Good morning and welcome to Kid News.
I'm Kim. Today is Wednesday, November 13, 2024.
And we begin with thousands of Australians lining up to smell something truly terrible.
It's the aptly nicknamed Corpse Flower, more formally known as a morphophilus titanium, a plant that sometimes only blooms once in a decade, and when it does, releases a stink so bad it's been described as dead possum, rotting flesh, and a moldy bath mat.
The flower and its gag -inducing phenomenon only lasts a day or two, so when the bud popped at the Geelong Botanic Gardens near Melbourne on Monday, crowds turned out in force.
By early this morning, the bloom had closed, which means the wait begins all over again.
The plant is native to Indonesia and is listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Botanic gardens around the world, like the one in Australia, grow them to help boost their population.
One in Los Angeles, California has named its stinky guest, Darth Vapor.
No sharp sense of smell needed to get a whiff of the corpse flower, most people can smell it from a half mile away.
But search and rescue requires an extra good sniffer, which is where Beau the Bloodhound comes in.
The 18 -month -old North Carolina police pooch has just been named the nation's hero dog for 2024.
Alongside his handler, Beau has helped find lost kids and missing grandparents near their home base in the town of Gastonia.
Beau's scent -tracking superpower is the number of olfactory cells in his nose.
Bloodhounds have 230 million, while humans have only 5 million.
Those cells can help them pick up a smell more than 300 hours old and follow it for hundreds of miles.
And their long, distinct ears aren't just for show.
They actually help funnel scent particles to their nose.
Beau will be celebrated at the 14th annual American Humane Hero Dog Awards in Palm Beach, Florida, on January 8 alongside four other exceptional canines.
It will be a photo op for the ages.
Today, at 11 a .m. Eastern, President -elect Trump returns to the White House at the invitation of President Joe Biden.
Such a sit -down is customary between the outgoing and incoming president and is meant to mark the start of a peaceful transfer of power, which is central to America's democracy.
Mr. Trump, however, did not extend the same courtesy to Mr.
Biden after losing his 2020 reelection bid.
Time magazine calls the tradition the most cringe meeting in politics because it is sometimes a handoff between parties and or the rivals following a long campaign of mudslinging.
And this one was both.
Vice President Kamala Harris may have conceded, but that doesn't mean she's throwing in the towel.
According to Newsweek, a recount is a possibility, and the suggestion comes from her own fundraising page.
When potential donors visit the Harris Victory Fund site, the fine print says some of the money will be allocated to the Harris for President's recount account.
There is little other information about the recount account where it intends to target and whether this is specifically for her or for other down ballot Democrats.
Donald Trump won the election with 312 Electoral College votes, including all seven battleground states.
Some were won by narrow margins.
Wisconsin was the closest, with Mr.
Trump winning by approximately 30 ,000 votes.
Notre Dame, the historic cathedral in Paris destroyed by fire five years ago, is about to rise from the ashes.
The painful process of rebuilding it is now nearly complete, and the official reopening is set for next month.
As proof of progress, eight of the church's bells rang together again for the first time on Friday.
Three new bells, including the one that was rung during the Paris Olympic Games, have also been installed.
The cathedral is 860 years old and was nearly swallowed by the fire back in 2019.
Investigators have yet to determine the cause, though they believe it was accidental.
My Little Pony is a loser no more.
After seven years as runner up for the National Toy Hall of Fame, Hasbro's pastel -colored mini horses are finally in the winner's circle.
They were enshrined yesterday alongside Transformers action figures and the card game Phase 10.
In all, 12 toys made it to the finals.
Those that didn't make the Hall of Fame cut this time included apples -to -apples, balloons, the stick horse, and hest trucks.
Still to come, a stately spruce from Massachusetts has now pocked itself in the Rockefeller Center.
But first, today's Kid News Quiz.
What's the nickname for the super smelly plant that only blooms once every 10 years or so?
The corpse flower. How many scent -tracking all factory cells do bloodhounds have in their nose?
230 million compared to 5 million for humans.
What does Time Magazine call the sit -down between an outgoing and incoming president?
The most cringe meeting in politics.
When will the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris reopen?
This December, five years after a devastating fire.
In today's Kid News Kicker, the tree that will be the showstopper at Rockefeller Center this season has made it to Manhattan.
The 74 -foot Norway Spruce with the New England accent arrived from West Stockbridge, Massachusetts last weekend and is now getting primped, pampered, and hydrated for prime time.
Once the decorating is complete, it'll be wrapped in five miles of light strands with more than 50 ,000 multicolored LED bulbs.
A Swarovski star crown sparkling with three million crystals will top it.
The official lighting ceremony is December 4th and it'll stay up through New Year's.
When it comes down, it won't go to waste.
According to CBS News, it'll be milled into lumber for Habitat for Humanity.
And shout -outs to our teachers, Mrs.
Sowbus and her Rattlers at Aurora Highlands in Aurora, Colorado, Mrs.
Baker's PAWS students and fellow Timber Wolves at Midland Middle School in Sparland, Illinois, and Ms.
Grace and Ms. Lipham's Roadrunners at Robius in Chesterfield County, Virginia.
Thanks for listening.
Our fall is coming soon with more Kid News so we can continue to deliver fun, fresh, non -partisan news to the next generation.
Have a great day and we'll see you back here for more Kid News tomorrow morning.
