作者，配音，編輯：(Nancy)

第二配音員：(Hope)

Hi there, it's time for today's episode of News Bites.

I'm Nancy Sun…

And I'm Hope Ngo.

So, in today's stories…

It's cats versus dogs, a shapeshifting robot, and Ed's new album.

All that and more, coming up next.

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喵星人大崛起

Cats Take Over Northern Taiwan

Are you a dog person, or a cat person?

你是汪星人還是貓奴？

This is asking if you like dogs or cats more.

Many people think you can learn a lot about a person by asking this question.

Some think people who love dogs more are fun and full of energy.

And some think people who love cats more are independent (獨立) and creative.

This might not be true all the time.

But it's still a fun question.

Here in Taiwan, lots of people have pet cats or dogs.

But which is more popular (受歡迎)?

New government data shows that there are about 2.2 million pet cats and dogs in Taiwan.

1.4 million are dogs.

And 820,000 are cats.

政府的新統計顯示，111年底，犬貓合計登記數量已達222萬隻，其中犬為140萬隻、貓為82萬隻。

So it looks like dogs are still more popular for now.

But the number of cats is slowly going up.

And that's especially the case in northern Taiwan.

The data shows that in Keelung City, 64 percent of pets are now cats.

And in Taipei City, 61 percent of pets are cats.

Overall, the city that has the most pets, is Taichung City.

There are more than 33,200 pets there!

Kaohsiung City has the most pet dogs.

And Taichung City has the most pet cats.

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變型機器人是真的？

Shapeshifting Robot

Robots can do many jobs.

They can build cars.

They can help us grow food.

They are even used for surgery (手術).

But soon, they may be able to do even more.

Scientists have made a new type of robot.

It's a shapeshifting robot (變形機器人).

This robot can be hard…

And it can be soft, like a liquid (液體)!

The robot is made of a special metal, called gallium.

Gallium melts (融化) when the temperature is around 30 degrees Celsius.

This means you could melt gallium, just by holding it in your hand.

And scientists also added in tiny pieces of magnets (磁鐵).

They control the magnets, to move the metal robot.

And they can also use the magnets to make the robot hot.

When the robot gets over 30 degrees, it melts and becomes a liquid.

科學家利用質地柔軟的金屬鎵，成功做出了變型機器人。

Why do we need a robot that can be hard or liquid?

When the robot is liquid, it can get into very small spaces.

Then it can turn hard to hold something, or fix something.

They could turn liquid and go into a person's body to take out something dangerous.

Or they could turn liquid to get into a machine, and turn hard to hold something together.

The scientists also put the robot in a cage (籠子).

Then they had the robot turn liquid, and get out of the cage by moving between the bars.

The scientists posted videos of the robot doing these things online.

They say there is still a lot of work to be done.

But they hope the shapeshifting robot can be useful in many ways in the future.

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英國歌手紅髮艾德準備發行新專輯

Ed Sheeran Announces New Album

Singer and songwriter Ed Sheeran has a new album coming.

Ed has been making music since he was very young.

The 32-year-old singer has won 4 Grammy awards, and is famous for songs like "Thinking Out Loud".

He says the new album "-", is pronounced "subtract".

紅髮艾德準備發行新專輯【-】(減法).

Ed says it's about some personal things (私人的事情) in his life recently.

The singer says the songs come from his "deepest, darkest thoughts".

He says writing songs is therapy (心理治療 ) for him.

And he wanted to put out an album that's "honest" and "true".

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So, in today's News Bites:

New government data shows that there are about 2.2 million pet cats and dogs in Taiwan.

1.4 million are dogs, and 820,000 are cats.

But the number of cats is slowly going up, especially in northern Taiwan.

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Scientists have made a shapeshifting robot.

This robot can be hard…

And it can be soft, like a liquid!

________________________________

And,

Singer and songwriter Ed Sheeran has a new album coming.

He says the album "-", is pronounced "subtract".

Ed says it's about some personal things in his life recently.

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And that's today's episode of News Bites!