Science & Nature50 randomly selected Science & Nature questions for quizmasters. New random selection made weekly. Next update: Monday 1st April 2024 (Please note: Questions are taken from our database of previous quizzes. Some questions and answers may be outdated.) |
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1. | What P describes the family of polymers that includes products such as Nylon, Aramid and Kevlar? |
Polyamide | |
2. | What Scottish biologist is widely credited with the discovery of penicillin in 1928? |
Alexander Fleming | |
3. | By what common name is acetylsalicylic acid known? |
Aspirin | |
4. | In computer science, what 'B' describes a data type with only two possible values, often denoted as true and false? |
Boolean | |
5. | What branch of physics and mechanics gets its name from the Latin word for "how much"? |
Quantum (Latin quantus) | |
6. | What 'M' describes this type of monkey? |
Mandrill | |
7. | Cs is the symbol for what metal element? |
Caesium | |
8. | From what metal element are most incandescent light bulb filaments made? |
Tungsten (Wolfram) | |
9. | Related to sandpipers and curlews, what 'S' describes this family of wading birds? |
Snipe (Common snipe (Gallinago gallinago) and Pin-tailed snipe (Gallinago stenura) pictured) | |
10. | What gender is a worker bee? |
Female | |
11. | What 5-letter word can be spelt using the chemical symbols for Tungsten, Astatine and Erbium? |
Water | |
12. | In forensic science, what does the 'F' in AFIS stand for? |
Fingerprint (Automated Fingerprint Identification System) | |
13. | What would you find in the sockets of your alveolar ridge? |
Teeth | |
14. | What 'T' is a test of a machine's ability to exhibit intelligent behaviour equivalent to, or indistinguishable from, that of a human? |
Turing test (originally called the imitation game by Alan Turing in 1950) | |
15. | What 4-letter word can be speltusing the chemical symbols for Tungsten, Indium and Potassium? |
Wink | |
16. | What 'P' is an astronomical term describing a distance of about 3.26 light years? |
Parsec | |
17. | In modern day terms, how many inches are there in a cubit? |
18 | |
18. | What highly contagious disease is caused by the varicella zoster virus? |
Chickenpox | |
19. | Arachnophobia is the intense and irrational fear of what? |
Spiders (and other arachnids such as scorpions) | |
20. | In computing, what two-letter abbreviation is the SI unit representing one billion bytes? |
GB (Gigabyte) | |
21. | What breed of dog is this? |
Newfoundland | |
22. | What name was given to the first human spaceflight program of the United States? |
Project Mercury | |
23. | What is the collective noun for a group of leopards? |
Leap / Lepe | |
24. | Which of the eight major planets in our Solar System comes fifth alphabetically? |
Neptune (Earth, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Saturn, Uranus, Venus) | |
25. | What does this mathematical symbol indicate? |
Approximately equal to | |
26. | What English inventor (1937-2018) is best known for the wind-up radio? |
Trevor Baylis | |
27. | In electrical engineering, what is defined as the potential difference across a conductor when a current of one ampere dissipates one watt of power? |
1 Volt | |
28. | Write down the names of the four gas giants in our solar system in order of size, smallest first (radius, volume, or surface area.) |
Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter | |
29. | What is the Latin name of the constellation known as the "Little Bear"? |
Ursa Minor | |
30. | Responsible for an estimated 300–500 million deaths during the 20th century, but officially certified as eradicated in 1979. What was it? |
Smallpox | |
31. | Closely related to manatees, what 'D' describes this sea mammal? |
Dugong | |
32. | What 'T' describes an electrical device used to increase or decrease voltage through inductively coupled electrical conductors? |
Transformer | |
33. | What 'E' is the medical term for the outermost layer of human skin? |
Epidermis | |
34. | What mode of transport did Christopher Cockerell patent in 1955? |
Hovercraft | |
35. | Often incorrectly described as a school, what is the correct collective noun for a group of dolphins? |
Pod | |
36. | Titania, Oberon, Umbriel, Ariel, and Miranda are the major moons of what planet? |
Uranus | |
37. | Which of Saturn's moons is the only known body in the Solar System other than the Earth where liquid falls as rain on a solid surface? |
Titan (Liquid methane) | |
38. | What 'M' is the product of the mass and velocity of an object? |
Momentum | |
39. | Native to India, what 'G' describes this fish-eating crocodile? |
Gharial / Gavial | |
40. | Is a marten an amphibian, bird, reptile, or mammal? |
Mammal | |
41. | What units of measurement are represented by X and Y in the following formula? (X − 32) × 5/9 = Y |
°F and °C (Fahrenheit and Celsius) | |
42. | What acid is mixed with water to make aqua fortis (Latin for "strong water")? |
Nitric acid (HNO3) | |
43. | How many pairs of chromosomes make up the cells of a normal human body? |
23 | |
44. | To what genus of flowering plants do these belong? |
Hibiscus | |
45. | What 7-letter word can be spelt using the chemical symbols for rhenium, sulphur, copper, and einsteinium? |
Rescues | |
46. | Lupine is to wolf as vulpine is to what? |
Fox | |
47. | The alpaca is a camelid mammal native to what continent? |
South America | |
48. | Which scientist was dubbed "The Wizard of Menlo Park"? |
Thomas Edison | |
49. | What word is used to describe an interstellar cloud of gas and dust? |
Nebula | |
50. | Ermine is a fur from the winter coat of what animal? |
Stoat (weasel /short-tailed weasel) | |
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