Zippy Zooms XI Trivia Quiz

Answer: Buffalo

Ahhh, mozzarella, that wonderful cheese that we enjoy placing on our pizza. A specialty of southern Italy, this is a semi soft cheese that isn't aged. The reason for the latter is due to its high moisture content, consequently it is generally eaten on the day it is made. If you cannot finish it on the day, then don't panic... it will last for a week if stored in a solution of brine.

The cheese will usually be white in colour, but this may vary depending on the diet of the buffalo. The technique used to make the cheese is called pasta filata, a form of stretched curd. The milk is warmed, curdled and then allowed to sit for an hour. After that it is cut into small pieces and the whey is separated from it, leaving the curds to rest for a few hours more. That done, the curd is steeped in a tub of very hot water (or whey) until it starts to float. At this point the cheese is kneaded and stretched until it reaches the required consistency, before being separated into individual cheeses.

Traditional Mozzarella (according to the European Union) must be made from the Italian Mediterranean buffalo. Countries outside the EU make their Mozzarella out of milk from local water buffalo and in the USA it is more commonly made from cow's milk.

This cheesy question was cut by Phoenix Rising's pollucci19.

Answer: High speed train systems

Built in time for the 1964 Summer Olympics, Japan's Bullet train (Tonkaido Shinkansen) was the world's first high-speed train. Italy's Frecciarossa (Red Arrow) travels between Rome, Milan, Venice and Naples and the Eurostar connects the UK and France (and then Belgium and the Netherlands) via the Channel Tunnel. Technology since the Shinkansen's beginnings has advanced apace, and modern high-speed trains are more ecologically efficient at higher speeds. They use either electricity, lithium-ion battery propulsion or magnetic levitation (Maglev). The Maglev design currently used in Japan and China is capable of speeds around 600 km/hr (375mph).

Other systems around the world include (but are certainly not limited to) Spain, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Russia-Finland).

This question was shunted into the quiz by Phoenix Rising's leith90, who has been on the Eurostar and the Shinkansen, but not, unfortunately, the Frecciarossa. Yet.

Answer: France

Most South American countries sought independence from Spain, the first being Colombia in 1810, the ninth being Bolivia in 1825, though Uruguay sought independence from Spain in 1811 but then had to declare independence from Brazil in 1825. Brazil, itself, gained independence from Portugal in 1822. Guyana declared independence from the UK in 1966 and Surinam became the twelfth independent South American republic when it became independent of The Netherlands in 1975. In 2010 in a referendum, French Guiana voted against autonomy and remained an overseas department of France.

This question was declared independent of other questions in this quiz by Phoenix Rising team member 1nn1.

Answer: Cape Town

South Africa's legislative capital, Cape Town lies on the shore of Table Bay, on the western side of the Cape Peninsula that juts out of the African continent into the Atlantic Ocean. With its central area - known as the City Bowl - enclosed by three mountain peaks (Devil's Peak, Table Mountain and Lion's Head), the city is known for its spectacular scenery and mild Mediterranean climate. While there are rivers in the city's metropolitan area (such as the Salt River, which flows into Table Bay), they are not a major feature of the urban landscape - as instead is the case of the three cities listed as wrong answers.

One of the world's most populous cities and busiest container ports, Shanghai lies on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, in central China. Together with Beijing, Tianjin, and Chongqing, it is one of the country's four direct-administered municipalities. Rotterdam, the second-largest city in the Netherlands, and Europe's largest seaport, lies in the delta formed by the confluence of the rivers Rhine, Meuse and Scheldt before emptying in the North Sea. New Orleans, in the Southern US state of Louisiana, is located in the Mississippi River Delta, a huge wetland area that stretches along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.

This rather watery question flowed smoothly out of LadyNym's keyboard.

Answer: The Rookie

"The Rookie" is based on real-life LAPD officer William Norcross. In 2015 he joined LAPD while in his mid-40s, becoming the oldest rookie. In the show Nathan plays John Nolan, a 45 year old divorced man from Pennsylvania who moves to LA to become a cop. Norcross continues to serve with the LAPD in real life and serves as an executive producer on the series.

Nathan got his start on the soap "One Life to Live" where he played Joey Buchanan from 1994 to 1997. In 2002, Nathan starred in Joss Whedon's "Firefly", which although it only ran for one 14-episode season became a cult classic and spawned a movie, "Serenity". In 2009, Nathan took on his biggest role to date, playing the title role in "Castle" for 174 episodes.

This question was inspired by real-life Fillion fan Phoenix Rising's tazman6619.

Answer: Elden Ring

For those not sure, I hope the Wagner hint helped - he composed "The Ring Cycle" ('Der Ring des Nibelungen'). FromSoftware's 'Elden Ring' was released in February 2022 in Japan and internationally by Bandai Namco Entertainment. This was another game directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki who was earlier responsible for the company's highly successful 'Dark Souls' games. George R. R. Martin of 'Game of Thrones' fame helped create the complex and visually incredible fantasy open world environment in which the player can go in any direction they like (i.e. the storyline is not linear) in search of the Elden Ring in order to become the new Elden Lord. There are many challenging side quests and world bosses to be defeated.

This question was surreptitiously inserted into the quiz by Phoenix Rising's MikeMaster99 who does not want to attract the attention of Elden Ring's most challenging boss - Malenia, Blade of Miquella. The current scoreline is Mike 0, Malenia 74!

Answer: India

Since medieval times, blades crafted from Damascus steel were highly valued for their hardness, keen edges and watered surface appearance. Damascus steel was named as such possibly because the blades were forged in Damascus. However, the raw material for Damascus steel was actually wootz steel, an alloy that was produced in India since more than two thousand years ago. The word "wootz" may be a mis-transcription from Indian dialects by 17th-century European travellers.

Mysteriously, the technique for producing Damascus steel was lost around 1850. Experts attribute this to the depletion of iron ore in India from which wootz steel was manufactured although the actual reason is not known for certain. Modern day metallurgists who studied Damascus steel specimens in museums discovered that the carbon content and trace elements in iron ore as well as the forging temperature are crucial to creating Damascus steel with its trademark rippled finish. Today, it is once again possible to produce Damascus steel albeit with modern crafting techniques.

This question was smithed by Phoenix Rising team member purelyqing.

Answer: Zoe Saldana

Zoe Saldana starred in two episodes of "Law & Order" in 1999. Her career breakthrough came in 2009 when she played the role of Nyota Uhura in "Star Trek" (2009).

In "Avatar" (2009), Saldana portrayed the role of Neytiri from the Na'vi clan. The tall blue aliens featured prominently in the movie drew inspiration from a dream that James Cameron's mother had.

In "Guardians of the Galaxy" (2014) directed by James Gunn, Saldana portrayed the role of Gamora, who was a green alien adopted and trained by Thanos.

In 2023, Saldana was named by "Time" magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

This colourful question was crafted by Phoenix Rising's Matthew_07, an avid sci-fi movies fan.

Answer: Cones

The mantis shrimp has at least 16 different types of cone cells in its eye!

Humans have three types of cones allowing us to detect the colors red, green, and blue. Some birds and insect species have four and five types of cones allowing them to see more color nuances including the UV spectrum. A few animals, like the octopus, cannot see color but they do have the ability to see if the light is polarised or not. Then we have the incredible mantis shrimp which can see all the above, plus more! The shrimp is able to detect the most subtle color changes and can move each eye independently of the other. The vision is thought to come into play most prominently in their mating ritual and displaying dominance towards other male shrimp.

This question was brought to you in sharp, tele-focused, polorised, technicolor by the Phoenix Rising's BigTriviaDawg.

Answer: "To Kill a Mockingbird" (Harper Lee, 1960)

Three of the four listed publications are dystopian novels, whereas "To Kill a Mockingbird" fits into the genres of Southern Gothic and Bildungsroman.

Dystopian novels describe an imaginary state or society with great suffering or injustice. The term "dystopia" was coined by English philosopher John Stuart Mill in the 19th century as the opposite of Sir Thomas More's earlier "utopia", a place of ideal perfection.

The Southern Gothic fictional subgenre stems from both Gothic elements and the American South. Here, we find deeply flawed, eccentric characters, where life events arise from poverty, crime or violence. Formed from the German terms "Bildung" ("education" or "forming") and Roman ("novel"), the Bildungsroman literary genre focuses on the protagonist's coming of age and includes elements of psychological and moral development.

Phoenix Rising's psnz counts himself as one of the odd ones out in his Fun Trivia team, being the only Kiwi there.