Final Jeopardy: Medical Discoveries (2-7-12)
The Final Jeopardy question (2/7/2012) in the category “Medical Discoveries” was:
Nicolas Paulescu isolated a substance he call pancrein, now known as this.
The last three college students to compete for a semi-final spot in the College Championship tournament appeared today. They are: Monica Thieu, a sophomore at the Univ. of North Texas from Dallas, TX; Matt Olson, a sophomore at Stanford from Berkeley, CA, and Zach McDonnell, a freshman at William & Mary from Harrisonburg, VA.
Matt found the Daily Double in the Jeopardy! round in the category “Geographic Meanings.” He had $3,200 after dominating the Womens’ Sports category. He bet half of that and was RIGHT.
A country in the Balkans: “Black Mountain” show
Matt finished in the lead with $10,000. Zach got the last $1,000 clue helping him to finish second with $4,200 and Monica ended up in last place with $3,800.
In Double Jeopardy, Matt found the first Daily Double in the category “Mathematics,” a video Daily Double with this picture. He now had $10,800, because Monica picked the $800 clue, he answered it right and then he picked the Daily Double. He bet $7,000. He was RIGHT and shot up to $17,800!
On the left is the decimal equivalent of 3/5th; on the right is the decimal equivalent of this fraction. show
Matt also got the last Daily Double in “A Novel Description.” He now had $26,200, over $20,000 more than either of his competitors. He only felt like parting with $4,000 of that if they were able to stump him and they were not. He was RIGHT.
Working on the transcontinental railroad: Galt-ernate reality; from the Rand non-corporation. show
Matt finished with a stupendous lead of going into Final Jeopardy with $32,600, which would have been $2,000 more if he had not attempted that last cattle dog question (he said sheepdog). Monica was in second place with $7,800 and Zach, also a victim of the cattle dog question (he said shepherd), was last with $5,800.
Three out of three correct Daily Doubles today, and three out of three correct Final Jeopardy answers today.
Nicolae Paulescu (1869-1931) was “a Romanian physiologist, professor of medicine, the discoverer of pancreatine. The ‘pancreine’ was a crude extract of bovine pancreas in salted water, after which some impurities were removed with hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide.” (wikipedia).
But, it seems that, in 1923, two other fellows — Frederick G. Banting and John Macleod — actually won a Nobel Prize for the discovery of insulin.
Zach bet all he had and finished with $11,600.
Monica, smart girl (for not taking a guess on that cattle dog question), bet everything but a dollar, so she finished with $15,599, managing to snag a wild card spot.
Matt bet $7,400 and finished with the biggest score of all the semi-finalists: $40,000.
Here are the 5 semi-finalists::
Matt Olson $40,000
Weston Manion $28,800
Tyler Benedict $20,100
Connie Shi $19,000
Greer Mackebee $18,000
The Wild Card Spots:
Zack Terrill $19,200
Sarah Bart $18,600
Monica Thieu $15,599
Jaime Alayon $12,799
