Science Facts for Kids
Mind-blowing science facts
In quantum physics, two entangled particles can instantly affect each other regardless of the distance between them — a phenomenon Einstein called 'spooky action at a distance'.
Earth's magnetic north and south poles have swapped places hundreds of times throughout history. The last reversal happened about 780,000 years ago.
An average cumulus cloud weighs about 500,000 kilograms — roughly the same as 80 elephants. It floats because the tiny water droplets are spread over a huge volume of air.
There are at least four states of matter: solid, liquid, gas, and plasma. Plasma is the most common state in the universe, making up stars, lightning, and neon signs.
Water is constantly recycled on Earth, so a glass of tap water almost certainly contains molecules that were once drunk by dinosaurs millions of years ago.
Sound needs particles to travel through, which is why space is silent. Without air or another medium, sound waves have nothing to vibrate.
Antibiotics only work against bacteria, not viruses. This is because bacteria are living cells that can be targeted, whereas viruses hijack your own cells to reproduce.
Light travels at exactly 299,792,458 metres per second in a vacuum. Nothing in the universe can travel faster than this, according to Einstein's theory of special relativity.
Trees communicate and share nutrients through underground fungal networks nicknamed the 'Wood Wide Web'. Mother trees can even send sugar to their seedlings through these networks.
A photon created in the Sun's core takes an estimated 10,000 to 170,000 years to reach the surface through constant collisions, but then only 8 minutes to travel from the surface to Earth.