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Your body works thanks to cells — trillions of them — doing their jobs. Some make chemicals to fight infection. Others make tears to protect your eyes. Still others make proteins to help you grow. You might ask how this happens. To understand, think of cells as microscopic factories. Factories typically contain people,... |
Pop star Ariana Grande said Friday that she will hold a benefit concert in Manchester, for the victims of Monday’s suicide bombing at her show in the British city. Grande, 23, said in a message on her Instagram account that a date for the concert had not been worked out. Monday’s bombing, which killed 22 people and inj... |
A computer beat China’s top player of go, one of the last games machines have yet to master, for a second time Thursday, a sign that the field of artificial intelligence is advancing faster than expected. An IBM supercomputer known as Deep Blue defeated chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov in 1997. But many go players expe... |
Same-sex marriage is not allowed anywhere in Asia, but that is set to change soon, thanks to the island nation of Taiwan. On Wednesday, the country’s Constitutional Court ruled in favor of gay marriage, saying that Taiwan’s legal definition of marriage — as being only between a man and a woman — violated articles of th... |
Clambering onto an ostrich for a ride used to be popular among tourists in a South African town known as the “ostrich capital of the world.”. Not so much anymore. Two major ostrich farms in the Oudtshoorn area have stopped offering ostrich rides to tourists, responding to concerns from European clients and others about... |
At 43, he was the youngest man ever elected president of the United States. Everything about John F. Kennedy seemed young and hip — his thick hair, his cool sunglasses, his stylish wife and two small children, his love of touch football games. Even the name he gave his presidency, the New Frontier, told Americans to bu... |
Nearly five years after Hurricane Sandy plunged a roller coaster into the sea in what became one of the storm’s most enduring images, the ride has been replaced — safely inland this time. Hydrus opened this month at the Casino Pier amusement park in New Jersey, built above the beach rather than out over the water to pr... |
After school, fifth-grader Sophia Lysantri can often be found hanging out with about 50 long-necked, adorable friends in Woodbine, Maryland. Sophia helps her family raise and care for alpacas. Native to the Andes Mountains in South America, alpacas are domesticated camelids — not wild — and are related to camels and ll... |
As someone who has studied bobcats for almost four decades, wildlife ecologist John Litvaitis remembers many times returning from the field without spotting a single one of these solitary and shy creatures that often hunt at dusk. But bobcat numbers are rising, and they have become more comfortable around humans. Joini... |
The school year is almost over. Are you planning a summer vacation, or something closer to home, such as a trip to your favorite pool? KidsPost wants to go with you! It’s easy to be a part of the Summer of KidsPost, just like the kids in these photos from last year. They traveled all across the globe, to ancient cities... |
As a blind woman, Ann Edie has relied on her hip-high miniature horse for 14 years to guide her through life’s obstacles. The fuzzy black-and-white service pony, named Panda, has led Edie across busy streets, has fetched her house keys and has even stood quietly in restaurants while she ate her meals. So when Panda was... |
The Washington Nationals have the best record in the National League, but they also have a big problem: their bullpen. Those are the relief pitchers who come in during the late innings to get the final few outs. So far this season, the Nats bullpen has not been very good. Washington relief pitchers have given up more t... |
When researchers traveled to a tiny, uninhabited island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, they were astonished to find an estimated 38 million pieces of trash washed up on the beaches. Almost all of the garbage they found on Henderson Island was made of plastic. There were toy soldiers, dominoes, toothbrushes and hun... |
Have you ever wanted, really wanted, to write about something that happened to you? That’s how Ruth Behar felt, and her memories led to her first novel, “Lucky Broken Girl.”. Fifty-one years ago — when she was 9 years old — Behar’s leg was badly broken in a car accident. To help her heal properly, the doctor encased mo... |
Two D.C.-area students are among the 10 finalists at the 29th National Geographic Bee, which is being held this week in Washington. Max Garon, a seventh-grader at Sidwell Friends, is representing the District for the second year in a row. “I was surprised to make it this far,” Max told KidsPost. “I guess I prepared bet... |
Imagine a flying car. Does it look like a fancy sports car with foldable wings? Or a Jet Ski-like craft that seems to float above water? That sports car/plane combo is called the AeroMobil Flying Car. The latest model — which can be ready to fly in less than three minutes — was previewed recently with a promised arriva... |
First lady Melania Trump announced Monday that her son, Barron, will attend a private Episcopal school in Maryland, beginning this fall. The announcement answered one of the lingering questions surrounding the first family’s unusual living arrangement. The first lady and 11-year-old Barron have been living at Trump Tow... |
Malaysia has seized 330 endangered tortoises that were smuggled into the country, customs officials at Kuala Lumpur airport said Monday. Five plowshare and 325 Indian Star tortoises had been flown into the Southeast Asian country from Madagascar on May 14 and were documented in the flight’s manifest as stones, airport ... |
Erzsebet Nemeth’s Fourth-grade class at the school St. John the Evangelist in Severna Park, Maryland, is the May Class of KidsPost. Her 21 students are avid readers who admire their moms, want the power to fly and hope to visit Hawaii. We will publish just one more Class of KidsPost this school year. If you would like ... |
Pope Francis and pilgrims from around the world flocked Friday to a Catholic shrine town in Portugal to honor two poor shepherd children whose visions of the Virgin Mary 100 years ago marked one of the most important events of the 20th-century Catholic Church. Francis arrived in Portugal on Friday afternoon to celebrat... |
A rare Harry Potter prequel handwritten by author J.K. Rowling on a postcard has been stolen, police said Friday as they appealed for help from fans across the world. The 800-word story, set three years before Harry Potter is born, sold for about $32,000 at a charity auction in 2008. The story, along with some jewelry,... |
In just a few years, well-mannered self-driving robotaxis will share the roads with reckless, lawbreaking human drivers. That prospect is causing headaches for the people developing the robotaxis. A self-driving car would be programmed to drive at the speed limit — which humans frequently exceed by 10 to 15 miles per h... |
Washington basketball fans have two reasons to be excited. The Wizards are still alive in the National Basketball Association (NBA) playoffs, and the Mystics should be very good this WNBA season. The Mystics made a blockbuster trade to acquire Elena Delle Donne over the offseason. Delle Donne is one of the best female ... |
While fidget spinners keep on spinning, a new trend is oozing through middle schools nationwide: slime, a sticky homemade version of Silly Putty. Made from simple household ingredients (including glue, contact-lens solution and shaving cream), slime has become such a hit that some stores are running out of glue and off... |
Diego Rosales was so terrified during his dental appointments when he was 4 that he kept biting his dentist. Today, the 9-year-old is far calmer, soothed by the presence of “Zucca,” a black Labrador that helps children like him with autism face one of their worst fears. A visit to the dentist can be daunting for any ch... |
If there’s a big-screen character you liked a few years ago, chances are that person is back for this summer of sequels. “Wimpy Kid” Greg Heffley can’t escape embarrassment in “The Long Haul.” The web-slinging superhero returns — but younger this time — for “Spider-Man: Homecoming.” And Jack Sparrow is still alive for ... |
Ten students who shared their time and talents to serve others were honored Monday at the national Spirit of Community Awards in Washington. The volunteers, who are ages 11 to 18, aided the homeless, raised money for cancer research and provided underprivileged kids with school supplies, among other projects. They were... |
French President-elect Emmanuel Macron began his transition to power Monday, a day after he handily defeated Marine Le Pen, the candidate for the ultraconservative National Front party, in a runoff election. Macron, who appeared with current President François Hollande at a World War II remembrance ceremony, announced... |
After I returned from a long walk, I noticed what looked like bees flying around a small hole in the ground. Without thinking, I picked up a small rock and tossed it at the hole to see if I could make a “basket.” Two seconds later, the buzzing insects came after me like a squadron of jets attacking Godzilla. By the tim... |
Marbled paper coverings for fancy books and journals have been around for centuries. The paper features colors swirling around each other unevenly to make a unique pattern. But it’s not just paper that can be turned into something beautiful through marbling. We’d bet that a certain someone would love a bouquet of flowe... |
Crayola’s new crayon color will be based on a blue pigment discovered in 2009. Scientists at Oregon State University accidentally discovered the brilliant blue color when they were experimenting with materials that could be used in electronics. Crayola said Friday that it’s partnering on the new crayon with Oregon Stat... |
The call of the wild is getting harder to hear. Peaceful, natural sounds — bird songs, rushing rivers and rustling grass — are sometimes being drowned out by noise from people in many of America’s protected parks and wilderness areas, a new study finds. Scientists measured sound levels at 492 places, from city parks to... |
“Star Wars” fans with deep pockets might consider it a golden opportunity. A jewelry store in Tokyo, Japan, is offering life-size Darth Vader masks made of 24-karat gold at a hefty price of $1.4 million to mark the 40th anniversary of the release of the first “Star Wars” movie. The creation measures roughly 10 inches w... |
“The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” Robert Burns, a Scottish poet, wrote those words more than 200 years ago. He meant that even if you try your best to make a plan, things may still not turn out as you expected. I have been thinking of that famous Burns quote this past week. Here’s why. Adam Eaton: Th... |
Workers in Nepal have put the finishing touches on a 48-foot-tall wooden chariot, the centerpiece of a centuries-old festival that is meant to bring a generous rainfall and successful harvest for the mountainous nation in South Asia. “We have to build it strong so that it does not collapse. If anything happens to the c... |
You might think that the United States is a pretty safe place to be a journalist. In nations such as China and Syria, independent journalists are often jailed and sometimes killed for doing their jobs. In the United States, such danger is not typical. But a recent report shows that the country is not a shining example ... |
Ten eastern black rhinos have been relocated from South Africa to Rwanda’s Akagera National Park, 10 years after the poaching-threatened animal was last seen in the park, authorities said Tuesday. The relocation is the result of Rwanda’s collaboration with African Parks, which manages protected areas for governments ac... |
Schools won’t have to cut more salt from meals just yet, and some will be able to serve kids fewer whole grains, under changes to federal nutrition standards announced Monday. The move by the Trump administration partially rolls back rules championed by former first lady Michelle Obama as part of her healthful eating i... |
Each year, 1,500 babies are born in the United States without part or all of their arm, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many more children lose fingers or hands in accidents. Often, they overcome their limitations thanks to medical replacements. But kids quickly outgrow these devices, which... |
Simone Biles has been busy. There was the tour with Kellogg’s in the fall, a victory lap through 36 cities where she performed with her gymnastics teammates from the Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Then she published a best-selling memoir, “Courage to Soar,” went on her first date, attended the Golden Globe Awa... |
The London Marathon started five days ago, and Tom Harrison is nearly done. It’s not that he’s a slow runner. It’s that he’s a slow crawler, particularly wearing his gorilla suit. The man dubbed Mr. Gorilla is raising money for the Gorilla Organization — so far more than $29,000 has been pledged — by traveling 26.2 mil... |
A startling new report asserts that the first known Americans arrived much, much earlier than scientists thought — more than 100,000 years ago — and maybe they were Neanderthals. If true, the finding would drastically change the widely accepted date of about 15,000 years ago. Researchers say a site in Southern Californ... |
The first round of the National Football League draft will take place Thursday night in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In the draft, the NFL’s 32 teams pick from among the best college. players to play on their teams next season. Six more rounds of picks will follow on Friday and Saturday. The NFL draft is a big event. Th... |
A stadium-size balloon began collecting data in the upper reaches of Earth’s atmosphere Wednesday, a crucial step in a NASA mission to study mysterious particles from deep space. The balloon was launched Tuesday from Wanaka, New Zealand, after seven planned launches were canceled because of bad weather. The unmanned ba... |
Jeff Kinney remembers when his goal was to write a book, one big book, for grown-ups. “I thought I’d write about a year in the life of a typical kid,” says the children’s author known to millions for his “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series. “I’d write one book that was between 700 and 1,000 pages long, and I’d look at every ... |
The poems he studied at school, most of them written hundreds of years ago by British men who used words such as “thine” and “thou,” didn’t seem interesting or related to his own life. He was climbing trees and running around the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois, on nice summer days. The old poets he was reading were just ... |
When it comes to music and visual arts, American students could use help. The National Center for Education Statistics reported Tuesday that in 2016, U.S. eighth-graders scored an average of 147 in music and 149 in visual arts on a scale of 300. Some 8,800 eighth-graders from public and private schools across the count... |
Toy shops are thriving in eastern Mosul, with Iraqi children once again able to buy dolls, teddy bears or action figures after Islamic State was driven out of the area. The militant group banned toys with faces or eyes during the three years they controlled Iraq’s second largest city, including some animal toys. But wh... |
Creating a recipe “from scratch” can be hard to do — or a piece of cake, as a team of six students at Washington Irving Middle School in Springfield, Virginia, found out recently. They had to come up with an original after-school or breakfast “smart snack” that was healthful yet tasty enough that their friends would wa... |
Astronaut Peggy Whitson broke the U.S. record Monday for most time in space and talked up Mars during a congratulatory call from President Trump. The International Space Station’s commander surpassed the record of 534 days, two hours and 48 minutes for most accumulated time in space by an American. “This is a very spec... |
A white oak tree that has watched over a New Jersey community and a church for hundreds of years began its final bow Monday as crews began its removal and residents fondly remembered the go-to spot for formal photos and the remarkable piece of natural history. Crews at the Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church in Bernards ... |
The world saw brain power take a different form Saturday. In Washington and hundreds of other cities, scientists, students and research advocates rallied on an often soggy Earth Day, sending a global message about scientific freedom without political interference, the need for government spending for future breakthroug... |
The last orca has been born in captivity at a SeaWorld park in San Antonio, Texas, just over a year after the theme park decided to stop breeding orcas following protests for animal rights and declining ticket sales. The orca — the last in a generation of whales bred in confinement — was born Wednesday afternoon to 25-... |
British officials say they’ve been unable to trace the rightful heirs to a trove of gold coins found stashed inside a piano and worth a “life-changing” amount of money. The school that owns the piano and the tuner who found the gold are now in line for a windfall after an official investigating the find declared it tre... |
That’s what the Washington Capitals and the Washington Wizards are hoping for this playoff season. Teams in the National Hockey League (NHL) and National Basketball Association (NBA) have to win four, seven-game playoff series to win a championship. There’s the first round, then the conference semifinals and the confer... |
American high school students are generally satisfied with their lives. But many of their peers in other countries are happier. Asked to rank their life satisfaction on a scale from 0 to 10, American 15-year-olds gave an average mark of 7.4, according to a study released Wednesday by the Organization for Economic Coope... |
With only two wolves left to feast on them, the moose of Michigan’s Isle Royale National Park are undergoing a population explosion that could endanger the wilderness area’s fir trees and eventually cause many of the moose to starve, scientists said Tuesday. The unchecked growth of hulking moose at the Lake Superior is... |
If you are curious, love exploring and want to help protect our national parks’ cultural and natural resources, you would make a great Junior Ranger. Designed for kids from 5 to 13, free Junior Ranger programs help young visitors gain a deep understanding of each park and discover the wonders within it. Activity bookle... |
The long-awaited offspring of Internet sensation April the Giraffe is being described as “spunky and independent.”. The owner of Animal Adventure Park in Harpursville, New York, says the not-yet-named baby boy was on its feet within an hour after its birth Saturday — and galloping around its mother within three hours. ... |
In Amy Sarig King’s new novel, “Me and Marvin Gardens,” a boy named Obe discovers a new type of animal. It has the jaw of a pig, the snout of a tapir (a large, hoglike mammal) and the friendly personality of a dog. Strangest of all: It eats plastic. Obe is going through a tough time, and the creature becomes a good fri... |
Thousands of kids, and some adults, joined President Donald Trump on Monday for the annual White House Easter Egg Roll. Trump’s wife, Melania, and their son, Barron, 11, and the Easter Bunny were also there. About 21,000 people were expected at the egg-rolling event, which dates to 1878. That is down from about 35,000 ... |
A tiny, icy ocean world orbiting Saturn is now a hotter-than-ever candidate for potential alien life. Cassini, an unmanned NASA spacecraft, has detected hydrogen molecules in geysers shooting off the moon Enceladus. The hydrogen may be the result of deep-sea chemical reactions between water and rock, which could spark ... |
Have you ever heard your mom or dad say that someone’s hormones were raging? The comment is usually uttered when a teenager is grumpy for no apparent reason. Although it’s true that certain hormones increase during adolescence, your endocrine system has been making them your entire life! The brain uses nerve impulses t... |
Scientists have identified the oldest known relative of the dinosaurs and are expressing surprise at how little it resembled one. Researchers on Wednesday described fossils of a long-necked, four-legged, meat-eating reptile called . It reached up to 10 feet long and prowled across what is now Tanzania, in East Africa, ... |
They are supposed to make the games fun and fair for the players and fans. Take the recent example of Lexi Thompson, a golfer on the women’s professional tour known as the LPGA. Thompson was leading by several strokes during the fourth and final round of the ANA Inspiration, one of the tour’s major tournaments. It look... |
Two months after the world’s youngest nation declared a famine, hunger has become more widespread than expected, aid workers say. A northern region in South Sudan, which became independent from Sudan in 2011 and has been tangled in civil war for more than three years, is on the brink of starvation. Without sustained fo... |
For 48 days each spring, Sophia Fakhoury keeps all meats and cheeses off her plate and — with mixed success — out of her mind. She doesn’t touch a bit of bacon or lamb, two of her favorite foods, and she says the only dairy product she consumes is milk, “because it gives me vitamin D that I need while I’m growing.”. Th... |
Last month we wrote about James Madison, the Founding Father who included the guarantee of a free press when he wrote the Bill of Rights. We announced an essay contest to find out your thoughts on a free press. The deadline for entries is Thursday (which is also the birthday of Madison’s friend and fellow free-press su... |
Katie Damon’s second-grade class at Terraset Elementary School in Reston, Virginia, is the April Class of KidsPost. These 24 students look up to family members, enjoy Mo Willems’s books and would like to care for animals when they grow up. We will publish a Class of KidsPost each month of the school year. If you woul... |
Malala Yousafzai, the youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, is to become the youngest United Nations Messenger of Peace, the organization’s chief said Friday. Yousafzai, 19, will be appointed on Monday by U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres and will help promote girls’ education around the world as part of her... |
Over the past year Ada and Anuma have broken Marta Llanes’s television and computer keyboard, chewed her telephone to pieces and ruined much of her furniture. She has forgiven them each time. It’s hard to stay angry at a baby chimpanzee when it clambers up your leg and into your arms and plants a kiss on your cheek in ... |
Question marks. They are those squiggly notes at the end of sentences that ask things such as “How old are you?”. In sports, question marks are the parts of a team you are not quite sure of as the season begins. The more question marks a team has, the more trouble that team may experience during the season. The Washing... |
An incoming Kansas high school principal resigned Tuesday after student reporters raised questions about her credentials. Amy Robertson, an education consultant in the United Arab Emirates, was hired in March to become the principal of Pittsburg High School in southeastern Kansas. Six student journalists at the school’... |
Scripps National Spelling Bee winners aced “Gesellschaft” and “Feldenkrais” to be named co-champions of last year’s competition, but it was the word “tie” that gave organizers a headache. On Tuesday, the contest revealed new rules aimed at preventing ties after the annual competition ended in a dead heat three years in... |
NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft is now halfway between Pluto and its next much, much smaller stop. New Horizons — which reached the milestone this week — is bound for an even more remote object called 2014 MU69. Like Pluto, the object orbits in our solar system’s twilight zone known as the Kuiper belt, but it is barely ... |
They thought it would be over within months. They were wrong. Instead, the world was at war for four long years. Powerful nations took sides — the Allies versus the Central Powers. From 1914 to 1918, they battled across Europe and into Asia and Africa. The United States supplied the Allies with goods but tried to stay ... |
Wildlife enthusiasts around the world can follow the daily journey of Yosemite National Park’s black bears from their laptops and smartphones, tracking the animals as they lope up steep canyons and cross vast distances in search of food and mates. Park rangers on Monday unveiled Keepbearswild.org, showing where select ... |
Last spring, JJ Edwards had seven furry roommates: Fairley, Farley, Felicity, Finley, Fleur, Fritz and Friday. Sharing a room with that many animals may sound chaotic, but it’s no big deal for the 10-year-old. JJ and his family have taken in more than 50 homeless kittens over the past six years. And they expect more in... |
An Egyptian excavation team has discovered the remains of a pyramid that dates to the 13th dynasty, some 3,700 years ago, according to one of that country’s top officials in antiquities, or ancient objects. The head of the Ancient Egyptian Antiquities Sector, Mahmoud Afifi, said in a statement Monday that the remains w... |
Fed up with the theft of toilet paper from public bathrooms, tourist authorities in China’s capital have begun using facial recognition technology to limit how much paper a person can take. The unusual move — part of a “toilet revolution” — is another step in China’s vast upgrading of public facilities. Bathrooms at to... |
A few times each fall, before the ground freezes and the air gets too cold, Jim Bintliff takes a shovel and buckets down to the banks of a muddy river in southern New Jersey. He’s there to harvest mud — odorless and puddinglike, with a chocolate color to match — that has become as much a part of Major League Baseball a... |
Dandelion yellow has reason to be blue. Crayola announced Friday, National Crayon Day, that it’s replacing the color dandelion in its 24-pack with a crayon in “the blue family.”. The company says it will leave it to fans to come up with a name for the replacement color. It’s only the third time in Crayola’s long histor... |
In the summer of 1914, tension was building across Europe. In the east, the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires were threatened by ethnic groups seeking to break away or expand their reach. To the west, Germany was flexing its industrial muscle, while the powerful British navy was the envy of the world. A wave of nati... |
Thomas Jefferson was the third president of the United States. That’s the most boring thing you’ll read about him in this story. Consider this: For most of the people who have been president of the United States (and there have been only 43, and they’ve all been men), that title would be the highlight of a lifetime, th... |
The first time I hiked to the bottom of Grand Canyon National Park, I knew I wanted to work there. Now, as a park ranger for the National Park Service, I share the science, history and beauty of this natural wonder with thousands of visitors from around the world. They preserve some of America’s most beautiful and hist... |
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