Q 01/05

What did Apollo astronauts say Moon dust smelled like when their spacesuits carried it into the cabin?

A) Rotten eggs

B) Gunpowder

C) Burnt sugar

D) Fresh paint

Answer · why

B) Gunpowder

Gunpowder is how the moonwalkers described the dust that rode back inside on their suits. Harrison Schmitt of Apollo 17 called his reaction to it luna...

Q 02/05

What name did two Australian scientists coin for the earthy scent of rain falling on dry ground?

A) Virga

B) Chlorophyll

C) Loess

D) Petrichor

Answer · why

D) Petrichor

Petrichor comes from oils that build up in rock and soil during dry spells and are set free by moisture. Isabel Bear and Dick Thomas named it in the j...

Q 03/05

Which household fuel has had a rotten-egg odour added ever since a 1937 Texas school explosion?

A) Natural gas

B) Kerosene

C) Heating oil

D) Charcoal

Answer · why

A) Natural gas

Natural gas has no smell of its own, so the leak that filled the Texas school went unnoticed. Within weeks of the blast, a sulphur compound was being ...

Q 04/05

Which spiky Southeast Asian fruit is banned from Singapore's public transport because of its lingering smell?

A) Jackfruit

B) Rambutan

C) Durian

D) Mangosteen

Answer · why

C) Durian

Durian is known across the region as the king of fruits. Its odour can hang about for days, so some hotels turn it away as well.

Q 05/05

Which mammal carries nearly 2,000 working smell-receptor genes, about five times as many as humans have?

A) Duck-billed platypus

B) Star-nosed mole

C) Tasmanian devil

D) African elephant

Answer · why

D) African elephant

The African elephant has more than twice as many of these genes as a dog. Researchers in Tokyo found the total when they compared thirteen mammal spec...