Contest #854: the Starship Enterprise in Vulcan, Alberta, Canada

Vulcan, Alberta in southern Canada was our stop this week – home to a large model of the Starship Enterprise FX6-1995-A from the Star Trek series.

Not named Vulcan after the home planet of Spock, but after the Roman god of fire by a railway surveyor fond of the classical world, the town has embraced its link to the Star Trek planet. Throughout the town, one can find Star Trek memorabilia in business names or in the lampposts and painted crosswalks. Vulcan is recognized as the “Official Star Trek Capital of Canada” and attracts tourists visiting to say they’ve been to Vulcan!

Finding the Starship before the hint:

  • Paul Voestermans
  • Graham Hedley
  • Martin de Bock
  • Phil Over
  • Garfield
  • hhgygy
  • Bas van Limpt
  • Glenmorren
  • Hatterman
  • Angie CF

And after the hint:

  • The Curiosity
  • robin

Contest #828 — Uunartoq Hot Springs, Qaqortoq, Greenland

This little spot in the south of Greenland is one of the only hot springs on the island nation that is warm enough to actually bathe in. The justaposition between the warm water and the icebergs in the distance, nestled in this beautifully stark valley, makes this spot a unique, but very hard to get to, location.

Those who found it before the hint:

  • Martin de Bock
  • Paul Voestermans
  • Graham Hedley
  • Garfield
  • hhgygy
  • Eloy Cano
  • Phil Ower
  • Angie CF
  • Bas Van Limpt
  • Zorro the Fox
  • Lighthouse

And after the hint:

  • Ashwini Agrawal

Contest #817 – Last home of Alan Turing, Wilmslow, England

Turing Plaque.jpg

Alan Turing had a revolutionary mind. By the time he was 25, he had created the concept of the Turing Machine, the original general purpose computer. The invention of the Turing Machine is often marked as the birth of field of Computer Science.

During World War II, the British government called on this genius to lead an effort to break German naval code machines called “Enigma”. His team’s efforts lead to the successful breaking of the settings of Enigma and enabled the Allies to defeat the Axis powers in many crucial engagements.

He also happened to be a homosexual man, which was a crime in the UK at the time. He was convicted and, as a condition of not imprisoning him, he was subjected to chemical castration. 2 weeks before his 42nd birthday, he died, in this house, as a result of cyanide poisoning, which was ruled to be suicide.

In 2009, Prime Minister Gordon Brown issued an official public apology for “the appalling way [Turing] was treated. Queen Elizabeth II granteed him a posthumous pardon in 2013 and in 2017, Parliment passed a law, named the “Alan Turing Law” which retroactively pardoned men harmed by the laws that outlawed homosexual acts.

Those who found the site before the hint:

  • Paul Voestermans
  • hhgygy
  • Martin de Bock
  • Garfield
  • Phil Ower
  • Graham Hedley
  • Lighthouse
  • ZORRO THE FOX
  • Eloy Cano

And after the hint:

  • Robin
  • LawnBoy
  • Bas van Limpt
  • Ashwini Agrawal
  • Gillian B