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David Chan
New York, NY

David has no lifelines left.

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$100,000 (Popular Science)- By definition, tephrochronology is a scientific technique to date old objects by examining the age of what?

A- Volcanic ash B- Oil deposits
C- Petrified wood D- Shell fossils

David decides to walk with $50,000.

Spoiler

A- Volcanic ash

Contestant with PAF on this question: Fighting chance.

Contestant with ATE on this question: No chance.

BBTranscriptTeam wrote:$100,000 (Popular Science)- By definition, tephrochronology is a scientific technique to date old objects by examining the age of what?

A- Volcanic ash B- Oil deposits
C- Petrified wood D- Shell fossils

David decides to walk with $50,000.

Spoiler

A- Volcanic ash

He was embarrassed because he couldn't work this out even though he had studied Latin. Of course, the "phr" combination characterizes a word of Greek, not Latin, origin. --Bob

Yikes. That's a tough one.

I did not know that root.

Spoiler

Tephra is the Greek word for ash. It derives from an Indo-European verb root meaning to burn.

The OED lists its first usage in 1944.

BBTranscriptTeam wrote: David Chan
New York, NY

David has no lifelines left.

BBTranscriptTeam wrote:$100,000 (Popular Science)- By definition, tephrochronology is a scientific technique to date old objects by examining the age of what?

A- Volcanic ash B- Oil deposits
C- Petrified wood D- Shell fossils

David decides to walk with $50,000.

Spoiler

A- Volcanic ash

I've used ATA and (probably) PAF so it's down to ATE and DD. I don't think ATE is going to get the right answer but might as well burn it. I have no idea what "tephro" is so DD won't do me any good. I'd probably end up walking just as David did.

earendel wrote:

BBTranscriptTeam wrote:$100,000 (Popular Science)- By definition, tephrochronology is a scientific technique to date old objects by examining the age of what?
A- Volcanic ash B- Oil deposits
C- Petrified wood D- Shell fossils

David decides to walk with $50,000.

Spoiler

A- Volcanic ash

I've used ATA and (probably) PAF so it's down to ATE and DD. I don't think ATE is going to get the right answer but might as well burn it. I have no idea what "tephro" is so DD won't do me any good. I'd probably end up walking just as David did.

DD would give you a 50/50 shot at a question offering you an extra $50K (plus the chance to go on) at the risk of $25K. That does you a lot of good, if you're willing to take the risk.

MarleysGh0st wrote:

earendel wrote:A- Volcanic ash B- Oil deposits
C- Petrified wood D- Shell fossils

David decides to walk with $50,000.

Spoiler

A- Volcanic ash

earendel wrote:I've used ATA and (probably) PAF so it's down to ATE and DD. I don't think ATE is going to get the right answer but might as well burn it. I have no idea what "tephro" is so DD won't do me any good. I'd probably end up walking just as David did.

DD would give you a 50/50 shot at a question offering you an extra $50K (plus the chance to go on) at the risk of $25K. That does you a lot of good, if you're willing to take the risk.

Yeah, but I'm a risk-averse kind of guy. On my $125K question I was taking a calculated risk based on my analysis (erroneous, as it turned out) on my knowledge of Greek and Latin. In this case I wouldn't have had even a glimmer of an idea, so I wouldn't use the DD.

BBTranscriptTeam wrote:$100,000 (Popular Science)- By definition, tephrochronology is a scientific technique to date old objects by examining the age of what?

A- Volcanic ash B- Oil deposits
C- Petrified wood D- Shell fossils

Another dream question for me. *sigh*...

andrewjackson wrote:Yikes. That's a tough one.

I did not know that root.

Spoiler

Tephra is the Greek word for ash. It derives from an Indo-European verb root meaning to burn.

The OED lists its first usage in 1944.

I didn't know the root, but I think there's another way to get the correct answer. Only one of those possibilities makes sense to me. In other words,

Spoiler

I have heard of dating objects by dating volcanic ash found in the soil in which the objects are embedded, or ash within the clay making up the object. I can't imagine how any of the other three choices could be used to date objects -- they're not sufficiently widespread.

--Bob

Bob78164 wrote:

andrewjackson wrote:Yikes. That's a tough one.

I did not know that root.

Spoiler

Tephra is the Greek word for ash. It derives from an Indo-European verb root meaning to burn.

The OED lists its first usage in 1944.

I didn't know the root, but I think there's another way to get the correct answer. Only one of those possibilities makes sense to me. In other words,

Spoiler

I have heard of dating objects by dating volcanic ash found in the soil in which the objects are embedded, or ash within the clay making up the object. I can't imagine how any of the other three choices could be used to date objects -- they're not sufficiently widespread.

--Bob

Spoiler

Shell fossils are pretty widespread and can be dated. It seems to me that they might be used for dating other objects. That was the distractor that had me the most worried. Volcanic ash does make the most sense but I would have been reluctant to go for it without having at least some inkling at the root of the word.

NellyLunatic1980 wrote:

BBTranscriptTeam wrote:$100,000 (Popular Science)- By definition, tephrochronology is a scientific technique to date old objects by examining the age of what?

A- Volcanic ash B- Oil deposits
C- Petrified wood D- Shell fossils

Another dream question for me. *sigh*...

Okay, I'll bite. How did you happen to study vulcanology, Nelly?

silvercamaro wrote:

NellyLunatic1980 wrote:

BBTranscriptTeam wrote:$100,000 (Popular Science)- By definition, tephrochronology is a scientific technique to date old objects by examining the age of what?

A- Volcanic ash B- Oil deposits
C- Petrified wood D- Shell fossils

Another dream question for me. *sigh*...

Okay, I'll bite. How did you happen to study vulcanology, Nelly?

Probably Star Trek. Or he watched that Tommy Lee Jones-Anne Heche epic film, Volcano.

silvercamaro wrote:

NellyLunatic1980 wrote:

BBTranscriptTeam wrote:$100,000 (Popular Science)- By definition, tephrochronology is a scientific technique to date old objects by examining the age of what?

A- Volcanic ash B- Oil deposits
C- Petrified wood D- Shell fossils

Another dream question for me. *sigh*...

Okay, I'll bite. How did you happen to study vulcanology, Nelly?

Question seconded...

clem21 wrote:

silvercamaro wrote:

NellyLunatic1980 wrote: Another dream question for me. *sigh*...

Okay, I'll bite. How did you happen to study vulcanology, Nelly?

Question seconded...

Maybe he learned it from Scrubs.

ulysses5019 wrote:

clem21 wrote:

silvercamaro wrote:

Okay, I'll bite. How did you happen to study vulcanology, Nelly?

Question seconded...

Maybe he learned it from Scrubs.

Hey, Don't question Scrubs!

Between Scrubs, Animaniacs and the Simpsons, I have learned all I need to know.

ulysses5019 wrote:

silvercamaro wrote:

NellyLunatic1980 wrote: Another dream question for me. *sigh*...

Okay, I'll bite. How did you happen to study vulcanology, Nelly?

Probably Star Trek. Or he watched that Tommy Lee Jones-Anne Heche epic film, Volcano.

I don't watch "Star Trek". I did watch "Volcano" once. But I didn't pick up on tephrochronology or vulcanology from either. Science was one of my majors at UK. I know that tephra is the scientific word for volcanic ash.

NellyLunatic1980 wrote:
But I didn't pick up on tephrochronology or vulcanology from either. Science was one of my majors at UK. I know that tephra is the scientific word for volcanic ash.

Thanks, Nelly. Here's why I asked. You have presented us with a carefully crafted board persona for the Reverend Fireball, the tattooed gansta rapper for God. Without knowing much else about you, I assumed that you also brought other qualities and accomplishments to the table, but I didn't know anything about your background, and I was curious about who else was "in there" with you.

andrewjackson wrote:

Bob78164 wrote:

andrewjackson wrote:Yikes. That's a tough one.

I did not know that root.

Spoiler

Tephra is the Greek word for ash. It derives from an Indo-European verb root meaning to burn.

The OED lists its first usage in 1944.

I didn't know the root, but I think there's another way to get the correct answer. Only one of those possibilities makes sense to me. In other words,

Spoiler

I have heard of dating objects by dating volcanic ash found in the soil in which the objects are embedded, or ash within the clay making up the object. I can't imagine how any of the other three choices could be used to date objects -- they're not sufficiently widespread.

--Bob

Spoiler

Shell fossils are pretty widespread and can be dated. It seems to me that they might be used for dating other objects. That was the distractor that had me the most worried. Volcanic ash does make the most sense but I would have been reluctant to go for it without having at least some inkling at the root of the word.

Seashells are notorious because radiocarbon dating works poorly on them. But petrified wood can be dated by radiocarbon dating.

silvercamaro wrote:

NellyLunatic1980 wrote:
But I didn't pick up on tephrochronology or vulcanology from either. Science was one of my majors at UK. I know that tephra is the scientific word for volcanic ash.

Thanks, Nelly. Here's why I asked. You have presented us with a carefully crafted board persona for the Reverend Fireball, the tattooed gansta rapper for God. Without knowing much else about you, I assumed that you also brought other qualities and accomplishments to the table, but I didn't know anything about your background, and I was curious about who else was "in there" with you.

Most of the stuff that I learned in college (that which doesn't involve sex, beer, or weed) just doesn't come up every day. But when it does, I suddenly get a light bulb moment after blankly staring at the question for several seconds.

Either way, my photographic memory is both a blessing and a curse.

jarnon wrote:

andrewjackson wrote:

Bob78164 wrote:I didn't know the root, but I think there's another way to get the correct answer. Only one of those possibilities makes sense to me. In other words,

Spoiler

I have heard of dating objects by dating volcanic ash found in the soil in which the objects are embedded, or ash within the clay making up the object. I can't imagine how any of the other three choices could be used to date objects -- they're not sufficiently widespread.

--Bob

Spoiler

Shell fossils are pretty widespread and can be dated. It seems to me that they might be used for dating other objects. That was the distractor that had me the most worried. Volcanic ash does make the most sense but I would have been reluctant to go for it without having at least some inkling at the root of the word.

Seashells are notorious because radiocarbon dating works poorly on them. But petrified wood can be dated by radiocarbon dating.

OK. I knew there was something about shells and dating. Just backs up my reluctance to go for anything on this question.

silvercamaro wrote:

NellyLunatic1980 wrote:
But I didn't pick up on tephrochronology or vulcanology from either. Science was one of my majors at UK. I know that tephra is the scientific word for volcanic ash.

Thanks, Nelly. Here's why I asked. You have presented us with a carefully crafted board persona for the Reverend Fireball, the tattooed gansta rapper for God. Without knowing much else about you, I assumed that you also brought other qualities and accomplishments to the table, but I didn't know anything about your background, and I was curious about who else was "in there" with you.

Did you know that I'm a rapper for the god Saturn? Oh, and there's not much "in here" with me.

ulysses5019 wrote:
Did you know that I'm a rapper for the god Saturn? Oh, and there's not much "in here" with me.

You worship an automobile? I'm a Camaroarian, myself.