True - the exact etymology of the planet “Earth” is a tough one as it’s likely something to have developed over most of human history, Lynn Carter goes more in depth into this in her January 2003 article.
The related link over at omg-facts.com is a bit misleading:
Saturn was actually named after a Titan, the father of Jupiter, Pluto, and Neptune. He is famous for having attempted to eat all of his children. However, astronomers have identified thousands of planets outside of our own solar system, to the point where we likely have run out of good god names for them - that’s why we have planets named “2M1207 b”.
Titans were also gods, predecessors to the Roman and Greek gods we think of today, whom are collectively called the Olympians. Uranus was also a Titan.
Regarding naming conventions: it’s true that astronomers have moved to a systematic catalogue style naming convention; this is less due to running out of “good god names” but rather, to make research easier internationally and remove ambiguity.
Naming still occurs though (along side the systematic designation); Eris, discovered in 2005, is one such example; the dwarf planet also goes by “136199 Eris” and “2003 UB313”. Eris was also the Greek Goddess of Strife, we haven’t run out of god names yet!
Needs further verification - amazingly, there are two credible sources citing two different numbers. Starting with what is universally agreed: the Apollo 14 mission (the 8th manned Apollo mission, and the 3rd to land on the moon) did bring Alan Shepard, Stewart Roosa, and Edgar Mitchell to the moon (Shepard and Mitchell would walk on the surface, Roosa remained aboard the command module) along with a golf club and golf balls. Now here’s where the details diverge, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) consistentlystates that there are three (3) golf balls on the moon. Yet in interviews with Alan Shepard (the only astronaut to take a swing on the lunar surface) claims to have hit two. Reviewing video of the event, it looks to us like only two (2) were dropped, shot, and subsequently left on the moon. Both sources are credible on the matter, I guess the only real way to figure this one out, is to send me; I’ll check on those footprints too!
True - with no wind, rain, or residents (yet), footprints on the moon will stay until an external force disturbs them; such as a meteorite or space tourist.
Surface tension is caused by the attraction between the liquid’s molecules by various intermolecular forces. In the bulk of the liquid, each molecule is pulled equally in every direction by neighbouring liquid molecules, resulting in a net force of zero. At the surface of the liquid, the molecules are pulled inwards by other molecules deeper inside the liquid and are not attracted as intensely by the molecules in the neighbouring medium (be it vacuum, air or another liquid). Therefore, all of the molecules at the surface are subject to an inward force of molecular attraction which is balanced only by the liquid’s resistance to compression, meaning there is no net inward force. However, there is a driving force to diminish the surface area. Therefore, the surface area of the liquid shrinks until it has the lowest surface area possible.
Surface tension ends up forming spheres, as opposed to other shapes, due to spheres having the smallest possible surface area to volume ratio.
