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Believe it or not, actress Hedy Lamarr was also a talented inventor who co-invented “frequency hopping” during WW2 with George Antheil. They imagined two automatic player pianos, each playing the same tune. Except, instead of playing notes, they were picking different frequencies to talk on, so eavesdroppers wouldn’t be able to listen in!

Gold is known as Au on the Periodic Table. Au comes from aurum, the Latin word for gold. Many historians think “aurum” is related to Aurora, the Goddess of Dawn perhaps because both dawn and gold are shiny and golden. We think YOU are shiny and golden.

Venezuela. Angel Falls also known as Salto Ángel is created by the Churún River flowing off a flat-topped table mountain, which are called tepui in Spanish.

The International Space Station normally has a crew of 7, but sometimes it holds more. When the Space Shuttle was operating, the ISS sometimes had up to 13 astronauts inside at the same time.

There are lots of holograms on banknotes, including a different bird on each note that appears to fly. Raised ink, called intaglio print, can be felt by running a finger across the portraits. All banknotes have clear, plastic windows, too. All of these features are hard to copy.

Perhaps surprisingly, the theory of plate tectonics is quite new, starting with ideas proposed in 1912 and supported by evidence gathered in the 1950’s and 60’s. The theory has since revolutionised Earth sciences.

Tsunami comes from two Japanese words: “tsu” meaning port or harbour and “nami” meaning wave. Japan sits in a very geologically active place, meaning they are more likely than most other countries to experience earthquakes and tsunamis.

Fossils are the remains (such as skeletons) or imprints (such as footprints) of ancient living things. Almost all fossils are found in sedimentary rocks because the high heat and/or high pressure of igneous and metamorphic rocks usually destroys evidence of life. The process of sediment covering living things is much gentler and better for fossil formation.

The Aussie Bird Count is a nation-wide citizen science project where Australians can record the birds they spot. For 10 years in a row, the rainbow lorikeet topped the list as the most commonly spotted bird. (Magpies are a close runner-up). Scientists say that the most common birds tend to be bold and have broad diets.

Marie Curie won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1903 and the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1911. Both prizes recognised her groundbreaking work on radioactive elements. All the physicists listed above are people who could be considered “forces of nature” because of their impressive scientific discoveries.