B*News Bites 文字檔 (國中)

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It's time for today's new episode of News Bites.

I'm Nancy Sun…

And I'm Brody Halverson.

In today's news:

Green energy from deep inside Earth, and aliens or dolls?

And in today's Tasty Tidbit…

If you can’t get enough of vending machines, you might want to head to this country…coming up later, in today’s Tasty Tidbit.

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地熱發電廠穩定供電

Yilan Geothermal Power Plant Shows Promising Results.

Green energy is becoming more important around the world.

And this is the case in Taiwan too.

Over the years, Taiwan has worked hard to develop wind and solar energy.

But did you know, there is a kind of energy that might have been overlooked (忽略)?

Taiwan has abundant (豐富) geothermal energy.

Our island is on the Pacific Ring of Fire (西太平洋火山帶).

It is a string of volcanos or places with lots of earthquakes, around the edges of the Pacific Ocean.

In fact 75 percent of all active volcanos on Earth, are on this Ring of Fire.

And some of these geothermal resources are right here in Taiwan.

This is why there are so many hot springs around the island.

Geothermal is a stable source of energy.

It's available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

A geothermal power plant opened in Yilan in 2021.

The private Cingshuei geothermal power plant has made more than 38 million kilowatt hours of electricity.

That's about enough to power 7,500 households.

Geothermal energy has a lot of potential (潛力).

But it also comes with many challenges.

Another geothermal power plant was built there years earlier.

But it had to close down, because water pipes became blocked (阻塞).

Experts say this is caused by minerals from the hot springs.

這裡的地下水有許多礦物質，久了容易結垢使管路縮小，發電效率就降低。

So the new geothermal plant uses new machines that help stop minerals from blocking pipes.

Due to the rich minerals underground, the water in some spots contains sulfur (硫磺).

This causes acid corrosion (酸蝕) to the water pipes.

But again, these problems can be solved with technology.

Many experts believe geothermal energy will be an important part of green energy in Taiwan.

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「外星人」登墨西哥國會

"Aliens" Appear at Mexican Congress

Do you believe in aliens?

For a long time, humans have been curious about if there are other living things in the universe.

Some people believe aliens may have visited Earth before.

A man recently showed something to the Mexican Congress (墨西哥國會).

He showed what he said were two alien bodies.

The two small "aliens" had long heads, and three fingers on each hand.

遺骸的外型，有巨大的頭顱、還有各3根的手指、腳趾，但還是有許多科學家質疑可能是人類和動物骨骼組合起來的。

The man says the bodies were found in Peru.

He claims both of the bodies are about 1,000 years old.

這個人稱這兩具遺骸是2017年在秘魯發現的，經由墨西哥國立自治大學鑑定大約有1000年歷史。

And he says x-rays also showed that there were "eggs" inside one of the bodies.

But this man has made claims about aliens before.

A few years ago, he also showed a body that he said was an alien.

But tests showed it was the body of a human.

And he was also in a video showing "bodies of aliens" found in Peru.

But experts later proved those "bodies" were dolls covered with paper and glue, to look like aliens.

So now, scientists will run tests on the "aliens" the man showed to the Mexican Congress.

And the tests will show if the man is telling the truth, or if this is just another hoax (騙局).

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So, in today's News Bites:

A geothermal power plant opened in Yilan in 2021.

The private Cingshuei geothermal power plant has made more than 38 million kilowatt hours of electricity.

That's about enough to power 7,500 households.

Geothermal energy has a lot of potential.

But it also comes with many challenges.

If these problems can be solved with technology, many experts believe geothermal energy will be an important part of green energy in Taiwan.

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And,

A man recently showed what he said were two alien bodies to the Mexican Congress.

The two small "aliens" had long heads, and three fingers on each hand.

The man says the bodies were found in Peru.

He claims both the bodies are about 1,000 years old.

Now, scientists will run tests on the "aliens".

And the tests will show if the man is telling the truth, or if this is just another hoax.

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趣味小點

Tasty Tidbit

In today's Tasty Tidbit…

Japan is thought to have the highest density of vending machines in the world.

Some believe that in Japan, there is one vending machine for every 23 people. Some of these vending machines sell the usual stuff, like drinks or bottled water. But others sell all sorts of surprising items, like flowers, ties, hot food, and even wigs for your dog!

If you have a fun fact or a joke 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!

Come back tomorrow for an exciting new episode of News Bites!