Quick! I need your best biology-in-pop-culture trivia questions! Can be on the more human side or the ecology side.
Replies
How did Mark Watney grow potatoes on Mars in The Martian (and what are the obstacles to actually doing that?)? (He used his own poop for fertilizer, which… well I guess it could work, and he really didn’t have any other options?)
aug 25, 2025, 11:52 pm • 6 0 • view
Dante’s Peak (1997) has a scene where the volcanologist ties the death of trees to CO2 from the volcano. While that sounds backwards, it is a known phenomenon. How does volcanic CO2 kill vegetation?
aug 26, 2025, 1:22 am • 3 0 • view
In Outbreak, the Central American white-faced capuchin monkey was used to portray an African disease vector.
aug 25, 2025, 11:55 pm • 7 0 • view
Most monkeys seen in tv/movies are capuchin monkeys (and none of them should be in used in entertainment or the pet industry!)
aug 25, 2025, 11:56 pm • 2 0 • view
Edward Prendick, the narrator in The Island of Dr Moreau, is supposed to have studied biology under Darwin’s Bulldog, TH Huxley. The author HG Wells really did study under TH Huxley.
aug 26, 2025, 4:11 am • 1 0 • view
I realize that’s some old pop culture, but I figure Moreau is due for a reboot.
aug 26, 2025, 4:12 am • 1 0 • view
All the megafauna on Pandora are hexapods, except for the Na’vi. There’s even a “transitional” form shown briefly, a monkey where the forelimb splits at the elbow.
aug 26, 2025, 4:08 am • 0 0 • view
Can you give an example? I'm not sure I even understand what type of thing you're looking for.
aug 25, 2025, 10:48 pm • 0 0 • view
I’m looking for trivia questions about biology in pop culture. For example, the ferns named for Lady Gaga, or the cordyceps in The Last of Us.
aug 25, 2025, 10:58 pm • 4 0 • view
How many arms does a starfish have?
aug 26, 2025, 7:14 pm • 0 0 • view
"What, other than the ability to talk, is the main difference between Flounder in the Little Mermaid and an actual flounder?"
aug 25, 2025, 11:19 pm • 5 0 • view
Easy. Ability to sing. Maybe other things too? Eyes or whatnot
aug 26, 2025, 11:38 pm • 1 0 • view
“Is it true that indigenous people preserve 80% of the world’s biodiversity?” Make them think about pr and sloppiness. 😄
aug 25, 2025, 10:24 pm • 0 0 • view
These are incoming freshmen, Marcelo! We still have time.
aug 25, 2025, 11:01 pm • 2 0 • view
“The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell” Also “MEDULLA! OBLANGATA!!” youtu.be/cu7A8LIzL1o
aug 25, 2025, 11:09 pm • 0 0 • view
The Alien was inspired by insects, including a second jaw a la dragonfly nymphs. www.jamescamerononline.com/Biomechanica...
aug 25, 2025, 11:54 pm • 3 0 • view
also, Hitchcock's The Birds - lots in there...
aug 25, 2025, 11:59 pm • 1 0 • view
This is a great one!
aug 26, 2025, 1:57 am • 0 0 • view
As a fan of SF one of my pet peeves is that humans can eat stuff from alien planets without worrying about whether the proteins are left or right handed. (Allen Steele at least addressed it in one of his books but he is the only one who has that I know of)
aug 25, 2025, 11:09 pm • 9 0 • view
Saber tooth tigers used to be cartoon shorthand for “long ago”- how many actual species were there, and how many (or which ones we know about) were actually felids?
aug 25, 2025, 11:04 pm • 3 0 • view
More neurology but who came up with the “we only use 10% of our brains” thing?
aug 25, 2025, 11:02 pm • 4 0 • view
What three famous dinosaurs were used as the basis for Godzilla’s design? (Tyrannosaurus, Stegosaurus, and Iguanodon!)
aug 26, 2025, 12:35 am • 5 0 • view
And similarly, besides gorillas, what real world zoological adventure inspired the original King Kong? (William Douglas Burden’s 1926 expedition to Komodo, with the dragons being a direct inspiration for King Kong’s dinosaurs as well as the capturing and exhibition of Kong.)
aug 26, 2025, 12:35 am • 3 0 • view
A Huge Ever Growing Pulsating Brain That Rules from the Centre of the Ultraworld - The Orb Cells - They Might Be Giants Biology - Girls Aloud Virus - Björk Heart Beat, Pig Meat - Pink Floyd
aug 25, 2025, 10:23 pm • 1 0 • view
T-rex (65 mill) is more close to the pyramids than to Bracchiosaurios (154-150 mill)
aug 25, 2025, 10:23 pm • 14 2 • view
Yessss thank you!
aug 25, 2025, 11:02 pm • 2 0 • view
related: "Were mammoths still alive while the pyramids were being built?"
aug 25, 2025, 11:12 pm • 4 0 • view
Which popular fictional character is a copepod? (Plankton from SpongeBob) Which class of animals is legally required to be depicted as the wrong species for movies set in the USA? (birds) Name a non-African animal depicted in The Lion King (anteater or leafcutter ant)
aug 26, 2025, 2:37 am • 2 0 • view
Which plants depicted in Lord of the Rings only arrived in Europe after Columbus? (potatoes, tomatoes, tobacco, probably others)
aug 26, 2025, 2:43 am • 2 0 • view
If vision is the strongest sense in humans, why do so many of us have problems with our sight?
aug 25, 2025, 10:57 pm • 0 0 • view
The most famous scene in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea - the fight with a giant squid - was written in 1869 or 1870, over 130 years before the first live giant squid was seen. in the 1800s, giant squid were mainly known from corpses that washed up on shore. youtu.be/UUgDYxZHGz0
aug 25, 2025, 11:24 pm • 8 2 • view
I think I heard it also was from stomach contents of sperm whales? No idea if it’s true
aug 25, 2025, 11:56 pm • 1 0 • view
Very likely! I remember reading that some spam whales had scars of sucker marks, which was used to estimate the size of live giant squid. I remember reading that probably resulted in people thinking squid were bigger than they were, because the scars might have gotten bigger as whales grew.
aug 25, 2025, 11:59 pm • 4 0 • view
A Coke advertisement may be the most ecologically wrong ad ever for showing polar bears (northern Arctic) frolicking with penguins (no species lives north of the equator). youtu.be/dfsymxcMoj4
aug 25, 2025, 10:45 pm • 14 1 • view
The xenomorphs from Alien are inspired by insects called parasitoids (mostly wasps) that lay their eggs inside a living host, which the young eat from the inside after hatching.
aug 25, 2025, 10:41 pm • 14 4 • view
Also, the tiny jaws within the big jaws was inspired by dragonfly nymph morphology.
aug 25, 2025, 11:41 pm • 3 0 • view
Yeah, I can’t write imagine where else that idea came from - though I don’t think I’ve ever read Giger or the filmmakers saying that explicitly!
aug 25, 2025, 11:56 pm • 0 0 • view
This article with quotes from the Alien filmmakers confirms they were specifically thinking of animals like wasps and insects: www.jamescamerononline.com/Biomechanica...
aug 25, 2025, 11:53 pm • 2 1 • view
We used this! Thank you!
aug 26, 2025, 1:58 am • 0 0 • view
Ooooh thank you!
aug 25, 2025, 10:59 pm • 1 0 • view
In Star Trek, Vulcans have green blood, which is explained by Vulcans having copper in their blood instead of iron. Not just made up! There are animals with copper in their blood, and animals with green blood. But copper-based blood is blue. www.compoundchem.com/2014/10/28/c...
aug 25, 2025, 10:31 pm • 22 5 • view
*reads chart* Wait, "penis worms"? There's an animal that's literally called a "penis worm", and we're supposed to sit here all demure and pretend that's not funny??
aug 26, 2025, 1:26 am • 0 0 • view
Hey, we are all supposed to suppress our snickers when birdwatchers and ornithologists talk about great tits and boobies.
aug 26, 2025, 1:32 am • 5 0 • view
you certainly are, sir !
aug 26, 2025, 10:53 am • 0 0 • view
In Ghostbusters, Egon says he collects “spores, molds, and fungus”. Are these all the same thing or was he referring to sporophytes and jello?
aug 26, 2025, 12:09 am • 1 0 • view
What’s the first vegetable to grown in outer space? If you know me, you know the answer has to be 🥔❕ www.andnowuknow.com/bloom/potato...
aug 26, 2025, 12:31 am • 4 0 • view
Ahhh we are definitely adding this!
aug 26, 2025, 1:56 am • 0 0 • view
The photo of a deep-sea anglerfish that everyone uses to illustrate dwarf male obligate parasitism is one of the only deep-sea angler fishes that does not have obligate dwarf male parasites.
aug 25, 2025, 10:43 pm • 23 1 • view
(he's a lil guy, but is free swimming and does not fuse with the female)
aug 25, 2025, 10:43 pm • 2 0 • view
Hahahahaha of course!
aug 25, 2025, 10:59 pm • 1 0 • view
They Might Be Giants released a song (Why Does the Sun Shine) about the sun being a burning ball of gas, and then released another song (Why Does the Sun Really Shine) that said, "Forget that song, they got it wrong," and went on to sing about how cool plasma is.
aug 25, 2025, 10:34 pm • 7 1 • view
Very cool, but not quite biology!
aug 25, 2025, 11:00 pm • 3 0 • view
Just about every eagle, falcon, or vulture in every movie makes the sound of the red-tailed hawk.
aug 25, 2025, 10:26 pm • 30 4 • view
Yes!! Good one!
aug 25, 2025, 11:01 pm • 1 0 • view
Lazy Foley artists
aug 25, 2025, 10:55 pm • 2 0 • view
What species is Blathers from Animal Crossing New Horizons? 🦉
aug 25, 2025, 11:55 pm • 1 0 • view
The portrayal of which bodily function is almost always show unrealistically in film and tv? A: sweating.
aug 26, 2025, 2:10 am • 1 0 • view
What does the title of “Gattaca” refer to?
aug 25, 2025, 10:22 pm • 12 1 • view
And why is the staircase left-handed in that scene?
aug 25, 2025, 11:59 pm • 4 0 • view
This is probably the most obvious example, but.. “How did the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park reproduce even though they were bred to all be females?”
aug 25, 2025, 10:21 pm • 5 0 • view
My favorite is that the velociraptors in the movie were made much larger than real velociraptors, mostly for dramatic effect. Amazingly, the utah raptor is about the right size and was officially named in June 1993. The same month Jurassic Park hit theaters.
aug 26, 2025, 2:47 am • 1 0 • view
What amino acid do the Jurassic Park dinosaurs need in their diet? (Lysine)
aug 26, 2025, 1:30 am • 3 0 • view
Ask what species of animal Sandy Cheeks is in Spongebob. (Answer squirrel)
aug 25, 2025, 11:05 pm • 2 0 • view
And is Sponge Bob a dish sponge or an actual sea sponge? (I confess i had to look this up, because I didn't know)
aug 25, 2025, 11:15 pm • 0 0 • view
idk how canon the spongebob broadway musical is but it says that he's an actual sponge species, aplysina fistularis. altho yea he's always depicted as a dish sponge in the live action clips in the cartoon huh lol
aug 25, 2025, 11:26 pm • 2 0 • view
Yes! I always thought he was a dish sponge because of those clips but apparently it's canon that he's a sea sponge shaped like a dish sponge. No trivia contest is complete without a question that sparks a riot, as far as I'm concerned.
aug 25, 2025, 11:30 pm • 2 0 • view
What gives X-Men superpowers? (X-gene, which activates “junk DNA.”)
aug 26, 2025, 1:55 am • 1 0 • view
What’s in the shot in Pulp Fiction (adrenaline)? Too old for college freshman, probably.
aug 26, 2025, 1:21 am • 1 0 • view