Tabla de contenidos para March 2025 en What on Earth! Magazine

ANATOMY OF A SOCK Here are all the proper names for parts of a sock: 1. Cuff – the very top of the sock, often elastic or ribbed to help it stay up. 2. Ankle – the part of the sock from the cuff to the heel. 3. Instep – the curved part over the top of your foot. 4. Heel – a pocket for your heel to fit into. 5. Foot – the part from heel to toe and all around the foot. 6. Sole – the bottom. 7. Toe – a rounded part to cover your toes. OLD SOCKS The oldest known pair of socks is 1,600 years old, from a Greek colony in Ancient Egypt. They are made of red wool and their toes are split for…

What is pareidolia? Do you sometimes look at the world around you – at the bark of a tree, or clouds scudding across the sky – and see a human face? You are not alone! Because pareidolia, which is a brain phenomenon in which people see something significant in a random image or pattern, is a common human experience. The word pareidolia (pronounced ‘par-i-DOH-lee-a’) comes from the Greek words para, meaning faulty or wrong, and eidōlon, meaning image or shape. So pareidolia really does mean that your brain is perceiving something that isn’t actually there! Why does it happen? People experience pareidolia because the human brain has evolved to quickly identify faces and other patterns in our environment. The ability to spot another human face – or to notice the…

Colour it in! ANIMALS 1 On average, what proportion of baby turtles, which are called hatchlings, survive to adulthood? a. 1 in 10 b. 1 in 50 c. 1 in 100 d. 1 in 1,000 2 Which of these animals has the most arms, legs and tentacles? a. Octopus b. Spider c. Woodlouse d. Giant squid 3 Which of these words is a collective noun for a group of ferrets? a. A business b. A wriggle c. A squirm d. A posse 4 The lion has the loudest roar of all the big cats. What’s the longest distance from which it can be heard? a. Two kilometres b. Four kilometres c. Eight kilometres d. Ten kilometres HUMAN WORLD 1 Invented in the 1960s, what is the name of the high-jumping…

JUPITER’S GREAT RED SPOT IS BIGGER THAN EARTH! Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in our solar system. Jupiter and the three planets beyond it – Saturn, Uranus and Neptune – are called gas giants. They are huge and made up mostly of gases and so do not have a solid surface. The coloured patterns you can see on Jupiter’s surface are ribbons of cloud. Jupiter’s Great Red Spot, highlighted below, is a giant whirling storm that humans have observed for centuries. The Great Red Spot is so huge you could fit the whole Earth inside it! DID YOU KNOW? Jupiter is the oldest planet in our solar system. It formed about 4.6 billion years ago, from the dust and gases left over after the…

1 Clear your diary The entire process of mummification* can take up to 70 days to complete. 2 Wash the body Clean and purify the body – preferably in the River Nile. 3 Mash the brain Make a hole in the skull. Poke a long tool through the hole and wiggle it around to mash up the brain inside. Allow the liquefied brain to drain out through the nose. 4 Take out the organs Make a cut on the left side of the body. Remove the lungs, liver, stomach, heart and intestines. 5 Wash the organs Now wash the organs in a special type of salt, called natron, to dry them out. 6 Store the organs in jars Next, place the lungs, liver, stomach and intestines into separate containers called canopic jars. You should keep…

Can we save coral reefs by growing our own? Climate change has endangered coral reefs, which are an important part of sea life. But Dr Jamie Craggs and his team have discovered a way to help corals make a comeback – by growing them at London’s Horniman Aquarium! To look at, you might think that coral is an underwater plant or fancy rock. But it is actually made up of thousands of tiny animals called polyps. One thing that makes corals difficult to protect is that their reproductive process is very precise. Corals in the wild spawn only once each year for just 30 minutes, releasing their genetic material into the sea. Corals only do this under specific conditions, which include the length of the day, phase of the Moon…

Is black a colour? If you look at a box of crayons, you’re sure to find a black crayon there among all the other colours. So you might be surprised to know that, according to science, black isn’t really a colour at all! A beam of light is made up of particles that travel in a wave pattern. And scientists define colours as being specific wavelengths of light. The surface of an object either reflects certain wavelengths (which means they bounce back to our eyes) or absorbs them (which means our eyes don’t receive any information from them). The wavelength of the reflected light (which is how long the wave is from the top of one wave to the top of the next wave) determines what colour our eyes see.…

640 11,854 The top speed in km/h of the NASA X-43, the world’s fastest jet aeroplane. 524 The largest number of hot air balloons launched at one time, at the 48th Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in New Mexico, USA. 116 The age in years of the oldest plane still flying, the Blériot XI. It was one of the first planes ever built, in 1909, and is still flown in New York, USA. 117 The wingspan in metres of the Stratolaunch Roc. The Stratolaunch’s record-breaking wingspan is the largest of any plane - and longer than a football pitch! 88.31 The furthest flight in metres by a paper aeroplane, achieved by Dillon Ruble from the USA on 2nd December 2022. Ruble had practised for over four months before setting a new…

Does your pet like reading this magazine?! As loyal subscribers will know, the recent February issue of What on Earth! Magazine was all about pets. From cats, dogs and ponies to axolotls, capybaras and even a domesticated hippopotamus, the issue featured an astonishing collection of creatures that people like to keep as pets. We thought the Pets issue would be a hit with humans but were surprised and delighted to discover that it has proved hugely popular in the animal kingdom, too! As you can see, we’ve received some fantastic photos of readers’ pets enjoying the magazine. Do you or your family have a pet? Then why not send in a photo of you and your pet reading What on Earth! Magazine? Pets (and their owners) which feature in a…