Episode 29 University Challenge

APPLAUSE

'Asking the questions, Jeremy Paxman...'

Hello. By the end of tonight's match, we'll know the first of the four teams

who'll be competing in the semifinals of this contest.

Both institutions already have one quarterfinal victory behind them

so whoever wins tonight will qualify automatically,

while the losers will get one last chance to do so.

Manchester are the reigning University Challenge champions.

This team has already seen off two Oxford institutions -

Lincoln College, only very narrowly in Round One, and Magdalen College, by a much wider margin in Round Two.

Last time we saw them, they beat Imperial College London

to notch up the first of their quarterfinal wins.

Let's see if tonight gives them their second.

Hi, I'm David Brice, I'm from Kingston upon Thames

and I study economics.

I'm Adam Barr, I'm from Muswell Hill and I'm studying physics with astrophysics.

-And their captain...

-Hi, I'm Richard Gilbert,

I'm from Warwickshire and I'm studying linguistics.

Hello. I'm Debbie Brown, I'm from Buxton in Derbyshire

and I'm studying for a PhD in pain epidemiology.

APPLAUSE

Three institutions have already been demolished

by tonight's team from University College London.

Exeter University were the first victims,

Jesus College, Oxford succumbed in Round Two

and Bangor University lost out to them in their first quarterfinal appearance.

Let's meet the team from University College London again.

Hello, I'm Adam Papaphilippopoulos, I'm from London and I'm reading for an MA in philosophy.

I'm Tom Tyszczuk Smith, I'm from Cambridge and I'm studying medicine.

-Let's meet their captain.

-Hi, I'm Simon Dennis, also from London

and I'm studying the history and philosophy of science.

Hi, I'm Tom Parton, I'm from Penkridge in Staffordshire

and I'm studying natural sciences.

APPLAUSE

Right, you all know the rules. Here's your first starter for 10.

Probably derived from a related English dialect word for "fool",

which short word has been defined as "an unfashionable or socially inept person",

but when attached to a modifier such as "computer",

can also denote "a knowledgeable..."

-Nerd.

-No. You lose five points.

.."knowledgeable and obsessive enthusiast"?

-Geek.

-Geek is correct, yes.

These bonuses are on peace, Manchester.

"Since wars begin in the minds of men,

"it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed."

These are the opening words of the constitution of which agency of the United Nations?

The Security Council?

That's something different.

Shall I say the Security Council?

-Go for Security Council.

-The Security Council?

No, it's UNESCO.

Secondly, from which congress did Benjamin Disraeli return in 1878 saying,

"Lord Salisbury and myself have brought you back peace but a peace I hope with honour"?

-Berlin.

-Yes.

-Berlin.

-The Congress of Berlin is correct.

In 2011, which European leader said,

"No-one should think a further half century of peace and prosperity is assured. It isn't.

"That is why I say if the euro fails, Europe will fail"?

Merkel.

-Angela Merkel.

-Correct. 10 points for this starter question.

20 Maresfield Gardens in Hampstead

and Berggasse 19 in the Alsergrund district of Vienna

are now both museums, having been the homes...

-Sigmund Freud.

-Sigmund Freud is correct, yes.

Your first bonuses, UCL, are on a US composer.

In 1932, the musical "Of Thee I Sing"

won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama,

but because it was the first musical to win the prize

only the lyricist and authors of the book were recognised,

excluding the contribution of which composer?

-Bernstein?

-It's kind of early for Bernstein.

It could be Gershwin, I guess.

Gershwin?

It was George Gershwin.

Opening with a distinctive clarinet trill and glissando,

which Gershwin concert work was a 1924 commission from the conductor Paul Whiteman?

-Rhapsody in Blue.

-Rhapsody in Blue.

Correct. "Summertime" and "I Got Plenty o' Nuttin"

are songs from which opera by George and Ira Gershwin, based on a novel and play by DuBose Heyward?

-Porgy and Bess.

-Correct. Another starter question now.

In 2011, the European Space Agency's Venus Express spacecraft

discovered that Venus, along with Earth and Mars, has what layer in its atmosphere

at around 100 kilometres above the planet's surface?

It's formed when sunlight breaks down...

-The ozone layer?

-Ozone layer is correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

These bonuses, Manchester, are on chemistry. Listen carefully.

The atomic masses of sodium and chlorine are approximately 23 and 35.5 respectively.

How many grams of sodium chloride should be added to one litre of water

to form a 2 molar solution?

-97.

-97?

-Yes.

-97?

-No, it's 117 grams.

What is the molar concentration in moles per litre

of a solution that contains 29.25 grams of sodium chloride

in 100 cubic centimetres of water?

That's... How many moles of sodium chloride?

29.25?

-So...

-HE MUMBLES

Erm...

Half a mole...

-Five.

-Five?

Five?

Five is correct, yes.

How many extra litres of water should be added to a solution

that contains 90 grams of sodium chloride, dissolved in one litre of water,

to form a solution that contains 30 grams of sodium chloride per litre?

Two...

-I'll go for what you say because you know what you're doing.

-I don't!

-I'm lost.

-Two?

-Two is correct, yes!

10 points for this.

After a general in the Mexican Army during the MexicanAmerican War of 1846 to '48,

what name is given to the neighbourhood of San Francisco,

noted since the late 1960s as a centre of gay activism?

-The Castro.

-The Castro is correct.

These bonuses are on hyperreality.

Firstly, in an essay published in the 1970s,

which Italian novelist claimed that hyperreality was the defining...?

-Umberto Eco.

-Correct.

Which French thinker, once described as a philosopher of consumerism,

illustrated his concept of hyperreality

by reading his poetry in a bar in Las Vegas

dressed in a gold lame suit?

Nominate Papaphilippopoulos.

-Baudrillard.

-Baudrillard is correct, yes.

"It's meant to be an infantile world,

"in order to make us believe that the adults are elsewhere, in the 'real' world."

These words by Baudrillard refer to what construction in Anaheim, California,

cited by both him and Eco as an example of hyperreality?

-Disneyland.

-Disneyland is correct.

We're going to take a picture round now.

You are going to see a graph of a function in the form of

R equals F of theta.

10 points if you can identify the function.

X.

-Nope!

-LAUGHTER

Elliptical.

No, it's R equals sin of theta.

Picture bonuses shortly. 10 points for this starter question.

Quote, "Even such is time,

"which takes in trust Our youth, our joys and all we have,

"And pays us but with age and dust."

These are the first lines of the epitaph of which courtier and explorer,

written by him the night before his execution...?

Walter Raleigh.

-Sir Walter Raleigh is correct.

-APPLAUSE

You get the picture bonuses, polar graphs of functions,

all of which are transformations of the function "R equals sin of theta".

In each case, I want you to identify the function plotted on the graph.

Firstly for five...

-Maybe R equals sin squared theta.

-OK. Yes?

R equals sin squared theta?

No. It's R equals sin of two theta.

Secondly, for five points...

R equals sin half theta.

R equals sin half theta.

No. It's R equals sin squared theta.

And finally...

R equals two sin theta.

-R equals two sin theta.

-That is correct.

10 points for this... Meaning a "source of evil or a poison",

what short word is found in the common name of the plant Aconitum lycoctonum

thought to deter wolves, and the composite...?

-Bane.

-Bane is correct, yes.

-APPLAUSE

Your bonuses this time are on language diversity,

using data published by UNESCO in 2009. Listen carefully.

The Diversity Index states the probability

that any two people of a given country, selected at random, will have different mother tongues.

By this index, Papua New Guinea has the greatest diversity,

with an index of 0.990,

taking into account more than 50 immigrant languages.

What is the index of the UK? You can have 0.05 either way.

0.2 or something?

0.2.

No. It's 0.14.

And secondly, of the 27 EU member states,

which Western European country has the highest language diversity index

at 0.734?

Germany?

I was going to say Belgium.

THEY CONFER

I'd guess a small one.

Why not?

Belgium.

Correct. Five EU member states have indexes below 0.1.

Those with the lowest are Malta and Portugal.

For five points, name one of the others.

Another small one.

-Denmark?

-Somewhere like Denmark, Norway, somewhere like that.

They've got a lot of immigrants.

ALL CONFER AT ONCE

I reckon Denmark.

-Denmark.

-Yes. The others are Poland and the Czech Republic.

10 points for this...

What annual event was held at the Baltic Gallery in Gateshead in 2011 and...?

The Turner Prize ceremony.

I'll accept that, yes. Turner Prize exhibition.

You get the bonuses, then, UCL. They're on fictional characters.

Queequeg, a Polynesian prince-turned-whaler

who both eats and shaves with his harpoon,

is a character in which novel of 1851?

-Moby Dick.

-Correct.

Daniel Quilp, described as being "so low in stature as to be quite a dwarf,

"though his head and face were large enough for the body of a giant"

appears in which novel by Charles Dickens?

THEY WHISPER

Nickleby. Nicholas Nickleby. I don't know.

-Nicholas Nickleby.

-No. It's The Old Curiosity Shop.

And finally, Mr Quelch is the form-master at Greyfriars School

in a series of books by Frank Richards

about which eponymous character?

-Billy Bunter.

-Correct. 10 points for this...

Giving your answer as the actual value, rather than an expression of it,

what is the highest common factor of the following two numbers given in their prime factorisation -

two to the power 100 times three cubed

and two cubed times three to the power 100?

2... Er, 216?

-Correct!

-APPLAUSE

Your bonuses are on mathematics, UCL.

Renowned for his list of problems posed at the 1900 International Congress of Mathematicians,

which German mathematician...?

-David Hilbert.

-Correct.

A concatenation of the Greek for "straight and angled",

what word is used to describe two points in a Hilbert space,

whose inner product is zero?

-I didn't hear the first part!

-A concatenation of straight and angled.

HE MUMBLES

THEY WHISPER

Perpendicular.

-Perpendicular.

-No. It's orthogonal.

Which well-known theorem of geometry generalises to all Hilbert spaces

where it asserts that the squared norm of the sum of two orthogonal vectors

is equal to the sum of their squared norms?

THEY WHISPER

-Pythagoras' theorem.

-Correct.

10 points for this... Listen carefully.

Which girl's name can be spelled out using letters of the NATO spelling alphabet,

represented in order

by words that correspond to a Shakespearean character,

a Greek letter, a month,

a nymph in Greek mythology...?

Janet.

Correct. I didn't even get to dance - tango.

APPLAUSE

Your bonuses are on an empire.

Firstly for five points... Exiled by the British to Rangoon, where he died in 1862,

Bahadur Shah II was the last emperor of which dynasty,

whose power had been in decline since the mid-18th century?

The Mughal Empire.

Correct. A direct descendant of both Timur and Genghis Khan,

who founded the Mughal Empire in 1526?

He was succeeded by Humayun four years later.

-Akbar.

-Yes.

-Akbar?

-No. It's Babur.

Completed in 1648 and known in Hindi as "Lal Qila",

which complex in Delhi was built by the Emperor Shah Jahan

and is named after its massive enclosing walls of sandstone?

-Red Fort.

-Red Fort?

-Yes.

-Red Fort?

-It is the Red Fort.

We'll take a music round now, with the scores on 60 and 120.

You'll hear a piece of classical music.

10 points if you can name the German composer.

GENTLE, LILTING MUSIC

Schubert.

No. You can hear more, Manchester.

MUSIC RESUMES

-Strauss.

-It is Richard Strauss, yes.

APPLAUSE

Beim Schlafengehen.

It was selected by Nick Clegg in the Radio 3 programme Private Passions.

You bonuses are three more classical pieces

chosen by prominent politicians as their Private Passions.

In each case, all you have to do is name the composer.

Firstly, the name of this Spanish composer, the piece chosen by Michael Portillo.

DARK, DRAMATIC MUSIC

MUSIC DROWNS OUT SPEECH

Nominate Brice.

-Albeniz?

-No. That was Manuel de Falla.

Secondly, the name of this Italian composer, the piece chosen by Vince Cable?

UPLIFTING, PLAYFUL MUSIC

MUSIC DROWNS OUT SPEECH

-I don't know.

-Verdi.

No. It's Bellini, part of "I Puritani".

And finally, the name of this German composer, the piece chosen by Neil Kinnock?

JOYOUS, UPLIFTING MUSIC

MUSIC DROWNS OUT SPEECH

Mendelssohn, maybe?

Let's have an answer.

-Bach.

-No. That's Bruch, part of his Violin Concerto No 1.

10 points for this starter...

In microbiology, what term denotes the short, often circular molecules of DNA in bacteria...?

-Plasmid.

-Correct.

APPLAUSE

University College London, these bonuses are on magazines.

Les Temps Modernes was founded in Paris in 1945 by which couple,

both of whom were existentialist philosophers and novelists?

Satre and de Beauvoir.

Correct. Still in print,

which weekly publication was founded by Beatrice and Sidney Webb in 1913

as a voice for socialism?

-Is that the, erm...

-New Internationalist, maybe?

Possibly. Or the New Statesman, maybe?

Is it? I'll try it.

-New Statesman.

-Correct.

The Egoist, founded in London in 1914 by the feminist Dora Marsden,

was greatly influenced by which US poet,

the leader of the Imagists?

-Ezra...

-Ezra Pound?

Why not? Ezra Pound.

Correct. 10 points for this starter question...

The name of which country is the origin of the names of a slow dance or promenade,

a lively dance in 2-4 time

and a highly radioactive metallic element...?

-Poland.

-Poland is correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

This set of bonuses are on occupational diseases, UCL.

What two-word name was commonly given to phosphorus necrosis,

a disease once prevalent in workers in match factories

and caused by exposure to high levels of phosphorous?

THEY CONFER Nominate Parton.

-Phossy jaw.

-Phossy jaw is correct.

Byssinosis is a respiratory disorder,

particularly common in workers inhaling dust particles produced by which crop?

Maize or something? Maize?

Come on.

OK. Er, maize.

No. It's cotton.

What two-word name is given to coal workers' pneumoconiosis

because of the visible effect of coal dust on the respiratory system?

-Black lung?

-Correct. We're going to take a second picture round.

You'll see an illustration.

10 points if you can name the artist.

Breughel.

Nope!

Is one of you going to buzz from Manchester?

I'll tell you. It's Arthur Rackham.

Picture bonuses shortly. 10 points for this starter...

Sacked in 612 BC by the Babylonians and others,

which city, close to Mosul in modern-day Iraq,

was the capital of the Assyrian Empire...?

-Nineveh.

-Nineveh is correct, yes.

APPLAUSE

We revert to the picture round.

You saw an illustration by Rackham of Queen Guinevere.

Your picture bonuses are three more of Rackham's illustrations of Malory's Mort D'Arthur.

I want the name of the character or characters portrayed.

Firstly for five, the two characters here...

Is it Mordred?

-It's Morgana. I don't know.

-Yes?

-Morgana and Mordred.

-No. It's Merlin and the Lady of the Lake.

Secondly, the two characters doing battle here?

THEY CONFER

Arthur and Mordred.

Correct. And finally, the character in the foreground here?

VARIOUS: Lancelot?

There's a lot of killing.

I say Lancelot.

Yes, go for Lancelot.

-Lancelot.

-That is Lancelot, yes.

10 points for this... What sesamoid bone of the human skeleton

is situated in the tendon of the quadriceps muscle of the thigh?

-Patella.

-Correct.

APPLAUSE

These bonuses are on words that begin with the letters "TRI"

but have no connection with the number three.

Give the word from the definition. The study of the interaction of sliding surfaces,

including friction, lubrication and bearings?

HE WHISPERS

Erm... I probably knew it at one time, but I can't remember.

-THEY CONFER

-Come on, let's have it, please.

-Trinamics?

-No. It's tribology.

The study of the hair and scalp?

Trichology.

-Trichology.

-Correct. And finally,

in Ancient Rome, a legionary officer or an official who represented the plebeians?

-Tribune.

-Correct. 10 points for this.

Extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism

and openness to experience or intellect

are considered to be the big five dimensions

of what concept in psychology?

-Personality.

-Personality is right.

-APPLAUSE

This set of bonuses are on US states.

Name the state of which the following

is the most populous county... Firstly,

Maricopa County, the fourth most populous county in the USA,

with almost four million inhabitants?

-Arizona.

-Correct.

Secondly, Harris County, the third most populous county in the USA,

with more than four million inhabitants?

-Pennsylvania?

-No, it's in Texas.

Finally, Cook County, the second most populous county in the USA,

with more than five million inhabitants?

Oh, I know this one!

Is that in New Jersey?

-Come on.

-You think it's Illinois?

-Illinois.

-Correct.

10 for this... Noted for significant contributions in the 1920s

to the study of longterm fluctuations,

which Russian economist, born in 1892,

gives his name to a business cycle of very long duration?

"Krinchev"?

No. Anyone like to buzz from UCL?

It's Nikolai Kondratiev. 10 for this...

Telling the story of Frank and April Wheeler's failing marriage,

which novel of 1961

by the US writer Richard Yates was adapted...?

Revolutionary Road.

-Correct.

-APPLAUSE

These bonuses are on European cities, UCL.

Turku, at the mouth of the Aura River,

is the oldest city and a former capital of which EU member state?

-(Is it Estonia?)

-Maybe.

-I think it's a Baltic state.

-Maybe.

-I don't know.

-Come on.

-Estonia.

-No. It's Finland.

Trondheim, the seat of the 12th-century Nidaros Cathedral,

was a medieval capital of which country?

-Norway.

-Correct.

Now a major financial centre, which city on the River Main

was the capital of the Confederation of the Rhine from 1806 to 1815?

-Frankfurt.

-Correct.

Another starter question. Born in Leipzig in 1646,

which German mathematician and philosopher is...?

-Leibniz.

-Leibniz is right.

APPLAUSE

Just over three minutes to go. Your bonuses are on insect morphology.

The respiratory system of insects consists of a series of tubes or trachea.

What term denotes the trachea openings in the exoskeleton that allow for gas exchange?

-Spiracle. Spiracles?

-Correct.

What organs on the head of an insect consist of three parts, scape, pedicle, and flagellum?

-The antennae?

-Yes.

-The antennae?

Correct. Especially prominent in parasitic wasps,

which egg-laying organ is found on the abdomen of female insects?

-Ovipositor.

-Correct.

In international law, what Latin-derived term denotes a state or individual

engaged in a war or conflict?

In every day speech, the same word is an adjective meaning hostile or aggressive.

-Belligerent.

-Correct.

Your bonuses now are on French volcanos, Manchester.

Name the French overseas department in which the following are located.

Firstly, La Grande Soufriere,

which erupted several times during the 1970s?

THEY CONFER

-Martinique.

-It's Guadeloupe.

Piton de la Fournaise, active several times since 1925?

Is that Martinique? Or Guiana?

-Go Martinique.

-Come on, let's have it.

-Martinique.

-No. It's Reunion.

And finally, Mount Pelee, which destroyed the town of St Pierre in 1902?

-Martinique?!

-Yes!

-Martinique?

-That is Martinique, yes!

-APPLAUSE

-10 points for this...

For what do the letters QR stand when denoting a two-dimensional barcode,

designed for fast readability and large storage capacity?

Quantity Reading.

No. Anyone from Manchester?

-Quick Read?

-No. It's Quick Response. 10 points for this...

Aconcagua, the highest mountain outside Asia,

lies close to the border between which two countries?

-Chile and Argentina?

-Correct.

Your bonuses now are on popular science writers.

In each case, name the British author from their works.

Firstly, "The Red Queen", "Genome" and "Nature via Nurture"?

-Robert Winston.

-Let's have it, please.

-Robert Winston?

-No. That's Matt Ridley. Viscount Ridley.

"The Global Warming Survival Kit", "The God Effect" and "Upgrade Me"?

-No.

-Brian Clegg. And finally,

"The Big Bang", "The Code Book" and "Fermat's Last Theorem"?

Simon Singh.

-Simon Singh.

-Correct. In his book, "Pudd'nhead Wilson"

Mark Twain wrote that which vegetable

"is nothing but a cabbage with a college education"?

-Cauliflower.

-Correct.

-APPLAUSE

-Your bonuses are on cricket.

I will read the names of two opposing captains in the Cricket World Cup Final.

In each case, give me the two teams and the decade in which the match took place.

Clive Lloyd and Mike Brearley?

That's England, West Indies.

That's in the '80s.

Let's have it, please.

-England and West Indies. It's the '80s.

-No. It's the '70s.

Ricky Ponting and Sourav Ganguly?

Australia, India and...

-END-OF-QUIZ GONG

-At the gong, Manchester have 150,

University College London have 230.

Manchester, you get a chance to come back.

Next time you play, you must win if you want to go through to the semifinals.

Congratulations, University College London.

You are the first to go through to the semifinals. Well done.

I hope you can join us next time for another quarterfinal match.

-Until then, it's goodbye from Manchester.

-ALL: Goodbye.

-It's goodbye from University College London.

-ALL: Goodbye.

-And it's goodbye from me. Goodbye.

-APPLAUSE

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd