What's up, sunshine? Welcome to the
show. I'm Koiwire. We have a your word
Wednesday show, meaning one of your
words helped us write today's show. So,
listen up, soak some knowledge, and
let's get to it. The new age space race
could change how millions of people
around the world access the internet. In
recent years, satellite internet has
exploded in popularity, and Elon Musk's
Starlink has been the biggest name in
the rapidly evolving game. Starlink uses
thousands of loworbit satellites to beam
internet to places traditional cables
can't really reach. It's made internet
access a reality in some of the world's
most remote regions and on battlefields.
But new companies are launching their
own systems, creating some competition.
So, the race for internet dominance
miles above the planet is heating up.
Our Ivana Sculla went to the middle of a
desert to go satellite spotting to help
us learn more.
We've driven to the desert and we've
come here cuz it's one of the darkest
places you can be. There's no light
pollution. And we've come here to do a
little bit of stargazing and we're also
here to look for something else.
Internet satellites.
>> This is the telescope.
Ajith Everest is an astrophotographer.
He spends hours every day at this
observatory he built.
>> So if you see here, uh I think most of
the Starling satellites are commercial
and communication.
>> So the majority of the internet
satellites are Starling.
>> Starling. If we go out and stare at the
sky.
>> Yeah,
>> we can see the satellites.
The first one to spot is little hard.
>> Okay, we're looking for a Starlink.
>> It's It's there, I think, now.
>> Yes.
>> That is moving. You see it?
>> Oh, yeah.
Since 2019, there's been one company
synonymous with internet satellites.
Elon Musk Starlink.
Go SpaceX. Go Starlink.
>> There was a lot of skepticism in the
early days about how successful Starlink
would be. And I think they've really
defeated that skepticism.
>> According to the company, it's launched
over 10,000 satellites, serves more than
8 million people worldwide, and is
available in over 150 countries,
territories, and other markets in the
world. Just to give you an idea, back in
2019, there were there were about
1,200,500 working satellites in space.
That has increased by a factor of 10 in
just a few years. And we think it might
increase by another factor of 10 over
the next decade. This is a
transformational change in how busy
outer space is. It's brought internet to
some of the most remote areas of the
planet, including in the air, on the
sea, and in the middle of war zones.
Over the past 5 years or so, it's become
big business. So, how does it work?
Starlink provides high-speed internet
service using a network of satellites in
low Earth orbit. It can reach remote
places where traditional broadband
internet can't because that relies on
underground cables. In 2024, about 2.5
billion people in the world lacked
internet access, according to the World
Economic Forum. It's these people that
internet satellites are aiming to reach.
>> Lots of people in rural areas have been
frustrated with their lack of access to
broadband, love their Starlinks. To the
extent that it's currently basically a
monopoly, that then gives the people who
run SpaceX the ability to control who
gets connectivity and who doesn't. I
think that's going to change. We are now
starting to see the deployment of rival
systems.
>> It's given Starink's owner, Elon Musk,
incredible geopolitical leverage.
Ukraine has relied on Starink throughout
Russia's invasion, a potential
vulnerability that's been highlighted by
Starink outages. Because of that, some
governments around the world have
increasing security concerns over using
the technology, and they're launching
their own internet satellite
competitors. Secure connectivity is
imperative.
>> Starink didn't respond to a request for
comment from CNN.
>> I think that that threat of oh, one
person's controlling the whole world's
conversation is going to go away with
the the magic of competition in a few
years. The biggest serious competitor is
Amazon Leo. If they can make a product
that is perhaps easier to use, perhaps
higher quality, they may be able to draw
the customers away from uh from
Starling.
>> It looks very beautiful.
>> It does look beautiful cuz you think
they look like stars.
>> Yeah.
>> The satellites are very easy to spot
because there are so many satellites up
to the sky.
>> Did you see a meteor there?
>> No.
>> Oh, come on.
>> I was looking at the internet satellite.
>> Come on.
>> Pop quiz hot shot. What anatomical
strategy helps orcas hunt great white
sharks? Electro reception, blowhole
poisons, body flipping, or dorsal fin
swipes?
If you said body flipping, you stuck the
landing. Orcas use a strategy where they
flip sharks onto their backs to induce
tonic immobility, a temporary paralysis,
leaving the shark defenseless.
Next up, teamwork, dreamwork. for
dolphins and killer whales. Scientists
made a breakthrough discovery observing
orcas hunting salmon off the coast of
British Columbia with help from a pod of
dolphins. And this is wild because orcas
are the ocean's top predators and
certain types known as transient killer
whales will eat dolphins. But these
whales, known as northern resident
killer whales, seem to be saying, "Can't
eat them? Join them." Researchers used a
combination of drones, hydrophones, and
underwater cameras to get a whale's eye
view of these hunts. The underwater
eavesdropping revealed the orcas
following the dolphins, which seem to be
acting as scouts on at least 250
different occasions. But why? Scientists
theorize the dolphins help make the
orcas hunts easier while they get some
protection from other predatory pods of
killer whales. Well, I'll be darned.
Have you seen Zootopia 2? The smash hit
is going wild in theaters and it's
having some perhaps unfathomable effects
in the real world. Breakout star Gary Dn
Snake, an Indonesian pit viper, is on a
mission to clear reptiles bad
reputations.
>> Snakes aren't the bad guys. I have to
set things right. And when I do, my
family will finally be able to come
home.
>> While Gary is so popular, people are
spending hundreds of dollars to buy very
real, very venomous versions of the VIP
Viper. The trend is mostly in China
where this year is the year of the snake
in the zodiac calendar. Gary helped make
history. The film is now China's top
grossing foreign film of all time. The
trend is so big that Chinese media has
been issuing warnings reminding everyone
that Gary's real life counterparts are
not trendy toys and need to be handled
with care. In weather and climate news,
it is wintertime and it is freezing cold
in many parts of the northern
hemisphere. This according to Captain
Obvious. But if you think it's cold
wherever you are, wait till you see the
coldest major city in the world, Yakutsk
in Russia's eastern Siberia, where
temperatures are no joke. They plunged
to -49 Fahrenheit, -45 Celsius recently.
I can feel the cold jumping off the
screen. About 300,000 people live in
Yukuts. And the extreme temperatures
don't scare them. They're yeti for them.
>> The weather is excellent.
>> The winter has arrived.
proper cold.
>> Check out this outdoor market. Siberian
fish are sold in the open air, naturally
preserved because they're frozen, rock
hard. No freezers needed. Shoppers
bundle up in layers and zip from vendor
to vendor. Despite the freeze, daily
life goes on. Traffic keeps moving
through icy fog. Buses run on schedule
and businesses stay open for business.
Locals say the key to not freezing is
preparation. warm clothes, hot tea
nearby, and if you don't like the cold,
you can always isolate inside.
>> There's a saying that goes, "There's no
bad weather.
There's bad clothing, dress warmer,
everything is wonderful."
>> Today's story getting a 10 out of 10.
Students and families coming together to
brighten the holidays for a beloved
crossing guard. Mr. Dave Bellis helped
hundreds of students safely cross the
frigid path between Hidden Oaks and Twin
Oaks Middle Schools every single day.
He's 76 years old. He's a Marine
veteran, a retired police officer, and
with a big warm smile, fist bumps, and
high fives. He braves Minnesota's bitter
wintry cold for hours every day, making
sure the kids are safe.
>> Every single day, he's there. And I
can't imagine our school without him
there. Whenever you see him, your just
face just like just glows up. Just you
can't not like him. He's just a great
guy.
>> Now, one appreciative mom wanted to do
something nice for Mr. Dave. And her
kind gesture snowballed into a
schoolwide mission. Hundreds of families
chipped in and they held a ceremony just
for Dave where he was given some cold
weather swag, gift cards, even tickets
to a Minnesota Wild hockey game. But the
surprises didn't stop there. A local
company donated a brand new snowblower.
A gesture leaving Dave speechless.
>> And let's say
>> thank you all.
>> It's a great reminder that even one
small act of kindness can turn into
something that has a huge impact on
someone's life. Congrats to Miss Cuppin
and friends at Meadow Lane Elementary
School in Anderson, California for
submitting our your word Wednesday
winner. Unfathomable. Love that word.
It's an adjective meaning incapable of
being fully explored or understood. Well
done and thank you for boosting our
vocab today. We have a shout out going
to Mrs. G at Juniper Hills High in
Nampa, Idaho. The Sawtooth group made
this incredible diamond art picture.
I've never seen anything like this. Look
at the detail in the collar. I don't
know how you made it, but you uh made me
smile. Thank you so much. And thanks to
all of you who've been commenting and
subscribing on our CNN 10 YouTube
channel for your shout out requests. Go
make it an awesome day. Make someone
smile. See you right back here tomorrow.
I'm Koi Wire and we are CNN 10.