The Body gauntlet
Every question we've got in The Body, back to back. How far can you get?
- Question 1 of 12
Why can some people not smell asparagus pee at all?
It is a specific anosmia, genetically determined by variants in a cluster of olfactory-receptor genes on chromosome 1, with OR2M7 among the strongest candidates. In one study only about 40% could reliably detect it.
Read the full answer → - Question 2 of 12
In sleep paralysis, what has actually gone wrong?
It's a REM-wake dissociation: you're conscious, but the muscle paralysis of REM sleep hasn't switched off yet. Episodes usually last seconds to a couple of minutes and are harmless.
Read the full answer → - Question 3 of 12
Under sustained compression, which nerve fibres fail first?
The big myelinated fibres carrying touch and pressure go first. That is why the limb feels dead to a light touch while you can still feel a hard pinch perfectly well.
Read the full answer → - Question 4 of 12
Which is the best-supported way to lower your stitch risk?
Leaving about two hours after a large meal, and choosing water over concentrated sugary (hypertonic) drinks, are the risk factors with the firmest evidence. Concentrated drinks are actually more provocative, and the opposite-footfall breathing trick is popular but poorly proven.
Read the full answer → - Question 5 of 12
Why do even identical twins have different fingerprints?
Genes set the broad pattern type, but the fine ridge paths are shaped in the womb by physical and random factors, so twins with identical DNA still end up with different prints.
Read the full answer → - Question 6 of 12
What do modern anaesthetics chiefly do at the molecular level?
Most act on specific proteins, chiefly potentiating GABA-A (the brain's inhibitory brake); xenon, nitrous oxide and ketamine are exceptions that instead block NMDA/glutamate receptors.
Read the full answer → - Question 7 of 12
The idea that a descended larynx enabled human speech is best described as:
Lieberman's trade-off hypothesis is a live argument, not a settled fact. Other mammals also have descended larynges, and the vowel-space case has been challenged. The anatomy is certain; the evolutionary story is not.
Read the full answer → - Question 8 of 12
In the 2018 MacCormack and Muscatell study, when did hunger actually turn into hanger?
Hunger shifted people's perceptions negatively only when the surrounding context was already negative. Crucially, simply being aware that hunger might explain your mood reduced the hanger, so interpretation matters as much as glucose.
Read the full answer → - Question 9 of 12
Which brain systems does contagious yawning actually engage?
Contagious yawning engages brain systems used to understand other people (the mirror and social-cognition network), not the systems that handle tiredness. It is about other minds, not sleep.
Read the full answer → - Question 10 of 12
What is the grand semi-official name for the post-pee shiver?
Micturition just means urination, so the grand phrase translates roughly to 'the pee shivers'. It describes a brief, harmless shudder during or just after urinating.
Read the full answer → - Question 11 of 12
What did the 2018 study of voluntary piloerection find about those people?
A 2018 study characterised 32 people who could raise goosebumps at will within about a second, and they all scored high on openness to experience. One informal estimate puts the ability at roughly 1 in 1,500 people.
Read the full answer → - Question 12 of 12
Are left-handers measurably more intelligent?
A meta-analysis of roughly 20,000 people found only a negligible difference slightly favouring right-handers, and significance was lost when the largest study was removed.
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// every question here is drawn from our fact-checked quizzes, follow any “read the full answer” link for its sources