From how colours got their names to the world’s earliest disease, we answer several of you
most burning questions about life.
- Hi there, my name is Doopie and I’ll be reading out the questions and answers.
- Bask in my glory, for I am Nixxiom, the bringer of TRUTH!
- * - Doopie are you basking?
- * - Huh?
Oh yeah - sure.
10 - Dapogiman - What was the first ice cream?
- What is this “iced cream”?
Is that some kind of modern term for Yeti milk?
I will not drink anything that comes from those disgusting creatures.
- * - No-no, Nixxiom!
Ice cream is one of the best things in the world.
Here try some!
- * - You eat it.
- Ooooooh!
- * - Doopie, you were right, this iced cream
is marvelous!
- How did you not get brain freeze?
- * - Brain what?
There’s no specific origin or inventor of ice-cream but we do know that people consumed
snow flavoured with honey and nectar as far back as Alexander the Great.
Desserts that resemble the ice cream we know today began to appear during the 18th century
in England and the United States.
Some of the earliest recipes were flavoured with raspberries, strawberries and cherries.
9 - Mr_polar - What do wasps do for the environment and why do they exist?
- * - Wasps are the bandits of the insect world,
you’ll be enjoying a feast prepared by your servants and then all of a sudden they descend
to take what isn’t theirs!
- * - HEY!
- * - It’s a fine day for swordplay.
HEEEEEYYAAHHHH!
- *
In early summer wasps serve a similar role to bees, they pollinate plants and flowers
while they gather and feed on nectar.
They are also predatory insects and will spend a lot of time hunting smaller insect to feed
their young, this makes them useful to ecosystems as they control insect populations.
As irritating as wasps are, they are helpful.
- Oh - really?
- * - Alright you can go, but don’t you come
near my iced cream, THAT’S MINE!
- *
8 - TNTNinjaTC - How would our vision work if we had four eyes?
- For an elf like me with heightened senses, four eyes would be redundant.
But for someone like Doopie, extra eyes could really help her!
- I’m ok - I really don’t need any extra eyes.
- Are you sure?
Because I know this sorcerer who could turn you into a spider - no problem.
- Why would I want to be a spider?
- I don’t know, maybe there’s someone you want to scare.
- * - Hmm...
With two eyes we have what is called Binocular vision.
The brain receives images from the eyes and combines the two to form a vision.
This grants us depth perception, which helps us work out how far away an object is and
how fast it may be moving.
Two eyes is enough to comprehend our three dimensional world, any more would have little
effect besides maybe better depth perception, if our brains were able to process the addition
images.
- * - HELLBENT!
I HAVE COME FOR YOU!
- * - Ow!
7- MAXIMUS249 - How & why do volcanoes erupt if they aren't 'alive’?
- Volcanoes are the fury of the Gods!
If one is erupting then it means a mortal has done something awful.
- * - Oh no, my ice cream!
- * - DOOPIE!!!
Beneath the Earth’s crust is the mantle, made up of molten rock and gases.
As pressure builds in the mantle it eventually erupts from weak spots in the planet’s crust,
along fault lines, this rupture is what we call volcanoes.
Volcanoes are only considered extinct if they haven’t erupted in the past ten thousand
years and are not predicted to do so in future.
Otherwise they are considered active and dormant.
6 - Puppetmaster87 - How did colors get their names and who named them?
- Colours were named by the King who rides the rainbow.
I do not question his will, for he is wise beyond any that walk this earth.
- He rides a rainbow?
That sound pretty magical!
- That he is, Doopie.
Look, there’s a rainbow right now.
- * - HOW DO I GET OFF THIS DAMN THING!?!?
Although we do not know who named each colour we can trace some of their origins back thousands
of years.
The names we use for colours often have their origins in a similar word used to describe
an object or the state of something.
For example, the colour blue has its origin in the Proto-Indo-European word “bhel”
which meant “to shine”.
5 - Mc_Finest - What would happen if the Sun was just a huge dry rock in space?
- * - Then we must relight it!
Before darkness takes us for all eternity!
- * - Come on now - grrrr - dammit - Come on!
- Nixxiom, you can’t light a fire in space.
- Hold on, I’ve got this!
- *
If the Sun was a large rock it would contract under its own mass, collapsing within hours
and possibly forming a black hole.
If somehow it didn’t, the absence of heat and light generated from the Sun would cause
our planet to be plunged into complete darkness, temperatures would plummet and the very atmosphere
would freeze.
Then everything would die.
- * - Aha!
There we go!
- *
4 - SuperZOOKBros - What was the first known disease in history?
- The disease of undeath of course!
I should know, I caught it.
But don’t worry, I got better.
- * - *
- Erm Nixxiom, it looks like you dropped your - arm.
- Oh - thank you, Doopie.
- * - Allow me to give you a pat on the back for
this favour.
- * - Erm - thanks?
- You are most welcome, my friend.
Although the first disease known to man is still up for debate we know that there were
several references to leprosy in the Bible, caused by a bacteria called Mycobacterium
Leprae.
Archaeologists have also found mummies that were buried with signs of tuberculosis, which
they discovered after taking samples from their lungs.
These ancient egyptians were believed to have died from tuberculosis in roughly 600BC.
3 - SuperJohana123 - What was the first thing ever invented?
- The first and greatest thing ever invented, was fighting.
It came to be when two cavemen argued over who had the heaviest rock.
The winner walked away with two heavy rocks.
What a great invention!
- Is there anything you enjoy besides fighting and ice cream?
- Hmm…
Punching!
- Of course you do…
Simple tools were some of the earliest inventions and their usage can be traced back roughly
2.5 million years.
Sharp-edged stones were used as knives, useful for hunting and cutting meat from animals.
2 - Why do cat butts raise when you pet them?
- It means your pet is diseased – and must be purged before the infection can spread.
- * - Careful, Nixxiom.
She’s not going to like that.
- DIE, PLAGUED ABOMINATION!
- * - I told ya.
This is an instinctive reflex to show a positive reaction to your pats – but it can have
many other meanings.
Such as the cat showing you are the “dominant cat” or a type of mother-figure.
They can also do this to allow other cats to exchange scents by lifting their tail,
or female cats might do this to show they’re ready to mate.
But in most cases, it just feels nice for them.
1 - weirdo chickin - What is the closest thing to a dinosaur today?
- I think that might be Nixxiom.
- What?
I’m no lizard.
- No, silly.
I’m saying you’re old.
- Old?
I’m a strapping young elf in my early ten thousands.
How old are you?
- I’m in my twenties.
- Twenty thousand!?
Wow Doopie, you look so youthful!
- No - no, just twenties.
- Oh…
Doopie you look terrible for your age.
- Humans are different to elves, dingus!
Of the animals alive today it’s thought that birds are the descendants of the dinosaurs.
In fact, today the closest relatives of the Tyrannosaurus Rex are Chickens and Ostriches.
Although birds are considered living descendants, other species are also related.
Some modern reptiles are believed to be related in some way to dinosaurs, such as Crocodiles.
- Doopie, I apologise for bringing up your old appearance.
Allow me to make it up to you, together we shall ride and pillage as much iced creams
as we can find!
- Oh heck yeah - let’s ride!
I want my mint chocolate chip!
- * - FOR GLORY!