Kids News - Articles for Grades 11-12

It might sound like 1.5 million penguins are a hard thing to miss. However, that is indeed the case with this super-colony of Adélie penguins ( Pygoscelis Adeliae ) who have managed to remain undetected for decades in the Danger Islands of Antarctica. The remote, difficult to access, landmass, which lies off the continent’s northern tip, is always surrounded by thick ice. It was, therefore, believed to be uninhabitable and largely ignored by scientists....

Though it may not feel like it to the US East Coast residents getting pummeled by snow, sleet, and rain from the back-to-back nor’easter storms, spring is almost here. In anticipation of the season’s official start on March 19, Americans will “spring forward” on Sunday, March 11, by moving their clocks an hour ahead. While the start of Daylight Saving Time (DST) means losing sixty minutes of precious sleep or play, it does allow for longer days during the spring and summer months....

Experts believe that the optimal time to teach kids language skills is when they are infants. Most times the task is easily accomplished with parents reading or talking to their babies. However, in some cases that is not possible due to busy work schedules or when kids are born deaf. In the latter case, parents either have to quickly become adept at sign language or risk the child facing potential learning delays in the future. Now, an adorable blue-eyed robot, a human avatar, and some high-tech neuroscience may be able to assist parents and guardians with this crucial developmental task....

On January 8, 2018, as Amazon Inc.’s stock soared to an all-time high of $1250 a share, its founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, who owns 17% of the company, dethroned Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates to become the world’s richest person. Since then, the company’s stock has risen an additional 20 percent, increasing the entrepreneur’s net worth from $105 billion to $125 billion! To put it in perspective, that is more than the GDP of over 125 of the world’s 195 nations....

Stereo, or 3D, vision is what enables humans to gauge the depth and distance of surrounding objects. The right and left eye capture slightly different images and send them to the brain, which merges them and then calculates the proximity of everything in the vicinity. The ability, which requires an intricate network of neurons and lots of processing power, can also be found in a select group of animals like cats, horses, owls and sheep, as well as one insect — the praying mantis....

American singer and songwriter Pharrell Williams is known for his upbeat nature and colorful style. It should, therefore, come as no surprise that the “Happy” artist has decided to pay tribute to Holi, the Hindu festival of colors with the release of the Hu Holi “Powder dye” collection. Created in collaboration with Adidas, it includes five sneakers, four apparel styles, and a towel — all of which sport a beautiful mix of colors. While the stunning footwear and clothing, which range in price from $80 to $250, will be released worldwide on March 16, they will be available in India on March 2 to coincide with the celebration of Holi....

After mesmerizing sports fans worldwide for 16 days, the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics drew to a close on February 25 with a spectacular light show, featuring 300 Intel drones and K-Pop music. While Team USA, which had the fourth highest medal count with 23 in total, saw virtuosic performances from all its 241 athletes, it was female competitors like 17-year-old snowboarder Chloe Kim that shone the brightest. For the first time in 20 years, American women, who won five of the nine gold medals and thirteen overall, secured more medals than their male counterparts....

Deep funding cuts to public school programs is forcing districts around the US to reduce or even eliminate arts education. The Philadelphia school system is no exception. Its once robust music program has been struggling because a large number of the instruments are damaged, with no funds to repair them. Now, thanks to “Symphony for a Broken Orchestra,” an initiative spearheaded by Temple Contemporary, some of the wounded cellos, violins, and trumpets are getting a new lease on life....

With over 3,500 exoplanets confirmed as of January 2018 and more being observed on a regular basis, the discoveries have become almost routine. However, all the planets found thus far have been within the Milky Way, the galaxy that contains our solar system. Now, scientists from the University of Oklahoma believe they may have found evidence of trillions of planets beyond our galaxy....