Hello everybody, and welcome to a new episode of News Bites!
I'm Nancy Sun…
And I'm Ryan Drillsma.
In today's news:
A new home for Sanpei, a "flower" on Mars, and a new ride at Epcot.
All that and more, coming up next.
日本大食蟻獸到台北動物園報到 Giant Anteater Arrives at Taipei Zoo
A furry (毛茸茸的) visitor from Japan is making a new home at the Taipei Zoo.
Keepers says the giant anteater (大食蟻獸), named "Sanpei" is now resting at the zoo.
Sanpei is a seven-year old male (雄性).
The zoo has another giant anteater, a female named "Cortesa".
The zoo is hoping that Sanpei and Cortesa will like each other, and produce offspring (生育).
台北動物園希望三平和Cortesa可以慢慢培養感情,成功繁衍下一代。
Giant anteaters have long noses, and a long tail with lots of fur.
They live in grasslands and rainforests.
And just like their name says, they like to eat ants!
These animals dig in the dirt with their long claws to find ants.
Then they use their long sticky tongue to pick up and eat the ants that come out.
The giant anteater is the biggest type of anteater.
Their bodies can grow up to 180cm long.
And they can weigh up to 40 kg.
They can't see very well, but their sense of smell (嗅覺) is more than 40 times better than ours!
The Taipei Zoo says Sanpei will rest and live by himself for 30 days.
Then after that, he might move in to live with Cortesa.
The number of giant anteaters in the wild are falling.
And the zoo hopes that Sanpei and Cortesa can help their species.
If everything goes well, visitors to the zoo might be able to see Sanpei by the middle of next month.
檢疫期滿後,三平會入住熱帶雨林區適應他的新家,最快4月中和大家見面。
火星探索新發現 像珊瑚又像花 Tiny "Flower" Formation Spotted on Mars
Have you ever seen a Martian "flower"?
Okay, it's not exactly a flower.
But it kind of looks like it.
A while ago, we talked about NASA's Curiosity rover, which is on the planet of Mars right now.
And just a few days ago, the robot was in the Gale Crater.
Scientists think the Gale Crater is about 3.5 billion years old.
And they believe it may have been a lake a long time ago.
The Curiosity rover was taking pictures of the crater.
And one of the pictures had a small surprise.
It's a rock that looks like a flower, or a piece of coral (珊瑚)
火星探測車發現一個看上去像「珊瑚」又像一朵「花」的東西。
In the picture, it looks big.
But actually it's quite small, smaller than a coin (錢幣).
NASA says the flower-like rock was probably made a long time ago.
Scientists say minerals (礦物質) in the rock may have been washed away by water.
Or, it might be made of bits of minerals stuck together.
Rocks like these have been found before.
Another rover called Opportunity was on Mars from 2004 to 2018.
It took pictures of something scientists nicknamed Martian "blueberries".
They are little spheres (球體), also made of minerals and rock.
These "flowers" and "blueberries" all help to show that a long time ago, there was probably water on Mars.
By August this year, Curiosity would have been on Mars for 10 years.
And it will stay there for many more years, to help us learn more about the Red Planet.
迪士尼透露星際異攻隊雲霄飛車內部樣貌 Disney Teases New MCU Ride
Florida's Walt Disney World will be getting a new MCU-themed ride that's sure to get fans excited.
The new ride is inspired by the Guardians of the Galaxy (星際異攻隊) movie, and it will open at EPCOT this summer.
新的星際異攻隊雲霄飛車將在迪士尼Epcot未來世界開幕。
The name of the ride is "Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind."
It uses Disney's special technology to create what its inventors call an "omni-coaster," which uses the park's special roller coaster system.
The ride doesn't actually use any stories from the original movie or its sequel (續集).
Instead, it comes from the idea that the planet of Xandar has come to Earth to set up a special exhibit (展示).
That exhibit allows the aliens to reach out to people from Earth so both sides can learn about each other.
So, in today's News Bites:
A male giant anteater from Japan named "Sanpei" is now living at the Taipei Zoo.
The zoo has another giant anteater, a female named "Cortesa".
The zoo is hoping that Sanpei and Cortesa will like each other, and produce offspring.
NASA's Curiosity rover is on Mars.
And just a few days ago, the robot took a picture of a rock that looks like a flower, or a piece of coral.
Scientists say minerals in the rock may have been washed away by water.
Or, it might be made of bits of minerals stuck together.
And,
Florida's Walt Disney World will be getting a new MCU-themed ride.
The new ride is inspired by the Guardians of the Galaxy movie, and it will open at EPCOT this summer.
The name of the ride is "Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind."
And that's today's episode of News Bites!