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 builds an underwater mailbox, birds have a special sense, and a video game movie is in the works.
All that and more, coming up next.
綠島設置海底郵筒 Taiwan's Green Island Installs Underwater Mailboxes
Even though we use computers and phones to send most of our messages now, we can still see red and green mailboxes all around Taiwan.
Mail carriers come to pick up the letters inside these mailboxes each day, and make sure they're all delivered (寄送) to the right people.
Well, the work of one mail carrier (郵差) might be more difficult now…
And that's because Taiwan's newest mailbox is deep in the ocean!
The mailbox is shaped like a "Teira Batfish", and is 6.4 meters underwater on the coast of Taiwan's Green Island. 這個郵筒是尖翅燕魚的形狀，位置在綠島北岸六點四公尺深的海水裡。
The designer (設計師) chose the Teira Batfish because it is especially friendly to people in the water.
There is also a similar mailbox on the shore (海灘上), so people who don't want to dive underwater will still be able to send letters from the beach.
And this is actually Green Island's second underwater mailbox!
Its first one was built in 2018, and is shaped like a seahorse (海馬).
And at 12 meters underwater, it was the deepest underwater mailbox in the world when it was built! 海馬形狀的信箱在海裡12公尺的深度，設置的時候是全世界最深的海底郵筒。
It took the people of Green Island over a year of planning to make these mailboxes, because of strong winds and ocean currents (洋流).
But they finally got it done, and now divers can put waterproof postcards (防水明信片) into the Batfish mailbox, and wait for diving mail carriers to deliver them.
So… where should we build a mailbox next?
科學家觀察到鳥類神奇的磁感應 Scientists Observe Birds' Mysterious Magnetic Sense
Look around you… what can you sense (感受)?
If you're listening to News Bites, then you can hear sounds… and you can probably see everything around you, too.
But can you feel which way is north (北方)?
Well, some animals can!
In the winter, many birds fly south to find warm weather… and they can feel which direction is south (南方).
For a long time, scientists couldn't understand why.
But this year, scientists have discovered a lot more about animal cells (動物細胞).
Many cells have tiny things called cryptochromes (隱花色素), which can sense light.
Cryptochromes help many animals feel the change from daytime to nighttime, and help their bodies know when to sleep. 隱花色素讓很多動物感覺到白天轉變成黑夜，這樣身體就會知道什麼時候該去睡覺。
Even humans have these cryptochromes in their cells!
But now, scientists are understanding more about how cryptochromes can also sense magnetism (磁力).
Using a special microscrope to look at the cells, they found that some of them would react to changes in a magnetic field, too! 科學家用特別的顯微鏡觀看細胞，發現隱花色素對磁場變化也會有所反應！
It might be hard to understand, but it means that some animals can feel which way is north, by feeling the Earth's magnetic north pole (地球的磁北極).
Scientists say it's even possible that humans are affected by magnetism (人類也受到磁場影響) in ways we don't understand…
Maybe someday we'll be able to use it!
新瑪利歐兄弟電影 New Super Mario Brothers Movie Coming
Another video game movie adaptation is in the works.
A second Super Mario Brothers film is in production.
It will be an animation (動畫), with a cast of famous stars.
Chris Pratt will play the title character, Mario, while Charlie Day will play his brother, Luigi.
新瑪利歐兄弟動畫電影明年第上映，克里斯·普瑞特當主配音。
Princess Peach will be played by Anya Taylor-Joy, and Bowser will be played by Jack Black.
This new movie is supposed to come out next December.
There was a live-action (真人版) Super Mario movie back in 1993.
It was not very well received.
第一部利歐兄弟電影1993年上映，評價不好。
So, in today's News Bites:
Taiwan's newest mailbox is deep in the ocean!
The mailbox is shaped like a "Teira Batfish", and is 6.4 meters underwater on the coast of Taiwan's Green Island.
It took the people of Green Island over a year of planning to make these mailboxes, because of strong winds and ocean currents.
And,
Many cells have tiny things called cryptochromes, which can sense light.
But now, scientists are learning more about how cryptochromes can also sense magnetism.
They can react to changes in a magnetic field, to help animals know which way is north.
And,
A second Super Mario Brothers film is in production.
It will be an animation, with a cast of famous stars.
This new movie is supposed to come out next December.
And that's today's episode of News Bites!