/oss/taxonomy/term/5417/all en /oss/article/history-did-you-know/did-you-know-goldfingers-first-name-was-auric-based-latin-aurum-gold <p>“Au” is also the chemical symbol for the element. “Aurora” was the Roman goddess of the dawn and her name became associated with gold because of the colour of the sky at dawn. Ian Fleming named his gold-infatuated villain after his neighbour, architect Erno Goldfinger, with whom he apparently was not on the best of terms. In the movie, Goldfinger was played by the German actor Gert Frobe who spoke no English and all his lines were dubbed by Michael Collins. Although Goldfinger was supposed to be English, for some bizarre reason Collins added a German accent.</p> Fri, 28 May 2021 20:04:21 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 8749 at /oss /oss/article/did-you-know/you-asked-can-someone-really-suffocate-being-covered-gold-paint-jill-masterson-goldfinger <p>No. We do not breathe through our skin. James Bond seemingly was unaware of this fact given that after discovering the golden corpse he tells M: “She died of skin suffocation, it’s been known to happen to cabaret dancers. It’s all right so long as you leave a small bare patch at the base of the spine to allow the skin to breathe.” That view was shared by the director who made sure that actress Shirley Eaton’s stomach remained unpainted while the scene was being shot.</p> Fri, 28 May 2021 19:56:57 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 8748 at /oss /oss/article/technology-history/do-you-expect-me-talk-no-mr-bond-i-expect-you-die <p>That’s the classic exchange between British Secret Service agent James Bond and archvillain Auric Goldfinger as a laser beam begins to inch up the gold-plated table on which Bond is bound, threatening his private parts. And it was in that iconic scene in the 1964 film, “Goldfinger,” that audiences first learned about lasers.</p> Thu, 27 May 2021 18:33:43 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 8746 at /oss