Kids News - Articles with 400-600 Words

In its purest form, gold typically requires special furnaces that can withstand extreme temperatures of above 1,947 degrees Fahrenheit (1,064 degrees Celsius) to liquefy. Now, a team of researchers from the Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden may have stumbled upon a way to melt the precious metal at room temperature....

Though we are treated to several meteor showers throughout the year, most pale in comparision to the grand finale – the Geminids. Expected to be at their peak on Thursday and Friday night (Dec. 13-14, 2018), the dependable meteors rank high in both quantity and quality. Nicknamed the “900-pound gorilla of meteor showers” by NASA, they outweigh other dust streams by factors of between 5 to 500!...

With less than two weeks left until Christmas, cities and towns across the world are aglow with stunning light displays. Though each is special in its own way, some are truly outstanding. Here are a few that made our list of 2018’s most noteworthy....

At the tender age of seven, while his friends were spending their allowances on “frivolous” things like candy and toys, Jose Adolfo Quisocola was busy saving money for more essential purchases. To try to get his peers to do the same, the youngster from Arequipa, Peru came up with the innovative idea of an eco-bank, which allows kids of all ages to become economically independent and financially savvy – while also helping the environment....

On most days, our brains do a good job at interpreting the myriad sights, sounds, and other sensory information that bombards us dawn to dusk. However, every now and again, even our highly-evolved minds get a little confused, resulting in what we call illusions. While all five senses are capable of tricking the brain, researchers have thus far largely focused on optical illusions simply because our vision dominates all senses. Now, scientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have devised two clever tricks that fool the mind using sound....

Walt Disney’s iconic and adorable rodent Mickey Mouse turned 90 this year! To pay homage to the mouse “who started it all,” the Disney Corporation recently unveiled “Mickey: The True Original,” a 16,000-square-foot immersive art exhibition in Manhattan, New York. Open to the public from November 8, 2018 to February 10, 2019, it features stunning Mickey-inspired exhibits created by over 20 contemporary artists from all over the world....

Always wished your stuffed animals could come alive like the ones in Disney’s animated Toy Story franchise? Then you will be thrilled to hear about the new “robotic skins,” which can instantly transform any object into a robot capable of performing basic tasks, like sprinting or climbing. The ingenious device is the brainchild of a team of researchers led by Rebecca Kramer-Bottiglio, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and materials science at Yale University....

At sundown on December 2, 2018 Jewish families worldwide will mark the first day of Hanukkah by lighting a candle on a special menorah. The eight-day celebration, which will end on December 10, is observed annually on the 25th day of Kislev, the ninth month of the Hebrew calendar, which falls anywhere from late November to late December in the Gregorian calendar....

Most dog owners are convinced that their four-legged friends know exactly what they mean when they use certain words like sit, stay, or treat. However, researchers have always wondered whether canines really understand human speech or if they rely on other clues to deduce the meaning. For example, does the word “fetch” conjure up an image of a stick or ball in the dog’s mind, or does the pooch retrieve the object based on cues such as the owner’s tone or gesture? A new study by scientists at Atlanta’s Emory University seems to indicate that “man’s best friend” is not faking it – he/she does indeed know what the owner is saying....