AI Showdown, Climate Countdown & Cosmic Particle Detectors! (9.19.26)

0:00Yo yo, hey, it's time to dash. Welcome to Kids News Flash. News for Kids. We keep it cool. Stay in the know is the golden rule. Hey there and welcome to Kids News Flash. The news show made just for curious kids like you. I'm Katie, here to help you stay up to date on what's happening around the world. Stay in the know is the golden rule. It's September 19th, 2026. Let's see what's happening in the world today. Oh, hey, it's talk like a pirate day. The golden age of piracy was in the 1600s and 1700s. Hey! Tell someone about it. Small days like this are fun to notice. Now, here are today's top stories. Americans are worried about AI, but they don't want to stop it altogether. A CBS News poll found that while many fear AI could harm people, they also believe the US needs to develop it

1:01to stay competitive with countries like China. Instead of halting progress, folks want companies and the government to team up to slow things down and set more rules. It's all about balancing innovation with safety. Here's what else is making news. Prince William's pushing world leaders to speed up on climate action. Speaking to the BBC this week, he said, we're not moving fast enough, and called for more businesses to back solutions that actually work. His comments came as he announced this year's 15 finalists for the Earthshot Prize, the global environmental award he launched six years ago. The nominees include Barcelona for protecting its coastline, and Bhutan for making environmental protection part of its constitution. Five winners will be announced in Mumbai this November. Some technology news now. There's a big debate in the AI world. Benson Huang, who runs in video, says AI firms don't need new laws and should decide when their tech is safe. But open AI's Sam Altman recently said,

2:02people are right to be afraid of AI, though they should trust firms to keep it safe. Last week, several top executives warned AI could be dangerous if not controlled. Huang thinks that's overblown, saying safety's an engineering problem companies can handle. Quiz time. Here's a question from what we just covered. Who is the CEO of NVIDIA mentioned in this AI debate? Sam Altman. B. Elon Musk. C. Jensen Huang. Or maybe D. Bill Gates. Think it over. You've got five seconds. Let's see. The answer is C. Jensen Huang. In video makes the powerful computer chips that most AI systems run on. They're basically the engine behind chat, GPT, and other AI tools.

3:05Nice job if you got that one. Time for this day in history. On this day, September 19th in 1982, the first smiley emoticon was used online. Computer scientist Scott Falman typed, in a message board post, the ancestor of every emoji you use today. We've got more stories. Let's keep going. Here's one I thought was interesting, detecting invisible particles from space. The answer at the University of Delaware, built a detector that's the size of a box of crackers and can spot invisible particles raining down from space. It's called cosmic watch, and it costs about $100 to make. The device tracks muons, particles created when cosmic rays from exploding stars slam into Earth's atmosphere. Every time a muon passes through, it flashes and records account.

4:06What started as a student project is now used in real astrophysics experiments, from high school classrooms to balloon missions, studying the upper atmosphere. In nature news, a wild surprise at a house fire, firefighters in Louisiana showed up to put out a small house fire and found something wild. Literally, behind the home in Marrero, just outside New Orleans, they spotted an African serval locked in a chain link cage that looked like a cramped batting cage. That's a wildcat that's supposed to live in sub-Saharan Africa, and it's illegal to keep one as a pet in Louisiana. Animal welfare workers took the cat, and they're now looking for a proper place where it can live safely. On a different note, a big mix-up at the Asian Games in Japan. South Korea's men's hockey team was about to face Bangladesh when, oops, the stadium played North Korea's national anthem instead of South Korea's. The teams were confused and organizers quickly apologized. South Korea's coach, Meein Tai-sook, said, this is something that simply should never happen.

5:07North Korea's anthem is actually banned in South Korea since the two countries have technically been at war since 1953. FeelTalky at the Asian Games runs through October 3rd. Okay, one more. This one comes from our latest batch of stories. Where was the African serval found locked in a cage? A, in a barn in Texas. B, at a zoo in Florida. C, behind a house in Marrero, Louisiana. Or maybe D, in a parking lot in New Orleans. Take five seconds and lock in your answer. Time's up. The answer is C, behind a house in Marrero, Louisiana. Servals are medium-sized wild cats with incredibly long legs.

6:07They can jump up to 10 feet in the air to catch birds. Give yourself a high five if you got it right. Here's today's what do you think. Hmm. If you could design your own $100 detector, what invisible thing would you want it to find? There's no wrong answer. Just talk about it. A shout out to James F. Condon School in Boston, Massachusetts. Glad you're here. Want to hear your school's name? Drop us a review and let us know where you're listening from. Vocab time. Here's a word to add to your toolbox. Today's word is altruistic, showing a selfless concern for the well-being of others. Here it is in a sentence. The altruistic donor gave money to build schools and communities that needed them. Try using altruistic in a sentence today.

7:07Here's something you might not know. George Washington gave the shortest inaugural address at 135 words. Think about that for a second. Wow. Okay, joke time. What animal doesn't deserve straight-aise in school? Achita. You're welcome. Today we covered Americans mixed feelings about AI development, Prince William pushing for faster climate action, debate over AI regulation, a tiny detector spotting space particles, firefighters finding an unexpected animal at a house fire, and a national anthem mix up at the Asian Games. That's all for today's Kids News Flash. If you love today's stories, don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode. Keep being curious, and I'll see you tomorrow with more amazing stories. Special thanks to our co-producers Tyler and Katie. This podcast was brought to you by Kids News Flash Universe.

8:08Be sure to check out our other podcasts, Science Kids News Flash, AI Kids News Flash, Launch Kids News Flash, and more. For daily news for kids in five minutes or less.