h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Not Egyptian. Want another clue? Music.

Err...that was a reference to Joseph Smith's magic glasses with which he was able to read the BoM. Which was written in Reform Egyptian. Apparently.

A type of guitar or harp-guitar. Too easy! The trick is to search for "a bissex" and that ignores all the references to musicians, educational nutritionists and hills in Barbados.

Sorry, I had no idea what language it was supposed to have been written in. I used the word "translated" uncritically, and don't want to entier into any controversy over the feat.

Prize to Manolan

A brilliant ploy, put "a bissex" in quotes! Here is where we learn how to exploit google better and better.

Manolan can set Question 3.

You can have a lot of fun following the links if you mis-type it and mis out one of the S's

Manolan does not rise to the challenge. Ho hum.

Hard job to do, finding something that google won't immediately match. I typed in "numerous moan" and up came the very poem I took it from, number one (along with other stuff, some dodgy).

OK then . . . Question 3: where would you find camels at war with grasshoppers?

Mauritania

Not a geographical location.

And by the way nothing biblical (my daughter just googled up some promising stuff that wasn't what I had in mind). These grasshoppers are the same size (more or less) as the camels.

Alternative names for chess pieces

Spot on, PBS

This particular form of chess is called "Fairy Chess" -- because it flourished in a periodical called "The Fairy Chess Review". Though heterodox chess (with special rules, pieces and/or moves) has existed for as long as orthodox chess, it only became popular in the 20th century.

Well I didn't know it was popular either, but that's what The Illustrated Dictionary of Chess (E. Brace, 1977) says.

The most prominent Fairy Chess pieces are the Grasshopper, Amazon, and Nightrider. There's also the Camel, Giraffe, Zebra, and whatever you're having yourself.

Question 4: Have you got one, PBS?

Give a minute or two - I have only just got home.

A family of UV stabilisers that protect the skin from UV damage

Melatonin? A few small-scale studies suggest that gels, lotions, or ointments containing melatonin may protect against redness (erythema) and other skin damage when used either alone or in combination with topical vitamin E prior to exposure to UV radiation from the sun. (from http://www.umm.edu/altmed/ConsSupplements/Melatonincs.html)

Sorry - not what I had in mind.