Question - 587

What is this interesting object?

Answer: The Rosetta stone. Divya Shanker, Anand, Manix, ReedArmOwl,v.chandrashekar, Anirudh Patil, Hari, and matti tapaninen got it.

Question - 586

What does this map depict? (courtesy: Manix)

Answer: The map depicts areas of high-levels of Chromium in tap water. Vetti alone got it right. Bravo!

Question - 585

What is the claim to fame of this piece of glacial erratic?

NOTE: Sorry about the erratic posting over the last week. I will be out of town from this weekend, so if anyone wants to take over during the Christmas break, please let Dinky or me know.

Answer: Plymouth rock, site of the arrival of the Mayflower Pilgrims in 1620.

Question - 584

Who is the guy in the middle upending the table?

Question - 583

"Map Tuesdays" are back by popular (read Iam) demand. What does this map depict? (courtesy: Manix)

Question - 582

What curious location for the starry symbology?

Question - 581

Fill in the blanks with a public phenomenon.

Answer: Percent of people in those country who paid a bribe . Dinesh, mekie, Jaggi, Krithi, and Vetti got it. Nicely done.

Question - 580

What is the significance of these color mappings? (courtesy: Dinky)

Answer: The cardinal directions (NESW and Center -- the columns in the color matrix) in Far-East cultures were associated with certain colors that were used to name various geographical features, e.g. Red Sea, Black Sea etc. Krithi, Dinesh, Manix, Divya Shankar, and mekie got it. Well done.

Question - 579

What does this map depict? (courtesy: Manix)

Answer: United States of Autocomplete. Google's autocomplete feature applied to the names of each state (as of Dec 3, 2010). AJ, Krithi, Dinesh, mekie, and jamie got it. Nicely cracked.

Question - 578

What does this map depict? (courtesy: Manix)

Answer: The Missouri Compromise (and its extensions) between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions that prohibiting slavery in western territories north of the 36°30' parallel (green line) except in the boundaries of the proposed state of Missouri (left blank). Krithi, mekie, Iam, jamie got it. Well done.

Question - 577

What amazing discovery?

Answer: The sensational, and now disputed, discovery of microbes in Mono Lake, CA, that switched Phosphorus for Arsenic in their DNA. matti tapaninen, NJ, Jaggi, Dhruv, AJ, mekie, IamAlwaysDemethylated, Dinesh, Mihir, Divya Shankar, and Hari got it. Nicely done.

Question - 576

What is the significance of the highlighted spot?

Answer: The spot marks the location on the bus in Montgomery, Alabama on DEcember 1, 1955, where Rosa Parks sat when she was asked to move to the back of the bus. Dinesh, illiteratepoet, matti tapaninen, Divya Shankar, and Manix got it. Well done.