Episode Transcript

00.00

LEELA: From scorching weather in the US to forest fires in Europe.

Massive DNA mapping in the UK…

Italy’s gigantic battery dome…

And you won’t believe what you can use instead of cash to buy a home in China. This excludes all vampires! It’s a packed week on newsy pooloozi

OPENING STING – LEELA: “Hey, hey, hey. Listen up. New, new, newsy – Newsy Pooloozi!”

LEELA: Hello, hello – I’m Leela. And as ever I’m joined by my sidekick otherwise known as my Mama.

MAMA: Hello – I’m also called Lyndee.

LEELA: And this is our summer “quick dip episode” of Newsy Pooloozi – the coolest news pool for curious kids and adults.

MAMA: Yes, we are taking a little bit of a breather over summer. But we know the news doesn’t stop – so…

LEELA: Let’s take a quick dip in the news with…

BIG NEWS STORY STING – VARIOUS VOICES: “The big news story of the week!”

MAMA: It’s hot, hot, hot in the US.

LEELA: Eight northern and central states are under HEAT ALERTS. How hot is hot, you ask?

MAMA: Around 70% of Americans will feel 90-degree heat that’s more than 32 degrees Celsius. And for nearly 20%, it will get even hotter – near or above 100F.

LEELA: And that’s the same temperature over in parts of Europe too. Not just Spain, which is no stranger to the heat, but even parts of Germany and France.

MAMA: Sadly, it’s also leading to bad wildfires in those countries and Portugal and Italy too with firefighters working around the clock to try and contain them.

NATURE STING – VARIOUS VOICES: “The call of nature. Get on your safari suit. Or squeeze into your scuba gear. And get ready to hop into a jeep. Or submarines. Submarine. Because Mother Nature is calling! Nature.”  

LEELA: In the UK a massive DNA mapping project is about to begin.

MAMA: Scientists want to map the DNA of every single life form in the UK and Ireland.

LEELA: And we’re talking EVERYTHING from the cute to the ugly, big and small animals, plants and let’s not forget fungi.

MAMA: We can’t forget the fungi, 70,000 species in the UK and Ireland in fact – it’s one of biology’s most ambitious projects.

LEELA: And it won’t just help scientists discover more about the natural world – and how to help it survive climate change.

MAMA: But it could even help them find nature-inspired medicines that could help the US better survive too.

LEELA: Ooooh. I’d say that’s a win-win.

TECH STING – LEELA/MAMA: “It’s time for…. Technology News, technology news, tech news!”

LEELA: An Italian start-up has successfully launched a battery that uses carbon dioxide to store renewable energy on a major scale.

MAMA: And when she says major scale, she means for a utility grid. Remember, one of the challenges with new forms of cleaner energy is how to store it.

LEELA: Having a bunch of small batteries with lots of precious metals is not exactly efficient. So, this news is a BIG deal.

MAMA: Called Energy Dome, it’s moved from the concept stage as in just the idea to full testing of a multi-megawatt plant in Sardinia, Italy, in just over two years.

LEELA: Wozzers!

ACE STING – LEELA/MAMA: “Now it’s the ace part of our podcast: Arts, Culture and Entertainment. Darling.”

LEELA: In case you happened to be under a tree last week and missed this mega pop news…

MAMA: Fans of K-pop are still talking about superstars BTS announcing they’ll be focusing on their solo careers.

LEELA: OMG! But… they were clear to say

MAMA: And I quote, “It’s not that we’re disbanding! We’re just living apart for a while.”

LEELA: Not only are fans distraught, but the talent agency that supports the group is losing money.

MAMA: Yep, shares in the group’s agency lost as much as $1.7 billion dollars in market value.

LEELA: And finally…

ODDBALL STING – VARIOUS VOICES: “Step right up, step right up… Have a go at the lucky dip machine… What’s it gonna be today, eh? An oddball, no doubt!”

LEELA: Well, if you’re a farmer in Central China and you don’t have enough cash to buy a house… you’ll never guess what you can use instead.

MAMA: Uhhh… livestock? Cattle?

LEELA: Close – wheat and garlic, would you believe?

MAMA: No way!

LEELA: Yes, a desperate property developer is coming up with new ways to attract buyers – offering to swap wheat and garlic as down-payments on a house.

MAMA: Okay well, I see. So basically, the real estate in China isn’t as good as it once was when there was a massive surge in building new buildings and now there are more new homes than there are buyers who can afford them.

LEELA: Exactly. So, why not use your crops as cash? Makes sense to me.

MAMA: I guess it’s the way the world worked for centuries, Millennia even I suppose.

LEELA: Only – bad luck for the vampires…! I want to suck your blood… Garlic house

MUSIC

LEELA: Alrighty then folks – that’s it from us.

MAMA: We hope you enjoyed this week’s quick dip in the wacky world of news. And since we know you’re all settled in and comfortable, we’re going to now treat you to one of our podcasting friends, another child podcaster in fact.

LEELA: Yes, that would be Jack from Jack to the Future, of course.

MAMA: Who’s got a fab episode about the future of computers.

LEELA: Take it away, Jack.

JACK TO THE FUTURE PODCAST (Not transcribed)

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