Q 01/05

Which shape do large raindrops take as they fall, despite the teardrop seen in cartoons and weather icons?

A) A perfect sphere

B) A hamburger bun

C) A thin spindle

D) A hollow ring

Answer · why

B) A hamburger bun

A hamburger bun is the closest match, because big drops flatten on the bottom as they fall. The very largest are shaped like parachutes.

Q 02/05

Which word, coined by two Australian scientists in 1964, names the earthy smell of rain on dry ground?

A) Terroir

B) Miasma

C) Effluvium

D) Petrichor

Answer · why

D) Petrichor

Petrichor joins the Greek for stone with ichor, the fluid said to run in the veins of the gods. Its coiners went on to suggest that the compounds behi...

Q 03/05

Which gemstone do scientists think rains down like hailstones deep inside the ice giants Uranus and Neptune?

A) Diamond

B) Sapphire

C) Ruby

D) Emerald

Answer · why

A) Diamond

Diamond crystals may form thousands of kilometres down, where crushing pressure squeezes carbon out of the planets' icy mix. High-pressure experiments...

Q 04/05

Which South American desert, caught in a double rain shadow, has weather stations that have never recorded rainfall?

A) The Patagonian

B) The Sechura

C) The Atacama

D) The Monte

Answer · why

C) The Atacama

The Atacama is sealed off from moist air by the Andes on one side and the Chilean Coast Range on the other. The soil holds so little life that Mars mi...

Q 05/05

Which country is home to Mawsynram and Cherrapunji, neighbouring hill towns ranked among the wettest places on Earth?

A) Nepal

B) India

C) Myanmar

D) Sri Lanka

Answer · why

B) India

India's Meghalaya state, whose name means the abode of clouds, holds both towns, about 15 km apart in the Khasi Hills. Mawsynram averages close to twe...