Hi there, it's time for a new episode of News Bites…
I'm Nancy Sun.
And I'm Hope Ngo.
In today's stories…
It's not all fun and games at the night market, and what really killed the dinosaurs.
And in today's Tasty Tidbit…
We know turtles can live for a long time. But another animal can live longer! Find out more at the end of today's episode!
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日本節目實測台灣夾娃娃機
Japanese Show Talks About Night Market Claw Machines
Night markets are a special part of Taiwan.
Many tourists enjoy visiting night markets when they are in Taiwan.
One of the most well-known night markets is Shilin Night Market in Taipei.
It is also one of the biggest and most-visited night markets in Taiwan.
Recently a Japanese TV show visited Shilin Night Market.
The hosts (主持人) of “Open Pandora’s Box Untouchable TV” visited the night market.
They sampled (品嚐) some local food and tried some games,
They then looked into what they called the dark side of the night market: claw machines (夾娃娃機).
Earlier this year, one of the hosts came to Taiwan on a family trip.
The children tried the claw machines.
But they couldn’t grab anything even after many tries (嘗試).
They said it was a very unhappy experience.
So the TV show decided to take a closer look at claw machines.
They spent $2,000 NT for 200 attempts.
They said they were successful just 4 times.
日本綜藝節目日前到台灣士林夜市挑戰娃娃機，夾了200次卻只中4次。
The hosts said the claws always seemed to throw the prizes in the wrong direction when they successfully grabbed one.
One claw machine owner said some of the machines are rigged (調整過).
This is to make sure the owners don’t lose money.
The owner also said that renting space in Shilin night market costs a lot of money.
Many people love going to night markets.
It can be a great place to eat delicious food and play games.
But sometimes there are stories about how night markets can be overpriced.
Or some people say they get "scammed" (欺騙，詐騙).
We all hope that night markets can be a fun place for everyone.
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導致恐龍滅絕的元兇是粉塵?
Did Dust Kill the Dinosaurs?
Dinosaurs dominated (統治) Earth a long time ago.
Then something killed them, leaving only their fossils (化石) deep in the ground.
Many scientists believe a gigantic asteroid (小行星) crashed into Earth about 66 million years ago.
The impact left a huge crater (坑).
The catastrophic (毀滅性的) impact caused Earth to go into a long dark cold winter.
After this disaster, 75% of living species on Earth went extinct (絕種).
Many scientists accept this theory (科學理論).
But what they don’t agree on, is what caused the long winter that led to the extinction.
There is now a new theory.
According to researchers, the asteroid didn’t kill all the dinosaurs right away when it hit Earth.
Instead, they think it was a slow process that gradually killed many species.
When the asteroid struck Earth, granite (花崗岩) was crushed into dust.
That dust floated up into the atmosphere.
And the dust was probably so thick that it completely blocked out the sun for almost 620 days.
During this time with no sunlight, plants could not photosynthesize (光合作用).
After the plants died, many animals that eat plants probably died too.
And next, predators that eat those animals starved (餓死) too.
Researchers think the dust may have stayed in the atmosphere for 15 years.
And this dust may have caused temperatures around the world to drop by about 15 degrees Celsius.
All this would change the ecosystem in a big way.
Many scientists believe it's not just one change that killed off most of the living things back at that time.
They say the asteroid impact was so huge that it sparked tsunamis, acid rain and wildfires.
許多專家推測就是這些災難造成了地球物種大規模的死亡。
Scientists still have to do more work on the granite dust theory.
But the data from this research could help further studies.
One day, we may know exactly what killed the dinosaurs.
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So, in today's newsbites…
A Japanese TV show visited Shilin Night Market and tried out claw machines.
They spent $2,000 NT for 200 attempts.
They said they were successful just 4 times.
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And,
A new theory says when an asteroid struck Earth, granite was crushed into dust.
That dust floated up into the atmosphere.
And the dust was probably so thick that it completely blocked out the sun for almost 620 days.
And this gradually killed plants and animals, including dinosaurs.
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趣味小點
Tasty Tidbit
Did you know that the world's oldest living animal is the Greenland shark? It can live for up to 500 years! The Greenland shark is found in the cold waters of the North Atlantic Ocean.
If you have a fun fact, a joke, or interesting news you’d like to share with us, record your message and send us your Tasty Tidbit to newsbites@icrt.com.tw, and you might hear it at the end of an episode!
Tune in again next time for an all new episode of News Bites!