Shownotes Transcript
Hi there.
You’re listening to an all-new episode of News Bites.
I’m Jacob Ingram. And I’m Nancy Sun.
In today's news: Taiwan delves into space exploration, and a passenger plane missing windows.
And in today’s tasty tidbit: The fear of long words.
Stay tuned for those stories, coming up next.
台灣加入「巨型麥哲倫望遠鏡」計畫 Taiwan Teaming Up with Six Countries to Build Giant Magellan Telescope
Taiwan is known for many things.
Among them are high-tech manufacturing, night markets, scenic landscapes …
Don’t forget bubble milk tea.
Oh yeah, thanks for reminding me.
You know, I haven’t had one of those in a while.
So, have you got any news for us today?
As a matter of fact, I have!
I was about to say … 我正要說呢 …
Taiwan might soon be well-known for its contributions to space exploration.
台灣正在深入太空探索領域.
Isn’t that exciting?
Taiwan is teaming up with six other countries to build something cool.
It's called the Giant Magellan Telescope, or GMT for short. 它叫巨型麥哲倫望遠鏡。
This telescope isn't just any telescope.
It's going to be one of the biggest and best in the whole world!
這架望遠鏡會很厲害的。
It will even be better than the famous Hubble Space Telescope.
You remember what the Hubble Space Telescope is?
It’s basically a super-powered camera in space.
It orbits the Earth and takes really clear pictures of objects in space, like stars, galaxies and planets. 它繞著地球運行，拍攝宇宙中的物體，如星星、星系和行星，拍攝的圖像非常清晰。
It's going to be built in Chile.
When it's finished around the year 2030, it'll be able to take super-detailed pictures of things in space!
Taiwan will be working with six countries on research on this new GMT telescope.
Those are the United States, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Israel and South Korea.
Taiwan is going to give light sensor parts (光感測器) and super accurate measuring tools (精密測定檢查儀器).
Scientists from Taiwan will also teach them how to do precise laser cutting (精密激光切割).
For Taiwan's astronomers, being part of this project is a dream come true.
Plus, by teaming up with other countries, Taiwan is making new friends in the world of space exploration.
飛機窗戶不見 Passenger Plane Missing Window
You won’t believe what happened in this next story.
A plane took off from London, bound for Florida.
It had 11 crew members and 9 passengers on-board.
But two of the window panes (玻璃窗) were completely missing!
What?! No way.
Shortly after take-off the passengers said the cabin seemed noisier and colder than normal.
Crew members investigated, and they discovered a missing window.
But by then, the plane was already 4000 meters in the air!
飛機飛到逾4000公尺高空才發現窗戶不見。
How can no one notice if a window is missing from a plane?
Crazy, right?
So what happened afterwards?
The pilots acted quickly, reducing speed and turning the plane around.
They touched down safely in London.
Thankfully, no one got hurt.
But it was a close call.
Inspectors then examined the craft.
They discovered a second missing window.
They also discovered a dislodged (鬆脫的) window and a window protruding slightly from its frame (稍微突出的).
They later found one of the missing panes on the runway.
But it was shattered.
So how did the windows in the plane end up getting damaged?
It turns out it could’ve been due to a film shoot that took place the day before the flight. 原來可能是跟飛行的前一天一場拍攝有關係的。
Air accident investigators think high-power flood lights on the film set may have damaged the windows.
These are really big and strong lights that are used to brighten up big areas, like a football field at night or a park when it's dark.
They're called "floodlights", because they flood the area with light.
The lights were placed fairly close to the aircraft, and shone on it for over nine hours.
This caused the stuff around the windows to become warped (扭曲的).
The investigators say if things were different, it could've been more serious.
So in today’s News Bites,
Taiwan is teaming up with six other countries to build a large telescope.
It’s called the Giant Magellan Telescope.
It will rival the Hubble Space Telescope.
When it’s built, it will be able to take lots of clear pictures of space.
And,
A passenger plane with missing and damaged windows took off from London, bound for Florida.
Crew members didn’t discover them until after the plane was over 4000 meters in the air.
Thankfully, the pilots landed the plane safely, and no one was hurt.
Investigators believe that high-powered flood lights from a film set damaged them.
趣味小點 Tasty Tidbit
And in today's Tasty Tidbit,
Did you know that the fear of long words is called Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia.
Uh, say that again.
Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia.
I give up.
This 36-letter word was first used by the Roman poet Horace in the first century BCE, which is around 3 thousand years ago.
Horace used that word to criticize writers who used too many long words.
And that's it for today's episode of News Bites!
If you have a fun fact or joke you'd like to share with us, record your message and send us your Tasty tidbit to [email protected], and you might hear it at the end of an episode.
We'll see you next time for an exciting new episode of News Bites!