Hey there! Welcome to today's News Bites.
I'm Nancy Sun…
And I'm Brody Halverson.
In today's news:
A first for Taiwan, and sponges to fight microplastics…
And in today's Tasty Tidbit….
Kangaroos are amazing jumpers. But there's something they can't do with their muscular back legs. Stay tuned to find out more!
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台灣自製氣象衛星
Taiwan's First Domestic Triton Weather Satellite
In 1926, the first liquid fueled rocket was launched.
Many considered this to be the start of the Space Age.
Since then, countries around the world have been competing in space technology.
Recently, Taiwan has also hit a milestone (里程碑) in space programs.
On Oct 9th, Taiwan successfully launched its own domestically-produced Triton weather satellite.
The Wind Hunter Satellite (獵風者) helps predict (預測) extreme weather events.
The Taiwan Space Agency says the satellite was launched from French Guiana.
TASA says the project was initiated in 2013.
The Triton project was the country's first try at using domestically-engineered weather satellites.
This means the satellite was designed and built in Taiwan.
獵風者是在台灣設計和製造的氣象衛星。
The name "Triton" comes from Greek mythology.
Triton is the son of Poseidon and has the power to command the wind and the waves.
Taiwan's Triton will collect data to help predict typhoon paths and heavy rainfall more accurately.
It orbits at an altitude (高度) of approximately 550 to 650 kilometers.
Weather is getting more extreme around the world.
And collecting and analyzing data to predict weather events is now more important than ever.
TASA says the project could help Taiwan become an exporter of key meteorological (氣象) data.
Over the years, Taiwan's investments in space programs had fallen behind neighboring countries.
South Korea began space program investments in the 1990s, and their budget is 4 to 5 times greater than Taiwan's.
TASA will have a big part in helping Taiwan catch up and play a part in global space programs.
It hopes Taiwan can help advance weather-related science.
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專吸塑膠微粒的合成海綿
Synthetic Sponges Soak Up Microplastics
Humans have been using sponges for thousands of years.
We use it to clean up, to paint and to do many other things.
Sponges are great at catching tiny particles in their pores (孔).
Both natural and man-made sponges can do this.
And this is why they might be a solution for one of our biggest problems, microplastics.
Researchers in China have made a sponge to pick up microplastics.
In their experiments, a specially-prepared plastic liquid is pushed through one of their sponges.
The sponge caught microplastics and even nanoplastics (奈米塑膠微粒) from the liquid.
The sponge's many pores (小孔) trap tiny plastic particles.
The sponge wasn't always totally effective.
But it could take out as much as 90% of the microplastics from the liquid.
The sponges are made mostly from starch (澱粉) and gelatin (明膠).
This means they are biodegradable (可生物分解的).
And the sponges are also very light.
You can put them on top of a flower, and not bend the petals (花瓣).
These sponges can be put in wastewater treatment plants to get microplastics out of the water.
Microplastics come from many places.
A lot of microplastics come from fabrics when they are washed in the washing machine.
All those microplastics go into the ocean.
Cleaning up the ocean is important.
保護海洋很重要。
But many scientists also agree that we should stop microplastics earlier.
They think we could try getting microplastics out of household waste water too.
And the new sponges may be able to help with that.
There are still technical problems to solve.
But researchers believe the sponges can be a solution for microplastic pollution.
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So, in today's News Bites:
On Oct 9th, Taiwan successfully launched its own domestically-produced Triton weather satellite.
The Wind Hunter Satellite will collect data to help predict typhoon paths and heavy rainfall more accurately.
Weather is getting more extreme around the world.
And collecting and analyzing data to predict weather events is now more important than ever.
TASA says the project could help Taiwan become an exporter of key meteorological data.
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And,
Researchers in China have made a sponge to pick up microplastics.
The sponge's many pores trap tiny plastic particles.
It could take out as much as 90% of the microplastics.
There are still technical problems to solve.
But researchers believe the sponges can be a solution for microplastic pollution.
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趣味小點
Tasty Tidbit
In today's Tasty Tidbit, kangaroos are known for jumping far and high. But did you know that they can't walk backwards?
Their powerful back feet and large tail makes it almost impossible for them to walk backwards. And this is part of the reason why the kangaroo is on the Australian Coat of Arms. The people who designed the symbol want to show that Australia is moving forward.
If you have a fun fact or a joke 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!
