On this week's news update...

Firefighting Drone

A firefighting drone...

Amazon Seeds

Planting seeds to protect the Amazon...

Sculpture Park

And an underwater sculpture park!

First up…

China's cities are rapidly growing. Thousands of new tower blocks have been constructed in recent years. However, if a fire breaks out in a high rise-building, it can be hard to extinguish.

Firefighters can find it difficult to reach fires burning in a tower block's higher stories. But they may soon be better equipped to tackle blazes in tall buildings.

A new drone, engineered for high-rise firefighting, is undergoing tests to see how effectively it can put out a burning fire.

Hovering close to a burning building, the drone can locate a fire using an onboard camera. It can then shoot fire-extinguishing "bombs” towards any flames. The fire-extinguishing bombs explode onto the flames, spreading a cloud of chemicals that reduce the amount of oxygen that reaches and fuels the fire. The drone can then spray a powerful jet of oxygen-blocking, firefighting foam onto the remaining flames, preventing the fire from spreading further.

Able to reach burning buildings far quicker than fire engines on the ground, the drone could soon transform firefighting in China and beyond!

Up next...

It's Eco Zone!

The Amazon rain forest is the largest rain forest in the world. But deforestation is destroying the fragile rain forest ecosystem.

deforestation

This reduces the number of trees that can absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, limiting the rain forest's ability to help fight climate change.

To tackle the problem of deforestation, a project called the “Xingu Seed Network” is using a very simple method to restore the rain forest: planting seeds!

The seed network works closely with local communities to collect seeds from areas of rain forest that are still thriving. After a variety of seeds have been collected, different local seed types are selected to be sewn into the ground. The natural mixture of seeds that are planted ensure that a dense and varied selection of trees return to grow on the damaged land.

Since 2004, the seed network has successfully sewn 15,000 acres with seeds.

Although it can take decades for rain forest ecosystems to fully regrow and recover, the simplicity of sewing seeds means large areas of land can be quickly planted with trees, providing a chance for the Amazon to start recovering from deforestation.

And finally...

From radiant coral reefs to majestic marine forests, the world's oceans contain beautiful underwater worlds. Now a group of artists are creating their very own world beneath the waves: an underwater sculpture park!

The artists are placing their sculptures in the warm shallow waters of the Mediterranean Sea, near the island of Cyprus.

Cyprus

The 93 sculptures have been crafted on land before being lowered 10 meters onto the seabed.

The unique park will allow snorkelers and scuba divers to explore the sculptures, and provide foundations for new marine habitats to develop around the artificial structures.

An inspiring underwater vision, the park aims to use art to encourage visitors to better look after our natural world!

That's all for this week, we'll see you next time!