Small teams of people from a variety of scientific and engineering backgrounds vie to complete a gauntlet designed by fellow scientists and engineers to test the limits of human ingenuity. From designing simple machines to isolating chemicals from raw materials, anything needed to finish each of several challenges will have to be fabricated from scratch if possible. If electricity is necessary then a basic battery or generator will need to be crafted. If explosives are required then salt peter will need to be extracted from bat guano...you get the drift. The contest may take days but will be edited for content and condensed to fill a two hour Discovery channel special hosted by Leonard Nemoy. ( :because as long as this is just in my head I can make that call: )
Winning teams would receive a cash prize, the accolades of their peers, a round of being guests on the morning talk show circuit and the chance to tweak or completely redesign the course next year to be even more challenging.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Dec 23 2008 Rough Science http://www.open2.net/roughscience/BBC/Open University programme with scientists fending for themselves in various wilderness locations [hazel, Dec 23 2008] Just in case you're wondering what the fuss is about. http://www.capitalw...e_02_copy_large.jpgThe lovely Kate [sigh] [coprocephalous, Dec 24 2008] But Kathy's a prof http://newsimg.bbc....64_203kathylong.jpg [coprocephalous, Dec 24 2008] Geek Gauntlets http://www.thinkgee...parel/jewelry/a96b/ [jaksplat, Dec 25 2008] If you discount Leonard Nemoy this was largely baked in the UK in the form of Rough Science [see linky]-- hazel, Dec 23 2008 What [hazel] said, and with Kathy Sykes and Kate Humble instead of Leonard Nimoy (who is more famous than Leonard Nemoy)-- coprocephalous, Dec 23 2008 Yeah, this would be Rough Science mixed with Scrapheap Challenge {SC (UK)==Junkyard Wars (US)}.
Get rid of Kate Humble as presenter and use Richard Dean Anderson and Mr. T. Perhaps you could start each team trapped in a shed...-- Jinbish, Dec 23 2008 Wasn't there a show on the BBC where family teams competed, using stuff around their own homes, to build things? The winners got their butchered household appliances and furniture replaced, the losers...didn't.-- coprocephalous, Dec 23 2008 Can we get rid of Kathy Sykes though? She makes me cross.-- hazel, Dec 23 2008 Oh, OK then. Just as long as Kate Humble gets more screen time, that'll be fine.-- coprocephalous, Dec 23 2008 The Humble is OK. You can have as much of her as you want. Just not La Sykes.-- hazel, Dec 23 2008 //You can have as much of her as you want//That would probably be illegal.-- coprocephalous, Dec 23 2008 As a former colonist I feel that this BBC Rough Science program should have graced my television by now. It's a travesty I say. A Travesty!-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Dec 23 2008 I watched a show on BBC America last night about getting high. It was very imformative but it made me want to smoke pot really bad. (Should I Smoke Dope?, I think that was the title.)
Sorry fries, off topic I know.-- blissmiss, Dec 23 2008 Yeah, 'cause like I never go off topic. This BBC show, it didn't have any spaghetti trees did it?-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Dec 23 2008 random, halfbakery