Thermal T's Trivia Quiz

Answer: Three Doors Down - "Fire Lake"

Three Doors Down made an immediate impact with their debut single "Kryptonite", which was launched in 2000 and reached platinum status in a number of countries across the globe. However, they did not release "Fire Lake" as a single, which was a hit for Bob Seger in 1981.

"Burning Down the House" was the first single released from Talking Heads' 1983 album "Speaking in Tongues" and made the US Billboard Hot 100 Top Ten. The Trammps landed on the scene at the right time with their disco/soul sound, right in the heart of the 1970s. They were moderately successful until "Disco Inferno" was included on the soundtrack to "Saturday Night Fever" (1977), which propelled the song to the fringes of the Billboard Hot 100 Top Ten. "Steamy Windows" is the second single to be released by Tina Turner from her 1989 album "Foreign Affair". Interestingly, she would release a version of "Disco Inferno" as a single in 1993 and it featured on the soundtrack to the movie "What's Love Got to do With It?" (1993).

This question was sent scorching up the charts by Phoenix Rising's pollucci19.

Answer: Tarsus

Saul was his Hebrew name and Paul was his Gentile name since he was a Roman citizen. In Acts he is originally called Saul and is referred by the Lord as being from Tarsus (Acts 9:11).

Tarsus was an ancient city found in modern day Turkey whose roots trace back to the Neolithic Period. Several important trade routes between Anatolia, aka Asia Minor in Paul's time, and Syria pass through the area. In the Roman period, Tarsus was the capital of the Roman province of Cilicia. It was where Cleopatra and Mark Antony met and where they built their fleet.

This question was written by Phoenix Rising member tazman6619.

Answer: Town Car

The Taurus, Tempo, and Thunderbird are all Ford models with the Tempo ceasing production in 1994 and the Thunderbird in 2005. The Thunderbird was the hottest car of the trio, starting and finishing its life as a two seater convertible, being aimed at the Sports market (it was introduced as a competitor for the Corvette but it was marketed as a 'personal luxury car') whereas the other two were automobiles for the masses.

The Lincoln Town Car (Lincoln was the upmarket Ford brand) was a luxury vehicle that sold over two million units over its thirty year lifespan between 1981-2011.

Arguably the hottest "T" automobile was the Ferrari Testarossa, a mid-engined two seater sports coupe capable of 290km/hr manufactured between 1984 and 1996.
At the other end of the scale is East German Trabant, a car so basic (and this is being kind) it was not given a model designation.

This question was road-tested by automobile nut 1nn1 who has driven a Taurus, Tempo, Thunderbird, Model T, and even a Trabant (once it started), but has never driven a Testarossa.

Answer: Tambora

Residing on the northern part of Sumbawa, Mt. Tambora is 2,850 metres (9,350 feet) in height. This makes it the highest peak on the island. The volcano violently erupted in 1815 in, what has been described as, one of the most violent in history. It was heard in Sumatra, more than 2,000 kilometres (1,242 miles) away, reportedly caused the death of almost 71,000 people, and spread a heavy ash cloud over islands as distant as Borneo, Sulawesi, and Java. Interestingly, the volcano was estimated to have had a height of around about 4,300 metres (14,100 feet) before its eruption.

All of the other volcanoes named are in Antarctica.

This question erupted from the quill of Phoenix Rising (not so) hothead pollucci19.

Answer: Talleyrand

Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord had a congenital defect that caused him to limp and precluded him from following his father into the military. He entered the priesthood instead and was ordained in 1779. He became Bishop of Autun in 1789. During the French Revolution he became radicalized and in 1799 he played a pivotal role in the rise of Napoleon. He soon became Napoleon's Foreign Minister. He was defrocked by the Pope in 1801 but then the excommunication was lifted later that year. In 1807 he resigned and turned against Napoleon.

This question was written by Phoenix Rising member tazman6619.

Answer: Tropic of Capricorn

Miller was a bit of a bohemian when he authored the books, written in 1934 and 1939, respectively. At the time of their release, the were considered almost pornographic, with 'Capricorn' being banned for obscenity. They are now considered literary classics, telling of his life as a struggling writer in Paris and the United States.


Phoenix Rising member ozzz2002 was given a little latitude to write this question.

Answer: Tephramancy

Tephramancy comes under the broader umbrella of spodomancy and the divination is not restricted to ashes but also extends to soot and cinders. Ideally these were best if they were obtained as the result of ritual sacrifice. There existed an altar for this purpose in Ancient Thebes dedicated to Apollo. Known as the "Ashes of Apollo" it was also made from the ashes obtained from human sacrifice.

One method of divination involved the scribing of a question into the ashes and waiting for the wind to alter their shape, forming a new word or words, to derive an answer.

Theriomancy is divination from animal behaviour, thumomancy is through the use of one's own soul, and tyromancy was divination through cheese.

This question was divined by Phoenix Rising fortune teller pollucci19.

Answer: Taq

Taq polymerase is a DNA polymerase. It synthesises DNA. The enzyme was isolated in 1976 from a bacterium, Thermus aquaticus, that can tolerate high temperatures (such as hot springs). This heat-stable property of Taq polymerase made it very useful in the laboratory for synthesising DNA. Prior to its discovery, researchers were using a DNA polymerase isolated from E. coli to synthesise their DNA sequences of interest. In the laboratory, synthesis of DNA takes place in two or three steps. Each step is performed at a different temperature and the step (called a cycle) is repeated several times (25 - 40 times) to exponentially amplify the amount of DNA produced. The polymerase enzyme from E. coli, like any other protein, irreversibly loses its activity at the high temperature (upwards of 90 deg C) required by one of the steps. Therefore, researchers have to add fresh enzyme to the synthesis reaction during each cycle. Taq polymerase can withstand temperatures higher than 90 deg C. Researchers need only add the enzyme to the reaction once and incubate the reaction on a machine that cycles through the different temperatures needed for DNA synthesis. The discovery of Taq polymerase greatly simplified the process of synthesising and amplifying DNA in the lab and opened the door to research in genomics.

This question was synthesised by Phoenix Rising team member purelyqing.

Answer: Thirty Seconds over Tokyo

"Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" was based on the book of the same name by Captain Ted W. Lawson, one of the pilots on the raid. Van Johnson starred as Lawson. The movie depicts the training and mission of the crews of 16 B-25 bombers who flew from an aircraft carrier deck to strike Tokyo only four months after Pearl Harbor. After the raid the bombers all crash landed in China and the movie chronicles their avoidance of the Japanese to return to friendly lines.

Doolittle considered the raid to be an utter failure because the bombing caused little damage and all the planes crashed. He feared he would be faced with a court-martial upon his return. Instead he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor and every participant was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. The raid panicked the Japanese because they thought their islands could not be bombed and it gave a great moral boost to the American military and public when both needed it desperately.

This question was created by Phoenix Rising member tazman6619.

Answer: Trailblazer

Trailblazers are the groundbreakers, the innovators who find new ways to make things better, more efficient or simply easier. In short, they put the fire into new ideas. Alternatively, a trailblazer can also be seen as one who (literally) blazes a trail. Alternative words for this are pathfinder or guide.

This question was fired onto the track by Phoenix Rising scout pollucci19.