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 Squeeze Kids Today, your fresh take on what's happening in the world around you.
I'm Bryce Corbett. It's Monday, August 11.
In Squiz Kids today, National Science Week kicks off.
Belgium's ferret rat busters, 12-year-old surf champ and the world's ugliest dog.
That's what's making news, kids style. The Lowdown.
And we kick off the week with some science news and a mystery that's unfolding in outer space.
Right now, as we speak, a Japanese rocket ship is making a beeline for a huge, dark piece of rock shaped like a cigar that is hurtling in orbit around the sun.
It's called a dark comet, and it's thought that it may contain ice crystals, frozen water from another planet, which might in turn provide scientists here on Earth with another theory on how water came to be down here on our very own planet.
When the Japanese spaceship catches up with a dark comet in 2031, it's hoped it will be able to grab some rock samples from it, with which scientists can conduct experiments.
And the reason that's important, this week above all others, is because this week is National Science Week, a week where we focus on the important role science plays in everything from keeping us healthy to explaining the universe.
And to mark National Science Week, Squiz Kids has a week's worth of science programming for you to jump on into.
Starting tomorrow with an excellent shortcut on the stuff science got wrong.
We look at how it was once thought the Earth was flat, or that the Sun orbited the Earth, and not the other way around, and how a long time ago doctors thought the way to cure a disease was to put leeches on you so that they could suck out your infected blood.
Which is to say, the great thing about science is that it gets stuff wrong.
But importantly, it updates itself when new evidence emerges.
Because sometimes admitting you were wrong is the smartest thing you can do.
So, if you're keen to get your science on this week, hop into the episode notes where you'll find links to all of our science-oriented podcasts, like our shortcut to pi and the Fibonacci sequence, the mathematical formula that appears everywhere in nature.
Because Squiz Kids are science-loving kids, so get amongst it.
Each day we give the world globe a spin and find a new story from wherever it stops.
And today we've landed in Belgium, where a crack team of ferrets may be let loose to try to contain a very stinky rat problem.
City officials in Brussels, the capital city, are considering sending ferrets out into the city's drains and alleyways to combat a rising rat population.
Ferrets, you see, are natural predators of the brown rat.
And the idea is the ferrets would chase the rats into traps set by Brussels' rat catcher.
And hopefully, rat problem solved. Think of them as the furry pied pipers of modern day Brussels. where a local newspaper reports the number of brown rats has doubled in the past 10 years.
And look, I know you're thinking about Emidl, the rat from Ratatouille, but trust me, not all rats are that pleasant, or such good chefs.
I'm with Team Ferret on this one. Sport time!
The waves are metres high, the barrels breaking over the reefs of one of the world's most notorious surf breaks in Tahiti, and they're waves that would make most adults prefer to stay on the beach.
But 12-year-old Kelia Mahani-Galina has not let any of that stop her.
This weekend, becoming the youngest ever competitor in the World Surf League Championships.
Competing against surfers twice her age, Kelia turned in a surfing masterclass on Friday, helped by the fact that she was surfing a break that she's been surfing with her dad since she was four years old.
You see, the world-famous Teahupo surf break in Tahiti attracts the best surfers in the world and just happens to be the beach that Kelia lives on with her family.
Finally, she was beaten in her heat this weekend by Aussie surfer Molly Picklem, who's on track to win her first ever surfing title after a blistering performance in Tahiti.
But, Kalia, at the age of 12, you absolutely did the world proud.
Well done to you. Squids Kid salutes you.
Speaking of world beaters, we couldn't let today's podcast finish without pausing to celebrate this year's winner of the World's Ugliest Dog Competition.
The annual comp took place in California over the weekend, and as with previous years, the entrants in this particular beauty contest, if that's what we could call it, were as odd-looking as they were adorable.
Third place went to Poppy, a six-year-old Chinese crested whose shock of wild white hair commanded the judge's attention.
Second place went to Ginny Lou the pug, with a tongue that is permanently hanging out.
And first place, a trophy and a $5,000 check, went to Petunia, a two-year-old hairless English-French bulldog, who I have to say is not the ugliest pooch I've ever seen.
But hey, beauty, as they say, is in the eye of the beholder.
I've stuck a couple of links in today's episode notes to these adorable pooches if you want to judge for yourself.
Woohoo! Book Week is just around the corner.
And if you're all about reading or just love a good old dress up, this is your moment.
This year's theme for Book Week is book and adventure.
So whether you're dressing up as a brave explorer, a time-travelling detective or your favourite book character, we want to see it.
The Squeeze Kids annual book week costume competition is back and we've got awesome book packs up for grabs for the most creative, clever or 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 Squeeze Kids or using the hashtag Squeeze Kids or email it to squeezekids at the squeeze.com.au and we'll share it on our socials.
Make sure to tell us your name, age, the city or town you're from and which character you're dressed as.
Entries are open now and close at the end of Book Week.
And don't forget, teachers, there's a special prize just for you too.
So don't just sit there, 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. What national week is being celebrated this week?
I'm not talking about Book Week, by the way.
Did you say National Science Week? Well done to you.
Question number two. In which Belgian city are ferrets being considered to solve a rat problem?
Well done if you said Brussels, as in Brussels sprouts.
Question number three. How old was the youngest women's surfer ever to grace the World Surf League Championship heats in Tahiti this weekend?
Well done if you said 12 years old. Shout out.
It's Monday, August 11. Today is Thor's birthday.
Well, not exactly. It's the birthday of the Aussie actor Chris Hemsworth, who plays Thor in the Marvel movies.
So happy birthday, Chris. It's also the birthday of kids author Enid Blyton, famous for her Secret Seven, Famous Five and Magical Faraway Tree series.
Check them all out. Today is also a special day for these squiz kids celebrating a birthday today and tomorrow.
Oliver from Maroolbark, Lyra from Richmond, Quinn from the Gold Coast, Marcus from North Sydney, Henry from Randwick, Niamh from Barden, Rachel from Sydney, Fletcher from Yass, Claire from Fernvale, Matthew and Archie from Fitzgibbon, Jacob from Kyle Bay, Flynn from Abbotsford, Elijah from Eglinton, Ned from Worrywood, Tommy from Armstrong Creek and Niamh from Spring Hill.
And belated birthday shoutouts go to Maya from Adelaide and Dakota from Lismore.
And today's classroom shoutouts go to Class 3 Navy with Miss Brimfield at Santa Sofia Catholic College in Gables.
Class 3 4M with Miss McFarlane at Mount Riverview Primary School.
4 6A Magpies with Mrs Murphy at Albury North Public School.
And a very happy birthday to Mrs Bosley for yesterday.
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. Thanks for listening to Squiz Kids today.
We'll be back again tomorrow with our special National Science Week themed shortcut on the science that was wrong.
In the meantime, get out there and have a most excellent day.
Over and out.
