Squeeze Kids acknowledges the traditional owners of the lands on which we podcast the Turrbal and Combermary people.
Squeeze 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 Bryce Corbett.
It's Monday, February 2.
In Squiz Kids Today, Moon Mission starts its countdown.
Falling iguanas in America's big freeze.
Here comes Groundhog Day and Cat's Eye crushes the Grammys.
That's what's making news, kids style.
The Lowdown.
If you happened to look up into the night's sky the weekend just gone, you might have noticed a big, glowing white full moon.
Well, there's a handful of astronauts in the United States right now who are also looking at that moon, and later this week could be looking at it from much closer up.
And that's because an exciting new space mission is getting ready for launch.
It's called Artemis 2, and it will send four astronauts into space to fly around the moon and back.
Over the weekend, the rocket was rolled into position in Florida and last-minute tests will be performed this week, ahead of a launch that could come as early as this coming Sunday.
Now there's a little bit of history to this mission, in that it's the first time in over 50 years that astronauts will have been sent so close to the moon.
And it's a bit of a test run for a planned mission in the coming years where astronauts will not only fly around the moon but actually land on it.
Now, of course, it's not the first time humans have been on the moon.
The first person to set foot on the moon was an astronaut called Neil Armstrong, way back in 1969.
And, as if all of this isn't remarkable enough, the Artemis mission, part of a longer term plan for humans to one day set up a permanent base on the moon and live there.
Imagine that and, speaking of whoa, that's a total thing.
This mission will set a new record for the furthest distance humans have ever traveled from earth, as the astronauts travel to the far side of the moon and two of the astronauts will become the first black person and the first woman to travel that far out into space.
History happening before our very eyes, people.
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 the United States of America, where snow is expected to fall on the beaches of Florida, as the country experiences one of the coldest winter snaps it has seen in a long while.
Meteorologists, who are people that study the weather for a living, are calling it a polar push, as a vast block of cold air from the Arctic Circle to the north sweeps across the United States, where up to 200 daily cold temperature records are set to be smashed today.
The cold has prompted local authorities in Florida to warn residents.
Get this to beware of falling iguanas.
Iguanas are cold-blooded like all reptiles, meaning the temperature of their blood changes with the temperature of their surroundings.
Now it's normally super warm in Florida, which is why iguanas live there, but when it gets really cold, iguanas go into what's called a dormant state to protect them, meaning their bodies shut down until it warms up again.
Meaning those iguanas that are up in trees will sometimes fall out without warning.
I mean, I've heard of it raining cats and dogs before, but raining iguanas?
That's a whole other thing.
Animal Kingdom One animal that isn't bothered by the cold is the groundhog.
And one groundhog in particular, a furry fella by the name of Puxatawney Phil.
And he has a big day in the United States state of Pennsylvania today as it's Groundhog Day.
Today is the day that a groundhog comes out of its burrow in front of hundreds of humans and TV cameras and predicts when winter will end.
It's all part of a long tradition that goes back to the original German settlers in the state of Pennsylvania.
Now the deal is.
If Puxatawney Phil, the famous groundhog, comes out of his burrow and sees his shadow, he takes it as a sign that there's six more weeks of heavy winter weather to come and goes back into his hole.
But if he doesn't see his shadow, he takes it as a sign that spring is coming and he stays above ground.
Now, it should probably be pointed out that Phil's predictions are almost never accurate, but it's a lot of fun nonetheless.
Pop Culture Corner!
Hands up if you're a fan of Cat's Eye, the girl group from the same pop factory that brought the world BTS.
If you've got your hand up, then you're not alone, because the girls from Cat's Eye will be among a host of pop stars who hit the red carpet this morning for the Grammy Awards.
The Grammys are one of the most prestigious award ceremonies in the music world.
And just to be clear, that's Grammys with an M, not Grammys with an N, because no self-respecting pop star wants to win an award named after their nana.
And a shout out to all the nannas out there.
We see you and we love your work.
Competing with Cat's Eye in the best pop performance category are Olivia Dean and Addison Rae.
So, you know, pretty stiff competition.
But it's expected to be rapper Kendrick Lamar and pop princess Sabrina Carpenter's night, with a bunch of nominations between them.
And there may even be an award to everyone's favourite Demon Hunters, with the song Golden from K-pop, Demon Hunters in the running for a trophy too.
May the best demon slayer win.
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.
What sort of an animal is Puxatawney Phil?
Well done if you said groundhog.
Question number two.
What's the name of the moon mission that's about to lift off?
Did you say Artemis 2?
Well done to you.
Question number three.
What reptiles are renowned for falling off their perches when temperatures drop towards freezing?
That's right, I'm talking about iguanas.
Shout out.
It's Monday, February 2.
Today, my friends, is crepe day around the world.
Those delicious, super thin French style pancakes.
Nutella and banana are the winning combo.
Trust me.
It's also a special day for these squiz kids celebrating a birthday today and tomorrow.
Hamish from Little Hampton, South Linda from White Rock, Leah from Rose Bay and Hayden from Cherry Brook.
And belated birthday shoutouts go to Bennett from Forest Lake, Ted from Maitland, Charlie from Finden, Oliver from Ipswich and Dan Carson, Caleb and Layla from Vermont South.
And classroom shoutouts today go to Class 6M with Mr Maggi at Wilkins Public School in Marrickville.
Class 3S with Mrs Chapman at Sacred Heart Primary School in Sandgate.
And Class 5S with Mr Shackcloth at Westside Christian College in Goodner.
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 thesquizcomau, or fill out the form on our website.
Well, that's all we have time for.
Thanks for listening to Squiz Kids today.
We'll be back again tomorrow with a special Squiz Kids shortcut to the Winter Olympics.
The big event kicks off this Friday, so have a listen tomorrow to learn all about the history of this major sporting event and which events to keep an eye out for.
It's a cracker of a shortcut.
In the meantime, though, get out there and have a most excellent day.
Over and out.
Thank you.
