Kids News - Articles for Grades 6-8

Your average fish has probably never been thought of as the smartest of creatures, but new research from UK's Cambridge University suggests that underwater dwellers like the coral trout, could probably teach humans a thing or two about clever alliances and teamwork....

At first sight, MIT's recently unveiled "Cheetah", may look like an assortment of gears, batteries and motors, but watch it in action and you will soon be reminded of its spotted namesake that also happens to be nature's fastest land predator. Though the robot cannot attain speeds of 60 mph like the real cheetah, the researchers believe they can bring it to race at least 30 mph making it the world's fastest quadruped robot and also, the fastest human (if it were one), since it would easily outrun Usain Bolt's maximum speed of 28 mph!...

First there were the "piano stairs" that encouraged people to exercise, then came the "bottle bank" that transformed an ordinary recycling bin into a gaming arcade and now a dancing "red man" that made waiting at a pedestrian crossing, fun!...

On the eve of the 13th anniversary of the September 11th, 2001, terrorist attacks, President Obama declared a new war on terror. However this time his target was not our age-old enemy al Qaeda, but a group that goes by one of three acronyms: ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham), ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ), or simply, IS (Islamic State). So who is this new terrorist organization that has the world on edge? Read on . . ....

While people are constantly being reminded to put away their smartphones when driving, there are very few warnings when it comes to being engrossed in them whilst walking. Now the Chinese city of Chongqing has come up with a novel way to highlight the issue, by creating a special 'texters' lane....

On September 18th, 2014, Scottish residents over the age of 16 went to the polls to answer a simple question - "Should Scotland be an independent country?" If the majority answered yes, Scotland would break off its 307-year-old union with the United Kingdom, which includes England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and become an independent nation....

In the 1800's the Rocky Mountain West area of the USA that now includes Yellowstone National Park, was teeming with gray wolves. However they were considered nuisance predators who killed livestock and therefore, actively hunted down. By the time the National Park was established in 1827, the number of gray wolves had diminished substantially, a trend that continued thanks to a government predator control program that ensured that by 1926, there were none left....

Always craving junk food? Now you can blame it on the millions of bacteria that live in your gut - At least that's what some researchers from UC San Francisco, Arizona State University and University of New Mexico, have concluded after reviewing the latest scientific literature about microbes. According to Athena Aktipis, one of the authors of the study, which was published in the journal Bio Essays in mid-August, these microscopic organisms are extremely bossy and have the power to influence not just our food cravings but also moods and overall well-being....

Last week, scientists waited in anticipation for two massive solar flares that were scheduled to hit the earth's magnetic field on September 11th and 12th, respectively. While the outbursts were not expected to be as powerful as the ones experienced in 2012, it was the back-to-back occurrence that had experts concerned about the damage they could cause to our satellites, electric grids and GPS systems....