Let's Start Off with Headlines. and First Up, This Year Is on Track to Be the Hottest Year

Azia: Hey guys. It is Thursday, October 22. I am Azia Celestino and Channel One News starts right now.

Let's start off with headlines. And first up, this year is on track to be the hottest year on record in a really, really long time; that means hotter than any other year during much of history, including before Columbus sailed to America, before the crusades, and before the Dark Ages.

2015 is on pace to be the warmest year since records began in 1880, smashing the record set just last year when 2014 was dubbed the warmest. Last month was the hottest September ever recorded, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported yesterday.

But going back even farther, before records, 2015 will likely be the Earth's warmest year since the 600's, according to the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Climate scientists looked at ice samples, lake sediments, and tree rings to determine temperatures of past centuries.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad made a surprise visit yesterday to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. It is the first overseas trip for Assad since the civil war in Syria broke out in 2011.

And this was a lot more than just a courtesy call. It was a, “thanks for everything” and “I mean everything,” call.

The thank you was for Russian jets affectively becoming Bashar al-Assad’s air force. And the Syrian president, who now just controls a small portion of Syria, smiled like he hasn't smiled in years.

Putin said the Russian air campaign was there to attack ISIS and what it calls terrorist forces opposed to Assad. But the attacks have largely been outside ISIS control territories and against other anti-Assad forces, some of them supported by the U.S.

Three New York teenagers are facing serious charges. They are accused of hacking into school district computers and giving themselves A's.

Police say 17-year-old Daniel Soares is the ring leader behind the cyberattack, and he had the help of his friends, Alex Mosquera and Erick Vaysman, who covered their faces on their way out of court.

The three teens are accused of hacking into their school's computers and changing students’ grades and schedules.

John Best: At this point, we believe Daniel changed at least four of his own grades and one of Erick Vaysman’s grades. On his own grade was changed, I believe, from a 94 to a 100, a perfect score of 100.

1 | P a g e Azia: School officials called police in July after realizing the class schedules of about 300 students had been changed without authorization. Their investigation led them to Soares.

George Duncan: We are waiting for a full investigation to be done, and he maintains his innocence.

Azia: Mosquera and Vaysman are facing up to four years in prison if convicted. Soares could see up to 11 years.

Coming up, big news, up in the sky, for drone owners.

Alright, you may see them at the park or in viral videos. Drones are a blast to fly. But now there are some changes are on the way that may be clipping the wings of these mini-aircrafts.

Keith: Yeah Azia, now the federal government plans to crack down on drones, requiring users to register their flying robots.

It is becoming a battle between this, and this. Pilots across the country are reporting dangerous encounters with drones.

Current regulations restrict drone operators from flying over 400 feet and within 5 miles of an airport. But even with these rules in place, the number of drone complaints to the FAA has surged from 238 for all of 2014 to 969 and counting so far this year.

In recent months, drones have crashed near the White House, in the stands at the U.S. Open, and interfered with efforts to battle wildfires out west.

So the federal government is taking action and this week announced it will require owners to register their drones with the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Anthony Foxx: If unmanned aircraft operators break the rules, clearly there should be consequences.

Keith: Farmers use them, so do photographers, and just your average hobbyist. In fact, more than a million drones are expected to be sold this Christmas.

Ted Leonsis: I think drones promise to really revolutionize lots of industries.

Keith: Investor Ted Leonsis, who owns the Washington Wizards and Capitals, believes the government needs to regulate drones before it is too late.

Ted Leonsis: We’re one major accident away from basically the government saying, we're shutting down the drone industry. And that would be bad for the economy. That

2 | P a g e would be bad for all the people that will one day work in this industry.

Keith: One of the biggest challenges is finding the operator. Something the new registry aims to make easier.

Foxx: There can be no accountability if the person breaking the rules can’t be identified. Registration will now allow us to identify them.

Keith: But skeptics say this won't be an easy task.

Bill Welch: The Pandora’s Box is open. It's out. You can't get them back in. And all these kids are going to be getting them for Christmas this year. They're supposed to register every one of these little things that come in a cereal box? I don't think it's going to happen.

Keith: And drone fans worry this might take some of the fun out of the hobby.

Prasenjit Mukherjee: If they look at the licensing requirements and say like, ‘I don’t want to deal with that, and because of the licensing requirements I’m not going to get into this industry,’ that's when the whole system is going to start falling apart.

Keith: And Asia, DOT officials say the registration process could begin as early as the holiday season.

Azia: Thanks Keith. Alright next up, we are checking out these strange beasts roaming wildly across the beach.

They have got lots of legs and powerful wings. You don't have to feed them, plug them in or charge them. These cool creatures we are about to show you are powered by Mother Nature. Take a look.

This is a “Strandbeest,” an intricate collection of plastic pipes fastened together with zip ties, designed to dart across beaches powered by the wind. Strandbeest means "beach creature" in Dutch. And they are the idea of artist and engineer Theo Jansen.

Theo Jansen: Well, of course you can imagine them as, as animals. And it’s a game, in fact. After a while, if you play a game long enough, it becomes real.

Azia: Jansen has spent 25 years tinkering with the design of his Beests, making them seem more real, more alive. They appear to be a strange mix: part insect, part crab, part horse.

The key to their life-like movements is in the legs.

Jansen: A leg shouldn't spend too much time in the air. It should go to the ground quickly and give support to the animal again. So, this is what these animals do. That

3 | P a g e might be the reason why it looks very much like the movement of real animals' legs.

While Strandbeests' original habitats were on the beaches of Europe, species have been spotted in Massachusetts. Recently, they invaded a plaza near Boston, to cheers of delight.

Jansen: Every experience is new. And if you see something new, you forget you’ve grown up. And the child comes back.

Azia: Jansen gave a talk at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where the Beests' ability to move smoothly, almost effortlessly, captured the imaginations of engineers and physicists. They are as awe-inspiring as works of art, which is why the Peabody Essex Museum is displaying them in an interactive exhibition.

Trevor Smith: Theo is a person whose creativity doesn't respect those boundaries of this is art, this is science, this is storytelling. But instead is this wonderful amalgam of all three of those things.

Jansen: Before I leave this planet, I would like to leave a new specimen on Earth so these animals will live in the future.

Azia: Jansen is taking steps to make sure the Strandbeests continue even after he is gone. And he has found a clever way to help them reproduce and evolve.

He posts instructions for the Strandbeests on his website. Like how to store the wind energy, and how the legs work. Jansen encourages people to create their own versions. And that is exactly what people do. These are called "Hackbeests," Beests made of Lego, or ones that are hamster-powered.

Still, there is nothing quite like the majesty of Jansen's original creations.

Jansen: My favorite Strandbeest is always the one I still have to make. The one which keep me awake at night. That is my favorite one.

Azia: That is so amazing. And to check out some other impressive outdoor art installations from around the world, head to Channelone.com.

Alright guys, that’s all for now, but have an awesome day and we will see you right back here you tomorrow.

4 | P a g e