Author Archives: Marian

Bonus Riddle Comin’ Right Up

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And … WE’RE OFF!

After many warnings (and a well-placed threat or two), Tom and I are ready with another bonus riddle.  YAY!  You’ll have one more chance to get in on the action Saturday the 11th.  We’ll post the bonus riddle Wednesday, February 11th.  The prize this time is an amazing book by Scott Hubbard, Exploring Mars.

Image shamelessly stolen from Amazon.com.

Exploring Mars encompasses the Odyssey Mission, the rovers, the Reconnaissance Mission, Phoenix, and the upcoming Mars Science Labs.

Here are the people who can email their three guesses to Tom or me:  Adrianus V, Dwight, Roger, Rob, Alex, Patrick, Kristian, Hugo, the Gregster, Andy, Gary, George, Claudia, Suzanne, Jeff Greene, Jon, and Jerry.  I’ll add one more name after Saturday the 11th.

Since it’s been a while, let’s run through The Riddle Rules:

  • Guesses on the bonus riddle will be by email to Tom or Marian.
  • You will have 24 hours to submit your guesses; from noon CDT Wednesday, February 15th, until noon CDT Thursday the 16th.
  • You get three guesses.
  • Comments will be closed on the bonus riddle until after the submission deadline.
  • The winner will be the first person to submit the correct answer.  If nobody solves the riddle by noon CDT July 5th, it will be opened for everybody to give it a shot.
  • Tom will have the final say in any controversy.

                              
Of course, since this is a riddle post, it deserves …
wait a minute  … is that it?
…yes!  …
there’s…
a…

…
SPIDER!

Your Play Date Awaits

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UPDATE:  Solved by Jerry at 12:16 CDT.

YAY!  I’m actually on line … well, so far … we’ll see.  It has certainly been a mess.  There’s something about me which causes computers (and ISPs) to curl up and die.  Really; I should be required to wear a warning label.

Okey-dokey.  Here we are; another beautiful Saturday in scenic north-central Texas (blech).  Do you ever wonder how I come up with a brand-new riddle every week?  Yeah, me too.  Joining the lineup of the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is today’s riddle — and you’re livin’ in the real world again (don’t worry; I’ll do another sci-fi riddle in the near future).

Father was NOT amused.

The water is deep and murky at this end of the kiddie pool, so if you want to play beach blanket volleyball, I suggest you use a buckyball.

Just when you got the bits worked out, along came the qubits.

Yes it can; no it can not; yes it can; no it can not.

Admit it; you secretly solved for the speed limit

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/math/0/a/1/0a1c02498125a255a2f5b0e58908a8ae.png
(Okay, maybe that’s not fair)

If the initial concept isn’t “spooky” enough, in and of itself, there’s a fun little paradox you can kick around.

A thing can be here, at exactly the same time it can be there, at exactly the same time it can be everywhere.  Or anywhere.

Isn’t this fun?

Meow.

You’ve met my friends Alice and Bob, haven’t you?  They’re always splitting coins.

“Decoherence”.  Somehow, that doesn’t sound as friendly as playing with a buckyball.
That’s about enough out of me.  As soon as you guys solve this pesky little riddle for me, I’m going rock hunting.  Good luck!

Breathtaking View

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Oh, man!  You have to look at this:

NASA - ISS Station crew

Here’s the text from NASA:

With hardware from the Earth-orbiting International Space Station appearing in the near foreground, a night time European panorama reveals city lights from Belgium and the Netherlands at bottom center. the British Isles partially obscured by solar array panels at left, the North Sea at left center, and Scandinavia at right center beneath the end effector of the Space Station Remote Manipulator System or Canadarm2. This image was taken by the station crew on Jan. 22, 2012.

Image Credit: NASA

Riddle Me This

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Solved by Jeff at 2:35 ET

Happy Saturday, everyone.  I hope you’re all feeling fine and frisky and ready to solve today’s riddle.  I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I get to play with you today; I’ve had nothing but trouble the past few days trying to go online/stay online.  Have you ever had days like that?  Almost before I get online I find myself shot out into the ozone somewhere – wondering what happened.

Enough of me whining… let’s play riddle!  I have a fun one for you to kick around today, but don’t kick too hard.  Today’s riddle answer is in the real world.

Image found on PhotoBucket

This is a modern discovery.

Maybe we should reread our James Joyce.

Today’s answer could be a bit of a shock to you.

Baskin Robbins ice cream trademark - Owned by Baskin Robbins

This might prove useful if you’re planning a polar expedition.

Think soft, white cheese.  Yes, I said cheese.

While you’re at it, think about sea gulls, too.

No, it's not a "flying saucer". Granted, it sorta' LOOKS like a flying saucer...

And that’s that.  Not many written clues this week, so pay close attention to the images.  Remember, if you’ve already solved a couple of riddles this cycle — but still want to give it a shot — you can email your guesses to me.  If you solve the riddle in my email I’ll credit you in the comments, but the riddle will remain open to play.  Good luck!

The Planck Mission

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Most of us think of the Planck Mission as either an extension of the WMAP, or as the answer to (and correction of) the WMAP.  It’s not used to unseat WMAP, but to serve as the next step.

The Planck satellite - NASA image

Launched in May of 2009, Planck resides in the Earth’s second Lagrange point (yes, you do TOO know what a Lagrange point is).  That’s about 930,000 miles out.  More sensitive than WMAP, Planck images the oldest radiation in the universe; the cosmic microwave background.  This radiation was created 13 billion years ago (plus or minus) in the Big Bang, and has existed every since – traveling away from its point of origin in all directions.

NASA image - The CMB as imaged by Planck

To really understand what Planck is viewing, you have to spend some time reading up on the cosmic microwave background — but I’ll give you a quick review.  When the universe was very young, it was uniformly filled with a “fog” of glowing hydrogen plasma and radiation.  As the universe aged and expanded, this “fog” became thinner and cooler, and eventually formed matter.  The radiation remained equally distributed as the universe expanded, and exactly the same amount of photons filled a larger and larger universe.  That’s “relic radiation”, and that’s the cosmic microwave background.

Didn’t catch it?  Okay; picture hair mousse.  Spray some in your hand and it will begin to expand.  Same mass of hair mousse, larger blob filling your hand.

Now, what Planck is doing is sending information on this radiation (which it “images”) to supercomputers around the world.  In the United States, that’s the Franklin computer in Berkeley (primarily).  The information is analyzed by ESA, NASA, and JPL, among others.

NASA image - Another view of the CMB from Planck

As our understanding of the early universe increases through the data from Planck, we will know more about the size, shape, mass, age, and fate of our universe.  Will it expand forever, or someday collapse back upon itself?  Planck may give us the answer.  Don’t forget, also, that Planck may very well help us solve the dark matter/dark energy mystery.

We will never reach a place where we know everything about the universe.  Not only is it much too vast and complicated, it appears possible that there are infinite universes with infinite mystery.  Doesn’t that just give you goose bumps?

The Riddle That Almost Wasn’t

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UPDATE:  Solved by Claudia at 12:06

Welcome, and a Happy Saturday to you.  I’m surprised I managed to get this riddle published since I woke up with the firm, fixed idea that today was Sunday.  It wasn’t until I was hit with the nauseating prospect of having forgotten to publish a riddle yesterday that I figured out it wasn’t due until today.

Okay.  So sometimes I’m not so quick on the uptake.

Anyway, today’s riddle (that almost wasn’t) is an object in the real world.

Image found on PhotoBucket

We think of this object as a single thing, but it is not.

Our ancestors would have noticed this object.

Today’s answer belongs to a select group.

Don't you DARE gross-out! After all; this is what all the poetry is talking about.

It is closest to the Ecliptic than any other member of this group.

If you want to see this object, the best time would be in late Winter into Spring…

… on the Northern Hemisphere.

Don't over-think this image.

The light output of this object is dominated by its primary (remember; although we think of it as one thing, it is not).

Of the four known objects composing today’s answer, one has yet to be seen.

While this object doesn’t have a huge presence in fiction, you will find it.

Image released to public domain by author. This may not be what you think it is. Then again, it may be.

More important, perhaps, than its role in fiction, you can find writings describing this object dating to 3000 BCE.

It has long been thought to be royal.

This is definitely a horse of a different color; at least, it is to us.

The primary is young and fast.

It’s so fast, in fact, it comes close to undoing itself.

Because of this speed, where we are cold – this is hot.

This is exactly what you think it is.

And that’s enough of that.  This is the second in a pair of fairly easy riddles I promised you.  Remember, you always have the option of solving the riddle in my email if you’ve already solved a couple this cycle.  You won’t close the riddle, but I’ll give you credit in the comments for having solved it.  If you have NOT solved a riddle in this cycle, don’t send your answer by email.  That doesn’t get you on the list for the next bonus riddle.

Good luck, and you know where to find me!