Shownotes Transcript
Hello everybody, and welcome to a new episode of News Bites!
I'm Ryan Drillsma…
And I'm Nancy Sun.
In today's news:
Net-zero 2050 for Taiwan, diapers for astronauts, and the last album for Abba
All that and more, coming up next.
台灣承諾2050年前達到淨零排放 Taiwan Pledges Net-Zero Emissions by 2050
Taiwan is ready to work towards an important goal.
That's what President Tsai Ing-wen says.
But what is that goal?
It's to reach net-zero emissions (淨零排放) by the year 2050.
Things like cars and factories produce greenhouse gas emissions (溫室氣體排放).
Greenhouse gases keep heat in the atmosphere, and this is causing global temperatures to rise.
If global temperatures rise by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius since pre-industrial times (前工業時代), climate activists say life on earth cannot continue.
溫室氣體讓熱氣困於大氣中導致世界溫度提升、若世界溫度從前工業時代提升1.5度，地球上所有生物都無法生存。
Global temperatures have already increased by over one degree Celsius since pre-industrial times.
Most countries have said they will reach net-zero emissions by 2050, and some, like Uruguay, Finland and Germany, have said they will reach it sooner.
Leaders of many countries joined an important meeting in Scotland recently, to talk about climate change (氣候變遷).
Taiwan could not join, but President Tsai Ing-wen said the country is working hard to reach net-zero by 2050.
She said the government will make a more "aggressive" (更積極) plan to stop producing electricity (發電) in ways that increase emissions.
And she said the government will think about changing the law so make the 2050 goal part of it.
One way of producing electricity that makes a lot of emissions is burning coal (燃燒煤炭).
Right now, 44.95 percent of the electricity Taiwan makes comes from burning coal.
So a lot will need to change for Taiwan to reach its 2050 goal.
Come on Taiwan, you can do it!
目前台灣用的電百分之44.95產生於燃燒煤炭，若要達成2050淨零排放的目標，發電方式需要相當大的改變，台灣加油!
廁所壞掉，太空人穿尿布 Astronauts Wear Diapers after Toilet Breaks
Only babies wear diapers, right?
Wrong.
Astronauts wear them, too!
太空人也會穿尿布!
Well, astronauts on the SpaceX flight back to earth on November 7 had to wear diapers.
Because the toilet on the space craft broke!
Engineers (工程師) found out that there was a problem with the toilet in October.
Toilets on space crafts are special.
There is no gravity (地心引力) in space, so engineers have to think of clever ways to stop everything floating around (到處漂浮).
When astronauts need to pee, they have to do it into a tube, and a vacuum sucks it into a storage tank.
太空人如廁時，需要使用真空管，真空管會把排泄物吸入蓄水箱。
But engineers at SpaceX found that the tube on their toilet broke, and it meant pee was leaking out (漏出來) onto the floor.
So, for a while, the astronauts had to wear diapers.
Space diapers are actually quite similar to baby diapers.
But they are extra-absorbent (吸收力強).
They are actually used regularly in space missions.
Astronauts often have to go on long space walks.
They cannot remove their spacesuits, so they have to "go to the toilet" in their space diapers.
SpaceX engineers have ensured (保證) the toilets are working properly on all their other space craft.
阿巴樂團不再出新專輯 ABBA's New Album Is Their Last
A classic music group is not producing any more albums.
ABBA released their latest (最新的) album in early November.
Called Voyage, it was their first album in 40 years.
It will also be their last one ever.
阿巴樂團的新專輯十一月初上市，是他們的最後一張專輯。
Even before Voyage was released, the group announced that they would not make any more music.
The band member say they're all quite old now, and all have health issues (健康問題).
Even some unfinished songs that they started writing won't be produced or released.
The band will star in a virtual concert in London starting next May.
團員說他們都老了，各有各的健康問題，所以以後不會再出新音樂。
So, in today's News Bites:
Taiwan is ready to reach net-zero emission by the year 2050.
44.95 percent of Taiwan's electricity comes from burning coal.
So a lot will need to change
And,
SpaceX astronauts had to wear diapers.
It's because their toilet broke.
Engineers are ensuring toilets work properly for next time.
And,
Abba has released their latest album, Voyage.
It will be their last.
And that's today's episode of News Bites!