CNN Student News Transcript: October 30, 2008

(CNN Student News) -- October 30, 2008

Quick Guide

Today's Headlines - Check out some recent headlines, including violent clashes in Congo.

It's all in Your Head - Discover how the brain may hold the key to why some voters are undecided.

Smelly Science - Sniff out the details of research focused on dinosaurs' sense of smell.

Transcript

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: Hi, I'm Carl Azuz. We're digging into brains today on CNN Student News, those of undecided voters and the tyrannosaurus rex! First up though, the headlines.

First Up: Today's Headlines

AZUZ: We start in the African country of Congo, where thousands of people have been fleeing violent clashes between rebels and government forces. Fighting broke out on Sunday, when rebels took over a military camp, as well as a park that's home to 200 endangered mountain gorillas. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called the situation an "unfolding humanitarian crisis." But last night, we got news that the rebels had declared a cease-fire.

Over to Iraq now, where the country's government is officially in control of Wasit Province. American officials called this "an important milestone" when coalition troops formally handed over power to Iraqi forces yesterday. The move comes amid a big drop in violence in the Middle Eastern nation. This is the 13th of Iraq's 18 provinces that are now under that country's control.

And back in the U.S., the central bank has lowered a key interest rate that affects loans for individuals and businesses The Federal Reserve announced the decision Wednesday, hoping that the rate cut would help give a boost to the economy. This is the ninth time the Fed has lowered rates since September of last year.

Here's the deal with a rate cut: Generally, it makes money cheaper to borrow; the interest rates you have to pay aren't as high. If you already have an adjustable loan, you could be paying less interest on it, so you save more money. If you're saving more, you can spend more. And it's the same way for businesses: They're not paying as much interest on the money they've borrowed, so they can expand and hire more people.

America Votes

AZUZ: With the race for the White House nearing the finish line, we're checking out what's happening on the campaign trail. Senator Barack Obama was in North Carolina yesterday, telling supporters they're less than a week away from bringing change to the country. He also took to the airwaves last night in a 30-minute infomercia that aired on several networks. Senator John McCain spent yesterday in Florida, a state he says is critical to winning the presidency. In a later television appearance, Senator McCain called himself the underdog, but said he hopes to shed that label by next Tuesday.

Shoutout

GEORGE RAMSAY, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Time for a Shoutout! In what part of your body would you find the parietal cortex and the hypothalamus? If you think you know it, shout it out! Is it the: A) Pancreas, B) Spleen, C) Brain or D) Lungs? You've got three seconds -- GO! These are both parts of your brain! That's your answer and that's your Shoutout!

It's all in Your Head

AZUZ: Senators McCain and Obama have been on the campaign trail for more than a year and a half now, but many voters are still undecided about which candidate they plan to support, and some researchers think the reason why is in their brains. Doctor Sanjay Gupta cracks open the details.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: So, you're still undecided. Well, a lot of people are gonna call you wishy-washy, tell you you can't make up your mind. But the answers to why you're undecided may lie deep inside your brain. In fact, neuroscientists from Princeton tried to figure out who are these undecided voters really. Really, you can break them down into two groups: One group of people simply needs to gather a lot of evidence before they can finally commit to a decision. That's one group. A second group of people may, in fact, know. They may in fact have a decision in their brain, but they haven't emotionally become attached to that decision yet.

Let's take a look at what happens in the brain. This is an area of the brain called the parietal cortex. It is important, because this area of the brain specifically is where you gather so much of that evidence. Some people need a lot of evidence. Some people need a little evidence. You start to gather it up, and at some point the brain suddenly transitions. It's like a switch that goes off and you commit to a particular decision. Those are people who are maybe undecided now, but will be decided by the time the election actually comes around. As far as the other group, their brain is already decided; it's already pointing them in a particular direction, they simply don't know it yet. There is a third group as well. It's very interesting. This is a group of people who think they absolutely know who they're going to vote for, but when they walk into that booth, in fact, they vote for someone else. Their brain told them to vote for someone else, even though their emotions told them to vote for the original choice.

Now, if you sort of want to tease out these undecideds and who they are actually going to vote for, the pollers are actually doing some interesting questions. Instead of typical questions, which might be, "If the election were being held today, would you vote for Senator Obama or Senator McCain," they ask more open-ended questions like, "Who do you think understands your problems better? Are you more concerned about the economy or terrorism? Which candidate has the better temperament?" I think all this points out that the brains are tricky and polls are not perfect. But we're going to have a decision hopefully in the next several days. Back to you for now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Is this Legit?

RAMSAY: Is this Legit? The word "gustatory" refers to your sense of smell. Not legit! Gustatory refers to your sense of taste. The term for your sense of smell is olfactory!

Smelly Science

AZUZ: Thanks to some recent olfactory findings, scientists are making new discoveries about dinosaurs. You see, by learning how these prehistoric creatures smelled, we can reveal more about how they lived and their possible connection to current animals. As it turns out, the dinosaur with the sharpest sense of smell was also the scariest: tyrannosaurus rex. Kevin Fleming of CTV sniffs out the info.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN FLEMING, CTV REPORTER: It's the first time researchers have looked at how well meat eating dinosaurs could smell.

DARLA ZELENITSKY, RESEARCHER: We were looking at a region of the brain that is associated with the sense of smell, and what we found in these 21 species that we had looked at is there is a large variety in the degree of sense of smell in meat eating dinosaurs.

FLEMING: Darla Zelenitsky needed to see a dinosaur brain, but prehistoric brains are not preserved. So, with the help of a CT scan, she could recreate this juvenile tyrannosaurus brain. The front portion here shows the dinosaur had a keen sense of smell.

ZELENITSKY: Those are the olfactory bulbs, which are the organs for the sense of smell. That's the front most part of the brain.

FLEMING: Zelenitsky says living birds are the closest relatives to meat eating dinosaurs, so she knows what to look for to determine the dinosaurs' ability to smell, and has discovered a wide variety.

ZELENITSKY: From a very poor sense of smell to a very well developed sense of smell. So, this study has told us more about the biology of dinosaurs as living creatures.

FLEMING: Typically, birds today have keener eyesight then smell. This study includes how well prehistoric birds like archaeopteryx could smell.

ZELENITSKY: Our discovery, we have found that archaeopteryx still had a very decent sense of smell comparable to meat eating dinosaurs.

FLEMING: Researchers are now working to compare today's birds with T-rex and its relatives.

ZELENITSKY: The sense of smell in extinct dinosaurs to living birds, and say ok, the sense of smell of T-rex was maybe like the sense of smell in the living kiwi or turkey vulture for example.

FLEMING: Researchers say the worse the sense of smell in dinosaurs, the more likely they were to be plant eaters. Kevin Fleming, CTV News, Calgary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Before We Go

AZUZ: Finally, have you ever watched an athlete screw up and said to yourself, "Man. I could have totally done that better"? Well, one college student recently got called out of the stands and onto the field. Jim Douglas of affiliate WFAA in Weatherford, Texas has the highlights.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM DOUGLAS, WFAA REPORTER: It's a Disney plot starring a skinny, 150 pound kid from Weatherford, unnoticed and unrecruited by major college teams until fate intervened. Lightning struck at the Tech game against Massachusetts September 20th. Student Matt Williams' name got drawn from a hopper in a contest. If he could kick a 30-yard field goal, he'd win a year's free rent. Williams nailed it. He was on the phone with his mom about the prize when a Tech coach chased him down.

LINDA WILLIAMS, MOTHER: I had called him and said congratulations. He said, "I can't talk now. They want to see me back on the field," and I went, "OK!"

DOUGLAS: Turns out the Red Raiders' regular kickers were missing a lot. Maybe Williams could do better. Could he ever. Last week against Kansas, he hit 9 extra points.

WILLIAMS: You could tell he was nervous at first, and then he eased into it. He kept making them.

DOUGLAS: Linda Williams is not surprised. Neither is Weatherford's athletic director.

PHILIP O'NEAL, WEATHERFORD ATHLETIC DIRECTOR: We all knew he was special, even in middle school when he was kicking 30-yard field goals.

DOUGLAS: Matt Williams actually became a local hero back in 2005 when he kicked a 49-yarder to tie Mineral Wells, then kicked an overtime field goal to win it. At Weatherford High, Matt was known not just for his field goals, but for his kickoffs, which would usually go right through the end zone, and sometimes right through the uprights.

DOUGLAS: He planted this one in the trees. Saturday, he'll be kicking extra points against the top ranked Longhorns on national TV.

WILLIAMS: Oh, he's loving it. He's loving this.

DOUGLAS: In Weatherford, Jim Douglas, Channel 8 News.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Goodbye

AZUZ: And that last story gives us the boot for today. We look forward to seeing you guys again tomorrow when we wrap up the week.