What on Earth! Magazine March 2024

TH F CHILASTESTE UK’S DRE -GRO N’S M WI AGA NG ZINE

BRITANNICA’S

What on Earth!

March 2O24

MAGAZINE

TOUR THE TAJ MAHAL LOTS TO READ : LOADS TO LOOK AT : QUIZ : JOKES : AND MORE!

ISSN 2976-7601

£9.99

whatonearth.co.uk

THE TAJ MAHAL

CONTENTS

Travel to India as we discover the secrets of one of the world’s most spectacular buildings on page 24.

A wild and wonderful world awaits you inside!

HOW TO CHAT... FROG Learn to speak fluent amphibian as we find out what frogs are saying on page 12.

MOVING AT SPEED!

Hurry to page 38 to catch the fastest vehicles on land and to see how many planes are up the sky.

REGULARS FACTOPIA!

Follow the trail of crazily connected facts on page 4 all the way from siege towers to an elephant’s amazing sense of smell!

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EUREKA

Find out about the world’s largest machine, England’s endless hedges and why hermit crabs are wearing our rubbish on page 10.

LISTIFIED! Page 36

PUZZLES & GAMES Page 28

COMPETITION!

CLIMATE CHANGE Find out how to start a conversation about our warming planet with your grown-ups on page 32.

To win ALL the books featured in our March Issue, just answer this question: Which type of great ape is there the largest number of on Earth?

Send your answer to editor@whatonearth.co.uk and a winner will be chosen by our jokes editor May!

SEND IT IN!

Check out the winners of our roar-some dinosaur drawing contest on page 48.

GREAT APES!

Explore the amazing world of apes and discover some of the awesome things they can do on page 16.

SPORTS QUIZ

Sprint straight to page 15 to test your knowledge of sports pitches, tracks and courts.

JOKES & RIDDLES

Look out for this month’s selection, hand-picked by our jokes editor May, on page 50.

SEND IT IN! Email us your letters, photos and favourite facts to: editor@whatonearth.co.uk

You can also find all these books (and more!) at whatonearthbooks.com/ shop

ZANY FACTS

Scotland’s Edinburgh Castle was built on top of an extinct volcano

Follow the trail of crazily connected facts all the way from siege towers to an elephant’s amazing sense of smell!

ilt in stles bu arate ca

in Algeria

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Founded in the 17th century by the ruler of Ethiopia, the fortress city Fasil Ghebbi was built to house the emperor, his family, his servants and his pet lions

By Kate Hale, Paige Towler, Rose Davidson and Julie Beer Illustrations by Andy Smith

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For nearly 3,000 years, armies from Asia to Europe attacked castles using siege towers: towering machines that could hold hundreds of soldiers and be rolled up to castle walls.

People who play video games are more likely to experience lucid dreaming, the ability to control your dreams

The world’s tallest sandcastle measured 18 metres high, and was built with turrets and knights, and a dragon at its base

t under by secre d e t c e nn re all co entury a c h t 6 1 the

ground

tunnels

In Japan, Matsumoto Castle has a hidden level where samurai could safely rest from their attackers because it has no windows

Disneyland’s Sleeping Beauty Castle was inspired by Germany’s Neuschwanstein Castle

There’s a 3,000-year-old castle at the bottom of a lake in Turkey

According to NASA scientists, the perfect nap is 10 to 20 minutes long

Wild elephants sleep for just two hours each day – that’s less time than any other mammal

Rabbits can sleep with their eyes open

African elephants can use their sense of smell to tell the difference between tribes of people!

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PHOTOS

RIDING HIGH!

This fearless French cyclist named Benoît Coulanges is competing in the Austrian Alps during the Men’s Downhill Competition of the Mountain Bike World Cup. Riders can reach top speeds of more than 55 km/h and complete 20-metre jumps!

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Astonishin g photos f rom around th e world

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DOUBLE VISION

This photo shows one of the world’s most famous and distinctive buildings.

Can you work out which one? The answer is the Sydney Opera House, which has been illuminated in this way as part of a festival of music and ideas. The pretty flowers projected onto its walls are perfectly reflected in the still waters of Sydney Harbour below.

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!

H O O O

PHOTOS

THE BEAR NECESSITIES Shortly before this photo was taken, this young male polar bear used its strong paws to carve out a bed on the side of a small iceberg, before then drifting off to sleep.

Sweet dreams, Mr Bear!

WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR / NIMA SARIKHANI

WO AH! ALL FIRED UP

Look closely at the object in the photograph above. Can you tell what it is? The answer is a matchstick, caught at the moment it strikes the surface of a matchbox and bursts into flame!

NIKON SMALL WORLD / OLE BIELFELDT

FLYING SQUIRREL

Photographer Alex Pansier snapped this squirrel leaping through the air during a rainstorm.

(The white dots and spots you can see surrounding the squirrel are droplets of rain.)

Although squirrels are able to swim, they don’t enjoy getting wet.

Perhaps this is why the flying squirrel is making such a hasty getaway!

COMEDY WILDLIFE AWARDS / ALEX PANSIER

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Eureka!

The latest astonishing discoveries, inventions and scientific breakthroughs.

Making the world’s biggest machine Researchers in Switzerland are planning a new mega-machine that is designed to smash atoms together for scientific research.

Switzerland is already home to one such machine, the Large Hadron Collider (pictured right). It whizzes atoms around its 27-kilometre-long circular machine at nearly the speed of light, and then smashes the atoms

together for scientific tests. Using the LHC, scientists have discovered important new types of subatomic particles, which are particles that are even smaller than atoms! They hope that this new collider, which will be about 100 kilometres around, will help them to find out more about dark matter and dark energy, two of the greatest mysteries of modern science.

Large Hadron Collider 27 km circumference

Lake Geneva

Future Circular Collider 90–100 km circumference

Geneva SWITZERLAND

Valserhône FRANCE FRANCE

10 miles

How AI is solving the mystery of

Can owls really turn their heads 360°?

Scientists and bird watchers have known for a long time that owls can turn their heads nearly all the way around. Owls have been photographed with their heads fully upside down and 270° around to the side. But new research suggests that owls may in fact be able to turn their heads a full 360° – which would make them the only animals with this extraordinary talent!

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Owls can’t move their eyes – only their heads.

Three students from universities in different countries have teamed up to create an extraordinary Artificial Intelligence program.

The program was built to decipher Ancient Greek writing on scrolls that are nearly 2,000 years old. To make the task even more challenging, the scrolls had been burnt during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius that destroyed the Roman city of Pompeii in 79 CE. The students were given a $700,000 (£550,000) prize for their brilliant work.

The AI program identifies Ancient Greek letters that spell ‘purple’.

NEWS

The crabs living in shells made out of rubbish

The Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland cost 10 billion euros to build!

Vesuvius’s burnt scrolls Scrolls usually decompose over time, but these were preserved by the process of being burnt, which carbonised them. However, when a burnt scroll is unrolled, it falls apart.

So scientists have made scans of the burnt scrolls using CT scanners. So far the AI has only decoded a fraction of the 800 scrolls that have been preserved.

But scientists hope the AI will enable most of the scrolls to finally be read.

A new study by scientists in Poland shows that hermit crabs all over the world are using human rubbish as shells, instead of the discarded snail shells which their species typically use.

Researchers gathered data by looking at photographs of hermit crabs.

They found that at least 10 of the 16 known hermit crab species were wearing rubbish as shells – including bottle caps and even parts of light bulbs. It is not yet known how the rubbish shells affect a crab’s life. Professor Marta Szulkin, who was part of the research team, says, ‘We need to understand that we are living in a different era and animals are making use of what is available to them.’

Hooray for hedges!

Scientists have used 10 t new laser i m es technology to add up the total length of all the hedges in England.

They found 390,000 km of hedges – long enough to circle the Earth 10 times!

Hedges are valuable because they help to reduce flooding and provide an important refuge for wildlife.

The scientists collected 386 different photos of hermit crabs wearing various pieces of rubbish – mostly plastic caps.

How to chat...

FROG

By Dr Nick Crumpton Illustration by Adrienne Barman

If you ever find yourself near a pond, you might be lucky enough to hear a frog. The typical sound that we think of frogs making is ‘ribbit’, but many frogs don’t make that noise at all!

American bullfrogs make a grating ‘grau-g-g-gga’ noise, while the midwife toad makes softer and more high-pitched ‘be-bi-boop-be’ sounds. These different calls are their way of telling each other what type of frog they are. That way they know who is nearby and don’t waste energy talking to frogs from a different species.

Frogs can make a whole range of sounds. The most common frog calls are love songs – made by males to attract females.

But frogs also make ‘release’ calls when they’re receiving unwanted attention and want to be left alone. Some can even scream when they are attacked by predators.

O O O O O W O K R W K A A A A WRUA ian Bullfrog!)

(I’m an Ind

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Trtrtrtrtrtrtrtri k!

(Leave me alone!)

AKG. AKG. AKG. (I’m an Indian cricket frog!)

Ski ki ki

mmon skittering frog!)

(I’m a co

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HOW TO CHAT...

Some frogs use gestures as well as sounds to communicate. This is especially useful when they live in noisy places.

The glass frog, Sachatamia orejuela, lives right next to waterfalls in Ecuador and Colombia. Rather than competing with the roaring water, these frogs wave their large hands to ‘call’ to each other.

Brazilian torrent frogs also use their bodies as well as their voices to attract females. They often sing sweetly using a mix of peeps and squeaks, but they will also tremble their feet, waggle their toes and stretch their legs. They will even lift and wave their arms and bob their heads up and down and from side to side.

They put on quite a show!

Send It Iny!our

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Sports quiz!

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Can you work out which sports are played on the six courts and pitches shown on this page? Find out if you got them all on page 49.

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Join us on a journey to meet awesome apes and find out where they live, what they eat and the amazing things they can do!

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Ape’s fee t resemb hands, w le hich mea ns they can be u sed to ho ld on to trees, even wh ile upside-d own!

A

pes are fascinating and sometimes mysterious creatures. However, as you’re about to discover, they’re also quite a lot like you and me – in fact exactly like you and me!

Sometimes people say ‘ape’ when what they really mean is ‘monkey’. Apes are different from monkeys in that they are larger and have bigger brains that help them to use complex language and tools.

They also don’t have any tails, which monkeys do.

Apes play, they love their families and they make art. Does that sound like anyone you know? Read on to find out all about apes – including humans like you!

What’s So Great About Great Apes?

All apes are great! But scientists call some apes ‘Great Apes’ to distinguish them from another group of apes called ‘Lesser Apes’, or gibbons.

There are four types of Great Apes: gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees and humans. You might be a little surprised to see yourself on this list. On the great evolutionary family tree of all living things, you are indeed an ape! Apes have large brains, an appendix and no tail. Lesser apes have brains that are not as complex. They also have longer arms and special throat sacs for louder voices.

Continued on next page  17

GREE NLAND

w More than 4 ne are es bi ba an hum nd! co born every se

NORTH AMERICA

ECIES: 1 NUMBER OF SP (That’s us!) etres HEIGHT: 1.6 m lograms WEIGHT: 70 ki DIET: Varies.

NCY: 70 years LIFE EXPECTA

NUMBER OF SP ECIES: 2 (Chimpanzee and Bonobo) HEIGHT: 1.4 m etres WEIGHT: 46 ki lograms DIET: Mostly ve getarian – frui ts, berries, seeds, leaves, as wel l as insects, eggs and small mam mals.

LIFE EXPECTA NCY: 60 years

Humans

8–9 mya 15 mya 22 mya 30 mya

65 million years ago

40 mya

New World Monkeys

5–6 mya

SOUTH AMERICA

Lesser Apes (Gibbons)

Great Apes (Gorillas)

Great Apes (Orangutans)

Old World Monkeys

Prosimians

ALL IN THE FAMILY The other Great Ape species are our closest living relatives. Humans share about 99.9% of our DNA with each other.

And we share about 98.8% of our DNA with chimpanzees and bonobos, and about 98.4% with gorillas. A lot of scientists argue that we should treat apes like human beings and give them similar rights to us because Great Apes we are so closely related.

(Chimpanzees)

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Chimpanzees are very social an d sometimes liv e in large commun ities.

These commun ities can have up to 150 chimpanz ees!

Adult male gorillas can be more than 10 times stronger than the an. average hum nd be n They ca iron bars!

ECIES: 2 NUMBER OF SP ) estern gorilla W (Eastern and etres HEIGHT: 1.6 m kilograms WEIGHT: 150 t, n – leaves, frui DIET: Vegetaria oots. stalks and sh NCY: 40 years LIFE EXPECTA

Gibbons have powerful long arms and can swing around through the trees at up to 55 kilometres per hour! nly in found o e r a ia s e Ap and As Africa f o s s t n r pa ma , t for hu – excep urse! of co

EUROPE

ASIA

ECIES: 20 NUMBER OF SP ntimetres HEIGHT: 53 ce lograms WEIGHT: 6.5 ki e eggs, uit, with som DIET: Mostly fr s. all bird insects and sm NCY: 40 years LIFE EXPECTA

end Orangutans sp nt ce r pe 90 nearly in e m ti r ei of th re the trees, whe e rg they build la rms fo at sleeping pl d an g by bendin ches. breaking bran

AFRICA

APE SPECIES Bonobos Chimpanzees Gorillas Gibbons Humans Orangutans No apes

an, ECIES: 3 (Borne NUMBER OF SP tans) gu an or li d Tapanu Sumatran an etres HEIGHT: 1.3 m kilograms WEIGHT: 100 e uit, with som DIET: Mostly fr t. ea m rely insects and ra CY: 60 years N A LIFE EXPECT

AUSTRALIA

NAME

ORANGUTAN

GORILLA

CHIMPANZEE

HUMAN

GIBBON

Bornean 104,700 Sumatran 13,846 Tapanuli 800

Western gorilla 100,000 Eastern gorilla 5,000

Chimpanzees 170,000-300,000 Bonobos 10,000-50,000

8,000,000,000

Although there are more than 500,000 gibbons in total, there are fewer than 50 members of the most endangered species.

ENDANGERED STATUS ESTIMATED POPULATION

Critically endangered

Endangered

Least concern 19

Just Like Us! Non-human apes are more like us than you think…  Apes can be tickled – and they laugh while they’re being tickled, too!  Apes can get stressed – and when they’re stressed, much like humans, they may pace or even turn to less-healthy foods for comfort!  Some apes have very good memories – and maybe even better than humans! A study in Japan found that a chimpanzee was more successful at remembering a sequence of numbers than humans were.  They can tell right from wrong. Some studies have suggested that apes have

a sense of morality, which means they know right from wrong. If something happens that is unfair, they get angry.  They can go to war.

For instance, sometimes chimpanzees will plan attacks against rival groups. They may even create weapons to fight with (see ‘Cool Tools’ below).  They appreciate a well-cooked meal. One study of chimpanzees showed they like cooked food rather than raw food. When given the choice, they didn’t want raw potatoes. You probably don’t, either!

Gabbing with Gorillas and Chatting with Chimpanzees

Cool Tools Apes are distinct from many other animals in that they regularly use tools. They may use tools to help them get food, to collect water, or even as weapons.

Chimpanzees in Gabon in Africa have been seen using a whole ‘tool kit’ in order to get themselves a sweet treat – honey! For beehives in trees they first use a pounding stick to break open the hive. Then they use a different stick to make sections of the hive more open. Then they use a collecting tool to scoop out the honey! They have also been seen digging into the ground to find underground beehives and using yet more different tools to get the honey out.

Orangutans in Sumatra in Asia have been seen using large leaves as umbrellas during storms (pictured above).

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This chimpanzee is using a rock tool to crack nuts.

Chimpanzees in Senegal in Africa have been seen using sharpened sticks as spears for hunting.

Bonobos and chimps have been seen using sponges made out of moss and leaves. They suck up water and use it to clean themselves, just like humans!

Apes are very smart and, like humans, have their own ways of communicating with each other. Some humans have taught apes to communicate using human languages such as American Sign Language (ASL) or made-up languages and codes (turn to page 23 to learn about Yerkish, a language made to talk to chimps!). And of course apes have their own gestures and sounds they use to communicate with each other. Stroking the mouth, for example, means ‘give me that food!’

Making Faces Apes, especially chimpanzees, are known for making facial expressions, much like humans do. They use their faces to show others how they are feeling. They may smile when they’re happy, and grimace when they’re afraid. They might furrow their brow in concentration, or let their lip droop when they are feeling relaxed or playful. One study showed that chimpanzees in a certain group made a ‘rain face’ when it was raining – maybe to show their negative feelings about the weather! As with humans, some chimps are more expressive than others, and some can be quite serious.

Dian Fossey hangs out with a baby gorilla in Rwanda in Africa.

6 Inspiring Scientists Who Have Worked with Apes Jane Goodall Jane Goodall is an expert on chimpanzees and learned a lot by watching them in the wild. She helped to teach the world that animals can have personalities and experience emotions just like people do.

Dian Fossey Dian Fossey is famous for studying gorillas in the wild. Like Jane Goodall, she learned a lot about how apes are not so different from humans and tried to help to protect them.

Toshisada Nishida Toshisada Nishida was one of the first scientists to set up a long-term place to observe chimps.

He discovered that chimpanzees defend their territory and that they sometimes use plants as medicine.

Artist Apes Some apes have been taught how to make art, especially paintings. A chimpanzee named Congo made over four hundred paintings in the 1950s. It is rumoured that the famous artist Pablo Picasso had one of Congo’s paintings!

Congo has even had gallery

shows. In 2019 an art gallery in London displayed 55 of Congo’s artworks.

Gladys KalemaZikusoka Gladys KalemaZikusoka is a veterinarian.

She has worked to protect

Jane Goodall in real life (above) and on the TV show The Simpsons. endangered gorillas, especially from catching human diseases.

Birutė Galdikas Birutė Galdikas (left) is an expert on orangutans.

Orangutans can be very shy and mysterious, and before Galdikas’s studies the world knew very little about them.

Frans de Waal Frans de Waal did studies of chimps in captivity. He learned a lot about chimp behaviour and how chimps live together.

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W R U !

Your gateway to the fabulous land of linguistics and languages.

H

ave you ever wished you knew a secret language, perhaps to pass notes without the teacher noticing?

Maybe you and a friend or sibling have made-up words or phrases you use just for you.

Many languages, such as English, Spanish, Mandarin and Igbo, formed naturally over time in a society. The words people use and the ways they use them gradually developed into rules. But sometimes individual people or smaller groups of people make up their own languages and

Kie estas la necesejo?

Where is the toilet?

(Esperanto)

Esperanto

their own rules from scratch!

We call these constructed languages, or conlangs for short. Conlangs are different from nonsense or gibberish because they have rules for grammar, spelling and other linguistic features just like natural languages do.

HOW TO MAKE UP YOUR OWN LANGUAGE

WHY MAKE UP A LANGUAGE? People make up languages for many reasons. Some people have tried to make up a ‘universal’ language that could be used and understood by anyone on Earth. Computer codes are another kind of made-up language. People use these to communicate with computers and teach them how to do tasks. And some people make up languages just for

Esperanto is the conlang spoken by the greatest number of people. It is estimated that about 100,000 people know Esperanto. It was created in the late 1800s by a Polish eye doctor named L.L. Zamenhof. He wanted to make an international language, for all people to use. It is very easy to learn, especially for people from Europe. Many of its words are based on European languages.

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fun! Sometimes people even make up whole languages for TV programmes or films.

Making up a language isn’t as simple as just thinking up some words. To make a good language, you have to think about who the people are who are going to use it, and what they will use it for. You have to think about the kinds of sounds the language will Where are you from? have, and whether it (Toki Pona) can be written down (and with what sort of symbols!). Then you need to decide what the rules are – how words are organised in a sentence, for instance. It’s a lot to think about – but so fun!

Sina tan ma seme?

Toki Pona

This language was made to be very simple indeed! Its dictionary has only 137 ‘essential’ words. The linguist who created it, Sonja Lang, wanted it to be a very simple language that could help people think positively.

Its name can be translated as ‘The Language of Good’.

toki pona

telo lete (cold liquid)

kala lili (small fish)

mun (moon)

Yerkish

Yerkish is a language that was developed by scientists at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center in America.

It uses a special keyboard with symbols that represent words – nearly 400 of them. Researchers used this keyboard to communicate with bonobos and chimpanzees.

Wabadebadoo I’m on fire!

(Simlish)

Simlish

machine candy

out-of

Lana

eat

tickle

into

Sevig thû úan

You smell like a monster.

(Elvish)

Simlish is a language used by the characters in the Sims computer games. It was developed so the game could be played by people all over the world without needing to be translated.

Simlish is not yet a true conlang. At first, it was just sounds made up by voice actors. But people who play the game have started trying to figure out if it has rules like a real language does. Musicians such as Katy Perry have recorded songs in Simlish for the games, although the ‘translations’ are just using the sounds of Simlish, not a dictionary of its words.

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Klingon

The Klingon language is another one that was made for art. It was developed for a made-up alien race called the Klingons in the TV and film series Star Trek. Many fans of the show have learned to speak Klingon. They have made Klingon translations of famous books and plays, including Hamlet, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and The Little Prince.

Elvish

Famous fantasy author J.R.R. Tolkien (right) liked to study languages.

In addition to writing books including The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, he made up languages to go along with them. Like real-life languages, his Elvish languages have histories and relationships with each other.

His languages are very detailed, and people still learn them for fun today. They were used in the film versions of the stories as well.

Hab SoSlI’ Quch!

Tolkein made up at least 15 different languages all on his own!

Your mother has a smooth forehead! (This is a very big insult to Klingons!)

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The

Taj Mahal!

The Taj Mahal might look like a palace, but it’s actually a mausoleum. That’s a type of monument that is meant to be a burial place for someone who has died.

This beautiful building was ordered to be built by Indian emperor Shah Jahan for his wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died in 1631.

Let’s take a look around…

INDIA

The Taj Mahal, located in Agra, India, is now considered one of the ‘New Seven Wonders’ of the world.

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THE TAJ MAHAL: IN NUMBERS

20,000

73 metres 44 metres

workers from lots of different countries helped to build the Taj Mahal.

93 93 metres metres Statue of

42 metres

73 73 metres metres Taj Mahal Nelson’s 57 57 metres metres 57 metres 52 Column metres

Liberty

73 metres

6.6 metres 95 metres

52 metres

73 metres

93 metres

The whole complex (which includes a garden and other buildings) took 22 years to finish at a cost of 35 billion rupees in today’s money, which is about 335 million pounds!

146.5 146.5 metres metres

73 73 metres metres

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Now take a guided tour...

Explore the Taj Mahal with these 11 fascinating facts about its history and features.

1

Shah Jahan had five wives, but Mumtaz Mahal was his favourite. They had fourteen children together.

Mumtaz Mahal died giving birth to the fourteenth child.

Shah Jahan was overcome with grief when she died.

It is said that Shah Jahan wanted to build a mausoleum for himself, in a similar style to the Taj Mahal but made of black marble. However, he was dethroned as emperor before it could be built.

PAVILION The pavilions align with the solstices.

CENTRAL POND

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More than 1,000 elephants helped to transport materials to build the Taj Mahal.

MAIN ENTRANCE The main entrance provides a beautiful view for photos.

PARADISE GARDEN

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More people visit the Taj Mahal between October and March, when the weather is cooler.

This is also outside India’s rainy season!

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The Taj Mahal attracts between 7 and 8 million visitors each year and around a tenth of these (800,000) have travelled from outside India.

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5

The Taj Mahal appears to change colour throughout the day. As the Sun rises, the white marble appears yellow. When it is dark, the Taj Mahal looks blue.

6

On the roof of the Taj Mahal there are four chhatri, which are a type of pavilion used in Islamic and Indian architecture.

Chhatri were originally used as decorative canopies above tombs of important people.

The Taj Mahal’s chhatri are arranged around the giant central dome.

MOSQUE A mosque is a place where Muslims worship. It has a place to pray that faces Mecca, the holiest city in Islam.

ROYAL TOMB This is the spectacular main building.

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A cenotaph is a monument that looks like a tomb but is not a place where someone is actually buried. In the Taj Mahal there are cenotaphs on the upper level. The real tombs are below. The false tomb of Mumtaz Mahal is perfectly in the centre of the room, which is shaped like an octagon. The false tomb of Shah Jahan is bigger and to the side.

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The outside walls of the Taj Mahal are made of white marble and have gemstones embedded inside in patterns that look like vines and flowers. Near the entrance there is Arabic calligraphy with verses from the Qur’an.

8 RELAX ROOM This building was built to mirror the mosque.

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The actual tombs of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan are on the lower level of the building. Muslim tradition dictates that tombs should not be highly decorated, so these tombs are plainer than the fake tomb cenotaphs above.

Mud is sometimes used to clean the outside of the Taj Mahal, which becomes dirty from pollution.

This is very similar to the way some people use mud to purify the skin in beauty treatments!

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The whole building is almost perfectly symmetrical, which means it is the same shape on all sides.

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Stumped? Don’t worry, you can find the answers to all the puzzles on page 49.

SPACE WORD SEARCH Can you spot the 24 space terms hidden in our jumbo word search puzzle? Good luck!

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HALLEY’S COMET INTERSTELLAR JUPITER

OLYMPUS MONS PLUTO

UNIVERSE VENUS

ZENITH

CUBE IT! The six-sided shape on the left can be folded up to form a cube. Only two of the cubes to the right can be made by it.

Which are they?

28

A

B

C

D

SPOT THE DIFFERENCE Can you spot all 2O differences between these two alien planet illustrations?

WORD WHEEL Use the word wheel to help find the answers to the five clues below. All the answers contain the middle letter, and each letter can only be used once.

Clue: a type of pasta made of long strings (9 letters).

Answer: Clue: a person who doesn’t believe in the existence of God or gods (7 letters).

Answer:

E P

H T

Clue: a close-fitting piece of clothing covering the legs, hips and bottom (6 letters).

Answer: Clue: a number which looks the same upside down

A I S T G

(5 letters)

Answer: Clue: a large boat for transporting things by sea (4 letters)

Answer: 29

Picture Quiz

CHANGING ROOMS Can you find your way through our maze of square rooms?

Enter through the door marked with the red arrow, then try to find your way to the exit by going through the correct sequence of open doors. Good luck!

1

2

3

FUTOSHIKI! Fill in the missing numbers so that every row and column includes the numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4. Use the inequality signs as clues and make sure numbers always obey the inequality sign between them. This means that the arrows between the numbers always point towards the smaller number.

30

Here is an example:

B

A

A  3 

B In the three squares shown above, the number A must be less than 3 and greater than the missing number B. We know all the numbers must be between 1 and 4 , so therefore A must be 2 and B must be 1.



 3  

 1

4

4

2



4

Can you work out what you are looking at in each of these seven photos?

NUMBER TRIANGLES!

5

In the triangles below, the numbers inside the squares are the sum of the two numbers in the connected circles. For example:

1

3

2

Can you work out which number should appear in each of the circles? All the numbers in the circles are between 1 and 10 and a number can only be used once in each triangle.

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3 7

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13 17

CONNECT THE PLANETS Draw a line to connect each pair of planets. You can’t use diagonal lines and the lines can’t cross or touch each other. You must fill the whole grid with lines but only one line is allowed in each square.

SUDOKU! Fill all the empty squares so that every row, column and 3x2 box contains each of the numbers 1 to 6.

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4 5

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3 31

ARE YOUR GROWN-UPS CLUELESS?

​​D

oes this sound familiar?

‘So what if temperatures go up a degree or two? What’s so bad about that?’

Or, ‘We can’t do anything about it now. It’s too late to stop it.’

Or, ‘It’s time to wade to school.

Pull on your wellington boots.’

Okay, maybe not that last one. Yet. The point is, if you’re like most people, you have grown-ups in your life who are clueless about climate

change. But don’t worry. You and your grown-ups can work together to help end the climate crisis and heal our warming world.

And you’re not alone in this!

Over the next few months we will be giving you some information to help get the conversation started. Learn about what ‘climate change’ actually means, what causes climate change, and ways to answer questions that your grown-ups might have about it. In this issue, we’ll explore the difference between weather and climate. There’s even a timeline you can show your grown-ups that tracks Earth’s climate changes through history. So put on your professor’s gown, and let’s go!

o r g w n h c u a ps abo e t o t w u o t H

A T M I E L C ANG E H C

32

Y HO L TY! P HU M

WHAT DOES ‘CLIMATE CHANGE’ MEAN, ANYWAY?

Y

our adults just walked into the house on a brisk winter day. ‘Brrr! It’s freezing out there!’ they complain. ‘So much for global warming!’

Time to give them ‘The Talk’: Weather isn’t climate.

Weather, you can explain, is what’s happening right now.

Maybe it’s pelting down rain.

Or it’s hot enough to fry an egg on the pavement. (Who would eat that, anyway? Ugh.) Weather is what you feel on your skin when you step outside.

Climate is different. It’s the average of all those weather moments over many years – typically 30 years or so – for any region on Earth. How much rain has fallen, on average, in one spot over the past 30 years? What are the usual temperatures in each season? How much wind, how many sunny days, how much snow has an area felt day after day, year after year? Do the maths and you get averages for all these measurements. These are called ‘climate normals’.

Some people say, ‘Climate is what you expect. Weather is what you get.’ So tell your grown-ups that the cold winter day is just a cold winter day. That’s weather for you. BUT, when the average temperature of

that particular day goes up, year after year after year, that’s climate change. Climate change does affect the weather. Because the planet is warming up, heat waves are lasting longer and storms are getting stronger. Those cold days your grown-ups complained about

aren’t getting any colder – but the hot days are getting hotter.

Our planet has seen a lot of climate ups and downs in its 4.6-billionyear history. Its atmosphere has evolved, and ice ages have come and gone. But these changes were usually natural and sloooow. They came from little shifts in Earth’s orbit, or from cracks opening and closing in Earth’s crust, or from new forms of life growing in the ocean.

The changes we’re talking about now aren’t natural. They’re not slow. Because of human activity, which creates gases that affect the atmosphere, temperatures on Earth have shot up, especially in the past 70 years or so. Overall, the planet is toastier now than it has been for thousands of years. We used to call this whole process ‘global warming’, but ‘climate change’ is a better description. The atmosphere traps more heat, and it doesn’t just give you that icky sweaty feeling. It melts ice sheets, supercharges storms, strengthens droughts, and reshapes our whole environment.

Continued on next page 

ACT IT’S A ,Fthe Siberian

2020 ssia, In June khoyansk, Ru st r e fV e hotte town o was th It . d °C e 8 d r d3 co reache ever re rature Circle. ic t tempe he Arc t f o h t nor

33

OUR CLIMATE – A HISTORY

ACT IT’S AdFmany cycles

Show your grown-ups that climate changes through time have been both natural and human-made.

as ha ed by Earth h s follow ecent e g a e r of ic ds, but r perio the g n o warme re a m a s r a e y cord. st on re warme

700 MILLION YEARS AGO.

Ice covers almost all of ‘Snowball Earth’. Simple animals live in the oceans.

Climate: Freezing.

2.3 BILLION YEARS AGO.

Tiny microbes in Earth’s vast ocean start giving off oxygen gas.

Climate: Warm, no ice.

92 MILLION YEARS AGO.

High levels of carbon dioxide keep the planet extra warm. Dinosaurs roam the land.

Climate: Hot and humid.

34

35 MILLION YEARS AGO.

Carbon dioxide in the air drops, and Earth cools off. Ice forms again at the poles.

Big mammals do well.

Climate: Mild, but warmer than today.

21,500 YEARS AGO.

Ice sheets cover the planet as far south as present-day New York City. Humans live side by side with mammoths and sabre-toothed cats.

Climate: Icy and much colder than today.

IT’S A

FACT During th Age, as e most recent much a Ice s 97 p e of Cana r cent da was covere by icy g d laciers !

TODAY.

The poles are still icy, but melting. Carbon dioxide levels are rising sharply. Humans and their machines dominate the planet.

Climate: Changing quickly from cool to warm and steamy.

How to Teach Grown-Ups About Climate Change, written

by Patricia Daniels, is out on 7th March!

35

LISTS

LISTIFIED! Prepare to be amazed (and amused!) by the unusual facts crammed into these irresistible lists.

Listified!

by Andrew Pettie and illustrated by Andrés Lozano is out now.

36

MEAT LOVERS Characteristics that many carnivorous dinosaurs had in common

1

Walking tall

All carnivores walked on two legs.

2

Sharp teeth

Carnivores’ teeth were often jagged like steak knives, perfect for attacking prey and tearing flesh. Spinosaurus, for example, had as many as 64 pointy teeth that measured between 8 centimetres and 25 centimetres long.

3

Pack hunters

4

Sharp senses

Some palaeontologists think that carnivorous dinosaurs, such as tyrannosaurs, may have hunted in packs.*

More advanced predators, such as Troodon, evolved large eyes and binocular vision,** which made it easier for them to see their prey, especially at night. Scientists think carnivores were also very good at sniffing out prey and rotten flesh to eat.

5

Mighty jaws

Larger carnivores, such as Tyrannosaurus rex, had huge, powerful jaws to bite and clamp down on its meaty meals, including Edmontosaurus and Triceratops.

Tyrannosaurus rex

6

Killer claws

Many carnivores had deadly curved claws on their forelimbs, which they used to grapple with and slash their prey.

7

Slimmer bodies

Some smaller, slimmer carnivores, such as the Velociraptor, were fast sprinters. Their agility and speed over short distances would have helped them to chase and catch their prey.

Allosaurus

Jurassic Period: 201–145 million years ago.

LEAF LOVERS Characteristics that many herbivorous dinosaurs had in common

1

On all fours

Most herbivores walked on four legs either all or some of the time.

2

Grinding teeth

3

Herd instinct

They mostly had flat, wide teeth like a cow’s, ideal for chewing and mashing up tough plants.

Many herbivores stayed in herds for safety. Travelling and working together meant animals could

spot predators more easily, as well as protect baby dinosaurs and other more vulnerable members of the group.

4

Camouflage

Scientists can’t tell exactly what colour dinosaurs were from fossils alone. But it’s likely that some herbivores had different patterns and colours on their skin that served as camouflage. This allowed them to hide from predators, just as modern reptiles such as snakes do today.

8

Big hearts, lungs and livers

Carnivores needed big lungs and hearts to breathe in more oxygen. The oxygen provided their muscles with more energy, which helped them to chase down their prey.

Carnivores also had large livers, which helped them to process all the extra protein and fats contained in their meaty diets.

9

Hollow bones

Palaeontologists think that the air spaces in carnivores’ bones may have made them lighter and also increased the airflow to their lungs. Both of these things would have increased the carnivores’ speed and helped them to chase and catch their prey.

*Evidence for this is much debated by scientists. Remains of groups of giant meat-eating dinosaurs have been found.

But some experts reject this as proof that these dinosaurs lived together, suggesting instead that their bodies might have been washed away together by a flood.

Meat vs Veg This infographic shows that there were a lot more herbivores than meat eaters.

65 per cent herbivores

35 per cent carnivores (and omnivores***)

**Binocular vision is when an animal can look at a single object using both eyes at the same time, as humans can.

This helps them to work out how far away the object is. ***Omnivores are animals that eat both meat and plants.

Some species of dinosaur were omnivorous but it is hard for palaeontologists to prove exactly how many.

Daiopterix Brachiosaurus

Morganucodon

Guanlong Ankylosaurus

5

Body armour

Many herbivores had thick, leathery skin and a tough shield of body armour to protect them from predators. Some had horns, spikes and shield-like neck frills. Euoplocephalus even had armour plating on its eyelids.

6

Tail weapons

Some herbivores used their powerful tails to defend themselves. Kentrosaurus’ tail was covered in sharp spikes.

Ankylosaurus had large lumps of fused bone at the end of its tail, which it could swing back and forth like a club.

7

Super-sized bodies

Many terrifying prehistoric predators were large compared to the animals we know today.

But the true giants of the prehistoric world – such as Apatosaurus, Argentinosaurus

and Supersaurus – were all herbivores. These massive creatures grew so big that only the very largest carnivores, or sometimes even a group of carnivores, would dare to attack them.

8

Big stomachs

The stomachs of herbivores were usually bigger and longer than those of carnivores. This is because their digestive tracts needed more time to break down and extract nutrients from the plants they ate.*

9

Thick bones

Herbivore bones were solid and dense, making them strong, but slower-moving.

The plants they wanted to eat were unlikely to be running away from them, so this wasn’t a problem!

*Some herbivores may have deliberately swallowed stones, called ‘gastroliths’. These sat in a special muscular stomach called a ‘gizzard’ and helped to mash up plant matter after it had been swallowed.

37

INFOGRAPHICS

MOVING AT SPEED!

The first steam locomotive, which was invented in Wales in 1804, travelled only slightly faster than the average human’s walking speed.

Since they were invented more than 200 years ago, trains and cars have become faster and faster – and faster! On these pages you can see a selection of record-breaking vehicles that have helped humans to zoom around the world at ever-increasing speeds.

Infographics by Valentina D’Efilippo

HOW TO READ IT Maximum speed: Miles per hour, mph The black arrow points to the fastest speed that the train or car achieved.

300

360

480

240

540

180 120 60

420

mph

600 660 720

5 HIGH-SPEED TRAINS

Maximum speed

STEPHENSON’S ROCKET

30

1829, UK

mph

This train won the Rainhill trials, a race to see which of five early steam locomotive designs was the fastest.

Train length metres, m

4m

MALLARD 1938, UK

In 1938, this train set the record for fastest steam locomotive – a record it still holds today.

126 mph

22 m

TGV

1981, FRANCE This train held the record for world’s fastest train between 1981 and 1988.

236 200 m

mph

CRH380BL

2010, CHINA This train set a new world record travelling between Beijing and Shanghai.

302 mph

403 m

SERIES L0 MAGLEV 2015, JAPAN

The world’s fastest train, it uses powerful magnets to float above the tracks.

375 mph

177 m 38

5 HIGH-SPEED CARS LA JAMAIS CONTENTE 1899, FRANCE

La Jamais Contente was the first car ever to travel faster than 60 miles per hour.

66 mph

HONDA RA106 2006, UK

This car achieved the fastest recorded speed by a Formula-1 racing car.

247 mph

BUGATTI CHIRON 2022, FRANCE

This is the world’s fastest car that is designed to drive on normal roads.

304 mph

BLUEBIRD CN7 1964, UK

This car holds the record for the fastest car not powered by a jet engine.

THRUST SSC 1997, UK

Powered by two jet engines, this was the first car to travel faster than the speed of sound.

403 mph

763 mph

The very first car, which was invented in Germany in 1886, had a top speed of just 10 miles per hour!

39

INFOGRAPHICS

How many planes are in the sky?

Humans are constantly on the move across the globe, but how many of us are travelling in the air at any one moment?

This map gives you a good idea of how many planes are flying in the air at once, because each yellow aeroplane on it represents a real plane that was flying at 3pm on 13 July 2022, one of the busiest days for flights on record.

In total, there were 17,916 planes in the sky at that time. This means that if there were, on average, 100 passengers travelling in each plane, more than 1.5 million people were in the sky at the same time!

= one plane flying in the sky

40

-stop est non rom g n lo e Th ht is f ger flig apore, passen g rk to Sin arly New Yo e n s e ak which t urs! o 18 h

THE FIRST PLANE TO FLY NON-STOP AROUND THE WORLD! On 2 March 1949, an American Boeing B-50A military aeroplane named Lucky Lady II landed at Carswell Air Force Base in Texas, USA, to become the first ever plane to fly all the way around the world without stopping. This record-breaking flight, piloted by James G. Gallagher, took 94 hours and 1 minute, as Lucky Lady II covered a distance of 37,742 kilometres at an average speed of 401 kilometres per hour. In order to keep flying non-stop for almost four days, Lucky Lady II had to be refuelled four times in mid-air, using a long hose to take on additional fuel from a tanker plane that flew close by.

The sho rtest p asseng flight, er betwee n island in Scot s land, ca n take little a as s 53 se conds!

41

QUIZ

ANIMALS

4

1 Test your family’s brainpower by playing the What on Earth!

Quiz together. Regular readers may have an advantage because some of the facts appeared in previous issues of the magazine. Don’t worry if you don’t know them all, though – the answers are at the end of the quiz!

What is the fastest breed of dog? a. Whippet b. Dalmatian c. Greyhound d. Afghan hound

2

Which of the following four words is sometimes used as a collective noun to describe a group of hippopotamuses? a. A yawn b. A squelch c. A parade d. A thunder

3

As far as scientists are aware, which is the only mammal that cannot fart? a. Blue whale b. Sloth c. Bat d. Hedgehog

The What on 4

What is the fastest speed at which a chameleon can stick out its tongue to catch an insect? a. 40 km/h b. 60 km/h c. 80 km/h d. 100 km/h

5 6

Which animal can survive for the longest period of time without food or water? a. Camel b. Tardigrade c. Crocodile d. Cockroach

6

42

How many toes does a cat typically have?

13

HUMAN WORLD

a. 12 b. 16 c. 18 d. 20

13

What is the nickname of Arsenal football club? a. The Red Devils b. The Gunners c. The Hammers d. The Cherries

SPACE & NATURE

7

What is the name of the main scientific theory that describes how the universe began? a. The Big Rip b. The Big Freeze c. The Big Crunch d. The Big Bang

8

In physics, what are the primary colours of light? a. Red, brown and purple b. Blue, green and yellow c. Red, green and blue d. Blue, white and pink

9

Which planet in our solar system is closest in size to Earth?

18 a. Venus b. Jupiter c. Mars d. Mercury

14

How many wheels does a tricycle have?

15

Where is the largest muscle in the body?

a. 1 b. 2 c. 3 d. 4

a. Arm b. Leg

10

What is the most abundant element in the universe,

Earth! Quiz making up around 75% of all matter? a. Oxygen b. Hydrogen c. Carbon d. Helium

11

Which of these natural things is there the largest number of in total? a. Grains of sand on Earth b. Human beings on Earth c. Trees on Earth d. Stars in our galaxy, the Milky Way

12

What proportion of all the stars in the Milky Way are visible from Earth? a. 0.3% b. 0.003% c. 0.00003% d. 0.000003%

c. Back d. Bottom

16

What language was most commonly spoken in Ancient Rome? a. Italian b. Greek c. Latin 17 d. French

17

Which of these toys was invented first? a. Yo-yo b. Teddy bear c. Rubik’s Cube d. LEGO

18

What is the world’s most-eaten fruit? a. Apples b. Bananas c. Oranges d. Strawberries

Continued on next page  43

QUIZ

23

21

 Continued from previous page

GEOGRAPHY

19

How many states make up the United States of America? a. 40 b. 45 c. 50 d. 55

20

In which city is the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, pictured right, found? a. Tokyo b. Dubai c. Singapore d. New York

The Bering Strait is a passage of water separating which two countries? a. England and France b. Madagascar and Mozambique c. Japan and South Korea d. United States and Russia

22

The red, white and blue flag pictured above is the national flag of which country? a. Chile b. Cuba c. Czech Republic d. Croatia

23

The Grand Canyon is one of the seven

EMOJI MOVIES

25 22 natural wonders of the world. Where is it found? a. Brazil b. United States c. Australia d. Mexico

24

Which country has the longest coastline? a. Norway b. Russia c. Canada d. Australia

Each of these emoji sequences represents the title of a popular animated children’s film. Can you work out the name of each movie?

A B

C

D

E

20

Answers: 1. c, 2. d, 3. b, 4. d, 5. b, 6. c – five toes on each of its front feet and four on the back, 7. d, 8. c, 9. a, 10. b, 11. a – scientists estimate that there are more than 7 quintillion grains of sand. A quintilli0n has 18 zeroes!, 12. d, 13. b, 14. c, 15. d, 16. c, 17. a, 18. b, 19. c, 20. b, 21. d, 22. a, 23. b, 24. c, 25. A: Sleeping Beauty; B: Pinocchio; C: The Lion King; D: Monsters, Inc.; E: The Lego Movie.

44 44

THE BIG READ

Absolutely Everything!

Each month we feature an amazing story from world history taken from the bestselling book

by Christopher Lloyd, with illustrations by Andy Forshaw. This month: The Enlightenment!

J

acques de Vaucanson was an 18th-century French inventor who made clockwork robots. His constructions included a flute player who could play twelve different tunes and a waiter who could serve drinks at a party. His most famous robot was called the Digesting Duck.

It could flap its mechanical wings, eat food – and even poo out of the other end!

De Vaucanson was part of a long history of people imagining and building lifelike machines. The Chinese had built a clock with gong-ringing mannequins as early as 1088.

Ismail al-Jazari, a Muslim inventor who lived from 1136 to 1206, had constructed several automatons, which are mechanical devices that moved

Continued on next page 

Ismail al-Jazari designed many mechanical inventions, including the ones pictured on this page.

45

THE BIG READ

1610 GALILEO Galileo improves telescopes, achieving a magnification of 30x. He discovers Jupiter has moons, disproving the view that all celestial objects orbit the Earth. Galileo’s support for Copernicus’s theory that the Earth orbits the Sun leads him into conflict with the Church.

1609 JOHANNES KEPLER In Prague, German astronomer Johannes Kepler uses his master Tycho Brahe’s observations to propose three new laws of planetary motion, showing planets move in elliptical rather than circular orbits.

1663 JAMES GREGORY Scottish mathematician James Gregory proposes a method for calculating the distance between the Earth and the Sun (now known as the astronomical unit) by observing the apparent movement of Venus across the Sun from different positions around the Earth.

1669 ISAAC NEWTON Isaac Newton writes a letter to the Royal Society about a new type of telescope he has developed that uses mirrors.

This telescope avoids issues common with telescopes that use lenses.

1540 NICOLAUS COPERNICUS How can the stars move so rapidly around the night sky, especially when they are so far away? Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus thinks it more likely that the stars are stationary and it is the Earth that is spinning.

 Continued from previous page like living things, including one in which automated musicians floated on a lake. In 1292, Count Robert II of Artois, in what is now northern France, had filled a garden with robots, including waving monkeys. These machines were powered by steam, wind, water or wound-up springs.

In the 1730s, when de Vaucanson made his automatons, robot-making was a sign of the times in Europe. That’s because these lifelike machines seemed to show clearly that nature could be copied and controlled by brilliant human minds.

Muslim scholars had believed in the importance 46

of using reason and observation in order to understand the world for many hundreds of years.

But Europeans were now in the middle of their own revolution in thinking.

Called the Enlightenment, this set of ideas offered individuals hope for both a rational way of thinking about the world, and power over their own lives as well as over nature.

One of the first steps was questioning the right of religious figures to tell them what to do. This started to

happen with the Protestant Reformation, which began in 1517. Another early step had been a radical book published in 1543 by Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus.

At the time, Europeans believed that Earth was at the

centre of the universe, with the Sun, the planets and all the stars moving around it. Copernicus had looked at the way the planets moved in the sky and realised the observations only made sense if the Earth and the planets were all moving around the Sun. Copernicus’s ideas were later proved correct

1705 EDMOND HALLEY English astronomer Edmond Halley determines that a certain comet clearly visible from the Earth returns every 75–76 years. Ten years later he predicts the path of the Moon’s shadow over the Earth during a solar eclipse, accurate to four minutes.

ASTRONOMY TIMELINE

1781 CHARLES MESSIER French astronomer Charles Messier’s astronomical catalogue lists 103 deep-space objects, including comets, nebulae and galaxies.

1846 JOHANN GALLE Johann Galle discovers Neptune after doing calculations about the orbit of Uranus.

1781 WILLIAM HERSCHEL German-born British astronomer William Herschel discovers a planet. Initially it is called the ‘Georgian star’ in honour of King George III, but is later renamed Uranus.

100S CE Below is how Europeans thought the Solar System was arranged from the 100s CE, with Earth centre.

by Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei. Here was another triumph of independent thinking over traditional religious beliefs.

Two great Enlightenment thinkers used reason and observation to develop other new ideas. French scientist and philosopher René Descartes said the universe and its laws of nature were like a giant

1828 CAROLINE HERSCHEL Caroline Herschel is awarded the Royal Astronomical Society’s Gold Medal for reorganising her brother’s catalogue of 2,500 nebulae and star clusters.

1845 WILLIAM PARSONS William Parsons discovers the first spiral galaxies using a giant telescope with a 1.8-metre mirror mounted between two 12-metre brick walls. The telescope remains the largest in the world for more than seventy years.

clockwork machine.

Only humans had minds, he said, which made us special. According to Descartes, if we could figure out how the machine of nature worked, we could make it work for us.

You may have heard of Isaac Newton. He was a big observer and experimenter. Sometimes he was even reckless with his own body. Once he stared at the Sun to see what would happen to his eyes. He went blind for four days and was lucky to get his sight back afterwards. (Do not try this!)

Newton is most famous for wondering what makes an apple fall from a tree. Some people might say, well, apples

are supposed to fall from trees.

That’s just what apples do.

Applying the philosophy of Descartes, Newton wanted to explain a falling apple using the laws of nature. He said that an invisible force – gravity – was responsible, and that the

Newton wasn’t taught maths at school, but he came up with a complex type of maths on his own! size of this force was related to the size of the objects involved.

An apple has gravity. The planet Earth has gravity. In fact, every object has gravity.

But since Earth is so much more massive than an apple, it has much more gravitational force. That’s why an apple is

drawn to Earth and not the other way round. Newton then looked up at the night sky, wondering why the Moon circles the Earth without pinging off into outer space or hitting the Earth like an apple.

He worked out that because the Moon is less massive than the Earth, it must be drawn towards it by the Earth’s larger gravitational force. But he also realised that there must be another factor at work. That factor is speed. The Moon is moving so fast that when it falls, it misses the Earth entirely and travels in a circle around it. This delicate balance between speed and gravity is called an orbit. You see: discover the laws of nature, and the secrets of the universe are revealed.: 47

SEND IT IN!

1PsLAtCE

JACK, 5

WINNER: AGES 9–12 HARRISON, 9 TEDDY, 6

An epic display of dinosaurs!

To celebrate Draw a Dinosaur Day on 30th January (be sure to mark your dino calendars for next year!), we invited budding young artists to send in their pictures of dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures.

As you can see here, the response was magnificent! We received

almost one hundred entries – which would be enough to turn the Natural History Museum in London into an art gallery! So huge congratulations to everyone who took part. We didn’t have room to show all the drawings but here is a selection of our favourites.

A special round of applause must go to our three category winners: 9-year-old Harrison, 7-year-old Benji and 5-year-old Freya, who each win a subscription to What on Earth! Magazine and a copy of our roar-some Nature Timeline Stickerbook. Well done!

INDY, 10

1st

PLAC E

BILL, 2 48

WINNER: AGES 6–8 BENJI, 7

PUZZLE ANSWERS Space Word Search T R S N O M S U P M Y L O Z J P A R R K U T O I A X S L O B A H Y T A S Z F A J A W R A L L E T S R E T N I V R G P E N N Y E Z W A R L E Z S K V E N A P E Y O O X T A J A N V F X S I U V U M Q V T P R U I E S L E S Q W O T U C O Z T N H G T D P A X T L E B R E P I U K T A J G Q S I U L P L E R A D D L L C U S U G I W A Q J K V C I E E X Q E H A A D W L L H H A L L E Y S C O M E T H E N N N D P I G E D M J T T V J A A T D B E E E B N T Z O O C K G E O M F I M J C G I T K A E S U F O A M K V R N V E E B M T I Z G D D M Y E P O C S E L E T D O I M W M L W R Y R E R A O Z G J K S S Q G G B M P A S L X L E S R E V I N U L S O A B X Q R U R M A D M D I B K P J C D V U E A J F N L F U L L M O O N X Q C Y M A R E N L E N K N P A V L T C J Y N W W S Z Q G G V Q I V B X G N E I U K I N T U P S A W

Number Triangles!

B A 1

HOPE, 12

6

IMOGEN, 9 5

1s PLACt E

8

3 7

1

2

4 12

4

13

8

17

9

2

3

1

4

B

2

4  3





3

11 5

Futoshiki!

A

1

C

7

1

2

4

3

1

4  2

2

4

3

1

1

4

2

4

3

1

2

4

2

3  1



3

Spot the Difference

Cube It!

Picture Quiz

B

C

Crocodile skin Connect the Planets

DENNY, 9 Blueberries

UNO card Sudoku!

WINNER: AGES 1–5 FREYA, 5 ALYSSA, 7

2

6

4

3

5

1

1

3

5

2

4

6

4

5

6

1

2

3

3

1

2

4

6

5

6

2

3

5

1

4

5

4

1

6

3

2

Drinking straws

Fried egg

Changing Rooms Helicopter rotor

Tower of London Word Wheel 1. Spaghetti 2. Atheist 3. Tights 4. Eight 5. Ship

ROBERT, 9

JULIAN, 9

Sport Quiz 1. Tenpin bowling 2. Cricket 3. Shot-put 4. Squash 5. Ice hockey 6. Tennis

49

Henry

Which king

invented

the

Eighth!

fractions?

Question: What runs bu never walk t s?

Answer: A tap!

Question: t no s bu I have key e but no c locks, spa eople can p d n a ro o m never go enter but at am I? inside. Wh Answer: rd!

A keyboa

Which

ur salargest dinhasothe

What is a cat’s

favourite breakfast

vocabulary?

A thesaurus!

How do

rabbits keep

Harerobics!

50

fit?

LOL!

cereal?

Mice

Krispies!

Tickle your ribs and tease your brain with our favourite gags and riddles, hand-picked by our jokes editor May.

BRITANNICA’S

What on Earth!

MAGAZINE

Published by What on Earth Magazines Ltd, The Black Barn, Wickhurst Farm, Leigh, Tonbridge, Kent, TN11 8PS Editor-in-Chief Andrew Pettie Editor Alison Eldridge Art & Design Director Mark Hickling

How do you make an

octopus

With

tentickles!

laugh?

Senior Designer & Illustrator Susanna Hickling Production Sarah Epton Contributors Andy Forshaw, Andy Smith, Paige Towler, Andrés Lozano, May, Kate Hale, Rose Davidson, Susanna Hickling, Julie Beer, Valentina D’Efilippo, Conrad Quilty-Harper, Dr Nick Crumpton, Adrienne Barman, Patricia Daniels, Aaron Blecha, Dan Knight With thanks to Andy Forshaw, Natalie Bellos, Helen Thewlis, Louise Sanders and the whole team at What on Earth Publishing Editorial Consultant Nancy Feresten Marketing Director Luise Mulholland Business Development David Falzani CEO, What on Earth Magazines Christopher Lloyd For Encyclopaedia Britannica Mary McCudden, Director, Middle School and Elementary Products

!

A H HA!

What protects

Lord Cheese’s

castle?

The

ILLUSTRATIONS BY ANDY SMITH

moatzarella!

Question What word b : eco shorter when mes y add two lette ou rs?

Answer: Short!

What do you call

a frog

A

that looks on e? the bright sid

hoptimist!

Printing and distribution Warners Midlands PLC, The Maltings, Manor Lane, Bourne, Lincolnshire, PE10 9PH Editorial enquiries editor@whatonearth.co.uk Subscriptions 01778 392479 whatonearth.co.uk Picture credits Selected library images from: Getty Images; Shutterstock; iStock; Alamy; NASA. What on Earth: Wildlife Photographer of the Year/Nima Sarikhani; Nikon Small World/ Ole Bielfeldt; Comedy Wildlife Awards/Alex Pansier. Eureka: U of K/Brent Seales; Shawn Miller.

Copyright 2024 What on Earth Magazines Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, including photocopying, without permission in writing from the publishers.

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