BtN: Episode 32 Transcript 6/11/12
On this week's Behind the News
The PM says Asia will play a big part in our future so she plans to make
changes to what we learn in schools.
Should primary school kids get homework? We look at the debate.
And we go inside a science lab where they've worked out how to grow human
organs.
Hi I'm Nathan Bazley, welcome to Behind the News. Also on the show today, Tash
goes along to meet a young guy who makes amazing life-like robots. But first:
The biggest story this week has been over in the U.S. where a superstorm has bashed
parts of the east coast. Cities like New York have been devastated and the clean-up
will be lengthy and expensive. Sophia takes us through the main developments in the
Wire.
The Wire
The Caribbean and the US have been hit by one of the biggest storms in recent
history.
The 2000km wide Hurricane Sandy killed more than 180 people. Most died in
America where massive cities like New York and New Jersey took the brunt of the
winds.
Much of New York lost power for days and flooding stopped public transport systems
and forced businesses to close. Even Wall St was forced to stop trading for two days
as the storm passed through.
In New Jersey the coastline took most of the damage. Many houses were destroyed
over a big area leaving thousands homeless. Even a theme park was ruined. And in
other areas a whole neighbourhood was burnt to the ground after a gas leak caught
on fire.
Now the cleanup is well underway although it could be a long road ahead for some of
the worst affected. Rough estimates put the damage bill at around 20 billion dollars
in the US alone. But there have been many inspiring stories of support through the
sadness.
Neighbours are helping each other with cleaning and repairs and others are helping
out in smaller ways too.
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GIRL: "Me and my dad thought since we had power the whole time during the
hurricane, why don't we help other people who don't have power charge their
electronics"
"A place to charge our phones just so we can let other people know that we are ok and
we are going to get through this."
But it will take a lot of support for these communities to truly get back on their feet
once again.
Super Storm
Reporter: Nathan Bazley
INTRO: And we'll keep an eye on that recovery effort over the next few weeks. In
the midst of that storm there was also a presidential election to be won. And how
leaders react in times of disaster can sometimes make or break a political career.
With an election so close, both candidates were trying to turn it to their advantage
while at the same time appearing to be sensitive to those who were suffering. Let's
take a look at how they got on.
NATHAN BAZLEY, REPORTER: It was a once in a lifetime storm. A hurricane so
big, it managed to bring the city that doesn't sleep to a standstill.
But that wasn't the only thing Hurricane Sandy brought to a halt. In the last week of
the American election, both candidates swore to stop their campaigning, while the
recovery got underway.
OBAMA: The election will take care of itself next week, right now, our number one
priority is to make sure that we are saving lives.
ROMNEY: This looks like another time when we need to come together.
But with the presidency still on the line, the campaigning didn't really stop, it just
changed. Here's how.
For President Barack Obama, making sure the disaster was handled well would be
vital to his chances at re-election. Many years before this storm in 2005, Obama's
predecessor, President Bush, had to deal with a similar event.
Hurricane Katrina brought with it far more damage and killed many more people.
President Bush was soon criticised for not doing enough to help the people affected.
So Obama's done everything he can to help in the recovery effort. He's toured the
areas worst hit and promised lots of help.
OBAMA: My message to the governors, as well as to the mayors is 'Anything you
need, we'll be there.'
The guy with Obama here is one of Mitt Romney's biggest supporters. Before this
storm, he often said things like this about Obama.
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CHRIS CHRISTIE: He's like a man wandering around a dark room, hands up against
the wall, clutching for the light-switch of leadership and he can't find it!
Now he's changed his tune.
CHRIS CHRISTIE: I have to give the president great credit, he's been on the phone
to me three times in the last 24hrs, he's been very attentive. Anything I've asked for,
he's gotten to me so I thank the president publicly for that.
If he feels differently about the president now, maybe lots of voters will too.
Meanwhile, Mitt Romney's camp has tried to get into the helping spirit as well. After
promising not to campaign, they decided to run a 'Storm Relief Benefit' where
Romney helped to take donations and lift lots of water.
But as for touring the area like Obama? Maybe not.
FOX REPORTER: Is there any chance Romney might tour some of the damage with
you?
CHRIS CHRISTIE: I have no idea nor am I the least bit concerned or interested. I've
got a job to do here in New Jersey, that's much bigger than presidential politics. I
couldn't care less about that stuff.
Both candidates know that disasters can dramatically change the way people see
their leaders. For proof, you only have to look to Queensland. The Queensland floods
were one of the biggest disasters to hit Australia in recent history. But in the midst of
all the pain, the former Premier Anna Bligh, stood up and gave a speech that inspired
the state.
ANNA BLIGH: We are Queenslanders. We're the people they breed tough north of
the border. We're the ones they knock down, but get back up again.
And in the months after the disaster, her approval ratings skyrocketed. It's this effect
that Obama and Romney want on their side in the final hours of their campaign.
Asia Century
Reporter: Sarah Larsen
INTRO: Last week there was a lot of talk about something called the Asian Century
and if that's not a term you've heard before it's probably one you will hear again.
The idea is that in the years to come, it'll be Asian countries rather than America or
Europe that we look to for business, politics and culture. But where will Australia fit
in the Asian Century? And what has it got to do with you? Sarah found out.
Kids saying hello in different languages.
There are a lot of ways to greet the people we meet in the world.
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But to greet the future some reckon there are words Aussie kids need to know.
Selmat pagi
konichi wa
Ni Hao
Namaste
Last week Aussie politicians were visiting schools and talking about languages.
They reckon that every Aussie kid should be doing what these guys are; learning an
Asian language.
The group of countries we know as Asia are home to more than half of the people on
the planet.
And for those people life is changing fast. People in areas that used to be poor are
starting to earn good incomes. They're spending more money and the economies of
some massive countries are booming. Its change on a scale that the world's never
seen before and it could have a big effect on other countries, including Australia.
Change itself is nothing new. If you look back more than 100 years Britain was one of
the biggest powers in the world with big ships and a big empire. Then came the
American Century. For about 100 years the USA was the most powerful country in
the world. It had the biggest economy and the world paid attention to American
politics.
American culture also had a massive effect including on Australian from the music
we listened to the movies that we watched and the clothes that we wore. But now
many say we're at the start of the Asian Century.
REPORTER: Is it possible that in the future kids will ditch the Hollywood
blockbuster to catch the latest anime or a Bollywood romance? Maybe. We'll almost
certainly pay more attention to Asian politics and we'll do a lot more business with
people in Asia.
Last week the Australian government released a big report on how Australia can
make the most of the Asian Century. It says it's already in a pretty good position.
On the map it's close to Asia which makes trade a lot easier. And for a while now
Aussie governments have been working on building closer friendships with their
Asian neighbours.
But while Mandarin speaking ex-prime ministers are all well and good the
government reckons what Australia really needs is for kids to grow up with a better
understanding of Asia. It wants every Aussie kid to learn an Asian language,
particularly Indonesian, Chinese, Japanese or Hindi which is the national language
of India. And it wants school kids to learn about Asian cultures.
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Of course, no-one’s actually said how the government's going to pay for all this
learning. There are questions about where schools are going to find enough language
teachers and how they're going to encourage kids to keep learning.
To some it just seems like a lot of talk. But others reckon it's an important start. They
reckon if Aussie kids grow up with a better understanding of the cultures that share
this part of the world future generations will be thanking them
Arigato
Xie Xie
Terima kasih
Shukriyaa
Quiz 1
Let's have a quiz.
The question is:
Which of these countries is in Asia?
Mongolia
Albania
Moldova
Answer: Mongolia
Albania and Moldova are in Eastern Europe.
Homework Debate
Reporter: Natasha Thiele
INTRO: Now there have been questions about whether primary school kids should
be given homework. Some researchers say there's no proof it helps kids to get better
grades when they're older. Now before you start celebrating, it's important to know
that not everyone agrees with this view and many teachers and parents still think it
can be vital. So who's right? Sarah has a look at the debate.
SARAH LARSEN: It's four o'clock. You're home from school. You've had a snack and
walked the dog and then it starts; homework.
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KID: Tonight I'm doing some stuff about clouds so just looking at the clouds and
seeing what sort of clouds they are and predicting the weather.
While it might not be your favourite pastime, lots of people think it's an important
way to teach you about the world.
VICKI ATSALAS: Don't forget that whatever you don't get done in class you'll have to
do for homework.
Ms Atsalas is a homework fan. And no, she's not mean. She just thinks it can really
help kids - reinforcing the stuff they learn at school and building extra knowledge
and skills.
VICKI ATSALAS: I also know that in the beginning a lot of my students don't agree
with that but with the skills that they develop even they can see the benefits.
KID 1: Think homework is beneficial. I don't enjoy it but I think it is helpful to get life
skills that you use later in life.
KID 2: You learn life skills as in like juggling work with your commitments.
KID 3: I think it will help me when I'm at a job and at high school I think it will help
me when I'm studying for a test.
These guys say regular homework has helped them work efficiently and get
organised; the sorts of skills they'll need later in life.
VICKI ATSALAS: When they get older there are going to be more responsibilities put
on them and they'll be able to manage them much better having acquired these skills
beforehand.
But how much homework is too much homework? And does it actually help kids to
get better marks?
They're the sorts of questions Professor Richard Walker was trying to answer in a
book he helped to write about Homework.
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR RICHARD WALKER, UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY:
Generally speaking what we're saying in this book is that less homework is better and
that the quality of homework has to be improved.
He says for primary school kids, homework won't necessarily lead to better marks.
Some schools like this one choose to give none at all.
MARC WEDDING: We don't feel like there’s any significant gain to be made in
student’s education when it comes to homework.
Marc Wedding says when you're in Primary School you need to time to be a kid
without stressing about homework.
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KID 1: Reading books, going outside playing sport being active in bike riding or
various other sporting activities they will have more impact in their lives rather than
doing repetitive tasks.
KID 2: I like to play with my dog, feed my birds and then read some books that I got
from the library.
KID 3: Considering you go to school for six hours you don't need to do any
homework afterwards.
If you do have to spend some of your evenings like this experts say it's not necessarily
a bad thing.
While it might not guarantee you straight A’s, they say it can teach you to manage
your own learning and organise your time.
As long as it's quality homework; stuff that's interesting and stuff you can work on
with your parents.
When you're in primary school afternoons are precious but so is your education. So
where do you stand on the homework debate?
Online Poll
OK let's make that our poll this week.
The question is:
Should kids have to do homework in primary school?
To vote just head to our website.
Last week we asked you if swimming lessons should be compulsory in schools.
82 per cent said yes and 18 per cent said no. Thanks for voting.
Organ Farming
Reporter: Nathan Bazley
INTRO: Everyone knows that if you damage some parts of your body they might
never heal. Some internal organs are like that and of course if you lose a finger or
an ear it won't grow back. But amazingly scientists have come up with a solution.
They've worked out how to grow some replacement organs and body parts. Let's
take a look.
NATHAN BAZLEY, REPORTER: You can get replacement parts for a car. You can
get replacement parts for a house. But one thing you can't buy is a replacement part
for your body. Well, you couldn't, until now.
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Luke has a condition called spina bifida and it has damaged his bladder an organ
inside his body. Up until now, there was no way to really fix that, so his doctors did
something amazing.
LUKE MASELLA: They take a piece of your bladder out. They grow it in a lab for two
months into a new bladder that's your own. And they put it back in.
Yes, you heard correctly they grew him a new one. This is one of the labs where all
the magic happens. Here you can see body parts, like ears, heart valves and arteries,
all being grown in dishes.
But don't be fooled into thinking they're just plastic moulds. These structures are
being made from real human cells from the person who actually needs them. And
here's how they do it. Cells were taken from Luke's damaged bladder, then more were
grown in this nutrient solution.
From there they created a 3D mould of the bladder they wanted and injected the pink
cell solution all over it. Finally, chuck it all in a fancy oven and hey presto, you have a
new bladder! That's not the only successful replacement part this team has grown
either.
They've made replacement tubes for the body by baking them flat, then stitching
them together. And they've even taken it a step further with the help of a printer!
Why make body parts by hand, when you can modify a printer to inject cells instead
of ink!
These days, the machines are a bit more specialised than regular office printers.
They've even managed to develop automatic machines which can scan how bad a
wound is and apply cells to fix it.
Just take a moment to think about it. The potential for this work is mind blowing!
Growing organs can not only save lives, but it can also help sick people to feel better
again too.
The organs won't be rejected by the body, because they're made specifically for each
patient and they can be made to order, so patients wouldn't need to rely on organ
donors anymore.
But before you sign up for an extreme sport thinking this technology will make you
near invincible, just remember organ farming is still fairly limited.
Most internal organs are still too complex to create just yet. But they are getting close
to growing a bit of a new kidney and liver.
And ears are coming along pretty well too. They're even working on fingers, in case
you lose one of yours. But that's going to take more time again to come to grips with.
So there is a glimpse into a pretty amazing world, where one day, we might not have
to worry about a dodgy part in our bodies.
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Just like your car, spare parts might one day be as simple as a quick visit to the
hospital for a replacement!
Quiz 2
OK, how much do you know about organs? Let's have a quiz.
The question is:
Which is the largest organ of the human body?
Skin
Liver
Brain
Answer: Skin
Presenter: Yep the skin is actually an organ and weighs nearly twice as much as the
brain or liver. OK let's get the sports news now. Here's Sophia with the Score.
The Score
Kimi Raikkonen has won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. It was a wild and incident
packed race. Aussie Mark Webber was caught up in the chaos and wasn't able to
finish. Raikkonen ended up winning easily ahead of Fernando Alonso, and Sebastian
Vettel.
*****
And in Basketball and the Adelaide 36ers have beaten the Sydney Kings. Both teams
took turns to build up big leads in the game but in the final minutes Adelaide proved
to be too strong. Big man Luke Schenscher starred for the 36ers.
Robot Boy
Reporter: Natasha Thiele
INTRO: Have you ever wondered how movie makers create life-like characters for
their films? They often use something called 'animatronics' which involves making
robots. Tash caught up with an Aussie school boy who makes some pretty
impressive robots of his own.
NATASHA THIELE, REPORTER: From dinosaurs, to reindeer and aliens. These
characters might look and move as if they're alive. That's because they're robotic
puppets called 'animatronics'. Animatronics are designed to create the illusion that
they're real. It's a technique that was developed in the 1960s by Walt Disney.
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This is Marshall and these are some of his animatronics! He's been building robots
for about seven years.
REPORTER: So Marshall, how did you get into creating robots?
MARSHALL: When I was younger I was interested in watching films like Star Wars
and things like that and I actually asked my Dad if it would be difficult to make a
3CPO and he basically from here he taught me basic things like soldering and basic
electronics and that sort of thing and it just developed from there.
He has around 10 different robots including a werewolf, a talking rabbit, a full-size
Dalek and this scary-looking head.
MARSHALL: This is the first I made out of the four here. It's an animatronic head,
which means it's replicating real life so it's designed to actually look like a person and
on the inside we've got all sorts of mechanisms and motors that make different
features move so the mouth for example, the eyelids, the eyes and the neck.
Marshall also designed and made this robot for a school project. It can make a
number of facial expressions and it can even talk, by moving its mouth in sync with
sounds.
REPORTER: Hi, it's Tash here. Okay so this might not actually be me, but how cool is
it that I'm able to make it look like I've turned into a talking robot? Pretty cool huh?
The kinds of things he uses to make robots like this can come from all sorts of places.
MARSHALL: The top jaw was actually a cast of my teeth from the dentist and the
bottom jaw was sculpted to suit it.
And for creating this robot he won a competition to compete at a robotic event in
Malaysia.
From sketching an idea to the finished product, a robot can take several months to
complete.
REPORTER: How difficult are they to make?
MARSHALL: Basically the more features it has, the more harder it is because if you
have more movement that means more motors that and more mechanisms that you
need to fit in.
But making robots isn't a cheap hobby. It costs hundreds of dollars to make just one
of these creations. And despite the cost, Marshall wants to share his ideas and
creations with the world. He's set up his own YouTube channel and his videos have
already had more than one million views!
Marshall wants to one day make a full-size humanoid robot. He also hopes his talents
take him all the way to Hollywood!
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MARSHALL: Ideally animatronics would be good, I've also thought about different
sorts of engineering so more robotics and things like that, but animatronics is more
for film, television and theatre and I would like to get into that.
It's a dream job that might not be too far away!
Closer
That's it for the show. You can jump onto our website if you want to get more info on
any of the stories. You can send us your comments and don't forget to vote in this
week's poll. I'll see you next time.
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