Hey everyone, it's time for a new episode of News Bites…
I'm Paz Bueno.
And I'm Trevor Tortomasi.
In today's stories…
The ocean near Miaoli has a new wind farm, Rastafari children go back to school, and gulls decide what to eat.
Let's get into it!
________________________________
苗栗離岸風電場完工
Offshore Wind Farm Completed in Miaoli
Taiwan uses a lot of energy (能源).
Much of it comes from burning fossil fuels (化石燃料).
But as the climate heats up, we need to stop this.
So what else can we use?
One choice is nuclear energy (核能), but it is controversial.
Another choice is renewable energy (再生能源), such as solar power, water power and wind power.
And Taiwan has lots of wind.
So, the island country is leaning in to wind power.
The goal is to get more wind power from its windiest place… the ocean.
That's why offshore wind power (離岸風電) is growing quickly in Taiwan.
It's already one of the top countries in the world for offshore wind farms (風電場).
And recently, another project was completed.
The "Formosa 2" wind farm is off the shore of Miaoli County (苗栗縣).
If you stand on the shore of Miaoli, you can see the turbines (風力渦輪機) spinning on the water.
This wind farm can produce (生產) enough electricity to power 380,000 homes.
It's a big achievement for wind power in Taiwan.
But the country did not complete "Formosa 2" alone.
It partnered with companies from Japan, Australia and the US to develop this project.
台灣與日本、澳洲和美國的公司合作開發這個計畫。
And the next offshore wind farm, "Formosa 3", is already being planned.
________________________________
拉斯塔法里兒童 重返學校
Rastafari Children Return to School
Does your school have a dress code (制服)?
That means rules about what you can wear and how you can keep your hair.
These rules sometimes cause big problems.
In the African country of Malawi, hundreds of children have been banned from school for years because of their hair.
在非洲國家馬拉威,數百名兒童因為頭髮,被禁止上學多年。
But now they can finally return to school.
These children belong to a community called Rastafari (拉斯塔法里文化).
For some this is a religion, for others it is a way of life (生活方式).
There are many Rastafari around the world, including famous musicians such as Bob Marley.
As part of the Rastafari way of life, people will not cut their hair.
Instead, they wear their hair in long natural dreadlocks (長長的自然捲髮).
They believe it's important to keep their natural hair.
But, schools in Malawi did not let these students come to class.
Schools said their long hair did not fit the dress code.
For many years, Malawian children with dreadlocks could not attend school (無法上學).
Finally, the Rastafari community took the case to court (把這個案子告上法庭).
They said keeping children out of school because of their long hair was a form of discrimination.
他們說,孩子只因為長頭髮而不能上學,是一種歧視。
The court agreed, and ordered every school in Malawi to open their doors to students with dreadlocks.
Now, these students will no longer have to choose between their beliefs (信仰) and their education (教育).
_______________________________
海鷗用觀察人類來選擇食物
Gulls Choose What to Eat by Watching Humans
Do you like to go to the beach (海邊)?
If you do, you have probably seen gulls (海鷗).
These birds stay near the beach, and they love to eat everything humans eat.
Sometimes they even steal food from people (偷人類的食物).
But how do gulls decide what they want to eat?
A new study suggests that gulls figure out what to eat by watching what humans eat.
Scientists found this out by doing an experiment (實驗) at Brighton Beach, in the UK.
They opened two bags of chips (洋芋片) and tossed them on the beach.
Each bag was a different color.
Then, the scientist stood nearby and started to eat another bag of chips.
They watched to see which of the two bags the gulls would eat from.
Of the gulls that came to eat chips, 95% chose chips from the same color bag the scientists were eating from.
跑來吃洋芋片的海鷗,95% 選擇跟科學家們吃同樣顏色袋子裡的零食。
In other words, the gulls were copying (模仿) the humans.
Scientists think this is interesting, because it shows that gulls can pay attention to human behavior (行為).
It also gives us an idea about how to stop gulls from stealing human food.
If you don't want gulls to eat your food… don't let them see you eat it!
________________________________
So, in today's News Bites…
There is a new offshore windfarm near Miaoli County.
The Formosa 2 wind farm can produce enough electricity to power 380,000 homes.
________________________________
And,
In Malawi, Rastafari students with long hair have been banned from school for years.
Now these children can finally go back to school.
________________________________
And,
Scientists in the UK studied how gulls choose food.
They found that gulls decide what to eat by watching what humans eat.
________________________________
And that's today's episode of News Bites!