What on Earth! Magazine – December 2024 / January 2025

ENC WITH Y BRITCLOPAE ANN DIA ICA

What on Earth!

CHILDREN’S MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR

December 2024/ January 2025

MAGAZINE

e t a l o c o h C

.co.u.k99 h t r a £5 one what2976-7601 ISSN

PLUS

PUZZLE SPECIA S L!

EUREKA!

CONTENTS

Hear about the latest news and discoveries on page 10, including the mighty asteroid strike that made Earth’s oceans boil…

A wild and wonderful world awaits you inside!

GALÁPAGOS

Meet some of the amazing and unique wildlife that lives on the Galápagos Islands on page 60.

SEND IT IN!

Listen up, me hearties!

It’s time to reveal the swashbuckling winners of our Draw a Pirate Competition on page 58.

REGULARS FACTOPIA!

Follow the trail of crazily connected facts on page 4 all the way from an 8,000kilometre road trip to… hunting animals on skis!

2

SNAP IT Page 6

CHRISTMAS IN NUMBERS Page 28

WORD UP!

It is literally snowing words on page 18, as we look at some of the 50 or more words that English has for snow.

ASK THE EXPERTS Page 41

MAP IT! Page 15

LISTIFIED

From golf balls and space boots to 96 bags of wee and poo, find out about some of the interesting and unlikely things that astronauts have left on the Moon on page 16.

AROUND THE WORLD

On page 53, see what people from different countries and cultures wear to get married.

COMPETITION! To win ALL the brilliant books featured in this issue, just answer this question: In what year was the chocolate bar invented?

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

HOW LONG DO KOALAS SLEEP? Do you enjoy a nice afternoon nap? Then turn to page 12 to find out how long koalas – and other famously dozy animals – like to sleep each day.

THE STORY OF CHOCOLATE

HIDDEN PHRASES!

Can you decipher the visual clues in our new quiz on page 19?

JOKES & RIDDLES

Look out for this month’s festive selection, hand-picked by our jokes editor May, on page 66.

Take a VIP guided tour of Santa’s sweet factory on page 20 to discover (and celebrate) the long and fascinating history of chocolate.

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

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

ZANY FACTS

Antarctic emperor penguins rock back and forth on their heels to keep their feet from

Some explorers on long expeditions claimed they needed fresh milk for their health.

In the 1930s one group took three cows to Antarctica.

freezing

Follow the trail of crazily connected facts all the way from an adventurous teenage explorer to… hunting on skis!

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

The Maori – Polynesian people from what is now New Zealand – may have been the first humans to discover Antarctica, more than 1,300 years ago

The word ‘goth’ comes from the Visigoths, a group of Germanic peoples whose warriors conquered Rome in 410 CE

At just 16 years old, Shoshone explorer Sacagawea guided an American expedition through more than 8,000 kilometres of wilderness, carrying her baby the whole way.

START HERE 4

One of the most revered Mongols was Khutulun, a warrior princess who was also an undefeated wrestling champion

was at a re sea rc

h Japanese scientists discovered a chemical in strawberries that can be used to create ice cream that doesn’t

Antarctic midges – flightless insects – can survive being nearly frozen solid for nine months

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Scientists studying ice in Antarctica discovered frozen – but living – bacteria that are more than eight million years old Some Roman emperors ate an early form of ice cream. They had ice brought down from the surrounding snowy mountains and flavoured it with fruit and juice

of Antarctic f i sh have special species Some emicals in th h c e z e e e r ir blood f anti

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wh ! ing ski

The Amazon warrior women in Greek mythology were likely based upon the female warriors of Scythia (in modern-day Central Asia and Eastern Europe)

Scientists believe that Viking tales of legendary female fighters called shield-maidens may have been inspired by real-life warrior women

5

PHOTOS

MAKING A SPLASH!

When whales propel themselves out of the water it’s called breaching. Whales breach for several reasons, including to communicate. The splash can be heard for miles underwater.

To find out more about the way whales communicate, turn to page 42.

EUROPEAN PHOTO AWARDS/CLAYTON HARRIS

6

!

SNAP IT Astonishin g photos f rom around th e world

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PHOTOS

SLEEPING UNDER THE STARS

Stefano Pellegrini, the photographer who took this beautiful photo in the Dolomite mountains in Italy, stayed in the tent you can see in it. However, just after Stefano took the photo, his tent blew away – and then broke! Fortunately, he was able to repair his tent with tape before sleeping in it.

EUROPEAN PHOTO AWARDS/ STEFANO PELLEGRINI

OH, FOR GOODNESS’ SAKE!

DOUBLE VISION

COMEDY WILDLIFE PHOTO AWARDS/ZIKRI TEO

EUROPEAN PHOTO AWARDS/LI PO-YI

This pair of Adelie penguins were snapped on an island near Antarctica. The penguin on the right looks as if it has fallen over. The penguin on the left’s expression makes it seem as if it can’t believe what’s just happened!

This popular bookshop in the Chinese city of Chongqing has a mirror on the ceiling, which means you can see many of the books and staircases twice. This creates a great effect but does it also make it harder to find the book you want?

CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF CHEESE

Look carefully at this scene and you will notice that it is all made from food! The balloons are cheese or biscuits.

The baskets beneath are mushrooms. And the clouds are made from cauliflowers! It was created by a German food photographer called André Schösser.

EUROPEAN PHOTO AWARDS/ ANDRÉ SCHÖSSER

SNAP

!

IT

9

Eureka!

The asteroid that made Earth’s oceans boil...

Scientists have been investigating the site of a huge meteorite crash in South Africa. The giant space rock was 200 times the size of the asteroid that doomed all the dinosaurs. It hit our planet when Earth was very young, about 3 billion years ago. The crash caused

The asteroid’s impact site in South Africa

a tsunami, or giant wave, bigger than any in known history. It also boiled the oceans, causing extreme evaporation and raising the temperature of the air. But its impact had a positive effect, too – it churned up nutrients that acted like lots of fertiliser, allowing life on Earth to thrive.

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Why spiders really are

Bigger in au t umn!

When the weather gets colder, spiders like to come indoors, and you may see more of them. If you think these spiders look bigger than they did before… you are right! Spiders become adults in autumn and so are bigger in this season.

10

The latest astonishing discoveries, inventions and scientific breakthroughs.

NEWS

The world’s largest tree could be 80,000 years old!

Mount Everest (8,849 m)

The world’s largest tree is a quaking Aspen called Pando in Utah, USA. Pando is made up of 47,000 stems that are all connected by their roots. It is a clonal organism, which means its

The asteroid was 4 times bigger than Mount Everest!

stems come from the same genes. By testing mutations in these genes, experts can estimate its age. Pando could be 80,000 years old, making it one of the oldest living things on Earth.

Pando covers nearly 43,000 square metres.

Why chimps could never top Shakespeare The ‘infinite monkey theorem’ says that if a monkey or chimp typed letters randomly for an infinitely long time it would one day write Shakespeare’s plays by accident. Experts have now calculated that a chimp would need longer than the lifespan of the universe to do it!

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This huge and ancient tree is made up of many stems that share the same roots.

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HOW LONG DO ANIMALS SLEEP? All humans need to sleep – and it’s an important part of the lives of many other animals, too. However, as you can see here, some animals sleep very little, and others are champion snoozers!

Infographics by Valentina D’Efilippo

HOW TO READ IT

Each clock shows two circles that each represent 12 hours, and so add up to a 24-hour day.

The pink portion shows the average time each animal sleeps per day.

AFRICAN ELEPHANT

2 hours

Dolphins, like whales and other aquatic mammals, sleep differently from humans.

Instead of its whole brain going to sleep as ours does, one side of a dolphin’s brain gets some rest, while the other side keeps the dolphin semi-alert and breathing. Dolphins even sleep with one eye open!

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Giraffes sleep standing up for several ten-minute stints with their eyes barely closed.

They sometimes lean against a tree or another giraffe for support.

HORSE

3 hours

BOTTLE-NOSED DOLPHIN

8 hours

GIRAFFE

40 minutes

COW

4 hours

GOAT

5 hours

CHIMPANZEE

9 hours, 30 minutes

DOG

SQUIRREL

12 hours

TIGER

16 hours

Zzz z

zzz

z

CAT

14 hours, 40 minutes

15 hours

LION

PYTHON

18 hours

BROWN BAT

18 hours

KOALA

20 hours

20 hours Koalas eat more than a kilogram of leaves every day. All that eating and digesting requires a lot of energy, so they spend a long time sleeping to recover.

HUMAN SLEEP

Humans need different amounts of sleep at different stages of their lives. A new baby may sleep for as many as 16 hours a day, whereas a typical adult needs to sleep for only about 8 hours a day.

BABY

16 hours

ADULT

8 hours 13

ANIMAL SYMMETRY! Nearly all animals display some elements of symmetry, in which two or more parts of their bodies look the same. For example, a butterfly displays bilateral, or two-sided, symmetry: the left and right sides of its body are mirror images of each other. A starfish displays radial symmetry. This means that its body contains multiple lines of symmetry arranged around a central axis, like a wheel. The only group of animals that is classified as asymmetrical are sponges. Their bodies display no symmetry at all.

LINES OF SYMMETRY IN A BUTTERFLY

Bilateral symmetry

LINES OF SYMMETRY IN A STARFISH

Radial symmetry 14

T I P A M

THE LONGEST WALK IN A STRAIGHT LINE

of e ome out s luding th b a t c u n i o , ! e nd ns KS Fi uma raight lin t WAL ade by h s G a N n Y LO ke i er m , VER ks ev ible to ma VERY gest wal s s n s po the lo t walk it i s e long

The red line on this map shows the longest distance that you can keep walking in a completely straight line on Planet Earth.

Starting on the east coast of China, this epic stroll would take you on a journey of about 13,500 kilometres – passing through more than 15 different countries – until you reached the coast of Libera in West Africa.

If you were able to walk 30 kilometres every day – which is quite a long way in itself – it would take you more than a year to walk all the way!

DID YOU KNOW?

EUROPE

The world record for the longest unbroken walk is held

by George Meegan, who walked 30,608 kilometres from the tip of South America to Prudhoe Bay in Alaska between 1977 and 1983.

13,500 km

END Liberia in West Africa

ASIA

STA RT Zhenzhutan in China

AFRICA

DID YOU KNOW?

Plennie L. Wingo walked backwards all the way from California, USA, to Istanbul in Turkey between April 1931 and October 1932. At around 13,000 kilometres, it is the longest recorded backwards walk!

DID YOU KNOW?

Dave Kunst is the first person to have been officially recorded walking around the world.* Kunst set off in 1970 from Minnesota, USA, with a mule called Willie Makeit (‘Will-he make-it?’), which carried his supplies. It took him more than four years, plus aeroplane flights to cross the ocean.

*Some people think that Konstantin Rengarten from Russia was the first person to walk around the world, between 1894 and 1898. Rengarten’s route is thought to have included Siberia, Mongolia, Japan, the United States, France and Germany. But because his walk happened so long ago, it’s impossible to know for sure if he made it all the way.

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LISTS

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

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LEFTOVERS Eighteen things that humans have left on the surface of the Moon

1

Footprints

This includes the first one, made by astronaut Neil Armstrong’s ‘giant leap for mankind’ in 1969. Because there is no wind, rain or other weather on the Moon, the astronauts’ footprints are still there today.

2

A TV camera

3

Part of the Eagle lunar module

4

A gold replica of an olive branch

5

Mirrors

The olive branch is a traditional symbol of peace – on Earth, at least!

These reflected laser beams sent to the Moon from large telescopes on Earth. The laser beams helped scientists to calculate the exact distance between the Earth and the Moon, and to track its orbit.

6

A copy of the Bible.

It was left by astronaut David Scott in 1971.

Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin used it to film the first Moon landing.

This was used to travel from the Apollo 11 rocket to the surface of the Moon and back.

Because there is no weather on the Moon, footprints stay put!

7

Several US flags

8

A silicon disc

9

Scientific equipment

The flags contained special extendable metal poles so that they could be seen when they were unfurled, even though there is no wind on the Moon to blow them.

It is inscribed with miniaturised statements from the leaders of 74 countries. The disc has the words ‘From Planet Earth, July 1969’ in the centre.

This includes seismometers, which measure vibrations in the ground. Other scientific equipment used by astronauts to conduct lunar experiments has been left behind as well.

How do you know when the Moon has had enough to eat?

When it’s full!

10

What Goes Around

Twelve pairs of space boots

These were left on the Moon at the end of the Apollo 11 mission because the crew needed to lighten the load on their spacecraft for the return journey to Earth.

11

Two medals and a 9-centimetre-tall aluminium sculpture

These were among objects left behind to commemorate American astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts who had died during earlier space missions and training exercises. The sculpture is called ‘Fallen Astronaut’.

12

Ashes

American geologist Gene Shoemaker, who

The 10 biggest moons in our solar system

Lunar rovers like this one get left behind on the Moon, too.

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Three lunar rovers

Astronauts used these to explore the Moon’s surface.

NASA left rovers on the Moon after the Apollo 15, 16, and 17 missions. In recent years, unmanned rovers have also been sent to the Moon by China and India. In 2024 NASA has plans to send mini-rovers to map the Moon’s surface.

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Two golf balls

Astronaut Alan Shepard hit these across the surface of the Moon in 1971.

He had a special club made for the occasion and smuggled the golf balls to the Moon in his sock!

discovered many comets and planets, had some of his ashes left on the Moon.

13

A hammer and a feather

These were used for an experiment that demonstrated how gravity works on the Moon.

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A signed photograph

This was left by astronaut Charles Duke. The photo is of his family.

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Ninety-six bags of astronauts’ wee and poo.

Unnecessary objects get left behind in order to decrease the weight of the spacecraft returning to Earth.

Nobody needs bags of poo!

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A commemorative plaque

The plaque reads: ‘Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon. July 1969, A.D. We came in peace for all mankind.’

Europa is the smallest of the four moons of Jupiter that were discovered by the famous astronomer Galileo.

There are more than 200 moons orbiting the planets of our solar system. Earth has only one moon, but some planets have many!* Here are the largest moons in the solar system, measured by their width:

5,262 km 1,578 km GANYMEDE, orbits Jupiter

TITANIA, orbits Uranus

5,150 km

1,529 km

4,821 km

1,523 km

3,643 km

*For example, Saturn has at least 82 moons, and Jupiter has at least 79. Mercury and Venus have none. **Io is the most volcanically active moon or planet in the solar system. It has hundreds of volcanoes on its surface, some of which spew out fountains of molten lava that are dozens of kilometres high.

TITAN, orbits Saturn

CALLISTO, orbits Jupiter

IO,** orbits Jupiter

3,475 km THE MOON, orbits Earth

3,122 km EUROPA, orbits Jupiter

2,707 km TRITON, orbits Neptune

RHEA, orbits Saturn

OBERON, orbits Uranus

Listified!

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

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W R U !

SNOW MATCH

É NÉV

S

6. Snow that forms on a flat surface

SNOW

7. Surprise snow com ing in from the sea

MAN

8. Snow piled into th e shape of a person 9. Snow that drives it’s difficult to seeso hard

FROST

PEL

U GRA The Sami people, who are traditionally reindeer herders, can describe reindeer in more than a thousand ways!

For example, leami means a short, fat female reindeer.

SNOW

SQUAL

EOUT WHIT

L

FLURRY

Answers: 1. Corn snow, 2. Flurry, 3. Névé, 4. Graupel, 5. Snowdrift, 6. Frost, 7. Snowsquall, 8. Snowman, 9. Whiteout.

ay be You m to know ith ised surpr language w ow r sn the that st words fo ge of o a the m s, a langu s more t o ha c is S which ! , d n Scotla than 400

IFT

DR NOW

By Alison Eldridge Illustrations by Susanna Hickling

T

1. Coarse, wet snow forms from cycles thofat melting and refreezi ng 2. A brief snowfall th doesn’t build up at 3. Partially compact on the surface of aed snow glacier 4. Granular pellets of snow 5. A bank of drifted snow

N COR OW N S

IT’S SNOWING WORDS! Let’s look at why many words can refer to the same thing.

he number of ways a language has to talk about a certain subject can give you some insight into how important or common that thing is among the people who use the language. In places where it snows a lot, for example, people have come up with many words to describe different types of snow!

English has more than fifty ways to talk about snow, although most people don’t use them all.

Maybe you know words like blizzard or flurry. If you enjoy wintry outdoor activities like skiing you might know more snowy words than the average person!

The words written in the snowflakes are all ways people describe snow and snowy conditions in English. How many of them do you know?

Match the words fo of snow in the snowr types to these description flakes s:

1

2

HIDDEN PHRASES! Each of these pictures represents a common expression. Can you work out what each visual clue is trying to say? Don’t worry if you get stuck, the answers are at the bottom of the page.

Illustrations by Esperanza Hickling

3

4

6

5

Answers 1. First aid, 2. Big bad wolf, 3. Somewhere over the rainbow, 4. Double trouble, 5. Reading between the lines, 6. Half-term.

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How chocolate is made…

1. HARVEST Chocolate comes from the cacao tree.

Pods are harvested from the tree and beans are taken out.

2. FERMENT & DRY The cacao beans are fermented and dried, which helps to kill germs and develop the chocolate flavour.

3. ROAST Roasting helps the beans develop even more flavour. The time and temperature affect the taste.

e t a l o c ho

The story of

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s Let’ ! y r o ct the amazing What on Earth! Chocolate Fa mes o t i me ok at the history of chocolate from ancient t o ... elc ke a lo today, and maybe learn a sweet thing or two until ta

D I D YO U K N OW

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People in the UK are estimate d to eat 208 millio n boxes of chocola te at Christma s!

4. WINNOW The beans are cracked and their shells are removed, leaving pieces called cocoa nibs.

5. GRIND The nibs are ground up, which creates a paste called cocoa liquor.

6. COCOA LIQUOR Cocoa liquor is pressed at high pressure to create cocoa butter and cocoa powder.

IX e xed 7. M ocolat h e mi t r c a e s Th gh nt y mi edie ingr her. The t toge e cocoa d u l inc coa r, co k o u il liq er, m butt er or d pow . r ure g su a ixt is a R m E e ich d MP at TE ocol d, wh ng an . i h 8 a e t c a e er es Th emp of he reat ure t is t cess hat c tex y t pro ling shin nap! , o co ooth ely s v sm a lo d n is a te o a l S co s t e LD cho uld olat e U O red mo hoc hap M o 9. mpe int rs, c er s h Te ured e ba y ot p! o n m p co r a ink u be gs o n th eg u ca yo

CHOCOLATE TIMELINE! About 1900 BCE

About 400 BCE

Mesoamerican cultures discover how to prepare cacao beans into a drinking chocolate.

The Maya highly prize cacao beans and even use them as a form of money.

1662 Dr Henry Stubbes introduces chocolate to King Charles II. At this time, chocolate was thought to have healing properties and was used mostly as a medicine!

1700s Chocolate cafés became a popular spot for the wealthy to meet and drink chocolate.

Around this time, chocolate also starts to be used in desserts such as chocolate biscuits and chocolate wine.

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1824 John Cadbury opens a shop in Birmingham, UK. Among other products, he sold cocoa and drinking chocolate which he ground himself by hand with a pestle and mortar.

Where cocoa is grown NORTH AMERICA

EUROPE ATLANTIC OCEAN

Equator PACIFIC OCEAN

SOUTH AMERICA

ASIA PACIFIC OCEAN

AFRICA

Côte d’Ivoire

INDIAN OCEAN AUSTRALIA

D I D YO U K N OW

?

More than half of th e world’s co coa come s from just two countr ies: Côte d’Ivo ire and Ghana.

1500s Cacao trees grow best in a tropical climate, near the equator. The region they are grown in is sometimes called the ‘cocoa belt’. These trees were first grown in the Americas. Spanish and Portuguese colonisers brought them from their colonies in the Americas to

their colonies in other places, including Africa. Today over 70 per cent of the world’s chocolate is grown in West Africa. However, chocolate is not a very popular treat in Africa. Although the people there grow and harvest the beans, they are often not paid enough to buy their own.

The cacao bean is introduced to Europe

by Spanish colonisers returning from the Americas.

1655

1575

England takes Jamaica, which has many cacao plantations, from Spain.

Drinking chocolate starts to become popular among the wealthy – the price was equivalent to a week’s salary for a skilled tradesperson.

Italian explorer Girolamo Benzoni writes that chocolate ‘seemed more a drink for pigs’. He had no idea how popular it would soon become!

CARGO

CA C CAR RA G GR OGO O

1828

1847

Dutch chemist Coenraad Johannes Van Houten develops a process to create cocoa powder. This makes chocolate accessible to more people, as they don’t have to grind it by hand.

The Fry brothers of J.S. Fry & Sons create the first chocolate bar for eating by mixing cocoa powder, sugar and cocoa butter into a paste and pouring it into a mould.

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1873 The first chocolate Easter egg is sold by Fry’s.

BUDDY

ALFIE

NOVEMBER

OCTOBER

SNOWFLAKE

JINGLE

SEPTEMBER

AUGUST

1875

1905

The milk chocolate we know today is invented by a Swiss chocolatier named Daniel Peter, who adds powdered milk to chocolate. Previously fresh milk had been added to chocolate but it was difficult to keep the milk from spoiling.

Cadbury’s Dairy Milk launches. It was creamier than other chocolates, with a higher percentage of milk.

The name was made up by a customer’s daughter.

JACK JULY

1866 Fry’s Chocolate Cream is the first mass-produced chocolate bar.

Do yo D 1854 Cadbury receives a royal warrant to make chocolate for Queen Victoria.

I D YO U

?

K N OW

sing een u has b purple y r u Cadb stinctive e di nce th their per si p a . r s w 1900 early

Toblerone, a chocolate bar originally from Switzerland, stands out among the other sweets. It has a very eyecatching prism-shaped box and the chocolate bar inside is shaped into triangular peaks. It is said that the chocolate’s creator, Theodor Tobler, was inspired to form the chocolate in this shape by looking at the famous Swiss mountain peak called the Matterhorn, which is not far

1935 Rowntree’s introduces the Kit Kat, originally called Rowntree’s Chocolate Crisp. It has become extremely popular in Japan, where there have been more than 300 special edition flavours, including apple, cherry blossom and soy sauce!

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Helper of the month

SPARKLE JUNE

HOLLY MAY

GINGER

HARRY

APRIL

MARCH

DAVE

FEBRUARY

WAFFLES JANUARY

1912

1919

Howell Campbell and the Standard Candy Company create the Goo Goo Cluster in Nashville, USA. It is thought to be the world’s first combination chocolate bar, containing several ingredients and mix-ins. The original has nougat, caramel and roasted peanuts covered in milk chocolate.

J.S. Fry & Sons merges with Cadbury Brothers into a single company.

1920 The earliest version of the Mars company is founded as Mar-O-Bar Co. in Minneapolis, USA.

1930 Mars introduces the Snickers bar.

ou know the secrets of Toblerone? from the city of Bern where Toblerone was founded. In fact, until 2022 the edges of the Toblerone box featured a picture of the Matterhorn – with a hidden surprise.

If you look closely at the centre left of the image there is a hidden bear standing on its hind legs. The bear is a symbol of the city of Bern, which has

1936 Swiss chocolatier Nestlé starts selling white chocolate, a variety made with cocoa butter, sugar and milk.

housed live bears in a park called the Bärengraben, or Bear Pit, since at least the 1400s. Unfortunately, after the Toblerone brand moved a large part of its chocolate production away from Bern, Swiss government rules meant that it needed to remove the Matterhorn peak and the hidden bear from its logo.

TOBLERONE BEAR If you look closely at this ‘patch of snow’ on the mountain, you’ll see a hidden image of a bear which is standing on its hind legs!

1937 Rowntree’s introduces Smarties, which were developed for soldiers to eat during the Spanish Civil War. The hard coating stops the chocolate from melting.

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How famous chocolate bars got their names MILKY WAY

FERRERO ROCHER

SNICKERS

HERSHEY’S

Of course this chocolate bar, made of chocolate-covered nougat, shares a name with the galaxy we live in! But the name was originally made up because the bar was meant to taste like malted milk, which was a popular drink when Milky Way was invented.

These decadent hazelnut chocolates were named after their inventor, Michele Ferrero, and a rock grotto called Rocher de Massabielle, where the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to Saint Bernadette.

This popular bar, made of chocolate-covered nougat, caramel and peanuts, was named after a horse! Snickers was the favourite horse of the Mars family, who owns the Mars confectionery company. The chocolate bar was originally called Marathon in the UK to avoid the rhyme with ‘knickers’!

This iconic chocolate and its brand are named after Milton Hershey, who founded the Hershey Chocolate Company.

It was originally called the Lancaster Caramel Company.

M&Ms The familiar Ms on this sweet stand for the partnership of the Mars and Hershey companies that led to its creation. One M is for Forrest Mars Sr. and one is for Bruce Murrie, the son of the president of the Hershey company.

KIT KAT According to Nestlé, Kit Kat was named for the Kit Kat Club, a club for the elite in London in the 1700s. It was originally called Rowntree’s Chocolate Crisp and renamed Kit Kat in 1937.

TWIX The name for Twix, which is packaged as two bars, is a combination of the words ‘twin’ and ‘sticks’ (or ‘stix’). This bar was originally called Raider in Europe.

2007 Supporters of Cadbury’s Wispa (1983–2003) invade the stage at the Glastonbury Music Festival with a banner that says ‘Bring Back the Wispa’. The Wispa was reintroduced the next year!

1990 Cadbury World opens in Birmingham, UK.

1971 The Cadbury Creme Egg is launched.

88 1964 The book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,

by Roald Dahl, is published. The story has since been made into three popular films, including Willie Wonka & the Chocolate Factory in 1971.

Which countries eat the most chocolate?

This graph shows how many chocolate bars the average person in each country eats in a year.*

*These calculations are based on an average bar of chocolate that weighs 100g.

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D I D YO U K N OW

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Chocolate sculptures!

It takes a bout 300 to 600 coco a beans to make one kilogram of chocola te!

Chocolate can be difficult to work with, but once you learn techniques for heating and cooling it, you can make it into various shapes. FrenchSwiss chef Amaury Guichon is especially known for his amazing and mind-boggling sculptures made entirely of chocolate. He has even made a chocolate sculpture of a velociraptor which stood nearly 2.5 metres tall and weighed about 250 kilograms!

These sculptures of Big Ben and Queen Elizabeth II are entirely chocolate!

2017 A new variety of chocolate called ruby chocolate is introduced. It is made from cacao beans that are specially selected for their pink or purple colour. The taste is slightly sour, like chocolate with berries.

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deer that pull Santa f rein o r be n you name them all*? um eigh. Ca n l e Th us’s s a l C

9

RS

T S M I R A H S C

88

The percentage of people in the UK who said they celebrated Christmas last year.

I N N U M BE

The weight of the largest Christmas pudding, made in Lancashire, UK, in 1992. That’s heavier than a car!

364

The total number of gifts that ‘my true love gave to me’ in the song ‘The 12 Days of Christmas’.

So one for every day of the year except for Christmas Day.

73

n o i ll i 23.7 m

s tream otify s nt for p S f o mber ll I Wa The nu h Carey’s ‘A hristmas ia r u’ on C of Ma s Is Yo ’s festive hit a m t Chris a re y or 023. C he record f Eve, 2 nt na e o k s o r ream t has b s y if es.

Spot ur tim o most f y a d single

The estimated number of letters sent by children around the world to Santa Claus each year.

64.6 metres

The height of the tallest ever Christmas tree, which stood outside a shopping centre in Seattle, USA, in 1950.

l.

The st mea a o r as po perce eat n tat ed to Christm n n oes tage of peo a l p eir ple in the UK who said they at Ch t of th ristma s, making it the most popular par

100+

The number of adaptations of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. These include versions starring Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny and the Muppets.

There is even a version in the made-up language Klingon from the sci-fi series Star Trek!

*Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and Rudolph

6 million+

3.28 tonnes

r lou Co ! it i n

Inside this 12-page activity section, you will find quizzes to do, puzzles to solve and fun activities to try. And don’t worry if you get stuck – all the answers are on page 40.

ANIMALS 1

1

Which animal has the largest eyes? a. A blue whale b. A giant squid c. A tarsier d. An ostrich

2

Which of these dinosaurs could never have met a Tyrannosaurus rex because they existed on Earth at different periods in history? a. Triceratops b. Ankylosaurus c. Stegosaurus d. Pachycephalosaurus

3

How many bones does a giraffe have in its neck? Clue: humans have seven. a. 7 b. 17 c. 27 d. 37

4

Which of the following animals sleeps with one eye open to look out for threats? a. Cat b. Dolphin c. Gorilla d. Cow

3

HUMAN WORLD

1

What’s the name of the gold area at the centre of an archery target? a. Centre b. Gold c. Mark d. Bullseye

2

c. Anne Boleyn d. Catherine Parr

Which was the only one of Tudor monarch King Henry VIII’s six wives to survive him? a. Anne of Cleves b. Catherine Howard

3 1

In total, how many dots appear on all the sides of a pair of dice? a. 38 b. 40 c. 42 d. 44

4

First held more than 150 years ago, in 1871, what is the world’s oldest football competition? a. The FA Cup b. The World Cup c. The Community Shield d. The Copa America

30

TORY EMOJI HIS quences shown below reepyreeasrsents th e emoji se erson. Use Each of th event or p l answer. ca e ri th to t u is h u work o o y a famous lp e h ch clue to before ea A 1969 B 1509 C 1455 E

1815

D 1912

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!

WORD LADDERS Change the word LOST to MINE in 4 moves by changing one letter at a time. Each new word you create by changing a letter must be a proper word. Then try changing ROCK to LIME and LOAD to HERO.

LOST

ROCK

LOAD

————

————

————

————

————

————

————

————

————

MINE

LIME

HERO

31

HUMAN BODY

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

A

2 1 4

6

2

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1

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1

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1

Approximately how many different working parts are there in a human eye? a. 2,000 b. 20,000 c. 200,000 d. 2,000,000

2

What is nomophobia a fear of? a. Not having your mobile phone b. Forgetting your own name c. Something that you are unable to name d. Garden gnomes

3

Where abouts on your body would you find what is sometimes called your ‘anatomical snuffbox’? a. On the soles of your feet b. On the top of your head c. On the back of your hand d. On the back of your neck

4

What percentage of the brain is fat? a. 30 per cent b. 45 per cent c. 60 per cent d. 75 per cent

B

6

2

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3 6

2 3

3

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6 1

6

1

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.

32

Here is an example:

A

A  3

B



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.

 





1



  





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

4 3

2

5

6

33

Treasure Hunt!

1

2

3

4

Can you spot these 27 things hidden in the picture below? Plus, figure out what the 5 hidden letters spe

34

8

9

1O

11

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14

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2O

21

x3

x2

x3

ell. Clue: you find it in outer space. Don’t worry if you get stuck – all the answers are revealed on page 40.

UR JOK DO

EDITOR M ES

19

YOU FIN AN

7

C

6

?

AY

5

Illustration by Rod Hunt 35

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

Clue: you find them in the Alps, Rockies and Himalayas (9 letters) Answer: Clue: a giant ocean wave caused by an earthquake (7 letters) Answer:

S A

Clue: the smallest building blocks of matter (5 letters) Answer:

a pig’s nose U N Clue: Answer: T Clue: a very holy, kind or patient person N I Answer: Clue: a large ditch surrounding a castle O M Answer: (5 letters)

(5 letters)

(4 letters)

GEOGRAPHY

1

Which famously beautiful city is pictured in the photo on the right? Clue: the giant statue that overlooks the city is called Christ the Redeemer. a. Los Angeles b. Buenos Aires c. Barcelona d. Rio de Janeiro

1

2

2

The photo above shows an aerial view of one of the great natural wonders of the world.

What is its name? a. The Gobi Desert b. The Rift Valley c. The Grand Canyon d. The Okavango Delta

3

Which of the following world-famous buildings and monuments is the tallest?

36

Clue: it’s 312 metres tall. a. The Eiffel Tower in Paris, France b. Nelson’s Column in London, United Kingdom c. The Statue of Liberty in New York, USA d. The Leaning Tower of Pisa, in Pisa, Italy

4

Which European capital city is formed from two important cities that were previously separate? a. Reykjavik b. Helsinki c. Andorra la Vella d. Budapest

Winter Can you spot the 20 wintry words hidden in our jumbo word search puzzle? Good luck!

AVALANCHE BLIZZARD BOOTS CURLING DUVET

M

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MITTENS

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PINECONE SCARF SLED SNOW SOLSTICE TOBOGGAN

HIDDEN ANIMALS Four sneaky animals are hiding somewhere in these photos. Can you find them?

A

B

C

D

37

NUMBER TRIANGLES

SPACE

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.

1 A

1

In what year did an astronaut go on the first untethered, or free-floating, ‘walk’ in outer space? a. 1964 b. 1974 c. 1984 d. 1994

2

How many times could you fit Earth inside Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system? a. 3 b. 13 c. 130 d. 1,300

3

Ganymede, Europa, Enceladus and Titan are all types of what planetary body? a. Comet b. Moon c. Asteroid d. Dwarf planet

13

10 5

12

8 16

4

Approximately how many years would it take to drive a car at 100 km/h across our galaxy, the Milky Way? a. 120,000 b. 1,200,000 c. 1,120,000,000 d. 1,200,000,000,000

LINK WORDS

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.

A

B

B

A link word is a word that can be added to the end of one word and the start of another word to create two new nouns.

For example, the word SAND can be added to the end of the word QUICK to create QUICKSAND, and also added to the start of CASTLE to create SANDCASTLE. Can you think of link words that fill the gaps below and create two new nouns in each case?

SNOW — — — — BOX TIMES — — — — — CLOTH SPRING — — — — — RING 38

Can you spot all 2O differences between these two festive illustrations?

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

A

B

C

D

39

Answers Treasure Hunt The hidden letters spell: COMET

Futoshiki A 4

3

1

2

3  4  2  1

2

1

4

1

2

3

3  4

4

2  1

4  3

2

4

1

3

1  2

B 3

1  2  3  4

Sudoku A

Changing Rooms

Winter Word Search MD P D CW Z N E E R G R E V E T Q P O K A U I A Z D D Z Y Q E W T F O S G I K P E Q Z Y F F R E R Z R QW B B H N S G H R R O D R L A F I R E P L A C E T O H H B O B O D M Z P WG H GW K C A U B W B R G S H G I Z R K N N S L P V V Q I K O E T F X X R I D T H H Y Z S K A S C L WG V F T U W L Z J G L O L O G L D B N Y N S T OO B B I V H S E L D T AWS J E I O S A Z Q A H I B D K Z L S N U A Q X G A E N O C E N I P B I A N Y C C Y S L A J O D O T W F U K P Y E P I H P B C Q E C I T S L O S R Y M T O P F E M K A V C R P Q T Y Q F G J T V X L Q T D S R B U L J I E H D F L I V Q J O E V Y K F R R S F H J A T U M B L O Y V Q V B P F E L C I C I I N M V E Y H U Q G V X B R Q I M R WA L H R P J D D S R R Y A H V C N P X T E I R A A Z N A G G O B O T T X G T J GWMQ E V M I K I DWM L H L

Cube It! A

Number Triangles A B 9 13 4

2 10

5

12 1

10

8 16

D 6

Word Ladders LOST LIST MIST MINT MINE

Word Wheel 1. MOUNTAINS 2. TSUNAMI 3. ATOMS 4. SNOUT 5. SAINT 6. MOAT

ROCK LOCK LICK LICE LIME

LOAD LEAD HEAD HERD HERO

2 5 4 3 6 1

4 1 6 5 2 3

3 6 1 2 5 4

5 2 3 1 4 6

1 4 2 6 3 5

6 3 5 4 1 2

2 3 1 6 5 4

4 5 2 3 1 6

5 4 6 1 3 2

1 6 3 2 4 5

3 2 4 5 6 1

B 6 1 5 4 2 3

Connect the Planets A

Link Words 1. SNOWSHOE SHOEBOX 2. TIMES TABLE TABLECLOTH 3. SPRING ONION ONION RING

Spot the Difference

Picture Quiz

B Skis

Pine cone

Crackers

Stained glass

Lion

Clockwork

Hidden Animals

Emoji History

Squirrel

A. The first Moon landing B. Henry VIII and his six wives C. The Wars of the Roses D. The sinking of the Titanic E. The Battle of Waterloo

40

Moth

White weasel Camel

Quiz Answers Animals 1. b, 2. c, 3. a, 4. b; Human World 1. d, 2. d, 3. c, 4. a; Human Body 1. d, 2. a, 3. c – it’s the depression at the base of the thumb, 4. c; Geography 1. d, 2. c, 3. a, 4. d; Space 1. c, 2. d, 3. b, 4. d.

Ask the experts

Readers ask. Experts answer. Send your questions to: info@whatonearth.co.uk Answer

VANESSA TOLOSA Neurotech Engineer

Question: Can humans control computers using only our brains?

From Jake, age 11

Yes, there is already a technology that allows people to do this! And in the next ten years, I think people all over the world will be able to use it.

Normally, brain signals control your body. When you want to move your finger, your brain sends a signal to the muscles in your

1. THOUGHT

When a human brain makes thoughts, it sends out chemical and electrical signals. Those signals can be detected by a computer.

hand, which relax and tighten up.

But if we put metal wires very close to a brain, the wires can pick up those signals, and send them to a computer.

We can program the computer so that those signals trigger other things, such as the movements of a cursor on a computer screen.

Then, the person just has to think about moving their pointer finger, and the cursor moves up. With practice, it gets easier and easier for them.

It’s a bit like learning how to play an instrument.

After a while, they don’t even think about their

Neurons are brain cells that send signals to the brain and body. finger any more – they just think about moving the cursor, and it moves!

This kind of technology could be very helpful for people who are paralysed, which means they can’t move their bodies.

They could use their brains to control a computer, type emails or play video games.

There is still quite a lot that scientists don’t know about the brain, including how we think or understand the world around us.

But we might be able to use this technology to learn more about our thinking and our brains. This could help us find new cures for brain diseases. If we

learn how a healthy brain thinks, we can better understand how to help a brain that is sick.

And if we learn how animals think, we might even be able to ‘translate’ their thinking into human thinking, so we can ‘talk’ to animals! I’d love to be able to chat with an octopus…

2. THE CAP

A special cap like this one is covered in electrodes that can pick up signals from the brain and send them to a computer or other machine.

?

D I D YO U K N OW

rain human b A single ly t a oxim e has appr s, n o r neu 86 billion . s ll e c or brain

3. SCREEN

The computer can interpret the brain signals and use them to control things such as video games, emails and even prosthetic limbs!

41

How to chat...

HUMPBACK WHALE

By Dr Nick Crumpton Illustration by Adrienne Barman

Baleen whales are the pop stars of the ocean.

Several kinds are known to sing to each other: minke whales, fin whales, blue whales and – most famously – humpback whales.

H

umpback whales are masters of underwater concerts – and if you don’t like their songs, tough luck! They are so loud that they can be heard up to four kilometres away!

Humpback whale songs use very low notes that sound like groans and also incredibly high notes that sound like screeches. Their songs can go on for 30 minutes or more and be very complicated. Humpback whales also repeat songs in sessions, like concerts, which can last all day.

42

Humpback whales learn each other’s songs, but also mix them up, singing certain parts for longer and cutting out other sections. Very quickly, these songs change and become slightly different versions of the original song.

We don’t know for sure why humpback whales sing, but we do know that it’s only the males that do it. Some scientists believe the songs help the males to find a mate.

43

How to chat...

ELEPHANT SEAL Near the oceans of Antarctica live the gigantic southern elephant seals. Don’t let their peculiar noses fool you – these are some of the most dangerous and aggressive mammals on Earth. And that nose is a pretty incredible instrument for making some fascinating noises!

Hhai! Hhai!

(Where’s my baby?)

Elephant seal mums use this noise to call for their pups when they come ashore after fishing.

H u o ro This nasal roar means trouble’s afoot. This sound is made by males when they are challenging each other for the females. It means ‘if you don’t back down, there’s going to be trouble!’

Send It In!

We want to hear your best elephant seal impre ssions!

Record yo urself ma king the s noises liste eal d here and email the letters@w fi le to hatoneart h.co.uk The best s eal will win the new b a copy of ook How to Chat Chick en!

YEEEELLLP YEEEELLLP! (I’m right here!)

It can be tricky for females to find their pup in a crowd. So, a pup will shout back to their mum when they hear her call.

uh-o

! r a a a o

T!) (I’m the SCARIES

W HgI Ms Pr ,E rR . . .

(Oh osh, o ry so ry!)

If you’re face-to-face with a 4-tonne male elephant seal, it’s a good idea to let it have its way...

DRAW YOUR OWN

MANGA! Manga are comics and graphic novels that come from Japan. While there are many similarities between manga and Western comics such as Marvel superhero stories, there are some differences, too. Read on to find out about manga’s unique characteristics – then learn how to draw some manga of your own!

By Alison Eldridge Illustrations by Esperanza Hickling

BODIES/ HEADS 1 HEAD NECK 2½ HEADS BELLY BUTTON AND ELBOWS 3 HEADS HIP BONE 3½ HEADS LOWER PELVIS AND WRISTS 5 HEADS KNEES

6½ HEADS ANKLES 46

In art, body proportions are often measured by heads. The average adult human is 7.5 heads tall. Manga characters are usually between 6 and 8 heads tall. Let’s practise drawing some body proportions.

1 2 3

½ of the total height (head to lower pelvis)

4 5 6 7

FACES/EYES Manga characters tend to have very expressive faces, often with large eyes and a smaller nose and mouth. Sometimes their features change entirely to emphasise the emotion – for instance their eyes might become hearts when they feel love. You can see some examples on the right.

½ of the total height (Legs)

Doraemon, pictured above, is clearly feeling love!

What kind of face do you make when you see something or someone you love?

ANIME

Popular manga series are often turned into television cartoons called anime.Haikyu!!, the series pictured here, started as a manga in 2012 and its anime started in 2014.

HAPPY

SPEECHLESS

SCARED

LOVE

OUCH

SILLY

ANGRY

CRYING WITH LAUGHTER

CRYING

JAWDROP

TIRED

IRRITATED

WHAT OTHER EXPRESSIONS DO YOU MAKE?

Try looking at your face in a mirror while you draw.

How do your eyes, mouth and eyebrows look when you are happy? Sad? Sleepy? What other faces can you make? If you have a wipe-off marker you could even try drawing the lines of your face on the mirror!

47

MANGA

SHOUJO VS SHOUNEN

Manga is often divided into two main categories: shoujo (‘girl’) and shounen (‘boy’). Shoujo manga often revolves around romance plots or female main characters. A popular category of shoujo is ‘magical girl’ manga, with teenage girl characters who transform into superheroes, such as Sailor Moon (above). Shounen manga often involves fighting, space travel or monsters. It usually centres around male characters. An example of shounen manga is the ninja series Naruto, pictured right. But of course all manga has readers of all genders!

SHOUNEN

Shounen, or ‘boy’ manga, is often more action-oriented than shoujo, or ‘girl’ manga.

ALL TURNED AROUND!

CLOTHING

One of the first things you’ll probably notice about manga is that these comics are read in the opposite order from what we’re used to.

Compared to a Western book, manga is read back-to-front. It is also read right-to-left. This is how Japanese is traditionally written.

Let’s give your character some clothes!

Is your character a superhero, a scientist, a student? In Japan, most kids wear uniforms to school.

Japanese school uniforms are based on European naval-style uniforms. Here are some examples.

T A U O N P D L T E R O F I T G D ! H O T W N

1 2 4 3 2 7 6 5 8 3

Here’s an example of the order manga panels and speech bubbles should be read in.

1

CHIBI/ SD USUAL PROPORTIONS

In manga it is common to see characters drawn in a super-cute small form called ‘chibi’ (which means ‘small’ in Japanese) or ‘super deformed (SD)’. Chibi characters are usually 2 or 3 heads tall and have exaggerated features like even larger eyes and smaller mouths.

TWO HEADS TALL

D I D YO U K N OW

?

In Western countries comics are often published as single issues. In Japan it is common to have m any storie s in large magazine s hundred s of pages lo ng!

BLACK-AND-WHITE

In some manga, a character will be depicted in chibi form if they are having a big emotion or for comedic purposes.

THREE HEADS TALL

While Western comics are known for their brightly coloured heroes, manga is often drawn in black and white. This is in part to make printing them easy and cost-effective. It also allows for the artist’s pencil style and shading to be emphasised.

NOW YOU TRY! Manga is thought to have originated in scrolls from as early as 1200 CE. Above is an example of some manga pages from the 1800s.

Draw some boxes on a sheet of A4 paper to be your manga comic panels. Now make up a story about the character you’ve created! Create your drawings in the panels to tell the story. Use speech bubbles to show what the characters are saying, and boxes for other story details. Don’t forget to arrange your story in order from top to bottom and right to left!

49

ICEBERG AHEAD!

Icebergs are chunks of ice that break off from glaciers or ice shelves and float in the ocean. They’re found in oceans around Antarctica, in the Arctic and near lakes fed by glaciers. Icebergs are made of solid freshwater ice, and they are mostly hidden underwater, making them dangerous to ships. They can drift on the ocean for thousands of kilometres, but when they reach warm waters they melt away.

Infographics by Valentina D’Efilippo

Very large

Height above water metres, m

 Height above water: 76 metres (m) or taller  Width: 214 metres (m) or wide

100 80 60

Large

Smallest iceberg within this size bracket

 46–75m  123–213m

40 20 0

Equivalent to the length of... more than 8 blue whales

about 8 blue whales

A blue whale is about 25m long No matter how big icebergs get, they will always float on water because they are less dense than water – the same way ice cubes always float in a glass of water.

Iceberg shapes There are two types of iceberg: those that look like tables, and those that don’t look like tables.

Scientists decided to call them tabular and non-tabular icebergs.

50

Tabular

The most common type of iceberg, tabular icebergs are large with straight sides and a flat top.

They come from ice sheets.

ARCTIC

ANTARCTIC

North Pole

South Pole

Calving glaciers Some icebergs come from glaciers, or large masses of slowly moving ice.

Glaciers are made of snow that has been pressed together over hundreds of years.

In a process called calving, pieces of a glacier break off into the ocean. On the maps to the right, you can see that there is much more ice in the Antarctic than in the Arctic. This is because the ice in the Antarctic sits on top of land, and the ice in the Arctic sits on top of ocean. Ocean holds more heat than land, and so the Arctic is warmer than the Antarctic.

Medium

 16–45m  61–122m

about 5 blue whales

Small

Bergy bit

 5–15m  15–14m

 1–4m  5–14m

Growler

 1m or shorter  5m or narrower

about 2 blue whales

We penguins use icebergs to stay safe from predators such as killer whales.

Non-tabular

Dome These have rounded tops, usually with a smooth surface.

Pinnacle Spires of ice that stick out from the submerged part of the iceberg.

Wedge These are like a wedge of cheese with a steep face on one side and a smooth slope.

Drydock Two or more tall columns of ice that make a U-shape.

Blocky Steep, vertical sides and a flat top that look like huge ice cubes.

51

O D N’T E Y E BE

LI E

VE

!

T I

Amazing optical illusions that trick your brain…

Which coloured line is longer?

Look at the red and blue coloured lines in the image above. Which line do you think is longer?

At first glance, it seems as if the blue line must be longer than the red line. Now take a ruler and measure both lines. Incredibly, the red and blue lines are exactly the same length!

This optical illusion is created by the way in which your brain interprets the grids of black lines that connect the red and blue lines together. The black lines form a shape that looks as if it is three-dimensional. This apparently three-dimensional shape fools your brain into thinking that the red line is closer to you and that the blue line is further away.

52

Your brain knows from experience that a faraway object appears smaller than it does when it is close to you. Your brain therefore concludes that if the ‘far away’ blue line and the ‘closer to you’ red line were placed side by side, the blue line would be longer than the red line.

But your ruler proves that this isn’t true at all!

Still not convinced? Visit www.whatonearth. co.uk/illusions or scan the QR code to see the illusion shown above and a version of the image in which the grid of black lines has been removed and it is instantly obvious that the red and blue lines are the same length.

WEDDINGS

H

ave you been to a wedding?

Weddings can be as unique as the people who are getting married. Many people like to add elements of their culture into their weddings – from what they eat to what they wear! When people of different cultural backgrounds get married, they might even mix them together. Here are just a few of the ways people around the world have dressed to get married.

Continued on next page 

53

TABI split-toe socks

HAKAMA wide trousers

FAN a symbol of good luck

HAORI kimono jacket

ZORI flat sandals

SHIROMUKU white kimono on top and more colourful layers underneath

AGBADA flowing robe

BEADS represent wealth

FILA cap

BUBA shirt

IRO wrap-around skirt

BEADS represent wealth

GELE head tie

FAN the bride might use her fan on the dance floor!

IPELE shawl

Nigerian weddings vary based on the ethnic group the people getting married belong to. Yoruba people often have church weddings in a black suit for men and white gown for women, but they may change clothes several times over the course of the wedding. For a traditional style, Yoruba brides often dress in a skirt and blouse and may also wear a veil and shawl. Grooms will often wear an agbada in a similar colour or pattern to the bride’s dress.

Many people in Japan today opt for Western-style chapel weddings with suits and gowns, but some prefer a wedding in the style of the Shinto religion. For this kind of wedding, both brides and grooms may wear kimono, a type of traditional Japanese clothing. The bride often wears all white, or white with colourful layers underneath. She may also wear a wig or a hood or headdress. Bride and groom may both carry fans as a symbol of good luck in their marriage.

WATABOSHI hood

NIGERIA

JAPAN

DUPATTA sash

PAGRI turban

JOOTI shoes

SHERWANI groom’s coat

ODHNI cloth often worn as a veil

JOOTI shoes

LEHENGA type of skirt

MEHNDI henna patterns applied to hands and feet

MORNING COAT traditional suit coat

WAISTCOAT worn over a shirt

BUTTONHOLE flower worn on the jacket lapel TIARA

CRAVAT wide tie

GOWN traditionally white

VEIL the bride wears this to walk down the aisle

BOUQUET bridal flowers

The common Western tradition of a bride wearing a white dress was popularised

by Queen Victoria in the 1800s. The groom will often wear a black tuxedo. In the UK, US and other countries, when two women get married they may both wear white dresses, or one or both may wear white suits in keeping with this tradition.

India is home to nearly 1.5 billion people who are part of thousands of ethnic, tribal and religious groups, so there are many, many different ways weddings are celebrated. This example is from the state of Rajasthan. You might notice a lot of red, which represents happiness and good luck. Indian weddings often last several days and have many events, which might require even more outfits!

JEWELLERY the bride often wears nice jewels

UNITED KINGDOM

INDIA

BABOUCHE heelless slippers

TAKCHITA kaftan

JABADOR trousers, tunic and vest

BABOUCHE heelless slippers

BELT richly decorated

BELT often beaded or embroidered

BUKSESELER suspenders

FRAKK coat

BRIDAL CROWN traditional jewellery

SKO shoes

STAKK woollen skirt

In Norway some people decide to get married in the traditional Norwegian costume, called a bunad. Both men and women wear bunads, which often have elaborate embroidery and may include scarves or shawls or fringe. Brides and grooms both might wear gold and silver jewellery to add some sparkle.

In Morocco there are many traditions for different regions and groups.

One common wedding style is for the bride to wear a layered kaftan called a takchita with a wide belt at the middle. The top layer might be white or a bright colour made of rich fabric with detailed embroidery. The traditional outfit for a groom is called a jabador. Moroccan weddings often have several events, so there might be changes of clothes, too!

KEP cape with brooches

NORWAY

MOROCCO

SANDALS with woven straps

POLLERA embroidered dress

CHULLO hat with ear flaps MONTERA traditional hat

MASI CLOTH worn over the upper body

FAN traditionally woven

SULU sarong made of woven mats

SALUSALU necklace of flowers

MASI DRESS made of masi with designs

FLOWERS worn in the hair

For a traditional wedding in the island of Fiji, both brides and grooms wear clothes made of masi, which is bark that comes from a Fijian tree, or of mats made of woven leaves. The style varies based on where the people getting married are from. Traditionally, masi is pleated and tied around the body; nothing is sewn by machine. Modern brides sometimes wear sewn gowns made of masi like the one below. Clothes for both bride and groom are decorated with intricate patterns.

In the country of Peru, colourful embroidery is an important cultural tradition.

Brides sometimes wear a dress which has designs embroidered on it. The dress may also have colourful fabric or lace or an embroidered belt, as in the example below. The groom might wear a colourful poncho or wool cap.

PONCHO outer layer

FIJI

PERU

SEND IT IN!

1PsLAtCE

FREYA, 8

WINNER: AGES 5–6 LARA PENNY, 6

Meet the swashbuckling pirate crew recruited by our readers!

Avast mateys! To celebrate World Talk Like a Pirate Day, which takes place on 19th September, we invited shipmates and scurvy dogs everywhere to send in their best pirate drawings.

As you can see, the results created this splendidly fearsome crew of pirates, parrots and sharks – plus the most dangerous dachshund ever to sail the

seven seas, Pirate Sausage Dog. A special pirate salute and celebratory ‘Yo ho ho!’ must go to our three age-category winners: 6-year-old Lara Penny, 8-year-old Kemal and 9-year-old Julian. But a huge well done to everyone who entered! To watch a video showcasing all your fantastic pirate pictures, set sail for: www.whatonearth.pub/pirates

LEXIE, 7

SOPHIE, 9

1st

PLAC E

THOMAS, 7

WINNER: AGES 7–8 KEMAL, 8 58

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 Senior Designer & Illustrator Susanna Hickling

ROMAN, 6

KAYAL, 7

JOSEPH, 8

Production Sarah Epton

1st

PLAC E

Contributors Andy Forshaw, Andy Smith, Paige Towler, Rose Davidson, Julie Beer, Valentina D’Efilippo, Kate Hale, Conrad Quilty-Harper, May, Dr Nick Crumpton, Adrienne Barman, Dan Knight, Esperanza Hickling, Amy Grimes, Karen Romano Young With thanks to Andy Forshaw, Natalie Bellos, Helen Thewlis and the whole team at What on Earth Publishing Editorial Consultant Nancy Feresten Marketing Director Luise Mulholland Business Development David Falzani

OSCAR, 8

CEO, What on Earth Magazines Christopher Lloyd For Encyclopaedia Britannica Mary McCudden, Director, Middle School and Elementary Products Printing and distribution Warners Midlands PLC, The Maltings, Manor Lane, Bourne, Lincolnshire, PE10 9PH Editorial enquiries letters@whatonearth.co.uk Subscriptions 01778 392479 whatonearth.co.uk Picture credits Library images from: Getty Images; Shutterstock; Alamy; iStock; NASA.

WINNER: AGES 9+ JULIAN, 9

IVY, 7

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Awards

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NATHANIEL, 6

YESHASVI , 8 59

OME TO THE...

WELC

galÁpagos Islands

From giant tortoises to green sea turtles, the Galápagos are full of natural wonders. This article, adapted from a brilliant new book, explores what makes the islands so special.

By Karen Romano Young and Chris Harrison. Illustrations by Amy Grimes

A

ccording to Juan Pablo Muñoz, a marine biologist at the Galápagos Science Centre, ‘The Galápagos is the last frontier, the best preserved place on Earth. I think every kid in the world should visit here once in their life and experience this place that is like something out of a storybook.’ So why is this group of 21 islands, located in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of South America (see map, right), so special?

The main reason is the Galápagos islands’ extraordinary wildlife. People live on just 3 per cent of the land. The other 97 per cent – and the ocean surrounding it – has been set aside as the giant Galápagos National Park, so that the many rare species that live here are safe and continue to thrive. It also helps teams of scientists and researchers to study them to find out more about life here and how it evolved.

Marine iguanas are the only lizards that spend time in the oceans.

Flightless cormorants

Marine iguana

Sally Lightfoot crab 60

FACTFILE: ABOUT THE ISLANDS WHERE ARE THE GALÁPAGOS ISLANDS?

Darwin

The Galápagos consist of 13 major islands, six smaller islands, and many very small islands called islets. They lie along the Equator in the eastern Pacific Ocean, 1,000 kilometres west of Ecuador. The islands are spread out over a large area of 59,500 square kilometres.

HOW WERE THEY FORMED?

The Galápagos were formed by volcanoes. Some of the volcanoes are still active.

The landscape includes many mountains, craters and cliffs.

The islands receive little rainfall and temperatures are fairly low.

WHAT PLANTS AND ANIMALS LIVE THERE?

Because the Galápagos are so isolated, the plants and animals found there are very unusual. Cactus forests grow in the dry lowlands, while the uplands are covered with thick, moist vegetation, such

Wolf

WHAT ABOUT HUMANS?

THE GALÁPAGOS ISLANDS

PACIFIC OCEAN

The Galápagos Islands PACIFIC OCEAN

Pinta Genovesa

Marchena

EQ UATO R San Salvador Fernandina

Bartolomé

Baltra

Rabida Santa Cruz Isabela

N

Tortuga 60 miles

as ferns and mosses. Giant tortoises were once so abundant that Spanish explorers named the islands after them. The Spanish word galápago means ‘tortoise’.

The Galápagos tortoises live

The Bryde’s whale doesn’t raise its flukes (tail) when it dives.

North Seymour

Santa Fe

Pinzon Floreana

San Cristóbal Española

up to 150 years, which is believed to be longer than any other land animal. (For more about tortoises, turn to page 64.) The islands also have rare marine iguanas, which feed on seaweed.

The Galápagos belong to Ecuador, and most of the people living here are Ecuadorans. They live on the larger islands.

Many of the islands have no people. Tourism, fishing and agriculture are the main parts of the economy.

WHY ARE THE GALÁPAGOS FAMOUS?

The Galápagos are famous because of the scientist Charles Darwin. After studying the plants and animals on the islands in the 1800s, Darwin developed his theory of evolution.

The theory, which explains how living things change over time, changed the science of biology forever. Darwin was not the first person to see the Galápagos, but they were not a common destination before his visit.

They are so far from other land that they’re sometimes called ‘world’s end’.

The largest manta rays have a wingspan of more than 6 metres and can weigh more than 2,700 kilograms, which is more than a hippopotamus.

61

Life beneath the waves

Find out about the magical creatures that live in the waters around the Galápagos, and the undersea volcanoes which help life to thrive here.

T

he Galápagos islands are a hotspot for biodiversity, with an exceptional variety of species found on the islands themselves and in the water around them. Biodiversity is higher on the Galápagos than in many other places because there are so many different habitats, places where life can thrive on particular foods, water sources and places to sleep and mate.

Endemic species – those found only in the Galápagos – make up most of the indigenous land birds, mammals and reptiles – and around a third of the indigenous land plants.

Indigenous species were the ones here when humans arrived. Endemic species were here when humans arrived, plus don’t live anywhere else

in the world. And so the number of endemic species living on and around the Galápagos islands is a big deal to scientists trying to understand animal life and how it evolves.

A Galápagos sea lion pup.

So why are the waters around the islands so full of life? There’s something hidden beneath the sea that makes a difference: undersea volcanoes. New volcanoes on

their way to the surface and old ones – former islands – are hidden below the water. These seamounts, as they are called, are yet another Galápagos environment incredibly rich in life. ‘We’d go along the sandy, muddy seabed and see a fish here or there,’ scientist Adam Soule says. ‘Then we’d get onto the seamounts and they were just covered with life – corals, fish, anemones, sea stars.’

Seamounts are the underlying reason for some long-established fishing holes, so they’re crucial to the life of the islands. Mapping them is key to preserving this life.

Knowing exactly where the seamounts lie will allow Galapagueños to ensure the source of so much life will be carefully managed so it won’t be destroyed.

The Galápagos sea lion may also be seen sleeping on park benches and boardwalks, challenging humans for space.

Marine iguanas don’t have gills, but they can hold their breath for half an hour, possibly more.

62

The green sea turtle is the only sea turtle species that nests in the Galápagos.

Hammerhead sharks by the hundreds visit Darwin and Wolf Islands each year.

The Galápagos penguin mates for life, builds nests in cracks in lava, and produces up to three clutches of one or two eggs each year.

The Galápagos four-eyed blenny has a divided eye and jumps out of the water, skimming like a stone or off rocks, in search of insect prey.

The red-lipped batfish can startle you if you meet it in a dark corner of a reef.

The Pacific sea horse, also known as the giant seahorse, can reach 30 centimetres in size.

Brown sea cucumbers have been so overfished that close to 80 per cent are gone.

Sally Lightfoot crabs are everywhere you look in the Galápagos.

63

Saving the giant tortoises Among the most famous, rare and fascinating animals to be found on the islands are Galápagos giant tortoises. Hear their story, then meet the one and only Lonesome George.

T

he Galápagos giant tortoises are remarkable.

They can live to be well over 100 years old, much older than all but the longest-lived humans. The oldest one we know of lived to be over 170. The largest Galápagos tortoises (which are usually males) can reach 1.8 metres long and weigh more than 250 kilograms.

These tortoises are a big success story, with 20,000 to 25,000 giant tortoises currently living in the wild.

This is a lot fewer than the 250,000 of the 1500s, but much more than the dangerously low population of the 1970s, when the Galápagos giant tortoises looked in danger of vanishing altogether. Even with this success, three giant tortoise

The carapace, or shell, is part of the tortoise’s body and grows straight out of it. The carapace’s shape depends on the species. Tortoises in misty highlands have larger and higher-domed carapaces.

species may be extinct, including Chelonoidis abingdonii, the Pinta Island tortoise, of which Lonesome George, who died in 2012, was the last. To find out more about Lonesome George’s story, see the panel on the right. The other two species died out from Floreana and Santa Fe islands.

In the scene below you can

see children coming to visit the giant tortoises at Centro de Crianza, which is the breeding centre for the tortoises on Isabela.

Scientists sometimes attach satellite tracking devices to wild giant tortoises’ shells so they can learn about their migration patterns and paths on the islands of Española, Isabela and Santa Cruz.

Tortoises bask in the morning, absorbing sun through their scutes (scales) to warm up their cold-blooded bodies.

A tortoise’s tail plays a part in mating, urinating, pooing and balancing.

The plastron, or belly shell, of the tortoise protects its soft interior body. It’s connected to the carapace and the skeleton.

64

THE RAREST ANIMAL ON EARTH HOW LONESOME GEORGE GOT HIS NAME

Giant tortoises were extinct on Pinta Island – or so everybody thought. But then, in 1971, a scientist came upon Lonesome George (right), who was a Pinta tortoise and the very last of his species. In fact, towards the end of his life, George became famous as the ‘rarest creature in the world’.

A reward of $10,000 was offered to anyone

Tortoises living in the highlands have shorter necks, and those in the lowlands have longer ones. There’s a gap between their shell and neck, which suggests they had no predators while they were evolving.

who could find George a mate, searching not only Pinta Island, but other countries as well, including zoos around the world.

No such luck.

Zoologists encouraged George to mate with females from other species, hoping to get a hybrid (half-Pinta, half another

species) and keep the line going, but no luck with this either.

RETURN OF THE PINTA?

After Lonesome George died in 2012, scientists studying tortoises at Wolf Volcano, on Isabela, realised that some of them were actually half-Pinta

hybrids. How could this have happened? One theory is that long ago whalers set loose Pinta tortoises, throwing them overboard – and some of them drifted to Isabela.

So now zoologists want those tortoises to mate to bring back the Pinta species.

So far? Unfortunately there has been no luck with this plan either. However, the efforts to conserve these rare giant tortoises will continue.

GALÁPAGOS ISLANDS: THE WORLD’S LIVING LABORATORY

If you enjoyed reading this article, then you will also enjoy the book on which it is based, which is written by Karen Romano Young and illustrated by Amy Grimes, and available now.

65

Frosties!

What do

snowmen eat for

breakfast?

Que What d stion: id man sa the bald y when was giv he en for Chris a comb tmas?

An Thanks swer: – I’ part witll never h it!

Question: t s bu What fall hurt? s never get Answer: Snow!

!

A H HA!

What is a

reindeer’s favourite

party game?

Truorth deer!

They always

Why are

What do you call a

snowman with a

The

six-pack?

Abdominal Snowman!

66

Christmas trees bad at

sewing?

drop their

needles!

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

Question: What goe ‘Oh, oh, oh s ’?

Answ Santa Cla er: us wa backward lking s!

What does

Ssau nta

ffer from

if he gets stuck in a

chimney?

Claustrophobia!

What do you get if you cross

Santa with a

duck?

A

Christmas

quacker!

Who is the

naughtiest of Santa’s

ILLUSTRATIONS BY ANDY SMITH

reindeer?

Rude-olph!

What is a

snowman’s favourite

Question: What do you get if you cross a snowman and a lion?

Answer: Frostbite!

drink?

Iced tea!

!

L O L

67

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