BTN: Episode 22 Transcript 14/8/18
Hey, Amelia here. Welcome to BTN. Here's what's coming up.
• We take a look at what regional schools are doing to help students through the drought.
• We find out how you feel about violence in sport.
• And celebrate Science Week with a look at three amazing Aussies that changed the game.
Lombok Earthquake
Reporter: Ruby Cornish
INTRO: All that and more soon. But first. We're taking you to the Indonesian island of Lombok where a number of powerful earthquakes have caused a lot of damage. We checked in with some kids there to see how the recovery operation's going. Take a look.
MILLIE: Hi my name is Millie, I go to Rinjani Indah school and I live in Kuta Lombok.
RILEY: I'm Riley I live in Kuta Lombok and I go to Rinjani Indah School.
KAI: My name is Kai, I live in Kuta.
ALICIA: I'm Alicia, I'm from Jakarta and my mum and my Dad's from Australia.
Most of the time Lombok is the kind of place most people dream of visiting. It's got white sand, palm trees and all sorts of fun things to do.
MILLIE: The fun part about it is we get to go bike riding with my friends and surfing.
Lombok sits on an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in a part of the ocean called the Pacific Basin, which makes it prone to earthquakes. Most of the time, they're not anything to worry about.
MILLIE: I don't usually feel them because they're tiny.
RILEY: Sometimes tiny little earthquakes.
But in the past few weeks, three big earthquakes have hit Lombok and caused a lot of damage. Thousands of people have been injured and more than 300 have died. The shaking was so strong that it was felt in neighbouring island Bali and on the nearby Gili Islands too. Luckily, the area that Millie, Riley, Kai and Alicia live in wasn't badly damaged, but they felt it all the same.
KAI: I was about to eat my pasta and then the earthquake started to happen. I was standing there like didn't know what was happening. I was confused.
RILEY: Everything started shaking and then everyone ran outside and there was screaming, like 'earthquake earthquake'.
ALICIA: I never been so scared in my life.
MILLIE: Our friend was like 'be calm' and then we ran outside like 'is there gonna be a tsunami?'
That was a question a lot of people on the island were asking. Earthquakes shift tectonic plates under the ocean floor, and the sudden movement can sometimes create huge, destructive waves.
RILEY: One of our chefs said 'the water is rising' in Indonesian. I was like 'the pipes must be popped.' I asked my stepmum and my dad and they said no like in the ocean.
In the end that earthquake didn't trigger a tsunami, but there’s been something else to worry about. Aftershocks. They're smaller earthquakes that happen after a big one.
RILEY: I mostly slept through the aftershocks, like most of them. After the latest aftershock today, my dad came to check on me and apparently, I was snoring.
MILLIE: There's some big ones and some tiny ones. So, people are still freaking out about it in case there's another one.
The earthquakes have left more than 150 thousand people homeless, and the Red Cross says there are about 20 thousand who still need medical help. The kids at Rinjani Indah school feel lucky to be safe, but they know it'll be a long time before life is back to normal for everyone on their island home.
This Week in News
If you're one of the 1 million kids that sat the NAPLAN test this year you should be getting your results pretty soon.
But some people are worried that because there were two different versions of the test this time around a paper version and an online version it could be a bit tricky comparing the results. It's got people questioning whether the online test just makes things more complicated.
But the group in charge of the NAPLAN results says things are under control.
Meanwhile in WA, 4 Primary schools have put a ban on Homework. Yup, homework. They say they'd prefer their students to focus on other things when the final school bell rings.
I would like them to be reading. I would like them to be cooking with their parents. I would like them to be playing board games. I would like them to be outside doing some physical activity.
It's up to each individual school to decide what homework they set for their students.
And finally, the National Indigenous Music Awards were held over the weekend. One of the biggest winners of the night was Gurrumul. He took out artist of the year, song of the year and album of the year. Gurrumul passed away last year and his family say the awards were a real honour to his legacy.
Another big winner was rap star Baker Boy who won best new artist.
Science Profile – Howard Florey
Reporter: Matt Holbrook
INTRO: Now, this week is Science Week and the theme this year is 'Game Changers &
Change Makers'. So, throughout the show, we thought we'd give you a look at three Aussie scientists that changed the way we live today. First up, it's the story of Howard Florey.
This Aussie scientist saved millions of lives, by helping make a drug called penicillin. His name was Howard Florey. Penicillin fights bacterial infections, that, left untreated, could be deadly. But its discovery all happened by accident.
A guy named Alexander Fleming left some dirty Petri dishes lying around when he went on holiday. When he got back, mould had formed, but around it there was no bacteria.
Fleming wrote a paper about this special mould, but that's pretty much where he left it.
About a decade later in 1939, an Australian man, Howard Florey, decided this mould was worth a closer look. Howard and his team found ways to extract the powerful parts that fought bacteria. And within a few years, the world's first antibiotic was born: Penicillin.
It would go on to play a really big role during the Second World War, because of its ability to fight infected wounds, saving the lives of millions of soldiers. Penicillin has been treating bacterial infections ever since, and it's led to even more antibiotics being discovered.
In 1945, Howard Florey, along with colleague Ernst Chain, and original discoverer,
Alexander Fleming, were awarded a Nobel Prize. An amazing accomplishment, but Florey also appeared on our $50 note for a while. That's pretty good, too.
Quiz
Which of the following can't be fixed with antibiotics?
A cold Tonsillitis An infected cut
The answer is - a cold. That's because it's caused by a virus, not bacteria.
Footy Violence
Reporter: Matt Holbrook
INTRO: Next up. One punch thrown behind play in an AFL game has started a huge debate about violence in sport. Here’s more.
Taking a bump or two is all part of the game.
KID 1: You still get hits and bumps, it's pretty rough.
KID 2: Only fair hits and bumps. When you're going to pick the ball up and going for goal, you can get tackled. You can expect that.
But there's a big difference between a fair knock, and a situation like this.
COMMENTARY: Oh geeze, it's inexplicable, isn't it?
KID 3: I was worried about how the player that got hit was going to be.
KID 4: I knew he was going to get suspended, I was worried for the Fremantle player. As you could see, he broke his jaw. He dislocated a few teeth and lost a couple as well.
Last week, West Coast's Andrew Gaff punched Fremantle's Andrew Brayshaw in the middle of a game. While Brayshaw's going to be OK, he'll miss the rest of the season recovering. Andrew Gaff got to play out the rest of that game. Later, he found out he'd miss 8 weeks through suspension.
But while the incident has been settled in the eyes of the AFL, many fans and commentators say something needs to change. First up, the red card.
KID 3: I think there should be a rule change like a red card rule in soccer so if someone was strike someone or do something aggressive then they should be taken off the field for the rest of the game.
KID 4: I think there should be a send-off like in soccer, cause you can't just go belting people on the football field.
In most sports played in Australia, players can be immediately sent off for their behaviour.
And while that's the case in the lower levels of Aussie rules, like you might play, umpires in the AFL don't have that power.
But some say, that when it comes to extreme examples of violence on the field, missing games isn't enough. They say in those situations, police should be called. That has happened before. In 1985, Hawthorn player, Leigh Matthews was charged by police for punching Geelong's Neville Bruns. But usually, authorities don't intervene.
GENEVIEVE CLEARY, CRIMINAL LAWYERS ASSOCIATION: The victim, as I said, needs to be the one who goes to police and says, "I've been assaulted or I’ve been attacked, I’ve been injured and I need you to pursue this," so without that, even though we've all seen it on television, the police won't act anyway.
Some people think it's time we revisit that attitude.
KID 1: If you go and punch someone in the street you're going to get a criminal charge. It's the same on the footy field.
KID 2: I think if something like this happens, like a punch to the face, there should be police involvement, because it's no different to a one punch hit on the streets.
The AFL says it's sticking by its system.
GILLON MCLACHLAN, AFL CEO: Our system generally works very well. For one or two incidents a year I think the deterrent is clearly there, we don't see that stuff much in our game much anymore.
But what do you think? Was everything handled okay? Or should more be done to stop violence in sport?
KID 4: I thought it was very stupid, stupid decision to do. Even if he was trying to hit him in the guts, why would you try and punch someone anyway.
KID 1: I think it was unnecessary conduct, yeah, it’s not part of the game.
KID 5: I hope that this does stop, some of my friends might play AFL and I don't want them getting injured and not being able to play.
Schools Respond to Drought
Reporter: Amelia Moseley
INTRO: You might remember last week we told you all about the drought and the effect it's having on farming families across large parts of regional Australia. But how does life at school change when drought hits? Well, we checked in with one to see how its students and teachers are adapting to the challenges a drought brings.
It's another hot, dry day in the little town of Trundle in New South Wales and while these guys are off to school, many of them are still thinking about the farms they just left and their parents who are struggling to run them.
HOLLY: Yeah, it's hard. Watching dad go to work every day and putting so much hard work in, but not getting paid. Like we're not making an income and when we sell sheep, we don't get the money like it's all going to feed the sheep every day.
The state they call home is now entirely in drought. That's why farmers are having to buy hay for their animals to eat and even water for their families to use.
OLIVER: It's really stressful because you have to get water carted to your house, which is like $300 to $700 for every load.
HOLLY: We're just playing it by ear. Like, everything, every day as it comes. Because we never know when it's going to rain.
Lots of kids are spending all of their spare time helping out.
OLIVER: I have a lot of chores now that mum's not home as much. She's taken on a second job at Tottenham to help pay the bills cause dad's always out working.
ELLA: It was, might just go to school come home do homework and other curricular activities outside of school. But coming out here, you go to school, come home and you still gotta to do your homework and stuff, but there’s living on the farm, so you've gotta help out and do sheep work because we run sheep.
The principal and teachers at their school noticed how tough things were getting, so they decided to do something. They introduced a whole new set of fun classes.
JOHN SOUTHON, PRINCIPAL: We have programs where kids are building things such as fire pits, they're dismantling cars, they're doing art work. We're remaining positive, we're not letting this drought pull us down.
These guys say it's good distraction from the drought.
NICK: We have all these amazing interesting electives that we get to do of an afternoon, it's amazing. It gets your brain going, I guess. Gets it’s off the drought and sets it on putting a motor back together.
The school's also opened up all of its showers to anyone in the area that's run out of water.
OLIVER: It makes it a lot less stressful to know that everyone's going through the same thing and that people are trying their hardest to support other farmers in need.
HOLLY: Knowing that I come to this school where it's friendly and happy and you can talk to the teachers and principal about anything and it's so warming. It's going to be a good day when you come here.
Now these guys are just hoping for more good days ahead.
ELLA: We're all adaptable. We can make things work. It's not the end of the world. It's difficult, but we can all make it work and make it easier. Keep the positive mindset and you can get through it all.
OLIVER: To help out, if you see a farmer in town just say "Hey, mate. How ya goin'?"
'cause a couple words can change a man's day.
And, the ABC is also running an appeal to help farmers in drought affected areas. If you want to help talk to your parents and then visit abc.net.au/drought
Science Profile – John O’Sullivan
Reporter: Matt Holbrook
It's something we all use pretty much every day. But did you know an Aussie invented Wi- Fi? John O'Sullivan is a physicist and engineer and was inspired by Stephen Hawking's theory of evaporating black holes, so he set out to find them.
He never managed it, but he did invent a tool that reduced the interference of radio
signals. Fast forward to 1992 and John was working for the CSIRO and was given the job of inventing a faster way for computers to communicate without the use of wires.
Remembering his previous work, he tweaked it and created the basics of Wi-Fi that are still used today. His invention earned the CSIRO around 1 billion dollars in royalties, after he patented it in Australia and the US.
DR JOHN O'SULLIVAN: Every time I pull my mobile out and say yeah, yeah. That's got the same, the same technology. My laptop has the same technology yeah, you can't help but feel pride.
Us too, John. Us too.
Did you know?
Did you know? Wi-Fi doesn't actually stand for anything. Some first thought it was short for 'wireless fidelity' but it's actually just a made-up brand name.
Sport
Australia's cleaned up at the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships winning eight gold, twelve silver and seven bronze medals across four days in Tokyo.
Cate Campbell was a standout, collecting 5 gold medals.
He's a legend of the game but Billy Slater is hanging up his boots.
BILLY SLATER: For sixteen years I've had the pleasure to play in the NRL, however this will be my last as I will be retiring at seasons end.
The full-back's made a name for himself as a one club man playing more than 300 games for Melbourne Storm. During his time, he's made 187 tries, won two premierships and a Dally M Medal.
He also represented Queensland in the State of Origin a bunch of times. Oh and he played for Australia too.
Finally, there's nothing like the feeling of celebrating a big win unless you're this guy.
Griffin Easter thought he'd won the First Stage of the Tour of Utah, but there was still a whole lap to go.
Spoiler alert: his celebration allowed a whole heap of riders go past him. Ouch. My heart hurts.
Science Profile – Ruby Payne-Scott
Reporter: Matt Holbrook
This Aussie was an absolute pioneer. In the 1930s, Ruby Payne-Scott was one of a handful of female physicists in the country. And she’d go on to play a really important role in the development of radar, at what's now the CSIRO. Ruby Payne-Scott helped develop radar equipment using bent coat hangers and sticky tape, which helped protect Australia's coastline during World War 2.
She also worked in solar radio astronomy, helping measure radio emissions from the sun and stars. But she was a trailblazer in other ways, too. As a woman, she was discriminated against. She had to fight for a decent wage, and she got in trouble for wearing shorts, rather than dresses to work, even though her job involved climbing ladders and getting onto rooftops. She was even forced to resign when she became pregnant.
Ruby never went back to working as a physicist and spent the rest of her life as a teacher.
But today, she's remembered with a special CSIRO award and this nifty profile.
Exploring the Sun
Reporter: Amelia Moseley
INTRO: Finally, today, NASA has launched a new probe that aims to shed some light on some of the Sun's most enduring mysteries. But how much more is there to learn about that big, bright thing in our sky? Take a look.
For most of human history, the sun was an object of mystery.
MATT: What is it?
AMELIA: It is a burning ball of fire.
MATT: Ooh.
Or something to be admired, or sometimes even feared.
AMELIA: It is angered. We need a human sacrifice. Go get that young peasant.
AMELIA: I mean, can you imagine how terrifying something like an eclipse would've been to us ancient folk?
AMELIA: Oh, no. It's too late. It is angered.
Luckily, over time and with the invention of new technology like the telescope, we learnt a lot more about the Sun and its impact on our world. Like the way all the planets in our Solar System revolve around it and that it takes 365 and a bit days for the earth to do that, which is how we got our calendar year.
But fast forward to the invention of even more powerful technology and we suddenly had the ability to take our studies right up into space.
Here are some other cool things we now know about that hot ball of gas. The Sun's core temperature is a scorching 15 million degrees. That core is basically a giant nuclear reactor that produces massive amounts of energy, which creates a lot of light. It's also by far the biggest object in our Solar System.
We also know the Sun is actually a star. While it's seen as special to all the little people on Earth; there are really billions of other stars like it scattered across the galaxy.
Still, it really is special to us. It's our closest star and without the Sun's intense energy and heat there would be no life on Earth. Despite everything we now know about the Sun, scientists say we could know more if we could just get closer. That's why NASA's sending its Parker Probe closer than it’s ever sent anything before - all the way to the Sun's outer atmosphere called the corona.
The spacecraft is about the size of a car and has this amazing shield, which will always face the Sun, keeping it cool in temps up to 1400 degrees. Over the course of seven years, Parker will orbit our special star 24 times and send back all of its important data.
So, if everything goes to plan it's hoped this incredible mission will help us humans unlock even more secrets of that once mysterious thing in the sky.
AMELIA: It's ok, it's fine. Looks like we didn't need that human sacrifice after all? Haha.
RUBY: That what?
Ask a Reporter
Do you have a question about the Sun? Ask me live on Friday during Ask a Reporter. Just head to our website for the details.
Closer
Yep you can hit me up with all of your Sun questions right now. The form is on our website. And that brings us to the end of the show. Thanks for watching and I'll see you next week for more BTN.
