Microtugscan carry theequivalent of an elephant

Did you ever wonder why scientists would bother studying something as silly as how a gecko is able to walk up a window?

Curiosity is a good reason, of course. There’s never anything wrong with trying to know more today than you knew yesterday.

But for those who insist on seeing dollars-and-sense results from research, check this out: A team at Stanford has used gecko-traction to create the Microtug, a tiny 9-gram robot that can not only pull a kilogram weight across the fl oor, but haul it straight up a smooth glass surface.

That’s the equivalent of a human climbing up a skyscraper carrying an elephant. It’s not just a cool trick, either: Teams of larger robots could change, for instance, the way materials are moved around warehouses and on construction sites. Photo/Greg Campbell, Stanford

2013

ColoradoKids CK ReporterPaige Bakke,Englewood

NeW AveNgers: A mArveLous movie

It all started with an idea. A vision to make the world a better place.

When the Avengers -- Cap-tain America (Chris Evans), Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) -- go into a secret Hydra building in Slo-vakia to fi nd Loki’s scepter, Stark also fi nds a dormant peacekeeping program.

Bringing it to his labora-tory, Stark’s ambitions and fears accidently result in the creation of a lethal and dangerous villainous artifi cial intelligence, Ultron (James Spader).

Hoping to help “evolve” the human race from their mistakes, Ultron starts making replicas of himself, and on the top of his to-do list is to exter-minate the Avengers.

With the help of Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and the Scarlett Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), Ultron is tearing the Avengers from the inside, making them brittle and question if they can beat Ultron as a team. When unlikely allies join like The Vision (Paul Bettany), unexpected action takes course, and a universal adventure is waiting

for the Avengers.“The Avengers: Age of

Ultron” is defi nitely a movie to see.

It is exciting, suspenseful, and a thrill, fi lled with action from the very beginning to the end, even more than the fi rst Avengers movie.

It also shows new stunts and brilliant effects that kept people on the edge of the seats.

Plus, many scenes include humor that keeps you laugh-ing for a good amount of the movie.

This movie, like the rest of Marvels movies, did a good job of connecting with other fi lms such as “The Guardians of the Galaxy.”

Marvel even showed the same future villain for both the Avengers and the Guard-

ians of the Galaxy. It was really interesting to see the heroes strug-

gle and not be all high and mighty like some think they are.

I particularly enjoyed that they put personality behind Ultron’s voice and actions and didn’t sim-ply use a robotic voice with a straight tone.

I would recommend this PG-13 movie for teens and older since it has many action parts and a little cussing in it.

Overall this is defi nitely a funny, action-packed movie to see for families and that for sure lives up to its prequel.

When medical science learned to make antibi-

otics a century ago, it was a major step in fi ghting disease.

But with time, disease-causing microbes can develop resistance to an antibiotic.

The problem is a type of fast evolution: The antibiotic kills all the microbes it can, but the ones that are left multiply and now there are many more of these “superbugs” that the antibiotic doesn’t work on.

The more an antibiotic is used, the more a superbug is likely to evolve, and doctors try not to give them to people who don’t really need them.

But many beef and chicken producers use human-type an-tibiotics to keep their animals healthy, and that gives super-bugs a chance to develop.

Several chicken companies have now cut back their use of antibiotics, and Tyson has gone farther and will stop using antibiotics that are also used by humans. Photo/Naim Alel

cHANges iN cHickeNrAisiNg mAY HeLpfoiL superbugs

By Yejin Campbell,14, a CK Reporter from Thornton

change, for instance, the way materials are moved around warehouses and on construction sites. Photo/Greg Campbell, Stanford

May 5, 2015

Little kid book suits older reader, too

“Owl Diaries: Eva’s Treetop Festival,” by Rebecca Elliott,

is a bubbly, playful book that is best suited for little girls.

This is the personal diary of Eva the Owl, and most girls will be able to relate to her right away.

The diary begins by telling you who she is, and, like most eight-year-olds, she likes “my diary, drawing, making stuff, the word ‘pumpkin,’ cool clothes, school, and being busy.”

Her entries focus on an idea for a “Bloomtastic Festival.”

She came up with the idea for a “Bloomtastic Festival” because she wanted to celebrate the beginning of Spring with her classmates.

Eva wants the festival to be fun for her classmates, so she decides to make it have talent shows, bake offs, fashion shows, and more.

Eva is very excited when she shares her idea with her teacher, Mrs.Featherbottom.

Eva becomes both excited and nervous because Mrs.Featherbottom not only agrees, but wants to make it a schoolwide event.

Eva’s classmates are giving Eva more ideas for the “Bloomtastic Festival,” and Eva takes some of the suggestions, but encounters some trouble making all of the events pos-sible.

Has Eva put too much on her plate?

Eva also has an arch nemesis, Sue, who discourages her con-stantly along the way.

I think we can all relate to having that one kid at school who just has to push you around.

Between Sue and all the work Eva has to do to make the Bloomtastic Festival successful, there are a lot of lessons to be

learned. Eva’s best friend Lucy helps

her deal with the stress that Eva is going through to make the

“Bloomtastic Festi-val” possible.

My favorite part of this story is when Eva and Lucy are showing each other the things that they want to do for the festival; I found that enter-taining.

I recommend this chapter book for little girls ages 8 and younger. It was extremely easy and a fast read for me.

I liked all of the pictures in the book because they are very colorful and happy. I also liked how the author kept you engaged in the story,

I wanted to keep on reading more after each chapter.

However, I did not like how Eva’s enemy Sue, keeps on try-ing to discourage Eva in making the festival possible.

I found that part a little too close to real life!

The news should be a mix of fun things, like the new Avengers movie, and serious things like the earthquake in Nepal.

Look through today’s paper for examples of stories that are serious and stories that are fun. Do you feel today’s paper was a little bit too serious, a little too much just fun, or a good mix of both kinds of stories?

Beyond these four pages

Challenging, exciting underwater tale“The Lost Journals of Ven

Polypheme” is a series with lots of adventure and mystery.

Its most recent book is the mysterious adventure “The Tree of Water,” by Elizabeth Haydon.

This book takes you into the depths of the ocean, with Ven Polypheme and his three friends, Amariel, Char, and his new friend Coreon.

He made the promise with his underwater friend Amariel,

the merrow (a type of Irish mermaid) that he would go and explore her home.

When he does, he realizes that this is a lot more deadly than he thought it would be, but that is what makes this book so excit-ing to read.

Ven is always getting into something, and most of the time he finds something more deadly than the last.

With this book, I found that, with every sentence I would read, the details would get sharper and sharper.

These descriptive sentences included what the harbor looked like, what Amariel’s scales looked like, and, my favorite, what the various fish

looked like. “Megalodon is frightening, but

the pilot fish is said to be utterly evil. He clings to Megalodon, helping guide him through the sea, and feeds off the scraps behind from whatever Megalo-don devours. And there always are some.”

I loved how the book kept making me want to read some more, and how I was always just waiting to read. Reading it was such an enjoyment that I couldn’t stop!

But I’ll admit that some parts of the book were really difficult to read because I didn’t under-stand what was happening.

That is why I suggest this book for 10 years old and older.

By Leah Garza,13, a CK Reporter from Westminster

By Ashley Gaccetta,11, a CK Reporter from Longmont

Colorado Kidsis produced by

Denver Post Educational ServicesExecutive Editor: Dana Plewka

dplewka@denverpost.comCK Editor: Mike Peterson

coloradokidseditor@gmail.comWe welcome your comments.

For tools to extend the learning in this feature, look under“eEdition lessons” at:

www.ColoradoNIE.com

eEditions of the Post arefree of charge for classroom use.Contact us for information on all

our programs.

Denver Post Educational Services101 W. Colfax Ave.Denver CO 80202

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Stories without bylines werewritten by the editor.

The first news reports of the earthquake that struck Nepal April 30 were about

people on the slopes of Mt. Ever-est, killed by avalanches that the quake set off.

But as more information came out, it was clear that there was far more death and destruction than just to those 10 climbers and the base camp part way up the world’s tallest mountain.

Thousands of people were killed, many thousands more were left homeless, and even more were forced to stay out-doors for fear that aftershocks would destroy their homes.

The world is now bringing aid to Nepal, but, while the Nepalese work to rebuild, it’s worth asking what is there, besides Mt. Everest.

Those mountains are certainly a major part of Nepal’s identity, and guiding wealthy adventure-seekers is an important part of the nation’s tourist economy.

But, although more than three-

quarters of Nepal’s 31 million people are Hindu, the country is also noted as the birthplace of Siddhartha Gautama some 2500 years ago.

He was a young nobleman who gave up his wealth in order to pursue religion and is revered by Buddhists under the title of the Buddha.

Nepal is also noted for the way they were able to go through a ten-year civil war and emerge in peace, with a popular vote to change from a monarchy to a re-public, though their government is divided among many political parties and changes hands often.

Nepal was facing challenges be-fore the earthquake: It does not have modern infrastructure, and many of its people are poor, while others live on money from rela-tives who go abroad to find work.

Still, even Nepal is part of the world, and the 30 percent with In-ternet access are using social me-dia to try to find missing relatives.

A look at Nepal beyond mountain-climbing

BrainteaserOn this day in 1260, Kublai Khan became emperor of the Mongol Empire, so our answers this week will begin with K.

1. “The Hermit Kingdom,” an Asian nation that was divided by war in 1950.

2. Bear-like marsupial that eats eucalyptus leaves.

3. Examples of these include sheepshank, bowline, square and diamond hitch.

4. Pieces of dry dog or cat food

5. Baby goat

6. Pluto is in this belt of small objects beyond Neptune.

7. He wrote the lyrics of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

8. To punch, pinch and massage bread dough

9. Author, cartoonist of the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series

10. The Nuggets traded Carmelo Anthony to this team.(answers on Page Four)

CK Reporters serve from June 13, 2015 to September 1, 2016. Questions? E-mail

dplewka@denverpost.com

Love to Write?Apply to be a Colorado Kids Reporter! It’s funand there are cool perks

Get all the details at ColoradoNIE.com today!

Elderly villagers start their 20km (12 mile) hike back up to their mountain home with internation-al relief aid they received in the damaged village of Balua, near the epicenter of Nepal’s April 30 earthquake AP Photo/Wally Santana

ck Kids and adults can find live links to information about stories in Colorado Kids at www.ColoradoNIE.com

Phamaly, a theater company composed of disabled ac-tors, recently visited Japan

to bring their brand of acces-sible magic to Osaka’s Interna-tional Communication Center for Persons with Disabilities.

“In Japan, there are cer-tain disabili-ties that are sort-of revered and certain disabilities that are hid-den,” says Bryce Alex-ander, Pha-maly’s artistic director. “For example, blindness in Japan is something people can appre-ciate. But if you’re mentally dis-abled, or look deformed, you’re sort of locked away.”

The concept of the individual story in Japan is not prevalent, so Japanese audiences don’t see a lot of disabled actors in the mainstream.

Phamaly spent an entire day with workshop participants con-vincing them that it was okay to tell their stories of disability.

One little girl with autism, Shuia, was transgender at age 8, and recounted how the doc-tors diagnosed her with a brain disorder because she identifies herself strongly as female even

though she’s physically a boy.Phamaly performed “The

Fantasticks” in front of 1,300 people, their largest audience ever, in conjunction with a group of students from Kinki University who translated the performance live.

Japanese audiences are trained to be very quiet at performances; so they don’t clap between songs. But as the musical went on, they couldn’t help but to laugh and clap.

One woman, by the end of the show, was so touched that she made origami for the entire cast while waiting for an hour in the lobby to meet them.

The BIG-i has invited

Phamaly to return in 2017 to perform in Osaka and Tokyo.

Kinki University is also interested in Phamaly hosting an internship program for their students to come to the United States, work with Phamaly, and learn how they operate.

“The BIG-i is really excited about our partnership” said Alexander, “I think it’s the start of a pretty long international relationship.”

To read about the personal experiences of Phamaly mem-bers and see a video about their work in Japan, catch the link at ColoradoNIE.com

Leslie Wilburn is a member of Phamaly Theater Company.

opeNiNg Acts

BrainteaserSolution

(see Page Three)10 right - Wow! 7 right - Great! 5 right - Good

3 right - See you next time!

1. Korea 2. koala 3. knots 4. kibble 5. kid 6. Kuiper Belt 7. (Francis Scott) Key 8. knead

9. (Jeff) Kinney 10. (New York) Knicks

By Leslie Wilburn13, a CK Reporter from Denver

“The Forget-Me-Not Summer,” by Leila Howard, tells the

story of sisters Marigold, Zin-nie, and Lily.

School is just ending, every-one is looking forward to sum-mer break and Marigold, the oldest at twelve, is even hoping to get her first kiss.

Zinnie, however has always been jealous of her older sister always being in the spotlight as an actress, and attempts to be her shadow.

As for Lily, being the youngest of the bunch makes her the family angel.

But then the sis-ters get news that their parents are getting job offers in dif-ferent parts of the world for three weeks and as a result, the sisters must go to their Aunt Sunny’s house in Cape Cod, where there is no wi-fi or TV and worse, the girls don’t even get their own bedrooms.

Once there, they meet Peter, a friendly face that they all come to love, Marigold maybe a little more than the others.

With the help of their Aunt Sunny, they begin to turn a dreaded vacation into a wonder

filled visit with clambakes. The girls even put together a

town talent show. But through it all,

they discover what it truly means to be sisters, and even more importantly, best friends.

The Forget-Me-Not Summer is in-tended more for the middle school age group, possibly even

elementary level. It doesn’t have any adult

content or language, making it perfect for the younger reader’s summertime story.

What’s really great about this book is that it’s not a challeng-ing read so it doesn’t have to be stressful: It’s just laid back fun.

I would give it 3 out of 5 stars, because if you’re looking for a complex storyline, you won’t find it in this book and the plot was, at times, slightly cheesy.

Still, I highly recommend “The Forget-Me-Not Summer.”

simpLe summer NoveL for LAid-bAck reAdiNg

By Madeline Kawnak,13, a CK Reporter from Aurora

Photo/ Phamaly Theater Co

Youth-written stories that appear here also appear on

C , !

What’s really great about this book is that it’s not a challenging read so it doesn’t have

to be stressful, and it’s just laid back

and fun.