I'm Nancy Sun.

And I’m Brody Halverson.

Today’s stories…

A movie talks about the soil on Taiwan’s farms, and scientists find a plant that can survive on Mars.

Let’s check it out.

________________________________

What is under our feet?

Uhh, our shoes?

And under that?

The floor?

And under that?

I don’t know, soil! It’s soil (土壤).

Yes. We live on soil.

It forms the ground beneath our feet and supports us every day.

What’s more, we grow all of our fruits and vegetables in the soil.

That’s why we need healthy soil.

The soil helps us, but do we help it back?

A new movie shows how two people have tried to improve the soil (改善土壤).

The film is called "Soul of Soil” (種土).

In this film, the director Yen Lan-chuan (顏蘭權) tells the true story of two farmers.

The first one is named A-ren (阿仁).

He gave up his job as an engineer to return to his hometown Kaohsiung and become a farmer.

A-ren tries to grow pineapples (鳳梨), but he has a problem.

A science park was built near his farm, which caused flooding and washed away the soil’s nutrients (土壤的養分).

That means the soil on his land is very poor.

A-ren tries to improve the land by using organic waste to make compost, but it is difficult to fix the poor soil. 阿仁試圖改善土地，但貧瘠的土壤很難修復。

That story really makes you feel sad.

But the second story is happier.

It is about a farmer named An-he (安和).

His first five years were full of failure, as harmful insects (害蟲) were eating his plants.

An-he kept at it, patiently working to improve the soil with organic farming methods (有機耕作方法).

Little by little An-he’s farm gets better, with earthworms and other helpful insects (益蟲) returning to his soil.

Finally in the sixth year he is able to grow honeydew melons (蜜瓜)… and now he has been farming for thirty years.

With these two stories, "Soul of Soil” wants to show people how tough it is for farmers to grow the food we all depend on.

The film also wants to inspire people (啟發人們) to take better care of Taiwan’s soil, because if the soil becomes poor, it is not easy to fix.

So the next time you eat a delicious pineapple or a melon… remember (記住) the soil it came from.

________________________________

I wonder what plants grow on Mars (火星).

…what? Plants on Mars?

Yeah, plants on the planet Mars.

Perhaps they have Mars-trees. Or Mars-fruit.

I don’t think there are any plants on…

I know! They definitely have Mars-mallows!

Stop! You’re mad, there are no plants on Mars.你瘋了，火星上沒有植物。

Okay, there may be no plants on Mars yet.

But what about in the future?

Did you hear about the scientists who found a plant that could survive (生存) on Mars?

Actually I did. The scientists in China found it, right? It’s like a desert plant (沙漠植物).

That’s right. It is a kind of moss (苔蘚) that grows in the desert.

It’s called Syntrichia caninervis.

This moss grows in some of the harshest regions on Earth (地球上一些最惡劣的地區).

It has been found in America’s Mojave Desert, the high mountains of Tibet, and even in Antarctica.

It is very hardy, and it can live to be up to a hundred years old.

It can also survive in very dry (乾燥) places.

Scientists in China wanted to find a kind of plant that could survive on Mars, and they guessed this plant might be able to.

So, they made an experiment (實驗).

They tested the moss under conditions like those on the planet Mars (類似於火星的條件下).

They found it could survive for years at very cold temperatures.

It could also survive radiation (承受輻射).

That’s important, because Mars gets a lot of radiation from the Sun.

This desert moss could handle all of it.

But, there was one thing it could not do.

It could not keep growing in these conditions.

The scientists found they could make it grow again, but only when they brought it back to normal conditions like we have on Earth.

In other words, this plant can survive on Mars, but it cannot grow there.植物可以在火星上生存，但不能在那裡生長。

However, scientists still think this is an important discovery (重要的發現).

They think it might be the first step to finding a plant that could live on Mars.

And if plants could live there… maybe people could, too.

________________________________

So, in today’s News Bites…

A director from Taiwan made a new movie.

It follows the true story of two farmers, as they try to repair the soil on their farms.

________________________________

And,

Scientists have found a plant that can survive on Mars.

It’s a kind of desert moss.

Although it could survive on another planet, it could not grow there.

________________________________

Now it's time for the final Tasty Tidbit of the year!

You ready?

Do fish have summer vacation?

No, because they're always "in school"!

And that's our last News Bites episode for this semester!

We hope all you lovely listeners had fun tuning in and learning about the world with us. And thank you for sharing all those amazing facts and hilarious jokes too!

And as always, a big thank you to the K-12 Education Administration of the Ministry of Education for making News Lunchbox possible and supporting our programs.

Have a wonderful summer, and make sure to tune in again in the Fall, for all new episodes of News Bites!