Q5. What position was most common for heterosexual copulation in ancient Greece?

A5. Like dogs - the "missionary" position was known but not favoured - at least not by the artists who painted pictures on ancient Greek vases.


Q5 - Early this [Ed: Last] century the Emperor of Ethiopia was impressed by American use of the electric chair for executing criminals, and bought one. What happened to it, and why?

A5. Dr. Bob's answer: There being no electricity in Ethiopia at the time, he used it as a throne. If this trend had been continued after electricity came in, it would have been a very convenient way of disposing of recalcitrant monarchs.


Q1. What proportion of UFO abductions are reported as happening in the USA??

A1. Dr. Bob's answer: 80% - Aliens obviously find Americans the most interesting specimens


Q5. How, or on what occasion, did Attila the Hun die?

Alternative answer: He isn't dead. I've seen him with Elvis in my local supermarket.


Q3 - In 1867 how many different kinds of hammer were being made in Birmingham (UK)?

A3. Dr. Bob's answer: 500


Q4 - What Pharaoh of ancient Egypt had the nickname "Horse Face"?

A4. Dr. Bob's answer: Akhnaten (congenital deformity; there are statues and carvings that show it)


Q1 - What proportion of American households buy no books?

A1. Dr Bob’s answer: 90%


Q1 - In a field of ripe wheat, how big a circle can one man flatten in 30 minutes with simple garden tools?

A1. Dr Bob’s answer: 20m diameter. As has been demonstrated by the Wessex Skeptics, who the following morning had to shoo away various gurus who kept turning up, pronouncing it genuine and waffling on about "No human being can possibly have done this", etc.


Q1 - What percentage of adults lose faith in their religion?

A1. Dr Bob’s answer: 38%


Q2 - If you see a polar bear coming charging towards you, which way should you jump?

A2. Dr Bob’s answer: Left! Left! Everybody knows that most bears are left-handed. Indeed the Inuit of Kalaallit Nunaat (ex Greenland Eskimos) objected to the official seal (sic) of the Royal Greenland Trading Company which depicts a bear extending its right paw. (Dr Bob would like to hear from someone in the area). The bear will swipe with its front left paw; therefore if you and the bear are facing, you wait till the last moment then jump to the bear’s right, which is your left.


Q4 - What European country exports the most hippopotamuses?

A4. Dr Bob’s answer: Hungary (it’s a terrible place, you can’t walk around on the Great Plain without having to bat herds of them off with a stick. The spotty pink ones are the worst - randy old buggers - yes I do believe I’ll have another slivovitch)


Q4 - What does the constellation Sagittarius spectacularly resemble?

A4. Dr Bob’s answer: A teapot. The ancients reckoned they could see a half man, half horse with a bow and arrow, but you can’t find those mushrooms any more. I am amazed and appalled that nobody got this right. Maybe nobody goes outside at night and looks up any more. Get some astronomical software so you can see, on your screens, what you would have seen if you went outside.


But this one seems wrong!

Q3 - A bucket of water, full to the brim, stands on bathroom scales which read exactly 40kg. A large block of wood weighing 5kg is dropped in, and it floats freely. What is the final reading on the scales?

A3. (By Andi Stevenson) - If that greek geezer was right, it would displace it's own mass, so it's still 40kg. But it was DROPPED in, and water would have splashed out - so make that 39kg..