First News: goldfish go driving!

First News is a 28-page weekly newspaper for young people delivered into homes across the UK every Friday. Find out more and try for free at firstnews.co.uk/1free GOLDFISH GO DRIVING! A group of goldfish have been trained how to drive. Scientists in Israel have helped six different fish learn how to steer a specially designed Fish Operated Vehicle (FOV). The fish were placed in a tank of water on top of the FOV and were able to guide it towards a pink target. They able to change the direction of the vehicle, turn it and stop when needed. Rather than using controls, the fish's movements were tracked by a camera, computer and light detection technology, which enabled the vehicle to move how they wanted. Much like people learning to drive, the scientists found out that the more practice the fish had, the better they became at the task. They were even able to work out when the target was moved. Shacar Givon from Ben-Gurion University in Beersheba, Israel where the study was conducted said: "It shows goldfish have the ability to learn a complex task in an environment unlike the one they evolved in [evolution is how a species changes and adapts over many years]. As anyone who has tried to learn how to ride a bike or to drive a car knows, it is challenging at first.” The experiment was published in Behavioural Brain Research. YOUR NEWS Young people! Send us your news and photos to newsdesk@firstnews.co.uk and have your story published on this page and ,perhaps, in First News too. SHOEBOX WRAP By pupils from Danes Hill School Towards the end of last term, we took part in the annual Shoebox Wrap for two local charities- Shooting Star Chase and The Children's Trust. Our usual afternoon lessons were cancelled and instead we filled festive shoeboxes for children less fortunate than us. Representative from Shooting Star Chase and The Children's Trust visited the school earlier in the term to talk to us about the charities and the impact our gifts can have on children under their care. We chose an age range to buy for and did research to discover what gifts would be age and sensory appropriate. We then spent the afternoon filling our reused shoeboxes and wrapping them with recyclable paper. We then delivered the shoeboxes to the two charities so that they could pass them on. We hope everyone who received a shoebox enjoyed it. DIARY DATES MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY 17 JANUARY A holiday in the UK, marking the famous civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. WINNIE-THE-POOH DAY 18 JANUARY Celebrate the lovable fictional bear on the birthday of his creator, AA Milne. WOW! The second tallest skyscraper in the world is due to open later this year. The Merdeka 118 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, has 118 floors and 2,227 feet (678.9m) tall- that's twice the height of the Shard in London! WEEKLY PUZZLE