Calculating the Distance to the Sun
Two young listeners ask how we calculate the distance to the sun. And, is it true that all the ants in the world weigh as much as all the people?
Two young listeners emailed the programme to ask how we calculate the distance to the sun. We decided to invite them and their parents to More or Less towers where Andrew Pontzen, an astrophysicist at University College London was on hand to explain the answer.
A Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ nature documentary stated that there are 14,000 ants to every person on earth, and that were we to weigh all of these ants they would weigh the same as all the people. Can this be true? Tim Harford and Hannah Moore investigate with the help of Francis Ratnieks, professor of apiculture at the University of Sussex.
(Photo: The Sun and the Earth. Credit: Shutterstock)
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Read Hannah Moore’s article on the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ News Magazine website.
Broadcasts
- Sun 28 Sep 2014 22:50GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service Online
- Mon 29 Sep 2014 01:50GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service Online
- Mon 29 Sep 2014 08:50GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service Online
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