06/12/1973 John Craven's Newsround


06/12/1973

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Hello again. There's been a big, new oil find under the North Sea.

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It's so big that it could produce 300,000 barrels of oil a day

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and there are 35 gallons in every barrel.

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This vast deposit of oil lies 75 miles

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north-east of the Shetland Islands,

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which themselves are about 160 miles off the north-east coast of Scotland.

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The oil will be taken by pipeline to Shetland,

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but getting it out of the ocean will be a big problem.

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The sea there is 500 feet deep

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and when the drill reaches the bottom,

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it then has to get through 10,000 feet of rock

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to get to the oil.

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A drilling rig can cost between £40-£50 million

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and it'll be at least a year before anyone knows

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just how much oil there is in this latest undersea reservoir.

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Another big snag is the weather.

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In this area of the North Sea, it's some of the worst in the world

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with constant gales and massive waves.

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Once the oil does get to Shetland,

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it's going to change the way of life of the people who live

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in these remote islands.

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Many Shetlanders feel that when the rich oil men move in

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the traditional industries of herring fishing,

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knitting and farming will be threatened.

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This is because the oil companies will be able to pay higher wages.

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But other people say the changes will all be for the better

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because they'll give the islands more prosperity.

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One thing is certain,

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the oil that comes through Shetland in a few years' time will mean that

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Britain won't have to rely completely on oil from the Middle East

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and shortages, like the one we've got at the moment, might be avoided.

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In Yugoslavia, two young, British plane spotters have been

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sentenced to four years each in prison for spying.

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Roger Curtis, from London,

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was on holiday in Yugoslavia with his friend, Paul Mason, when

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they were arrested at Mostar Airport for spying on military aircraft.

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They both said that the plane spotting was their hobby

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and quite harmless but the police didn't believe them.

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This afternoon, I asked Paul's mother, Mrs Marjorie Mason,

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if she thought it possible they were spies.

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He's been a plane spotter since I bought him his binoculars

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as an O-level present.

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There's no...no reason at all to think that they're spies.

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They don't have the time, or anything,

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they're just interested in aeroplanes.

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Now you've just heard that both Paul and his friend

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are going to have to serve four years in jail in Yugoslavia.

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How do you feel now?

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Well...

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The quickest way to get them out is...

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We shall work as hard as we can to get them out now

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because they must be made to understand

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that our way of life is different from theirs

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and these boys are not spies.

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There's no harm in them at all.

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The magazine Which? that examines all kinds of things for sale

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has been looking at craft kits which might appeal

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to people from 11 upwards

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and it thinks that three of them could be very dangerous.

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The first is the Dip-It Fantasy Film.

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It's a kit for colouring wire shapes

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and Which? says the colouring liquid stained clothes and hands

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and gives off a vapour which could make you feel very ill.

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It's also highly inflammable, but the tin does carry a warning

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saying that children using the kit should be supervised.

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The enamel craft kit could also catch fire

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and, says the magazine, the hardener could irritate the skin

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and it's impossible to get off clothes once it's hardened.

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And the red and the yellow paint contain lead, which is poisonous.

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The maker said that the colours had now been changed, but Which? said

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there was a lot of lead in the kit they bought only two months ago.

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The most dangerous kit, according to Which?, was this one -

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the enamel air kit.

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It has a little kiln with what looks like a handle

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where the flex comes out.

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This gets very hot and it could burn a child badly.

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And the yellow and green paints had a lot of lead and arsenic in them,

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which are both dangerous.

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The makers say that they've never had any complaints

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about children being burned or poisoned

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but Which? says that they think children shouldn't use

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this kit at all.

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On New Year's day, two men and one girl are going to set out

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for an epic round-the-world journey, rowing all the way.

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Derek King, Peter Bird and Carol Maystone are using

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the Britannia II, the same boat that John Fairfax

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and Sylvia Cook used two years ago when they rowed across the Pacific.

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It's 35 feet long with plenty of room to lie down,

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but little shelter from rough weather.

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The round-the-world journey is 24,000 miles and it'll take them

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about two-and-a-half years.

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They leave Gibraltar on the 1st January,

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go across the Atlantic and through the Panama Canal,

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then across the Pacific, past Australia and over the Indian Ocean.

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They hope to be allowed through the Suez Canal.

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It's blocked by large ships at the moment,

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but they hope a rowing boat will get through.

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Then up the Mediterranean and back to Gibraltar.

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Today, the three rowers were trying out their boat

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on the Thames in London.

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Their leader Derek King has done one long distance row before,

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single-handed around Ireland.

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The others haven't but Carol says she will row on equal terms with the men.

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One of the biggest problems we're all facing these days is what to do

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with the growing mountains of rubbish we throw away

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as life gets richer and more wrapped up.

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Plastic wrappings are the biggest problem

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and, unlike paper and cardboard,

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plastic won't rot away with the weather.

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But scientists in Japan may have found a solution.

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David Smeaton reports for Newsround.

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For years now, scientists have been trying to find a plastic

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that's non-poisonous and can be easily destroyed.

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Now a firm in Japan says it's done just that.

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They've produced a new material called Pullulan.

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It's made in a laboratory by growing yeast together with starch,

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that you get from corn or potatoes,

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or by mixing with products from dates.

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The result is this powder.

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If you mix water with Pullulan,

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you can use it to press out solid plastic shapes.

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It can also be used to make a very strong glue

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and another way you can use this new starch plastic,

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you can draw it out into fibres.

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So there's a prospect perhaps even of clothes from it.

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You can also use it to make what we all recognise,

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the normal flimsy plastic for wrapping things up.

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Well, the next point is, how do you get rid of it?

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Easily.

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-No harm.

-No harm.

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What other things have you made from this?

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Well, we have made bread and rolls and cookies and biscuits with it.

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There you have it, a new plastic, made from starch that you can eat,

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that's non-poisonous and can be easily got rid of.

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If it can be made cheaply in commercial quantities,

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it could work a revolution in our lives and our homes.

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You never know, there may come a day

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when we don't have to take the sandwich out of the wrapper

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before we eat it.

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Mmm...

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Farmers in the north of Scotland

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are being taught new ways of rounding up their cattle.

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At a special one-day course,

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they're learning how to lasso cows Wild West style.

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The farmers are shown how to make a lasso

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and tie the special knots, but they're also getting real practical

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experience in the art of steer roping.

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The cows they are learning on are friendly enough,

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but many of the cows that roam the Scottish Highlands are almost wild.

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Highland cattle don't see people very often

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and they don't like coming down to the farms

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and, when they need special medical treatment,

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the farmers and vets have to go out to them

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but the cattle have still got to be caught

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and farmers think that roping them, cowboy fashion,

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might be the answer.

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That's all from us for now.

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We'll be back with Newsround again next Tuesday. Bye-bye.

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