Category 1: Science & Strange Biology
What gas makes up about 78% of Earth's atmosphere, even though humans and land animals cannot breathe it directly?
Nitrogen
If a video game originally costs $50 and is on sale for a 20% discount, how much does it cost?
$40
Which country has the longest coastline in the world, bordered by three different oceans?
Canada
In Greek mythology, who was the brooding god of the underworld and brother to Zeus and Poseidon?
Hades
In Minecraft, what is the rare, dark mineral block found deep in the Nether that players use to upgrade diamond gear into the strongest tier?
Netherite
Known as the "powerhouse of the cell," mitochondria generate chemical energy, but what specific molecule do they produce?
ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate)
What is the only even prime number in mathematics?
2
What is the only continent on Earth that sits across all four hemispheres (Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western)?
Africa
According to Norse mythology, what is the name of Thor's legendary, thunder-wielding hammer?
Mjölnir
Before it became a massive global tech empire, what company originally started as an online bookstore founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994?
Amazon
If you cut off one arm of this marine animal, not only does it regenerate, but that single severed arm can sometimes grow into an entirely new creature. What is it?
A starfish (or sea star)
A notebook and a pen together cost $1.10. The notebook costs $1.00 more than the pen. How much does the pen cost?
5 cents ($0.05)
Located between Europe and Asia, this famous narrow strait connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and splits a massive global city in half.
The Bosphorus Strait (or Istanbul)
This multi-headed dragon or serpent in Greek mythology grew two new heads every time one was chopped off, until Hercules defeated it.
The Lernaean Hydra
In web development and coding, what do the letters in the acronym HTML stand for?
HyperText Markup Language
Unlike almost every other metal, which is solid at room temperature, this heavy element is a liquid and was historically known as "quicksilver."
Mercury
If you write down all whole numbers from 1 to 100 inclusive, exactly how many times will you write the digit '7'?
20 times (7, 17, 27, 37, 47, 57, 67, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 87, 97)
This remote volcanic island in the Pacific Ocean is famous for its nearly 900 giant monolithic human statues called Moai.
Easter Island (Rapa Nui)
In ancient Egyptian mythology, this jackal-headed god presided over mummification and weighed souls against the feather of truth.
Anubis
This open-world adventure game features a ruined kingdom called Hyrule, where a hero named Link wakes up from a 100-year slumber to defeat Calamity Ganon.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
This optical phenomenon occurs when light bends as it passes from one medium to another (like air into water), which is why a straw in a glass of water looks broken. What is it called?
Refraction
If you could fold a standard piece of paper in half 42 times, its thickness would stretch past which major celestial body?
The Moon
"Point Nemo" is the oceanic place farthest from any landmass. Because it is so isolated, the closest humans to it are usually astronauts aboard what object?
The International Space Station (ISS)
In Arthurian legend, what was the name of the magical sword given to King Arthur by the Lady of the Lake, distinct from the sword in the stone?
Excalibur
When Mark Zuckerberg launched this social media platform from his Harvard dorm room in 2004, what was its original, two-word name?
The Facebook