Hello, it's Nat.
Let's check out what's been making news.
The Aussie government is planning to launch a new app
called TraceTogether.
It's all about stopping the spread of COVID-19.
It will be able to tell you
if you've come into contact with somebody who has the virus.
But for it to work, the government needs 40% of Aussies to sign up.
Hmm. TraceTogether.
Download.
Hi. I'm TraceTogether.
Are you ready to trace...together?
Uh, I dunno.
Explain more.
Over to you, Prime Minister.
We'll be asking people to download an app which helps us
trace the virus quickly, and the more people who do that,
the more we can get back to a more livable set of arrangements.
Basically, a massive part of slowing the spread is contact tracing.
This means finding out who a person got sick from
and who they might be spreading it to.
Having the app makes this really easy.
So the app will be able to work out
if you've been near someone with the virus -
as long as they have the app too.
Does your guy have COVID?
No. Does yours?
No, neither.
Mm.
That sounds good,
but won't it mean the government will always know where I am?
Uh, not quite.
See, the app doesn't track your location,
so it'll be like I'm wearing a blindfold.
See, it uses Bluetooth instead.
And when two phones pass by each other,
they exchange completely anonymous IDs,
and then if someone gets infected
the app will let health authorities know,
who can then see that person's contacts.
The app will be completely voluntary
but the PM says about 40% of the population need to be on board
for it to be effective.
Some experts are worried about privacy and security
but the government says your info will be completely anonymous.
And the more people that sign up to the app,
the quicker we can get life back to normal.
Right.
Can you just wait out here, though?
Oh, yep. Sorry.
There are some big changes coming to TikTok.
Soon, if you're under 16 you won't be able to send or receive
direct messages.
It's introducing a feature called Family Pairing,
which will also put restrictions on what kind of content you can see
and how much time you're allowed to spend on the app.
The Great Barrier Reef might be seeing some bright clouds ahead.
Quite literally.
In a world first,
new cloud brightening technology could slow coral bleaching.
But what even is cloud brightening technology?
Here's Leela.
I'll get to that in a sec, Nat.
So, as I'm sure you've heard, our Great Barrier Reef is in trouble
because of coral bleaching, which happens when the water gets too warm
and the colourful algae that live in coral leave.
The coral turns white and if it goes on for too long it can die.
That's a big problem
because all the other wonderful creatures on the reef need the coral.
So, many people are trying to find ways to stop this from happening,
and sometimes great ideas just float on in like a...
Cloud. Clouds!
What if we found a way to control the clouds to make the sun less hot?
(LAUGHS) No, that's crazy.
Oooorrrrr is it?
That's pretty much what these guys are trialling at the moment.
Using this device that's kind of like a snow cannon,
they can shoot saltwater into the clouds.
The water droplets then reflect the sun,
stopping it from heating up the reef so much.
Which could help slow the impact of coral bleaching.
MAN: We might be able to reduce up to about 70%
of the bleaching stress on the reef during a marine heatwave,
but nobody's ever tried this outdoors before.
It's all been lab work and modelling.
The technology is part of a 150 million Federal Government investment
to help save the reef.
So here's hoping it's got a brighter future.
We can't get enough of people doing silly things in isolation.
So it's time for:
Now, remember Captain Tom Moore
who set out to walk 100 laps of his home before his 100th birthday
to raise money for the National Health Service.
Well, he's done it.
He was congratulated by emergency service workers
with a hearty round of applause.
He's now raised more than 33 million.
We're applauding this effort too.
It's from street artist Banksy,
whose identity is famously kept under wraps.
Forced to stay at home,
he's turned to decorating his bathroom with rats doing stuff.
Eh, kinda gross and kinda cool.
And finally,
this rig made by a family in the US is firmly in the cool category.
They decided to spend 13 hours making an elaborate
Rube Goldberg machine across their two story house,
and all to score a goal on their foosball table.
(ALL CHEER)
Well, that's all we've got time for.
We'll catch you again next week.