Science & Nature50 randomly selected Science & Nature questions for quizmasters. New random selection made weekly. Next update: Monday 16th November 2026 (Please note: Questions are taken from our database of previous quizzes. Some questions and answers may be outdated.) |
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| 1. | Launched in August 2004, which planet was the NASA space probe MESSENGER sent to explore? |
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Mercury (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging) | |
| 2. | How many hearts does an octopus have? |
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Three | |
| 3. | In degrees Celcius, what is the normal human body temperature? |
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37 (98.6 °F) | |
| 4. | From what metal element are most incandescent light bulb filaments made? |
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Tungsten (Wolfram) | |
| 5. | By what name is fossilised tree resin better known? |
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Amber | |
| 6. | Ichthyology is the scientific study of what? |
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Fishes | |
| 7. | What is the SI unit of electrical resistance, and what symbol is used to represent it? |
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Ohm Ω | |
| 8. | The first cervical vertebra of the spine (C1), what 'A' describes this bone? |
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Atlas | |
| 9. | What planet in our solar system takes almost 165 Earth years to orbit the Sun? |
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Neptune (1979 Earth months) | |
| 10. | How many major planets are there in our solar system? |
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8 (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune - in 2006, Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet) | |
| 11. | Protium, deuterium, and tritium are isotopes of what chemical element? |
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Hydrogen (1H, 2H (D), and 3H (T)) | |
| 12. | Native to the mountains of southern Europe, what 'L' describes this small tree? |
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Laburnum | |
| 13. | What 6-letter word can be spelt using the chemical symbols for gold, titanium, and samarium? |
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Autism | |
| 14. | What 'H' describes the fruit of the rose plant? |
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Hip / Haw / Hep | |
| 15. | What name is given to the two instants of time each year when the centre of the visible Sun is directly above the equator? |
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Equinox (around 20 March and 23 September) | |
| 16. | What term is used to describe a packet of data sent by an Internet server to a browser, subsequently returned by the browser each time it accesses the same server in order to identify the user or track their access to the server? |
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Cookie | |
| 17. | What metric unit of length is equal to 39.37 inches? |
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1 metre | |
| 18. | What 10-letter word can be spelt using the chemical symbols for gold, beryllium, roentgenium, indium, and einsteinium? |
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Aubergines | |
| 19. | What 'T' is a test of a machine's ability to exhibit intelligent behaviour equivalent to, or indistinguishable from, that of a human? |
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Turing test (originally called the imitation game by Alan Turing in 1950) | |
| 20. | What 'I' describes the uppermost and largest bone of the human pelvis? |
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Ilium (from the Latin (ile, ilis), meaning "groin" or "flank.") | |
| 21. | The symbol for what chemical element is derived from the Latin word argentum? |
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Silver (Ag) | |
| 22. | What name is given to the clear, straw-coloured liquid that holds blood cells in suspension? |
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Plasma | |
| 23. | More than any other letter of the alphabet, twelve chemical symbols in the periodic table begin with what letter? |
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C (C, Ca, Cd, Ce, Cf, Cl, Cm, Cn, Co, Cr, Cs, Cu) | |
| 24. | At 20 °C, sound travels through air at how many metres per second? [±10] |
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343 | |
| 25. | What company developed the ill-fated Betamax video format in the mid-1970s? |
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Sony | |
| 26. | What 6-letter word can be spelt using the chemical symbols for tin, oxygen, rhenium, and sulphur? |
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Snores | |
| 27. | How many eyes does a bee have? |
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Five (Two large compound eyes, and three simple eyes, or ocelli) | |
| 28. | At 4.25 light-years, what is the nearest-known star to the Sun? |
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Proxima Centauri | |
| 29. | What chemical element has the symbol Pu and atomic number 94? |
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Plutonium | |
| 30. | What did Wilhelm Röntgen first produce and detect in 1895, earning him the first Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901? |
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X-rays (also known as Röntgen rays) | |
| 31. | What 'M' describes this genus of Old World monkeys? |
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Macaque | |
| 32. | The chemical symbol for what metal element is derived from the Latin word stannum? |
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Tin (Sn) | |
| 33. | TON 618, NGC 4889, OJ 287, and Messier 87 are among the largest what so far discovered in space? |
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Black holes | |
| 34. | How many pairs of chromosomes make up the cells of a normal human body? |
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23 | |
| 35. | In underwater diving, what does the letter 'C' stand for in the acronym 'scuba'? |
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Contained (Self-contained underwater breathing apparatus) | |
| 36. | What was the surname of the German physicist who first conclusively proved the existence of electromagnetic waves in 1886? |
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Hertz (Heinrich Rudolf Hertz) | |
| 37. | Vanessa atalanta is a colourful butterfly found in temperate Europe, Asia and North America. By what name is it better known? |
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Red Admiral | |
| 38. | A brand name introduced by Corning Inc. in 1915, what is the most commonly used term for borosilicate glass? |
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Pyrex (Gorilla Glass, a different material, was officially introduced by Corning in February 2008) | |
| 39. | Mn is the chemical symbol for what element? |
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Manganese | |
| 40. | What substance is secreted from glands in the heads of worker bees and used to feed bee larvae and adult queens? |
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Royal Jelly | |
| 41. | Arrange these poodle sizes in the correct order, largest first: Miniature, Toy, Standard. |
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Standard, Miniature, Toy | |
| 42. | What are kept in an apiary? |
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Bees | |
| 43. | Also known as the forest giraffe or zebra giraffe, what 'O' describes this animal, native to the Congo in Central Africa? |
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Okapi | |
| 44. | What colour has the longest wavelength in the visible light region of the electromagnetic spectrum? |
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Red | |
| 45. | In computing terminology, what does BIOS stand for? |
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Basic Input/Output System | |
| 46. | In which organ of the human body would you find the alveoli ? |
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Lungs (Latin: alveolus "little cavity") | |
| 47. | Making up around 8% by weight of the Earth's solid surface, what is the most abundant metal in the Earth's crust? |
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Aluminium | |
| 48. | Also called median nerve compression, what three words commonly describe a condition that causes numbness, tingling, or weakness in your hand? |
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Carpal tunnel syndrome | |
| 49. | What chemical element with the atomic number 27 can be used to create a blue pigment? |
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Cobalt (as cobalt(II) oxide-aluminium oxide CoAl2O4) | |
| 50. | What element did Joseph Priestley become the first to isolate in its gaseous state in 1774? |
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Oxygen | |
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