Hello and welcome to Mysteries of Science. My name's Stevie and I'm the deputy editor of Science and Nature,

the monthly magazine from the team behind the Week Junior. And I'm Michael, the junior editor. On this

podcast, we take a look at our favourite mysteries of science. These are the strange phenomena and bizarre

events that have left scientists scratching their heads and despite best efforts, remain well and truly unsolved.

So as this episode is being released on Easter weekend, we thought we'd head to one of the world's most isolated and mysterious places, Easter Island.

Easter Island, that place sounds fun, but I'm guessing it doesn't have anything to do with Easter and Easter eggs, does it?

No. So in fact, Easter Island isn't its actual name, but rather what a group of Dutch

explorers called it when they first came across the island on Easter Sunday in 1722.

That's 300 years ago. Its native name is Rapa Nui.

And what's so mysterious about it, Stevie?

Rappanui is home to around a thousand large stone statues which have faces carved into them.

These are called Moai.

People from outside the island have long wondered how its original inhabitants could have built

these statues and what purpose they serve.

Well, I think it's time we travelled around the world to get some answers.

This is Mysteries of Science.

So, Stevie, you said Rapa Nui was one of the world's most isolated places, so where is it exactly?

Rappanui is an island in the South Pacific Ocean.

So if you want to get an idea of just how isolated it is, you can look it up on Google Maps.

Okay, so I've got it up here, I can see the island, maybe some of our listeners would like to do the same thing.

Okay, so now press the zoom out button once.

Can you see anywhere else?

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