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:
Sweet drinks become a problem, scientists think about real lightsabers, and a Ukrainian show becomes popular again.
All that and more, coming up next.
多糖飲料造成台灣小孩常蛀牙 Kids in Taiwan Get More Cavities From Sugary Drinks
How many times do you brush your teeth (刷牙) each day?
Many dentists (牙醫) say you should brush your teeth at least twice a day.
And if you don't keep your teeth clean, you might get a cavity (蛀牙).
But there are other ways you can get cavities, too.
Researchers say, on average, children in Taiwan have more cavities than children of other countries in East Asia. 研究者說，台灣學童平均蛀牙的次數，比東亞各國家的小孩都多。
At the end of the year 2020, research shows that the average (平均) number of cavities per kid in Japan was 0.2.
And for kids in Hong Kong and Singapore, it was 0.3.
Meanwhile, for kids in Taiwan, the average number of cavities was a little more than 2!
That's better than the average of 2.5 cavities per kid, in the year 2012.
But it's still pretty scary!
And dentists blame (怪) many of the sweet drinks that are so popular in Taiwan.
Selling sweet drinks at school may be illegal (違法), but these days, many schools have very convenient sweet drink shops nearby.
Over time, the sugar in these drinks starts to make a thin film on your teeth. 過了一段時間，這些飲料裡面的糖分會開始形成牙齒上的薄膜。
And even though you can brush it off, it's still a good idea to see a dentist at least once every six months.
When you go to a dentist, they can clean your teeth much more than you do at home!
You can still enjoy delicious drinks and candy sometimes, but if you get a cavity, you'll probably regret it (後悔).
Take good care of your teeth, so Taiwan can show the world its shiny smiles!
我們能夠製作真的光劍嗎？ Could We Ever Make a Real Lightsaber?
The "Star Wars" (星際大戰) series is famous for a lot of reasons.
But one of the most popular things to come out of those movies was the "lightsaber" (光劍).
A lightsaber is a futuristic sword (未來的劍), made of a strong laser (雷射) that can cut through almost anything.
And ever since the Star Wars movies came out, many people have been thinking…
Could we make a lightsaber in real life?
More scientists have recently researched and written reports about this topic (題目), and there is some bad news and some good news.
The bad news is that lasers in real life are much different than in Star Wars.
Some lasers can get so hot that they can cut through metal (金屬)…
But it happens a lot more slowly, and not like a sharp laser knife.
And because each lightsaber's super hot plasma needs a lot of fuel, they are much bigger and more difficult to hold. 每一把光劍裡面超級熱的電漿需要很多燃料，而且真正的光劍應該會比電影裡的更大又更難握著。
The good news is, many people have already made their own versions (自己的版本) of lightsabers!
Many engineers (工程師) have made laser swords in their own way, and shown them to the world on the internet.
Either way, though, we're going to need to discover a lot more science, and invent (發明) a lot more technology, before we can make a real Star Wars lightsaber.
Until then, we've still got the movies!
烏克蘭喜劇電視節目變紅 Ukrainian Comedy Series Gains Popularity
A lot more people are paying attention to Ukraine (烏克蘭) and its leader right now.
Ukraine's president is Volodymyr Zelensky (烏克蘭總統澤倫斯基).
Before he became Ukraine's president in real life, he played Ukraine's president in a TV show! 澤倫斯基成為烏克蘭總統之前，已經在電視節目裡演過烏克蘭總統！
It was called "Servant of the People".
Zelensky's character is a high school teacher who becomes president, after a student's video of him denouncing corruption goes viral. 澤倫斯基的角色是一位高中老師，被學生錄影譴責腐敗之後變紅，成為烏克蘭總統。
The show was very famous in Ukraine, where it ran for three seasons (三季), and even had a movie!
And now, other countries want to buy the rights to the show (買版權), so they can show it to more people.
That's because Zelensky is no longer playing a TV show character.
He is a strong leader, who cares about his country's people.
So maybe he deserves the extra attention!
So, in today's News Bites:
Researchers say, on average, children in Taiwan have more cavities than children of other countries in East Asia.
At the end of the year 2020, research shows that the average number of cavities per kid in Taiwan was a little more than 2!
And dentists blame many of the sweet drinks that are so popular in Taiwan.
And,
More scientists have recently researched and written reports about how difficult it is to make a lightsaber in real life.
The lasers use a lot more fuel in real life, and cut more slowly than in the movies.
But many people have already made their own versions of lightsabers, using different technology.
And,
Before Volodymyr Zelensky became Ukraine's president in real life, he played Ukraine's president in a TV show.
The show was very famous in Ukraine, where it ran for three seasons, and even had a movie.
Now, other countries want to buy the rights to the show, so they can show it to more people.
And that's today's episode of News Bites!