Science & Nature50 randomly selected Science & Nature questions for quizmasters. New random selection made weekly. Next update: Monday 19th January 2026 (Please note: Questions are taken from our database of previous quizzes. Some questions and answers may be outdated.) |
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| 1. | What 'R' describes an electrical device that converts alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC)? |
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Rectifier | |
| 2. | How is the medical condition dyspepsia better known? |
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Indigestion or upset stomach | |
| 3. | What name is given to the 800+ species of crab who've adapted to scavanging empty shells to protect their soft exoskeleton? |
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Hermit crab | |
| 4. | Which of the 8 major planets in our solar system comes third alphabetically? |
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Mars (Earth, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Saturn, Uranus, Venus) | |
| 5. | What is a more common name for the complicated medical term "Sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia"? |
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Brain freeze / Ice cream headache | |
| 6. | What 'P' describes an artificial device that replaces a missing body part? |
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Prosthetic / Prosthesis | |
| 7. | What name is given to a straight line that touches a curve but does not pass through it? |
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Tangent (from the Latin tangere, 'to touch'.) | |
| 8. | What is the only moon in our solar system known to have a dense atmosphere? |
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Titan (Saturn) | |
| 9. | The disease scurvy is caused by a deficiency of what? |
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Vitamin C | |
| 10. | Fulminology is the scientific study of what naturally occurring phenomena? |
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Lightning (from Latin: fulmen, pl. fulmini - lightning) | |
| 11. | What 8-letter word can be spelt using the chemical symbols for rhenium, cerium, nitrogen, thallium, and yttrium? |
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Recently | |
| 12. | A group of gases banned in the late 1970s because of their impact on the ozone layer, what is CFC an abbreviation of? |
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Chlorofluorocarbon | |
| 13. | What 5-letter word can be spelt using the chemical symbols for Sulphur, Protactinium, and Rhenium? |
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Spare | |
| 14. | Which of the 8 major planets in our solar system comes fourth alphabetically? |
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Mercury (Earth, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Saturn, Uranus, Venus) | |
| 15. | A silkworm's preferred food are white ______ leaves. (fill in the blank) |
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Mulberry | |
| 16. | What 'P' describes several different carnivorous plants with modified leaves known as pitfall traps? |
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Pitcher plants | |
| 17. | What word is used to describe an infectious disease that has jumped from a non-human animal to a human? |
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Zoonosis / Zoonotic | |
| 18. | What 8-letter word can be spelt using the chemical symbols for indium, selenium, copper, and rhenium? |
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Insecure | |
| 19. | What planet in our solar system orbits the Sun every 224.7 Earth days? |
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Venus | |
| 20. | Which scientist was dubbed "The Wizard of Menlo Park"? |
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Thomas Edison | |
| 21. | What is the name of the world's first "test tube baby", born on 25th July 1978 in Oldham, England? |
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Louise Brown | |
| 22. | What does a dipsomaniac have an uncontrollable craving for? |
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Alcohol | |
| 23. | What chemical element was historically called brimstone? |
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Sulphur / Sulfur | |
| 24. | Endemic to Africa and largely terrestrial, hunting its prey on foot, what 'S' describes this bird of prey? |
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Secretarybird | |
| 25. | Found across Afro-Eurasia, and notable for its distinctive "crown" of feathers, what 'H' describes this bird? |
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Hoopoe | |
| 26. | What process is being described in this equation? CO2 + H2O + photons → [CH2O] + O2 |
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Photosynthesis (Oxygenic photosynthesis) | |
| 27. | Composed of four triangular faces, six straight edges, and four vertex corners, what 'T' describes this shape? |
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Tetrahedron | |
| 28. | How many feet are there in a fathom? |
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6 | |
| 29. | What type of animal can be ringed, bearded, hooded, spotted, and ribbon? |
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Seals (Pinnipeds) | |
| 30. | From what continent do Guinea Pigs originate? |
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South America | |
| 31. | What highly contagious disease is caused by infection with the varicella zoster virus? |
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Chickenpox | |
| 32. | How many wings does a bee have? |
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4 | |
| 33. | What is the only native marsupial to be found north of Mexico in North America? |
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Virginia opossum (will accept opossum / possum) | |
| 34. | What animal's name is Afrikaans for "earth pig"? |
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Aardvark | |
| 35. | What is the SI unit of electrical resistance, and what symbol is used to represent it? |
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Ohm Ω | |
| 36. | Rigel, Betelgeuse and Bellatrix are the brightest stars of what constellation? |
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Orion | |
| 37. | From what type of tree is nearly all the world's natural cork obtained? |
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Oak (Cork Oak - Quercus suber) | |
| 38. | A set of internationally open standards for television, what does DVB stand for? |
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Digital Video Broadcasting | |
| 39. | What English inventor (1937-2018) is best known for the wind-up radio? |
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Trevor Baylis | |
| 40. | To what family of amphibians do mudpuppies belong? |
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Salamander | |
| 41. | What is the common term for a female ass or donkey? |
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Jenny | |
| 42. | What 'C' describes a timepiece tested and certified to meet certain precision standards? |
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Chronometer | |
| 43. | One of the most valuable raw materials in perfumery, what 'A' describes the solid waxy substance produced in the digestive system of sperm whales? |
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Ambergris (aka ambergrease, or grey amber) | |
| 44. | What 'P' describes rocks composed solely or primarily of volcanic materials? |
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Pyroclastic | |
| 45. | In computing, what does PDF stand for? |
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Portable Document Format | |
| 46. | Native to Europe and parts of Asia, and named after the yellow tuft on its head, what small bird is this? |
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Goldcrest | |
| 47. | Rhinotillexis is the medical term for what bad habit? |
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Nose-picking | |
| 48. | What planet in our solar system is named after the Roman messenger to the Gods? |
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Mercury | |
| 49. | Rickets is often caused by a lack of what vitamin, preventing the body absorbing or depositing calcium? |
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D | |
| 50. | Salicylic acid, one of the ingredients of Aspirin, can be obtained from the inner bark of what tree? |
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Willow | |
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