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New Study Looks At Potential Health Concerns For Astronauts; Some Students Leave Hong Kong For Mainland China; Assessing The Recent Floods Of Venice. Aired 4-4:10 a.m. ET
Aired November 18, 2019 - 00:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Happy Monday. And if it`s got to be Monday, it might as well be happy. I`m Carl Azuz. We`re happy to have you watching
CNN 10. Here on Earth where most of us live, we spend about a third of everyday lying down sleeping and two-thirds standing or sitting in an
upright position.
That`s not really how it goes in space when people are weightless and the zero gravity environment causes more fluid to shift to the head. Faces get
puffy. Legs lose volume and appear to be smaller. Many astronauts have complained of eye and back problems after coming back down to Earth and its
gravity and now scientists say they`ve discovered some new risks with long term space flight.
A study published recently in JAMA Network Open, a medical journal, examined 11 healthy astronauts who`d been on the International Space
Station for six months. Eight of the them had unusual characteristics observed in their blood. For instance, six of the astronauts had either
stagnant or reverse blood flow from their heads.
The lead author of the study says he doesn`t know if that`s actually harmful. The blood`s still leaving the head from other pathways so flowing
backwards through a jugular vein may not be dangerous but he says it does show a change in how blood moves through the body while in space.
Another issue the study found was blood clots. One astronaut had one. Another showed signs of a partial blood clot. That is potentially harmful
as the clots can block the flow of blood to the lungs. The astronaut who had one was treated for the rest of the spaceflight and made it home
safely.
What does all this mean? Well one researcher says these issues have probably been occurring since humans first ventured into space and that
they would likely resolve themselves when astronauts came back down to Earth. Knowing about them now gives doctors something else to monitor when
people leave our atmosphere.
All schools are shut down today in the east Asian city of Hong Kong. Some university campuses there have become rallying points for protestors who
among other things have called for more democracy in the city.
Hong Kong is a special administration region of China, meaning it has more freedoms than the mainland. But those who`ve been protesting for almost
six months now are concerned that China`s communist government is increasing its power in Hong Kong and they see Hong Kong`s government and
police as being aligned with China.
Over the weekend, demonstrators at Hong Kong`s Polytechnic University targeted the police with gasoline bombs, bricks launched from catapults and
bows and arrows. One arrow hit an officer in the leg. Authorities fired water cannons and tear gas at protestors and police say that if the
demonstrators continue to use weapons, they`ll respond with minimum force and if they have no other choice live ammunition.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID CULVER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The violent clashes between police and protestors in Hong Kong, turning university campuses into
scorched battlegrounds. For five months demonstrators have been fighting against Beijing`s increasing influence over the territory.
They have smashed mainland Chinese banks, vandalized a state run newspaper office and trashed restaurants run by owners who support Beijing. Once a
city mainlanders flocked to for a taste of western affluence and education, many are now fleeing Hong Kong heading back to the mainland.
Some boarding a police boat to get out. These passengers took a train across the border into Shenzhen, China. Several are university students.
The violence abruptly ending their semesters, greeted here with signs like this one. It reads "We are one family.
We are with you." The young man holding it asking we not show his face fearing retaliation. He tells us his company sent him offering temporary
housing to mainland Chinese students leaving their Hong Kong universities.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE THROUGH TRANSLATOR: We want to help to ease their situation a little and give them some warmth.
CULVER: Hotels in Shenzhen are rolling out the red welcome home signs. The Communist Youth League run by the communist party of China, among the
first to step up to assist with the growing exodus of young people. Pro- Beijing private businesses and alumni networks from Chinese universities, also helping the students find a place to stay.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s ridiculous.
CULVER: This mainland student tells us she left the Education University of Hong Kong after administrators cancelled classes last week. She like
everyone we spoke with, fearful to reveal her identity experiencing a mix of emotions fear, confusion, uncertainty even resentment towards the
violent protestors.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They just try to destroy the normal people`s lives and it will influence our graduation. So really unhappy.
CULVER: Back in Hong Kong we find other mainlanders like Charlie (ph) staying put for now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think mainland students are scared or worried. But I have to say that I can not see many mainland students targeted by those
protestors or bullied by those protestors or their local classmates.
CULVER: But his mother still worries after seeing the images of destruction, she traveled from the mainland to Hong Kong to check in on her
son. Charlie (ph) says early on in the movement he actually sympathized with the demonstrators.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I changed my mind. They need to reduce the violence.
CULVER: Violence that`s led to this. Campuses that once promoted dialogue left near empty shattered, charred. Residents, now cleaning up wondering
what will ignite next. David Culver, CNN.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: 10 Second Trivia. Which of these port cities is located on the coast of the Adriatic Sea? Venice, Italy; Palermo, Italy; Barcelona, Spain
or Istanbul, Turkey. Though all these ports are located in the Mediterranean region, the only one on the Adriatic Sea is Venice.
And it was a strong storm system in the Adriatic that contributed to another high tide in Venice on Sunday. The waters rose to about 59 inches
in the "lagoon city" which a considered an exceptional high water mark but it`s still well short of last Tuesday`s peak of more than 73 inches.
Forecasters don`t expect they`ll get that high again over the next few days.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: High tide on Saturday was actually welcome relief for Venetians struggling with the worst flooding in half a century. It filled
historic St. Mark`s Square but was not enough to do more damage than already done. This cafe opened for the first time since Tuesday`s high
water mark sent more than a foot of water inside. Enough to break the dishwater and the fridge. This waiter told us - -
UNIDENTIFIED MALE THROUGH TRANSLATOR: We are Venetians. We`ll roll up our sleeves and start working again. Venice is our lady. We will protect her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Meanwhile at St. Mark`s Basilica, the water at the door didn`t knock before entering but it still got their attention.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have - - we have more than this level of water. (ph)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s not uncommon for water to enter the outer atrium. There`s even a special drainage system to handle it but Pierre Paulo
Capistrani (ph) says it was just the second time there`s been significant flooding in the main chamber, 10 centimeters there and another meter in the
crypt. The water came and went quickly but the salt in the water stays in the 900 year old walls much longer eating away at the marble and brick near
the floor and even on the mosaic ceiling. And that`s the damage?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And that`s the damage.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just down the canal you can still hear the sound of music at one of the most important conservatories in Italy. But the
orchestra`s being conducted by students and volunteers working to dry out the some 50 meters worth of bookshelves that ended up partially submerged
but why were they ever on the ground floor. This could have been easily prevented.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That (ph) is the first question. But the - - with the - - this - - this floor of the first floor (ph) was not strong enough to
keep the weight. So that`s why we had to move them downstairs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The most valuable books and manuscripts are being packed up. Sent away to be frozen to stop the fragile, historic pages from
deteriorating. They`ll only be thawed out when the conservatory has the money to restore them, not anytime soon. Back at St. Mark`s they`re
preparing for their first mass in almost a week, praying the worst has come and gone as they wait for what`s forecast to be another exceptionally high
tide on Sunday.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: Cleveland, Ohio is one of hundreds of locations that recently saw record cold for this time of year, but whoever this is knows how to make
the best of it. It was from the 20th floor of a nearby hotel that a guest recorded a mysterious Spiderman making his mark in an open field. Why is
he mysterious? Because when the person who got the video went outside to see who it was, the man like a spider had hopped off his web and into thin
air.
Maybe he was feeling "reclusive" or he just liked using his long legs to go wandering somewhere else. But I don`t know "arachneed" it took a
"trantulota" effort to weave such a "orbus" display. Imagine what he could have done with eight legs? Now that would have jumped all over the world
wide "web". I`m Carl Azuz for CNN 10.
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