Science

Question 1

The last known sighting of which flightless bird, that was endemic to Mauritius, is widely accepted as being in 1662? In a popular idiom, something can be “as dead as” this bird.

Answer 1

Dodo

Question 2

Which chemical element precedes “capture and storage” in the name of a process where gases from industrial sources are trapped and stored with the aim of mitigating the effects of global warming?

Answer 2

Carbon

Question 3

It is said that Isaac Newton came up with his law of universal gravitation after watching which type of fruit fall from a tree?

Answer 3

Apple

Question 4

What is the largest moon of both Jupiter and our Solar System?

Answer 4

Ganymede

Question 5

While at Cambridge, which person published a proof showing that some mathematical yes-no questions can never be answered by computation? Since 2021, he has appeared on the £50 note issued by the Bank of England.

Answer 5

Alan TURING

Question 6

Which chemical compound is the simplest alkane and main constituent of natural gas? This chemical, produced by cow burps and manure, is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.

Answer 6

Methane

Question 7

In mathematics, what name is given to the value that appears most often in a set of data? Like mean and median, this is a way of expressing the average of a data set with a single number.

Answer 7

Mode

Question 8

The original term, coined in 1907, included the word ‘period’. Which now two-word hyphenated term is commonly used in nuclear physics to describe how quickly unstable atoms undergo radioactive decay?

Answer 8

Half life

Question 9

In the United Kingdom, which invasive deer species began to populate wild areas after several of them escaped from the Woburn Abbey estate in the 1920s? The species in question is native to southeast China and Taiwan.

Answer 9

Muntjac

Question 10

Which genetic disorder that affects connective tissue is caused by a mutation in the protein fibrillin-1 and is speculated 13 to have affected people such as Abraham Lincoln and Osama Bin Laden? People with this condition tend to be tall and thin and have an increased risk of serious heart problems.

Answer 10

Marfan syndrome (MFS)

Question 11

Which surgeon and pathologist was the first person to introduce carbolic acid (phenol) to sterilise surgical instruments 14 while working at Glasgow Royal Infirmary? This man revolutionised surgery by applying the principles of germ theory to operations

Answer 11

Joseph LISTER

Question 12

By what name do we know the statement that no three positive integers a, b, and c could satisfy the equation an + bn = 15 cn for any integer value of n greater than 2? In 1637, a version of this statement was scribbled in the margin of a copy of Diophantus’s Arithmetica.

Answer 12

Fermat’s Last Theorum (Conjectrure)

Question 13

The 17th century German scientist Johann Joachim Becher is mainly remembered for postulating which now superseded scientific theory? This theory predicted the existence of a fire-like element in combustible bodies.

Answer 13

Phlogiston

Question 14

What name is given to the current geological epoch that began roughly 11,700 years ago? Alongside the Pleistocene it forms the Quaternary period.

Answer 14

Holocene

Question 15

In astrophysics, what two-word name is given to the notional boundary around a black hole beyond which no light or other radiation can escape?

Answer 15

Event Horizon

Question 16

Which thick organ found in the digestive tract of birds, and certain other animals, is used for grinding down food into tiny pieces?

Answer 16

Gizzard

Question 17

Which highly prestigious peer-reviewed medical journal, founded in England in 1823, shares its name with a surgical instrument that is sometimes known as a scalpel?

Answer 17

The Lancet

Question 18

What name is given to the hairlike appendage that protrudes from animal sperm cells and enables the cells to swim?

Answer 18

Flagella or Flagellum

Question 19

Which isotope of plutonium is the primary fissile isotope used in the production of nuclear weapons?

Answer 19

Plutonium 239

Question 20

First hypothesised in the 1920s, which cycles describe the collective effects of eccentricity, axial tilt, and precession on 22 Earth’s climate over thousands of years? These cycles are responsible for triggering the beginnings and ends of glaciation periods.

Answer 20

Milankovitch cycles

Question 21

Also known as a grade IV astrocytoma, which is the most aggressive and most common type of cancer that originates 25 in the brain? With a typical survival time of only 14-16 months after diagnosis, this cancer causes finger-like projections that infiltrate the brain.

Answer 21

Glioblastoma

Question 22

In his 1986 book Engines of Creation, the engineer K. Eric Drexler gave what two-word name to the hypothetical end-of- 26 the-world scenario where out-of-control self-replicating molecular nanotechnologies consume all the Earth’s biomass while building more of themselves?

Answer 22

Grey Goo

Question 23

Found in much of sub-Saharan Africa, what is the sole member of the genus Leptailurus? This cat’s diet consists of birds, lizards, and rodents, particularly the vlei rat.

Answer 23

Serval

Question 24

Also known as the corpse flower due to its powerful smell of rotting flesh, the plant that produces the largest individual flower on Earth belongs to which genus of parasitic plants? It is native to the rainforests of Indonesia.

Answer 24

Rafflesia

Question 25

Which 2nd-century mathematical and astronomical treatise by Ptolemy catalogued 48 constellations? The constellations outlined in this work formed the basis for modern constellations that were ratified by the IAU in 1922.

Answer 25

Almagest

Question 26

Which essential amino acid is the sole precursor of peripherally and centrally produced serotonin? This amino acid is also crucial for normal growth in infants.

Answer 26

Trytophan

Question 27

Famous for popularising Newtonian mechanics in Italy, which academic (1711-1778), who was often depicted as the goddess Minerva, was the first woman in the world to obtain a doctorate in science?

Answer 27

Laura BASSI

Question 28

In population genetics, what ‘effect’ is the loss of genetic variation that occurs when a new population is established by a very small number of individuals from a larger population?

Answer 28

Founder effect

Question 29

The golden barrel species of which spiky plant is largely endemic to the eastern parts of Mexico?

Answer 29

Cactus

Question 30

What name is given to a semiconductor device with two terminals, that typically allows flow only in one direction?

Answer 30

Diode