♪ john: tonight on "pbs news weekend" -- families reunite as more israeli hostages and palestinian prisoners are released on day 3 of the temporary ceasefire. then, my conversation with children's book author linda pistun, who at 11 years old already has her sights set on teaching young girls science and going to mars. linda: i always loved chemistry. and then i also love physics and mathematics and astronomy, and once i heard about astrophysics, i realized, wait, hold on, this is actually the perfect option because i can get everything i

love into one thing. john: and the story of mary golda ross, the first native american woman to become an engineer. ♪ >> major funding for "pbs news weekend" has been provided by -- >> consumer cellular. this is sam, how may i help you? this is a pocket dial. well, somebody's pocket. i thought i would tell you you get nationwide coverage with no contract. that is kind of our thing. have a nice day. ♪ >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions -- and friends of the "newshour." ♪

this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. john: good evening, i'm john yang. two americans -- including a four-year-old girl -- were among the 17 hostages hamas released today in the third exchange for palestinians in israeli prisons. fourteen israelis and a russian citizen were also among those released in return for 39 palestinian prisoners. meanwhile, hamas said four of its senior militants have been killed in the war so far, including the commander for northern gaza. he's the highest-ranking known casualty. and late today, israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu

seemed to open the door to the possibility of more pauses in fighting if hamas releases more hostages, and that would mean more reunions for both isrealis and palestinians. this weekend, in israel and on the west bank, joyous celebrations. four-year-old abigail edan, who holds both u.s. and israeli citizenship, was the youngest hostage released today. both her parents were killed october 7. president biden noted that she had turned four just two days ago. pres. biden: she spent her birthday, that birthday and at least fifty days before that, held hostage by hamas. today she's free. more is needed, but this deal is delivering lifesaving results. critically needed aid is going in and hostages are coming out. john: the pause in fighting is also allowing trucks loaded with food, water, and other crucial supplies to cross into gaza and

head north, where for weeks residents have suffered without aid. in southern gaza, near khan younis, residents picked through the rubble of their homes. eyad: this feeling is one i cannot describe, my family and i cried when we saw the house destroyed, it destroyed my heart, my whole life. john: but the pause is only temporary as prime minister benjamin netanyahu underscored today while visiting israeli troops in gaza. pm netanyahu: we have three goals in this war -- eliminate hamas, return all of our hostages, and ensure that gaza does not return to be a threat to the state of israel again. john: but israeli troops appear to be still carrying out missions in gaza. the red crescent said a palestinian farmer was killed in a targeted israeli attack. and in the west bank, not included in the temporary ceasefire, violence intensified. in the jenin refugee camp, israeli troops killed five

palestinians as they tried to arrest a murder suspect. the palestinian health ministry said three others were killed this weekend in separate incidents. a tanker with links to israel was seized today in the gulf of adenff yemen's coast. the vessel is carrying a full cargo of phosphoric acid and a multinational crew of 22. no group has claimed responsibility, but it's at least the third maritime attack in recent days that's been linked to the israel-hamas war. three young men of palestinian descent were shot last evening as they walked to dinner in burlington, vermont. all 3 graduated from the same high school in the west bank and are now in american colleges. burlington police say a white male with a handgun confronted them. arab anti-discriminaton groups say they were chatting in arabic and wearing keffiyehs. the palestinian foreign ministry condemned the shootings and called on u.s. authorites to hold those responsible to account. powerful winter storms swept

through parts of eastern europe today, knocking out power and closing roads. a large part of bulgaria is under a state of emergency, and the odesa region of war weary ukraine was also being hit hard by the winter weather. still to come on "pbs news weekend" -- an eleven-year-old trying to change the world through astrophysics, mealworms and teaching other young girls. and the life and legacy of the first native american woman to become an engineer. >> this is pbs news weekend from the weta studios in washington. john: a decades-long harvard study has concluded that the key to lifelong health and happiness is good relationships. ali rogin has more on what you can do to nurture the relationships in your life. ali: we've long heard about the importance of diet, exercise and good genetics to long term

health. but the longest running study on living a longer satisfying life shows that your relationships are just as important. the harvard study of adult development found that close friendships, more than money, fame or even your cholesterol level, are connected to keeping people happy and healthy in the long term. with the holiday season upon us, it's an opportunity to connect with loved ones. but it can also be a lonely time. to walk us through some of his decades of research on human joy is dr. robert waldinger, professor of psychiatry at harvard medical school and the director of the harvard study. his latest book, "the good life : lessons from the world's longest scientific study of happiness," came out this year. dr. waldinger, thank you so much for being here with us. what does your study show about the role of relationships and friendships in human health and happiness? dr. waldinger: what we found is that relationships actually protect us. they protect our health as well as our happiness. they get into our bodies and they actually keep us from getting the disees of aging as

early and they help us live longer. ali: what are some of then the physiological effects of that? how does it how does it get reflected in our bodies? dr. waldinger: it seems to have to do with stress, that relationships help us weather the stresses that are normal in our lives. right? so that if something happens to me today that's upsetting, i can go home and call somebody or i can talk to my partner and i can literally feel my body calm down. and we think that it's partly that calming effect when we're stressed that protects us from the ravages of, you know, of time. ali: and what types of relationships are important? dr. waldinger: it's all types of relationships. what we find is that everybody needs somebody who they feel really has their back that they could go to in times of need. but then beyond that, it could be friends, work relationships, even casual relationships. the person who checks you out in

the grocery store, if you have a friendly conversation with that person, you get a little hit of well-being. ali: and what are your recommendations for someone who is taking stock and saying i need to make changes? dr. waldinger: if it is a relationship you already have, there are things you can do to strengthen those relationships. so reaching out often. doing little things like just sending somebody a text or an email or calling them on the phone just saying hi, i just wanted to connect. but then if we want more relationships, if we don't have enough in our life, one of the best ways to do that is to do something you love or something you care about alongside other people. so it could be volunteering for a community organization, it could be a gardening club or soccer league, any of those things. because what we find is that when we're with the same people over and over agaiwho are at first strangers, we're doing

something we all love. and so we have something in common, and that's a natural place to start conversations. then some of those conversations can deepen into friendships. ali: the holiday season can be a wonderful time full of friends and good cheer, but it can also be a stressful time. things like planning for travel and hosting big groups. what are your recommendations for people looking to stay present once they're with the people that they love? dr. waldinger: one of my teachers once said attention is the most basic form of love. that if you can, in all the hustle and bustle of the holidays, actually spend time, just being with somebody, just being with your family, that goes a long way and that gives a gift that only you can give to somebody else. now, it's hard to do, but we can structure our holiday gathering so that we have a little time to take a walk with that person who we want to be sure we connect with during thholidays. ali: and on the flipside of

that, certainly many people are spending the holiday season with people that they don't see as as being a nurturing part of of of their of their their circle, their village. what are your tips for how to approach those relationships? dr. waldinger: different ways. so first you can bring curiosity even to that person who really annoys you. so one question you can ask yourself is, okay, i'm with this person who i don't like being with. what's here that i've never noticed before about this person ? and being curious about somebody goes a long way to making them feel seen and making them feel like you're interested in them. and even the most annoying people will respond warmly, usually to your genuine curiosity. so try bringing some curiosity to an old annoying relationship. ali: dr. robert waldinger with harvard medical school, thank you so much for your time. dr. waldinger: it was a pleasure.

thank you for having me. ♪ john: five years ago, linda pistun set out to achieve two goalin her life -- end world hunger and improve science education in public schools. to that end, she took classes at the university of virginia this summer and in she added to her august. accomplishments by becoming a published author. all this at the age of 11. linda pearson joins us now. linda, i want to talk about your book in a little bit, but first i want to talk a little bit more about you. you live in northern virginia, just outside washington. you were studying chinese this summer, is that right, at the university of virginia? linda: yes. john: you have done a lot of things lot of 10-year-olds haven't done. have you always done things or you always remember doing things that other kids your age might

not necessarily be doing? linda: most tenured's haven't published a book and most five-year-olds haven't started a business at that point. i taught myself to read when i was four. john: you started a business when you were five? linda: yes my business is called , linda's lab, and it has two main goals. one, to solve world hunger and the other one to improve science education in schools. john: how do you do those things? linda: i am solving world huer through meal worm protein, because i turn the mealworms into a protein powder that i can then put into protein bars. once i make them shelf stable by working with the production company, i can distribute them worldwide. i also have a larva library which lends mealworm tanks to schools so that classrooms can can see the lifecycle. i also am doing it through my free read alouds that i do in classrooms and schools. john: i know you've said that

you want to be an undergraduate at uva by the time you're 14 and you want to study astra figure six -- astrophysics. how did you get interested in astrophysics? linda: i always loved chemistry. and then i also love physics and mathematics and astronomy and all those things combined is astrophysics. so for years i was searching for which one i liked the most. once i heard about astrophysics, i realized, wait, hold on, this is actually the perfect option because i can get everything i love into one thing. so now i just i love to do astrophysics experiments. i love to go out to the dark sky park near me, sky meadows state park, and i love to look at the night sky when they have like a special night where you just everybody brgs down their telescopes and they do a presentation. john: we should also point out that not only have you been taking classes at the university of virginia, but you go at 11 to a high school, to a science high school.

in elementary school, what grades did you skip? linda: first, third and fifth grade. john: after you graduate from university of virginia with your degree in astrophysics, you want to go to caltech and work for nasa. and what do you want to do for nasa? linda: i want to be an astrophysicist for nasa, i want to work at the jet propulsion lab at caltech. i would also love to be the first person to go to mars. and i feel like it could be very valuable and maybe even bring mealworms to space because mealworms can be used to solve many world problems. and i'm just kind of curious to see how they can like live if they can live in space and zero gravity. john: let's turn to your book now. it's called linda and the mysterious footprints. tell me, how did you get this idea and how did you decide to write a book about it? linda: so when i was six, i was studying carbon emissions like all six-year-olds do.

and i heard the term carbon footprint. and i thought it was really funny because i was picturing actual footprints. so that small picture helped me understand a really big idea. so i wrote it down and i made myself the main character because i wanted to live in a world where a little girl scientist can see a problem and be respected and heard. that is the world i want to live in. john: i think you are living in it, quite frankly. linda in the book actually sees black footprints and tries to figure out what is going on. how does she do that? linda: she uses the scientific method, which in my opinion, is one of the most important parts of all of stem. the scientific method, basically it's used for when people do experiments. first you ask a question, then you research, and you form a help i fusses -- a hypothesis. the hypotheses are very important because also it can show you how you can learn from if you make a mistake. it also it can help you with

future things when you may not be able to test it because some of parts about science are just making educated guesses and that's basically what a hypothesis is. so then you experiment and then you form a conclusion. john: all of these things you do, all these accomplishments you've had, going to high school, going to uva, but still you are an 11-year-old girl. what do you do in your spare time? what do you like to do when you're not doing all these things? linda: i love to be outdoors. i love to go camping with scout troop, but i also love taking care of my business linda's lab, and that takes up a lot of my free time. but it's one of the most fun things i do. john: and i understand you have two brothers who are also pretty smart. is there a little rivalry? linda: a little bit. occasionally my mom likes to say me and my little brother thomas, who's six years old, are so similar. we both want to go and be the

first person on mars. john: you are racing to see he will get there first? linda: and so it's going to be basically. definitely interesting to see which one of us gets on mars i'm definitely hoping it's going first. to be me. john: last question. i understand your name, linda, is very special in your family. tell us about that. linda: so my grandmother was named linda like me. my mom tells me she was really nice. she was unfortunately killed by the d.c. snipers before i was born, so i never actually got to meet her. but she was a math and science teacher and loved math and science like me. john: she probably would be very excited and very proud of what you're doing now. linda pistun, thank you very much. linda: you're welcome, so nice to meet you. john: thank you very much. ♪ as a native american heritage month draws to a close this

week, we look at the legacy of the first native american engineer. mary golda ross was a pioneering figure of the space age, the first native american woman to be an engineer -- achievements she attributed to the cherokee emphasis on education, and on educating boys and girls equally. she was born i1908 in park hill, oklahoma to a family with a proud cherokee heritage -- her great, great grandfather, john ross, was chief of the cherokee nation during the turbulent and traumatic era of the indian removal act of 1830. thousands of cherokee people were forced to leave their ancestral lands in the american southeast and walk to indian territory in what is now oklahoma, a route known as the trail of tears. as a child, ross was sent to live with her grandparents in tahlequah, oklahoma, the one-time capital of the cherokee nation, so she could attend school. after high school, ross earned a math degree from northeastern

state teacher's college in tahlequah, the successor to the cherokee female seminary, which her great, great grandfather had helped establish. ross taught math and science in cherokee schools in oklahoma and was assigned to the government-run santa fe indian school in new mexico. she was a girls advisor at the boarding school, a native american role model for indian girls separated from their parents and families. gayle: you cannot understate her passion for teaching others, to talking to oer indian kids about science, technology, engineering and math. john during summer breaks, ross took enough classeto earn a masters degree in math in 1938 from what is now the university of northern colorado. at the time, academic and industrial labs employed few women. teaching was one of the only careers in which women like ross, trained in math or sciences, could use their knowledge to earn a living. but during world war ii, as industry geared up for wartime production and young men went off to fight, technically

trained women were in demand. in 1942, ross went to work for lockheed aircraft. she helped design the p-38 lightning, an innovative, fast and powerful fighter that made its mark in both the european and pacific theaters after the war, many women engineers were laid off to make room for men returning home. but lockheed kept ross on the job, even sending her to ucla for her professional certification in engineering, the first native american woman to earn that credential. ross was one of the early members of lockheed's famed skunk works, the top-secret advanced development division that worked on cutting edge, breakthrough aerospace technology. she was the only woman and only native american at the skunk works. much of her work still can't be discussed publicly. gayle: if so much of her work had not been classified she would have won a nobel prize. that's how innovative, that's how important the work that she did was.

john: some of the work that is public now includes the polaris submarine launched missile, and the agena rocket, which carried numerous satellites into earth's orbit. ross also contributed to nasa's interplanetary flight book, which detailed spacecraft flight paths to mars and venus. gayle: what she really wanted to do was be the woman behind the first woman in space, and she did that. john: after ross retired from lockheed in 1973, she devoted the rest of her life to encouraging young women and native americans to pursue careers in science, engineering, and math. ross died in 2008, three months shy of her 100th birthday. in 2019, the u.s. mint honored ross by putting her image on a sacagawea one-dollar coin. ♪

we have an update for you before we go. the is really linked tanker we told you about has told u.s. navy vessel it is sa and free according to u.s. officials that spoke to reuters. and that is "pbs news weekend" for this sunday. i'm john yang. for all of my colleagues, thanks for joining us. have a good week. >> major funding for "pbs news weekend" has been provided by -- >> consumer cellular. this is sam, how may i help you? this is a pocket dial. well, somebody's pocket, i thought i would let you know that with consumer cellular you get nationwide coverage with no contract. that is kind of our thing. have a nice day. ♪ >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions -- ♪ this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs

station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.]

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