Kids News - Articles with 400-600 Words

Access to clean water is something many of us take for granted. However, for millions of people living in developing nations, it is a scarce commodity. According to the World Health Organization 3.4 million people, mostly children, die annually from water-related diseases. But that could change soon thanks to 'Row-bot', a tiny autonomous robot that powers itself by eating harmful water microbes....

Manatees or sea cows as they are often called, are large, rotund marine animals that can weigh as much as 1,000 pounds. But despite their enormous size, the mostly herbivorous animals have no blubber to protect them from chilly winter waters. Hence, every winter, the gentle giants seek out warmer waters. For the approximately 6,000 Florida manatees that reside in the Gulf of Mexico it means heading to the balmy 72°F waters of the roughly one-acre Three Sisters Spring in Florida's Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge....

In November 1966, Fred Thrower, the President of New York-based television station WPIX was faced with a dilemma. He had to figure out some exciting Christmas Eve programming to replace a three-hour slot left vacant by the cancelation of the regular Saturday night college basketball game....

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Two weeks ago, representatives from 196 countries arrived in Paris to resolve one of the world's most pressing problems — Climate change. On Saturday, December 12th, the group emerged victorious with the first-ever global accord in the fight against global warming — One that U.S. President Obama hailed as the "turning point for the world" and the "best chance to save the one planet we've got."...

Mention snakes and the image that comes to mind is that of a stealthily gliding reptile. Turns out that this was not always the case. Ancient snake fossils indicate that the reptiles once had legs, just like the rest of us. So why did snakes decide to shed them in favor of the slither that sends chills down our spines? That is a mystery researchers have been trying to solve for some time....

To say that David Richards loves to create Christmas light displays is an understatement. In the past four years, the Canberra resident has picked up three Guinness World Records - Two for 'most Christmas lights on a residential property' and one for 'largest image made of LED lights.' On November 27th, the Canberra resident broke yet another record - This time for 'most lights on an artificial Christmas tree.'...

At sundown on Sunday, December 6th, millions of Jews around the world celebrated the first day of Hanukkah by lighting a candle and singing traditional songs. The eight day festival that is observed annually, starts on the 25th day of Kislev, the ninth month of the Hebrew calendar, which follows the lunar cycle. Hence, its exact date varies anywhere from late November to the end of December....

While physics, chemistry, and biology are a norm at all schools, computer science is still a nascent subject. It is estimated that just 10 percent of American schools offer computer science and only 19% of high school students graduate with the course under their belt. Seattle-based non-profit Code.org wants to change that by exposing every student in the world to this all important science that is the basis of the digital world we live in....