Hello everybody, and welcome to a new episode of News Bites!

I'm Ryan Drillsma…

And I'm Nancy Sun.

In today's news:

A dancing ox lantern, a phantom jellyfish, and an actor directs again.

All that and more, coming up next.

________________________________

台北燈會主燈 跳舞的公牛

A Dancing Ox Lantern in Taipei

Taipei Lantern Festival is lighting up the city again.

It started on Friday 17th of December, and will finish on December 26th, the day after Christmas day!

It is taking place in Taipei's historic (有歷史的) Wanhua District.

And this year a giant ox (公牛) is taking center stage.

That's right, a giant ox!

It is six meters tall and weighs 100 kilograms.

It's made up of rods (燈管) that light up in different colors.

And it's not just a regular lantern… it's a dancing lantern!

It is attached to wires (燈管連著線) that pull its arms, legs and head that help it dance around.

這個公牛燈不是一般的燈，它會跳舞。它是彩色燈管組成的，有線可以拉起來讓它擺動。

How cool!

The lantern was made with the help of many people, including artists, engineers…and even a choreographer!

A choreographer is someone that makes dances. 編舞家是設計舞步的人。

The choreographer that helped with the ox has worked with Taiwan's famous Cloud Gate Dance Theater group (雲門舞集).

The lantern festival was supposed to start in February this year.

It was postponed (延期) because of the pandemic.

It attracts millions of people each year. One year, four million people went to see the Taipei Lantern Festival!

I wonder if that many will go this year?

台北燈節每年吸引數百萬人參加，今年會有這麼多人去嗎?

________________________________

加州外海深處 極罕見的冥河水母現身

Giant Phantom Jellyfish Seen near California

Ahhhhhhhhh! Did you see that?

Was that… was that a ghost?

Oh… it was a… jellyfish?

Yes, it's a rare kind of jellyfish (水母). People don't see it very often.

It does look a lot like a ghost. That's why it's called the giant phantom jellyfish.

"Phantom" is another word for ghost.

The giant phantom jellyfish has long, flat "arms" that look like strips of bedsheets.

And it's "head" has a dim pink glow.

冥河水母又寬又長的觸手，看起來很像幾條撕破的床單。它的頭部會發出黯淡的粉紅螢光。

It lives in the deepest (最深的) parts of the ocean.

That's probably why it's only been spotted around 100 times since it was first discovered in 1899.

But it was recently spotted off the coast of California (加州) in the U.S.

You can see it slowly floating (漂浮) through the water in a new video.

People don't know much about this jellyfish, except that it is one of the biggest species (種類).

It's "arms" can grow up to 10 meters long.

Scientists think it uses its long, floaty arms to catch prey (捕捉獵物) and feed them into its mouth.

Swimming in the sea is fun… but I hope that I never see a giant phantom jellyfish while I'm in the water!

去海邊游泳超好玩，不過我希望不要碰到冥河水母!

________________________________

梅爾·吉勃遜再次當導演

Mel Gibson Taking on Director Role Again

A famous actor is doing double duty (兼任) in a new film.

Mel Gibson has always starred in the Lethal Weapon series of movies.

For the upcoming fifth film, he will direct at the same time.

He takes over (接班) for former director Richard Donner, who recently passed away.

梅爾·吉勃遜不但是第五部致命武器的主角，同時也要導演這部電影。

Donner had directed all four previous Lethal Weapon films.

Mel will reprise his role as police officer Martin Riggs.

They hope that Danny Glover will come back to play his character, Roger Murtaugh.

Production on the new movie is expected to start in 2022.

第五部2022年開始拍片，希望丹尼·葛洛佛也會回來。

________________________________

So, in today's News Bites:

Taipei Lantern Festival is lighting up the city again.

And this year a giant ox is taking center stage.

It's made up of rods that light up in different colors.

And it's not just a regular lantern… it's a dancing lantern!

________________________________

And,

A giant phantom jellyfish was recently spotted near California.

It's only been spotted around 100 times since it was first discovered in 1899.

It lives in the deepest parts of the ocean.

________________________________

And,

A famous actor is directing and acting in a new movie.

Mel Gibson will be back on screens in the new Lethal Weapon movie.

Production on the new movie is expected to start in 2022.

________________________________

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