Mount Everest(8,849 metres) , the highest peak in the world, is slowly getting taller every year.

The mountain, which straddles the China-Nepal border, is estimated to have grown between 15 to 50 metres over the past 89,000 years and continues to increase in height. Now scientists at University College London (UCL) believe they have uncovered the reason why this is.

The huge amount of sediment that is moved away leads to the land becoming lighter and forces the Earth's crust to push up slowly, leading to the increase in size. Its a process known as isostatic rebound.