Thursday, 22 October, 2020

Asteroid scrape a success; Japan saves the deers; Wet weather footy finals; and Ariana Grande’s pizza delivery.

 

LINKS

Baby Yoda returns: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GH77rcS-X-c

Meteor Shower Guide: https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2020-10-20/orionid-meteor-shower-2020-where-and-when-to-see-in-australia/12711528

Junior Masterchef’s Filo: https://10play.com.au/junior-masterchef-australia/web-extras/season-3/meet-filo/tpv200918xbyjs

Squiz Kids Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/squizkids/?hl=en

Got a birthday coming up and you want a shout-out? Send us an email at [email protected]

 

THE LOWDOWN

 ———————-

Mission accomplished! Those were the words ringing throughout NASA headquarters yesterday after a spaceship managed to touch down briefly on an asteroid a long way from Earth, hoover up a collection of rocks and dust, and take off again.

The mission required the space ship to come down out of orbit,  navigate its way past boulders the size of small buildings, to land ever so briefly on the surface and vacuum up particles of rock so that scientists back here on Earth can study them.

But they will want to be patient, those scientists. As the asteroid is currently 320 million kilometres away from us, it’s going to take about two and half years for the space ship, and its rock samples to return. 

Yikes. 

Luckily though, in the meantime, we can expect a Japanese spacecraft to return to Earth with a similar sample from a completely different asteroid. 

The spaceship from Japan’s Hayabasa2 mission – which collected samples from the asteroid Ryugu in February last year – is expected to return to Earth in December … and get this … it’s going to land in the Australian desert! How cool is that? 

— 

It’s brolly time if you live along the east coast of Australia – with the weather bureau yesterday forecasting flooding rains, hail and damaging winds for parts of Queensland, NSW and northern Victoria.

The wild weather is expected to last a few days – which has footy fans worried the AFL and NRL grand finals this weekends will be wash-outs. 

The weather bureau has assured nervous footy fanatics that in both instances – namely, Brisbane on Saturday, where the AFL grand final will be played – and Sydney on Sunday, where the NRL grand final will be played – the weather gods will smile and the games should not be affected. 

 

SPIN THE GLOBE

————————-

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 – where the deer that wander the streets of the tourist town, Nara, are breathing a sigh of relief following the invention of recyclable paper bags – which are also edible.

Deer are everywhere in Nara. And tourists flock there to see – and feed them. Problem is: up until now, plastic bags have been used to contain the deer food. And sometimes the deer eat the bags – which causes all sorts of problems for their stomachs – often requiring operations to remove the plastic waste. 

But a new bag, made from recycled milk cartons and rice bran, has just been rolled out. Meaning the deer can scoff all the food – and bags – they like without having to worry. Deer oh deer.

 

POP CULTURE CORNER

———–

There was much excitement on the interwebs yesterday following the release of the new trailer for the second season of the Star Wars series, The Mandalorian. And mostly because the world got a sneak peek again at the ludicrously cute Baby Yoda. Season 2 starts streaming at the end of the month.

Meanwhile, pop star Ariana Grande has teased the release of her new album – posting mysterious videos to Instagram that no-one seems to be able to make sense of. Hey, it’s a pop star’s right to be mysterious. Less confusing has been what’s called Pizza To The Polls – where Ariana saw how long the lines to vote in the Presidential election were in her home state of Florida and ordered a pile of pizzas to be delivered to polling stations to feed people while they waited. Would you like some pepperoni with your democracy?

 

SPACED OUT 

——

If you’re an early riser – like, up before sunrise, that is – you might just be lucky enough to catch a meteor shower which will be lighting up the skies above Australia tomorrow morning.

Called the Orionid Meteor Shower – it happens every year – it’s the perfect  time to catch a shooting star as it streaks across the night’s sky.

The meteor shower is caused by the Earth passing through the tail of a comet.

But if you want to catch the night sky spectacle, you’re going to want to be awake between 4am and 5am tomorrow morning.

Which definitely counts out my daughter Rosie … you need a cro-bar to get her out of bed most mornings … 

There’s a link in today’s episode notes to a handy guide to the best times and locations for meteor spotting. 

 

JUNIOR MASTERCHEF Q+A CALL OUT

—-

You’ve seen him on Junior Masterchef – the pint-sized chef with the enormous personality. And now, we’re delighted to report, Filo – Junior Masterchef contestant extraordinaire – has agreed to take the Squiz Kids hot-seat and answer your question in the next Squiz Kids Q+A.

How did he find his way into the Masterchef kitchen? How tough is it to cook against the clock? What’s his favourite dish? How has becoming a national celebrity made it harder for him to get across the playground? 

There’s a link in today’s episode notes to video of some Filo highlights – but otherwise: get cracking on sending your questions to [email protected]. You’ve got until Tuesday … 

Oh – and we hope you enjoyed our Squiz Kids Q&A with Annabel Sutherland that was out yesterday. Take a listen if you haven’t already. 

 

THE S’QUIZ

—————–

This is the part of the podcast where you get to test how well you’ve been listening …

  1. Which animals in Japan are going to be helped with the invention of bags made from recycled milk cartons?
  2. Which pop star has been handing out free pizza in the American state of Florida?
  3. What sort of a shower might you see in the night’s sky if you get up at the crack of dawn tomorrow? 

 

SHOUT OUTS

——————-

It’s October 22 … World Wombat Day .. which might just be my favourite World Day ever. It’s a day to recognise the unique contribution wombats – or Bulldozers of the Bush as they are also known – make to Australia. And to be reminded that the Northern Hairy Nosed Wombat is currently an endangered species.. 

It’s also only 64 sleeps ‘til Christmas … yippee!

Plus it’s a special day for these Squiz Kids celebrating a birthday today … Chloe from Melbourne, Amelia from Brisbane, Ellie from Shoal Bay, Jimmy from Hughesdale, Max from Springwood, Archie from Empire Bay, Cadel from Highton, Oleska from Abbotsford, Chelsea from Grafton, and Ellie from Ascot

Today’s belated birthday shoutouts go to… Ivy from Sutherland, Indi from Melbourne and Liam, who is also from Melbourne but currently travelling through Europe since the start of February. 

Happy birthday one and all!

Classroom shoutouts…  4/5P and Miss Pereira and 2K and Miss Kumar at Sarah Redfern Public School, 5/6 Red at St Joachim’s Primary School, Mrs Barrett and Year 3 at Burnside Public School, 5/6K at Yinnar Primary School, and a special shoutout to Mrs Jensen and 4 Blue at St. Joseph’s Moorebank, where Seth is having his last day on Friday when he returns to Ireland with his family. They say they will miss his jokes and the joy he has brought to their classroom.

 

The S’Quiz Answers:

  1. Deer
  2. Ariana Grande
  3. Meteor