Innholdsfortegnelse for June/July 2025 i National Geographic Kids

I was dangling from the top of a research boat off the coast of South Africa, hoping to photograph a great white shark from above. For the past 10 months, I’d been working alongside scientists from the White Shark Trust, an organization that studies these animals. But the noise of our vessel was affecting the sharks’ behavior, so I suggested that the team use a kayak to observe the swimmers instead. It can be nerve-racking to be in such a small craft alongside these 15-foot-long sharks. But at no point did the sharks show any aggression toward us or our little yellow kayak. It proved what we already know about these animals: Great white sharks are much more cautious and curious than threatening or unpredictable. On this particular day, research…

Ostrich LIVES IN: Sub-Saharan Africa SCREEN NAME: BiggestBird FRIENDS: Below » START 8 a.m. 11 a.m.…

It’s 5 a.m. on October 7, 2024, and Hurricane Milton is racing toward the west coast of Florida. Hundreds of flights will be canceled, but one plane takes off, heading straight into the storm. At 10,000 feet, fierce winds around the edge of the hurricane’s eye, also called the eye wall, rock the aircraft. Crew members are bumped out of their seats, hot coffee spills, and a slice of pizza flies across the aisle. The lightning is so intense, the plane’s pilots need a glare shield to read their instruments. This plane is one of only two in the world built specifically to fly inside a hurricane. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA) research plane, nicknamed “Miss Piggy” after a popular character from The Muppet Show, is on a mission…

MEET THE PANDAS! BAO LI SAY IT: BOW lee MEANING: In Mandarin Chinese, bao means “treasure” and li means “energetic” SEX: Male BIRTHDAY: August 4, 2021 KNOWN FOR: His playful personality! Bao Li still acts like a cub: He often climbs trees to fall out of them on purpose—just for fun. He seems to love being the center of attention. QING BAO SAY IT: ching BOW MEANING: In Mandarin Chinese, qing means “green” and bao means “treasure” SEX: Female BIRTHDAY: September 12, 2021 KNOWN FOR: Her super smarts! Qing Bao easily picks up new training skills and quickly solves her enrichment puzzles. As the doors of her travel crate open, three-year-old giant panda Qing Bao(ching BOW) walks out and begins exploring her new space in Washington, D.C. Meanwhile, her travel…

Living under the sand near coral reefs is a burrowing, pint-size punk. Sure, this crustacean has a colorful shell and adorable eyes—but don’t let that fool you. Although the peacock mantis shrimp is only between one and seven inches long, it’s a fearsome ocean predator. Dig deeper to discover some stunning facts about this tiny toughie. Where peacock mantis shrimp live EYE SPY Sitting atop two stalks that can move in all directions are some totally awesome eyes: They have many more color receptors than any other animal, including humans. The extra receptors give peacock mantis shrimp the power to see a type of light that’s invisible to all other animals. This circular polarized light allows them to send secret messages to each other. The shells of males and females…

WHAT Portable multi-tool WHEN A.D. 200-300 WHERE Mediterranean region You might think that the multiuse Swiss Army knife is a modern invention, but the ancient Romans also thought of this tool. A skilled artist in the Roman Empire made a similar device containing not only a blade but also a spoon, fork, pick, spatula, and spike. It’s “one of the most complicated” folding utensils we have today from the Roman Empire, according to Anastasia Christophilopoulou, a curator at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, England. Analysis reveals that the tool is at least 1,700 years old. Most Roman folding knives from the same period are made of bronze—but this one contains silver, a soft metal, suggesting it was a fancier item that wasn’t used frequently. “We think this was something that…

A hungry bottlenose dolphin follows a small, fast fish along the ocean floor and watches it swim into an empty sea snail shell. But the dolphin can’t nab its snack: The shell’s opening is too small. So the clever critter picks up the shell in its beak and swims to the surface. Once above the water, the dolphin shakes the shell until the fish slides straight into its mouth—yum! This hunting technique—called shelling—isn’t the only cool way dolphins catch their meals. And fish aren’t the only thing bottlenose dolphins dine on: These marine mammals can eat more than 35 species of ocean animals, and their menu is always changing. “Luckily, if one prey animal migrates away for the winter, dolphins adjust their hunting strategy to feed on something different,” marine…