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The Science Behind the Autumnal Equinox; A Scientist Using Sound Recording Devices to Track Endangered Species of Bird; Chats with Sports Icons Lewis Hamilton and Tom Brady About Their Secrets to Success. Aired 4- 4:10a ET

Aired September 22, 2022 - 04:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


COY WIRE, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. It`s Thursday. Happy Friday eve to you. It`s your boy Coy and I`m thankful to be hanging out with you right

here this week on CNN 10.

It`s time to say goodbye to summertime because today is officially the first day of fall, also called autumnal equinox. Let`s take 10 to break it

all down.

During the vernal and autumnal equinoxes, the sun is directly over the equator, so day and night are considered to be the same length. If you

reside in the northern hemisphere, you know it is the start of fall, but folks down south of the equator, this equinox is actually the start of

spring. This is not to be confused with a solstice though. Those are in the summer and the winter and represent the longest and shortest days of the

year respectively.

So when it comes to fall, you might be thinking about colder temperatures, pumpkin spice lattes, some football or fallen leaves. And speaking of

leaves, let`s take a minute to learn why they actually change color in the fall.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I want you think about leaves on a tree as essentially many solar panels. What they`re able to do is

fascinating. They are taking the sunlight in and through a process known as photosynthesis. They`re able to transfer the sun`s energy and create a

chemical known as chlorophyll.

Now, chlorophyll is key because it gives the leaves its green colors during the long summer months, but beneath the surface, the leaves actually always

have the reds, the oranges, the yellows in place while chlorophyll is there, it`s there and it`s green. While it`s taken away in the shorter days

and shorter months of the autumn, now you`re releasing some of the true colors back to the surface.

Of course, weather can play a role in this as well, especially in the vibrancy of it. When you have plenty of rainfall in the growing season or

in the spring season, you`re able to get plenty of good colors in early September, October and November. If you have extreme heat, extreme drought

in place, maybe a freeze early snowstorm or even strong winds, certainly that can do damage. The leaves will not be there for you to see them in

peak foliage. So hopefully, you get a chance to get out there this year and enjoy the fall colors.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WIRE: Continuing our constitutional theme 10-second trivia this week: Which branch of the U.S. government is mentioned first in the Constitution?

The executive, the judicial, or the legislative?

Answer is legislative. The branch`s powers are laid out in Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution.

Next up today, "Call to Earth" is looking at how to protect and conserve our planet by listening to it. Today, we`re headed to the rainforest

hinterlands of the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, where a scientist is using a network of sound recording devices and artificial intelligence

to track down an endangered and elusive species of bird.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. DANIELLA TEIXEIRA, RESEARCH FELLOW: Behind us here is Purling Brook Falls, and on the other side of this escarpment, you can actually see how

the vegetation changes.

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For the past seven years, the research of acoustic ecologists Dr. Daniella Teixeira has

focused on recording and analyzing sounds of Australia`s iconic black cockatoos.

TEIXEIRA: So, we actually have sound recorders planted in that forest over there.

WEIR: She says the birds face a multitude of threats, including habitat loss and climate change, and that they`re dwindling numbers low density and

cryptic nature make them really hard to find.

TEIXEIRA: A bit of a look. You`re much more likely to see this feeding sign than you are actually to see the birds themselves with the particular

project that we`re doing today, this is programmed to record every single day from sunrise to sunset.

WEIR: With all of those hours of recordings to analyze, she also relies heavily on artificial intelligence.

TEIXEIRA: What we`re looking at here is the detections of glossy black cockatoos at the machine learning has detected. That`s what they sound

like.

WEIR: With her research, Daniella says they now have a complete understanding of the bird`s vocalizations and can even train the AI to

identify the most exciting moments of a cockatoo`s life -- leaving the nest.

TEIXEIRA: Fledging is the moment when the baby bird leaves the nest, and I`ve been able to train algorithms to help me detect that automatically,

and that`s how we can actually detect breeding success and measure it in really big ways.

WEIR: About 1,800 kilometers northeast of Gold Coast sits Yourka Reserve, a remote partial land owned and managed by Bush Heritage Australia.

Daniella also works as a researcher for this conservation-minded organization.

TEIXEIRA: Yourka is situated in what we consider to be a resilient landscape. So, it`s likely to offer refuge here from climate change in the

future for quite a large number of species.

WEIR: Just under a year ago, four new solar-powered recording stations were installed here and today, she is back to collect the data for the

first time.

TEIXEIRA: Look how nice and dry it is in there.

WEIR: The sensors are part of the Australian Acoustic Observatory, a world first continent-wide network consisting of approximately 360 devices that

record 24/7.

TEIXEIRA: The sound recorders that we`ve put out here on Yourka Reserve have been out there during times where the site was inaccessible so it

would have been collecting sound data when we weren`t even able to go out there. Hopefully, we find some threatened species some frogs and birds, and

we can actually get a bit of an idea of how the ecosystems are performing.

WEIR: Daniella believes that a noisy landscape is a healthy landscape and that her recordings what she calls digital fossils can be a key to

unlocking a new level of understanding about Australia`s natural world.

TEIXEIRA: There`s a whole world of activity happening right now that we would just be unaware of, that sound is the best way that we can connect to

that. But if we understand what those sounds mean, we can understand these species and what they need.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WEIR: For "10 out of 10" today, tips and tactics for greatness from two of the greatest athletes of all time. I recently caught up with Tampa Bay Buc

star QB Tom Brady and F1 star Lewis Hamilton to find out what`s pushed them to become the best time and time again.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WEIR: You both are strikingly similar. I mean, you both wear helmets to work. You`re both very driven.

You`re in the driver`s seat leading a team of people. You have to make split-second decisions with huge implications.

What is something that you may see in each other, something innate within each of you that you have in common that has propelled you to greatness?

LEWIS HAMILTON, SEVEN-TIME FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPION: I think are probably the things we have in common is, is that that he got that focus,

that drive to be better. You know, that yes, better than you were yesterday.

WIRE: Right.

HAMILTON: Precision.

WIRE: There you go. Attention to detail.

HAMILTON: You`re a precision man.

WEIR: Tom, you appreciate this. Six months ago, I talked to Lewis, and you may not remember this, but before we started, there was a tiniest thread on

his pants, and he asked for some scissors to cut it. And it hit me in that moment, I was like, this is a man who pays attention to the details, like

how you do anything is how you do everything, right?

TOM BRADY, SEVEN-TIME SUPER BOWL CHAMPION: Yeah.

WEIR: Can you relate to that, when it comes to that precision Lewis was talking about?

BRADY: What I`ve really been inspired about Lewis over a period of time is, you know, you always see -- everyone thinks it`s just Lewis in the car,

but he recognizes it`s the -- everyone behind the scenes that are allowing him to be successful as well. And I`ve seen him when he wins, and he gives

credit to everyone, and I`ve seen when he loses you know how he doesn`t there`s never blame associated with it, too.

So, I always feel like our best moments in life come when we`re facing, you know, our most difficult challenges.

WEIR: Average career is like three and a half years. I played nine years, have a titanium plate four screws in my neck. I thought that was good.

This is going to this 23rd season, both of you though, just iconic high level of operation for decade more, right? So, what keeps you going? What

drives you? What is it?

BRADY: For me, it`s always just been trying to -- I always feel like no one cares about what you did in the past, you know? You have to be

motivated to be your best this year. Everyone has shown up to buy season tickets for this season, not for what happened last year, two seasons ago.

And I feel like when people make the commitment to you, in the end, you want to fulfill that, you know, what they`re coming to see. You know people

want to come and see me do great. They want to see Lewis do great. You know, they followed their sports heroes and their favorite sports teams

because they want to see you, you know, the thrill of victory.

And I feel like I want to -- when I make that commitment to play, it`s a kind of all-encompassing commitment.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WIRE: The greatest of all time, the GOATs. There`s some bad men.

You all are the greatest, too. We love all the love we`re getting on the comment section at youtube.com/cnn10. So we`re showing some love back.

Huge shout-out to Mannheim Middle School in Melrose Park, Illinois.

Tomorrow is Fri-yay, can`t wait. Crush it today and be awesome. I`m Coy. Thanks for watching CNN 10.

END