1. Earth is the third planet from the Sun and is the largest of the terrestrial planets. It gets its name from an old English word ‘erda’ which means ‘ground or soil’. How does this set apart our planet from all other planets in the solar system?
2. The longest mountain range on earth is actually underwater. It is called the mid ocean ridge system. It stretches for 80,000 km all around the world and the whole thing is completely volcanic. It is nearly 20 times longer than the longest range on the surface which spans seven countries. Which is the longest above-water mountain range in the world, stretching across 7,000 kms?
3. The earth has a solid inner core of Iron alloys, which is surrounded by a 2400-km thick liquid outer core composed of iron and nickel. The motion of the liquid in the outer core is driven by heat flow from the inner core, which is about 5,730 °C. Heat escapes from the inner core and causes electric currents in the conductive material. What does this create that protects our planet from dangerous solar winds which would destroy our ozone layer?
4. Tides on earth are caused by the gravitational pull of the moon. The change in strength of the moon’s gravity from one side of the earth to the other causes water to bulge on the side of the earth towards the moon, and also away. The earth is turning all the time, pushing the tidal bulges around. Some of the energy of the earth’s rotation goes into pushing the moon into a higher orbit, and some of its energy goes into frictional heating of the sloshing ocean water. What tiny difference does this make which, on accumulation over years, will lead to changes in time?
5. Chlorophyll, the photosynthetic pigment in plants, absorbs mainly blue and red wavelengths from the Sun and reflects green ones, and it is this reflected light that gives plants their green colour. Chlorophyll appeared after another light-sensitive molecule called retinal was already present on early earth. Retinal, found in photosynthetic microbe called halobacteria, absorbs green light and reflects back red and violet light. Chlorophyll evolved to make use of the blue and red light, since all the green light was already absorbed by these organisms. So if you went back in time, what colour would Earth have been instead of green?
6. Eratosthenes of Cyrene was the chief librarian at the Library of Alexandria and invented the discipline of geography. In 240 BC he noted the angles of shadows in two cities on Summer Solstice, and by using his knowledge of geometry and the distance between the cities he became the first person on record to say what about the Earth?
7. You may feel like you’re standing still, but you’re actually moving really fast, because the earth is spinning around its axis, like a basketball on the tip of your finger. Depending on where you are on the globe, you could be spinning through space at just over 1,600 kms per hour. In which part of the earth would you need to be travelling the fastest and at which point would you be almost standing still?
8. This place is technically a desert as it is extremely dry and some places have not seen any rainfall in over a million years. It also has the coldest climate with a record of -89.20C being recorded once in 1983. Almost twice the size of Australia, this hostile terrain gets its name from the fact that the Greeks could not see the ‘Great Bear’ constellation from around here. What is the name of this place?
9. The lowest point on earth is the Mariana Trench which is 11,000 metres below sea level and only three humans have ever reached it. The lowest point on dry land however is a popular tourist spot. Because it is 418 metres below sea level it unfortunately means that any water flowing in to it has no way to flow out, hence evaporation is the only way water escapes. This leaves behind high amount of salt which adds to the tourist attraction. Which place is this and what is the attraction?
10. In the Blue Mountains of Eastern Oregon lives a pathogenic fungus called ‘Honey Mushroom’ (Armillaria ostoyae). There is one single specimen which primarily lives beneath the ground and blooms in autumn. When it does, it covers 2,200 acres. This leads it to hold what record title on earth?
Answers
1. The only planet not named after a Roman or Greek god.
2. The Andes
3. Earth’s magnetic field
4. Slowing of the earth’s rotation will lead to shorter days.
5. Earth would have had a purple cover.
6. That the earth was round and not flat.
7. At the equator you travel the fastest and at the North and South Poles you travel slowest.
8. The Antarctic
9. The Dead Sea where you can float on the water.
10. Largest organism on earth
A molecular biologist from Madurai, our quizmaster enjoys trivia and music, and is working on a rock ballad called ‘Coffee is a Drink, Kaapi is an Emotion’. @bertyashley
