reflected these pulses

back toward the cogwheel.   Depending on the position of the cogwheel a

pulse returned, it would either block the pulse of light or pass it

through to an observer.  He measured the rates of cogwheel rotation that

allowed observation of the returning pulses for carefully measured

distance between the cogwheel and the mirror.  Using the method, Fizeau

measurd the speed of light to be 3.15*10^8 m/sec.  This is within a few

percent of the currently accepted value.



FOUCALT



Foucalt improved Fizeau's method, using a rotating mirror instead of a

rotating cogwheel.  Micelson used Foulcalt's method to produce some

accurate measurements of the velocity of light.  The best of these

measurements gave a velocity of 2.99774*10^8 m/sec.  This may be compared

to the presently accepted value of 2.99792458*10^8 m/sec.
also see: http://www.phys.virginia.edu/classes/109N/lectures/spedlite.html
4. Literature
From http://myanmars.net/travel/or2mdy.htm 

Where the old Flotilla lay:

O[n] the road to Mandalay

Where the flyin'-fishes play,

An' the dawn comes up like thunder outer China 'crost the Bay!
by Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)
Also see: http://www.geocities.com/~spanoudi/poems/kiplin11.html
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War VIII - battle 5
1. Forestry
Which one of the following does not belong and why?
see Answer
2. Computers
What is the purpose of the command: "AT &F L3 E1 V1 &C1 &D2 X4"? Specifically what does it do?
see Answer
3. Philosophy and Science
If I have a headache, acne, warts, or psoriasis I might look for a willow tree. Why?
see Answer
4. Math
A rectangular piece of tin three fourths as wide as it is long is made into a box by cutting out a 2-inch square from each corner and turning up the sides. Cutting out a 3-inch square from each corner would diminish the volume of the box by 12 cubic inches. What are the dimensions of the piece of tin?
see Answer
Points on this battle were won as follows:
1. Forestry
Aesculus glabra (ohio buckeye), Carya tomentosa (mockernut hickory), Acer saccharum (sugar maple), Juglans nigra (black walnut), Fraxinus americana (white ash) and Carya ovata (shagbark hickory) are restricted to the eastern half of North America. Acer negundo (box elder) exists across the continent, from coast to coast.
Also Acer saccharum is the only tree on the list with simple leaves. All the others have compound leaves.
2. Computers
"AT &F L3 E1 V1 &C1 &D2 X4" is a modem initialization string, changing the behaviour of the modem. Broken down: 

AT - gets the modems attention.  Tells it commands follow.

&F - recalls the factory default settings

L3 - Selects high speaker volume

E1 - Enables the command echo

V1 - Selects result codes in WORD format (e.g., modem returns "OK"

instead of "0")

&C1 - DCD(Data Carrier Detect) will track the state of the data carrier

from the remote modem 

&D2 - controls the modem response to the serial

port's Data Terminal Ready (DTR) 

X4 - Extended Result Code. With the 4, if dial tone is not detected within 5 

seconds, NO DIALTONE result code is returned. If a busy signal is detected, 

BUSY result code is returned. The modem returns CONNECT XXXX result code 

reflecting the serial port speed when a connection is established.
See http://www.modems.com/general/extendat.html
3. Philosophy and Science
The white willow bark is considered by proponents of natural (herbal) medicine to be useful in treating all of these ailments. Many web sites- most of them commercial- describe uses for various herbs. As an example, http:// www.metromkt.net/viable/1willow.shtml states that "Willow exhibits analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and tonic properties. Willow is an ancient remedy which has been used in various forms for rheumatism & gout, and for fevers and aches & pains of all kinds. Willow is usually considered to be the natural form and origin of the modern- day 'aspirin'."
4. Math
Letting the longer side of the rectangle be equal to the unknown length z inches (and hence the shorter side 3z/4), gives the following equations for the box volumes (in cubic inches):
* For a 2-inch high box, L (length) x W (width) x H (height) = (z-4) x (3z/4 - 4) x 2
* And for a 3-inch high box, (z-6) x (3z/4 - 6) x 3

For the difference between these two volumes to be 12,
* 2(z-4)(3z/4 - 4) - 3(z-6)(3z/4 - 6) = 12,
which, after a few steps of simplification, results in the quadratic equation
* 3z^2 -70z +352 = 0

Of the two possible solutions to this equation (z=16" and z=7.333"), only the first is physically possible (the second will result in a negative value for the volume of the deeper box).

Therefore, the dimensions of the two boxes are:
* 12" x 8" x 2" =192 cubic inches, and
* 10" x 6" x 3" =180 cubic inches
and the tin measures 16" x 12"
Jump back to the top.
War VIII - battle 4
1. Forestry
Which one of the following does not belong and why?
see Answer
2. Computers
Specifically, what is MMX technology?
see Answer
3. Philosophy and Science
It's like a twisted ladder with rungs made of four materials. It's like a zipper. It contains coded sequences separated by "junk". What is it?
see Answer
4. History
What is the place in American history and the claim to fame of this Tennessee cattle buyer?


see Answer
Points on this battle were won as follows:
1. Forestry
Cornus florida (flowering dogwood), Castanea dentata (American chestnut), Nyssa sylvatica (blackgum), Juglans cinerea (butternut), Quercus macrocarpa (bur oak) and Carya ovata (shagbark hickory) are all woody trees or shrubs. Celastrus scandens (American bittersweet) is a herbaceous vine. Woody growth is more persistent than herbaceous, which dies in the winter.
See the excellent website plants.usda.gov
2. Computers
MMX = "Multi-Media Extensions" and this refers to a special block of intstructions (or instruction set) implemented by Intel and used on other chips now that allows a SW vendor to write specific calls to the MMX part of the CPU to perform tasks specific to multi media, such as sound and video files. Use of MMX extensions streamlines the handling of what can be very large files, and using a chip with MMX extensions wired in takes a lot of load off the CPU. It's a little like a floating point processor for multimedia, in the sense that an FPU takes processing load off the CPU for specific tasks.
MMX is a Pentium microprocessor from Intel that is designed to run faster when running multimedia applications. According to Intel, a PC with an MMX microprocessor runs a multimedia application up to 60% faster than one with a microprocessor having the same clock speed but without MMX. In addition, an MMX microprocessor runs other applications about 10% faster. The MMX technology consists of three improvements over the non-MMX Pentium microprocessor: From the Intel web pages comes the following "hype": "In addition to speeding up multimedia and freeing the processor for other tasks, MMX can help to enhance images, clarify audio, and sharpen video. MMX technology is a major enhancement to the Intel Architecture designed to accelerate multimedia and communications software. MMX technology enables complex visual effects with no loss of frame rate, smoother video, high quality audio and high colour resolution. It is designed to enrich and accelerate multimedia and communications on the PC. Software coded to use MMX may show striking improvements in such tasks as audio and video playback, image processing, and 3-D rendering"
3. Philosophy and Science
DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), the basic structure of which is the double helix. The double helix is formed from two individual strands that complement each other perfectly. DNA comprises only four main building blocks, referred to as A, T, G, and C. It is the molecule which contains all the information for life. It can be thought of as a blueprint or an instruction manual for how everything necessary for life must be done. The DNA helix is then repeatedly coiled to allow more of it to fit into a compact space. This helix replicates and passes on its information to the body's cells.
The answer is DNA, the building block of life. The twisted ladder is the double-helix structure we're all familiar with. The "uprights" are chains of sugar-phosphates. The rungs are pairs of nitrogenous bases. There are four of these bases: adenine (A) pairs with thymine (T), and cytosine (C) pairs with guanine (G). DNA is like a zipper because it splits down the middle during replication, so that each strand can be read and a matching (or rather, exactly opposite) one can be produced and stuck on. The coded sequences are the genes which code for specific amino acids which link together to form specific proteins. In between these obviously useful sequences are long bits of "junk" DNA. It's a big question these days whether this stuff is actually in any way useful or is just sitting there for the fun of it.
DNA is contained in the cell nucleus and RNA reads the DNA to produce proteins and other things outside the nucleus.
See:
4. History
Alvin Cullium York, born December 13, 1887, in Pall Mall, Tennessee, became one of America's greatest World War I heroes. At the battle of the Argonne Forest in the fall of 1918, as a member of the 82nd division, he killed 25 Germans, knocked out 35 machine guns, and captured 132 prisoners almost single-handedly. He received the French Medaille Militaire and Croix de Guerre, the Italian Groce de Guerra and the American Medal of Honor. York's legacy endures in his home county in a number of ways, including the Alvin C. York Institute, as it is now called, which was his greatest personal achievement.
See http://volweb.utk.edu/Schools/York/Legacy.html
Jump back to the top.
War VIII - battle 3
1. Forestry
What are both the chemical and silvicultural differences between 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T? What impurity caused 2,4,5-T to be banned in the United States?
see Answer
2. Computers
If I record my mp3 music files on a CDR recordable CD as data files I can get about 240 files per CD. If I play these on my computer with an mp3 player they will play beautiful music for about ten hours. However, if I record these same files on the same CD as music to be played with a CD player I can only get about 1/10 as many which will play for about one hour. Why the difference?
see Answer
3. Philosophy and Science
How long is the coastline of Britain?
see Answer
4. Math
This puzzle appeared in a newspaper in 1930.
Joe Simmons of New York married his second wife in 1900. His age in whole years at his death was one twenty-ninth of the year of his birth. In the year he died he had already celebrated his birthday. How old was he at his second wedding?
see Answer
Points on this battle were won as follows:
1. Forestry - unanswered in War VIII
2,4,5-T (2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid) has one more chlorine atom in the molecule than 2,4-D (2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid). 2,4,5-T is more readily absorbed through the bark of woody vegetation and is therefore effective as a silivicide while 2,4-D is effective only in killing herbaceous plants. Heating above 160°C during the manufacture of 2,4,5-T produces the deadly dioxin, tetrachlorodioxin.
2. Computers
A somewhat non-technical answer: mp3 can be considered as a more efficient or compressed format for recording sound files than the wav format that CD players "understand". Typically, a five-minute wav song will occupy 40 to 50 Megs of space, while the equivalent mp3 version will take up between 2 and 3 Megabytes.
3. Philosophy and Science
This is the question Benoi Mandelbrot asked himself when he started to delve into the thing known as 'fractals'. He realized that the answer to the question depends on the resolution one wishes to settle for: at a kilometer scale one can state that the coastline is x length, but this ignores features below the length of a kilometer, say. The length will grow as you tighten your resolution, to the point where each curve around a pebble adds to the total length. To avoid saying that the coastline is ultimate infinite in length, he defined the coast as having a fraction of a dimension -- 1.4 or so -- and described the length of the coastline as a definite amount with respect to a fractive dimension, or fractal. The point where a fractal dimension is defined is the point where self-similarities in curves, etc. is the dominant feature.
I don't know what the almanac's answer to this question is, sorry!

For more information on fractals see:
A Fractal Page - with fractals, links, books.
4. Math
4. I solved this almost by trial and error, using the following steps:
*Find all years in the 19th century (or very late 18th century) that are multiples of 29: 1798, 1827, 1856, and 1885 qualify
*His age at death would then have to be exactly one twenty-ninth of the birth date. For each of the four possible years of birth, this age works out as: 62, 63,64, 65 (respectively)
*His year of death would then be: 1860, 1890, 1920, or 1950
*The first two of these fall away, as he married in 1900
*The last of the four also falls away, as he died before 1930.
*Therefore: he was born in 1856, died in 1920 (at age 64), and was 44 at his second wedding in 1900.
Jump back to the top.
War VIII - battle 2
1. Forestry
I cruise a tract of timber and take sample data at 60 plot locations. In the office later I find that the mean volume per acre is 3,000 board feet. I calculate the standard error of the mean for the 60 plots and find that it is 300. I then state that I can be 95% confident that the actual mean volume per acre is 3,000 board feet plus or minus 588 board feet. I calculated this 1/2 confidence interval of 588 board feet by multiplying 300 by 1.960. Where did I get the factor 1.960 and what is its meaning in terms of a normal distribution?
see Answer
2. Computers
Specifically, what is this? 

21AA:0100 B409          MOV     AH,09           ;display string of characters

21AA:0102 BA1701        MOV     DX,0117         ;point to string                

21AA:0105 CD21          INT     21              ;do it                  

21AA:0107 B401          MOV     AH,01           ;keyboard input function        

21AA:0109 CD21          INT     21              ;do it                          

21AA:010B B44C          MOV     AH,4C           ;exit function                  

21AA:010D 2C30          SUB     AL,30           ;convert to number

21AA:010F 7EF6          JLE     0107            ;jump to 107 if < "1"        

21AA:0111 3C09          CMP     AL,09           ;compare to "9"                 

21AA:0113 7FF2          JG      0107            ;jump to 107 if greater     

21AA:0115 CD21          INT     21              ;do exit

see Answer
3. Philosophy and Science
What type of animals are described below? (class name)
see Answer
4. Culture
Where is this? 

A law was made a distant moon ago here

July and August cannot be too hot

And there's a legal limit to the snow here

 

The winter is forbidden till December

And exits March the second on the dot

By order summer lingers through September

 

The rain may never fall till after sundown

By eight the morning fog must disappear

  

The snow may never slush upon the hillside

By nine PM the moonlight must appear

see Answer
Points on this battle were won as follows:
1. Forestry
The standard normal distribution is sometimes called the z distribution. A z score always reflects the number of standard deviations by which a particular score is above or below the mean. The value of z for the 95% confidence interval is the number of standard deviations one must go from the mean (in both directions) to contain .95 of the scores. It turns out that one must go 1.96 standard deviations from the mean in both directions to contain .95 of the scores. The value of 1.96 was found using a z-table.
2. Computers
Firstly this is assembly code from a program (you can access this kind of thing if you have a de-assembler)... as to what it does, it appears that it takes displays (or generates) characters and converts the characters to a number (ASCII?) and allows keyboard input if the character to number conversion value is less than 1 or greater than 9. According to an Ascii chart, the values being 'blocked' are 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, :, ;,
The program actually loops to get keyboard input until a key 1 to 9 is pressed and then exits returning that value as an error level in a batch file. It is useful for menus in batch files. The snippet does not include the message displayed, but that is located at the end of the code at location 117.
3. Philosophy and Science
Class Amphibia
4. Culture
In Camelot (the title song from the 1960 Broadway musical).
Jump back to the top.
War VIII - battle 1
1. Forestry
What is the difference between a "clear cut" and a "high grade" timber harvest?
Which produces the most short term monetary profits?
In which type are more trees cut?
see Answer
2. Computers
Why use UDF rather than ISO 9660?
see Answer
3. Philosophy and Science
If the total world supply of water were poured upon the land surface of the 50 states of the United States, to what average depth would the land surface be submerged?
see Answer
4. Geography
Which State has the longest coastline: Texas, California, Michigan, or Florida?
see Answer
Points on this battle were won as follows:
1. Forestry
"Clear cut" refers to taking *all* of the trees, while "high grade" refers to taking only those trees that are easiest to sell (in other words, those of highest quality). Therefore, "high grade" produces the most short term monetary profits, while obviously more trees are cut in "clear cut".

See: "Silvics & Silviculture - The Agriculture of Trees"
2. Computers
UDF (Universal Disk Format) is a new file system, with support for the current generation of CDs such as CD-RW, and DVD-ROM. ISO 9660, which has been the standard file system supporting CD-ROM and CD-R discs, has certain limitations which make it inappropriate for DVD, CD-RW and other new disc formats. UDF is designed to address these limitations. Specifically, UDF allows files to be added to a CD-R or CD-RW disc incrementally, one file at a time, without significant wasted overhead, using a technique called "packet writing". Also, UDF allows for the random erase of individual files on CD-RW media, freeing up space in the process. ISO 9660 can't handle this. UDF is also better suited for DVD, because it has better support for large-capacity discs.

According to the Adaptec UDF Readers FAQ.
"ISO 9660 has certain limitations which make it inappropriate for DVD, CD-RW and other new disc formats. UDF is designed to address these limitations. Specifically, UDF allows files to be added to a CD-R or CD-RW disc incrementally, one file at a time, without significant wasted overhead, using a technique called packet writing. Also, UDF allows for the random erase of individual files on CD-RW media, freeing up space in the process. ISO 9660 can't handle this. UDF is also better suited for DVD, because it has better support for large-capacity discs.
UDF, like ISO 9660, allows the same CD to be read on different platforms. For example, a file could be written using a Macintosh, then read back on a Windows PC. UDF file format is able to maintain Macintosh file attributes (icons, resource forks, and file types). ISO 9660 cannot do this."
3. Philosophy and Science
144 km (90 miles)

See: "How much water is there on Earth?"
4. Geography
According to USGS Science Challenge
"Michigan's Great Lakes coast totals 3,288 miles (5,260 km), more coastline than any state but Alaska."

According to the 2000 edition of the World Almanac (p. 565):
Texas has 367 miles of coastline and 3,359 miles of shoreline.
Florida has 1350 miles of coastline (580 miles on the Atlantic Coast and 770 miles on the Gulf Coast) and over 8400 miles of shoreline (3,331 miles on the Atlantic Coast and 5,095 on the Gulf Coast).
California has 840 miles of coastline and 3,427 miles of shoreline.
Michigan isn't listed, probably because strictly speaking it isn't on a "coast". According to "Facts about Michigan" "Michigan has 3,288 miles of shoreline on the Great Lakes."

However, since the question asked for "coastline" and not "shoreline", the answer appears to be "Florida".

Which just shows that the same question can have different answers depending on interpretation.

Standings in the War - VIII

Drew Smith - Instructor, School of Library and Information Science, University of South Florida, Tampa - 1020 points
Zaheer Jhetam - Manager: Logistics and Quality - South Africa - 680 points
Stephanie Bilbao - html programmer in Chicago, aspiring to first be a student, and then a teacher - 320 points
Anne Lurie - Retired in Raleigh, North Carolina; likes birdwatching, genealogy, research, and surfing the Internet! - 140 points
Elizabeth Powles - Harp playing student at University of Ottawa from Aylmer, Quebec - Majoring in Geology and Environmental Science - 120 points
Steven Skelton - Admin Tech State CRCG Office, Texas - 100 points
Ted Smith - Performance Analyst, University of Virginia, Investment Management Company (UVIMCO) - 20 points
Michael A. Bayne - Computer Systems Engineer, Department of Computer Science, University of Virginia - 20 points
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