Tuesday, 9 November, 2021
Big Bird in big trouble; Antarctica’s ancient firestorms; froggy daddy day care; and introducing Christmas in a can.
LINKS
Big Bird tweet https://twitter.com/BigBird/status/1456971880666046465
Melbourne’s Peregrine Falcons:
Chick flies away: https://twitter.com/BirdlifeOz/status/1457540152180367361
Live Cam: https://367collins.mirvac.com/workplace/building-overview/falcons-at-367-collins
Assa Wollumbin hip pocket frog:
https://www.frogid.net.au/frogs/assa-wollumbin
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
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Big Bird is in big trouble in the United States for telling the world he’s been vaccinated against COVID-19.
The Sesame Street favourite sent a tweet to his 240,000 Twitter followers on Sunday – saying that his wing was a bit sore after he’d had his COVID vaccine, but that it was worth it – and i quote – ‘to give my body an extra protective boost that keeps me and others healthy’.
And while the tweet had been liked by almost 250,000 people yesterday, some US politicians have accused Big Bird of being a stooge for the US government – which is trying to get as many Americans as possible vaccinated. Being a stooge for someone means doing something because you’ve been told to.
COVID vaccines for kids aged 5-11 were approved in the US just last week. The government here in Australia yesterday said it was unlikely vaccines for Aussie kids aged 5-11 would be approved before next year – as it waited for more tests to be done. And in the meantime, the government said: kids didn’t need to worry about getting COVID as it was rare for them to get it – and if they did, it didn’t make kids really sick. So no need to roll your sleeves up just yet
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In other bird news: remember last year we brought you the story of the peregrine falcons nesting on top of a Melbourne skyscraper? Well the mum and dad falcon hatched four new chicks back in August … and yesterday, the third chick to take the leap flew the nest, captured on video. Now, all of Melbourne is watching the YouTube live feed of the nest to see when the fourth chick takes the plunge … i;ve stuck links to the video and live feed in today’s episode notes …
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 Antarctica — the great frozen continent at the bottom of the earth – where despite the fact it’s one of the coldest places in the world today, millions of years ago, it was a land of fire, not ice.
The discovery of charcoal in Antarctica – deep beneath the icy surface – has reignited the theory that the place was once covered in trees – that dinosaurs roamed these ancient forests – and at some point, the forests were burnt down in a period of time in history when the Earth was what’s called a ‘super fire world’.
That’s a reference to a time, 75 million years ago, called the Cretaceous Period – when every continent in the world was devastated by massive fires. Sounds scary, eh?
And while when you look at all the ice and cold of Antarctica now, it’s hard to imagine even a campfire burning let alone a super-fire tearing through the place – but the pieces of charcoal found there are evidence, scientists say, that trees once grew there – and were burned down. And the more they learn about how and why those fires happened, the more they say they’ll be able to use that information to help us prepare to big fires today. Some people are so clever …
ANIMAL KINGDOM
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Have you seen the movie Daddy Day Care? Eddie Murphy stars as a dad that sets up a day care centre … Well, here’s a twist on that concept… a brand new species of frog that has little pockets built into its body, so that the male frog can carry their tadpoles around and protect them until they turn into frogs.
That’s right, the newly discovered species of hip pocket frog is one of just four types of frog—out of 4,000 worldwide—where the daddy does the daycare. It’s been named Assa Wollumbin: in Latin, Assa means “dry nurse”—an old-fashioned word for a nanny—and Wollumbin, because the frog was discovered in a patch of high, cool rainforest on Mount Wollumbin in northern NSW. Assa Wollumbin is tiny—just 17mm – which is about the size of a human adult thumbnail —and amazingly its well camouflaged. It’s also probably endangered… So within days of the frog being formally recognised as a new species, the state government declared its habitat a protected area. There are pictures of little Assa Wollumbin – and its little tadpole family – in your episode notes.
POP CULTURE CORNER
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He came, he saw, he didn’t much like it … that seems to have been the case when Beyonce’s other half – Jay Z – joined Instagram at the weekend, but lasted only one day on the social media site.
In that one day, the rapper managed to attract 2 million followers .. which kind of makes my head hurt a bit to think about. But after being only one day on the platform, and making a single post, he deleted his account again. I know how he feels … so much noise, so little time.
And in other pop culture news .. we’re totes excited at the latest product to be coming to supermarket shelves. It’s being called ‘Christmas Dinner in a can’ and is the latest experimental soup to come out of the big soup company, Heinz.
Containing “big chunks” of turkey, sausage, brussels sprouts, stuffing and potatoes, with a gravy and cranberry sauce – the special soup range appears as if it will only be available in the UK. Which is what we in the adult world call a ‘small mercy’ …
Christmas in a can … now I’ve heard everything.
THE S’QUIZ
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This is the part of the podcast where you get to test how well you’ve been listening …
- What sort of birds are nesting on top of a Melbourne skyscraper?
- What was the name of the period in history where the Earth is believed to have been ravaged by ‘super fires’.
- Name the rapper, married to Beyonce, who joined Instagram but only for a day.
SHOUT OUTS
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It’s November 9 … it’s Delta Goodrem’s birthday … happy birthday Delta! Plus it’s Go To An Art Museum Day in the United States. What a good idea … maybe I just will …
It’s also a special day for these Squiz Kids celebrating a birthday today…twins- Jesse and Josh from Oran Park, Piper from Craigburn, Dahli and Fraser from Randwick, Adelyn from Upper Mount Gravatt, Addison from Ashmont, Felicity from Wollongong, Annabelle from Pimpama, Charli from Geraldton, Donny from Stockton, Olive and Poppy from Bendigo and Charlie and Peyton from Lake Munmorah.
Classroom shout outs today go to… classes 4B & 4G at Our Lady of Dolours Primary School in Chatswood, class 4D and Mr Dodd at Oatley Primary School, class 5/6N and Mr Ryan at Mascot Public School, class 3/4M and Ms Eve-Macleod at Abbotsford Public School and finally – class 5S at Methodist Ladies College in Melbourne and a happy birthday to their teacher, Mrs Simcox …
Finally, a special classroom shout out to my new best friends in Ms Dwyer’s class at Narbethong Special School in Brisbane … boys: it was a pleasure to meet you all yesterday and spend some time in your classroom. The lads have a special treat for us all if you listen to the end of today’s podcast
The S’Quiz Answers:
- Peregrine falcons
- The Cretaceous Period
- Jay-Z