Kids News - Articles for Grades 6-8

When two German hikers stumbled upon a dead body buried in ice in the Italian Otzal Alps in 1991, they had no idea that the pristine remains were those of a male who had inhabited Earth almost 5,300 years ago. Named Ötzi after the mountains where he had lain for thousands of years, the Iceman is Europe’s oldest-known natural human mummy....

Stargazers, get ready to witness the longest total lunar eclipse of the 21st Century. On July 27, our moon will transform into a red orb for 1 hour, 42 minutes, and 57 seconds! The entire event, from the moment Earth’s shadow starts to fall upon the moon’s edge to the time when the bright full moon emerges, will take almost 4 hours. In comparison, this century’s shortest total lunar eclipse, which occurred on April 4, 2015, lasted a mere 4 minutes and 48 seconds, with a total duration of 1 hour and 40 minutes....

When it comes to brain power, bottlenose dolphins are second only to humans. The highly social animals are known to teach one another to tail walk, to help fellow dolphins in distress, and to even carefully prepare their food instead of instantly devouring it like most animals. Now, a new study indicates that male bottlenose dolphins maintain unique whistles, or ‘names,’ to enable them to recognize friends and rivals within their social group....

On Tuesday, July 10, 2018, the world watched with bated breath as an international team of rescuers safely extracted the two remaining members of the Moo Pa, or, Wild Boar, soccer team from a flooded cave in Thailand. The twelve boys, aged between 11 and 17, along with their coach, Ekkapol Ake Chantawong, had been trapped inside the intricate seven-mile long Tham Luang Nang Non cave system in northern Thailand's Chiang Rai Province for over two weeks....

If the recently released Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom has you yearning to see the ancient creatures in real life, you are out of luck. That’s because to resurrect the animals, researchers would need a complete set of dinosaur DNA, which is impossible to obtain. However, if Nikita and Sergey Zimov have their way, a prehistoric Ice Age ecosystem may soon become a reality. Their motive is not to attract tourists but to stop the thawing of the Arctic permafrost....

Most animals only perform tricks when bribed with treats. However, Kim, the world’s first spider to learn a skill, needs no incentives to do what she loves — jumping from different heights and distances — upon the bidding of a team of scientists from the University of Manchester....

Over the years, American pizza restaurant chain Domino’s has come up with several smart marketing strategies to create brand awareness and increase sales. These include deploying a delivery robot, allowing customers to place an order with a pizza emoji tweet, and launching a “Tummy Translator” app which offered food recommendations based on the customer’s stomach rumbles. For its latest campaign, “Paving for Pizza,” the company is taking on a pressing problem – America’s cracked and pothole-ridden roads....

For most climbers, professional or amateur, summiting Mount Everest — Earth’s highest mountain above sea level — once is a crowning achievement. However, don’t tell that to Kami Rita, who scaled the peak of the treacherous mountain for the 22nd time on May 16, 2018 breaking the previous record of 21 successful ascents he shared with two fellow guides. And the veteran mountaineer is not done yet! Prior to embarking on the recent climb, the 48-year-old announced, “My goal is to reach the summit of Everest at least 25 times. I want to set a new record not just for myself but for my family, the Sherpa people and for my country, Nepal.”...

Depending on where you live, today — Thursday, June 21 — is the first day of summer or winter. Also known as the June solstice, it is the day when the North Pole is most inclined towards the sun, allowing residents of the Northern Hemisphere to enjoy the longest day of the year. Conversely, those living in the Southern Hemisphere will experience the shortest day of 2018....