In today's news, with Trevor and Paz:

A meteor shower rains over Taiwan, people live their lives in goblin mode, and bats have better vocals than humans.

Is that it? Are we done?

No, of course not!

Oh, okay, well, keep listening for more on those stories, coming up next!

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雙子座流星雨 12月14日出現

Meteor Shower to Peak on December 14th

Have you heard of a meteor shower (流星雨)?

這個現象的英文說法就是【流星淋浴】。

And in Chinese, it's called "Meteor Rain".

So what's a meteor (流星)?

Well, there are many small rocks flying through outer space, and sometimes they come all the way to Earth (地球).

But when they enter our atmosphere (進入地球大氣層), they move so fast that they burn up (燒掉)!

And when they burn up, they shine very bright (發出很亮的光) for a few seconds.

That's why we can see them at night!

It's also why meteors are sometimes called "shooting stars" or "falling stars".

And when a lot of meteors all shine in one night, we call it a "meteor shower".

If you've never seen a meteor shower before, then you should have a chance very soon.

The "Geminids" (雙子座流星雨) are a meteor shower that usually comes every year, in December.

They are called the Geminids because they come from a part of the sky near the constellation "Gemini" (雙子座).

And this year, there are going to be a LOT of meteors, from around this weekend through next weekend (這周末到下周末左右).

But astronomers (天文學家) say the Geminids should peak (極大期) on December 14th.

They say on that night, we could see about 150 meteors every hour!

Of course, if you live in a big city, you might not be able to see a lot of stars at night.

But with a meteor shower this big, there's still a chance!

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【哥布林模式】被選成今年代表詞

'Goblin Mode' Chosen as 'Word of the Year'

Cleaning your room and taking a shower are both very good habits (很好的習慣).

But sometimes, maybe you just want to be dirty and lie on the couch (賴在沙發上).

Well, you're not alone…

不只你有這個感覺…

A lot of people have started to live like goblins (哥布林)!

Goblins are small, green people who live out in the wild (住在野外), like in forests or caves.

They are usually very lazy (懶惰), messy (亂糟糟), and sloppy (邋遢)… but they don't care!

And that's why more and more people say they want to "go goblin mode" (轉換成哥布林，或是躺平模式).

In fact, so many people are using this phrase that the Oxford University Press has chosen it as the "word of the year" for 2022.

用這種說法的人多到讓牛津大學出版社把它選做今年的代表詞。

They say it makes sense (有道理) that people are living life a little differently, after the crazy years of the pandemic (疫情).

Living life in goblin mode means doing things like having messy hair, leaving your pants on the floor, and getting up to eat snacks at 3 AM.

Of course, we can't just forget that we all still live together in a society (社會).

We still have to clean up, go to school or work, and spend time with other people.

But maybe, when no one is looking…

We can still spend a little time in goblin mode!

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蝙蝠不可思議的音域

The Amazing Vocal Range of Bats

Some people can sing very high.

And other people can sing very low.

And if you can sing both high and low, then we say you have a very large "vocal range" (音域很廣).

Some of the most amazing singers in the world can sing in about five octaves (五個八度音).

That's a range of more than 60 piano keys, (比六十個鋼琴鍵還要廣的範圍), or about two thirds of the piano (三分之二的鋼琴琴鍵).

But some animals have a much larger vocal range than we do… like bats (蝙蝠)!

Maybe you already know that bats can make sounds at very high frequencies (高頻率), to help them fly around in the dark.

But they can also make sounds at very low frequencies (低頻率), when they growl at each other (互相叫嚷).

Recently, scientists have been studying bats' vocal chords, to understand how they communicate with different frequencies.

最近科學家在研究蝙蝠的聲帶，想瞭解牠們怎麼用不同頻率的聲音來溝通。

And they have discovered that some bats have a vocal range of at least seven octaves (七個八度).

That's basically the whole range of a piano!

Of course, they can't sing songs like we can.

But we still have a lot to learn from their amazing voices!

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So, in today's News Bites:

The "Geminids" are a meteor shower that usually comes every year, in December.

They are called the Geminids because they come from a part of the sky near the constellation "Gemini".

Astronomers say this year's Geminids should peak on the night of December 14th.

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And,

The Oxford University Press has chosen "goblin mode" as its word of the year for 2022.

Goblins are messy, lazy, and sloppy… but they don't care!

So, living life in goblin mode means doing things like having messy hair, leaving your pants on the floor, and getting up to eat snacks at 3 AM.

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And,

Scientists have been studying bats' vocal chords, to understand how they communicate with different frequencies.

And they have discovered that some bats have a vocal range of at least seven octaves.

That's basically the whole range of a piano, and larger than most human singers.

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And that's today's episode of News Bites… right?

Yes…

Okay, cool!