CHRISTMAS QUIZ
HOW WELL HAVE YOU BEEN PAYING ATTENTION IN 2022?
1. At the start of the year, it was announced that China’s Artificial Sun broke the world record for the longest sustained nuclear plasma reaction after running for 17 minutes, 36 seconds. But how hot did it get?
A. 50,000,000°C
B. 70,000,000°C
C. 30,000,000°C
2. The largest known bacteria, Thiomargarita magnifica, is found in the tropical mangroves of Guadeloupe in the Caribbean. How big is it?
A. 10mm
B. 2mm
C. 1mm
3. The most expensive NFT sold to date is ‘The Merge’. Almost 30,000 collaborators pitched in to buy parts, but how much did this artwork sell for?
A. $25.4m
B. $127m
C. $91.8m
4. A mysterious cube was detected on the far side of the Moon by China’s Yutu-2 rover. What was it?
A. Alien monolith
B. A rock
C. Spacecraft debris
5. Why did NASA’s DART mission deliberately crash into an asteroid on 26 September?
A. It was part of a planetary defence strategy: to find out whether we can deflect an asteroid
B. It was part of a military operation: to test classified military equipment
C. It had already finished its mission: the spacecraft was at the end of its life
6. A new antibiotic, solanimycin, has been recently found in what food?
A. Carrots
B. Potatoes
C. Onions
7. Which year is Halley’s Comet due to return to our skies?
A. 2023
B. 2061
C. 2045
8. To investigate whether it could rain diamonds on the ice giants Neptune and Uranus, scientists created nanodiamonds by firing powerful laser flashes at what material?
A. Steel
B. Glass
C. Plastic
9. Researchers from UCL and the University of Cambridge found that Neolithic humans were infected with intestinal parasites. They recovered eggs of capillariid worms from what?
A. The gut of a mummified ‘bog body’
B. 4,500-year-old human poo
C. Organic remains inside a clay pot
10. A new fabric, developed by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Rhode Island School of Design, can react to your heartbeat. What part of the human body was the fabric modelled on?
A. The ear
B. The skin
C. The eye
11. If you’re trapped under rubble, which animal might come to your rescue?
A. Search and rescue bats
B. Search and rescue rats
C. Search and rescue cats
12. An international team of neuroscientists have successfully taught mini brains to play which classic computer game?
A. Pac-Man
B. Space Invaders
C. Pong
13. Which animals are currently favoured to become the first interstellar space travellers?
A. Tardigrades
B. Spiders
C. Cockroaches
14. On 19 July 2022, parts of the UK reached record high temperatures. The Met Office recorded and verified the new record from Coningsby in Lincolnshire. How hot did it get?
A. 40.3°C
B. 42.4°C
C. 38.7°C
15. A study from the British Dietetic Association found that modern diets are lacking in what carbohydrate?
A. Starch
B. Sugar
C. Fibre
16. By examining fossilised teeth from the Bulgarian National Museum of Natural History, palaeontologists found that a giant species of which animal roamed Europe six million years ago?
A. Emu
B. Jaguar
C. Panda
17. Where are Britain’s temperate rainforests located?
A. The eastern coast – Yorkshire, Norfolk and the Isle of Sheppey
B. The western coast – Scotland, the Lake District, Wales and the southwest
C. The southern coast – High Weald, the Kent Downs and the Isle of Wight
18. What is the longest cranial nerve in the human body, running from the brain to large intestine?
A. The vagus nerve
B. The oculomotor nerve
C. The trigeminal nerve
19. Scientists from Ben-Gurion University in Israel taught goldfish to do what?
A. Sing
B. Ride a bike
C. Drive a car
20. Very few human remains have been found at the site of the Battle of Waterloo. Researchers from the University of Glasgow investigated historical accounts, and concluded what?
A. The remains were ground into fertiliser
B. The remains were eaten
C. They were looking in the wrong place
21. On 12 May 2022, the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration revealed the first-ever image of the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way. What is it called?
A. Capricorn A* (Cpr A*)
B. Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*)
C. Aquarius A* (Aqr A*)
22. B vitamins found in which popular spread may help reduce feelings of anxiety and depression?
A. Nutella
B. Marmalade
C. Marmite
23. In July 2022, what type of mammal was spotted in London for the first time in 100 years?
A. Lynx
B. Pine marten
C. Lemming
24. On 11 October 2022, an AI made history and became the first ever robot to provide evidence in the House of Lords – and then fell asleep. What was its name?
A. Ai-Na
B. Ai-Da
C. Ai-Va
25. What is a wobbegong?
A. A percussion instrument
B. A type of tree
C. A type of shark
26. Which mascot is accompanying astronauts on board Artemis 1?
A. Shaun the Sheep
B. SpongeBob SquarePants
C. Buzz Lightyear
27. In 1915, Ernest Shackleton’s ship was lost to the depths of the Weddell Sea on a mission across Antarctica. In March 2022, robots finally uncovered its final resting place. What is its name?
A. The HMS Endeavour
B. Endurance
C. The Octavius
28. At the current best estimate, how much wood would a woodchuck chuck, if a wood chuck could chuck wood?
A. 700 pounds of wood
B. 100 pounds of wood
C. 500 pounds of wood
29. Which of these has the potential to treat autoimmune diseases, when transplanted from a donor to a recipient?
A. Spit
B. Poo
C. Wee
30. In February 2022, a newly hatched baby ghost shark was found off the coast of New Zealand. What was in its belly?
A. Fish
B. Microplastics
C. Egg yolk
31. The US National Institutes of Health says that drinking what type of beverage can reduce the risk of death?
A. Black tea
B. Bubble tea
C. Peppermint tea
32. UK-based JET facility in Oxford generated the largest-ever amount of energy in a sustained fusion reaction. The project generated 59 megajoules of heat energy over what time period?
A. 2 seconds
B. 5 seconds
C. 48 seconds
33. In August, NASA reported that the MOXIE experiment onboard the Mars rover Perseverance has generated around 50 grams of oxygen. How much breathable air for one person does this equate to?
A. 10 minutes
B. 100 minutes
C. 50 minutes
34. By weight, approximately how many epidermal cells does one human shed in a year?
A. 1kg
B. 500g
C. 4kg
35. NASA’s DART spacecraft crashed into the asteroid Dimorphos. Dimorphos has a larger companion asteroid – what is it called?
A. Didymos
B. Darius
C. Demeter
36. On 15 January 2022, the underwater volcano Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai in the southern Pacific Ocean erupted. Acoustic ripples from the explosion travelled at the speed of sound to Miami, around 11,466km (7,125 miles) away. How long did it take these pressure waves to reach Miami?
A. 10.5 hours
B. 15 hours
C. 13.25 hours
37. NASA’s first asteroid sample spacecraft, OSIRIS-REx, is on track to return samples to Earth in September 2023. Which asteroid did it collect samples from in 2020?
A. Fortuna
B. Bennu
C. Ryugu
38. In July 2022, which animal was introduced into the Kent countryside as part of a rewilding effort?
A. Wildebeest
B. Reindeer
C. Bison
39. Quetzalcoatlus was a type of pterosaur that lived around 70 million years ago, and is the largest known flying animal to have ever existed. How big was it?
A. The size of a double-decker bus
B. The size of a minibus
C. The size of a 1950s (pink) Cadillac Eldorado
40. In August 2022, the JWST detected the first clear evidence for what type of gas, in the atmosphere of WASP 39-b, a hot Jupiter exoplanet located around 7,000 light-years away?
A. Oxygen
B. Nitrogen
C. Carbon dioxide
ANSWERS
1 B, 2 A, 3 C, 4 B, 5 A, 6 B, 7 B, 8 C, 9 B, 10 A, 11 B, 12 C, 13 A, 14 A, 15 C, 16 C, 17 B, 18 A, 19 C, 20 A, 21 B, 22 C, 23 B, 24 B, 25 C, 26 A, 27 B, 28 A, 29 B, 30 C, 31 A, 32 B, 33 B, 34 C, 35 A, 36 A, 37 B, 38 C, 39 A, 40 C