How are you, sunshine?

I am Koy Waer.

This is CNN 10, and here's what to remember today.

You don't have to know everything , just stay curious enough to constantly learn something.

Let's get smarter.

10 minutes , big world, let's rise.

Let's start with the Northeast , where an early seasonal nor'easter spent the weekend reminding everyone that Mother Nature doesn't need an invitation.

Strong winds, heavy rains, coastal flooding, huge waves crashing across parts of the region.

At one point, over 100,000 customers were left without electricity.

And in New York, streets and subway stations were flooded again.

Conditions are now improving as the storm weakens.

Here is your portion of knowledge.

A nor'easter is named not for where the storm is moving, but for where its strongest winds blow from.

Such storms usually rotate counterclockwise , bringing powerful winds from the northeast along the coast.

In the case of New York, much of the city's drainage infrastructure has been around for about a century and was built for a very different kind of city and a different climate.

CNN's Gloria Pazmino takes us underground to see why a storm above the city could be a problem below .

This has become a common sight in New York .

Stuck cars, waterfalls inside subway stations, and pedestrians wandering through flooded streets .

In August, the Big Apple received more than 8 inches of precipitation, a record for the past 5 years.

Why is this happening?

Yes.

It's been a pretty crazy summer.

We had to activate our flash flood plan almost 30% more often this summer than any other year.

And we believe the reason is climate change.

It's about the intensity of the downpour.

A huge amount of rain in a short period of time, and America's largest city is barely coping.

The city's sewer system is designed to handle up to 1.75 inches of rainfall per hour.

If you consider that New York's system was built over 100 years ago, we're seeing storms with 2, 2.5, 3 inches of rainfall.

So it really overloads the system This is madness.

This means that water rises on the descends into the subway.

Annual precipitation in New York City has increased by about 20 % since 1960.

And as the planet warms , the atmosphere holds more moisture, fueling heavier and more frequent downpours.

Five years after the remnants of Hurricane Ida dumped record amounts of rainfall, flooding basements and killing more than a dozen people, some New Yorkers are still dealing with persistent flooding.

I thought, "Oh, this is just a great city, you know, a concrete jungle." We don't have floods here We try to make sure everything we need is picked up off the floor and we also have supplies to barricade the door After Ida, the city invested billions in flood protection, upgraded sewers, expanded stormwater systems, and improved emergency notification systems.

But officials say it could take decades to fully address the city's flood risk.

You are doing a good deed.

In a race against time, the city continues to upgrade its stormwater infrastructure and coastal flood protection.

New York, we are preparing our coastlines.

This $43 million investment will help control more than 100 locks along South Street in Lower Manhattan.

When a major storm approaches, the locks will rise, creating a single barrier that holds back the water.

There is also green infrastructure— thousands of rain gardens to collect stormwater.

And massive underground tanks to hold millions of gallons of stormwater and sewage during heavy rains.

This helps retain water.

As the city struggles to make progress, more extreme weather is likely to come.

So, Atlanta, get ready for a " bamboo" boom, because after an absence of nearly two years, giant pandas are back.

Meet: Ping Ping and Fu Shuang.

This couple arrived from China aboard—and I promise, that's the real name—"FedEx Panda Express." The two six-year-old bear cubs traveled with a load of bamboo and treats, and they will spend about a month in quarantine before meeting visitors at Zoo Atlanta.

Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the loan during his recent visit to the United States, calling the giant pandas ambassadors of friendship.

And now Atlanta becomes one of only three zoos in the U.S.

to house giant pandas .

I would continue to joke about the panda, but I don't want to drag out the main news.

Next is a report by David Culver.

It may have looked like a hasty night operation, but the arrival of this pair of had been months in the making.

Officially, they are ambassadors of friendship.

This is a phrase commonly used by both governments.

But neither side is inclined to emphasize that these pandas are in debt.

China owns them, any cubs born here eventually return back.

And zoos pay about a million dollars a year.

Of course, part of this is science.

They help with nature conservation, and that's what some of the money goes towards, but there's also politics involved.

Pandas are one of the few things China can actually introduce into strained relations, and it usually elicits a warmer response.

I have seen people on both sides of the Pacific stand before these creatures, you look at their faces and feel a leisurelyness, a silence, a peace.

And in relationships that are often defined by competition and tension, perhaps that is what remains relevant.

What attracts people to tranquility, perhaps even peace.

Which today is even rarer than giant pandas themselves.

Time for the column "Did you know that...?" Although giant pandas eat huge amounts of bamboo, they can only digest about 17% of it.

This is because, despite evolving towards herbivory, they have retained the short digestive tract characteristic of carnivores.

This, combined with a high- fiber diet, means pandas are extraordinary excrement producers.

An adult panda can defecate up to 100 times a day, producing dozens of pounds of waste.

This is "Kung Fu Panda".

And that's not their only strange toilet habit.

Just imagine , pandas are also known for urinating while standing on their front legs.

Yes, that's true.

Scientists say this unusual act is actually a territory marking technique.

The higher the mark, the bigger the panda.

Don't try to repeat this at home.

Quite educational, and teachers, I apologize for any chaos this toilet talk may have caused.

Next: sports and politics collide.

Ireland defeated Israel in the UEFA Nations League on Sunday after Ireland players argued for hours about whether to even play.

The match faced calls for a boycott in Ireland due to Israel's military action in Gaza.

Ireland's players came out wearing black armbands, which the federation said honored all those who died in the conflict.

Ireland's reserve goalkeeper decided not to play at all, saying he felt it was wrong to participate because of the killings of innocent people.

He also stressed that his decision was not directed against Israelis or the Jewish community.

The Israel Football Association welcomed Ireland's decision to play, saying football and politics should be kept separate.

The Irish Football Federation says its players also intend to make a significant charitable contribution from their earnings.

Tick-tock, 10 seconds per trinket.

Why do some launch pads pour hundreds of thousands of gallons of water under a rocket during takeoff?

To create steam for extra thrust, to suppress sound, to flush fuel, or to cool astronauts?

If you said "mute the sound," you're just space.

Rocket launches can create sound waves of such force that they can actually damage the rocket and the launch pad.

So massive water flow systems absorb some of this acoustic energy.

History was made yesterday morning in Texas.

SpaceX's Starship, the most powerful rocket system ever built, has entered Earth's orbit for the first time.

Starship launched from Starbase in Texas on its 14th test flight.

One engine shut down during ascent, but the spacecraft still successfully reached orbit.

And this mission is a significant step forward compared to previous challenges.

The rocket successfully deployed 26 operational Starlink satellites, which they say will improve network capacity and internet speeds for Starlink users around the world.

SpaceX decided to cut this test flight short, returning Starship home after about 3 hours instead of the planned 10- hour flight.

Before successfully splashing down in the Pacific Ocean, the craft caused a huge fireball and landed less softly than on its previous mission in July, but it appears to have remained at least partially intact on the surface of the water.

Today's story, which gets a 10 out of 10, invites us to try something that might seem completely crazy in 2026.

Put down the phone.

At Texas A&M University in Central Texas, professors Christine Alvarez Jones and Amber Denay created the “ Analog Living” initiative, inviting students to step away from their screens and do something for themselves.

One of the workshops is bookbinding, the old-fashioned art of assembling individual pages into a cover.

For some students, disconnecting from the screen is exactly what they needed.

Realizing that there is a difference between consuming something and creating something.

I want to be able to show it to my friends, my family, and say, look what I can create without the influence of technology, just with my mind and the power of my brain.

Sometimes the best way to recharge is to turn off the charger.

That's our top ten, but before I go, I'd like to welcome Dr.

Ajare from Stadium View High School in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Thank you for your nice letter and thank you for allowing CNN 10 to create a bridge between the classroom and the larger world.

Go up .

Also, this is a greeting to Ms.

Spell from the Vocational Rehabilitation Center in Lubbock, Texas.

Student Sierra designed this cool t-shirt and also made one for her teddy bear.

Um, and then she sent me one.

How do you like that?

Give me five out of 10.

You guys are really hardworking bees.

Thank you for making our day better.

Shine, little rays.

You are more powerful than you think.

I am Coy Wire, and we are CNN 10.