Hi everyone, it's time for a new episode of News Bites…

I'm Brody Halverson.

And I'm Paz Bueno.

Today's stories…

Aging farmers turn to robots to take care of Taiwan's farms, and a Russian cosmonaut sets a record for his time in space.

And in today's Tasty Tidbit…a mammal with no stomach.

Let's check it out.

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無人機取代老農夫

Drones Replace Aging Farmers

Do you know any farmers (農夫)?

Yeah, my grandma and grandpa are farmers.

They live in the countryside (鄉下).

They have been farming all their lives.

What about you?

No…Everybody I know lives in the city.

In fact, not many young people in Taiwan are farmers now.

Most farmers are older people.

According to statistics, the average farmer is 60-some years old.

根據統計，農夫平均年齡在60多歲。

Many of them will retire soon, and there will not be enough young farmers to replace them.

Who will grow the food and run the farms?

There are a few solutions (解決方案).

One idea is to invite people from other countries to work on the farms.

That's already happening.

There are more and more immigrants (移民) working in agriculture.

Another idea is to use drones (無人機).

Those are like robots.

People can control them remotely (可以遙控).

Many of the drones can fly, too.

That means they can move faster than people, and reach many places more easily.

無人機的移動速度比人快，許多地方更容易去。

Recently, the government has been trying a new way to use drones.

They are testing the drones in sugarcane fields (甘蔗田).

It's a lot of work to take care of them.

But so far, the drones have done quite well.

Each drone is even more efficient (更有效率) than a human.

What's the job, exactly?

They need to attach insect larvae (昆蟲幼蟲) to each sugarcane plant.

The larvae will become helpful insects, which will help reduce harmful insects.

A person needs an hour or two to do this for a small field.

But the drone can finish the same field in just 5 to 10 minutes.

It's a promising result (這是很好的結果).

Now, the government is cooperating (合作) with farmers to get more drones into the fields.

There are still lots of jobs for people on farms.

Drones can't do everything.

But they can go a long way in helping a new generation (新一代) grow food in Taiwan.

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太空人待在太空的時間 創新紀錄

Cosmonaut Sets Record For Time in Space

How much time can a person spend in space (太空)?

Most astronauts (太空人) only spend six months or a year in space.

They can't stay there for too long.

It's not healthy to spend too much time in a place with no gravity (沒有重力的地方).

But some do anyway.

Did you hear about the man who spent two-and-a-half years in space?

He's still there now.

His name is Oleg Kononenko.

He's a cosmonaut, which means an astronaut from Russia (俄羅斯).

Cosmonauts have set a lot of records.

The first man in space was a Russian, Yuri Gagarin.

And so was the first woman, Valentina Tereshkova.

Now, a cosmonaut has set another record.

俄羅斯太空人創造了另一項紀錄。

Oleg Kononenko has broken the record for most time spent in space.

He broke the record back in February, after spending 878 days in space.

How did he stay in space for so long?

Well, it wasn't all in one trip.

Oleg has logged that time during five separate trips to space.

Oleg是五次太空旅行加起來，總共待了那麼久的時間。

By the time his mission (任務) ends in September, he will have logged 1,110 days in space.

Most of that time was on the International Space Station, or ISS (國際太空站).

How does Oleg feel about his time in space?

He says as technology gets more advanced, the job has become more complicated.

他說，科技越進步，太空人的工作就變得越複雜。

He is also a little sad that he didn't spend more time with his children.

But he's proud (自豪) of the work he's done.

Oleg is still doing experiments (實驗) on the ISS.

There he works together with astronauts from America and other countries.

Even though Russia and America have a poor relationship right now (現在美俄關係不好), they can still work together to learn more about space…

…and both can benefit from the long experience (長期經驗) of Oleg Kononenko.

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So, in today's News Bites…

New drones are being tested on Taiwan's sugarcane farms.

The drones can work much more efficiently than people.

It's good, because many of Taiwan's farmers are getting old, and there are not enough young people replacing them.

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And,

A cosmonaut has set the world record for total time in space.

Oleg Kononenko has spent more than two and a half years in space over his career.

He's still up there, working on the International Space Station.

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趣味小點

Tasty Tidbit

Platypuses and echidnas are very special animals because they are the only mammals that don't have a stomach.

When they eat, their food goes directly from their throat to their intestines.

Scientists believe this unique feature evolved a long time ago, around 450 million years!

But, why platypuses and echidnas don't have a stomach is still a mystery.

Isn't that interesting?

If you have a fun fact, a joke, or interesting news you'd like to share with us, record your message and send us your Tasty Tidbit to [email protected], 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!