Kids News - Science Articles

On May 15, 2026 — nearly three years after its launch in October 2023 — NASA's Psyche space probe used Mars' gravity to slingshot itself toward its final destination. Traveling at over 12,300 mph, the spacecraft flew just 2,864 miles above the surface of Mars. The planet's gravity helped it change direction and speed up without using extra fuel. This flyby was a key step in the probe's 2.2-billion-mile (3.5-billion-km) journey to the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. There, it will study a unique, metal-rich asteroid named 16 Psyche....

When you think of rats, "hero" is probably not the first word that comes to mind. But Magawa was no ordinary rodent. From his birth in 2013 to his passing in 2022, this African giant pouched rat helped save hundreds of lives in Cambodia by sniffing out hidden landmines. On April 3, 2026, Magawa was honored with a seven-foot (2.1 m) stone statue in the city of Siem Reap. The unveiling was timed to coincide with the International Day for Mine Awareness on April 4....

An international team of scientists has successfully retrieved the longest sediment core from beneath an Antarctic ice sheet. The 748-foot-long (228 m) sample of rock and mud offers a geological record spanning roughly 23 million years. Researchers hope these ancient layers will reveal how the region responded to past warming periods. This data could help improve predictions about future climate change....

Since late March 2026, millions of bright blue creatures have been washing ashore on the US West Coast, from California to Washington. While they look like jellyfish, these organisms are a type of zooplankton called Velella velella. The word comes from the Latin vēlum, meaning "sail."...

Modern crocodiles are powerful, heavy reptiles. They spend much of their lives along riverbanks, waiting to ambush prey. But their ancient relatives looked and lived very differently. One example is Sonselasuchus cedrus (S. cedrus). This recently discovered crocodile species lived about 215 million years ago during the Late Triassic Period....

A tiny insect that lived about 100 million years ago has been given a name inspired by Stray Kids, a South Korean boy band. The newly described species, Carcinonepa libererrantes (C. libererrantes), dates back to the Cretaceous Period. This is the time when dinosaurs still roamed Earth....

History was made at the 2026 London Marathon, as two runners finished in under two hours for the first time in an official race. Sabastian Sawe crossed the finish line at 1 hour, 59 minutes, and 30 seconds. Yomif Kejelcha followed just 11 seconds later at 1:59:41. Meanwhile, Tigst Assefa set a new women-only world record, finishing in 2:15:41. While many factors contributed to these performances, all three athletes shared one key advantage. They all wore the adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3 shoes....

Most ant colonies are built around a single queen that lays all the eggs. Around her, thousands of female workers build and maintain the nest, gather food, and care for the young. There is also a small number of males. Their only role is to mate with the queen before they die. However, Temnothorax kinomurai (T. kinomurai) follows a completely different strategy....

Astronomers have made a surprising discovery in the Kuiper Belt, a frigid region of space beyond Neptune. A small icy rock named 2002 XV93 has been found to have its own atmosphere. This is unexpected because the object is only about 310 miles (500 km) wide. That is about seven times smaller than our Moon. Usually, an object that small does not have enough gravity to hold onto gases. They simply drift away into space....