Monday 31 August 2015

MTV Video Music Awards: Taylor Swift picks up four prizes

Taylor Swift took home four MTV Video Music Awards (VMA) on Sunday night at a big event in Los Angeles, USA.

Model Gigi Hadid, actress Serayah, recording artist Taylor Swift, director Joseph Kahn, model Lily Aldridge accept the Video of the Year award for 'Bad Blood' onstage during the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards at Microsoft Theater on August 30, 2015 in Los Angeles, California.

She won the night's biggest prize, the Video of the Year award, for 'Bad Blood'.



"I'm just happy that in 2015 we live in a world where boys can play princesses and girls can play soldiers," the 25-year-old singer said accepting her award.
Swift also won Best Pop Video and Best Female Video for 'Blank Space'. (From CBBC Newsround)


Thursday 20 August 2015

Vancouver black bear relaxes in hot tub in Canada

A family had to share their swimming pool with an unexpected visitor at their home in Vancouver, Canada

A black bear decided to take a dip in their pool then climbed into the adjoining hot tub where it seemed to relax for a while.
After around 15 minutes, the bear, which had been tagged by wildlife officials, strolled off, back through the hole it had made in the family's fence. 
 From CBBC Newsround


Wednesday 19 August 2015

The new electric surfboard that doesn't need waves

 

This amazing electric surfboard, made by a Spanish company, allows the rider to surf over the water without the need for waves.

WOW!




Aquila Boards have spent the last few years developing an electric jet board for their brand Onean, with the help of product engineering company Bizintek. The boards make it possible to surf without any waves.(From Contemporist)

The boards are 100% electric and also almost completely silent.
They work on rivers, sea, lakes and only take two hours to fully charge.
The company, Onean, who are based in Spain made two boards.
They're called the Carver, which is speedier and the Manta which is for a gentler ride. (CBBC Newsround)

Sunday 16 August 2015

Astronaut captures Northern Lights from space

The Aurora Borealis, also known as the Northern Lights, dazzle stargazers on Earth and in space.

Watch this amazing video (timelapse)



Nasa astronaut Scott Kelly has captured timelapse footage of the spectacular sight, from the International Space Station.
The splashes of colour are caused by the interaction of charged particles and the Earth's magnetic field and atmosphere.
Scott took the sunrise footage on his 141st day of his #yearinspace mission. (CBBC Newsround)
Scott Kelly who is on a year-long space mission to collect important scientific data for future human exploration of our solar system. Scott Kelly started his “Year In Space” mission in March 2015. Scott Kelly served as commander of 26th long-duration mission, Expedition 26 which reached the station on 10 October 2010. (The Indian Express)

Saturday 15 August 2015

What is a sinkhole?

Sinkholes are so wierd!

Sinkhole

What is a sinkhole?

A sinkhole is a hole in the ground formed when the rock underneath dissolves by groundwater.

Where do they form?

Sinkholes usually form in areas of chalk or limestone - types of rock slowly that dissolve with rain water.
Sinkhole collapses are pretty common in the American state of Florida. Virtually the whole of the state is a limestone platform.
But sinkholes are extremely rare in the UK.

What are they like?

Sinkholes can be of all different sizes ranging from just a few metres to large ones around 20 metres deep.
Collapsed sinkholes generally have steep rock sides and may have streams that then flow underground.

From CBBC Newsround

Watch the following compilation!

Sunday 9 August 2015

The animals who love cuddly toys

Doodlebug the orphaned baby kangaroo from Grafton, New South Wales in Australia has been a big hit on social media after getting snapped cuddling a teddy bear, who's his best friend.

So cuuute, all of them!

Kangaroo cuddling toy

Doodlebug the baby kangaroo sleeps next to this teddy and gives it cuddles.

But Doodlebug isn't the only animal who has a favourite teddy...
Pudsey the dog from Who Let The Dogs Out prefers to hang out with a teddy bear with his own name - Pudsey the bear from Children in Need.
Pudsey
A zookeeper at ZSL London Zoo is hand-rearing this baby sloth with the help of a soft toy she bought in a gift shop. Now it's a firm favourite.
Sloth with soft toy
 Yooranah the koala joey, born at Edinburgh Zoo, likes to cuddle a stuffed toy koala whilst getting weighed.
Koala
Iggy the Blue Peter guide dog loves playing with cuddly toys when she hangs out back stage at CBBC.
Iggy
From CBBC Newsround

Wednesday 5 August 2015

Hiroshima - A Survivor's Story

On the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombing of the city of Hiroshima, on the 6th August in 1945.




What happened in Hiroshima?
The ground crew of the B-29 'Enola Gay' which atom-bombed Hiroshima, Japan. Col. Paul W. Tibbets, the pilot is the centre.On 6 August 1945, at 8.15am Japanese time, an American B-29 bomber plane, called 'Enola Gay', dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.
The devastation was beyond anything seen before. The city was immediately flattened.
80,000 people were killed as a direct result of the blast, and another 35,000 were injured.

The plume of smoke from a mushroom cloud billow, about one hour after the nuclear bomb was detonated above Hiroshima, Japan

A huge mushroom cloud of smoke fills the sky over Hiroshima, Japan, one hour after it was bombed in August 1945

In this undated picture provided by the U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey, the destroyed city of Hiroshima, Japan is seen from the Red Cross hospital building located about one mile from the epicenter of the nuclear blast from the 'Little Boy' atomic bomb which was detonated by the U.S

Even then, Japan didn't surrender.
Three days later, another nuclear bomb was dropped by the Americans on the Japanese city of Nagasaki.
Shortly afterwards, on 15 August 1945, Japan finally admitted defeat.
World War Two was over.
There were celebrations in Europe after Germany surrendered.
But on the other side of the world in the Pacific Ocean, Japan was still fighting against America, Britain and their allies.
The Americans, however, had a secret plan to end the war - by using the most powerful weapon ever created

What damage did the bombs cause?

This building, now called the A Bomb Dome, survived the atomic blast and today it's a memorial
This building, now called the A Bomb Dome, survived the atomic blast and today it's a memorial in Hiroshima, Japan

When the bomb exploded in Hiroshima, the city has struck by a flash of blinding light then a giant cloud shaped like a mushroom.
The blast flattened buildings within a 2.5 km radius of the bomb.
There were 90,000 buildings in Hiroshima before the bomb was dropped but only 28,000 remained after the explosion.

Thousands and thousands of people were killed. Many were badly injured.
But the suffering didn't end there because it wasn't just a normal bomb.
The nuclear radiation released when it exploded caused people to suffer horrible illnesses.
Thousands more people died from their injuries and radiation sickness in the weeks, months and years that followed.

Why did the US drop the bomb?


The Hiroshima bomb was nicknamed 'Little Boy'. Here it is before being loaded into the Enola Gay's bomb bay
The Hiroshima bomb was nicknamed 'Little Boy'. Here it is before being loaded into the Enola Gay's bomb bay

Japan had been at war for many years.
It had invaded the countries near to it such as China and the Japanese had attacked America.
Everywhere the Japanese soldiers went, they were known for their cruelty.
They treated prisoners of war very badly, including American and British soldiers who had surrendered. (CBBC Newsround)

Tuesday 4 August 2015

Minion mayhem: giant inflatable stops traffic in Dublin

A giant minion has been causing chaos in Dublin, Ireland.

The 12-metre inflatable stopped cars on a busy road after strong winds had ripped the yellow giant loose from a nearby fairground.
No one was injured with one local calling the incident "a bit of fun".
The police, with the help of passers-by, eventually managed to let the air out of the yellow inflatable and took it away in a wheelbarrow.
Minion in the fairground
The minion was being used at a fairground
Nobody was hurt but the traffic was stopped for 15 minutes. Police came to help and passers-by helped the police to let the air out of the minion and it was taken away in a wheelbarrow. ( CBBC Newsround)

Rare baby giraffe takes first steps

Pictures of the day: Newborn giraffe Kidepo steps out for first time at @chesterzoo (PA) http://t.co/EHxHoW4Iyb
A rare breed of baby giraffe has taken its first steps into the outside world. Rotschild giraffes are really rare and must be preserved at any cost!

 Chester Zoo's newest baby giraffe Kidepo steps out for the first time with his mother Orla as the zoo shows off the three calfs born at the zoo within eight months at Chester Zoo in Chester, north west England.
Kidepo was born at Chester Zoo and strode into the sunshine with mum Orla and dad Meru.
He's the most recent addition of rare Rothschilds' giraffes at the zoo, following on from the births of Zahra in December 2014 and Sanyu in June.
Their arrivals have given an important boost to the special breeding programme for the species, which is classed as endangered.
Sarah Roffe, team manager of the giraffes, said: "It'll take Kidepo a little bit of time to get used to his long legs but he already seems confident and full of personality and he's doing very well so far. We're really pleased with how he has taken to the rest of the herd and with how the herd has quickly taken to having him around." (CBBC newsround)