The Fall Equinox to Super Mice - 10 Things You Need to Know
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The Ten News: Episode 506
10 Things You Need to Know with The Ten News!
1. 🍂 The First Day of Fall
2. 🎉 Happy Hispanic Heritage Month!
3. 🧑🚀 Big Steps by a Billionaire
4. 🌮 Taco-bout a Halloween Costume
5. 💰 Government Shutdown Looms Again...
6. 🌕 🌋 Volcanoes on the Moon!?
7. 💔 Another Assassination Attempt on Trump
8. ❤️ RIP, James Earl Jones
9. 👀 New Nintendo Switch Game Coming Soon
10. 🐭 A Super Mouse!?
Resources
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2024/09/08/first-day-of-fall-2024/75084946007/
https://nationaltoday.com/hispanic-heritage-month/
https://www.today.com/food/chipotle-halloween-costumes-rcna169827
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/moon-active-volcanoes-dinosaur-age-study-finds-rcna169875
https://www.npr.org/2024/09/15/g-s1-23117/gun-shots-fired-trump-florida-golf-course
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/obituaries/james-earl-jones-dead-93-rcna42405
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Transcript:
INT. TEN NEWS STUDIO
<SFX footsteps, Pamela enters. Leaves, plants, rustling as Pamela meets an obstacle. Maybe we hear the door jam>
PAM: What in the corn cob is happening in the studio…?
RYAN (from a distance): Hey Pam! I put a corn maze in the studio to celebrate the fall. Come find me!
PAM: Where are you?! I can’t see anything–past all this corn–
<SFX rustles around>
RYAN (from a distance): –it’s a maze, just go with it, Pam. You’re supposed to get lost! Pretend like you’re Zelda, and I’m Link–
PAM: But Ry, we gotta start the show!
RYAN (from a distance): I can’t see you or hear you very well but we should start the show!
PAM: I’m Pamela Kirkland. It’s Thursday, September 19th.
RYAN (from a distance): And I’m Ryan Willard. This is Ten Things You Need to Knooooooooooow!
PAM: Summer seemed to fly by, but did you know fall isn’t actually here yet?
RYAN: Wait, I just put a whole corn maze in here because I thought it was the Fall…
PAM: Although Labor Day is often called the unofficial end of summer, the official start of fall is Sunday, September 22nd, on the autumnal equinox.
RYAN: The autumnal sequin box? That sounds shiny! <SFX: shine>
PAM: Equinox! From the Latin words “aequus,” meaning equal or even, and “nox,” meaning night. During an equinox, there’s almost equal amounts of night and day. This happens in the spring, too. After the autumnal equinox, as winter gets closer, the days get shorter and the nights get longer. For you Ten’ers in the Northern Hemisphere, the fall months start in the second half of September, and include all of October, all of November, and the beginning of December.
RYAN: Before we celebrate the beginning of fall, we can celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, which happens annually from September 15th to October 15th. During this month, we promote the history, culture, and contributions of the American Latino community. Other national months start on the 1st of this month but Hispanic Heritage Month starts on the 15th for a few reasons. September 15th is the independence anniversary for the Latin American countries of El Salvador, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Honduras. Mexico’s Independence Day is the 16th, and Chile’s is the 18th, so beginning on the 15th is a strong start, to say the least. Throughout the month, there are concerts, parades, food, and fairs, as well as educational events like art exhibits - it’s a great time to give special recognition to the contributions of Hispanic Americans to culture, economy, and society.
PAM: That really sounds like something to look forward to, but let’s look back to last week for some news that’s… SPACE INTRO: Out. Of. This. World. <SFX NASA 3-2-1 Blastoff> OR <SFX lightspeed jump> Last week, the crew on the Polaris Dawn spaceflight made history when the four people aboard this flight performed the first private spacewalk, meaning run by a private company and not NASA. The crew included one veteran, two SpaceX personnel, and a former combat pilot. This is a really different case than the standard, where everybody on board is specifically trained to be an astronaut. This does NOT mean that just anyone can go into space so, Ryan, stop jumping so high on the trampoline! You’re not going to get to space!
RYAN: <SFX bouncing on a trampoline> I WON’T KNOW IF I DON’T TRY!
PAM: During the trip to space, the crew reached a historic altitude of 870 miles.
RYAN (out of breath from bouncing): 870 miles?! No. That’s too high, I’m not going that high.
PAM: After coming a little closer back to earth, the crew members exited the aircraft to test new spacesuits in development by billionaire investor Jarred Isaacman and Elon Musk’s company, SpaceX. The spacewalk was done after an hour and 46 minutes. <SFX: space walk noise >
RYAN: Ugh SO cool. Maybe I’ll be an astronaut for Halloween. There are too many good options, especially after hearing about the new Chipotle costumes! The popular restaurant chain has teamed up with Spirit Halloween to make a line of costumes based on an internet meme where people were posting fake costumes in the iconic Spirit Halloween packaging. The companies have now come together to create real-life versions of costumes like a fork and Chipotle napkin, as well as bodysuits designed to look like a Chipotle water cup, burrito, or to-go bag. The collection dropped on September 6th, but there’s still plenty of time to get a costume that’s something to taco bout. Get it? Unrelated fun fact: I have a brother named Carl and his nickname is BURRITO. Guess what I’m getting him for Halloween?! (Sings) my brother’s name is Burrito!
PAM: On the topic of Halloween, something spooky looms in the distance…<SFX: spooky>
RYAN: Omg. Is it a Zombie Hippopotamus’?!
PAM: What? Zombie hippos? No, not even close.
I was talking about a government shutdown. US NEWS INTRO <SFX Hail to the Chief bite> A government shutdown might sound really scary, but let us explain. Government agencies need funding from Congress to operate, but a shutdown happens when lawmakers can’t agree on the budget for the next year’s funds. They need to do this by the time it runs out in September. A shutdown would mean closure of federal agencies and national parks, limits on public service, and millions of workers being furloughed. It’s not the fun kind of fur, like your dog or a rabbit. Being furloughed is the temporary, unpaid leave from work. This is all happening just weeks before the big election, so DC is scrambling to get things in order!
RYAN: I’m not going to say that’s scarier than a Zombie Hippopotamus, but I definitely don’t want a government shutdown. You know what sounds really cool, though? Science that sounds like the greatest action movie of all time.
PAM: I think I know where you’re going with this.
RYAN: To the moon?
PAM: No spoilers! Let’s take a quick break first.
PAM: Hey Ten’ers, we’re going to be doing some election specials and I need to know: what do you want to know about the election? Leave us a voice message at 877-TEN-NEWS or email us at hello@thetennews.com and let us know what questions you have, or tell us what you’d like us to cover! Alright, back to the show!
RYAN: Alright, Pam, name three epic things that would be really cool to see in a movie…
PAM: Ummm, volcanoes erupting. Dinosaurs. THE MOON?
RYAN: Those ARE epic things but they’re not even in a movie, it might have actually happened. New findings suggest that there were volcanoes erupting on the moon while dinosaurs were on Earth! This means moon volcanoes were active much more recently than we previously thought. Scientists concluded this from analyzing tiny glass beads collected from the surface of the moon. Previously, we thought that volcanic activity on the moon stopped about 2 billion years ago, but now we can see that it was happening as recently as 120 million years ago. Which is about how long it would take me to run a marathon.
PAM: Some scary news from earlier this week, former president and Republican candidate Donald Trump was the target of what appeared to be an assassination attempt, while he was golfing in Florida. The suspect has been identified as Ryan Wesley Routh and has been charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number. This means that Routh had a gun illegally to begin with given his status as a felon, and that gun was also tampered with because it was missing the number for identification. Donald Trump was unharmed, and Routh fled before taking any shots at the former president. A Secret Service agent who was stationed one hole ahead of Trump on the golf course saw a rifle sticking out of the nearby fence and acted quickly and scared off the suspect. Routh fled in his car and was arrested. The former president and current candidate, has increased security service protection around him at all times.
RYAN: A big thanks to the Secret Service for the work that they do to keep all the candidates and current and past presidents safe.
PAM: A legendary actor passed away earlier this month. At the age of 93, James Earl Jones’ 70-plus year-long career came to an end. Even if you don’t recognize the name, you might recognize the voice. You probably know him as Darth Vader in the Star Wars movies <SFX Darth Vader line> or Mufasa in The Lion King <SFX Mufasa line>, he’s been in tons of movies, shows, and plays. He was one of the few performers to win an EGOT - that’s an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, AND a Tony award. This is even more amazing considering that he’s done all this after overcoming a childhood stutter and then became known for his incredible voice! He will be missed and his contributions to entertainment and pop culture will continue to impact generations of kids.
RYAN: Looking ahead to brighter days, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom will be available for Nintendo Switch on September 26th, and players can actually play as Princess Zelda! I got to play a sneak preview of the game and I’m telling you, IT. IS. AWESOME. Echoes of Wisdom uses the same art/graphic style as the 2019 remake of Link’s Awakening, but instead of leading the charge as Link, you’ll be saving Link and playing as Zelda, along with the ethereal creature Tri. You can use Tri to copy objects and enemies and use them to solve puzzles and defeat other enemies. Echoes of Wisdom is less about swinging your sword and more about using your brain. So to all the grownups out there, the new Zelda game is like taking your brain to the gym, so, I’d like to play more, please. Thank you!
PAM: It’s about time Zelda got her own game, I can’t wait to check it out. And for the last thing you need to know, let’s kick it to Owen for Trivia.
<SFX Trivia Theme song>
OWEN: It’s been a busy week of science news and this one might keep you up at night! What superpower did Stanford University scientists temporarily give to mice?
Invisibility
Flight
Mind reading
Super strength
OWEN: Alright Ten’ers, did you guess it? The answer is A, invisibility! Stanford scientists were able to use a common food dye to make a mouse’s skin transparent!
RYAN: The dye, known as FD&C Yellow 5, turned the mouse’s skin red, which made the skin appear transparent. Their organs were visible to the naked eye, and the researchers think this is the first non-invasive approach to something really big. This study has only been performed on animals, but if scientists can perfect the ability to make skin transparent, it can be helpful for biology, diagnostics, or cosmetics.
OWEN: Doctors could potentially diagnose internal issues without doing surgery blood draws can be faster and easier because veins are easy to find, and you could also freak out your big sister.
RYAN: The craziest part is that this dye is found in foods like Doritos, which will NOT turn you invisible if you eat 7 bags-- TRUST ME. But if you eat 7 bags, you might disappear to the bathroom for some bum bum boom boom <SFX fart noise>.
OWEN: Uh Ryan, can I borrow some quarters for no reason?
PAM: That was Ten Things You Need to Know. Wanna grab lunch Ry? Ry…?
RYAN: <SFX in the distance> I’m feeling pretty corny. I think I got lost again, Pam! Please do your best Zelda impression and save me with your Echoes of Wisdom!
PAM: Well…We should probably give Ten News Snaps to one of our listeners…but first, here’s a quick note for the grownups.
[Ad Break]
RYAN: Time for Ten News Snaps! <Grand fanfare SFX>
PAM: A Ten’er left us this review on Apple Podcasts, “Hi I love the podcast 10/10. Funny story I was working on a wings of fire Blooket while listening to your latest episode and I nearly started crying when I heard the wings of fire suggestion!!!!!!” and then left some crying emojis.
RYAN: Thank you Ten’er if I had wings and they were on fire, I would definitely be crying. FYI, Ten Things You Need to Know drops on Thursdays, and our deep dive episodes drop once a month. If you want some bonus content, you could join the Ten’ers Club on our website. And to our grownups, if you want to help support the Ten News, you can make a tax-deductible donation at the link in our show notes. The whole team thanks you for your support!
PAM: “The Ten News” is a co-production of Small But Mighty Media and Next Chapter Podcasts, and part of the Airwave Podcast Network.
RYAN: The Ten News creative team is rewatching Star Wars Episodes 4, 5, and 6 in memory of James Earl Jones and includes Tracey Crooks, Adam the Great Bambino Bernard, Kyle Murdock, Hebba Gouda, and Carson Potter. Big thanks to Owen for contributing to this episode.
PAM: Our Production Director is Jeremiah Tittle, and our Executive Producers are Donald Albright and show creator Tracy Leeds Kaplan. I’m Pamela Kirkland.
RYAN: And I’m Ryan Willard, thanks for listening to the Ten News.
