02/10/2012 Newsround

Hello there, Newsrounders. Joe and Nel here with today's top stories.

We're live. It's 5.00pm, and this is a little taste of what's coming

We head to Mars for World Space Week. We head to Mars for World

Space Week. And part human, part dolphin - the

high-tech gadget taking the seas by storm.

But first, there's a warning that one of the world's most incredible

natural wonders could be disappearing. The Great Barrier

Reef in Australia not only looks amazing, it's also home to more

than 1,500 species of fish. But today scientists have revealed

that the world's largest living reef is half the size it used to be.

I've been looking into why it's such a big deal.

It's beautiful peaceful scenes like this that bring thousands of

visitors to the Great Barrier Reef every year. But it's not as

tranquil as it looks. Although large parts of it are protected

from being damaged by humans, this massive natural habitat is under

attack from starfish. Scientists are worried that the reef is being

eaten by the crown of thorns starfish. They have a really small

mouth and no teeth, so to eat the coral, it's a bit disgusting. They

have to throw up the stomach, throw it on to the surface, then turn it

into a mush they can drink up. The Great Barrier Reef is the

world's largest coral reef system. It's so big, it can be seen from

space, but it is shrinking. It's 1,600 miles long, off Australia's

north-east coast, but the amount of living coral on the reef is now

only half what it was 27 years ago. Starfish eating the coral are being

blamed, but there are other factors like bad storms and rising sea

temperatures. The reef is a breeding ground for

thousands of species of fish. Many of them are endangered, so

scientist say something needs to be done to stop it being destroyed.

we were to lose coral, we'd see a decline in the number and different

types of sea animals that rely on the coral to live. Also, they're

really important in the same face as rain forests or trees are on

land for getting rid of greenhouse gases.

Coral is a living thing which can regrow over time, but it can take

up to 20 years to get back to full health. Scientists are warning that

action must be taken, otherwise the reef could be halved again over the

next ten years. In other news, hundreds of people

have been helping police to look for a five-year-old girl from mid

Wales. April Jones went missing last night in her home town of

Machynleth. Police are appealing for anyone with any information to

come forward. Meanwhile, volunteers have come from far and wide to help

with the search. The community have been amazing. It's pulled the town

hall together. Everybody is willing to do anything. They have come from

all places to help, and we're so grateful for their help. We're

hearing in the last hour a 46-year- old man has been arrested in

relation to the disappearance. Police and volunteers are still

searching for April. Elsewhere, the teacher arrested

after running away to France with 15-year-old student Megan Stammers

has agreed to come back to the UK. Jeremy Forrest appeared in a French

court today, but British police want to bring him home to deal with

him here. He could be back in the country by Thursday where he'll

then face further court cases. Yesterday we took you on a journey

to the moon, but today we're going a little bit further - all the way

to Mars. That's right.

In August NASA's Curiosity rover landed on its surface. It's mission

- to search for evidence of life. But it's fair to say the big

interest in the red planet is nothing new, as I've been finding

out. Mars - the subject of films, books

and music the world over # Is there life on Mars #

But why are we so obsessed with it? Robert Grant is from sci-fi London.

During the kind of mid '50s to mid '60s there was an enormous number

of films made about Martians and Martian creatures, and Mars became

the kind of place that all the bad creatures came from. Away from the

sci-fi, there's a lot more to the Red Planet than alien invaders, and

scientists believe it's the only planet humans could realistically

live on in the future. But it's not easy to get to. We're talking about

a planet that's as much as 250 million miles away, and you have to

try to avoid space debris, freezing temperatures and solar flairs, so

instead of sending humans we have been sending robots. Right now

Curiosity is on the Red Planet's surface sending back data and

pictures to earth. I met one of the scientists who built it. Why is

Mars so important for us as humans to reach? It's so earth-like in so

many ways. Liquid water may be flowing under the surface of Mars

right now. That's really important because on earth, everywhere we

find liquid water, everywhere, we find life. Curiosity's mission will

last about two years, but NASA are already planning to send another

robbot afterwards temperature European Space Agency want in on it

as well. They're sending this Rover up in 2018. Robots can only tell us

so much, and scientists know if we want to find out more we'll have to

send humans. This will be the fifth robot we

have sent to Mars. When are we going to send a human? It's

difficult to say because it's far in the future, but we're building

the rockets that could take us there. It could be as much as 50

years but no-one knows. In 2010 the Mars 500 Project cured where humans

lived in isolation for many days to see if they could cope. We're

building bigger and better robots, so it seems our obsession with the

Red Planet isn't going away. And we want to hear if you think we

should be going to Mars OR focusing space projects elsewhere. Head over

to the Newsround website and tell us your thoughts now.

Movie news now and whenever there's a new James Bond film the details

of the theme tune are always top secret. But for the new movie

Skyfall things haven't gone quite to plan. We revealed yesterday that

Adele had secretly recorded the track, which was supposed to be

officially released on Firday. But then a rogue version was leaked

online and they've had to put it out early. Here's a sneak peak.

# Let the sky fall # And it crumbles

# We will stand tall # I like it. I love it.

Next to the nine-year-old internet sensation who's using her new found

fame to help children in Africa. Martha Payne hit the headlines

after her school dinner blog got a massive online following.

But rather than rest on her laurels she's used her popularity to raise

thousands of pounds to help starving kids in Malawi. Here's

Ricky with the story. It began with some photos - earlier

this year Martha Payne started to take pictures of her school dinners

and put them online, giving them a rating, and the rating wasn't

always great. For awhile, she was banned from taking snaps of her

lunch, but with five million people visiting the site, the school had

to give in and let her carry on. But some people said it wasn't fair.

Someone made a comment on the board saying, "Why are you complaining?

At least you're having school meals" Something they don't always

have in Malawi in the south-east of Africa. So back in Argyle with her

blog attracting attention around the world she realised her blog

could make a difference. She asked people to donate money so it could

help people in Malawi. Martha Payne and her family threw to Malawi to

see how the money raised was being spent. She got quite a welcome.

This building here was the temporary kitchen. For five months

the community used that through Martha Payne's efforts we have

built this kitchen. Juror to the 450 kids here, the blog has meant

they get a bowl of porridge at the school every day. It makes a

difference. Here is what she made of it all.

It was nerve-racking because everyone was staring at me. It's

difficult to stop old habits, and she couldn't resist taking snaps of

the food on the plane she says will be on the blog soon.

We can't get away without showing you this.