Food prices all over the world are sky rocketing. Temperatures are soaring high. 'How come a war fought by Russia in a far away country seems to affect us in India, so badly? Why are poor countries like India affected more than rich countries, by food price increases?'Listen to this conversation with a 9-year old to explore how high food prices are, and what to expect next.If you have any thoughts or comments, please email us at hello@wsnt.inDo you like to read stories? Read our newsletters h...
Apr 22, 2022•13 min
Only a thin strip of water near the coastline is governed by countries. The rest of the oceans, called High Seas, is left largely ungoverned. A high seas treaty was to have helped safeguard the lives of marine creatures, reduce pollution of the seas through deep-sea mining and set up a framework by which the rich and poor countries can share genetic resources well.Listen to this conversation with a 9-year old who says 'if mining for new minerals can help us create clean vehicles but polluted ...
Apr 20, 2022•13 min
Recently, a few thousand workers in a warehouse of Amazon in New York voted to be a part of a union. Why workers need to be part of unions? Won't this give them a lot of power over their bosses? Will more companies in other parts of the world also start unions?Listen to this conversation with a 9-year old to understand her world view of profit-focused companies vs. unions.If you have any thoughts or comments please share them via email to hello@wsnt.in.Follow us on http://twitter.com/@Whatsne...
Apr 19, 2022•13 min
Recently a few giant stone jars were discovered in North Eastern India (Assam). We are guessing that these jars were used to keep the ashes of the dead. Sometimes, they also contained some pretty beads and ancient bracelets. These stone jars are similar to the jars found in Laos."How does someone carry or lift a giant 3m high stone jar? Ancient humans must have been really strong, is it? How do we find if people in Assam migrated to Laos or people from Laos migrated to Assam?"To find answers ...
Apr 15, 2022•8 min
"Russia has attacked Ukraine. So do people avoid the bully? Like not talk to them or sit next to them at lunch? But wait....do we really have a problem with the people of Russia or only the Russian government?""Why is Turkey happy to welcome some Russians into their country?"Listen to this conversation between a 10-year old and a curious adult, who try to find answers to these questions together.Please share your thoughts or comments by email to hello@wsnt.inIf you are less than 18 year...
Apr 15, 2022•9 min
'Did you know that most of us eat plastic, just like we eat rice or pasta?' None of us willingly orders a plate of plastic at a restaurant. But those little plastic straws and juice containers that we throw into the garbage bins at home can land up in our food plates. 'How does a plastic straw come back with our rice? Doesn't our body just send it all out?' Listen to the podcast to get answers to this question.What's new today is a family podcast where kids and parents can sit together a...
Apr 11, 2022•7 min
"Why can't the Sri Lankans grow enough food for themselves? How do refugees free from an island nation? Why did the people not oppose bad governments many years ago - why wait till now?" - Questions posed by a 10-year old. Listen to this conversation between a 10-year old and an adult - that unravels how the crisis started in Sri Lanka, and what's going on there now. Email your queries and comments to hello@wsnt.inDo you like to read stories? Read our newsletters hereGet Whatsapp al...
Apr 10, 2022•12 min
Imagine the drones that you have seen in weddings taking photos? Something similar, only much bigger, is helping Ukraine fight its war against Russia. What's a drone? How do drones keep enemies at bay, in a war ? Did you know that even farmers use drones? And what is Dominoes planning to use them for?Listen to the podcast to find out more about this.If you have any thoughts or queries, please email us at hello@wsnt.in. We read every single text message that comes our way. If you send us ...
Apr 02, 2022•9 min
A short loud squeal vs a long grunt - one could mean excitement and the other anxiety. Each sound emitted by animals can give us excellent clues to understand their mental state better. If, you like many of us, are not very sure which is which - an app will likely be out shortly. If you listen to a new grunt around you and you upload it on the app, you might find out for yourself if the animal is filled with sorrow or is just plain hungry or thoroughly joyous. Why is this app important f...
Apr 01, 2022•4 min
Before we understand the word inflation, listen to this story of how our Christmas gifts and everything else we order on our phones and laptops get to our homes. It begins with a little phone call or an order that our neighbourhood sellers make to our factories. As the pandemic struck us, workers in many factories have had a tough time getting to work and making things. This podcast tracks how a toy seller orders a small game of chess, gets it from his factory in China, manages to get a ...
Dec 22, 2021•11 min
Our story for today begins more than 50 years ago. It was a pleasant night in summer in July 1969. Well past 10 pm EST, people in the US sat up wide awake in front of their TV sets to watch a grainy, black and white video of man landing on the moon for the first time in the history of mankind. Following this stellar achievement, the US sent over 10 missions with many more crew members who set foot on the moon, collected rock samples and came back to earth. This frenzy of sending manned lunar ...
Dec 20, 2021•11 min
Today's story begins over 30 years ago when a rather large country called the Soviet Union broke off into smaller units. One of them is a unit we call today as Russia. Many Russians were sad that some land parts that were close to their heart were lost to them. One of them was Ukraine. An old Russian civilisation called the Ruriks had set up their rule from Kiev, which is today the capital of Ukraine. In today's episode, we cover fun facts about Ukraine (did you know that Ukraine i...
Dec 20, 2021•9 min
China flew over 150 airplanes over the Taiwanese air defense zone in the past week or so. Taiwan retaliated with its aircrafts, alert to defend itself if a threat arose. So far, there hasn't been an open war. But what does this mean for Taiwan's independence and democracy ?Why does China want to attack Taiwan ?Taiwan is a tiny island near China. More than 70 years ago, two groups of people competed to win the right to rule China. A group called the Communist Party, led by Mao Zedong, won. The...
Oct 08, 2021•9 min
The Nobel Prize for Physiology 2021 goes to two scientists who have helped us identify which receptors in our bodies sense heat, touch, temperature and pressure.In this podcast, we explain what these 4 receptors (TRPV1, TRPM8, PIEZO1, PIEZO2) mean, in simple terms for kids to understand. We also answer questions raised by our young listeners -a) We always knew that we had sensors for touch and heat that sent information to our brain. What does this research tell us additionally ?b) Why are th...
Oct 07, 2021•10 min
This festive season, grocery stores the world over may find fewer toys, furniture, clothes and other such items. After the pandemic, people started buying more things both on ecommerce portals and in person once the neighbourhood stores opened. As a result, factories in Asia - which is where most of the world gets its stuff, started producing more. But in the meanwhile, another little crisis had been brewing. This was the shipping crisis - some ports were still closed or had fewer worker...
Oct 05, 2021•10 min
SpaceX, Amazon and many more internet satellite companies are planning to send over 60,000 satellites into the space over the next few years. While this can serve many under-served parts of the world with faster and cheaper internet connectivity, this can also have a harmful impact, by way of light pollution.Light pollution is caused by the fact that there can be more visible satellites than there are visible stars. This can impact the ability of astronomers to see the night sky clearly. ...
Oct 04, 2021•9 min
Thousands of Haitians are camping outside the US, near the Mexican border, seeking refuge. These Haitians have spent over a decade living and working outside Haiti, in various countries in S.America, mainly Brazil and Chile. Haiti was impacted by an earthquake over a decade ago, and more recently in August this year. Jobs and food are scarce to come by in Haiti. The US, however, is turning back these refugees and sending them back in planes. Fossil remains of an Australian eagle have rec...
Oct 03, 2021•9 min
People in UK face a shortage of fuel in fuel station and groceries in supermarkets, not due to shortage of food or fuel, but due to a shortage of truck drivers who can haul these items across the country. Between Brexit and the pandemic, the UK is faced with a grim winter. For the immediate future, the government plans to issue 10,000 more visas to combat the shortage. But it waits to be seen, how the government will sort this shortage out in the longer term.NASA's LANDSAT 9 was recently laun...
Sep 30, 2021•10 min
China's factories are faced with rising demand but these factories are unable to produce enough as they don't have enough power. China is keen on keeping its carbon emissions under control. So Chinese coal power stations are not allowed to increase power output in keeping with the rising demand. Chinese factories, as a result, are working fewer hours. Global supply chains involving phones, laptops, leather shoes, or textiles are likely to be impacted.Scientists from Virginia Tech have develop...
Sep 29, 2021•9 min
Google turned 23 on the 27th of Sep. Happy birthday Google ! As intricate as Google has become a part of our lives, there are many fascinating trivia about Google that we explore about its past. Its first servers were housed in Lego bricks, its lawns are mowed by a team of goats and its motto is 'Don't be evil'. If you want to see the picture of the Lego bricks and the first server of Google, you can access that at http://infolab.stanford.edu/pub/voy/museum/pictures/display/0-4-Google.h...
Sep 28, 2021•9 min
Last week, the Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and a few more billionaires pledged $5 billion towards protecting land and water. This money was to be used to conserve biodiversity - as in, taking care that a wide variety of species of birds, animals, trees and plants thrive well. Some of us might think of managing global warming by riding bicycles instead of cars, it would serve us well to remember that protecting the earth and conserving our trees and birds and animals, are equally important. Thi...
Sep 27, 2021•10 min
Netflix has bought the rights to all of Roald Dahl's works. Netflix already has a series based on Charlie and the chocolate factory in the works. In addition, the company plans to release animated and live action movies or series on atleast 16 of his works. So, for those of you who love Willy Wonka, Matilda, BFG and more, there is a lot in store !Evergrande, a Chinese company that builds and sells properties is having trouble paying off its loans. Failure of Evergrande can affect the ba...
Sep 23, 2021•10 min
If you lived in India, you would have known that there was a mad scramble for vaccine shots in April and May this year. A lot of people feared that there would not be enough vaccines going around. So, the government decided to stop exporting or sharing it with other nations. But now, as factories in the country are able to produce a lot more, India has decided to begin exporting again. India is the world’s largest manufacturer of vaccines. So, when large manufacturers like India - restart exp...
Sep 22, 2021•9 min
Price of electricity in Europe is now more than double of what it was in January 2021. Winter has been more prolonged this year, going right upto March. People needed more power to keep their homes heated this year. As more people worked from homes, there was more demand for power from residences, almost up 8% this year. Supply of natural gas from Russia has declined. Food prices in Europe are also going up. It might be a tough year for European consumers this winter.China video-game sh...
Sep 22, 2021•9 min
Taliban's new rules allow schools to open, but only for boys. Schools are facing shortages of teachers since many of the roles of teachers till recently were filled by women. UN aid agencies are trying to pressure the Taliban to open schools for girls too.Australia scraps a deal with France to buy submarines. Instead Australia goes ahead and buys nuclear powered submarines from the USA. Threatened by China's growing naval fleet, the US offers to share its nuclear technology with Australia.An ...
Sep 21, 2021•12 min
Welcome to 'What's new today', a lively kids and families podcast. We invite children in every episode to co-host the show with Sangeetha (the host), and they chat about current events. These conversations are unscripted, filled with wit and curiosity. New episodes will be released every Monday and Friday.Video excerpts and behind the scenes shots of our podcast episodes can be found on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatsnewtoday_wsnt_podcast/Our goal in creating this podcast...
Sep 20, 2021•38 sec
