Subtitles section Play video
Hello sunshine, happy Friday-Fri-yay, I'm Coy, this is CNN 10, it's time to rise up and finish this week strong.
First though, I posed a question yesterday asking if any of you have ever met an Elvis or an Oprah, because as famous as those celebs are, you just don't see many other people with those names, and Mrs. Sinclair, up in Hazen, North Dakota, shout out to you for submitting Elvis Stoico, the famous Canadian figure skater.
Well done.
Alright now, let's get to your 10 minutes of news where I simply tell you the what, letting you decide what to think.
We start in Gaza, where thousands of Palestinians took to the streets this week to protest Hamas, the militant group which controls the enclave.
The rare demonstrations appear to be the largest protest against the militant group since its attacks on Israel on October 7th of 2023.
They took place just two days after Gaza's health ministry says the death toll from the conflict there reached 50,000 lives.
Gaza is home to 2.1 million Palestinians and has been under Hamas' control since 2007.
The group insists that Israel is an occupying power and that it is trying to liberate the Palestinian territories.
Over the years, Hamas has claimed many attacks on Israel and has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, and of course, Israel.
Northern Gaza has been hard hit by military offensives launched by Israel in response to Hamas' October 7th attacks. 17 months of war and a failed ceasefire have reduced much of the enclave to rubble, making it difficult for aid agencies to reach the battered north.
Gazans are frustrated by the devastation they are enduring, including renewed Israeli attacks on the Strip that have killed hundreds of people and Israel's halting of all humanitarian aid to the enclave.
Protesters told CNN they blamed both Israel and Hamas for the hardships they face.
Our Samantha Lindell shows us what the protests were like.
Video verified by CNN shows large crowds marching through the streets in northern Gaza, chanting, for God's sake, Hamas out, Hamas terrorists, and we want an end to the war.
It's the largest anti-Hamas demonstration in Gaza since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in October 2023.
The protests come just two days after the war's death toll surpassed 50,000 in Gaza, according to the territory's health ministry.
Gazans in this enclave are also facing severe shortages of resources.
According to the UN, no food, water, medicines, or fuel have entered Gaza in the first three since Israel halted all aid deliveries, which the country claims Hamas often steals.
The militant group denies those allegations.
Authorities in South Korea are fighting to contain what they call one of the country's worst ever wildfires.
Since the weekend, dozens of fires fueled by dry air and strong winds have quickly spread in the southern part of the country.
The fires have taken the lives of dozens of people, including a pilot whose helicopter crashed while trying to contain the fires, and thousands of people have been forced to evacuate.
In one county, a Buddhist landmark that stood for more than 1,000 years was destroyed by the flames.
Our Mike Valerio in Seoul has more.
A piece of history burned to the ground.
This was the scene at South Korea's Gonsa Temple, a place of worship for 1,300 years destroyed by wildfires.
Flames surrounded the Buddhist temple complex as wildfires spread across the south of the country over the past week.
What now remains are mounds of ash and rubble.
Our Buddhist followers are very proud of our temple.
Because this is such an old temple, it is so regrettable and heartbreaking that it has been burned down.
Some of the artifacts, like this stone Buddha, which has been designated a treasure by the state, were spared as they were moved to other temples ahead of the fires.
The blazes first broke out last weekend.
Several people have been injured and killed so far, including civil servants dispatched to fight the fires, according to the Interior Safety Ministry.
And for those who have escaped unharmed, there are still losses to bear.
Things that remind me of my youth disappeared without a trace.
Photos of my children when they were young that sometimes I look at to reminisce about the past are all gone.
And for my children, there's no place to share memories with them.
I lost my memory of youth.
South Korea's acting president, Han Deok-su, called these wildfires South Korea's worst ever.
He said that they are being fueled by gale force winds.
And he added that all available resources nationwide are being deployed.
Authorities are continuing to work around the clock to contain the fires before more of South Korea's history is gone forever.
Pop Quiz Hotshot!
What mammal belongs to the genus Sioris?
From the Greek words for shadow and tail, beaver, squirrel, fox, or red panda?
If you said squirrel, you are correct.
All tree squirrels are part of the genus Sioris within the family Sioridae.
Today's story, getting a 10 out of 10 is Salto the jumping robot squirrel.
If you've felt like robot dogs are getting too much of the spotlight lately, check out Salto, this hopping, jumping, leaping robo critter as agile as the squirrels wreaking havoc in your backyard.
Our Louise McLaughlin shows us how the squirrel inspired robot could actually have important scientific uses in the future.
A robot that can parkour like a squirrel.
They're the, you know, most agile animals from nature.
Biologists and engineers at University of California, Berkeley worked together to make a robot that can do just that.
Meet the hopping and now balancing robot, Salto.
I actually have it here with me.
Justin Yum, now a professor at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, worked on the one-legged jumping robot during his time as a student at UC Berkeley.
Yum worked alongside professors like Robert Full and other students to translate squirrels leaping and landing patterns to Salto.
We realized that we had this great synergy in exploring both jumping robots and jumping squirrels and decided to work on this project together.
The results?
A robot that can stick a landing on a narrow rod, just like the furry rodent.
Justin was able to do something that, you know, no other robot could do.
Jump from branch to branch like that.
The next leap for Salto?
To get around in complicated environments where humans have difficulty or where it's dangerous for humans to go.
Or eventually explore faraway places like Saturn's moon, Enceladus.
If a robot can jump four feet high here, it could jump like an entire football field on Enceladus.
And that means that it might be really good at covering lots of very challenging terrain quickly.
Yum is now embarking on a NASA-funded project to see if a robot like Salto can one day land on that icy moon.
This, all thanks to squirrels and a one-legged robot.
All right, we've made it to the end of the show and the week.
And I want to thank all of you who've been subscribing to our CNN10 YouTube channel.
We are so close to hitting the one million subscribers mark.
So huge shout out to all of you who've joined the family.
Rise up.
I have a shout out for the Bobcats today at Bonham Academy in San Antonio, Texas.
I see you and I will be seeing you in San Antonio in about a week with my cowboy hat on at the Men's Final Four.
Giddy up.
Cue that Friday music, Nadir.
Shine bright this weekend.
You never, ever know when or how or where, but you just might be the light someone needs one day.
You are more powerful than you know.
I'm Coy Wire and this is CNN10.
You're watching CNN10, the show where we bring you the latest news, entertainment,