Table of contents for April 2025 in What on Earth! Magazine

START HERE At a golf course in Oregon, USA, you can hire a goat to be your caddie. The goat will carry golf clubs and balls in a special pack on its back Professional underwater golf-ball retrievers don wetsuits and dive deep into the ponds on golf courses to find lost balls The Aquarius lab is the world’s only underwater laboratory – the scientists who study there are called aquanauts Guests at one hotel in Tanzania can stay in an underwater room that is attached beneath a deck that floats off the coast During the Gold Rush in California, USA, a ship named the Niantic was deserted in San Francisco Bay. It was pulled onto land and turned into a hotel – and then later buried beneath the city. Chile’s…

Scientists have noted that some species of animals have dialects depending on where they live. Naked mole rats are super-social rodents. They live in colonies ruled by a queen, in a similar way to how bees live. They talk to each other with squeaks and clicks, which sound slightly different depending on which colony they are from. If a mole rat squeaks with a different sound, it might be an invader from a rival gang! DID YOU KNOW? About 25% of a naked mole rat’s muscles are in its jaws. They can chew through concrete!…

Why do I yawn? We all yawn, but nobody is sure about the reason why. We yawn when we wake up, when we’re bored or anxious and especially when we’re – yaaaaaaawn – tired! Some scientists think we yawn because we need more air or our lungs need a stretch. Others think yawns cool us down and make us more alert. Whatever the reason, we do know this: once somebody else yawns, most people can’t help yawning along with them! WACKY FACT Animals yawn, too. And dogs often join in if they see their owners yawn! Why do giraffes have long necks? A giraffe’s long neck allows it to reach leaves in tall trees that shorter creatures can’t get to. This means giraffes don’t have to compete with other animals…

OPEN WIDE! This Bryde’s whale was snapped just before it gulped down a bait ball of fish in the shape of a heart. Bryde’s whales are tropical whales that grow up to 15 metres long and can weigh up to 30 tonnes! FIREWORK DISPLAY This field of beautiful Paepalanthus plants in Brazil was photographed just as the sun was setting, which makes the plants look like little fireworks! One species of Paepalanthus is thought to be carnivorous, snacking on nearby termite mounds! WHEN PIGS FLY! These flying pigs were snapped mid-race at the Royal Melbourne Show in Australia. This fun event allows people who live in the city to sample rural life, with various animal shows and competitions, horse jumping and demonstrations of skills such as wood chopping. Competitors in…

An ice cream Please make sure you use rounded safety scissors. You will need an A5-sized piece of paper. 1 Trace around the outside of your scissors with a brown pencil. Make sure your scissors are not open for this shape. 2 When you remove your scissors you will have the shape of an ice-cream cone. Pick some pencil colours that resemble your favourite flavours of ice cream or your favourite colours. 3 Now draw your ice cream scoops. Start with a full circle at the front, following the numbered order. 4 Position the tip of your scissors between two scoops and trace around it, stopping before the hinge. 5 Give your cone some detail by adding cross-hatching, which are lines that show dimension. Curving the lines slightly will make…

What was wrong with the wooden car? It wooden go! What was an even better invention than the first telephone? HA! HA! The second telephone! Which vegetable loves going on rollercoasters? Celereeeeeeeeey! Question: What’s easy to get into but hard to get out of? Answer: Trouble! Question: How do you start a jelly race? Answer: On your marks, get set! What did the cupcake say to the icing? I’d be muffin without you! What’s a frog’s favourite game? Hopscotch! Why won’t you tell me the joke about time travel? You didn’t like it! What do you call a man with a lawnmower on his head? Question: What has four legs but only one foot? Answer: A bed! Mo! LOL! An exhausted kangaroo! What is completely out of bounds?…

Spring is the time of year when nature comes back to life. The sun shines brighter, the days grow longer, animals wake from hibernation and flowers start to bloom. Did you know that it is only thanks to plants that we call this season spring at all? Before the 15th century, people referred to this time of the year as ‘springing time’ or ‘the spring of the year’ because it was when plants literally sprung out of the ground. ‘Springing time’ was shortened first to springtime and then, during the 16th century, to spring. So to celebrate the return of ‘springing time’, let’s explore some of the fascinating and extraordinary ways in which flowers and other plants grow. DID YOU KNOW? Bees can fly at around 25 km/h and beat…

Skye Café Wall Illusion When you look at this image, does it seem as if the orange stripes are slanted? If you focus on just one of the stripes you might be able to see that… they’re actually completely parallel! This illusion happens because the contrasts of the light and dark colours and the angles of the black and white chequered diamonds at the intersections between the colours trick your brain. This optical illusion is called the Skye Café Wall Illusion. It was dreamt up by an illusion artist called Victoria Skye. Skye was inspired to create the illusion after seeing the tiled wall of a café, pictured left, in the city of Bristol, UK. As you can see, the green wall tiles appear to slant at different angles. Skye…

ALL THE LANDLOCKED COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD When a country does not have direct access to an ocean, or to a sea that is not landlocked, such as the Mediterranean, we say that it is landlocked. Around 20% of all the world’s countries are landlocked. On the right, you can find out some of the problems this can create and why having access to the ocean is so important. Below left, we look at the only two countries on Earth that are double landlocked. DID YOU KNOW? There are 195 officially recognised countries in the world, 44 of which are landlocked. The newest is South Sudan, which became independent in 2011. DOUBLE-LANDLOCKED COUNTRIES! When a landlocked country is only bordered by countries that are also landlocked, we say it is…

Around the world with our readers – and a hamster! Check out what fellow What on Earth! readers have been up to this month… A huge thank you to all the fabulous What on Earth! readers who sent us their photos, jokes and riddles this month. Here is just a handful of the goodies we’ve received – including a couple of brilliant creations from readers of our sister magazine in China! Would you (or your pet) like to star in a future issue? Then send a photo to letters@whatonearth.co.uk with your name, age and what you love most about What on Earth! Magazine. Each reader who features will win a copy of a brilliant new What on Earth! book.…