Thursday, 2 March, 2023
Time for a clock on the Moon; Japan’s eSports high school; world first x-ray goggles; and bad news for Bieber fans.
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Today’s Quick Links:
European Space Agency pushes for lunar time zone: https://www.nbcnews.com/now/video/european-space-agency-pushes-for-lunar-time-zone-164227653962
Japan’s video-gaming school: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/25/business/japan-esports-school-refusal.html#:~:text=A%20Video%2DGaming%20School%3A%20Japan’s,an%20unexpected%20demographic%3A%20absentee%20students.
X-ray goggles: https://news.mit.edu/2023/augmented-reality-headset-enables-users-see-hidden-objects-0227
Dr Seuss for kids: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZt3RHrIADo
Dig Deeper:
Time zoneseExplained: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-j-SWKtWEcU
What is eSports: https://gamequitters.com/what-is-esports/
Queensland University of Technology, ESports Diploma: https://www.qut.edu.au/courses/diploma-in-esports
The secret history of x-ray specs: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20160718-the-secret-history-of-x-ray-specs
Ramsay Hunt Syndrome explained: https://www.pacificneuroscienceinstitute.org/blog/news/ramsay-hunt-syndrome-explained-by-dr-amit-kochhar/
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THE LOWDOWN
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What time is it on the Moon right now? Nobody knows, and that could be a problem! Especially as more and more countries around the world make plans to put humans back on the Moon, including building a permanent lunar base up there.
Which is why the European Space Agency yesterday called for the Moon to finally have its own time zones.
Picture a globe or a map of planet Earth. You’ve seen those lines running North to South, right? Well, if you split the planet into 24 equal sections using those lines, you roughly have the 24 time zones that we have here on Earth. When it’s 10am in Sydney, it’s 7am in Perth, 11pm in London and 6pm in New York.
As the earth, which completes one rotation on its axis each 24 hours, cycles from day to night, time zones let us coordinate our activities so that trains, planes and everything else run on time.
But despite being a satellite planet, the moon has no time zones. Up to now, that hasn’t been an issue. Each space mission has kept the same coordinated universal time or UTC as its team back on earth.
But as more people undertake space travel and tourism, and with more countries planning to set up bases on the Moon, there is a need for everyone to get in sync.
It’s about time, afterall? (DAD JOKE ALARM) – oops there goes the dad joke alarm … couldn’t help myself.
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 Japan – the capital Tokyo to be precise – where a high school has opened where kids can play video games as part of their lessons.
I know right … it sounds like your idea of heaven.
The country’s very first eSports high school has taken in its very first students this year – where students mix traditional class work with hours of intensive video game training.
Why?
Two reasons: because there’s a growing demand around the world for people who play video games for a job. Yep – that’s a thing. And secondly: because educators found that a lot of high school kids who drop out of normal school early can be lured back to the classroom if video games are part of the daily routine.
Did you know that there’s a university in Queensland where you can get a diploma in ESports?
If I had even the slightest clue how to work a console, I would totes sign up for that.
WEIRD SCIENCE
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Ask a superhero what superpowers are most useful and chances are one of them is going to say x-ray vision. It’s the ability to see through objects be they people, buildings, trains or diabolical earth-destroying rocket ships. (INSERT EVIL MAN LAUGH).
Well now – thanks to some clever scientists in America, you too can have x-ray vision – thanks to the invention of x-ray googles.
They’re an augmented reality headset which sends out wireless radio signals out to locate a specific item hidden from view. I’ve stuck a link to a photo in your episode notes.
You know how dolphins and bats use sonar – or sound waves – to bounce off objects around them to determine how close or far away they are? Similar principle. Except the radio frequency signals used by these x-ray goggles pass through solid objects to locate stuff that’s hidden beneath.
And yes, I know what you’re all thinking: do they see through clothes? And the answer is yes – but happily, the object underneath appears only as a transparent sphere. So stop your giggling.
POP CULTURE CORNER
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That sound you hear? (INSERT FEMALE SOBBING SOUND EFFECT) – that’s the noise of thousands of Justin Bieber fans reacting to the news yesterday that the pop star has cancelled his upcoming tour of Australia.
He was originally heading down under at the end of last year, but had to postpone – which is a fancy word for put off or delay – and then yesterday the Canadian crooner announced he was going to have to cancel the tour altogether.
Last year, the Beebs shared with fans that he had been impacted by a virus that causes facial paralysis – a condition called Ramsay Hunt Syndrome. So a speedy recovery to you Mr Bieber.
We’ll just have to content ourselves with the memory of Ed Sheeran and Harry Styles – the latter of whom continued his Aussie tour in the Gold Coast on Tuesday night in front of a crowd of 50,000 of his close personal friends. Sydney: you’re next – with Hazza playing Accor stadium tomorrow and Saturday nights. Break out the feather boas.
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 unique high school has just opened in Japan?
- Which Canadian pop star cancelled his Aussie tour yesterday?
- What cool new technology have scientists in America just invented?
SHOUT OUTS
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It’s March 2 – today my friends is Dr Seuss Day – marking the birthday of the author of some of the greatest books ever written – so have some green eggs and ham, find a cat in a hat or a turtle names Yertle – and enjoy the simple pleasure of reading a good book.
And it’s a special day for these Squiz Kids celebrating a birthday today…
Alice from Ballarat, Aliya from Middle Ridge, Violette from Avoca Beach, Oliver from Port Macquarie, Nellie from Dunkeld, Jack from Hawthorn East, Arnold from Gubbi Gubbi country, Jonah from Yarrawonga, Rayyan from Willoughby and Charlie from Portland North.
Belated shout outs go to… Annika from Sydney, Agnes and Vivienne from Bondi Junction, Ritsa from Oran Park, Charlie from Botany, Ethan from Bulleen and Emma from Austinmeer.
Classroom shoutouts go to…
Year 3 and 4 with Ms Garland and Mrs Michell at Lake Bolac College, class 3B and Mr James at Nexus International School in Singapore, class 4P and Mrs Phillip and Floraville Public School, class 3C and Miss Condie at Epping West Public School, to Mrs Morrissey at Maroubra Junction Public School, classes 2B & C with Ms Lyon and Ms McKenna at Pascoe Vale North Primary School and lastly to class 5C with Mrs Warren and Mr Moore at Mitchelton State School.
The S’Quiz Answers:
- eSports
- Justin Bieber
- X-ray goggles