ScienceTaboo

> Mauna Loa in Hawaii is the highest volcano on Earth. It rises about 4 kilometres above sea level; below that, it extends to 5 kilometres down before it reaches the seabed. Its massive weight has pushed the volcano down a further 8 kilometres below the seabed! So Mauna Loa is 17 kilometres (56,000 feet) from its base to its summit.

> The Pacific Ocean is the world’s largest and deepest ocean. It has an average depth of over 4,000 metres (13,100 feet). It has the world’s deepest trench – the Mariana Trench near Japan. The Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench is the
deepest point on Earth– about 11,033 metres (36,200 feet) deep.

> The Nile is the longest river on Earth. It flows for 6,695kilometres (4,184 miles).

> All the planets rotate from west to east on their axes, apart from Venus, which spins in the opposite direction. On the surface of Venus, the Sun appears to rise in the west and set in the east. The planet might have been hit by a huge space rock, reversing the direction of its spin.

> All the planets are named after Roman gods. Venus is named
after the Roman goddess of love. The surface features of Venus are also named after various goddesses.

> The heart beats about 100,000 times in one day.

> The Sun’s surface temperature is about 5,760 °C (10,400 °F),
while its centre is an incredible 15 million °C (28 million °F) .

> Columbus believed he had landed in India when he reached America. He called the locals Indians.

> In ancient Greek and Roman myths, it was believed that the goddess Hera (Juno) spilt milk across the sky and called the white streak it left a ‘river of milk’. The Romans called it Via Lactea or a ‘road made of milk’. This is how our galaxy came to be named the Milky Way.