5 Random Earth Facts That Will Blow Your Mind

Mother Earth never ceases to amaze.

And these five random facts are no exception.

How It Works has given what it calls "five random earth facts that will blow your mind." The blast includes everything from what happens to the Eiffel Tower during the summer to the empty space space between human atoms. Take a look:

1. The Eiffel Tower is nearly six inches taller during the summer

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The Eiffel Tower is 5.9 inches taller during the summer months, because of a scientific process called "thermal expansion." This happens when a substance or object is heated and its particles move about more, therefore expanding their size. While the phenomenon mostly occurs in gases, it can also happen in liquids and solid objects. It's because of this that tall structures, such as the Eiffel Tower, are built with expansion joints so as to avoid any damage when "thermal expansion" does occur.

2. The Amazon Rainforest produces 20 percent of Earth's oxygen

It takes a lot of oxygen to allow more than 7 billion humans to survive on approximately 2.1 million square miles of the Earth's surface. The Amazon Rainforest in South America produces a large quantity of all this oxygen – up to 20 percent – while taking in carbon dioxide through the process of photosynthesis.

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3. Hawaii moves nearly three feet closer to Alaska each year

Hawaii sits on what's known as the Pacific Plate, the tectonic plate that is slowly moving toward the North American mainland and, specifically, Alaska. Tectonic plates beneath the earth's surface are always moving because of currents created by rising and sinking rock. It sounds frightening, but don't get too alarmed. This phenomenon takes place at approximately the same speed as the growth of your fingernails.

Image source: Google Maps

4. Remove all the empty space between atoms, and the entire human race could fit inside a sugar cube

This one is particularly mind-boggling. That's because science has found that if you remove all the empty between atoms in humans' bodies, then the human race – all 7 billion people – could fit inside the volume of a sugar cube. Each human atom is made up of a tiny, dense nucleus and is surrounded by electrons. Those electrons cover a vast area, 99.99999 percent of which is empty space.

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5. In 2.3 billion years, it will be too hot for life to exist on Earth and the sun will fully engulf the planet

Over the next 2.3 billion years, some scientists predict the sun will continue to get brighter and hotter, causing Earth's oceans to completely evaporate. The planet will then essentially become a desert land, similar to what Mars is now. In the next few billion years after that, the sun will begin to fully engulf the Earth, making life on the planet impossible.

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Watch '5 Random Earth Facts That Will Blow Your Mind' below:

(H/T: How It Works)

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Front page image via Shutterstock