In today's news, with Trevor and Nancy:
Taiwan's offers mountain adventures, self-driving robotaxis take off in China, and scientists use human breath for gardens.
Stay tuned for more on those stories, coming up next!
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嘉義透過山林旅遊爭取穆斯林觀光客
Taiwan's Chiayi Woos Muslim travelers With Mountain Adventure
What's the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of Chiayi?
Usually, it's Alishan (阿里山).
The mountain is famous for its sunrise, sea of clouds, and forest railways.
But the mountain is not the only attraction Chiayi has to offer.
Recently, a group of Muslim (穆斯林) tourists from Malaysia was treated to a trip to Chiayi.
This was part of a travel promotion targeting Muslims.
Their itinerary (行程) included Zengwen Reservoir (曾文水庫), recreational farms, and a park on the Alishan range.
This was part of the county government's campaign to promote tours that included Halal-certified (清真認證) restaurants.
To be Halal certified, the food has to be prepared according to Islam Law (伊斯蘭法律).
For example, Muslims do not eat pork (豬肉).
Even the cooking equipment cannot ever come into contact with pork.
The animals used for food also have to be prepared according to Islamic ritual rites (儀式).
Although the requirements are strict, the government is confident that there will be more Muslim-friendly attractions in the future.
嘉義縣政府將致力於營造更多的穆斯林友善景點。
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中國大陸無人駕駛計程車掀風潮
Self-Driving Robotaxis are Taking Off in China
Imagine hopping into a taxi… and realizing that there's no driver!
This is a goal that car manufacturers are working to achieve.
In China, one company might have just gotten closer to making it a reality.
AutoX announced that it had rolled out fully autonomous (自動駕駛) cars on public roads in Shenzhen (深圳).
Previously, companies operating autonomous vehicles on public roads were required to have safety drivers inside.
AutoX currently has completely removed the backup driver or any remote operators (遠程操作員) for its cars.
The company released a video of its autonomous vehicle navigating (導航) on its own, through the city's downtown area.
The video also shows passengers getting in, and the vehicle veering past pedestrians to perform a U-turn.
The CEO says the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the need for contactless service (無接觸服務).
This led to the acceleration of the development of autonomous artificial intelligence, or A.I.
新冠肺炎的疫情加速了自動駕駛系統人工智慧的發展。
Although the A.I. for autonomous vehicles is not ready to go fully public, the developers are hopeful that the time is near.
So, don't be too surprised if you don't see a driver in your taxi in the future!
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科學家使用人類吐出的二氧化碳作為花圃的肥料
Scientists Use Carbon Dioxide from Human Breath as Fertilizer
We all know that when there's too many people in a room, the temperature rises.
This is partly due to the CO2 that we breathe out.
It traps the heat, causing the temperature to rise.
However, in Boston University, researchers put the gas to good use.
They directed the CO2 coming from a campus building's exhaust vents (排氣口) to a rooftop garden.
They grew two groups of the same plants, corn and spinach (菠菜).
The CO2 was directed to one group, but not the other.
And control fans were installed, to enable the researchers to control the amount of CO2 reaching the vegetables.
Over time, the researchers discovered that the spinach with CO2 grew up to four times larger than usual.
The corn also grew up to twice the usual size.
Other elements might have contributed to the growth of the vegetables.
But the researchers are optimistic (樂觀) that the system can be improved, and implemented (實施) in many buildings.
The concept of taking high concentrations (濃度) of CO2 from human respiration (呼吸) and using it on a rooftop farm is exciting.
Who knows, maybe rooftop gardens might produce better vegetables than farms one day!
或許大樓屋頂的菜園有一天會種出比農場更優質的蔬菜。
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So, in today's News Bites:
A group of Muslim tourists from Malaysia was recently treated to a trip to Chiayi.
It was part of a travel promotion targeting Muslims, and included a visit to Alishan, with Halal-certified restaurants.
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And,
A Chinese company called AutoX is making fully autonomous cars for public roads in Shenzhen.
AutoX currently has completely removed backup drivers and remote operators for its cars.
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And,
Researchers in the U.S. directed CO2 gas from exhaust vents to a rooftop garden.
Over time, they discovered that the plants with more CO2 grew up to four times larger than usual.
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And that's today's episode of News Bites!