As a companion thread to The truly great threads in SDMB history I’d like to propose a thread dedicated to the Dopers who have shed light on (if not outright solved) some of the great mysteries of our times. Please join in the nominations with as much background data as you can provide on the merits of your nominee(s).
First, I must applaud the work of cochrane who, in this post, disclosed “To lay this puzzle to rest, it’s 14 karats of gold in a Florentine pietra dura (an art piece made of highly polished and inlaid colored stones).”
Surely there are many others who have opened our eyes to things we just didn’t know, or weren’t sure of, in their service to the concept of fighting ignorance. Please add to the list here.
Was that “answer” ever verified or was it just another guess/poke at the question? I just did a quick scan of the linked Wiki article; there’s was no mention of “14” (karats or otherwise) and no particular mention of gold. There was no discussion in the linked thread either.
Thanks to both of you for helping this thing remain, at least in my mind, a mystery. Sorry, cochrane, for not going further in my own search for the real answer. Same goes to you, Rhythmdvl, and I suppose the entire point to this thread may have just been exposed as a waste of cyberspace.
