News update

On this week’s news update…

Tasmanian Devils

Tasmanian devils rewild Australia…

Moon Buildings

3-D printed moon buildings are unveiled…

Fake Eggs

And fake eggs help save sea turtles!

First up…

Tasmania

The Australian island of Tasmania is home to a species of sharp-toothed marsupials called Tasmanian devils!

Known for their fearsome screams, Tasmanian devils were once widespread across the whole of Australia but became extinct on the mainland about three thousand years ago.

Now, the little devils are also under threat in Tasmania.

A mysterious form of contagious cancer has killed so many, that they are currently considered endangered.

Now, conservationists are working to save the species.

By releasing small groups of healthy devils back to the mainland, the conservationists hope the devils will flourish across the rest of Australia, and help restore the country's historic natural ecosystem.

Up next…

Astronauts will soon be heading back to the moon, and this time, NASA plan to construct permanent buildings on the lunar surface.

lunar

However, due to the extreme conditions, traditional construction methods will be impossible to follow in space.

So architects have come up with a space-age solution – 3-D printing.

Using sand-like materials collected from the moon's surface, a giant 3-D printer will create a structural ink.

structural ink

Nozzles on the printer will then slowly squeeze out layers of the building material, before it dries into a solid structure.

The finished buildings will then be ready to accommodate astronauts, as they settle into life on the Moon.

And finally…

Sea turtles spend most of their lives out at sea, swimming vast distances to feed and reproduce.

After mating, female turtles come ashore to lay their eggs.

They deposit their clutch of eggs in a hole in the sand, and cover them before heading back out to sea.

However, some people consider eating turtle eggs a rare culinary delicacy which encourages poachers to make money by selling stolen turtle eggs, leading to the endangered turtles becoming even more vulnerable.

But experts have hatched a plan to outsmart the poachers!

They’ve created fake turtle eggs which contain a tiny GPS tracker.

GPS tracker

When these fake eggs are placed alongside real eggs, the location of poachers can be tracked as they escape with the stolen eggs and the hidden tracker, allowing local authorities to track down the poachers, and stop more eggs being stolen.

That’s all for this week, we’ll see you next time!