Hi there, it's time for a new episode of News Bites…
I'm Nancy Sun…
And I'm Paz Bueno.
In today's episode…
Taiwan's tallest tree, fishing with dolphins, and the dangers of tire dust.
All that and more, coming up next!
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台灣最高的樹
Taiwan's Tallest Tree
Imagine you live on the 20th floor.
You look out the window… and see a tree as tall as your home!
That is how tall the tallest tree in Taiwan is.
It was found last June by a team called "The Taiwan Champion Trees".
The team is made up of researchers from the Taiwan Forestry Research Institute (林業實驗所) and National Cheng Kung University.
They found the tree using LiDAR (光學雷達) technology.
The team believed the tree was at least 79 meters tall.
They numbered it No. 55214.
This year, on Jan 30th, the team went to the place where the tree was growing.
They took precise measurements (精密測量).
They found its height was 84.1 meters.
It's girth (樹圍) was 8.5 meters.
This all means it's the tallest tree in Taiwan and East Asia.
The tree is a Taiwania cryptomerioides (台灣杉) tree.
It's around 700 to 800 years old.
The researchers also found several other trees in the area that are over 60 meters tall.
Overall, the team has found 941 trees that are over 65 meters tall in Taiwan.
This is all valuable data for research on giant trees.
台灣擁有豐富的天然資源以及原始森林。
The discoveries around the island never cease (停止) to amaze us.
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海豚與人類一起捕魚，雙方互惠
Dolphins and Humans Fishing Together
We know dolphins are smart.
Many of us have even heard stories of dolphins saving humans.
There are also stories of humans and dolphins working together to hunt fish.
But these are all told from the human point of view (人類的角度), until now.
Recently, scientists used technology to see how humans and dolphins work together to fish.
And both sides benefit (得到好處).
In Brazil, local fishermen have been working with dolphins to catch fish.
This alliance (聯盟) has been going back 150 years.
The water is really murky (混濁).
This means people can't see the fish.
But the dolphins use sounds to find them, like a bat.
They then herd (趕成一群) the fish toward the coast.
There, the people run into the water holding hand nets.
The people then wait for the dolphins to show them where the fish are.
This way they catch more fish in their nets.
And the falling nets push the fish into smaller groups.
This makes it easier for dolphins to catch the fish too.
Scientists are not sure how the humans and dolphins learned to work together like this.
But they have been doing this for many generations (好幾代).
This means young dolphins are learning how to do this from older dolphins.
But this partnership (合作關係) is in danger.
Pollution threatens the dolphins and modern fishing is replacing the traditional method.
希望人類與動物這樣的互惠合作傳統能保存下去。
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輪胎塵是什麼?
The Dangers of Tire Dust
In the last century, a pesticide (殺蟲劑) know as DDT was invented and widely used.
But scientists later found that DDT is bad for humans and the environment.
DDT was banned (禁止) in the 1980s.
But scientists still find DDT residue (殘留) in European soil and Spanish rivers.
Now, tire dust may be the pollutant that will have a great impact on the environment.
Every time a car is on the road, its tires rub against the road.
This makes tire dust, which flies up into the air.
Each year, around 6.1 metric tons of tire dust end up in our atmosphere and water.
It's now the most common source of microplastic pollutant in the ocean.
The dust is also part of PM 2.5 pollution.
This problem might get even bigger in the future.
More and more people are now using electric vehicles.
But EVs are heavier.
This means they could make even more tire dust.
路上的交通工具越多，輪胎塵的污染就會越嚴重。
Scientists are now trying to find ways to collect tire dust.
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So, in today's News Bites:
A team of researchers have found Taiwan's tallest tree.
It's around 700 to 800 years old, and is 84.1 meters tall.
It's also the tallest tree in East Asia.
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Scientists recently used technology to see how humans and dolphins work together to fish.
In Brazil, local fishermen have been working with dolphins to catch fish.
Scientists are not sure how the humans and dolphins learned to work together like this.
But they have been doing this for many generations.
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And,
Scientists believe tire dust may be a pollutant that will have a great impact on the environment.
It's now the most common source of microplastic pollutant in the ocean.
Scientists are now trying to find ways to collect tire dust.
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And that's today's episode of News Bites!
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趣味小點
Tasty Tidbit
Have you got the hang of our new segment, Tasty Tidbit yet?
Every day, at the end of each episode, we'll share with you a fun fact, a joke, or some interesting news. Make sure to stay tuned to hear it!
And we'd love to hear from you too! If you have a fun fact, a joke, or some interesting news 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!
We'll see you next time for an exciting new episode of News Bites!