Shownotes Transcript
Hi everyone, welcome to a new episode of News Bites!
I'm Kelly Kimura…
And I'm Nancy Sun.
Coming up next in today's news: Two Taiwanese grandmas are movie stars and scientists go deep in the ocean to find new kinds of life!
And in today's Tasty Tidbit…don't eat fried toothpicks!
Stay tuned for more on those stories!
台灣奶奶和外婆成為電影明星 Two Taiwanese Grandmas Become Movie Stars
During the pandemic (疫情), a movie director (電影導演)stayed at his parents' house in California.
He couldn't make any movies.
So he made videos of his grandmas.
This was nothing new.
He's been making videos of them since he was a kid.
His paternal grandma (奶奶)is 97 years old.
She says she feels like she's 100 years old.
His maternal grandma (外婆)is 86 years old.
She says she feels like she's 20 years old!
They're from Taiwan.
Now they live with their children in California.
They're like sisters (像姐妹一樣).
They sleep in one bed.
They take care of each other (互相照顧).
They cook, sing, dance, and read the newspaper together.
They do morning exercises (晨練), work in the garden (做園藝), and arm-wrestle (扳手腕) with each other.
They laugh a lot!
They even joke (開玩笑) about… uh, can we say this here? Farts! (放屁)
They have happy and sad times together.
In the end, their grandson made a short movie about them.
It's called Nai Nai and Wai Po, and yes, that's "Grandma and Grandma" in English.
Why did he make the movie?
Well, because of the pandemic, some people didn't like Asian people (亞洲人).
Some older Asian people were attacked (被攻擊).
He wanted everyone to see older Asian people as real humans, not stereotypes (刻板印象).
Then the movie was nominated (被提名) for the most famous award for movies in the United States (美國最有名的電影獎).
The grandmas were movie stars (電影明星)!
The grandmas dressed in beautiful red clothes.
They walked on a red carpet (紅地毯)when their movie opened!
They were in a famous fashion magazine (著名時尚雜誌) !
They wore custom-made designer clothes (設計師服裝) to the awards ceremony (頒獎典禮)!
The movie didn't win the award, but it changed the grandmas.
Thinking of her movie director grandson, Nai Nai wants parents to support their kids' interests and let them follow their own paths (奶奶希望父母支持孩子的興趣，讓他們走自己的路).
The movie made Wai Po realize she still has value in society. 這部電影讓外婆覺得，她在社會上仍然有價值。
She hopes kids will become closer to their grandmas and grandpas when they see the movie.
紐西蘭水域 科學家發現百種新海洋物種 Scientists Find 100 New Marine Species in New Zealand Waters
Did you know the ocean covers 71% of the Earth?
What's in it?
Well, we know about 240,000 of the ocean's marine species (海洋物種). Wow!
But there are many that we don't know about.
Scientists think there are over two million marine species!
Some scientists explored (探索) a very deep part near the coast (海岸) of New Zealand.
How deep was it?
Four thousand eight hundred meters!
Is that a lot?
Well, Jade Mountain (玉山), the tallest mountain in Taiwan and East Asia, is almost 4,000 meters tall!
The scientists found almost 1,800 marine animals!
So far, there are 100 new species in this group.
They think they will find more species in this group.
They found many new mollusk (軟體動物) species and three new fish species.
They also found a very small star-shaped marine animal.
It's just one centimeter wide (寬).
Nobody knows what it is.
Maybe it's a coral (珊瑚動物).
Looking for new marine species sounds fun and interesting. But is it important?
Yes, it's very important.
Marine ecosystems (生態系統) have plants, animals, and very, very small living things called microbes (微生物).
Marine ecosystems help life on Earth.
Their food chains include fish that feed billions of people.
Marine ecosystems take in about a quarter of the carbon dioxide (二氧化碳) made from human activities (人類活動).
The deep ocean has fifty times more (多五十倍) carbon than our atmosphere (大氣層)!
This is one way marine ecosystems regulate the climate (調節氣候).
Scientists are trying to understand more about marine life to help marine animals… and us!
So in today's News Bites:
Two Taiwanese grandmas become movie stars!
One grandma hopes the movie will help kids become closer to their grandmas and grandpas.
And…
Scientists explored a deep part of the ocean near the coast of New Zealand.
Understanding marine life is important because the ocean helps life on Earth.
趣味小點 Tasty Tidbit
And in today's Tasty Tidbit…
Don't eat those toothpicks!
When you eat, does food sometimes get between your teeth?
Maybe you use a toothpick to pick the food out.
In South Korea, some toothpicks are environmentally friendly.
They are made from starch.
Noodles, rice, and bread are some foods that have starch.
Hmmm. Does that mean we can eat the toothpicks too?
Well, no. But someone tried frying them.
Uhhhh…What happened?
The toothpicks looked like crispy rice noodles!
Many people tried frying toothpicks and posted pictures online too.
The South Korean government became worried.
They're telling people not to eat these toothpicks.
They aren't food!
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 your Tasty Tidbit to us at [email protected].
You might hear it at the end of an episode!
We'll see you next time for an exciting new episode of News Bites!