As a thank you to our loyal readers and community, ReadWriteWeb is partnering with ThinkGeek to give away a few fun and geeky prizes. The way this extremely complex game works is that we’ll give you a few cool trivia tidbits to wow you with our vast knowledge of the cool but unimportant and then we’ll close with a trivia question that we do hope will stump you. You can dig deep into the recesses of your brain (or Google) and answer via the comments on the post. The best answer, according to the RWW staff, will win the prize of the day, kindly donated for your geeky pleasure from ThinkGeek.
Today’s installment of trivia is general in nature, but will offer you a chance to win a companion worthy of your love. The companion cube from Portal, that many of you have already met and incinerated dozens of times, is today’s prize. Warning, she is not really safe up to 4000 degrees Kelvin.
The Enrichment Center reminds you that the Companion Cube cannot speak. In the event that the Companion Cube does speak, the Enrichment Center urges you to disregard its advice. — GLaDOS, Portal
The Driest Continent
Ever wonder which continent is most likely to dehydrate? Antarctica wins the prize for the most parched of the 7. Take heart though, if her ice sheets melted, the oceans of the world would be 200 feet higher. Source: Uncle John’s Triumphant 20th Anniversary Bathroom Reader, page 340, photo from Mike White on McMurdodo Dry Valleys
Green Potatoes Are Deadly
Potatoes are a member of the nightshade family (yes, the same family that offers up the Nightshade flowers that are so very useful in your Elder Scrolls plant collecting), and as such, do have a deadly component, Solanine. While small quantities of solanine are found throughout the plant, green areas on the tuber have higher concentrations. This is because green indicates the potato has been exposed to the sun, causing increased production of solanine (and harmless chlorophyll). Unless you actively attempt to poison yourself though, you’re probably safe. You’d have to eat several pounds of green potatoes to see symptoms. Source: Wikipedia, Snopes and photo from Ask Julie
The Lydians Invented Money
As we all purchase our holiday gifts this year with money rather than chickens and goats, we should thank the Lydians, who are the first to coin money. That’s, of course, as far as historians know, and certainly depends on the definition of the word ‘coin’, but remember, if the Lydians weren’t the first, they were certainly the first to spread their coin around. Source: Exeter and photo from Numismatics
Which 3 Technological Advances Made the Age of Skyscrapers Possible?
Do you think you know all three? If so, submit your answer in the comments on this post. We’ll announce the winner of the mute but cuddly Companion Cube tomorrow.
Congratulations to Andrew Orr, who submitted the best answer and won the Companion Cube. Stay tuned the rest of the week for more Trivia.
