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

Hi, Echo.

I was reading Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond (very interesting book about the history of inequality between human societies) and I found something I thought would make a good trivia question. Lemon Blossom suggested I tell you, so here it is:

"Trivia question--what's the most grown crop in the world, and where was if first grown? When I found out, I was very surprised, especially by the second, but also by the first."

Any ideas? I was very surprised by both, but especially by the second part.

I would say rice, due to all the people in Asia for whom it is a staple food. And perhaps it was first grown in... Africa?

But that is a good question!

Sorry for not being here for four weeks. The answer is actually sugarcane, and it comes from the highlands of New Guinea. (My source for this is _Guns, Germs, and Steel_, by Jared Diamond.)

I hope you're having a good school year. I probably won't be on H2G2 much in the new future, as I'm leaving for college (I'm a freshman at Caltech) in about a week and I don't expect to have much free time there. Especially since I'm going to try out for the college bowl team.

Oh, how interesting. Do have fun at Caltech, and in college bowl.

School starts for me on Tuesday. I probably won't have much time for h2g2 then either, as all of a sudden I'm taking loads of APs and more advanced classes, and teaching myself a few languages, and that sort of thing. I wish humans didn't need sleep - only then would there be enough hours in the day!

Thanks. Good luck with quizbowl and your APs. Even without sleeping I'm not sure there would be enough hours in the day--but I could certainly use those extra hours in any case.