Page Type: Elementary

If you ask most people to describe a farm, they’ll probably talk about rows and rows of crops planted on large pieces of land. Most farms are far from cities because most farms require a lot of land. But that’s changing. More and more farms are being established inside tall buildings. These are called vertical farms. (Vertical means up and down.)

Vertical farms have become more common in the past few years. When the COVID-19 pandemic began, many office workers started working from home. Their office buildings were empty. Vertical farms give these buildings a new purpose. They allow fresh food to be grown right in cities for the people who live there. This means less food needs to be brought in from faraway farms.

Indoor farming is very different from outdoor farming. Plants need sunlight and water to grow and pollinators like bees to produce fruits. Indoor plants don’t have any of these things—not without help from people. Instead of the Sun, farmers use special lights, and instead of bees, they use special technology that can pollinate crops.

When Robert Moore celebrated his 100th birthday in June 2023, he had some very special guests—more than 200 dogs! Dogs of all shapes and sizes attended Robert’s birthday party, and the man of honor petted every single one of them.

Robert’s daughter, Alison, decided to invite dogs to her dad’s party because she knew he would love to meet them.

“He just love, love, loves dogs,” Alison told the Washington Post. “Every dog he sees, he wants to pet. He has been like that his whole life.” 

Alison put a message on social media inviting friends and neighbors to bring their dogs to her home for the party. She wrote that she wanted to have a parade of dogs come up to her dad one at a time so he could meet each one. Many people shared the message with their friends. Alison guessed that about 20 or 30 dogs and their families would come to the party. 

On the day of the party, Alison was amazed to see a line of grown-ups, kids, and dogs stretching all the way down the street and around the corner. Some of the dogs even wore costumes! And some of the kids held cards they had made for Robert. One by one, the dogs got their chance to meet Robert, who sat in a chair in front of Alison’s house with a big smile on his face. 

“He pet every single dog that came through. It was so lovely,” Alison told USA Today. Many people have told Alison that they hope to do something similar for their own family members. “I hope this really does help spread joy. All these strangers coming together for my dad’s birthday party was all so lovely, and I hope we continue to have such events where everyone gathers and celebrates.”

You can see some pictures from the party in the slideshow below!

Stars might look like little dots of light to us, but they do powerful things. On May 19, 2023, an astronomer named Koichi Itagaki looked through his telescope and discovered a supernova, which is an exploding star!

This type of supernova takes place when a massive star—a star that’s much bigger than our Sun—runs out of fuel to burn and collapses. This causes a big explosion—probably bigger than anything you can even imagine. As it explodes, the star becomes as bright as 100 billion stars! This brightness can last for weeks or months.

The supernova that Itagaki discovered, which scientists are calling Supernova 2023ixf, isn’t located in our own Milky Way Galaxy. It’s in the Pinwheel Galaxy, which is 21 million light-years from Earth. Amazingly, this means that the explosion took place 21 million years ago, and it has taken this long for the light to reach us! 

So, can you look up at the night sky and see the supernova? Well, no. People who have regular telescopes might be able to see a dot of light. A powerful telescope, however, has been able to capture a beautiful image of the Pinwheel Galaxy (which looks like a swirl of light) with the supernova casting its bright light outward. It’s shown at the top of this article!

Monarch butterflies are beautiful! Their orange, black, and white wings look like they were painted by a talented artist. But scientists say the white spots on a monarch’s wings aren’t just pretty. They may help the monarch fly.

Each fall, some monarch butterflies migrate (travel) from Canada and the United States to Mexico. They spend the winter in the warmer climate. In the spring, they fly north again. The trip is about 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) each way. That’s a lot of distance to cover, especially for a tiny butterfly. Scientists wanted to know how monarch butterflies are able to fly all that way.

Scientists studied the monarch butterflies that were able to make it all the way to Mexico and those that were not. They found that the successful flyers had more white spots on their wings. Scientists also studied types of butterflies that do not migrate. These insects had smaller white spots than migrating monarchs.

The scientists think the white spots help monarchs because they cause sunlight to heat the wings differently in different places. This changes the airflow around the wings, making it easier to fly.

There are 63 national parks in the United States. A 93-year-old woman named Joy Ryan has been to every single one of them!

Joy wasn’t always such an adventurer. When she was 85, she told her grandson Brad that she hadn’t traveled very far from her home in Ohio. She had never seen a mountain. So Brad asked his grandma if she’d like to go to Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee.

“[He] wanted to know if I wanted to go down to the Smoky Mountains and stay in a tent,” Joy told National Public Radio. “And I said, ‘Yes, I’ll try it.’ I’d never been in one before.”

Grandma Joy surprised Brad by climbing with him to the top of a mountain!

The pair had so much fun that they decided to keep visiting national parks. Grandma Joy and Brad went zip-lining at New River Gorge National Park & Preserve in West Virginia and white-water rafting at Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve in Alaska. They stood under giant trees at Redwood National Park in California and explored caves at Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky. Grandma Joy even rolled down a sand dune at Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve in Colorado!

In May 2023, Brad and Joy visited the 63rd national park on their list. It’s called the National Park of American Samoa. (American Samoa is a U.S. territory in the south-central Pacific Ocean.) When Brad and Joy arrived, park rangers gave them certificates celebrating their special achievement.

Brad says the pair is looking for more adventures. Next, they’re thinking about visiting all seven continents!

“[Grandma Joy is] a spitfire and very, very full of life [and] adventure,” Brad told Travel + Leisure magazine.

The elephants at the Houston Zoo in Texas have a special way of exercising. They do yoga!

When humans do yoga, it includes breathing, stretching, and holding poses. Yoga is thought to be healthy for the body and the brain because it can help a person relax. The Houston Zoo trains its 12 Asian elephants to stretch and hold poses because it’s good exercise. It helps the elephants stay flexible.

How do you train such a big animal? Zookeepers start when the elephants are only a few months old. They touch the elephants’ bodies with a stick to teach them to move a certain way. Once the elephants learn all the moves and poses, the stick is not needed anymore. The elephants have learned to do things like stretching to one side while raising a leg or balancing on two feet. One elephant, named Tess, can even do a handstand! The herd likes to do the poses because they get treats like bananas and bread. 

While the elephants are doing their poses, zookeepers check their health. They look at the elephants’ skin to make sure it’s healthy. They also look for any signs that the elephants are getting aches and pains. 

“This is the time where we see everything about them,” said Kristin Windle, who is in charge of the zoo’s elephants. “We’ll get a good look at their skin, we’ll check their feet, we’ll check their mouth. But we’re also looking at…how they’re moving so we can know exactly what they’re feeling.” 

Yoga can help people stay healthy. The Houston Zoo wants the same thing for its elephants!

When Grace Mariani went to college, her service dog, Justin, was by her side all the way. So when Mariani graduated from college and got a diploma, Justin got one, too!

Service dogs are trained to help people who have disabilities. Justin helps Mariani, who uses a wheelchair, with certain tasks. The 6-year-old Labrador and golden retriever mix went with Mariani to all of her classes at Seton Hall University in New Jersey.

Mariani graduated from Seton Hall in May 2023. The ceremony took place in a large arena in front of a huge crowd. When Mariani’s name was called, she and Justin went to the stage, where college president Joseph Nyre was waiting with Mariani’s diploma—the certificate saying that she had finished college. Nyre gave Mariani her certificate, but he didn’t stop there. He then held out a diploma to Justin.

Justin looked like he wasn’t too sure what to do at first. He sniffed the diploma and then looked at Mariani. When she signaled to him, he took the rolled-up paper in his mouth. The crowd cheered. Mariani smiled, and Nyre raised his arms in celebration. Hearing the cheers, Justin wagged his tail.

Mariani is planning to become a teacher. Justin will keep on being a service dog—a service dog with a college diploma!

A man named Kami Rita has climbed the world’s highest mountain more times than anyone else in the world. On May 23, 2023, Kami Rita reached the top of Mount Everest for the 28th time!

Climbing a mountain that’s more than 29,000 feet (8,800 meters) high can be very dangerous. Kami Rita, who is part of an ethnic group called the Sherpas, grew up in the mountains and learned how to climb by doing so with experienced guides. He first reached the summit (top) of Mount Everest in 1994. Today, he’s a guide who climbs Everest with people who rely on his knowledge and experience to keep them safe.  Helping them is how he earns his living.

There are many Sherpa guides who help visiting climbers—but none is as accomplished as Kami Rita. Still, he might not hold the climbing record for long. He’d set a record of 27 climbs the week before, only to see another guide, Pasang Dawa, match that record a few days later. It may not be long before Pasang Dawa climbs Everest for the 28th time.

But that’s okay with Kami Rita. He’s planning to retire soon. While Kami Rita became a climbing guide like his father, he says his kids are planning other careers.

What’s the perfect summer treat? It may just be the ice pop, or Popsicle. An ice pop is cold, refreshing, and a lot easier to make than ice cream. In fact, the very first ice pop was made by accident. And its inventor was 11 years old!

In 1905, a kid from San Francisco, California, named Frank Epperson decided to make himself a soft drink. Back then, soft drinks could be made by mixing a sugary powder with water. Epperson made the drink in a cup, mixing the ingredients together with a wooden stirring stick. At some point, he forgot about it and left it on his porch overnight. 

The next morning, Epperson discovered that the liquid had frozen with the stirring stick inside. Using the stick as a handle, Epperson pulled the whole thing out of the cup and began to lick it. It was a delicious treat! Epperson named his invention the Epsicle. The name was a combination of his last name and the word icicle.

Vernon Jackson gives free haircuts to children with special needs at his barber shop, Noble Barber and Beauty. The Cincinnati, Ohio, barber says it’s his way of giving back to the community.

Jackson started giving the free haircuts in 2021, through what he calls the Gifted program. He had learned that some kids struggle with the loud sounds in a barber shop, making it hard for them to get haircuts. So he decided to open his shop on his day off, when the shop is calm and quiet. This would allow kids to get used to the shop environment. 

“There [are] no other barbers or stylists in the shop, and I [can] give them the full attention they need,” Jackson told CBS News.