Hi there, and welcome to a new episode of News Bites!
I'm Nancy Sun…
And I'm Hope Ngo.
In today's news:
It's all about the power of plants, with a tree that hits the moon, and a plant that comes back from extinction. Plus, BTS holds a free concert.
All that and more, coming up next.
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「撞到月亮的樹」桃山神木
Tallest Tree in East Asia is in Taiwan
The tallest tree ever measured in East Asia is right here in Taiwan.
The tree is a "Taiwania cryptomerioides Hayata" (臺灣杉).
These are very tall trees with long leaves like needles.
The wood from these trees is soft, but durable (結實).
It also has a nice smell.
And experts say one of these trees is the tallest in East Asia.
It's the "Taoshan sacred tree" (桃山神木).
And it's 79.1 meters tall!
That's about as tall as a 20-story building!
The tree is in Shei-Pa National Park (雪霸國家公園), in Hsinchu County.
The experts found it using lasers.
An aircraft (飛行器) flies up high into the sky.
Then it uses lasers to scan (掃描) the ground.
And this data is used to make a 3D picture.
With this picture, scientists can see what's on the ground, including really tall trees.
After the scientists saw the Taoshan sacred tree, they sent out a team.
The team went to see the tree in person, and measure it (測量).
It took the team a week to get to the tree.
And they were amazed at its size.
One of the experts used a saying of the Rukai people (魯凱族) to describe the tree…
She said it is "a giant tree that can hit the moon".
「台灣杉」是東亞最高的樹種，魯凱族稱它為「撞到月亮的樹」。
The experts think there are more than 900 giant trees around Taiwan.
They will wait until January or February to go look at other trees, because the trip will be easier during the dry season.
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科學家在火山口尋獲絕種植物
Extinct Plant "Rediscovered" in Hawaii
When an animal or plant goes extinct (絕種), they all die out, and there are no more living.
Any living thing going extinct is a terrible loss.
But sometimes, there's still hope.
The "Delissea argutidentata" is a green plant that can grow up to 10 meters tall.
It also grows small white-green flowers.
Scientists thought it had gone extinct a long time ago.
科學家以為這種稀有的植物很久以前就絕種了。
The plants were last seen in the early 1970s.
Then a single plant was found in 1992.
But it died in 2002.
And after that scientists thought all the Delissea were gone.
But just last year, they found three, growing in Hawaii.
The plants were found in a crater (火山口), on land owned by the government.
But only a few people know exactly where the plants are.
It has to be kept a secret, to protect (保護) the plants.
Experts also put up a fence around the plants, to keep them safe.
Scientists have now taken some seeds from the three plants.
And the seeds have grown into 30 new young Delissea plants.
Experts say this is a reminder to always stay hopeful.
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BTS在釜山辦免費演唱會
BTS Holds Free Concert in Busan
Fans of BTS had a chance to see them all together again.
The K-pop band held a free concert last weekend in Busan (釜山).
The "BTS Yet to Come in Busan" concert brought 52,000 people to the stadium (體育館).
And around 100,000 people went, with some people watching on big screens around Busan.
The concert was held to support South Korea's bid to host the World Expo 2030.
BTS在韓國釜山舉辦免費演唱會，協助釜山政府爭取主辦2030年的世博會。
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So, in today's News Bites…
The tallest tree in East Asia is right here in Taiwan.
The "Taoshan sacred tree" is 79.1 meters tall!
The tree is in Shei-Pa National Park, in Hsinchu County.
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Scientists thought the Delissea argutidentata had gone extinct a long time ago.
But just last year, they found three, growing in Hawaii.
They say this is a reminder to always stay hopeful.
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And,
BTS held a free concert last weekend in Busan.
The "BTS Yet to Come in Busan" concert brought 52,000 people to the stadium.
The concert was held to support South Korea's bid to host the World Expo 2030.
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And that's today's episode of News Bites!