Thursday, 25 August, 2022
Spelling still matters; passengers stuck beneath the sea; Melbourne goes to Greece; and a noisy black hole.
LINKS
The most commonly misspelt words on job applications: https://hrnews.co.uk/study-reveals-the-most-overused-and-misspelled-words-on-cvs-in-2022/
Jupiter up close: https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/2022/08/22/webbs-jupiter-images-showcase-auroras-hazes/
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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
THE LOWDOWN
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Hands up, if spelling is your favourite subject at school.
Now I know this is a podcast, so I can’t actually see you. But I’m betting there aren’t many hands up right now. Spelling in the English language is frustrating—I mean, why on earth would the number 8 be spelled e-i-g-h-t? Eeee—ig—ht? Give me a break.
But, annoying or not, good spelling IS important—it could even be the difference between getting a job, or staying unemployed.
You see, surveys of job recruiters—those people who look at applications and decide whom they want to interview for a job—have found that spelling mistakes are at the top of their list of no-nos. If they see spelling mistakes, they are likely to think that the person who’s applying for the job doesn’t pay attention to detail… and that’s not the kind of person you want working for you, is it?
But thousands of adults haven’t gotten that spelling message. An analysis of more than 100,000 job applications has found that 62% of them had spelling mistakes! The most commonly misspelt word? “Experienced”. That’s e-x-p-e-r-i-e-n-c-e-d. Apparently a lot of grownups put an “a-d” at the end instead. The second most misspelt word? “Successful”. Followed closely by “achieved, independent, responsible, and professional.”
Take it from the experts, people: you aren’t being independent, responsible, professional, or successful, if you don’t read through your work and look for spelling mistakes. And kids… if learn how to spell these words properly now, you can help your parents next time they’re applying for a job.
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 75 metres beneath the surface of the English Channel, where passengers travelling between France and England got stuck for FIVE HOURS when their train broke down on Tuesday. Now, I don’t know about you, but I get the heebie jeebies thinking about being stranded in a tunnel under the sea for five hours! The passengers spent the first 90 minutes or so sitting on the train, while authorities investigated why alarms had gone off indicating a problem. Then, they were evacuated—some with dogs, and many with suitcases—and had to walk through an emergency link to another tunnel deep under the sea, where a second train was waiting. Yeesh.
POP CULTURE CORNER
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Fans of the hugely popular Percy Jackson book series may want to take a trip to Melbourne this summer—because starting on November 16, they’ll be able to visit the Parthenon in the gardens of the National Gallery of Victoria. The Parthenon, in case you don’t know, is a massive 2,000-year-old temple that dominates the hill of the Acropolis, in Athens… and no, it’s not moving to Melbourne. But the art gallery has commissioned, which means paid an artist to create, its own version. Called the Temple of Boom (there’s another pop culture reference for you, Indiana Jones…), the Melbourne Parthenon’s columns will be covered in murals made by local artists, and it will host live music and performances all summer long. The Temple of Boom will be about one third the size of the original Parthenon… if you want the full-size version, you’ll need to book a ticket to Greece, or Nashville, in the USA, where a replica, meaning copy, was built in 1897.
SPACED OUT
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Have a listen to this, and see what you think it is:
(NASA audio)
America’s space agency NASA has busted open the misconception that there is no sound in space, with this recording of the noises coming out of a supermassive black hole. Now it is true that in much of space, there is no sound. That’s because most of space is in a vacuum, which means that there’s nothing for sound waves to travel through. But the Perseus galaxy cluster has lots of hot gas, and waves sent out by the black hole cause ripples in that gas, which can be translated into musical notes. The sound of a black hole… amazing.
While we have you out here in space, I highly recommend that you check the link in your episode notes to the James Webb Deep Space telescope’s new closeups of Jupiter. A picture is worth at least a thousand words, and I really can’t do these incredible images justice. See them for yourselves… you’ll be glad you did.
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 is the name of the ancient Greek temple being recreated this summer in Melbourne?
- Which is the most commonly misspelt word on adult job applications?
- What is making noise in the Perseus Galaxy Cluster?
SHOUT OUTS
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It’s August 25..and on this day in 1768, Captain James Cook departed from Plymouth, England, on his first voyage on board the Endeavour. In April 1770, Cook and his Endeavour crew became the first known Europeans to reach the east coast of Australia.
It’s also a special day for these Squiz Kids celebrating a birthday today …
Hannah from Craigburn, Hugh from Forest Lake, Baxter from Cannon Hill, Joshua from South Kingsville, Douglas from Lansvale, Benjamin from Paradise Point, Joshua from Melbourne, Jaime from Williamstown, Edward from Abbotsford and Hannah from Dapto.
And belated birthday shout outs go to Layla from Craigburn and Lauren from Abbotsford.
Classroom shoutouts today go to … Year 4/5/6 and Mr Hoskins at Mingenew Primary School, class 4/5 SB with Mrs Cameron-Smith and Mrs Bellamy at Parramatta East Public School, class 6WS and Mr Williams at Pullenvale State School, Year 3 and Miss Potts at St. Paul’s Primary School in Mount Lawley, Grade 2 and Miss Perkins at Queanbeyan South Primary School and lastly Year 5 and Mrs Bruce at Our Lady of the Rosary School in Caloundra.
The S’Quiz Answers:
- The Parthenon
- Experienced
- A supermassive black hole