Kids News - Articles for Grades 4-5

Imagine living on a planet where you could celebrate almost three birthdays in one day - Think that is just out of this world? Well actually it is - About 700 million light years away in the small constellation of Lyra, where scientists have discovered an exoplanet that zips around its star in a speedy 8.5 hours...

The scientists at US Space Agency NASA are planning a radical new mission, one that entails capturing an asteroid and then sending over a manned spaceship so the astronauts can obtain some samples and bring them back to earth....

During his short but effective life as preacher and civil rights leader, Martin Luther King Jr. gave many speeches. However the one that seemed to resonate with the entire country, race notwithstanding, was the one he delivered fifty years ago on August 28th, 1963, whilst standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C....

The unsolved mystery of the 'crop circles' - Intricately carved large designs that magically appear on farms all across the world, has been plaguing scientists for centuries. Some speculate that they are the work of farmers trying to attract tourists, whilst others believe that they are alien art. But when similar creations started to appear underwater off the coast of Southern Japan, there seemed to be no explanation - logical or otherwise!...

An intricately carved globe pieced together from two bottom shells of ostrich eggs may have just taken over the title of the oldest depiction of the 'New World', from the copper etched Hunt-Lenox globe that lies in The New York Public Library. What is even more interesting is that ostrich globe which is believed to have been created between 1504-1506 used Leonardo Da Vinci's unique 'triangle' technique to transfer the 2-dimensional map drawing into a 3-dimensional sphere, leading Belgian cartographer Stefaan Missinne to speculate that it may be the work of a skilled artist from Da Vinci's Florence studio....

While there are many professional escape artists - entertainers that specialize in freeing themselves from shackles under stressful conditions - few take it to the level Wisconsin daredevil Anthony Martin does. He has escaped from under 2,000 pounds of sand, a steel cage submerged in ice-cold water and even some of the world's most secure prisons. However this latest stunt definitely ranks as his most dangerous one yet! What is even more incredible is that this is second time he has been able to pull or should we say escape it off!...

Climate change always seems to be about things going wrong - The Arctic is melting faster, sea water levels are rising rapidly . . . and the list goes on. Now finally there is some good news. According to a team of experts led by Emily Burns, Science Director at Calfornia's Save the Redwoods League, it is actually helping the world's tallest trees thrive....

With its large brown eyes, fluffy red-orange hair and bushy tail, the Olinguito could easily be mistaken for a stuffed teddy bear. But this cute as a button mammal that belongs to the raccoon family is very much alive and extremely precious - That's because it is the first new carnivore to be 'discovered' in the western hemisphere in over three decades....

Mention cotton candy and most parents will 'tut tut' and shake their heads in disapproval. For while those wisps of spun sugar that melt in the mouth may be yummy, they have absolutely no nutritional value. But what if you could somehow incorporate that taste into something that your parents would thoroughly approve of? Say like grapes for instance? Think that's impossible? Read on . . ....