The Globe’s 2025 science quiz is as lit as these nebulas, but closer to home

/*media caption style*/ .gi-vid-loop_inline{ max-width: 100%; } .gi-media__caption{ font-family: "GMsanC-Regular-GI",Helvetica,Arial,Verdana,sans-serif; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0.25rem; color: #434343; margin-top: 0; } .gi-media__credit{ font-family: "GMsanC-Regular-GI",Helvetica,Arial,Verdana,sans-serif; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-size: .9rem; color: #434343; text-transform: uppercase; line-height: 1.4; /* letter-spacing: .0625rem; */ margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; } .gi-media__description{ margin-top: .625rem; padding: 0; } .quiz-section-header { font-size: 33px; line-height: 1; font-weight: normal; } .quiz-section-header { width: 100%; font-weight: normal; font-family:"Pratt-Nova-Bold-GI",Georgia,Palatino,"Book Antiqua","Times New Roman",serif; } .header-container { display: flex; flex-direction: column; text-align: center; } #quiz{font-weight:normal;box-sizing:border-box;border-top:1px solid #000;padding:2rem 0;max-width:640px;margin:0 auto;font-size:1.2rem;line-height:1.6rem;color:#191919;font-family:"Pratt-Nova-GI",Georgia,Palatino,"Book Antiqua","Times New Roman",serif;}#quiz strong{font-weight:400}.question-grp{margin-bottom:4rem}#quiz strong,.question,.question-index{font-weight: normal;font-family:"Pratt-Nova-Bold-GI",Georgia,Palatino,"Book Antiqua","Times New Roman",serif;}.question-index{display:inline-block}.question{font-size:1.2rem}.question-index:before{content:""}.question-index:after{content:".";margin-right:.25em}.description{display:none;padding:1rem 2rem;background:#e5eff1}.description.active{display:block}.answers{margin:1rem 0;margin-bottom:0}.answer{border:1px solid #eeedea;margin-bottom:.3rem;cursor:pointer;padding:.5rem 1rem;opacity:.8;transition:.2s}.answer:hover{opacity:1;background:#f4f3f1}.complete .answer,.complete .answer:hover{transition:none;opacity:.5;background:0 0;border:1px solid #fff}.complete .answer.correct,.complete .answer.correct:hover{color:#268626;background:#e5f0e5;opacity:1;border:1px solid #fff}.complete .answer.wrong,.complete .answer.wrong:hover{color:#da161f;text-decoration:line-through;background:#fae1e1;opacity:1;border:1px solid #fff}.result-grp{display:none;padding:2rem;background:#e5eff1}.result-grp.active,.result.active{display:block}.result{display:none;padding:0}.score{font-size:1.3rem;margin-bottom:1rem} #quiz i, #quiz em, .answer i, .answer em{font-style:normal;font-family:"Pratt-Nova-Italic-GI",Georgia,Palatino,"Book Antiqua","Times New Roman",serif;} #quiz b, #quiz strong, .answer strong, .answer strong{font-weight: normal;font-style:normal;font-family:"Pratt-Nova-Bold-GI",Georgia,Palatino,"Book Antiqua","Times New Roman",serif;} #quiz b i, #quiz strong i, .answer strong i, .answer strong i, #quiz b em, #quiz strong em, .answer strong em, .answer strong em{font-weight: normal;font-style:normal;font-family:"Pratt-Nova-Bold-Italic-GI",Georgia,Palatino,"Book Antiqua","Times New Roman",serif;} #quiz h3{ font-family:"Pratt-Nova-Bold-GI",Georgia,Palatino,"Book Antiqua","Times New Roman",serif; font-weight: normal; } Matter and space 1 What did a spacecraft called Blue Ghost achieve on March 2, 2025? a. the first landing on the moon’s far side b. the first landing at the moon’s south pole c. the first successful commercial lunar landing d. the first observation of a total lunar eclipse from the moon

c. Built by Firefly Aerospace of Cedar Park, Tex., Blue Ghost Mission 1 touched down on Mare Crisium upright and in good working order – a first for commercial spacecraft after a number of previous attempts by others. During its two weeks of operations, Blue Ghost also witnessed the sun disappear behind Earth during a total eclipse of the moon on March 14 – but it was not the first lunar lander to do so. The U.S. robotic probe Surveyor 3 was on the moon during a total eclipse on April 24, 1967, and captured a grainy image of the event.

The Blue Ghost lander was in Mare Crisium, the Sea of Crises, to watch the Earth block the sun from the lunar surface on March 14.

Firefly Aerospace/Cover Images via Reuters Connect

2 Which astronomical facility announced its debut this year with the release of this image of the Lagoon and Trifid nebulas? a. Albert Einstein Observatory b. European Extremely Large Telescope c. Giant Magellan Telescope d. Vera Rubin Observatory

d. The observatory’s telescope has an unusually wide field that captured the two nebulas in stunning detail. After seeing first light this year, the facility’s main task will be to survey the entire sky every three nights to spot changes and to map the deep universe.

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory sits on a mountain in northern Chile with a wide view of the sky. To capture the Trifid and Lagoon Nebulas, it took hundreds of photos over seven hours, then combined them.

Observatory photo: H. Stockebrand/NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory | Nebula photo: RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/NSF/DOE/AU via Reuters Connect

3 What is interesting about Comet 3I/ATLAS, which made its closest approach to Earth last week? a. it is rich in rare-earth elements b. it came from another solar system c. it was the first comet to be discovered using artificial intelligence d. it has a greater than 0.1-per-cent chance of hitting Earth during its next visit

b. The comet’s orbit has the shape of a hyperbola, which means it isn’t bound by the sun’s gravity and is just passing through after having escaped another solar system long ago. The comet’s extrasolar origins have fuelled an endless (and mostly unscientific) stream of online speculation about whether or not it is an alien spacecraft. So far the comet has not weighed in on this idea.

Comet 3I/ATLAS came into the Earth’s neighbourhood in late October, after a long journey – possibly longer than our solar system has existed – from parts unknown.

NASA/JPL-Caltech

4 What is special about metal-organic frameworks, materials that were the focus of this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry? a. they are extremely porous b. they come from another solar system c. they are lighter than wood but stronger than steel d. they are superconductors of electricity at room temperature

a. The molecular structure of MOFs create tiny spaces that can hold surprisingly large volumes of other molecules, including gases. First developed in the 1980s and 90s, they have potential applications for storing carbon or trapping toxins during environmental cleanups.

Omar Yaghi was one of three scientists to win a Nobel for developing metal-organic frameworks, molecular cages that can trap hard-to-get materials such as hydrogen gas.

Brittany Hosea-Small, UC Berkeley/AFP via Getty Images

Earth and climate 5 What did Canadian scientists determine this year about the Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt, a section of rock found in northeastern Quebec, near Hudson Bay? a. it is rich in rare-earth elements b. it came from another solar system c. it contains Earth’s oldest rocks found to date d. prior to European arrival, its rock was traded all across the Arctic to make stone carvings

c. In a June study, scientists used isotopes to show that some intrusions in the belt solidified about 4.2 billion years ago. That means they formed during the Hadean Eon – the mysterious and extreme first chapter of Earth’s geologic history.

The rocky expanses near Inukjuak in northeastern Quebec are, according to new research, home to the oldest rock in the world.

University of Ottawa

6 This year’s two most powerful earthquakes were both centred offshore and in the same part of the world. What land area was closest to where the earthquakes occurred? a. Davao, the Philippines b. Kamchatka, Russia c. Magallanes, Chile d. Suffolk, England

b. The two earthquakes off the coast of Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula occurred on July 29 and Sept. 18. The first of those registered a whopping 8.8 magnitude, and is tied with past events in Chile and Ecuador for the sixth-strongest earthquake ever recorded. Because of its remote location, only one death was indirectly caused by the first Russian earthquake, during tsunami evacuation procedures in Japan. The second quake in the same Kamchatka region was an aftershock of the first. It was a magnitude 7.8 event and caused no deaths.

window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";r.style.height=d}}});

7 Which Atlantic hurricane was this year’s most severe? a. Chantal b. Gabrielle c. Melissa d. Milton

c. Melissa was a Category 5 hurricane on Oct. 28 when it made landfall in Jamaica to devastating effect. It is the third-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded. An attribution study determined that such severe events are now approximately five times more likely in that part of the Caribbean Sea because of human-caused global warming.

Black River, Jamaica, bore the brunt of Hurricane Melissa's destructive force when it landed here in October.

Matias Delacroix/AP

8 Last spring, a Canadian-Danish team drilled the deepest ice core ever obtained from a glacier in Canada. On which Arctic island did they extract the 613-metre-long ice core? a. Axel Heiberg Island b. Baffin Island c. Cape Breton Island d. Devon Island

a. It took just over four weeks to drill the ice core, which carries a record of more than 10,000 years of Canadian Arctic climate history within its frozen layers.

The Müller Ice Cap expedition shows off a 76-centimetre specimen they drilled in Nunavut, a record of the ancient climate history of the North.

Alison Criscitiello

Evolution and ecology 9 Scientists at the Canadian Museum of Nature this year revealed the nearly complete skeleton of an ancient rhinoceros that lived beside a crater lake during a warm period some 23 million years ago. On which Arctic island was the rhino fossil discovered? a. Axel Heiberg Island b. Baffin Island c. Cape Breton Island d. Devon Island

d. In 1984, paleontologist Mary Dawson spotted a tooth – the first piece of “Frosty” the rhino – emerging from the permafrost in the Haughton impact crater on Devon Island.

This artist’s impression of Devon Island, 23 million years ago, puts the hornless rhino Epiatheracerium itjilik alongside other animals whose fossils have been found here.

Julius Csotonyi

10 Based on a recent genetic study, which domesticated animal first appeared in Europe around 2,000 years ago? a. cat b. chicken c. cow d. goldfish

a. The Italian study, published in November, points to a relatively recent arrival for domestic cats in Europe, contrary to earlier thinking. Scientists say cats could have hitched a ride on grain ships sailing for Rome from North Africa.

These cats at the Louvre in Paris are trying to look as local as possible. Researchers in Italy think their species got to Europe more recently than we once thought.

Christophe Ena/The Associated Press

11 Thanks to years of conservation efforts, which marine species ceased to be classified as endangered this year by the International Union for Conservation of Nature? a. blue whale b. bluefin tuna c. green sea turtle d. goldfish

c. In a significant win for conservationists, the green sea turtle is now in the “least concern” category after many years as an endangered species. The IUCN estimates the turtle’s global population has rebounded about 28 per cent since the 1970s.

Green sea turtles are not as threatened as they once were, but the work of preserving the species goes on. This one is being treated for cold shock at a marine centre in Florida.

Cody Jackson/The Associated Press

12 What matter was put before a Tennessee courtroom during the famous Scopes “Monkey Trial,” which took place one hundred years ago as of this past July? a. the teaching of evolution b. the teaching of monkeys c. the use of chimpanzees in lab experiments d. the use of chimpanzees in the silent film Tarzan of the Apes

a. High school science teacher John Scopes was tried for teaching about human evolution in violation of state law. Scopes was found guilty but the ruling was later overturned on a technicality. Unrelated to the trial, no chimpanzees were used in the 1918 production of Tarzan of the Apes, which instead employed human actors in ape costumes. Their performances have since been judged “unconvincing.”

At what came to be called the Scopes Monkey Trial, Clarence Darrow, middle, defended a teacher who taught Darwinian evolution in a Tennessee public school in 1925.

The Associated Press

Body and brain 13 In September, scientists revealed that the evolution and development of human hands and feet are based on repurposed genes that were present in our fishy ancestors. What body parts were those genes originally required to build? a. ears b. fins c. gills d. sex organs

d. In a study published in the journal Nature, the researchers identified a section of DNA known as 5DOM to be associated with the development of human hands and feet. They then found that a version of the same gene was involved in the development of the anus and sexual organs of a zebrafish. This suggests 5DOM played a similar role in the common ancestor we share with the fish.

Zebrafish are prized by geneticists for the similarities of their DNA to our own, though our common ancestors branched off many millions of years ago.

Anthony Wallace/AFP via Getty Images

14 What medical breakthrough did a baby named KJ Muldoon participate in this year? a. first baby delivered by AI b. first use of obesity medication in an infant c. first use of individualized gene editing to treat a disease d. first time a baby pig liver was transplanted into a human recipient

c. In May, scientists reported that they used a version of the gene-editing technology called CRISPR to correct a gene that produced a faulty version of an enzyme needed for normal metabolism. Because the treatment was specific to the genetic makeup of KJ Muldoon, it ushers in an era of personalized genetic editing as a treatment for rare disease.

.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }

KJ Muldoon of Philadelphia – known as Patient Eta in the study that brought him to health – was diagnosed with a rare metabolic disorder and treated with gene therapy.

15 Weight-loss drugs known as GLP-1 receptor agonists have been shown to have positive effects in treating health conditions other than obesity. Which of the following was not helped by a version of the drugs in a trial published this year? a. Alzheimer’s disease b. cardiovascular disease c. chronic kidney disease d. sleep apnea

a. Despite promising signs from observational studies, two large clinical trials this year found that the weight-loss drugs did not significantly slow the progress of Alzheimer’s disease in early-stage patients.

Semaglutide is the active ingredient in Ozempic, the drug pioneered by pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk. This model of the molecule is at the Danish office of the Novo Nordisk Foundation's CEO.

Ali Withers/Reuters

16 According to a Cambridge University study published in November, at what age, on average, does the brain transition from its adolescent to its adult phase? a. 16 b. 18 c. 24 d. 32

d. The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, identified four turning points during which the wiring pattern of the brain undergoes a pronounced shift. The child to adolescent shift typically occurs around age nine, the adolescent to adult shift at about 32, adult to early aging at about 66, and early aging to late aging at about 83.

.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }

In a BBC interview, researcher Alexa Mousley explains what the Cambridge study learned about stages of brain development.

Technology and civilization 17 Based on archeological evidence reported this year, what were Neanderthals in Suffolk, England, doing some 400,000 years ago? a. making fire b. brewing beer c. burying their dead d. building Stonehenge

a. As reported in the journal Nature, researchers working at a site near the village of Barnham in Suffolk found evidence of heated sediments and fire-cracked flint hand axes, along with fragments of iron pyrite – a mineral used to strike sparks with flint.

Flecks of iron pyrite, rare in this part of England, tipped off researchers that Neanderthals who understood its fire-making properties had brought it from somewhere else.

Jordan Mansfield/The Trustees of the British Museum via Reuters

18 This year, engineers at Polytechnique Montréal said they were inspired by kirigami – the Japanese art of paper-cutting – to come up with a new design for what familiar invention? a. food processor b. parachute c. scissors d. window blinds

b. The researchers found that parachutes made with a mathematical pattern of cuts could descend in a more predictable way, to facilitate dropping packages with improved accuracy.

Professor Frédérick Gosselin lets loose a mini-parachute at Polytechnique Montréal, whose disk of flexible material stretches into a lattice.

Roger Lemoyne/The Globe and Mail

19 What important milestone did the global energy sector achieve this year? a. renewable energy overtook coal as a source of electricity b. for the first time, a nuclear fusion experiment produced more energy than was needed to run it c. human-caused emissions of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, declined for the first time this century d. the number of EVs exceeded the number of gasoline-powered vehicles worldwide

a. For now, at least, the other answers listed are definitely not true – but they remain worthy goals to strive for.

Coal and wind power have each made their mark on the countryside near Niederaussem, Germany. Globally, renewables make up more of the electrical supply than coal.

Michael Probst/The Associated Press

20 With its recently unveiled Project Suncatcher, where does Google aim to build and operate experimental new data centres for AI? a. in the Canadian Arctic during long summer days b. alongside a nuclear fusion reactor c. in the Sahara desert d. in space

d. According to a November announcement from the company, the project “envisions compact constellations of solar-powered satellites” that would communicate via lasers and perform the massive calculations required by AI and other advanced applications.

Having invested billions in data centres on Earth – like this one in Midlothian, Texas – Google thinks space might be the place to build more.

Ron Jenkins/Getty Images

How well did you do? Answer all of the questions to see your result Outstanding! Thanks for playing, and have a scientastic 2026. Good effort! Try sharing this quiz with friends to see whether they do any better. You missed quite a few, but no worries: Take a deeper dive into our science coverage from 2025, then try again! var giPUQuiz=function(){for(var t=0,e=0,r=["a","b","c","d","e","f","g"],a=document.querySelector("#quiz"),s=a.querySelector(".question-list"),i=s.querySelectorAll(".question-grp"),u=a.querySelector(".result").attributes["data-high"].value,l=a.querySelector(".result").attributes["data-mid"].value,c=0;c"+t+" right!",t>=l&&t=u?a.querySelector(".result-grp.top").classList.add("active"):a.querySelector(".result-grp.bottom").classList.add("active"))})}}}();

Quiz design by Evan Annett Additional photos: Giuseppe Distefano, Julie Sebadelha and Idrees Mohammed/AFP via Getty Images; Michael Probst/AP

Science to watch for in 2026: More from The Globe and Mail