Shownotes Transcript
Hello everybody, and welcome to a new episode of News Bites!
I'm Trevor Tortomasi…
And I'm Nancy Sun.
In today's news:
Taiwan wins medals in science, we watch the tiniest animals walk, and an actor might return to the Potter universe.
All that and more, coming up next.
國際地球科學奧林匹克賽 台灣奪金 Taiwan Wins Gold Medals At The International Earth Science Olympiad
Did you pay attention in science class?
Well, even if science isn't your favorite subject in school, it's very important to learn at least a little bit.
Of course, "science" is just one word, for many different kinds of subjects (科目)!
And this year, some students from Taiwan were in a competition (比賽) for those different subjects.
The competition was called "The International Earth Science Olympiad" (國際地球科學奧林匹克), also called the I.E.S.O.
It was held (舉辦) online, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but this was the event's 14th year.
The competition tests students in subjects like geology (地質學), meteorology (氣象學), environmental science (環境科學), and astronomy (天文學).
And Taiwan's team of high school students got first place!
Well, they tied (打成了平手) with the Australian team, but that's still pretty excellent.
Taiwan's team won four gold medals (金牌), and one silver medal (銀牌).
The winning students made science projects about subjects like "fundamental sciences" (基礎科學), "ancient creatures" (古代的生物), and "the mysteries of nature" (大自然的神秘).
And many of the students say they want to continue to do more science projects in the future. 很多參加比賽的學生說，他們未來還想要繼續研究科學。
Even if science isn't your favorite subject, it's important we encourage (鼓勵) young people to learn more about it.
Congratulations to Taiwan's science team!
緩步動物門的小東西 如何走路 Scientists Learn How Tardigrades Walk
There are lots of different animals, of all shapes (形狀) and sizes (大小), all over the world.
But there is one amazing animal so tiny that you almost can't see it!
It's called a Tardigrade (緩步動物門).
Even the biggest tardigrades are only one millimeter long (一毫米長)!
So scientists have had to use many different microscopes (顯微鏡) to take pictures of these tiny animals.
The word "tardi" means "slow", and the word "grade" means "a step", so the whole name in English means the same thing as in Chinese!
But even though they are named for their slow steps, scientists have only just learned how these tiny animals walk, since each Tardigrade has eight legs!
Scientists recently watched tardigrades walk across different surfaces, and found that their way of walking is very similar to insects. 科學家仔細觀察這些細小的動物，在不同的平面上走路，發現牠們走路的方式跟昆蟲很像。
They say it's a little strange, because tardigrades and many insects are very different sizes, and made of completely different stuff.
Scientists have also learned that their walk isn't the only interesting thing about them.
Tardigrades live in wet places, especially places with lots of moss (苔癬), so some people also call them "water bears".
But they can live almost anywhere!
They can live very close to the heat of a volcano, or in the snow in Antarctica (南極洲).
And they can even survive in outer space, with no air! 牠們連在沒有空氣的外太空，都能夠存活！
Now, you can find videos online of tardigrades moving their tiny little feet.
If you think they look weird, or scary, don't worry… they don't hurt people.
There is still so much to learn, from the little things we can't even see!
哈利波特主角想演新角色 Daniel Radcliffe Interested in Other Potter Character
The star of Harry Potter is willing to return to the franchise.
Daniel Radcliffe played the title role (劇名角色) in all 8 Harry Potter movies.
He now says he would be interested in returning for a possible reboot of the franchise.
Obviously, he would not be able to play Harry again.
哈利波特主角丹尼爾·雷德克里夫說他願意參與重新詮釋的電影系列。
Instead, Daniel says he would be interested in playing Sirius Black or Remus Lupin.
Those roles were played by Gary Oldman and David Thewlis in the original franchise, respectively.
Daniel says his choices are influenced (被影響) by the great experience he had with those actors.
He says those are some of his favorite memories.
There are currently no plans to reboot the Harry Potter movies.
It has been discussed recently though, because it is the 20th anniversary of the first film's release.
丹尼爾當然沒辦法再演哈利，但他說他對別的角色有興趣。
So, in today's News Bites:
Some students from Taiwan were in a competition called "The International Earth Science Olympiad".
The competition tests students in subjects like geology, meteorology, environmental science, and astronomy.
And,
The tardigrade is a tiny animal, only about 1 millimeter long.
Scientists recently watched tardigrades walk across different surfaces, and found that their way of walking is very similar to insects.
And,
The star of Harry Potter, Daniel Radcliffe, says he is willing to return to the franchise.
He says he would be interested in playing Sirius Black or Remus Lupin.
And that's today's episode of News Bites!