What's up, sunshine?
Welcome to the show.
I'm Coy Wire.
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 low-orbit 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 Skotola 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 because 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 Ebrester is an astrophotographer.
He spends hours every day at this observatory he built.
So if you see here, I think most of the Starlink satellites are commercial and communication.
So the majority of the internet satellites are Starlink?
Yes, Starlink.
If we go out and stare at the sky, we can see the satellites.
The first one to spot is Little Hut.
OK.
We're looking for a Starlink.
It's there, I think now.
Yes.
That is moving.
See here?
Oh, yeah.
Since 2019, there's been one company synonymous with internet satellites.
Elon Musk's Starlink.
There was a lot of skepticism in the early days about how successful Starlink would be.
I think they've really defeated that skepticism.
According to the company, it's launched over 10000 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 about 1,200, 1,500 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 five 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 25 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.
I love their Starlink's.
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 Starlink's owner, Elon Musk, incredible geopolitical leverage.
Ukraine has relied on Starlink throughout Russia's invasion, a potential vulnerability that's been highlighted by Starlink 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.
Starlink didn't respond to a request for comment from CNN.
I think that that threat of oh one person is controlling the whole world's conversation is going to go away with 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 Starlink.
It looks very beautiful.
It does look beautiful because they look like stars.
Yeah.
The satellites are very easy to spot because there are so many satellites up in the sky.
Did you see a meteor there?
No.
I was looking at the internet set up.
Pop quiz, hot shot.
What anatomical strategy helps orcas hunt great white sharks?
Electroreception, 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 dream work 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 II?
The smash hit is going wild in theaters and it's having some perhaps unfathomable effects in the real world.
Breakout star Gary Da Snake, an Indonesian pit viper, is on a mission to clear Reptile's 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 snow joke.
They plunged to minus 49 Fahrenheit, minus 45 Celsius recently.
I can feel the cold jumping off the screen.
About 300,000 people live in Yakutsk, 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 is a saying that goes there is no bad weather, there is 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 wintery 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 school-wide 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.
Thank you.
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 Ms.
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 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 request.
Go make it an awesome day.
Make someone smile.
See you right back here tomorrow.
I'm Coy Wire and we are CNN 10.
