Science Trivia Questions XVII

Position your cursor over the question mark found beside each question for the answer.


In 1655, Christian Huygens became the first person to discover a moon orbiting a planet other than ours or Jupiter. He called it, simply, Saturni Luna ("moon of Saturn"). What do we call it today?

       a. Titan
       b. Ganymede
       c. Triton
       d. Europa


Many mammals, such as cats, can detect chemicals in the air with their Jacobson's organ. Where is this organ?

       a. Roof of the mouth
       b. Inside the nose
       c. Behind the ears
       d. At the corners of the eyes


Castor oil comes, not from beavers, but from the castor bean. What poison comes from the castor bean plant's seeds?

       a. Ricin
       b. Anthrax
       c. Sarin
       d. Mustard gas


With about 25,000 species, what group of animals makes up almost half of all known vertebrate species?

       a. Birds
       b. Fish
       c. Insects
       d. Mammals


What blue pill is known chemically as sildenafil citrate?

       a. Prozac
       b. Viagra
       c. Claritin
       d. Zoloft


What kind of radiation produces tans by releasing the pigment melanin into the skin's cells?

       a. UV rays
       b. Infrared rays
       c. Gamma rays
       d. X-rays


The Queen Alexandra's birdwing is considered the largest species of what type of animal?

       a. Songbird
       b. Butterfly
       c. Bat
       d. Dinosaur


This isn't lactose. It's actually a hydroxide of element #12. But it helps with indigestion and constipation. What is it?

       a. Milk of magnesia
       b. Antacid
       c. Sodium bicarbonate
       d. Calcium carbonate


If you have Tay-Sachs, a fatal brain disease, your family tree almost certainly includes which people?

       a. African Americans
       b. Irish and Scots
       c. Eastern European Jews
       d. Armenians and Arabs


What is unusual about kids with progeria?

       a. They have extremely heightened senses
       b. They have stratospheric IQs
       c. They are aging incredibly rapidly
       d. They never grow taller than 3 feet


Dr Juliers Wagner von Jauregg won a Nobel Prize for figuring out a way to fight syphilis with what other disease?

       a. Smallpox
       b. Influenza
       c. Malaria
       d. Tuberculosis


Who or what would have lanugo hairs?

       a. Whales and dolphins
       b. Fur-bearing animals
       c. Fetuses
       d. Reptiles and birds


The poorwill was the first bird discovered to be doing something that we once thought no birds did. What?

       a. Hibernating
       b. Attacking with poison
       c. Bonding in same-sex partnerships
       d. Using human words intelligently


French and British astronomers predicted the existence of what planet in 1846, which Johann Gottfried Galle found later that year?

       a. Neptune
       b. Saturn
       c. Uranus
       d. Pluto


The smallest true member of the bear family is Ursus malayanus, known popularly by what name?

       a. Sun bear
       b. Koala bear
       c. Panda bear
       d. Sloth bear




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