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Cyclone Mocha Death Toll Rises Sharply in Myanmar; NASA`s Perseverance Rover Finds Mars River; Restoring Forest And Conserving Threatened Birds In Mauritius. Aired 4-4:10a ET

Aired May 23, 2023 - 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 Tuesday, and it`s our last teacher time Tuesday shout-out of the year. Much respect to all of you who

are uplifting, informing and inspiring the next generation.

Students, go dap up your teachers. Give a handshake or a high five. Let them know you appreciate them.

I`m Coy Wire. This is CNN 10. So grateful to be here with you.

Let`s start today with a quick zip through some of the headlines making the news.

First up, a devastating cyclone has rocked the Southeast Asian country of Myanmar. Cyclone Mocha, a category storm with winds of up to 195 miles per

hour battered the nation, leaving entire villages wiped out, shelters destroyed and piles of debris stretching for miles, is considered one of

the strongest storms to ever hit Myanmar and authorities say more than 400 people have died.

According to U.N.`s humanitarian office, clean water supplies and fuel are running low, and there is critical need for shelters, food medicine, and

health care services. Thoughts and prayers for the people there.

Next, we go to Europe where the European Union regulators have fined social media giant Meta a record-breaking $1.3 billion for transferring the

personal data of Facebook`s E.U users to servers in the U.S. Meta, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp said it would appeal the ruling including

the fine, and it also says there would be no immediate disruption of the Facebook app in Europe. Meta says the root of this issue comes from a quote

conflict of law between U.S. rules on access to data and the privacy rights of Europeans.

Next up, we head to Florida where we had a successful rocket launch check out this SpaceX rocket taking off on Sunday as the crew embarks on a week-

long stay aboard the International Space Station. The Dragon freedom spacecraft crew is led by former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson who`s now the

first woman to command a private space flight. She`s joined by three paying customers.

Stem cell researcher Rayyanah Barnawi is making history as the first woman from Saudi Arabia to ever travel to space. This marks the second all-

private mission to the International Space Station. Houston-based company Axiom Space is in charge of the journey called Ax-2.

All right. Let`s stay out of this world and head to the Red Planet or Mars. Back in the summer of 2020, NASA launched a space rover called Mars 2020

Perseverance. This small mobile robot eventually landed on Mars seven months later. The main goal of this mission was for the rover to look for

signs of past microbial life, snag some rock and soil samples and best of all prepare for human exploration in the future.

Remember, no human has ever been to Mars. Our Ashley Strickland sat down with a NASA scientist who gives us exciting updates on the mission, and the

possible history of water on one of Mars`s craters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ASHLEY STRICKLAND, CNN SPACE & SCIENCE WRITER: Where is Perseverance rover currently and what is it up to these days?

KATIE STACK MORGAN, MARS 2020 DEPUTY PROJECT SCIENTIST, NASA JPL: So, Perseverance is still in Jezero Crater. It is on this fan that is in Jezero

Crater, and we`ve now climbed up on top of this fan and are exploring the sedimentary rocks on the top surface of the fan.

STRICKLAND: What can we hope to learn from this area.

MORGAN: We have recorded different depositional environments that could be lake environments, delta environments, river environments, that really

capture the history of water in Jezero Crater.

STRICKLAND: So what are some of the different types of rock that perseverance has encountered since it landed two years ago.

MORGAN: We had a lot of debates early on before we landed, sedimentary or igneous formed by volcanoes or formed deposited by water or wind. And as it

turned out, these were igneous rocks, which was of surprise to us, but a really pleasant surprise because igneous rocks contain different kinds of

information that we`re interested in for return sample science. And so we have things like volcanic salt, rocks that likely formed deep in the

interior of Mars from magma.

Then we transitioned from that crater floor into the sedimentary deposits and now we`re here in sandstones, conglomerates, mud stones, the kinds of

rocks that are deposited by flowing water.

STRICKLAND: What could we hope to learn from this diverse array of samples when they come back to Earth?

MORGAN: The fact that we have a diverse set of rocks means we have different types of potential habitable environments recorded within these

rocks. Surface, watery environments we know from here on Earth is a good place to record signs of ancient life. But there`s also the potential that

life could find habitable niches in igneous rocks when water flows through those rocks underground.

STRICKLAND: You`ve been wanting to get outside of the crater, so what does that look like?

MORGAN: There are a lot of mysteries outside the crater. This is some of the oldest crust in the solar system, and we`re going to have a chance to

explore that with the rover. But this is a part of solar system history that`s not well-preserved here on Earth. So we`re going to get to see rocks

of this age for the first time on Mars. It`s unclear what these rocks are to look like.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WIRE: Ten-second trivia:

Name the island country off the coast of Africa whose capital is Port Louis?

Mauritius, Seychelles, Madagascar or Gambia?

Mauritius is your answer here. The island nation gained independence from the U.K. in 1968.

Now, Mauritius is an island nation that`s closely linked to its vast ebony forest. Historically, these durable black hardwood trees were used for

building furniture, cabinets, even piano keys. But now, conservationists are doing reservation initiatives, looking to save the forest along with

its exotic bird species.

Our Zane Asher has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZAIN ASHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Some 12,000 miles of the southeastern coast of Africa in the middle of the Indian Ocean lies the

island where the iconic dodo bird once roamed. Centuries after its extinction, the flightless bird is still inextricably linked with the

African nation of Mauritius.

You can find it on banknotes, coins and the country`s coat of arms. Today, Dr. Nicolas Zuel and his team of conservationists are working hard to

ensure other endemic species don`t go the way of the dodo.

DR. NICOLAS ZUEL, CONSERVATION MANAGER, EBONY FOREST: Before human beings came to Mauritius, the forest would look like what you see around us.

ASHER: Less 2 percent of the native forest remains on the island, due in part to poaching, pollution and logging.

Historically, one of the most sought after resources, the ebony tree, is coveted for its durable black hardwood which is used to build furniture,

cabinets, piano keys. And more now the global trade of ebony wood is controlled and most species have been protected to prevent extinction.

ZUEL: The history of Mauritius is closely linked to ebony trees because when the Dutch colonized the island, one of the reason, the main reason

they wanted to colonize the island is to be able to exploit the ebony trees.

ASHER: The journey to restore this patch of forest located on the southwest part of the island began in 2006. The work started with weeding, planting

and growing native plant species. It also involved the reintroduction of locally extinct species like the pink pigeon and the echo parakeet, both

considered vulnerable and globally threatened.

ZUEL: It`s important to have birds because forest restoration and the animal battle (ph) live in it goes hand in hand. So without (INAUDIBLE) the

forest will not survive.

So, yes we are linked to extinction of species with the dodo, but we`re also an example of what can be done to save our bird species.

ASHER: After 11 years of restoration initiatives, the ebony forest park officially opened to the public in 2017.

Visitors can bird watch, hike or volunteer and contribute to the conservation efforts on this tropical island paradise.

ZUEL: So it`s really important for us to have ebony forest to raise awareness about species, about conservation. So that`s something which is

really important for us to just work together with people, share the knowledge and also learn from others.

ASHER: To date, the conservationists say they`ve planted more than 140,000 endemic plants while also weeding and planting 16 additional hectares of

forest.

With the dodo`s legacy in mind, the ultimate goal is to safeguard the island`s natural glory for generations to come.

ZUEL: And ultimately, osmosis as lots of endemic species, it`s a narrative but for the old world what we are preserving here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WIRE: We are shaking things up with some researchers from the University of California, San Diego, for today`s story getting a 10 out of 10.

A group of engineers built and tested the tallest full-scale building ever on an earthquake simulator or shake table. Ten stories high, shaken like a

salt shaker in simulations of two of the strongest quakes in recent history a 6.7 and a 7.7 magnitude, and the historic tests were a success. The

building was damage free. The data is going to be used to help design safer buildings and bridges.

I try to come up with some good puns for that story but they were all shaky at best. Sorry, my fault. Hope it doesn`t cause a rift between us.

Tiffin, Iowa, you get our special shout out today. Clear Creek Amana Middle School, you rock. And Mr. Wilmer, we see you.

Now, tomorrow you make the show. It`s going to be a #yourwordwednesday. So follow me @coywire on Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok, put your unique

vocabulary word in the comments section on my most recent post, and we`re going to choose one fun one to work into tomorrow`s show. Bring it.

I`m Coy Wire and we are CNN 10.

END