Science Facts for Kids
Mind-blowing science facts
Atoms never actually touch each other. What we feel as touch is really the repulsion between the electromagnetic fields of electron clouds — so technically, you have never directly touched anything in your life.
Water is one of very few substances that expands when it freezes — water ice takes up about 9% more volume than liquid water. This is why pipes can burst in winter and why ice floats.
Glass is transparent because the electrons in its atomic structure are spaced in a way that does not absorb visible light — the photons simply pass straight through without being captured.
The human nose can detect up to one trillion different smells, according to research published in 2014 — far more than the long-cited estimate of 10,000.
Forests contain vast underground fungal networks — sometimes called the 'wood wide web' — through which trees exchange nutrients and chemical signals, even supporting sick or young saplings by sharing sugars.
Plants are green because of chlorophyll, a pigment that absorbs red and blue light for photosynthesis but reflects green light back to our eyes.
Black holes warp the fabric of space and time so severely that not even light can escape once it crosses the event horizon. Near a black hole, time itself slows down relative to a distant observer.
Pain signals travel slower than touch signals in your nervous system — that is why you feel the knock before the pain when you stub your toe. Touch travels at about 76 metres per second; pain at 1 metre per second.
Coral reefs are built by tiny animals called coral polyps, which extract calcium from the seawater to build hard calcium carbonate skeletons. This process takes thousands of years to form a large reef.
Rockets work according to Newton's third law: every action has an equal and opposite reaction. A rocket engine pushes exhaust gases downwards with great force, and the rocket is pushed upwards in response.