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1ScienceStanford, California
Sick Corals Get Better With a Little Touch
Corals may look like colorful rocks or plants, but they are animals. Tiny living things called algae live inside them. The algae make food for the coral and give it bright colors.
When ocean water gets too warm, corals lose their algae. They turn white. This is called bleaching, and bleached corals often die.
Scientists at Stanford University in California found a surprising fix. They set a bleached coral piece right against a healthy piece that came from the same coral. The two pieces touched and grew together, and the healthy piece shared its algae.
In just seven weeks, every bleached piece that touched a healthy partner got better. The pieces kept apart, by only a tiny gap, died.
The scientists can't use this trick on whole reefs yet. But it gives them new hope.
Sources: ScienceDaily / Stanford, Smithsonian
2AmazingRhode Island
A Pumpkin Heavier Than a Car
Ron Wallace of Rhode Island has grown the biggest pumpkin in history. On October 10, it weighed in at 3,156 pounds. It is the first pumpkin ever to top 3,000 pounds.
The old record didn't last long. Just one week earlier, a grower from Britain named Ian Paton set it with a pumpkin of about 2,857 pounds. Ron's pumpkin beat it by about 300 pounds.
Is a pumpkin a vegetable? Scientists call it a fruit, because it grows from a flower and holds seeds. That makes Ron's pumpkin the biggest fruit ever grown.
Sources: Smithsonian
3WorldAlberta, Canada
Alberta Votes to Stay Part of Canada
Canada, our neighbor to the north, is made up of areas called provinces. They are a bit like U.S. states. One of them is Alberta. It's known for cowboys, ranches, and lots of oil.
Some people in Alberta are unhappy with Canada's national government. A few want Alberta to become its own country. So on Monday, people in Alberta voted on a question: should Alberta take a first step toward leaving Canada?
The answer was a big no. About three out of every four voters said Alberta should stay in Canada.
Canada's leader, Prime Minister Mark Carney, called it “a great result for Canada.” The people who want Alberta to leave say they won't give up.
Sources: NPR / AP
4AnimalsWyoming
Scientists Find the Chunkiest “Squid Butt” Ever
About 160 million years ago, when dinosaurs roamed, a shallow sea covered much of the western United States. Squid-like animals called belemnites swam in it.
Belemnites had a hard part inside their bodies shaped like a bullet. These hard parts turned into fossils, and Wyoming has millions of them. People there call them “squid butts.”
Most are thin, about as wide as your finger. But two fossils were different. They were about four inches long and more than two inches wide, shaped like a barrel.
Scientists say this is a brand-new species, the chunkiest belemnite ever found. They named it Wyoteuthis, which means “squid from Wyoming.” With its arms, the animal may have been about two feet long. The fossils are on display at the Wyoming Dinosaur Center.
5SportsNew York City
LeBron James Wins His First Game for a New Team
The NBA basketball season started on Tuesday night. One of the biggest games was in New York City.
The New York Knicks won the championship last season, their first in more than 50 years. Before the game, they raised a championship banner to the ceiling of their arena, Madison Square Garden.
But their guests spoiled the party. The Philadelphia 76ers won, 106 to 100. It was LeBron James's first game for the 76ers, and he scored 14 points. His teammate Tyrese Maxey scored the most, with 28.
LeBron is 41 years old. This is his 24th season in the NBA. No player has ever played that many.
Word of the day
referendum
A vote where people decide one big question themselves.
Talk about it with your family
The sick coral got better because a healthy twin shared what it had. When has someone shared something that helped you?