Kids News - Articles for Grade 8

Reaching the summit of Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain, is every climber's dream. However, despite improvements in equipment and weather forecasting systems, the treacherous trek continues to claim a few lives annually. But with eleven deaths already reported this year, the 2019 season has been the deadliest since 2014, when fourteen Sherpas, who act as guides and help carry the climbers' gear, lost their lives after an icefall ledge collapsed....

Though the Scripps National Spelling Bee has crowned two co-champions on rare occasions — five times in the past 91 years, to be exact — the number of joint winners has never risen beyond that. However, history was made on May 31, 2019, when Rishik Gandhasri, Erin Howard, Saketh Sundar, Shruthika Padhy, Sohum Sukhatankar, Abhijay Kodali, Christopher Serrao, and Rojan Raja became the prestigious competition's first "octo-champions." In addition to the coveted title, the middle school students from five states — New Jersey, Texas, Alabama, Maryland and California — each took home an engraved trophy and a cash prize of $50,000....

To say that Americans love donuts is an understatement. A 2017 survey conducted by Dawn Foods, a global manufacturer and ingredients supplier to bakeries worldwide, found that the average US resident eats 31 donuts a year — or about two or three a month. The consumption, of course, goes up exponentially on National Donut Day, which this year will be celebrated on June 7, 2019!...

For most people, completing the "Explorers Grand Slam," which requires climbing the Seven Summits — the highest mountain in each of the seven continents — and reaching the North and South Poles, would be achievement enough. However, not for American explorer and adventurer Victor Vescovo, who completed the challenge in 2017. Since December 2018, the 54-year-old former US naval officer has been on a new quest — to become the first person to take a manned submersible to the deepest-known point in each of the world's five oceans....

When Robert F. Smith rose to address the 400 graduates of Atlanta's Morehouse College on May 19, 2019, the students expected the commencement speaker to be entertaining, inspiring, and encouraging. What they did not expect, however, was that he would change their lives forever by pledging to pay off all their student debt....

In most democratic countries, all voters go to the polls on a single, predetermined day. However, this is not the case in India, the world's largest democracy and the planet's second most populous country after China. In this diverse subcontinent — which boasts 22 official languages, 200 regional languages, and over 6000 dialects across its 29 states and 7 Union territories — voting is an elaborate process, conducted in seven stages over a period of 39 days. Held every five years, this year the general elections began on April 11, 2019 and will continue until May 19, 2019, with the final results announced on May 23, 2019....

Though Thailand has been a constitutional monarchy since 1932, the country's king is considered the spiritual protector of its people and culture. For seventy years, that role had been fulfilled by King Bhumibol Adulyadej. When the beloved monarch passed away in October 2016, his second child, and only male heir, crown prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, ascended to the throne. However, in respect to the highly-revered former king, the country observed a three-year mourning period, postponing the new monarch's coronation ceremony until early May 2019....

Mention the word spy, and the images that come to mind are those of secretive, stealthy fictional characters like British Secret Service agent James Bond and former CIA assassin Jason Bourne. However, the alleged Russian mole, who recently "defected" to Norway, fits none of those descriptions. In fact, it is not even a person, but a friendly Beluga whale who loves to interact with humans!...

As if being downgraded to dwarf planet status was not enough, Pluto may now be in danger of losing its wispy atmosphere by 2030. The dire prediction comes from a 28-year study of the small celestial body, which lies at the edge of our solar system, by a team of international researchers led by University of Tasmania astronomer Andrew Cole....