Hi everyone, and welcome to a new episode of News Bites!

I'm Nancy Sun…

And I'm Hope Ngo.

In today's news:

Google Taiwan's top searches, and the mystery of a missing tomato.

And in today's Tasty Tidbit…

It's not all fun and games in the world of chess. Stay tuned to find out more.

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2023年Google台灣搜尋排行榜出爐

Taiwan's Most Googled in 2023

We're getting close to the end of the year.

And we know what was on everyone's minds in 2023.

Google Taiwan says we all wanted to know about things that affected our lives, sports events, and international news.

The company is sharing the results of its "Year in Search 2023" report.

The report lists the most-searched-for things on Google each year.

This year's report covers December 2022 until end of November 2023.

Google 公布了台灣2023年度搜尋排行榜，列出今年台灣網友最關注的新聞和議題。

Google Taiwan says "typhoons" was its most-searched term this year.

The company says many typhoons and tropical storms came close to Taiwan this year.

And not many typhoons have passed over land in Taiwan in recent years.

So many netizens in Taiwan were interested in this topic.

今年台灣周圍有許多颱風形成，加上這幾年比較少颱風中心登陸，所以「颱風」成為台灣網友最熱門的搜尋焦點。

ChatGPT was second, and the World Baseball Classic was third.

These were definitely a part of our lives this year.

What was next on the list?

Google says "NT$6000 universal cash remittance" was fourth.

"iPhone 15" was fifth.

And "Israel" was sixth.

Google also looked at other types of most-searched terms.

The company says many movies and TV programs were talked about on Google.

And it says Taiwanese crime thriller "Copycat Killer" was the most-searched-for TV series on Google in Taiwan.

The series follows the story of a police officer trying to find a killer.

Many people also used Google to search for travel destinations.

The company says Okinawa in Japan was the most-searched-for on Google.

Hong Kong was second, and Osaka was third.

What about Google searches worldwide?

The company says its top news story this year was the Israel Hamas war.

Searches for the "Titanic submarine" was second.

And "Turkey earthquake" was third.

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太空之謎「流浪番茄」找到了

The Case of a Missing Space Tomato

"Space Station to Houston, come in Houston"

"This is Houston. Reading you loud and clear."

"Houston be advised…we have found THE TOMATO."

"Roger that Space Station, we confirm, THE TOMATO has been found."

A space mystery has finally been solved.

A tiny tomato disappeared on the International Space Station earlier this year.

This tomato wasn't just a healthy snack.

It was part of a very important experiment.

NASA astronaut Frank Rubio helped grow tomatoes on the ISS.

Scientists want to see how well vegetables would grow in space.

Eventually, they want to grow vegetables on the moon, or on Mars.

So, after the tomatoes were harvested, each astronaut on the ISS got some.

Frank also got a tomato too.

He carefully put the tomato into a plastic bag.

And he says he stuck the bag onto the wall using velcro (魔鬼氈)

You have to remember that there is almost no gravity on the International Space Station.

If things are not secured (固定好), they may float away.

And maybe that was what happened to Frank's tomato.

The astronaut says when he came back, the tomato was gone!

太空人Frank在太空站種植小番茄，收成後有一顆番茄竟不翼而飛。

How hard is it to find a tomato in space?

Well, the International Space Station is bigger than a six-bedroom house.

And there's 25 years-worth of stuff on it.

Plus, in microgravity (微重力), things can easily float away to who-knows-where!

Frank spent around 20 hours looking for the tomato.

But he didn't find it before he had to come back to Earth.

The missing tomato became a mystery (謎).

Some people thought Frank may have EATEN the tomato!

But now, eight months later, NASA says the tomato has been found.

They did not say where they found it, but everyone knows now that Frank is innocent (無辜的).

Aside from tomatoes, NASA has also grown other plants in space.

They've grown cabbage, kale, and even flowers!

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So, in today's News Bites:

Google Taiwan is listing its most-searched-for things this year.

It says "typhoons" was its most-searched term this year.

ChatGPT was second, and the World Baseball Classic was third.

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And,

A tiny tomato disappeared on the International Space Station earlier this year.

NASA astronaut Frank Rubio lost the tomato, which is part of a very important experiment.

Many people thought Frank ate it.

But now, eight months later, NASA says the tomato has been found.

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趣味小點

Tasty Tidbit

For today's Tasty Tidbit…

We're looking into the secret history of the word "checkmate". It doesn't just mean that you win in chess. It actually carries a special message.

"Checkmate" actually comes from the Persian phrase "shah mat". It translates to "the king is dead".

So the next time you outsmart your opponent and say "checkmate"…

You'll know that you're announcing the fall of a king!

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 your voice at the end of an episode.

Tune in again next time, for an all new episode of News Bites!