Antiquated Technology

Biological Technology

1. Two types of animals were used in ancient medicine, for similar but distinct purposes. They fell out of use due to leaps in medical science but recently have come back into use. Name them.
   Maggots and leeches

2. What was the first anaesthetic, save booze?
   Nitrous Oxide

3. What was the second anaesthetic?
   Ether

4. Describe the origin of the term "mad hatter".
   Hatters used to fill their hats upside down with mercury to keep their shape rigid, and would slowly go mad from mercury poisoning.

5. What was the original computer bug, and who discovered it?
   A moth, by Admiral Grace Hopper, USN.

6. Which Soviet scientist rejected Mendel's heredity theory, thus setting Soviet genetic doctrine and holding their research back by decades?
   Trofim Denisovich Lysenko

7. What was his theory of genetics?
   Genetic traits don't come from hereditary characteristics or gene content, but merely as a result of the interaction of an organism with its environment.

8. What innovation in warfare allowed the Punic Wars, and made their leader famous?
   Elephants as mounts.

9. When amputation became a specialty, around the time of the Civil War, one doctor decided to show off. He amputated a man's leg, using a saw, in 11 seconds flat. One thing, however, went wrong in that operation. The man survived, butÖ?
   He accidentally amputated one of the man's testicles as well.

10. During the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, workers occasionally were made seriously ill, or even killed, by a mysterious sickness that came to be known as Caisson Sickness. What is it?
    The bends

11. In 1870, Wilhelm Mensinga designed a hollow rubber hemisphere with a watch spring aroung the head to secure it in place. What modern device did he pioneer?
    The cervical cap.

Aural Technology

12. What device first enabled electronic sound transmission?
    The triode.

13. What was the first piece ever played on a musical synthesizer?
    Chopin's Polonaise in A flat.

Visual Technology

14. RCA won the battle for creating the standard for the color television transmission signal. Who was their main competitor?
    CBS

15. What was the first city to be lit by gas lamps?
    London

16. What innovation, which allows battlefield units to know each others' position, made radio tank warfare obsolete, as first demonstrated in the Persian Gulf War?
    IVIS (Inter-vehicular information system)

17. Essay question: Describe the method by which color TV signals were implemented, while maintaining the ability to transmit and receive a black and white signal.
    The color is encoded in 3 phases, the amplitudes of which combine to make the black and white signal. answers will be longer than this.

18. What was the first fluorescent light bulb called, and who invented it?
    The Geissler tube, by Becquerel.

19. What did the aforementioned man also discover (more notably)?
    Radioactivity.

20. Which inferior technology took over the video casssette recording industry? Which technology did it defeat?
    VHS took over Beta.

Computer Technology

21. Who owns the basic patent on the microcomputer?
    Michael May

22. What was the first microprocessor, and for what was it designed?
    The TI-4004, for a calculator.

23. In the late 1800s, a computer was designed. Why was this computer peculiar to today's standards, and who designed it?
    Babbage designed a purely mechanical calculator.

Warfare Technology

24. What invention won the Battle of Crecy, and changed war tactics completely?
    The longbow.

25. Years before that, what invention led to the dominance of mounted warfare?
    The stirrup.

26. Why was the M-16 rifle much more deadly before it was "improved"?
    The rifling on the barrel was corrected, thus bullets flew straight. Before the rifling was fixed, they tumbled in the air, causing much more grievous damage.

27. Which famous British intelligence agent, active in the Arabian peninsula during World War I, is known for having successfully engaged enemy tanks with a troop of camelback riders?
    T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia)

28. What well-known antt-cavalry tactic was glorified in a recent Oscar-winning movie?
    The use of set pikes or long wooden spears against a cavalry charge.

29. What is the oldest commissioned ship in the U.S. Navy?
    USS Constitution (Old Ironsides)

30. What was the name of the original explosive-propelled gun?
    Arquebus

31. When Farragut exclaimed his famous line "Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!", the torpedoes seemingly had no effect. What design flaw negated their presence?
    The torpedoes (mines) were not resistant to corrosion and rust, and their contact fuses had rusted and become inactive.

32. Sed tamen salispetrae LURU VOPO VIR CAN UTRIET sulphuris et sic facies tonitruum et coruscationem; sic facies artificium; Vides tamen utrum loquor in seneigmate, vel secundun veritamet. These lines are arguably the most well known passage from Francis Bacon's treatise "On the marvellous power of art and of nature and on the nullity ofmagic,' which appear after cryptic accounts of purifying 'arial stone,' referring to 'burnt shrub or willow,' and to 'vapour of Pearl.' What is he talking about?
    This is a recipe for gunpowder. The letters in capital unscrambed and translated, detail the proportions of the mixture. The full English text is: But however of saltpeter take seven, five of young hazelwood and five of sulphur, and so you will make thunder and lightning, and so you will make sacrifice (or turn the trick). But you must take note whether I am speaking in an enigma or according to the truth.

Transport Technology

33. What "improvement" to the governor of an old railroad steam engine caused the engine to shake and oscillate violently?
    The governor became so good and so smooth that there was not enough resistance to stop it from oscillating, thus rapidly increasing and decreasing the power to the engine, which caused the rail car to shake.

34. Why do the call them "carbuerators"?
    Initially they were used to infuse coal gasoline with hydrocarbons to increase efficiency.

35. Most lighter-than-air craft currently use Helium as their buoyant gas. Why?
    The Hindenburg Zeppelin caught fire when Hydrogen was being used, killing a bunch of folks.

36. The first known fire truck was in ancient Rome, where a man with a truck full of water would go to a fire, and then negotiate a price. What was the price, and why were his negotiation tactics suspect?
    The price was generally the house itself, or property. If too little property was owned, then he accepted years of slave labor. The tactics were suspect because he would negotiate a hard line in front of the house while it burned.

37. Kindly explain the physics behind the Tacoma Narrows disaster.
    The bridge was set up so that the wind set it resonating at its natural frequency, which got out of control and wrecked the entire bridge.

38. In the 1890s, Conrad Hubert joined forces with Joshua Lionel Cowen to create the Electric Houseplant. Though this invention failed, both the partners struck it rich, with products spun off their interest in electricity. What two products did they make?
    The flashlight and the electric train

Miscellany

39. Darkened glasses were invented in China prior to 1430. What was their use before Europeans decided to use them to shield their eyes from the sun's glare?
    To prevent people from seeing a judge's expression in court. A judge's opinions were kept absolutely secret until the trial's conclusion.

40. Where was the first nuclear reaction on Earth?
    Underground in Africa. (it was a natural reaction.)

41. What was a "waterframe"?
    The first water-powered spinning wheel.

42. Where was the cyclotron invented?
    UC Berkeley