The behavioral breakthrough that's changing how we see cows  January 21, 2026

 

Hey everyone and welcome to another episode of CNN 10. I'm Mina Durson filling in for Coy Wire from CNN New York and I am so excited to be here. Today is Wednesday, January 21st.

 

Now let's get you your news. We're gonna start in Australia where a series of shark attacks has forced dozens of beaches to close and triggered warnings to stay out of the water. Four attacks were reported in the span of just two days at popular beaches in the state of New South Wales, which is on the country's eastern coast.

 

The attacks have all been attributed to bull sharks, a species with the unique ability to live in both salt and freshwater.

 

bull shark 低鳍真鲨

 

Bull sharks commonly hunt near river mouths and other murky bodies of water like Sydney Harbour, which is where one of the attacks occurred.

 

river mouth 河口

 

CNN's Angus Young has more on why experts are worried that recent weather trends in the region may fuel more encounters.

 

The family of a 12-year-old Australian boy is fearing the worst after he was attacked by a shark at a popular Sydney Harbour beach.

 

Niko Antic has been hospitalized since Sunday when he became the first victim in a rare spate of shark attacks.

 

Rangers have been scouring this area of Sydney Harbour since Sunday night looking for a shark that attacked a boy here.

 

That boy is now in a critical condition in hospital, only alive because one of his friends jumped into the water to save him.

 

Four shark attacks in 48 hours, three in Sydney, another on the coast to the north. All were attributed to bull sharks, a stocky species with powerful jaws that lurk in murky waters.

 

stocky [ˈstɑki] adj. 矮壯的

 

When there's certain types of events like very heavy rainfall, we know that bull sharks which are tolerant of freshwater move around the harbour quite actively to move to where the fish are being pushed by the changes in salinity from the freshwater inputs.

 

A 25-year-old surfer is also in a critical condition after he was attacked on Monday at a beach in Manly, another Sydney hotspot.

 

At the moment there's just been more sharks up and down the eastern coast of Australia than anyone's ever seen. It's actually radical, so I don't really want to go out for a while.

 

An 11-year-old boy with a close call at nearby Dee Why Beach. These bites taken from his surfboard.

 

a close call 侥幸脱险, 九死一生, 幸免于难

 

He got away unhurt. The attacks are not the first in Sydney in recent months. Here temperatures are expected to surge ahead of an upcoming holiday weekend.

 

Many will be judging whether to risk a swim.

 

And it's time for 10-second trivia.

 

What is the highest posted speed limit in the United States?

 

70 miles per hour, 85, 90 or 100?

 

The answer here is 85 miles per hour and those signs are posted in Texas.

 

The highest posted in the world? That would be in Abu Dhabi at about 99 miles per hour.

 

Rome, Italy has become the latest European capital to reduce its speed limit. The move aims to tackle pollution and obviate the number of accidents in a city where streets are packed with cars and tourists.

 

obviate [ˈɑbviet] v. 取消; 排除; 避免

 

CNN's Barbie Latza Nadeau has the details.

 

The streets of Rome can feel like an obstacle course, a chaotic mix of cars, scooters and pedestrians buzzing through the city's ancient narrow streets. But Rome is trying to curb the pace of some of its drivers, cutting the speed limit in the historic center almost in half from 50 to 30 kilometers per hour.

 

The slowdown is an effort to reduce accidents and pollution and it's dividing opinions in the eternal city.

 

In my opinion, it is wrong. 30 kilometers per hour is too little. 50 was fine.

 

Some people drive extremely fast. I ride a scooter and often risk being hit. For pedestrians and bicycles safety too, it's better to go slowly.

 

And just as Rome wasn't built in a day, the city's transport chief says drivers have about a month to gear down, with the new rules gradually being enforced over the next 30 days.

 

gear down 换慢档, 减慢, 减少

 

Other cities like London, Brussels and Paris have imposed similar speed limits.

 

Officials in the northern Italian city of Bologna say a similar measure reduced road accidents by 13 percent and fatalities by 50 percent in the year after it was enacted.

 

fatality [fəˈtælətɪ] n. 死亡; 致命性

 

And besides the expectation of saving lives, local authorities say the lower speed limit is also expected to reduce noise levels in the city center by around two decibels, a lot to gain by slowing down. Though some people say the need for speed could be a hard habit to break.

 

Now to a behavioral breakthroughthat has researchers saying, holy cow, meet Veronica, a pet cow in Austria with a unique skill. The clever cow has learned to use sticks and other tools to scratch parts of her body she can't otherwise reach.

 

Her owner says she's been doing it for a decade, but when researchers at a nearby university saw a video of Veronica in action, they knew they had to study her.

 

Turns out the back-scratching bovine not only uses tools like brooms intentionally to get the itch, she even prefers different ends for specific parts of her body.

 

It's the first time this behavior has been documented in a cow, and the team of experts says it could be evidence that cows possess much higher cognitive capabilities than previously thought.

 

They say Veronica's special skill may even qualify as multi-purpose tool use, a rare feat that's only been documented otherwise in chimpanzees.

 

qualify [ˈkwɑləfaɪ] v. 具备资格

 

And it may still be winter in the eastern hemisphere, but over in the Netherlands, spring is already making a guest appearance. Look at this early burst of color taking over Amsterdam as thousands celebrated national tulip day. Growers turned this square into a free pick-your-own garden, giving away 200,000 tulips to kick off the selling season.

 

square [skwer] n. 广场

 

We compare the flowers, they are in a very excellent condition this year, also a little bit more better than last year.

 

The Netherlands is the world's largest producer of cut tulips, and events like this signal the start of a busy season ahead. Visitors were allowed to pick up to 10 tulips each, and for some it was a first-time experience.

 

We are happy to see tulips. It's our first time, it's my first time seeing tulips, and it's like a big cultural exchange for me.

 

I just love flowers, and it's my first time for me being here. And nobody's buying me flowers at the moment, so yeah, I think it's a jackpot.

 

Now to a new record for one of the world's most famous puzzles.Meet 95-year-old Frank Zieminski, who's now broken three world records with a Rubik's Cube.

 

Turns out Frank has loved cubing since the 70s, so he recently joined a local club in upstate New York with school kids. They encouraged him to enter a contest this past Sunday, where he set a world cube association record in the senior category by solving a Rubik's Cube in 5 minutes and 49 seconds. But he didn't stop there.

 

cubing [ˈkjubɪŋ] n. 速解魔术方块

 

He also set two other records for the 2x2 cube in his age group, both for best single time and best average time. His girlfriend was even there to cheer him on.

 

What'd you tell him? I told him, I said, pretend you're home watching TV like you always do, and he doesn't trim it. It's 2 and a half. I know. Because I know he can do it.

 

trim [trɪm] v. 削减; 缩短 (此处指时间方面的缩短)

 

It's different doing it by yourself and under pressure like that against the clock, you know. I get a little flustered, you know. But you did great. I was relieved.

 

fluster [ˈflʌstɚ] v. 使慌乱

 

The members of the Buffalo Speed Cube Club were also there to celebrate his wins. But even with his newfound fame, the club members say they still plan to meet every Tuesday night at the library to get their cube on.

 

Today's story getting a 10 out of 10 shows us that you're never too young to be a hero. When a fire broke out in his apartment building, 9-year-old Savanche knew exactly what to do. All because, he says, he paid attention in school.

 

My mom was baking pizza and she yelled that there's a fire. I told my dad to pull the fire alarm and call 911. I made sure that everyone evacuated from the building.

 

The Mount Lebanon Fire Department in Pennsylvania says Savanche participated in school fire safety lessons, and that his quick response kept the fire from becoming catastrophic.

 

mount [maʊnt] n. 山

 

Being able to prevent that from happening, knowing our kids know what to do so that they can help themselves, that's fantastic.

 

The partnership has been teaching fire safety in elementary schools in the area for 30 years.

 

partnership [ˈpɑrtnɚʃɪp] n. 合伙企业; 合伙关系

 

Savanche says those lessons can make a real difference.

 

You can be a hero if you listen to class. You can buy stuff at any time, but you can't, life is priceless.

 

All right superstars, congratulations to today's Your Word Wednesday winner. That's Miss Peterson at Nose Creek School in Calgary, Canada, who submitted obviate, a verb meaning to anticipate and prevent something, such as a situation, or make an action unnecessary. Thank you for making us all a little bit smarter today.

 

I also have one shout out for you today, Miss Janice at Ralston High School in Ralston, Nebraska. Thank you for subscribing to our YouTube channel. And thank you so much to all of you for spending part of your day with us.

 

Coy will be right back here tomorrow. I'm Mina Derson and this is CNN 10.