1.
What name is given to the science of classification?
A. 
B. 
C. 
D. 
2.
Which of these is not a weasel - or rather, which is not a member of the weasel's family, the Mustelidae?
A. 
B. 
C. 
D. 
3.
The Apatosaurus is a genus of dinosaur formerly known as
A. 
B. 
C. 
D. 
4.
In the Linnaean system of classification, the animal kingdom can be divided into about 36 large groupings called phyla. How many different phyla would you be eating in a paella with the following ingredients: chicken, bacon, ham, langoustines, mussels, monkfish?
A. 
B. 
C. 
D. 
5.
An entirely new phylum was identified in 1995 when a tiny sac-like creature called Symbion was discovered, with a body plan unlike all previously known animals. Where was Symbion found to be living?
A. 
In the armpits of Japanese newts
B. 
On the lips of Norwegian lobsters
C. 
Among the eyelashes of Indian antelopes
D. 
Inside the guts of South African termites?
6.
Nuclear physicists, with their famous sense of humour, have named
their unit of area the "barn" because in nuclear physics terms it is
really quite large. How big is a barn?
A. 
B. 
C. 
D. 
7.
Particle physicists, being equally whimsical, are fond of inventing
hypothetical subatomic particles with slightly silly names. Three of
these four are genuine. Which one is the false hypothetical particle?
A. 
B. 
C. 
D. 
8.
A microlith is
A. 
A mineral inclusion found in plants
B. 
C. 
A bacterium that digests iron pyrites
D. 
9.
A candidate for world's smallest horse was born in New Hampshire in
April. At one week old he stood less than 36 centimetres and weighed
less than 3 kilograms. The foal is named
A. 
B. 
C. 
D. 
10.
In 2006 a creature was discovered in Sumatra which became the
record-holder as the smallest vertebrate, with adults less than 8
millimetres long. Was it a type of
A. 
B. 
C. 
D. 
11.
European astronomers are planning to build a large telescope on the
3000-metre mountain Cerro Armazones in Chile. According to its name,
just how large is this large telescope going to be?
A. 
B. 
C. 
D. 
12.
Which of the following stars is a red supergiant with around a
billion times the volume of our sun, and the first star beyond the sun
to be imaged in any detail?
A. 
B. 
C. 
D. 
13.
The nesting seabirds on Gough Island in the south Atlantic are
threatened by monstrous predators. What are they?
A. 
B. 
C. 
D. 
14.
The largest gravitationally bound objects in the universe are
clusters of galaxies, although our own cluster, called the local group,
is a relatively small one. Which of the following is not a galaxy in the
local group?
A. 
B. 
C. 
D. 
15.
The proton beams in the Large Hadron Collider travel through a pretty
hard vacuum, which is pumped down to a pressure of about 10-10
millimetres of mercury, not much more than one 10-trillionth of standard
atmospheric pressure at sea level. At what height above the Earth does
atmospheric pressure fall to roughly the same?
A. 
B. 
C. 
D. 
16.
Most of Earth is reassuringly solid, but which layer is a liquid?
A. 
B. 
C. 
D. 
17.
Which of the following volcanoes is not active?
A. 
B. 
C. 
D. 
18.
The action of glaciers during past ice ages has given us many
picturesquely craggy landscapes, but which of the following types of
landform is not of glacial origin?
A. 
B. 
C. 
D. 
19.
Earth is pre-eminent among the planets of the solar system in terms of
A. 
B. 
C. 
D. 
20.
If you were to use the entire planet Earth as a component in an
electrical circuit, it would act as
A. 
A capacitor of 700 microfarads
B. 
A resistor of 120 teraohms
C. 
An inductor of 4Π millihenries
D. 
A simple diode, allowing current to flow north to south, but not vice versa
21.
What marine creature bears an uncanny resemblance to an ape?
A. 
B. 
C. 
D. 
22.
The rate of change of position is velocity, and the rate of change of
velocity is acceleration. What name is given to the rate of change of
acceleration, an important factor in the design of roller coasters?
A. 
B. 
C. 
D. 
23.
Which of the following is not a group of asteroids?
A. 
B. 
C. 
D. 
24.
In the UK general election of May 2010, the Brighton Pavilion seat
was won by a party whose name represents electromagnetic radiation with
what wavelength?
A. 
B. 
C. 
D. 
25.
Which of the following "ologies" is not a science, being pseudologous
(made up)?
A. 
B. 
C. 
D.