Innholdsfortegnelse for 193 i The Week Junior

On 14 August, 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg set sail from Plymouth, in the UK, bound for New York, in the US. The journey is expected to take around two weeks. Who is Greta Thunberg? Thunberg is a student from Sweden. One day in August 2018, instead of going to school, she staged a protest outside Sweden’s parliament. Thunberg said that she wouldn’t return to classes until the government did more to stop climate change. This inspired a global movement, known as the school strike for climate. Climate change is the long-term change in the world’s weather patterns caused by human activities. Burning fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas), farming and cutting down forests are all major causes of climate change. Why is Thunberg sailing to New York? Thunberg doesn’t…

Two TV adverts have been banned after they were found to show gender stereotypes. A stereotype is an unfair and untrue belief held about a certain group of people. One of the adverts, for a car company, showed men as astronauts and women as mothers. Some people said the adverts suggested that only men go on adventures and women stay at home. The Advertising Standards Authority, which oversees UK adverts, banned gender stereotypes in June.…

The number of students in England taking English literature (the study of literature) at A level has fallen from 41,000 to 37,500 this year, according to the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation. English language A level (the study of how language works) dropped from around 18,000 in 2018 to under 14,000. Some teachers say that new English GCSEs are to blame. They say that the exams are no longer encouraging a love of reading and are too focused on requiring students to memorise long passages of text. One assistant headteacher said, “GCSE English language is sucking the joy” out of the subject. Some students have suggested that one solution might be to allow pupils to choose which books they study for A level. Do you agree? Yes – pupils…

Germany, Pakistan and Panama have become the latest countries to announce that they have banned, or intend to ban, the sale of single-use plastic bags. More than 60 countries around the world have now completely banned or partly restricted the bags, or have introduced fees to try to stop people using so many of them. Single-use plastic bags are used at most a few times before they are thrown away. They do not rot like natural products and can take hundreds of years to break down. Many of these bags end up in the ocean, where larger ones can trap sea creatures, such as turtles and dolphins. Over time, the bags fall apart into countless tiny pieces of plastic, known as microplastics. Fish can accidentally eat these, which is bad…

A blind rare black rhino has been rescued by park rangers in South Africa and given a new home. Munu was found wandering in circles because he can’t see, and there were lions stalking him. The rangers rescued Munu, who is 20 years old, and took him to a safe place where they could give him a medical check-up. Now, seven months later, the blind rhino has been moved to a new home, which has the same layout as the place where he was previously kept, so that he can find his way around. The enclosure also has a paddock attached to it to give Munu space to roam. Brett Barlow, a director at the White Lion Foundation which built the home, told the BBC that Munu was in good…

Doctors may soon be able to cure a disease called Ebola, after two drugs tried out in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in central Africa, were found to help people survive the disease. Ebola is a rare illness that causes high temperature, weakness and aching muscles. People can catch the virus if they come into contact with bodily fluids (such as blood, spit or sweat) from an person or animal that has the disease. About half of the number of patients who catch the illness die from it. Tens of thousands of people have died from it since the virus was discovered in 1976, and doctors are struggling to stop a new outbreak in the DRC from spreading. In the past year, almost 2,000 people in the country…

Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano has become the first DJ in space. On 13 August, he performed a DJ set on board the International Space Station (ISS), which was broadcast live on a cruise ship in the Mediterranean Sea. Parmitano is an astronaut for the European Space Agency (ESA) and has been on the ISS since 21 July. He was trained to mix music by a German DJ called Le Shuuk. Le Shuuk loaded a series of songs onto Parmitano’s tablet, along with special software so that Parmitano could mix the songs together and add in different sounds. The set lasted for 12 minutes and was watched by an audience of around 3,000 people. Parmitano even used the zero-gravity environment of space to show off some unusual dance moves. The idea…

“I hope it serves as an example to female referees and to young girls who aspire to be a referee.” That’s what Stéphanie Frappart said about being the first woman to take charge of a major men’s European football match. On 14 August, Frappart refereed the UEFA Super Cup between Liverpool and Chelsea. The annual game is played between the most recent winners of the Champions League and the Europa League. It is traditionally played at the start of the new football season in Europe. Frappart, who comes from France, was helped by two female assistants – Michelle O’Neill from Ireland and Italy’s Manuela Nicolosi. The 35-year-old Frappart enjoyed playing football when she was young and started refereeing aged 13. When she was 20, she decided to concentrate on becoming…

5-UCO The 5-UCO (pronounced 5-YOU-KO) was one of the first electronic cipher machines. It was used during the Second World War to send decrypted German messages to the British military. It was once thought that all versions of it had been destroyed. Enigma Machine The Enigma machine was a device used by the German military to keep their communications secret. Shaped like a large typewriter, it had moving parts on the inside, changing whatever letters were typed into the machine into different ones. Pickwick telephone This was a phone used to keep conversations between British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan and US president John F Kennedy a secret. All speech was scrambled, so that anyone listening in couldn’t understand what was being said.…

Even if you haven’t heard the phrase “loot boxes” before, if you play games you might have seen them, and even opened some. They’re the treasure chests (or similar boxes) you can buy but you don’t know what you’re getting until you’ve paid for them. Some people think loot boxes shouldn’t be allowed because they encourage people to spend money without knowing whether they’ll get the special items they want, and if they don’t get what they want, perhaps players will end up spending more than they’d planned. When these boxes feature in games played by young people, some people think that they should count as gambling, for which the minimum age in the UK is 18. However, positive changes are happening. Earlier this year, the developer of Fortnite changed…

What you need ● 1 brioche bun ● 2 scoops of your favourite ice cream ● Topping sauce (optional) ● Bread knife Instructions These sandwiches are a traditional way to eat ice cream in Sicily, Italy – often for breakfast. To prepare your sandwich, take the brioche bun and carefully make a horizontal cut in it with the bread knife, but don’t cut all the way through the bun. This is where the ice cream will go. Now, toast the top and bottom of the brioche for 15 seconds on each side. When the brioche starts to get warm it is ready. Open the brioche and place two scoops of ice cream inside, or until it is full. Close the sandwich and it’s ready to enjoy. You can add a…

Name: Joel ““This summer I have a piece of artwork displayed in my first art exhibition. Wiltshire Creative have an open exhibition at Salisbury Arts Centre. It is a collection of works by Wiltshire artists that I heard about at my pottery class and decided to enter. I was really pleased to be selected in the top 50 artists to have my piece exhibited in the show. I am the youngest artist to be included! My triptych (series of three pictures) was inspired by comic strip artwork. I wanted people to imagine what was behind the green hand and what the boy and creature were running from. You can see the exhibition until 7 September, and you can vote for your favourite piece. There’s a £100 prize for the most…

The US president, Donald Trump, has said that he wants to buy Greenland, the world’s largest island. Greenland, in the North Atlantic, is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, but it has its own government. The island has a population of about 56,000 and lies between the Atlantic Ocean and the Arctic. The US military has had an air base there since the Second World War. The island has plenty of natural resources, like oil and gas, and precious stones like diamonds and rubies. It is also home to rare-earth metals, which are used to make batteries, computers and gadgets. Trump’s comments have been met with anger and ridicule. The Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen said the idea was “absurd”. She added that “Greenland belongs to Greenland.” Kim Kielsen, Greenland’s…

Documents showing what could happen in the UK once it has left the European Union (EU) have been leaked (revealed without permission). The secret Government reports about Brexit were printed in The Sunday Times newspaper on 18 August. The UK is currently on course to leave the EU on 31 October. What is Brexit? Brexit is the word used to describe the UK’s decision to leave the EU – an organisation of 28 countries that trade together and follow the same rules. The leaked documents explain what the impact could be if the UK and the EU cannot officially agree on their future relationship. This is known as a no-deal Brexit. What do the documents say? The documents suggest that without a deal, trade could be disrupted. There could be…

A survey has revealed that young people cannot identify some of the UK’s most common wildlife and plants. The study found that 83% of people aged between five and 16 could not recognise a bumblebee, and almost one in four didn’t know what a robin looked like. Researchers, on behalf of a family-activity app, asked 1,000 people to identify what they saw in a series of pictures. Around half of them didn’t recognise photos of a bluebell or a stinging nettle. The study also found that as young people grow older, they become less interested in nature. The report’s other findings showed that on average, children spend more than five and a half hours a day watching TV, playing games or using their phones. By comparison, they spend just an…

When the first ever Fortnite World Cup was held in New York, US, in July, it wasn’t just the winners who had a reason to celebrate. In the UK, 19-year-old Hugh Gilmour was proud because he had coached each of the top three competitors in the solo tournament. Gilmour used to play competitively, but he decided to focus on helping other gamers improve their skills instead. He now comes up with strategies to boost competitors’ chances of winning. Even though some of those he coached won millions of pounds, Gilmour only received an agreed fee of £120 from each player he worked with.…

Since 30 August 1934, 85 years ago, an organisation called the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association has been training dogs to assist people across the UK. These talented animals support people who are blind or have a visual impairment, which describes conditions that limit someone’s ability to see and that can’t be fixed by wearing glasses or contact lenses. Lots of people who own guide dogs say they have been given new confidence and freedom because they can trust that their dog will help them travel from place to place safely. So, how was the charity set up, and what exactly are the dogs taught? When did dogs first help blind people? Although the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association (or just Guide Dogs) was set up in 1934,…

JOIN FORCES WITH GRETA Even though it might seem like it’s too late, argues climate activist Greta Thunberg, there is still time to save the planet – and nobody is too young to make a difference. Find out what climate change is in the latest issue of Science+Nature, what it means for the world and exactly what you can do about. Big changes start with individual choices. Plus, see if you can guess which are the world’s smartest pets, step inside Tesla’s latest electric supercar, trick your own taste buds, and much more. The new issue is on sale now. VISIT sciencenature.theweekjunior.co.uk THE WEEK JUNIORSUBSCRIBERS GET AN EXCLUSIVE DISCOUNT. CALL 0330 333 9494 TO CLAIM!…

There has been some disagreement over whether loot boxes count as gambling or not. The Gambling Commission, which monitors the gambling industry in the UK, says that according to the law at the moment they are not, because the buyer of a loot box can’t sell the items to another person for money. However, a recent study of young people and gambling suggested that nearly a million young people in the UK have opened a loot box in a game or app, and that some had bet against other players, with the loser giving away an in-game item to the winner. This is called “skin gambling” or “skin betting”.…

A US scientist has baked bread using an ingredient dating back 4,000 years. Seamus Blackley used yeast samples he had been allowed to take from ancient Egyptian pottery at a US museum. Yeast is a type of fungus that makes bread rise. Blackley wanted to see what baking would have been like for Egyptians who lived thousands of years ago. Posting an image of his bread online, he said, “The crumb is light and airy, especially for a 100% ancient grain loaf. The aroma and flavour are incredible. I’m so amazed that it worked.”…

One of the biggest dinosaur hunts in decades has begun in Wyoming, US. An international team of scientists, including palaeontologists (people who study fossils) from London’s Natural History Museum, are taking part in the dig to look for dinosaur remains in an area known as the Jurassic Mile. It’s called this because of the number of fossils from the Jurassic period – which took place between 199 and 145 million years ago – that have already been found there. The expedition to dig up this land has been called Mission Jurassic. The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis (TCMI) has signed a deal to explore the 2.6-square-kilometre site for the next 20 years. That may sound like a long time, but Professor Phil Manning, who is part of the team, said, “There’s…

Texas, US Hundreds of guests turn up for funeral Around 700 people turned up to the funeral of a woman who died in a shooting attack in El Paso, in the US state of Texas. Margie Reckard was one of 22 people who died when a gunman targeted a supermarket on 3 August. Her husband, Antonio Basco, hadn’t expected many people to come to her funeral because they didn’t have a big family. However, hundreds travelled from across the US to go to the ceremony after hearing about it on social media. Utrecht, the Netherlands Biggest bike park opens to the public The world’s largest multi-storey bicycle-parking facility has opened in the city of Utrecht, in the Netherlands. It has room for 12,500 bikes on three floors. A local official…

Robbie Phillips has become the first British person to complete one of the toughest challenges in rock climbing. Known as the Alpine Trilogy, the challenge consists of three climbs on mountains in Austria, Germany and Switzerland, which Phillips completed over the course of four years. He very nearly didn’t complete the final route in Austria because of bad weather. Only four other people are known to have conquered all three of the extremely difficult climbs, which are nicknamed The Silver Vulture, The End Of Silence and The Emperor’s New Clothes. Phillips, from Edinburgh, told The Times newspaper he had dreamed about doing this since he was 15. “I never feared for my life, but I often felt really intimidated by the climbs,” he said.…

First weeks When they are between six and seven weeks old, guide dog puppies go to the National Breeding Centre in Warwickshire. They are given names (the pups in each litter share the same initial), and are sent to volunteer puppy walkers around the country. Training starts Puppy walkers look after the dogs from the age of seven weeks until they start formal training when they are 14–16 months old. The dogs get used to walking on the lead, waiting for dinner, going to the toilet on command, and coming when called. Off to school The puppies then go to one of four training schools to learn tasks, such as how to locate doorways and cross the road safely. They also learn to disobey their owner if a command is…

The US Department of Defense has started a series of underground races for robots called the Subterranean Challenge. The aim is to improve the ability of robots to travel through caves and other underground environments on their own. Teams of engineers and scientists from around the world were invited by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) – part of the Department of Defense – to Pittsburgh in the US to test their robots in the first challenge. It is called the Tunnel Circuit and takes place from 15–22 August. The challenge requires the robots to roam through old mining tunnels and find objects that have been hidden there, such as phones. Two more challenges will be held in 2020, ahead of a final, which is due to take place…

Hang on a minute Two adventurers explore an ice tunnel in Alaska, US. Festive feeling A costume parade at Gai Jatra, the cow festival, in Nepal. In-flight snacks Bee-eater birds munch on dragonflies in India. Making a splash Athletes in a steeplechase race at Alexander Stadium, in Birmingham. Stick at it A showman balances on a piece of bamboo in Fujian Province, China. Hide and seek A damselfly peers around a flower stem in Wiltshire.…

The Science Museum in London has opened a new exhibition called Top Secret: From Ciphers to Cyber Security. It will explore top-secret communication to mark the 100th birthday of GCHQ. GCHQ stands for Government Communication Headquarters. Based in a huge circular building in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, it is one of the UK’s intelligence and security agencies. Experts there use the latest technology to identify threats to the country and help stop them, and the work they do is top secret. Although GCHQ is now 100 years old, the UK Government didn’t even admit that it existed until 1994. However, in this exhibition, GCHQ is offering a behind-the-scenes look at the history of its work and how that work is changing for the future. The exhibition begins with a timeline that starts…

The 2019 remake of The Lion King has made more money than any other animated film in history. It replaces another Disney film, Frozen, as the highest-earning animation of all time. The new version of the film, which features the voices of Beyoncé, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Donald Glover, has made £1.1 billion in ticket sales so far. The original, which came out in 1994, made £802 million. Even though it was only released in July, The Lion King remake has already become the 11th highest grossing (money-making) film of all time, ahead of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. Frozen, which was released in 2013, made a total of £1.05 billion. Frozen 2 will be released in November. KING OF THE CHARTS The stage musical version of The…

The Richard Cloudesley School in London is a school for young people with physical disabilities and additional sensory needs. It has now become the first school in the UK to schedule gaming classes and use special controllers to help its pupils develop their physical and communication skills, while having fun with their friends. The Xbox Adaptive Controller was designed by Microsoft, the maker of the Xbox One console, to help people with limited mobility to play games. It can connect buttons, switches and joysticks together with the assistive devices used by people with physical disabilities, so that they can play. Peggle 2 and Scribblenauts Showdown are two of the games being used in lessons. It is hoped other schools will create the same classes. “It’s about learning the social skills:…

Amazon, the online retailer,, has told customers to leave a window open so it can try out a new delivery system. Packages will now be thrown through windows, allowing items to be delivered even when no one is home. Amazon’s delivery manager, Chuck Flinger, explained, “The new system will mean we can get items that won’t fit through a letterbox into the house.” He added they are looking for ex-cricketers or rounders players with good aim to apply for delivery jobs. Are we telling the truth or have we delivered a lie to your door?*…

A 15-year-old’s tweets have gone viral after she claimed she sent a tweet using the family fridge. On 8 August, the Twitter user, Dorothy, sent a tweet that read: “I do not know if this is going to tweet I am talking to my fridge what the heck my Mom confiscated all of my electronics again.” Dorothy had been banned from using her phone after she became distracted while cooking and caused a fire. Luckily for Dorothy, the family’s smart fridge is connected to the internet, allowing her to send the message. Some social media experts say the tweet wasn’t really sent from a fridge, however, and that it was just a prank. WOW! Only three people have more than 100 million Twitter followers: singers Katy Perry and Justin Bieber,…