Curious Kids
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 …