Shownotes Transcript
Hi there, and welcome to a new episode of News Bites!
I'm Nancy Sun…
And I'm Clifford Chu.
In today's news:
Taiwan says "no entry" to some animals, a special rock lands in the UK, and fish do math too?
All that and more, coming up next.
這些動物不可入境台灣 Taiwan Says "No Entry" to Some Animals
There are many kinds of animals in Taiwan.
But there are many, many more animals that can be found outside Taiwan.
The animals you see outside Taiwan might look cute or interesting.
But that's not a good reason to bring them back here to live.
Animals that don't belong in Taiwan may hurt the local environment (當地環境).
They might even hurt the animals that already live here, by stealing their food, or changing the places where the animals live.
That's why the government says it won't allow people to import (進口), or bring in, animals from overseas to live in Taiwan.
There are now more than 8,000 different kinds of animals that won't be allowed to come into Taiwan. 現在有超過八千種動物不准入境台灣.
These animals include raccoons (浣熊), and different kinds of birds like the Asian glossy starling.
Some reptiles (爬蟲類) and amphibians (兩棲類), like the green iguana (綠鬣蜥), are banned too.
Last year, the government found almost 20,000 green iguanas running around Pingtung.
The iguanas destroyed (摧毀) many farms, and many buildings.
Another problem animal is the giant snakehead fish (魚虎).
This fish is normally found in Africa and Southeast Asia.
But someone brought the snakehead fish to Sun Moon Lake.
And now they eat a lot of the local (原生) fish in Sun Moon Lake.
So if you see an animal when you are traveling outside Taiwan, remember that they are happiest at home.
特殊隕石現身英國 A Special Meteorite Turns Up in Britain
Meteors (流星) are space rocks that fly through the universe.
They move very fast, almost 100 times faster than an airplane!
Because they fly through the sky very quickly, they become very hot.
They usually break when they get close to Earth.
Then, the big meteors become smaller pieces called meteorites (隕石).
Scientists say our planet (星球) is hit by 6,100 meteorites every year.
We don't see most of these meteorites.
Most of the time, they land in places where there are no people.
大多數的隕石墜落在沒有人的地方，所以我們通常看不到。
But even if we saw a meteorite, we might not know what it is.
Most of them look like rocks (石頭).
Others look like pieces of metal (金屬).
But just because we don't see them, doesn't mean we should ignore (忽略) them.
Sometimes meteorites can be very important, because they give us important information (資訊).
In March, a very important meteorite flew over Britain and Northern Ireland.
After it crashed, pieces from that meteorite were found and taken to a laboratory (實驗室).
Scientists were very excited about this meteorite, because it was in good condition (狀態良好).
This meteorite was also special because it could help us learn more about life.
Scientists say they can use meteorites to find out how life began.
They say finding a meteorite like this one, is a "dream come true" (夢想成真).
魚會算數學嗎？ Can Fish Do Math Too?
We know fish can swim, and they can do it very well.
But did you know that fish can count?
Scientists that study fish say stingrays (魟魚) can add and subtract (加減法).
They gave the fish special tests.
魚類科學家透過特殊測驗，發現魟魚會算加減法。
If the stingrays gave the correct answer, they were rewarded (獎勵) and given food.
If they gave the wrong answer, they were left empty-handed (兩手空空).
And the scientists found out the fish got it right most of the time.
So, in today's News Bites:
There are now more than 8,000 different kinds of animals that won't be allowed to come into Taiwan.
These animals include raccoons, and different kinds of birds, some reptiles, and some amphibians.
So if you see an animal when you are traveling outside Taiwan, remember they are happiest at home.
In March, a very important meteorite landed on Earth.
Scientists were very excited about this meteorite, because it was in good condition.
Scientists say they can use meteorites to find out how life began.
And,
Scientists that study fish say stingrays can add and subtract.
They gave the fish special tests.
And the scientists found out the stingrays got it right most of the time.
And that's today's episode of News Bites!