Hello everybody, and welcome to News Bites!
I'm still Trevor Tortomasi…
And I'm always Paz Bueno.
In today's news:
Taiwan helps make a map of the universe, archaeologists find pizza's oldest family, and scientists say naps can be good for your brain.
Stay tuned for more on those stories, coming up next.
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清華大學 製作宇宙地圖
Taiwan's Tsing Hua University Working on Map of the Universe
At night, when you look up at the stars (看天空的星星)… the sky might look like a beautiful painting.
That's because all the stars are soooo far away, that our eyes see the sky as flat (平的).
So when we make a flat map of the sky (一張平的星空圖), we can see constellations (星座)…
And people have been talking about constellations for thousands of years!
But in reality (事實上), some stars are closer to us, some are farther away, and some are MUCH farther away.
So if we really want to understand the stars, then we need… a 3D space map (3D太空地圖)!
And thankfully, scientists all around the world are already working on this map of the universe (宇宙地圖).
The map uses something called the "Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument", or D.E.S.I.
It watches how fast each star moves in the sky, and uses that to measure (測量) how far away they are.
More than 70 research institutions (研究機構) around the world are working with the DESI, including one in Taiwan!
And this month, scientists at Taiwan's Tsinghua University (清華大學) have shared their data (分享了他們的數據資料).
It includes lots of information (資料) about the stars, and where they are in space.
When we put all this information together, it can help us see the universe more clearly, and learn more about things like dark matter (暗物質).
Scientists say, by the year 2025, we should have enough data to see parts of 40 million galaxies (四千萬個星系).
And maybe someday you'll be able to explore the universe from your own computer!
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考古學家發現古老的【披薩】畫
Archaeologists Discover Ancient 'Pizza' Painting
People have been making and eating all kinds of pizzas for many years.
Pizza can have meat toppings (肉類配料), like chicken, and pepperoni (香腸).
There are vegetable toppings (蔬菜配料), like spinach (菠菜)…
And there are even fruit toppings, like pineapple (鳳梨)!
But what were the first toppings that people ever put on their pizza?
Well, archaeologists (考古學家) might have an answer.
Archaeologists have recently found a painting, in the ruins of Pompeii, in Italy.
考古學家最近在義大利龐貝古城的遺址挖掘出一幅畫。
It was a painting of… pizza?!
Archaeologists found the painting on an ancient rock wall (在古老的石頭牆壁上), and they say it is probably around 2,000 years old.
It shows a large piece of bread that is round and flat, with some different toppings on it.
They say it doesn't have any of the toppings that we usually see on pizza…
But the painting was found very close to Italy's city of Naples, where the oldest pizza may have been invented.
So, if we haven't found the oldest pizza… we may have just found pizza's ancestor (祖先)!
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小睡一下 有益身心
The Science of Naps
Are you feeling tired?
Well, scientists say it might be a good idea to take a nap (小睡片刻)!
Recent research (最近的研究) has shown that taking a nap during the day could be good for your brain.
Scientists say that when we are babies, napping helps our tiny baby brains grow bigger.
我們在嬰兒階段，腦部會隨著睡眠增長。
But, of course, as we get older, we have more work to do, and there is less and less time for naps.
Meanwhile, scientists say our brains shrink, or get smaller, as we get older.
科學家說，我們年紀越大，腦部會逐漸縮小。
But when scientists looked at the brains of many different people, they found that people who take regular naps… have bigger brains!
但是科學家也發現，常常睡午覺的人，頭腦會比別人大一些。
I mean, they might be only a little bit bigger… but still, that's great news!
It shows that people who take naps may see their brains shrink more slowly (腦袋變小的速度會慢一些), so they can stay stronger, for longer.
There's one important thing to remember, though.
The research shows that most daytime naps shouldn't be longer than 30 minutes.
And they say that if you don't want to nap, then 30 minutes of exercise can keep you healthy, too!
Now, if you'll excuse me… I've got 30 minutes until I have to read the news… good afternoon!
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So, in today's News Bites:
Scientists all around the world are working on a map of the universe, with something called the "Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument", or D.E.S.I.
More than 70 research institutions around the world are working with the DESI, including one in Taiwan!
When we put all this information together, it can help us see the universe more clearly, and learn more about things like dark matter.
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And,
Archaeologists have recently found a painting of something like pizza, in the ruins of Pompeii, in Italy.
They say it is around 2,000 years old, and shows a large piece of bread that is round and flat, with some different toppings on it.
The painting was found very close to Italy's city of Naples, where pizza may have been invented.
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And,
When scientists looked at the brains of many different people, they found that people who take regular naps have bigger brains.
It shows that people who take naps may see their brains shrink more slowly, so they can stay stronger, for longer.
However, researchers say most daytime naps shouldn't be longer than 30 minutes.
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And that's today's episode of News Bites!
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Hey everyone… this is our last episode of the semester… and of the 2022 to 2023 school year!
We'd like to thank all of you for listening, and we want to thank the K-12 Education Administration of the Ministry of Education for supporting us, and helping us make sure that English learning can be easy for everyone.
We'll have more News Bites stories for you when the new school year begins!
