Squeeze Kids acknowledges the traditional owners of the lands on which we podcast the Turrbal and Combermary people.
Squeeze 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 thursday may 14th in squiz kids today rise and rise of women's sport myanmar's massive ruby find seeing through virus misinfo and here comes eurovision that's what's making news All eyes in the footballing world will be turned to Brisbane in Queensland, Australia tonight as the women's state of origin kicks off.
And it comes at a time where women's sport right around the world continues to become more and more successful, more and more popular and more and more interesting for young players looking to make a career out of their sporting talent.
For those listening outside of the rugby league playing states of Queensland and New South Wales and those listening overseas, The State of Origin series is a big deal in Australian sport.
It's where the best players from the rugby league playing states of Queensland and New South Wales play against one another in the best of three series.
The first game won by New South Wales, or the Blues as they're otherwise known, broke records in terms of the number of people tuning in to watch the match on television.
And tonight's women's State of Origin game too is expected to do the same.
More people tuned into the first State of Origin game to watch the women go head-to-head than tuned in to watch men play in a regular round of AFL.
It all comes as women's football in Europe grows in appeal and stature, as women's cricket here in Australia and around the world becomes ever more popular and women's basketball in the United States knocks the lights out when it comes to viewers, fans and the quality of games.
It's what's called the professionalizing of a sport, which is to say that a sport grows big enough and to attract enough fans that it starts appearing on TV and streaming services and is then able to start paying its players more money so that eventually the players can do that sport as a job.
And until recently, playing sport professionally It's been harder for women to do than for men.
But happily, that is changing by the day.
One professional sportswoman who knows all about how things have changed in the last couple of decades is Jamaican-born Aussie netballer Romelda Aiken-George.
This weekend, Romelda will take the court for her 255th professional game, breaking the all-time Aussie record in the process.
She started playing professional netball back in 2008, long before any of you were born.
And get this.
In that time, she scored a remarkable 9,716 goals.
Romelda, Squizkid salutes you.
And while we don't want to be premature with our salutes, we're keeping a careful eye on one of basketball's goats that is greatest of all times, Mr LeBron James, who reports say is considering retirement after his team, the LA Lakers, were bundled out of the NBA playoffs this week by the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Watch this space.
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 Myanmar, a beautiful country wedged between Thailand and India, where the world's second largest ruby has just been discovered.
The gemstone weighs 2.2 kilograms, or 4.8 pounds, and measures 11,000 carats.
That's carats, C-A-R-A-T-S, not C-A-R-R-O-T-S.
Because measuring a gemstone in terms of rabbit food would be weird.
A carat is the measurement used to determine the weight of a gemstone.
The more carats, the heavier the rock, and generally the more valuable it is.
For context, the average diamond engagement ring in Australia and the United States is about one carat.
So yeah, an 11,000 carat ruby is definitely a thing.
And while this new discovery is a biggie, it's nothing compared to the world's biggest ruby, which was also found in Myanmar about 30 years ago and which weighed 21000 carats.
Wow.
Imagine the ruby slippers that Dorothy could have whipped up out of that beauty.
That most ridiculous time of the year has rolled around once again, my friends, when some of the wildest, wackiest and possibly most unhinged musical performers in the world compete in the Eurovision Song Contest.
This year's competition is being held in Vienna. the capital of the European country of Austria.
And semi-finals are already well underway in preparation for the big finale this coming Sunday.
Australia's entrant is Delta Goodrum.
Nope, I don't know why Australia is part of a European song contest either, but let's just go with it.
And people in the know are predicting that our Delta and her song Eclipse could finish in the top five this year, which would be amazeballs.
Though I did have a sneak peek at some of the other finalists in rehearsal yesterday and, I have to say, for comedy purposes alone.
My money is on Norway, France or the United Kingdom, the latter of which has a song with the nonsensical German-inspired lyrics Eins zwei, drei with the spice of pepperoni.
How very catchy.
Every Thursday, Squizzy the News Hound sticks his snout into Squizz Kids HQ to report back on fishy things he's sniffed out on the internet.
And today, his snout is twitching because of the Hunter virus.
Not because he has caught the dreaded virus, mind you, but because he's sniffed out a whole lot of misinformation that's circulating online about the Hunter virus being the new COVID.
Now.
You may have heard about the Hunter virus on the news, and Christy talked about it in yesterday's podcast.
It's a nasty virus that comes from rats, which has infected a bunch of people who are travelling on a cruise ship.
You don't have to travel far on social media or get sucked into too many YouTube rabbit holes at the moment before you come across somebody claiming the Hunter virus is the new COVID, despite assurances from real scientists and credible health authorities that there is no evidence to suggest it is able to spread as easily as COVID did.
Now, what's the rule here, kids?
When we come across any content online trying to convince us of something,
That's right.
We do as Squizzy always tells us to do, and that is to stop, think and check.
Don't believe everything you see.
Don't take at face value everything you read or hear.
Pull out your newshound's magnifying glass and be a good internet detective.
Yep, that's right, Squizzy.
Good boy.
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.
Yeah, that's right.
It's Vienna.
Question number two. the name of the country where the world's largest rubies have been found?
Yeah, well done.
If you said Myanmar, that was a bit of a toughie, wasn't it?
Question number three.
Name the legendary US basketball player who is reportedly thinking about hanging up his sneakers and retiring.
Yes, that's right, i'm talking about lebron james Shout-outs.
It's Thursday, May 14.
Today is the birthday of Aussie actress Cate Blanchett and of Star Wars creator George Lucas.
So may the 14th be with you if it's your birthday today.
Oi, what's the dad joke alarm doing down here in shout-outs?
It's also a special day today for these squiz kids celebrating a birthday today.
Ashton from Forest Lake, Molly from Shoalhaven Heads, Mika from Bondi and Maya from Petersham.
And classroom shout-outs.
Today go to Class 4C with Mr Alizzi at Our Lady of the Way Catholic Primary School in Petrie.
Class 5D with Mrs Shand at the Willows State School in Townsville.
Class 5AM with Ms Murphy at Albany Hills State School.
And Class 3-4 with Ms McFarlane at Mount Riverview Public School.
And a shout out to Ms.
Waltz and her fifth grade class from Inman Intermediate in Nixa, Missouri in the United States.
It's great to have you listening and I'll email some answers to your questions later today.
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 with our Kids vs Adults weekly news quiz, where you get to test who's been paying the most attention to the week.
That just was.
In the meantime, get out there and have a most excellent day.
Over and out.
Thank you.
