What Am I ? (#9)

1.  My surface includes several interesting landmarks such as Rachmaninoff, a 170-mile-wide, double-ringed impact basin and the Debussy crater, site of a billion-year-old major collision (one of my most recent!)

2.  My iron-rich core extends three-quarters of the way to the surface and makes up 60% of my mass. 

3.  Although my daytime temperatures exceed 800 degrees Farenheit, radar studies indicate that I have vast deposits of ice within the perpetually dark, frigid craters at my poles.

4.  On March 17, NASA's Messenger spacecraft completed a seven-year journey and settled into orbit around me.  Over the next year Messenger will capture 75,000 images of me, helping scientists understand my many intriguing quirks.

Have you figured out what I am from my clues?  *  Scroll down for the answer.




























I'm the planet Mercury!

* Facts provided by the June 2011 issue of Discover Magazine.

What Am I ? (#8)



1.  The myth that I'm "simple" was shattered when scientists sequenced my genome in 2006 and found almost 40,000 genes - about twice as many as in a human cell.

2.  Some of us develop mutually beneficial relationships with other organisms.

3.  I reproduce asexually, splitting into two identical daughter cells.  This gradually damages my DNA, so periodically I dock with others of my kind to exchange small capsules that hold DNA, and within six hours feel reinvigorated with fresh genetic material. 

4.  I consist of one cell, two orifices, and thousands of hairy feet (cilia) that project from my surface like beard stubble.

Have you figured out what I am from my clues?  *  Scroll down for the answer.
































I'm a paramecium!

* Facts provided by the May 2011 issue of Discover Magazine

What Am I ? (#7)

1. I'm an expert carbon scubber hoarding some 42 million tons each year, roughly equivalent to the annual carbon emissions of 25 million cars.

2. I love sunshine and don't close the pores on my leaves in the heat of the day like most tropical plants. In addition, I only "drink" about a third of what most plants do.

3. I depend on my deep, complex root system for stability, oxygen, and salt filtration.

4. I'm sometimes known as a "walking tree" because my roots sprawl both above and below the waterline. I'm mainly found in the salty waters of southern Florida (US) and tropical Southeast Asia.

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I'm a Mangrove!











*Facts provided by the April issue of Discover Magazine.

What Am I ? (#6)

1. Scientists recently determined that annual precipitation influences how frequently I perform.

2. I can eject water as hot as 400F. Some engineers are hoping to convert my energy to electricity.

3. Some of us die out when mineral buildup clogs our nozzles. Earthquakes can shake this loose and keep us active.

4. I gush massive columns of hot water and steam from fissures in the ground. The best place to see me is in Yellowstone National Park (USA).

Have you figured out what I am from my clues? * Scroll down for the answer.

I'm a geyser!








* Facts provided by the March 2011 issue of Discover Magazine.

What Am I ? (#5)

1. Most of the world's supply of me is found beneath America's Great Plains. The US began stockpiling me in the 1960s, but in 1996 opted to recoup its investment and will sell off the reserve by 2015.

2. At that point, other producers - including Russia, Algeria, and Qatar - will control what's left of the global market: perhaps only 40 years' worth.

3. I'm used to purge rocket engines for NASA and the military and I am crucial for diving equipment, particle accelerators, and MRIs.

4. Most of you know me as the gas that fills party balloons, blimps, and giant cartoon characters in holiday parades.

Have you figured out what I am from my clues? * Scroll down for the answer.




















I am Helium!

* Facts provided by the February 2011 issue of National Geographic.

What Am I ? (#4)

1. Despite being one of the more common medical disorders, I am extremely difficult to treat.

2. Surveys show that between 5 and 15 percent of people have experienced me for six months or more in some form or fashion.

3. Ancient remedies for banishing me included everything from earthworms boiled in goose grease placed in the ear to cutting a freshly baked loaf of bread in half then binding it to the ears while still hot.

4. Doctors know that I'm caused when the flexibility of the nerve hairs in the inner ear go bad. However, I'm much more complicated than just a ringing in the ears. I'm more like a ringing across the brain! That's what makes consistently effective treatment of me so difficult.

Have you figured out what I am from my clues? * Scroll down for the answer.





















I am tinnitus!













*Facts provided by the October 2010 issue of Discover Magazine.

What Am I ? (#3)

1. My proteins are stored as a liquid, but almost instantly become a solid without clumps on request. Liquidity is achieved with a high salt content and low acidity. Only as the salt is reduced and the acidity increased do my proteins rapidly link together.

2. My draglines are three times stronger than the Kevlar in bulletproof vests.

3. The rings and spokes of my spirals are often coated with glue.

4. Despite only being a few microns thick, I can capture remarkable amounts of water (among other things!).

Have you figured out what I am from my clues? * Scroll down for the answer.





















I am spider web silk!


* Facts provided by the September 2010 issue of Discover Magazine.

What Am I ? (#2)

1. Clouds of ammonia and ice in my atmosphere produce huge electrical storms that rage for weeks or months.

2. The largest of my moons has an atmosphere that may be similar to that of Earth in its younger days.

3. Moons cause most of the gaps between my rings which consist of water-ice particles (typically ranging in size from a few inches to many feet) that continually gather into clumps and drift apart again.

4. The Cassini Division - a dark swath between my broad A and B rings - looks empty, but it is actually a separate ring, just one with fewer particles.

Have you figured out what I am from my clues* ? Scroll down for the answer.


















I am the planet Saturn!




*Facts provided by the July 2010 issue of Discover Magazine.

What Am I ?

1. I can be 25 times the size of my mate. Once he attaches himself to me his circulatory system fuses with mine and everything except his reproductive organs shut down, providing a permanent sperm bank.

2. When my jaws open it creates a suction that draws my victim inside. My expandable stomach can hold a meal much larger than I am.

3. I live in dark water that hovers just above freezing and exerts pressures of thousands of pounds per square inch.

4. Over millions of years of evolution, the front-most spine of my dorsal fin has developed into a fishing rod with a fleshy "bait" dangling at the end. It glows with light that is generated by an enzyme called luciferase.

Have you figured out what I am from my clues*? Scroll down for the answer.

I am a female Anglerfish!

*Facts provided by the June 2010 issue of Discover Magazine.