(upbeat music) - welcome to teen kids news, i'm livia. let's begin with our top story for this week. usually it's pretty easy to figure out what the weather is, snow, rain, sunshine, but then there are times when we could use a little help. emily gives the down low on what's happening up high in the sky. - we hear a lot of different terms to describe powerful weather patterns and some of them are bit confusing. to help us sort them out, climate scientist, dr. radley horton joins us from columbia university, welcome. - thank you, it's good to be here.

- what's the different between a tornado and a cyclone? - a tornado and a cyclone are both spinning weather patterns. what's mostly different about them is their size. a tornado is a pretty small system. a tornado is often just a mile wide, sometimes smaller, but even though they're small, they're very, very dangerous because their winds are so strong. in contrast, a cyclone is basically the low pressure system that you see when you look at a weather map. it's that big l on the map. a lot of times they're a couple hundred miles wide and the winds are generally not as strong. generally they're not as dangerous as tornadoes, which of course you need to take very seriously. - can a tornado really lift a house up like you see in the movie, wizard of oz? - well definitely don't believe everything that you see in a movie, that's for sure. but being serious for a second, tornadoes are extremely dangerous, right? we know that these winds are powerful enough not just to lift a house, but actually to destroy a house. so, whenever there's any kind of tornado advisory,

we need to take it seriously. we need to get indoors instead of watching it, and if possible, get down to the basement. just in case it really does do a lot of damage. - is there a difference between hurricanes and typhoons? - you can basically think of them as the exact same thing. the only thing that differs is where they happen. a typhoon is a very strong tropical system that's located in the pacific ocean. when we have the same kind of storm in the indian ocean, we call it a cyclone. and when it happens in the atlantic or the eastern pacific, we call it a hurricane. - you mentioned tropical storms, are they just little hurricanes? - tropical storms are a little bit weaker than hurricanes. it all depends on how strong the winds are. if the winds are 74 miles per hour or stronger, we call it a hurricane. if the winds are below 74 miles an hour, it's a tropical storm. - how about a tropical depression? guess that's not just a storm feeling sad? - (chuckles) no, you're right. a tropical depression is weaker than a tropical storm. before you can get to a tropical storm or hurricane,

it's gotta start from somewhere. tropical depression is weaker. - thanks, professor. - thank you. - when it comes to understanding violent weather patterns, i guess it's best to be on good terms with mother nature. - if you are afraid of clowns, you won't wanna miss my report. next on teen kids news. - [narrator] closed captioning is brought to you by.

- they dress funny, they look funny. and they're supposed to make us laugh.

but a surprising number of us find them anything but amazing. i'm talking about clowns. if you or someone you know has a fear of clowns, then this report is for you. - oh yeah, i'm afraid of clowns because they're creepy. (creepy laughing) - i'm not. i liked them as a kid, so i grew up with them. and i don't know, i think they're fun. - no, 'cause it's just people wearing makeup. - they're scary. - i've seen a lot of movies with them and they're portrayed as being horrifying, but i don't really think they're scary. - i would say i am a little afraid of clowns. - something about their face paint just terrifies me. - fear of clowns is very real. it's called coulro-phobia. coulro refers to one who goes on stilts, as many clowns do. people with coulrophobia can have all sorts of emotional and physical negative reactions

to seeing a clown. for example, sweating, having your heart race, and feeling sick to your stomach. so why is it that some of us love clowns and some us loathe them? author kalliope barlis is here to shed some light on this. hi! - hi, thanks so much for having me. - why are so many kids afraid of clowns? - for a lot of reasons. because they're unpredictable, they're in disguise, and they're unfamiliar because of the things that they do. and sometimes there are even movies out there that portray clowns as the bad guy instead of the good guys who are trying to make us laugh. - how can someone overcome their fear of clowns? - let's put it this way. too often, it's how we're thinking about the clown. because in our minds, he's much bigger than what he is. and when you take him and shrink him and keep making him even smaller, into the size of, let's say, the letter on a keyboard on your computer,

you're bigger than the clown. which means, you'll feel better whenever it is that you'll think about clowns. because you simply changed how you were thinking about him to change how you feel. - that's an interesting way of dealing with it. thanks for your advice. - thank you so much for having me. - if you're unable to reduce your fear of clowns on your own, you might need to see a professional. there are other ways to combat it. for teen kids news, i'm alexandra. - video games aren't always a game. sometimes they can turn into an addiction. in fact, more than one in five teens admits to being addicted to playing video games. no surprise, boys are more likely to be addicted than girls. as with any addiction, there are serious downsides. these gamers tend to develop physical problems such as headaches, backaches, and injuries from repetitive motion. they're also more likely to suffer insomnia

and perform poorly in school. this addiction is a real medical condition. the south koreans are way ahead of us here in the u.s. they have more than 100 video game clinics to help addicted gamers. if you think your playing may be getting out of hand, speak to an adult you trust. don't let your control stick take control over your life. - in make the grade, i'll give you some ideas for something every teen should be doing. next on teen kids news. so here's christin with this week's make the grade. - community service, it's good for others and it's good for you. that's why some high schools require it for graduation. and most colleges look for it on your application. and don't tell me you can't think of anything to do. from packaging supplies for a homeless shelter to regularly visiting an elderly neighbor who lives alone.

if you look around your community, you can find hundreds of ways to be of service. if you need suggestions, ask at school, your place of worship, or even at city hall. another great resource for ideas is our show, teen kids news. we're always doing stories about teens that have come up with clever ways to do community service. you see, watching tv can be good for you! i'm christin, and that's this week's advice on how to make the grade. (patriotic music) - time to play guess the president. you get four clues to test your knowledge of white house history. here goes. this president was an army captain in world war one. then he opened a men's clothing store, back home in missouri. he was franklin delano roosevelt's vice president.

and he ended world war two by deciding to drop atomic bombs on japan. harry s. truman, our 33rd president. he was famous for the plaque on his desk in the oval office. it said, "the buck stops here." that meant he took responsibility for all the decisions made by his administration. something not all presidents have had the courage to do. with guess the president, i'm luke. - if you've ever thought about using what's called smart drugs to help you study, i can sum up all the medical wisdom into just one single word, don't. these are prescription medicines, intended only for kids who have behavior problems that prevent them from learning. think add or adhd. when used properly, meaning under a doctor's supervision, they help kids with add or adhd to focus. but if you don't have a medical problem, these smart drugs can do more harm than good. here's a list of some of the potential side effects.

i'll wait while you read them. so if someone with a legitimate medical reason for taking this type of medicine offers you some, say thanks, but not thanks. because taking these supposed smart drugs is really a dumb idea. - this important message is brought to you by the national road safety foundation. - i was texting and driving and just didn't see the bus. (tires screeching) - there was a stop sign. (tires screeching) - the light was red. - the boy riding his bike. - the care in front of me had suddenly stopped. (tires screeching) - there was a mom with a stroller crossing the street. (sirens wailing) - what you don't see when you look down to text. - the stop sign. - the red light. - the boy. - the car. - the mom and stroller. - could change your life

and the life of others for forever. (upbeat music) - not a lover of mushrooms? my recipe just might change your mind. that's next, on teen kids news.

to impress your family and friends with. courtesy of the culinary institute of america. - mushrooms get a bad rap. that's because they are in the fungus family.

and let's face it, the thought of eating a fungus may not seem that appetizing at all. but don't let an unfortunate choice of words prevent you from enjoying one of the food world's greatest delicacies. so let me show you how to make a killer recipe with mushrooms. here's what we need. fresh spinach, white mushrooms. i have them big enough for us to stuff. we have grated parmesan cheese, two garlic cloves, panko. it's pretty much just a japanese bread crumb but of course you could use any bread crumb. i have an egg that i've already beaten. and some salt and pepper here. alrighty, so first thing we're gonna clean our mushrooms. i've already done a few here so i'm gonna finish my tray. because white mushrooms aren't very dirty, i'm just gonna wipe them with a damp cloth. and that should be it. alrighty. okay so next we are going to pop out the stems.

so to do that you're going to hold your mushroom steady in one hand and just push it with your thumb and it should pop it right out. there you go. and we're saving the steams, it's actually part of our stuffing. perfect, and i'm gonna hold these on the side while we make our stuffing. okay, so for our stuffing, i'm using a food processor. of course ask your parents before using one. get their permission. all right and into the food processor, i'm gonna add all my steams and my garlic. okay so now that we have it all in there, we're gonna start it at a very low speed.

okay, so really what you're looking for is that they're all small and cut evenly and you don't want big chunks. perfect. we're gonna take out the blade. just be very careful because these can be sharp and deceiving. okay, we're gonna take our mushrooms and garlic. we're going to go into our pan over here. so we are using the stove. of course you wanna get your parent's permission for this as well or have them help you. alrighty, we're gonna oil the pan just very lightly. alrighty, and we're gonna take our mixture and put it right into our pan. so we wanna cook this on a fairly low to medium heat. you don't want any color on your mixture.

we want them to stay moist. and there we go. check, put a little higher heat on there. okay, and don't forget to season. just a pinch of salt and a little bit of pepper. also you are putting parmesan cheese into this recipe so that also adds a lot of salt. okay, so this has been cooking for about five minutes. i have been constantly stirring it. you don't want your garlic to burn because it will get bitter. okay and now the liquids are still in there. and we're gonna go ahead and add our spinach.

all right, this does seem like a lot of spinach, but once you put it in your pan and it wilts, it's gonna shrink down. alrighty. mmm, this is starting to smell really good. okay so now that our spinach is all wilted, we can go ahead and finish our stuffing. alrighty, we're just gonna put everything, combine all our ingredients into a mixing bowl. all right, so we're going to go straight into our bowl here. aww, this smells so good.

perfect. okay, so we're gonna add our panko. our beaten egg. and you're gonna add a little bit of parmesan cheese. so we get that nice gooey bite on the inside. all right, and then you wanna mix this very well. all right, so that's our stuffing. and we're gonna stuff our mushrooms. - that recipe is coming along great. when teen kids news continues, gene'e will finish up. teen kids news will be right back.

at the culinary institute of america.

gene'e is ready to stuff the mushrooms. - okay, so you literally just take each mushroom and add stuffing into it. you wanna pack as much of the good stuffing that you just made into there. just pack it down. and then just even off the top. perfect. i'm gonna go right ahead and continue to do the rest of the pan here. alrighty, so i'm on the last one. i'm almost finished here and we're gonna put these into the oven. i've already preheated my oven to 375 degrees. so it's nice and hot. perfect. and here we go. so you wanna be very careful. the oven is really hot.

alrighty. and we'll leave these in here for 25 minutes and come back. okay, so it's been about 25 minutes. i'm gonna take these out, they're all fully cooked now. be very careful, this is hot. alrighty, and we're gonna top these with cheese. so it gets a nice golden brown color. and once we get these all covered with cheese, we're gonna go back into the oven for about two to five minutes. just to melt the cheese on top and get it all golden.

alrighty. there we go. so two to five minutes or until it gets golden brown. you can keep an eye on them. and we're actually gonna turn the setting on your oven to broil and this will help concentrate the heat onto your mushrooms. alrighty, so they're all brown and golden on top. they're all ready. okay. i'm so excited, i can't wait to try these. alrighty. look at that nice color on there.

mm, it's so delicious. by the way, here's an interesting fun fact. the largest living thing on the planet isn't the blue whale or a redwood tree. it's actually the honey mushroom found in oregon. it covers more than three square miles. and it's edible. could probably feed a small city. at the culinary institute of america, for teen kids news, i'm gene'e. - that's a recipe i've got to try. that's all for this week's show, but be sure to tune in next week for more teen kids news. (upbeat music)

- [announcer] write to us at, info@teenkidsnews.com here's a shout out to pr newswire for including teen kids news on their big screen in time square, new york city.

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