The huge parachute used by NASA’s Perseverance rover to land on Mars contained a secret message in binary code, thanks to a crossword lover on the spacecraft team having fun

Prime Minister Scott Morrison knows spelling isn’t always easy — just watch him try to spell hippopotamus — but it can be lots of fun, especially with competitions like the Spelling Bee

Brisbane has been named preferred candidate by the International Olympic Committee to host the 2032 Olympic Games, great news for Australian Olympians of the past, present and future

Mount Etna, Europe’s most active volcano, has awed even experienced volcanologists, pumping out spectacular displays of lava, ash and volcanic rocks for more than a week

On March 1, South Australia will become the first state to ban single-use plastic, less than a week after the opening of a shop in Adelaide in which everything is made out of single-use plastic

A microphone on NASA’s Perseverance rover has recorded for the first time the sound of another planet. It’s hoped there will be more to hear from Mars soon as the rover gets to work

Melbourne Zoo’s oldest residents have shown no one’s ever too old to learn. Elephant Mek Kapah and tortoises Wilbur, Little John and Jean are all involved in their own health checks

Australia is set to play a bigger part in international space missions as scientists reveal the treasures collected from a Japanese capsule that returned to Earth near Woomera

The Perseverance rover has successfully landed on Mars in its mission to look for signs of ancient life on the red planet

Australian archaeologists are studying ancient koala teeth and bones to create a map that will show how people and animals moved across the continent through history

Health Minister Greg Hunt was so excited when Australia’s first vaccine delivery arrived he was doing cartwheels — at least in cartoonist Mark Knight’s imagination

Healthy Harold has been looking for Australia’s healthiest lunchbox and he’s found some pretty impressive options. Check out the winning lunches

A stunning image of sharks and seagulls at sunset has won the Underwater Photographer of the Year 2021 award from 4500 images entered by photographers from 68 countries

All the COVID-19-causing virus in the world right now could easily fit inside a single soft drink can, according to a fascinating calculation by a mathematician

Wildlife warrior Robert Irwin talks to Kids News about how kids can be community leaders in protecting the environment and wildlife and how every little thing we do helps

It’s getting busy around Mars, with two spacecraft recently entering the red planet’s orbit and another about to arrive

Millions — perhaps billions — of people around the world are preparing for a very important annual celebration — Chinese or Lunar New Year. Here’s what you need to know to join the fun

Teenager McKinley Moens knows a thing or two about taking great shots of wildlife in their natural habitat. Here are her tips

In a world turned upside down by the coronavirus pandemic, we have to expect the unexpected, even when the unexpected comes in the form of Ash Barty’s wooden wombat tennis trophy

A mob of roos is about to be moved off the front lawn of an Adelaide school, but it’s not because they’re eating too much grass. It’s all to help raise money for bushfire recovery

Scientists from Madagascar and Germany say a newly discovered species of chameleon that fits on a human fingertip is a contender for the title of world’s smallest reptile

Star batsman David Warner’s girls love cricket — and quite a few other sports too. And their mum, Candice, wouldn’t have it any other way

You don’t need to go to the outback to see animals in their natural habitat. Take a look in your own backyard

Aussie kids are most looking forward to spending time with their friends this year after an interrupted 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to the results of a survey by Kids News

Have you ever wondered how your body makes your heart beat or why face masks help protect us from COVID-19? Healthy Harold has the answers. Send him your questions

Memories of the Black Summer fires come back every time James smells smoke. Read the moving poem he has entered in the Kids News Bushfire Poetry Competition

A phrase that was widely used in 2016 when Donald Trump first became US President has been crowned the “word of the decade”, outperforming “Karen”, the people’s choice winner last year

Best-selling author Trent Dalton wants kids to help him tell the story of the Black Summer bushfires — and maybe have their poem published in a special book

A curious emperor penguin nicknamed Smudge has made friends with an Australian Antarctic expeditioner undertaking the annual penguin census at the Auster and Taylor rookeries

A 10-year-old girl has become the first person to receive a patient-matched 3D-printed ear in groundbreaking surgery just in time for the start of the new school year

Rare footage has been captured of a male seahorse giving birth to dozens of offspring — yes, that’s right, a male having babies!

Zoos were closed for much of 2020 but the animals’ carers continued their important conservation work around Australia. Here are some of the year’s memorable moments

David Walliams introduces Code Name Bananas, in which an orphaned boy named Eric makes friends with a gorilla named Gertrude and they save the day! With activity sheets to download

Share your experiences of last summer’s bushfires for a chance to have your poem published in a special book commemorating the Black Summer fires

Aussie cricket champ Steve Smith knows a thing or two about hitting a great cover drive and taking a spectacular catch. Watch his tips in our special How To video series

Two very special dogs have a very special job as guardians of some critically endangered eastern barred bandicoots just released into a conservation reserve in western Victoria

While some money lessons come from school, most kids get their financial knowledge from their parents. So it’s a good idea to start talking. Here are some conversation starters

Healthy Harold has lots of advice to help keep kids safe, happy and healthy. See his tips for getting a good night’s sleep and his answers to some of your great questions

The Natural History Museum is inviting you to vote for your favourite among the finalist entries in this year’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year People’s Choice Award

It has been a year dominated by crises, from bushfires to coronavirus, yet neither were the most Google-searched terms in Australia. Instead, ‘US election’ was the most searched-for term

Breakdancing, skateboarding, surfing and sport climbing have been approved for inclusion at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games in a bid to include sports popular among young people

A book that has travelled the world on yachts with sailors since 1987 has finally been returned to the Townsville library with a note that reads “we are sorry that this book is a little overdue”

Big Bash cricket is back — but it will look a bit different this summer. Check out the new rules and download our fun activity sheets and BBL scoreboard

In a mission described as perfect, a capsule containing a sample of an asteroid that could help unlock some of the mysteries about life on Earth has landed in the South Australian outback

Do you have a question about health and safety? Healthy Harold is here to help. Send him your question now.

Top-selling children’s author Matt Stanton is back with a new book just in time for some summer holiday reading. Take a free sneak peek of The Odds

A very special dinosaur that roamed Earth 67 million years ago is moving to Melbourne. The one-tonne triceratops skeleton has been described as one of the most complete dinosaur fossils ever found

Mark Knight chooses a favourite cartoon from 2020 and explains the process of starting with a news event, gathering ideas and working towards a drawing to tell even more of the story

Kmart has added to its range of inclusive toys with the Baby Charlie with Down Syndrome dolls, just in time for International Day of People with Disability on December 3

Another mysterious triangular metal pillar has been found next to an ancient fortress in the city of Piatra Neamt, Romania, days after one vanished without a trace in the desert in Utah, US

An Australian geologist is working to uncover the fossilised scene of a T-rex and a triceratops apparently locked in a ferocious duel, the teeth of the T-rex embedded in the other’s spine

The coronavirus pandemic continues to disrupt travel around the world but the Prime Minister has confirmed that no matter what happens to Australia’s borders Santa will be able to do his job

Keepers at Melbourne Zoo have proudly introduced to visitors some baby grassland earless dragons. It’s been 50 years since the last confirmed Victorian sighting of the species in the wild

Watching the devastation of Australia’s koalas during last summer’s bushfires was too much to bear for these nature-loving kids — so they are doing something about it

A young inventor can now bring her idea to life after it caught the attention of some of Australia’s brightest minds and scored her a big cash prize to help make it happen

Deep in the remote, Mars-like landscape of Utah’s red-rock desert in the US, a helicopter crew counting sheep stumbled on a mystery: A giant, gleaming metal thing embedded in rock

With his relaxation on wearing masks outdoors it seems Premier Dan has saved Victorians yet again, this time not from coronavirus but from weird facial tanning outcomes

Instead of famous streets in far-off London, a new Monopoly board features 22 Australian towns and regions to raise funds for communities impacted by bushfires, floods and COVID-19

Adelaide Strikers’ super-fast bowler Darcie Brown has been named Young Gun of the WBBL as she completes her year 12 exams from inside a Cricket Australia player hub

The Environment Minister unveiled a $2 million koala count as part of government’s commitment to protect the endangered species, while scientists call for threatened status for the platypus

Scientists and historians will use AI to study and recreate what the world smelled like hundreds of years ago. Called Odeuropa, the pioneering study will build an online smell encyclopaedia

A 10km fence will be built at a Victorian national park to protect endangered species from predatory pests

The first ever Kids News kids’ survey is here! We want students to share their thoughts on 2020, a year like we’ve never seen before

Because we can’t let the kids have all the fun, here’s the Kids News teachers’ survey so educators can have their say on 2020 too

Underdog Queensland has scored one of its greatest State of Origin series wins after taking the decider in a 20-14 upset

Two men have been seen whizzing on broomsticks along the famously traffic-choked streets of Brazilian megacity Sao Paulo. The inventors’ goal is to create a new version of Quidditch

Archaeologists have unearthed 100 Ancient Egyptian painted coffins — some with mummies inside — plus 40 precious statues at the Saqqara necropolis near Cairo, Egypt

Australian scientists have filmed five bigfin squid in the Great Australian Bight, the first time they’ve been seen in Australian waters. Little is known about these creatures of the deep

Australia’s indigenous culture will be celebrated when the men’s cricket team takes to the field in the coming T20 series. Discover what the design represents

Could Nick Hayes have the best job in the world? Or perhaps you think it would be the worst job. Find out what happens on a typical day for a climb leader on the Sydney Harbour Bridge

As Melburnians stretch their wings after the lockdown, the city’s famous peregrine falcon chicks are also stretching theirs, hopping and flying backwards and forwards along their home ledge

Reading doesn’t have to be a chore. Illustrator and children’s author Beck Feiner recommends trying a picture book or a book about a hobby you love. Also, download her colouring sheet and create your own Australia Reads logo

The world’s first passengers have ridden a futuristic high-speed transport system known as a hyperloop. The technology uses electromagnets to push pods through a tube at up to 1000kmh

Australian scientists have discovered two new species of one of our cutest and most-loved native animals, the greater glider. What we previously thought was one species is actually three

It’s World Kindness Day on November 13 and Fly High Billie — a charity to empower children to make a difference through kindness — is setting a challenge called Walk for a Kinder World

Millions will fall silent tomorrow for Remembrance Day to commemorate those who fought and died in World War I

A huge space rock hidden behind Mars could be a chunk of the Moon, broken off in a cosmic collision

A girl born today can expect to live to 85, while boys can expect to live to almost 81. But males are slowly closing the life expectancy gap on females

An iceberg the size of a small country is floating toward the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia, raising fears seal and penguin parents won’t be able to access food or get back to their young

This year we combined the race that stops the nation with the virus that stopped the world. Mark Knight explains how he came to do a quick sketch of a Melbourne Cup horse in a face mask

You can now explore the wreckage of the famous Titanic ship on a submarine tour, helping experts survey the site. The eight-day trip departing from Canada will set you back $175,000

Hundreds of thousands of caper white butterflies have blown into Southeast Queensland in a phenomenon that only happens about every six to 10 years. Scientists can only speculate why

Thanks to the kids who shared their family holiday memories with us as part of the Australia Go Get It campaign. Read our top picks

A European postal service has printed a stamp on toilet paper to reinforce an important coronavirus message — as Australia releases its own pandemic-related stamp

Carmen Blyth — along with trusty dog Spec — has become the first female to win Tasmania’s Working Sheep Dog State Championships since the competition began in the 1940s

A new coral reef like an underwater mountain and taller than any building in Australia has been discovered in remote waters off Cape York, Queensland, its pinnacle about 40m below the surface

There were joyous scenes as Melburnians ate out at their favourite restaurants and cafes again after the long lockdown. Mark Knight could easily imagine what the Premier would order

To celebrate World Ballet Day, Kids News talked to Australian dancer Naomi Hibberd about what she loves and finds challenging about being a dancer, plus what her typical day looks like

Snatched from its burrow and dropped from the sky by a hungry bird, this little guy had a rough start to life. But things are looking up at Taronga Wildlife Hospital

Richmond and Melbourne Storm were crowned the 2020 AFL and NRL premiers in a historic weekend of Grand Final footy

A self-taught graffiti artist is becoming famous around the world for his ultra-realistic murals that transform the mundane into the magnificent, earning him the nickname “The Illusionist”

In a twist on the Dr Seuss story, a cunning fox is collecting shoes — but not socks — from front verandas in Adelaide, spreading them around the streets and hoarding them in its den

A huge cat carving has been unearthed on a hillside in southern Peru and is thought to be a 2000-year-old Nazca Line. Around 1000 have already been discovered

Learning to save is a vital life skill and can help you get the things you want. Knowing what type of saver you are can help you reach your savings goals

Judges called this photo of a Siberian tiger a “scene like no other” and declared it the overall winning entry in the Wildlife Photographer Of The Year competition. See all the winning photos

Scientists have discovered a new species of tardigrade with a new superpower — a blue fluorescent coating — that protects them and other living things it is painted onto against extreme UV light

Jack Berne is the boy who made news after launching fundraiser A fiver for a Farmer. Now, the 12 year old has been picked to contribute to a global Lego project called Rebuild the World