VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT LAUNCHES NEW PROGRAM TO FIGHT GAMING ADDICTION
As the world of online gaming gets bigger, so do some of the problems that come with it.
Now, a new program’s been set up help young Aussies game safely and have a better time online.
According to a study last year, almost half of the most popular games down under included some form of gambling.
That can mean things like lootboxes, they give players randomised rewards, and can often be bought with in-app purchases using real life money.
It’s got experts pretty worried that it could lead to kids developing gambling habits when they grow up. As for gaming addiction, experts point to things like regular leveling up and constant rewards as ways that games try to draw people in and keep them playing, which can make kids more likely to become addicted.
The program’s main focus is helping parents better understand some of these problems so they can educate their kids on how to make sure their online experience is safe and healthy.
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LAB GROWN CORAL
Scientists on the Great Barrier Reef have been doing some underwater gardening with coral they’ve grown in a lab!
These crates are full of baby corals they’ve been looking after which have been specially bred to be more resistant to coral bleaching.
That’s what happens when high sea temperatures kill the algae that live in coral and that can sometimes end up killing the coral too. The scientists will be checking back over the next few months to see how the coral’s doing in its new home.
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ORANGUTAN SUITCASE RESCUE
A young orangutan’s been rescued in Indonesia. It was found in a suitcase that someone had tried to smuggle out of the country, apparently to keep as a pet!
Airport security also found two geckos and four chameleons in the suitcase.
Police have arrested a Russian traveller and the orangutan is now safe and sound.
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STEVE SMITH RETURNS TO THE IPL, BUT ASHWIN STEALS THE SHOW
Steve Smith is back. Nearly a year after being banned from international cricket over ball tampering, he’s made his return to the Indian Premier League, one of the biggest comps in cricket.
It didn’t exactly go to plan though. He scored just 20 runs for the losing team, and his big return was upstaged by this controversial moment.
Bowler Ravi Ashwin pulled a sneaky move, pretending to get ready to bowl the ball, before knocking the stumps just as the opposition batsman left his crease.
It’s within the rules, but some reckon it’s not very sportsmanlike, with cricketing greats like Shane Warne weighing in.
It wasn’t the only sneaky sporting play making headlines. Nick Kyrgios made not one, but two underhand serves at the Miami Open, and they worked a treat.
Kyrgios won in straight sets, but once again, not everyone was impressed.
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CROC EATS FISH
These guys fishing up in the Northern Territory were reeling in a massive catch, but they didn’t see see this coming!
A giant saltwater croc decided he wasn’t too keen on finding his own lunch, and popped up to grab some convenient takeaway.
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TOO MANY BELIEBERS
When pop star Justin Bieber chose to shoot a music video in this remote, largely unknown Icelandic canyon, he might have expected a pat on the back for giving the region a tourism boost.
What I’m sure he didn’t see coming was a stampede of Beliebers so big that the Environment Agency’s had to close the canyon to tourists!
According to the guide book Lonely Planet, the number of tourists here has doubled in two years, and the fragile environment can’t handle all those extra trampling feet.
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