Squeeze Kids acknowledges the traditional owners of the lands on which we podcast, the Turrbal and Combermary peoples.
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 Christy Kidgerina. It's Wednesday, August 20th.
In Squiz Kids today, the solar system gets a visitor.
A 10-year-old makes chess history. Everybody goes mainstream and solar cars race the outback.
That's what's making news kid style. The Lowdown.
Have you ever been on a road trip and passed through a town without stopping?
That is exactly what a cosmic visitor called 3i slash Atlas is doing.
Zooming through our solar system without hanging around.
The I means interstellar. which tells us that it was formed around another star, not ours, then kicked out of its home and left drifting through the space between stars for millions. maybe even billions of years.
And the three? Well, that's because only two other interstellar objects have ever been spotted before in our solar system.
This one's the third. And it's moving incredibly fast, over 200,000 kilometers an hour.
And astronomers are pretty sure it's a comet. thanks to its fuzzy glow and possible tail.
Later this year, it'll pass between the orbits of Mars and Earth, swing behind the sun and then shoot straight back out into deep space. the closest it'll get to Earth is about 270 million kilometres away.
So, totally safe. A very smart professor from Harvard University, that's a fancy university in the United States, suggested that what if It could be alien technology, maybe even a spaceship that slams on the brakes when it gets behind the sun and stays in our solar system.
Now scientists say that there's no real evidence for that, but it's got the internet buzzing.
Even if it's not aliens, it's still thrilling.
By studying the gases and colours, astronomers might discover whether interstellar comets are made of the same stuff as ours or something brand new.
And if you want the full scoop, catch our Squiz Kids Science Short this Friday on YouTube or in your podcast feed on Saturday.
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 Liverpool in the United Kingdom where last Sunday a 10-year-old girl made chess history.
Her name is Bodana Sivanandan. And at just 10 years, 5 months and 3 days old, she became the youngest female player ever to defeat a grandmaster. which is the very highest title in chess given only to the very best players in the world.
The win came at the British Chess Championships, where she played Peter Wells, a highly respected 60-year-old grandmaster.
Bodana's love of chess started when she was given a set at the age of five.
And at first, she wanted to take the knights and the queens away and play with them.
But her dad told her that that would ruin the game for the next player, so she started watching YouTube to learn how to play instead, before competing in actual tournaments.
She now takes on opponents far older and more experienced than her with no fear, always seeing every game as a chance to learn.
And last week, that fearless attitude paid off with a historic checkmate.
Pop Culture Corner. Okay, brace yourselves because I'm about to embarrass myself trying to use your slang.
Kids, ready? This week, the Cambridge Dictionary added some new words like skippity and delulu.
And honestly, I feel about 100 years old just saying them.
So Skibbity, it started with those wild YouTube and TikTok videos of singing toilets with human heads.
Yep, it's a thing. But now kids use skibbity as a nonsense word for anything silly, random or just plain chaotic.
Like if your little brother knocks over his spaghetti at dinner, you can just shake your head and go, so skippity.
And then there's delulu, which is short for delusional.
It's when you believe something that's never going to happen, like me thinking I sound cool using these words.
Even the Prime Minister gave it a go in Parliament, calling some ideas delooloo with no salooloo.
Oof. Parents, don't panic. It's not rude.
It's just some goofy fun. So keep calm and don't question the skibbity.
Just roll with it. . Weird science! What runs on sunshine can drive thousands of kilometres and is built by students? a solar car.
And this weekend, 37 teams from 18 countries will light up in Darwin for the World Solar Car Challenge.
It's a race like no other. Over seven days, teams drive more than 3,000 kilometres across the outback all the way to Adelaide. powered only by the sun.
The cars look more like spaceships than sedans.
Flat, shiny, covered in solar panels and built to be super light and super fast.
Most of the teams are university students, young engineers putting their skills to the ultimate test.
The rules are pretty strict. Cars can only use solar energy stored in their batteries, must stop at checkpoints and be safe enough for Aussie roads.
So could solar cars ever hit the streets for all of us?
Not yet, but challenges like this one push the technology closer every year.
And if this story has sparked your interest, Stay tuned.
Next term, we're launching a brand new podcast series, Planet Warriors, all about sustainable energy, including a whole episode on solar power.
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 does the letter I in 3I Atlas stand for?
Is it A, icy? B, interesting, or C, interstellar?
That's right. It's C, Interstellar. Question number two.
What is the very highest title a chess player can earn?
The one that Bodana Sivanandan beat at just 10 years old.
That would be a grand master. Question number three, which word made popular by wild YouTube and TikTok videos has just been added to the dictionary?
I can't believe I'm saying it again. It is Skibbity.
Shout out. It's Wednesday, August 20, World Mosquito Day, marking Sir Ronald Ross's 1897 discovery. that mosquitoes spread a disease called malaria.
That disease makes them the deadliest animals on earth.
But they're not just villains. Many mosquitoes also pollinate plants and provide food for birds, bats and fish.
So not all bad. As long as they stay away from my uncles.
Today is also a special day for these quiz kids celebrating a birthday!
Sophie from Wagga Wagga, Poppy from Yas, and William from Mernda.
And belated birthday shoutouts go to Dimna from Randwick, Sebastian from Googong, Aliana from Chesterhill, and Oscar from Bayswater.
Classroom shout-outs today go to Class 5 TC with Miss Lessick at John Henry Primary School in Pakenham.
And Class 1 Blue with Mrs Anderson at St Thomas Primary School at Camp Hill.
And a huge shout out to Mr. Lion and all the wonderful Year 5 teachers and to all my new friends at Pacific Pines Primary School on the Gold Coast. who are making their own podcasts.
It was so great to meet you all on Monday.
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 thesquiz.com.au. 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, the Year 5 students at Pacific Pines Primary are helping me with the sign-off today.
Over and out. Thank you.
