Science - 1 point
| Category | Question | Answer | Last Update |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chemistry | The modern periodic table was devised by which Russian chemist in 1869? | Dmitri Mendeleev | 2023/04/20 |
| Chemistry | What acid has the chemical formula PO(OH)3? | Phosphoric Acid *Phosphoric acid is also called orthophosphoric acid, monophosphoric acid, or phosphoric(V) acid. | 2024/04/08 |
| Chemistry | With atomic number 3, what is the least dense metal in the periodic table? | Lithium | 2024/05/10 |
| Chemistry | What is the name given to the chemistry laboratory technique in which direct current is used to create a chemical reaction, such as separating elements from their ores? | Electrolysis | 2024/05/03 |
| Chemistry | What chemical element, with the atomic number of 38, is added to fireworks in order to produce a red colour? | Strontium | 2023/04/20 |
| Chemistry | The dihydrogen monoxide parody, used to highlight scientific illiteracy amongst the general population, calls for the banning of which common substance? | Water | 2024/10/31 |
| Chemistry | Developed in 1907, by what common name is the chemical compound polyoxybenzylmethyleneglycolanhydride better known? | Bakelite | 2024/11/14 |
| Chemistry | What word is spelt by the chemical symbols of Tungsten, Iodine, and Neon, in that order? | Wine *Tungsten = W, Iodine = I, Neon = Ne | 2024/12/07 |
| Chemistry | By what vitamin letter and number is folate known, the vitamin being required by the human body to produce DNA and RNA? | Vitamin B9 | 2024/12/07 |
| Chemistry | Prior to the understanding of oxygen’s role in the combustion process, what element was believed to exist in combustible substances, having been proposed by 17th-century scientist Johann Becher and then named by 18th-century scientist Georg Stahl? | Phlogiston | 2024/12/14 |
| Chemistry | Commonly formed when copper is exposed to moist air for an extended period of time, what colour is basic copper carbonate? | Light green *Basic copper carbonate can be seen on the Statue of Liberty. | 2024/12/19 |
| Medicine | The world's first human-to-human heart transplant was undertaken in 1967 by surgeon Christiaan Barnard at Groote Schuur Hospital in which African city? | Cape Town | 2023/04/20 |
| Medicine | In 1900, Austrian Karl Landsteiner became the first person to notice variations existed in what component of the human body? | Blood *Landsteiner noticed that some bloods clumped together whilst others did not. He formed three categories, A, B, and C, which would later become the ABO blood group system | 2023/04/20 |
| Disease | By what common name is the fungal skin infection dermatophytosis known? | Ringworm | 2024/04/28 |
| Biology | Which Swedish biologist wrote Systema Naturae, one of the key texts in promoting binomial nomenclature, through which animals and plants are classified using a two word system? | Carl Linnaeus *Linneaus was also known as Carl von Linné after he was ennobled by the Swedish monarch. | 2024/04/09 |
| Biology | What is calculated by dividing an adult's weight in kilograms by their height in metres squared? | Body Mass Index | 2024/04/07 |
| Biology | Which female scientist, who died in 1958 at the age of 37, has been labelled a forgotten heroine due to her work on DNA structures, which helped her male peers James Watson, Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins win a Nobel Prize in 1962? | Rosalind Franklin | 2024/10/22 |
| Biology | Taken from the Latin words for ‘large’ and ‘animal life’, what term is used to describe animals such as the extinct moa, Haast’s eagle, woolly mammoth, and mylodon, as well as the extant blue whale, grizzly bear, and ostrich? | Megafauna | 2024/12/07 |
| Biology | What letter of the alphabet is given to the cell cycle phase in which DNA is replicated, occurring between the G1 and G2 growth phases? | S *Standing for synthesis phase | 2024/12/07 |
| Biology | The signalling gene SHH, which plays a role in a human embryo’s limb development, creates a protein named after which computer game character? | Sonic the Hedgehog *The protein is called the Sonic Hedgehog Protein (hence SHH), and is one of three ‘hedgehog’ proteins alongside the Indian Hedgehog Protein (IHH) and the Desert Hedgehog Protein (DHH). | 2024/12/14 |
| Biology | Which 19th century biologist was nicknamed ‘Darwin’s Bulldog’ due to his public defence of the theory of natural selection? | Thomas Henry Huxley | 2025/01/09 |
| Anatomy | In what part of the body would you find the occipital bone? | Head | 2023/04/20 |
| Anatomy | People with which colour of hair have the most hair follicles on their head, with an average of 150,000? | Blonde | 2023/04/20 |
| Anatomy | What is the largest muscle in the human body? | Gluteus maximus | 2024/04/08 |
| Anatomy | What feature, visible in approximately 20 to 30 per cent of the world's population, results from a zygomaticus major muscle being in two parts rather than one? | Dimple | 2024/04/11 |
| Anatomy | What is the name of the vestigial concave groove that on humans exists between the upper lip and the nose, also called the medial cleft? | Philtrum | 2024/11/14 |
| Anatomy | What noise emitted by the human body is believed to be caused by gases dissolved in synovial fluid suddenly taking on their gaseous form due to pressure changes - although there remains debate about whether the noise is the gas forming or subsequently collapsing? | Joint clicking / joint popping *Synovial fluid exists within human joints to help reduce friction. | 2024/12/07 |
| Anatomy | In which part of the body does the ossification of the xiphoid process conclude in middle age, when a piece of cartilage finishes its change into bone, sometimes causing a hardened lump to be felt beneath the skin? | Sternum (breastbone) / base of rib cage *The xiphoid process exists at the bottom of the sternum, first as cartilage before slowly becoming attached bone. | 2024/12/07 |
| Anatomy | A gel-like substance named vitreous humor makes up approximately 80 per cent of the volume of what human organ? | Eye | 2025/01/01 |
| Palaeontology | Potentially the largest dinosaur that ever lived, a bone of which dinosaur was first discovered in 1987, with the South American country in which it was found inspiring its name? | Argentinosaurus | 2024/12/07 |
| Energy | Which colour has a wavelength of around 580 nanometres and a frequency of 5.16 x 1014 hertz, placing it around the centre of the visible spectrum for humans? | Yellow | 2024/11/14 |
| Earth Science | What noble gas is the third most abundant element in the Earth's atmosphere? | Argon | 2023/04/22 |
| Earth Science | Containing most of the planet's weather, what is the lowest level of the Earth's atmosphere? | Troposphere | 2024/04/07 |
| Earth Science | What is the highest number on the Beaufort Scale, the scale used for categorising wind strength? | 12 (Hurricane) | 2024/05/10 |
| Units | Bismuth-209 has the longest known radioisotope half-life, described using SI prefixes as 20.1 exayears. How many years is one exayear if described using short scale words derived from standard Latin prefixes, such as million, billion, trillion, etc.? | Quintillion years *A quintillion has eighteen zeros. | 2024/12/07 |
| Miscellaneous | Dendrochronology is the scientific method of using what to study past events? | Tree rings | 2024/10/31 |
| Prizes | Studies that found exploding a bag next to a cat standing on a cow caused the cow to produce less milk; that certain plants can copy the leaf shape of nearby plastic plants; that scalp hair whorls are more likely to spiral counter-clockwise in the southern hemisphere; and that water vortices can make a dead fish continue to swim were all winners of what science prize in 2024? | Ig Nobel Prize | 2024/12/19 |
Science - 2 points
| Category | Question | Answer | Last Update |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chemistry | The alloy brass is comprised of which two chemical elements? | 1. Copper 2. Zinc | 2024/04/09 |
| Biology | What were/are the first names of scientists Watson and Crick, whose names have become synonymous with understanding the structure of DNA? | 1. James (Watson) 2. Francis (Crick) | 2024/10/22 |
| Biology | What two colours are used to describe areas of matter in the brain? | 1. Grey 2. White *Grey matter comprises the outer portion of the brain, and white matter refers to the inner portion. | 2024/12/19 |
| Measurements | Of the 29 recognised and named SI base units and SI derived units, which two have the shortest names, each at three letters in length? | 1. Ohm 2. Lux *The ohm measures resistance, and the lux measures illuminance. | 2025/01/09 |
Science - 3 points
| Category | Question | Answer | Last Update |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chemistry | What are the only three letters that do not start the name of a chemical element? | 1. J 2. Q 3. W | 2024/10/31 |
| Chemistry | What three chemical elements are present in citric acid? | 1. Carbon 2. Hydrogen 3. Oxygen *Citric acid contains six carbon atoms, seven oxygen atoms, and eight hydrogen atoms. | 2024/12/14 |
Science - 4 points
| Category | Question | Answer | Last Update |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anatomy | What are the names of the four bones in the human leg? | 1. Femur 2. Patella 3. Tibia 4. Fibula | 2024/05/10 |
Science - 5 points
| Category | Question | Answer | Last Update |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chemistry | Traditionally, what are the five main branches of chemistry? | 1. Analytical 2. Biochemistry 3. Inorganic 4. Organic 5. Physical | 2024/11/30 |