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 Kristy Kijerina.
It's Wednesday, July 23.
In Squizz Kids today, South Australia's blooming disaster, an ancient Roman bigfoot, puppy TV preferences and robot rabbits to the rescue.
That's what's making news kids style.
The Lowdown When you think of national disasters, you might picture bushfires or floods.
But right now in South Australia, there's a different kind of disaster unfolding and it's happening underwater.
The South Australian government is calling on the Prime Minister to request that the Governor -General declare an official national disaster because of a massive toxic algal bloom.
For the past four months, this bloom, which happens when tiny ocean plants called algae grow out of control and release chemicals that can poison sea life, well, it's been spreading along the South Australian coastline.
and now it's the size of 72 Sydney harbours, killing fish and damaging marine ecosystems. People are feeling the effects too with fishing, aquaculture and tourism all taking a hit.
Experts say a marine heatwave with ocean temperatures 2 .5 degrees above normal created the perfect conditions for this bloom.
They were hoping for a cold front to break it up but unfortunately it never came.
If the disaster is officially declared, the federal government could provide extra funding to help with clean -up and to support affected communities.
Our thoughts are with you, South Australia.
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 England at an ancient Roman military site near the famous ruins of Hadrian's Wall, where archaeologists have made a big discovery.
And I mean really big.
They've found an enormous collection of old Roman shoes and many of them are surprisingly large.
At a site called Magna, just south of Hadrian's Wall, one shoe was a whopping 32 and a half centimetres long.
If you've got your ruler near you, take a look that's bigger than your school ruler.
It's about an Australian men's shoe size of 13 or 14.
It's really unusual because most Roman shoes from this region are much smaller, around size seven or size eight.
So experts are scratching their heads, were these soldiers just super tall?
all, did they wear thick socks or padded boots for winter?
Or did they just always have really swollen feet from all that marching they did way back then?
No one really knows for sure, but archaeology can be kind of like solving a jigsaw puzzle with half the pieces missing.
And if you want to see the huge shoes for yourself, there's a video link in the episode notes.
Does your dog ever sit down and watch the telly with you?
Do they have a favourite show?
And more importantly, how can you tell?
According to a new study, your dog's personality might explain what kind of TV they like and how long they'll sit for.
Researchers surveyed more than 450 dog owners, asking about their pups' personalities and TV -watching habits.
They found that excitable dogs were more likely to chase things on the screen or even search the room to find them.
Anxious or nervous dogs, on the other hand, seemed to notice things like cars or doorbells on TV, even when there were no real ones around.
Researchers say that this kind of study could help to improve dogs' lives, especially if they're home alone a lot or living in a shelter.
Knowing what kind of shows dogs respond to could help make TV a fun and calming experience.
Now we just have to teach them to use the remote.
Weird science! We talk a fair bit on SquizKids about invasive species.
Animals that aren't native to an area but take over and can cause problems. and one of the biggest culprits the giant Burmese Python in the wetlands of Florida in the southeast of the USA.
These snakes have gobbled up so much native wildlife that scientists are trying something new and seriously clever.
Robo -bunnies. Yep researchers at the University of Florida are using 40 toy rabbits.
Inside the fluffy bunnies they've added motors, heaters and even tiny tiny waterproof cameras, all powered by itty -bitty solar panels.
The robotic rabbits move and give off heat, just like real marsh rabbits, one of the pythons' favourite snacks.
The idea is to use the decoys to lure the snakes out of hiding.
Then, when the camera spots movement, it alerts a researcher who sends in a snake expert to remove the python. If it works, these robo -bunnies could save native animals and help scientists track down snakes faster.
Now that's what I call a hare -brained scheme.
Hare, rabbit, get it?
I can't believe I beat Bryce to the buzzer this term.
Go me. Hands up if you've heard of a book called The 13 -Story Treehouse.
Then you probably also know 26, 39, 52 and all the way up to 169 story treehouse books.
And you quite possibly know the author, Andy Griffiths.
Well, Andy is also a great friend of Squiz Kids, and on the occasion of the impending release of his new book, You and Me and the Peanut Butter Beast, Andy has bravely agreed to take the Squiz Kids hot seat and take part in another Squiz Kids Q &A.
This is your chance to ask anything you want of one of the most popular and successful kids authors in australia how and where does he write how does he come up with these kooky ideas who was his favorite author when he was your age what's his favorite ever story in the treehouse does he have a pet what does he do when he's not writing anything at all and here is the fun part the 10 best questions will win a copy of andy's new book.
And the best question, as judged by Andy, will win a double pass to see Andy in person at his Sydney Opera House show in September.
So don't just sit there sending your questions already.
Email them to squizkidsatthesquiz .com .au.
You've got until Tuesday, August 5.
Time for the Squiz.
This is the part of the podcast where you get to test how well you've been listening.
Question number one, what type of natural disaster is South Australia experiencing?
Yep, sadly they're having a toxic algal bloom.
Question number two, which two things did anxious and nervous dogs notice most on TV?
Ooh, a tricky one. Did you say cars and doorbells?
You are correct. And question number three, what's the name of the invasive snake species scientists are trying to lure out of hiding in Florida?
That would be the Burmese python. Shout outs!
It's Wednesday, July 23, Gorgeous Grandma Day.
Now this is a day to celebrate all the grandmas, nonnas, omars, obassons and nonnas who spoil us with love, hugs and sometimes sneaky treats.
And if you've got one, give your grandma a call, a cuddle or a homemade card and let her know just how gorgeous she is.
Today is also a special day for these Squiz Kids celebrating a birthday today.
Clara from Narinburn, Syrah from Plumpton, Alanna from Doncaster East, Logan from Brigadoon, Aria from Camberwell, and Hugo listening all the way over there in Paris, France.
And a belated birthday shout out for yesterday goes to Louis, listening all the way over there in Lembongan in Bali.
And we know a lot of you celebrated a birthday during the recent school holidays while the Squiz Kids team were having a well -earned rest. And we don't want any of you to miss out on a shout -out, so we're going to continue to work our way through these shout -outs this week.
And I reckon we need to crack out the old birthday reggae tune.
Hit it. And a very happy belated birthday shout -out to Kevin from Queensland, Shania and Appar from Forest Lake, Evie from Cheltenham, Connor and Hosanna from Eglinton, John from Palmyra, Olympia from Carnegie, Sophia from Bentley East, Ben and Chevy from Yass, Jackson from Fernvale, Gemma from Doncaster East, Frankie from West Albury, Amity from Gerilderie, Sigrid from Sutherland, Isabel from Currie Currie, Sebastian from Geelong Edwin from Wishart Susie from Dundas Valley Winston from Newington and Isabel from Concord West And classroom shoutouts will be back next week Otherwise, don't forget
if you've got a birthday coming up and you want a shoutout or if you're after a classroom shoutout drop us a line at squizkidsatthesquiz .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 And we'll be back again tomorrow In the meantime Make sure you get out there And have a most excellent day Over and out
