Salutations.

You're listening to an all-new episode of News Bites.

I'm Jacob Ingram.

And I'm Paz Bueno.

In today's news: A giant yellow duck returns to Kaohsiung, and a blind mole unseen for 90 years.

And in today's tasty tidbit: The unexplored depths!

Stay tuned for those stories, coming up next.

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黃色小鴨鴨重返高雄

Giant Rubber Duck Returns to Kaohsiung

Something big is back in Kaohsiung, something that hasn't been seen there in over 10 years.

Is it clear skies?

No.

Is it clean air?

No.

What is it, then?

A giant rubber yellow duck!

就是一隻胖大的黃色小鴨鴨！

How big are we talkin'?

32 meters tall!

三十二公尺。

That's about the height of a ten-story building!

那大約是一棟十層樓的高度！

The rubber duck hadn't been seen in Kaohsiung in over 10 years.

It was created by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman.

Last time the rubber duck visited, lots people came to see it.

This brought in lots of money for the city.

On January 27th of this year, over 40 thousand people gathered to cheer for the duck's return.

Kaohsiung's mayor and Hofman himself welcomed the duck.

The duck is floating in Love River Bay (愛河).

But wait, there's more!

There was a baby race too! The babies wore duck-themed clothes!

還有一場嬰兒競賽！ 嬰兒穿著鴨子主題的衣服！

Tickets sold out fast.

It was a huge hit!

The babies might not have known they were racing, but they sure were cute.

Hotels also joined in on the fun.

The Grand Hotel had a fountain full of ducks.

Other hotels ran special offers.

One offer in particular was for those with the surname "Huang (黃)", which means "yellow"; they could get a discount.

I'm getting Salmon Chaos vibes from this…

More recently, another giant rubber yellow duck appeared.

Another one?

Yeah, so now there's two apparently.

I guess the other one got lonely, or something.

The two ducks kissed on Valentines' Day.

Aww, fun!

So, if you're in Kaohsiung, go check out the giant yellow ducks, snap some photos, and have fun with the events.

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科學家和狗狗 重新發現消失的鼴鼠物種

Scientists and Sniffer Dog Rediscover Lost Mole Species

Now, let's talk about something else that hasn't been seen in a very long time.

Meet the De Winton's Golden Mole (德溫頓金鼴鼠).

This mole is considered one of the most-wanted lost species.

這隻鼴鼠被視為是最受歡迎的消失物種之一。

It's a tiny mole about the size of a mouse.

牠是一隻細小的鼴鼠，大約和老鼠一樣大小。

It has a shiny gold-colored coat that looks like sand.

牠有一層閃亮的金色外衣，看起來像沙子一樣。

It is blind (盲目的), and lives underground.

Even though it can't see, its sense of hearing is so good it can detect movement aboveground.

它的聽覺非常敏銳，可以探測到地面上方的移動。

The species hadn't been sighted since 1936!

It had been lost for over 80 years.

已經消失了80年。

The last time it was sighted was in Port Nolloth, which is in South Africa.

But recently scientists re-discovered this mole!

De Winton's moles live in burrows (地洞) that are hard to reach.

They rarely leave tunnels behind them.

This makes them even harder to find.

So, how did scientists detect this mole?

They relied on samples of environmental DNA.

You know DNA, right?

去氧核醣核酸。

DNA stands for deoxyribonucleic acid in English.

That's quite a mouthful.

那個詞兒真是難唸。

Anyhoo, DNA is a molecule that carries genetic information for each living thing.

Environmental DNA, or eDNA, is DNA that animals shed (脫落) as they move around, like skin cells (皮膚細胞) and hair (毛).

In June 2021, the team went on an expedition to Port Nolloth.

Guess what they took with them?

… A sniffer dog called Jessie!

Woof! Woof!

With Jessie's help, they collected lots of soil samples (土壤樣本).

They looked for eDNA of the golden mole in the samples to figure out where moles were located.

With lots of persistence and effort, eventually they found 11 of the golden moles!

The team was ecstatic.

They said even though many people doubted the golden mole was still out there, they had good faith it had not gone extinct (絕種).

Not only did they find the De Winton's golden mole, they also discovered another rare mole called Van Zyl's golden mole (Van Zyl 的金鼴鼠)

And that, is how a sniffer dog and scientists teamed up to bring back the mystery mole from the "sands of time"!

Let's keep exploring and stay curious!

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So in today's news,

The iconic 32-meter-tall rubber duck returns to Kaohsiung after a decade.

It was created by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman.

The duck's reappearance sparked city-wide festivities, including baby races and duck-themed hotel offers.

The giant rubber duck was joined by another, and they kissed on Valentine's Day.

And,

Scientists rediscovered the De Winton's Golden Mole, missing since 1936 in Port Nolloth.

Using eDNA and Jessie the sniffer dog (Woof!), they found 11 of these moles.

They also found another rare species: Van Zyl's golden mole.

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趣味小點

Tasty Tidbit

And in today's tasty tidbit…

Did you know that more than 80% of the ocean remains unexplored and unmapped.

This makes it one of the least understood parts of the Earth.

The deep ocean presents numerous challenges for exploration, including extreme pressure, darkness, and cold temperatures.

These conditions make it difficult for traditional exploration methods.

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

If you have a fun fact, a joke or interesting news story 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.

We'll see you next time for an exciting new episode of News Bites!