Earth
Magma is the hot liquid rock under the surface of the Earth, it is known as lava after it comes out of a volcano.
Natural gas doesn't have an odour, strong smells are added to it by humans so it can be detected when there are leaks.
Hawaii is moving towards Japan at the speed of 10cm a year. This is because they are on different tectonic plates.
The world's largest desert (outside of the polar regions) is the Sahara, it covers about one third of Africa!
Stretching out to an impressive length of 6696 kilometres (4160 miles) long, the Nile River is the longest river on earth.
The volcanic rock known as pumice is the only rock that can float in water.
Mt Everest is the highest mountain on earth, its peak reaches 8,848 metres (29029 feet) above sea level. Check out the highest mountains on each continent of the Earth.
On average the Atlantic Ocean is the saltiest of Earth’s major oceans.
Earthquakes that occur out at sea can cause huge tsunamis capable of reaching land and endangering people.
Metamorphic rocks are formed by extreme pressure and heat. Read more about metamorphic, igneous and sedimentary rocks, find information on rocks and minerals or check out our interesting fossil facts.
The Earth isn't perfectly round, it is slightly flattened at the north and south poles. Learn about the polar regions with our Antarctica facts and Arctic facts.
Scared of the Bermuda Triangle? Despite its reputation it is actually part of a commonly sailed shipping route.
Scientists have the dated the Earth as being between 4 and 5 billion years old!
The Amazon rainforest is the largest tropical rainforest on Earth. Enjoy more rainforest facts or learn about jungles.
Talc is the softest mineral found on Earth, reaching just 1 on Mohs scale of hardness, it is often used to make talcum powder.
The Great Barrier Reef in Australia is the largest living structure in the world.
The Niagara Falls are located on the border of the USA and Canada.
Rock found at the bottom of the Grand Canyon is around 2 billion years old.
Although earthquakes can be deadly, most are very small and not even felt by humans.
Amazon Rainforest
The Amazon rainforest is the largest tropical rainforest in the world, covering over five and a half a million square kilometres (1.4 billion acres).
Over half of the Amazon rainforest is located in Brazil but it is also located in other South American countries including Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia, Guyana, Bolivia, Suriname and French Guiana.
10% of the world’s known species live in the Amazon rainforest.
20% of the world’s bird species live in the Amazon rainforest.
It is home to around 2 and a half million different insect species as well as over 40000 plant species.
There are also a number of dangerous species living in the Amazon rainforest such as the cougar, jaguar and anaconda.
While the protection of the Amazon rainforest remains an issue, deforestation rates have been reducing while areas of conserved land have been increasing over the last 10 years.
In both 2005 and 2010 the Amazon rainforest suffered severe droughts that killed off large amounts of vegetation in the worst affected areas.
A recent study by climate change experts suggests that a 3 °C rise in world temperatures by the year 2010 would destroy around 75% of the Amazon.
Amazon River
The Amazon River is located in South America. It runs through Guyana, Ecuador, Venezuela, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia and Peru.
The length of the Amazon River is approximately 6400 kilometres (4000 miles).
During the wet season, the Amazon River can reach over 190 kilometres (120 miles) in width.
There are no bridges that cross the Amazon, mostly because there is no need, the majority of the Amazon River runs through rainforests rather than roads or cities.
The largest city along the Amazon River is Manaus. Located in Brazil it is home to over 1.7 million people.
There are over 3000 known species of fish that live in the Amazon River, with more constantly being discovered.
Anacondas lurk in the shallow waters of the Amazon Basin, they are one of the largest snakes in the world and occasionally attack larger animals such as goats that get to close the water.
The Amazon River is also home to the piranha, a meat eating type of fish! Being carnivores, piranhas are known to attack in groups, preying on livestock that strays into the water and possibly appearing in one or two of your own nightmares!
Antarctica
Antarctica is the southernmost continent on Earth.
The South Pole is found in Antarctica.
Antarctica is surrounded by the Southern Ocean.
Antarctica is bigger than Europe and almost double the size of Australia.
Most of Antarctica is covered in ice over 1.6 kilometres thick (1 mile).
Because it experiences such little rain, Antarctica is considered a desert.
The coldest recorded temperature on Earth occurred in 1983 at Vostok Station, Antarctica, measuring a rather chilly −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F).
While humans don’t permanently reside in Antarctica, several thousand people live and work at various research facilities found on the continent.
While Antarctica features harsh living conditions, a number of plants and animals have adapted to survive and call the icy continent home.
Well known animals that live in Antarctica include penguins and seals.
The name ‘Antarctica’ comes from a Greek word meaning ‘opposite to the north’.
Around 90% of the ice on Earth is found in Antarctica.
Sea levels would rise around 60m (200ft) if all the ice in Antarctica were to melt.
Arctic
The Arctic region is found in the northernmost part of Earth.
As well as the Arctic Ocean, the Arctic region is made up of parts of Russia, Greenland, Canada, USA, Norway, Iceland, Sweden and Finland.
Indigenous people who live in the Arctic have adapted to the cold weather and harsh environmental conditions.
The name ‘Arctic’ comes from a Greek word meaning ‘near the bear’.
The coldest recorded temperature in the Arctic is around −68 °C (−90 °F).
Over recent years, the Arctic region has shrunk due to global warming.
Small shrubs can grow in warmer parts of the Arctic, as well as various herbs, mosses and lichens.
A number of different types of animals make their home in the arctic, including polar bears, wolverines, squirrels, birds, walrus and seals.
The Arctic region is home to the North Pole.
The Arctic has a number of natural resources, including fish, oil, gas and various minerals.
Aurora
The name 'Aurora' comes from the Latin word for sunrise or the Roman goddess of dawn.
An aurora is a natural light display in the sky, usually of greenish color but sometimes red or blue.
This natural phenomenon usually occurs in areas known as the 'auroral zone' near the poles of the Arctic in the north and Antarctic in the south.
The effect is known as the aurora borealis (or the Northern Lights) in Northern hemisphere latitudes.
In Southern hemisphere latitudes the effect is known as the aurora australis (or the Southern Lights).
Aurora is caused by the collision of energetically charged particles with atoms in the high altitude thermosphere within our atmosphere.
Auroras are associated with the solar winds that flow past Earth. These winds flow out from the Sun and contain plasma particles (ionized gas) which gets pulled into the Earth's magnetic pole fields.
As they accelerate towards the Earth, collisions occur between these ion particles and nitrogen and oxygen atoms in our atmosphere, releasing energy in the form of amazing aurora lights.
Auroras also occur on other planets in our solar system including Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Mars. Similar to Earth's aurora, the lights have been seen close to other planets magnetic poles.
The aurora often appear as "curtains" of folding light constantly changing shape.
Old folktales have suggested that the aurora can create brief and faint noises such as claps, static, or crackles heard on rare occasions by those on the ground. Recent scientific research has shown that this could in fact be true with clapping sounds recorded during an aurora display.
Beach
Beaches are landforms located along the shoreline of water bodies such as an ocean, sea, lake or river. They are made up of loose rock particles of materials such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones or sometimes shells.
Most beaches are found on the coast, where wave action, currents, tides and seawater rises continuously rework and shape the sediment. As a result, beaches are usually regarded as dynamic, natural phenomenon.
Sandy beaches are mostly made of silica (SiO2) in the form of the mineral quartz.
Depending on the type of sediment that makes up the sand, beaches can come in many different colors such as: white, gray, gold-yellow, brown, red and black.
A beach's slope and shape depends on whether the material being deposited is sand or shingle, and also whether the waves are constructive or destructive.
The size of the sediment found on a beach is a good indication of the wave and wind energy in the area. Shorelines that are protected from waves and winds usually have finer sediment than exposed coastlines where small sediment is suspended within the turbulent waters.
Steep beaches have a strong wave backwash that pulls material down the beach slowly making the slope gentler. Waves on beaches that have a gentle slope run up the beach powerfully, before falling back gently, therefore depositing material at the top, which slowly makes the beach steeper.
A beach berm is a long narrow sand wedge that resembles a terrace of land, it has a steep slope facing the ocean and a gentle slope towards the land, it is an indication that the beach has been gaining sand deposits.
Beach cusps are wavy rolling surfaces that form in the sand in an arc pattern.
A beach that remains undisturbed by modern human influences (such as nearby houses, resorts, shops, camps or hotels) is often called a wild beach.
In many countries, good recreational beaches are awarded a Blue Flag status based on such things as water quality and safety conditions.
Beaches became popular as tourist attractions during the 18th century. Today, beachside towns and beach resort areas are a magnet for tourist who come to sunbathe, swim, stroll the beach, build sandcastles, surf and bodyboard.
The longest beach in the world is arguably Praia do Cassino (Casino Beach) in the city of Rio Grande, Brazil. It is approximately 212 km (132mi) long.
Fraser Island off the coast of Queensland, Australia, is the largest sand island in the world covering around 163,000 ha and it has a beach 65 km (40 mi) long.
A beach is not an ideal place for most animals to live due to its constantly changing environment. Crabs and insects live in the sands while sea turtles bury their eggs on sandy beaches.
According to the Guinness World Records, the tallest sandcastle ever made was constructed in Connecticut, USA, in May 2011. It was 11.53 m (37 ft 10 in) tall.
Cave
A cave (or cavern) is a naturally occurring area or space under the surface of the Earth. Caves are often a system of interconnected passageways created by the weathering of rock.
Recreational or scientific exploration of a cave system is called caving, potholing or spelunking.
The scientific study of caves and their surrounding environments is called Speleology and the formation and development of caves called speleogenesis.
The maximum depth a cave system can reach underground before the pressure of overlying rocks becomes too great is estimated to be about 3,000 m (9,800 ft).
Caves can be formed by many geological processes including chemical actions, erosion from water, tectonic and volcanic forces, microorganisms, and pressure.
The most common type of cave formation are solutional caves which are formed by natural acids in groundwater dissolving soluble rock such as limestone (or sometimes chalk, dolomite, marble or gypsum).
Primary caves are formed at the same time as the surrounding rock, the most common type are lava tubes. As lava flows downhill the surface cools and hardens, yet underneath, hot lava continues to flow leaving behind a hollow tube.
Sea caves (or littoral caves) are located on the coast and are created by continual wave and tidal action which erodes or weakens sea cliffs.
Corrasional caves (or erosional caves) are formed by erosion as sediment laden streams flow through rock. These caves can form in any rock type including very hard granites. They usually require an initial fault or joint in the rock through which the water can flow.
Glacier caves are formed as melting ice creates a flow of water within the glacier.
A fracture cave is created by the dissolving of more soluble mineral rocks sitting between layers of less soluble rock, creating fracture collapses.
Stalactites are created by the continuous dripping of mineral rich water, which little by little leaves mineral deposits on the ceiling as the minerals harden.
Stalagmites are created as the mineral rich water droplets fall to the cave floor leaving mineral deposits that grow to become pillar-like formations.
Stalactites and stalagmites can eventually join from floor-to-ceiling, however they grow very slowly, around an inch every 100 years.
The world's three longest known cave systems are: Mammoth Cave, Kentucky, USA, 651.8 km (405 mi), Sistema Sac Actun/Sistema Dos Ojos, Mexico, 319 km (198.2 mi), and Jewel Cave, South Dakota, USA, 267.6 km (166.3 mi).
The deepest known cave is Voronya Cave in Georgia, at 2,197 m (7,208 ft).
Caves have been used throughout human history as shelter, for burials, and as religious sites. Many archaeological treasures and ancient paintings have been found in caves around the world.
Cave inhabiting animals include bats, fish, salamanders, insects and spiders.
Troglobites are a type of animal that only live within cave ecosystems, they often have some unique characteristic such as a loss of pigment coloring and no eyesight or eyes which developed due to the extreme darkness.
Bermuda Triangle
Located in the Atlantic Ocean, the Bermuda Triangle falls between Bermuda, Puerto Rico and Florida.
The Bermuda Triangle has long been believed to be the site where a number of mysterious plane and boat incidents have occurred.
While it has become part of popular culture to link the Bermuda Triangle to paranormal activity, most investigations indicate bad weather and human error are the more likely culprits.
Research has suggested that many original reports of strange incidents in the Bermuda Triangle were exaggerated and that the actual number of incidents in the area is similar to that of other parts of the ocean.
While its reputation may scare some people, the Bermuda Triangle is actually part of a regularly sailed shipping lane with cruise ships and other boats also frequently sailing through the area.
Aircraft are also common in the Bermuda Triangle with both private and commercial planes commonly flying through the air space.
Stories of unexplained disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle started to reach public awareness around 1950 and have been consistently reported since then.
Unverified supernatural explanations for Bermuda Triangle incidents have included references to UFO’s and even the mythical lost continent of Atlantis.
Other explanations have included magnetic anomalies, pirates, deliberate sinkings, hurricanes, gas deposits, rough weather, huge waves and human error.
Some famous reported incidents involving the Bermuda Triangle include:
The USS Cyclops and its crew of 309 that went missing after leaving Barbados in 1918.
The TBM Avenger bombers that went missing in 1945 during a training flight over the Atlantic.
A Douglas DC-3 aircraft containing 32 people that went missing in 1958, no trace of the aircraft was ever found.
A yacht was found in 1955 that had survived three hurricanes but was missing all its crew.
Desert
There are a number of different definitions to describe a desert but they are typically areas that receive extremely low amounts of rain.
Deserts generally receive less than 40cm (16in) of rain a year.
Around one third of the Earth's surface is covered in deserts.
The original meaning of the word desert is 'an abandoned place'.
Many of the ice free regions of the Arctic and Antarctic are known as polar deserts.
Only around 20% of the deserts on Earth are covered in sand.
Areas covered in ice or snow can sometimes be called 'cold deserts', compared to 'hot deserts' in warmer areas.
The largest cold desert on Earth is Antarctica.
The largest hot desert on Earth is the Sahara.
The Sahara Desert is located in northern Africa, spanning 12 different countries.
The Arabian Desert in the Middle East is the second largest hot desert on Earth but is substantially smaller than the Sahara.
Other large deserts include the Gobi Desert in Asia, the Kalahari Desert in Africa, the Patagonian Desert in South America, the Great Victoria Desert in Australia, the Syrian Desert in the Middle East and the Great Basin Desert in North America.
The Gobi Desert is located in the north of China and the south of Mongolia. It is growing at a fast rate due to desertification, a process that turns fertile lands into desert areas. It is caused by humans cutting down forests, droughts, climate change and other environmental factors.
Located in South America, the Atacama Desert is the driest place in the world.
Hot deserts usually feature high temperatures in the daytime and cold temperatures at night.
Deserts have very low humidity.
Despite the extreme conditions, deserts are home to a range of well suited plant life including various shrubs and cacti. They are also home to animals such as lizards and coyote.
With lack of water, high daytime temperatures and sometimes freezing conditions at night, deserts can be extremely dangerous places for humans.
Shallow, salty lakes can form temporarily from time to time in deserts.
Deserts often contain large mineral deposits.
Deserts can be good locations to farm solar energy.
The video game Mario Kart 64 features a track called 'Kalimari Desert', a reference to the Kalahari Desert found in Southern Africa.
Earthquake
Earthquakes involve the powerful movement of rocks in the Earth’s crust. The rapid release of energy creates seismic waves that travel through the earth.
Scientists use the different speeds of seismic waves to locate the epicentre (the point on the surface directly above where the earthquake originated) of earthquakes.
Seismometers are used to measure the magnitude of earthquakes. You are unlikely to feel a magnitude 3 earthquake but a magnitude 6 earthquake could potentially cause large damage.
The damage caused by earthquakes also depends on their depth and fault type.
The earthquake that hit the Tohoku region of Japan on March 11, 2011, had a magnitude of 9.0 and killed over 15000 people.
The destruction caused by the Tohoku earthquake was made much worse by powerful tsunamis that were triggered due to the earthquake’s epicentre being located offshore. More tsunami facts.
The 2004 earthquake that occurred in the Indian Ocean near Sumatra, Indonesia triggered a series of tsunamis that killed over 200000 people in 14 countries.
The February 2011 earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand followed nearly 6 months after a magnitude 7.1 earthquake shook the region. The earthquake killed 181 people and significantly damaged the central city. The economic damage caused by the earthquake and aftershocks is estimated to be around $15 billion (NZ$).
An earthquake that hit Haiti in January 2010 with a magnitude of 7.0 killed over 200000 people according to Haitian sources.
The most powerful earthquake ever recorded on Earth was in Valdivia, Chile. Occurring in 1960, it had a magnitude of 9.5.
It is important in earthquake prone countries such as Japan to build houses and buildings that react well to earthquakes. Good engineering practises can help stop buildings collapsing under the stress of large earthquakes.
Easter Island
Easter Island, also called Rapa Nui, is a Polynesian island in the Pacific Ocean.
The island became a special territory of Chile in 1888.
Easter Island is famous for having 887 massive statues, called moai, which were sculpted and erected by the early Rapa Nui people.
In 1995, Easter Island became a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with most of the island protected in the Rapa Nui National Park.
Easter Island had around 5,800 residents in 2012. Over 60% of these people are descendants of the native Rapa Nui people.
Polynesians are believed to have settled on the island around the first millennium AD. The thriving Rapa Nui people carved the large stone statues between 1100 -1680 AD and the population peaked at around 15,000 people during this time.
The introduction of Polynesian rats and overpopulation is believed to have led to deforestation of the native large broadleaf forests and palms and extinction of many natural resources such as native birds and seabirds. This led to internal warfare and the Rapa Nui civilization was reduced to just 2000-3000 people when the Europeans arrived in 1722. Diseases carried by sailors and Peruvian slave raiding caused the native population to fall to just 111 people in 1877.
The first recorded European visitor to the island, Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen called the place "Easter Island" because he arrived on Easter Sunday, 5th April, 1722.
With the nearest inhabited island (Pitcairn Island) 2,075 km's (1,289 mi) away and continental Chile 3,512 km's (2,182 mi) away, Easter Island is one of the world's most isolated inhabited islands.
Easter island is 24.6 km (15.3 mi) long and 12.3 km (7.6 mi) at its widest point, the total area size is 163.6 km² (63.2 mi²).
The volcanic peak of Terevaka is the tallest point of the island at 507 m (1,663 ft) above sea level and along with the volcanoes of Poike and Rano Kau, give the island its triangular shape.
Its a common misconception that the Easter Island statues are just heads (although some have been buried up to their necks over time). They in fact also have torsos, with most ending at the top of the thigh, while some are complete kneeling figures.
Nearly all the moai were carved from solidified volcanic ash at a quarry site on the side of the extinct Rano Raraku volcano. The carvers used basalt stone hand chisels, with many teams working on different statues at the same time. However, a single moai took a team of 5-6 men about a year to finish.
Each statue represented the deceased head of a family ancestry line.
Just one quarter of the statues were ever installed with nearly half still remaining at the quarry site and others sitting along the way to their intended locations.
The largest raised moai is called "Paro". It weighs 82 tons and is 9.8 m (32.15 ft) tall. The average size of all the statues is 4m (13 ft) tall and 14 tons.
"Ahu" are stone platforms on which many moai sit. There are 313 known ahu and 125 of these carry moai. The biggest, Ahu Tongariki is 220 m (720 ft), and had the most (15) and tallest moai.
Fossil
What are fossils and what is paleontology?
Paleontology is the branch of biology that studies the forms of life that existed in former geologic periods, primarily by studying fossils.
The only direct way we have of learning about dinosaurs is by studying fossils. Fossils are the remains of ancient animals and plants, the traces or impressions of living things from past geologic ages, or the traces of their activities. Fossils have been found on every continent on Earth.
The word fossil comes from the Latin word fossilis, which means, "dug up". Most fossils are excavated from sedimentary rock layers (Sedimentary rock is rock that has formed from sediment, like sand, mud, and small pieces of rock).
Over long periods of time, these small pieces of debris are compressed (squeezed) and are buried under more and more layers of sediment that piles up on top of it. Eventually, they are compressed into sedimentary rock.
The fossil of a bone doesn't have any bone in it! A fossilized object has the same shape as the original object, but is chemically more like a rock.
How are fossils formed?
Some animals were quickly buried after their death (by sinking in mud, being buried in a sandstorm, etc). Over time more and more sediment covered the remains. The parts of the animals that didn't rot (usually the harder parts like bones and teeth) were encased in the newly formed sediment. In the right circumstances (when there is no scavengers, quick burial, not much weathering) parts of the animal turned into fossils over time.
After a long time the chemicals in the buried animals bodies underwent a series of changes. As the bone slowly decayed, water infused with minerals seeped into the bone and replaced the chemicals in the bone with rock-like minerals. The process of fossilization involves the dissolving and replacement of the original minerals in the object with other minerals (and or permineralization - the filling up of spaces in fossils with minerals, and /or recrystallization in which a mineral changes its form).
In the end we get a heavy, rock-like copy of the original object - a fossil. The fossil has the same shape as the original object, but is chemically more like a rock!
Other ways fossils form: Petrification
Petrification can preserve hard and soft parts and slowly replaces organic material with silica, calcite or pyrite, forming a rock-like fossil. Wood is often found petrified.
Some organisms are embedded in Amber (a hardened form of tree sap). This usually preserved insects or pieces of plants.
Fossils of imprints may form, like casts of dinosaur footprints. The impressions, in the right circumstances, fill with sediments that fossilize.
Most animals did not fossilize, they simply decayed and were lost from the fossil record. Paleontologist’s estimate that only a small percentage of the dinosaurs that ever lived have been or will be found as fossils.
Galapagos Islands
The Galapagos are an archipelago of volcanic islands that span across the equator line.
The Galapagos Islands are located in the Pacific Ocean, 926 km (575 mi) west of Ecuador, South America, and are an offshore territory of Ecuador.
The islands are home to over 25,000 people clustered in small towns, the capital is Puerto Baquerizo Moreno.
The Archipelago group consists of 7,880 km² (3,040 mi²) of land spread over 45,000 km² (17,000 mi²) of ocean.
The group consists of 18 main islands, 3 smaller islands, and 107 islets or rocks. The largest of the islands is Isabela which makes up nearly three-quarters of the total land area of the Galapagos islands at 5,827 km² (2,250 mi²).
The highest point in the Galapagos Islands is Volcán Wolf on Isabela which is 1,707 m (5,600 ft) above sea level.
The islands sit above the Galapagos hotspot where the Earth's crust is being melted from below by a mantle plume, which creates volcanoes. The oldest of the islands, more then 4 million years old, are slowly disappearing back below sea level. The youngest islands Isabela and Fernandina are still in the process of being formed with 13 volcanic eruptions in the archipelago over the last 100 years.
Five ocean currents converge at the Galapagos islands. The Equatorial, Cromwell, Humboldt, and Panama currents create variable water temperatures and unpredictable tides in the area resulting in a unique marine ecology.
The Galapagos islands became a national park in 1959. The islands were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978. In 1986, the surrounding ocean was declared a biological marine reserve and in 1990 the area became a whale sanctuary.
Charles Darwin famously visited the Galapagos islands for 5 weeks in 1835 on the ship HMS Beagle. During his observations and collections he noted that mockingbirds, Darwin finches and tortoises differed over the various islands. These facts contributed to the development of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection presented in his book 'The Origin of Species'.
Due to the uniqueness of the islands and ocean waters there are vast numbers of endemic species including: Galapagos land iguanas, marine iguana (the only iguana that feed in the sea), sea cucumbers, flightless cormorant, blue-footed booby, Galapagos mockingbirds, Galapagos Penguin, Galapagos sea lions, Galapagos hawk, great Frigatebird, waved Albatross, and over 50 species of fish.
The most famous of the endemic Galapagos creatures are the tortoises that the islands were named after. The giant tortoises have slightly differing physical features depending on which island they come from.
Unfortunately, whalers and fur-seal traders in the 18th-19th centuries killed and captured thousands of the Galapagos tortoises to extract their fat. Because they can survive for months without food or water the tortoises could be kept on board ships as a means of providing of fresh protein. Some entire species of tortoises were lost to this practise and others were on the verge of extinction.
The most famous resident of the Galapagos islands was Lonesome George, who was the only surviving giant Pinta Island tortoise left on Earth. He was known as the rarest creature in the world and served as a symbol for conservation. Lonesome George died on the 24th June 2012 at the age of 100.
Gas
Like solids and liquids, gas is a common state of matter.
Pure gases are made up of just one atom. Neon is an example of a pure gas.
Elemental gases are made up of two or more of the same atoms joined together. Hydrogen gas (H2) is an example an elemental gas.
Compound gases contain a combination of different atoms. Carbon monoxide (CO) is an example of a compound gas.
The air we breathe here on Earth is made up of different gases. It contains around 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 1% argon and a small amount of other gases.
Natural gas contains mostly methane, it is used as a fuel to generate electricity and is common in the home where it can be used for heating, cooking and other purposes.
Gas pressure is measured in pascals.
The helium balloons you get at parties and carnivals float because helium is lighter than the air surrounding it.
Noble gases are a group of chemical elements that are very stable under normal conditions. Naturally occurring noble gases include helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon and radon.
The ozone layer that protects Earth from the Sun’s potentially damaging UV light is made up of ozone (O3), an oxygen allotrope containing 3 oxygen atoms bound together.
Nitrous oxide (N20) is a gas with interesting properties that allow it to be used in a variety of different ways, these include as an anesthetic in hospitals (you may have heard it referred to as laughing gas) and to increase the power of engines in motor racing (often called nitrous or just NOS).
Geyser
A geyser is a spring from which water and steam is ejected forcefully into the air at heights ranging from less than a metre (a few feet) to over one hundred metres (several hundred feet).
Geysers are a quite rare phenomenon on Earth due to the precise conditions that are required for them to form. They are mainly clustered near active volcanic areas.
There are only around one thousand known active geysers worldwide.
Geyser formation requires a particular combination of three geological aspects, water, intense heat and cracks/spaces in the ground that form a type of underground plumbing system.
Geysers are formed by water seeping through the ground and coming into contact with rock heated by magma at relatively shallow depths in volcanic areas.
A sub surface reservoir is needed to hold the water as it heats. The highly pressurized boiling water then rises back to the surface through porous fractured rock, fissures and vents before erupting into the air.
The remaining water in the geyser eventually cools back below boiling point and the eruption stops. Heated groundwater then begins seeping back into the sub ground reservoir, and the whole cycle begins again.
The word geyser comes from the famous Great Geysir in Haukadalur, Iceland. The name for which comes from the Icelandic verb geysa "to gush".
There are two types of geysers. Fountain geysers erupt in powerful, often violent bursts from pools of water. While a cone geyser erupts as a steady jet of water from mounds (cones) of geyserite (siliceous sinter) and can last just a few seconds through to several minutes.
Geysers don't last forever. If conditions change they can go dormant or become extinct. Geysers have been ruined by people throwing litter and debris into them. Geothermal power plants have been known to reduce the water content and destroy nearby geysers.
A geyser's eruptive activity can also change or stop due to ongoing mineral build up within the plumbing system or earthquakes changing the geological dynamics.
Yellowstone National Park, USA, is the largest geyser field in the world and home to half of the world's active geysers, in nine geyser basins. Over 1200 geysers have erupted in Yellowstone with an average 465 active in any given year.
The world's tallest active geyser is found in Yellowstone. Steamboat Geyser in the Norris Geyser Basin can erupt to a height exceeding 116 m (380 ft). Yellowstone is also home to the world-renowned Old Faithful Geyser.
The Valley of Geysers, Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia is the only geyser field in Eurasia (Europe and Asia). With approximately 200 geysers, it has the second largest concentration of geysers in the world.
El Tatio (the grandfather) is a valley at 4,200 m (13,800 ft) in the Andes, Chile. It is the 3rd largest geyser field in the world with 80 active geysers.
The Taupo Volcanic Zone, North Island, New Zealand is 350 km (217 mi) long by 50 km (31 mi) wide and contains volcanoes, hot springs and geysers.
The largest geyser ever known, the Waimangu Geyser, sat in the Taupo Volcanic Zone. It began erupting in 1900 and erupted periodically until a landslide changed the local water table in 1904. Eruptions often reached 160 m (520 ft) with some super bursts hitting 500 m (1,600 ft).
Iceland is home to some of the most famous geysers in the world. Geysers and hot springs are distributed all over the country. The Haukadalur geyser field is home to the famous Great Geysir, which still erupts, but very rarely. The nearby Strokkur geyser erupts every 5–8 minutes to a height of around 30 m (98 ft).
Eruptions similar to geysers have been seen on the surface of moons in our solar system including Saturn's moon Enceladus and Neptune's moon Triton.
Glacier
Glaciers are large masses of densely packed ice that are constantly moving due to their surface slope, pressure and gravitational forces.
A glacier forms over many years when snow and ice builds up faster than it is removed. The removal of snow and ice is called ablation and includes processes such as melting and evaporation.
A névé is the name for an area where a glacier has formed. This is usually in bowl-shaped areas between mountains where snow collects readily and compresses and compacts due to the weight of more snow falling on top.
As individual snow flakes are crushed by this immense weight pressure, air is squeezed from the snow turning it into a very dense glacial ice.
Glacial ice will continue to fill the névé until eventually a geological weakening or gap between mountains means the ice mass will start to move down a slope surface.
As glaciers move they erode the terrain under them using two main processes. Plucking, whereby bedrock rock is softened and levered out by subglacial water constantly re-freezing (expanding) within it, the sediment then becomes part of the glacier's cargo. Abrasion occurs when the ice and now rock too slides over the bedrock essentially smoothing and polishing it like sandpaper on wood.
Researchers are able to determine the direction of historical glaciers by examining bedrock scrapings such as glacial striations (long carved scratches caused by large boulders moving with the glacier) and chatter marks (crescent-shaped lines caused by boulders being constantly dragged and released).
Studies of glacial deposits also help show where historical glaciers were and how they moved. Linear mounds of glacial sediment called moraines are formed and left by the deposition of material from a glacier. While drumlins are teardrop shaped groups of hills also containing left behind sediment deposits.
Usually mountain valleys are “V” shaped. Glaciers deepen, smooth and widen the valleys into a "U" shape. Within these glacial valleys, depressions and deposits left behind are filled by water to create lakes and fjords.
The study of glaciers and their related processes is called glaciology.
The study of glaciers is very important for scientists to keep track of unique variations in the Earth's climate (such as global warming) as glaciers are very sensitive to climatic changes.
Types of glaciers include: Alpine glaciers (or mountain glaciers) located in mountain valleys. Ice caps (or ice fields) are less than 50,000 km² (20,000 mi²) in size and sit on top of mountains. While ice sheets (or continental glaciers) are usually found at the poles and are larger than 50,000km².
Around 99% of glacial ice on Earth is contained within the polar ice sheets.
Glaciers can be found in mountain ranges on every continent except Australia.
Glacier ice stores approximately 75% of the Earth's entire freshwater supply.
Around 10% of the Earth's land surface is covered by various types of glaciers.
The word "glacier" comes from the French language and the name is derived from the Latin word glacies meaning "ice".
Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon is found in the US state of Arizona.
Many people consider it to be one of the seven wonders of the natural world.
The Grand Canyon is 277 miles (446 kilometres) in length.
At its widest point the Grand Canyon stretches 18 miles (29 kilometres) across.
At its narrowest point it stretches 4 miles (6.4 kilometres) across.
The Grand Canyon is around 6000 (1800 metres) feet deep.
The Colorado River runs through the Grand Canyon, it has been eroding its steep sides for millions of years.
The different types of rock visible in the Grand Canyon make it an important site for geological research.
The rock found at the bottom of the Grand Canyon (schist) is around 2 billion years old.
The rock found on the upper rim (limestone) is around 230 million years old.
American Indians have been living in and around the canyon for thousands of years.
John Wesley Powell led the first expedition down the Grand Canyon in 1869. He was the first to use the name “Grand Canyon” after it had previous been known as the “Big Canyon” or “Great Canyon”.
The Grand Canyon became a national park in 1919.
It was the 17th national park to be established in the United States.
While the Grand Canyon is neither the widest, longest nor deepest canyon in the world, it is an extremely popular tourist destination with around 5 million visitors enjoying its immense beauty every year.
As well as sightseeing, hiking and rafting are also popular in the area.
Overnight camping in the Grand Canyon requires a permit from the Backcountry Office.
Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef system in the world.
It is found in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, Australia.
The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest living structure.
It is made up of around 2900 individual reefs and 900 islands.
The Great Barrier Reef is around 2600 kilometres (1616 miles) in length.
Astronauts can see the Great Barrier Reef from space.
Marine animals called coral play an important role in the formation of the Great Barrier Reef.
Coral create calcium carbonate which forms a hard, shell-like skeleton.
The Great Barrier Reef is home to a wide range of life, including fish, sea turtles, giant clam, seahorse, sea snakes, nudibranch, sea turtles, stingray, sharks and many more.
Over 1500 different species of fish live in the Great Barrier Reef, including clownfish, star of the animated film Finding Nemo.
Whales, dolphins and dugong can also be seen in the Great Barrier Reef.
Climate change is perhaps the biggest threat to the Great Barrier Reef.
Warmer ocean temperatures put stress on coral and lead to coral bleaching.
The Great Barrier Reef is a popular tourist destination with around 2 million visitors every year.
Igneous Rock
Igneous rock is formed when magma cools and solidifies, it may do this above or below the Earth's surface.
Magma can be forced into rocks, blown out in volcanic explosions or forced to the surface as lava.
The atoms and molecules of melted minerals are what make up magma.
These atoms and molecule rearrange themselves into mineral grains as the magma cools, forming rock as the mineral grains grow together.
There are over 700 different types of igneous rocks.
Examples of igneous rocks include basalt, granite, pumice, obsidian, tuff, diorite, gabbro and andesite.
Basalt forms the metamorphic rock granulite when subjected to extreme heat and pressure over time (metamorphism).
Granite is a common rock that contains at least 25% quartz and is sometimes used in construction because of its strength.
Pumice is an unusual, lightweight rock formed when molten rock is rapidly blown out of a volcano, forming bubbles as it quickly loses pressure and cools at the same time.
Obsidian is a volcanic glass that forms quickly without crystal growth, it can have very sharp edges making it useful as a cutting tool or arrowhead.
Tuff is a rock formed from volcanic ash.
The upper section of the Earth's crust is made up of around 95% igneous rock.
Learn about sedimentary rocks, metamorphic rocks, other rocks and minerals or fossils.
Jungle
Jungles are overgrown with wild tangles of vegetation and dense forest.
Jungles and rainforests are similar, but while rainforests have thick canopies of tall trees that block out light, jungles allow more light in, making it easier for plants to grow.
The extra light creates dense areas of plants and vegetation that can be difficult to navigate.
Jungles are often found surrounding rainforests.
Jungles are home to a wide range of plants and animals.
Over half of the world's species live in a jungle environment.
Jungles are usually in warm places with high rainfall.
The word ‘jungle’ comes from a Sanskrit word meaning ‘uncultivated land’.
The saying “The Law of the Jungle” comes from Rudyard Kipling’s collection of stories called The Jungle Book, published in 1894.
While lions have the nickname “The King of the Jungle” they typically live in savannah and grassland.
Tarzan is a famous fictional character who is raised by apes in African jungles.
Lake
A lake is an inland body of relatively motionless water that usually has a river or stream feeding into or draining out of it.
Lakes differ to lagoons and estuaries due to the fact they are not connected to the ocean. A lake is also larger and deeper than other inland water bodies such as ponds.
The study of inland water bodies and ecosystems is called Limnology.
A lake usually contains freshwater but some can be saltwater.
Each lake has a larger catchment area (drainage basin, watershed) which is a large encompassing land area where surface water from rain, snow/ice melt, or rivers converges into the lower lying lake.
Water in most lakes flows in and out via rivers and streams. Lakes that only lose water by evaporation or underground seepage are called endorheic lakes.
The lowest lake in the world is the Dead Sea that borders Israel and Jordan. The surface level of which is 418 metres (1,371 ft) below sea level. It is also one of the saltiest lakes in the world.
The highest lake in the world is the crater lake of Ojos del Salado at 6,390 m (20,965 ft) above sea level. The mountain lake sits on the border of Chile and Argentina.
The deepest lake in the world is Lake Baikal in Siberia, Russia. It is 1,637 m (5,371 ft) at its deepest point. Excluding the Caspian Sea it is the also the largest lake by volume in the world.
The longest lake in the world is Lake Tanganyika in Africa at 660 km (410 mi) it is also the 2nd largest by volume of water and the 2nd deepest.
The Caspian Sea has characteristics of being both a sea and a lake. The saltwater sea used to be connected to the world's oceans but became landlocked around 5.5 million years ago. It is often classed as a lake due to a lakes definition which would make it the largest lake in the world at 370,400 km² (143,244 mi²).
Located on the border of the United States and Canada are the Great Lakes of North America. They include 5 lakes: Michigan, Huran, Erie, Ontario, and Superior which together contain around 21% of the world's freshwater supply.
Lake Superior is the largest of the Great Lake and also has the largest surface area of any freshwater lake in the world at 82,000 km² (31,700 mi²).
Finland has the nickname "Land of the Thousand Lakes" as there are over 187,000 lakes in the country.
Most freshwater lakes on Earth are found in Northern areas of the Northern Hemisphere, Canada for example is estimated to have around 2 million lakes.
There are many natural processes that can form lakes. The advancement and retreat of glaciers over millions of years can leave behind bowl-shaped depressions which fill. Lakes can also form by tectonic related changes of the landscape, or by landslides that cause water blockages. Crater lakes and calderas are formed in volcanic craters. Oxbow lakes are small, crescent-shaped lakes created by the meandering of rivers over time.
A lot of lakes today are artificially made to generate hydro-electric power, for domestic water supply, for industrial or agricultural use, or for aesthetic and recreational purposes.
One of the lakes on Saturn's moon Titan called Kraken Mare is a massive 388,500 km² (150,000 mi²) making it larger than the Caspian Sea. The liquid is not water though (Titan's average temperature is -181 °C (-293.8 °F) so water would be frozen), instead it is a lake of liquid gas (methane and ethane).
Metamorphic Rock
Metamorphic rocks have been changed over time by extreme pressure and heat.
Metamorphic rocks can be formed by pressure deep under the Earth's surface, from the extreme heat caused by magma or by the intense collisions and friction of tectonic plates.
Uplift and erosion help bring metamorphic rock to the Earth's surface.
Examples of metamorphic rocks include anthracite, quartzite, marble, slate, granulite, gneiss and schist.
Anthracite is a type of coal with a high carbon count, few impurities and with a high luster (meaning it looks shiny).
Marble is a metamorphic rock that is formed from the sedimentary rock limestone.
Quartzite is a metamorphic rock that is formed from the sedimentary rock sandstone.
Slate is a metamorphic rock that is formed from the sedimentary rock mudstone.
Granulite is a metamorphic rock that is formed from the igneous rock basalt.
Learn about sedimentary rocks, igneous rocks, other rocks and minerals or fossils.
Mississippi River
The length of the Mississippi River is approximately 2,320 miles (3,730 km), slightly shorter than the Missouri River.
The Mississippi and Missouri Rivers combine to form the longest river system in the USA and North America. It is also the fourth longest in the world.
At its widest point, the Mississippi River stretches out over 7 miles (11 km) in width.
The Mississippi River lies in the following ten US states: Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota.
The Mississippi River has had strong historical significance in the USA from Native American tribes through to European explorers, the American Civil War, the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and its modern commercial uses.
The first bridge built across the Mississippi River was in 1855 with the first railroad bridge finished a year later in 1856.
Martin Strel, a Slovenian swimmer who is famous for swimming the length of entire rivers conquered the Mississippi over 68 days in 2002.
Many of Mark Twain’s famous stories are related to or take place near the Mississippi River, this includes the well known ‘Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’.
Mount Everest
At 8848 m (29029 ft), Mt Everest is the highest mountain in the world.
Mt Everest is located in the Himalayas mountain range on the border of Nepal and Tibet (China).
In 1865, The Royal Geographical Society gave Mt Everest its English name in honour of George Everest, a Welsh surveyor who was the British Surveyor General of India from 1830 to 1843. The mountain has other names in languages such as Nepali and Tibetan.
The height of Mt Everest was first published in 1856, when it was known as Peak XV.
In 1953 the first successful ascent to the summit of Mt Everest was achieved by New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Nepali sherpa Tenzing Norgay.
There are two main climbing routes and many others that are are less frequently used. Since the first successful ascent in 1953, thousands have climbed to the summit of Mt Everest, hundreds have also died while attempting to do so.
Dangers that await climbers on Mt Everest include high winds, bad weather and altitude sickness.
In recent times the number of climbers attempting to reach the summit of Mt Everest has increased dramatically, causing concerns for both safety and the state of the mountain as climbers routinely leave litter, gear and other debris behind.
There is a South Base Camp located at 5364 m (17598 ft) and a North Base Camp located at 5150 m (16900 ft). Supplies are taken to these base camps and climbers will often stay there while acclimatizing to the high altitude and lower levels of oxygen.
Altitudes above 8000 m (26000 ft) are often referred to as the "Death Zone", a height that humans struggle to survive at for more than a few days.
Plants and animals struggle to survive under the extreme conditions of Mt Everest but birds have been seen at high altitudes and a type of moss grows at heights close to 6500 m (21325 ft).
Although Mt Everest is the highest mountain on Earth above sea level, its summit is only the 5th farthest from the Earth's centre. Because the Earth bulges at the equator, mountains such as Mt Chimborazo in Ecuador have summits that are farther away.
Niagara Falls
The Niagara Falls are located on the border of Ontario, Canada and New York, USA.
The Niagara Falls are made up of 3 waterfalls, the American Falls, the Bridal Veil Falls and the Horseshoe Falls.
The Horseshoe Falls are the largest and the Bridal Veil Falls the smallest.
The 3 waterfalls combine to produce the highest flow rate of any waterfall on earth.
The largest vertical drop is over 165 feet (50 metres).
The Niagara Falls were created by glacier activity around 10000 years ago.
The Niagara Falls are a source of hydropower, producing large amounts of electricity.
Hydroelectric stations in the area divert less water during the summer when tourist numbers are high, ensuring a spectacular flow of water for visitors.
The Niagara River drains water from Lake Erie into Lake Ontario.
At the current rate of erosion, scientists believe that the Niagara Falls will be gone in around 50000 years, luckily you still have time to see them!
It is illegal (and not very smart) to go over the Niagara Falls.
A number of people have tried it anyway, some survived, some were injured and some were killed.
The first tightrope walker to cross the Niagara Falls did so in 1859.
In 2012 Nik Wallenda became the first person to cross the Niagara Falls by tightrope in 116 years. He did so after receiving permission from both the Canadian and United States governments, although he was required to carry his passport and present it on entry to the Canadian side of the falls.
The Niagara Falls have long been a popular tourist destination, boosted by a number of movies featuring the falls and even a daring performance by famous Illusionist David Copperfield in 1990.
Goat Island sits in the middle of the Niagara Falls, between Horseshoe Falls and Bridal Veil Falls.
A monument dedicated to Serbian-American inventor Nikola Tesla sits on Goat Island.
The Niagara Falls are visited by around 30 million people every year.
The Niagara Falls State Park is the oldest state park in the United States (1885).
Nile River
The length of the Nile River is approximately 6650 kilometres (4132 miles). It is believed to be the longest river in the world.
Located in Africa, the Nile River lies in the following countries: Kenya, Eritrea, Congo, Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia.
The Nile River has huge significance in regards to Ancient Egypt. Most of Ancient Egypt’s historical sites are located along the banks of the Nile River including cities such as Luxor and Cairo.
In 2004, the White Nile Expedition became the first to navigate the entire length of the Nile River. The expedition began in Uganda and finished in Rosetta, taking four months and two weeks to complete.
The Nile Delta in Northern Egypt is where the Nile River drains in to the Mediterranean Sea. It is around 160 kilometres (100 miles) in length and spreads out over 240 kilometres (149 miles) of coastline. It is rich in agriculture and has been farmed for thousands of years.
Around 40 million people (half of Egypt’s population) live in the Nile Delta region.
In 1787, the famous Rosetta stone was found in the Nile Delta in the city of Rosetta. This Ancient Egyptian artifact played a key role in modern understanding of Egyptian hieroglyphics.
The Aswan High Dam was built in 1970 to help regulate flooding of the Nile River. Before the Aswan Dam was built, years that featured high levels of water could wipe out crops while years of low level water could produce famines and drought. The dam helps control these water levels.
Ocean
Around 70% of the Earth’s surface is covered by oceans.
The world’s oceans contain enough water to fill a cube with edges over 1000 kilometres (621 miles) in length.
Ocean tides are caused by the Earth rotating while the Moon and Sun’s gravitational pull acts on ocean water.
While there are hundreds of thousands of known marine life forms, there are many that are yet to be discovered, some scientists suggest that there could actually be millions of marine life forms out there.
Oceans are frequently used as a means of transport with various companies shipping their products across oceans from one port to another.
The largest ocean on Earth is the Pacific Ocean, it covers around 30% of the Earth’s surface.
The Pacific Ocean’s name has an original meaning of ‘peaceful sea’.
Located to the east of the Mariana Islands in the western Pacific Ocean, the Mariana Trench is the deepest known area of Earth’s oceans. It has a deepest point of around 11000 metres (36000 feet).
The Pacific Ocean contains around 25000 different islands, many more than are found in Earth’s other oceans.
The Pacific Ocean is surrounded by the Pacific Ring of Fire, a large number of active volcanoes.
The second largest ocean on Earth is the Atlantic Ocean, it covers over 21% of the Earth’s surface.
The Atlantic Ocean’s name refers to Atlas of Greek mythology.
The Bermuda Triangle is located in the Atlantic Ocean, check out our Bermuda Triangle mystery facts.
Amelia Earhart became the first female to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean in 1932.
The third largest ocean on Earth is the Indian Ocean, it covers around 14% of the Earth’s surface.
During winter the Arctic Ocean is almost completely covered in sea ice.
While some disagree on whether it is an ocean or just part of larger oceans, the Southern Ocean includes the area of water that encircles Antarctica.
Rainforest
Rainforests are forests that experience a high level of rainfall.
Scientists believe that there may be millions of plant and insect species in rainforests that have yet to be discovered.
Over 25% of natural medicines have been discovered in rainforests.
Rainforests used to cover 14% of the Earth’s surface but due to deforestation now only cover around 6%.
A wide variety of animals live in rainforests, including birds, snakes, insects, jaguars, cougars, chameleons, turtles, frogs, and many more.
There are two types of rainforest, temperate and tropical.
Temperate rainforests lie in the temperate zones (between the tropics and the polar circles) of the globe. They are found in a few regions scattered around the world such as western North America, south-eastern Australia and New Zealand.
Tropical rainforests lie in the tropics (around 28 degrees north or south of the equator). They are found in many areas near the equator such as Asia, Africa, Central America and the Pacific Islands.
The Amazon rainforest is the largest tropical rainforest in the world. Read more Amazon rainforest facts.
A number of tribes in areas such as central Africa and Brazil still live in rainforests, having no contact with the outside world.
River
The longest river in the world is the Nile River, it reaches around 6650 kilometers in length (4132 miles). More Nile River facts.
The second longest river in the world is the Amazon River, it reaches around 6400 kilometres in length (4000 miles). More Amazon River facts.
The longest river in the USA is the Missouri River, stretching around 2,340 miles (3,770 km) in length (slightly longer than the Mississippi River). The two combine to form the longest river system in North America, reaching around 3902 miles in length (6275 km). More Mississippi River facts.
Small rivers often have different names which include creek, stream and brook.
Rivers normally contain freshwater.
The word upriver (or upstream) refers to the direction of the river’s water source, while downriver (or downstream) refers to the direction in which the water flows, i.e. towards the end of the river.
Rivers have many uses which include fishing, bathing, transport, rafting and swimming among others.
Most of the world’s major cities are located near the banks of rivers.
The Ganges, Yangtze and Indus rivers are three of the most polluted on Earth.
The University Boat Race is held every year on the Thames River in London between the Oxford University Boat Club and the Cambridge University Boat Club. The crews feature eight members who battle it out on the 6,779 m (4 miles and 374 yards) course.
The Colorado River travels through the south western United States and north western Mexico, it is home to the famous Hoover Dam.
On January 15 2009, a US Airways plane successfully made an emergency landing in the Hudson River that runs through New York. After being hit by birds, the pilot of flight 1549 managed to land the plane in the river with the loss of no lives.
Rocks and Minerals
Minerals
Minerals are naturally occurring substances formed by geological processes. They are usually solid and feature a crystal structure as well as specific physical properties and chemical composition.
Physical properties of minerals include crystal structure, hardness (Mohs scale), lustre (how it reflects light) and color, as well as more complicated properties such as streak, fracture, cleavage and density.
Mohs scale of hardness measures the ability of minerals to scratch each other. Talc is very soft and is listed as 1, diamond is very hard and is measured as 10.
A mineral is sometimes made up of just one chemical element but more often it is a compound (mixture) of two or more.
For example, diamond is made up of just carbon, while fluorite is made up of a compound of calcium and fluorine.
There are over 4000 different types of minerals.
Only around 30 of these are commonly found in the Earth's crust.
Examples of minerals include calcite, gypsum, feldspar, pyrite, gold, quartz and diamond.
The precious gems ruby and sapphire are varieties of the mineral corundum.
Rocks
Rocks and stones are naturally occurring solids made up of minerals.
The Earth's crust is made up of rock.
Rocks have been used by humans for millions of years, from early tools and weapons through to various construction materials.
There are three different types of rocks based on the way they form, igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic.
When magma cools and solidifies it forms igneous rock.
Examples of igneous rocks include granite, basalt, gabbro, obsidian and pumice. More igneous rock facts.
Sediment deposited over time, often as layers at the bottom of lakes and oceans, forms sedimentary rocks.
Examples of sedimentary rocks include sandstone, mudstone, flint, greywacke and chalk. More sedimentary rock facts.
Extreme pressure and heat over time forms metamorphic rocks.
Examples of metamorphic rocks include marble, quartzite, schist, granulite and slate. More metamorphic rock facts.
The metamorphic rock marble is formed from the sedimentary rock limestone.
The metamorphic rock granulite is formed from the igneous rock basalt.
Sea
The "sea" or the "ocean" are words used to describe all the interconnected salt waters of the world including the five great oceans (see our oceans page for more).
In geographic terms (and for this page), "sea" is used in the name of specific, smaller bodies of seawater. Seas of the world usually make up partly landlocked areas within the much larger five great oceans.
Seas only partially landlocked and/or bounded by submarine ridges on the sea floor are often referred too as marginal seas. Opinions often differ over which seas are considered marginal seas, some are found within mediterranean seas.
Marginal seas of the Arctic Ocean include: Barents Sea, Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea, Kara Sea and Laptev Sea.
Some marginal seas of the Southern Ocean include: Amundsen Sea, Ross Sea, and Weddell Sea.
Some marginal seas of the Atlantic Ocean include: the Argentine Sea, English Channel, Gulf of Mexico, Hudson Bay, Irish Sea, North Sea, and Norwegian Sea.
Indian Ocean marginal seas include: Andaman Sea, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal.
Pacific Ocean marginal seas include: the Bering Sea, Celebes Sea, Coral Sea, East and South China Seas, Philippine Sea, Japan Sea, Sea of Okhotsk, Tasman Sea and the Yellow Sea.
A mediterranean sea, is a sea that is nearly completely enclosed by land and therefore has a very limited exchange of water with the outer oceans. Water circulation within these seas is often dependent on changed salinity (salt content) and temperature levels rather than open ocean trade winds and currents.
There are two types of mediterranean seas: concentration basins, dilution basins.
A concentration basin has a higher salinity (salt) level than the open oceans due to evaporation. The upper layer of water is an inflow of fresh oceanic water and the bottom layer of water is out flowing saltier water.
A dilution basin has a lower level of salinity (salt) due to the amount of freshwater that enters the sea from rainfall and via rivers. Water at the top is fresher and it flows out of the sea, while at deeper depths saltier oceanic water flows in.
Confusingly, the Mediterranean Sea is a type of mediterranean sea and within it are marginal seas such as: the Adriatic Sea, Aegean Sea, Alboran Sea, Balearic Sea, Ionian Sea, Ligurian Sea, and the Tyrrhenian Sea.
In the Atlantic Ocean, the American Mediterranean Sea is the combination of the marginal seas of the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.
Mediterranean seas of the Indian Ocean include: Persian Gulf and the Red Sea.
The Australasian Mediterranean Sea includes the marginal seas of the Banda Sea, the Sulu Sea, the Sulawesi Sea and the Java Sea.
Some fully landlocked (inland) salt waters are often called seas, but these water bodies are in fact saltwater lakes or hypersaline lakes. Examples of inland saltwater seas include the Caspian Sea and the Dead Sea.
Brackish seas are waters that have higher levels of salinity than freshwater but lower levels than seawater, including the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea (technically an inland saltwater lake).
Sedimentary Rock
Sedimentary rocks are formed by sediment that is deposited over time, usually as layers at the bottom of lakes and oceans.
This sediment can include minerals, small pieces of plants and other organic matter.
The sediment is compressed over a long period of time before consolidating into solid layers of rock.
Sedimentary rocks forms layers called strata which can often be seen in exposed cliffs.
Sedimentary rocks cover the majority of the Earth's rocky surface but only make up a small percentage of the Earth’s crust compared to metamorphic and igneous types of rocks.
Examples of sedimentary rocks include limestone, sandstone, mudstone, greywacke, chalk, coal, claystone and flint.
Limestone forms the metamorphic rock marble when subjected to extreme heat and pressure over time (metamorphism).
Sandstone forms the metamorphic rock quartzite.
Mudstone forms the metamorphic rock slate.
Chalk is a soft, white form of limestone.
Flint is a hard, sedimentary form of the mineral quartz.
Tsunami
Tsunamis are huge waves of water that are usually caused by earthquakes or volcanic eruptions.
As a tsunami approaches the shore, water may recede from the coast, if it is shallow enough the water may be pulled back hundreds of metres. If you are in the area, observing this is a good indication that a tsunami is on the way.
Regions in tsunami danger zones often have warning systems in place to give people as much time to evacuate as possible.
When tsunamis hit shallow water (often near the coast) they slow down but increase in height.
An earthquake in the Indian Ocean off Indonesia in December 2004 caused a tsunami that killed over 200000 people in 14 countries. More earthquake facts.
In March 2011, the Tohoku earthquake off the eastern coast of Japan caused a tsunami that was a major factor in the death of over 15000 people.
The tsunami waves created by the Tohoku earthquake reached heights of over 40 metres (131 feet) in some areas, wiping out coastal towns and causing a number of nuclear accidents.
The Japanese word tsunami literally means ‘harbor wave’.
Tsunamis are sometimes referred to as tidal waves but this term has fallen out of favour because tsunamis are not related to tides.
Uluru
Uluru or Ayers Rock, is a large sandstone rock formation located 450km (280 mi) away from Alice Springs in the middle of the Australian Outback.
Officially, the rock has a dual place name of Uluru / Ayers Rock.
The rock is a holy place for the Anangu tribe of Aboriginal people in Australia who have been in the area for around 10,000 years.
The first foreign people to see Uluru were explorers led by English born Australian William Christie Gosse, his group set eyes on Uluru, 19 July 1873 and decided to call it Ayers Rock after Sir Henry Ayers, the Chief Secretary of South Australia at the time.
Uluru is estimated to be around 600 million years old, it originally would have sat at the bottom of a sea, but today it stands 348 m (1,142 ft) above the flat desert and 863 m (2,831 ft) above sea level.
Amazingly, some 2.5km's of Uluru's mass is believed to be underground.
The average geological composition of Uluru is 50% feldspar, 25-35% quartz and up to 25% rock fragments.
The Uluru formation is 3.6 km (2.2 mi) long, 1.9 km (1.2 mi) wide and has a circumference of 9.4 km (5.8 mi) covering 3.33 km² (1.29 mi²).
Uluru is an inselberg (meaning island mountain), which is a prominent isolated bump or hill that rises abruptly from widespread flat plains in a hot, dry region. Its the hard rock of a mountain left over after softer areas have eroded away. Uluru is also often called a monolith, which is more of a vague geological term.
The rock has eroded valleys and ridges and little or no vegetation. The surrounding area however, has a number of springs, waterholes, rock caves, and ancient paintings.
The striking orange-red hue color of Uluru is due to surface oxidation of its iron content, otherwise the formation would look more grey.
Uluru was originally listed on the natural World Heritage site in 1987 due to its unique geology. In 1997, it was also put on the World Heritage site list as a cultural site due to its importance to the local Aborigines. The rock is one of the few places in the world to have two listings.
Uluru is not the only rock formation in the area. Kata Tjuta also known as Mount Olga (or The Olgas) is a group of 36 large dome shaped rocks (originally being one massive monolith) located 25km (16mi) West of Uluru in the Northern Territory. The tallest of which is 546 m (1,791 ft). Uluru and Kata Tjuta are two major landmarks within the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park.
Volcano
Volcanoes are openings in the Earth’s surface. When they are active they can let ash, gas and hot magma escape in sometimes violent and spectacular eruptions.
The word volcano originally comes from the name of the Roman god of fire, Vulcan.
Volcanoes are usually located where tectonic plates meet. This is especially true for the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area around the Pacific Ocean where over 75% of the volcanoes on Earth are found.
While most volcanoes form near tectonic boundaries, they can also form in areas that contain abnormally hot rock inside the Earth. Known as mantle plumes, these hotspots are found at a number of locations around the globe with the most notable being in Hawaii.
Hot liquid rock under the Earth’s surface is known as magma, it is called lava after it comes out of a volcano.
Some famous volcanic eruptions of modern times include Mount Krakatoa in 1883, Novarupta in 1912, Mount St Helens in 1980 and Mt Pinatubo in 1991.
While we certainly have some big volcanoes here on Earth, the biggest known volcano in our solar system is actually on Mars. Its name is Olympus Mons and it measures a whooping 600km (373 miles) wide and 21km (13 miles) high.
The object with the most volcanic activity in our solar system is Io, one of Jupiter’s moons. Covered in volcanoes, its surface is constantly changing to the large amount of volcanic activity.
Most people think of volcanoes as large cone shaped mountains but that is just one type, others feature wide plateaus, fissure vents (cracks were lava emerges) and bulging dome shapes.
There are also volcanoes found on the ocean floor and even under icecaps, such as those found in Iceland.
Volcanoes can be active (regular activity), dormant (recent historical activity but now quiet) or extinct (no activity in historical times and unlikely to erupt again). While these terms are useful, scientists are more likely to describe volcanoes by characteristics such a how they formed, how they erupt and what their shape is.
Common volcanic gases include water vapor, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, hydrogen chloride, hydrogen fluoride and hydrogen sulfide.
Volcanic eruptions can send ash high into the air, over 30km (17 miles) above the Earth’s surface.
Large volcanic eruptions can reflect radiation from the Sun and drop average temperatures on Earth by around half a degree. There have been several examples of this over the last century.
Pumice is a unique volcanic rock (igneous) that can float in water. It can also be used as an abrasive and is sometimes used in beauty salons for removing dry skin.
Waterfall
A waterfall is an area of a river or stream where the water flows over a steep vertical drop, often landing in a plunge pool below.
Erosion plays an important part in the formation of waterfalls. As a stream flows, it carries sediment that can erode the soft bed rock (limestone and sandstone) underneath. Eventually this cuts deep enough so that only harder rock, such as granite, remains. Waterfalls develop as the granite forms cliffs and ledges.
Waterfalls themselves also contribute to erosion. Stream velocity increases as it nears a waterfall, increasing the amount of erosion. The movement of water at the top of a waterfall can flatten rocks at the edge. The plunge pool at the base gets bigger as rushing water and sediment erodes it and the area behind the waterfall is worn away, creating cave-like shelters.
Other process that form waterfalls include earthquake, landslide, glacier, or volcanoes which can disrupt the land of a stream bed creating cliffs, cracks, faults and other changes in elevation.
The tallest waterfall in the world is Angel Falls in Venezuela where the water falls 979 m (3,212 ft). The fall is so long that at warmer times of the year the water turns into mist before it reaches the stream below.
The valley of Lauterbrunnen in Switzerland is a deep glacial formed valley that contains 72 waterfalls. The streams flowing from the mountains on either side, reach the rocky verge walls of the valley and cascade over. The most famous of the waterfalls is the Staubbach Falls less than 1 km from Lauterbrunnen village.
Waterfalls can be classified by type. There are many types of waterfalls and it is possible for a waterfall to fit more than one category.
Ledge (Classical, Curtain) waterfalls descend vertically over a cliff maintaining partial contact with the bedrock.
Block (Sheet) waterfalls descend from a wide stream or river, Niagara Falls, in the U.S. and Canada, is a block waterfall.
Cascade waterfalls descend over a series of rock steps, they are usually a relatively safe type of waterfall. Monkey Falls, in India is an example.
Cataract waterfalls are large, powerful and often dangerous. A very wide and wild cataract fall is the Iguazu River at the Brazil and Argentina border.
Chute waterfalls force a large amount of water through narrow vertical passages at a high pressure. For example, Three Chute Falls, Yosemite National Park, US.
Fan waterfalls are like the name suggests, as the water descends it spreads out horizontally. Virgin Falls is a fan waterfall in British Columbia, Canada.
Frozen waterfalls will freeze over for at least part of the year. Mountaineers often test their skills by climbing frozen waterfalls. E.g. The Fang, Vail, Colorado, US.
Horsetail waterfalls will maintain contact with the bedrock underneath them. The Reichenbach Falls, in Switzerland, is such a waterfall which is famous for being where fictional detective Sherlock Holmes allegedly fell to his death.
Multi-step (Tiered or Staircase) waterfalls are a series of waterfalls falling one after the other each with their own plunge pool. The falling lakes of Plitvice Lakes National Park, in Croatia, are an example of multi-step waterfalls.
Plunge waterfalls are fast moving with horizontal thrust over the edge causing the water to completely lose contact with the bedrock, e.g. Japan's Hannoki Falls.
Punchbowl waterfalls descend in a constricted form that spreads out into a wide pool at their base. Wailua Falls in Hawaii is an example of a punchbowl waterfall.
Segmented waterfalls form separate flows of water as they descend. The Nigretta Falls in Victoria, Australia, have separate streams that join back up in the pool.
Many waterfalls around the world are used to generate hydroelectric power.
Waterfalls can be grouped into 10 broad classes based on the average volume of water going over falls. Class 10 waterfalls include Niagara Falls, Khone Falls and Inga Falls. Victoria Falls (Class 9), Gullfoss (Class 8), Angel Falls (Class 7), Yosemite Falls (Class 6), Sutherland Falls (Class 5).
Food
McDonald’s fast food chains employ over 1.5 million people around the world. More fast food facts.
Different parts of the world have their own local cuisine. The diets and general food habits of various cultures depend on social, religious, economic and safety factors as well as the availability of different foods.
Examples of food and cuisine that are popular or famous in certain areas of the world include hummus in the Middle East, apple pie in the USA, raw fish in Japan, cheese in France, roast meat and vegetables in England, curry in India and tortillas in Mexico.
There are around 2000 different plant types that humans use to cultivate food.
Examples of popular vegetables include lettuce, carrots, asparagus, cauliflower, broccoli, spinach, potatoes and onions.
The sweet potato is a root vegetable and is not closely related to the potato. More potato facts.
Cutting onions releases a gas which causes a stinging sensation when it comes into contact with your eyes. Your body produces tears to dilute the irritant and remove it from your eyes.
Pumpkins are usually labelled as vegetables but they contain seeds and are technically fruit. More pumpkin facts.
China is the largest producer of garlic, producing over 10 million tons in 2008 and accounting for over 75% of world output.
Examples of popular fruits include apples, oranges, pears, strawberries, peaches, bananas, apricots and grapes.
Technically speaking, strawberries aren't even berries! Read our strawberry facts to learn more.
The average apple contains around 130 calories. More apple facts.
India is the world’s largest producer of bananas, producing nearly 22 million tons in 2007. More banana facts.
Humans use many different methods for gathering food which include farming, hunting, gardening, foraging and fishing.
Humans eat meat from a number of different animals, common examples include meat from chickens, cows, sheep and pigs. Other food products that come from animals include milk, eggs and honey.
Although humans are omnivores (eating both plants and animals), many people choose not to eat meat and fish, they are known as vegetarians. Those who don’t eat or use any products made from animals (including eggs, dairy products and honey) are known as vegans.
Food for human consumption is typically made from plants and animals but we also eat other products such as fermented foods and fungus (mushrooms, truffles etc).
Cooking is an important part of food preparation that involves applying heat. In most cases this transforms the chemical make up of food, altering its texture, flavor, nutritional properties and appearance.
Types of equipment used in the cooking process include ovens, microwaves, toasters, grills, pots and frying pans.
Various cooking methods include boiling, simmering, steaming, sautéing, pan frying and deep-frying.
Around 70 million people suffer from food poisoning every year with around 7 million of these cases being fatal. Careful food storage, temperature control and preparation is necessary to avoid potentially dangerous bacteria, toxins and viruses.
Around 8% of children and 2% of adults have some kind of food allergy, this occurs when the body’s immune system incorrectly assumes a certain food protein is harmful and attacks it. Common examples of food allergies include reactions to peanuts, gluten and shellfish.
Apple
Apples are the fruit of apple trees and are one of the most widely grown tree fruit.
Millions of tonnes of apples are grown every year.
There are thousands of different varieties of apples including Fuji, Gala, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Pink Lady and Granny Smith.
Granny Smith apples originated in Australia in 1868 accidentally after a chance seedling by a woman named Maria Ann Smith.
While most apples are eaten fresh, they have other uses including juice making and cooking.
The apple tree originated in Central Asia.
China is the leading producer of apples.
Apples were taken to North America by European settlers.
Apple trees can be vulnerable to a number of different diseases and pests. Chemical sprays are often used to limit the damage but organic methods are also popular.
Honey bees are commonly used to pollinate apple trees.
Apple trees typically blossom in spring with fruit maturing in autumn.
Apple seeds contain a cyanide compound. Our body can handle small doses of this naturally occurring poison so you'd have to eat a huge number of seeds for it to have an effect, and even then the seeds are covered in a protective coating which keeps the cyanide compound safe inside.
An average apple contains around 130 calories.
It is believed that the saying "An apple a day keeps the doctor away" originated in Wales in the 19th century. Sadly eating apples doesn't guarantee good health but they do have nutritional value and potential health benefits.
The apple genome was decoded in 2010.
Banana
Bananas are the fruit produced by various banana plants.
When rip they are usually long and curved with a soft inside covered by a yellow skin (peel).
Bananas can be found in other colors, including red.
Banana plants are not trees, they are a type of herb.
Humans have grown bananas for thousands of years.
Most species of banana plant originated in Southeast Asia.
Bananas grow in large, hanging bunches.
A row of bananas is sometimes called a 'hand', while a single banana is called a 'finger'.
The average banana weighs around 125 grams.
Bananas contain around 75% water.
Bananas have high nutritional value and are a healthy snack.
The Gros Michel banana was a popular variety before crops were destroyed by Panama disease in the 1950's. Panama disease attacks the roots of banana plants.
The most popular type of banana sold in stores these days is the Cavendish banana, it is resistant to the strain of Panama disease that effectively wiped out the Gros Michel banana but there are concerns that it too may eventually suffer a similar fate.
Lady Finger bananas are small, sweet and have relatively thin skins.
Plantains are harder and contain less sugar than normal bananas, they are often used in cooking.
Wild bananas grow with large, hard seeds.
India is the leading producer of bananas.
Bananas sent overseas are picked green and ripened under special conditions when they reach their destination.
Fibre taken from banana plants can be used to make clothes.
Bananas contain a lot of potassium, making them more radioactive than other fruits. You don't need to worry though as this naturally occurring radiation has very little effect on the body. Other foods rich in potassium include potatoes, beans, seeds and nuts.
Carbohydrate
Carbohydrates are chemical compounds that are made up of oxygen, hydrogen and carbon.
Carbohydrates can be divided into 4 chemical groupings; monosaccharides and disaccharides (simple carbohydrates often referred to as sugars), as well as oligosaccharides and polysaccharides (complex carbohydrates).
Carbohydrates are the body's main source of energy (calories) and are a key fuel source for exercise and sport.
Carbs are easily digested and are broken down into glucose, which the body then uses to do its various tasks. Protein and fat on the other hand, are more difficult energy sources to digest and are needed to build tissues and cells in the body.
Carbohydrates are where most of our daily energy intake should come from, but our bodies have a limit. Too many carbs and the body will covert the extra to fat.
Most food items we consume contain carbohydrates. All fruit and vegetables, all breads, grains and cereal products are carbohydrates as well as sugars and sugary foods.
Some foods have more carbohydrates in them than others, pasta, bread, rice, milk, potatoes, baked goods, fruits, vegetables, cereals, and popcorn are all high in carbohydrates.
Starch is the most common carbohydrate in the typical diet of a human being. Potatoes, rice, wheat and corn all contain large amounts of starch.
Carbohydrates are not all alike. Man-made refined carbs act differently in our bodies compared with more natural complex carbs.
Processed, man-made carbs offer little in terms of nutrition and are broken down, digested and used very fast by our bodies. Eating these carbs will give a temporary burst of energy, but soon after we feel tired or hungry again. Refined carbs, are found in foods such as white bread, white pasta, white rice, sugar, cookies, cakes, and fruit juices which require a number of processing steps in their manufacture.
More natural complex carbs on the other hand are loaded with nutrients like fiber, vitamins and minerals. These carbs do not cause the same spike in blood sugar levels, our body breaks them down and digests them much slower, so we feel full for longer. Non-manufactured foods like fresh fruit and vegetables, wholegrain breads, cereals, pastas and brown rice are all healthy natural carbs.
It is possible for humans to live healthy lives while eating very low levels of carbohydrates, because our bodies can convert proteins into carbohydrates.
Carrot
The carrot is a root vegetable with the most commonly eaten part being the taproot.
The carrot is usually orange in colour although purple, red, white, and yellow varieties also exist.
The domesticated carrot that we know today originated from the wild carrot called Daucus carota which was native to Europe and south western Asia.
The actual plant of a carrot (greens above ground) can grow up to 1 m (3.2 ft) tall and flowers around June to August (northern hemisphere summer) with a bright white flower.
Cultivated carrots are usually made up of about 88% water, 7% sugar, 1% protein, 1% fibre, 1% ash, and 0.2% fat.
Carrots are cooked and eaten in various different ways. The vegetable is often pulped, mashed, boiled, puréed, grated, fried, steamed, stewed, baked, juiced or eaten raw. Carrots are typically used in stir-fries and salads but also in soups and added to baby foods or pet foods. They can be dehydrated or deep-fried to make chips, flakes, and powder.
The natural sugars and sweetness of carrots allow them to be used in carrot cakes of western countries, in India they are used as desserts, while countries such as Portugal use carrots in jam. Carrot juice is widely consumed, especially as a health drink, with or without other fruits and vegetables.
In fact even the greens are edible as a leaf vegetable although this is rare.
Ancient Greeks and Romans ate carrots but not the orange varieties we know today, they ate the less cultivated wild varieties of various other colors.
In the 17th century western carrots first appeared in the Netherlands. Dutch carrot growers invented the orange carrot in honor of the House of Orange, the Dutch Royal Family.
The orange colour results from abundant carotenes in these cultivars, mainly the beta-carotene which is a strongly colored red-orange pigment found in some plants and fruits.
The human body turns beta-carotene into vitamin A and carrots are one of the best sources for beta-carotene. Vitamin A is important for the health of our vision (including our night vision) as well as our bones, teeth and skin.
The urban legend that 'eating large quantities of carrots helps us to see in the dark' was developed from stories started in World War II. British gunners were shooting down German planes at night and to cover up the fact that it was the effective use of radar technologies that was achieving this, the RAF circulated a story about their pilots' high level of carrot consumption.
The world's largest carrot producer is China, which in 2011, accounted for over 45% of the global output. China was a long way ahead of Russia and the United States who are the second and third highest producers respectively.
The carrot is in the top 10 of most economically important global vegetable crops.
It is true that eating massive amounts of carrots can sometimes cause a person's skin to turn yellowish orange. This is most noticeable on the palms or soles of feet and is called carotenemia. But don't worry it requires a high amount of carrot consumption and is completely fixable just by reducing carrot intake.
Coconut
The coconut comes from the coconut palm tree which grows throughout the tropics and subtropics.
The name coconut is derived from 16th century Portuguese sailors who thought the 3 small holes on the coconut shell resembled the human face so dubbed the fruit "coco" meaning "grinning face, grin, or grimace" The word nut was added in English later on.
The coconut palm (Cocos nucifera) can grow up to 30 m (98 ft) tall and the leave fronds 4–6 m (13.1–19.7 ft) long.
Technically the coconut fruit is a drupe not a nut. Typical drupes include peaches, plums, and cherries.
In the early stages of a coconuts growth it contains high levels of water which can be consumed directly as a refreshing drink. The water is also gaining popularity as a sports drink as it contains good levels of sugars, dietary fiber, proteins, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals.
Coconut water can be a substitute for blood plasma. The high level of sugar and other salts make it possible to add the water to the bloodstream, similar to how an IV solution works in modern medicine. Coconut water was known to be used during World War II in tropical areas for emergency transfusions.
Coconut milk is not the same as coconut water. Coconut milk has a high fat content of around 17%, but is low in sugars. It is frequently added to curries and other savoury dishes. Coconut cream can also be created from the milk.
Coir (the fiber of the husk) can be used for making ropes, mats, brushes, sacks, caulking for boats, and as stuffing for mattresses.
Coconut leaves have many uses such as for making brooms, woven to make baskets or mats, or dried and used as thatch for roofing.
The white, fleshy part of the coconut seed is called coconut meat. It has high amounts of Manganese, Potassium, and Copper. The meat is used fresh or dried in cooking, especially in confections and desserts such as macaroons.
Copra is the term used for the dried meat. This can be processed to produce coconut oil used in cooking, in soaps, cosmetics, hair-oil, and massage oil.
Wood from the trunk of the coconut palm was traditionally used to build bridges, houses, huts and boats in the tropics. The woods straightness, strength, and salt resistance made it a reliable building material.
The coconut palm is grown in over 80 countries. The top 3 coconut producing countries in 2010 were the Philippines, Indonesia and India.
In Thailand and Malaysia, trained pig-tailed macaques are used to harvest coconuts. In fact, there are still training schools for these monkeys in parts of the countries and each year competitions are held to find the fastest harvester.
The coconut does not get dispersed like other drupe fruits (through consumption by wildlife). Instead the coconut palm disperses its seed using the ocean. A coconut is very buoyant and highly water resistant and can travel very long distances across the ocean.
The Maldives have a coconut palm on the country's national coat of arms. It is the national tree and considered the most important plant on their islands.
Corn
Corn is called maize by most countries, this comes from the Spanish word ‘maiz’.
Corn is a cereal crop that is part of the grass family.
An ear or cob of corn is actually part of the flower and an individual kernel is a seed.
On average an ear of corn has 800 kernels in 16 rows.
Corn will always have an even number of rows on each cob.
A bushel is a unit of measure for volumes of dry commodities such as shelled corn kernels. 1 Bushel of corn is equal to 8 gallons.
With the exception of Antarctica, corn is produced on every continent in the world.
There are over 3,500 different uses for corn products.
As well as being eaten by the cob, corn is also processed and used as a major component in many food items like cereals, peanut butter, potato chips, soups, marshmallows, ice cream, baby food, cooking oil, margarine, mayonnaise, salad dressing, and chewing gum.
Juices and soft drinks like Coca-Cola and Pepsi contain corn sweeteners. A bushel of corn can sweeten 400 cans of soft drink.
Corn and its by products are also found in many non-food items such as fireworks, rust preventatives, glue, paint, dyes, laundry detergent, soap, aspirin, antibiotics, paint, shoe polish, ink, cosmetics, the manufacturing of photographic film, and in the production of plastics.
Corn is also used as feeding fodder for livestock and poultry and found in domestic pet food.
As of 2012, the United States produces 40% of the worlds total harvest making it the biggest maize producer in the world (273,832,130 tonnes produced in 2012).
An area termed the "Corn Belt" in the US where growing conditions are ideal includes the states of Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, Minnesota, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Michigan, Missouri, Kansas and Kentucky.
In the days of the early settlers to North America corn was so valuable that it was used as money and traded for other products such as meat and furs.
Corn is now a completely domesticated plant so you're unlikely to find it growing in the wild.
Corn can be produced in various colors including blackish, bluish-gray, purple, green, red, white and the most common yellow.
Fast Food
Fast food (or junk food) is the name given to food that can be prepared and served quickly, often served at basic restaurants or in packaged form for convenient takeaway/takeout. It is typically inexpensive to buy but unhealthy to eat.
Popular forms of fast food include burgers, fries, pizza, fish and chips, kebabs and fried chicken.
Well known fast food franchises and restaurants include McDonalds, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and Burger King.
As well as at restaurants, fast food is commonly sold at convenience stores and gas stations. Examples of this include hotdogs, meat pies and doughnuts.
Fast food is often highly processed and produced on a large scale to decrease costs. Ingredients and various menu items are typically prepared at a different location before being sent to restaurants to be cooked, reheated or quickly put together for the customer’s convenience.
While hamburgers, fries and pizza are seen as traditional fast foods, countries throughout the world sell all types of fast food that may not be so well known. Some examples of these include kebabs, Chinese takeaways (friend noodles, rice and meat dishes), sushi and bento type foods in Japan and fish and chips in the UK, New Zealand and Australia.
Consumers in the USA spend over $100 billion on fast food every year.
McDonald’s is arguably the worlds most well known fast food chain. There are McDonald’s restaurants found in over 100 countries around the world and they serve over 40 million customers every day.
Due to increased awareness of public health and obesity levels, efforts have been made to improve fast food menus by lowering fat levels or at least offering healthier alternatives. While these health concerns are generating more attention, fast food is still linked to worldwide weight gain problems, increased diabetes risks and healthcare costs.
Fat
Fat is a compound found in food. It is one of three types of energy that the human body uses, the others are carbohydrates and proteins.
There are 9 kilocalories (calories) in one gram of fat. Carbohydrates and proteins each have just 4 kilocalories per one gram. Too much of any of these energy sources can lead to weight gain, but since fat provides more than double the calories per gram than the others, weight gain is often from fat.
"Oils" is the term used to refer to fats that can be liquid at normal room temperature. "Fats" is the term usually used for fats that are solids at room temperature. While "Lipids" is the correct term for both liquid and solid fats.
Fat is important for the human body. It provides us with energy, and it helps the body use vitamins A, D, E, and K. These vitamins are fat-soluble, meaning they can only be digested, absorbed, and transported with the help of fats.
Fat is also vital for maintaining healthy skin and hair, protecting our body's organs against shock, maintaining body temperature and promoting healthy cell function.
Fat also gives our foods a lot of their flavor and texture.
There are different types of fat: saturated fat, unsaturated fat and trans fat.
Saturated fats are generally solid at room temperature and are natural fats from animal or plant sources. Saturated fat is an unhealthy fat that raises blood cholesterol and increases the risk of heart disease.
Foods high in saturated fat include: fatty cuts of meats, skin from poultry, full fat dairy products like butter, milk, yoghurt, cheese and cream. Many take-away foods and processed foods, such as pies, pastries, doughnuts, cakes and biscuits. Saturated fat is also found in tropical oils, like palm kernel or coconut oil.
Unsaturated fats are usually liquid at room temperature and are found in vegetable oils. There are two main types of unsaturated fats, polyunsaturated (liquid in fridge too) and monounsaturated fats (solidify in fridge). Unsaturated fats, in moderation, are actually necessary for good health. They help lower blood cholesterol levels and can reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke.
Polyunsaturated fats include: Omega-6 fats such as soybeans and oils, sesame and sunflower seeds, most nuts and their oils, corn oil, omega-3 fats found in fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel, trout, herring, sardines and tuna.
Monounsaturated fats include: Canola oil, peanut oil, olive oil, avocados and nuts like almonds, pistachios, pecans and cashews.
Trans fats are rare in nature. They are created in food by processing (partially hydrogenating) other types of fats, giving them a different structure. For example when margarine is made from oil. Trans fats behave like saturated fat, they are the most unhealthy fats to eat and can cause heart disease.
Trans fat adds texture and flavour to food, they are usually found in commercially baked goods, fried foods, frozen foods and processed foods like salty snacks, donuts and chocolate coatings.
Lemon
The lemon is native to Asia, around Northeast India, North Burma, and China.
Lemons are believed to be a hybrid between a sour orange and a citron.
The lemon is an evergreen tree, it blooms (a white flower) and produces fruit all year round. Each tree can produce between 500 and 600 pounds (225kgs and 270kgs) of lemons a year.
Christopher Columbus took lemon seeds with him to the America's in 1493, introducing the fruit there.
Lemons have a sour taste to them, this is due to the fact that lemon juice contains about 5-6% citric acid.
Lemon juice is the main ingredient of lemonade. The sour taste of the juice also makes it ideal for squeezing on fish, while slices of lemon or lemon rind are used as a garnish for many other foods and drinks.
Lemon zest (grated outer rind) is used for flavor in baking of cakes, sponges and biscuits, puddings like lemon meringue pie, rice and other dishes.
Even the leaves of a lemon tree can be used to make tea and in the preparation of cooked meats and seafoods.
Due to its high acidic nature the juice of a lemon can be used for cleaning. Lemon halves dipped in salt or baking powder can be used to brighten up copper and clean kitchenware.
An experiment that involves attaching electrodes to a lemon can create a battery that produces electricity. Several lemon batteries can power a small digital watch.
The top 5 producers of lemons in the world each year, in no particular order, are China, India, Mexico, Argentina and Brazil.
Because lemons are high in vitamin C they can prevent the disease scurvy which was common among sailors stuck on ships for months. Even today, the British Navy requires ships to carry enough lemons so that every sailor can have one ounce of juice a day.
The demand for lemons and their scurvy-preventing abilities hit a peak in the California Gold Rush of 1849. Malnourished miners were willing to pay a lot for a single lemon. Today, California is still full of lemon trees as a result.
Common varieties of lemon include Meyer, Eureka, and Lisbon.
In 2003, the heaviest lemon ever grown was recorded in Kefar Zeitim, Israel. It weighed 5.265 kg (11 lb 9.7 oz), had a circumference of 74 cm (29 in) and was 35 cm (13.7 in) high. Guinness World Records 2013.
Mango
The mango is one of the most cultivated fruits in tropical areas of the world, it is native to the South Asian areas of Eastern India, Burma and the Andaman Islands.
Buddhist monks are believed to have introduced the mango to Malaysia and eastern Asia around the 5th century B.C. Legend has it that the God Buddha found tranquillity and meditated under the cool shade of a mango tree.
The evergreen mango tree can grow as high as 35 - 40 m (115–130 ft).They are a long living tree with some specimens having been known to still bear fruit after 300 years.
The flowers of a mango tree are small and white with five petals, and the fruit takes between three and six months to ripen.
Mango fruit can come in various shapes, size and colour including yellow, orange, red and green.
Mangos contain many nutrients. The vitamin content depends on the variety and maturity of the fruit. When a mango is green and still growing there is a high vitamin C content, as the fruit ripens and matures the amount of beta carotene (vitamin A) increases.
Nearly half of the world's mangoes are produced in India, but the country accounts for less than one percent of the international mango trade due to the fact India consumes most of its own production.
More fresh mangoes are eaten around the world every day than any other fruit.
Mangoes are a very common food used in a number of cuisines around the world especially in the tropics. The fruit is used in all types of meals and courses such as breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert and used in refreshing juices.
Sour, unripe mangoes can be used in chutneys, pickles, as side dishes, or eaten raw on a stick dipped in salt, black pepper, chilli, lime, or soy sauce.
Mango lassi is a very popular drink throughout South Asia, it is a combination of ripe mangoes or mango pulp with buttermilk and sugar. Aamras is also a popular thick juice made of mangoes with sugar or milk, and is often consumed with bread or rice. Mangoes are added to smoothies and as a topping on ice cream.
Mango salsa and chutney are very popular as accompaniments to salads, chicken, and fish or served as a snack.
Ripe mangoes are often used as an ingredient in curries.
The mango is the national fruit of India, Pakistan and the Philippines. It is also the national tree of Bangladesh.
In India and several other cultures the mango fruit and leaves are ritually used as floral decorations at weddings, public celebrations and religious ceremonies.
Giving someone a basket of mangoes is considered a gesture of friendship.
Common mango varieties in countries such as the US and UK include: Tommy Atkins, Haden, Kent, Keitt, Ataulfo and Francis. In Asian countries such as India popular varieties include Alphonso, Benishaan, Kesar and Chaunsa.
Mushroom
Mushrooms are also called toadstools.
Mushrooms are a fungus, and unlike plants, mushrooms do not require sunlight to make energy for themselves.
The mushroom is a very nutritious food. Differing species can be a good source of vitamin B along with essential minerals such as copper and potassium. While fat, carbohydrates and salt content is very low.
Traditional Chinese medicine has utilised the medicinal properties of mushrooms for centuries.
Modern studies suggest mushrooms can be useful for antibacterial, anti-inflammatories and antioxidants. While also helping to reduce blood pressure, moderate blood sugar, reduce cholesterol, enhance the immune system, reduce stress and help in fighting many types of cancer.
A single Portabella mushroom can contain more potassium than a banana.
Mushrooms are made up of around 90% water.
The mushroom is used in many cuisines throughout the world and it is known as the "meat" of the vegetable world.
Most mushrooms grown for human consumption today are done so in controlled, sterilized environments. The most popular type representing 90% of mushrooms consumed in the US is the White button mushroom. The brown version of Agaricus bisporus called the Crimini, and its mature version, Portobello, are both popular eatable mushrooms too.
The worlds largest producer of edible mushrooms is China which produces about half of all cultivated mushrooms.
Mycophagist is the term used for people who collect mushrooms to eat from the wild. The act of collecting these mushrooms is known as 'mushroom hunting', or 'mushrooming'.
There are a few mushroom varieties found in the wild that are highly poisonous. A number of these look like common edible species, therefore it can be risky collecting wild mushrooms without good knowledge for identifying mushrooms.
There are over 30 species of mushroom that actually glow in the dark. The chemical reaction called bioluminescence produces a glowing light known as foxfire. People have been known to use these fungi to light their way through the woods.
In the Blue Mountains of Oregon is a colony of Armillaria solidipes that is believed to be the world’s largest known organism. The fungus is over 2,400 years old and covers an estimated 2,200 acres (8.9 km2). Above ground the honey mushrooms are short-lived but the underlying mycelium (branch like vegetation) lives on.
Before the invention of synthetic dyes, mushrooms were widely used for dyeing wool and other natural fibers. Mushroom dyes are organic compounds and produce strong, vivid colors.
Orange
The orange is a citrus fruit and is a hybrid of the pomelo and mandarin.
Oranges have been grown since ancient times and originated in Southeast Asia.
As of 2010, Brazil grows one third of all the world’s oranges.
California and Florida are large producers of oranges in the US.
Around 85% of all oranges produced are used for juice.
Marmalade is orange jam.
Oranges have a high amount of vitamin C.
Oranges are domesticated so you are unlikely to find them growing naturally in the wild.
Because oranges do not spoil easily and are full of vitamin C during the years of world exploration sailors planted orange and other citrus trees along trade routes to prevent scurvy which is a disease that develops from a deficiency of vitamin C.
It is believed that Christopher Columbus was the first to bring orange seeds to America during his second voyage to the region in 1493.
There are now over 600 varieties of oranges worldwide.
There are typically ten segments inside an orange.
Ideal conditions for growing oranges are in sub-tropical areas that have good amounts of sunshine yet moderate to warm temperatures (15.5°C - 29°C (60°F - 84 °F).
Orange peel can be used by gardeners to sprinkle over vegetables as a slug repellent.
The white orange blossom, is the state flower of Florida. It is highly fragrant and has long been used in weddings as cake decoration, in bridal bouquets and in head wreaths. The blossom essence is an important component in the making of perfume and the petals can also be made into "orange blossom/flower water".
Pineapple
The pineapple plant is a tropical fruit that is indigenous to South America. Originally coming from the area between southern Brazil and Paraguay.
The pineapple spread throughout South America, the Caribbean, Central America and Mexico, where it was cultivated by the Mayas and the Aztecs. Columbus came across the pineapple in 1493 and took it back to Europe.
The word 'pineapple' was recorded in 1398 to describe 'pine cones'. It was not until 1694 that pine cones were first called pine cones. On arrival to the Americas, European explorers called the tropical fruit pineapples around 1664 because they resembled the pine cone.
An individual pineapple can take over two years to grow, although they are usually picked slightly earlier than this.
The most famous pineapple entrepreneur was James Dole who moved to Hawaii and started a pineapple plantation in 1900, just after John Kidwell first introduced a pineapple industry to Hawaii. 'Dole' is still a major company in the pineapple industry today.
The top of a pineapple, after cleaning and drying, can be planted in soil and a new plant will grow.
When growing its fruit the pineapple plant produces over 200 flowers varying in color from lavender, through to light purple and red. The individual scale like fruits of these flowers then join together to create the pineapple.
The individual fruit segments of a pineapple interlock in two helices, 8 in one direction, 13 in the other, each of which is a Fibonacci number.
Pineapple flesh and juice is used in many cuisines throughout the world, it is often cooked, eaten raw or canned in its juices as chunks or cored slices. It is a commonly used fruit for fruit salads and eaten with dairy desserts such as ice cream and yogurt. It is also used in Asian stir fry's such as sweet and sour pork or as a topping on pizzas such as the Hawaiian pizza.
Most tropical countries sell pineapple on roadsides as a snack either whole or halved. Pineapple juice is also a popular tropical drink and it is the main ingredient in the Piña colada cocktail.
The skins, core and ends of a pineapple are not discarded in pineapple canneries but instead used to make a number of products such as vinegar, alcohol and animal food.
Raw pineapple can be a great source of manganese and vitamin C. Also bromelain is an enzyme that breaks down protein and is present in raw pineapple making the fruit useful as a digestive aid and an effective anti-inflammatory.
High bromelain content also makes raw pineapple juice helpful as a meat marinade and tenderizer.
As of 2009, the Southeast Asian countries of the Philippines and Thailand were the top two producers of pineapple in the world followed by Costa Rica.
Potato
Potatoes are vegetables but they contain a lot of starch (carbohydrates) that make them more like rice, pasta and bread in terms of nutrition.
Much like rice, wheat and maize (corn), potato crops are an important part the world’s diet.
The word potato comes from the Spanish word patata.
Potato plants are usually pollinated by insects such as bumblebees.
Potatoes contain a variety of vitamins and minerals.
There are thousands of different potato varieties but not all are commercially available, popular ones include Russet, Yukon Gold, Kennebec, Desiree and Fingerling.
While the role of genetic modification is up for debate, research has led to genetically modified potato varieties that have potential benefits such as increased protein and resistance to viruses.
Based on 2010 statistics, China is the leading producer of potatoes.
Potatoes don’t store very well after purchase but they are relatively easy to grow.
Potato storage facilities are kept at temperatures above 4 °C (39 °F) as potato starch turns into sugar and alters the taste below this temperature.
Potatoes are prepared and served in many different ways, including boiled potatoes, mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, French fries and hash browns.
French fries contain a lot of fat so don’t eat too many!
Potatoes are usually served hot, but sometimes cold in the form of potato chips or potato salad.
Despite health concerns, potato chips are one of the most common snack foods in the world with billions of packets being consumed every year.
One of the main causes of the Great Famine in Ireland between 1845 and 1852 was a potato disease known as potato blight. The shortage of potatoes led to the death of around 1 million people who were dependent on them as a food source.
Although it shares the same name, the sweet potato is a root vegetable and only loosely related to the potato.
Potatoes are sometimes called spuds.
Protein
Protein is a long chain-like molecule that is made up of small units known as amino acids, joined together by peptide bonds.
The word protein is derived from the Greek word 'proteios' which means "primary" or "in the lead".
Like carbohydrates and fats, proteins are considered a major nutrient for the body due to the energy (calories) they provide.
Protein is essential for life, it is crucial to all cells in the body playing a key role as enzymes in a cell. After water, protein is the most plentiful substance in the body.
Proteins grow, maintain, and replace the tissues in our bodies. Therefore our muscles, organs, and immune systems are mostly made of protein.
Once protein is digested it is broken down into its amino acids. These amino acids can then be reused to make the proteins your body needs to maintain muscles, bones, blood, and body organs.
There are over 20 slightly differing amino acids. Our bodies can produce around 13 of these, but there are 9 amino acids that our body cannot make itself. These are called essential amino acids and we obtain these by eating certain protein-rich foods.
Complete protein that has all amino acids including essential ones are meat, poultry, fish, dairy products, eggs, and soy. Incomplete protein sources include nuts, grains, fruits, and vegetables. Therefore it is important for vegetarians to pair meals wisely in order to get all essential amino acids in their daily diet.
Keratin is a type of protein that our hair, nails and outer skin is made off.
Taking on too much protein can be dangerous to the body, it is a strain on the liver and kidneys causing them to work extra hard to get rid of the extra protein.
Like the other energy sources, carbohydrates and fat, too much protein can also lead to weight gain.
The protein contained in eggs is considered to be the highest quality protein out of all foods.
Insects actually contain quite high levels of protein, more than some normal protein foods.
Proteins in some food can cause allergies as the structure of a protein can cause a reaction in the immune system. A lot of people are allergic to gluten for example, which is a protein in wheat and grains.
Pumpkin
Pumpkins are usually orange but can sometimes be yellow, white, green or red.
The name pumpkin comes from the Greek word ‘pepon’, meaning ‘large melon’.
Pumpkins have thick shells which contain pulp and seeds.
Scientifically speaking, pumpkins are a fruit (they contain seeds) but when it comes to cooking, they are often referred to as vegetables.
Pumpkins are usually shaped like a sphere (ball).
They vary in weight but an average sized pumpkin might weigh around 13 pounds (6 kilograms).
Giant pumpkins can be grown for competitions, with some weighing over 1000 pounds! (450 kilograms). In 2010, the world record was 1810 pounds! That’s huge!!
Pumpkin plants feature both male and female flowers, with bees typically being involved in pollination (the transfer of pollen).
Over 1 billion pounds (450 million kgs) of pumpkin are produced in the US every year.
As a food, pumpkin can be baked, roasted, steamed or boiled.
Pumpkin soup is popular, as are roasted pumpkin seeds.
Pumpkin pie is a sweet dessert that originates in North America and is traditionally eaten during harvest time and holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Pumpkins are popular decorations during Halloween. A carved pumpkin illuminated by candles is known as a ‘jack-o-lantern’. The tradition is believed to have come from Ireland, where they used to carve faces into turnips, beet and other root vegetables as part of the Gaelic festival of Samhain.
100 grams of pumpkin produces around 26 calories of energy.
Strawberry
Strawberries come from a plant called ‘fragaria’.
Strawberries are edible (and rather tasty) but technically they are receptacles (the thickened part of a stem) rather than berries.
Making things even more confusing, the little hard pieces that appear to be seeds on a strawberry are actually a type of dry fruit (called achene)....that contain their own seeds!
When ripe, strawberries are bright red, juicy and very sweet.
Strawberries have lots of vitamin C.
Strawberry plants decline in quality and production after a few years so are typically replanted.
Strawberries are picked with part of the stem still attached.
Unlike some other fruits, they don’t continue to ripen after being picked.
A large number of different pests, such as slugs and fruit flies, like to feed on strawberries.
They are also susceptible to a number of diseases, especially those of the fungal variety.
Strawberries survive in a range of conditions and will grow happily in most places around the world.
Strawberries are eaten in a number of different ways including fresh, dried, as a jam, in a drink or even in a muesli bar.
Strawberry is also a popular artificial flavor added to a variety of foods.
Tomato
Tomatoes are the fruit of the tomato plant. They originated in the South American Andes around the area of modern day Peru and was first used as a food by the Aztec's in Southern Mexico.
Because the tomato has seeds and grows from a flowering plant botanically it is classed as a fruit not a vegetable.
In 1887, U.S. tariff laws imposed a duty on vegetables, but not on fruits. This meant the status of tomatoes become a matter of legal importance. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the case of Nix v. Hedden that tomatoes were to be considered vegetables, based on the popular definition that classifies vegetables by use, where they are usually served with dinner and not as a dessert. However, the courts did not reclassify the tomato botanically, it is still a fruit.
Tomatoes are the state vegetable of New Jersey. They are the official state fruit of Ohio and tomato juice is the official beverage of Ohio. However, Arkansas took both sides by stating the South Arkansas Vine Ripe Pink Tomato as the state fruit and state vegetable, due to its culinary and botanical classifications.
In cooler climates tomatoes are usually grown in glasshouses (greenhouses).
China is the largest producer of tomatoes, accounting for one quarter of the worlds production in 2009. The United States and India and the second and third highest producers respectively.
Pretty much all tomato varieties are red although other colors are possible including green, yellow, orange, pink, black, brown, white, and purple.
There are more than 7500 tomato varieties grown around the world.
Types of tomatoes include slicing (globe) tomatoes used in processing and for fresh eating. Beefsteak tomatoes are large, often used for sandwiches. Oxheart tomatoes vary in size and are shaped like large strawberries. Plum tomatoes (including pear tomatoes), are usually oblong, and used in tomato sauce and paste. Cherry tomatoes are small round, often sweet and eaten whole in salads. Campari tomatoes are sweet and juicy of small to medium size.
Tomatoes are rich in lycopene, an antioxidant that is good for the heart and effective against certain cancers. Cooked tomatoes are actually better for you than raw ones, as more beneficial chemicals are released. Tomatoes are also packed with vitamins A and C, calcium, potassium.
The tomato is eaten in many different ways, raw like a fruit, as an ingredient in many dishes, sauces, salsas, salads, processed into ketchup or tomato soup. Tomato juice is made as a drink and used in cocktails like a Bloody Mary.
Tomatoes are very popular in Mediterranean cuisines such as Italian. They are important ingredient in pizza and pasta sauces.
The biggest tomato fight in the world happens each year in the small Spanish town of Buñol. The festival called La Tomatina, involves some 40,000 people throwing 150,000 tomatoes at each other.
The Guinness World Record for most tomatoes harvested from a single plant over one year weighed 522.464 kg (1151.84 lbs) with 32,194 tomatoes harvested between May 2005 and April 2006. The tomato plant was at the Epcot Science project at Walt Disney World Company, Florida, USA.
As of 2013, the heaviest tomato according to Guinness World Record weighed 3.51 kg (7 lb 12 oz) and was grown by G. Graham in 1986, Oklahoma, USA.
Watermelon
Wild watermelons originated in southern Africa.
The watermelon can be classed as both a fruit and a vegetable.
It is a fruit because it grows from a seed, has a sweet refreshing flavor, and is loosely considered a type of melon (although it is actually a type of berry called a pepo).
It is a vegetable because it is a member of the same family as the cucumber, pumpkin and squash. It is also harvested and cleared from fields like other vine growing vegetables.
The watermelon is the official state vegetable of Oklahoma.
By weight, a watermelon contains about 6% sugar and 92% water.
The high water and electrolyte content of watermelons make them ideal as a refreshing summer thrust quenchers. They keeps us hydrated, our skin fresh, and can clean the kidneys of toxins.
Nutritionally, watermelons contain high levels of vitamin B6 (which increases brain power), vitamin A (good for eye sight), potassium (which helps in curing heart disease and keeping the heart healthy). The watermelon also contains Vitamin B1, C and manganese which protect against infections.
China is easily the world's largest producer of watermelons with 69,139,643 tonnes produced in 2011 compared with just 3,864,489 tonnes from the second highest producer, Turkey.
All parts of a watermelon can be eaten, even the rind, which actually contains a number of nutrients too, but due to the unappealing flavor is rarely eaten. In China though, the rind is used as a vegetable and stir-fried, stewed or pickled.
There are more than 1200 varieties of watermelon that come in various weights, shapes, sizes and red, orange, yellow or white in color.
Key commercial varieties of watermelon include the Carolina Cross, Yellow Crimson, Orangeglo, Moon & Stars, Cream of Saskatchewan, Melitopolski, and Densuke.
Farmers in Japan have started growing cube shaped watermelons by growing them in glass boxes where they assume the shape of the box. Originally this was done to make the melons easier to stack and store, but the novelty of the cubic watermelon can fetch double the price of a normal one at market.
As of 2013, the Guinness World Record for heaviest watermelon is for one grown by Lloyd Bright in Arkansas, USA. The watermelon weighed in at 121.93 kg (268.8 lb).
Famous Scientist
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was born on the 14th of March 1879 and died on the 18th of April 1955.
Born in Germany to a Jewish family, Einstein made many contributions to the field of theoretical physics.
Even when very young, Einstein showed great ability in both math’s and science. He was naturally curious and had a brilliant analytical mind.
Einstein worked in a patent office evaluating patents for electromagnetic devices not long after he graduated.
He produced perhaps one of the most famous equations ever: E = mc² (energy equals mass multiplied by the speed of light squared).
He is also well known for his theory of relativity. Special relativity being introduced in his 1905 paper “On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies” before Einstein developed the theory of general relativity between the years of 1907 and 1915.
Einstein won the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on theoretical physics.
He worked on many other influential theories and projects including: the deflection of light by gravity, the quantum theory of atomic motion in solids, Brownian motion, an explanation for capillary action and much more.
Famous Albert Einstein quotes include: "Whether you can observe a thing or not depends on the theory which you use. It is the theory which decides what can be observed."
"If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music.... I do know that I get most joy in life out of my violin."
"Physical concepts are free creations of the human mind, and are not, however it may seem, uniquely determined by the external world."
"I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."
Isaac Newton
Born in England, Isaac Newton was a highly influential physicist, astronomer, mathematician, philosopher, alchemist and theologian.
In 1687, Newton published Philosophae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, what is widely regarded to be one of the important books in the history of science. In it he describes universal gravitation and the three laws of motion, concepts that remained at the forefront of science for centuries after.
Newton’s law of universal gravitation describes the gravitational attraction between bodies with mass, the earth and moon for example.
Newton’s three laws of motion relate the forces acting on a body to its motion. The first is the law of inertia, it states that ‘every object in motion will stay in motion until acted upon by an outside force’. The second is commonly stated as ‘force equals mass times acceleration’, or F = ma. The third and final law is commonly known as ‘to every action there is an equal and opposite reaction’.
Other significant work by Newton includes the principles of conservation related to momentum and angular momentum, the refraction of light, an empirical law of cooling, the building of the first practical telescope and much more.
Newton moved to London in 1696 and took up a role as the Warden of the Royal Mint, overseeing the production of the Pound Sterling.
Newton was known to have said that his work on formulating a theory of gravitation was inspired by watching an apple fall from a tree. A story well publicized to this very day.
Famous Isaac Newton quotes include: "Plato is my friend - Aristotle is my friend - but my greatest friend is truth."
"If I have seen further it is only by standing on the shoulders of Giants."
"I can calculate the motions of the heavenly bodies, but not the madness of people."
"I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me."
"Truth is ever to be found in simplicity, and not in the multiplicity and confusion of things."
Galileo
Galileo Galilei was born in Pisa, Italy, on the 15th of February 1564, he died on the 8th of January 1642.
Galileo was a ground breaking astronomer, physicist, mathematician, philosopher and inventor. Among his inventions were telescopes, a compass and a thermometer.
Galileo enrolled to do a medical degree at the University of Pisa but never finished, instead choosing to study mathematics.
Galileo built on the work of others to create a telescope with around 3x magnification, he later improved on this to make telescopes with around 30x magnification.
With these telescopes, Galileo was able to observe the skies in ways previously not achieved. In 1610 he made observations of 4 objects surrounding Jupiter that behaved unlike stars, these turned out to be Jupiter’s four largest satellite moons: Io, Callisto, Europa and Ganymede. They were later renamed the Galilean satellites in honor of Galileo himself.
The discovery of these moons was not supported by the scientific principles of the time and Galileo had trouble convincing some people that he had indeed discovered such objects. This was similar to other ideas put forward by Galileo that were very controversial at the time.
The Geocentric model of the universe which was embraced by earlier astronomers had the Earth at the center of the universe with other objects moving around it. Work by Galileo, Nicolaus Copernicus and Johannes Kepler helped to supercede this theory with the more accurate heliocentric model. Such a view of the universe differed strongly with the beliefs of the Catholic Church at the time and Galileo was forced to withdraw many of his ideas and even spent the final years of his life under house arrest.
Galileo refused to believe Kepler’s theory that the moon caused the tides, instead believing it was due to the nature of the Earth’s rotation (helping prove that even the smartest people can make mistakes).
Famous Galileo quotes include: “In questions of science the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual.”
“See now the power of truth; the same experiment which at first glance seemed to show one thing, when more carefully examined, assures us of the contrary.”
“Alas! Your dear friend and servant Galileo has been for the last month hopelessly blind; so that this heaven, this earth, this universe, which I by my marvelous discoveries and clear demonstrations had enlarged a hundred thousand times beyond the belief of the wise men of bygone ages, henceforward for me is shrunk into such a small space as is filled by my own bodily sensations.”
Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin was born in England on the 12th of February 1809, he died on the 19th of April 1882.
He is most famous for his work on natural selection, the idea that all species of life have evolved over time from common ancestors. This process involves favorable traits becoming more common in successive generations of living things while at the same time unfavorable traits become less common.
Not only did Darwin develop the idea of natural selection, he also presented compelling evidence from his detailed research which included a five year voyage on the HMS Beagle. On this voyage, Darwin visited ecologically diverse regions such as Brazil, Chile, Australia, the Falkland Islands and the Galapagos Islands.
His 1859 book ‘On the Origin of Species’, detailed much of his research on natural selection, it contained a large amount of evidence to back up his ideas and became a landmark work in the field of evolutionary biology.
Darwin’s ideas created a lot of discussion regarding the impact on various scientific, religious and philosophical viewpoints. Although most of those in educated society accepted the theory of evolution, many still challenge its existence despite the wealth of evidence supporting it.
Although in later life Darwin suffered from a range of illnesses, he continued with his research and undertook new experiments to help support his ideas while at the same time forming new ones in other fields.
Other famous work by Charles Darwin includes: ‘The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals’, ‘The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex’, ‘The Power of Movement in Plants’ and ‘The Formation of Vegetable Mould Through the Action of Worms’.
Famous Charles Darwin quotes include: “Owing to this struggle for life, any variation, however slight and from whatever cause proceeding, if it be in any degree profitable to an individual of any species, in its infinitely complex relationship to other organic beings and to external nature, will tend to the preservation of that individual, and will generally be inherited by its offspring.”
“We can allow satellites, planets, suns, universe, nay whole systems of universe, to be governed by laws, but the smallest insect, we wish to be created at once by special act.”
“I have watched how steadily the general feeling, as shown at elections, has been rising against Slavery. What a proud thing for England if she is the first European nation which utterly abolishes it!”
Johannes Kepler
Johannes Kepler was a German astronomer and mathematician who lived from December the 27th 1571 to November the 15th 1630.
Kepler played a key role in the scientific revolution that occurred in the 17th century, contributing a number of scientific breakthroughs including his famous laws of planetary motion.
The three laws of planetary motion devised by Kepler are:
1. The orbit of every planet is an ellipse with the sun at a focus.
2. A line joining a planet and the sun sweeps out equal areas during equal intervals of time.
3. The square of the orbital period of a planet is directly proportional to the cube of the semi-major axis of its orbit.
Kepler was interested in astronomy from an early age, this interest was further piqued when he witnessed both a comet in 1577 as well as a lunar eclipse in 1580.
Kepler attended the University of Tübingen where he studied philosophy, excelled in mathematics, further developed his remarkable astronomy skills and even found time to create horoscopes for other students.
Kepler achieved much of his work around the same time as another famous astronomer, Galileo Galilei. The two often had disagreeing opinions but their concurrent work helped spur physics, philosophy and astronomy forward rapidly to a new level of understanding.
Kepler’s work on planetary motion helped Isaac Newton later devise his own theory of universal gravitation.
Some of Kepler’s famous work includes: Mysterium cosmographicum (The Sacred Mystery of the Cosmos -1596), Astronomia nova (New Astronomy - 1609), Harmonice Mundi (Harmony of the Worlds - 1619) and Epitome astronomiae Copernicanae (Epitome of Copernican Astronomy - published between 1618 and 1621).
NASA honored Kepler by naming a mission after him. Launched on March 6 2009, the Kepler Mission involves a high-tech space telescope that will search for other Earth-like planets.
Famous Johannes Kepler quotes include: “Nature uses as little as possible of anything.”
“I much prefer the sharpest criticism of a single intelligent man to the thoughtless approval of the masses.”
“I used to measure the heavens, now I measure the shadows of Earth.”
“Geometry has two great treasures; one is the Theorem of Pythagoras; the other, the division of a line into extreme and mean ratio. The first we may compare to a measure of gold; the second we may name a precious jewel.”
Louis Pasteur
Louis Pasteur lived from December the 27th 1822 to September the 28th 1895 and was famous for his work on disease causes and prevention.
He is well known for inventing a process to stop food and liquid such as milk from making people sick. This method is called Pasteurization, it helps reduce the number of microorganisms that could cause disease while not affecting the quality and taste in a way which sterilization would.
Many of Pasteur’s experiments supported the germ theory of disease, they helped show that microorganisms are the true cause of many diseases. In earlier times people believed that diseases were spontaneously generated, over time this theory was superseded thanks to the work of Pasteur and many others.
Pasteur’s work also included breakthroughs in the field of chemistry. He discovered the molecular basis for the asymmetry of certain crystals, made discoveries related to the nature of tartaric acid and was the professor of chemistry at the University of Strasbourg.
Pasteur studied the immune system and vaccination through research on chicken cholera and other diseases. He helped produce the first vaccine for rabies, saving the life of a young boy in 1885 who became the first person to receive such treatment.
In honor of his work and influential contributions, Pastuer was made a Grand Croix of the Legion of Honor, a prestigious French order.
Famous Louis Pasteur quotes include: “Science knows no country, because knowledge belongs to humanity, and is the torch which illuminates the world.”
“I am on the edge of mysteries and the veil is getting thinner and thinner.”
“I am utterly convinced that Science and Peace will triumph over Ignorance and War, that nations will eventually unite not to destroy but to edify, and that the future will belong to those who have done the most for the sake of suffering humanity.”
“One does not ask of one who suffers: What is your country and what is your religion? One merely says: You suffer, that is enough for me”
Ernest Rutherford
Ernest Rutherford lived from the 30th of August 1871 to the 19th of October 1937.
Rutherford studied at Canterbury College, University of New Zealand before moving to England in 1895 for post graduate study at Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge.
Rutherford worked on radioactivity, coining the terms ‘alpha’ and ‘beta’ to describe the two different types of radiation emitted by uranium and thorium. He also observed that radioactive material took the same amount of time for half of it to decay, known as its “half life”.
In 1907, Rutherford, Hans Geiger and Ernest Marsden carried out the Geiger-Marsden experiment, an attempt to examine the structure of the atom. The surprising results of this experiment demonstrated the existence of the atomic nucleus and became an integral part of the Rutherford model of the atom.
The Rutherford model of the atom was simplified in a well known symbol showing electrons circling around the nucleus like planets orbiting the sun. This symbol became popular and has been used by various organizations around the world as a symbol for atoms and atomic energy in general.
In 1908, Rutherford was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on the transmutation of elements and the chemistry of radioactive material.
The element 'rutherfordium' was named in Rutherford’s honor.
Famous Ernest Rutherford quotes include: “If you can't explain your physics to a barmaid it is probably not very good physics.”
“All science is either physics or stamp collecting.”
“Radioactivity is shown to be accompanied by chemical changes in which new types of matter are being continually produced. .... The conclusion is drawn that these chemical changes must be sub-atomic in character.”
Jane Goodall
Born on the 3rd of April 1934, Jane Goodall is a British primatologist, ethologist and anthropologist.
Goodall established the Jane Goodall Institute in 1977, it supports research while actively running a range of conservation programs to protect chimpanzees and the environment.
Goodall studied chimpanzees in great detail, learning how they lived in groups, problem solved and interacted with their environment. She discovered that chimpanzees had the mental capacity to not only use simple tools but to actually make them as well, something that was previously thought to be uniquely human.
Unlike most researchers, Goodall named the animals that were part of her studies, normally numbers were assigned in order to remove the possibility of the researcher becoming attached to the subjects. Her unique methods stood out and were at times subject to criticism.
Goodall’s work is similar to that of Dian Fossey, a famous American zoologist who completed a long study of Gorillas in Rwanda, releasing a book titled ‘Gorillas in the Mist’ which later went on to become a well known movie.
Goodall is a strong supporter of animal rights and has been part of many animal rights organizations. She was the president of Advocates for Animals from 1998 to 2008.
Goodall has been awarded many honors for her tireless work. These include the Kyoto Prize, the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life Science, the Rainforest Alliance Champion Award, The Primate Society of Great Britain Conservation Award, as well as being named as a United Nations Messenger of Peace in 2002.
Michael Faraday
Michael Faraday was born in England on the 22nd of September 1791 and died on the 25th of August 1867.
His work on electrochemistry and electromagnetism laid the foundation for many areas of science. He formed the basis of the electromagnetic field concept in physics, discovered the laws of electrolysis, invented electromagnetic rotary devices that were vital in the creation of electric motors and played a key role in the development of electricity for use in technology.
Not limited to physics and electromagnetism, Faraday also invented a simple Bunsen burner, coined terms such as electrode, cathode, anode and ion, discovered benzene and investigated the nature of chlorine.
Faraday had only a basic education in a family that was not well off. He had only a minimal understanding of technical mathematical concepts but was still able to produce some of the most important scientific concepts in history and did so in a language that was clear and easily understood.
Faraday was a man of honor who was strong in his convictions. He rejected both a knighthood and an offer to become President of the Royal Society as well turning down a burial in Westminster Abbey. He also refused to assist the British government in the production of chemical weapons for use in war.
Famous Michael Faraday quotes include: “But still try, for who knows what is possible”
“Nothing is too wonderful to be true, if it be consistent with the laws of nature”
“There is no more open door by which you can enter into the study of natural philosophy than by considering the physical phenomena of a candle”
“I was at first almost frightened when I saw such mathematical force made to bear upon the subject, and then wondered to see that the subject stood it so well.”
Edwin Hubble
Edwin Hubble was an American astronomer who lived from November the 20th 1889 to September the 28th 1953.
Hubble made a huge impact on astronomy, and science in general, by demonstrating that other galaxies besides our own Milky Way existed. It was the previous belief of many that space was limited to the Milky Way galaxy, Hubble’s discoveries which were announced in 1925 changed our view of the universe.
In his early years Hubble was a skilled athlete as well as a bright student, competing and achieving highly in track and field.
At the University of Chicago, Hubble’s studies focused on mathematics, astronomy, and philosophy. He became a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University soon after and also became a member of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity.
Hubble discovered that the level of redshift in light coming from a galaxy increased in proportion to the distance as that galaxy moved further away from Earth. This is known as Hubble’s law and it helped prove that the universe is expanding. It even led Albert Einstein to admit that ignoring this idea and subsequently “fudging” his equations to avoid it was “the biggest blunder of his life”.
The well known Hubble Space Telescope is named after Edwin Hubble. It has provided valuable research data and images since it was carried into orbit in 1990, leading to many breakthroughs in the field of astrophysics. Hubble has also been honored with an asteroid and moon crater being named after him.
Marie & Pierre Curie
Pierre Curie
Pierre Curie was a French physicist who made many breakthrough discoveries in radioactivity, crystallography and magnetism.
Some of his contributions to science include: The Curie Point – a temperature level where ferromagnetic substances lost their ferromagnetic behavior, Curie’s Law – the effect of temperature on paramagnetism, demonstrating the electric potential of crystals when compressed, designing an extremely accurate torsion balance for measuring magnetic coefficients and his combined work on radiation, isolating polonium and radium with his wife Marie Curie.
Marie Curie
Marie Curie was a chemist and physicist famous for becoming the first person to be awarded two Nobel Prizes. She was brought up in Poland before eventually moving to France and obtaining French citizenship.
After French physicist Henri Becquerel first discovered a strange source of energy coming from uranium (radioactivity), Marie Curie decided that this would make a good field for research. With the help of her husband and his vital electrometer, she made numerous scientific discoveries including showing that radiation did indeed come from the atom itself rather than an interaction between molecules.
In 1911 Marie Curie was awarded another Nobel Prize, this time in Chemistry, for her discovery of radium and polonium and subsequent research.
In 1932 Marie Curie founded the ‘Radium Institute’ in Warsaw, Poland. The name was changed after World War II to the ‘Maria Skłodowska-Curie Institute of Oncology’. The institute carries out specialized cancer research and treatment.
Famous Marie Curie quotes include: “We must not forget that when radium was discovered no one knew that it would prove useful in hospitals. The work was one of pure science. And this is a proof that scientific work must not be considered from the point of view of the direct usefulness of it. It must be done for itself, for the beauty of science, and then there is always the chance that a scientific discovery may become like the radium a benefit for humanity.”
“One never notices what has been done; one can only see what remains to be done.”
James Maxwell
James Maxwell was born in Edinburgh, Scotland on the 13th of June 1831 and died on the 5th of November 1879.
He produced a set of equations, known as ‘Maxwell’s Equations’ that explain the properties of magnetic and electric fields and help show that light is an electromagnetic wave.
His impressive work was described in papers such as ‘On Physical Lines of Force’, ‘A Dynamic Theory of the Electromagnetic Field’ and ‘A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism’.
Maxwell’s contributions played an important role in the advances made in 20th century physics and his work was often admired by fellow physicist Albert Einstein.
Maxwell attended Edinburgh University from 1847 to 1850. He also spent a large amount of time at his home studying and undertaking various experiments.
After his time at Edinburgh University, Maxwell moved on to Cambridge University where he remained from 1850 to 1856. He further developed his mathematical skills and other ideas before accepting a professorship at Aberdeen University in 1856.
Maxwell was awarded a prize in1859 for his essay ‘On the Stability of Saturn's Rings’, which described the nature of Saturn’s rings as numerous small particles rather than a solid or fluid ring.
A large amount of Maxwell’s research was based on the work of Michael Faraday, and although Maxwell was 40 years younger, the two meet each other on many occasions.
Maxwell also made numerous contributions in the fields of color analysis, kinetic theory and thermodynamics. He is even attributed with creating the first true color photograph.
Famous James Maxwell quotes include: “Aye, I suppose I could stay up that late.” – Said after being informed of a compulsory 6 a.m. church service at Cambridge University.
“In every branch of knowledge the progress is proportional to the amount of facts on which to build, and therefore to the facility of obtaining data.”
Stephen Hawking
Stephen Hawking is a British theoretical physicist, he was born on January the 8th, 1942.
Hawking has made many important contributions to the fields of cosmology and quantum gravity. He is also well known for his bestselling book ‘A Brief History of Time’.
Helped by the success of his book ‘A Brief History of Time’, Hawking has released other books aimed at making his work accessible to a wide range of people, these include ‘The Universe in a Nutshell’, ‘A Briefer History of Time’ and ‘George's Secret Key to the Universe’, a children’s book with a strong focus on science.
Hawking has worked extensively on the subject of black holes, providing theories for their behavior, including the idea that they emit radiation.
Hawking suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a type of motor neuron disease that has left him almost completely paralyzed.
Some of the awards Hawking has received for his work include the 1979 Albert Einstein Medal, the Order of the British Empire (Commander) in 1982 and the 1988 Wolf Prize in Physics.
Famous Stephen Hawking quotes include: “There ought to be something very special about the boundary conditions of the universe and what can be more special than that there is no boundary?”
“I don't believe that the ultimate theory will come by steady work along existing lines. We need something new. We can't predict what that will be or when we will find it because if we knew that, we would have found it already!”
“For millions of years, mankind lived just like the animals. Then something happened which unleashed the power of our imagination. We learned to talk and we learned to listen.”
“It is a waste of time to be angry about my disability. One has to get on with life and I haven't done badly. People won't have time for you if you are always angry or complaining.”
“I don't think the human race will survive the next thousand years, unless we spread into space. There are too many accidents that can befall life on a single planet. But I'm an optimist. We will reach out to the stars.”
Aristotle
Born in Greece, Aristotle lived from 384 BC to 322 BC.
The influence of Aristotle’s work on the physical sciences spread far and wide, offering well thought out theory and reasoning that would prevail for many years to come before eventually being replaced by modern physics.
As well as science, Aristotle wrote on many other subjects including poetry, music, theater, logic, metaphysics, rhetoric, ethics and politics.
The majority of Aristotle’s original work has been lost through the passage of time but around one third of it still remains to this day.
Aristotle was a student of Plato. When he was around eighteen years old, he moved to Athens to be further educated at Plato's Academy, where he stayed for nearly 20 years.
Alexander the Great became a student of Aristotle in 343BC and took much advice from his teacher despite a falling out near the end of Alexander’s life. Aristotle was also a teacher to Ptolemy and Cassander, who would both eventually be crowned kings.
Aristotle was also a natural historian, recording data and analyzing the sea life around areas such as Lesbos. His observations and interpretations were frequently years ahead of their time.
Famous Aristotle quotes include: “Time crumbles things; everything grows old under the power of Time and is forgotten through the lapse of Time.”
“In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous.”
“Misfortune shows those who are not really friends.”
“He who has overcome his fears will truly be free.”
Nikola Tesla
Tesla was born to Serbian parents on the 10th of July, 1856 in the village of Smiljan, part of the Austrian Empire (now Croatia). He died on the 7th of January, 1943 in room 3327 of the New Yorker Hotel.
After an eventful upbringing and education, Tesla moved to France in 1882 where he worked on electrical equipment at the Continental Edison Company.
He immigrated to the USA in 1884 where he worked for Thomas Edison before resigning a year later to work on his own projects.
Tesla went on to patent many of his inventions, including his AC induction motor and transformer which he licensed to George Westinghouse.
Tesla, Westinghouse and Edison were at the heart of the so called ‘war of the currents’ between alternating current (AC) and direct current (DC) as a means of distributing electrical power.
Tesla was known for high voltage experiments and demonstrations, including displays of his famous Tesla Coil which produces high voltage, low current electricity.
In 1891, Tesla became a citizen of the United States.
Tesla was the vice president of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers between 1892 and 1894.
Tesla experimented with X-rays and radio waves, developing important ideas and even making a few accidental discoveries thanks to his extravagant experiments.
Tesla moved his lab to Colorado Springs in 1899 where he proved the Earth was a conductor, produced artificial lightning and became well known to his neighbors with ambitious electrical experiments that caused booming thunder, rogue sparks and the occasional power outage.
Tesla later worked on the Wardenclyffe Tower (or Tesla Tower), a wireless transmission tower that was never completed.
Tesla moved to the New Yorker Hotel in 1934 where he continued his research and spent the remaining years of his life before dying in 1943 at the age of 86.
Famous Nikola Tesla quotes include: “Nature may reach the same result in many ways.”
“Money does not represent such a value as men have placed upon it. All my money has been invested into experiments with which I have made new discoveries enabling mankind to have a little easier life.”
“The scientific man does not aim at an immediate result. He does not expect that his advanced ideas will be readily taken up. His work is like that of the planter - for the future. His duty is to lay the foundation for those who are to come, and point the way. He lives and labors and hopes.”
“Of all things I liked books best.”
Nicolaus Copernicus
Copernicus was born on the 19th of February, 1473 and died on the 24th of May, 1543.
He was born in Thorn, Royal Prussia, part of the Kingdom of Poland at the time.
The astronomical model that Copernicus developed was called heliocentrism (helios means Sun). It has the Sun motionless at the center of the Universe while the Earth and other planets rotate around it in circular paths.
A much earlier geocentric model (geo means Earth) created by Ptolemy featured Earth at the center of the Universe. This model was used by astronomers and other scientists for centuries before Copernicus developed his heliocentric model.
Many believe that the theory and ideas put forward by Copernicus started modern astronomy and were the beginning of a scientific revolution.
Copernicus's work ‘On the Revolutions of Celestial Spheres’ was published shortly before he died in 1543.
Copernicus's skills were not limited to just astronomy. Among other things, Copernicus was also a physician, scholar, economist, translator, mathematician, artist and diplomat.
The chemical element Copernicum is named after Copernicus. It has the symbol Cn and atomic number 112.
Famous Nicolas Copernicus quotes include: “Finally we shall place the Sun himself at the center of the Universe.”
“For when a ship is floating calmly along, the sailors see its motion mirrored in everything outside, while on the other hand they suppose that they are stationary, together with everything on board. In the same way, the motion of the earth can unquestionably produce the impression that the entire universe is rotating.”
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci was born on April 15, 1452 and died on May 2, 1519. He was Italian.
Different to a typical surname you might think of today, "da Vinci" simply means "of Vinci", the Tuscan town where he was born.
He lived during the Renaissance, a cultural movement that led to important developments in areas such as art and science.
Leonardo d Vinci is perhaps best known as a painter, with his legendary works including the Mona Lisa, the Vitruvian Man and the Last Supper, among others.
Leonardo da Vinci wasn't just an incredible artist, he was an inventor, scientist, mathematician, engineer, writer, musician and much more. Talk about talented!
His conceptual drawings included plans for musical instruments, war machines, calculators, boats and other ideas. Many of these plans were limited by the level of technology at the time.
Flight was of particular interest to da Vinci. He studied the flight of birds and created plans for flying machines that resemble hang gliders and helicopters.
Many of Leonardo da Vinci’s machines have since been built and tested, to varying levels of success.
He became an expert in the anatomy of the human body, studying it in detail and creating hundreds of drawings to help explain his thoughts.
The Vitruvian Man is a drawing by Leonardo da Vinci that describes the relationship between human proportions and geometry.
Da Vinci wrote in the opposite direction to what is normal, meaning you’d need a mirror to read it properly.
The Mona Lisa is perhaps the most well known painting in the world. It is a half-length portrait of a woman who, along with the composition, background and other details, has been the subject of much speculation and discussion. It is believed that Leonardo da Vinci began painting the Mona Lisa around 1503. It has been on permanent display at the Louvre Museum in Paris for over 200 years.
In 1994 Microsoft founder Bill Gates purchased perhaps Leonardo da Vinci’s most famous scientific writings, the ‘Codex Leicester’. It contains explanations of water movement, fossils and the moon among other things.
Famous Leonardo da Vinci quotes include: "He who thinks little, errs much."
"Movement will cease before we are weary of being useful."
"What is fair in men, passes away, but not so in art."
"Drawing is based upon perspective, which is nothing else than a thorough knowledge of the function of the eye."
"Good culture is born of a good disposition; and since the cause is more to be praised than the effect, I will rather praise a good disposition without culture, than good culture without the disposition."
"I know that many will call this useless work."
Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell was an influential scientist, engineer and inventor.
He was born on March 3, 1847 in Edinburgh, Scotland. He died on August 2, 1922 at the age of 75.
He is widely credited with the invention of the first practical telephone.
Bell’s mother and wife were both deaf, this had a major influence on his work.
He didn’t have the middle name “Graham” until he turned 11 when his father gave it to him as a birthday present. He’d earlier asked to have a middle name like his two brothers.
Bell became an excellent piano player at a young age.
When he was 23, Bell and his parents moved to Canada.
Bell studied the human voice and worked with various schools for the deaf.
Bell experimented with sound, working with devices such as a ‘harmonic telegraph’ (used to send multiple messages over a single wire) and a ‘phonautograph’ (used to record sound).
He worked on acoustic telegraphy with his assistant, an electrical designer named Thomas Watson.
On February 14, 1876, Bell and an American electrical engineer named Elisha Gray both filed patents with the U.S. Patent Office covering the transmission of sounds telegraphically. There is debate about who got there first but the patent was awarded to Bell. A few days later he succeeded in getting his telephone to work using elements similar to those of Gray’s water transmitter.
Bell’s first words with the working telephone were spoken to his assistant Watson and were along the lines of “Mr Watson, come here. I want to see you.”
Bell improved on the design and by 1886 more than 150000 people owned telephones in the United States.
Bell also had a strong interest in other scientific fields, conducting medical research, searching for alternative fuel sources, experimenting with metal detectors, developing hydrofoil watercraft and much more.
Famous Alexander Graham Bell quotes include: "Before anything else, preparation is the key to success."
"A man, as a general rule, owes very little to what he is born with - a man is what he makes of himself."
"The day will come when the man at the telephone will be able to see the distant person to whom he is speaking."
"The inventor looks upon the world and is not contented with things as they are. He wants to improve whatever he sees, he wants to benefit the world; he is haunted by an idea. The spirit of invention possesses him, seeking materialization."
Sound
Sound comes from vibrations. These vibrations create sound waves which move through mediums such as air and water before reaching our ears.
Our ears vibrate in a similar way to the original source of the vibration, allowing us to hear many different sounds.
Dogs can hear sound at a higher frequency than humans, allowing them to hear noises that we can’t.
Sound is used by many animals to detect danger, warning them of possible attacks before they happen.
Sound can’t travel through a vacuum (an area empty of matter).
The speed of sound is around 767 miles per hour (1,230 kilometres per hour).
The loud noise you create by cracking a whip occurs because the tip is moving so fast it breaks the speed of sound!
When traveling through water, sound moves around four times faster than when it travels through air.
The scientific study of sound waves is known as acoustics.
Although music can be hard to define, it is often described as a pleasing or meaningful arrangement of sounds.
The sound of thunder is produced by rapidly heated air surrounding lightning which expands faster than the speed of sound.
Physics
Because of differences in gravity, a 200 pound person would only weigh 76 pounds on Mars. More gravity facts.
Electric eels can stun both predators and prey with electric shocks of around 500 volts. More electricity facts.
Energy from food is usually measured in joules or calories. More energy facts.
Light from the Earth takes just 1.255 seconds to reach the Moon. More light facts.
Sound travels at a speed of around 767 miles per hour (1,230 kilometres per hour). More sound facts.
When traveling at 80 kilometres per hour (50 miles per hour), cars use around half of their fuel just to overcome wind resistance.
Water can work against gravity, moving up narrow tubes in a process called capillary action.
A magnifying glass uses the properties of a convex shaped lens to magnify an image, making it easier to see.
A scientist who studies physics is known as a physicist.
Uranus is the only planet in our solar system that rolls on its side like a barrel, while Venus is the only planet that spins in the opposite direction to Earth.
The fastest land animal in the world is the Cheetah, clocking a max speed of around 113 km per hour (70 mph).
1921 Nobel Prize in Physics was won by Albert Einstein for his work in the field of theoretical physics.
Biology
People that study biology are known as biologists.
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is the largest living structure on Earth. Reaching over 2000 kilometres (1240 miles) in length.
The first person to see a live cell with a microscope was Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, in 1674.
Ecology is the study of ecosystems and how organisms interact with their environment.
While some bacteria can make you sick, others have positive benefits such as helping you digest food or even make yoghurt.
Moulds, yeasts and mushrooms are types of fungus.
The common cold is a type of virus.
Viruses can be treated with antiviral drugs.
Bacteria are extremely small and are made up of just one cell.
Bacterial infections can be treated with antibiotics.
Animals that eat plants as their primary food source are known as herbivores.
Endangered species are those that are in danger of being completely wiped out, they include blue whales, tigers and pandas. Without protection these species may eventually become extinct.
Born on July 5th 1996, Dolly the sheep was the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell.
When the DNA of an organism changes and results in a new trait (characteristic) it is known as mutation.
French chemist and microbiologist Louis Pasteur was well known for inventing a process to stop various foods and liquids making people sick. Called Pasteurization, it reduces the amount of microorganisms that could lead to disease without having a noticeable effect on taste and quality in a way which methods such as sterilization might.
Charles Darwin developed the idea of natural selection, sometimes called survival of the fittest. It is a process that involves living things with favorable traits being more likely to reproduce, passing on their favorable traits to future generations.
Nuclear
The word ‘nuclear’ is related to the nucleus of an atom, it is often used to describe the energy produced when a nucleus is split (fission) or joined with another (fusion).
The nucleus is positively charged and found at the central core of an atom.
Nuclear physics is the study of atomic nuclei and their interactions.
Nuclear power uses fission to create heat and electricity.
The US, France and Japan are the largest producers of nuclear power.
Nuclear power provides around 14% of the world’s electricity.
Nuclear power plants have a relatively good safety record but there is ongoing debate into the threat they pose, especially after widely publicized accidents at Chernobyl, Three Mile Island and Fukushima.
The radioactive waste produced by nuclear reactors can be difficult to dispose of safely.
The military often use nuclear reactors to power their submarines and aircraft carriers. Learn more about atomic energy with our nuclear power facts.
Nuclear weapons use the energy produced by fission or fusion to create destructive blasts.
While many nuclear weapons have been used in testing, only 2 have been used as part of warfare.
In August 1945, near the end of World War 2, the United States used atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, leading to the death of approximately 200000 people.
Enriched uranium is a crucial element of both nuclear weapons and nuclear power production.
The Sun creates energy through the nuclear fusion of hydrogen nuclei into helium.
It is believed that radiation exposure led to the death of Marie Curie in 1934. Learn more about her important research into radioactivity with our range of Marie Curie facts.
Forensic Science
Forensic science uses a range of sciences to answer questions related to legal situations.
Forensic science is often used in relation to criminal matters, a lawyer may want to prove someone was present at the location of a crime for example.
Samples from a crime scene are analyzed in a laboratory by specialists.
Samples can include things like fingerprints, hair and gunshot residue.
While some forensic tests can be completed in as little as an hour, others may take months. There are a large range of specialist fields in forensics including forensic pathology, forensic toxicology, forensic anthropology, forensic chemistry, DNA analysis, forensic entomology, computational forensics and more.
In the case of forensic entomology, scientists examine insects found in and around human remains to determine the time of death.
Forensic toxicology studies the effect of drugs and poisons on the human body in relation to medical and legal situations.
The famous fictional character Sherlock Holmes used forensic science as one of his methods for investigating crimes.
Examples of forensic science can be found throughout popular culture, including television shows such as CSI, Bones, NCIS, Law & Order and the Mentalist, which all use forensic science as part of their story lines.
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation has been particularly popular, leading to a number of spin off shows, books and video games. It has even created a so called 'CSI effect' where members of the public have exaggerated expectations of forensic science due to their use on television shows.
Light
In physics, light refers to electromagnetic radiation. The light we normally talk about in everyday life refers to the visible spectrum (the part of the electromagnetic spectrum that the human eye can see).
Other animals can see parts of the spectrum that humans can’t. For example, a large number of insects can see ultraviolet (UV) light.
UV light can be used to show things the human eye can’t see, coming in handy for forensic scientists.
The wavelength of infrared light is too long to be visible to the human eye.
Scientists study the properties and behaviors of light in a branch of physics known as optics.
Isaac Newton observed that a thin beam of sunlight hitting a glass prism on an angle creates a band of visible colors that includes red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet (ROYGBIV). This occurred because different colors travel through glass (and other mediums) at different speeds, causing them to refract at different angles and separate from each other.
Light travels very, very fast. The speed of light in a vacuum (an area empty of matter) is around 186,000 miles per second (300,000 kilometres per second).
Light travels slower through different mediums such as glass, water and air. These mediums are given a refractive index to describe by how much they slow the movement of light. Glass has a refractive index of 1.5, meaning that lights travels through it at around 124,000 miles per second (200,000 kilometres per second). The refractive index of water is 1.3 while the refractive index of air is 1.0003, meaning that air only slightly slows down light.
Light takes 1.255 seconds to get from the Earth to the Moon.
Sunlight can reach a depth of around 80 metres (262 feet) in the ocean.
One of the many things Italian scientist Galileo Galilei worked on was telescopes, producing telescopes with around 30x magnification in some of his later work. These telescopes helped him discover the four largest moons orbiting Jupiter (later named the Galilean satellites).
Photosynthesis is a process that involves plants using energy from sunlight to convert carbon dioxide into food.
No comments:
Post a Comment