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ABC Listen. Hello, hello, my friends.
It's Ruby here and you are listening to Newstime.
Hey, Ruby. Hello. here on newstime I count down five news stories from Australia and around the world too on today's show we're going to meet some robot lifeguards examine some mysterious markings in the grass and I'm going to teach you all about how to milk a spider yep you heard right what do you
think? Are you ready?
Let's do it. Story number five.
During the summer months, the trip to the beach or the pool can be awesome fun.
And when we're there, it's important to stay safe.
Stay in the flags and areas and go where their parents or like lifeguards are.
If there's like a dark bit off ocean don't go over that.
No running near the pool.
Good suggestions. You should always swim where your grown -up can see you.
And you might have noticed some other grown -ups in red and yellow walking around the beach or wandering around the pool.
They are called lifeguards.
Their job is to keep an eye on swimmers and then rescue them if they get into trouble.
At one swimming pool in Queensland called the Gould Adams Park Aquatic Centre, lifeguards are getting some extra help from AI.
I've never really heard of it.
What is AI? Basically technology, but more smart?
Yep. AI stands for artificial intelligence.
Computers and lifeguards are using it to help keep swimmers safe.
Maybe with a little robot in the water and then the little robot would save them.
Maybe AI looks at the pool and sees if there's anyone in danger.
That's exactly it. Cameras keep an eye on the pool and if anyone starts doing anything strange, an alert is sent to the lifeguard's watch.
Then they can spring into action.
I think it is a good idea for the lifeguards to get extra help.
If the lifeguards accidentally miss something, the AI little robot can tell.
Yep. The lifeguards at the Gould Adams Park say the technology is working really well.
The AI isn't replacing the lifeguards and the human lifeguards are still keeping watch.
But this, it's another line of defence, a tool in their toolkit, and it means that Aussies can swim, splash and play safely.
Story number four. Here's a riddle for you.
What has eight legs, fangs, and often burrows underneath rocks?
Why, that, my friends, would be the Australian funnel -web spider.
Well, I did see a spider before and it was giant.
I know that they're one of the most venomous spiders in the world and they're really dangerous.
Funnel web spiders are venomous.
Their bites can make humans really sick.
Sometimes they can even die.
Thankfully, scientists have figured out how to make something called anti -venom.
That's medicine that can be used to save somebody's life if they get bitten by a spider.
Can you guess what you might need to make anti -venom?
You need venom. Keepers at the Australian Reptile Park are always on the lookout for funnel -web spiders to milk venom from and recently they received a doozy.
Hemsworth the spider is the biggest funnel -web spider ever found.
He's 9 .2 centimetres from foot to foot.
That's more than twice the size of the average funnel -web.
I can't believe he's actually that big.
And imagine the venom that one would pack.
Here, he is massive!
Keepers are going to milk Hemsworth for his venom and use it to make anti -venom.
How'd they do it? Did the spider have boobies?
I think they hold the spider and make it vomit out something.
Is it like milking a cow?
Not exactly. So first they put the spider to sleep and then they capture its venom in a tiny test tube.
After that, the spider goes back to its habitat and then a couple of weeks later, it's milked again.
The venom goes off to a special facility to be turned into life -saving anti -venom.
They can save someone's life.
That's a good idea.
But remember, if you see a spider in real life, do not touch it.
Stay away and tell a grown -up.
Stay calm and don't move.
Story number three!
Do you have any special older people in your life?
My grandparents are really nice but sometimes they do kiss me a lot and hug me.
They live overseas so I don't really get to see them that often.
My mama and my auntie and my auntie, they all have grey hair.
Every time I go to my grandparents' house, I get ice cream.
My nana likes giving me some artis and my grandpa likes going to church.
Oh, they sound like really special people and a lot of fun to be around.
A class of kindie kids in Warrnambool in Victoria is discovering some older people who are great to hang out with too.
At an aged care facility, which is a place that old people go to live when they don't want to live at home anymore, kindy kids are invited to visit for music classes once a week.
The residents and the visitors play music together.
It's noisy and playful, and it's very popular.
Every week, more and more residents come along to play and sing with their pint -sized guests.
So can I go to it? Because I'm great at dancing, you know.
Maybe they can learn things from each other.
Yeah, it seems that when older people and younger people hang out together, they can understand each other better.
It can make people feel happier and more connected.
Have you got any suggestions for their music class playlist?
Pop music, like Taylor Swift music, or Robbie Williams.
Fun? Sounds like my kind of class.
Story number two. In the Victorian suburb of Sunbury, on Wurundjeri, Woiwurrung country, you'll find a series of mysterious rings in the ground, each one big enough to park a car inside.
There are hundreds of these rings across the country.
Can you guess how they got there?
A meteor? I think it's a natural phenomenon that happened over time.
I think they put a giant stamp on there, like, giant, and then they stamped it on the ground.
Maybe they were taken out of the grass.
I love these guesses.
They were actually created by traditional owners of the land thousands of years ago.
To show where they lived, show other, like, Indigenous people that was that their land.
Scientists, called archaeologists, looked underground to understand one of these mysterious rings better.
They worked with the traditional custodians of the land, the Wurundjeri Woiwurrung people.
The scientists and the traditional owners worked together, sharing knowledge and understanding about the rings.
It seems like the traditional owners made the rings as secret, sacred places for ceremonies.
I think that that's very cool that they have a special area for their ceremonies and stuff.
It was a lot of work to create these rings all those years ago.
Plants were cleared and rocks were moved to make a room.
And this is the first time that archaeologists have worked with traditional owners to understand earth rings in Australia.
The team's hoping it won't be the last time.
Maybe it'll teach us something about Indigenous culture.
Maybe because they want to figure out if there's actually more shapes, like triangles.
Who knows what they'll find.
And now, my friends, it's time for...
Wow of the Week! This story made me go wow because it's just really impressive.
more than 50 years ago 20 Aussie basketballers lined up to start a very special game both teams try and get it in the ring get it in the hoop yep that pretty much sums it up in basketball two teams bounce a ball up and down a court trying to shoot hoops and score baskets a normal game goes for about an hour,
maybe two. But all those years ago, that group of ballers out of Melbourne wanted to break the world record for the longest -ever continuous basketball game.
The passionate players ended up playing for 120 hours.
That is five days straight.
What? 120? 20 days?
That's like a billion seconds.
When do they sleep?
It took a lot of teamwork, that's for sure.
When players swapped spots with each other on the court, other players snuck into the next room for a little nap before getting up and going again.
At the end of five days, the score was 5 ,269 to 5 ,249.
So, it was a close game.
Cool. After all that effort, someone made a mistake when they told the people in charge of the world records.
Their application for a record was rejected and it seemed that they'd played all that time for nothing.
But finally, after 50 long years, the mistake has been fixed and the record has been officially recognised.
The players aren't quite as young or speedy anymore.
They're a bit older and a bit wrinklier, but they are officially world record holders.
You win. Slam dunk, superstars.
And that is time. Game over for today's episode, my friends.
Good game. Thanks, Ruby.
Thank you. You are very, very welcome.
I'll catch you next week with five fresh stories.
Catch you next time.
Bye. See you later.
Or as they say in Polish, do wycenje.
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