Ten Things on Earth that (maybe) you do not know

It is true that the days are getting longer? What was the sea level millions of years ago? Did you know that the Earth is "fatter"? What we will end when the Sun will collapse in on itself? And how many moons orbit around us? The 10 most amazing curiosity about our planet.

1. Yes, the Earth is not perfectly spherical. As some of its inhabitants, shows some slight subsidence in the area of the "waist". If the diameter of the Earth from the North Pole to the South Pole measuring 12,714 km, the one that goes from the equator is 12,756 kilometers: 42 km around more, caused by the rotation of our planet around its own axis. The difference, 0.3% of the Earth's diameter is too small to be perceived by looking at the photo of the Earth from Space.  But there's more. Recent studies have shown that our planet is "fatter" than 7 mm every 10 years, probably due to the melting of large masses of ice in Greenland and Antarctica, which turned into water, they are just pushed towards the Equator.
2. When the Earth was formed 4.6 billion years ago, an Earth day lasted about six hours. How would having to compress all our commitments in a day so short? Fortunately 620 million years ago, the days had already lengthened to 21.9 hours. And it is not over yet. According to experts, the average 24-hour Earth day is lengthening by about 1.7 milliseconds every 100 years, due to the friction of the tides caused by the gravitational pull of the Moon, which slows down - even if imperceptibly - the Earth's rotation. 
3. That between the earth's tectonic plates, you know, is a troubled relationship. If we all know the Pangaea, a single large landmass whose fragmentation, the origin of the current continents began 180 million years ago, not everyone knows that the formation of supercontinents has a certain cyclicity. Recent studies support that would be formed and would shatter every 250 million years. The future, in short, might hold the formation of a new supercontinent. One of those assumed is the so-called Pangea Ultima: a single expanse of land that will see Africa united to North America and the disappearance of the Atlantic Ocean.
4. Between 800 and 600 million years ago a number of important climate change gave rise to the most important of the last Ice Age billion years. According to some theories - but the topic is debated - the waters of the sea at that time ghiacciarono to the Equator, turning the Earth into a giant "snowball." Since most of the sunlight was reflected, the temperature on Earth would be around -50 ° C. Fortunately, the planet was populated only at the time of microorganisms.
5. The driest place on Earth, the Atacama Desert in Chile is - ironically - right next to the largest water reservoir in the world: the Pacific Ocean. It is said that the city of Calama, located here, has not seen a drop of rain for 400 years, until 1972 when it was wet from a sudden thunderstorm. In some areas of Atacama (which, unlike most deserts, is a cold place) do not live even cyanobacteria, photosynthetic organisms that grow near the rocks. That's why NASA scientists are studying its ecosystem to compare it to that of the most inhospitable places in the solar system.
6. If the Earth were a smooth sphere such as crystal, its gravitational field would be uniform. The reality is very different: as the Himalayan mountain ranges, ocean trenches such as the Marianas, water flow and movement of earth plates causes gravity anomalies in the positive or negative. With its two twin satellites of NASA GRACE mission (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) is taking steps to be mapped with great accuracy the Earth's gravitational field.
7. Eighteen thousand years ago, during the climax of the most recent glacial advance on planet Earth, the ice trapped so much water that the sea level dropped by 120 meters, leaving large parts of the seabed discoveries. But in the past, the sea level has also known several stages "up" and get to be high up to 70 meters longer than it is now. During the last interglacial period - which ended 10-15 thousand years ago - it was 5-7 meters higher than now.
8. When it has exhausted its supply of hydrogen, the Sun will collapse under its gravity and become a red giant star 100 times bigger and 2000 times brighter. During this process, which is likely to happen in 5 billion years, the Earth will be vaporized. Run away before this happens may require technologies and means that we are not now in possession (let's face it: where would we move?). But, according to some estimates, to save our planet may come a star, whose passage would destroy the Earth's orbit, sweeping away the blue planet from the Sun. Unfortunately, at that point the land would die frozen.
9. There are two other celestial bodies orbiting close to Earth that are often referred to - though inaccurately - "moons". One of these is the asteroid 3753 Cruithne. Discovered in 1986, orbits the Sun, but in a period of time similar to that of the Earth, which is why it seems that the space rock is "following" our planet. The second intruder is the asteroid 2002 AA ??, which orbits the Sun once a year with a horseshoe-shaped path that brings him closer to the Earth once every 95 years.
10. It is not just a way of saying: behind the feeling of the calm before the mayhem that is unleashed - meteorologically speaking - there is a clear scientific reason. When you form a storm, the warm, moist air from the surrounding atmosphere is collected and driven to the highest clouds of the coming storm, also located at 16 kilometers altitude. The air then descends to the ground milder and dry and more stable. That is why people who live in the area where a storm is about to happen perceive this sudden feeling of calm.