Kids News - Articles for Grade 8

When geologists from the University of Toronto discovered water dating back 1.5 billion years at the Kidd Mine in Ontario, Canada, in 2013, they thought they had hit the jackpot. However, digging further inside the world’s deepest base metal mine led to an even bigger discovery — water that has been locked in the earth’s crust for at least 2 billion years!...

Mention the word refugees, and the image that comes to mind is that of humans that have been forced to leave their countries due to war, persecution or natural disaster. Botswana, a landlocked country in Southern Africa, is facing a different kind of refugee crisis – one caused by the hundreds of thousands of elephants that have fled their homelands to escape ruthless poachers....

On Saturday, January 28, Chinese communities around the world will begin a two-week celebration to usher in the Chinese New Year. Also called the Spring Festival, the holiday whose dates are determined by the lunar calendar, is the grandest and most famous of all Chinese festivals. To enable residents to be with their families and friends, most employers in China give their workers at least seven days of vacation. Schools and universities are closed for an entire month....

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....

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....

A week from today, on Thursday, Nov 24, Americans will celebrate Thanksgiving. The annual tradition is credited to a harvest celebration between the early European settlers and the Native Americans. While that is true, there is more to that story and the other traditions observed on this secular holiday, on which family and friends get together to count their blessings over a scrumptious meal. Here is some Thanksgiving trivia that may be fun to share at the dinner table....

The Hubble Space Telescope that has been orbiting the Earth since 1990, has and continues to reveal the secrets of planets, stars, and galaxies that lie trillions of miles away. In 2018, it will finally be retired and replaced by the larger, and more powerful, James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The announcement, made by NASA on November 2, culminates a 20-year quest to build a state of the art telescope that cost $8.7 billion and required the construction of new assembly and testing facilities...

The last time Chicago Cubs fans had something to celebrate about was in 1908 when the baseball team won the World Series for the second consecutive year against the Detroit Tigers. Though the Cubs went on to appear in seven World Series thereafter, they came up empty each time. The 108-year drought, the longest by any major American sports team, finally came to an end after an 8-7, 10-inning victory over the Cleveland Indians in a thrilling Game 7 that began on Wednesday night (Nov 2) and ended early Thursday morning (Nov 3)....