Curious Kids
Why does everything look flat even though the Earth is round?
“Why does everything look flat even though the Earth is round?” — Zayden, age 11, Corona, California Ever since the ancient Greeks first made observations of the circular Moon and the skies, scientists have known that the Earth is a sphere. We’ve all seen beautiful images of the Earth from space, some photographed by astronauts …
Why does time change when traveling close to the speed of light?
“Why does time change when traveling close to the speed of light?” — Timothy, age 11, Shoreview, Minnesota Imagine you’re in a car driving across the country watching the landscape. A tree in the distance gets closer to your car, passes right by you, then moves off again in the distance behind you. Of course, …
In what order did the planets in our solar system form?
“Are planets in the solar system that are closer to the Sun older than the ones further away?” — Gavriel, age 10, Paducah, Kentucky A cloud of collapsing gas created our Sun, the first thing to form in our solar system. This happened about 4½ billion years ago. Then the planets began to emerge, as …
Will the Earth last forever?
“Will the Earth last forever?” — Solomon, age 5, California Everything that has a beginning has an end. But the Earth will last for a very long time, and its end will come billions of years after anyone who is alive here now is gone. Before we talk about the future of our planet, let’s …
How many stars are there in the Universe?
“Exactly how many stars are in space?” — MeeSong, Brookline Massachusetts Look up at the sky on a clear night, and you’ll see thousands of stars – about 6,000 or so. But that’s only a tiny fraction of all the stars out there. The rest are too far away for us to see them. The …
Why do some planets have moons and others don’t?
“Why do some planets have moons and some don’t?” — Siddharth, age 6, Texas On Earth, you can look up at night and see the Moon shining bright from hundreds of thousands of miles away. But if you went to Venus, that wouldn’t be the case. Not every planet has a moon – so why …
How has the inside of the Earth stayed hot for billions of years?
“How does the inside of the Earth stay boiling hot for billions of years?” — Henry, age 11, Somerville, Massachusetts Our Earth is structured sort of like an onion – it’s one layer after another. Starting from the top down, there’s the crust, which includes the surface you walk on; then farther down, the mantle, …
Is Mars really as red as people say it is?
“Is Mars really as red as people say it is?” — Jasmine, age 14, Everson, Washington People from cultures across the world have been looking at Mars since ancient times. Because it appears reddish, it has often been called the red planet. The English name for the planet comes from the Romans, who named it …
Have we made an object that could travel 1% the speed of light?
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.
How high could I jump on the Moon?
“How high could I jump on the Moon?” — Miles, age 5, London, United Kingdom If you were lucky enough to go to the Moon, you’d be able to jump six times as high there as you can here on Earth. Try it: jump up and imagine you’re on the Moon. Six times further up …