2
$\begingroup$

I reveal hidden secrets, where nanoscale put me there.
I exist in a honker -- Maybe a carapace too.
What am I?

Hint:

Maybe I'm not quite an animal.

Hint 2:

Bourne Again Carapace

Hint 3:

A honker is an animal that is known for honking -- NOT a nose.

| improve this question | |
$\endgroup$
  • $\begingroup$ Somewhere in between, then? $\endgroup$ – Nikhil Itty Jun 9 '16 at 8:46
  • $\begingroup$ Alright, I think it may have been a bit difficult. I've added another hint and a few tags. $\endgroup$ – john01dav Jun 9 '16 at 16:50
  • $\begingroup$ If no-one answers this by tomorrow, I think that would be a good time for me to post my intended answer (June 10th). $\endgroup$ – john01dav Jun 10 '16 at 4:46

10 Answers 10

Active Oldest Votes
1
$\begingroup$

Is it a

DNA?

I reveal hidden secrets

DNA provides genetic information

where nanoscale put me there

The diameter of a DNA molecule is about 2 nanometers

I exist in a honker -- Maybe a carapace too.

DNA forms everything, from honkers to carapaces

| improve this answer | |
$\endgroup$
  • $\begingroup$ What's a honker? $\endgroup$ – Nikhil Itty Jun 9 '16 at 6:20
  • $\begingroup$ @RipTide I think it's a nose. $\endgroup$ – Brent Hackers Jun 9 '16 at 8:34
  • $\begingroup$ Nope. This isn't it. I think it's a good answer though. Please see the hint and tags I have added to the question. $\endgroup$ – john01dav Jun 9 '16 at 16:54
1
$\begingroup$

Going laterally here...

A snail!

I reveal hidden secrets

The snail gene is crucial for the embryonic stage.
And those genes have potentially the information of the whole cellular structure of the person? (I am not a scientist... :-))

where nanoscale put me there

need a nanoscale to measure the gene...

I exist in a honker -- Maybe a carapace too.

Referring to snot and a snail.
EXPLANATION:
A nose is called a 'honker' - for readily apparent reasons.
And a snail lives in a caparace, a 'shell'. (To put it non-delicately: snot and the slug part of the snail look pretty much the same...)

On the hint:

People don't look at slugs (the slimy part of the snail) as an animal per se. Because they seemingly grow out of nothing when it rains...

Oh, I don't know!!! Went way too far on this I think... :oP

| improve this answer | |
$\endgroup$
  • $\begingroup$ Nope. This isn't it. I think it's a good answer though. Please see the hint and tags I have added to the question. $\endgroup$ – john01dav Jun 9 '16 at 16:51
1
$\begingroup$

What am I?

Root

I exist in a honker -- Maybe a carapace too.

honker=goose (hint 3), carapace=Bash (hint 2). Geese probably eat roots, and in Bash you can become root.

I reveal hidden secrets, where nanoscale put me there.

Root can access all files and run anything, and it's a software construct so it can't be seen unless you look at some tiny nanometers of the hard drive.

| improve this answer | |
$\endgroup$
  • $\begingroup$ This is a bit closer, good job, but it isn't quite it. The answer is a bit more of an animal than a root is. $\endgroup$ – john01dav Jun 9 '16 at 18:36
1
$\begingroup$

Is it

A bug

I reveal hidden secrets, where nanoscale put me there.

a bug in a computer program can reveal hidden secrets about the code sometimes maybe? a bug is small/nano creature?

I exist in a honker -- Maybe a carapace too.

A bug could be eaten by a goose and there are bugs in Bash? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shellshock_(software_bug)

Hint: Maybe I'm not quite an animal.

a bug can be an animal but it can also be an unwanted feature in software?

Hint 2: Bourne Again Carapace

Bourne Again Shell (Bash)?

| improve this answer | |
$\endgroup$
  • $\begingroup$ Unfortunatley, no this isn't what I was going for. Perhaps I made this a bit difficult. $\endgroup$ – john01dav Jun 10 '16 at 8:17
  • $\begingroup$ You certainly did but you won't here me complaining. $\endgroup$ – Brent Hackers Jun 10 '16 at 8:25
  • $\begingroup$ I was gonna post this, after I posted my latest answer, but it seemed too similar/close to mine, and someone would have posted it anyway and it would have still been wrong. $\endgroup$ – snetch Jun 10 '16 at 19:17
1
$\begingroup$

Are you

Fish (Friendly Interactive Shell)

I reveal hidden secrets, where nanoscale put me there.

FISH will show helpful hints as you type the commands

I exist in a honker -- Maybe a carapace too.

Geese eat fish, and the shell part should be self-explanitority

| improve this answer | |
$\endgroup$
  • $\begingroup$ Nope, not quite. I think I made this too difficult and left too much room for alternative valid answers. $\endgroup$ – john01dav Jun 10 '16 at 23:03
1
$\begingroup$

Alright, it's probably time I post the actual answer to this. I would like to note though that many of the answers that other people posted seem just as valid as this one:

What am I?

A cat, as in the bash command to print the contents of a file. Meow

I reveal hidden secrets,

The cat command can reveal what is in a file.

Where nanoscale put me there.

"nanoscale" is a play on words from the command "nano," which can be used to create text files.

I exist in a honker

A honker can be a penguin, which is the Linux mascot. The cat command can be used on Linux.

-- Maybe a carapace too.

Carapace means shell, and the cat command can be implemented directly in a shell rather than a separate executable.

Hint 1:

Maybe I'm not quite an animal.
The answer is a shell command -- not a literal animal.

Hint 2:

Bourne Again Carapace -> Bourne Again Shell -> Bash

Hint 3:

A honker is an animal that is known for honking -- NOT a nose.
A penguin isn't a nose, and it is known for honking.

| improve this answer | |
$\endgroup$
  • $\begingroup$ Oh man, I went with the first honker animal I found and never thought to check for other versions, even though (or maybe because) I had trouble googling it in the first place. $\endgroup$ – snetch Jun 11 '16 at 3:11
  • $\begingroup$ Also, instead of half of the hints being about animals and half about computers, it was all about computers. $\endgroup$ – snetch Jun 11 '16 at 3:11
  • $\begingroup$ @snetch the large number of animal hints is a bit of a red herring, but, the "computer-puzzle" tag does fairly clearly state that it is computer related. $\endgroup$ – john01dav Jun 11 '16 at 3:49
0
$\begingroup$

I'm not sure but the hint gave me a clue Are you

A virus

| improve this answer | |
$\endgroup$
  • $\begingroup$ Nope. It is something both much closer and much further from being an actual, literal animal. I'm being a bit metaphorical -- it isn't close to an animal in the scientific sense, but rather in a metaphorical sense. $\endgroup$ – john01dav Jun 9 '16 at 1:36
  • $\begingroup$ I read nanoscale and The hint. I'm more science... $\endgroup$ – John Meow Jun 9 '16 at 1:37
  • $\begingroup$ This very nonscientific. Also, I did leave a tag out that would be relevant but I thought would make it too easy. I guess I could also mention that there is a bit of technology relevant as well. $\endgroup$ – john01dav Jun 9 '16 at 1:41
0
$\begingroup$

Is it a

nanobot? They can make up all kind of things from nanobots, including carapaces and potentially things you can honk with.

| improve this answer | |
$\endgroup$
  • $\begingroup$ Nope. I think it's a reasonable answer though. Please see the hint and tags I have added to the question. $\endgroup$ – john01dav Jun 9 '16 at 16:53
0
$\begingroup$

I think the answer for this is:

Genes

| improve this answer | |
$\endgroup$
  • $\begingroup$ This isn't it. I can't give any assistance though because you didn't include how you got to it. I can say though that you're thinking a bit literally. $\endgroup$ – john01dav Jun 9 '16 at 16:53
0
$\begingroup$

Is it possible to be:

A mushroom?

| improve this answer | |
$\endgroup$

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.