The What is It Game.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Wildkow @ Aug 13 2007, 10:57 PM) [snapback]495255[/snapback]</div>

They are a set of nozzles, probably from a high-end hand or foot pump, or possibly from a pump sprayer (either one of those plastic bottle jobs or a backpack model) or air nozzle kit. These have metal inserts, while most of the "Wal-Mart" type pumps come with plastic only. These are for a much better and more expensive pump. See this Campbell Hausfeld photo:

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<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Wildkow @ Aug 14 2007, 02:12 AM) [snapback]495259[/snapback]</div>

Close, it's an isopod, but not a juvinile of the "giant" variety. This one has a very unique life cycle... as a (very tiny) baby it enters the pink snappers mouth through the gills, then atches it'self to the tounge where it taps into an artirey for nutrition. As it grows the tounge withers away, until there is no tounge left, at which point this creature anchors it'self to the stub and completely replaces the tounge, living on food particles in the fish's mouth.

Cymothoa exigua is the first known parasite to functionally replace an organ in another creature. Yummmi!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Wildkow @ Aug 14 2007, 02:12 AM) [snapback]495259[/snapback]</div>

Close, it's an isopod, but not a juvinile of the "giant" variety. This one has a very unique life cycle... as a (very tiny) baby it enters the pink snappers mouth through the gills, then atches it'self to the tounge where it taps into an artirey for nutrition. As it grows the tounge withers away, until there is no tounge left, at which point this creature anchors it'self to the stub and completely replaces the tounge, living on food particles in the fish's mouth.

Cymothoa exigua is the first known parasite to functionally replace an organ in another creature. Yummmi!

 

That's the nastiest thing I've heard of in a long time (No that is NOT a challenge!!!).

 

Well, Since I think I got Kow's and nobody got Greenkeeper's, here goes. What's this?

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Oh that's easy - it's the proportion of the Wallaby population that dies by means other than becoming roadkill. You'll note that a Wallaby in Tasmania has a nearly zero percent chance of ever crossing a road and getting to the other side with all its major organs still in their proper locations and functional. (We did a bike ride from Launceston to Hobart in February and the carnage was so bad I was half serious when I asked a waiter one night if the Wallaby on the menu hadn't just been scraped off the pavement).

It'll be a strange coincidence if this map happen to matches some other phenomenon!

MB

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(airportkid @ Aug 14 2007, 01:54 PM) [snapback]495588[/snapback]</div>

LOL Funny, but wrong...

 

Rabbit density?
Which would be very curious 'cause it also seems to reflect geomagnetic intensity, but the scale is wrong.

Got it, its rainfall for 2006

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Wildkow @ Aug 13 2007, 09:57 PM) [snapback]495255[/snapback]</div>

Hmm... good one, but I think those convert the optical audio signal found on the side of a MacBook Pro to a standard optical audio cable. Technically, it is mini-TOSLINK adapter for a TOSLINK (or 3.5mm optical audio) connector.

Have a look at this page: http://creativemac.digitalmedianet.com/art...le.jsp?id=47126

Dan

 

So I'm thinking of something for my turn now, hmmmm...

Lets try this, function(s) & location please

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<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(samiam @ Aug 14 2007, 01:44 PM) [snapback]495623[/snapback]</div>

Easy one. That is Pompeii! Function? The blocks allowed Pompites (Pomposians? Pompettes?) to cross the street without getting their feet when there was water running down it. It might have worked for lava too, I don't know.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(danoday @ Aug 14 2007, 03:31 PM) [snapback]495655[/snapback]</div>

I've been told that their purpose was to force carts into "lanes" and keep them from running into each other. Now you need to post some mysterious mystery....

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(danoday @ Aug 14 2007, 02:31 PM) [snapback]495655[/snapback]</div>

Guess it must be my turn, then? Here's a tough one. If you can give me the location, I'll be impressed, but both the name and location would floor me (and proclaim you the winner!).

 

Correct location B) , only partial points for function.

Main function was to slow down coach traffic like speed bumps. The wheels of a currus (sports car), cisium (carriage) and raeda (coach) were built to exactly fit between the blocks.

All surviving examples (at pompelli and elsewhere) are built to the same dimensions.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Mad Hatter @ Aug 14 2007, 02:39 PM) [snapback]495663[/snapback]</div>

The spaces between the blocks allowed cart wheels to fit through, but the purpose of the blocks was so your feet didn't get wet. Roman military carts were all built to have a certain amount of space between the wheels, so it makes sense that the sizing would be consistant in other Roman cities. I'm pretty sure that the streets were also used for sewage, so it was probably not pleasant to walk through.


Yes, I was in Pompeii a couple of months ago... the tour was cool, and I probably walked down this same street!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(danoday @ Aug 15 2007, 10:45 AM) [snapback]495670[/snapback]</div>

Not to belabour this point but history is important. The speed blocks were typically located where speeds were likely to be highest (midblock) rather than where most pedestrians crossed the street (intersections). Sorry to hear the tour guides are still perpetuating the wet feet explanation... B)

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(danoday @ Aug 14 2007, 03:40 PM) [snapback]495664[/snapback]</div>

Dan, your image name gives it away, although I knew immediately what it was - Burning Man exhibits in the
Nevada Desert (Black Rock Desert?). I imagine those horses were a ball of fire, or about to become a ball of fire.

I haven't got anything so it's open to anyone with the next mystery picture ---

MB

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(airportkid @ Aug 14 2007, 03:05 PM) [snapback]495682[/snapback]</div>

You would be mostly correct! I actually took the picture at Burning Man 2005. The piece is called "Rubber Horses" by Dorothy Trojanowski from New York. She told me that she lived near a freeway, and used to see rubber tire skins discarded on the side of the road after they had been blown off trucks. She wanted to do something with them, so she built horses out of rebar, and used the tires as their skin. Before taking on this project, she had never welded anything before. One of the big challenges? The horses were shipped to the playa in sections, and assembled there. When she made them, she had to keep shipping requirements in mind.


The only thing you got wrong is that this piece didn't burn at the end of the week. I think it went back to New York, although I heard a rumor it was later displayed at the Exploratorium in San Francisco.


Oh, and Burning Man starts two weeks from yesterday. Anyone else going?


Dan

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(airportkid @ Aug 14 2007, 04:05 PM) [snapback]495682[/snapback]</div>

Okay - what type of lizard is this?

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