Kids News - Science Articles

Making edible cookies may be the last thing that comes to mind when we think of ways to recycle plastic. But that is exactly what researchers at Southern Illinois University Carbondale have developed with support from NASA. Dubbed µBites (pronounced "micro-bites"), the project demonstrates how common plastic can be transformed into nutritious food using bioengineering....

Launched in 1977, NASA's Voyager 1 was expected to last just five years. Yet the spacecraft is still functioning. Traveling at about 38,000 miles (61,000 km) per hour, Voyager 1 has now covered more than 15.8 billion miles in space. If this trajectory continues, Voyager 1 will reach one light-day, or about 16 billion miles (about 26 billion km) away from Earth on November 18, 2026. A light-day is the distance light travels in one day. It will be the first human-made object to reach this milestone....

The European Space Agency (ESA) revealed on September 19, 2026, that a special Pikachu plush had spent 67 days on the International Space Station (ISS). The "astronaut" went to the ISS on a Cygnus cargo spacecraft on April 11. It returned to Earth on June 17 aboard a SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft. During its time in orbit, Pikachu completed about 1,040 trips around Earth....

NASA has unveiled a $20 billion initiative to build a permanent base on the Moon. Called "Ignition," it aims to test whether humans can sustainably live beyond Earth. The plan, announced on March 24, 2026, marks a major shift from short lunar visits to a long-term human presence on the Moon....