Kids News - Articles with 400-600 Words

As had been widely anticipated, on Thursday, December 14, the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted 3-2 to repeal the net neutrality regulations put in place by the agency two years ago. Why should you care? Because if critics are right, it may hinder your ability to access your favorite social media apps, play video games, or stream movies....

On December 6, Little Foot, the most complete, and possibly oldest, skeleton of a human ancestor ever found, made its debut at the Hominin Vault at University of Witwatersrand's Evolutionary Studies Institute in Johannesburg, South Africa. The ancient fossil’s public unveiling ends a painstaking journey of discovery and assembling that began in 1994, when paleoanthropologist Ron Clarke stumbled upon fragments of four left foot bones while rummaging through a museum box....

Today, December 12, marks the first day of Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights. Since the eight-day celebration begins at the 25th day of Kislev, the ninth month on the Hebrew calendar, its exact date varies from late November to the end of December....

Less than two months after wildfires burned through 245,000 acres, destroyed 8,400 structures, and killed 42 people in Northern California’s wine country, there is more devastation. This time, the blazes, fueled by dry brush and fierce Santa Ana winds, are wreaking havoc in Southern California....

After almost a year of orbiting the sun, on September 22, 2017, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (Origins-Spectral Interpretation-Resource Identification-Security-Regolith Explorer) made its closest flyby of Earth. Moving at speeds of about 19,000 mph, the spacecraft passed within 11,000 miles of the planet’s surface just south of Chile, before zooming over Antarctica....

A week before the December 2 season-opening race of the 2017 FIA Formula E Championship, Techeetah team driver Jean-Éric Vergne got behind the wheel for an unusual challenge. The French driver, who placed fifth at the 2016 FIA championship, tested his driving skills against the world’s fastest land animal – the cheetah. And, unlike the Michael Phelps race against a shark earlier this year, this one did not rely on a CGI animated replica....

Years of low rainfall and poor agricultural practices, such as livestock overgrazing, have transformed the Sahel region of Africa into a semi-arid desert. The lack of fertile soil along the almost 8,000-kilometer stretch extending east-west across the breadth of the continent from Senegal on the Atlantic coast to Eritrea on the Red Sea coast, is making it increasingly hard for the residents, who depend on farming, to survive....

After months of anticipation, Britain’s Prince Harry finally announced his engagement to American actress, model, and humanitarian Rachel Meghan Markle. As per British royalty tradition, the official statement released on November 27, came from the groom’s father, Charles, Prince of Wales — the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and heir apparent to the British Throne....

Over the past few years, the art world has seen some astronomical bids for the works of famous painters. In 2015, Pablo Picasso’s Women of Algiers became the most expensive painting to be sold in an auction, after an anonymous buyer paid $179 million. That same year, a $300 million private sale of Willem de Kooning's abstract landscape Interchange broke the record for the most expensive artwork ever sold. However, both the sales pale in comparison to the $400 million paid for Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi on November 14. The buyer also paid an additional $50.3 million to cover the auction house’s fees and taxes....