U.S. Political Conventions; Genetically Modified Insects; Hurricane Season Predictions; Mystery in a Safe
CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Fridays are awesome. And if you`re new to our show, you`ll probably hear me say that again. I`m Carl Azuz and this is CNN 10, your objective explanation of world events. The Democratic National Convention wrapped up on Thursday night and Former Vice-President Joe Biden is now the official presidential nominee for the Democratic party. His running mate, U.S. Senator Kamala Harris from California was nominated as the parties vice-presidential pick on Wednesday night. During this four day event, Democrats spoke out against incumbent President Donald Trump and promoted nominee Joe Biden as the best choice for voters in 2020. It will be the exact opposite next week when the Republican National Convention gets underway. These conventions are an American tradition. They`re where the countries major political parties nominate their candidates, to find what they stand for in an upcoming election and try to drum up voter support for that election. This what they normally look like. This is what they look like in this socially distant year with many of the speeches made virtually and no roaring crowds of conventions past. For the Democrats, speakers included former presidents and presidential candidates, current and former political leaders. The Republican National Convention is set to begin Monday. It will also run through Thursday. It will also be largely virtual and will promote President Trump as the best choice for voters. The election is scheduled for Tuesday, November, 3rd. The debates, when the presidential and vice-presidential candidates face off against each other are set to begin in late September. 10 Second Trivia. Aedes aegypti is a type of what? Carnivorous plant, paper, hieroglyphics, or mosquito. This is a species of mosquito that can carry deadly diseases. A controversial plan is moving ahead to release genetically modified mosquitoes into the Florida Keys. More than 750,000 of the insects are set to be introduced there. Why? The aedes aegypti mosquito can carry dangerous diseases like the Zika virus, Dengue fever and yellow fever. Officials are looking for new ways to kill of these insects without using pesticides and genetically modified mosquitoes might be a way to do this. Only female mosquitoes bite people. The altered insects that are set to be released in Florida are male. They`ve been modified so that the female offspring they produce will die before they hatch from their eggs and grow big enough to bite people. And the company that developed these GMO mosquitoes say they`ve been very successful in controlling mosquito populations in Panama, Brazil and the Cayman Islands. But there`s strong opposition among people in Florida to releasing the altered mosquitoes there. One technology and food safety advocate called it a Jurassic Park experiment and said there`s no way to know what could go wrong because government officials haven`t done enough to review the risks. Environmental groups are also concerned about what could happen to the birds, mammals and other insects that eat the GMO mosquitoes. The altered insects are set to be released in the Florida Keys in the years 2021 and 2022.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have you ever notice that when you`re out on a summer evening that some of you get bit by mosquitoes much more than others? So what`s behind that? Well it appears that it might be our DNA. Researchers in London looked at identical twins and fraternal twins. Fraternal twins do not have identical DNA and when they took the mosquitoes and they exposed them to the fraternal twins. The fraternal twins were often bit in differing amounts. It wasn`t exactly the same. But when it came to identical twins, if one twin got bit quite a bit than the other twin got bit quite a bit as well. So what`s going on here? Well the researchers hypothesize that it has to do with how we smell. So they wrapped these twins in foil, this is, believe it or not, how you get body odors out so they could look at the body odors, and they could measure them. Now they`re going to analyze these odors and see what is it about each odor that mosquitoes like or dislike. So maybe one day in the future somebody who smells good to the mosquitoes could take a pill so they wouldn`t smell so good to mosquitoes.</s>AZUZ: Genevieve is the name of a hurricane that passed near the coast of Baja California, Mexico this week. At one point, the storm was an intense Category 4 hurricane but it had weakened to Category 1 strength with wind speeds of 85 miles per hour when it spun off the Mexican coast. Still, strong winds and a lot of rain were expected on the peninsula. Aside from Genevieve, the eastern Pacific Ocean has been quieter than usual as far as hurricanes go this season. That may not be the case in the north Atlantic. It`s season officially started months ago but according to CNN 10 contributor Tyler Mauldin. It`s peak often coincides with the start of the school year. Tyler.</s>TYLER MAULDIN, CNN METEOROLOGIST CONTRIBUTOR: That`s right Carl. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1st to November 30th and this week is when we normally begin seeing the number of storms increase. We see activity come to a peak on average around September 10th every year. Forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, also known as NOAA, are expecting a lot of tropical storms and hurricanes this year. They think we could have 25 named storms. They`ve never forecast that many storms. There are several reasons for the forecast. One of the most important reasons is a potential La Nina but what exactly is a La Nina. In order to answer that question, we must first look in the Pacific Ocean because what happens in the Pacific Ocean actually effects what happens downstream in the Atlantic Ocean. Everything`s connected. When the ocean water`s cooler than it normally would be in the east central Pacific, than a La Nina has formed. This La Nina then reshapes the atmosphere creating a calm, comfortable home over the Atlantic Ocean for hurricanes to develop. Now hurricanes like that zen space because the winds tend to be lighter and coming from the same direction as you go up in the air. This allows the system to grow and develop. Hurricanes also like hot water and I mean really hot water, like bathtub hot. Hotter than 78 degrees Fahrenheit from the coast of Africa all the way to the coast of the United States. These bright colors on your screen indicates the Atlantic Ocean is way hotter than it should be. Unfortunately, we do have both ingredients coming together this year. NOAA says there`s a higher than normal likelihood that a La Nina could form and the Atlantic Ocean is extremely warm. Oh, the timing and now you have the science why this season could rewrite the record books and take the number one spot. Now Carl, in case you`re wondering, the year 2005 currently holds that top spot for the most tropical systems in a single season.</s>AZUZ: Thanks Tyler. That`s when there were a record 27 named storms with 14 of them becoming hurricanes. Hurricane forecasting is not an exact science. Each year, NOAA`s prediction includes a range of named storms and hurricanes and it says these predictions are made with a 70 percent confidence that the actual number will fall within that range. But NOAA does not predict the number of storms that make landfall in the U.S. It says those can`t be predicted more than a week in advance and after that 2005 record season, the U.S. saw a hurricane drought when 12 years passed without a single major hurricane making landfall in America. A safe recently found in Barre, New York holds a secret that no one may know for a long time. It`s unknown where it came from and it included a note that says anyone who opens it can have what`s inside. Thing is, no one`s been able to do that. People have used sledge hammers. They`ve knocked off the dials and worked on the hinges but the safe still holds its mystery and the farmer who has it hopes it will stay that way to give people something fun to debate in troubled times. So for now, he`s hidden the 500 pound box. Where? Some place "safe". Of course, there`s "vaulted" interest in it. People are "dialed" in. Their curiosity "hinges" on what ever secrets are "unlocked" but it may take a "crack" team to do that. Southwest High School is in San Diego, California. They subscribed and commented on our latest show at Youtube.com/CNN10 and that is how to get a mention. I`m Carl Azuz for CNN. END