From weight loss at the Equator and the true
length of a day to the planet’s largest organism and what really lies beneath the
surface after all, today we look at WEIRD Things You Didn’t Know About Earth! 12. You Weigh Less When Standing on the Equator
In keeping with Newton’s Laws of Motion, the outermost bulge of the Earth signified
by the Equator was created by its continuation in a straight line combined with its rotation. Since both the North and South Poles are closer
to the planet’s core than the Equator, an individual standing on the Equator would experience
less of a gravitational pull in relation to the Earth’s inner mass. Thus, if you were to travel to Antarctica,
weigh yourself and then do the same thing along any area of the Equator, you would weigh
less - approximately 0.5 percent less. So the next time someone inquires about your
weight, ask them if they have time for a quick trip to Ecuador. 11. We Are Always on the Move
As if people living along the Equator didn’t have it good enough weighing slightly less
than the rest of us, they also benefit from the fact that they are moving faster through
space than anyone else on the planet. In reverse, anyone sturdy enough to brave
the cold and stand at the exact point of either the North or South Pole wouldn’t be moving
at all. For the majority of us who find themselves
situated in neither area, while standing on our rotating planet, we are moving through
space at a speed of up to 1,000 miles per hour. According to Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, if the
Earth were to suddenly cease its rotation, most of us would be thrown several miles,
turning us into the largest collection of unrestrained crash test dummies in history. 10. The North and South Poles Flip
While Earth’s geographically established Poles remain the same, its magnetic Poles
change every few hundred-thousand years. This process occurs as a result of the ever-changing
molten metals deep beneath the planet’s surface. If you had the ability to stand in one place
with a compass, and then jump back in time almost a million years to that exact same
place, the compass’s perception of True North would change completely. The last time the planet achieved total Pole
reversal is estimated to have been just under 8,000,000 years ago. With each passing year, the Earth’s magnetic
North Pole shifts even more by roughly 40 miles. 9. Earth’s Largest Living Organism is an Invasive
Fungus When people are asked the question, “What’s
the largest living thing on Earth?” many would first jump to the idea of mammals
that reside either on land or in the ocean. Few would respond that it’s a giant mushroom
in Oregon, but that happens to be the correct answer. While the term, “giant mushroom” might
make you think of an illustration from Alice in Wonderland, the very specific type of mushroom
found in Eastern Oregon’s Blue Mountain Range is actually a thinly-stretched, rapidly
moving fungus that currently covers well over 2,000 acres. Known as the honey mushroom, this organism
is both stealth and lethal. It is poisonous to eat and kills almost every
tree with which it comes in contact. The reason why most of the trees affected
by the honey mushroom remain standing and in apparent good health stems from the fungus’s
slow, drawn-out attack on a tree’s inner tissue. As a result, it can take up to three decades
for a honey mushroom to kill a tree. 8. The Earth is Not Perfectly Round
Despite the images conveyed from space via astronauts and satellites, Planet Earth is
not, in fact, a perfect sphere. The myth that the Earth was flat and the story
that Columbus disproved its flatness were both disproven long ago. But ever since the early 18th Century, scientists
have known that the Earth is actually what Isaac Newton referred to as an oblate spheroid. This means that the distance between the planet’s
core and the Equator is actually longer than the distance between the same core and the
North or South Pole. Today, this shape is often called a squashed
sphere. In addition to its slightly indented top and
bottom, the Earth bares a stronger resemblance to a half-deflated balloon than is does to
a fully-inflated basketball. This is because our spheroid’s surface is
constantly changing due to a wide variety of factors, including shifts in weather, climate
and tectonic plates, as well as collisions with asteroids of varying sizes, over several
millennia. Additionally, the planet’s inner mass has
never been evenly proportioned. In order to keep up with the Earth’s changing
shape, scientists now use a technological approach called satellite laser ranging to
determine this big rock’s exact shape and size. 7. There Aren’t Actually 24 Hours in a Day
Just like how the Earth’s geographic Poles are different from its magnetic Poles, a day
on Earth is actually measured in two distinct ways. First, there is a solar day, which is based
on the Earth’s relationship to the sun and measures out to be approximately 24 hours. Then, there is the planet’s sidereal day,
which is based on the speed at which the Earth turns on its axis. That lasts 23 hours, 56 minutes and a little
over four minutes. The slight but surprising difference between
these two measurements allows for the Earth to return to its original position in relation
to the sun without causing the periods we know as daytime and nighttime to eventually
reverse themselves. 6. The Earth’s Core is the Same Temperature
as the Sun Even though all surface-level life on our
planet - including mankind - remains dependent on sunlight for its survival, the sun is not
the only source of heat and energy the planet has. According to a 2013 measurement and analysis
performed by French researchers, the Earth’s core temperature is roughly 6,000 degrees
Celsius, which is almost 11,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Using X-ray technology to simulate the pressure
and heat consistent with the core’s established depth, scientists were able to determine for
the first time that this inner temperature matches that of the sun. But it remains heavily debatable whether we
as humans will ever be able to harness the core’s energy the way we do with the sun’s
energy. 5. The Earth Recycles Itself
Through a continuous process as old as the planet itself, the Earth’s surface has never
consisted of the exact same material over the course of its 4.54 billion-year history. As magma cools and solidifies upon emerging
from beneath the surface, it hardens and forms igneous rock. These rock formations then shift as a result
of both tectonic activity and erosion. The resulting sedimentary rocks are eventually
pushed back into the Earth by forces of nature, where they form into metamorphic rocks and
eventually turn back into magma, depending on their placement. This perpetual facelift makes it so that the
Earth we all know today would be unrecognizable compared to the Earth of just a million years
ago - not only because of the absence of modern technology, but also because of its completely
different geographical make-up. 4. Much of the Earth Remains Unexplored
Despite the fact that the Earth’s oceans cover 70 percent of the planet, human beings
have only explored about 5 percent of those waters. Due to our lack of resources in thoroughly
charting the deepest reaches of our largest bodies of water, we remain in the dark regarding
the mysteries they preserve. Scientists agree that we have yet to encounter
some of the largest ecosystems the planet has to offer. Areas like the Mariana Trench, which is the
deepest spot in any ocean, have been determined to support thriving microbial organisms. A precise estimate of just how many has yet
to be reached. The rest of the ocean floor holds similar
unanswered questions, leading many researchers to speculate how large or numerous some sea-dwelling
aliens may turn out to be. And in the remaining frozen regions of the
world, there are countless preserved bodies of extinct animals, as well as still-living
prehistoric bacteria. 3. We Are Surrounded By Space Garbage
In addition to the Earth’s moon and asteroids that are pushed in and out of its orbit, our
planet is surrounded by both functional and obsolete satellites as well as the discarded
parts of long-completed spacecraft missions. Since the Soviet Union launched the Sputnik
satellite in 1957, well over 4,000 other satellites and manned spacecrafts have been sent into
orbit. Some of the residual objects have even escaped
our orbit, eventually crashing onto the Moon, Mars and Venus. Some have returned to Earth, often burning
up in our atmosphere. While the precise number of man-made objects
is impossible to determine, experts at NASA have concluded that it is far beyond a hundred-million
pieces. Regardless of whether mankind is still around
when extraterrestrial visitors finally pay visit, it is safe to say that plenty of reminders
of our dominion over the Earth will be floating around it long after we’re gone. 2. There Are Living Clouds
While you may sometimes hear the act of daydreaming referred to as “living in the clouds,”
you probably didn’t consider the fact that the clouds may already be taken. Clouds don’t just appear out of nowhere;
they require liquid or solid surfaces from which to draw their mass. These sources are called cloud condensation
nuclei, and they can include everything from dust to smoke to the exhaust emitted by aircrafts. In particularly warm climates, condensation
nuclei can also include bacteria. Since bacteria can spread easily through warm
air, and naturally collects water, it often finds itself at home within the vapor that
forms clouds. This is why biological nuclei are less likely
to found in snow found in Antarctica than snow from Western Europe. 1. The Earth Might Have Hidden Oceans
In 2016, an excavation in Brazil uncovered a diamond that had been resting for over 620
miles beneath the Earth’s surface. That’s roughly a third of the distance between
the planet’s surface and its core. The gem could not have been created through
natural occurrences without the presence of water. This discovery has added to existing scientific
theories that there may be large bodies of water deep within the Earth’s mantle. While the extent to which these bodies may
support life remains a mystery, experts are certain that they would not bear any resemblance
to the surface-level oceans we as humans have always known. And if there is marine life deep down there,
it would’ve had to adapt to extremely hot, molten temperatures as well as the complete
absence of light. The question is what’s more unsettling - the
potential for a visit from unknown extraterrestrials from space… or the potential existence of
alien life deep down below our feet?
