Geo Quiz
Fancy Hats and High Heels for Ireland’s Renowned Horse-Racing Festival
Today’s Geo Quiz features an Irish city that has hosted a summer horse racing festival going back as far as the 1860′s. The races and festive atmosphere will again attract visitors this July from all over the world including loyal Geo Quiz listener Eamonn Burke who’s introducing the tradition to his daughter this summer.
Pacific Island Takes on Soccer’s Best Teams
A French Polynesian island is home to a soccer team playing in the Confederations Cup in Brazil this week. This team of underdogs are facing some of the world’s best in an international soccer tournament. Can you name it?
Pirate Joe’s in Canada Sued by Trader Joe’s
In Friday’s Geo Quiz, we’re looking for a Canadian city, where Mike Hallatt has opened up a store dedicated to reselling Trader Joe’s popular products.
Mozart’s Violin And Viola Tour US for First Time Ever
For today’s Geo Quiz, we’re following the path of a famous stringed instrument, from its normal home in Austria to, well, just down the hallway from our studios here at WGBH.
Acceleration and Agility, Not Speed, Secret to Cheetah Success
The cheetah is ranked as the fastest creature on land. What makes it run so fast? That question has long intrigued Alan Wilson. He specializes in locomotive biomechanics at the Royal Veterinary College in the UK. He’s been studying cheetahs in the wild in southern Africa and finds that the secret to the cheetah’s success when hunting is not its speed but its impressive acceleration and ability to change direction very quickly.
Medici Children Suffered from Malnutrition During Italian Renaissance
Italian paleopathologist Valentina Giuffra has been studying the skeletons of nine children born to the Medici family in Florence during the Renaissance. She tells anchor Marco Werman that their bones showed signs of rickets — they apparently suffered from a deficiency of Vitamin.
Geo Quiz: Summer Travel Adventures
Are you traveling abroad somewhere interesting this summer? We would love to hear about it and include you in an interactive map we’re creating of summer adventures. If your summer plans take you outside the United States, and you want to participate, fill out the form here and we’ll be in touch.
Syrian Vintner Carries On in a Time of War
The war in Syria has been devastating in many ways: An estimated 80,000 people killed, innumerable families and businesses destroyed. But life has to go on. That’s the sense you get speaking to Sandro Saadé. Despite the war in Syria, he’s managed to keep the Bargylus vineyard and winery up and running in northwest Syria.
Why China has Fallen for Fixies
For Thursday’s Geo Quiz, our destination is China’s largest city. Bicycles have historically been the cheap, efficient way of getting from A to B there. But now fixed-gear bikes are becoming the must-have fashion accessory for this city’s hip young professionals.
iDodge Tax Flash Mob Protest at the Apple Store in London
Apple computers and iPhones may be just about everywhere in the world but we’re searching for Apple’s European headquarters. The flashy corporate building is located just north of Blarney Road in Ireland. Can you name the city? It rhymes with fork.
A Rare Dialect Spoken in Alaska
In a small community in Alaska residents are speaking a language that you might not expect. Its roots come from a country that colonized Alaska in the 18th century. For today’s Geo Quiz, name that country.
Ireland’s New Stamp Features a 224 Word Short Story
Ireland’s newest postage stamp celebrates the country’s long literary heritage. The 60-cent stamp fittingly features a 224 word short story by Eoin Moore.
Scientists Debate the Prospects for Bringing Woolly Mammoth Back to Life
Russian scientists have discovered a woolly mammoth carcass with liquid blood on a remote Arctic island. It was preserved in ice below the Siberian permafrost for thousands of years. The find has fueled speculation that it may be possible to clone the Ice Age animal.
360 Degree Street View of the Galápagos Archipelago
A team of scientists and Google mapmakers travelled to the Galápagos to retrace Darwin’s steps and to capture a 360-degree Street View perspective of the islands. Raleigh Seamster, project director for Google Maps, describes trekking into active volcanoes, documenting sea lions underwater, and getting up close and personal with Blue-Footed Boobies.
World’s Biggest Flag Unfurled in Romania
A brass band played the national anthem at a military airfield outside of Bucharest, Romania earlier this week as 200 volunteers battled with the wind to unfurl a gigantic Romanian flag. Romania’s prime minister was also on hand for the historic occasion. It was an official attempt to set the Guinness World Record for the biggest flag.
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