ABC. This podcast contains audio advertising.
To hear it without ads, head to the ABC Listen app now.
ABC Listen. Hello there, my friends.
It's Ruby here, and you are listening to News Time.
Hi, Ruby. Hello, Ruby.
Good day, Ruby. On the show today, we're going to meet some powerful Paralympians representing Australia in Paris.
Plus, we'll hear about astronauts, archaeology, cane toads, break dancing and some cheeky horses.
Gosh, sounds like a bit of a whirlwind, doesn't it?
Are you ready? I'm ready.
Story number five. It's time to put on our best green and gold outfits and get ready to cheer.
The Paralympics has begun.
The Paralympics is basically the Olympics, but for people with disabilities.
Yep, the Paralympic Games is like the Olympic Games, but it's for athletes with a disability.
Australian athletes with physical, vision or intellectual impairments are in Paris right now, getting ready to compete against other athletes from other countries around the world.
The competition goes for about two weeks.
Some of the sports are similar to Olympic events, things like running races and swimming races, but other sports can only be seen at the Paralympics.
I think that would be really interesting.
I know this is like this big with soccer, it's like blind soccer, and the ball has like bells in it and the only this goalkeeper could see.
The basketball, which you would need to use your feet, they would have wheelchair basketball.
You really know your stuff.
That game where there's a ball with a bell in it is called Goalball, and there's wheelchair basketball, rugby, tennis and more.
One of the athletes in Paris right now is Waulpreet teenager Talaya Blacksmith.
Her best events are the 400 -metre run and the long jump.
She's hoping to get a medal at her very first Paralympic Games.
Talaya is the first Waulpreet athlete to compete at a Paralympic Games, so she is excited to represent her country and her community.
She wants to encourage other Indigenous Paralympians to compete too.
I think they would feel like a bit of a bullshit and just happy inside a bunch of different emotions, although they've obviously been training.
A lot. If you'd like to learn some more about the Paralympic Games and meet some of the amazing Paralympians in Paris, you can listen to some special episodes of News Time with journalist and Paralympian Liz Wright.
They're available on the ABC Kids Listen app.
Good luck to all of our athletes and...
Goal Australia, please with goal.
Good luck. Story number four.
An archaeologist is a type of scientist who studies human history by looking at things people used in the past.
Most archaeologists spend their time digging in dust and dirt, finding ancient artefacts and wondering about the people who lived hundreds or even thousands of years ago.
But a special team of archaeologists is exploring a far more modern area, the International Space Station.
Paleontology and archaeology, that's what I think of it more.
Not sort of the astronaut.
It's a new experience for these archaeologists, that's for sure.
The International Space Station orbits Planet Earth about 16 times a day and a team of astronauts lives on it, conducting experiments in space and learning about gravity.
The International Space Station was designed to be used a certain way.
People put tables in some spots and chairs in others, expecting the astronauts to sit and float the way that they had planned out.
But people haven't been using the space station the way that most people expected them to.
That's where the archaeologists come in.
They're examining things on the space station, like where people put stuff and what they use to help them understand what astronauts really want.
I think there'll be more things that they'll learn from the old space station.
Yep, they're learning from the old space station to help plan a new one.
Hopefully, that one will be set up in a way that astronauts like.
What sorts of things do you think they should include on it?
Probably bring my iPad, because that's the thing that keeps me occupied the most.
I would probably try to bring some kind of food.
I would bring whatever it takes to get me back to Earth.
Good ideas. Maybe we should let the archaeologists and the space scientists know so they can get going with their plans.
Story number three!
Cane toads are a pest.
They're an invasive toad species in Australia.
They're very cocksick.
Exactly. Cane toads aren't native to Australia.
That means they were introduced.
They've been causing problems ever since they arrived.
Cane toads are poisonous, and it means that if native animals eat them, they can get sick and sometimes even die.
A team of scientists from Macquarie University worked with Indigenous Bonnebaranges and came up with a clever plan to help protect native wildlife in Western Australia.
They took 2 ,000 cane toads that had died and removed all of their poison.
Then they filled the cane toads with a chemical that tasted disgusting.
It would make any animal that ate it feel really sick.
Then they spread these yucky -tasting cane toads around and waited for crocodiles to have a nibble.
Yeah, and then animals eat them and they get disgusted so they never want to eat it again.
That is exactly what the scientists were hoping for.
They wanted crocodiles who ate the toads to find them so yucky that they'd get such an upset tummy that they would never want to eat another cane toad ever again.
That way, if a crocodile saw a real cane toad, they'd decide not to eat it and they wouldn't be poisoned.
And if they do find them, they might just walk away.
I don't think they would really like that and I don't think they would eat them any more.
The experiment was a success.
In the areas where the scientists put these yucky -tasting toads, more crocodiles survived.
Because if animals had talked to each other, they would be like, oh, don't eat this, this is absolutely disgusting, don't eat it.
The scientists hope they can share their clever idea with other teams around the world and hopefully protect native animals across Australia and beyond.
Story number two. Camps Breakers is a breakdancing school in the Gaza Strip.
It's been running workshops for children for more than 20 years.
Do you know much about breakdancing?
There's special moves of dancing and stuff you have to do.
It does look very fun if you're really good at it.
Breakdancing is a lot of fun.
This school is run by two Palestinian brothers.
Their names are Ahmed and Muhammad.
They live in Germany, but they regularly visit Gaza to teach the local kids new dance moves.
There's a lot of conflict in Gaza at the moment and the dance teachers say that breakdancing is a great way for kids to stay positive and focus on something fun.
They say that dancing can be an escape and it's given some of the kids a sense of belonging and hope.
You need loads of exercise and you use most parts of your body, so it's very good for your mental health and physical health.
Yeah, dancing has lots of benefits.
It's good for fitness and it's good for your brain too.
It can help people feel happy and connected and it's a great way to make new friends.
This crew often mixes breaking moves with traditional folk dancers called dubki.
To dance dubki, dancers often link hands and move together in a semi -circle.
They do quick steps with their feet, little jumps and deep bends.
The dancers at Camp Breakers combined dub care moves with breaking moves in their performances.
It means they can express their Palestinian heritage while they learn a new style of dancing.
Like, when they play with their friends, it takes their mind off the bad things.
You always want moral support when something big is happening.
Even though there's conflict in Gaza at the moment, the Camp's Breakers crew plan to keep moving and keep grooving.
And now it's time for...
Wow, what the wig? This story made me go wow because I actually thought horses weren't that intelligent, but I'm pretty sure they were just thrilled to be there.
Here's an odd question for you.
How clever do you think horses are?
Quite clever, but sometimes not so clever.
I think they'll be thinking of food.
My dad has a farm, and I once saw swords of horse just chasing its old tail the whole day...
for the whole day, just running in a circle.
That's not very intelligent.
Interesting theories.
Well, a team of equine scientists, they're scientists that study horses, they ran a test to figure out just how clever these cloppers are.
They got 20 horses to do a specially designed test.
First, the horses were asked to touch a piece of card with their nose.
If they tapped the card, they got a treat.
Easy enough, right?
Then the scientists turned on a stoplight that was supposed to let the horses know not to touch the card.
If the horses tapped the card when the light was on, mm -mm -mmm, no treat.
But the horses just kept tapping.
So the scientists added a penalty.
If a horse tapped the card while the light was on, they were taken out of the game for a little while.
What do you think happened then?
I think, eventually, over time, they probably got it right, because horses are relatively clever animals, if you ask me.
Well, once there was a penalty for doing the wrong thing, the horses started to do the right thing pretty fast.
They only tapped the card when the light was off and they happily enjoyed their treats.
Scientists think the horses might have understood the rules the whole time and they only decided to do the right thing when there was a penalty for doing the wrong one.
They would never really stop pressing that button until that third rule came in.
That sounds like a cheeky horse.
Cheeky horses, indeed.
The scientists hope their research shows people you don't need to be tough or harsh with horses when you train them.
They're smarter than you think.
You just need to be patient and maybe get some treats involved.
All right, no more horsing around, my friends.
We are officially at the end of another countdown.
Thank you. Thank you, Ruby.
You are very welcome.
I'm off to sniff out five more stories for next week.
Bye, Ruby. Have a good one.
See you later. Or, as they say in Turkish, kule gule.
Newstime is an ABC Kids Listen podcast.
For other awesome podcasts to play, music to move to and stories and soundtracks for sleep, download the ABC Kids Listen app.
It's free from your app store.
