Table of contents for 539 in The Week Junior

Lost for words? Try starting a conversation with one of these questions, inspired by stories this magazine. A recent study found that people and dogs have been forming friendships for 15,000 years. What do you think people named their doggy friends back then? Read about the study’s findings on page 16. Author David Solomons includes some brilliant spy gadgets in his latest book. What spy gadget would you invent? Try Solomons’s tips for making up your own crazy devices on page 25. The Artemis 2 crew travelled around the Moon to examine the side we can’t see from Earth. Which planet would you like to see up close? Read about their incredible journey on page 4. The big debate Do board games top video games? Page 10.…

On 6 April, during the US space agency NASA’s Artemis 2 mission, four astronauts flew further into space than any humans have ever gone. What is Artemis 2? Artemis 2 is part of NASA’s Artemis programme, which aims to explore the Moon for scientific discovery and to set up a base there – as well as preparing for future missions to Mars. In 2022, NASA launched Artemis 1. This was a test flight orbiting the Moon with no humans on board. Artemis 2 is the programme’s first mission with a crew. The four astronauts on board Artemis 2 were commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen. They flew on the Orion spacecraft, which was launched from Earth by a rocket called the Space…

After their first two years of training, resident doctors apply for a specialty training programme. Examples of areas people can specialise in are surgery, emergency medicine and paediatrics (the treatment of children and young people). The places on these programmes are in high demand and there are not enough for everyone applying, so the application process is very competitive. Training in a specialty includes exams that are very difficult and can take several attempts to pass. The length of training varies depending on the specialty and can be anything from three to eight years.…

Late last year, at the age of 17, footballer Erica Meg Parkinson received a call-up to the England under-23s team. Now, just a few months later, she has been called up to the senior Lionesses team for their World Cup qualifying matches against Spain on 14 April and Iceland on 18 April. The match against Iceland is on Parkinson’s 18th birthday, so she could have more than one reason to celebrate on the day. Parkinson, who is the youngest player that England manager Sarina Wiegman has ever called up to the senior team, was born in Singapore and has an English father and Japanese mother. The family later moved to Portugal, and that’s where Parkinson plays club football. “I really like the culture in Portugal,” she said. “It’s relaxing, you…

More than 130 countries, including the UK, have agreed on 40 new protections for species that migrate, including big cats, birds and sharks. Migration is when animals travel from one place to another to find food or start families – then return to their original home. They can travel long distances through lots of habitats and different countries, making it difficult to protect them. The agreement was made in Campo Grande, Brazil, on 29 March, at an event called the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals. The meeting builds on an agreement signed in 1979. It promises to protect animals on a special list – which now contains more than 1,200 species. Migratory species are affected by issues like habitat loss and barriers that stop them…

A second pair of rare mountain gorilla twins have been born in Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The babies – one male and one female – were spotted in the Baraka family, a troop of 19 gorillas living in the rainforest of the Virunga Mountains. In January, another female named Mafuko had twins – both males. Park rangers said these babies are healthy and other gorillas in their troop are helping Mafuko look after them. The rangers are also watching the Baraka twins closely during their first few months to make sure the animals stay safe and well because raising twin babies can be difficult for gorilla mothers. Jacques Katutu from Virunga National Park said having two sets of gorilla twins in three months was…

This month, it is 90 years since the first trig pillar was installed, to help draw up an accurate map of Britain. Since then, many more have followed. The Week Junior readers Abigail and Joseph, along with their family, have been attempting to walk to 90 different trig pillars before the 90th anniversary on 18 April. As the magazine went to the printers, they had visited 88, including Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) which is the highest mountain in Wales at 1,085 metres. They even visited one pillar on Christmas Day. Inspired by their quest, we wanted to find out a bit more about these markers and what they’re for. What are trig pillars? Trig pillars, or triangulation pillars, are small columns made of concrete or stone. They’re often at the tops…

A study has found that data centres powering artificial intelligence (AI) create so much heat they warm up surrounding areas. AI is a computer system that learns from data to create content. Data centres are large buildings that house computers to process and store digital information. Researchers looked at heat patterns on Earth, recorded by space satellites over the last 20 years. They compared general temperatures with those close to 6,000 data centres around the world. The study focused on sites away from cities and big towns, to make sure the heat wasn’t coming from other buildings or lots of traffic. On average, the areas around data centres were about 2º C warmer than usual, but in the most extreme cases they were up to 9.1º C warmer than they…

REFOCUS AWARDS 2025 WORLD PHOTO ANNUAL…

Experiencing joy not only makes you feel good, it can also help you in other ways that you might not expect. What exactly is joy and how can you get more of it into your life? What is joy? Some people think joy and happiness are the same thing but they’re actually a little bit different. They are both positive emotions but happiness is an intense feeling you get in the moment, like when you eat a yummy ice cream or open a lovely present, and it doesn’t last that long. Joy is a deeper emotion. It often comes from within yourself, lasts longer than happiness and stays with you, no matter what you are doing. Why it’s important to find joy Chris Howard teaches psychology at the University of…

Honey bee The honey bee has four wings that can beat around 200 times per second. They fly at speeds of up to 16 miles per hour and are known for sharing information about food sources by dancing. Buff-tailed bumblebee The queen’s tail is a yellow colour known as “buff”, which is where the name comes from. These bees are called “nectar robbers”, because they sometimes bite a hole at the base of a flower to suck out its nectar. Mason bee These bees build nests with small objects including twigs. When the bees carry the twigs, they look like they’re riding them, like a broomstick. Gregory says, “It looks like Harry Potter playing Quidditch.”…

Deadly 60 Available now on BBC iPlayer Wildlife presenter Steve Backshall is back in a brand-new series of Deadly 60, where he tracks down the world’s deadliest wildlife including orcas, sharks, cheetahs and jaguars. In the latest episodes, he’ll be searching for venomous snakes, pumas, bears and even a cave dragon. The Super Mario Bros. Movie Available now on ITVX The latest Super Mario film may be out in cinemas but now you can watch the first one at home. The story follows plumbers Mario and Luigi, who are transported to the magical Mushroom Kingdom. When Luigi is kidnapped by Bowser, Mario teams up with Princess Peach, Toad and Donkey Kong to rescue him. Shark Tale Available now on Netflix Oscar is a fish who works at the local Whale…

What is your favourite story in the book? ​My favourite story – so hard to choose one – is the girls who took “photographs” of fairies in Cottingley. They didn’t just fool their friends and their families, they also fooled photography experts and the man who created Sherlock Holmes – the greatest detective of all. Do you collect anything? Books and kitchen gadgets. Fave book: first edition of Middlemarch by George Eliot (not a man, a woman). Fave gadget: a chinois, which is a very exciting sort of sieve. What is your favourite fact? The oldest land animal on Earth is a tortoise called Jonathan. He’s 194. How many books have you read? 6,576,795 (approx). What is the last thing that made you laugh? The last thing that made me…

Match-three puzzle games like Candy Crush Saga are hugely popular, and games about building villages and communities – from Stardew Valley to Pokémon Pokopia – have been big hits too. Mythmatch is a new game that combines both these styles of game, and its action is set in the world of Greek mythology. You play a goddess: Artemis, daughter of Zeus, the king of the gods, who has been sent to the town of Ithaca. The story is based on one of the most famous Greek myths: the adventures of a man called Odysseus, who came from Ithaca. However, the twist is that Mythmatch takes place while he and all the men from the city are away on a long voyage. Your job, as Artemis, is to help the women…

Wordsearch Can you find the snake-related words? They are hidden horizontally, vertically or diagonally and may read forwards or backwards. COBRA COIL CONSTRICTOR FANGS HISS MAMBA NOSTRILS POISONOUS PREDATOR PYTHON RATTLER REPTILE SCALES SERPENT SHEDDING SLITHER STEALTHY STRIKE VERTEBRATE VIPER Split words Piece together groups of letters to find four famous monuments. Sudoku Place the numbers from 1 to 6 exactly once in each row, column and 2x3 bold-lined box, to complete the grid. Number fit All of these numbers fit in the grid. Can you work out where they go? We’ve placed one to start you off. 3 numbers 633 735 972 977 4 numbers 1312 2683 5234 5 numbers 28707 31426 73677 86594 6 numbers 210213 253277 332764 728106 7 numbers 6633771 7166916 8050031 8 numbers 68598305 78037283…

Poetry of Science competition The 10th Poetry of Science competition invites anyone aged five to 16 years old to explore science through creativity. Write a short poem on any scientific topic – from space to the human body – and enter for free. Winners and runners-up will be published in a special anthology (collection) and could see their work performed at the Oxford Science and Ideas Festival in October. With three age categories and exciting prizes, it’s a brilliant chance to get inspired. Ask an adult to help you submit your poem by 1 May at tinyurl.com/TWJ-Oxford…

“I found a Reeves pheasant tail feather in Suffolk. The Reeves pheasant is an endangered species with only 2,000 remaining in the wild.”Ieuan “We made the carrot halwa from Issue 535. It was a delicious and moreish sweet treat to have when we opened our fast. Our whole family enjoyed it and want us to make it again for Eid!”Ayoub and Yaqoub “This is a picture of me reading The Week Junior on Rupert at my horse riding.”Safa “Because I love art, I made the pop-up card from issue 496. I made three cards, it was for my mom, dad and older brother.”Amber…

NASA recently announced plans to build a base on the Moon over the next seven years. It will be built in three stages. At first, the base will be there to support missions to the Moon once a year. Then it will be upgraded to allow for more frequent visits to the lunar surface. Finally, the base will be made suitable for astronauts to stay in for long periods. The aim is that astronauts will be able to stay there while they explore the lunar surface and carry out scientific research. NASA will spend around £15 billion on the project to build the lunar base.…

BAGPIPE TEACHERS A school in China is looking for a bagpipe teacher to coach the country’s first youth pipe band. The Nord Anglia International School in Shanghai wants a teacher to support the group of 11 students. The band has already performed in New York, US and across China. A RARE SEA BIRD On Bermuda’s Nonsuch Island, a critically endangered cahow has hatched as part of a long conservation project. The new arrival, also known as a Bermuda petrel, has boosted the numbers of one of the world’s rarest sea birds. Over the last 60 years, the population has grown from around 40 birds to 450. AN ANCIENT ARTEFACT A priceless 2,500-year-old gold helmet has been recovered after it was stolen last year. The Coțofenești helmet – named after the…

The Arctic tern is thought to be the animal kingdom’s greatest traveller. The birds constantly chase summer, spending summer in the Arctic and then travelling about 25,000 miles to spend summer in the Antarctic (when it’s winter in the north). The Great Nile Migration in South Sudan is the biggest land mammal migration, with about six million antelope travelling to Ethiopia every year. One of the largest known migrations is undertaken by monarch butterflies. Tens of millions of them travel up to 3,000 miles from Canada and the northern US to Mexico – and back again – seeking warmth.…

Brazilian rainbow boa A Brazilian rainbow boa snake at City of Portsmouth College, England, has given birth to a litter of snakelets without a mate for the second time. Called “parthenogenesis”, this very rare process is when a female animal makes a baby without a male. • LIFESPAN: Up to 12 years in the wild. • HABITAT: Rainforests of Central and South America. • SIZE: Up to two metres long. • DIET: Amphibians, birds, eggs, small mammals and reptiles. • FUN FACT: The snake’s scales have a transparent upper layer that shines in a rainbow of colours when moving.…

Scientists have studied and dated ancient dog bones to around 15,000 years ago, which means dogs and humans have been friends 5,000 years longer than previously thought. Dogs are descended from grey wolves. Scientists think the wild animals spent time near humans, eating their food scraps. Over a long time, some wolves grew tamer and eventually developed into dogs. The remains of a dog found in Gough’s Cave in Cheddar Gorge, England (see panel) could update our ideas of when this happened. A jawbone found in the cave in the 1920s was put in a drawer at the Natural History Museum in London and forgotten about. Now scientists have studied it and say it’s about 14,300 years old, and is definitely from a dog, not a wolf. Researchers also studied…

“Being captain of your country is something you this shirt but it gives me a purpose and something to the stadium in September 2025, they won the Rugby dream of.” That’s what England rugby player Meg Jones says as she prepares for the women’s Six Nations tournament. Jones has been named England captain after the previous captain Zoe Stratford withdrew from playing because she is having a baby. “I’m hugely proud and it’s an honour to lead these girls out, “Jones tells The Week Junior. “There’s always pressure playing in drive towards to make sure we succeed.” The Six Nations is held every year between England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, France and Italy. They all play one game against each other and the team with the most points after all the…

Follow your passions It could be anything, whether that’s art, sport or reading. Following your passions can help you find fun hobbies that fill you with joy and confidence. Try volunteering Helping others can bring joy to them and you. Write a gratitude journal Noting down all the things that you’re grateful for can help you to appreciate them. Don’t rely on other people to bring you joy You are in charge of what makes you feel fulfilled. You’ve got this.…

Dreamworks Animation, the studio behind Shrek, The Bad Guys, The Wild Robot and How To Train Your Dragon, has released a trailer for its newest film, Forgotten Island. It’s a story about Jo and Raissa, who have been best friends since primary school. They’re grown up now, and about to go on separate life paths. As they celebrate their last night together, they come across a strange portal that sends them to a magical island. They’re stranded and the only way home means losing the memories of their friendship forever. The film was written and directed by Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado, and it was inspired by their own friendship. Forgotten Island is due to land in UK cinemas on 16 October. DREAM BIG In 2002, Dreamworks’ Shrek became the…

The Good Thieves by Katherine Rundell (Bloomsbury Children’s) Vita’s grandfather has been cheated out of his home and possessions by a criminal. Newly arrived from England, Vita comes up with a daring plan to outwit her grandfather’s enemies, but she’ll need the help of some new friends – a gang of kids who share her determination to see justice done. The Summer I Robbed a Bank by David O’Doherty. Illustrated by Chris Judge (Puffin Books) Rex is spending his summer holiday on a remote Irish island with only sheep for company – and his eccentric Uncle Derm. He doesn’t expect much excitement, until he realises his uncle is planning to rob the island’s travelling bank and give the money to the local people. To manage it, he’ll need Rex’s help.…

New book Spyglass: Mastermind of Mayhem by David Solomons is the first in a spy adventure series. It follows Adam and his friends, who accidentally reveal the secret location of a former spy called Professor Goodspeed. When supervillains turn up in search of Goodspeed’s most dangerous invention, the friends must rescue him and take on the evil Dr Toe. Solomons has always loved stories about spies, and he really enjoyed coming up with his own spy inventions for this book. The gadgets include a device that can make objects fly and a shark deterrent, known as the “Fintimidator 3000”. Here, Solomons shares his tips for coming up with your own cool gadgets to use in a spy story. 1 Start with a problem “For me, the best spy gadgets aren’t…

What you need Serves 8 • 1 baguette (stick of French bread)• 3 to 4 cloves of garlic, minced• 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley• 125g butter (leave out until it’s soft)• Bread knife• Chopping knife• Butter knife• Bowl• Spoon• Oven sheet• Foil If you love the smell of garlic bread wafting out of the oven, you’ll enjoy making your own. This simple dish is popular all over the world but recipes vary. Some people say you can trace its roots back to the ancient Romans, who ate toasted slices of bread, rubbed with garlic and brushed with olive oil or lard (animal fat). In Lithuania, kepta duona is made from black rye bread that is fried until crispy and rubbed with garlic. In the UK, it’s usually butter mixed…

Name: Sofia, Bea, Amber, Bethan, Fleur, Obi and Clara “We were inspired by The Week Junior magazine to create our own version. Throughout some rainy February free time, we all worked collaboratively to create the Finch Class Weekly! In our magazine, we included: a breaking news page, an ‘about our week’ page, book reviews based on other people’s opinions and a competition. We all helped with different tasks based on our strengths. Although at times it was a tough journey, the outcome was worth it. We all felt proud and joyful when we saw our classmates reading our final piece. Thank you for your inspiration!” JOKE OF THE WEEK “Where do dog scientists work? The Labradorey!” Harry…

Like millions of others across the planet, we have been following the amazing voyage of Artemis 2 and its journey around the Moon. The pictures the crew have sent back are awe-inspiring, and you can read more about the mission on page 4. Thinking of impressive achievements, we love hearing what you have been up to – and publishing some of the wonderful photos you send in. This week, we were so taken with reader Fiadh’s fabulous outfit that we decided to make her this week’s big picture (opposite). Thank you to everyone who gets in touch. I’m also quietly thrilled to note that this week seems to be the Vanessa issue. On page 14 you can read about trig pillars – the stone or concrete pillars you might find…

On 7 April at 7am, resident doctors in England began a six-day strike. A strike is when people refuse to work in protest and to call for things such as better working conditions or more pay. Thousands of doctors have joined in. What is a resident doctor? A resident doctor is someone who is continuing to train as a doctor while they work as one. A person becomes a doctor after earning a medical qualification, which usually takes four to six years of study at university. Resident doctors – who used to be called junior doctors – work under the supervision of senior doctors. Their training lasts several years and during this time, they usually pick a specialty (see panel), an area of medicine they want to specialise in, which…

People have been laughing, talking and arguing over games for thousands of years. The oldest known board game is Senet, played in ancient Egypt from around 3500BC. It was such a treasured activity that pharaohs (Egyptian kings) were buried with their game boards. Snakes and ladders is thought to come from ancient India, where it taught children about good and bad choices. Video games appeared in the 20th century. Early games like Pong, where players pinged a tiny dot between two lines, were very basic. Today, players can wear virtual reality headsets that make you feel like you’re inside the game – but, do these fancy features mean they’re the best games to play with your family? What do you think? Do board games top video games? Yes – they…

Only males have the bright wing tip that gives this insect its name. The orange-tip butterfly is found all across the UK from April and can be seen in gardens and parks, woods and grassy areas or farmland. It measures between four and five centimetres wide and is white with a bright orange splash on the wing tips for males and light grey for females. Both have a mottled grey-green pattern under their wings, which is visible when they sit with their wings closed (see left). The orange is a warning for hungry birds that the insects contain toxic plant oils, which they ate when they were caterpillars. Orange-tip butterflies lay their eggs on certain plants – like garlic mustard and cuckooflower – so that the caterpillars that emerge from…

Japan’s oysters Farmers in Japan say their oysters are dying. Experts say rising sea temperatures and last year’s extreme heatwave made sea water unsuitable for the shellfish to survive. In the Hiroshima region, which supplies two thirds of Japan’s farmed oysters, farmers report having lost up to 90% of their oysters. The Japanese government is offering to lend oyster farmers money, plus other support, to help them stay in business.…

Gough’s Cave in Cheddar Gorge, England, is near the village of Cheddar. (Cheddar cheese is named after the village.) The cave is also where the oldest almost complete skeleton of a human ever found in Britain was unearthed in 1903. Experts named him Cheddar Man and say he was in his early 20s when he died about 10,000 years ago. He would have eaten nuts, seeds, red deer, aurochs (large wild cows) and fish. It is thought he had dark skin and pale-coloured eyes. Tom Booth from the Natural History Museum, said, “He reminds us that you can’t make assumptions about what people looked like in the past, based on what people look like in the present.”…

Eco-friendly mushroom doors What a mycelium door looks like. Two Danish companies say they have created the world’s first mass-produced door made from mycelium, the underground root-like network that mushrooms sprout from. The mycelium is grown inside a door-shaped mould and framed with woodmade from offcuts (left-over pieces that would usually be thrown away). It takes two weeks to grow one mycelium door. Designers say it is better for the planet than fully wooden doors, which require cutting down trees that take years to grow. Enjoy these stories? Find more in this month’s The Week Junior Science+Nature magazine sciencenature.theweekjunior.co.uk…

Brighton & Hove Albion In the women’s FA Cup quarterfinals, Brighton beat Arsenal 2-0 and Chelsea beat Tottenham 2-1. Manchester City and Liverpool also won their games. London Pulse London Pulse enjoyed a big 78–45 win against Birmingham Panthers in the Netball Super League. Southampton Football Club In the men’s FA Cup quarterfinals, Southampton beat Arsenal 2-1. Their goals were scored by Ross Stewart and Shea Charles. Hull Kingston Rovers In rugby league’s Super League, Hull KR beat city rivals Hull FC 24–6. Joe Burgess scored two of Hull KR’s five tries.…

Although they are tiny insects, bees are some of the most important creatures on Earth. They pollinate flowers, fruits and vegetables, which allows plants and trees to reproduce. There are 20,000 bee species around the world, and they pollinate around one third of the world’s food. In a new series by National Geographic, called Secrets of the Bees, explorer Bertie Gregory dives into the hidden world of bees, uncovering just how smart they are and the importance of what they do. Gregory tells The Week Junior that when he worked on filming this show, “every day was a school day”. One of his favourite facts that he learned is that honeybees have a “democracy”, which means all of the bees have a say in how their hive is run. For…

Bee Movie Available on Netflix The star of this animated film, by Dreamworks Animation studio, is Barry B. Benson, a young bee who has just graduated from college. However, he’s not particularly pleased about the career that’s been lined up for him: making honey. He decides to take a trip outside the hive, and is soon rescued by Vanessa, a human florist. The pair become unlikely friends, but Barry’s world is turned upside down when he discovers that humans are eating all the honey that the bees are making. There’s only one solution: Barry must take the humans to court to stop them from stealing the bees’ honey. Unfortunately, the results of the court case may have disastrous consequences for the future.…

by Richard Coles. Illustrated by Eve O’Brien (Wren & Rook) The Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, is one of the world’s most famous structures. You might know that it is named after the engineer who designed it, Gustave Eiffel, but you may not have heard of Victor Lustig. He was a man who, in 1925, pretended to be a government official responsible for selling the Eiffel Tower off for scrap metal – and he got away with it. This was only one of Lustig’s astounding schemes, which included escaping from prison through a window and pretending to be a window cleaner when crowds saw him. This fun history book features lots more true stories about some of the most daring crimes and tricks of all time. Proving that truth can…

“I love Enid Blyton. Her books are about mysteries, adventures and magical stories, and they transport me into a world of imagination. The characters are brilliant. My favourite is Philip in the Adventure series. I enjoy all her books but my best one is Secret Seven Mystery. I think I have read most of her books but I’m always looking for more. I also like that my mummy liked reading them too when she was a little girl.” Georgiana, 9 Send a picture of your shelf showing the book titles clearly and tell us why you love them. Ask an adult to send it to hello@theweekjunior.co.uk with your name and age.…

Romance with the River Avon A woman from Bristol, England, is celebrating three years of being “married” to a river. Meg Avon married the River Avon during a ceremony in 2023, as a way to raise awareness of water pollution, which harms wildlife and people. Three years later, Avon said she and the waterway are still “very much in love”. Their marriage isn’t official but she is campaigning for the river to be recognised as a person. In 2017, New Zealand’s Whanganui river was the first in the world to be given the same legal rights as a person. If the same were to happen to the River Avon, it would make it easier to protect – and the couple could renew their vows properly. “I might even wear a…

Teacher’s name: Miss McDonald School: Hyndland Primary School, Glasgow, Scotland “Miss McDonald has a huge heart with room for every one of us. Whenever I feel any negative emotions I am always comfortable in telling her. She listens to every one of us and makes us giggle. This is why I think she should be the Teacher of the Week.”Shritirtha If we pick your teacher as Teacher of the Week, we’ll send your school three free issues of The Week Junior. Send your nominations, along with a picture of your teacher and your school’s full name and address, to hello@theweekjunior.co.uk…

Playrise All children deserve the chance to play, including those living in disaster-relief sites (places where people who have experienced disasters are helped). Playrise works with experts to design play structures that can be easily transported. Its first structures are set to be installed in Ethiopia in 2026. With an adult, discover more at playrise.org WIN A BADGE! Email your news, views and pictures to hello@theweekjunior.co.uk Please include your full name and address so that we can send you a Roving Reporter badge if your contribution makes it onto the page. We will only use the details you provide to arrange delivery of badges, and we will not share them with anyone else. By submitting your reports and pictures, you give consent to The Week Junior to print them in…