Kids News - Science Articles

Just when we think we have discovered, and mastered, every shape in the world, comes the scutoid. The three-dimensional prism-like struture has been hiding in plain sight in all living creatures including humans. While not visible to the naked eye, scutoids, the shape skin cells take as they bend, twist, or turn, are everywhere – in your armpits, elbows, organs, and even all over your face....

With over 64 million monthly active players, up to 1 million of whom are logged on simultaneously during peak times, chances are you have heard of online game creation platform Roblox. Fans are probably also aware that all the games in the Lego-like virtual world are created by users, typically teens and young adults....

The “Ediacaran biota,” a common name given to a large group of over 200 types of fossils that have been found across the world, have baffled scientists for decades. Over the years, researchers have debated whether the strange-looking organisms were fungi, algae, or just ancient animals that had failed to evolve. Now, some experts believe they have proof that the mysterious creatures were indeed animals, probably one of the first ones on Earth....

Approximately 4.6 billion years ago, our solar system was a cloud of dust and gas known as the solar nebula. As gravity caused the material to collapse in on itself, it spun faster and faster and eventually flattened into a disk. Researchers believe that most of the material accumulated in the center, to form the sun, while the rest clumped together, creating protoplanets – balls of gas, dust, and rocks, about the size of Mercury or Mars. Over the years, some of the protoplanets collided to form our eight planets, while the rest continue to whirl around the sun as asteroids or rocky debris. However, the one thing scientists are not sure is the process by which the planets came together. Now, a 4.565 billion-year-old space rock, the oldest igneous meteorite ever discovered, may provide clues to this age-old mystery....

The Smithsonian’s National Zoo’s charismatic giant panda Bei Bei, who has won over millions of hearts with his playful behavior and bold personality, turned three on August 22, 2018. To celebrate the occasion, the Zoo’s youngest panda bear was treated to a special enrichment painting session, gifted a new toy, and, best of all, given a massive ice cake, complete with the number 3, to feast on all by himself!...

Florida residents are no strangers to harmful algal blooms (HABs), or “red tides.” The natural phenomena, which occurs along the state’s Gulf Coast annually, is the result of excessive growth of microalgae Karenia Brevis. The single-celled organisms, which are only visible through a microscope, are dangerous because they release brevetoxin – a nerve toxin, that attacks the nervous systems of animals with often fatal results....

Just a few decades ago, humans were the only species believed to be smart enough to grasp the concept of zero — the idea that nothing can be counted as something. While a select group of animals, including dolphins, primates, and a few birds, have since been added to the list, experts have always maintained that only “intelligent” species are capable of processing the difficult concept. Now, researchers from Melbourne’s RMIT University and France’s Université de Toulouse assert that honeybees, which like all insects are considered to be at the low end of the cognitive spectrum, also understand the abstract mathematical notion of nothing....

While whales are known to grieve the loss of their loved ones, the recent story of an orca mom clinging to her dead calf for over two weeks demonstrates unprecedented evidence of the strength of the species’ familial bonds. The heart-wrenching saga began on July 24, 2018, after a female calf born to J35, aka Tahlequah — a member of the endangered Southern Residents Killer Whales (SRKW) pod — died 30 minutes after birth. Instead of letting the carcass sink into the ocean, the grieving mother began carrying the lifeless body by balancing it on her forehead or nudging it along the water surface with her nose....

Iron Man fans rejoice! The flight suit that transforms Tony Stark into a superhero is now a reality! Called Daedalus Mark 1, after the mythical Greek craftsman most famous for the feather wings he, and his son Icarus, used to escape from the kingdom of Crete, it is the brainchild of British inventor Richard Browning....