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029: Current News for Kids – 11

Oct 07, 2020

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Hi, I’m excited to some extent to share a few things in this news episode… Mainly because my favourite environmentalist, Sir David Attenborough has not just created an Instagram account but even made a guinnesse world record for being the fastest to reach a million. We do discuss few other things before that, like the US president testing positive for corona, Nobel prize for medicine, mars being closes to earth, NASA astronaut voting from space and so much more! I hope you enjoy viewing this episode as much as I enjoyed making it… Thanks,

Transcripts

EPISODE 029 CURRENT NEWS FOR KIDS-11

[0.01] {Background Music}

[0.09] Siyona: Hello there, welcome to my podcast Little Mind Chats. Minds are little, not our thoughts. I’m your host Siyona. Today we have lots of news about so many interesting topics happening around the world.

[0.22] Let’s start with Corona news. It’s shocking but true that, American president went down with Corona.

[0.32] On October 3rd, the president of United states, Mr Donald Trump was flown to the hospital after testing positive for corona virus. He was discharged just after 3 nights in the hospital. Several people close to the president have also gotten the virus. Oh hooo. He should have worn his mask at all times.

[0.56]

[1.04] Americans Harvey J. Alter and Charles M. Rice and Briton Michael Houghton won the 2020 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of the Hepatitis C virus, the Nobel Committee announced on Monday.

[1.22] The three were honoured for their “decisive contribution to the fight against blood-borne hepatitis, a major global health problem that causes cirrhosis and liver cancer in people around the world,” the jury said.

[1.36] But what is a Nobel Prize?

[1.39] The Nobel Prize is a set of annual international awards bestowed in several categories by Swedish and Norwegian institutions in recognition of academic, cultural, or scientific advances.

[1.56] On 27 November 1895, Alfred Nobel signed his last will and testament, giving the largest share of his fortune to a series of prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature and Peace – the Nobel Prizes.

[2.16] But this year, due to Coronavirus, the winners will be invited to celebrate alongside the 2021 laureates, assuming the pandemic has eased by then.

[2.30]

[2.36] Last Sunday, Universal Health Services (UHS), one of the largest health care companies in the US, was hit by a cyber (computer) attack, making its computer system useless. UHS has 26 hospitals and over 350 other health offices across the US.

[2.59] But what is a Cyber Attack?

[3.01] Simply put, a cyber-attack is an attack launched from one or more computers against another computer, multiple computers or networks.

[3.12] Cyber-attacks could be done to disable the target computer meaning, force it offline, or attacks where the goal is to get access to the target computer’s data.

[3.25] So, why do people fear a cyber-attack?

[3.29] Cyber Attacks are really bad as they cause Physical/Digital losses like

Economic
Psychological
Reputational
Social/societal

[3.39] In simple words, Cyber attackers are like the online version of robbers or problem creators.

[3.48] Now to some space news

[3.51] Mars is closest to earth. When Mars and Earth are close to each other, Mars appears very bright in the sky. It makes it easier to see with telescopes or the naked eye.

[4.04] Mars will be visible for much of the night in the southern sky, and will reach its highest point at about midnight.

[4.12] “This time of excellent Mars viewing coincides with opposition, when Mars is directly on the opposite side of Earth from the sun,” NASA said on its website.

[4.23] The line-up happens about every two years. During this opposition, Mars and Earth are closest to each other in their orbits. That means Mars is at its brightest, so go out and take a look!”

[4.39] NASA Astronaut Will Vote from Space

[4.43] NASA astronaut Kate Rubins will be on the International Space Station (ISS) on November 3 when the US holds its election for president. But this lucky astronaut lady will be voting from space.

[4.59] This will be Ms. Rubins’ second time voting from space. She also voted in the 2016 election.

In the past, no one worried about astronauts missing out on a chance to vote, because they didn’t spend very long in space. But now astronauts spend months on the ISS.

[5.22] Now, to some environmental news.

[5.29]

[5.34] A hydrogen fuel-cell plane that’s capable of carrying passengers completed its maiden flight.

[5.43] Zero Avia’s six-seater Piper M-class aircraft — which has been retrofitted with the device that combines hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity — undertook a taxi, take-off, full pattern circuit and landing on Thursday.

[6.01] This is the right time to ask why hydrogen powered vehicles are gaining importance.

[6.07] Hydrogen can be produced from diverse domestic resources with the potential for near-zero greenhouse gas emissions. Once produced, hydrogen generates electrical power in a fuel cell, emitting only water vapor and warm air.

[6.27] This makes it one of the best options to keep our environment free of the poisonous smoke, that normal fossil fuelled cars emit.

[6.37] I have a feeling this is how we will travel in the future! Let’s wait and watch.

[6.44] 270 Pilot Whales Stranded in Tasmania

[6.51] Whales and dolphins travel together in groups called “pods”. These pods work together closely, and the members of the pod generally follow the leader. When the leader gets beached, it can lead to other animals getting stranded as well.

[7.09] But what is beaching?

[7.11] Every year, around 2,000 large sea animals, such as dolphins and whales, die by swimming onto a beach or into water that’s too shallow for them to escape. This is known as “stranding” or “beaching”. Pilot whales and killer whales are some of the most commonly stranded whales.

[7.32] Rescue workers are trying to “refloat” the whales so they can swim away. The job is especially challenging because the whales are so large. Pilot whales can grow up to 23 feet (seven meters) long and can weigh up to 5,000 pounds (2,300 kilograms).

[7.54] Still, about 90 whales have died so far. Rescue efforts are likely to continue for the next few days.

[8.04] Let’s hope these giant creatures can float back very quickly.

[8.12]

[8.20] October 1st onwards, if you’re in England, you’d probably not find a few commonly used plastic items like Straws, Stirrers and cotton buds.

[8.31] According to the government, an estimated 4.7 billion plastic straws, 1.8 billion plastic-stemmed cotton buds and 316 million plastic stirrers are used in England each year. A large number of these end up in the ocean, it said, harming wildlife and the environment.

[8.57] In recent years, TV shows such as “Blue Planet II” have raised awareness of the issue in the U.K. Presented by David Attenborough, the show highlighted the shocking impact plastic has on wildlife and the natural world.

[9.16] Speaking of sir David Attenborough, I’m a BIG fan of the environmentalist, Guess what!

[9.32] I’m definitely not surprised! For decades, Sir David Attenborough has created countless TV shows about nature. At 94, he’s still a strong voice for animals and the environment. His recent works have highlighted human created problems such as plastic pollution and the climate crisis.

[9.55] Just 4 hours and 44 minutes after Mr. Attenborough joined Instagram, over 1 million people had followed him. That record was previously held by actress Jennifer Aniston.

[10.11] And finally, here a little fun news. Hero Rat Wins Award for Saving Lives

[10.21] What? A rat wins award? Yes… it’s not a fiction.

[10.27] The British charity PDSA* gave out its gold medal award for bravery – to a rat named Magawa. Magawa, and other rats like him, are saving countless lives by sniffing out deadly mines that have remained hidden for years. Mines are bombs that are hidden, usually underground. They’re designed to go off after someone steps on them or drives over them. These bombs are deadly and can remain hidden for years – long after the war they were used in has ended.

[11.06] Magawa is an African pouched rat, so he’s a little bigger than normal rats. He was born in Tanzania in 2014, and from a young age he was trained to sniff out TNT – the chemical combination used in many bombs. The training normally takes about a year.

[11.28] About half of Cambodia’s minefields haven’t yet been cleared. Since 1979, these mines have killed or injured over 64,000 people.

[11.40] It only takes Magawa 30 minutes to search an area as big as a tennis court. A human doing the same job would take four days. That’s smart!

[11.52] To honour Magawa, the PDSA made a special gold award that was small enough for Magawa to wear…. That’s cute!

[12.01] I really hope you enjoyed and even learnt a few things from this news episode.

[12.08] Would you like to know what the competition of this month is? Its super easy, simple and definitely something I really like doing. Its…. Nature photography. The competition is for you to take a picture of nature around you and send it across. Ah ha. No cheating! You need to take this picture yourself! No adult help or plagiarism. You can take a picture of anything including birds, trees, bushes, or even the beach with any camera. See it’s that simple! You could take your parents’ smart phone, your tab or even sneak a DSLR camera. See! It’s that simple! Please do send in your entries by Thursday 29th October.

[12.50] Send in your entries to siyona@littlemindchats.com. Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, twitter or LinkedIn. Just look for Little Mind Chats. Like, share and subscribe.

[13.05] Meet you on Sunday with our last topic for Season 2 – Satellites.

[13.10] Thanks a ton for listening. Bye.