What's up, sunshine? I'm Koi Wire.
Welcome to CNN 10, where I tell you the
what, letting you decide what to think.
Speaking of sunshine, I was just reading
about solar eclipses and why even though
the sun is about 400 times larger than
the moon, they appear to be the same
size in our sky because each of their
diameters to distance from Earth ratios
are both 1 to 100. Talk about a cosmic
coincidence. All right, I digress. The
space news story that we are starting
with today is what's being called a
self-eing spacecraft. an out of
thisworld idea that could make cheaper
space exploration a reality. Meridian
Space Command claims its economic
transfer vehicle or ETV actually
consumes its own fuel tank as it propels
itself into space. It has a polymer fuel
tank filled with hydrogen peroxide, the
stuff you find in your medicine cabinet.
And a special motor superheats the fuel
which reacts with the surrounding tank
to combust, producing thrust while
simultaneously eating up the tank, so to
speak. The company says the cannibal
craft allows for bigger payloads. We are
talking deep space travel on a budget.
What happens is that when you thrust,
the length of this tank gets shorter and
shorter and shorter until you're left
with a little stubby tank. So you can
start sending small payloads to really
high energy locations in the inner solar
system, you know, to the moon, uh,
beyond. Now, the concept is still in its
preliminary stage, but the company hopes
it will enable smaller startups to
explore space for a fraction of the cost
while also reducing the amount of space
debris orbiting around the Earth.
News out of Connecticut now, where
science meets sports and snow. They are
creating snow to prepare for their
upcoming Special Olympics Winter Games.
Crews are turning cold air and water
into shred ready courses. And local
Connecticut TV station WTIC has an
awesome explainer of how it's done.
>> Um, we started yesterday at about 8:00.
I'm running five guns. I got an electric
air compressor. I got the water from the
fire hydrant. We mix them together in
the guns and make snow when it's cold
like it is today. The Connecticut
Special Olympics Winter Games need snow,
piles of it.
>> There's a lot of effort that goes into
it. Months of planning beforehand. All
the pipes need to be connected. They
need to be brought in. Compressors need
to be brought in. And as you can see
right now, five snow guns. They are
blaring away, making large piles of
snow.
>> Andy Colette is the company's resident
snowman, making snowfall just in time
for the games to begin for more than 20
years. I actually make more ice crystals
than I do snow, like fluffy snow. Fluffy
snow will melt a lot faster if we get a
rainstorm. So, I make big piles of
almost like salt or sugar crystals.
>> His experience has this man-made
blizzard down to a science. Snow will
spray from these hoses for 100 hours and
requires nearperfect conditions.
>> We just went through a January thaw for
9 days. Um, we don't know what February
is going to bring. So, I will make the
piles. The piles last a lot longer than
flattening out the snow. I like
singledigit temperatures or very low
humidity are perfect for these types of
snow guns. Eventually, these piles will
get flattened and molded into the cross
country skiing and snowshoe events.
Volunteers work the,200 ft of air and
water pipes day and night in freezing
temps to make it happen. It's a special
kind of work for Connecticut's Special
Olympians.
In the mountains of Chile's Patagonia, a
conservation effort months in the making
is finally taking flight. CNN's Daniela
Torres shows us how science and
community come together to protect the
nation's iconic species.
After months of rehabilitation, three
young Indian condors are flying free
again in Patagonia.
A symbol of Indian culture for
millennia, the species can reach a
wingspan of up to 3 m and live more than
70 years. According to the Rewing Chile
Foundation,
according to the foundation, the release
took place in Patagonia National Park as
part of the Mangu Project, a
collaborative initiative between public
and private institutions dedicated to
conserving the Andian condor.
Carmen born in captivity and the rescued
males Awinko and Parajon were
rehabilitated and transferred to
Patagonia last October. After three
months of acclimatization, they were
finally released into their natural
habitat.
The emotional moment was witnessed by
authorities and local communities who
also took part in educational talks
about the ecological importance of the
NDNER.
Each bird carries satellite and radio
transmitters, allowing researchers to
monitor their adaptation to the natural
environment and collect key information
about their movements, threats, and use
of the territory.
Since 2014, the Mango Project has
released 24 Andian condors,
strengthening efforts to protect one of
the Andes most emblematic and essential
species.
Papua Hot Shot Taco Bell was one of the
first major chains to offer what feature
nationwide online ordering, drive-thru
service, vegetarian menu, or all day
breakfast.
If you said vegetarian menu, cool beans.
In 2015, Taco Bell partnered with the
American Vegetarian Association.
According to Forbes, the chain saves
millions of dollars when customers
choose to swap beans for beef or
chicken. Taco Bell says, quote, "Value
is the secret sauce behind its
remarkable sales growth." I apologize
for this next story if you're hungry.
CNN's Jordan Valinsky visited the
birthplace of Doritos Loco Taco, the
Mexican pizza, the now defunct edible
rice paper taco rapper, the Liv Moss
Innovation Center. That's what I'm
talking about. Nacho average assignment.
Let's see it.
>> All right, we're here on the line and
what are we going to make?
>> We're going to make the mini taco salad.
>> You ready?
>> Yeah. Okay, let's do it.
>> Let's go.
>> Americans love Taco Bell. Consumers are
cutting back spending as prices climb,
often ditching bowls and burgers. But
even as rivals struggle, Taco Bell sales
are up, growing consistently over the
past 5 years. Customers keep coming back
to the chain. We visited Taco Bell's
test kitchen in Irvine, California to
find out why. You start off. We're going
to take our delightful crispy little
shell. Um, so we're going to put a
secret pocket of seasoned beans. That's
the first thing we're going to make.
Taco Bell is introducing new products to
its value menu this week. Churros in a
mini taco salad. The chain credits its
innovative, affordable menu for rising
sales, jumping again by 7% late last
year. That's more than double McDonald's
or Burger King.
>> Why do you think Taco Bell's so
successful in the space right now? I
mean, it has several consecutive
quarters seeing sort of growth. Yeah.
other chains are struggling, right? I
mean, what's your secret sauce?
>> I think one of the biggest reasons we're
ahead is Valley. And so, as we look at
2026, that's going to be a core part of
how we stay ahead. We wanted to take it
to another level. And that's because we
listen to consumers so much. You start
to stay relevant with culture, listening
to where young consumers are, where our
biggest fans are. I want to ask what
you're hearing from consumers in terms
of, you know, how they're spending.
Snacking and like treating yourself,
especially with Gen Z and young
consumers, is huge. And like things like
the dessert churro, the dip play a lot
of into that role, but consumer tastes
are always evolving. So Taco Bell has to
keep up.
>> So the sensory lab, this is where we
actually conduct sensory testing.
>> So this is where all the new food gets
tested here before.
>> A lot of the new food comes through
here. Yeah. Before actually the public
starts to see it. So we'll ask things
like, "What's your overall liking of the
product? Is this spicy? Tell me how
spicy it is. Tell me if it's beefy."
If we're doing a flavor like Juplay for
example, it'll say like do you is the
flavor just right? Is it too much? Is it
too little? Potential products see
months of brainstorming and research
before heading into the sensory lab.
>> And then after that we'll then go into
actual restaurants and we'll go into a
market typically. So for the value menu
went into Indianapolis in July tested
with consumers.
>> So is each item tested in here?
>> Yeah, every item.
>> What about the churros?
>> Was absolutely amazing. They loved it
straight off. We got that one right.
Today's story getting a 10 out of 10. A
tale of a record-breaking pup that's
positively massive. Meet Minnie, a Great
Dane who is definitely not so mini.
She's been named the tallest living
female dog by Guinness World Records.
>> When you submit to Guinness, they tell
you that it may take up to 12 weeks.
>> In Minnie's case, it took much longer.
Her family started the process nearly a
year ago following strict rules to make
sure every measurement was positively
exact. Her height from ground to withers
or ridge between her shoulder blades a
whopping 3t 2 and a/4 in.
>> This is a measuring stick for a
miniature horse.
>> This great Dane Mini has a great
pawality.
Playful, gentle, and despite her size,
she is convinced she's a lap dog. I have
two shout outs for us today. Hey thanks
to everyone who's been subscribing and
commenting on our CNN10 YouTube channel
and following us at CNN10 at Koywire on
Instagram. Like Miss Hepworth at Baker
Demonstration School in Wilmet,
Illinois. Rise up. Thank you for being
awesome. And Yeti or Not, shout out to
Mr. Prior and Cross Town High School in
Memphis, Tennessee. I see you Yetis.
Thank you for making us a part of your
day. Go make it a great day. And we'll
see you right back here tomorrow. I'm
Koi Wire and we are CNN 10.