For decades, astronomers have been training telescopes all over the sky, looking for alien worlds. In October, they reported finding an Earth-sized planet near a small, next-door star. The discovery naturally raises the question: When can we visit?Visit the new Science News for Kids website and read the full story: New planetary neighbor

You may have heard that “you are what you eat.” But in the nine months before a baby’s born, its mother’s diet can also make a big difference. And whether that mom ate fish could play an important role in her baby’s brain health, a new study reports.Visit the new Science News for Kids website and read the full story: Of fish and brain health

A slime mold called Physarum polycephalum can crawl from one spot to another. Some people liken its appearance to moving, pulsing dog barf. Others clearly feel more tenderness toward the organism — enough to spend much of their life studying it. One such team of scientists now reports finding that although slime molds lack a brain, this goo may still have a memory of sorts.Visit the new Science News for Kids website and read the full story: A slime with memory

Every fall, a few scientists receive big recognition when they’re named winners of the Nobel Prizes in physics, chemistry or medicine. On October 8, John Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka were awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine for discovering that adult cells can be forced to morph into other types of cells. The next day, Serge Haroche and David Wineland won the physics Nobel for independent experiments related to light and matter. And the day after that, Robert Lefkowitz and Brian Kobilka won the Nobel in chemistry for showing how cells use special molecules called receptors to communicate. Eac...

Since August, NASA's Curiosity rover has been exploring a giant Martian crater with a mountain in the middle. Scientists announced in late September that if the rover had arrived at this spot 3.5 billion years earlier, it might have landed with a splash. Curiosity seems to have landed in the middle of a former streambed. The moving water would have been “from ankle to hip deep, and maybe moving a few feet a second,” planetary scientist William Dietrich told Science News. Dietrich works with other scientists on the Curiosity mission. Visit the new Science News for Kids website&n...

In April, a powerful earthquake shook Sumatra, an island in the Indian Ocean that’s part of the country of Indonesia. Two hours later, a second earthquake — one nearly as powerful — hit the same region. This one-two punch had a big reach: It set off additional quakes as far away as Mexico.Visit the new Science News for Kids website and read the full story: Earth’s big breakup

Tiny tunnels within the “skin” of a robot allow it to hide or stand out.

Fairbanks is the second-largest city in Alaska, and according to a new study it’s also now home to malaria germs that infect birds. The finding that these germs — which thrive in warmer climates — have established themselves in North America’s northern reaches could mean trouble for local birds. Malaria microbes are parasites, or organisms that live on or in other organisms. The parasites make their home in mosquitoes, which can then transfer the germs from bird to bird, or from person to person. (Another reason to hate mosquitoes! Thwap!)Visit the new Science News for Kids ...

Ritalin is a drug prescribed to help people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. It can help these people think more clearly. But recently scientists found that the drug may have a different, surprising effect when taken by healthy people: It can make them reckless.Visit the new Science News for Kids website and read the full story: Risk-taking linked to Ritalin

E. coli bacteria live naturally in the human gut. For almost 25 years, researchers at Michigan State University have been growing the germs in 12 glass flasks. The microbes have been growing, and reproducing — and growing some more. Meanwhile, biologists have been watching, watching, watching. Richard Lenski and his coworkers recently reported a new finding from the long-term project. In one flask, the bacteria the scientists were nurturing did something momentous: They gradually evolved, or changed. In this case, the tiny organisms developed the ability to eat a new food — but only when ...