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Good morning and welcome to Kid News.
I'm Tori. Today is Tuesday, October 15, 2024.
And we begin with a repeat crown for America's Pumpkin King.
Travis Ganger's gargantuan gourd tipped the scales in Half Moon Bay, California yesterday at 2 ,471 pounds, just six pounds heavier than his closest challenger and a whopping 278 pounds off his own world record set just last year.
Travis isn't disappointed, though.
He had a tough growing season in Ananka, Minnesota, with more clouds and rain than usual.
He even named the pumpkin Rudy after Daniel Rudy Rudiger, the college football underdog at the center of the movie, Rudy.
For his win, Travis gets $9 per pound, which comes out to $22 ,239.
To highlight how things have changed in the world of Giant Jack -O -Lanterns, at the festival's very first competition in 1974, the winning pumpkin weighed just 132 pounds.
It's the Battle of the Elves in the WNBA Finals.
The New York Liberty and the Minnesota Lynx, each have a win with tip -off for Game 3 of the best of five series in Minneapolis tomorrow night.
The 18 ,046 fans that cram Barclays Center in New York on Sunday set a record for a Liberty game and big, potentially record -setting crowds are expected for the next two showdowns in Minnesota.
Storm weary Florida residents have one more worry to add to their list.
Snakes and alligators.
Wildlife experts say currents from Hurricane Milton have pushed both into places they don't belong.
I would absolutely be concerned about what's out there.
Tampa Bay conservationist Renee Walker told NBC News, I would not go in dark water.
Jen Messer, who lives in the Tampa area, found an alligator crawling around her home gym.
She told the network he made a trip over the treadmill, got his cardio in for a second, and then he meandered out underneath my truck.
Jen shoot him into a nearby pond, but he was apparently not happy about it and took a bite out of her broom on the way.
As we reported yesterday, you may have had the day off from school because it was Columbus Day or, depending on where you live, Indigenous Peoples Day.
But no matter how you mark the occasion, one thing seemed certain.
The explorer, Christopher Columbus, was Italian, right?
Maybe not. Recent DNA examinations from Columbus and his brother and son suggest the explorer was actually part Jewish and part Spanish.
Furthermore, they think he was born not in Genoa, which is part of Italy, but rather in Valencia, which is in Spain.
The finding was part of a TV documentary.
However, some experts remain skeptical because the research wasn't vetted by or published in a scientific journal.
Are we scrolling ourselves into oblivion?
A new study by Talker Research finds the average American feels like they lose three days a month or 36 days a year clicking, scrolling, streaming, and binging.
And with Gen Z, those between ages of 12 and 27, it's even worse at five days per month.
The study found many people feel guilty over their excessive use because they know it isolates them from friends and family, but they do it anyway.
Gen Z in particular seems to understand the downside.
66 % say they consume too much social media, and 52 % say their mood is negatively impacted by it.
Something inside the moon is moving.
That's the information gleaned from probes studying our natural satellite.
Scientists are poring over data from two orbiters that seem to show a slow steady movement of the material underneath the moon's hard crust.
They believe the moon must have some sort of heat source deep inside its surface to keep the material soft, but exactly what it is, they don't know.
If the moon does have a soft, warm interior, many of our theories about its formation and physical makeup may have to be changed.
Still to come? Life imitates Hollywood at a site Indiana Jones once visited.
But first, today's Kid News Quiz.
How big was the pumpkin that won this year's Half Moon Bay competition?
2 ,471 pounds. What is turning up in floodwaters in Florida?
Alligators and snakes.
What unusual discovery do some researchers say they've made about the DNA of Christopher Columbus?
He may have been Jewish and Spanish, not Italian.
Which generation consumes the most social media overall?
Gen Z. In today's Kid News Kicker, you may have seen the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade with the impressive monument at the film's end where, among other things, Indy and his pals find the Holy Grail.
That enormous structure in Petra, Jordan is called the Kuzna and is nearly 1 ,600 feet tall.
It was carved into the side of a mountain in the 1st century AD.
Now, archaeologists have discovered a massive tomb there with at least 12 skeletons and well -preserved artifacts, including a ceramic chalice that actually resembles the Holy Grail in the Steven Spielberg movie.
Josh Gates, host of Expedition Unknown on the Discovery Channel, was on -site for the excavation and says, it was an awesome moment of history imitating art.
Petra Jordan is one of the world's most famous archaeological sites and was named one of the new Seven Wonders of the World in 2007.
Before we go, we want to give a shout -out to our Kid News Classrooms, Mrs.
Contreras and her stars at Bullard Talent School in Fresno, California.
Mrs. Thompson and her awesome hard -working fifth grade owls at SNOW in Middletown, Connecticut.
And Mr. David and we are the Hancock Indians at Hancock County in Sneedville, Tennessee.
Thanks for listening.
Please rate and review us wherever you get your podcasts.
We'll see you back here for more Kid News tomorrow morning.
