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If you dug a hole straight down, what would you find? Earth isn’t just solid rock all the way through. There’s a thin rocky crust floating on the slowly flowing mantle, a liquid outer core and solid metal inner core. It turns out that Mars has a similar internal structure to Earth.

How close is close enough? Try this batch of questions and see how close you can get to full marks!

You might not think about it much, but there’s an amazing planet under your feet. Dig down about 50 kilometres and the rocky crust begins to give way to the hot, soft mantle. Deeper down, the rocks get hotter and runnier, reaching temperatures of thousands of degrees.

Get serious about science with the Double Helix quiz. We put you to the test with rocket science and radiation, as well as plants and petrology! If you’re after more fun science for kids, subscribe to Double Helix magazine!  

It’s no secret that volcanoes are dangerous. The recent eruption of Guatemala’s Volcán de Fuego has taken more than 110 lives. In Hawaii, lava has covered roads, destroyed cars and set fire to buildings. So it may come as a surprise to hear that people are wondering if they can use volcanoes to toast their…

From the time of dinosaurs to mysterious materials, this week’s quiz is a real brain bender. Time to test your knowledge!

Iceland is a remote and beautiful island, brimming with volcanoes. Volcanic eruptions give the Earth an almighty shake, so it’s no surprise that Iceland has lots of earthquake measuring seismometers. But you might be surprised to find out what these instruments are picking up.

Written by Beth Askham Deep underground in the centre of Australia is evidence of the biggest asteroid impact in the Earth’s history. It wasn’t just a single impact, but a twin strike from a meteorite that may have split into two as it plummeted towards Earth.

Written by Matthew Dunn Illustrated by Alex Hallatt From absolute zero to the surface of the Sun, there’s a whole range of temperatures in our Universe. Let’s learn more!

Diamonds hold a special place in our imagination: they’re valuable, extremely hard, and sometimes just really pretty. Chemically speaking, diamonds are simple – they’re carbon. Carbon is an important element. All living things are made of compounds that contain carbon. One property of carbon is its ability to form allotropes. Allotropes contain the same element,…