Answers

1. a. The fossils were found in Jebel Irhoud, Morocco.

2. a. Leonardo was better known as Fibonacci, which is likely to have been a contraction of Filius Bonacci, or “son of a Bonaccio”.

3. b. ¿ìè¶ÌÊÓƵ and amateur beekeeper Federica Bertocchini removed wax moth larvae from her honeycombs and stored them in a plastic bag. She found that this parasite could munch its way through polythene and polypropylene, two of the most commonly used plastics.

4. a. As of last month, China had 202 of the 500 fastest supercomputers on the planet, while the US had 143. The fastest supercomputer is currently China’s Sunway TaihuLight.

5. c. The tuatara’s “third eye”, located on the top of its head, is sensitive to light but unable to form images.

6. b. Pele’s hair has nothing to do with the famous footballer, but rather takes its name from a Hawaiian goddess of fire and volcanoes.

7. a. Drone footage shot in north-east Canada showed, for the first time, narwhals using their tusks to hunt Arctic cod by striking and stunning them, making them easier to eat.

8. b. The gravitational waves were from two neutron stars. Unlike black holes, neutron stars produce detectable electromagnetic radiation, so astronomers were able to observe the collision in the electromagnetic spectrum as well.

9. c. Neopalpa donaldtrumpi are found in southern California and Baja California, Mexico. The species was given its name by Canadian lepidopterist Vazrick Nazari.

10. b. Hawking’s 1966 thesis “Properties of expanding universes” was made openly accessible in October, with 60,000 people accessing it on the first day.

This article appeared in print under the headline “Fingers on buzzers”

After their epic clash in the semi-finals of BBC quiz University Challenge back in March, Monkman and Seagull joined forces to host a Radio 4 programme and have just published a general knowledge quiz book. To round off the year, they teamed up with ¿ìè¶ÌÊÓƵ to put your science knowledge through its paces.

1. The oldest-known Homo sapiens fossils (estimated to be around 300,000 years old) were found in which country?

a. Morocco

b. Kenya

c. Ethiopia

2. The Fibonacci sequence, which runs 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, was devised by the Italian mathematician Leonardo of Pisa for which reason?

a. To measure the population growth of rabbits

b. To calculate interest rates

c. To identify the angle of the leaning tower

3. Larvae of the wax moth (Galleria mellonella) may be able to perform what useful activity?

a. Produce a very strong silk

b. Consume and break down plastics

c. Serve as a good snack on space journeys

4. Which country has the highest percentage of the world’s 500 fastest supercomputers?

a. China

b. The US

c. Japan

5. Tuatara, reptiles endemic to New Zealand, are known for which distinctive physical trait?

a. A double row of teeth

b. A third eye

c. Both of the above

6. Aa, pahoehoe and Pele’s hair are all types of what?

a. Butterfly

b. Lava

c. Mathematical theorem

7. This year, cameras revealed narwhals using their long tusks to:

a. Stun Arctic cod by hitting them

b. Spray poison onto predators

c. Clean algae from each other

8. What two objects collided to produce the gravitational waves whose detection was announced in October – the first time such a collision had been observed?

a. A black hole and a neutron star

b. Two neutron stars

c. Two black holes

9. Neopalpa donaldtrumpi has a yellow-white fringe on its head. What type of animal is it?

a. A pheasant

b. A goby

c. A moth

10. What event caused the University of Cambridge website to crash this year?

a. The epic Monkman vs Seagull University Challenge clash

b. Demand to download Stephen Hawking’s PhD thesis

c. The announcement of Richard Henderson’s Nobel prize in chemistry

Answers

Think you’ve managed to beat Monkman and Seagull? Check your answers to our Christmas quiz here.

This article appeared in print under the headline “Fingers on buzzers”