Our mission here at News Bites (a monthly children’s newspaper) is to Engage, Inform, and Inspire by bringing news, STEM, sport and entertainment to young people in a language they understand and in a manner they can easily relate to.
GATHERING INTERESTING NEWS THAT CONNECTS YOUNG READERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD Hey, News Biters! We hope you’re doing well and enjoying the celebrations and festivities of this time. Last month, we took you on a tour of the near future – that is, the events that are set to happen in 2022. We hope that guide serves you well throughout the year and you enjoy watching, doing and following some great things between now and December. In this month’s feature, we’re still looking to the future but this time focusing on the technology that’s set to make its way into our homes, schools and communities over the next few years. With CES 2022 having taken place last month, we asked our tech team to round up the best the tech…
There are always a few main stories dominating the front pages and online forums. Here, we present one of the current stories, so you can be informed and form your own opinions. With Safer Internet Day happening this month (February 8), now is the perfect time to look at aspects of our online life and see if they are helping make the internet a better place. Social media has a lot of benefits – and one of them is that it’s now really easy to share our news with others. Posting on Facebook or Instagram is a really quick way to get information out – before we know it, the news may have been shared with hundreds, thousands or even millions of people. But is this always a good thing?…
Is the content of the message mean or nasty in any way? Why am I sharing this information – is it for a good reason? How would I feel if the post was about me – would I want it to be shared by others? Would I be happy to meet the person in real life and tell them I shared the post? How will this person feel if I share the post – is it going to upset them? Once you’ve asked yourself these questions, you should have a much better idea about whether sharing is the right thing to do or not. In short, will sharing cause discomfort or unhappiness to someone else? DANGER Sharing information can put people into dangerous situations. It’s easy for people with bad…
There’s a New Telescope in Town! USA On December 25 2021, the James Webb Space Telescope (or JWST) was launched into space from French Guiana in South America. This is the most powerful space microscope observatory that has ever been built and replaces the Hubble, which was launched in 1990. The JWST is named after James E. Webb, a former NASA director and head of the Apollo space programme. Its area is six times larger than the Hubble. In fact, it’s so large that it had to be made in 18 foldable sections in order to fit inside a rocket. Since its arrival in space, the JWST has been unfolded, or deployed, a section at a time. Mirrors, wings and a large sunshield, for example, all had to be unfolded…
11 Children, Four Special Letters A couple in Belgium have used the same four letters to create different names for all 11 of their children! It started when Gwenny Blanckaert and Marino Vaneeno chose the name Alex for their oldest son. They then chose the name Axel for their second son. They realised that the two names had the same letters, so they continued the tradition with the rest of their children – Xela, Lexa, Xael, Xeal, Exla, Leax, Xale, Elax, and Alxe! And baby number 12 – another boy – is on his way! The letters A-E-L-X can be used to make up 24 different names, so there are still plenty for Gwenny and Marino to choose from. What will they choose this time? Apes That Paint We share…
Snappy Science Not everyone can snap or click their fingers, you know? If you are one of those who have yet to learn, we have good news: scientists have recently discovered the secret of the finger snap with the help of high-speed video. Friction is the answer, it seems – creating the right amount of grip between your two fingers. If you don’t press your fingers together hard enough, you won’t make a snap. But if you push your fingers too hard, the excess friction will also fail to deliver the sound. Are you a finger-clicking maestro? Try it out and see. Bite Sized! The speed of a finger snap is around 20 times faster than the blink of an eye. This places it as one of the fastest movements…
