Attention, kids of Australia.
Here's your chance to run the country.
Announcing PM for a Day, a brand new Squiz Kids competition where we ask you, our fabulous audience if you were prime minister for a day, what would you do to make Australia a better place to live?
The winner will win a trip to Canberra for a private tour of Parliament House, a chance to visit Question Time and receive a personal tour of Government House by the Governor-General herself.
You might even cross paths with the actual PM while you're there.
All you need to do is send a video to squizkids at thesquizcomau telling us the one thing you would do to make our country better if you were PM for a day.
But hurry, you've only got until March 13 to get your entry in.
Check out our website squizkids.com.au for terms and conditions and details on how to enter.
Squiz Kids acknowledges the traditional owners of the lands on which we podcast the Turrbal and Convermeri 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 Christy Kidgerina.
It's Wednesday, March 4th.
In Squiz Kids today, Mr Beast tops YouTube charts.
London's hard drive heaters, T-Rex on tippy toes and human brain cells learn to game.
That's what's making news, kid style.
What do almost all Aussie kids have in common?
No, it's not a love of Zoopa Doopas.
And it's not rolling their eyes when someone says, back in my day, it's YouTube.
The latest Young Australian survey from research company Roy Morgan shows that 89 of Australian kids aged between 6 and 13, that's around 25 million young people, are watching YouTube.
The survey has been running since 2004, asking thousands of kids each year about what they think, watch and worry about.
In results collected between April and December last year, gaming was the number one category across every age group.
And when asked to name a favourite channel, Mr Beast dominated, chosen by 15.2% of kids.
But the data also revealed something deeper.
Amongst 10 to 13 year olds, YouTube watchers were more likely to say they worry about wars and terrorism and more likely to prefer computer games over playing outside.
Meanwhile, non-watchers were more likely to say they enjoy reading and like healthy food.
Does that mean YouTube causes worry?
Or could worried kids be drawn to certain content?
Surveys can show patterns but not always the reason why.
And since this research was done mostly before Australia's new social media rules began, next year's results might look different.
If you're interested in taking a look, the full details are linked to in today's episode notes.
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 the United Kingdom where computers are helping to keep people warm.
In the city of London.
Excess heat from a police data centre is being captured and piped into nearby homes to heat water and buildings.
Data centres are giant warehouses full of computer servers that store and process information, everything from emails to streaming to artificial intelligence.
The problem?
They use enormous amounts of electricity and produce lots of heat.
Around the world, there's growing concern about the energy needed to power data centres, especially as AI use explodes.
But this project shows how clever thinking can turn a problem into a solution.
Instead of letting that heat drift away, it's being reused.
It's a bit like the geothermal energy, where countries like Iceland and New Zealand use heat from deep inside the earth to warm homes and generate electricity.
Different source, same smart idea.
Don't waste that heat.
And if you'd like to learn more about geothermal energy and other renewable power sources, check out our Planet Warriors series.
It explains how solar wind hydro, bio and geothermal energy work and how they're helping power the future.
It's free on the Squiz Kids website.
Ancient Earth.
Picture this.
A Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Ten tons of terror, teeth like steak knives, and it's tiptoeing?
For years now, movies have shown T-Rex charging across the land like an earthquake with teeth, but new biomechanical research suggests it may have been far less lumbering and far more balanced.
Biomechanical research uses physics and engineering to study how bodies move, testing how bones, weight and balance all work together.
Scientists looking at T-Rex fossil footprints and fossilised bones believe that the king lizard likely walked with controlled, careful steps, placing its feet in line like one in front of the other and managing its centre of gravity like a heavyweight tightrope walker.
A dinosaur built like a bus, moving like it's trying not to wake the neighbours.
How dainty.
So why would it move that way?
Energy efficiency and speed, people.
Walking with their weight mainly on the front of their feet would have helped conserve power, protect bones and maybe even allow them to sneak up on prey.
And I hope that somewhere in your imagination right now a T-Rex is quietly tiptoeing by, because it absolutely is in mine.
Music Weird science.
If you're already nervous about robots taking over, you might want to skip this one.
Scientists have trained a clump of living human brain cells to play the classic video game Doom.
Yep, actual brain cells.
Back in 2021, an Australian company grew about 800000 human neurons, that's brain cells on tiny computer chips.
These chips can send and receive electrical signals, almost like a digital conversation.
At the time, and it took years, the neurons were trained to play a simple game called Pong.
Now, using the programming language Python, they've managed to teach a smaller clump of neurons to play Doom, a far more complex game, in about a week.
The performance?
Well, they're not exactly esport champions.
Better than random button mashing, but nowhere near as well as skilled humans.
Scientists say this isn't about building a brain in a jar.
The neurons are being used as a kind of living material, one that processes information in ways regular computer chips just can't.
But there's still a big mystery.
They don't fully understand how these cells are learning the game.
How do they know what's expected of them?
And how do they respond to what's happening on a screen when they don't have eyes?
Time for the quiz.
This is the part of the podcast where you get to test how well you've been listening.
Question number one.
What was the favourite YouTube channel of Aussie kids in 2025?
Did you get this one?
The answer is Mr Beast.
Question number two.
Which two pieces of evidence are scientists using to figure out how the T-Rex walked?
Fabulous work if you said fossil footprints and fossilised bones.
Question number three.
What was the first game that Aussie scientists taught brain cells to play?
Music That basic game, people, was called Pong.
It's Wednesday, March 4, Holi Festival.
Holi is a vibrant Hindu festival celebrated in India and around the world, marking the arrival of spring and the triumph of good over evil.
People gather to throw coloured powders, dance, share sweets and forgive old grudges.
It's known as the Festival of Colours.
And if you see people looking like they've just finished a colour run today, you'll understand why.
It's also a special day for these Squiz Kids celebrating a birthday today.
Shreya from Vermont South, Sierra from Erskineville, Adam from Banana.
Tobias from Edensa Park, Lucas from Wagga Wagga and Indy from Loora.
Bladed birthday shoutouts go to Carter from Joyner, Jada from Townsville Aurora, Addie Ivy and Chelsea, all from Shoalhaven Heads and Nana listening all the way over there in Tokyo, Japan.
Classroom shoutouts today go to Years 5 and 6 with Mrs Butler at Banana State School.
Class 4T with Mrs Turner at West Morton Anglican College in Ipswich.
Honolulu class with Miss Hanson at Banks Public School in Sydney.
Room 1 with Mrs Cannon at Perengeri Primary School.
And lastly but definitely not leastly, Class 5B with Mr Bird at Berserker Street State School in North Rockhampton.
And don't forget people.
If you have a birthday coming up and you want a shout-out, or teachers, if you're after a classroom shout-out, just drop us a line at squizkids at thesquizcomau, or you can 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.
Thank you.
