Heads Up on the Coronavirus Playbook 🦠 (10/6/20)
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Description
In today’s episode: 😷 Hear about two sisters making masks for their community 👩🏾🔬 Find out how vaccines work and why we’re still waiting for the coronavirus vaccine (with Jacob Rozencwaig of the Curious Kid Podcast) 🦮 Learn about a crisis response therapy dog having a positive impact on firefighters battling the wildfires in California (with Laine Farber of the Nature Nerds podcast).
Links
👀 Watch this video with some coronavirus facts you may not know: Science Mom on YouTube
✅ Read the CDC's mask guidelines
😷 Learn how to make a mask at home
🐶 Check out Kerith the Dog's Instagram
🐮 In addition to their guinea pig decree, read five more examples of How Switzerland Is Leading the Charge for Animal Rights
🎧 Listen to correspondent Jacob Rozencwaig’s podcast: Curious Kid Podcast
🎧 Listen to our guest Laine Farber’s exciting podcast exploration of plants and animals: Nature Nerds
🌅 Go social! Get visual! The Ten News on Instagram
👉🏾 We want to hear from you! Email us with questions, comments, or story ideas: hello@thetennews.com
Transcript
Bethany Van Delft: [00:00:00] Hey there, I'm Bethany Van Delft. And this is The Ten News. The show where in the time it takes you to teach your dog to high five, we get the low down on what's up in the world. In today's episode, we'll get an update on the coronavirus, here from two sisters making masks for their community, find out how vaccines get made and meet a furry friend having a pawsitive impact on wildfire fighters. Get it pawsitive.
[00:00:30] Okay, let's get into the Ten.
[00:00:43] You may have already heard the news that the president and the first lady have tested positive for the Coronavirus. We hope that they have a speedy recovery. It's a tough reminder that the virus is still here and still part of our lives. It seems like a good time for a refresher course and what we can all be doing to keep [00:01:00] ourselves and our community safe.
[00:01:02] Fact: Did you know that a single sneeze releases roughly 30,000 droplets into the air that can travel up to 200 miles per hour? Gross! Gives a new meaning to cover your mouth? Huh?
[00:01:15] Fact: Some people infected with the Coronavirus are asymptomatic. That means they're not showing any signs or symptoms of being sick. So they may not even know they have the virus, but they can still spread it. So what can we do? Mask up people! Because if you are sick, masks will help keep your germs on the inside, where they are less likely to infect anyone around you, especially those you love.
[00:01:42] Now let's go to our correspondent, Ryan Nerz who spoke with two girls, working hard to make masks for their community.
Ryan Nerz: [00:01:50] This is the story of two sisters from Maryland, Evie and Aine Lynch. They were watching their mom Maisie, make masks for their neighbors. And they decided to get involved.
Aine: [00:01:59] My mom [00:02:00] made us like a couple and then we started doing it for our friends and like our neighbors.
[00:02:04] We started an Etsy shop and it got really big.
Ryan Nerz: [00:02:08] That's Aine, she's 10.
Evie: [00:02:10] A lot of people were really thankful for it, obviously, because it's such like a necessity now. So like our family was really excited. Our friends are really excited and we got a grant from Montgomery County. So the County is excited about it.
Ryan Nerz: [00:02:24] That's Evie. She's 14. And yea the County was so excited, they gave the Lynch family $2,500 to buy a new industrial sewing machine that sews like, well, let Evie tell it.
Evie: [00:02:36] Like 10 times faster than a normal sewing machine , so it really has scaled up the quantity of masks we can make.
Ryan Nerz: [00:02:45] Wow. She said scaled up. Sounds like a real entrepreneur. In a matter of weeks, they had made over 600 masks. They sold some on their Etsy site, but they never lost sight of the fact that their business was not about making money, [00:03:00] but helping people.
Evie: [00:03:01] Yeah. We sell them so that we're able to donate others. We sell them for $10. We sell them online and through like just people we know.
Ryan Nerz: [00:03:09] At one point a few weeks ago, they had so many orders that they worked every night until one in the morning. Which made me wonder, do they ever regret coming up with this whole mask making business?
Aine: [00:03:20] Not only are we like, helping other people, but it's been helpful to keep our minds off of everything that's going on. I mean, I personally think that it's been really helpful for us.
Bethany Van Delft: [00:03:32] Thanks again, Ryan and great work, Evie and Aine.
[00:03:35] If you want to help make masks, check out thetennews.com for ideas and resources. Here's the thing. Wearing a mask is a big step in the right direction, but don't forget to wash your hands and social distance, to make the most powerful equation to fight the virus.
[00:03:53] Now that [00:04:00] we're clear on how we can all help slow the spread of the Coronavirus. Let's find out about a way scientists are hoping to help stop it completely. We asked our friend, Jacob Rosenzweig from the Curious Kid podcast to help explain
Jacob Rosenzweig: [00:04:16] Right now scientists across the world are working on creating a vaccine for coronavirus. A vaccine is something, usually a shot, that gives your body immunity to a disease. If you have immunity, that means you are protected from a particular disease. Thanks to vaccines, we no longer have to worry about terrible diseases, like smallpox. Scientists have been working for months to make a coronavirus vaccine.
Girl kid voice: [00:04:42] What's taking so long? I want it to be able to hang out with my friends like I used to.
Jacob Rosenzweig: [00:04:47] I hear you. There are well over 150 coronavirus vaccines that are being tested right now. And the hope is that we won't have to wait much longer. There is a really good reason why vaccines take a long time to make. In order to [00:05:00] understand what's taking so long, it helps to understand how vaccines work. The human body is amazing. And one thing that makes it so amazing is the immune system. The immune system protects you from all types of diseases, including viruses, like COVID-19. The problem with COVID-19 is that it is such a harmful virus. It is often able to overwhelm the immune system, especially in older people and people who already have certain other diseases.
[00:05:24] That's where vaccines come in. When you get a vaccine, you are actually fooling your immune system into thinking it's been exposed to something harmful like a virus or bacteria. The name used to describe something harmful that tries to attack your immune system is a pathogen. In order to defeat the pathogen, the body makes things called the antibodies that are designed to destroy the nasty pathogen.
[00:05:44] But here's the cool part. You haven't really been exposed to the pathogen yet. You just got the vaccine that will prepare your body if you do get infected. To sum it all up, getting a vaccine, trains your body to fight off a pathogen like Coronavirus by preparing your immune system to fight the [00:06:00] pathogen in the future, if you become exposed. Getting the coronavirus vaccine would be kind of like giving your body the coronavirus playbook, so it knows what to do if you actually get coronavirus in the future. It kind of reminds me of that one time I was playing basketball and my coach told me that there was a player on the other team that likes to do a crossover dribble to the right, and then drive to the basket for a layup.
[00:06:23] It was a really nice move, but thanks to the heads up from my coach, I was able to shut it down. We may have to wait a bit for the coronavirus vaccine to become available because scientists need to come up with a way to introduce the coronavirus pathogen to our immune systes. Then test the vaccine in animals, then test it in a few humans to make sure it is safe and to evaluate the perfect dose. Then test it in a larger number of humans to see how it impacts different people and make sure it's effective. And then once it's approved, hundreds of millions of doses need to be made, but once it's made, you should consult with your doctor about getting [00:07:00] the coronavirus vaccine, so that if one day you become exposed to the coranavirus, you can shut it down.
Bethany Van Delft: [00:07:08] Thanks Jacob.
[00:07:10] We are definitely ready to shut this down. You can learn more from Jacob and his cohost and daughter, Olivia, on their Curious Kid podcast.
[00:07:29] You may have heard about the wildfires that have burned across the state of California this year. Believe it or not, wildfire is a natural part of California's landscape. Although sometimes it gets a little too much. When that happens, firefighters battle the blazes, working tirelessly to get them under control.
[00:07:49] Friend of The Ten Laine Farber from the Nature Nerds podcast found out about one special supporter of these brave heroes.
Laine Farber: [00:07:58] A very good girl named Kerith [00:08:00] spends her days lending a paw to firefighters battling California wildfires. Kerith is a licensed therapy dog who works with firefighters in Northern California. With wildfires eating up the coast of California Kertih's hugs and kisses are more important than ever.
[00:08:16] But before we hear more about this fuzzy, wuzzy, doggo, let's take a closer look at wildfires. So what exactly is a wildfire? Well, it's an uncontrolled fire that burns in forest grasslands and other rural landscape. Wildfires have been happening for millions of years and they actually play an important part in keeping the landscape healthy.
[00:08:41] I know what you're thinking, how could fire can't possibly be good for plants? Well, the fire burns away harmful insects and diseases that could spread to other plants. And some trees even have seed pods that will only open when exposed to extreme heat. [00:09:00] Wildfires become a problem when they happen frequently and go unmanaged.
[00:09:05] If a wildfire is not contained, it can burn down thousands of acres of land and harm or displace the animals and people that live nearby. Right now wildfires are happening at increased rates because of our changing climate .Rising global temperatures cause intense droughts, reduced snowfall, and increased lightening activity.
[00:09:29] Super dry ground, plus lightening activity equals wildfire central. In the last few months, over 4 million acres of land in California has burnt down. That's roughly 60 times larger than Disney World. The fires continue to spread and it's up to brave firefighters to control the flames. This is a dangerous and super stressful job.
[00:09:53] Luckily, some firefighters have special furry friends to help them manage their stress. Kerath the golden retriever [00:10:00] has been visiting fire stations in Northern California for over a year. Her sweet puppy, dog eyes and warm smile. Don't just look cute, they actually help people feel better. That's right spending time with specially trained pups like Kerith can cause your brain to release special hormones that boost your mood and lower anxiety levels. So here's to the firefighters for putting their lives on the line and the good, good doggos who help make their job just a little bit easier.
Bethany Van Delft: [00:10:32] Super cute photo of Kerath on our website, thetennews.com. Check it out and learn more from Laine on her podcast, Nature Nerds.
[00:10:51] Okay, before we go. Here's our fun fact of the day.
[00:10:57] Did you know that in Switzerland it's [00:11:00] technically illegal to own just one guinea pig because they get lonely? According to the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary office, guinea pigs are social animals and may not be kept on their own. Switzerland's animal protection ordinance has lots of rules for the care and keeping of all kinds of animals, including a rule against forcing domestic poultry to wear glasses or contact lenses. Kind of makes you wonder why they needed to specify that one, but totally makes sense.
[00:11:31] Times up! That's the end of The Ten for today. You can catch new episodes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The Ten News is a coproduction of Small But Mighty Media in collaboration with Next Chapter Podcasts and distributed by iHeart Radio. The Ten News writing team is led by editorial director Tracy Crooks with contributions from Stephen Tompkins, Ryan Nerz, Jacob Rozencwaig and Laine [00:12:00] Farber.
[00:12:01] Creative producer is Jenner Pascua. Marketing is led by Jacob Bronstein with social media and web support by Bryn Jura and Adam Pharr. Editing and sound design by Edgar Camey and Greg Cortez under the production direction of Jeremiah Tittle. Executive Producer, Donald Albright, and Tracy Leeds Kaplan round out the team.
[00:12:24] If you have questions about the show, a story idea, or a fun fact you want to share email us at hello@thetennews.com. And don't forget to subscribe, rate and review The Ten News on Apple podcasts, iHeart Radio, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
[00:12:43] I'm Bethany Van Delft and thanks for listening to The Ten News.
[00:12:47] Go find a Guinea pig to keep company!
