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Hello there, my friends.
It's Ruby here and you're listening to an episode of News Time.
Hey, Ruby.
Hello, Ruby.
On this week's News Time.
We're going to head to the desert to dig up a haul of significant artefacts.
We're going to hear from a Newstime listener with a truly life-saving message.
And in our Wow of the Week, we'll blast off to Mars for some rather shocking space news.
What do you say?
Shall we get cracking?
Let's go.
Story number five.
You might have heard some big news this week about social media.
Social media is a place where you post videos and stuff and other people get to watch it.
Social media is when people do stuff about interests and stuff about their life and post it and other people can say if they like it or not.
Social media is very popular, but now, in a world first law, Australians under the age of 16 aren't allowed to make social media accounts.
It's called a social media ban where under 16s can't use social media.
TikTok, Instagram, YouTube.
Yep.
Last year, the Australian government announced that social media companies like Facebook and Instagram, and Twitch and YouTube will have to stop anyone under the age of 16 from logging in.
On Wednesday, the new rule finally came into effect.
YouTube kids didn't get banned because parents can choose what the kids like and they can get rid of things that they don't want their kids to watch.
There are still a lot of social media websites and gaming apps and AI chat bots that haven't been banned.
But that doesn't mean they won't be in the future.
So why do you think this new ban's been introduced?
There's inappropriate things for under 16.
There's hackers which try to take your information.
So the government is trying to keep you safe.
Or even like plant a virus on your computer or something and then that can be very bad.
The government's introducing this ban to keep kids like you safe from harmful content and cyberbullying stuff that can often be found on social media.
Our friends at BTN asked thousands of young people about the ban and most of them said it's not a good idea and they don't reckon it'll work.
What about you?
What do you think?
So I think it's a good idea because you can protect your kids from brain rot and inappropriate things for their age.
There's a lot more to this story.
So how about you have a conversation with a grown-up you trust and find out just how it might affect you?
This next story is a bit of a special one because it's about one of you.
Hi, Ruby.
My name's Rosie.
I started Newstime when I was seven and I'm 11 now, closer to 12.
Well, Rosie, that makes you a certified Newstime legend.
You've even hosted an episode of Newstime.
But I understand 2025 has been a bit of a tough one for you.
Tell us about what happened.
I've been diagnosed with a rare blood disorder called aplastic anaemia.
Aplastic anaemia is where a person's bone marrow, the units of most bones, stops working.
This means they have low white blood cells, which give you immunity.
Low hemoglobin, also known as red blood cells, and they deliver oxygen across the body.
And low platelets, which stops the body from bleeding.
Okay, so working bone marrow is like a factory that pumps out blood cells.
What does having low blood cells and platelets mean for you as an 11 year old?
Well, I can't do many things because my low hemoglobin and my low platelets makes me puffed out.
And my low platelets means that whenever I bang myself, I could bleed really easily.
And if I bleed, that's not a good thing, because If it's a major bleed I have to be taken to hospital.
And I can get sick really easily.
That's no good, Rosie.
So what's the next step to help you get better?
To get a bone marrow transplant from a matched donor.
I see.
So you've been waiting a little while to find a grown-up whose bone marrow matches yours.
Then they can give theirs to you to help you get better.
That would be a wonderful help.
Before I got sick with this illness, I would have never considered donating blood or any part of my body to anyone, but it's a really good way to help save people's lives, because a blood donation can save a life.
Rosie, I reckon there are a lot of kids listening who will be urging their grown-ups to pop down to the nearest donation centre and give some blood or platelets or even bone marrow.
Thank you so much for sharing your story with us.
We hope you have a Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas and have a happy new year.
Story number three.
In outback northwest Queensland some workers have knelt down under the hot sun brushing red dirt away from something very special.
I think it's Aboriginal artefacts.
Bingo.
Archaeologists working with the local Pita Pita people have found 60 Aboriginal artefacts in the dirt which date back 170 years.
These items are called tulas.
They're flaked stone tools that were used across most of the continent to make traditional objects, things like boomerangs and coolamon dishes, and shields and clapsticks.
The Aboriginal people, their artefacts got dirt and sand blown all over them.
Dr Yinnika Purston, one of the archaeologists who found the stone tools, says it's likely they were made by the local Pita Pita people for trading.
This meant if they couldn't find food to eat in the harsh desert, they could swap the tools they made for food while they travelled around.
The researchers used a scientific dating technique to work out that these tools were buried 170 years ago and they might have even been placed there on purpose.
They should give it back to the elders.
It just makes sense to give it back.
Pita Pita woman, Trevina Rogers, worked with the archaeologists and has been documenting her culture since she was just a little girl.
Trevina's hoping these artefacts will go on display so that people can talk about them and learn about how important they are to the Pita Pita people.
You know, like it was my ancestors that left that there for trading.
You know I'll be still out on country, still looking, still finding new things, discovering things and seeing how things work.
We live on a big continent with deep history.
You never know what might be unearthed next.
In the Indian Ocean, about 1500 kilometres northwest of mainland Western Australia, there is a place called Christmas Island.
That's where the Christmas beetles come out.
Christmas Island, I think, is where they celebrate Christmas a lot.
Christmas all year round, wouldn't that be fun?
But not quite.
You heard about Christmas Island on Newstime earlier in the year, when 100 million crabs scuttled their way from the forest burrows to lay their eggs in the sea.
While there are millions of crabs, you might be surprised to know that on Christmas Island, there's only one dog.
Her name is Shiloh and she is a chocolate Labrador.
I think that it might be very lonely because there's no more of your kind to be friendly.
You see, because it's so remote, Christmas Island is home to some very special wildlife, including those red crabs.
To protect them all, there was a decision made to keep dogs off the island.
I think Shiloh the dog should go say hi to all the cats and maybe perhaps make friends with cats, so she won't be alone.
Well yes, there are still a lot of feral cats, but teams are working hard to bring those numbers down.
Any introduced animal can cause real harm to the threatened species on the island, many of which are creatures that aren't found anywhere else in the world.
You might be wondering then what Shiloh the dog is doing there.
Well, Shiloh used to work on the island as an assistance dog.
So if you have a disability, special dogs are specially trained to do things.
Yep.
Shiloh's job was very important until her owner moved back to the mainland and couldn't take her with them.
The locals decided to rally together to care for Shiloh and she became the island's community dog.
They even set up a dog walking roster to keep her happy.
They can give her pads and maybe some of the kids give her some gross food their parents made.
It's likely that Shiloh will be the last ever dog on Christmas Island, and the community knows how lucky they are to have her.
And now, my friends, there's one more story to dig up.
It is time for... Wow of the Week.
This story made me go wow, because now I think that lightning sounds like We're going to take a trip to a place where no human has ever been the red planet Mars.
I feel like I've just flown off into the sun.
I can't see anything because it's so dusty.
It's going to be a while before humans set foot on Mars, but NASA's Perseverance rover has been roaming around there for nearly four years.
Looks for aliens.
The rover was actually sent to look for signs of ancient life and to collect rock samples that might be sent back to Earth one day.
Recently, researchers announced that Perseverance had made a new discovery.
It had captured the sound of lightning on Mars for the very first time.
We're used to lightning being big, jagged lines of electricity in the sky, but researchers say that the lightning recorded by Perseverance was caused by dust whipping around becoming electrically charged.
The bolts look completely different too.
They're tiny, only a few millimetres long.
So, with that difference in mind, if lightning sounds like this on Earth, what do you think it sounds like on Mars?
I think that lightning on Mars will sound like... Lightning will sound like this.
Interesting thoughts.
Let's take a listen.
Even though it's a little sound, this is a big discovery.
Some experts want to hold off celebrations until Perseverance can capture photos or video of actual lightning flashes.
They might be waiting a while though, because if lightning bolts on Mars are only a few millimeters long, that would make them pretty hard to see.
In fact, it's believed that getting struck by lightning on Mars would feel like the static shock that you get from touching a doorknob or from sliding down a slippery dip.
Just a little shock, but still not very fun.
And there you go, my friends, another whirlwind of stories.
We've made it through the countdown in lightning fast time.
And I'm going to make like lightning and bolt.
Thank you.
You are so welcome.
Thanks for all the fun this year and stay tuned in the coming weeks for some very special Newstime episodes.
Next week, we're jumping into our annual Wowfest.
Thank you, Ruby.
Bye-bye.
See you later.
Or as they say in Bengali, bidai.
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