0:05

Hey, it's Dan. Before we into

0:07

this week's fun kid science weekly, I've got

0:09

message for the grown ups. You can now get

0:11

this podcast ad free, plus

0:14

special bonus episodes too.

0:16

When you subscribe to Fun Kids Podcast

0:19

Plus, you'll get this podcast without

0:21

the ad plus access to

0:23

over thirty other podcasts

0:25

too. You'll also unlock special bonus

0:28

features. The first can be downloaded right

0:30

now in it I sit down and answer

0:32

loads of your science questions. And

0:35

remember, when you become a subscriber,

0:37

you're supporting the work that we do every day

0:39

to make entertaining high quality and

0:41

safe content for your family in

0:43

our podcasts on the radio and

0:45

online. Subscribe to Fun Kids

0:47

Podcast Plus. by heading to

0:50

funkids live dot com or if you're

0:52

on Apple Podcasts, tap try

0:54

free to unlock a thirty day

0:56

free trial right now.

1:04

We're spinning the wheel and exploring an

1:06

a z of engineering from

1:08

audio to zoos,

1:11

massive oil rigs,

1:14

to digital computer code. You'll

1:17

be surprised where engineers can

1:19

be found, so join us on mission

1:21

to discover more. To

1:23

listen to Engineer head over

1:25

to funkids live dot com.

1:30

Well, hello, and welcome to

1:32

a quick trip around the universe.

1:35

We'll search out some science secrets.

1:37

This is the fun kid science

1:39

weekly. My

1:41

name's Dan. This is the only podcast in

1:43

the universe that explores the whole of the universe

1:46

and uncovers all the gems that

1:48

are lurking nearby. This

1:50

week, we'll talk about what birds

1:53

do when they sense a

1:55

storm. Do they fly through it? Do

1:57

they fly around it? Sometimes they know

1:59

that it's coming

1:59

before we do.

2:02

And we've got nowhere to hide. So what

2:04

happens, these bugs, what do we do?

2:06

And we're gonna on learning some extreme

2:08

conditions around. That

2:11

is with the expert Emily Shepherd. You

2:13

can hear from more of her in a little bit.

2:15

Also, We're back with Amy's aviation.

2:18

She's our airplane. Genius. This

2:20

week, she'll take us to space with

2:22

planes.planes that can

2:24

fly in the air and through

2:27

gravity. How does that work?

2:28

There's an exciting new

2:30

type of spacecraft to take

2:32

space tourists up and up and away

2:34

on sub orbital flights to heights

2:36

around a hundred above

2:38

sea level. And I've got

2:40

your questions to answer as always this week.

2:43

They are on the fruit and veg. What makes

2:45

them and how does your

2:47

brain tell you what to do?

2:49

We'll find that out in a brand new kid

2:51

science weekly. Let's

2:54

start off with this week's science in

2:56

the news. The

2:59

world is getting darker, which

3:01

is a strange effect of climate

3:03

change. Experts have measured the

3:05

planet's shine by looking

3:07

at the light reflected from Earth

3:10

onto the moon. So this is sunlight

3:12

that travels from the sun. It takes

3:14

like eight minutes it hits our planet and then it

3:16

goes to the moon and it lights up some of that and they

3:18

can find out how much

3:20

we're shining and they've discovered that actually

3:22

getting less. Studies suggest

3:24

that the amount of low cloud over oceans

3:27

is reducing because the seas

3:29

are getting warmer. and these

3:31

clouds act like a mirror at

3:33

reflecting the sun's light. And if there's

3:36

not many of them around, it doesn't do good

3:38

job before. And now it's hard to see

3:40

what impact that has for us here on

3:42

Earth, but it's a clear sign

3:45

that things are changing around the

3:47

world and through space. Also, researchers

3:49

from the University of Tokyo have discovered

3:52

that rats have a natural ability to

3:54

dance to ABI love this. The way

3:56

they did it's incredible too using wireless

3:58

miniature acts cellularometers, which

4:01

measure head movements, the scientists

4:03

discovered that rats understand and move to music

4:06

in very similar ways to us. They

4:08

strange, isn't it? We used to think that our ability

4:10

to dance to music was like unique

4:12

to humans. But it sounds how animals

4:14

enjoy a dance too. which maybe

4:17

you'd already figured out looking at your

4:19

cat or your dog when you're

4:21

playing music? How do they act? I wonder.

4:23

Also, human beings use fights to cook

4:25

hundreds of thousands of years before we

4:27

had originally thought. Scientists in

4:29

Israel found evidence of

4:31

seven hundred and eighty thousand year

4:33

old remains of a huge fish

4:35

in Israel that they think were actually

4:38

cooked. And experts

4:40

say this would completely change

4:42

how we thought humans would have acted

4:44

at the time. I think it's amazing that we're

4:46

constantly finding out things about what our

4:48

humans did. So long

4:50

ago and how it's slightly

4:52

different to what we thought they did and how

4:54

that changes the future. Let's

4:57

get to your questions on the show then every

4:59

week you send over these

5:01

things about the world that you are wandering.

5:04

Maybe it's further out than the world. Maybe you want to know

5:06

what's going on in space. Anything science y

5:08

that you need solved Send over

5:10

to me as a voice note on

5:12

the fun kids app, and then I

5:14

will do the digging, and I'll find out for

5:16

you just like this. Who's first today? Hello.

5:18

My name is Wolf, and I'm thirteen

5:20

years old. I would like to know what kind

5:22

of atoms make up

5:23

we can veg. Wolf, Thank you so

5:26

much for sending that in brilliant question, even

5:28

better name. So what type

5:30

of atoms make up through and veg? Well,

5:32

elements, molecules, And

5:34

chemicals make up everything, really.

5:36

Everything you can see around you, that's the

5:38

building blocks of life, including

5:41

fruit. Now take a banana. Seventy

5:44

five percent of a banana is

5:46

water. That's a molecule

5:48

H20 Then you have

5:50

fiber. You've got amino acids in their

5:52

fatty acids to glucose, fructose,

5:55

and sucrose. They are sugar molecules.

5:57

They give your body energy. They're

5:59

all in a banana. These types

6:01

of atoms and molecules, the elements

6:03

that make up everything, and they build together

6:05

to make the fruit and the veg that we

6:07

every single day. So

6:09

thank you for that wolf. Who's next with

6:11

the question this week? I'm able and

6:13

I'm eight years old. I would like to know

6:15

how your

6:15

brain control your body. Mabel,

6:17

thank you so much. Your brain is

6:20

the driving processor of

6:22

your central nervous system.

6:24

They make nerves. They make the wires

6:26

that go all around your body move

6:29

and work and tell things what to do.

6:31

It's sends tiny electrical pulses

6:33

bursts of energy through them, which control

6:36

everything. Through those nerves,

6:38

those wires, your brain can tell you

6:40

what must source need to move and when.

6:42

That's how it controls it. It's like,

6:45

you know, in those sci fi movies, sometimes

6:47

where you see a creature or an alien

6:49

that's like inhabited another person's body

6:51

and is moving it around with levers. That's kind

6:53

of what your brain is doing anyway.

6:56

It's pulling all

6:58

of these nerves firing off electrical

7:00

pulses that tell you what to do

7:03

when you need to move and what you need to

7:05

think. It's an absolute Genius

7:08

System, Mabel, thank you for

7:10

the question. If you've got something sciency that you

7:12

wanted next week on the show, do

7:14

send it as a voice note to me on the Free Fun

7:16

Kids app. So

7:18

something very exciting is starting this

7:20

week on The Fun Kids Science Weekly. You

7:22

can now get this podcast ad

7:24

free, and you'll get special

7:26

bonus episodes too.

7:28

In those bonus episodes, I'll answer more

7:30

of your question questions. We'll do

7:32

one a month really, and I will

7:34

just dedicate that whole time to

7:36

your questions and to solving

7:38

more of those science secrets they're lurking

7:41

throughout the universe. Now you'll

7:43

need a grown ups help for this. When

7:45

you subscribe to Fun Kids Podcasts Plus,

7:47

you'll get this podcast without all the

7:49

ads. Plus, you'll get access to over thirty

7:52

other fun kids podcast too. Now the

7:54

first of those special bonus episodes,

7:56

full of your questions, can

7:58

be downloaded right

7:59

now.

8:01

If you really love the science that we

8:03

talk about and what we do, get

8:05

involved with fun kids podcasts plus

8:08

Remember, when you become a subscriber, you're

8:10

supporting the work we do every day to make

8:12

entertaining high quality and

8:14

save content for your family in our podcasts,

8:16

on the radio online, subscribe

8:18

to fun kids podcast plus by

8:20

heading to funkids live dot com.

8:22

Or if you're listening right now on

8:24

Apple podcasts, tap try

8:26

free. You'll unlock a thirty

8:28

day free trial and you'll get to listen

8:30

to that very first science

8:33

weekly bonus episode that we're

8:35

doing right now by becoming

8:37

a subscriber to fun kids

8:39

podcasts plus Let's catch

8:41

up with curious Kate then right now.

8:43

Kay loves energy. She is

8:45

a genius. She wants to know all about

8:47

electricity and what powers the things

8:49

that we use every single

8:52

day she answers all the big questions

8:55

about how things work.

8:57

We've been following Kate and curious with

8:59

her for the last few weeks this time We're

9:01

looking at the invention that

9:03

makes our world so brilliant

9:05

and bright, the light

9:07

bulb.

9:08

Curious

9:13

Kate. In association with

9:14

British Gas generation, cream.

9:17

Wow.

9:22

What was that?

9:23

Tom, you okay?

9:25

Since my brother got back from

9:27

university, he's been doing

9:29

some really odd things. I'm

9:31

not exactly sure what,

9:32

as he never lets me until he's

9:35

finished, which

9:35

is very annoying.

9:38

Sounds

9:41

like you might need our help. So

9:43

maybe there's no chance to find

9:45

out. Why is it

9:47

so dark in here? Are

9:49

you pretending to be a vampire

9:51

again? You know it's not Halloween

9:53

for

9:53

ages. No,

9:56

I'm pretending to be a vampire.

9:59

was trying to replace this old light bulb with an excellent

10:01

bright green bulb bulb bulb bulb bulb. I wanted to

10:03

give my room a great glow. They're now so

10:05

dark and I can't find. We

10:06

might as well light a fire in the fireplace

10:09

if you can't find the bowl.

10:11

That would give off a great

10:13

glow. and

10:14

then the whole house down knowing my

10:16

brother. Funny

10:17

you say that. Years ago, if

10:19

you wanted to light up your room, you'd have

10:21

lit a fire or some candles. It wouldn't have

10:23

stink though. Come over here and help me look

10:25

for this bulb then. Okay. So

10:28

who invented the light bulb anyway?

10:30

It

10:30

was me. What? only

10:33

joking. Most people think

10:35

it was an American called Thomas Edison

10:37

who invented the light bulb as we know it

10:39

today, but there was also a British guy

10:41

called Joseph Swan. They're the same idea in the

10:43

eighteen seventies. Wait

10:44

a minute. A modern light bulb can't

10:46

be the same as they were in the eighteen

10:48

seventies.

10:48

You're right. They're not exactly

10:51

the same. they've changed over time to get

10:53

brighter and use less energy. People

10:54

loved the light bulb at first. They thought it was

10:57

the best thing since sliced

10:59

bread. But a big issue

11:01

was that bulbs burnt out really quickly

11:03

when households went through over fifty

11:05

bulbs a year.

11:06

Wow. That's loads. I

11:08

can't remember the last time mom changed

11:10

mine.

11:10

Exactly. So to help in the

11:13

nineteen thirties, the fluorescent bulb

11:15

was invented. These great light by running a

11:17

charge through gas rather than by heating up

11:19

filament. These new bulbs use twenty

11:21

percent less energy and lasted up

11:23

to six times longer. Oh,

11:25

I

11:25

think I've found your bowl, but I can't

11:27

tell if it's green in the dark.

11:29

Is this it? Nope. It's not that.

11:31

That's a normal CFO. a

11:34

CF what? Don't you

11:36

ever pay attention to mom.

11:38

It's a compact fluorescent lamp.

11:40

Although most normal people just call them

11:42

energy saving bulbs. They produce a more

11:44

efficient light. Oh, and this is the

11:46

science y bit I've learned. They are more

11:48

efficient because they don't use glowing

11:50

filaments. Instead, they contain a mixture

11:52

of argon and mercury vapor. But

11:53

it can't be just gas in

11:56

there. Right? There needs to be

11:58

something to set it off. Yeah.

11:59

That's the good bit. A small electrical

12:02

circuit called a ballast produces a

12:04

current that passes through the gas.

12:06

The vapor then gets all excited and

12:08

gives off an ultraviolet light. that turns

12:10

into visible light because of a coating on the

12:12

inside of the bowl. But what

12:13

about in my digital radio? Or

12:15

the flashy light in my hair straightness?

12:17

They're

12:17

too scared to have any gas in

12:20

them. But there's still a light aren't they?

12:22

Yeah.

12:22

Those are LEDs, light

12:24

emitting diodes. You'd find them

12:26

all over the place. like in your phone,

12:28

on Christmas trees, and even the colors

12:30

on modern traffic lights or LEDs.

12:32

They're basically a perfect piece

12:34

of technology,

12:34

If they're so perfect, why

12:37

don't

12:37

you use that kind of bulb in your lamp?

12:39

Hopefully, one day in the future, we

12:41

will.

12:41

In fact, LED bowls might allow us

12:44

to do away with traditional lamps and

12:46

be in other everyday objects.

12:47

Like in my curtains or

12:49

around the door or something. Yeah.

12:51

But that's

12:51

in the future. Right now,

12:54

LEDs aren't widespread because they're pretty

12:56

expensive, especially for a

12:58

student myself, but you never know what

13:00

the next innovation will be. It's all

13:02

pretty exciting.

13:03

Oh, what's this bulb? I

13:05

think it's the right one. try it in light.

13:08

Just don't fall off the chair this

13:10

time. Ah,

13:11

not enough of that you.

13:14

Let's try it out. Yes.

13:16

It works. Now how good does

13:18

my room look all green? Wow.

13:21

It looks great.

13:24

Curious Kate. In association

13:26

with Generation Green.

13:28

How curious are you? Test

13:30

your curiosity at WWW

13:33

dot generation Green dot co dot u

13:35

k forward slash curiosity.

13:38

Let's get this

13:40

week's dangerous and then we are headed the

13:42

past. About forty

13:45

million years ago, we're taking a look

13:47

at the Baselosaurus. The

13:49

Basel Saurus's name means

13:52

king lizard. But don't let this fool you.

13:54

It wasn't a lizard at all. It was actually a

13:56

marine mammal. It was one of the

13:58

fiercest whales that has

14:00

ever lived. It weighed over

14:02

ten tons, grew up to sixty

14:04

foot long as they said about forty

14:06

million years ago, they were

14:08

also sleeker than modern whales, and

14:10

they looked like big eels, huge

14:13

eels. They had a fierce face that

14:15

looked quite like a crocodile tree with

14:17

a long jaw with razor sharp

14:19

teeth and fossils of the beast

14:21

have shown fish, ancient

14:24

dolphins and even sharks

14:26

in their stomach when

14:28

they died. So they were eating all of

14:30

those incredible creatures. They

14:32

were pretty much top of the food chain. They

14:34

were large, carnivorous, and

14:36

could take down any prey

14:38

underwater. Now it's by experts

14:40

think was probably as strong as a t rex,

14:42

meaning they could crash and chomp

14:44

through anything under

14:46

the sea. The thing is with the

14:48

Basel Asaurus, they were also lonely.

14:50

They didn't move in herds. They

14:52

kind of went solo by themselves. and

14:55

that can make it hard for a creature to

14:57

find food. It's much easier to

14:59

eat when you're in a big pack.

15:01

So scientists think that some of these

15:03

creatures would have starved even

15:05

though they were so massive and mighty.

15:07

But because they are such a big brutal

15:09

beast, the Baselosaurus goes straight onto

15:11

our dangerous land list.

15:14

Now,

15:15

don't you just hate it when

15:17

an ad interrupts your

15:19

podcast? With fun kids

15:22

podcast plus, you can get rid of the

15:24

ads and unlock a whole

15:26

load of bonus content too. I

15:28

recorded a special episode where

15:30

I answer loads of your burning

15:32

science questions. It's exclusive

15:34

to Fun Kids Podcast

15:36

Plus. So stop missing out,

15:38

become a subscriber, and get access

15:40

to extra episodes and ad free

15:43

listening right now. Upgrade

15:45

to fun kids podcast plus

15:47

by heading to fun kids live

15:49

dot com or if you're on Apple

15:51

podcasts, tap try

15:53

free to unlock a thirty day free

15:55

trial. Your subscription helps

15:57

power fun kids and the work we do

15:59

every day to make entertaining, high

16:02

quality, and safe content for your

16:04

family in our podcasts on the

16:06

radio and online. Plus,

16:08

you'll also unlock ad free

16:10

listening on over thirty of our other

16:12

shows. Give it a go. Come on.

16:14

Get rid of these ads. Head to fun kids

16:16

live dot com to subscribe to

16:18

fun kids podcast plus. Or

16:20

if you're on Apple Podcasts, tap

16:23

try free to unlock a thirty day

16:25

free trial.

16:28

Have you got an idea for a

16:31

story? My name is Delaira, and

16:33

I've asked for a story about

16:35

six tortoises. saving

16:37

the world. I've always wanted to see how

16:39

my powers would work out and

16:42

concentrating. She was excited to

16:44

see that wings were sprouting from

16:46

her shell. Big beautiful

16:49

wings. She launched

16:51

herself into the air and swooped and

16:53

swished higher and higher in

16:55

chase with the escape pod. Got an

16:57

idea for a story? Tell us the

16:59

title at fun kids live dot

17:01

com forward slash story quest,

17:03

and we could bring your story

17:05

to life.

17:10

It's the fun

17:13

kids sign sleepily. This week,

17:15

we're headed into the sky to take a look at

17:17

what some birds do to

17:19

reduce their risk. of getting

17:22

hurt by storms. And we've got an

17:24

expert to help us out. Emily Shepherd is from

17:26

Swonsie University. Emily, thank you for

17:28

being there.

17:28

Hi. It's a pleasure.

17:29

So sea birds, I know there are a lot of

17:31

birds in the air. How do you

17:34

define as a sea bird? Is it

17:36

just they fly over the ocean or is there more

17:38

than that? It's quite a

17:40

broad categorization. It's supposed

17:42

to spend a large part of our

17:44

lifespan at sea or depend on the

17:46

sea for and, yeah, a

17:48

feeding me. Now you've been monitoring and

17:50

watching how they

17:51

deal with very fast

17:54

winds that might be flowing towards

17:56

them. why why did you wanna

17:58

look at what birds do when they near a

18:00

storm? I think this

18:01

is a fascinating question.

18:03

So there are areas of the world that

18:05

are

18:05

subject to weeds. strong cycles.

18:08

And

18:08

one part one on

18:10

area is, there's a sea of Japan. Actually,

18:12

a colleague of mine and my husband were

18:15

in Japan when they're really, really strong typing

18:17

here. This code of typing is because of

18:19

that. That's what I called in a bad word. And and we

18:21

just seen a nail hey, everyone had

18:23

to kind of coming on to things. Well, as the winds

18:25

were just whipping down the streets, they caused

18:28

billions of dollars worth and in terms

18:30

of damage.

18:30

And it's a little,

18:32

you know, what happens out at sea when you see

18:35

birds like shoe waters that we're working

18:37

in. And they've got nowhere to hide.

18:39

So what happens, these birds, what do

18:41

they do? Let's

18:45

just talk about those extreme conditions

18:48

a little bit. I know you're more of an

18:50

animal expert and and you watch their movements

18:52

all around the world. But

18:55

I'm aware some people listening

18:57

might know. There are so many different types

18:59

of whether they're told about be

19:01

they tornadoes or hurricanes or

19:04

typhoons, What is a what what

19:06

is AAA typhoon? What

19:08

makes it that and not a tornado if

19:10

you can explain quickly? Oh,

19:12

I guess a different things. So the tornado,

19:14

I

19:14

think it's it's well, you have

19:17

a very specific kind of

19:19

it doesn't have, like, a water spout

19:22

which comes up in the ground and

19:23

you can see the spinning field,

19:25

if

19:26

you if you like, actually meeting

19:28

that down to

19:29

the crowd. hurricanes cyclones

19:32

and typhoons are

19:34

all really

19:34

the same thing. They're really, really

19:37

strong winds.

19:38

And when

19:39

you have a weather system that's on

19:41

a clear eye in the middle of it. And they

19:43

just called the different names depending on

19:45

where they occur in the world. So

19:47

they call typhoons when they hit

19:50

Japan.

19:50

just a a metallurgical

19:52

convention. So you've got these massive

19:55

winds, a lot of storm going on, and

19:57

they're they're moving in a in a huge

19:59

circle around in the middle. Now when

20:01

you were tracking the birds, how

20:03

did you pay attention to where they were and where

20:05

they were going? We're working

20:06

with a colleague called Kenyoda who's

20:09

been where with it's D2 or to speech or to

20:11

support over ten years, and he's been

20:13

putting minutes of GPS numbers on

20:15

the backs of them to find out where

20:17

they go. and

20:18

they're they're remarkable because they undertake their needs

20:20

of hundreds of miles even when they're

20:22

just going out to feed their chicks so they

20:24

can travel

20:25

a really long way. And

20:27

and we also know that they're specialists that

20:29

flying away in conditions. But

20:31

there's

20:33

still a big deal into

20:35

thinking about, you know, and thought, well,

20:37

are they going to be show

20:39

a particular response to storms or

20:41

not? We

20:42

weren't entirely sure. And so that's

20:44

what we wanted to find out. So we looked at

20:46

these GPS tracks that he's been collecting

20:49

over ten years. and

20:50

found cases where birds were actually flying, let's say, of

20:52

Japan, when the typhoon was passing through.

20:55

And that's what

20:55

we that's what we honed in on.

20:58

And

20:58

what did you find out what

21:00

do birds do when they're near these

21:03

massive volatile weather

21:06

systems. And where they are and

21:08

where the storm is passing with connection

21:09

to them and also to the land.

21:11

So sometimes when they're far out

21:13

at sea, they actually use part

21:16

of the storm system just

21:18

to help them fly around the eye. because

21:20

in the eye

21:21

itself, we've got this in theory. Look,

21:23

it's actually quite wind still. Then

21:25

surrounding the eye is what's called the

21:27

a high wall where you get bands of intense rain

21:30

and the strongest winds in the whole of the

21:32

system. So they and

21:34

if they're out to the like out to the middle

21:36

of Japan, we found that they and

21:38

navigate the eye of the

21:40

storm. But

21:41

what we found was

21:42

just blew us away, is

21:44

that his parents were sandwich in between

21:46

Maine and Japan and

21:48

the the path of the storm. They

21:50

actually fly towards the

21:52

eye and sometimes track

21:53

the eye of the storm. That's just a behavior that we just

21:56

never expected to see. So

21:58

sometimes if they're outside of the storm,

21:59

they'll fly through the storm to

22:02

get to the safety of the middle. So

22:04

the if they fly towards the storm, it's the

22:06

coast they are. It's starting to experience

22:08

really strong wind conditions where

22:10

they are. So this we you know, they know that

22:12

there's a storm approaching. And

22:14

the we were

22:16

scratching our heads about

22:17

this for a long time. But

22:19

what we think is happening is that

22:21

if they stay in a normal area

22:24

where they feed and

22:26

whilst they're strong and strong as

22:29

passing through.

22:30

Behind the storm, you get

22:32

winds which could blow them onto

22:34

land and that's

22:35

what they want to avoid. because these

22:37

people are so adapted to being

22:39

at sea. But they're actually

22:41

not very good at landing, but, you know,

22:43

they control land. They on

22:45

land and started being around near London

22:47

in really strong stories, we think

22:49

that's a

22:50

dangerous bit. So we

22:51

think that they're flying

22:52

towards the eye and tracking near

22:55

tell them just basically control

22:57

their position in relation to storm and

22:59

make sure they don't get blown on

23:01

blown on towards

23:03

them.

23:03

So they're almost weighing up the risk of

23:06

of of both of these, and they think

23:08

that flying close to

23:10

a storm seven

23:12

violent it might be is is less of

23:14

a risk to them than being blown onto

23:16

land where they might not be able to find food.

23:18

Is that right?

23:19

Exactly. That's all your things happen.

23:21

And and it might be that these almonds

23:23

aren't that risky for them when they're

23:25

just over water. because they

23:28

can

23:28

they can carry on flying. But

23:30

as long as that, you know, what

23:32

is supposed to be as

23:34

cold, but it's it's it's a softball for eating

23:36

substrate, if you like, whereas land isn't

23:38

Us humans. We we know

23:41

there's a big wind coming maybe

23:43

a little while in advance because we watched

23:45

the weather forecast on TELI.

23:48

Birds, that's their home.

23:51

They've got these brilliant wings with these

23:53

feathers that are so acutely

23:55

sensitive to the winds

23:57

around them. How brilliant are are they? Do you

23:59

know of predicting storms that might

24:02

be heading their way

24:04

within the next day or

24:06

So Yeah. There's

24:07

actually a bit from an animal study that's this

24:09

looked a bit at this. And

24:11

they found that triggered birds

24:14

and headphones in boobies, which

24:16

had two

24:16

species of birds at her in

24:18

the tropics. They found that they make

24:20

these massive d tools.

24:22

of

24:23

hundreds of miles and, you know,

24:26

to

24:26

to certain navigate storms

24:28

and that they can even start leaving the

24:30

colony and many hours before the

24:33

storm

24:33

seemed to hit. So and

24:35

we think

24:35

there are two cues that they're using to that,

24:37

you know, two things which might tell them that

24:39

a storm is coming.

24:41

The

24:41

first is a drop in pressure, which is

24:44

one

24:44

of the things that, I mean, the

24:45

metrologyists might be a keyed

24:48

into. And that

24:49

informs our other forecasts. Another

24:51

thing is infra sound,

24:53

which is

24:53

really low frequency sound and

24:56

is generated by things like returning

24:58

of the waves. And

24:59

so that and there's my abilities that to

25:01

tell them about their their stores

25:04

coming in and so where it's coming from.

25:06

Amazing. It's it's it blows your

25:08

mind, doesn't it that all this is going

25:11

on at a completely different

25:14

level of real knowledge

25:16

that us humans have. They're out there doing their

25:18

own things, staying safe. It's been an absolute

25:20

joy to talk to you. Emily Shepherd,

25:22

From Swanson University, thank you for coming on the show.

25:25

Let's check-in

25:27

with Amy's aviation now. We've

25:29

been following Amy for the last

25:31

couple of months as she explores

25:35

everything in the air for us. She's an

25:37

absolute airplane genius. She's

25:39

told us what they're made from,

25:41

how they're powered, how they take off,

25:43

how they stay in the air. This week,

25:45

it's all about the different kinds of

25:47

planes and how they work,

25:49

and how some of them even

25:51

go into space. Take a

25:53

listen. Have

25:59

you

26:00

ever

26:01

been on an airplane? It's

26:03

really cool. Isn't it?

26:05

My favorite is when the plane takes off

26:07

and you go higher and higher through the

26:10

clouds and into the blue sky above.

26:12

Even if cloudy and gray. Above the cloud, it's always

26:15

sunny. What

26:18

it would be like? If you didn't stop

26:20

there, the carry on going up and up

26:22

and into a space.

26:25

Nice idea, but no planes wouldn't last

26:27

long in space

26:28

or even be able to get there.

26:30

The starters they'd never get fast enough

26:32

to

26:32

escape the earth's gravity, and their engines

26:34

need air to mix for the fuel.

26:36

And there's no air in

26:39

space. We need a pretty special

26:41

sort of plane to get that far?

26:42

Any ideas what it is? much

26:49

the only way to escape the Earth, atmosphere, and

26:51

we've also need to be a special kind of person

26:53

to do it, and restrenowned. You

26:58

have to be super clever to be an

27:00

astronaut. Not to mention incredibly

27:02

fit. Most

27:03

astronauts are qualified pilots

27:05

have trained for years and years just to get

27:07

on a waiting list to go on a mission.

27:09

Others are

27:10

top scientists who wanted to explore

27:12

and they have to train hard

27:15

to be fitting up for the mission. So you're

27:17

probably thinking that it's pretty

27:19

unlikely normal people would ever get

27:21

to go. They You'd be wrong.

27:23

You could be wrong.

27:25

There's an exciting

27:26

new type of spacecraft to take

27:29

space tourists up and up and away

27:31

on sub orbital flights to heights

27:33

around a hundred kilometers above

27:35

sea level. These

27:36

amazing planes are called virgin galactic

27:39

Space Ship one and Space Ship two.

27:41

Test flights have

27:42

already started, although they haven't quite

27:44

decided when the flights will take off for

27:47

real.

27:47

Anyone who could afford a ticket can reserve a

27:50

place to be one of the first space

27:52

tourists. Lots

27:52

of famous people have already built

27:55

their place. professor

27:55

Steven Hawkins a reserved deceit, and

27:57

so is the singer Katie Perry.

27:59

Maybe she'll do

28:00

a concert up there.

28:02

Can you imagine what being a space tourist would

28:04

be like? After two

28:06

or

28:06

three days preparing with your crew,

28:08

you'll

28:08

suit it up and you're

28:10

to go.

28:12

And you're off,

28:14

the spaceship climbs the fifties

28:18

thousand feet. It's pulled by an

28:20

amazing mothership called the White

28:22

Knight. There were two

28:23

of these in virgin galactic's

28:25

feet. The ships use carbon

28:27

fiber in the latest

28:28

technology to travel quickly and using

28:30

the least energy

28:31

possible. The white knight is a

28:34

crazy design. It looks like

28:36

two planes joined by their wingtips,

28:38

and the spaceship sits

28:39

in the center. It to be getting a

28:41

piggy back into the highest reaches of the

28:43

earth's atmosphere. I did

28:45

hear when the countdown to

28:47

space begins. Sorry.

28:48

go one.

28:52

Once we lose

28:55

to the one point, there'll be a wave

28:57

of surging through the draw.

28:59

He'd be here until your seat is the

29:01

rocket motors pound. Sorry. You

29:03

and the other passengers are two and a

29:06

half. has to

29:10

be dispersed to break free into

29:12

moments. because you hustle

29:14

through the edges of the compassier.

29:16

The large windows show the cobalt

29:18

blue sky turned into mold

29:20

and indigo, and finally to

29:22

black, and

29:24

and then silence.

29:25

The rocket motor

29:27

has been switched off, and it is

29:30

quiet. But

29:30

it's not just quiet. It's

29:34

really quiet. No

29:36

sound at all, and there's something else

29:38

that has disappeared. And that's

29:41

gravity. You're used to having your

29:43

feet firmly on the floor But

29:45

here, there isn't any. There's no

29:47

up and no down, and you could

29:49

float out of your seat

29:51

experiencing the amazing freedom.

29:53

We Fouloting it's

29:55

summer salting towards the window. You could see

29:57

the earth far below. A

29:59

globe covered in dreamers

30:02

of atmosphere, making you realize

30:04

how small we are and

30:06

how

30:07

enormous spaces. And

30:09

now it's time to It

30:11

would be

30:12

brilliant to be a space tourist.

30:15

You need to be pretty rich though.

30:17

Tickets for these flight to two

30:19

hundred thousand dollars. Time

30:21

to start saving? I

30:23

guess

30:23

we'll have

30:24

to settle for normal aircraft for now if

30:26

we want to be tourists. Time

30:28

for me to fly. Amy's,

30:30

Amy's, we have to

30:32

pause from the Royal Bear North Carolina.

30:34

I know more about Amy's,

30:37

at funkelside dot com forward

30:39

slash savings again. Thank

30:42

you so

30:42

much to Amy. We'll learn about some

30:44

more planes next week on the

30:47

podcast.

30:50

If you've got a question that you won

30:52

on the show, some thing

30:54

that you would like me to

30:56

answer for you, maybe in our brand

30:58

new bonus episodes too, send it

31:00

as a voice note on the

31:02

free fun kids app or at fun kids live

31:04

dot com. You've had so many brilliant series

31:07

today, curious, k, Amy's aviation. We've got

31:09

tons more on Google, Apple,

31:11

Spotify, wherever you your shows, it's on the free fun kids

31:13

app and at fun kids live dot com, and

31:15

fun kids who are a children's radio station from

31:17

the UK. Listen all over the

31:19

country on your DAB digital radio

31:21

and at funkids live dot com.

31:23

Way

31:26

While you're

31:29

here, I recorded a bonus episode of The

31:31

Fun Kids Science Weekly, where I

31:33

answer your questions.

31:35

It's so much fun and I think that you'll learn loads

31:37

from it too. I'd really love for you to

31:39

hear it. If you're not a fun kids podcast plus

31:42

subscriber, you're

31:44

missing out. unlock ad free

31:46

listening, bonus episodes, and support

31:48

fun kids by becoming a

31:50

subscriber right now. It's

31:52

easy. head to fun kids life dot com or

31:54

if you're on Apple Podcasts, tap

31:56

try free to unlock a

31:58

thirty day free trial and I'll

32:00

see you there.

32:02

Have you

32:04

got an idea for a story?

32:06

My name is Delia, and I've

32:08

asked for a story about

32:11

six tortoises. changing the world.

32:13

I've always wanted to see how my powers

32:15

would work out and

32:17

concentrating. She was excited

32:19

to see that wings were

32:21

sprouting from her shell. Big

32:24

beautiful wings. She launched

32:26

herself into the air and

32:28

swooped and swooshed higher

32:30

and higher in chase with the

32:32

escape pod. Got an idea for a

32:34

story? Tell us the title at

32:36

funkids live

32:36

dot com forward slash story

32:39

quest. and

32:39

we could bring your story to life.