________________________________

Hi there, it's time for another episode of News Bites!

I'm Nancy Sun…

And I'm Trevor Tortomasi.

In today's news:

Citizen scientists, art on money, and a bigger sun.

Stay tuned and we'll tell you more about these stories, coming up next!
________________________________

號召公民科學家
"Citizen Scientists" Help Termite Study

Would you like to be a scientist when you grow up?

How about starting now?

Researchers at National Chung Hsing University were working on an important
project.

They wanted to learn more about termites (白蟻).

They wanted to know which types of termites did the most damage (損害) to
buildings in Taiwan.

To do this, they would have to catch termites that were living in buildings.

But they couldn't go into people's homes to do their work.

So they asked for people's help.

They put out a call for "citizen scientists" (公民科學家).

They asked these citizen scientists to catch termites.

The researchers also set up a website (網站).

People can record the time and place where they caught the termite.

They can then send the termites to the university.

More than 200 citizen scientists sent termite samples (樣本) to the
university.

The researchers got more than 3,000 termite samples.

All this helped the researchers learn something important.

They found that the termites that did the most damage to buildings are the
Formosan termite, and the Asian subterranean termite.

分析樣本以後，研究人員發現危害臺灣建築物最嚴重的是臺灣家白蟻與格斯特家白蟻。

This helped them come up with better ways to stop the termites and protect
buildings.
________________________________

阿根廷藝術家用紙鈔作畫
Argentine Artist Paints on Money

Artists sometimes make money through their artwork.

But what if their artwork IS money?

Sergio Guillermo Diaz paints on banknotes (紙鈔).

The artist from Argentina paints pictures on the country's money, "pesos"
(比索).

Sergio has painted movie characters on $2 and $5 peso bills.

He has even painted soccer star Lionel Messi lifting the World Cup on a $10
peso bill.

Why not just use normal paper?

Sergio says the peso bills are not worth much (價值低).

He says once he paints on the money, he can sell it for much more.

There's a bigger picture here (完整情況、主要的事情).

In the past few years, Argentina's money has lost a lot of value.

This is because of inflation (通貨膨脹).

It's when the cost of things go up.

Inflation happens for many reasons.

But inflation in Argentina has been made worse by world events, like the
COVID-19 pandemic, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Now, a $1,000 peso bill is worth around just $170 NT.

And that $1,000 peso bill is not enough to buy a combo meal at a fast food
restaurant, which costs around $1,500 pesos.

阿根廷公布的11月通膨年增率，已升至92.4％，成為全球通膨最嚴重的國家之一。

Sergio says his art shows how inflation affects the lives of Argentinians.
________________________________

全年看太陽最大的「近日點」
Earth's Closest Point to the Sun

We've had some cold weather recently.

So you may be surprised to know...

Our planet was closest to the Sun last week.

The Earth orbits (地球公轉) once around the Sun every year.

And Thursday last week, the Earth was at the place in its orbit that brings
it closest to the Sun.

That point is called "perihelion" (近日點).

「近日點」是一年中地球最接近太陽的位置，也是全年中太陽看起來最大的一天。

Perihelion comes around about two weeks after December solstice (冬至、至日).

This year, it happened on January 5th, shortly after 12 AM.

At that time, Earth was about 147,000,000 kilometers from the Sun.

And to us, the Sun looked about 11 percent bigger than usual.
________________________________

So, in today's News Bites:

Researchers wanted to know which types of termites did the most damage to
buildings in Taiwan.

So they asked citizen scientists to catch termites and send the termites to
the university.

This helped researchers come up with better ways to stop the termites and
protect buildings.
________________________________

Argentinian artist Sergio Guillermo Diaz paints on banknotes.

Sergio says the peso bills are not worth much.

He says once he paints on the money, he can sell it for much more.
________________________________

And,

Thursday last week, the Earth was at the place in its orbit that brings it
closest to the Sun.

That point is called "perihelion".

Perihelion comes around about two weeks after December solstice.
________________________________

And that's all for today's episode of News Bites!
________________________________

主播每周一問
Have Your Say

This week, we want you to have your say about trying something again.

Sometimes, we want to do something great… but maybe we can't do it right.
And later, we wish we could "re-do" it, or do it again, to see if we could
have done it better.

So, if you could redo anything in your life, what would you change?

Record your message and send it to newsbites@icrt.com.tw with your name and
age, and if you'd like, the name of your school.

Make sure to send us your recording by Thursday at noon, and you might hear
your message on our show on Friday!
 

________________________________

Yo, what's up everybody?

It's me, Trevor Tortomasi...

And me, Nancy Sun.

Alright, today's topics:

Is Taiwan too convenient?

Toys rain down on a football match...

And a little doggie goes on a big trip.

More on that, coming up in just a sec(ond)!
________________________________

台灣最後一個 沒有便利商店的小鎮
Taiwan's Last Township Without a Convenience Store

It's there when you're hungry...

And it's there when you need to mail a letter (寄信), or pay your bills
(付帳單), or buy toilet paper (買衛生紙).

What is it?

It's a convenience store (便利商店)!

And in Taiwan, convenience stores are all over the place (到處都是).

Well, except for one...

Taitung's Jinfeng Township is now the last township in Taiwan without a
convenience store.
台東的金峰是台灣最後一個沒有便利商店的小鎮。

So, does that mean it's inconvenient (不方便)?

Of course not!

Some people in Jinfeng say it would be nice to have a 7-11, or a FamilyMart,
or an OK Mart, or a Hi-Life, or a Simple Mart, or a...

But other people say it would be bad for local businesses.
有人說有便利商店會讓附近的小生意不好做。

They say if you can buy everything at a convenience store, then you might not
walk down the street to a fruit shop, or a restaurant, or a post office, or a
toilet paper store, or a...

And other other people believe the convenience stores and local stores could
find a way to work together.

Either way...
不管怎麼樣...

How convenient... is too convenient?
________________________________

足球賽觀眾 把玩偶丟到球場上
People Throw Toys at a Football Match

In Turkey, a recent football game was paused after 4 minutes and 17 seconds.
土耳其最近一場足球賽，才開始4分鐘17秒就喊暫停。

That's because Turkey and Syria (敘利亞) recently had a giant earthquake
(強烈地震) on February 6th, at 4:17 AM.

In the earthquake, many people lost their homes, or their lives.

And because life is so difficult for the survivors (倖存者), many people want
to help.

Some are donating money (捐錢), and others are donating food (捐贈食物).

So, why did Turkey pause that football game?

They paused it to let people throw toys onto the field!
土耳其暫停足球賽的原因，是讓觀眾丟一大堆玩偶到球場上！

All of these people were donating toys (捐贈玩具) to help the children who
survived the earthquake.

Of course, they were all soft toys, like stuffed animals (填充玩具), dolls
(娃娃), and colorful pillows (各種顏色的枕頭).

The crowd cheered (歡呼), and thanked everyone who had worked hard to help
others.

So, think about all of the nice things you have...

What would you give to someone else?
________________________________

狗狗意外的旅程
Dog Accidentally Goes Traveling

Maybe you enjoy going on road trips (開車旅行)...

But if you're going on a long trip in a car, you probably want to plan it
first (最好先有所計畫).

Not this dog, though!
有一隻狗並非如此！

This dog, named Ralph, was walking with his owner (主人) down the street.

And while his owner paused to talk with a friend, Ralph saw an open door, and
jumped inside.
Ralph看到打開的車門，就跳進去了。

But it was the door of a taxi (計程車)...

And suddenly (突然), they were driving!

Ralph had no collar, so the driver could not call his owner.
因為Ralph沒有戴狗項圈，計程車司機沒辦法打電話給Ralph的主人。

And the driver still had to do his job... so he drove!

Ralph was in the car for 160 kilometers (一百六十公里) before the driver
finally had time to drive him home.

Ralph was happy to see his owner again... but maybe he's still thinking about
his next road trip!
________________________________

So, in today's News Bites:

Taitung's Jinfeng Township is now the last township in Taiwan without a
convenience store.

Some people in Jinfeng say it would be nice to have a convenience store, but
others say it would be bad for local businesses.

They say if you can buy everything at a convenience store, then you might not
walk down the street to a fruit shop or a restaurant.
________________________________

And,

In Turkey, a recent football game was paused to let people throw toys onto
the field.

The people were donating toys to help children who survived a recent
earthquake, in Turkey and Syria.

Of course, they were all soft toys, like stuffed animals, dolls, and colorful pillows.

The crowd cheered, and thanked everyone who had worked hard to help others.

Life has been difficult for the survivors, and many people want to help.
________________________________

And,

A dog named Ralph jumped inside a taxi, when his owner wasn't looking.

But because Ralph had no collar, the driver could not call his owner.

Ralph was in the car for 160 kilometers before the driver finally had time to
drive him home.
________________________________

That's all for today's News Bites... thanks for listening!
________________________________

主播每周一問
Have Your Say

This week, we want you to have your say about travel.

The world is slowly starting to open back up after the pandemic. Some people
are starting to travel to other countries again.

So, if you could go anywhere in the world tomorrow, where would you go?

Record your message and send it to newsbites@icrt.com.tw with your name and
age, and if you'd like, the name of your school.

Send us your recording by Thursday at noon, and you might hear your message
on our show on Friday!

________________________________

Hi there, it's time for a new episode of News Bites...

I'm Nancy Sun...

And I'm Hope Ngo.

In today's episode...

Eggs everywhere, surprise islands, and taking the red pill.

All that and more, coming up next!
________________________________

校園有雞，處處有驚喜
A School with Eggs Everywhere

Many schools keep pets.

Some have dogs.

Some have fish.

But how about "school chickens" (校雞)?

Ming-qing Elementary School in Changhua County keeps chickens.

The school says 7 chickens live there.

They sleep in the trees at night.

And during the day, they will walk around the schoolyard.

雞群晚上飛到樹上休息，白天飛到樹下生蛋、孵蛋。

The hens (母雞) lay many eggs.

In fact, they lay around five to six eggs every week.

You might have heard news stories about an "egg shortage" (缺蛋).

But this school has eggs all over the place!

The hens lay eggs in the grass, in the school garden, and sometimes in boxes
and on papers.

This means that students may find a "surprise" when they are at school.

The school principal says students will tell him about finding eggs at school
almost every day.

But the principal says not many eggs hatch (孵化).

The school now has a special machine to keep the eggs warm and help them
hatch.

So students there often see hens taking care of chicks.

And they are learning a lot about eggs, chickens, and the wonder of living
things.

學生們了解母雞、生蛋的過程，在學校上課之外多了許多學習樂趣。
________________________________

日本多了 7,000 個島
Japan Finds 7,000 New Islands

Japan is a country made up of islands.

It has four big islands.

They are Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu, and Shikoku.

And there are also many more small islands.

But Japan recently got a big surprise.

It found more islands.

In fact, it found 7,000 more islands!

35 years ago, Japan counted its islands.

At that time, scientists had found 6,852.

But now, scientists used new mapping technology.

And they found 7,000 more islands.

日本專家重新計算，發現全國的島嶼數量增加了7千多個。

Some of those new islands also come from volcano eruptions.

Lava from the volcano flows into the ocean.

And it cools and hardens, becoming a new island.

So now there are 14,125 islands in Japan.

All these islands are natural, not made by people.

And they all have a circumference of at least 100 meters.

這些都是自然形成的島嶼，周長達到100公尺以上。

It seems science just never stops surprising us!
________________________________

基努李維把紅色藥丸直接帶回家
Keanu Reeves Takes the 'Red Pill', Literally

Keanu Reeves (基努李維) is a famous actor.

He's been in many big Hollywood movies.

In one of his most famous roles (角色), he plays Neo in "The Matrix" movies
("駭客任務"系列).

Neo is a normal guy, who finds out his world is not real.

In one scene (橋段), Neo has to decide if he takes a blue pill or a red pill.

The blue pill lets him forget, and go back to the fake world.

And the red pill lets him see the real world.

電影中，尼歐必須選擇吃下藍色藥丸然後回到虛擬世界，或是吃下紅色藥丸進入被電腦機器統治的真實世界。

Well, it turns out, Keanu took the red pill.

As in, he really took it.

The actor says in an interview, that he took the red pill prop (道具) home
with him.

But hey, Keanu says he didn't steal it!

He says it was given to him.

What other props does he have at home?

Keanu says he has a watch and wedding ring from the "John Wick" movies
(【捍衛任務】系列).

And he has a sword from "47 Ronin" (【浪人47】).
________________________________

So, in today's News Bites:

Ming-qing Elementary School in Changhua County keeps chickens.

The hens lay eggs in the grass, in the school garden, and sometimes in boxes
and on papers.

The school principal says students will tell him about finding eggs at school
almost every day.
________________________________

Japan is a country made up of islands.

And recently, it found 7,000 more islands, using new mapping technology.

So now there are 14,125 islands in Japan.
________________________________

And,

Keanu Reeves said in a recent interview that he took the red pill prop from
"The Matrix" movies home.

Keanu says it was given to him.

He says he also has a watch and wedding ring from the "John Wick" movies, and
a sword from "47 Ronin".
________________________________

And that's today's episode of News Bites!
________________________________

主播每周一問
Have Your Say

This week, we want you to have your say about someone you find interesting.

There are many interesting people in the world. Some of them made history,
some of them did amazing things, and some of them had something crazy happen
to them.

So, if you could have lunch with any person, alive or from history, who would
you like to meet?

Record your message and send it to newsbites@icrt.com.tw with your name and
age, and if you'd like, the name of your school.

Send us your recording by Thursday at noon, and you might hear your message
on our show on Friday!
 

________________________________

And tonight's podcast award goes to... News Bites!

Starring Paz Bueno...

And Trevor Tortomasi.

Thank you, thank you...

Okay, in today's news:

A bike race in Taiwan, this year's Oscars ceremony, and... chicken poo.

Stay tuned!
________________________________

國際自由車環台公路大賽
Tour de Taiwan

You can probably ride a bicycle (腳踏車)...

But maybe you don't have a safe place to ride (沒有安全的地方可以騎), because
of all those cars.

Well, there are 192 people who aren't scared!

These 192 people are in a bike race (自由車賽) from Taipei to Kaohsiung.
這 192 個人加入了這場大賽，從台北到高雄。

It's called the "Tour de Taiwan" (環台賽)!

The racers (參賽者) are divided into 23 teams (分成二十三個隊), from 31
countries (來自31個不同的國家).

For the first part of the race (比賽的第一部分), they rode around Taipei for
more than 80 kilometers (騎了八十多公里).

Every day after that, they rode around 100 more kilometers...

And the road was super steep (超級陡峭)!

And on the last day, they finished at the Kaohsiung National Stadium
(在高雄國家體育場結束比賽).

Of course, they were riding REALLY fast, and they needed to be very careful
(小心).

So they had cars driving in front and in back, to give them space to ride
safely.
他們的前後面都有汽車開道，幫他們維持騎腳踏車的安全空間。

So... who won?
到底是誰贏了比賽？

Well, as we're recording now, we don't know yet.
我們錄音的時候還不知道。

But when you hear this, you can go check!
________________________________

2023年奧斯卡金像獎
2023 Academy Awards

Every year, Hollywood's "Academy" holds an awards ceremony for the best
movies of the year.
每年，好萊塢的【影藝學院】都舉辦頒獎典禮給全年最佳的電影。

It's called the "Academy Awards", and the award is a little golden statue
named "Oscar" (【奧斯卡】小金人).

And this year, one movie won a lot of prizes (獲得很多獎)!

It was a movie called "Everything Everywhere All at Once" (媽的多重宇宙),
starring Michelle Yeoh (楊紫瓊).

And because of her performance, Michelle Yeoh is the first Asian person to
win the Oscar for "Best Actress"!
楊紫瓊以絕佳演技，成為奧斯卡歷史上第一個亞洲人贏得【最佳女主角】獎項的演員！

The movie's two directors (兩位導演) won the award for "Best Director"
(最佳導演)...

And two other people in the movie were named "Best Supporting Actors"
(最佳男女配角).

But there were so many other amazing moments (驚人的時刻)!

"Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" (黑豹 2：瓦干達萬歲) won "Best Costume
Design" (最佳服裝設計).

The Indian action movie (印度動作片) named "RRR" got "Best Original Song"
(最佳原創歌曲), for its song "Naatu Naatu"...

And "Best Documentary" went to a movie about Alexei Navalny, a man fighting
for change in Russia (一個為改革而戰的俄羅斯人).

Many people say this year's Academy Awards felt very different than before,
and many people are happy about the change.

But one nice thing stayed the same...

Almost everyone who got an Oscar made sure to thank their mom and dad!
________________________________

雞糞的力量
Chicken Poo Power

Okay, our last story is pretty silly...

But it's really good news!

One man in Kenya (肯亞) has found a new way to get power (供應能源) for his
farm.

He uses chicken poop (雞的大便)!

Every morning, he collects the poopoo and puts it into a special machine
(放進一台很特別的機器).

This makes something called biogas (沼氣).

Of course, the biogas has to go through a filter, to remove all the bad stuff
and bad smells.
當然，這個沼氣要先過濾，濾掉所有不好的成分和味道。

But after that, it can be used for power (供應能源)!

He uses it for hot water, for cooking, and even to charge his electric car
(給他的電動汽車充電)!

He says it helps him to save money (省錢), and it doesn't hurt the
environment (不會傷害環境).

So, this poopoo is pretty useful (滿好用)!

Are you brave enough to use it?
________________________________

So, in today's News Bites:

The "Tour de Taiwan" is a bicycle race from Taipei to Kaohsiung.

192 people, from 31 different countries, are riding their bikes for five days.

Who won? I guess we'll find out!
________________________________

And,

Michelle Yeoh is the first Asian person to win the Oscar for "Best Actress",
thanks to the movie "Everything Everywhere All at Once".

Many people say this year's Academy Awards felt very different than before,
and many people are happy about the change.
________________________________

And,

One man in Kenya has found a new way to get power for his farm.

He uses chicken poop to make biogas!

The biogas can be used for hot water, cooking, and charging his electric car.
________________________________

Okay... that's all for today's News Bites!
________________________________

主播每周一問
Have Your Say

This week, we asked you to have your say about meeting someone from history.

7-year-old Tara, from Zhongshan Elementary School, says she wants to meet an
artist named Eric Carle.

***

Thanks Tara... okay, that's it for this week's "Have Your Say"!

Remember, if your answer was used in the show this week, we'll be sending you
a gift in the mail.

Make sure to tune in again next week for an all-new question!
 

________________________________

Hi there, it's time for a new episode of News Bites...

I'm Nancy Sun...

And I'm Paz Bueno.

In today's episode...

New high speed trains, the stuff that powers our batteries, and making
life-saving organs.

All that and more, coming up next!
________________________________

台灣購買日本高鐵N700S型列車
Taiwan to Buy Japanese High Speed Trains

The Taiwan High Speed Rail started running in 2007.

And the HSR has changed the way people travel.

Now, after 15 years of operation, the Taiwan High Speed Rail says it is
getting new trains.

The company has signed a contract with an alliance (聯盟) that is formed by
Hitachi and Toshiba.

The company is buying 12 N700S bullet trains from Japan.

台灣高鐵準備採購12組台灣高鐵新世代列車。

The N700S have 12 carriages (車廂) for each train.

It has a top speed of 365 kilometers per hour.

They are lighter, and use less energy.

台灣高鐵新世代列車具有輕量化、高性能、節能、舒適等優點。

The new trains will be ready to run as early as 2027.
________________________________

鈷礦工作環境急需改善
"Modern-day Slavery" and the Rechargeable Battery

Batteries are very important in the modern world.

Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries (鋰電池) are especially important.

They power many electronics that we use every day.

Most smartphones, laptops, and electric vehicles use these batteries.

But making lithium-ion batteries is not easy.

Cobalt (鈷) is used to make these batteries.

Cobalt is collected through mining.

The country with the most cobalt is the Democratic Republic of Congo
(剛果民主共和國, DRC).

In fact, the DRC has more cobalt than the rest of the world combined (合併).

Last year, 70 percent of the world's cobalt came from the DRC.

And cobalt is in demand (有高度需求) all over the world.

鈷是鋰電池的重要原料。

In the DRC, a lot of cobalt mining is done by "artisanal (手工)" miners.

These miners use their hands and simple tools to get the cobalt.

And they do this for very little money.

These miners do this work because they don't have other work opportunities
(工作機會).

For many, this is the only way to make money.

Many people have been pushing the DRC government to make this work better and
safer.

The government has started to assign (分配) pieces of land for cobalt mining.

And many companies are starting to use better tools and equipment.

They are also training their miners.

Due to huge demand for lithium-ion batteries, cobalt mining will be important
for a long time yet.
________________________________

進入不需要器官移植的時代
A Future without Organ Transplants

Organ transplants help save lives.

科學的進步也幫助了許多的病人。

A lot of people around the world need organ transplants.

But there are usually less people willing to donate (捐贈).

And some organs can only be donated after a person has died.

Now, we may be close to no longer needing organ transplants.

Scientists may be able to MAKE organs soon.

They say stem cell technology has proven to be promising (有希望的).

Studies show it is possible to grow organs in a lab with stem cells.

Another technique, called 3D bioprinting (生物列印), can also be used to make
artificial organs.

So far, scientists have successfully printed several organs.

They have made a thyroid gland (甲狀腺) and tibia (脛骨) replacement.

They are not sure when they will be able to make an organ that fully works.

But the scientists believe they can do it in the next decade.
________________________________

So, in today's News Bites:

The Taiwan High Speed Rail says it is getting new trains.

The company has signed a contract with an alliance that is formed by Hitachi
and Toshiba.

The company is buying 12 N700S bullet trains from Japan.
________________________________

Cobalt is used to make lithium-ion batteries.

Most of the cobalt we use is mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Many people have been pushing the DRC government to make this work better and
safer.
________________________________

And,

Scientists may be able to MAKE organs soon.

They say stem cell technology have proven to be promising.

Another technique, called 3D bioprinting can also be used to make artificial
organs.
________________________________

And that's today's episode of News Bites!
________________________________

主播每周一問
Have Your Say

This week, we want you to have your say about your weekend.

Are you ready for your long weekend? Tomb Sweeping Day and Children's Day are
coming up. Tell us what your plans are for this 5-day-long weekend.

Record your message and send it to newsbites@icrt.com.tw with your name and
age, and if you'd like, the name of your school.

Send us your recording by Thursday at noon, and you might hear your message
on our show on Friday!