Articles with 600-800 Words

While elephants born without tusks are not unheard of, they normally comprise just 2 to 6 percent of the herd population. However, that is not the case at Mozambique’s Gorongosa National Park, where an astounding 33 percent of female elephants born after the country’s civil war ended in 1992, are tuskless. While that may appear to be just a coincidence, Joyce Poole, an elephant behavior expert and National Geographic Explorer, has another theory. The researcher thinks we may be witnessing an unnaturally induced evolution of the species due to the incessant poaching of the mighty mammals for their valuable tusks....

Following a week of national mourning, America’s 41st President George H.W. Bush will be put to rest on December 6, 2018. He will be buried at the George Bush Presidential Library at Texas A&M University alongside Barbara Bush, his wife of 73 years who died in April 2018, and Robin Bush, the daughter they lost to leukemia in 1953 at the age of 3. The 94-year-old former leader, who passed away on November 30, was the last veteran of World War II to serve as president and only the second one after John Adams to be the father of a president....

Hadi Partovi, founder of Code.org believes every student should learn the basics of computer science just like they do math, physics, or biology, regardless of what they want to do in the future. The expert says knowledge about the subject is important to understand how the world around us works and compares it to learning about photosynthesis, even though not every student is going to be a botanist. To spark student interest, he created the “Hour of Code,” which introduces the world of computing to anyone, from ages 4 to 104, in a fun, interactive manner. Observed annually during Computer Science Week, which will be celebrated from December 3 through 9, 2018, the event now draws tens of millions of kids from over 180 countries....

On November 26, 2018, scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California held their breath as the InSight spacecraft attempted the most challenging part of its 300 million-mile-long journey to Mars – landing. At 2:53 p.m. EST, following a few nail-biting moments, the room erupted in joy at the sound of the official “beep,” and the grainy photo of the Red Planet which confirmed that the lander had not only touched down but was functioning as expected....

Comic book enthusiasts and movie lovers alike are mourning the loss of legendary writer, editor, and publisher Stan Lee who died at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California on November 12, 2018. The 95-year-old, responsible for creating iconic superheroes like Spider-Man, Iron Man, the X-Men, The Avengers, and The Fantastic Four, leaves behind a “marvel-ous” legacy that will live on forever....

The Central American countries of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador – often referred to as the Northern Triangle – have been stricken by violence and poverty since the 1980s, thanks to a slew of civil wars. Over the past few years, the situation has only worsened, forcing thousands of residents, many of them unaccompanied minors, to flee to the U.S in search of a better life. In the past, most have made the long, often treacherous, journey in small numbers to avoid getting noticed by officials and kidnappers....

Every year, around October or November, Hindus, Sikhs, and Jains worldwide celebrate Diwali. Also referred to as Deepavali or the Festival of Lights, the five-day event, whose exact date is determined by the Hindu lunar calendar, dates back over 2,500 years. Hence, it should come as no surprise that Diwali, which will be commemorated from November 5 to November 9 this year, is India’s biggest and most significant holiday....

Those of you having a hard time waking up in the increasingly dark mornings will be pleased to hear that Daylight Saving Time (DST) ends on Sunday, November 4. This means that most North Americans will “add’’ an hour to their day by moving their clocks back. In addition to allowing people to enjoy an extra 60 minutes on Sunday, the simple act will help provide more daylight hours and make getting up for school a little more palatable....

Three years ago, in 2015, the Town of Carefree, Arizona was seeking a pumpkin carver to help their newly-planned fall festival become an instant success. Luckily for them, world-famous American sculptor and artist Ray Villafane fell in love with the Carefree Desert Gardens, and the annual Enchanted Pumpkin Garden was born. Now in its fourth year, the free event, which took place from October 19 to 28 2018, includes numerous fun Halloween activities for both kids and adults. However, it is the pumpkin carvings that remain the star attraction....