Hi there, it's time for another episode of News Bites!

I'm Nancy Sun…

And I'm Hope Ngo.

In today's news:

Like a bug on your ramen, like living on Mars, and the surprising side effects of recycling.

All that and more, coming up next.

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餐廳推出【大王具足蟲拉麵】

Isopods: From Deep Sea to Your Dinner Plate

Do you know what an isopod (具足蟲) looks like?

They're relatives of the shrimp.

But they are flatter and much bigger.

The giant isopod is about 40cm long on average.

Some might say they look like giant grey cockroaches.

Isopods are deep-sea creatures that feed on dead sea animals.

And now they are on the menu!

A restaurant in Taipei is introducing a new dish, "Giant Isopod with Creamy Chicken Broth Ramen."

The dish looks a bit like a giant insect on a ramen bowl.

The restaurant says isopod meat tastes a little like crab and lobster (龍蝦).

But experts say there are some risks (風險).

They say isopods live on the sea floor.

The animals might have absorbed heavy metals.

And some of the sea animals isopods eat are toxic, like pufferfish (河豚) and some shellfish (貝類).

這道菜成功的引起話題，但不是每個人都敢嘗試。

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加拿大科學家模擬火星居住一年

Canadian Scientist Tries Out "Living on Mars"

Many people dream about exploring space and other planets.

But they have to do a lot of work to get ready.

And this is what Canadian biologist Kelly Haston is going to do for the next 12 months.

She is one of 4 volunteers (志願者).

Aside from Kelly, the other volunteers are an engineer, a doctor and a nurse.

They will live in a Martian habitat (火星棲息地) in Houston, Texas.

NASA is conducting (執行) this experiment.

It is trying to find out how a crew acts in an isolated (孤立的) and confined (局限的) environment.

And the volunteers will go through many scenarios (情境).

They might run into equipment getting broken, or not having enough water.

The Martian habitat is a 3D-printed facility that's 160 square meters large.

It has bedrooms, a gym, common areas and a vertical farm (垂直農場).

There is also an outdoor area which is filled with red sand.

The crew will have to put on spacesuits.

They will go through an airlock to do 'space walks' in the outdoor area.

And the way they communicate with the outside world will also be different.

The crew would only be able to contact family through email, or sometimes video recordings, never live.

A roundtrip from Earth to Mars would take around 18 months.

看起來，習慣與世隔絕似乎是太空探索的首要條件。

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塑膠回收的副作用

The Surprising Side Effects of Recycling

We know recycling can help cut waste, pollution and conserve resources.

Recycling plastic is especially important, as worldwide plastic pollution is a serious problem.

However, a new study suggests that even with recycling plastic, microplastic is still polluting our Earth.

A team of scientists tested the wastewater at a recycling plant in the U.K.

They say the plant could be releasing 2,933 metric tons (公噸) of microplastics per year.

Microplastics are tiny pieces of plastic that are less than 5 millimeters wide.

These tiny pieces of plastic are very dangerous.

Microplastics of this size can be eaten or breathed in (吸入) by people or animals.

Some scientists say this doesn't mean we should stop recycling.

They say we should stop using recycling as a way to let us use more plastic.

科學家說目前最重要的是減少塑膠生產，而不是回收。

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So, in today's News Bites…

A restaurant in Taipei is introducing a new dish, "Giant Isopod with Creamy Chicken Broth Ramen."

The dish looks a bit like a giant insect on a ramen bowl.

The restaurant says isopod meat tastes a little like crab and lobster.

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Canadian biologist Kelly Haston and 3 other volunteers will live in a Martian habitat in Houston, Texas for a year.

NASA is conducting this experiment.

It is trying to find out how a crew acts in an isolated and confined environment.

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And,

A new study suggests that recycling plants release microplastics.

A team of scientists found that even with a filtration system, a recycling plant in the UK released over 1,300 metric tons of microplastics per year.

Scientists say we should use less plastic.

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