Hi there, and welcome to a new episode of News Bites!
I'm Nancy Sun…
And I'm Trevor Tortomasi.
In today's news:
Taiwan through Street View, electricity through gravity, and Abba returns.
All that and more, coming up next.
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台灣登Google街景熱搜國家第8名
Taiwan is the 8th Most Searched Country on Google Street View
Do you ever use Google's Street View (Google街景) to see what another city looks like?
COVID-19 is still a problem in many parts of the world.
And using Street View to "visit" other places may help us feel like we are on a fun trip.
Now, Google has a list of the places most searched on Street View for the past 12 months.
And Taiwan was the 8th most searched country in the world!
Google公布了過去一年的街景服務使用數據，台灣是全球10大熱搜國家的第8名。
That means many people used Street View to "move" through the island.
Maybe they wanted to see what Taiwan looked like?
Taipei was the 8th most searched city.
Street View actually started in 2007 with just five cities.
And Google started taking pictures along (沿著) streets in Taiwan in 2008.
The most searched country in the world was Indonesia.
Others in the top five were the United States, Japan, Mexico, and Brazil.
And the most searched city in the world was Jakarta, followed by Tokyo, Mexico City, Sao Paulo, and Buenos Aires.
What about most searched spots?
Google也公布街景服務過去一年全台灣最多人瀏覽的25個地點。
Google says the most searched place in Taiwan is a convenience store in Lukang Township, Changhua County.
Other places that many people looked at include Taipei 101, the Baishatun Gongtian Temple in Miaoli County, and Hanshin Arena Shopping Plaza in Kaohsiung.
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用地心引力來發電
Making Electricity with Gravity
We have all heard the story about how Sir Isaac Newton discovered gravity (地心引力).
The scientist was sitting under an apple tree.
An apple fell onto his head.
And that helped Newton to come up with his "law of universal gravitation".
Many people now say that is just a story.
But Newton's law of gravity could really help us with a big problem…
Clean energy!
We are getting better at making green energy (綠色能源).
We use the sun, the wind, water, and many other things in nature to make electricity.
But what do we do, when the sky is dark, or the wind doesn't blow?
Right now, some countries will burn more coal.
But that makes more pollution (汙染).
So many scientists are trying to find ways to make and store (儲存) green energy.
This way, if there's no sun or wind, we still have electricity to use.
And some scientists have come up with an idea, with help from Newton's law.
When there is green energy to use, they can use it to lift something big really high up.
Then, when there isn't enough green energy, they drop the big thing.
The force of the falling thing can be used to make electricity.
It's making electricity with gravity!
Scientists are already trying out this idea.
One company in the UK made a gravity battery last year.
They used a big piece of iron (鐵塊) that weighs 50,000 kilograms.
They lifted it up about 5 floors high.
Then they let it fall down.
As the iron fell, the force helped generators (發電機) make electricity.
And they say one fall makes enough electricity to power 750 homes for a short time.
這個重力電池原型目前發電過程已經能短時間供應750戶的家庭用電。
The scientists think they can make bigger gravity batteries for even more electricity.
These ideas are still pretty new.
But they might help us find ways to live on Earth and protect it at the same time.
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傳奇樂團Abba辦"數位合體演唱會"
Abba Reunites for Virtual Concert
Do you know Abba?
You've probably heard some of their songs.
They're a pop group from Sweden.
They started making music together in 1972.
And they are one of the most successful (成功的) music groups in pop music history.
Recently, they held a virtual (虛擬的) concert.
The concert shows the four Abba singers, performing on a giant screen.
There are lots of lights and special effects (特效).
瑞典傳奇樂團Abba解散將近40年後，最近以"數位化身"在倫敦舉辦演唱會。
The four Abba members also went in-person to their concert.
The band says Abba is in their hearts, and the music is a part of them.
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So, in today's News Bites:
Taiwan was the 8th most searched country in the world on Google's Street View.
That means many people used Street View to "move" through the island.
And Taipei was the 8th most searched city.
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Scientists are making electricity with gravity.
When there is green energy to use, they use it to lift something big really high up.
Then, when there isn't enough green energy, they drop the big thing.
The force of the falling thing can be used to make electricity.
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And,
Swedish pop band Abba held a virtual concert.
The concert shows the four Abba singers, performing on a giant screen.
There are lots of lights and special effects.
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And that's today's episode of News Bites!