Shownotes Transcript
Hi there, and welcome to a new episode of News Bites!
I'm Nancy Sun…
And I'm Trevor Tortomasi.
In today's news:
What fish are eating, the problem with stinky pears, and Scrat the Ice Age squirrel gets his acorn.
All that and more, coming up next.
海裡的魚到底吃到了什麼？ Taiwan Study Shows THIS is What Fish are Eating
Plastic garbage (塑膠垃圾) can come in many different sizes.
Some pieces can be as big as a box, while others can be smaller, like a bag or a drinking straw.
But when plastic goes into the sea, the wind, the sun, or the water breaks it into smaller pieces.
The plastic becomes so small that fish think it is food.
Because of this, Taiwan scientists have found what they call "microplastics" (微塑膠、塑膠微粒) inside the fish that we eat.
Microplastics are pieces of plastic that are smaller than 5 millimeters.
They are hard to see, even for fish.
This kind of plastic is very easy for fish to swallow.
And if fish are eating plastic, that means humans are eating plastic too.
The fish eat plastic, and the plastic stays in their body.
Then humans catch the fish, and eat the fish, along with the plastic in their body.
Many scientists are worried about this problem.
They looked at dried herring (鯡魚) and anchovy (鯷魚) from China, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, and Thailand.
And they found at least two pieces of microplastic in each fish they studied.
So far, the scientists say that if a person eats something with microplastic, they can get sick.
Because of this, they say we should think about what happens if we keep polluting the environment (大自然、環境).
Scientists say there is nothing we can do about the garbage that is already in the water.
But they say we can be smart by being careful about all of our garbage, because protecting the sea means protecting ourselves, too.
發臭的豆梨帶來麻煩 The Problem with Stinky Pears
The Bradford pear is a beautiful plant.
It is a tall, round tree, that grows lots of small white flowers.
And in the fall, the leaves turn bright red, yellow, and even pink and purple.
But the Bradford pear is also causing problems in the United States.
The tree was grown from the Callery pear, another plant which was imported (進口) a century ago (一百年前).
That imported plant helped to save pear orchards (果園) from a deadly fungus (菌類).
The Callery pear and the Bradford pear were very helpful then.
But they are not helpful now.
They grow very fast, which means they can steal nutrition (養分) from other plants near them.
They have big spikes (尖刺) that can destroy the wheels of a tractor (拖拉機).
And they smell very, very bad, which is how the Bradford pear got its nickname (綽號), stinky pear.
Even worse, they are very, very difficult to get rid of. 更糟的是，他們很難根除。
One farmer said that when he tried to take the spiky plant out of his garden, it grew back right away.
He tried to cut it down, mow it down, or even use a special plant medicine.
And it didn't matter what he did.
Farmers used to love the stinky pear tree… but they don't like the plant so much anymore.
Now, American agriculture (農業) officials are asking people to stop planting stinky pear trees, to keep them from places where they shouldn't be.
The story of the Bradford pear shows us why you cannot bring plants and animals from other countries to Taiwan.
Because once it gets here, you never really know how it will behave.
冰原歷險記鼠奎特終於吃到橡果了 Scrat the Ice Age Squirrel Finally Gets his Acorn
If you've ever seen "Ice Age" (冰原歷險記) the movies, you would know Scrat (鼠奎特).
He's the saber-toothed squirrel (劍齒松鼠) that can never seem to eat his acorn (橡果).
But now, the studio that makes the "Ice Age" movies announced it would be closing.
And it decided to make one more short movie.
The short film, which you can watch on YouTube, shows Scrat finally enjoying the acorn he has been chasing for many, many movies.
And he finishes the acorn with just a few big bites.
牠大大幾口就把橡果啃得一乾二淨了。
Fans may be sad to hear there will be no more "Ice Age" movies.
But they're glad Scrat got his happy ending.
So, in today's News Bites:
Taiwan scientists have found what they call "microplastics" inside the fish that we eat.
Many are worried about this problem.
So far, the scientists say that if a person eats something with microplastic, they can get sick.
The Bradford pear is a tall round tree that grows lots of small white flowers.
But the Bradford pear is also causing problems in the United States.
They have big spikes and they smell very, very bad.
Now, American officials are asking people to stop planting Bradford pear trees.
Scrat is the saber-toothed squirrel in the "Ice Age" movies that can never seem to eat his acorn.
The studio that makes the "Ice Age" movies announced it would be closing.
And it made one more short film, where Scrat finally gets the acorn he's been chasing.
And that's today's episode of News Bites!