What are some mind-blowing facts about the planet Earth?

 Earth hides oceans locked in solid rock and a metal core burning as hot as the Sun. Yet if you shrank the planet to the size of an apple, the atmosphere would be thinner than its skin.

This fragile envelope of life-supporting gas is incredibly shallow. Looking at photographs taken from the International Space Station, you can see this boundary as a razor-thin, glowing blue line separating the planet's surface from the deep black vacuum of space. The troposphere, which contains about 75% of the atmosphere's mass and almost all of its water vapor, extends only about 5 to 12 miles (8 to 20 kilometers) above the surface—a mere fraction of the planet’s 7,917-mile (12,742 km) diameter.

The thin blue line of Earth's atmosphere separates the planet from the darkness of space, as photographed from the International Space Station with the Moon in the background. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Beneath this thin shell lies a planet of extremes and hidden reservoirs:

• An "ocean" locked in stone: Deep within the Earth’s transition zone, between 250 and 410 miles (410 to 660 kilometers) below the crust, lies a vast reservoir of water. It is not a liquid sea, but rather water molecules chemically bound inside the crystal structure of a rare, high-pressure mineral called ringwoodite. If this transition zone is fully saturated, it could hold as much water as all of Earth's surface oceans combined.
• A lumpy gravity field: Earth’s gravity is not uniform. Because the planet’s mass is distributed unevenly due to deep mantle convection currents and the uneven thickness of the crust, gravity varies by location. For instance, parts of Canada's Hudson Bay region have lower gravity than surrounding areas, a remnant of the last ice age when thick glaciers compressed the crust, which is still slowly rebounding.
• The driest place is frozen: While the Sahara and Atacama deserts are famous for their dryness, the driest place on Earth is Antarctica's McMurdo Dry Valleys. These ice-free valleys have extremely low humidity, and powerful katabatic winds sweeping down from the mountains at speeds up to 200 mph (320 km/h) evaporate any snow. Some sections of these valleys have not seen rain or snowfall in nearly two million years.
• A solid furnace: Earth's inner core is a solid sphere of iron and nickel with temperatures reaching up to 6,000 °C (10,800 °F)—matching the surface temperature of the Sun. Despite being hot enough to melt any known metal, the pressure at Earth's center—about 3.6 million times atmospheric pressure—squeezes the atoms so tightly that they cannot transition into a liquid state.
• A planetary thermostat: Earth is the only known planet in the solar system with active plate tectonics. Beyond shifting continents, this process acts as a global thermostat through the carbonate-silicate cycle. Subducting plates carry carbon dioxide locked in rocks deep into the mantle, while volcanoes release it back into the atmosphere, stabilizing Earth's climate over millions of years.

What is the strangest place on Earth?

 Not many people can claim hell as their birthplace.

But Todd Domboski and the few thousand former residents of Centralia, Pennsylvania, come closest to that distinction.

Signs warn visitors of the dangers of death by suffocation or being swallowed by the ground, but the old mining town of Centralia, Pennsylvania, was once home to more than 1,000 people.

Now it is nothing more than a smoldering ghost town that has been burning for half a century.

It started with a fire that was intentionally set to burn out a landfill for Labor Day in 1962.

The problem was that the dump was also an old mine connected to a maze of abandoned underground mine tunnels full of coal.

Although the city managed to extinguish the fire above ground, a much larger inferno burned beneath it, eventually making its way under the city center of Centralia.

The fire was so widespread, destructive, and endless—it is said that there is enough coal underground to stoke the fire for another 250 years.

- that in 1980 a $42 million plan prompted most residents to move (most houses were demolished), leaving only about a dozen survivors behind.

What place on Earth would be more inhospitable to human life?

 Unexpectedly, it's neither the Sahara Desert, nor the icy plains of Antarctica, nor the dangerously deadly Amazon rainforest…

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Rannoch Moor , in the heart of Scotland.

Rannoch Moor is only six kilometers in diameter and doesn't seem so bad. But a few years ago, one of those crazy people who want to conduct survival experiments decided to challenge Rannoch Moor.

See that beautiful hut? Well, that's where they found 29-year-old David Austin, dead from hypothermia after trying to survive on Rannoch Moor.

The problem with this place is that it's very flat and open. And worse: the ground isn't solid. It's an area full of moss, where you'll walk through muddy swamps and soggy marshes.

There's nowhere to rest. There are no trees. There's no dry land. And if you try to cross Rannoch Moor even a little bit faster than normal, you're quite likely to badly twist your ankle.

What are some unusual natural phenomena that can be observed on Earth?

 Everyone dies, but it's such a rare event that it only happens once in a lifetime to anyone or anything. I think death is the rarest phenomenon that can ever occur to any being.

In the case of humans, death is extremely rare, and once it occurs, we are wiped off the face of the Earth, but I think we are simply transforming into some other kind of energy.

In nature, there are phenomena that restore what has been destroyed.

The same thing happens to us. We don't die; we simply change to adapt. Nature wastes nothing, not even waste.

I believe death is one of the greatest phenomena that occur in nature.

Edward Bohren, Shipwreck, Namibia

What are the places on Earth that are inaccessible to humans?

 This is Gangkhar Puensum, the highest unclimbed mountain in the world at 7,570 meters. No one in history has ever reached the summit, and likely no one will for a long time.

The mountain is located in Bhutan, which has banned climbing for religious reasons, so reaching the summit is not only physically difficult, but also legally impossible.

The highest peak in this category is Muchu Chhish in Pakistan, at 7,453 meters, an incredibly challenging mountain that has only been climbed twice in history.

As a species, we have been both to the Moon and to the deepest part of the ocean, but there are still several dozen mountains around the world whose peaks have never been reached by anyone, making them perhaps the most difficult places to reach on the entire planet.

What is the deadliest place on Earth?

 The deadliest place in the world can be measured in different ways:

1. Most gruesome death
2. Fastest death
3. Fundamentally hostile to life

For a gruesome death, I would recommend a final cannonball into Lake Irazú in Costa Rica. This lake is an acidic crater lake where a gruesome death is guaranteed!

In my opinion, the candidate for the fastest death is the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii. This volcano can reach temperatures well over 1000°C, which guarantees an exceptionally quick death.

Finally, I would like to mention the coldest places in the world, since cold makes life impossible. The cold brings chemical processes to a standstill, thus halting all forms of life. One such place is the Pole of Cold, a high plateau in eastern Antarctica where temperatures can plummet to -90°C.

What is the most difficult place on Earth to invade?

 Take a look at this seemingly unremarkable building, which could be a company headquarters or a multi-tenant building.

The true purpose of this building is something you would never guess from its unassuming exterior.

Have you ever heard the phrase, "All the gold bullion in Fort Knox"? The Federal Reserve Bank of New York holds far more gold bullion than Fort Knox. That's $250 billion worth, or 7,000 tons of gold bullion.

The United States owns only a small portion of it; most of it belongs to foreign central banks and international organizations.

Considering who owns some of the most valuable things in the world, this building must have some special features that justify their trust. Shall we take a peek inside?

First of all, the building is guarded by armed security guards, and the perimeter is constantly monitored by security cameras.

If you manage to slip past that, the next stop is the underground vault 24 meters deep where the gold bars are stored. The only passage leading up to it is a single 90-ton steel cylinder surrounded by a 140-ton steel and concrete frame. This passage is usually tilted at a 90-degree angle and is blocked by four iron bars until opening hours.

Outside of business hours, this passageway is sealed to such an extent that neither water nor air leaks out, and a person would suffocate in three days.

Once you pass through here, you will finally reach the inside of the vault. The vault room is under the same 24-hour surveillance as the building, plus it is equipped with motion sensors.

Congratulations! Now, let's take your gold bars. The gold bars are stored in separate compartments for each of the 122 account holders. Each compartment requires two combination locks, one padlock, and the auditor's seal. Unlocking each compartment requires three people: two New York Fed employees and one internal auditor. No single employee knows how to open all the locks.

Now, you finally have the gold bars in your hands. Each bar weighs a little over 12 kilograms, and there are more than 500,000 of them in total. Shall we make our escape now? But it won't be that easy. You'll have to go back through that tube, but it will probably be tilted 90 degrees or filled with New York City police officers who are dying to meet you.

Shall we start digging underground? The vault, like the passageway, is surrounded by a steel and concrete frame, and as a key part of the security system, it's equipped with a device that detects vibrations underground. Of course, we'll be digging in the heart of Manhattan, a place that's sure to attract a lot of attention.

There has never been a physical attempt to enter this building. This speaks volumes about how tightly this place is protected. Even if a brave challenger were to appear, it would undoubtedly end in mere "attempt."

Where are some of the most abandoned places on earth?

 1.Ross Island, Andaman

2.Fatehpur Sikri, Agra

3.Shettihalli Church, Karnataka

4.Jamali Kamali Tomb, Delhi

5. The Last House on Holland Island – U.S.A.

6. House of the Bulgarian Communist Party – Bulgaria.

7. Nara Dreamland – Japan.

8.The Jet Star Rollercoaster, Seaside Heights – New Jersey.

9.The 102-Year-Old Floating Forest in Sydney – Australia.

10.Abandoned Train Station, Abkhazia – Georgia

11.Underwater City in Shicheng – China.

12.Abandoned Soviet submarine base.

If you ever find yourself on the set of a post-apocalyptic movie almost scared to death, then there’s a possibility that you might have entered a real life abandoned Soviet submarine base left from the Cold war – an enormous building scoured by ocean tides and haunted by hulking machines, slowly rusting away.

13. A vending machine, brought inland by the catastrophic 2011 tsunami, in an abandoned rice field in Fukushima – Japan.

14.Bare footprints embedded forever in an abandoned nuclear reactor.

15.An Abandoned Mill – Sorrento, Italy.

Content Credits: inyminy.com,Namaste: Lets Walk Through India

What would happen if Earth were twice its current size?

 If the Earth were twice as big, there would be consequences especially regarding the force of gravity!

In fact, if the Earth had double its current radius, this would mean 8 times the volume and mass, but it would also mean double the gravitational force.

We would then be twice as heavy, because the gravitational force increases as the density and radius of the planet increase.

The mountains would be lower and flatter, and if you fell into the void, you would accelerate faster and hit the ground harder!

There would be more "stocky" life forms, with thicker bones, to be able to survive with this greater gravitational force.

The atmospheric pressure would increase.

And sending probes, rockets and satellites into space would be prohibitively expensive!

Air travel would probably also be significantly more difficult and more expensive!

The oceans would be even deeper and the moon would be closer, causing enormous ocean tides.

The core and liquid mantle would also be much larger, causing increased pressure and heat beneath the Earth's surface.

What are some other mind-blowing facts about Earth's movement that most people don't know?

 Earth never occupies the same physical space twice. By your next birthday, you will be billions of miles away from where you are right now.

While days are gradually lengthening due to lunar friction and the planet's axis has a slight, shifting wobble, the most dramatic hidden movement is the true shape of Earth's orbit.

The Sun orbits the center of the Milky Way at roughly 514,000 miles per hour (827,000 kilometers per hour). Because the Sun pulls the planets along with it, Earth's path is not a repeating loop. Instead, it forms a continuous, stretching helix.

The solar system is also tilted at about a 60-degree angle relative to the galactic plane. This means Earth is practically plowing forward and sideways through the galaxy, spiraling around a star that is itself bobbing up and down through the Milky Way's disc.

Because of this corkscrew motion, a year is not a closed circle. It is a long, spiraling forward voyage through a part of the galaxy that humanity has never experienced before.

How much would Saturn and Jupiter's diamonds cost on Earth?

 I’ll let you in on a little secret but diamonds aren’t worth much. They’re pretty common when you come down to it. I mean these are diamonds:

They’re just rocks. Would you know these were diamonds if you first saw them? No of course not.

It’s the “gem grade” diamonds that are worth the hype. And yes it’s hype as even they are pretty common. The reason they’re so expensive is because diamond cartels like DeBeers are artificially inflating the price by sitting on literal warehouses full of them and only releasing them a little at a time. It keeps the price high.

Buy a diamond and try to sell it immediately afterwards. You’re lucky to get 50% of what you paid for it. That’s how worthless they are. And now you have these diamonds raining down in Jupiter and Saturn’s atmosphere. You think they’re gem grade? No. They’re like the rocks shown up top but maybe bigger.

Sure you could maybe sell them at a premium because they’re “space diamonds” and also you’d have no choice because it cost billions to go out and get them so maybe a dozen people in the world would be able to afford them.

And yes DeBeers and others have turned formerly worthless diamonds into fancy named diamonds because they realized people are stupid enough to fall for the hype and slick marketing campaign.

Before the expensive ones were the clear, blue and pink variety. Blue and pink commanded a higher price because they were so rare. But yellow diamonds were trash until they started marketing them as “Canary diamonds”. Brown diamonds became “Chocolate diamonds”. Beige diamonds became “Champagne” or “Cognac diamonds” and so on. So why not a huge diamond called a “Space diamond” that is so exclusive that only the super rich can afford? It creates a status symbol that people want to show off their wealth.

Have you ever heard of the strangest humans on Earth?

 Alexander the Great's granddaughter, who never got sick, and her daughter gave birth at the age of 70!!

The Hunza people are a tribe that lives in a valley known as the "Valley of Immortality." They live long lives, women give birth at the age of 70, and they do not suffer from the epidemics and diseases of this era. Their youth is eternal, as if they live on a planet other than our own. Their women are beautiful, and although they know nothing of civilization, they know how to enjoy and preserve their lives.

The Hunza tribe has a population of approximately 920,000, and its name means "united at a single front line like an arrow." The members of the tribe live a daily life that is the secret to their eternal youth. They eat raw vegetables and fruits, protein from milk, eggs, and cheese, and they have fasting periods, drinking only fresh juice for three months each year, yet they remain healthy, and they only bathe in cold water, even during the coldest time of the year. Their daily life includes walking distances of more than 20 kilometers.

Women enjoy the health to be eligible to give birth at 70 and have fresh skin like a child's, while men are strong and have extraordinary endurance, and the physical exercise necessary to continue life is difficult but there is no room for laziness because their tribe does not have modern technology. This is one of the most dangerous things that threatens heart health, and therefore they live up to 145 years.

These people were discovered by chance in 1984 when a security guard at London Airport stopped a man named "Abdul Maband." His date of birth was 1932 according to his passport, and he looked to be in his 30s. Because the man was a security guard, he told the guard about his hometown.

Andwind, a Hindi-language website, states that this community speaks Bruchski and claims to be descendants of one of Alexander the Great's armies, the army of "Alexanddar," who got lost alone in the narrow mountains of the Himalayas in the 4th century.

What would happen if a black hole the size of an atom appeared on the surface of the earth?

 You make the answer a little more unexpected by talking about its size and not its mass. But let's go!

Contrary to what was said in a previous answer, this black hole would persist!

We will assume that its radius is of the order of that of an atom, therefore of an Angstrom ().

We further assume that the mass is spherically symmetrical and is homogeneous.

The Schwarzschild radius is given by:

We fix now (we assume that the ball of matter is “just” a black hole, ie that its Schwarzschild radius is exactly its physical radius).

So we have:

(surprising, no?)

It evaporates in one time:

seconds.

Either...incomparably longer than the age of the universe.

---

But I feel that the fan of Michael Bay's explosive films in you is not satisfied.

The power released by Hawking radiation you tell me?

Watts.

Nothing really impressive, sorry.

So there you go...you will have a black hole that will destroy everything mechanically, and that will last a very, very long time...in silence.

By engulfing the Earth, it will have multiplied its mass by approximately one million. Otherwise at the level of the Solar system...nothing special happens.

The moon is slightly more attracted and will follow orbits that are barely more elliptical (almost imperceptible).

Fast-forward over a few billion years:

As it grows, part of the Sun, a red giant to come, will become trapped there and the little black hole of nothing at all will gain mass to the point of consuming it entirely.

But until then nothing spectacular.

Congratulations...you ended humanity without even a small fireworks display