Question - 557

Identify the character.

Answer: This is Tek Jansen, a fictional character featured on the Colbert Report. mekie got it. Awesome!

Question - 556

Identify the location and its significance.

Answer: The site of the Battle of the Red Cliffs, which served as the precursor to the era of the Three Kingdoms in China - described in the Chinese epic, "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". mekie and Dinesh got it (though I still don't get Dinky's "Stannus occulus" reference).

Question - 555

Connect.

Answer: Theodor Escherich and the bacterium he discovered - Escherichia coli or E. coli. Ameya, Dinesh, and Iam got it. Well done.

Question - 554

What does this map represent? (Question courtesy: Manix)

Answer: This is a map showing the geographic locations of start-ups. More here: http://startup-map.datalysed.com/

Question - 553

Identify.

Answer: This is the popular multiplayer boardgame Settlers of Catan. Dinesh, Ameya, Hirak, and Iam got it. Well done.

Question - 552

Connect.

Answer: The connect is the TV show 30 Rock (highly recommended). The show creates a complicated and fictional corporate history connecting its studio NBC, and its parent company GE - hence the GE Building/30 Rockefeller Plaza reference, to such firms as the Sheinhardt Wig Company and Kabletown ("thats Cabletown with a K"). Vetti, Krithi, Dinesh, and Anonymous got it. Great job.

Question - 551

Connect.

Answer: The two pictures represent the feats, the levitating frog and Graphene, that got the Ig Nobel and Nobel prizes for the physicist Andrew Geim. Dinesh, Anirudh Patil, Vetti, and Ramki got it.

Question - 550

Identify and connect. (Hint: the question number)

Answer: The connection is the Duckworth-Lewis (D/L) method used in Cricket to calculate a target score in a weather (or otherwise) interrupted game. The plot shows how this calculation is performed (top left) along with the two statisticians, its namesakes, who came up with it (bottom left). The right picture is of the Irish pop group who call themselves, rather geekily, the Duckworth-Lewis Method. Dinesh, Shravan, KAMANASISH,AEC, Vetti, Ramki, Rajesh K, and AJ got it. Extra points to Dinesh for spotting the cheap DL=550 trick.

Question - 549

Connect.

Answer: The connect is Banana Republic. The clothing retailer of the same name originally started as a travel-related store with a travel/tropical-themed catalogs and magazines (top left). The term was first used to describe a dysfunctional, agriculture-dependent country by the American writer O. Henry in his book "Cabbages and Kings" (top right). The bottom cartoon is Herge's famous depiction of such a country, San Theodoros, in the Tintin comics. Iam, Dinesh, matti tapaninen, and mekie got it. Nice job.

Question - 548

This illustration (used in a famous scientific paper) alludes to what curious physical phenomenon?

Answer: The illustration is from the paper "Bertlmann's socks and the nature of reality" by John Stewart Bell. He alludes to the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox related to the phenomenon of quantum entanglement, eventually leading up to his famous theorem. Vetti, Jamie, tsp, and Dinesh got it. Well done.

Question - 547

Connect.

Answer: The connection is "Sirius." From top-left clockwise, the Chicago Bulls entrance music is the song Sirius, which was by the group Alan Parsons Project (the two guys). Sirius, the "dog star" is allegedly the inspiration for the Harry Potter character, Sirius Black (his animagus form is a black dog), whose family coat-of-arms is shown (motto: "Tojours Pur" or "always pure"). The dog logo with the star is of the Sirius satellite radio.

Question - 546

Identify and connect.

Answer: The "Chairmans" of the popular cooking show Iron Chef - from the Japanese and American versions, respectively. Dinesh, Jamie, Rajesh K, and Krithi got it.

Question - 545

What does this (non-exhaustive) collection of symbols represent?

Answer: The symbols are part of the Hobo code (made famous recently by the Emmy-winning drama, Mad Men). Divya Shankar, mekie, Jamie, Dinesh, and Iam got it right. Nicely done.

Question - 544

Identify.

Answer: Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, along with Divya Narendra - co-founders of ConnectU and part of the Facebook-origins story. Srivats, mekie, Divya Shankar, and Hirak got it. Well done.

Question - 543

Identify and connect the two people on the left.

Answer: Recently minted Nobel laureate Robert Edwards - who pioneered in vitro fertilization - and Louise Brown - the first "test-tube baby" - pictured alongside her own "naturally-conceived" baby. Divya Shankar, Matti Tapaninen, Shravan, mekie. anon, and Dinesh got it. Well done.