Arielle: Hey guys, I am here in Washington, D.C., and behind me you might see a lot of people with umbrellas but no rain. We will explain why later on in the show. I am Arielle Hixson, and Channel One News starts right now.
Azia: Hey guys, I am Azia Celestino. We will get back to Arielle in just a bit, but first up, let's check out a new discovery. Astronomers just found a new planet, one that could support life. Oh, and here is the best part — it is really close.
At only 4.2 light years away, Proxima b is sitting right on our astronomical doorstep. Proxima b orbits the Proxima Centauri star, which is the closest star to our planet after the sun. It is pretty huge news! Just ask theoretical physicist Michio Kaku.
Michio Kaku: Astronomers have hit the jackpot. This is a dream come true. Imagine the holy grail of astronomy is to find the closest exoplanet to the Earth — a twin, a doppelganger in outer space — and now we have it.
Azia: Proxima b is bigger than Earth. A year on that planet is only about 11 days; that is because it is a lot closer to its sun, but that star is a red dwarf — much cooler than our hot sun. Surface temperatures on Proxima b are likely to be between freezing and boiling — what scientists call the Goldilocks Zone, temperatures that are "just right" for life to exist.
Richard Nelson: I think the planet itself may very well be covered in water. I think it might be what we call an ocean planet or a water world.
Azia: There are other Earthlike planets out there, just none so close. In the past
20 years, astronomers have found hundreds of planets like Earth scattered across the galaxy, like Kepler-425b. The problem? Getting there would be nearly impossible. But this new planet is no quick trip either. It would still take our fastest spaceship tens of thousands of years to get to Proxima b.
Professor Stephen Hawking is working on a spaceship that could get us there in
20 years. The only problem — it is the size of a quarter.
Of course, the big question is what we find on Proxima b.Could there be life outside our solar system?
Kaku: You really begin to wonder, are they really out there? And if so, how come they don't visit us? How come they haven't landed on the White House lawn? It makes you wonder.
Azia: Okay, after the break, we have the birthday celebration of our national parks, and here is a view of one of them from space. Which is it?The answer after the break.
Azia: Okay, so we showed you this really cool pic. Did you guess which national park?Hopefully, it wasn't too hard. It is the Grand Canyon — one of Earth's few landforms visible from space. But there are a lot of other really amazing parks and monuments in our national parks system. And one family is trying to see it all in honor of the parks’ 100th anniversary. Arielle Hixson met up with them at the big birthday bash in Washington, D.C.
Arielle: A celebration 100 years in the making…
Danyelle: I came here, and we see all these people. And when we were walking in, everyone was saying “Happy birthday,” so it’s really exciting.
Arielle: …all for some of the most spectacular scenery, found right in our backyard.
Mike Reynolds: The parks are actually owned by all of you, and I know that sounds kind of simple, but in many parts of the world, there aren’t places like this that all of Americans own.
Arielle: America's national parks, from active volcanoes and gushing geysers to sculpted rock and exotic wildlife, America's national parks have inspired generations. And now D.C. is crawling with some of the parks’ biggest fans, including rangers, students and families like the Rices.
Andrea Lauer Rice: We love the National Park Service and everything it represents in terms of our American history, and it gives us a real chance to be so patriotic and so proud.
Arielle: This family has seen it all. From Colorado to Georgia, they have visited
35 out of 58 national parks and 130 national historic sites. Their goal — to one day see them all.
Why is this day important for you?
Nicholas Rice: Well, it's a great day for the National Parks Service, and I just can’t believe that these special places have been protected that long.
Arielle: Thirteen-year-old Nicholas Rice grew up traveling with his family through America's heartland, picking up a badge every step of the way. To get a badge, Nicholas participates in the Junior Ranger program, where he learns about a park and completes a series of activities before earning a National Park Service badge.
And his little brother, John Patrick, is following in his footsteps, hoping to earn his
200th badge at this celebration.
Over a thousand people have come to Washington, D.C., from all over the country just to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of America's national parks. Now, although the turnout is huge, it has been a long journey for America to protect its natural wonders.
It all started in the 19th century, when the nation was rushing to conquer and claim land in the West. It was a time of bold exploration, but along with progress came big problems. Forests were destroyed, wild animals were killed, and natural habitats were threatened.
To protect the country's natural wonders, many pushed for laws to save the land. In 1872 Congress passed a bill to protect Yellowstone in Wyoming, making it the first national park — not just in America, but in the world.
Reynolds: Now we're in a time where we’re understanding our full, diverse story in this country are also national parks, not just mountains and rivers but Martin Luther King’s home, Little Rock Central High — those kind of places are also part of your park system.
Arielle: Today the National Park Service manages more than 400 parks, monuments and historic sites, but many of those sites are facing problems with pollution, climate change, water shortages and commercial development, so this year it is all about empowering today's younger generation to protect our parks.
Barton Rice: Put down the iPad and get outside. Take your family with you.
Arielle: The Rices and hundreds of others are marking this special anniversary by trying to break a world record using 1,000 people to make a living version of the National Park Service's arrowhead emblem, a symbol that will live on for a hundred more years.
Arielle Hixson, Channel One News.
Azia: Pretty cool. Thanks, Arielle.
And if you want to plan your national parks vacay, or just see some really great pics of the parks, head on over to ChannelOne.com.
All right, after the break, a young person defying the odds.
Azia: Now, it is almost the weekend, and we wanted to leave you today feeling good. So we are bringing you our first story in a new feature we are calling Feel-Good Fridays. Tom, take it away.
Tom: Thanks, Azia. Yeah, we will be bringing you stories of inspiration that, hopefully, get your weekend started off with a smile. Today's story started out with a tragedy but ended with hope.
Bob Gambuti: There’s nothing we could have done to change that night.
Tom: On April 9, 2013, James Mason's life changed forever after an accident left him paralyzed.
Gambuti: He grabbed onto me; I grabbed onto him. He pulled my leg out, and we fell back, and his neck broke.
James Mason: I remember just hitting the ground. I remember the whole way with the stretcher.
Gambuti: The most devastating part of the whole process was the first day that they lifted him out of a bed and nothing moved, just his head. That really hit hard. At that point I really wanted to go jump off a bridge.
Tom: Mason was left in a wheelchair with just the slightest ability to move his arms. His stepdad researched experimental treatments and applied to a trial by StemCells, Inc. at New York's Mount Sinai Hospital. It would involve opening up James's neck, removing his vertebra and injecting stem cells into the damaged portion of his spinal cord.
Stem cells are basically the building blocks of the human body. They can be made into any one of the 220 different human cells.
Mason: I'm just super excited, ready to just get it done and go back to rehab and start proving the doctors wrong even more.
Tom: The surgery, performed by Dr. Arthur Jenkins, took 4 hours. Doctors have tracked the progress of James and five other patients in the trial, all with the most severe spinal cord injuries. James started to feel differently even just 3 months after the surgery.
Mason: My wrist has gotten a lot stronger. I'm able to grasp around a lot of other things.
Tom: And after 6 months…
Mason: I think it's almost doubled with how much I've gotten better and got sensation back into my feet. I can feel pressure onto 'em, throughout my legs, and they've noticed that I have a little bit of movement into my hips now.
Tom: StemCells, Inc. reported that four of the six patients in the trial experienced improvement in both motor strength and function. Dr. Jenkins, who is not affiliated with the company, has continued to monitor James.
Dr. Arthur Jenkins: My two cents is it worked, that this actually changed his neurologic recovery and function — that his actual, functional improvement is from the stem cells that were injected.
Tom: His stepdad says the accident drew them closer.
Gambuti: It's tough, and people say, “Oh, I'm sorry.” Don't be sorry. I still have him here.
Tom: Tom Hanson, Channel One News.
Azia: James believes the stem cells helped his recovery, but more research is needed.
All right, guys, that is all for now. Have an awesome weekend, and we will see you right back here on Monday.
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