Friday 3 May 2013

Should people have Best friends?


A head teacher of a primary school has said that children shouldn’t have best friends because it leaves others hurt. Plenty of children naturally seek out a special friend to share their childhood with.

This isn’t the first time someone has suggested a “no best friend” policy. Critics say banning best friends to ensure that no-one is left out prevents children to experience the ups and downs of life.

Could you live without your best friend?
 
 

The U.K Should Expect It's First New Nuclear Plant Online In 2020...

A sign is seen outside EDF Energy's Hinkley Point B nuclear power station in Bridgwater, southwest England December 13, 2012. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett




EDF Energy's 1,630-megawatt Hinkley Point C nuclear reactor was initially expected to commence electricity production in 2018, but delays following Japan's Fukushima accident have put back the start-up.

The French company has not given a new date for the plant's start of operations, but government data forecasting installed power capacity, showed that the energy ministry is counting on 2020 as the new date.

Britain is counting on a new wave of nuclear power plant construction to help it meet legally-binding targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions.


 

Thursday 2 May 2013

Prince Harry Tries Out News Reading!


On Thursday the 25th April 2013, Prince Harry had a go at news reading and even DJing during a visit to Nottingham!

Prince Harry of Wales was born on the 15th of September 1984 and is the younger son of Charles, Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales. He is also the fourth grandchild of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke Of Edinburgh.

While Harry was in Nottingham, he decided to have a tour of the Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies. This institute is a place of training for people who want to work in TV, radio and many other creative industries. So therefore, as a result of being down there, Harry decided to have a go at presenting the news himself. How cool would that be? Have you ever wanted to present the news? However, Harry also had a go at DJing during his tour too which must have been great experience as it’s not every day you get to DJ!

Check out Prince Harry’s presenting skills here...

NASA Releases Footage Of Sun Explosion!


NASA has released a spectacular footage of the moment when a large explosion erupted on the surface of the sun...

The sun is a star that is the basis of the solar system and that sustains life on Earth, being the source of heat and light. It has a mean distance from Earth of around 150 million kilometres, a diameter of approximately 1,390,000 kilometres and a mass of about 330,000 times of Earth.

Watch the explosion take place here:


50 Things To Do Before You're 11 3/4

As kids, I'm sure we have all done some pretty crazy stuff in the past both indoors and out. The National Trust charity have yet again come up with a massive list of different activities children would want to do before they are almost 12.

The charity have updated the list for 2013 so it is up to date with the latest things that children like doing to this very day. Here is the list of 50 different activities they came up with...


1. Climb a tree 
2. Roll down a really big hill 
3. Camp out in the wild
4. Build a den 
5. Skim a stone
6. Run around in the rain
7. Fly a kite
8. Catch a fish with a net
9. Eat an apple straight from a tree 
10. Play conkers 
11. Go on a really long bike ride
12. Make a trail with sticks
13. Make a mud pie
14. Dam a stream 
15. Play in the snow 
16. Make a daisy chain
17. Set up a snail race 
18. Create some wild art 
19. Play Pooh sticks
20. Jump over waves
21. Pick blackberries growing in the wild 
22. Explore inside a tree
23. Visit a farm
24. Go on a walk barefoot
25. Make a grass trumpet
26. Hunt for fossils and bones 
27. Go star gazing 
28. Climb a huge hill
29. Explore a cave 
30. Hold a scary beast 
31. Hunt for bugs
32. Find some frogspawn 
33. Catch a falling leaf 
34. Track wild animals
35. Discover what's in a pond 
36. Make a home for a wild animal 
37. Check out the crazy creatures in a rock pool
38. Bring up a butterfly 
39. Catch a crab 
40. Go on a nature walk at night 
41. Plant it, grow it, eat it 
42. Go swimming in the sea 
43. Build a raft 
44. Go bird watching 
45. Find your way with a map and compass
46. Try rock climbing
47. Cook on a campfire 
48. Learn to ride a horse
49. Find a geocache
50. Canoe down a river

World's Worst Parallel Parking Attempt!


Just recently, a video of a woman trying to park her car in a parallel parking space on Belfast Street has become an internet sensation!

Now I’m sure us kids have sat in a car before and hilariously laughed at our parents attempting to park their car in an awkward spot. I know I have! However not so long ago a woman attempted to park her car in a parallel parking space on the side of a road. A group of students at the time noticed the woman frantically trying to get into the spot and decided it would be a good idea to get the parking attempt on film, so they decided to film this frenzy from a house they were in. Once the group had finished filming and once the woman had finally managed to get into the space they decided to upload the video to YouTube so that the entire world could see the parking fail!

Graphic showing how to parallel park
The video shows a female driver taking about half an hour (30 minutes) and several attempts to reverse her car into a parallel spot on the road in between two other vehicles on a street called Fitzroy Avenue in the Holyland Area in Belfast. Here is how you would normally parallel park… -------------->

As a result of the woman’s attempt at reversing into a space, she has now become an internet sensation thanks to a group of students filming from a nearby house as the video has been viewed on YouTube more than 700,000 times! It’s amazing how such a small thing can suddenly turn into a huge internet hit!

The group who filmed the whole thing gave a blow-by-blow commentary which undoubtedly helped the footage go viral to the web. Ciaran Doherty (one of the students) told the BBC:

“One of the boys in the house was looking out the window having a wee bit of fresh air and saw it. The next thing we were all at the window and looking out.”

"We were looking at it for a good 15 minutes before we started videoing it. I offered to park the car for her. I can't believe she couldn't get it in. It could easily have fitted a big people carrier in that space."

The group all cheered and probably so did other spectators when the woman finally managed to reverse into the spot which could have easily fitted a car twice the size of hers in! Watch the chaos unfold here…
 

Toad in Green Beans

In the United States, a woman from Indiana had an ‘interesting’ surprise whilst she was making her tea. Just like an ordinary meal, she was heating up some green beans from a tin when she realised there was a dead toad inside!

Gloria Chubb didn’t notice the toad in her food, it was her son when he was putting it on his plate at the dinner table and asked her what it was.

Gloria said it took a while to find out exactly what it had been, she said:

"I thought it was a piece of mouldy bacon."

“I had it on my hand trying to figure out what it was.... It was a toad!"

For the following 2 days after the incident, she felt SICK! Gloria is certain that she will not be eating green beans anytime soon.

As expected, she got her money back from the food manufacturer, Meijer because of the mistake. But… If it was me, I would expect more.

A True Inspiration: Imogen Cairns

If you’re a fan of the Olympics or Gymnastics, I’m sure you will know who Imogen Cairns is… Last weekend at Rotherham Sports Acro Gymnastics presentation, gymnasts were shocked to find out there was an Olympic British gymnast in the same building.

Imogen Cairns is a British artistic gymnast. She competed at the recent 2012 Summer Olympics, as well as the 2008 Summer Olympics. Cairns is currently 24 years of age and she grew up in a very nice place, Winterbourne. Unfortunately she couldn’t walk for several months after breaking both legs shortly after her Olympic debut in Beijing but, at the 2010 Commonwealth Games she won two gold’s and a team silver award. Luckily Imogen overcome numerous injuries’ to secure her place at London 2012 Olympic Games.

On Sunday most lucky gymnasts at RSAC got their photo taken with their role model. Although the professional does a different type of gymnastics, we found out her favourite operator is floor; which we also use to do tumbles. Imogen does 4 piece gymnastics (which includes: beam, vault, bars and floor), where as we do "Acro" (a group sport is often known for both Male and Female).

It was a pleasure to speak to her myself as I could learn, how much gymnastics means to an Olympian also how many hours they train. I would love to see her perform in person!

Parents find a new punishment

Parents have found a new way of punishing you by stopping you from going on your computers, this is because a survey has proven that children spend too much time on the internet. Children spend most of their day playing on electrical devices than actually playing outside with their friends.

Wednesday 1 May 2013

Primark Giving Money To Victims Of A Building Collapse


Primark sign.Primark has said that they are more than happy to offer some money to help all the families who sadly lost a relative of a recent factory collapse in Bangladesh.

Primark is an Irish clothing retailer, operating in Australia, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Primark first opened in June 1969 in Mary Street (Dublin). Primark sells clothes at the budget end of the market and the company sources cheaply, using simple designs and basic fabrics in the popular sizes and buys stock in bulk.

Last week (starting Monday 22nd April 2013), an eight storey building collapsed to the ground with thousands of workers still inside in the capital city of Dhaka. Unfortunately when the building crashed to the floor, a total of at least 386 people died from the event.

However, although it may seem like nothing good has come out of this, something actually has. One of the many factories that were found inside the building made clothes for Primark. So when the collapse of the building appeared on the news, Primark itself wanted to help out straight away in any way they could.

As a result, Primark said that they would be more than happy to offer money to the families who sadly lost a relative. Also a statement from Primark (which is owned by Associated British Foods) said:

“ We have partnered with a local NGO [non-governmental organisation] to address the immediate needs of victims, including the provision of emergency food aid to families”.

“This initiative began in Bangladesh immediately the extent of the disaster became clear”.

Tuesday 30 April 2013

40,000 Piece Jigsaw Collapses To The Floor!


Recently, a man took on a challenge of producing a 40,000 piece jigsaw which will be displayed at Sandringham next month.

A jigsaw is a puzzle consisting of a picture printed on cardboard or wood and cut into various pieces of different shapes and sometimes even different sizes that all have to be fitted together to make the picture again.

Not long ago a man called Dave Evans took on a challenge of assembling a jigsaw puzzle made up from the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. Dave was presented with a jigsaw made up of a whopping 40 THOUSAND PIECES! When I do jigsaw’s, I can barely cope with putting together a 500 piece puzzle, let alone a 40,000 one!

As you can imagine, assembling a 40,000 piece jigsaw puzzle must have taken a very long time indeed. You are right! Dave spent more than 200 hours putting together this monster of a puzzle, that’s 8 days and 8 hours of pure hard work. You could also imagine that there was a huge sigh of relief from Dave once the jigsaw was finished as he no longer had to worry about getting the jigsaw completed on time.

Once the jigsaw was finished, Dave decided to rest his masterpiece at an angle on a frame in his own workshop to show off his work to the public. Sadly sometime after he did this, the whole lot collapsed onto the floor and broke into thousands upon thousands of pieces. A tragedy for Dave. Just think how you would feel if you made something that had taken days to make, just to be destroyed within a matter of seconds after you had finished doing it.

Dave Evans was heartbroken when the 40,000 piece puzzle crumbled to the floor. However, not only does Dave have to come to terms with the fact that all of his work had been ruined, he also had to worry about how he needs to get the whole jigsaw re-assembled for next month as it will be going up on display at Sandringham.

A huge loss for Dave Evans indeed. Watch the 40,000 piece puzzle drop to the floor here: