What's up, sunshine? Welcome to CNN 10.
I'm Ky Wire here with your news for
Monday, February 2nd. Pumped to be here
with you to start the week and to start
Black History Month. It's a time to
recognize, learn from, and celebrate the
stories of black Americans. Because for
a long time, many of those stories were
left out of history books, even though
they helped shape our country in huge
ways. Black History Month is about
understanding how history connects to
the present, and how the black
innovators, leaders, artists, and
inventors of today are inspiring the
future. We are kicking things off with a
feature of an incredible man I got to
spend time with recently, Dr. Lonnie
Johnson, a barrier-breaking engineer and
entrepreneur who's one of the most
brilliant inventors of our time, and his
story is ready for a movie script. Dr.
Johnson holds more than 100 patents, and
he's worked on top secret projects for
NASA and the US Air Force. But his most
famous invention, one of the bestselling
toys of all time, the Super Soaker. I
met Dr. Johnson at his lab here in
Atlanta to hear his story and to share
it with you.
I've always been an inventor and I think
I think we're all inventors. You know,
the human beings, creativity, problem
solving is what we're built to do.
>> And creating is exactly what Lonnie
Johnson has spent his life doing while
shattering stereotypes and breaking
barriers along the way.
>> People ask me all the time, what's my
favorite invention? You know, it's like
asking what's my favorite child, you
know.
>> Yeah. From aerospace engineer to
inventor, he is a living icon and living
proof of what a little ingenuity and a
lot of perseverance can do. He has more
than 140 patents, including one that
might be one of your favorite toys.
>> God just won't do. Introducing the Super
Soaker 50.
Dr. Johnson was born in 1949. He grew up
in segregated Alabama during a time of
rampant racial injustice. Take us back
through your childhood. Um some of the
challenges that you faced growing up.
>> Well, I grew up um segregation uh was a
very real thing. So there were certain
things that you know as a black person
in America I was not allowed to do,
places I couldn't go. The colored versus
white bathrooms, water fountains, the
whole nine yards. And racism was just up
out front. You know, if you were black,
you couldn't. There's certain things you
just didn't do.
>> A cruel daily reality. But Dr. Johnson
wasn't going to let that crush his
creative spirit.
>> By the time I got to high school, you
know, I got interested in in in science
and engineering. I watched President
Kennedy make his moon speech in ' 62 and
was all excited about that and getting
into science and rockets and and um used
to watch the Lost in Space robot on TV
and and Robbie the robot. and I decided
I wanted to have my own robot.
>> He spent over a year building Linux.
>> So you're like 16, 17 years old at the
time.
>> And this was back in the 60s. So nobody
had robots back then.
>> He took Linux to a science fair his
senior year.
>> Went up to University of Alabama in '
68. This was just a few years after
Governor Wallace had stood in the door
and said no black students would ever
attend this university. And um I was the
only black student there with the
project. and uh my robot uh won first
place.
>> After graduation, Dr. Johnson attended
Tuskegee University, getting a master's
in nuclear engineering and starting his
career at Oakidge National Laboratory.
>> I found myself working alongside
students from Princeton and other
graduates rather from Princeton and
other uh universities in engineering. Um
and I was, you know, solving problems
and had seen things and knew things that
a lot of them didn't know. So I felt
that I might I was well very well
prepared by Tuskegee and it really built
my confidence.
>> That confidence propelled him to the Air
Force and then to NASA's Jet Propulsion
Lab where one of his inventions flew on
the Galileo mission. It was during that
time and while he was trying to solve a
different problem that led to probably
his most famous invention ever, or at
least for now, it started with tinkering
with nozzles in the bathroom. and they
shot this the um stream of water across
the bathroom and I thought, geez, this
is a really satisfying effect.
>> Power to it.
>> Yeah. And the curtains in the bathroom
started swirling because of the air
currents that were set up.
>> And I thought, geez, a high performance
water gun would be a lot of fun. So, I
put down that project and started using
my engineering insight to figure out,
okay, how can I build a high pressure
gun that a small kid could operate and
could hold a lot of water? I knew it
would be successful. I didn't know that
it was going to be a number one selling
tour in the world.
>> Now, Dr. Johnson spends a lot of his
time with one of the companies he
created, J-Tech Energy, still on a
mission to solve problems. I think your
message is that luck is what happens
when you perpetually prepare and
persevere. Um, you've mastered that and
now you're you turned it into this
J-Tech. I mean, this is really exciting
what you're doing here. It's where
science and creation collide as the team
searches for new clean ways to fuel the
world.
>> A lot of the conflicts that you see in
the world are centered on energy oil. So
if we could reduce our dependence on
oil, we not only improve the
environment,
but we'd also have one less thing to
fight about.
>> Now, that was just a teaser of our
mindblowing morning at Dr. Johnson's
Lab. We have a special episode dropping
later this month that includes one of
his new inventions that's taking wasted
heat from machines and factories and
converting it to electricity. Look out.
Today's top space story, potential
concerns surrounding NASA's Orion
spacecraft, the vehicle that's slated to
help return man to the moon as part of
the Aremis missions. Four astronauts are
scheduled to head to space aboard the
Orion as soon as next week for a 10-day
trip around the moon as part of the
Aremis 2 mission. But some experts say
the craft has a known flaw and are
urging the agency not to fly the mission
with humans on board. The issue relates
to a special coating on the bottom of
the craft called the heat shield, which
protects astronauts from extreme
temperatures of up to 5,000 degrees
Fahrenheit as they re-enter Earth's
atmosphere. The crucial component on
Artemis 2 is nearly identical to the one
that was used on the uncrrewed Artemis 1
mission in 2022. That shield showed
unexpected signs of damage following its
return to Earth, prompting an
investigation by NASA. And while even
those involved in the investigation of
that shield say there could be some risk
involved, NASA appears poised to clear
Artemis 2 for launch. The agency tells
CNN that they have spent years
investigating the issue and believe they
can ensure the crew's safety through a
number of ways, including altering the
mission's flight path.
Pop quiz, hot shot. What is the role of
sodium in your body's process of
hydration, protein absorption, bone
strength, water retention, or cavity
prevention?
If you said water retention, H2, way to
go. Sodium directs water where it needs
to go in the body, like your bloodstream
or muscle tissues. If sodium is low,
water can pass right through you, even
if you're drinking plenty of it.
A teenager has just set the world record
for fastest indoor mile by an under 18
athlete. That team is Sam Ruth from New
Zealand. He's 16 years old. He ran the
mile in 3 minutes 48.88 seconds in
Boston over the weekend. He kicked it
into another gear in the last 100 meters
to blast past the leader for the win.
>> Record. OH MY GOSH. WOULD YOU BELIEVE
THIS? His dad said he traveled about 50
hours to get to the race. And Sam said
after the 9,000mi journey, he was just
thinking this race would be a
rustbuster. Instead, it was a
record-breaker. The time also broke New
Zealand's national mile record set by a
30-year-old more than 40 years ago. Ruth
told CNN Sports he thought he wouldn't
be able to crack that record for years,
and he still says he doesn't believe it.
Said he didn't even feel like he was
going that fast. But now with more races
in Boston to come, he said he has more
in the tank and can probably go faster.
Today's story getting a 10 out of 10
shows the power of believing in yourself
when every second matters. 14-year-old
Ryan Long was at home in Bemantown, New
York, when a normal day suddenly turned
into an emergency. His grandma began
feeling unwell and before they could
make it to the hospital, she stopped
breathing. With his grandfather on
FaceTime and nurses coaching him over
the phone, Ryan started CPR, staying
focused and pushing through the
pressure. For nearly 10 minutes, Ryan
kept up chest compressions until
paramedics arrived, saving his
grandmother's life. Ryan has since been
honored with his school district's first
Eagle of Excellence Award, named a
healthc care hero. Inspired by Ryan's
actions, classmates all signed up for
CPR training. Nurses say just like Ryan,
always called 911 first. Proof that
knowing what to do and confidence can
make all the difference. All right, I've
got two shout outs for you today. This
first one goes to Mr. Gro at Goan
Central School District and Goan, New
York. Go Dragons. Thank you for
subscribing to our CNN 10 YouTube
channel. And we have a very special
shout out today to Mrs. Kuick at
Chanderwoods Charter Academy in Belmont,
Michigan. Rise up. Now, Mrs. Kuwick is
making CNN 10 history today. She's
expecting a baby soon, and she asked us
to be part of her baby's gender reveal.
So, without further ado, drum roll
please.
It's a boy.
Congratulations.
Thank you for allowing us to be part of
Baby Kick's arrival. Have an awesome
day, everyone. I'll see you right back
here tomorrow. I'm Koi Wire and we are
CNN 10.