News Bites

See this sign, listen online GATHERING INTERESTING NEWS THAT CONNECTS YOUNG READERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD Hello, everyone, and welcome back to another fun-filled issue of News Bites. We hope you enjoyed our footie-focused issue last month and are enjoying the World Cup now that it is under way. If you are, you are joining billions of other viewers from around the world who are tuning in to cheer their team on, celebrate great goals and enjoy winter football in blistering sunshine! This month, as you can see, we are turning our attention from footballing heroes to a comic-book genius. If you are fans of Spider-Man, the Avengers, Iron Man or Thor, then you have Stan Lee to thank. In fact, December 28 will mark the 100th anniversary of the…

An energy crisis is gripping the world. Emergencies of different kinds have occurred to create a very serious situation. These include the Covid pandemic, war, climate change, and a food crisis. Unfortunately, this has the greatest effect on the poorest people. For example, the World Energy Outlook (WEO) says that the combination of the Covid pandemic and the energy crisis means that 70 million people recently supplied with electricity may now not be able to pay for it and have to return to using fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas etc). WEO calls this ‘a global tragedy’. Pandemic The COVID-19 lockdowns reduced the demand for oil and other energy. This, of course, led to less production of those fuels. But now the recovery from the pandemic has led to a big…

Look up! Is that a giant drone in the sky? German company Volocopter recently tested an electric helicopter taxi with a passenger aboard. The drone-like helicopter has two seats and eight rotors. It took off from an airfield outside Paris and circled for a while in typical air traffic. Unlike a small standard plane, this urban taxi operates on a fully vertical takeoff and landing. Paul Stone, a test pilot, says this vehicle is easier to fly than a regular helicopter, partly because of the multiple rotors. Volocopter's goal is to have its taxi helicopter certified for short passenger flights by 2024. Eventually, they hope that both seats will hold passengers, with full automation of the vehicle. But the company still has work to do on the vehicle itself and…

Humpback, blue, and fin whales all fall into a special group called ‘baleen whales’. This means they filter the water they swim through using ‘baleen plates’ in their mouths. These are made of a substance much like human fingernails. When the water is filtered through these plates, the whales end up with food like krill and other small prey for their dinner! But there's a downside to this neat filtering process. These days, the ocean waters in places like the area of the Pacific just off the U.S. coast contain large amounts of microplastics. When the whales filter solid things from the water for food, they end up eating many kilograms of plastic each day as well! How does plastic get into the ocean water? When the plastic things we…

Leaders from various Southeast Asian nations met recently for the ASEAN summit in Cambodia. This is the first time they have met face-to-face since the Covid pandemic. Asian nations attending the summit included Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, and Singapore. Leaders from Japan, South Korea, China, Russia and the U.S. also attended. The leaders discussed economic trade cooperation and how to ensure worldwide peace. For example, the ASEAN leaders agreed on five points last year to stop violence in Myanmar. This year, additional countries were urged to sign the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation, which is a peace treaty begun by Southeast Asian countries in 1976. This year, Ukraine signed the treaty, bringing the number of countries to 50. China and the U.S. are two of the group's regular trading…

Methane is a greenhouse gas that adds to climate change by trapping heat in our atmosphere. This gas is produced from human activities but also by several natural processes, such as decaying plants and even by cows digesting their food. That's right… cow burps cause the release of methane into the air! But what's to be done about that? Cows have to eat! Scientists in New Zealand have been working on ways to reduce methane by controlling cow-burping. Their plan involves a probiotic named Kowbucha. The powder is mixed with liquid and fed to calves along with their regular food. So far, researchers say the methane produced through burping is down by about 20%. They hope to be selling the product in stores by 2024. By 2025, New Zealand will…