________________________________

Hi there, it's an all-new episode of News Bites.

I'm Nancy Sun.

And I'm Hope Ngo.

In today's news:

Changes in radio, and a cat beamed back from outer space!

And in today's Tasty Tidbit:

Sit back with a bucket of popcorn, we're taking you to the movies! Stay tuned
for that and more, coming up next.

________________________________

廣播聽眾9年流失逾4成
What's in the Future of Radio?


Do you listen to the radio?

Many people who grew up in the 80s and 90s remember tuning in to their
favorite radio programs every day.

During that time, the radio kept people company (陪伴).

But now in the digital era, the number of radio listeners have been falling.

The government took a new survey.

This survey is done every 3 years.

The survey found that radio listeners have dropped more than 40% in 9 years.

Nowadays, people watch videos or surf the internet on their cellphones.

Others listen to music or podcasts.

The majority (大多數) of radio listeners are the drivers on the road.

They listen to traffic reports or the news while commuting (通勤).

Other loyal listeners say that they like the real-time (即時) effects of a
radio program.

That's because most programs are hosted live by a DJ.

It can feel like the DJ is talking to you.

Listeners also like the feeling of nostalgia (懷舊) and surprise when a
familiar oldie (老歌) is played.

Many listeners even enjoy calling in to shows to share their comments.

Even though the number of listeners is declining, the radio still is still
irreplaceable (不可取代) in some ways.

Radio transmission is more convenient and would work in the situation of war.

電視及網路訊號比較容易被切斷，但廣播不會。

Some experts say radio stations should consider transforming to "listen on
demand."

Whatever changes it might adopt, it looks like radio broadcasting will still
be around for quite some time.

________________________________

"喵星人"影片從外太空傳回地球
NASA Streams Cat Video from Space


Cats can be funny, and a bit strange.

Sometimes, it's almost like they're from another planet.

NASA has sent a video from space, back to Earth.

The video shows a cat playing.

This cat wasn't an alien though!

The video was filmed on Earth.

NASA was using the video to test technology for communicating from space.

It did not send the video using traditional radio waves.

Instead, NASA used infrared (紅外線) laser to send the video.

They put the laser on a spacecraft named "Psyche".

Psyche was launched into space in October 2023.

It is heading for an asteroid belt (小行星帶) between Mars and Jupiter.

And Psyche sent the video back to Earth, from a distance of more than 30
million kilometers away!

That's about 80 times the distance between Earth and the Moon!

NASA wanted to send a video that would be meaningful, but also fun.

So they chose the 15-second video of an orange cat, named Tater, chasing a
laser pointer.

This video took less than 2 minutes in ultra-high definition (解析度).

That's faster than most broadband (寬頻) internet connections.

This is a breakthrough in space communication.

This type of technology is already used in satellites orbiting around Earth
and the Moon.

But this experiment shows that we can now send visual communications from
beyond Earth's orbit (軌道).

Psyche is still moving further out into space.

And NASA will try to send their cat video every week.

They will keep doing this until Psyche reaches a distance similar to Mars
later this year.

They hope in the future, astronauts will be able to use this technology to
send videos from Mars, or even further.

往後的太空通訊應該會更快速更可靠。

Wouldn't it be interesting if someone or something other than humans received
the transmission?
________________________________

So, in today's News Bites:

A government survey finds that radio listeners have dropped more than 40% in
9 years.

Some people focus more on videos and social media on their cellphones.

But radio broadcasting is very important during emergency situations.

________________________________

And,

NASA has sent a video from space, back to Earth, showing a cat playing.

This experiment shows that we can now send visual communications from beyond
Earth's orbit.

NASA hopes in the future, astronauts will be able to use this technology to
send videos from Mars, or even further.
________________________________

趣味小點
Tasty Tidbit

And in today's Tasty Tidbit...

Lights, camera, action! It's all about movie magic today...

You ready?

Why can't you give Elsa a balloon?

Because, she'll "Let It Go"!

And now, 12-year-old Ben from Niao Song Elementary School in Yunlin tells us
about his favorite movie!

******

And that's it for today's episode of News Bites!

If you have a fun fact, a joke, or interesting news you'd like to share with
us, record your message and send us your Tasty Tidbit to
newsbites@icrt.com.tw, and you might hear it at the end of an episode!

We'll see you next time for an exciting new episode of News Bites!
 

________________________________

Hi there, it's an all-new episode of News Bites.

I'm Nancy Sun.

And I'm Brody Halverson.

In today's news:

A mythical beast arrives in Taiwan, and a teen beats a legend.

And in today's Tasty Tidbit:

Earth get hiccups? How on Earth does that happen? Find out at the end of the
episode!
________________________________

台灣燈會 主燈「龍來台灣」亮相
Giant Dragon on Show at Taiwan Lantern Festival


Get ready to roar, because the Year of the Dragon is soaring into town!

The Taiwan Lantern Festival is coming up.

It runs from February 24th to March 10th.

And this year, it's all about a mythical beast, the Dragon.

For the festival, the ancient city of Tainan will light up with lanterns.

The star of the show will be a dragon lantern that is 22 meters tall.

That taller than 3 giraffes stacked (堆疊) on top of each other!

But this dragon is not just amazing in size.

The artist who designed the dragon lantern is Peng Li-chen.

She says she was inspired by a famous landmark (地標) in Tainan...

The Grand Matsu Temple!

The artist says the flying dragons on top of the temple helped her come up
with the idea for the dragon lantern.

主燈「龍來台灣」是知名藝術家彭力真的作品，靈感來自台南大天后宮殿前石柱上的飛龍。

The dragon lantern will be lit up using solar energy.

This cuts the use of electricity, and helps the environment.

And visitors can also take some dragon spirit home.

This year's handheld lantern is also dragon-shaped.

The small lantern can also be used as a bag and a toy.

Open it up...

And watch things magically disappear into the dragon's mouth!

What's more, Tainan is not the only place to find some festival fun.

Up north, Taipei will show a 10-meter-tall dragon for its lantern festival
this year.

And this dragon is made with parts recycled from last year's rabbit lantern!

This shows that sustainability can be dazzling (耀眼的)!

And heading back south, Kaohsiung is celebrating the festival with a giant
yellow rubber duck.

The duck is a piece of art made by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman.

It will float in the Love River Bay for about a month.

Sounds like there's something for everyone during the Lantern Festival this
year.

Get ready to enjoy the magic of light and tradition in Taiwan.

________________________________

13 歲少年攻破"俄羅斯方塊"創世界首例
Teen Beats Tetris


Hey gamers!

Get ready for a story that will blow your blocks off!

A teen in the US has beaten (打敗) a legendary video game.

He beat Tetris (俄羅斯方塊)!

In this puzzle game, blocks fall from the top of the screen.

The blocks are all kinds of different shapes.

The player has to try to move and turn the shapes to make full lines.

A full line disappears (消失), leaving space for new lines.

If the lines build up to the top of the screen, the player loses, and the
game is over.

But 13-year-old Willis Gibson lasted for so long, that the game froze!

Tetris was made more than 40 years ago.

And for a long time, the best players only got up to level 29.

Then in 2010, a player reached level 30.

But Willis played the game all the way up to level 157!

And he did it in 38 minutes!

In that moment, the blocks stopped coming down.

And the screen froze.

This means the game crashed, and Willis won!

Willis Gibson是第一個在任天堂版本的俄羅斯方塊遊戲中讓畫面陷入死當的人。

Willis thought he was going to faint (昏倒).

He said he couldn't feel his fingers anymore!

The teen has been playing Tetris since he was 11 years old.

He has competed in gaming tournaments (比賽).

But this may be one of his biggest achievements yet.

Before Willis, only artificial intelligence bots had beaten Tetris.

Now many people are trying to beat Willis' achievement.

This shows that even the oldest games can hold new challenges!
________________________________

So, in today's News Bites:

The ancient city of Tainan will light up with lanterns for the Taiwan Lantern
Festival.

The star of the show will be a dragon lantern that is 22 meters tall.

The artist who designed the dragon lantern said she was inspired by the Grand
Matsu Temple!
________________________________

And,

A teen in the US has beaten the legendary video game Tetris.

13-year-old Willis Gibson played the game all the way up to level 157!

This made the game freeze.

Before Willis, only artificial intelligence bots had beaten Tetris.
________________________________

趣味小點
Tasty Tidbit

And in today's Tasty Tidbit...

Oh no, I've got the hiccups!

Hiccups are when you can't stop yourself from taking a sudden breath. It's
like a muscle spasm. We don't know why it happens, but we've all had it.

But did you know that Earth has something like hiccups every few years? It's
called the Chandler Wobble, and it makes our planet shake ever so slightly,
kind of like jelly!

You see, the Earth is not perfectly round like a ball. And this means the Sun
and Moon will pull on the Earth in different ways, making the Earth "wobble".

Don't worry, it's only very slight shaking once every few years!

And that's it for today's episode of News Bites!

If you have a fun fact, a joke, or interesting news you'd like to share with
us, record your message and send us your Tasty Tidbit to
newsbites@icrt.com.tw, and you might hear it at the end of an episode!

We'll see you next time for an exciting new episode of News Bites!
 

________________________________

Hey you guys! It's time for a new episode of News Bites.

I'm Paz Bueno.

And I'm Brody Halverson.

Today's stories...
Cosplayers have a wonderful night at the museum, and people try to get
treasure from the bottom of the sea.

And in today's Tasty Tidbit…growing teeth!

Let's dive into these stories.
________________________________

Cosplayers來到故宮博物院
Cosplayers Come to National Palace Museum

Do you like cosplay?

That's short for "costume play".

It's a fun kind of art, where people dress as their favorite characters.

Cosplayers get together to show off their costumes, take photos and have fun.

They usually choose costumes from cartoons, comic books, movies and video
games.

But there's another kind of cosplay too, where people dress in historical
costumes (古裝).

This kind of cosplay can let you feel like you've traveled back in time!

For example, take the event at Taipei's National Palace Museum (故宮博物院).

The museum recently held their "Night of Revelry" (今夜嗨翻故宮).

Everyone at this party dressed in clothes from China's Han Dynasty (漢朝).

You could bring your own costume or rent one there.

The event was inspired by a famous painting at the museum, called "Spring
Morning in the Han Palace" by the painter Chiu Ying.
活動的靈感來自博物館內畫家仇英的一幅名畫《漢宮春曉圖》。

This painting shows nobles (貴族) living in a huge palace in imperial China.

There are princes and princesses, court musicians and officials, dancers and
gardeners.

These nobles are all painted with beautiful clothes.

They are relaxing peacefully and showing off their elegant manners.

The cosplayers at the museum wanted to copy these scenes in real life.

They hoped to recreate the feeling of life in the palace.
Cosplayers想要重現古代生活的感覺。

The event was really popular.

More than 3,000 people took part.

The cosplayers took photos with each other, and with historical items from
the museum.

There was a fashion show (時裝秀), and an orchestra (國樂團) playing ancient
music.

There were even artists to paint portraits (肖像) of the cosplayers.

It was a warm feeling for everyone there that night.

If you missed the event, don't worry...

The National Palace Museum will have another party next winter.
________________________________

哥倫比亞打撈 沈船上的寶藏
Colombia Recovers Sunken Treasure

Have you ever heard of "sunken treasure" (沉沒的寶藏)?

That means treasure at the bottom of the ocean.

Sometimes, a ship sinks with some expensive things on it.

The treasure can sit underwater for a long time, waiting for someone to find
it.

That's what happened in Colombia (哥倫比亞).

It's a country in South America, near the Caribbean Sea (加勒比海).

More than 300 years ago, a ship called the San Jose sank in this sea.

The San Jose was a Spanish treasure ship.

The ship was filled with millions of gold and silver coins, as well as
precious gems.
這艘船當時滿載金幣，銀幣和寶石。

For years, everyone thought it was lost.

But in 2015, the ship was found at the bottom of the ocean.

Now, the government of Colombia says they want to collect the treasure.
哥倫比亞政府現在說，它要打撈這些寶藏。

They say since this ship is off the coast of Colombia, it belongs to Colombia.

Plus, the treasure came from South America (南美洲) in the first place.

They say this treasure should return to the people of South America.

But other people think it's a bad idea.

They worry the government will destroy the ship's remains (船的殘骸), so they
can grab the treasure.

They also worry that Colombia might just sell off the treasure.

It's a lot of treasure, estimated to be worth billions of dollars.
寶藏估計價值數十億美元。

Besides, other people want that treasure too.

It will not be easy to decide who gets the treasure, or what to do with it.

But, Colombia's government is moving ahead with the plan.

They want to start collecting the treasure in April or May.
他們想在四月或五月開始把這批寶藏弄到手。

And nobody knows how much treasure is really on the San Jose.
________________________________

So, in today's News Bites:

The National Palace Museum recently held a cosplay event.

More than 3,000 people dressed in historical costumes.

They wanted to re-create a famous painting, called "Spring Morning in the Han
Palace".
________________________________

And,

A country in South America wants to get treasure from the bottom of the ocean.

Colombia plans to raise the treasure of the San Jose this spring.

It has gold, silver and gems worth billions of dollars.

But people disagree over what should happen to the treasure.
________________________________

趣味小點
Tasty Tidbit

Have you ever lost a tooth and wish you could just grow a new one?

Well, scientists are able to do that!

…sort of.

They can take special cells from baby teeth and use them to grow new ones!

It takes 15 years.

They haven't grown a whole mouth yet, but soon, everyone might have their own
tooth garden!

No more fake teeth, just your own sparkly smile!

So take care of your baby teeth if you have them, because they might sprout
something amazing!

If you have a fun fact, a joke, or interesting news you??d like to share with
us, record your message and send us your Tasty Tidbit to
newsbites@icrt.com.tw, and you might hear it at the end of an episode!

We'll see you next time for an exciting new episode of News Bites!
 

________________________________

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

I'm Paz Bueno.

And I'm Jacob Ingram.

In today's stories...
A sword dancer goes to France, and monkeys see some old friends.

And in today's Tasty Tidbit…a fact about rats!

Let's get into it!
________________________________

台灣劍舞者走紅法國
Taiwanese Sword Dancer Famous in France

Do you like dancing?

Sure, it's fun.

Lots of people know how to dance.

But can you dance with swords?

That's right! It's called sword dancing (劍舞).

It's difficult, it's dangerous, and it looks amazing.

In fact, a sword dancer from Taiwan has become famous in France.

The dancer's name is Tsai Hong-yi (蔡宏毅), but everyone calls him Titos Tsai.

Recently, Titos danced on a TV show called "La France a un Incroyable Talent".

It's a popular talent show, and the French people voted him into second place.
Titos在法國熱門選秀節目中獲得第二名。

It was all because of his incredible performance.

First, Titos dances with two flaming swords (火焰劍舞).

He flips them around and throws them in the air.

Then, Titos does a blindfolded dance (蒙著眼睛跳舞).

A cloth is tied over his eyes so he can't see anything.

But he still does the dance perfectly.

Titos even shaved his head bald, so he could spin a sword on his head.

Finally, he dances with six swords at once (六劍舞).

He not only uses his hands, but also his back, his knees and his feet.

Just when you think he's about to drop them, Titos keeps his balance
(保持了平衡).

The show's judges were very impressed.
節目的評審團印象深刻。

How did he put on such a successful dance?

Titos says he used Taiwanese culture for his performance.

While he is dancing, four Taiwanese drummers (鼓手) play music for him.

Titos says he used to dance at temple fairs and parades in Taiwan.
Titos曾經在台灣的廟會和遊行中跳舞。

In 2020, he started putting videos online.

He said he wanted to allow the world to see Taiwan.

His videos were viewed over 100 million times.

Last year, Titos went on an American talent show.

The American judges liked him, but he did not get picked.

But he kept going, finally appearing on the French talent show.

He says French people were able to notice the creativity of his performances.
Titos說法國人注意到他表演的創意。

He thanked his fans from France, Taiwan and around the world for supporting
him.
________________________________

猴子可以認出老朋友
Monkeys Can Recognize Old Friends

Have you ever run into an old friend?

You might meet someone on the street who you haven't seen for years.

Maybe your childhood friend, or your elementary school classmate.

You may not even recognize them!

Especially if it's been a long time since you saw them last.
久別重逢的老朋友，你可能都認不出來了！

Scientists recently did a study (研究) about recognizing old friends.

Only it wasn't with people.

It was with monkeys (猴子).

They wanted to know if monkeys could recognize their old friends.

The scientists tested two kinds of monkeys, chimps and bonobos.
科學家研究了黑猩猩和倭黑猩猩。

Amazingly, these monkeys could recognize other monkeys they had spent time
with, even if they hadn't seen each other in decades.

It was a surprising result.

Scientists didn't expect these animals to have such a long memory (長記憶力).

How did they do the test?

The scientists showed each monkey two photos (兩張照片).

One photo was another monkey they used to know.

The other photo was another monkey they had never met.

Then, the scientists watched the monkey's eyes as it looked at the two photos.

They found that monkeys pay a lot more attention to pictures of other monkeys
they knew.
猴子們花更多的時間看它們以前認識的猴子的照片。

What's more, the monkeys spend more time looking at photos of other monkeys
they liked.

According to the scientist, that means monkeys remember each other better if
they had a positive relationship (正面的關係).

That makes sense.

Even for humans, we tend to remember the people we like, and forget the
people we don't care about.

So, monkeys are more like people than we thought.

They might run into old friends in the forest, and recognize them.

I wonder how a monkey says "long time no see?"
________________________________

So, in today's newsbites...

A Taiwanese sword dancer got famous in France.

Titos Tsai danced with swords on a talent show, and he won second place.

He got his start dancing at temple parades in Taiwan.
________________________________

And,

Monkeys can recognize their old friends.

Scientists tested monkeys with photos of other monkeys they used to know.

Just like people, monkeys remember the other monkeys that they like the most.
________________________________

趣味小點
Tasty Tidbit

Did you know rats can't throw up?

Rats have a special body design that stops them from vomiting.

They have a strong barrier in their throat and their muscles and nerves are
not set up for vomiting.

Instead of throwing up, rats have other clever ways to avoid getting sick
from bad food.

They learn quickly not to eat food that makes them feel bad.

Also, if they feel sick, they eat things like clay to help.

If you have a fun fact, a joke, or interesting news you'd like to share with
us, record your message and send us your Tasty Tidbit to
newsbites@icrt.com.tw, and you might hear it at the end of an episode!

We'll see you next time for an exciting new episode of News Bites!
 

________________________________

Salutations.

You're listening to an all-new episode of News Bites.

I'm Jacob Ingram.

And I'm Paz Bueno.

In today's news: A giant yellow duck returns to Kaohsiung, and a blind mole
unseen for 90 years.

And in today's tasty tidbit: The unexplored depths!

Stay tuned for those stories, coming up next.

________________________________

黃色小鴨鴨重返高雄
Giant Rubber Duck Returns to Kaohsiung

Something big is back in Kaohsiung, something that hasn't been seen there in
over 10 years.

Is it clear skies?

No.

Is it clean air?

No.

What is it, then?

A giant rubber yellow duck!
就是一隻胖大的黃色小鴨鴨！

How big are we talkin'?

32 meters tall!
三十二公尺。

That's about the height of a ten-story building!
那大約是一棟十層樓的高度！

The rubber duck hadn't been seen in Kaohsiung in over 10 years.

It was created by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman.

Last time the rubber duck visited, lots people came to see it.

This brought in lots of money for the city.

On January 27th of this year, over 40 thousand people gathered to cheer for
the duck's return.

Kaohsiung's mayor and Hofman himself welcomed the duck.

The duck is floating in Love River Bay (愛河).

But wait, there's more!

There was a baby race too! The babies wore duck-themed clothes!
還有一場嬰兒競賽！ 嬰兒穿著鴨子主題的衣服！

Tickets sold out fast.

It was a huge hit!

The babies might not have known they were racing, but they sure were cute.

Hotels also joined in on the fun.

The Grand Hotel had a fountain full of ducks.

Other hotels ran special offers.

One offer in particular was for those with the surname "Huang (黃)", which
means "yellow"; they could get a discount.

I'm getting Salmon Chaos vibes from this...

More recently, another giant rubber yellow duck appeared.

Another one?

Yeah, so now there's two apparently.

I guess the other one got lonely, or something.

The two ducks kissed on Valentines' Day.

Aww, fun!

So, if you're in Kaohsiung, go check out the giant yellow ducks, snap some
photos, and have fun with the events.

________________________________

科學家和狗狗 重新發現消失的鼴鼠物種
Scientists and Sniffer Dog Rediscover Lost Mole Species

Now, let's talk about something else that hasn't been seen in a very long
time.

Meet the De Winton's Golden Mole (德溫頓金鼴鼠).

This mole is considered one of the most-wanted lost species.
這隻鼴鼠被視為是最受歡迎的消失物種之一。

It's a tiny mole about the size of a mouse.
牠是一隻細小的鼴鼠，大約和老鼠一樣大小。

It has a shiny gold-colored coat that looks like sand.
牠有一層閃亮的金色外衣，看起來像沙子一樣。

It is blind (盲目的), and lives underground.

Even though it can't see, its sense of hearing is so good it can detect
movement aboveground.
它的聽覺非常敏銳，可以探測到地面上方的移動。

The species hadn't been sighted since 1936!

It had been lost for over 80 years.
已經消失了80年。

The last time it was sighted was in Port Nolloth, which is in South Africa.

But recently scientists re-discovered this mole!

De Winton's moles live in burrows (地洞) that are hard to reach.

They rarely leave tunnels behind them.

This makes them even harder to find.

So, how did scientists detect this mole?

They relied on samples of environmental DNA.

You know DNA, right?

去氧核醣核酸。

DNA stands for deoxyribonucleic acid in English.

That's quite a mouthful.
那個詞兒真是難唸。

Anyhoo, DNA is a molecule that carries genetic information for each living
thing.

Environmental DNA, or eDNA, is DNA that animals shed (脫落) as they move
around, like skin cells (皮膚細胞) and hair (毛).

In June 2021, the team went on an expedition to Port Nolloth.

Guess what they took with them?

... A sniffer dog called Jessie!

Woof! Woof!

With Jessie's help, they collected lots of soil samples (土壤樣本).

They looked for eDNA of the golden mole in the samples to figure out where
moles were located.

With lots of persistence and effort, eventually they found 11 of the golden
moles!

The team was ecstatic.

They said even though many people doubted the golden mole was still out
there, they had good faith it had not gone extinct (絕種).

Not only did they find the De Winton's golden mole, they also discovered
another rare mole called Van Zyl's golden mole (Van Zyl 的金鼴鼠)

And that, is how a sniffer dog and scientists teamed up to bring back the
mystery mole from the "sands of time"!

Let's keep exploring and stay curious!

________________________________

So in today's news,

The iconic 32-meter-tall rubber duck returns to Kaohsiung after a decade.

It was created by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman.

The duck's reappearance sparked city-wide festivities, including baby races
and duck-themed hotel offers.

The giant rubber duck was joined by another, and they kissed on Valentine's
Day.

And,

Scientists rediscovered the De Winton's Golden Mole, missing since 1936 in
Port Nolloth.

Using eDNA and Jessie the sniffer dog (Woof!), they found 11 of these moles.

They also found another rare species: Van Zyl's golden mole.

________________________________

趣味小點
Tasty Tidbit

And in today's tasty tidbit…

Did you know that more than 80% of the ocean remains unexplored and unmapped.

This makes it one of the least understood parts of the Earth.

The deep ocean presents numerous challenges for exploration, including
extreme pressure, darkness, and cold temperatures.

These conditions make it difficult for traditional exploration methods.

________________________________

And that's it for today's episode of News Bites!

If you have a fun fact, a joke or interesting news story you'd like to share
with us, record your message and send us your Tasty tidbit to
newsbites@icrt.com.tw, and you might hear it at the end of an episode.

We'll see you next time for an exciting new episode of News Bites!