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Copyleft: feel free to use these questions in your quizzes. This is not a game, there's no scoring, and questions are provided as a service only. "NEW" means less than a month old. Spanish flags denote Spanish-based questions.

Science & Technology

231 questions in this category
Q: What is the Macintosh computer named after?
A: A variety of Apple (but spelled McIntosh)
With thanks to Rolland Willa for correcting the answer to this question
Q: What is a googol?
A: 10 to the power of 10 to the power of 2 (which can also be written as 10 to the power of 100)
With thanks to Graham Jones for correcting the answer to this question
Q: Under what name is the Chinese gooseberry normally sold?
A: Kiwi or kiwifruit
With thanks to Suzy Fewtrell of New Zealand for expanding the answer
Q: How much does a cubic metre of water weigh?
A: One tonne (or metric ton)
With thanks to David Heslop for correcting this question
Q: How many square metres in a hectare?
A: 10,000 (100x100 metres)
Q: On which planet is the tallest mountain in the Solar System?
A: Mars (Olympus Mons, over 25,000m or 82,000 ft)
Q: Which is the largest species of dolphin?
A: The killer whale (Orcinus orca), also known as the orca, and less commonly as the blackfish
Q: Which planet of the solar system has its 27 moons named after characters from the works of William Shakespeare and Alexander Pope?
A: Uranus
Q: What in meteorology is measured in Oktas?
A: Cloud cover (oktas is completely clear to 8 oktas completely overcast)
Q: What is the SI unit of temperature?
A: The Kelvin (not degree Kelvin)
Q: What is Aqua Regia?
A: It's a mixture of nitric acid and hydrochloric acid (in a volumetric ratio of 1:3)
Q: LSD is a synthetic derivative of which type of naturally occurring growth?
A: Fungus (ergot, a grain fungus that typically grows on rye)
Q: What type of grazing animal is an Onager?
A: The Onager (Equus hemionus) is a large member of the genus Equus of the family Equidae (horse family) native to the deserts of Syria, Iran, Pakistan, India, Israel, and Tibet. It is sometimes known as the Wild Asian Ass
Q: On the Mohs scale of hardness, what is the second hardest mineral, after diamond?
A: Corundum (also known as ruby or sapphire when transparent)
Q: In biology, what is symbiosis?
A: Living together of unlike organisms
Q: Who flew in Vostok 1?
A: Yuri Gagarin
Q: What's the name given to lines of equal underwater depth on maps?
A: Isobath (or more mundanely, depth contours, or simply contour lines)
Q: The X-Men character Wolverine is named after the animal of the same name. What kind of animal is a wolverine?
A: The wolverine (Gulo gulo) is a member of the weasel family (Mustelidae)
Q: What is the SI unit of frequency (used in measuring audio and radio transmissions among many others)?
A: Hertz
Q: What is the name of a single dot on a computer monitor screen?
A: Pixel (picture element)
Q: Where would you commonly find a sand dollar?
A: On a beach (it's the skeleton of a sea urchin)
Q: Which gas has the chemical formula CO?
A: Carbon monoxide
Q: What was the Wright Brother's first successful aeroplane called?
A: Flyer
Q: What is the name of the study of the motion of the earth's crust?
A: Plate Tectonics
Q: Graphite is composed of which element?
A: Carbon
Q: What medical condition gets its name from the Greek "half a head"?
A: Migraine (hemicrania)
Q: Which isotope is commonly used to date decayed organic matter?
A: Carbon 14
Q: Do astronauts have mass in outer space?
A: Yes (but no weight)
Q: Which is the hardest tissue in men, as well as in women?
A: Tooth enamel
Q: On the moon, what colour is the sky?
A: Black
Q: What did Tim Berners-Lee create and where?
A: The World Wide Web at CERN in Geneva
Q: The detrimental effects of DHMO (di-hydrogen monoxide) were spelled out in the early 90s. What is di-hydrogen monoxide?
A: Water
Q: Boats and planes roll when rotating about their longitudinal axis. What are the other two rotations called?
A: Pitch and yaw
Q: The Indian-Pacific train links the two oceans. Between which two cities does it run?
A: Perth and Sydney
Q: If, in Japan, you were travelling on a Shinkansen, what mode of transport would you be using?
A: A bullet train
Q: What in Asia is a Tuk-tuk?
A: An auto-rickshaw
Q: What is the SI unit of force?
A: Newton
Q: What lies above the troposphere?
A: The stratosphere (with the Tropopause between them)
Q: What is the name of the shortest route between two points on a sphere? (Such as flying between two points on earth.)
A: Great circle
Q: Alec Issigonis designed one of the most famous cars of the 20th century. Which one?
A: The Mini (the Morris Mini Minor)
Q: Which is the most powerful rocket used operationally?
A: Saturn V (Energia would in theory be more powerful but was launched with less power)
Q: What in radio does AM stand for?
A: Amplitude Modulation
Q: In the physical world (as opposed to art) what are the primary colours?
A: Red, green and blue
Q: Solid carbon dioxide is known by what name?
A: Dry ice
Q: What extinct creature got its name from the Portuguese word for stupid?
A: Dodo
Q: What is the angle between the hands of a clock at 1 o'clock?
A: 30 degrees
Q: What is the chemical symbol for Ozone?
A: O3
Q: What is the name of the mascot on the bonnet of a Rolls Royce?
A: The Spirit of Ecstacy
Q: What is the three-dimensional image created with laser beams called?
A: Hologram
Q: What type of animal are Belugas?
A: Whales
Q: What were (and still are) 'Skyscrapers' before the term was applied to tall buildings?
A: Sails (A small triangular sail set above the skysail in order to maximize effect in a light wind.)
Q: What would you use Archimede's Screw for?
A: Raising water
Q: Whats the the name for the bending of light as it passes from one medium to another?
A: Refraction
Q: Where is the hypocentre of an earthquake in relation to its epicentre?
A: Directly beneath it
Q: Which is the only muscle in your body that is only attached at one end?
A: The tongue
Q: Which planet in our solar system has an orbital period of 687 days?
A: Mars
Q: Who discovered that all objects, heavy or light, fall at the same velocity?
A: Galileo Galilei
Q: What shape is the DNA molecule?
A: A double helix
Q: BASIC, Perl, and Python are types of what?
A: Computer languages
Q: By what name is "Jerry's Guide to the World Wide Web" now known?
A: Yahoo
Q: Disgusting-sounding ailments no.1: What is Borborygmus?
A: Your stomach making noises
Q: Evaporation is changing from a liquid to gas. What is changing from a solid to a gas called?
A: Sublimation
Q: How many astronauts crewed the Gemini series of spacecraft?
A: Two
Q: How many astronauts crewed the Mercury series of spacecraft?
A: One
Q: If 8 bits make a byte, what do 4 bits constitute?
A: A nibble
Q: In photography, what does SLR stand for?
A: Single lens reflex
Q: In which US state did the Wright brothers first fly?
A: North Carolina
Q: Litmus paper turns what colour when in contact with an acid?
A: Red
Q: Many of us use CDROMs these days, but what does the acronym mean?
A: Compact Disk Read Only Memory
Q: Mrs. Thomas Smith of Ryde, NSW, Australia, produced a new variety of fruit in 1868. What is it called?
A: The Granny Smith apple
Q: Name anything that happened in Britain on September 3rd, 1752.
A: Nothing. After September 2, the next day was September 14, due to the change from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar.
Q: On the Moh Hardness scale, what has a hardness of 10?
A: Diamond
Q: Pony, Shot, and Jigger are units of measure of what?
A: Spirits (alcohol). A pony is half a shot. A jigger is a shot and a half. 16 shots in a pint.
Q: Referring to internet connections, what does ADSL mean?
A: Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line
Q: The prefix mega- is a millionfold in the SI units and giga- is a billion. Tera is a trillion but what is the quadrillionfold (10 to the power of 15) prefix?
A: Peta
Q: The winter solstice (summer in the Southern hemisphere) occurs when the sun is furthest from the equator (on December 22nd). What do we call the days the sun crosses the equator in March and September?
A: Equinox
Q: To the nearest whole number, how many revolutions does the moon make around the earth in a calendar year?
A: 13
Q: Strange, charm, up, down, top, and bottom are types of what?
A: Quarks
With thanks to Lucy Boulding for correcting the question
Q: What are the two types of camel called?
A: Dromedary and Bactrian
Q: What colour is caffeine?
A: It's a white odourless crystalline powder
Q: What colour is the 'Black Box' found in commercial planes?
A: Orange
Q: What did Einstein get the Nobel prize for?
A: The Photoelectric effect
Q: What did John Logie Baird invent in 1925?
A: Television
Q: What does CAT stand for in a CAT-scan?
A: Computerised Axial Tomography
Q: What does Cytology study?
A: Structure, function and life of cells
Q: What does DVD stand for?
A: Digital Versatile Disc
Q: What does MG in the car brand stand for?
A: Morris Garages
Q: What does VTOL mean when applied to an aircraft?
A: Vertical Take Off and Landing
Q: What in radio is FM?
A: Frequency modulation
Q: What is -459.7ºF also know as?
A: Absolute zero
Q: What is 0º Fahrenheit in centigrade?
A: -18 degrees
Q: What is a camel's hump made of? Water, fat or muscle?
A: Fat
Q: What is a rhinoceros' horn made of?
A: Hair
Q: What is an eolic power station?
A: Wind powered
Q: What is an Ishihara test used for?
A: To test for colour blindness
Q: What is calcium carbonate normally known as?
A: Chalk
Q: What is measured in Amperes?
A: Electric current
Q: What is panophobia or pantophobia?
A: Fear of everything
With thanks to Sam Jones PhD, South Wales, for correcting this question
Q: What is the fundamental difference between an autogyro and a helicopter?
A: A helicopter has powered rotors
Q: What is the more common name for Ethylene Glycol?
A: Antifreeze
Q: What is the more common name of Ascorbic Acid?
A: Vitamin C
Q: Which are the only venomous mammals in the world?
A: The duckbill platypus, some shrews and the solenodon
With thanks to Jeff Hicks for correcting the answer to this question
Q: What is Zulu time?
A: Universal Coordinated Time (UTC) which has replaced Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)
With thanks to Chris O'Byrne for correcting this question
Q: What lies between Mars and Jupiter?
A: The Asteroid Belt
Q: What was the first man-made object to move faster than the speed of sound?
A: A whip
Q: What was the gin in the cotton gin invented by Eli Whitney in the US in 1793?
A: Engine
Q: What was the name of the first spacecraft to land softly on the moon?
A: Luna 9 launched on January 31, 1966 (Luna II struck the moon in 1959)
Q: What would a Conchologist be interested in?
A: Shells
Q: Where, in a household, would you find a magnetron?
A: In a microwave oven
Q: Which common animal is properly known as Mus Musculus?
A: Mouse
Q: Which computer operating system has a penguin as its logo?
A: Linux
Q: Which crop is attacked by the boll weevil?
A: Cotton
Q: Which element has atomic number 2?
A: Helium
Q: Which German architect who designed the Seagram Building in New York said "Less is more, God is in the details"?
A: Ludwig Mies van Der Rohe
Q: Which hangs from the ceiling, a stalactite or a stalagmite?
A: Stalactite
Q: Which is currently the world's tallest building?
A: Taipei 101 (aka Taibei 101). Burj Dubai became the tallest man-made structure in April 2008 and will become the tallest building once it is completed in late 2009.
With thanks to Remo Anniyan for updating the answer to this question
Q: Which is the closest galaxy to our own?
A: The Canis Major Galaxy discovered in 2003 is now considered the closest at 25,000 light years from Earth
Q: Which is the densest planet in our solar system?
A: The Earth
Q: Which is the first chemical element in alphabetical order?
A: Actinium (atomic number 89)
Q: Which is the largest organ in the human body?
A: The skin
Q: Which is the last chemical element (in alphabetical order)?
A: Zirconium (atomic number 40)
Q: Which is the main component of Brass and Bronze?
A: Copper
Q: Which is the opposite point to the Zenith?
A: Nadir
Q: Which metal do you get from bauxite?
A: Aluminium
Q: Which metal do you get out of Hematite?
A: Iron
Q: Which Nobel Prize is awarded by the Caroline Institute of Stockholm?
A: Physiology and Medicine
Q: Which period came after the Triassic?
A: Jurassic
Q: Which unit of measurement was defined by Henry III of England by placing three barleycorns in a line?
A: An inch
Q: Which vitamin is thiamine?
A: Vitamin B1
Q: Which was the first jet airliner to enter commercial service?
A: The DH Comet
Q: What two time Nobel prize winner was a proponent of Vitamin C?
A: Linus Pauling
With thanks to Russ Hall for correcting this question
Q: Who invented the centigrade scale?
A: Anders Celsius
Q: Who was the scientist who measured, on his honeymoon, the amount of heat produced by a local waterfall? (He never had children).
A: James Prescott Joule
Q: Which chemical element gets it's name from a greek word meaning 'stranger'?
A: Xenon
Q: Which two planets do not have moons?
A: Mercury and Venus
Q: Who won the 1954 Nobel Prize for Chemistry and the 1962 Nobel Peace Prize?
A: Linus Pauling
Q: Is the sun denser than water?
A: Yes, 1.41 times as dense
Q: What's the difference between a venom and a poison?
A: A venom is injected by biting or stinging
Q: What is myrrh?
A: A resin. Commiphora myrrha.
Q: In radio and television, among other things, what does UHF stand for?
A: Ultra High Frequency
Q: Which sugar makes up nearly 8% of milk and is also known as 'milk sugar'?
A: Lactose
Q: What are Lyrids, Perseids, and Leonids?
A: Meteor showers (third week in April, July - August, and mid-November)
Q: Where in the human body do you find aqueous humour?
A: Eye
Q: During which phase of the moon can a solar eclipse occur?
A: New moon
Q: What is the name given to rain with a particularly low pH?
A: Acid rain
Q: Which part of the body does an orthopaedic surgeon treat?
A: The musculoskeletal system
Q: What's the common name of the animal know as 'Vulpes Vulpes'?
A: Fox
Q: Which species of animal has the greatest variety of shape and size?
A: Dogs
Q: Which element, used in electric light filaments and in aviation, has the highest melting point?
A: Tungsten at 3,683K (3,410ºC), Carbon doesn't melt under normal pressure, it sublimes
Q: Which is the largest fish?
A: Whale shark
Q: Besides humans, which are the only primates that live freely in Europe?
A: Barbary Macaques in Gibraltar
Q: Hydrated magnesium silicate is found in most bathrooms. By what name is it better known?
A: Talc or talcum powder
Q: What (very) common item measures 210 mm by 297 mm by approximately 0.5 mm and weighs about 5g?
A: A sheet of A4 paper (80g/m2)
Q: The ABO grouping classifies what?
A: Blood groups
Q: Parkesine and Bakelite were two early examples of what?
A: Synthetic plastic
Q: Blu-ray discs are set to take over from DVDs. Where does the name come from?
A: It uses a blue laser instead of red
Q: What is an explosive mixture of sulphur, charcoal, and saltpetre (potassium nitrate) more commonly known as?
A: Gunpowder
Q: Henry Ford said 'Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black'. Why was the Ford Model T offered only in black?
A: Once the assembly line was developed, only black dried fast enough. It was offered in other colours before that.
Q: The first nuclear powered ship was designed for what purpose?
A: Icebreaking (NS Lenin in 1959)
Q: The bark of the Cinchona, historically known as Jesuit's Bark or Peruvian Bark, was the original source of which drug?
A: Quinine
Q: Which metal is named after Cyprus where it was mined in the Roman era?
A: Copper
Q: What's the name of the type of self-contained cable railway in which a cable attached to a pair of tram-like vehicles on rails moves them up and down a very steep slope, the ascending and descending vehicles counterbalancing each other?
A: Funicular
Q: What is the laryngeal prominence formed by the angle of the thyroid cartilage surrounding the larynx commonly called?
A: Adam's Apple
Q: Which Admiral has a wind speed scale named after him?
A: Sir Francis Beaufort
Q: The word 'Galaxy' comes from the Greek word for what?
A: Milk
Q: Alligators are native to only which two countries?
A: USA and China
Q: Hansen's Disease was traditionally known as what?
A: Leprosy
Q: What's the name of the fruit originally called Yáng Táo in Southwest China, where it originates? There is a golden variety call Hinabelle.
A: Kiwi or kiwifruit
Q: What can be categorised as Flip, Bar, Slide, Swivel, or Brick?
A: Mobile phones
Q: Which is the largest gland in the human body?
A: Liver
Q: How many carats in pure gold?
A: 24
Q: What is decompression sickness commonly known as?
A: The bends
Q: What type of fruit is a McIntosh?
A: An apple
Q: What is the negatively charged electrode called? (one in which the current flows out)
A: Cathode
Q: Where or what does the internet domain .cat represent?
A: The Catalan-speaking community
Q: What does IBM stand for?
A: International Business Machines
Q: Which small egg-shaped computer, released in 1996, had only three buttons (A, B, and C) to 'feed' it, 'clean' it and play games?
A: Tamagotchi
Q: What was the name of the first cloned mammal?
A: Dolly the sheep in 1997
Q: Who was known as the 'The Wizard of Menlo Park' and said, 'Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration.'?
A: Thomas Edison
Q: A radioactive isotope of Americium can be found in many homes and workplaces. Where?
A: Smoke detectors
Q: We all know what rigor mortis is, but what is algor mortis?
A: The reduction in body temperature following death (Latin: algor - coolness; mortis - of death)
Q: What does a defibrillator do?
A: Delivers an electric shock to the heart and allows normal heart rhythm to be re-established
Q: Who wrote 'The Road Ahead' about the future of personal computing in 1995 and got it so wrong he had to rewrite large parts of it the following year?
A: Bill Gates
Q: What's the difference between a fish and a marine mammal when looking at their tail fins?
A: Fish have vertical tail fins and mammals have horizontal tail fins
Q: Which planet has the Great Red Spot in its atmosphere?
A: Jupiter
Q: What is the SI unit of electrical current?
A: Ampere
Q: The nearest spiral galaxy to this quiz is named Messier 31, M31, or NGC 224, but is more commonly called what?
A: Andromeda Galaxy
Q: What is the SETI programme?
A: The Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence
Q: What is the nominal output voltage of an alkaline AA battery?
A: 1.5 volts
Q: What is the main gas (by volume) in car exhaust?
A: Nitrogen (N2)
Q: In which animal species does the male get pregnant?
A: Sea horses
Q: What can be classified (using the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram) as white dwarfs, main sequence, subgiants, giants, bright giants, supergiants?
A: Stars
Q: What is the name given to nitro-glycerine after it has been mixed with sawdust or clay (diatomaceous earth) to stabilise it?
A: Dynamite
Q: Riboflavin, Niacin, and Folic Acid are examples of what?
A: Vitamins (B2, B3, and B9)
Q: Which planet in our Solar System has a day that is just over 17 hours long, yet the 98º tilt of it axis means that the poles have sunlight for 42 earth years followed by 42 years of darkness. It has 13 rings and 27 moons.
A: Uranus
Q: The elements Palladium, Cerium, Uranium, Neptunium, Plutonium are all named after what?
A: Planets (and asteroids, considered planets at the time)
Q: How many points or sides does a snowflake have?
A: Six
Q: Which is the lightest gas?
A: Hydrogen
Q: What is thanatosis?
A: Playing dead (playing possum)
Q: If your Wassermann test came up positive, what would you be suffering from?
A: Syphyllis
Q: Which element takes its name from the Greek for 'pale green'?
A: Chlorine
Q: What is the name of the oil (or fat) obtained from wool?
A: Lanolin (adeps lanae)
Q: Where would you find the mound of Venus?
A: In the palm of your hand or just above the genitals
Q: What sort of animal is a Rhodesian ridgeback?
A: A dog
Q: From which well-known type of flower are Vanilla pods obtained?
A: Orchids
Q: Anteaters prefer what to ants?
A: Termites
Q: Which is the only insect that can turn its head to look directly behind itself?
A: The praying mantis
Q: What sort of substances are adrenaline, cortisone, insulin, and oestrogens?
A: Hormones
Q: What is inflamed when you suffer from nephritis?
A: The kidneys
Q: How many noble gases are there?
A: Six: helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon, and radon.
Q: Pencil lead is made out what?
A: Graphite and clay (mainly)
Q: What did Foucault's pendulum prove?
A: That the earth rotates
Q: There are three types of nuclear radiation. What are they called?
A: Alpha, Beta, and Gamma
Q: Freud published his most influential book in 1900. What was it called?
A: The Interpretation of Dreams
Q: For fans of Mad magazine: what is an axolotl?
A: A salamander
Q: What is the antimatter equivalent of the electron?
A: The positron
Q: What are Sodium Thiopental, Pancuronium Bromide, and Potassium Chloride taken in that order?
A: The lethal injection used to execute prisoners in the USA
Q: What kind of animal is a blue-fronted parrot?
A: A parrot
Q: What is the name of the alloy made of 95% aluminium, 4% copper and small amounts of magnesium and manganese?
A: Duraluminium (also know as duraluminum, duralumin, or dural)
Q: Who wrote the book 'The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA'?
A: James Watson
Q: Who invented natural logarithms?
A: John Napier
Q: Which is the main protein in milk?
A: Casein
Q: What part of the body is affected by Otitis?
A: The ear
Q: Which branch of physics deals with sound?
A: Acoustics
Q: Which law states that, at a constant temperature, the pressure of a gas is inversely proportional to its volume?
A: Boyle's Law
Q: Which element has the chemical symbol Rf?
A: Rutherfordium
Q: Which temperature has the same value in Fahrenheit and Celsius?
A: -40
Q: In which organ would you find the pineal gland?
A: The brain
Q: Aquaculture is the correct term for what?
A: Fish farming
Q: What kind of animal is a basilisk?
A: A lizard
Q: Which is the tenth largest body orbiting the sun?
A: Pluto (Eris is the ninth)

Madrid Me Mata is on Corredera Alta de San Pablo 31 (metro Tribunal) and holds its quizzes on Mondays at 10 pm. The quiz is usually on holiday over Christmas and New Year, Easter Monday, and mid-July to the beginning of September.

The quiz is held in English and consists of eight rounds of ten questions. Each round is on a topic or theme and one round may be chosen as a joker round earning double points for each correct answer.

Questions compiled by Luis de Avendaño. Additional questions provided by Alex Carter, Antony Reid, Antonio Vázquez, Declan Forde, Peter Moore, Steve Owen, John Wirnsberger, Clive Mendes, and Jennifer Riggins.

Thanks also to Alan;
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and many others for correcting, amending and fine tuning the questions and answers.

Please send corrections and amendments to These questions have all been used at the Moore's Irish Pub quiz (formerly O'Donnell's) and at Triskel. New questions are added at irregular intervals. However, if 231 science questions are not enough, we recommend you check TriviaBug.

Sources: Encyclopedia Britannica, The World Almanac and Book of Facts, Whitaker's Almanac, The Compact Edition of The Oxford English Dictionary, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Collins Gem Fact File, Diccionario Enciclopédico Espasa 1 and Wikipedia.. This page layout was last updated on Saturday, September 15th, 2018 @ 7:41pm CEST (Europe/Madrid).

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