Dastardly difficult trivia quiz

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GuyBarry
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Re: Dastardly difficult trivia quiz

Post by GuyBarry »

Well, the summit of Chimborazo in Ecuador is the furthest point on the Earth's surface from its centre, but I don't know what point lies diametrically opposite.

EDIT: Appears to be here. No idea how far that is above sea level though.
Last edited by GuyBarry on 26 Nov 2019, 16:28, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Dastardly difficult trivia quiz

Post by tubeguru »

GuyBarry wrote: 26 Nov 2019, 16:14 Well, the summit of Chimborazo in Ecuador is the furthest point on the Earth's surface from its centre, but I don't know what point lies diametrically opposite.
The opposite point is just on the northern edge of the island of Sumatra, not far south of Kuala Lumpar.

You might find this map useful - https://www.freemaptools.com/tunnel-to- ... -earth.htm
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Re: Dastardly difficult trivia quiz

Post by GuyBarry »

Thanks. That may or may not be the correct answer to the question though - how far is it above sea level?
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Re: Dastardly difficult trivia quiz

Post by tubeguru »

GuyBarry wrote: 26 Nov 2019, 16:31 Thanks. That may or may not be the correct answer to the question though - how far is it above sea level?
What, the very edge of an island in the sea? Not much, I'd say ... :roll:
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Re: Dastardly difficult trivia quiz

Post by GuyBarry »

Right, that's probably not the answer then!

There aren't many parts of the world where it can be - only 4.4% of the Earth's surface is land which is antipodal to other land (coloured orange on this map - the overlap between the blue and yellow areas). It's got to be near the Equator, so that limits it still further.
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Re: Dastardly difficult trivia quiz

Post by tubeguru »

I'm not sure I even understand the question. What exactly is its definition of "planet Earth"?
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Re: Dastardly difficult trivia quiz

Post by GuyBarry »

The way I'm interpreting it is this: find two points on the landmass of the Earth such that the straight line between them through the centre of the Earth is as long as possible.

So I'm hoping to find two mountain ranges that are antipodal (diametrically opposed), so that the line joins up two fairly high points.
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Re: Dastardly difficult trivia quiz

Post by greatkingrat »

I don't think the line necessarily needs to go through the exact centre of the Earth, although it will probably go quite close to the centre. A line between two high mountains that does not pass through the centre might be longer than a line between two lower points that are exactly antipodal.
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Re: Dastardly difficult trivia quiz

Post by A Challenge »

Looking at that map, it's going to be from the Andes to China, though this forgetting that the sea level to sea level distance through the earth changes depending on your latitude.
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Re: Dastardly difficult trivia quiz

Post by DrainBrain »

GuyBarry wrote: 26 Nov 2019, 16:14 Well, the summit of Chimborazo in Ecuador is the furthest point on the Earth's surface from its centre, but I don't know what point lies diametrically opposite.

EDIT: Appears to be here. No idea how far that is above sea level though.
This is the answer I have.

The bulge at the equator dominates, followed by the height of the peaks in the Andes in Ecuador. The island of Sumatra is at the antipodes. Unfortunately, the mountains in the west of Sumatra don't align with the highest peaks in Ecuador.
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Re: Dastardly difficult trivia quiz

Post by GuyBarry »

Taking into account both greatkingrat's and A Challenge's remarks, then, here's a first stab:

Mercedario (31°58′ 45″ S 70°06′ 45″ W, elevation 6720 metres)
Shennong Deng (31° 26' 54'' N, 110° 18' 16'' E, elevation 3105 metres)

Any good?

EDIT: DrainBrain posted the answer while I was making that post - looks as though I was right first time but didn't know it!
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Re: Dastardly difficult trivia quiz

Post by GuyBarry »

I've got one of my own:

What venerable cultural institution unexpectedly began with a racist insult?
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Re: Dastardly difficult trivia quiz

Post by jamesthegill »

GuyBarry wrote: 28 Nov 2019, 12:54 I've got one of my own:

What venerable cultural institution unexpectedly began with a racist insult?
The Dambusters (1955)?
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Re: Dastardly difficult trivia quiz

Post by GuyBarry »

Not what I was thinking of, sorry - this was in the 1960s.

To be accurate, it didn't begin with a racist insult but with a report of one.
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Re: Dastardly difficult trivia quiz

Post by GuyBarry »

If it helps, the phrase in question was "stinking ****".
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