Questions for discussion

Oil rig

Sea rescues

Remembrance Day

EPISODE 32

10TH NOVEMBER 2009

Massive telescope

Rugby exports

Focus Questions

Is drilling for oil risky business?

EPISODE 32

10TH NOVEMBER 2009

Learning Area

Society and

Environment

Key learning

Students will

develop a deeper

understanding of

the causes and

effects of oil

spills.

Reflection

Further investigations

Related Research Links

Focus Questions

More about telescopes and astronomy

EPISODE 32

10TH NOVEMBER 2009

Learning Area

Science

Key learning

Students will

develop a deeper

understanding of

how telescopes

work and

Australia’s role

in astronomy.

Related Research Links

BtN: Episode 32 Transcripts 10/11/09

On this week's Behind the News:

We meet some feathered and furry war heroes.

Plans for the most powerful telescope ever.

And why some of our rugby stars are kicking it overseas.

Hi I'm Nathan Bazley welcome to Behind the News.

Also on the show today – why was there a huge blaze in the middle of

the ocean?

We‟ll look at all that in a sec. but first Catherine has the headlines.

The Wire

There's a big clean-up happening around NSW's mid-North Coast this

week after flash floods hit on the weekend.

More than 500 millimetres of rain fell in 6 hours on Friday, damaging

roads and buildings and leaving people stranded.

It was a double blow for many residents whose homes were damaged

by floods in March.

***********

New South Wales is getting tough new anti graffiti laws.

Kids as young as 13 could face jail if they're caught carrying a spray

can.

The government's getting tougher after laws brought in earlier this

year were unsuccessful.

***********

In South Australia a 24-year-old man is recovering in hospital after

being attacked by a two metre shark.

He was spear fishing when the shark bit him on the leg but, luckily he

managed to fight it off.

***********

And you might remember a few weeks ago we told you about the

Kokoda Track which is one of the most difficult walks in the world.

Well how about doing it with no legs!

Kurt Fernley is a champion wheelchair racer but he'll be leaving

behind his wheels and instead will crawl the steep and muddy Kokoda

track.

Fernley reckons it'll be his biggest challenge yet - but he's up to it!

Presenter: Huge challenge. We‟ll let you know how he goes.

Sea Rescues

Reporter: Sarah Larsen

INTRO: Onto our top story now.

If you were on a boat that became lost at sea, what would happen to

you? Would anyone come to your aid?

It's a question 16 year old Jessica Watson will face if she ever gets

into trouble on her solo sailing trip.

And it's also come up in the news after asylum seekers were found in

the middle of the ocean and debate raged about who should look

after them.

Sarah takes a look at the rules in international waters.

SARAH LARSEN, REPORTER: Going out onto the water can be a lot

of fun, as long as you don't get into trouble.

KID 1: Have you got the oars?

KID 2: No, I thought you had the oars!

BOTH KIDS: Help! Somebody? Help?

REPORTER: If you get into trouble close to shore at least you know

where help is going to come from but imagine getting stuck out at sea,

where help can be thousands of kilometres away.

KID 1: So who rescues people out at sea?

KID 2: Yeah, who's in charge of the oceans?

That's not a simple question. Let's look at Australia. It ends where the

land meets the sea. But then there's a 22 km stretch of ocean which is

under Australia's control called its territorial water. Then there's

another zone that only Australia is allowed to mine or fish but

anyone's allowed to sail through it. Beyond that are what's known as

international waters or the high seas.

They belong to everybody and it's been that way ever since the dawn

of the exploration age. Countries decided the seas were too important

for travelling and trading and exploring and fishing to be owned by

any one nation. But they've agreed to obey certain rules out there;

known as the law of the sea.

It covers the rescue of stranded sailors. Many countries that are next

to oceans have promised to help ships in distress. They might send

out helicopters or ships or planes. Which country does depends on

where the ship is. The world's been divided up into search and rescue

zones, so if a boat goes down here it's Australia's job to help and if it

gets into trouble here it's Canada's job.

Any ships or boats nearby also have to help and if the captain is asked

they're expected to do what they can. Whether they're an oil tanker or

a little yacht they might have to stop what they're doing, turn around

and go to the rescue. Some really famous rescues have happened, like

when the Titanic sent out its distress call, a passenger ship call the

Carpathia came to the rescue and saved many lives.

Usually survivors are taken to the nearest port, or taken to the ship‟s

next point of call. But occasionally that can cause problems, especially

when the boat is carrying asylum seekers. That's what happened with

this Aussie ship which picked up some asylum seekers whose boat got

into trouble in Indonesia's rescue zone. Some people say it should

have taken them to Australia because they want to become refugees

here. So you can see the law of the sea is complicated and sometimes

controversial, but it basically means you have to help someone if

they're in trouble. Even if it does mean getting a bit stinky!

Presenter: Bit of a relief. Might think about a cruise for my next

holiday. In fact, let‟s start the research for it now with a quiz.

Quiz 1

The question is: “Which is the largest ocean?”

1. Atlantic

2. Southern

3. Pacific

Answer: Pacific

Presenter: The Pacific covers a third of the world's surface... so

that's one place you wouldn't want to get lost.

Oil Rig

Reporter: Kirsty Bennett

INTRO: Moving onto other stories we're following and if you've

tuned into the news lately you might have seen a fire in the middle of

the ocean near Australia.

It's an odd sight an oil rig surrounded by water fully ablaze.

But there is more to this story than amazing pics.

Let's find out what's going on with Kirsty.

KIRSTY BENNETT, REPORTER: No matter where you look, crude

oil is there. It's used to make or power all these things, so you can see

why it's called "black gold". But getting it isn't that easy.

Oil lies deep beneath the earth's surface. It was created by these guys.

When ancient marine life and plants died they fell to the bottom of

the ocean floor. And over millions of years they were covered in mud

and transformed into oil. But it's a limited resource, so companies go

anywhere to try to find it.

This is where most of Australia's oil comes from - the sea. It's tricky

and very expensive to get to. And the drilling units you need can cost

half-a-million dollars a day to hire. They're towed out to sea by ships

and sit on giant legs on the ocean floor. It's a slow trip which can only

be made in calm waters so it doesn't topple over. Once it's set up they

whip out a big drill. Not like that! A bit more like this! These drills can

go down for kilometres and in all directions depending on how far

away the oil is. That means drilling can last for ages! Sometimes it can

take up to a year to get to the oil! If there's a lot there the company

then sends out another platform to get the stuff out of the ground. It's

pretty hard to see one of these rigs in action because they often work

in faraway places. But when an oil rig caught fire recently it caught

the attention of a lot of people.

The West Atlas oil rig is out in the Timor Sea just off Western

Australia. It had been leaking oil for weeks and that was spreading

towards Indonesia and Australia. The company tried to stop the leak

by pumping mud in to block the hole. It tried three times but on the

fourth attempt fire erupted. The company says it knows what caused

the fire but won't release any details. But why couldn't they put it out?

KIRSTY: On your kitchen stove it's pretty easy to turn off the gas and

stop the flame. But on the rig it wasn't that simple.

You see, when oil is found there's heaps of pressure around it. So

when a company taps into it, it shoots out of the ground. The leak was

eventually stopped and the fire was put out but there are still lots of

problems. The company reckons it could take up to seven years to

deal with the oil spill and the impact it's had on the environment. The

industry says Australian oil isn't heaps thick so most of it would have

evaporated.

But environmentalists say there could be some big consequences for

the marine life later on. They want the Federal Government to stop oil

and gas developments in the area. At this stage though, everyone is

still trying to work out what went wrong.

Remembrance Day

Reporter: Catherine Ellis

INTRO: Ever since the first world war ended - when the guns fell

silent at the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month,

we have stopped each year at the same time to remember those who

have died in war.

It's called Remembrance Day.

This year we want to look at a group that made a huge impact

during times of war, but they're not diggers as such...

Although some of the might have enjoyed a good dig if there was a

bone involved.

Catherine's got the story.

CATHERINE ELLIS, REPORTER: A special dog training camp, in

Sydney, during World War Two.

MOVIETONE NEWS, 1942: "Dalmatians, Great Danes, Airedales,

Collies and Alsatians are now members of the army".

Canines have a great sense of smell, so they could help sniff out the

enemy and explosives and find fallen soldiers.

They were messengers.

And with their incredible hearing, they could warn soldiers early if the

enemy was approaching.

Special masks were even made to protect them from poisonous enemy

gasses.

But as well as serving alongside our armies, some simply provided

comfort and friendship.

Driver, who was smuggled as a puppy by a Sydney soldier into World

War One, became a mascot and expert rat catcher!

He survived the war and a special coat was made to smuggle him back

to Aus.

KATE DETHRIDGE, AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL: And when

they were waiting on docks, Driver sat carefully in this coat for 20

minutes while the troops were inspected and then he was smuggled

back out by the troops to live happily ever after in Sydney.

All sorts of animals have acted as war mascots and pets.

Rachael a pet bear from the Vietnam War is still alive today!

But many animals haven't been so lucky.

It's believed more than 136,000 Australian horses were sent to World

War One and only one came home.

That one horse was Sandy who is now on display at the Australian

War Memorial.

Horses were used to carry big packs of food and ammunition.

Camels and mules couldn't charge into battle, but they could travel

long distances, in tough weather conditions, without needing much

water.

CATHERINE: Now moving from big animals to tiny creatures - guess

what helped the soldiers read their maps in the dark trenches during

World War One? - Glow worms!! - It's true!

As for communication, pigeons have played a huge role.

CATHERINE: Pigeons carried notes between troops in tiny metal

cylinders attached to their legs. And they'd fly long distances,

sometimes wounded, to deliver these messages that saved thousands

of lives.

Pigeons were actually the first animals to receive war medals!

The Dickin medal is said to be the animal equivalent of the Victoria

Cross, which is the highest bravery award for humans.

DeeDee got one after being released from a sinking ship and flying

through a tropical storm.

KATE: Thanks to DeeDee the boat was saved, the men were saved,

and Dee was awarded the Dickin medal after the second world war.

Simon the cat got one.

When the ship he was on was attacked during a war in China, it was

held captive for 100 days, but the fearless feline continued to catch

rats to stop them eating the crew‟s precious food.

Even today animals are still serving in places like Afghanistan.

SERVICE: At the going down of the sun and in the morning we shall

remember them.

Sadly, just like humans, many animals have died at war and we

should also remember them.

SERVICE: Lest we forget.

Presenter: Who knew? Some very brave animals there.

Poll

Some people reckon that animals shouldn‟t be used in war at all, so

what do you reckon? Tell us what you think in our online poll.

The question is: “Should animals be used in war time?”

If you want to vote, go to our website.

Massive Telescope

Reporter: Alfie Tieu

INTRO: Australia is in the running for a project that could

completely change what we know about the universe.

It will be the most powerful telescope ever built - but it doesn't 'see'

like you and I do.

It's called a radio telescope and here's Alfie to explain how it works.

ALFIE TIEU, REPORTER: Humans have always been fascinated by

what's going on above them - in fact astronomy is one of the oldest

sciences.

In the beginning astronomers used to just climb a hill and use their

eyes and they came up with drawings like this.

But then came a revolution - the telescope. They could see much

further than ever before and the universe started to open up.

REPORTER: Telescopes have been around for hundreds of years.

This one at Sydney Observatory was built in 1874, but they were

around long before that.

They're called optical telescopes because they collect light using lenses

and mirrors.

They've told us a lot about space, but there are still things we don't

know, especially in the far corners of the universe.

That is so many billions of k‟s away that the light coming from there is

really weak and hard to see.

But light is only one type of energy. There're other types that are

invisible, like radio waves.

And that's why astronomers came up with these - they're called radio

telescopes. This one is at Parkes in New South Wales and that huge

white dish is an antenna!

REPORTER: They're like the antennas on your radio, but they won't

let you send text messages to aliens or tune into the Martian Top 40!

Stars and galaxies send out radio waves, and some waves are stronger

than others.

A radio telescope collects them in the dish and the information goes

into a computer.

The waves are then used to make images like this.

Astronomers can then see what objects far far away look like, and

what they're made of.

Amazingly, this helps them learn more about how the universe and

life began. They even try to predict when some of the stars will die!

A radio telescope also helps astronomers see through space dust

which blocks ordinary telescopes.

But if you think a radio telescope is pretty amazing – „you ain‟t seen

nothin‟ yet‟. This is the square kilometre array telescope, or SKA for

short.

A team of international astronomers wants to build a massive group

of radio telescopes in a field and link them together electronically.

There'd be about 3 thousand 6 hundred antennas.

And because they're all linked they work together like one gigantic

telescope.

Australia is now one of two places picked as the possible site.

If chosen, it will make us the leader in radio astronomy for the rest of

the century, and home to the biggest and fastest telescope in the

world!

Maybe there is life out there, or maybe there are planets we haven't

found. Who knows what scientists around the world could learn from

it!

Presenter: Exciting stuff. And while we all dream about what aliens

might look like, we might distract you with an intergalactic quiz.

Quiz 2

What is the largest planet in our solar system?

Answer: Jupiter.

Presenter: Jupiter is about 11 times the diameter of Earth, about

the size of basketball compared to a ping pong ball, and that's the cue

for Catherine and the Score.

The Score

Our Aussie cricketers are celebrating after what their captain

described as the best and most satisfying one day series victory ever.

Despite having lots of injury worries they've managed to win the

seven match series in India.

******

Lots of excitement in the golf world with the world‟s best player in

Australia at the moment..

Tiger Woods is here for the masters at Kingston Heath in Melbourne.

******

Now to something a little more action packed - The Wild Water World

Cup in Tassie.

These guys are some of the best kayakers in the world, but even for

them the Tassie course was tough and it certainly took its toll.

Many described the course as the toughest they've ever raced.

Presenter: Wonder if the law of the sea relates to that course? I

think I'd need help.

Rugby Exports

Reporter: Nathan Bazley

INTRO: In other sport news, on the weekend the Wallabies beat

England, but before that it had been a pretty tough year for the

national team.

Maybe the reason might be in our next story!

Some of our best League and Union players are being lured overseas

to play and that's got fans worried about what will happen to our

local comps.

Let's check out what's behind this dash for cash.

NATHAN BAZLEY, REPORTER: It's one of the oldest rivalries our

country has; the Wallabies v. the All Blacks.

But there was something different about this match-up.

The game was held in Tokyo, Japan, in front of nearly 45 thousand

screaming fans.

Seems a little random - but there's a good reason.

NATHAN: Japan is getting into rugby union in a big way, and when

Japan gets into something big money can often follow.

Japan is a country north of Australia and it has one of the top

economies in the world.

You'd know many of the big companies here, and lots of them have

splashed out buying their very own rugby teams.

You have the Honda Heat, Sanyo Wild Knights, Toyota Verblitz and

the Coca Cola West Red Sparks, just to name a few.

BEN DARWIN, RUGBY PLAYER AND COACH: Coca Cola doesn't

compete with Honda in the beverage market or the car market but

they do compete with each other on the rugby field. And so when

you're talking about large organisations, there's no depths to some of

their pockets.

This is a training session for one of Japan's second division teams, the

Shining Arcs, which is owned by a huge phone company.

And with that backing, it‟s splashed out on former wallaby Mark

Gerrard.

MARK GERRARD, RUGBY PLAYER: I'm loving this place at the

moment, people are great, food is fantastic, and I probably needed a

bit of a change in my career.

By coming here Mark has given up international rugby and his home

in Australia. He says he came to experience another culture, but he'll

also get a massive pay rise.

Some people reckon he could be on as much as half a million a year

now; way more than most players in Australia!

MARK GERRARD: To me, I deserve it. I worked fairly hard for where

I am right now. Mate, happy to have a couple of extra zeros at the end

of the salary pack at the end of the day.

And it seems he's not the only one. Stephen Larkham and George

Gregan are two other big union names who have made the move to

Japan and more are likely to follow.

Rugby league star Craig Wing has even swapped codes to come over.

CRAIG WING, RUGBY LEAGUE PLAYER: I won't lie. It's a great

package that I'm going over for.

But while all these Aussie stars come over to get the big bucks, their

Japanese teammates still often work fulltime jobs.

The captain of the team both Craig and Mark are joining works in

their owner‟s office during the week.

KOJE NAKAYAMA, NTT CAPTAIN (TRANSLATED): Of course I

would be happy to be paid as much as the foreign players, but their

experience and playing ability is higher. I just hope the Japanese

players can learn from them. So I don't particularly think about

money.

You'd think he'd be more jealous, but I suppose he gets some

international champions to help his side win, and they get big bucks

to make it happen.

The only question is; what happens to the sport back home in Aus?

Some experts are worried it will make our comps weaker, but only

time and lost matches will tell.

Presenter: Latest rumours are that Sydney Roosters player Willie

Mason is looking to head over to a Japanese Rugby club too, so we'll

let you know if that ends up happening.

We're coming to the end of the show now, but before you relax - one

last quiz.

Quiz 3

Which country is closest to Japan?

1. South Korea

2. China

3. Russia

Answer: Russia

Presenter: An island controlled by Russia is about 40 k‟s away - how

random.

Closer

That's it for another show. Catch you later.