Indholdsfortegnelse for Issue 242 i National Geographic Kids (UK)

Hi Kids! Enough monkeying around – because it's time to get down to the serious business of reading Nat Geo Kids! We're sure you won't turn your noses up at our colourful cover star – China's golden snub-nosed monkey. Turn to page 10 to have a nosey at this amazing primate! Then, on page 30, check out the 'animal doctors' that can cure themselves when they're sick! Plus, discover how some surprising creatures are helping with human medicines. Also this month, we crown some incredible insects with awards, meet five seriously brave spies, and learn how to spot fake bling. Enjoy the issue! Editor Tim and the Nat Geo Kids team…

MAY 23 World Turtle Day Discover turtle facts at natgeokids.com/uk/turtles JUNE 3 World Bicycle Day Get outside and explore by bike! JUNE 8 World Ocean Day Visit the World Ocean Day website for activities, events and more. JUNE 15 Father's Day Three cheers for dads! JUNE 21 World Music Day Turn up the tunes today!…

Alien eggs Did you know that not all frogs have a tadpole stage? Some – like these bush frogs – live in places without pools of water, so they don’t hatch until they've become fully-formed froglets! Indian photographer Vinodh Venugopal spotted this tiny clutch of see-through eggs while on a trip to the lush rainforests near Agumbe in southwest India during the monsoon season. Nestled among thick moss growing on an old tree, the eggs were hard to spot – but he lit them from behind with a hand-held torch to illuminate the developing frogs curled inside. Cute! ● Vinodh’s glowing image was highly commended in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2024 competition. Check out the exhibition at London’s Natural History Museum until 29 June.…

National Geographic Explorer Edy Setyawan and his team are studying young reef manta rays in an Indonesian lagoon, hoping to learn more about how these mysterious creatures spend their early days. But these slippery fish aren’t so easy to track… *A tag is a small device that sends signals to computers, allowing scientists to monitor where the mantas are located. The tags are attached using a special type of spear, but the fish only feel a short sting as it’s attached.…

CHECK OUT THE BOOK! Babies have 30,000 taste buds -adults have fewer than 10,000. Spider silk is used to make fishing nets in some countries. The human body contains a tiny amount of gold. Early lacrosse matches had up to 1,000 players per team. France held an annual pig squealing championship where people imitated the animals with squeals, grunts and snuffles. Western diamondback rattlesnakes can strike in about half the time it takes you to blink. When Japan’s Nijo Castle was built, its floors were designed to be squeaky to prevent stealthy intruders. Finland holds an annual mobile phone throwing contest.…

European rabbits LIVES Native to Europe and northwest Africa, today they’re found on every continent except Antarctica SLIP-UP SPOT Ōkunoshima, Japan PHOTO FAIL Young rabbits sometimes play by nipping at each other and then hopping backwards. Looks like these two jumped a bit too far! Galápagos tortoise LIVES Galápagos Islands, Ecuador SLIP-UP SPOT Isabela Island PHOTO FAIL This giant tortoise’s lengthy neck can stretch upwards to grab tasty leaves… provided, er, it doesn’t get all twisted up! Bearded seal LIVES Arctic Ocean SLIP-UP SPOT Near Spitsbergen, Norway PHOTO FAIL Bearded seals often rest on stable ice floes before they feed, but it looks like this frozen raft is getting a little off-balance. Hold on tight!…

PORTAL MIX-UP (page 21) LAUNDRY LINES (page 24) C leads to the matching T-shirts. SHADOW’S SHADOW! (page 36) D is the matching shadow. POKÉMON (page 40–41) TEAM UP! POWERFUL FRIENDS! CROSSWORD (page 42) COUNTING KOALAS (page 43) Mabo-Nose B; Kiki-Nose C; Gulkurguli-Nose A. TRAIN YOUR BRAIN (page 44–45) BUZZ OFF 6 and 11 are only shown once. ROAR & EXPLORE! COLOUR QUEST 1-YELLOW; 2-PURPLE; 3-BLACK; 4-GREEN; 5-PINK; 6-BLUE; 7-RED; 8-ORANGE. CIRCLE SUMS A-36; B-31; C-6; D-7. DOGGY DOUBLE 3 and 6. SUDOKU SEQUENCE SPOTTING A-50; B-128; C-25; D-17; E-8; F-42. FRUITY FIND APRICOT. BRICK BY BRICK THE LAST LAUGH Q. What do you call a primate that lives underwater? A. A sub-nosed monkey! Q. What happens if you double-cross a monkey? A. They go bananas! Q. What do monkeys do…

Danish kids discover water bears! Nine new water bear species have been discovered by school kids in Denmark! Also known as tardigrades, these microscopic animals live all over the world in soil, water and other damp places, but scientists don’t know much about them. So a huge citizen science project called ‘Mass Experiment’ was launched to find out more. Nearly 30,000 Danish kids aged 7–16 collected 8,000 samples of mosses and lichens and sent them to the Natural History Museum of Denmark to be investigated by scientists. The researchers identified over 55 species, at least nine of which were new to science! Amazingly, the findings quadrupled the number of known water bear species in the country. Top marks, kids! Dino prints found in school! Dozens of dinosaur footprints have been found…

Race around the globe! These daredevil motorcyclists were snapped during the recent Albacete International Circus Festival in Spain. Somehow, the SEVEN stunt riders managed to razz around the tiny 4.2m ‘Show Globe of Death’ without crashing into each other. Vroom! Citrus to the stars This year’s Lemon Festival in Menton, France, was truly out of this world – thousands of oranges and lemons were used to create sculptures of UFOs, astronauts and aliens! The annual extravaganza celebrates the region’s famous citrus fruit production – it’s the zest! Tough but tasty! Pun-loving artist Joyce Lin, from Texas in the USA, makes sculptures of food using wood, steel, clay and rock, among other materials. Her ‘woodnanas’, ‘fir mignon’ and ‘granite sorbet’ are our faves. Yum! POP PARADE! Ever tried twisting a balloon…

Wild animals can’t pop to the pharmacy when they need an ointment, a box of plasters or infectionfighting pills to treat their wounds. So what do they do when they get injured or become ill? “For a long time, people thought that self-medicating (treating yourself to prevent or reduce illness) was something only humans did,” says evolutionary biologist Louise Peckre. “But it turns out animals do it, too.” Read on to discover five extraordinary examples of creatures healing themselves. THE PATIENT: Sumatran orangutan THE CONDITION: Open wound THE TREATMENT: Plant paste Rakus the orangutan had probably been tussling with another male over territory when he got a large gash on his cheek. Afterwards, researchers in Indonesia, Southeast Asia, watched Rakus eat leaves from a vine that orangutans rarely dine on.…

1 Potatoes were first farmed over 7,000 years ago in the Andes mountains of South America. In the 1500s, Spanish invaders tried them and shipped them back to Europe for the first time, giving them as exotic gifts to botanists from other countries. 2 When potatoes were first planted in Europe, they only grew to the size of cherries. So farmers developed new varieties that were better suited to the colder climate. Now, there are over 5,000 types, with lots of shapes, colours and textures. 3 The world’s most expensive potato variety is La Bonnotte, which sells for up to £33 per potato! Grown surrounded by seaweed in the sandy soil of Noirmoutier island, France, the rare tattie is said to taste like lemons, salt and walnuts. *You can get…

Flow When a great flood devastates his home, a solitary black cat escapes on a drifting sailboat occupied by a lazy capybara. Pretty soon, more animals (including a goofy dog and a bling-loving lemur) join them on their journey through the mystical, flooded landscapes. The mismatched crew of creatures must team up to help each other survive in their dangerous new world. Despite having no dialogue (other than real animal sounds), this imaginative Oscar-winning animation is mesmerising and moving. You might say it’s the cat’s whiskers! ● In cinemas now Crongton Enter the vibrant world of Crongton, an inner-city estate full of spirited kids coping with all kinds of difficulties – from boring teachers and rank school dinners to vexed sisters and dangerous gangsters… Based on the best-selling books by author…

Our planet is packed with up to 10 quintillion insects. (That’s 19 zeros!) These amazing creatures pollinate plants, decompose plant and animal matter, and are a source of food for other animals. All insects are special in their own right – but we think these eight weird and wonderful species deserve special trophies… GREATEST GLOW RAILROAD WORM Caterpillar-like railroad ‘worms’ are actually beetle larvae that look pretty unremarkable -until the sun sets! Glowing spots run down their bodies, looking a bit like lights from train windows at night. That’s where their ‘railroad’ name comes from! Only the larvae and wingless females glow, their greenish-yellow lights warning off predators or attracting mates. Some railroad species also have a red ‘headlamp’ that allows them to see and surprise prey insects. Most insects can’t…

GILA MONSTER With its sharp claws, scaly skin and long, forked tongue, the venomous Gila monster definitely has the fear factor! But did you know this cool lizard from the deserts of the USA and Mexico is helping treat people who have a condition called Type 2 diabetes? People with Type 2 diabetes aren’t able to produce the correct amount of a hormone known as GLP-1, which helps control their blood sugar levels. But in the early 1990s, researchers found a similar hormone to GLP-1 in the saliva of the Gila monster. Realising it could help, they then developed a synthetic version of the chemical for people to use. What a monster discovery! Turn over for more creature cures! LEECHES These little black worms have long been used in medicine…

TOP TIP This craft gets messy! Protect your clothes and surfaces before you start. What you'll need ● A4 paper or card ● Paints ● Scrap paper or newspaper ● Pencil or pen ● Scissors ● Template (optional) Start here! 1 Fold a piece of A4 paper in half widthways. Then open it up and add some blobs and squirts of paint to one side of the paper. Use your imagination, or look at the colours of the butterflies and moths on this page for inspiration. 2 Close your piece of paper and smooth down in all directions. You could drag a pencil or ruler along the paper to help spread out the paint. Some paint may ooze out of the sides, so put some scrap paper underneath and on…