Ten Things I Like About Calcium Quiz

Answer: Christopher Eccleston

Christopher Eccleston took on the role of the ninth incarnation of the Doctor in the BBC series "Dr. Who". The BBC network decided it would be a good idea to air the series once more on the 40th anniversary of the show, however, due to delays, the first series was started only in 2005. Eccleston was the doctor for one series only, the first of the 2005 relaunch of the show. He was born after the series had originally aired, November of 1963.

The Doctor is a Time Lord who travels time and space seemingly at random in his attempts to avert crises that could occur. He travels using a machine called TARDIS and is able to regenerate into a new body when 'killed'.

Answer: Akashi, Japan

Maruo Calcium Co. makes calcium carbonates mostly as a paint extender and a plastic filler, but also as food and beverage supplements and a sealant. The company was founded in 1926 as the Maruo Seifun Goshi Company in Akashi, Japan. Only in 1963 did they become the Maruo Calcium Co., but, by then, they had expanded their business to Osaka and Nagoya as well.

Answer: Your muscles

An ion channel is a protein that is found in the membrane of a cell that controls the voltage difference and its change from the inside to the outside of a cell. A calcium channel is a specific protein of this kind that is particularly receptive to calcium ions, and helps contract your muscles, among other purposes (this would be an L-type calcium channel).

While I've seen the fireplace channel and the aquarium channel, I have yet to see a calcium channel on television.

Answer: False

Contrary to what logic tells us, calcium oxalate deposits in the kidneys are actually caused by not having enough calcium in your diet. This is the most common type of kidney stone, occurring in 3/4 to 4/5 of cases. Calcium oxalate is deposited in the kidneys when there isn't enough calcium to carry the excess oxalate through the urinary tract. Calcium oxalate is a common deposit found in breweries, on the containers used to brew the manufactured beer.

It is also commonly found in several plants. It's a poison, and can cause sores, swelling, and even death in larger quantities, when ingested.

Answer: Brian Eno

Brian Eno recorded "Calcium Needles" for his aptly-named album "Small Craft on a Milk Sea". It was released in late 2010 and is mostly ambient electronic music. He recorded the album along with Jon Hopkins and Leo Abrahams. Some of the tracks on the album include music that had previously been rejected by the Peter Jackson film "The Lovely Bones".

Answer: Collapsing stars

Carl Sagan's conclusion is that "we are made of star stuff". Sagan was a popular astrophysicist who wrote books on the subject making it accessible to the masses. He observed that stars start out as mostly hydrogen, and then 'burn' through their fuel fusing the particles together to make heavier and heavier elements.

The heaviest byproduct possible out of this fusion is iron. In the final stage of a star's life, the silicon and sulfur in them keep fusing with the beta radiation and form calcium along the way to creating iron.

This stage is a very brief stage, and an entire star will go from silicon to iron in only eleven days.

Answer: Gypsum

Gypsum is classified as a 2 on the Mohs Scale. The Mohs Scale measured how hard a substance is, with diamond being at the top of the scale with a 'perfect' 10 rating. It's an ordinal scale, so, each level is twice as hard as the level below it. So, while a mineral of hardness 6 is twice as hard as a mineral of hardness 5, it's four times as hard as a mineral of hardness 4 and eight times as hard as a mineral of hardness 3. Friedrich Mohs, a German geologist, established this scale in 1812 while trying to classify certain minerals he was working with and what they could be scratched with.

Calcite, while similar in name to Calcium, has a hardness of 3 on the Mohs Scale.

Answer: 18th - Montmartre

'Plaster of Paris' is also known as 'Gypsum plaster', and it got its common name when a large deposit of gypsum was discovered in the bedrock of the hill upon which the famous Sacré-Coeur basilica is situated. The arrondissement is known for the bohemian movement which congregated there at the turn of the 20th century. Still today, many artists, both famous and not, can be found on the picturesque slopes of the butte Montmartre. Some of the more famous names that spent some time there include Vincent van Gogh, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Salvador Dalí, and, my personal favourite, Claude Monet.

Two other places that you would associate with calcium sulfate are regular classroom chalk, and tofu, where it functions as a coagulant.

Answer: New York State, USA

Calcium is a hamlet in upstate New York, where American spelling abounds. It is located to the northeast of Watertown, New York, and, at the turn of the millennium, had over 3300 people living there. Once called Sanford's Corner, it is the home of the historic Calcium Community Church that was opened in 1853.

Originally the church was mostly Methodist, however, it houses all denominations nowadays.

Answer: Orlando Bloom

When an opponent is injured, a local amateur boxer (a milkman in his actual job) is set to fight against the world champion. Orlando Bloom plays Jimmy Connelly, the 'Calcium Kid', in this British mockumentary. The film was released in 2004, and was not to be considered a great success. Also in the film are Michael Peña as José Mendez, the world champion, and Billie Piper as Angel, and was directed by Alex De Rakoff.

Calcium, it does a body good. As Jimmy says in the film: "I've drank three pints of milk a day for as long as I can remember. Because of all the calcium, I've never had a filling, or been knocked out, and my bones are as hard as rock!"