By Kevin Buhl Jakobsen · New questions every night
Every night LatePals members get five new questions in the Night Quiz — the same for everyone, with points for right and fast answers. Here are the past days' questions with the right answer and a short explanation, so you can learn something new (or see where it went wrong). Today's questions appear here tomorrow.
🇩🇰 What is Denmark's highest natural point called?
💡 Møllehøj is only about 171 metres high; the well-known Himmelbjerget is lower.
🦉 Which mammal can truly fly?
💡 Flying squirrels only glide; bats are the only mammals that flap and fly.
🌍 Which desert is the largest hot desert?
💡 The Sahara is about as big as the United States.
🔬 Which metal is liquid at room temperature?
💡 Mercury was used in old thermometers.
🫀 Where is the smallest bone in the human body?
💡 The stirrup bone in the middle ear is only about 3 mm long.
🌍 Which is the largest country in the world by area?
💡 Russia spans 11 time zones.
🔬 What is the most common gas in the air we breathe?
💡 Air is about 78% nitrogen and only about 21% oxygen.
🫀 What do red blood cells carry around the body?
💡 The protein haemoglobin holds the oxygen — and makes blood red.
🇩🇰 Which is the largest Danish island (not counting Greenland)?
💡 Zealand (Sjælland) is home to Copenhagen.
🇩🇰 Which Danish invention lets children build almost anything?
💡 LEGO comes from the Danish "leg godt" — play well.
🪐 How long does the Moon take to orbit the Earth?
💡 The same side of the Moon always faces us because it spins once per orbit.
🌍 Which is the smallest country in the world?
💡 Vatican City covers less than half a square kilometre.
🔬 At what temperature does water boil at sea level?
💡 On a high mountain water boils at a lower temperature because the air pressure is lower.
💻 Which programming language was created by Danish-Canadian Rasmus Lerdorf?
💡 LatePals itself is written in PHP!
🍕 What is the main ingredient of hummus?
💡 Hummus is chickpeas, tahini (sesame paste), lemon and garlic.
🌙 Which hormone rises in the evening and helps tell your body it is night?
💡 Melatonin is made in the pineal gland, and bright light in the evening holds it back.
🇩🇰 What Danish word means a cosy, warm feeling of togetherness?
💡 Lagom and fika are Swedish, sisu is Finnish — hygge is the Danish one.
🪐 How many planets are there in our solar system?
💡 Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006.
🇩🇰 What is the Danish flag called?
💡 Dannebrog is often called the oldest national flag still in use.
🫀 What do we call the tiny bumps on the tongue that hold the taste buds?
💡 Taste buds are replaced about every one to two weeks.
🇩🇰 Which Danish king is said to have "Christianised" the Danes, as told on the Jelling stone?
💡 The big Jelling stone (around 965) is often called Denmark's birth certificate.
🇩🇰 Which Danish bridge connects Funen and Zealand?
💡 The Great Belt Bridge opened for cars in 1998.
🦉 Fireflies glow to …
💡 Each firefly species has its own flash pattern, a kind of light-language.
🏛️ In which year did the First World War begin?
💡 It lasted until November 1918.
🫀 Roughly how many times do we blink in a minute?
💡 We blink less when staring at screens — one reason eyes get dry.
💻 In computer games, what does "NPC" mean?
💡 An NPC is any character the game controls, not a player.
🍕 Which spice is the most expensive by weight?
💡 Saffron is the hand-picked threads of a crocus flower.
🌍 Which language has the most native speakers?
💡 English has the most speakers in total when second-language speakers are counted.
🫀 Which organ pumps blood around the body?
💡 A resting heart beats about 100,000 times a day.
🦉 Which is the only bird that can fly backwards?
💡 Hummingbirds beat their wings up to about 80 times a second.
🔬 Who came up with the theory of relativity?
💡 Einstein's special relativity came in 1905 — the year he also explained the photoelectric effect.
🌙 Roughly how many hours of sleep do most adults need a night?
💡 Most sleep scientists put it at 7 to 9 hours for adults; teenagers need a bit more.
🇩🇰 Which Danish astronomer had an observatory on the island of Hven?
💡 Tycho Brahe measured the stars more accurately than anyone before telescopes.
🔬 Which gas do plants take in from the air?
💡 Plants use carbon dioxide and sunlight to make sugar, and give off oxygen.
🪐 Who was the first human in space?
💡 Gagarin orbited Earth on 12 April 1961.