(220) How did the Great Sphinx end up in the desert? | November 8, 2023 - YouTube
November 8, 2023 | How did the Great Sphinx end up in the desert?
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
COY WIRE, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Hello, sunshine. We`re halfway through the week, but we`re going to keep on grinding and shining because that`s just what we do. It`s Wednesday, November 8th and the holiday travel season is almost upon us. So in the spirit of that pack your best, because we`re going to be going around the world for several stories today. But first let`s talk specifically about what`s happening at some of the airports heading into the holidays.
If you`re traveling through international airports in Boston, San Francisco, Washington, or New York, you may see extra security for the tiniest of passengers, bacteria and viruses. The U.S. centers for disease control and prevention or CDC is expanding a program that detects COVID-19 to include more than 30 pathogens, it`s called the Traveler-Based Genomic Surveillance Program. It was first introduced in 2021 during the pandemic, even though the U.S. has relaxed a lot of its pandemic-related restrictions, thousands of people are still being hospitalized with the disease.
As part of the surveillance program, international travelers can volunteer for nasal swabs. The CDC has also been testing airplane wastewater since 2022. Did you know? Today they`ve tested more than 370,000 people arriving from more than 135 countries at seven participating U.S. airports.
Now, four of those airports will also test for bacteria and viruses behind infectious diseases like the flu and RSV. This surveillance program is meant to help health officials detect new variants of COVID-19 and other diseases before they spread across the country.
Now, pop quiz, hot shot. Ten second trivia. In Egyptian mythology, what creature has the head of a human in the body of a lion?
Griffin, Sphinx, Phoenix or Centaur?
If you think sphinx, you think correctly, the sphinx is an important figure in Egyptian and Greek art.
A giant carving of the mythical creature, the sphinx lies in the sand near Giza famous pyramids in Egypt. The great sphinx is thousands of years old. It stands 66 feet tall and it`s thought to be carved from a single piece of limestone. But how would such a huge sculpture end up in the desert? Well, one popular theory was put forward by geologists, Farouk El-Baz. He believed that the desert wind, shaped a natural land form to resemble a reclining sphinx. And the ancient Egyptians simply added surface details.
El-Baz came up with his theory about 40 years ago and a new study suggests he may have been onto something. A team of scientists at NYU`s applied mathematics lab replicated windy conditions, the Great Sphinx likely faced 4,500 years ago instead of wind, they used a flat stream of water. And when it was washed over clay models of natural land forms, low and behold, a lion shape took form. All right, from the sands of Giza, we`ll dive now into another big discovery spotted in the waters of Hawaii.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a rarely seen, whale shark, according to researchers from the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology Shark Research Lab, who captured the footage near the Hawaiian islands. The whale shark is the world`s largest species of fish and is known to live in Hawaiian water, as the research say.
MARK ROYER, UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII, SHARK MANAGER: They`re here more often than we think, but however, they are probably hard to come across. I didn`t see this animal until they hopped in the water.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Royer observed the 30-foot shark beating on Hawaiian entities known as nehu and approaching their boat that was starting idle in the water. Experts say that in these situations it`s important to be mindful, let the shark approach, but don`t aggressively get close and disturb it.
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WIRE: That was whaly cool. One other fun fact about whale sharks, the largest fish on the planet, even though they`re about as big as a school bus with enormous mouths, they couldn`t eat you even if they wanted to. Their throat is only the size of a quarter, designed only to swallow small, tiny little fish.
All right, our next story takes us to the Hawaiian Highlands where we`re getting a glimpse of an extremely rare bird. The kind of which only five are thought to be remaining in the wild. Researchers though, they`re working to help them make a comeback.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: High up on a plateau in the middle of the Hawaiian island of Kauai, a team of researchers carefully transport, some extremely precious cargo.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They`ve spent three days in this remote and rain-soaked expanse of jungle, looking for something very specific and very small. The egg of one of the world`s most critically endangered species, a Hawaiian honeycreeper known as the `Akikiki, found nowhere else on earth but here. According to the Hawaiian Department of Land and Natural Resources, there are only five of the species left in the wild.
HANNAH BAILEY, WILDLIFE CARE MANAGER, KEAUHOU BIRD CONSERVATION CENTER, SAN DIEGO ZOO WILDLIFE ALLIANCE: The current state of `Akikiki is pretty bad right now. We do have about 50 `Akikiki in human care at our two centers in Hawaii. And we do know that this past breeding season, there were no surviving chicks in the wild.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hannah Bailey manages the Keauhou Bird Conservation Center on the island of Hawaii. The center serves as a Noah`s Ark of sorts for the `Akikiki.
BAILEY: Our mission is to provide safe haven populations of the species that are in peril so that when the environment is right for them to survive long-term, we`ll be able to re-release them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hannah says the current state of all of Hawaii`s forest birds is dire due in part to the usual culprits like habitat loss, but a newer and more deadly manners has emerged.
BAILEY: The biggest threat right now to Hawaii`s endangered birds is mosquitoes. Because they carry avian malaria, which the birds have no resistance to.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: According to the American Bird Conservancy, climate change has enabled non-native mosquitoes to find their way to Kauai`s highest elevations. The `Akikiki`s last refuge in the wild.
BAILEY: This is a portable brooder box that we can also use to incubate eggs. And it helps us transfer eggs from one location to another that have been incubated safely so that they will continue to grow and develop.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We need to have landscape level solutions to the mosquito problems. In the meantime, keeping the birds in centers like this one where enclosures are designed to mimic their natural habitat, but to protect it from mosquitoes, and where human interaction is strictly limited to discourage imprinting, a process where animals lose their natural behavior. These may very well be an entire species last chance at survival.
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WIRE: All right, from mythical beasts in ancient Egypt to rare creatures in modern day, Hawaii, we`ve been all around the world today. Time for our grand finale, today`s story getting a 10 out of 10 takes us to the sleepy mountain town of Hope in British Columbia, Canada. That wasn`t quite such a sleepy town after a collision involving a trailer full of fireworks it led to a light show that was anything but infinitesimal.
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JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: You expect to see fireworks on a national holiday, but not just driving down a dark highway.
RYAN KUHN, RECORDED FIREWORKS: Probably the most spectacular firework show we`ll ever see in our lives. It was quite a -- a site to behold.
MOOS: Ryan Kuhn was driving with his wife on the trans-Canada highway, near town called Hope in British Columbia, police say a tractor trailer rear ended a pickup parked at the side of the road with a trailer full of fireworks in tow. Traffic was stopped.
(On camera): And how long did the show last?
KUHN: It was about an hour. The first half an hour was nonstop fireworks. So imagine the crescendo of the best firework show you`ve ever seen. It was just nonstop for 30 minutes.
MOOS: Some dared to get out of their cars, still wary of flying debris. The driver of the pickup hit by the truck had minor injuries, wrote one commenter, "Dude! That`s better than Disney`s fireworks.
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WIRE: Now, that`s the way to end this show with a bang. Congrats to Mr. Rhodes and the Mustangs in Sumner, Nebraska, you submitted the winner for #YourWordWednesday, infinitesimal, an adjective, meaning extremely small. Well done.
Our special shout out today goes to Verde Middle School in Florida, Boca Raton, rise up. Thanks for the love. And our second shout out of the day goes to Campbell County High School in Gillette, Wyoming, let`s go. What do you say? We make this an awesome day, y`all. I`m Coy Wire and we are CNN 10.
[Voca]
- Grinding (연마, 노력) - Working hard, especially in a repetitive or difficult task.
- Surveillance (감시) - Close observation, especially of a suspected spy or criminal.
- Pathogens (병원체) - Microorganisms that cause disease.
- Genomic (유전체의) - Relating to the genome, the complete set of genes in an organism.
- Pandemic (대유행) - An outbreak of a disease that occurs over a wide geographic area.
- Volunteer (자원봉사자) - A person who freely offers to take part in an activity.
- Wastewater (폐수) - Water that has been used in homes, industries, and businesses that is not for reuse unless treated.
- Variants (변종) - Forms or versions of something that differ in some respect from other forms.
- Mythology (신화) - A collection of myths, especially one belonging to a particular religious or cultural tradition.
- Carving (조각) - A sculpture created by cutting a material such as wood or stone.
- Geologists (지질학자) - Scientists who study the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes the Earth.
- Replicated (복제된) - Made a copy of; duplicated.
- Ecosystems (생태계) - Biological communities of interacting organisms and their physical environment.
- Species (종) - A group of living organisms consisting of similar individuals.
- Endangered (멸종 위기에 처한) - At risk of extinction.
- Habitat (서식지) - The natural home or environment of an animal, plant, or other organism.
- Mosquitoes (모기) - Small flying insects that are known to spread diseases.
- Avian malaria (조류 말라리아) - A disease spread by mosquitoes to birds.
- Imprinting (각인) - In animal behavior, the rapid learning process that occurs early in the life of a social animal.
- Enclosures (울타리) - Areas that are sealed off with barriers.
- Mythical (신화적인) - Existing only in myths or legends.
- Rare (희귀한) - Not occurring very often.
- Fireworks (불꽃놀이) - Devices containing gunpowder and other combustible chemicals that cause spectacular effects.
- Collision (충돌) - An instance of one moving object or person striking violently against another.
- Spectacular (장관인) - Beautiful in a dramatic and eye-catching way.
- Crescendo (점차 높아지는 소리) - A gradual increase in loudness or intensity.
- Debris (잔해) - Scattered pieces of waste or remains.
- Infinitesimal (극미의) - Extremely small; minute.
- Adjective (형용사) - A word naming an attribute of a noun, such as sweet, red, or technical.
- Awesome (멋진) - Extremely impressive or daunting; inspiring great admiration.