Science & Nature50 randomly selected Science & Nature questions for quizmasters. New random selection made weekly. Next update: Monday 17th November 2025 (Please note: Questions are taken from our database of previous quizzes. Some questions and answers may be outdated.) |
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| 1. | By what name is the tablet form of the drug MDMA (3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine) more commonly known? |
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Ecstasy ("E", "X", or "XTC" - known as Molly or Mandy in crystal form) | |
| 2. | What 9-letter word can be spelt using the chemical symbols for boron, iridium, dubnium, astatine, and hassium? |
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Birdbaths | |
| 3. | Three 1.5 volt 500 mAh batteries are connected in series. What is their combined output voltage (v) and electric charge (mAh)? |
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4.5 v 500 mAh (If connected in parallel they would output 1.5 v 1500 mAh) | |
| 4. | How many edges does a tetrahedron have? |
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6 | |
| 5. | Where are the smallest bones in the human body located? |
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Ear | |
| 6. | What 'E' describes the flap in the throat that keeps food from entering the windpipe and into the lungs? |
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Epiglottis | |
| 7. | Related to sandpipers and curlews, what 'S' describes this family of wading birds? |
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Snipe (Common snipe (Gallinago gallinago) and Pin-tailed snipe (Gallinago stenura) pictured) | |
| 8. | What type of animal can be baleen or toothed? |
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Whale | |
| 9. | What is the name of the scale that classifies wind speed based on observed conditions on sea or land. |
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Beaufort Scale | |
| 10. | What is the common name for the chemical compound NaCl? |
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Salt (sodium chloride) | |
| 11. | Found across Afro-Eurasia, and notable for its distinctive "crown" of feathers, what 'H' describes this bird? |
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Hoopoe | |
| 12. | What is the more common name for the medical condition 'epistaxis'? |
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Nosebleed | |
| 13. | In computer terms, what does the acronym GUI stand for? |
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Graphical user interface | |
| 14. | Nicknamed "Dragon Lady", what is the manufacturer and name of this U.S. high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft? |
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Lockheed U-2 | |
| 15. | In the world of technology, what are ASIMO, TOPIO and Nao? |
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Robots | |
| 16. | What common long-term skin disease is caused by inflammation of the sebaceous glands? |
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Acne | |
| 17. | During power exercises such as sprinting, what acid builds up in the muscles? |
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Lactic acid | |
| 18. | From what metal element are most incandescent light bulb filaments made? |
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Tungsten (Wolfram) | |
| 19. | What is the name of the cartilage in the nose that separates the nostrils? |
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Septum | |
| 20. | In reference to a coherent beam of light, what does the 'S' in the acronym LASER stand for? |
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Stimulated (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) | |
| 21. | Native to the deserts of North Africa, what 'F' describes this species of fox? |
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Fennec (Vulpes zerda) | |
| 22. | What planet in our solar system has an axis-tilt of 98°, meaning its poles have sunlight for 42 years followed by 42 years of darkness? |
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Uranus | |
| 23. | After Pluto, what is the second-largest known dwarf planet in our solar system? |
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Eris | |
| 24. | In geometry, a hendecagon (also undecagon or endecagon) is a polygon with how many sides? |
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11 (from Greek hendeka "eleven" / from Latin undecim "eleven") | |
| 25. | What chemical element, with the atomic number 31, is named after the Latin word for the region in and around modern-day France during the Roman Empire? |
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Gallium (Latin Gallia meaning Gaul) | |
| 26. | Developed as an improved, non-patented replacement file format for the GIF, what does PNG stand for? |
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Portable Network Graphics | |
| 27. | What would you use to send a heliographic message? |
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A mirror (Greek: Ἥλιος helios, meaning "sun", and γραφειν graphein, meaning "write") | |
| 28. | How many limbs does a lobster have? |
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10 | |
| 29. | 4.3 light years from the Sun, what is the name of the nearest star system to Earth's Solar System? |
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Alpha Centauri (Proxima Centauri is the nearest star) | |
| 30. | In underwater diving, what does the letter 'C' stand for in the acronym 'scuba'? |
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Contained (Self-contained underwater breathing apparatus) | |
| 31. | What nationality was 18th century botanist, physician and zoologist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné)? |
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Swedish | |
| 32. | What was invented by John Napier in 1614 as a means to simplify calculations? |
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Logarithms | |
| 33. | What is the brightest star in the Earth's night sky? |
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Sirius (known colloquially as the "Dog Star") | |
| 34. | What chemical element has the symbol As and atomic number 33? |
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Arsenic | |
| 35. | How many planets in our solar system are larger than the Earth? |
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4 (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune) | |
| 36. | What is a common name for sodium hydroxide (NaOH)? |
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Lye / Caustic Soda | |
| 37. | In Newton's second law, what does the 'a' stand for in the formula F=ma? |
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Acceleration (Force = mass x acceleration) | |
| 38. | What metal element is combined with a halogen to produce a light-sensitive chemical compound, most commonly used in photographic film and paper? |
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Silver | |
| 39. | What is the name of the space probe, launched in 1972, carrying this plaque depicting a guide to planet earth? |
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Pioneer 10 | |
| 40. | What four letter word is a more common name for hydrated magnesium silicate? |
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Talc | |
| 41. | Which soft metal is mainly derived from the ore galena? |
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Lead | |
| 42. | On what part of your body is your ulna? |
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Arm (Forearm) | |
| 43. | Is a marten an amphibian, bird, reptile, or mammal? |
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Mammal | |
| 44. | The Chinese and the American are the only two known living species of what creature? |
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Alligator | |
| 45. | What element is the main component of bronze and brass? |
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Copper | |
| 46. | How many claws does a domestic cat have in total? |
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18 (five on their two front paws, four on their two rear paws) | |
| 47. | Nicknamed desert rats, what 'J' describes this family of animals? |
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Jerboa | |
| 48. | What 5-letter word can be spelt using the chemical symbols for Protactinium, Nickel and Carbon? |
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Panic | |
| 49. | A scale used to specify the acidity or basicity of an aqueous solution, pH stands for |
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Power/Potential of Hydrogen | |
| 50. | The chemical symbol for manganese is the same as the two-letter abbreviation for what U.S. state? |
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Minnesota (Mn) | |
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