Today's CNN 10 Transcript

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COY WIRE, CNN 10 ANCHOR: What's up, sunshine? It is Your Word Wednesday. One of you helped us write today's show with a vocabulary word you submitted on our socials. So, listen close to see if your word made the cut.

I'm Coy Wire. This is CNN 10, the best 10 minutes in news because of you.

Ten minutes, big world. Let's get smarter and more cognizant of what's happening in the world around us.

We begin in France with a cyberattack targeting something most of us probably never think about until it stops working. The supermarket freezer. Cyber criminals targeted refrigeration systems at hundreds of grocery stores across France, remotely triggering defrost cycles, causing temperatures inside some fridges and freezers to soar to around 122 degrees Fahrenheit. That's a summer's day in Arizona.

The result? Tons of fresh and frozen foods at some of the country's biggest grocery chains had to be thrown away. Some stores even reported fires.

Officials say the attackers appear to have exploited outdated software in internet-connected refrigeration systems. The same technology that lets maintenance crews adjust temperatures remotely. And that's today's cybersecurity knowledge bomb. The more everyday machines connect to the internet, the more things hackers can potentially target, even the frozen food aisle.

French authorities are investigating while the equipment manufacturer says keeping software updated is critical. So, next time you see that update your device alert on your phone or pad, just know that apparently that goes for things like ice-cream freezers as well.

Back to the U.S. now, where tick-related emergency room visits have climbed to their highest levels in nearly a decade. Tick bites tend to jump every October. Why? Turns out the answer may involve weather, deer, mice, and acorns? CNN Medical Correspondent Meg Tirrell digs into the science behind a 35-year study in New York that can help predict an area's risk for Lyme disease.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Autumn in New York. Time for hiking, apple picking and ticks. They cause a wave of ER visits every September and October.

It turns out this is the best predictor of Lyme disease risk that we know about.

DR. RICHARD OSTFELD, SENIOR SCIENTIST, CARY INSTITUTE OF ECOSYSTEMS STUDIES: The acorns are a leading indicator of how bad our year is going to be for our exposure to tick-borne disease.

TIRRELL: Dr. Richard Ostfeld and his team at the Cary Institute of Ecosystems Studies have been researching Lyme disease for 35 years. It's one of the longest studies of its kind. And acorns are the key to one of the surprising things they've learned.

The bacteria that cause Lyme are primarily carried around by little critters like mice and chipmunks, and they love to eat acorns.

DR. OSTFELD: They may not look delicious, but to mice and chipmunks, they're really tasty. They have a long shelf life, so they can be stored late summer or fall like right now.

If the rodents have a large number of acorns cached to be able to eat, they don't have to run around as much over the winter. They're not as vulnerable to predators. And they start breeding earlier the next spring, and they make a lot of babies.

TIRRELL: A lot of rodent babies means more opportunities for the bloodsucking ticks that feed on rodents to pick up the Lyme causing bacteria.

DR. OSTFELD: The number of mice in the summer turns out to be critical for the blacklegged tick, because if there are a lot of mice, then these newly-hatched larval ticks that are active in August, September, they have their favorite food available in large supply.

When they feed on a mouse, they're very likely to survive that experience. Get a blood meal, and become a nymph.

TIRRELL: Then, if those nymphal ticks bite us and stay attached long enough, they can transmit the bacteria and they give us Lyme disease.

DR. OSTFELD: So more acorns means more mice the next summer. More mice means more infected nymphs two summers later.

TIRRELL: So, how can you tell if it's a bumper season for acorns?

DR. OSTFELD: So, we're seeing bigger acorn crops and more frequent acorn crops as the climate warms. So the warmer it is, the more quickly they can store enough carbon to produce acorns instead of just maintain themselves and grow.

But that warmer weather has to come with a certain amount of moisture as well. So, warm and dry, not so good for the trees. Warm and wet, very good for the trees.

TIRRELL (voice-over): Ostfeld says it doesn't need to be that scientific. If you're noticing a lot acorns on the ground, it's likely a bigger year.

OSTFELD: But if you have a huge acorn year happening, then you have to mark it on your electronic calendar so that they remind you two summers later that it's going to be a really bad year for nymphs.

TIRRELL (voice-over): So, on your next walk in the woods, remember that what's by your feet could be a glimpse into the future.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WIRE: Pop quiz, hot shot.

What do you call a group of gorillas?

Brood, team, caravan, or troop?

If you said troop, you get a 10 out of 10, hut! Gorillas live in troops containing up to 30 apes. Bonus fact, each individual gorilla's nose print is as unique as a human's fingerprint.

Speaking of gorillas, this next story is one seriously wild comeback. To the Democratic Republic of Congo, we go to meet Lulingu, an eastern lowland gorilla who was rescued at just 18 months old after being taken from her family and trafficked illegally. Caregivers at the Grace Sanctuary raised her, helped her learn how to live with other gorillas, and in late 2024, Lulingu and three other rescued females were released into Virunga National Park.

Then came the milestone conservationists had been hoping for. Lulingu gave birth to a healthy baby girl. And the father? A wild silverback named Mwasa. That tells researchers Lulingu didn't just survive after the release. She successfully became part of a wild gorilla family. Eastern lowland gorillas are critically endangered, so this one little gorilla represents a big dose of hope.

Quick question. When was the last time you laughed so hard your stomach hurt? You know, like belly laugh. Turns out, our bodies may be saying thank you. Researchers reviewed studies involving more than 300 people and found that laughter was associated with roughly a 32 percent reduction in cortisol, one of our body's major stress hormones.

Can laughter be one of the healthiest things we do? Our Don Riddell looks at whether the mellifluous sound of laughing can really be some of the best medicine.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORTS (on camera): Looking after your health is no laughing matter. Or is it? Scientists know that when you laugh, your stress hormone cortisol drops by around 30 percent. Think about it. It's impossible to throw a punch while you're laughing.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: You've just got to let it out. You've just got to let it out --

RIDDELL: When was the last time that you laughed so hard that your cheeks hurt? It's not just fun. It's actually really good for you. I love going to comedy clubs, but I didn't think about it that much until I started doing some research.

Craig Shoemaker is a comedian who's been working with doctors to develop laughter-healing properties.

CRAIG SHOEMAKER, COMEDIAN: Your stress level decreases. Your circulatory system is working, your lungs are expanded. All of these things happen when you laugh. That's a fact.

RIDDELL: Craig has since turned laughter into a therapy program.

SHOEMAKER: You've heard of a sound bath with the bowls and the gongs. I've developed something called the laugh bath. It's intentional, voluntary laughter.

RIDDELL: Now, admittedly, there's not much to laugh about these days. We've got wars, climate change, the cost of living is getting higher, and partisan politics are just so ugly. But if you can find a way to have a laugh, you'll discover that something which is infectious --

(LAUGHTER)

RIDDELL: Might just make you feel better.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WIRE: Today's story, getting a 10 out of 10, one of ballet's all-time greats, helping the next generation find their stage.

Misty Copeland visited the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee, where a new initiative is expanding access to dance and arts education for thousands of kids. And this pioneer of pirouettes knows exactly how powerful that first opportunity can be.

Misty discovered ballet at 13 years old through a Boys and Girls Club in California. That eventually led to her becoming the first Black woman principal dancer at American Ballet Theater.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MISTY COPELAND, BALLET DANCER AND WRITER: It just takes one adult in your life to set that example. When you change the way that you see what's possible, it makes me emotional just thinking about it because there's, you know, talent is not defined by how much money you have. It's really about accessing an opportunity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Now she's raising the bar, helping make sure more kids can get access to arts training.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Representation matters. So, when you have someone that looks like you, that's inspiration. That is something that they can look forward to or having a career or pursuing the arts as a career.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Awesome stuff. That is our 10 for the day. But before I go, congratulations to our Your Word Wednesday winners, Mrs. Zettler and friends at St. Albans in Vermont who submitted mellifluous, an adjective that describes something that sounds sweet, smooth, and pleasing to the ear.

And finally, we have a shout out going to Coach Madura at Aurora Middle in Nebraska. Thank you so much for these custom vinyl record pieces of art. They are outstanding, commanding, demanding of more of my attention because we've never had something like this before.

Belly laughs, theme of the show, right? Listen, you have our heads spinning with these things over the creativity. Thank you for showing us some love. Did not realize how much I needled you in my life.

Here's your takeaway from our show today. Make one person laugh, protect one animal, give one kid a chance, small actions, big ripple effects.

I'm Coy Wire. We are CNN 10. Rise up.

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