Squiz Kids acknowledges the traditional owners of the lands on which we podcast, the Turrbal and Combermeri people.
Squiz Kids! It's your daily news fix. Fun.
Free. Fresh. Hello and welcome to Squiz Kids Today, your fresh take on what's happening in the world around you.
I'm Christy Kidgerina. It's Thursday, August 7th.
In Squiz Kids today, a big battery powers up, French statues talk back, a bear trolls a troll and a TikTok tall tale.
That's what's making news, kids style. The Lowdown.
They're in your torch, your tablet and your TV remote.
But not all batteries are small. This week, one of the world's largest batteries was switched on in Australia, designed to help power thousands of homes.
It's called the Waratah Super Battery and it's the size of, get this, eight AFL fields.
And it's been built on the site of an old coal-fired power station on the New South Wales Central Coast.
And it's set to play a huge role in Australia's shift from coal to cleaner energy.
With more Aussies installing rooftop solar than almost anywhere else in the world, we're generating heaps of power during the day.
But that's not when we need it the most.
Big batteries like Waratah help store solar energy for when people get home and crank up the lights, TVs and ovens.
We've got a podcast series all about renewable energy coming up in Term 4, so stay tuned.
And from energy on Earth to energy in space, NASA has fast-tracked plans to build a nuclear reactor on the Moon to power future lunar bases.
Earlier this year, China and Russia said they plan to build one by 2035, so it's a bit of a space race.
But launching nuclear material into space comes with safety risks.
So some scientists say we need clear rules to protect the moon for everyone.
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 Alaska in the United States.
Katmai National Park, where a grizzly bear has been trolling a troll.
What the what? So regular Squiz Kids listeners might remember Katmai's Brooks Falls as the famous salmon catching spot where grizzlies bulk up before their long winter naps.
But it's also popular with tourists and apparently ice hockey players.
Back in June, members of the Seattle Kraken ice hockey team and their blue-haired mascot, Boy the Troll, visited the falls to try fly fishing.
But video just released shows their peaceful outing turning very dramatic when a huge grizzly splashes towards them.
The bear charged at Boy, yes the mascot, before turning away at the last second.
The humans and the troll carefully waded back to shore, safe and sound. shaken and soggy lesson learned if you go fishing in bear country don't troll the locals and of course i've stuck a link to photos in the episode notes Pop Culture Corner.
Imagine strolling through a peaceful garden.
Birds are chirping, fountains are bubbling and suddenly a statue starts talking to you.
My advice, run! Unless, of course, you're in France.
At the Palace of Versailles, once home to French royalty and the famous Sun King Louis XIV, some of the garden's ancient statues have found their voices. thanks to artificial intelligence.
With a quick scan of a QR code and a smartphone app, visitors can now chat with 20 statues and fountains and ask them to spill their juicy secrets, fun facts and tales about palace life.
These gardens are packed with more than 800 sculptures, many inspired by mythical gods like Apollo and Neptune.
But now, instead of just posing, some are telling their side of the story.
It's history with a high-tech twist, and possibly the only time it's okay to talk to a statue and not look silly.
News Hounds! Every Thursday, Squizzy the News Hound sticks his snout into SquizKids HQ to report back on fishy things he's sniffed out on the internet.
And today his nose is twitching because of a viral TikTok video with a too good to be true claim.
Couple found alive after 25 years lost at sea, screamed the caption.
The video said Mark and Jennifer Patterson, who really did disappear in 1999 while sailing from Florida to the Bahamas, had just been found floating on a raft rescued by a cargo ship off the coast of Brazil.
And over 12 million people watched the clip in just a few days.
But Squizzy wasn't buying it. He searched high and low across trusted news sites and found nothing.
So if the couple really had survived 25 years at sea, the world's biggest media outlets would surely be reporting it.
Digging deeper, Squizzy discovered the video was posted by Scary Talk, a TikTok account known for satire.
Satire is when stories are made up to entertain or to poke fun, definitely not to be taken seriously.
And yep, this one was AI generated, even with a fake watermark.
AI satire news was also in the hashtags.
Want to learn how to sniff out fakes just like Squizzy?
Sign up for Newshounds, our nine-part lesson series at squizzkids.com.au.
Thanks, Squizzy, you've done it again. Woo-hoo!
MUSIC Woohoo! Book Week is just around the corner.
And if you're all about reading or if you just love a good dress up, then this is your moment.
This year's theme is book and adventure.
So whether you're dressing up as a brave explorer, a time-travelling detective or just your favourite book character, we want to see it.
Our annual Book Week costume competition is back.
We've got awesome book packs up for grabs for the most creative, clever and hilarious costumes.
Here's how to enter. Get your parent or your teacher to take a photo of your costume and post it to Instagram, tagging at SquizKids or using the hashtag SquizKids or email your photo to squizkids at squiz.com.au.
Make sure you tell us your name, age, the city or town that you're from and which character you're dressed as.
You can enter on your own with your family or as a whole class.
And teachers, there's a special prize just for you too.
Entries are now open and close at the end of book week, which is Friday, August 22.
So get those hot glue guns going, with parental supervision, of course.
Time for the quiz. This is the part of the podcast where you get to test how well you've been listening.
Question number one, which Australian native flower, starting with a W, is the super battery named after?
Well done if you got this one. It is the Waratah.
Question number two. Which American ice hockey team is Boy the Troll the mascot for?
How hard were you listening? Did you get it?
It's the Seattle Krakens. Question number three.
Which two ancient mythical gods did I mention are statues in the Garden of Versailles Palace?
Music That would be Apollo and Neptune.
Yay! Shout out. It's Thursday, August 7, Jeans for Jeans Day, the day we pull in our favourite pair of jeans to raise awareness and money for kids born with genetic conditions.
Every dollar helps fund research into life-changing treatments and cures and supports the amazing equipment and care that help these kids to live their happiest and healthiest lives.
Today is also a special day for these quiz kids celebrating a birthday.
Tyler from Exeter, Sienna from Deakin, Tom from Roseville, Katie from Petrie and Harvey from Port Macquarie.
And classroom shoutouts today go to Bunningy class with Miss Wilkinson at Tabalum Public School.
Class 6R and Mrs Roy at St Stephen's College on the Gold Coast.
Class B4 at Excelsior Primary School in Canning Vale.
And 8.5 English class with Miss Devlin at St John Fisher College in Bracken Ridge.
Don't forget if you've got a birthday coming up and you want a shout out or if you're after a classroom shout out, drop us a line at squizkids at thesquiz.com.au or fill out the form on our website.
Well, that's all we have time for. Oh, it goes so quickly.
Thanks for listening to Squiz Kids today.
We'll be back again tomorrow with the Kids vs Adults Weekly News Squiz.
In the meantime, though, get out there and have a most excellent day.
Over and out. Thank you.
