Science & Nature50 randomly selected Science & Nature questions for quizmasters. New random selection made weekly. Next update: Monday 7th September 2026 (Please note: Questions are taken from our database of previous quizzes. Some questions and answers may be outdated.) |
|
|
|
|
| 1. | What is the most commonly used name for a compound with the chemical formula H2O2? |
|
Hydrogen Peroxide | |
| 2. | What name is given to a young cow before she has had her first calf? |
|
Heifer | |
| 3. | What is the scientific name for the southern equivalent of the Aurora Borealis? |
|
Aurora Australis (Southern lights) | |
| 4. | One of the strongest muscles in the body, what 'M' describes the muscle that controls the lower jaw? |
|
Masseter | |
| 5. | Commonly known as dragon flowers or snapdragons, what 'A' describes this genus of plant? |
|
Antirrhinum | |
| 6. | What 'C' describes a domestic cat of any breed with a tri-colour coat? |
|
Calico | |
| 7. | In nature, what 'P' describes a layer of ground (soil, rock or sediment) that remains frozen for more than two consecutive years? |
|
Permafrost | |
| 8. | In centimetres, what is the diameter of a standard CD, DVD, or Blu-ray disc? |
|
12 | |
| 9. | What 7-letter word can be spelt using the chemical symbols for rhenium, sulphur, copper, and einsteinium? |
|
Rescues | |
| 10. | The smallest bird in the world, what two words describe this species? |
|
Bee hummingbird | |
| 11. | What single unit of area is equal to 43,560 square feet? |
|
Acre | |
| 12. | What 'P' describes the bones that make up the fingers of the hand and the toes of the foot? |
|
Phalanges | |
| 13. | What 'P' is an astronomical term describing a distance of about 3.26 light years? |
|
Parsec | |
| 14. | A common medication, what is the function of calcium channel blockers? |
|
Reduce blood pressure (Antihypertensive) | |
| 15. | To 3 decimal places, what is the value of e, Euler's number? |
|
2.718 (2.71828... the digits go on forever in a series that never ends or repeats) | |
| 16. | What name is given to this dinosaur? |
|
Triceratops | |
| 17. | By what name is the medical condition halitosis better known? |
|
Bad breath | |
| 18. | What family of seabirds include species called White, Spectacled, Common, Black, and Arctic? |
|
Tern | |
| 19. | What three chemical elements make up a carbohydrate? |
|
Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen | |
| 20. | What name is given to a straight line that touches a curve but does not pass through it? |
|
Tangent (from the Latin tangere, 'to touch'.) | |
| 21. | In mathematics, what is the reciprocal of four? |
|
¼ (4 x ¼ = 1) | |
| 22. | What name is given to this sea creature? |
|
Nautilus | |
| 23. | In geometry, a hendecagon (also undecagon or endecagon) is a polygon with how many sides? |
|
11 (from Greek hendeka "eleven" / from Latin undecim "eleven") | |
| 24. | What household name began life in 1996 as "BackRub"? |
|
| |
| 25. | In computing, what two-letter abbreviation is the SI unit representing one billion bytes? |
|
GB (Gigabyte) | |
| 26. | For their work on what recent discovery were James Watson, Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins awarded the 1962 Nobel Prize for medicine? |
|
DNA ("for their discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significance for information transfer in living material") | |
| 27. | What number is represented in Morse Code by a dot and four dashes?
|
|
1 | |
| 28. | What 'L' is sometimes used to describe the inner ear? |
|
Labyrinth | |
| 29. | What name is given to a fabric or yarn made from the fleece of the Angora goat? |
|
Mohair | |
| 30. | What 'R' describes any quadrilateral whose four sides all have the same length? |
|
Rhombus | |
| 31. | Primarily used as cover glass for portable electronic devices, what is the brand name of the specialised toughened glass developed and manufactured by Corning? |
|
Gorilla Glass | |
| 32. | Named after the place in which they live, what is the only penguin with a natural habitat north of the equator? |
|
Galápagos penguin | |
| 33. | In the life cycle of a mosquito, arrange these stages in chronological order: A. Embryo B. Imago C. Larva D. Pupa |
|
A C D B (Embryo, Larva, Pupa, Imago) | |
| 34. | What animal is responsible for more human deaths every year than all other animals combined? |
|
Mosquito | |
| 35. | What single Imperial or U.S. measure is equal to 453.59237 grams? |
|
1 pound | |
| 36. | What name is given in mechanics to the support about which a lever pivots? |
|
Fulcrum | |
| 37. | In what household item are you most likely to find a cavity magnetron? |
|
Microwave oven | |
| 38. | Perigee and Apogee are terms used to describe the minimum and maximum distances between what? |
|
Earth and Moon (or any other Earth satellite) | |
| 39. | What English scientist discovered electromagnetic induction in 1831? |
|
Michael Faraday | |
| 40. | By definition, what does a polyorchid person have at least three of? |
|
Testicles | |
| 41. | What 6-letter word can be spelt using the chemical symbols for tungsten, argon, meitnerium, and hydrogen? |
|
Warmth | |
| 42. | What 6-letter word can be spelt using the chemical symbols for tin, oxygen, rhenium, and sulphur? |
|
Snores | |
| 43. | What chemical element is represented by the symbol P? |
|
Phosphorus | |
| 44. | What is the binary number 11111111 in decimal? |
|
255 | |
| 45. | What name is given to the hormone-producing glands and cortexes above the kidneys? |
|
Adrenal | |
| 46. | Petrology is a branch of geology that studies what? |
|
Rocks (and the conditions under which they form) | |
| 47. | What word is used to describe an infectious disease that has jumped from a non-human animal to a human? |
|
Zoonosis / Zoonotic | |
| 48. | What 'M' describes the human lower jawbone? |
|
Mandible | |
| 49. | The fraction 22/7 is an approximate representation of what? |
|
Pi π | |
| 50. | 9,842½ inches is roughly equal to how many metres? |
|
250 | |
|
Back to Top Hide Answers Back to Category Index Back to Quiz Index |
|