Science & Nature50 randomly selected Science & Nature questions for quizmasters. New random selection made weekly. Next update: Monday 17th August 2026 (Please note: Questions are taken from our database of previous quizzes. Some questions and answers may be outdated.) |
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| 1. | Growing to a length of up to 5.7m, what is the world's longest venomous snake? |
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King Cobra | |
| 2. | What nationality was chemist Alfred Nobel? |
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Swedish | |
| 3. | Every second the sun converts about 4 million tons of matter to energy by fusing approximately 600 million tons of hydrogen, in the process producing what chemical element? |
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Helium | |
| 4. | What 'T' is a precision optical instrument for measuring angles between designated visible points in the horizontal and vertical planes. |
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Theodolite | |
| 5. | German Mastiff is another name for which large dog? |
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Great Dane | |
| 6. | 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 | |
| 7. | What 'F' describes the tubes leading from the ovaries of female mammals into the uterus? |
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Fallopian tubes (also known as uterine tubes, and salpinges) | |
| 8. | Polysomnography is the scientific study of what? |
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Sleep | |
| 9. | Invented in 1603 by German astronomer Christoph Scheiner, what 'P' decribes this instrument, used for copying a drawing on an enlarged or a reduced scale in a given ratio? |
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Pantograph | |
| 10. | The seeds of many fruit, including apricots, cherries, plums, and peaches, contain a compound called amygdalin. When amygdalin is ingested and broken down in the body, what 'C' is produced? |
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Cyanide (Hydrogen cyanide) | |
| 11. | What 8-letter word can be spelt using the chemical symbols for sulphur, lanthanum, palladium, arsenic, and hydrogen? |
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Slapdash | |
| 12. | How many hearts does an octopus have? |
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Three | |
| 13. | In what century did pioneering Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus live? |
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18th (1707-1778) | |
| 14. | Adenoid Hynkel was the main antagonist in what 1940 film? |
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The Great Dictator (Charlie Chaplin) | |
| 15. | What 'P' describes the space between the anus and scrotum in the male and between the anus and the vulva in the female? |
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Perineum | |
| 16. | In computing, what single unit of measurement is equal to 1000 terabytes? |
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Petabyte | |
| 17. | What 'R' describes an electrical device that converts alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC)? |
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Rectifier | |
| 18. | What is the name of the planet that orbits between Mars and Venus around the sun? |
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Earth | |
| 19. | What two planets did Mariner 10 flyby and take pictures of in 1974? |
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Venus and Mercury | |
| 20. | To what family of vitamins does retinol belong? |
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Vitamin A | |
| 21. | Most notable for their superb ability to mimic sounds, what 'L' describes this bird, native to Australia? |
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Lyrebird (superb lyrebird - Menura novaehollandiae) | |
| 22. | The world's first synthetic plastic, polyoxybenzylmethylene-glycolanhydride, was patented in 1909 under what name? |
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Bakelite | |
| 23. | What metal forms the protective coating of galvanised steel? |
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Zinc | |
| 24. | What 4-letter word can be spelt using the chemical symbols for tin, oxygen and tungsten? |
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Snow | |
| 25. | Nicknamed "Dragon Lady", what is the manufacturer and name of this U.S. high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft? |
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Lockheed U-2 | |
| 26. | At 20 °C, sound travels through air at how many metres per second? [±10] |
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343 | |
| 27. | What 6-letter word can be spelt using the chemical symbols for tin, iodine, technetium, and hydrogen? |
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Snitch | |
| 28. | Where, exactly, on the human body is the columella? |
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Nose (the fleshy external end of the nasal septum) | |
| 29. | Used for grooming horses, what 'C' describes this type of comb? |
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Curry comb | |
| 30. | How many people have walked on the moon? |
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12 (Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Pete Conrad, Alan Bean, Alan Shepard, Edgar Mitchell, David Scott, James Irwin, John W. Young, Charles Duke, Eugene Cernan, Harrison Schmitt) | |
| 31. | How is the medical condition of Lateral Epicondylitis more commonly known? |
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Tennis elbow (Golfer's elbow is called medial epicondylitis) | |
| 32. | What 'E' describes the system of glands that secrete hormones directly into the the circulatory system? |
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Endocrine (in contrast, exocrine glands release into cavities inside the body or its outer surface) | |
| 33. | In human anatomy, where are the metacarpals? |
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Hands | |
| 34. | Originally from northern China, and noted for its characteristic blue-black tongue, what is the name of this dog breed? |
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Chow Chow | |
| 35. | What is the medical term for a deficiency of red blood cells or haemoglobin in the blood? |
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Anemia / Anæmia | |
| 36. | What 'R' describes this flightless bird native to South America? |
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Rhea | |
| 37. | What chemical element has the symbol V and atomic number 23? |
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Vanadium | |
| 38. | What 'R' is a viral disease historically called Hydrophobia? |
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Rabies | |
| 39. | What 'A' is the collective noun for a group of frogs? |
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Army | |
| 40. | Where on the human body is the common carotid artery? |
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Neck | |
| 41. | For what disease is a common vaccine provided to prevent lockjaw? |
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Tetanus | |
| 42. | What 6-letter word can be spelt using the chemical symbols for Tin, Argon and Einsteinium? |
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Snares | |
| 43. | Resembling a jellyfish, their venomous tentacles can deliver a painful sting. By what common name is this family of creatures known? |
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Man o' war (Portuguese Man o' war pictured. Also Indo-Pacific Man o' war.) | |
| 44. | What 'C' is the name of the force and effect that deflects winds and currents as a result of the Earth's rotation? |
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Coriolis | |
| 45. | With wind speeds between 34 and 40 knots, a 'gale' is the description of what number on the Beaufort wind force scale? |
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8 | |
| 46. | In an electrical circuit diagram, what device is represented by either of these symbols? |
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Resistor | |
| 47. | What is the common name for the chemical compound NH3? |
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Ammonia / Azane | |
| 48. | What is the largest known animal ever to inhabit our planet? |
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Blue Whale | |
| 49. | What name is given to a mesh cage used to protect electrical equipment from external static and electromagnetic fields? |
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Faraday cage/shield (named after English scientist Michael Faraday, who first constructed one in 1836) | |
| 50. | C22H28N2O is a major contributor to fatal and non-fatal overdoses around the world, particularly in the United States. What 'F' is the generic name for this synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine? |
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Fentanyl | |
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