Krista Bo (host)
00:00:00
'Hey there. Today, June 22nd, is Positive Media Day. So let's get into some feel-good news. Every Saturday, we highlight the good stuff happening, like how a hopeful prophecy has been fulfilled thanks to the birth of a rare animal a photographer captured. Plus, what if I told you that a home that's as cozy as a log cabin can be built in only a few days?
We've had thousands of people come through this home. And the question is, 'When can I get one?'
Krista Bo (host)
00:00:28
From CNN, I'm Krista Bo, and this is 5 Good Things.
'Five-year-old Jordan Marotta from Long Island is experiencing the world in a whole new way.
'So Jordan is your typical energetic, happy, superhero obsessed sports playing five-year-old boy.
Krista Bo (host)
00:00:52
His mother, Ashley, told me he was born without a left hand, and now he's believed to be the youngest person in the world to receive a bionic arm specifically made for the superhero fan by Open Bionics.
Jordan's bionic arm is Iron Man themed. When he puts it on, he looks like Iron Man. It's got the red and the gold details, which is really cool.
Krista Bo (host)
00:01:15
It's now been one month since he first started using his hero arm.
The first thing he did when he got home was go on his scooter. So I think there was something really cool about latching on and feeling like he's riding a scooter with two hands.
Krista Bo (host)
00:01:34
He's been getting better and better at holding things, giving a thumbs up and flashing a peace sign.
If you open and close, you'll get thumbs up. Now close. Thumbs up!
Krista Bo (host)
00:01:45
Ashley says Jordan was adapting and functioning just fine without the bionic arm.
But for me, it was more like he started to question like, Mommy, why don't I have two hands? Or when is my other hand going to grow?
Krista Bo (host)
00:01:57
'So they decided to go for it, to try to build up his confidence and his emotional well-being.
It's a conversation changer, right? So Jordan's so used to fielding questions like, what happened? Why are you like that? This changed the conversation to, 'Wow, that's so cool. Like, what is that? Can I see it? Can I touch it?'
Krista Bo (host)
00:02:16
Her advice for other parents in this situation is to follow their kid's lead. And Jordan's advice?
Even if it wasn't working, don't give up!
Krista Bo (host)
00:02:33
'Americans celebrated Juneteenth this week. The day marking the end of slavery in the U.S. has been recognized as a federal holiday since 2021. And we have Opal Lee to thank for that. The 97-year-old Texan is known as the grandmother of Juneteenth. She fought for years to have June 19th recognized as a national holiday. Every year, she leads a two-and-a-half-mile walk in the metro Dallas-Fort Worth area to recognize the two and a half years it took for enslaved people in Texas to be freed after the Emancipation Proclamation. This year's walk drew hundreds of people.
I'm delighted. I really am. That so many of you are celebrating freedom. And I don't mean freedom in Texas, or freedom for Black people. I mean freedom for all of us.
Krista Bo (host)
00:03:25
'Now, the Fort Worth community has given back to Opal by helping her come back home. On June 19th, 1939, when she was 12 years old, a racist mob burned down the home she lived in with her family. Last week, Opal got the keys to a brand new, fully furnished house built on the same tree-lined corner lot as her childhood home.
Nelson Mitchell (HistoryMaker Homes)
00:03:46
This home has been built with a lot of love and care and compassion, and we want you to go enjoy it for many years. Your brand new home.
Krista Bo (host)
00:03:54
It was gifted to her through a partnership between HistoryMaker Homes, Texas Capital and Trinity Habitat for Humanity. Opal sat on a rocking chair on her new front porch as the community welcomed her home.
Just know I love every one of you and I'm your grandmother, sometimes by another mother.
Krista Bo (host)
00:04:18
Erin Braaten is used to seeing some pretty cool wildlife through her camera lens. She's photographed grizzly bears, moose, elk. But on a family trip to Yellowstone National Park this month, she saw something she never expected. They were driving through the Lamar Valley in Yellowstone when she spotted something white.
I couldn't tell what it was, so I lifted my camera up and looked through it and spotted the white bison calf. I just knew it was something very special and rare.
Krista Bo (host)
00:04:47
The birth of a white bison calf fulfills a Lakota prophecy.
Chief Arvol Looking Horse
00:04:52
The White Buffalo Calf Woman said when the white buffalo calf stands up the earth with black nose, black guys, black hooves, Mother Earth is going to speak through these white animals. And that is happening right now.
Krista Bo (host)
00:05:04
Chief Arvol Looking Horse is a spiritual leader and the 19th Generation Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe. He says the calf is a blessing, but it's also a call to do more for the Earth.
Chief Arvol Looking Horse
00:05:16
It's our choice to unite as nations all over the world to create an energy shift upon Mother Earth.
Krista Bo (host)
00:05:31
'Two teams of scientists have discovered a new planet that may be able to support human life, about 40 light years away from Earth. The studies they published say the exoplanet is called Gliese 12b, and it's slightly smaller than Earth. It falls within what's called the habitable zone, which is the ideal distance away from a star where liquid water can exist. Larissa Palethrope, who co-led one of the studies, says they found a few habitable planets in the zone and did an atmospheric analysis of each of them.
Larissa Palethrope
00:06:02
That's how you know what elements are in the atmosphere. That's how you now if they're habitable. And there's only a handful we found that are good candidates for that. And this is our nearest. So that's quite a major discovery.
Krista Bo (host)
00:06:15
As scientists continue to explore this planet with the James Webb Telescope, the key thing they're looking for is if it has water to sustain human life. So we're not going anywhere just yet, but say we end up moving there. Okay? With its smaller orbit around a smaller star, a year on Gliese 12b would technically be 12.8 days instead of 365 days, and it would take about 225,000 years to get there with the fastest spacecraft that exists right now. How crazy is that?
Can you believe sleek and cozy log cabins are being built in only a few days? More on that after we take a quick break. But first, I want to tell you about something really cool. CNN Travel is launching a new list next week called America's Best Towns to Visit. The team has been traveling around the country to spotlight the top ten towns and cities that are like hidden gems in the US. Head to cnn.com/besttowns on Monday to find out what they are. We'll be right back.
Imagine a world where homes are built in just 48 hours. Well, 3D printing technology can make it happen. It's no secret that housing in the U.S. is hard to come by. Maine is in particular need of more houses. So Habib Dagher and his team thought, why not print them?
What we're hoping to do here is provide an ability for people to have homes that they can't have today by using a technology like that.
Krista Bo (host)
00:07:57
He's the executive director of the University of Maine's Advanced Structures Composites Center, and they've created BioHome3D.
What's unique about this home? It's completely produced with biomaterials. So everything we used to produce the home is grown as a plant of some sort, and it's 100 percent recyclable.
Krista Bo (host)
00:08:16
'It's a 600-square-foot, one-bedroom home they're building from wood fiber that would have been thrown out anyway using the world's largest polymer 3D printer.
You can make it look like whatever you want, essentially. There's a lot of architectural freedom, if you wish.
Krista Bo (host)
00:08:31
'There are dozens of 3D-printed homes worldwide, but most are built with concrete, so it has a cold feel.
And the biggest thing we get from people is how warm it is when you get into the house. We've had thousands of people come through this home and the question is, 'When can I get one?'
Krista Bo (host)
00:08:46
'Habib says the goal is to get these on the market in the next 2 to 3 years, with options for 2 to 3-bedroom homes, too. The printer's next big project is partnering with a nonprofit next year to build a nine-home neighborhood for people experiencing homelessness.
All right, that's all for now. Join us tomorrow for the next edition of One Thing. CNN's Laura Paddison joins host David Rind to talk about a looming water war between the U.S. and Mexico. 5 Good Things is a production of CNN Audio. This episode was produced by Emily Williams and me, Krista Bo. Our senior producer is Faiz Jamil. Greg Peppers is our Supervising Producer. Matt Dempsey is our Production Manager. Dan Dzula is our Technical Director. And Steve Lickteig is the Executive Producer of CNN Audio. We got support from Joey Salvia, Haley Thomas, Alex Manasseri, Robert Mathers, Jon Dianora, Leni Steinhardt, Jamus Andrest, Nichole Pesaru, and Lisa Namerow. Special thanks to Katie Hinman. And thank you so much for listening. It's because of you that we have our very own podcast feed. So please consider following it and telling your friends about it. Take care. 'Til next time.
