Here is the Element Quiz Question:

The Question:
This element was known to the ancients in Egypt and the Middle East for
making blue glass. This element was commonly mistaken for bismuth. This
element is used in the manufacture of vitamin B12.  You could say that
Clumpy's and Kloumpios's relatives are to blame for the origin of this
element's name. An additive of this element was used to maintain the foam
head on beer for a number of years until it was shown to cause medical
issues. What element is being described?

The Answer:
The element is Cobalt (Co). Approximately 25% of the Cobalt mined in the
world is used as an alloy with other metals. Ancient peoples used cobalt
containing ores to produce deep blue colored glass. Jewelry containing
cobalt has been found in the ruins of Pompeii. Cobalt derives its name from
the German word "kobolds" which means "goblins". The German miners believed
that mountain gnomes had put an evil spell on the ore they mined to prevent
it from producing copper! "Beer drinkers syndrome" came from folks who
excessively consumed beer that contained a cobalt additive for maintaining
a foam head on the beer resulting in heart issues. The use of the additive
was discontinued.


The winners of the quiz are Joyce Koo, IPC International, and Todd
MacFadden, Bose. They will get the services of Clumpy and Kloumpios for the
 two weeks. Joyce and Todd submitted the correct answer at the same time
per the Rockwell Collins firewall time stamp so they are co-winners of the
quiz.

And this works perfectly as there was not going to be a Element quiz next
week due to the US Memorial Day holiday and I'll be on vacation whitewater
kayaking.


Hey Doug - did any of Clumpy's and Kloumpios's relatives play a role in the
naming of cobalt? I asked the boys but they gave me one of those "that's a
family secret" looks. Do you know the history?


So far Clumpy and Kloumpios have done the following:

Past Quiz winners/tasks:
Week 1 Ravinder Ajmani, Western Digital
Week 1 Ron Feyereisen, SigmaTron Intl.
Week 2 Louis Hart, Compunetics
Week 3 Mark Kostinovsky, Schlumberger Ltd.
Week 3 John Burke
Week 4 Drew Meyer, Benchmark Electronics
Week 5 No Winner - no correct responses!
Week 6 Bhanu Sood, NASA
Week 7 Keith Calhoun, Sopark Corp
Week 7 Ian Fox, Rolls Royce
Week 8 Leland Woodall
Week 8 David Bealer, SMT
Week 9 Tom Carroll, Boeing
Week 10 Louis Hart, Compunetics
Week 11 Tom Carroll, Boeing
Week 11 Scott Decker, UTAS
Week 12 Matthias Mansfeld, Mansfeld Elektronik PCB Design and Assembly
Week 13 No Quiz,
Week 14 Matthias Mansfeld, Mansfeld Elektronik PCB Design and Assembly
Week 15 Bhanu Sood, NASA
Week 16 John Maxwell
Week 17 Leland Woodall
Week 18 Leland Woodall
Week 19 Tom Carroll, Boeing
Week 20 Robert Kondner
Week 21 Tom Brendlinger, ClearMotion Inc.
Week 22 Carl Van Wormer, Cipher Engineering LCC

Week 23 Juliano Ribeiro, DATACOM
- assisted with ????

Week 24 Gerry Gagnon, FLIR Commercial Systems
- assisted with ????

Week 25 Graham Collins, Sunsel Systems
- The guys can help me with some thermal profiling work, and maybe I will
get them to help out with my "non-day-job" enterprise, setting up a craft
distillery.  The boys know anything about running a still?  The steam lines
are run but we need to get the chiller hooked up to the condenser...

Week 26 Joyce Koo, IPC International
- assisted ????

Week 26 Todd MacFadden, Bose
- assisted with ????


I hope everyone has a awesome week and a great Memorial Day holiday for
those folks in the US.

Dave Hillman
Rockwell Collins
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