The Science Quiz is featured three times a week on the daily Science page of the epaper, which readers can access every day except for Saturdays. In each quiz, there are several questions that test readers’ knowledge about various scientific topics. One of the questions in the quiz asks about the mosquito that transmits malaria, which was discovered by a British doctor in 1897. Another question focuses on the country that contributes to over half of the malaria cases in the World Health Organisation’s Southeast Asia region.
The quiz also touches upon factors that can accelerate malaria transmission, such as global warming and insecticide resistance, and asks about the most commonly used antimalarial drug to which mosquitoes have developed resistance. In addition, the quiz highlights a country that made history in 2024 by launching the world’s first malaria vaccine as part of its immunization program, as well as the manufacturer that has established production capacity for a second malaria vaccine called R21/Matrix M.
For the visual question, readers are asked to identify a chemist who identified the insecticidal properties of DDT in 1939 and received a Nobel Prize for his work. The answers to these questions include Anopheles stephensi and Ronald Ross for the mosquito and doctor, respectively; India for the country contributing to malaria cases; Chloroquine for the antimalarial drug; Cameroon and RTS,S vaccine for history-making country and vaccine; and Serum Institute of India for manufacturing second malaria vaccine.
