Kids News - Articles for Grade 6

For most people, this Friday, which happens to fall on the 13th, will be just the end of a long week. However, those who have friggatriskaidekaphobia or paraskevidekatriaphobia, consider it to be the unluckiest day of the year. This unfounded fear of Friday the 13th affects over twenty million people in the US and scores more worldwide....

In 2015, while browsing at a market in Myanmar, Lida Xing, a paleontologist at Beijing’s China University of Geosciences, was offered a piece of amber. Believed to contain a preserved plant it was meant for use as jewelry. Suspecting that the semitranslucent precious stone was harboring something more valuable, the scientist convinced the Dexu Institute of Paleontology to purchase it....

At midnight on December 31, cities worldwide, bid farewell to 2016 and welcomed the new year with dazzling fireworks shows. In case you missed them, here are some of 2017’s most spectacular displays....

Love to laugh out loud? Then you may be the perfect candidate for #laugh, a global collaborative project to create the first piece of art in outer space using the International Space Station’s (ISS) newly acquired 3D printer. While transforming an emotion into art may seem a little far-fetched, Eyal Gever, is known for his aptitude for combining art and technology to make 3D sculptures from life-like digital simulations based on moments in time....

Deep below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico lies a salt lake so deadly that researchers are calling it the ‘Jacuzzi of Despair.’ Measuring 100 ft in circumference and 12 ft deep, the brine pool gets its well-deserved reputation due to its warm temperature and high methane and salt content — a fatal combination for many unfortunate sea creatures that wander in....

Chronic or compulsive lying has largely been considered a mental illness. However, a new study from the University College London suggests that there may be a biological explanation as well. The researchers believe that small, self-serving lies desensitize our brains to the negative emotions connected to dishonesty, paving the way for bigger lies....

Since 2013, Torobo, a robotic arm designed to test the limits of artificial intelligence, has had one aspiration — to be admitted to the University of Tokyo, one of Asia’s top-ranked educational institutions. However, despite having an extensive database of textbooks and other teaching materials to draw upon, Torobo, (short for Todai Robot) has repeatedly failed to obtain the university's required minimum 80% score in the National Center Test, a standardized entrance examination adopted by Japanese universities. This year was no exception....

The thorny devil, named for the sharp spikes that cover its head and body, is a lizard that dwells in the Australian Outback’s hot and arid desert. Though its scary appearance has earned it other equally alarming names like the thorny dragon or the mountain devil, the palm-sized reptile is a harmless, slow-moving animal that has managed to adapt to one of the world’s most inhospitable environments. While researchers know a lot about these hardy lizards, the one mystery that had never been completely solved, is how they keep hydrated....

On Sunday, December 4, Fidel Castro, Cuba’s former President and leader of the Communist revolution, will be laid to rest at the Santa Ifigenia cemetery in Santiago de Cuba, the island's second-largest city. Fidel, who passed away on Friday, November 25 at age 90, ruled the country with an iron fist for 47 years (1959-2006) and was one of the most controversial leaders of our time. Supporters maintain that Fidel was a champion of socialism and think his revolutionary regime protected Cuba from American imperialism. Critics, which include his daughter Alina Fernández, considered him a dictator who allowed human rights abuses and impoverished the country’s economy....