Mark Brader:
> These questions were written to be asked in Toronto on 2014-02-03,
> and should be interpreted accordingly... For further information...
> see my 2022-09-09 companion posting on "Reposted Questions from
> the Canadian Inquisition (RQFTCI*)".

> * Game 4, Round 4 - Science - What's the Frequency, Kenneth?

> Here are some frequencies and wavelengths. For each item we
> name below, give the corresponding entry on the following list.
> In some cases the frequencies are approximate.

> * 0.01 to 10 nm
> * 2.3 to 26.1 MHz
> * 2.45 GHz
> * 3 to 60 Hz
> * 8 to 15 µm
> * 21 cm
> * 25 to 20,000 Hz
> * 40 to 60,000 Hz
> * 44.1 kHz
> * 54 to 88 MHz and 174 to 216 MHz
> * 96 to 320 kbps
> * 380 to 750 nm
> * 540 to 1,610 kHz
> * 850 band and 1,900 band
> * 900 MHz, 1.9 GHz, 2.4 GHz, and 5.8 GHz
> * 1,420 MHz
> * 9,192,631,770 Hz

> 1. Shortwave radio.

2.3 to 26.1 MHz. 4 for Dan Tilque and Erland.

> 2. """Currently""" sold cordless phones.

900 MHz, 1.9 GHz, 2.4 GHz, and 5.8 GHz. 4 for Dan Tilque, Dan Blum,
and Pete.

> 3. Compact-disc recording sampling rate.

44.1 kHz. 4 for Erland, Dan Blum, and Pete.

> 4. Cesium-atom atomic clock.

9,192,631,770 Hz. 4 for Dan Tilque, Erland, and Dan Blum.

> 5. Microwave oven.

2.45 GHz. 4 for Dan Tilque.

> 6. X-rays.

0.01 to 10 nm. 4 for Erland and Dan Blum.

> 7. Canine hearing range.

40 to 60,000 Hz. 4 for Dan Tilque, Erland, Dan Blum, and Pete.

> 8. VHF television band.

54 to 88 MHz (that's channels 2-6) and 174 to 216 MHz (channels 7-13).
4 for Dan Tilque, Erland, and Joshua.

> 9. Schumann resonances. These are global electromagnetic resonances
> in the ELF portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, excited
> by lightning discharges in the cavity formed by the Earth's
> surface and the ionosphere, often more simply referred to as
> the "global electrical circuit".

3 to 60 Hz. 4 for Dan Tilque.

> 10. Hydrogen atom spectral line. It's been proposed that advanced
> alien civilizations might try to make contact using this
> frequency due to the ubiquity of hydrogen in the universe,
> the ability of this frequency to penetrate cosmic dust, and
> the relative quiet of this part of the radio spectrum

21 cm, or equivalently, 1,420 MHz. 4 for Dan Tilque, Erland,
and Dan Blum.

> 11. If you like, identify the other entries on the list for fun,
> but for no points.

8 to 15 µm - thermal imaging band of infrared. 25 to 20,000 Hz
- human hearing range (more or less).@ 96 to 320 kbps - MP3 data
encoding rates. 380 to 750 nm - visible light.@ 540 to 1,610 kHz - AM
radio band.@ 850 band and 1,900 band - GSM cellular phones in Canada.

Dan Tilque got the ones marked @.

> * Game 4, Round 6 - History - Famous Poisonings

> The following are some famous incidents of intentional poisoning.
> throughout history, either single or en masse, and sometimes
> self-administered,

This was the second-easiest round in the original game, after the
current-events round.

> 1. Roman emperor Augustus was alleged to be so afraid of being
> poisoned by his wife Livia that he took to gathering his
> own food. But legend has it that she managed to feed him
> poison anyway. Name the specific food he ate which it is said
> she poisoned.

Figs.

> 2. The world was shocked in 2006 when expatriate Russian journalist
> Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned in London, England. Before he
> died, he alleged the deed was done at President Putin's behest.
> Name the substance used to poison him, possibly fed to him in
> some sushi.

Polonium 210. The isotope was not required. 4 for Dan Tilque,
Erland, Dan Blum, and Pete.

> 3. He made his followers in the People's Temple cult drink
> cyanide-laced fruit punch in 1978. 918 people died. What
> was this cult leader's *first and last* name?

James ("Jim") Jones. 4 for Dan Tilque, Dan Blum, Joshua, and Pete.

> 4. It is often portrayed that this philosopher poisoned himself
> rather than choose exile. More accurately, he willingly drank
> poison in fulfillment of his death sentence for the crimes of
> "corrupting youth" and "impiety", instead of taking the clear
> opportunity provided to him to escape when his followers
> successfully bribed his guards. Who was he?

Socrates. 4 for everyone -- Dan Tilque, Erland, Dan Blum, Joshua,
and Pete.

> 5. Similarly, this German national hero agreed to take a cyanide
> pill in return for Hitler's assurance not to persecute his
> family afterwards. His death was officially reported to have
> been the result of injuries previously sustained when his car
> was strafed by an RAF fighter. Who was he?

Erwin Rommel. 4 for Dan Tilque, Dan Blum, and Pete.

One entrant in 2014 guessed:

> goering? ; himmler? (some nazi who history should rightfully forget)

Thus making 5 errors in 10 words. Nice going!

Goering and Himmler did both commit suicide by cyanide, but not until
after Hitler's own suicide -- Himmler when captured, Goering when
he was about to be executed in consequence of the Nuremberg trials.
The Nazis deserve to be remembered for actions that, to transfer a
quotation, "will live in infamy". Rommel, however, was not a Nazi --
he never joined the party -- and in fact the reason he was condemned
was involvement in the assassination attempt against Hitler. And his
military role in the war is already sufficient reason for him to be
remembered, without anything else.

> 6. He was an important codebreaker during England's WW2 war effort
> and made fundamental contributions to computer science, but was
> rewarded by his country with a prosecution for homosexuality
> in 1952. He committed suicide by eating a cyanide-laced apple.
> Who was he?

Alan Turing. 4 for everyone.

His wartime role was still highly secret during the prosecution.
He was posthumously pardoned in 2013, but a law pardoning all *other*
people convicted of this no-longer-a-crime was not passed until 2017.

> 7. Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov was killed in London in
> 1978 by an assassin who managed to inject him with a ricin-filled
> micro-pellet, delivered using a cleverly rigged version of what
> common item?

Umbrella. 4 for everyone.

> 8. Members of the Heaven's Gate cult committed mass suicide in 1997
> by taking phenobarbital with vodka (and then wrapping plastic
> bags around their heads for good measure), believing that a
> spaceship was coming, trailing a comet, to transport their
> souls to a higher level of existence. Name the *comet*.

Hale-Bopp. 4 for Dan Tilque, Dan Blum, Joshua, and Pete.

> 9. How does tradition hold that Cleopatra poisoned herself?
> Be specific.

The bite of an asp. 4 for Erland, Dan Blum, Joshua, and Pete.

"Asp" is usually considered to mean a type of cobra, so I accepted
"cobra" but not "adder".

> 10. Qin ["Chin"] Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China, and the
> ruler for whom the famous "terracotta army" of clay soldiers was
> created, died in 201 BC after purposely ingesting mercury pills.
> Why did Emperor Qin swallow mercury?

He was seeking immortality. 4 for Erland, Dan Blum, and Pete.

Scores, if there are no errors:

GAME 4 ROUNDS-> 2 3 4 6 TOTALS
TOPICS-> Ent Spo Sci His
Pete Gayde 18 29 12 36 95
Dan Blum 24 4 24 36 88
Joshua Kreitzer 36 20 4 24 84
Dan Tilque 16 4 32 28 80
Erland Sommarskog 8 0 28 24 60

--
Mark Brader | "No [flying machine] will ever fly from New York to
Toronto | Paris ...[because] no known motor can run at the
msb@vex.net | requisite speed for four days without stopping..."
| -- Orville Wright, March 1909
My text in this article is in the public domain.