Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2017 i National Geographic Kids

BIRD HANGS OUT WITH BUNNY Kildare, Ireland Bunny the European rabbit and Pidg the common pigeon didn’t let anything come between their friendship—even a wall! The animals were found weak and alone, and were brought separately to Kildare Animal Foundation Wildlife Unit. Both needed to stay warm to survive, but volunteer Aideen McGee only had one incubator. So she put the rabbit and the bird inside together, setting a cardboard wall between them so they’d each have their own space. Later when McGee went to check on the duo, she saw that Bunny had knocked down the barrier and was cuddling with Pidg! McGee took away the cardboard wall so the animals could snuggle 24/7. Shortly after, Bunny became sick, and Pidg refused to leave the rabbit’s side. “The bird…

CANINE CATCHER Purin the beagle holds the world record for catching the most balls with her paws—14 catches in one minute. “People ask me why soccer teams aren’t scouting her yet,” owner Makoto Kumagai says. Purin, whose name is the Japanese word for “pudding,” practices her soccer moves for 15 minutes a day at her home in Tokyo, Japan. In addition to fielding goals, the four-pawed sports star can do about a hundred other tricks, including jumping rope and skateboarding. This is one dog that’s really on the ball. BIG WHEEL Talk about going around in circles. Zooming across an airfield at more than 61 miles an hour, engineer Kevin Scott set the record for fastest monowheel motorcycle. The monowheel, which Scott helped build, is a motorized wheel that has…

Last year, we asked you to show us your world through photographs—and many of you did. More than 46,064 readers of nine Nat Geo Kids editions from around the world participated in the contest, co-sponsored by Nat Geo Kids and Animal Jam. First-place winners from all the countries moved on to the international competition to compete for the grand prize—a trip to Washington, D.C. Check out the international grand-prize photograph (below), along with the first-place winners for each category from the United States. WORLDWIDE WINNERS! Go online to see photo contest winners from around the world. natgeokids.com  /photo-contest MY SHOT Check out Nat Geo Kids My Shot on page 35 to see other readers’ photos, then get tips on taking your own awesome pictures. natgeokids.com/photo-tips THESE PICTURES ARE…

Clark Kent and Peter Parkerthe alter egos of Superman and Spider-Man—don’t really stand out. And neither do pangolins in the tropical forests or grasslands of Africa and Asia where they live. But like your favorite movie heroes, this animal has a few hidden superpowers. Check them out here. SPIDER-MAN STICKINESS! Spider-Man shoots out sticky strands of webbing from his wrists to swing from one skyscraper to another. When a pangolin is hungry, it shoots out its sticky tongue (which extends up to 16 inches past its mouth). Coated in gluey saliva, the licker scoops up ants and termites, the pangolin’s favorite snacks. In all, the mammal can eat some 70 million insects a year. Makes sense that this superhero-like creature would have a super-appetite. WOLVERINE CLAWS! During fights with villains,…

1 BY A NOSE My, what a big nose you have! The proboscis monkey’s huge schnoz can grow to be up to a quarter of the animal’s body length. These creatures are also some of the quickest swimmers in the jungles of Borneo: Webbed feet help them out-paddle predators like crocodiles. 2 TURTLE NECK What stands out about the mata mata turtle? Nothing, really—unless you count its needlelike nose, bumpy body, long neck, and flat head. Commonly found in the Amazon River, these animals have awesome camouflage skills and are often mistaken for a pile of leaves and mud 3 FISH FACE Sporting a permanent frowny face and lumpy body, the endangered blobfish is one weird-looking animal. Mostly found off the coast of Australia, the fish has been voted the…

SPACE GLIDER The Perlan 2 plane will sweep you 17 miles off the ground to the edge of space—and it doesn’t even have an engine, jets, or propellers. What the two-passenger glider does have is an 84-foot wingspan, about the length of two school buses. To take off, this lightweight craft is connected by cable to another plane and towed 10,000 feet into the air. Then it’s released over mountainous regions where extra-strong air currents buoy the plane under its large wings and carry the craft 90,000 feet high. Here, data is collected on the atmosphere before pilots use the glider’s airbrakes to descend. Glide on! PANCAKE ART Create art with pancake mix! The PancakeBot produces flapjacks shaped as the Eiffel Tower, George Washington, Scooby-Doo, and more. First, use the…

Acheetah crouches in the grass of the African savanna, observing an antelope that’s strayed from its herd. The cat creeps closer and closer. Then it bursts toward its target, accelerating so rapidly that its legs appear to blur. Seeing the cat, the antelope takes off. It sprints behind a thicket with the cheetah in pursuit. As they emerge from the bushes, the cheetah catches up to its prey and pounces. It’s dinnertime. Cheetahs are excellent hunters, and they know how to hustle. The fastest land animal, they’ve been clocked going over 60 miles an hour. Naturally, scientists attributed the cheetah’s hunting success to its speediness—until recently. Using top-notch technology to research the feline’s movements and hunting techniques, scientists found surprising answers to the question of what makes the cheetah a…

Do cows with names produce more milk? Can birds recognize different painting styles? Believe it or not, scientists have done real tests to answer wacky questions like these. But the silly investigations have a serious side, helping make life better. Check out five experiments that’ll make you laugh—and learn. FLEA POWER Sidesplitting Experiment: Fleas can jump onto the coats of dogs or cats, where they like to burrow. To learn which are better leapers—dog fleas or cat fleas—French scientists put both at the base of tubes ranging from about a half inch to 12 inches in height. Then they noted which fleas jumped above the rim of each tube. Funny Findings: Leaping high enough to clear a nine-inch tube, dog fleas won. This makes them one of the world’s best…

What would happen if Earth had rings like Saturn? It’s good that Earth doesn’t have rings. Saturn’s rings are made of countless pieces of rock and ice that can be as tiny as a grain of sand or as big as a house. If Earth had similar rings, they’d be positioned in a way that would block sunlight and cast a shadow over the Northern and Southern Hemispheres during each region’s winter. (That’s when the hemispheres are tilted away from the sun.) Both areas would be darker and colder at these times. With less light coming in, crops and plants that depend on the sun to survive the season might die out. No thanks! What would happen if humans had tails? If our tails were prehensile (meaning they could grip…

It’s the year 2060, and you’re ready for school. It’s raining, so you decide not to take the drone. Instead you ride in your driverless cube car. “The sky’s no longer the limit in terms of where transportation is headed,” says Tom Kurfess, a mechanical engineering professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Take a peek at these wild rides of the future. GOING UP … WAY UP! The space elevator doors open—welcome to the space station lobby. It’s possible that people will one day ride a space elevator from Earth to a space station that orbits our planet from 22,370 miles above. The elevator will carry passengers and cargo into space without burning huge amounts of fuel, unlike today’s rockets. Aboard the station, travelers might stay in a hotel…

A huge stone lion looms over the passing boats on Egypt’s Nile River. It serves as a giant guardian to some of the country’s famous pyramids, man-made tombs that seem to stretch all the way to the sun. The ancient sand-colored statue known as the Sphinx is as tall as the White House, with paws longer than a city bus. An air of mystery has always surrounded the Sphinx. Why was it built? How many hidden chambers are inside? Scientists are still digging up clues to those questions, but they might have an answer for one of the monument’s biggest mysteries: Who built it? SET IN STONE In ancient Egypt, people worshipped sphinxes as mythical creatures with the power to ward off evil. Some think the Sphinx was built as…