MYSTERY OBJECTS

[PanBiker]

I thought of a jam thermometer which you can use for toffee and anything else that needs bubbling up but it doesn't have a sliding scale or indicator which is the norm on those.

[chinatyke]

The scale only goes from 30 to 120f, far too low for jam or toffee. Could be something like fermentation, possibly brewing, but why would 68f/20C be marked? Could it be a room temperature thermometer, say to comply with minimum working temperature regulations or something like that?

[plaques]

20c / 68f Is the Metrology reference standard for measurement. When you are chasing 'thous' near enough is not good enough.

[Stanley]

China and Cathy were on the ball right away. Cath with over the side of the pan and China with the water bath and yes, the target was 20C. But what was in the bath?

[Tizer]

The presenter of `Inside Science' on Radio 4 made the mistake of saying degrees Celsius and degrees Centigrade are the same. I would have agreed with him but a man from the body responsible for standards sent in a detailed letter explaining that 100 on one scale is only 99.9 on the other. Well I never! It's all to do with the different standards used for the two scales.

[chinatyke]

Shouldn't it be just 100 Celsius without the "degrees" and 100 degrees C?

[Stanley]

Or just Boiling point at Sea Level.... If nobody comes up with the answer I'll knock it off tomorrow. I sense you have gone negative on this one.

[Gloria]

A pure guess, but is it for checking the temperature of the blood being heated for black puddings??

[chinatyke]

What was in the bath?

Anything to do with milk and cheese? Like the rennin starter cultures for cheesemaking?

[plaques]

How about warming oil up so that you could get the correct viscosity measurement.

[Tizer]

Or specific gravity (SG) measurement as done for beer and probably for milk? SG used to be measured using a small, very accurately made glass bottle. You weighed the bottle when full of the test liquid and compared the result with the weight when full of distilled water. The bottle and its contents had to be at the exact same temperature, which was achieved using a water bath. The bottle had a ground glass stopper with a hole drilled from top to bottom. You filled the bottle to the rim then carefully put the stopper in the neck. Excess liquid was displaced through the hole in the stopper and you had to avoid trapping any bubbles. Then thoroughly dry the bottle and weigh it. It required patience and great care!

[Marilyn]

On some cooking shows they use a method of cooking fish/chicken/eggs etc in a warm water bath. I think the meat/ fish or egg is placed in a plastic bag and the water is kept close to 60 degrees. The eggs remain runny in the middle.

[Stanley]

Lovely imaginative answers. I hid my clue too well! (gone negative). It's for monitoring the temperature in the bath containing developer in the dark room.
Next one?

[chinatyke]

We should have seen the light on that one.

This morning I was seeking to buy a home appliance on a Chinese shopping website. Which appliance was described as 2 tattoo mini automatic vomiting?

[Gloria]

Are they taps??

[Wendyf]

A toaster.....or a ....one of those things that goes in the sink to demolish your food waste, can't remember what they are called.

[chinatyke]

A toaster.....or a ....one of those things that goes in the sink to demolish your food waste, can't remember what they are called.

I don't know what they are called either but your first guess is correct. Sink waste disposal units?

Oh Wendy, you got it straight away. I didn't know you could translate Chinglish!

The full description is: Tenfly BH8863C Toaster with 2 tattoo mini automatic vomiting breakfast

http://www.baopals.com/products/525525403248

I'll have to find a harder one.

Must go and have some beans on vomitted breakfast...

[Wendyf]

Just one of my many skills China. I was doubtful about the mini bit though!

[plaques]

Obvious really, when its finished toasting it it 'throws it up' = vomiting.

[PanBiker]

Not with a real toaster, mine has a manual lift.

On the wonky English it took a while for the penny to drop with Younger Amps of which there were many in a VCR circuit description. Not as confused as China' example though.

[plaques]

What's this they are carrying?

Bomb Snffers.jpg

[chinatyke]

Isn't it funny what appears when you mouse over the picture? It's the 1952 UK formation bomb sniffing team! The 2017 team have the same equipment but they now wear head to toe protective clothing.

What are younger amps - milliamps?

[Stanley]

I thought they were large candle snuffers.....



Any idea what these are?

[plaques]

Just a word on the bomb snuffers. Actually incendiary bomb snuffers 1940. Came across this image in a book but decided to look it up on Google. Found it straight away but thought I would make it more difficult by doing a photo shop mirror image. Even after all this messing about the caption still appears, didn't know that!. Which all goes to show Google is watching you.

[Marilyn]

Pop rivets?