Indholdsfortegnelse for September 2022 i What on Earth! Magazine

PHOTOS HEAVENS ABOVE! The James Webb Space Telescope, pictured below, is the most powerful telescope ever built. After launching in December, the JWST is now orbiting the Sun about a million miles away from Earth. This spectacular image shows a part of the Carina Nebula where new stars are born. SCALE: 2 light years (1 light year: the distance travelled by light in one year at 186,282 miles per second or 670.6 million mph) SCUBA-DRIVING! The sQuba is one of the first cars that can be driven on both land and underwater. This electric test model cost more than £1 million to develop. It travels through the water like a submarine and can reach depths of up to 10 metres. THE INVISIBLE MAN Can you spot the Chinese ‘camouflage artist’…

Every four years, the best human athletes from all around the world gather to compete in the Olympic Games. At the Games, a series of thrilling athletic competitions decides who are the best women and men at running, jumping, throwing, swimming and lots of other exciting events. But what would happen if animals were allowed to enter too? You can find out here, as we celebrate the animal kingdom's most amazing athletes – showing in each event how the animals’ athletic feats compare to the best performance by a human. SPRINTING CHEETAH 75 mph PRONGHORN ANTELOPE 55 mph SPRINGBOK 54 mph Fastest human sprinter: 27 mph Did gou know? A cheetah can accelerate from 0 to almost 60 miles per hour in three seconds, which is quicker than many sports…

MUSIC WORD SEARCH Can you spot the 26 musical instruments hiding somewhere in our jumbo word search puzzle? Good luck! WORD WHEEL Use the word wheel to help find the answers to the five clues below. All the answers contain the middle letter, and each letter can only be used once. Clue: an optical instrument that makes distant objects appear nearer (9 letters) Answer: Clue: a spire on the top of a church tower (7 letters). Answer: Clue: to choose carefully (6 letters) Answer: Clue: a hard, strong metal (5 letters) Answer: Clue: a person who writes poems (4 letters). Answer: WORD MORPHS Change the word LOT to BEE in 3 moves by changing one letter at a time. Each new word you create by changing a letter must be…

Spotted: thousands of wild tigers! Big news! An international organisation that works to save animals has announced that there are as many as 5,578 wild tigers in the world, 40 per cent more than we thought there were. This is great news for tigers. But it might be an even bigger win for the people who count them. It turns out that at least some of that 40 per cent increase isn't because the tiger population is growing. It's because humans are getting better at finding them. Robot muscles that can lift 1,000 times their weight Do you ever feel like you could do with a helping hand, perhaps to carry the shopping or pick up your school books? Well, a team of scientists at the Italian Institute of Technology…

1666 The Great Fire of London began in a bakery on Pudding Lane on September 2nd. It raged for four days, destroying more than 13,000 houses, 87 churches and other important buildings. 1925 On September 17th, the 18-year-old Frida Kahlo almost died in a bus crash in her native Mexico. Kahlo's injuries were so severe that she spent weeks in hospital. While recovering, she started to paint self-portraits and, over the course of her life, went on to become one of the world's most celebrated artists. 1838 On September 3rd, Frederick Douglass escaped from slavery. The speeches he made and books he wrote about his experiences inspired many other black people in the United States in their struggle for freedom and equality. 2008 The Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland was…

Into the Woods Some trees can be more than 5,000 years old, which is older than the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt. Age increases across the scale from left to right A Whale of a Tale Whales are the largest creatures on Earth and also the longest-living mammals. Fish The longest-living vertebrates (animals with backbones) are fish. Raging Reptiles Reptiles are a group of vertebrates that include snakes, lizards, crocodiles, turtles and tortoises. They include the longest-living animals on land. Shorter Lifespans Not all animals live so long. Some have lifespans measured in weeks or even days. Ancient Invertebrates Invertebrates are animals that don't have a skeleton inside their bodies. This includes animals such as insects, clams, crabs and corals. Some of them can live for thousands of years.…

Readers ask. Experts answer. Send your questions to: experts@britannicamagazine.com DR NATHAN SMITH Palaeontologist Question: When were the first dinosaurs alive? From Robert, age 8 Answer Dinosaurs first emerged in the Late Triassic period, which began 237 million years ago. Fossils of the earliest dinosaurs to be discovered so far were found in the Ischigualasto Formation in northwestern Argentina in South America. Some of these fossils have been dated to around 230 million years ago. Dinosaur fossils are relatively rare at this palaeontological site, but around half a dozen dinosaur species have been described and named. They include prehistoric animals such as Herrerasaurus (see the artist's illustration, above) and Eoraptor. We know of lots of animals closely related to dinosaurs that were alive earlier in the Triassic period, so it is…

What is the best way to launch a satellite into space? For the last 70 years, the answer has been the same: load the satellite onto a rocket and then blast the rocket up into space. However, space rockets need to burn a lot of expensive and environmentally unfriendly fuel to generate enough power to break free from Earth's gravity. To solve this problem, a new machine called the SpinLaunch is trying a different approach. It spins the rocket around at speeds of up to 5,000 mph, before releasing the rocket so it's sent flying 30 miles up into the atmosphere. A half-size version of the SpinLaunch is already being tested in New Mexico, USA. If it is successful, a full-size SpinLaunch is planning to hurl its first satellites into…

SHOW WHAT YOU KNOW (If you read the whole magazine, these should be a breeze!) 1 According to some experts, a play written by William Shakespeare has been missing since 1603. What is the play's name? 2 Kermit has been one of the puppet stars of The Muppets for more than 40 years. What kind of animal is he? 3 The oldest-living creatures on Earth are thought to be… 4 A didgeridoo is a type of… 5 The world's largest species of water lily was recently discovered at Kew Gardens in the UK. Who is the new water lily named after? 6 Mayflies often live for as short a period of time as… 7 Carrots haven't always been orange. What colours were the first carrots eaten by people? 8 What colour…

Q What's the best thing about going to a mobile phone's wedding? A The reception! Q Why should you never argue with a decimal number? A Because they always have a point! Q Which invention allows you to look straight through a brick wall? A A window! Q When do ducks wake up? A At the quack of dawn! Q You throw me away when you need me and bring me back when I'm no longer needed. What am I? A An anchor! Q Why was the broom late for school? A It over-swept! Q What does everyone in the world always get on their birthday? A A year older! Q What kind of coat is always wet when you put it on? A A coat of paint! Q Say…