The Discovery Quiz: 21st Century Edition

By: Scott Nordlund
Estimated Completion Time
3 min
The Discovery Quiz: 21st Century Edition
Image: Shutterstock

About This Quiz

A quiz for amazing things that we have discovered in the 21st century. Space, Health, Technology and more!
The Human ______ Project had its first rendition published in 2001
Genome
The Human Genome Project (HGP) is an international scientific research project with the goal of determining the sequence of chemical base pairs which make up human DNA, and of identifying and mapping all of the genes of the human genome from both a physical and a functional standpoint. It remains the world's largest collaborative biological project
Flight
Space
Muscle
This noble gas has started to power cars in the 21st century
Oxygen
Argon
Hydrogen
These cars have the ability to use hydrogen in the combustion chamber and leave just a puff of water vapour. But the main disadvantage of the vehicle is the fact that they might just be a lot costly for normal use.
Helium
What technology is currently being tested for home and industrial use?
AI
Robots
Robots have been around since the twentieth century in one form or another, but it won’t be until the twenty-first century that they will become truly common and useful. Performing everything from fire-fighting to carpentry, by the end of the century every house will have at least one robot programmed to perform any number of tedious or dangerous chores humans would rather not deal with, and they will be perfect to leave at home to walk the dog
Newspapers
Hydrogen

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What tech company changed the way we encrypt and protect our data?
Apple
Samsung
RIM
Research in Motion (RIM) changed the way we encrypt our phones and data with the Blackberry. Still the dominate government phone, blackberry has the top encryption on the market, and is still located in Waterloo, Canada.
LG
What tech company changed the phone industry with their phones release?
Apple
In the 21st century the Apple iPhone became one of the most popular gadgets, bringing the term "smartphone" to a new level. The first model was officially presented by Apple Inc in January 9, 2007. Users were able to buy the handset starting June 2007. Apple has since continued to carve out
LG
RIM
Samsung
This company made the tablet a common device
Samsung
Apple
This is another revolutionary device from Apple. After the launch of the iPad a lot of tech companies started creating their own tablet computers that could rival Apple's gadget, which in short time became the most popular tablet computer on the planet.
Acer
Asus

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This tech company successfully drove a driverless car, which one is it?
Microsoft
Apple
Google
A driverless Toyota Prius equipped with radar sensors, video cameras, as well as laser range finder, has been launched by Google. The world's first driverless vehicle traveled 140,000 miles without any issues during its trip.
Samsung
What devices began to become more popular with the Volt making its debut?
Electric Cars
With the development of a large number of eco-friendly vehicles some companies started developing special EV charging stations where drivers have the possibility to fill up their batteries. Thus owners of electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid and electric-gasoline vehicles will no longer be limited to domestic wall socket.
Phones
Tablets
IQ charging
Debuting in the early 2000's what Mino product was only muddled due to smartphones?
Dunking
Squeeze
Camera
Flip
This small device became extremely popular at the beginning of the 21st century, becoming America's most popular video camera. %0DFlip Mino has an internal drive that allows storing up to 1 hour of video clips. Thus users are not bound to video tapes or memory cards when shooting videos. In addition, there is no need to purchase batteries for the device as it can be recharged using PC connection.

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The wii became the first console to use movement in the controller, what company made it?
Sony
Microsoft
Nintendo
This video game console was launched by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. Its main competitors are Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. %0DHowever, the Wii has one distinguishing feature from Xbox and PS3 - users can play video games by making use of special wireless controller called the Wii Remote. The latter detects the user's movements in 3D.
Sega
This operating system is currently the most popular in the world?
Apple
Android
This software stack for handheld devices that features an operating system, middleware and key applications was developed by Google Inc. Today Android is the most popular operating system for smartphones. To develop and launch Android, Google worked together with members of the Open Handset Alliance.
Blackberry
Windows
Elon Musk has created the first commercially available _____ car
Electric
The Tesla Roadster was the world's first commercially available battery electric sports car. It was developed by Tesla Motors, a company based in California. The most impressive feature of the vehicle is acceleration. The car can shift from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 3.9 seconds. The Tesla Roadster can also reach a top speed of about 130 miles per hour. The company claims that the vehicle can register a maximum range of 220 miles per charge.
Hydrogen
BBQ
Fastest

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What company successfully launched the first private rocket into space?
Space X
Space X, Elon Musk's baby, successfully launched the first private space rocket. They have since announced a want to travel to Mars by 2030.
The Company
NASA
Chinese Taipai
What social network sees over 600 million active users?
Twitter
Instagram
Facebook
The famous social networking website was launched in February 2004, being developed by Mark Zuckerberg and his college roommates. Facebook boasts over 600 million active users, being the most popular social networking website in the world. It allows users to create a personal profile, make online friends, and exchange messages.
My Space
What site has become the largest video watching company?
youtube
The world's most popular video-sharing website was created by three former PayPal employees back in February 2005. In November 2005 Google acquired the website for $1.65 billion. The website allows users to upload, share, and watch videos. A lot of content available on YouTube is uploaded by individuals. But media corporations also like to use this popular service. Some of the companies that upload videos on YouTube are CBS, BBC, Vevo and Hulu.
vevo
facebook
twitter

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What amazing technology allows you to control robots with your mind?
Braingate
BrainGate is one of the greatest inventions of this century because it adventures to perforate the possibility frontier of millions of “limbless” individuals.%0DHow? BrainGate created a brain implant – currently under clinical trial – that tracks brain activity in a patients brain and converts it to computer commands. Yes you heard right. BrainGate allows tetraplegic people to control a robotic arm through the mere power of thought!
Brainy
AI
Mindcontrol
What organ now has a machine that can mimic it?
Brain
Liver
Lungs
Heart
Next time somebody tells you ” You just broke my heart” tell them there is no need to worry because Abiocor has them covered. Abiocor is one of the greatest inventions of the 21st century because it has just increased the life span of patients with an irreparable damaged heart or heart failure. How? They’ve invented a fully functional heart that mimics the function of the native heart
What technology allows a bullet to change directions to destroy other bullets or targets
EXACTO
EXACTO is a self-guided bullet that can be changed direction mid-flight to seek target. How it works? With a range of over 1.2 miles, the self-guiding bullet works by using optical sensors that are found on the surface of its nose. This sensors transmit surrounding information to an internal electronic system that then uses a number of adjusted fins to change direction
SHAPE
BULLET
GRIPE

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To what planet did NASA send two landers in the 21st century?
Venus
Mercury
Moon
Mars
How long would it take you to cover 225km? and 225,000,000 km through space? This is what NASA has had to achieve to put Mars’ Opportunity and Curiosity rovers on the surface of Mars. Fortunately, this is not all. Consider that the whole process – launching, travelling, landing, and exploration – are done without direct human control.
What technology became affordable in the 21st century?
Phone
Portable Printer
Robot
3D Printing
Despite  being conceived last century we are including 3D printing as part of the greatest inventions of the 21st because of the breakthroughs that have occurred this century. Firstly, 3D printing has become available to the masses. There are 3D printers available for 3 digit prices. Secondly, 3D printing now works with thousands of material – something it couldn’t do when invented – and at a faster pace than ever
What was discovered in 2006 by scientists in space?
Dark Matter
dark matter, a type of invisible material that comprises much of the universe, was long hypothesized by scientists, but it was not until 2006 that they could prove its existence. By carefully weighing gas and stars between two clusters of galaxies, scientists confirmed dark matter's existence
White Star
Gravitational Waves
White Matter

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This kind of gaming immerses you into a 3D environment?
Virtual Reality
Virtual Realty has exploded over the last few years, and this has only come around since 2010. With better graphics, and amazing tech, it is only a few years away from immersing yourself in a gaming environment that is hard to distinguish from real life.
Wii
3D Gaming
3 gaming
What small machines have made aerial photography amazing?
UAV's
Drones
Drones have seen an immense rise due to their price point lowering. These amazing small machines have opened up the aerial photography world to new heights.
Mini-Choppers
Helicopters
This TV technology is the newest and crispest TV ever, what is it?
4k
4k TV's are the future, and for good reason, they are absolutely amazing. With 4000 pixels per square inch, these televisions make tv come alive, and I for one cannot wait for Planet Life 2 on BBC in 4k
3dtv
1080 p
720 p

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What kind of robots have revitialised their assistance in medicine?
Surgical
This may be a bit of a cheat, since robotic assisted surgery started in the eighties, but the all-robotic surgery and micro-surgery of today is a 2000s invention. These may not affect everyone on the day-to-day, but when it does, you’ll be thankful. With tech like the da Vinci System , NeruroArm, and MiroSurge, surgeons are able to preform procedures like transplants via smaller and less obvious incisions than ever before. Not only do the finer methods reduce the risk and the duration of surgery, but recovery time is significantly reduced. As far as benefiting society goes, we think better, safer surgery with reduced, more painless recovery time is pretty far up there.
Prenatal care
Infant
Micro
RFID allows you to do what with your credit or debit card?
Enter a pin
Swipe
Use online
Tap
Mobil first introduced contactless payment options in 1997, but the market was limited to their gas stations with a special RFID keychain. It wasn’t until the early 2000s that the technology became viable as a financial tool. Mastercard was one of the first major institutions to implement contactless payment in 2003, and it has been growing in popularity ever since.
What product started by Sony is now a popular electronic?
E-Reader
Sony brought forward the E-reader, and we have seen it explode. With an ability to read in multiple conditions, and hold thousands of books without the weight, an E-reader is a true difference maker
Ipod
Laptop
Camera

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Around what planet have we found a fourth moon?
Saturn
Jupiter
Mars
Pluto
Pluto now has four known moons. Charon was discovered in 1978, and is the largest of Pluto’s moons. It is 648 miles across, causing many people to consider it and Pluto a “double dwarf planet”. Nothing new was learned of icy bodies orbiting Pluto until 2005, when the Hubble Space Telescope discovered Nix and Hydra. They are both in the range of 20 – 70 miles in diameter. The most amazing discovery regarding Pluto’s moons came in 2011, when Hubble photographed what is temporarily being called P4.
What kind of bubbles were discovered in the last 16 years?
Magnetic
Nasa’s two Voyager probes have found magnetic bubbles in the region of the solar system known as the Heliosheath, 9 billion miles away from Earth. In the 1950s, scientist believed this region of space was relatively smooth. But when Voyager 1 entered the Heliosheath in 2007, and Voyager 2 got there in 2008 they detected a turbulence that is generated by the Sun’s magnetic field, that creates magnetic bubbles up to 100 million miles wide
Solar
Planetary
Tree
What was discovered on the Mira A star?
Tail
In 2007, the Galaxy Evolution Explorer, or GALEX scanned Mira A, an older red giant star, as part of an ongoing surgery to scan the entire sky in ultraviolet light. Astronomers were shocked to find a 13 light year long, comet-like tail trailing behind Mira A. The star is plowing through the Universe unusually fast, at about 291,000 miles an hour. Until this discovery, it was thought that stars could not have tails.
Sunspot
Another star
A planet

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Besides Mars, where did NASA find water?
Moon
On Oct 9, 2009 Nasa’s LCROSS, or Lunar Crater Observing and Sensing Satellite struck water in a cold, permanently dark crater at the south pole of the moon. The LCROSS was a nasa probe designed to impact the moon, while a small satellite followed behind it measuring the chemical makeup of the material that was ejected. After a year of data analysis, Nasa reported that it’s mission found water ice in the floor of the permanently-shadowed crater it’s probe impacted. Later data from three different spacecraft indicate a thin film of water coats the surface of the soil in at least some areas.
Saturn
Venus
Comet
What dwarf planet was discovered?
Eris
In January 2005, Eris was discovered, sparking a debate among scientist about what the definition of a planet really was. Eris was originally deemed the 10th planet, but it and other Kuiper and Asteroid Belt objects were given the new class of Dwarf Planet. Eris is beyond the orbit of Pluto, and is roughly the same size, although is was originally thought to be larger than Pluto. Eris has one known moon, named Dysnomia. Eris and Dysnomia are the most distant known natural objects in the Solar System.
X276
Planet X
Iris
What is the name of the 'Twin Earth' planet that was found by NASA?
Pluto
Iris
Eris
Kepler 22B
In December of 2011, Nasa confirmed the discovery of the first planet found in the habitable zone of a “sun-like” star. They named the planet Kepler-22b. The planet is about 2.5 times the radius of Earth, and orbits comfortably within the habitable zone. Scientist are unsure of the composition of the planet, but the discovery has proven to be a huge step in finding a “twin Earth.”

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What special flow was discovered in 2008?
Solar
Solid
Wavy
Dark
Dark Flow, discovered in 2008, is more of a mystery than an answer. Patches of matter in the universe seem to be moving at very high speeds and in a uniform direction that can’t be explained by any of the known gravitational forces in the observable universe. Astronomers are calling the phenomenon “dark flow.” By observing large galaxy clusters, scientist have found over 700 galaxy clusters moving at a peculiar velocity toward a distant part of the Universe. Some scientist have even gone as far as saying Dark Flow may be caused by another Universe pressing against our own. There are, however other scientist who have criticized the Dark Flow discovery.
A moon around what planet has been called the most habitual place in the solar system?
Mars
Saturn
In July of 2004, the Cassini probe began to orbit Saturn. Because of the previous Voyager missions, Enceladus, the 6th largest moon of Saturn, was deemed a priority by the Cassini mission planners. After several flybys with Cassini in 2005, discoveries were made of water vapor and complex hydrocarbons venting from the geologically active South Polar Region. In May 2011 NASA scientists at an Enceladus Focus Group Conference reported that Enceladus “is emerging as the most habitable spot beyond Earth in the Solar System for life as we know it.”
Jupiter
Mercury
You Got:
/35
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