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CARL AZUZ: Welcome to the show.
We're happy to see you this Tuesday.
My name is Carl Azuz.
In the 2 and 1/2 weeks since Russia invaded neighboring
Ukraine, more than 2 and 1/2 million Ukrainians
have left their country.
That's according to the United Nations.
Almost half of these refugees have fled to Poland.
Hundreds of thousands have crossed into Hungary,
Moldova, Romania, Slovakia.
And Russia says as many as 250,000 from eastern Ukraine
have entered Russia, though CNN can't
independently confirm that.
Most of those who've left Ukraine are women and children.
Men between the ages of 18 and 60
have been banned from leaving and encouraged
to join the military.
The Russian invasion, which that country calls
a "special military operation," is
the biggest attack on a European nation since World War II.
Extensive damage has been reported
in several Ukrainian cities.
Two American officials recently told CNN
that after its invasion began, Russia asked China for support,
including money and military equipment like drones.
Analysts say Chinese assistance could help balance
the sanctions, the economic punishments
that Western countries have put on Russia's economy.
But China and Russia have both denied that a request like that
was made, with the Chinese official calling it
disinformation and saying his country's
been pushing for peace talks.
Government officials from Russia and Ukraine
have been meeting regularly.
Some of these talks have been in person.
Some have been virtual.
But as of last night, they hadn't yet
resulted in a cease fire.
The US government, which has been supporting
the Ukrainian military with supplies and weapons,
says Russia's progress in Ukraine has stalled,
but an American defense official says
Russia still has 90% of the combat power
it had when it invaded.
Ukrainian forces have been targeting
Russian supply lines as well as the country's
tanks and aircraft.
Ukrainian officials say Russia has
been going after their military and civilian infrastructure.
Leaders worldwide continue to push
for the war to end and for aid to Ukrainian refugees.
10 second trivia.
Which of the following objects has not been left on the moon?
A Bible, the US Marine Corps flag,
a tennis shoe, or a tie tack.
A lot of boots have been left on the moon,
but NASA has no record of a tennis
shoe having been left there.
Scientists say it's likely that the first human footprint
on the moon-- the one made by astronaut
Neil Armstrong in 1969--
is still there, with no wind to blow it away.
You could call it a piece of space archaeology.
Since the year 2000, the International Space Station
has served as an orbiting laboratory.
It's the biggest and most expensive object
people have ever built, at a cost of around $150 billion.
But it's aged a great deal, and NASA plans to get rid of it
in less than 10 years.
There's no plan to bring back any of its artifacts
for future research.
So astronauts have begun photographing parts of the ISS
daily, like a wall of tools, to help researchers record,
study, and preserve an account of what
life is like at zero gravity.
The days of the ISS itself are numbered.
- Ever wonder what happens when something
as big as the International Space Station
gets decommissioned?
It doesn't get pushed farther into space.
Instead, it gets sent hurtling back towards Earth.
And because it's too big to be fully destroyed
by the Earth's atmosphere, the flaming debris
has to land somewhere.
And that place is here.
Named for the character in "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,"
Point Nemo is so remote that astronauts on the ISS,
which orbits 227 nautical miles above Earth,
are often closer to it than any other humans.
Nestled 3,000 miles east of New Zealand and 2,000 miles north
of Antarctica, Point Nemo has become
the final home for more than 263 pieces of space debris
since 1971.
That includes Russia's Mir Space Station and NASA's
first space station, Skylab.
But the ISS won't fall to the bottom
of the ocean fully intact.
Rather, it will break into fragments
as it settles below the sea.
The International Space Station is expected
to keep operating until the end of 2030
before it's crashed into Point Nemo.
But it won't just drop like a cannonball out of space.
NASA will begin to prepare the ISS for de-orbit
as early as 2026 by lowering the altitude of the space lab.
It's expected to crash back to Earth by January 2031.
CARL AZUZ: With the exception of windows and patios,
this used to be the only kind of screen people
encountered on a regular basis.
Now they're everywhere from the grocery checkout
to the gasoline pump, and an American chain
of pharmacy stores is testing out a new kind of screen
on the doors of its drink coolers.
You can't always see through the screens
to what's actually inside, and one shopper
wrote on social media that he had to watch an ad to know
where the frozen pizzas were.
That's part of the reason why this new technology has
left a sour taste among some consumers.
Why was it installed in the first place?
- Someone explain this to me.
Right?
- In some Walgreens locations, glass refrigerator doors
have been replaced with these digital screens
as part of a pilot program, and some are taking to social media
to say they don't like them.
- Could you open up the thing to get me some water?
- Sure.
It's really inviting, like--
- Yes.
- --quench your thirst.
No way.
- What in the world?
They lied.
Why would they lie?
- Man, what if-- what if you're sold out of something,
and it doesn't register.
If only there was a way that we could see inside of a freezer.
You know, like a glass door.
- The technology comes from Cooler Screens.
The CEO says he started the company
when he saw the customer experience gap between shopping
online and shopping in a physical store
and wanted to bring these experiences together.
ARSEN AVAKIAN: We're creating this hybrid experience, right?
You are shopping in a physical store and all the best
that comes with it, right?
Immediately, you grab the product you want.
It's readily available.
But you get the benefit of, as if you're shopping online,
of having all this richness of information
and content and interaction.
- The company tries to create what they
call a retail media network.
Brands pay Cooler Screens to run ads.
Retailers, such as Walgreens, share
a cut from the advertising.
Sensors and cameras are set up both inside
and outside of the fridges to track consumer activities.
ARSEN AVAKIAN: And retailers were obsessed
about digital transformation.
And we gave them something very specific
and tangible that was solving a real consumer problem
and yet was bringing them real business benefits.
- The company claims people love this technology.
However, some consumers say they've found it confusing.
Julio Sevilla, a consumer behavior professor
from the University of Georgia, says people tend to prefer
simplicity in retail settings.
JULIO SEVILLA: You know, you probably just
want to make it easier, right?
We all love to get into a supermarket
and know exactly what we're getting
and know also exactly where things are, right?
And also rely on the fact that you may find things.
So for this type of more utilitarian, not
pleasure-related settings, I think people
like their certainty and their simplicity.
- This is crazy.
I'm so confused.
I can't believe this is happening.
Like, look at this.
JULIO SEVILLA: When there is a new technology,
consumers are always suspicious.
So I respect that and I'm empathetic to that.
So it's very important for a new company
like ours to always educate the consumers about what it really
does and what it doesn't do.
CARL AZUZ: For 10 out of 10, what do you
call a tea party held more than four
miles higher than sea level?
High tea.
This is a climbing party having a tea party on Mount Everest.
They were at an altitude of 21,312 feet
when they busted out beverages and cookies.
The picture was taken last May, but Guinness
World Records just certified it as the highest
tea party ever held.
The organizer, who reached the mountain's summit two weeks
after this photo was taken, said the greatest things in life
are often those shared.
What a great way to celebrate with "yerba mates."
Of course, they'd probably been climbing for an "ooh-long"
time.
They "ferment" to do more while they were there.
They might have been "dar-reeling"
from the altitude, and the tea was probably cold.
But they totally dunked on that previous record,
and it wasn't just the tradition that was steeped.
I'm Carl Azuz.
From La plata Maryland, we heard from La Plata high school.
Shout out to you, and thank you for subscribing and leaving a
comment on our YouTube channel.
That's a wrap for CNN.