Quiz yourself on the strangest scientific discoveries of 2023, from animals on Mars to a ginger mystery

Can you believe it’s already been twelve months? It seems like every year they pass by faster, and before we know it it will be 2050 and we will be living on Mars.

That is the hope, but many scientific discoveries still need to be made before then.

Fortunately, this also happens at the speed of light, and 2023 was no different, with major breakthroughs in the fields of astronomy, space travel, health and medicine.

All very noble efforts, but let’s not forget some of the stranger and more wonderful discoveries and events. You know, those things where you think, “Why did anyone even see this?” or just “Huh?”

There was no shortage of that either – like the terrible sex life of the Pacific football fish or what happens when you get high on worms.

But have you been paying attention?

Test your memory of the strangest stories of 2023 with our short quiz.

1. In January, NASA scientists thought they had discovered the face of what animal on the surface of the Red Planet?

A. A cat
B. A bear
C. A snake
D. An owl

2. Re-extinction of animals is a big hope for many scientists – but what DNA from a long-vanished creature did a team in Australia use to make meatballs?

A. A T Rex
B. A dodo
C. A woolly mammoth
D. A sabre-tooth tiger

3. The Hirota people lived on the southern Japanese island of Tanegashima between 200 and 600 AD, but what bizarre activity did parents do?

A. Made from alcoholic drinks with breast milk to make the sleepless nights disappear faster
B. They tied their babies’ heads together to make them short and flat
C. All children stayed with a group leader until they became one
D. Painting babies bright yellow and orange to scare predators who thought they were poisonous

4. Scientists discovered the origin of ginger hair in which 10-million-year-old amphibian?

A. A frog
B. A salamander
C. A newt
Your way

5. In November, scientists announced that they had discovered something very strange on the planet. What was it?

A. A watery ocean trapped beneath the crust
B. A diamond bigger than the Eiffel Tower
C. A huge hole
D. The remains of another planet

6. The Scythians are a mysterious civilization that leaves few traces that 21st century archaeologists can decipher. But this year they made a horrifying discovery about what happened to their defeated enemies…

A. The Scythians ate their eyeballs
B. They used their skin to make leather
C. They used them as literal human shields
D. They drank her blood

7. This isn’t what you think it is: it’s a sea cucumber, not a sea swimmer. But what have scientists discovered that this doo-doo-like creature can do?

A. Kill liver cancer cells
B. Whiten teeth
C. Treat eczema
D. Helps you lose weight

8. Scientists at a Swiss university discovered something special about the broad-winged bat this year, but what was it?

A. You can stay awake for up to a week
B. Their small teeth are stronger than diamonds
C. They shrink in the rain
D. They use their huge penis as an arm during sex

Answer

c – a woolly mammoth. The prehistoric snack was created by Australian company Vow, which wants to use cells from unconventional species to create new types of meat.

a – a frog. Paleontologists from University College Cork found the earliest evidence of pheomelanin, the pigment that produces ginger coloring, in the ancient specimens.

b – and possibly d. Researchers found leather equipment made from human skin on a burial mound, as reported by the ancient Greek historian Herodotus – who also claimed that they drank the blood of their enemies.

. d – yes, they use their penis for support. The bat appears to mate without penetration, as its penis is about seven times longer and wider than the female’s vagina, making ‘traditional’ methods of reproduction physically impossible.