Science & Nature50 randomly selected Science & Nature questions for quizmasters. New random selection made weekly. Next update: Monday 12th October 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 Some questions and answers may be outdated.)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 is the common term for hypotension? |
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Low blood pressure (hypertension is high blood pressure) | |
| 2. | What is the name of the cartilage in the nose that separates the nostrils? |
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Septum | |
| 3. | What is the correct medical term for the disease commonly known as German measles? |
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Rubella | |
| 4. | What 8-letter word can be spelt using the chemical symbols for rhenium, cerium, nitrogen, thallium, and yttrium? |
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Recently | |
| 5. | What 'S' describes a person who studies earthquakes? |
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Seismologist | |
| 6. | What colour has the longest wavelength in the visible light region of the electromagnetic spectrum? |
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Red | |
| 7. | What 6-letter word can be spelt using the chemical symbols for sulphur, gold, nitrogen, and arsenic? |
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Saunas | |
| 8. | The chemical compound HCN is commonly known as Hydrogen ... what? |
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Cyanide (Prussic acid) | |
| 9. | Belonging to the subphylum Medusozoa, what invertebrates account for nearly 40% of the total biomass of the world's oceans? |
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Jellyfish | |
| 10. | What name is given to the soft skin that covers a deer's antlers as they develop? |
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Velvet | |
| 11. | What animal's name is derived from the Afrikaans for "earth pig"? |
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Aardvark | |
| 12. | What name is given to the scientific device used to separate substances of different densities by rotating them at speed around a fixed axis? |
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Centrifuge | |
| 13. | What English inventor (1937-2018) is best known for the wind-up radio? |
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Trevor Baylis | |
| 14. | What two planets did Mariner 10 flyby and take pictures of in 1974? |
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Venus and Mercury | |
| 15. | By definition, what does a polyorchid person have at least three of? |
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Testicles | |
| 16. | Mars has two moons. Name them. |
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Phobos and Deimos | |
| 17. | In geometry, what 'V' describes a point where two or more curves, lines, or edges meet? |
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Vertex (plural: vertices or vertexes) | |
| 18. | What 'A' describes the fluid that protects a fœtus during pregnancy? |
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Amniotic | |
| 19. | What name is given to this sea creature? |
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Nautilus | |
| 20. | What type of animal can be baleen or toothed? |
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Whale | |
| 21. | In the correct order, what three words are missing from this diagram? |
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Camber, Toe, Caster | |
| 22. | What animal is feared by a hippophobe? |
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Horse | |
| 23. | What name is given to the study and use of sound waves with frequencies higher than the upper audible limit of human hearing? |
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Ultrasonics | |
| 24. | Mostly recognised due to its prominent role in the Jurassic Park film series, what 'V' describes this dinosaur? |
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Velociraptor | |
| 25. | Which of the eight major planets in our Solar System comes fourth alphabetically? |
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Mercury (Earth, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Saturn, Uranus, Venus) | |
| 26. | How many cubic feet are there in five cubic yards? |
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135 (3 x 3 x 3 x 5) | |
| 27. | What 5-letter word can be spelt using the chemical symbols for Samarium, Arsenic and Hydrogen? |
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Smash | |
| 28. | What is a more common name for the complicated medical term "Sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia"? |
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Brain freeze / Ice cream headache | |
| 29. | What is the only major planet of our Solar System that takes its English name from Greek mythology? |
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Uranus (Aside from the Earth, all the other planets take their names from Roman mythology) | |
| 30. | What vitamin improves the eye's ability to see in the dark? |
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Vitamin A | |
| 31. | What is the SI derived unit of electric potential and electromotive force? |
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Volt | |
| 32. | Polysomnography is the scientific study of what? |
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Sleep | |
| 33. | In 1896, Henri Becquerel became the first person to discover evidence of what? |
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Radioactivity (The SI unit for radioactivity, the becquerel (Bq), is named after him.) | |
| 34. | In human anatomy, where are the metacarpals? |
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Hands | |
| 35. | What English chemist invented the miners' safety lamp and also discovered sodium and potassium? |
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Sir Humphry Davy | |
| 36. | If cats are 'feline', what are sheep? |
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Ovine | |
| 37. | The world's first synthetic plastic, polyoxybenzylmethylene-glycolanhydride, was patented in 1909 under what name? |
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Bakelite | |
| 38. | What is the acute angle between the hands of a clock at half past three? |
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75° (acute < 90° / obtuse > 90° and < 180° / reflex > 180° and < 360°) | |
| 39. | For what important historical application is radioactive carbon-14 used? |
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Carbon dating | |
| 40. | The great saphenous is the longest what in the human body? |
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Vein | |
| 41. | In human anatomy, where are the metatarsals? |
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Feet | |
| 42. | Which of the planets in our solar system has the hottest mean surface temperature? |
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Venus (464°C due to its dense atmosphere. Mercury is 167°C) | |
| 43. | What 'H' collectively describes the group in the periodic table consisting of fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine, astatine, and tennessine? |
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Halogens | |
| 44. | What is the more common generic name for the drug acetaminophen (N-acetyl-p-aminophenol)? |
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Paracetamol | |
| 45. | How many living species of elephant are there? |
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3 (the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant) | |
| 46. | What is the collective noun for a group of monkeys? |
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A troop | |
| 47. | What 'M' describes the part of a cell that generates its chemical energy? |
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Mitochondria | |
| 48. | What New Zealand-born British physicist's 1911 concept of the nuclear atom gave birth to the exploration of nuclear physics? |
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Ernest Rutherford (Lord Rutherford of Nelson) | |
| 49. | What is the brightest star in the Earth's night sky? |
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Sirius (known colloquially as the "Dog Star") | |
| 50. | What two words are a common name for Nitrous Oxide (N2O)? |
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Laughing gas | |
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