Innehållsförteckning för May 2022 / Issue 32 från News Bites

GATHERING INTERES TING NEWS THAT CONNECTS YOUNG READERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD Hello there, News Biters! You are very welcome to Issue #32. We hope you enjoyed last month’s offering of April Fool pranks. Can you believe people fell for spaghetti trees and left-handed burgers? This month, we’ve decided to embark on a hilarious tour of the world’s wackiest museums. With International Museum Day falling on Wednesday, May 18, there’s no better time to show you a side to museums you may not have known existed. If you think these homes of history are packed with nothing more than paintings, bones and ancient artefacts, think again. Check out our findings on pages 12 and 13 and you’ll see what we mean. If that’s not enough wackiness for your taste, you…

Doodle Boy Joe 12-year-old Joe Whale has recently signed a deal with sports brand Nike, to create artwork for them. His success story began when he couldn’t concentrate in school. Yes really! (Maybe you have that problem too?) He couldn’t concentrate, so he started doodling, using any surface he could get his hands on. His teachers were outraged when he used his exercise books as doodle books and he was soon branded as a problem child. His parents, however, looked at it differently and enrolled him in art classes. His art teacher was so impressed that she put his artwork online. Then a local restaurant, Number 4, had a light-bulb moment. They had a three-metre-long white wall that needed decorating. So they asked Joe to decorate it with doodles. Over…

Available on: Netflix Rated: PG Starring: Lazare Herson-Macarel and Eric Herson-Macarel as the voice of Habu, Damien Boisseau as the voice Fukamachi Directed by: Patrick Imbert In 1924, George Mallory and Andrew Irvine tried to do what no one had ever done before: climb to the top of Mount Everest. They were never seen again. This beautiful movie takes place 70 years later and tells us the fictional story of Makoto Fukamachi, a Japanese reporter who meets a mysterious mountain climber called Habu. Fukamachi thinks Habu might have found Mallory’s camera. He believes that this could unlock the mystery of whether Mallory and Irvine were indeed the first people to climb to the top of Everest. The movie is based on the Japanese manga series of the same name and…

5 FAST FACTS 1. The CCXR Trevita got its name from Koenigsegg’s special white carbon fibre. Before this, carbon fibre had only been manufactured in black. Trevita means ‘three whites’ in Swedish. 2. The CCXR Trevita is fitted with two superchargers instead of turbochargers (which are used on most supercars). The superchargers reduce the time taken between gear changes and give the engine a distinctive whining noise. 3. Although it was produced 16 years ago, this car came packed with hi-tech gadgets including a hydraulic lifting unit. This allowed the driver to adjust the ride height while driving. 4. Formula 1 traction control was used on the Trevita to make sure it stayed on the road. It also came with five handling modes, including race mode. The addition of a…

Southern White Rhinoceros Hello, young human. I’m a rhino – a male southern white rhinoceros to be more precise. I live in South Africa, but many of my relatives live in Namibia, Zimbabwe and Kenya. Big and quick I’m a large animal, the largest species of rhino in the world. The elephant is the only land mammal bigger than me. I’m 4 metres long, 1.75 metres high and I weigh just over two tonnes. I can run in short bursts of up to 50 km/h and I can turn sharply too. Appearance I have a huge body, a broad chest, a short neck and a massive head. I have a muscular hump at my shoulders to support my heavy head and a wide, flat mouth which is brilliant for grazing…

The Wacky World of Sport Would you try this wacky sport? Have You Tried… Bossaball Think of Bossaball as football, volleyball, gymnastics and a bouncy castle rolled into one and played to lively Afro-Brazilian music! ‘Bossa’ means ‘style’ in Brazil, as in Bossa Nova (New Style) music. The game is played between two teams with four players each lined up on either side of a raised net on an inflatable court. Men and women play together. Three players from each team are placed at points around the court with one player from each team on a trampoline, one placed either side of the net. These players can pull incredible aerial volleys when trying to score. Any part of the body can be used for hitting the ball, but extra points…

Fighting Fake News We’ve all heard of fake news, but do any of us really understand what it means? Is it a story that isn’t real or true? Is it when the person behind the story makes a mistake? There are two types of fake news – misinformation and disinformation. Misinformation Misinformation is when false information is shared by someone who believes that information to be true. Normally it isn’t done deliberately and there is no intention to deceive. Disinformation Disinformation is when misleading or even false information is shared with the intention to deceive others. Disinformation is when there is an ulterior motive. It’s important to learn how to recognise fake news so that we’re not deceived or tricked into believing it or letting it affect our actions and…

Super Spider Senses If Spider-Man has taught us anything, it is that spiders have incredible abilities, from climbing walls to spinning webs. Only recently, scientists from Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois, USA, discovered another amazing ability among arachnids – some species of spider use their webs as a hearing aid as well as a food trap. The silk that the webs are spun from responds to vibrating air molecules which allows the spiders to sense movement – perhaps potential prey or approaching predators. Even the soundwaves from the delicate flutter of an insect’s wings in the distance can be picked up. It could be said that spider webs help give their owners the best hearing in the world! Mountains Sway Many of you will know that skyscrapers and tall buildings…

Italy is shaped like a boot that juts out of southern Europe. It is a peninsula surrounded by the Adriatic Sea, the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. The Alps mountains are in the far north and the Apennines mountain range run all the way down the middle of the country. With 62 million people, Italy has the fifth-largest population in Europe. Italy is a member of the European Union (EU). People have been living in the region for over 40,000 years and the country has a rich history. It has 50 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, more than any other country in the world. Legend has it that Rome was founded by Romulus and Remus about 735 BC. In the centuries that followed, Rome became very powerful and took over…

Walt Disney Concert Hall Famous Feats of Engineering #32 In 1987, Lillian Disney, Walt Disney’s widow, donated $50 million to build a concert hall. It was a gift to the people of Los Angeles in memory of Walt’s love of the city and the arts. The building was designed by Canadian-born American architect Frank Gehry. It looks very modern and its curves seem to dance on and above the site. Walt Disney Concert Hall opened in October 2003, and cost around $275 million to build. The building is made from steel and concrete. It is covered with 6,500 stainless-steel panels, each with a unique shape or size. Inside the concert hall, the cool steel of the exterior is replaced by warm, rich timber. There are seats for an audience of…

The 20th Century: Gazillions of Galaxies At the beginning of the 20th century, astronomers were studying the Milky Way Galaxy, the huge collection of stars including the Sun, the Earth and the planets we know. Most believed that the Milky Way was the entire universe. They didn’t at first realise that our galaxy is but one of many ‘island universes’. Edwin Hubble Earlier astronomers could see ‘spiral nebulae’, fuzzy patches of light in space. Some wondered if they could be new galaxies in the making, but many scoffed at this idea. Then new, larger telescopes showed that the universe has billions and billions of galaxies – gazillions in fact! Edwin Hubble arrived to work at Mount Wilson Observatory, California, around the time when the world’s largest telescope was installed there…

Liverpool vs Man Utd in Bangkok Premier League rivals Liverpool and Manchester United will play each other in Bangkok, Thailand, on July 12. The teams will compete for the Bangkok Century Cup at Rajamangala Stadium as part of their pre-season plans for the 2022/23 campaign. Liverpool also plan to get involved in some local community projects and cultural activities while in Thailand. Manchester United will fly to Australia after the Liverpool game to face Melbourne Victory on July 15, before taking on Crystal Palace four days later. Both of those matches will take place at Melbourne Cricket Ground. Thrilling Finish Ahead The battle for the Premier League title looks set to go down to the wire as we enter the final month of the season. There is little to separate…

Reporting Happiness How happy are you? For the past 10 years, the United Nations has published information about the happiness levels in 150 countries. Of course, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected people a great deal in the past few years. But all around the world signs of kindness are showing up, which in turn can lead to more happiness. People are donating more to charities, volunteering, and helping others more! The UN Happiness Report uses figures from one part of a massive survey known as the Gallup World Poll. However, levels of happiness are higher in some countries than others. In 2022, Nordic countries like Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark earned the honours as the happiest places to live. Other countries in the top 10 include the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Switzerland,…

Nelson Mandela becomes South Africa’s first black president Nelson Mandela was born on July 18, 1918, in a small village in the south-eastern part of South Africa, known as the Transkei region. His father, Henry, was a chief of the Tembu people. Rolihlahla Named Rolihlahla by his father, he was given the name Nelson by his teacher on his first day at school. There he developed a love of African history, which would help to shape his future. He later went to university and became a lawyer. In 1944, Mandela became a member of the African National Congress (ANC). The ANC wanted native black South Africans to have the same rights as white people. Apartheid In 1948, the National Party (NP) – a white-only South African political party – came…

CROSSWORD TIME ACROSS 1 The Bad Guys is based on the blockbuster Scholastic book series of the same name by Aaron __________ (6) 5 The study of hidden animals (13) 6 The most popular sport in Italy (8) 7 Joe Whale, a.k.a ________ Joe (6,3) 11 ‘Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who ___________ don’t mind’ (6) 12 Asian rhinos are excellent _________ (8) 14 Complete this movie title: The Summit Of The __________ (4) 15 Nelson Mandela’s father, Henry, was a chief of the __________ people. (5) 17 The Incredible Hulk was published by __________ Comics (6) 18 A burp (or belch) is a release of trapped gas in your __________ (7) DOWN 2 This type of wire was vented…

A veterinary surgeon (or ‘vet’ for short) is someone who takes care of animal health, so he or she is like a doctor for animals. Vets work all over the world, caring for and treating animals. The type of work they do usually depends on whether they work in a town or in the country. Vets who work in big towns and cities usually look after house pets and smaller animals. Vets in rural areas are more likely to spend time visiting farms to treat livestock. Some vets work in zoos caring for a wide variety of animals while others work in laboratories where they do research on animal health. The job of a vet is to find out what is wrong with an animal that is sick and to…

True Legends of Sport Ronaldo Born: September 18, 1976 Sport: Soccer Titles: Two World Cups, two Copa Americas, three-time FIFA World Player of the Year Move over, Cristiano! In many people’s eyes, Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima is is the greatest Ronaldo to have graced a football pitch. With blistering pace, dazzling dribbling skills and a ruthless eye for goal, Ronaldo overcame a number of serious injuries to become one of the best goal scorers of his generation. Having caught the eye while playing for Cruzeiro, where he once scored five goals in a single match, a 17-year-old Ronaldo was selected by Brazil for the 1994 World Cup. He did not play in any of the games but gained valuable experience as Brazil lifted the trophy. Ronaldo moved to Europe…