快猫短视频

1 When the holiday season rolls around, one topic is always at the forefront of our minds: the mating habits of frogs. But what didn鈥檛 we learn about these amorous amphibians this year?

A Female frogs play dead to avoid mating

B Male frogs have been mating with the wrong species for over 200 million years

C Female frogs yell at coercive males

D Male frogs often accidentally poison themselves during mating

 

2 In September, a security researcher revealed that a data leak from the International Space Station meant it was possible to track when astronauts did what?

A Sneezed

B Slept

C Urinated

D Laughed

 

3 What unique appendage of sharpshooter insects did we report on in February?

A Their anal catapult

B Their swivelling stinger

C Their perineal horn

D Their plasma-firing claw

 

4 In June, scientists announced they had made a robot arm with a specially adapted hand to grip awkward objects or grasp things underwater. But what was the hand made of?

A A living crustacean

B Spider silk

C Cigarette butts

D Aubergines (eggplants)

 

5 In July, the RRS Sir David Attenborough prepared for its first expedition to Antarctica. It will be researching copepods, a kind of zooplankton whose collective weight is how much?

A Half that of the entire human population

B The same as that of the entire human population

C Ten times that of the entire human population

D One-hundred times that of the entire human population

 

6 In November, physicists invented a new way to shake a martini that produces what shape on the drink鈥檚 surface?

A A thumbs up

B A four-leaf clover

C A heart

D A skull

 

7 In August, we reported on evidence that fruit flies seem to be capable of playing, but what activity did they appear to enjoy doing?

A Rolling wooden balls

B Riding a carousel

C Playing Wordle

D Arranging bricks

 

8 We learned a lot about octopuses this year, but what didn鈥檛 we discover about these cephalopods?

A They replay skin patterns from when they are awake while they sleep

B Their ink contains a compound that kills cancer

C They edit their genetic code to adapt to colder water

D They take revenge on predators that harm them

 

9 Buying how many tickets guarantees a win in the UK鈥檚 鈥淟otto鈥� lottery, as two mathematicians showed in July?

A 27

B 55

C 89

D 103

 

10 What makes the Sverdrup-Henson crater special, according to research published in September?

A It is the best place to build a moon base

B It was made by a meteorite suspected to have caused a mass extinction

C Its terroir makes it the best place to grow red wine grapes

D It is hidden beneath Rhode Island

 

11 Many species thought lost were rediscovered by science in 2023, but which of the following wasn鈥檛?

A Attenborough鈥檚 long-beaked echidna

B The splendid poison frog

C The Pernambuco holly

D The strange big-eared brown bat

 

12 There were plenty of entirely new-to-science species too. Which of the following was discovered this year?

A The dragon macaque

B The goblin bee

C The demon catshark

D The yeti moth

 

13 What has been spotted breaking Isaac Newton鈥檚 third law of motion, as we reported in October?

A The mantis shrimp

B Human sperm

C Maxwell鈥檚 demon

D The LK-99 superconductor

 

14 We learned a lot about rats this year, but what didn鈥檛 we discover about these rodents?

A They squeak with happiness when they see another rat

B They have an imagination

C They are fooled by the Asahi illusion, just like humans

D They prefer thrash metal over other musical genres

 

15 In April, an itinerant Burmese python in Florida laid a record number of eggs for its species 鈥� how many?

A 84

B 88

C 92

D 96

 

16 What could give away a fake passport image made from two morphed photos, as we learned in November?

A The tips of the ears

B Overly smooth eyebrows

C Uneven beard density

D Shadows on the eyes

 

17 In October, researchers used AI to decipher a word in a charred, unopened ancient scroll from the Roman city of Herculaneum. What was the word?

A Porphyras, meaning purple

B The name Valeria

C Bovi, meaning cattle

D Nereides, meaning sea nymphs

 

18 We like to bring you the biggest news in science, but which of these sizeable stories didn鈥檛 we feature?

A The largest number of entangled qubits in a quantum computer

B The largest giraffe skeleton ever found

C The largest quasicrystal yet created

D The largest marsquake on record

 

19 At the other end of the scale, the smallest what was built in October?

A X-ray machine

B Mass spectrometer

C Seismometer

D Particle accelerator

 

20 Sticking with superlatives, archaeologists found the earliest known example of what this year, dating back 9000 years?

A Architectural plans

B A pie recipe

C A letter of complaint

D A message in a bottle

 

21 When exposed to warmer-than-usual temperatures, what do spiny lava lizards get less fussy about?

A Their food

B Their sexual partners

C Their living situation

D Their personal hygiene

 

22 In May, we learned migratory locusts release a compound called phenylacetonitrile 鈥� for what purpose?

A To treat fungal infections

B To stop other locusts eating them

C To communicate with their young

D To change sex

 

23 Staying with animal innovation, which of the following behaviours didn鈥檛 we report on this year?

A Zebrafish make sunscreen to protect their embryos

B Birds use anti-bird spikes to make their nests

C Arctic foxes change their eye colour from summer to winter

D Orangutans can make two sounds at once like a beatboxer

 

24 As we learned in June, low-density plumes of magma beneath the Indian Ocean, just south of India, have created what?

A A mass breeding site for loggerhead turtles

B A new supervolcano

C A gravity 鈥渉ole鈥�

D A natural nuclear reactor

 

25 And finally, we learned in October that when looking at an object, it takes as little as how long for us to decide if it is food?

A 92 milliseconds

B 108 milliseconds

C 375 milliseconds

D 492 milliseconds