Tuesday, 2 August, 2022
Space junk lands in Australia; India turns on the tap; Girls rule at Comm Games; and hot dogs and cool cats in Japan.
LINKS
Space junk falling from the sky: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-29/space-junk-found-in-nsw-snowy-mountains-paddocks-/101277542
Wearable fan for Japanese pets: https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/hot-dogs-cats-get-wearable-fans-beat-japans-scorching-summer-2022-08-01/
Want access to our Squiz Kids Shortcuts + Squiz The World podcasts?
Teachers: Squiz Kids for Schools – Free 30 Day Trial: https://www.squizkids.com.au/squiz-kids-for-schools/
Parents: Squiz Kids Apple Subscriber Content – Free Trial: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/squiz-kids/id1494238283
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]
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
THE LOWDOWN
——–
It seems that with every day that passes, a new piece of space junk falls from the sky.
And yesterday, a farmer in NSW reported a piece of rocket had landed on his property near Jindabyne in the Snowy Mountains – the third piece of busted up rocket to be found in the region in as many weeks.
Space X – the private rocket ship company that’s been carrying astronauts to the International Space Station – came forward to claim the bits of falling rocket as their own – as space agencies around the world warned that with more and more countries sending rockets into space, stricter rules were required to control the junk that is falling back down to Earth.
It all comes as the world was on alert over the weekend as bits of a Chinese rocket, weighing an astonishing 22 tonnes fell back down to Earth. That space junk landed mostly in the ocean, to the east of the Philippines and thankfully far from any cities or towns.
But as you’ll see from the video in today’s episode notes of the Space X debris that landed in the Snowy Mountains – some of these bits of rocket ship are large – and would cause quite a bit of damage if they landed on a house, a building or even a person.
Famously, a piece of space station called Skylab fell to Earth back in 1979 and landed near the Western Australian town of Balladonia.
Now where did I put my bike helmet?
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 India, where the small district of Burhanpur is being celebrated as the first place in this gigantic country to get safe drinking water into every single home.
That may sound like a surprising achievement to us, because most people in Australia take clean tap water for granted. But in India, 91 million people, mostly in the countryside, have to walk kilometres to a well and then carry the heavy water back home … or fight crowds around village taps.
The Indian government’s “Water for Life” mission aims to get clean tap water into every Indian household by 2024. Since the mission was launched in 2019, almost one million women have been trained to help run the system, and 94 million households have been connected. 94 million down, 91 million to go. Imagine that.
SPORT TIME
—
Who runs the world? Girls … who wins the medals at the Commonwealth Games? Girls … well, lots of boys too … but during an extraordinary day three of competition at the Comm Games in Birmingham yesterday, the Aussie gold rush continued thanks to the sterling efforts of a Queen of the pool, Emma McKeon and our womens’ rugby sevens team.
Winning an 11th Commonwealth Games gold medal in the 50 metre freestyle event yesterday – McKeon became our most successful Comm Games athlete ever. And she could very well add to that haul again this morning when she swims in the 100m freestyle final and the mixed 4×100 medley relay final. What a legend…
Meanwhile, the Aussie women’s sevens rugby team put in a cracking performance in the final against Fiji to win 22-12 – and claim the gold medal – while across town at Edgbaston the Aussie women’s T20 cricket team demolished Barbados as they move now to the semi finals.
ANIMAL KINGDOM
—
What do you get when you combine the Japanese people’s famous love for their pets, all-round cleverness when it comes to electronics and technology – and the summer heatwave that’s currently sweeping the country?
Why – wearable fans for cats and dogs, that’s what.
In a masterstroke of pet cooling design and innovation, a clothing company in Japan has come up with a mesh vest you can pop on your pooch or moggy, complete with a built-in battery operated fan – guaranteed to make sure you don’t have a hot dog or clammy cat this summer.
I’ve stuck a link to photos of the contraption in today’s episode notes, because it has to be seen to be believed.
One owner told the news agency, Reuters, that the fan was preferable to her other doggie cooling method – which is to strap packets of dry ice to her pooch. I’m sure the dog prefers the fan too …
THE SQUIZ
—————–
This is the part of the podcast where you get to test how well you’ve been listening …
- What do millions of people in India have to walk to a well to collect for their home each day?
- In which country are pets being cooled down with wearable fans?
- What’s the name of the Aussie swimmer who’s now won more Commonwealth Games gold medals than any other Aussie athlete?
SHOUT OUTS
——————-–
It’s August 2 … birthday of Aussie Olympic champ Susie O’Neill – and also of Australia’s first ever female Parliamentarian, Edith Cowan – she’s the same woman with her face on our 50 dollar note.
It’s also a special day for these Squiz Kids celebrating a birthday today .. …
Harry from Toowong, Penny from Chatswood, Meadow from Mernda,
Ana from Newington and Josh from Karingal.
Belated shout outs go to Harriet from Brisbane and Ryan from Lismore.
And classroom shoutouts today go to Mr G at Albany Hills Primary School who is also celebrating a birthday today, to class 5C with Miss Clare at Kingscliff Public School, class 4M at Delaneys Creek State School, Grade 2 Red and White with Mrs Knight and Miss Eddleston at Holy Family Primary School in Gowrie and lastly to class 5/6H and Miss Hawkins at Sutton Public School.
The S’Quiz Answers:
- Drinking water
- Japan
- Emma McKeon