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When airplanes were still a novel invention, seat belts for pilots were installed only after the consequence of their absence was observed to be fatal - several pilots fell to their deaths while flying upside down.
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| Earth is gradually slowing down. Every few years, an extra second is added to make up for lost time. Millions of years ago, a day on Earth will have been 20 hours long. It is believed that, in millions of years time, a day on Earth will be 27 hours long. |
| The length of time it takes for Earth to orbit the Sun is 365 and a quarter days. To make up this extra quarter which isn't counted at the end of a year, we have an extra day every four years on 29th February. This year, 2008, is a Leap Year. The next Leap Year will be in 2012. |
| Earth is the only planet in the Solar System to have water in its three states of matter: as a solid (ice), a liquid (sea, rain, etc.) and as a gas (clouds). |
| Earth is composed of three layers: a core, a mantle, and an outer crust. The core is composed of two parts: an inner core of solid iron and nickle (2,600 km in diamter), and an outer core made of molten iron and nickle (2,250 km thick). The mantle is partially molten liquid (2,900 km thick). The crust (8 to 40 km thick) is composed of over twenty plates that float on top of the hot mantle. The motion of these plates is called tectonic drift. Tectonic drift is responsible for seafloor spreading and continental drift. |
| Earth has an average surface temperature of 13 degrees C (55.4 degrees F). The planet would be much colder without greenhouse gasses, such as carbon dioxide and water vapor, to trap outgoing thermal radiation. The greenhouse effect raises the planet's temperature 35 degrees C (95 degrees F). |
| The surface features on Earth are extremely varied with vast oceans, tall mountains, rolling plains, canyons, swamps, and deserts. The tallest mountain on our planet, Mount Everest in the Himalayas, stands at an altitude of 8,872 m (29,108 ft). Located in Africa, the Sahara, the largest desert on Earth, spans over 500,000 sq km (2,123,000 sq miles) of land. The Grand Canyon, a canyon of multi covered rock terraces cut by the Colorado River, stretches over 350 km (217 miles) of land. |
| The Earth's atmosphere is composed mainly of nitrogen (77%), oxygen (21%), argon (.93%), and carbon dioxide (0.03%). |
| The Earth has only one satellite, the Moon. The Moon is the second brightest object in the sky. |
| The Earth travels at an orbital speed of 108,000 km (67,000 miles) an hour. |
| The Earth is the densest planet in the Solar System. |
| 71% of Earth's surface is covered in water. |
| The Earth is around 4.6 billion years old. |
| Earth is the fifth largest planet in the Solar System. |
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