BTN: Episode 29 Transcript 24/10/17
Hi, Amelia here. Welcome to BTN!
Coming up today:
· We reveal a discovery that's out of this world.
· Meet some cute quolls about to embark on a comeback tour of mainland Australia.
· And we'll tell you how you can nominate your amazing teacher for our inaugural BTN Teacher awards!
We'll tell you more about that exciting competition soon.
Holden Closure
Reporter: Jack Evans
INTRO: But first the very last Australian-made car has rolled off the production line in South Australia. Last week the Holden car factory closed its doors for good. It's a sad time for workers and Holden fans and the end of an era for Aussie manufacturing. Take a look.
Holden Ad: Australia what’s your favourite sport? FOOTBALL. Snack? PIES. Animal? KANGAROO. And what's your favourite car Australia? HOLDEN!
Yep, there's no denying that over the years, Holden cars have become an Aussie icon.
HOLDEN AD: We love football, meat pies, kangaroos and Holden cars. Football, meat pies-
Holden was founded about 160 years ago, by this guy James Alexander Holden, hence the name. At first, they made saddles, yep, for horses! But Mr Holden realised that as a mode of transport, horses were about to be replaced by cars. So, Holden started making car upholstery and then car shells before joining up with the giant US company, General Motors. And, In 1948 Holden released its first fully Australian car.
NEWSCASTER: And that’s how she looks, the car whose appearance and general design had an element of secrecy for so long.
The Holden FX was the first Australian-designed car to go into mass production and it was pretty popular around the country. By 1958 40% of Aussie car owners were cruising around in a Holden.
NEWSCASTER: The birth of this car is the birth of a great new industry.
You see, for a young country like Australia being able to drive a car that was designed and made here was a pretty big deal at the time. It meant more jobs for Aussies and money for the economy and it wasn't just Holden. Several other companies were making cars here like the really popular Ford Falcon.
But times changed and cars changed. It became easier and cheaper to buy cars from overseas where factories often cost less to run. One by one, car companies closed their Australian factories. Last week the last Holden car to be manufactured in Australia rolled off the production line at the Elizabeth factory in SA. In fact, it was the last car to be made in Australia.
MAN: It's very, very sad for me because of what Holden’s have meant to so many thousands of Australians over the years.
But it's not just Holden fans finding it hard to say goodbye.
INDIANA: My dad was a team leader for the engine line and he placed the engine into the car.
Indiana and Cooper's family was just one of the hundreds affected by the factories closure and they say it's been a pretty tough week.
INDIANA: It was kinda sad but its ok cause he'll have more free time and he can just take us to school and yeah..
COOPER: New Job.
And it's not just the thousand workers who've lost their jobs. Many other people in the area where Indiana and Cooper live rely on Holden. Whether they're supplying the parts or working in shops, restaurants and schools used by workers and their families. The government says it'll help people affected to find new work. But some reckon Australia should have tried harder to keep its car manufacturing industry. Others say we'd be better off trying to support more innovative, modern businesses. In any case last week will be remembered as the end of an era when we said goodbye to an Aussie icon.
This Week in News
The Australian Government's announced a new plan for where Australia's electricity will come from in the future
It's called the National Energy Guarantee and the Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says it'll make energy cheaper and more reliable.
But not everyone's a fan.
Some reckon the plan doesn't do enough to support renewable energy sources like wind and solar.
It still has to be approved by Parliament so it might be a while before we see any changes.
New Zealand has a new Prime Minister and she's the youngest woman to ever lead a country!
Her name is Jacinda Ardern and she's 37. She's the head of the New Zealand Labour Party which has teamed up with the New Zealand First Party to form government.
Ms Ardern says she wants to focus on wages, housing affordability and climate change.
Aussie scientists have helped come up with a way to stop apples going brown!
Experts from the CSIRO say they can change the DNA of fruit and veggies to keep them looking fresh for longer which they hope will lead to less food waste!
An American company is already using the technology to sell specially designed sliced apples that can keep their colour.
Neutron Stars
Reporter: Ruby Cornish
INTRO: Now to some news from a little further away, actually a lot further away! Last week scientists announced they'd managed to spot two neutron stars colliding 130 million light years away thanks to the gravitational waves they sent out. So, why's that a big deal? And what's a neutron star, anyway? Let's find out!
Long, long ago...
RUBY: Like we're talking a really long time ago guys, like 130 million years ago.
In a galaxy faaaar, far away.
RUBY: Like really far away guys, like we're talking this many kilometres, which is a number I can't even say… sorry..
Two neutron stars were hatching a plan, knowing full well the results might be explosive.
RUBY: I know that sounds like flowery language guys but it's not, they-
Hey! I’m telling a story
Neutron stars are stars that have reached the end of their lives and exploded in what's called a supernova. The core they leave behind, which is about the size of a small city, is called a neutron star. These stars are so dense that just a teaspoon of one would be 900 times heavier than the biggest pyramid on Earth! Because they're so dense, they have plenty of gravitational pull, and that's what's been dragging these stars toward each other over billions of years, and finally caused them to collide!
SUSAN SCOTT, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY: Astronomers have been wanting to look at the collision of two neutron stars for decades, but have never been able to find one in sufficient time to look at it.
So how did they track down something in a galaxy so far, far away? The clue was gravitational waves. You see, gravity travels in waves, just like light and sound. Albert Einstein predicted their existence more than a hundred years ago, but he was only proven right last year, thanks to machines in the US and Italy built to detect gravity waves.
DAVID REITZE, PHYSICIST: Ladies and gentlemen, we have detected gravitational waves. We did it!
In fact, the scientists who built them have been awarded a Nobel Peace Prize! Once the initial discovery was made, astronomers from all over the world, including Australia, teamed up to track down where the explosion was coming from.
DAVID REITZE, PHYSICIST: We have, for the first time, seen both gravitational waves and light, from the collision of two dense dead stars called neutron stars.
And they'll keep their eyes glued to their telescopes, to see what happens in the aftermath of a neutron star collision. Scientists are calling this a "game changer" because it's given us heaps of new information about how the universe works. It confirms another one of Einstein's theories that the speed of gravity is the same as the speed of light. Scientists also reckon they now have proof that some rare elements on earth - like gold - came from exploding neutron stars.
DAVID REITZE, PHYSICIST: This is my great-grandfathers gold watch, it’s about 100 years old. The gold in this watch was very likely produced in the collision of two neutron stars.
Wow, I guess that means there's a whole lot more gold out there now.
RUBY: So, if you know a way to get me and my wheelbarrow 130 million light years through the galaxy and back today. Get in touch!
Ask a Reporter
Have you got a question about neutron stars or gravitational waves? Ask me live on Friday during Ask A Reporter!
Head to our website for all the details.
Quiz
Now to a quick quiz.
What travels faster - sound or light?
The answer is light. In fact, nothing can travel faster than the speed of light!
Relocating Eastern Quolls
Reporter: Oscar Coleman
INTRO: Now, have you ever seen an Eastern Quoll? If you have you're pretty lucky!
While the cute little marsupials are common in Tassie, they've been extinct in the wild for more than 50 years on mainland Australia. But now, they're set to make a comeback!
Oscar: Have you seen this quoll?
Oscar: Have you seen this quoll?
RUBY: What kind of quoll?
OSCAR: I'm looking for an eastern quoll.
RUBY: Mate, there are no eastern quolls around here!
OSCAR: What?
Actually, she was right! These guys haven't been seen anywhere on mainland Australia since 1963.
Back then, my mum wasn't even born yet, and Sydney looked like this.
For those of you who've never seen a quoll - and that might be a lot of you - they're an Aussie meat-eating marsupial about the size of a cat. In fact, they're also known as the eastern native cat.
And there was a time when they could be found all over the place - across the eastern coast of SA, through most of Victoria and along the Central Coast of New South Wales.
But quolls had enemies. Introduced predators like foxes and cats hunted quolls and drove them to extinction in mainland Australia.
Luckily for quolls - and fans of quolls - there was a place where they survived.
Here in Tasmania, there are no feral foxes and there are lots of quolls! And now, for the first time in more than 50 years, conservationists are bringing them back to the mainland. They're taking quolls - that've been bred at a sanctuary for endangered species - on a big journey across Bass Strait.
Over the next three years, 100 of the little guys will be moved to New South Wales. They'll be released in Booderee National Park, Jervis Bay.
Wade Anthony, Tasmanian Quoll Conservation Program: To be able to reintroduce the species back into its former home range is something- I think its very important. It might be the first step in a number of different species or a number of different sites for the eastern quolls.
Shane (Chicko) Sturgeon, Booderee National Park: In a community sense, it's a big thing. And not only that, just seeing these animals in your hands when you release them, it's an overwhelming experience to just meet new species and it's one of those things you just can't wait for it to happen, I suppose.
These guys say bringing back quolls could actually really help the environment.
Rob Brewster, Rewilding Australia: It is one of Australia's most beautiful animals, it performs a real significant role in our ecosystems, so yeah, we've absolutely got to try and bring it back. Farmers used to love them. They used to call them the farmers' friend. They eat pasture grubs. They eat pests, mice, rats. They’re a really fantastic animal to have around.
Foxes are controlled in the National Park, so it's hoped the quolls will be safe from any predators.
But researchers will still be keeping an eye on them. The critters will be kitted out with GPS trackers and monitored by high-tech cameras.
WWF-Australia is also asking people to suggest names for the new arrivals.
Because it's only polite to call a new neighbour by name - how about Oscar Quoll-man? Quolly McQuollface? Hmm, might have to work on that.
It'll be a while before these guys have settled in - and researchers know whether the move's been a success - but hopefully these little natives are set for a big comeback.
Quiz
Okay time for an animal quiz now.
Which of these Aussie creatures is NOT a marsupial?
The Tasmanian devil
The platypus
Or the kangaroo
The answer is the platypus. It's actually a monotreme which is a mammal that lays eggs!
Teaching Changes
Reporter: Jack Evans
INTRO: Now, here at BTN we think teaching is one of the most important jobs out there.
So, to finish the year we wanted to do something to celebrate all of the amazing work teachers do each and every year. That's why we're introducing the very first BTN Teacher Awards! Soon, we'll give you all the details about how you can nominate your teacher. But first, we're going to find out a little more about what this job really involves and how it's changed over the years.
Mr Jessett: Good morning Everyone.
Class: Good morning Mr Jessett.
Meet Mr Jessett. He's a teacher so I can't reveal his first name.
Mr Jessett: It's Matt.
What?
Mr Jessett: My first name is Matt. I don't mind if you use it.
Oh, ok. Well Matt or Mr Jessett to his students has been a teacher for 7 years.
Mr Jessett: So today’s lesson’s gonna be about computational thinking so in the middle-
MR JESSETT: I wanted to be a teacher because I wanted to have a career that was very sociable. I wanted to have a career which makes a difference in children’s lives.
Teaching has always been one of the most important jobs around but it’s a role that has changed quite a bit over the years.
TEACHER: Any questions? Nick, you had one!
For starters, early Aussie school were all run by the church. it wasn't until 1849 that first public school was opened and back then teachers were a lot stricter. Every morning they would check student’s nails, hair and teeth to make sure they were clean and teachers were allowed to use a cane to hit children who were playing up.