Kilaua and Other Amazing Inventions of Nature and Man

Meet Kilaua: The World's Most Active Volcano

Kilaua is a volcano in Hawaii that has been erupting almost nonstop for about 40 years. Each time lava flows out, it adds more land to the island, so the island keeps getting bigger. It's the largest of all the Hawaiian Islands. Scientists say the whole island is actually the top of a huge volcano under the sea and twice as tall as Mount Everest, the tallest mountain above sea level.

What Causes Thunder and Lightning?

On stormy days, you might see a sudden flash of lightning in the sky. That’s because the clouds build up static electricity, and when it discharges, it creates lightning, a long electric spark that can travel very far. The loud sound that follows is thunder. Since light travels faster than sound, we see the lightning first and then hear the thunder.

Who Invented the Car?

Many people helped create the car we know today. In 1864, a Jewish inventor named Siegfried Marcus put a gasoline engine on a handcart and drove it through the streets of Vienna. About 20 years later, Karl Benz built on Marcus's idea and made a car with three wheels and a small engine in the back. It could only go about 15 kilometers an hour. Later on, Henry Ford made cars more affordable by inventing a faster way to build them, so more people could own one.