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 Bryce Corbett.
It's Wednesday, November 12.
In Squiz Kids Today, astronauts stuck in space.
All the Christmas feels in New York.
Falcon Watch grips Melbourne.
And Bluey's mega keepy-uppy.
That's what's making news kids style.
The Lowdown.
It sounds like something out of a science fiction movie.
Except for a bunch of actual humans, it's real.
As news filtered down to planet Earth this week that a group of astronauts are stuck in space after their space station was hit by space junk.
Three astronauts aboard China's Tiangong space station in orbit above Earth were all set to hop into their spacecraft and return to Earth last week when it was discovered that it had been hit and damaged by a piece of space debris.
Now we've talked in the podcast before how there are literally millions of pieces of space junk in orbit above the Earth.
Bits of old satellites and spaceships and rockets that humans have sent up there and that have never come back down.
Now the astronauts are okay and they're expected to be back down on Earth soon.
Much sooner, it must be said, than the American astronauts, whose return to Earth from their space station last year was delayed by a staggering nine months.
Yikes!
That is a long time to spend spinning around above Earth in a tin can.
Meanwhile, in other space news, a mission to Mars is set to blast off sometime this week which will see robot piloted rockets head for the red planet to do a bunch of experiments, to discover why Mars lost its atmosphere billions of years ago.
That, my friends, is billions with a B, and that is why sometimes science makes my head hurt.
Spin the globe.
Each day we give the world globe a spin and find a new story from wherever it stops.
And today we've landed in New York City, where it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.
The Rockefeller Plaza Christmas tree is among the most famous Christmas trees in the world.
Every year it's decorated and lit and stands tall above the ice rink at the base of the iconic Rockefeller Plaza building, a symbol of the festive season that shines around the world.
And this year the festive season is already in full swing, as the tree was craned into place over the weekend.
Now I say craned because the tree is 22 meters high.
It's a Norway spruce pine tree grown in a field 250 kilometers from New York and brought into the city on the back of a great big truck.
Now it will have more than 50,000 lights strung through it.
Good heavens, imagine untangling all of those lights.
And it'll have a star plonked on top of it.
And get this.
That star weighs 400 kilos and features 70 spikes with about 3 million crystals embedded on them.
How beautiful.
Animal Kingdom.
Speaking of beautiful bird, lovers in Melbourne have been glued to YouTube watching the live feed of a building ledge 34 storeys above the city as Falcon Watch once again becomes a thing.
For years now, peregrine falcons have been laying eggs in a nest that is located sky high on a window ledge above the Melbourne city.
And this year is no exception.
A new batch of chicks hatched in September and a live feed YouTube channel has been showing them slowly growing, gaining weight and starting to stretch their wings in preparation for taking the leap and undertaking their first ever flight.
So how does Mummy Falcon get them to take that terrifying first leap?
Well, she does it by catching and killing pigeons and then flying with those pigeons in her talons past her hungry chicks, tempting them to step off the ledge and have a nibble.
Amazing.
Oh, maybe not so much if you're a pigeon.
And yes, of course, I've stuck a link to the YouTube live feed in today's episode notes.
You're welcome culture corner.
You just can't keep a good blue healer down.
Before new york city gets fully into christmas mode, it has to first of all get through another major national holiday, and that's thanksgiving.
And if you live in new york city, that means the thanksgiving parade down fifth avenue.
It's the parade where massive inflatable balloons, some the size of buildings of all your favorite superheroes and cartoon characters, make their way down the famous boulevard of the Big Apple as adoring crowds line the footpaths and cheer along.
And making a triumphant return to the parade this year is our very own favourite cartoon pup, Bluey.
A huge balloon version of Bluey will bounce along in this year's parade at the end of this month, playing as it goes.
A giant version of you guessed it, Keepy Uppy.
How cute. for the quiz.
This is the part of the podcast where you get to test how well you've been listening.
Question number one.
Which planet is a twin rocket robot piloted mission heading for in our solar system?
Yeah, that's right.
It's heading for planet Mars.
Question number two.
What sort of birds are nesting on a ledge of a building 34 stories up in Melbourne?
Well done if you said peregrine falcons.
Question number three.
Approximately how many crystals are embedded on the 70 spikes of the Rockefeller Christmas tree star?
Yeah, that's right.
Approximately three million.
Shout out.
It's Wednesday, November 12.
Today is the birthday of actor Ryan Gosling and also actor Anne Hathaway.
Today is also a special day for these squiz kids celebrating a birthday today.
Ella from Indrapilly, Harriet from Fernvale, Harry from Exeter, Safira from Wagga Wagga and Nathan from Five Dog.
And belated birthday shoutouts go to Matthew from Marsden Park and Chase from Tenthill Lower.
And classroom shoutouts today go to Class 6-7K with Mrs Khan at Canberra Girls Grammar.
Class 5-OC with Ollie at Lynham Primary School.
Class 6-P with Mrs Zarunas and Mrs Maloof at St Joseph's Catholic Primary School in Riverwood.
Class 3-4N with Mr McKenzie at Minchinbury Public School.
And Class 5-K at Caringle Public School.
And a great big happy birthday to their teacher, Mrs Klemke.
And finally, a special shout-out goes to Class 4A with Miss Abreu at Forest Lake State School.
It was such a pleasure to meet you all yesterday and do a session of newshounds with you and your local MP, Milton Dick.
Hope to see you all again soon.
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.
In the meantime, get out there and have a most excellent day.
Over and out.
