Thursday, 10 November, 2022
Dark web and cyber hacks; searching for Cleopatra; shark on a boat in New Zealand; and snake in a dunny in Tassie.
LINKS
Cleopatra: mystery tunnel – photos: https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/archaeology/miracle-archaeologists-discover-1500m-tunnel-that-may-lead-to-cleopatras-tomb/news-story/12712cd9afa96bf6a196a15387ccf3ba
Cleopatra: Horrible Histories version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfbXQFsOtDo
Cleopatra: Hollywood version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vB5Wv8IHVf0
Shark on a boat: https://www.9news.com.au/world/shark-boat-new-zealand-whitianga/84fa945b-0d64-4930-a93f-7c44c1828f95
Snake in a dunny: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-09/tasmanian-man-discovers-tiger-snake-in-bathroom/101633026
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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
THE LOWDOWN
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You have probably heard a lot in the news this week about something called Medibank … and you may have heard words like ‘ransomware’ and ‘cyber hackers’ thrown around.
It’s all to do with an increasing incidence of hackers – who are people that use computers to gain access to data and digital records they shouldn’t have access to.
There was the case back in September of the big mobile phone and internet company, Optus being hacked – and the personal information of thousands of its customers being stolen.
The same thing happened with Medibank – a big private insurance company – which holds lots of personal information about lots of Australians as part of its job to help pay for medical procedures.
We learned last week that the personal data – including the names, addresses, birthdates and Medicare numbers – of some 9 million Australians who are customers of Medibank had been stolen by hackers – a group of computer criminals believed to based in Russia.
Yesterday, after Medibank refused to pay the ransom being demanded by the hackers (ransom is money that people demand in return for something they’ve stolen) – the hackers started publishing the medical records of Medibank customers on the Dark Web.
The Dark Web is like the underground Internet. Think of it like the Upside Down in Stranger Things …
And there were reports yesterday of some Medibank customers receiving phone calls from the hackers trying to get money out them. It’s a timely reminder to not answer calls from numbers you don’t recognise – or click on links in texts or emails that look even remotely suspicious.
It’s a crazy ol’ world we live in ..
SPIN THE GLOBE
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Each day we give the world globe a spin and find a news story from wherever it stops – and today we’ve landed in Egypt – the land of pyramids and mummies. The bandaged kind, not the ones who tuck you in at night.
Where … archeologists have discovered a secret tunnel which they think could lead to the tomb of Cleopatra.
So – wait – who’s Cleopatra? She was queen of Egypt back in 51 BC … that’s 51 years before the birth of Jesus Christ – which was itself 2022 years ago. So we’re talking a really long time ago.
The whereabouts of Cleopatra’s burial tomb has been a mystery for thousands of years. And now a team of archaeologists thinks they may have found it – deep underground beneath an ancient temple.
The tunnel is 13 metres underground, is two metres high and over one kilometre in length. Can you even imagine?
The archeologists will continue their exploration – but in the meantime, to exercise your history bones, i’ve stuck a link in today’s episode notes to an excellent Horrible Histories Cleopatra music video – plus a link to a scene from a 1960s Hollywood film depicting the Egyptian queen – to give you a sense of how huge she was.
ANIMAL KINGDOM
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Now, I like a fishing trip as much as the next person … cast your rod, settle back in the sun as a few fish nibble at your bait .. but the fishing trip a bunch of Kiwi fisherman had recently sounds like my idea of a nightmare.
Video footage captured by one of the fisherman aboard the boat shows a two-and-a-half metre shark leaping up out of the water and landing on the front of their boat. Two and a half metres of wildly thrashing teeth, fins and tails. I’m pretty sure I would have fainted on the spot.
The shark was a mako shark – common in waters off New Zealand, and well-known for their ability to launch themselves out of the water. Apparently their nickname is ‘blue dynamite’ because they move so fast.
The big chomper – which was estimated to weigh 150 kg – flapped about on the boat’s bow for two whole minutes, before sliding back off into the water and swimming away.
The only thing more shocking than the shark on the boat was the reaction later of one of the fisherman who told local reporters he “took a few minutes but then just got back to his fishing”. Because they breed ‘em tough in New Zealand. Mind you: I notice in the video there’s a roll of toilet paper on the bridge of the boat … suspect that might have come in handy …
And yes of course, I’ve stuck video of the acrobatic shark in today’s episode notes. You’re welcome.
(CCC)
Oh – there’s the Classroom Companion Clarion … today, our super excellent Squiz Kids school teacher Christie has created three differentiated classroom worksheets tied to this news item .. getting kids to summarise the content of this story and diving into the world of prefixes. If you’re a teacher or home educator looking for quality, teacher-made, curriculum-aligned classroom resources tied to news and current affairs – treat yourself to the free trial – which will see you through until the end of the year. Because here at Squiz Kids we just love to give … Links in today’s episode notes, or jump in via squizkids.com.au
BIGGEST, FURTHEST, LONGEST
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Now – normally in this segment, we talk about records being set or the tallest building in a certain country or biggest pumpkin … but for today’s superlative – I want to talk about the scariest … because that was my reaction upon reading the story of a man in Tasmania who discovered a tiger snake in his toilet.
Not IN his toilet, as in inside the bowl and sloshing around in the water, but in the room of his house in which his toilet is located.
The man had been mowing his lawn, and had left the door to his house open, which is when snake catchers reckon the venomous snake slithered into his toilet.
Later, when nature called and he wandered in, there was the tiger snake, coiled up on the floor and staring right at him. I’d definitely need the toilet if I came across that in my dunny.
I’ve stuck a link in today’s episode notes to the photo the man took .. but be warned: if you have a mortal fear of snakes in the dunny – look away ..
THE SQUIZ
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This is the part of the podcast where you get to test how well you’ve been listening …
- What jumped onto the bow of a fishing boat in New Zealand?
- What was a Tasmanian man shocked to discover in his toilet?
- Archeologists in Egypt believe they may have located a tunnel leading to the tomb of which famous historical queen?
SHOUT OUTS
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It’s November 10 … today is Sesame Street Day … celebrating the children’s TV show that has been entertaining and educating kids for 53 years today … amazing. Happy birthday Big Bird, Oscar, Ernie, Bert and Elmo.
It’s also a special day for these Squiz Kids celebrating a birthday today…
Ruby from Wagga Wagga, Navaiia from Woongarrah, Jace from Atwell, Elsie from Hawthorn East, Victoria from Moorebank, Samuel from Adelaide, Ruby from Abbotsford, Maks from Lane Cove West, Dylan from Eltham, Henry from Moss Vale, Ryder from Cobar, Blain from Leeton, Leo from Hughes, Raiden from Lindfield, Noah from NSW and Kaden, Lennyx and Lachlan all from Broken Hill.
Belated birthday shout outs go to Archie and Riley from Abbotsford and Campbell from Ocean Reef.
Classroom shout outs go to… class 5JS with Miss Squires at Our Lady Help of Christians Primary School in Warrnambool, class 6F and Miss Morgan at Wollondilly Public School, class 3F and Mr Fife at The Southport School on the Gold Coast and class 5N at Saint Joseph School in Chinchilla.
A special shout out to Ms Cluelo of class 6C at Rutherford Public School – yesterday was her 20th anniversary of teaching! Congratulations – that’s a long time teaching and A LOT of kids!!
Lastly a special shout out to Lily at St Agatha’s Primary School in Clayfield who completed a Geography assessment in the form of an entire Squiz Kids episode – with the theme music, Spin the Globe and even a S’Quiz at the end. We would love to check it out Lily – send us an audio file if you can to [email protected]
The S’Quiz Answers:
- Mako Shark
- Tiger snake
- Cleopatra