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

I'm Kelly Kimura…

And I'm Nancy Sun.

Coming up next in today's news: eat bugs to protect fruit, and drones deliver to prison cells in France!

And in today's Tasty Tidbit… what spends most of the day in water but can't swim?

Stay tuned for more on those stories!

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吃臭蟲來保護水果

Eat Bugs to Protect Fruit

Taiwan is famous for many things, and one of them is fruit.

We have some of the best fruit in the world.

We have mangos, pineapples, wax apples (蓮霧), star fruits (楊桃), lychees (荔枝), longans (龍眼), and more!

Our hard-working farmers and excellent agricultural technologies (農業技術) grow these delicious fruits.

However, there is a big problem that technology hasn't solved (解決): pests (害蟲).

One pest has been causing problems for lychee and longan farmers.

It's the lychee giant stink bug (荔枝椿象).

It damages (損害) lychee and longan trees.

The bug protects itself by releasing a stinky liquid (釋放臭的液體).

(Cough, cough) The stinky liquid burns the leaves and the fruit on the trees.

So farmers sprayed organic pesticides (他們噴灑有機農藥).

And local governments (地方政府) offered money for stink bug eggs!

But lychee giant stink bugs are still a problem.

Now, there's a new way to get rid of (消滅) them.

It's easy!

Cook and eat the stink bugs!

We can eat stink bugs?! Ummm…yum??

Ewwww!

Well, eating them is a good way to get protein (蛋白質).

And we can protect lychees and longans by eating these bugs!

But how do we cook them?

Well, now the Ministry of Agriculture's Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency (農業部林業及自然保育署) is giving stink bug cooking classes!

The classes teach easy ways to cook these bugs.

People in some parts of Southeast Asia and China eat lychee giant stink bugs.

But will people here eat these bugs too?

Can we eat enough to help Taiwan get rid of them and protect some of Taiwan's fruit?

台灣雖然有昆蟲料理，不過願意嘗試的人畢竟是少數。

This is a "stink" bug we're talking about…

But who knows? Maybe it's a tasty tidbit!

Hahaha! (Laughter) That's a good one!

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無人機向法國監獄牢房運送

Drones Deliver to Prison Cells in France

Deliveries by drones can cut delivery times in half.

So why aren't drones being used for deliveries?

It's because there are problems to solve first.

Flight paths (航線) are a big problem.

What will happen when many companies deliver thousands and thousands of packages a day with drones?

The sky will be full of drones!

That sounds terrible!

However, there are drone deliveries to places most people don't think about: prison cells (監獄)!

Some delivery services (送貨服務) deliver orders to prisoners (囚犯) in prisons in France and Belgium (比利時).

That is illegal (違法的), of course.

Prisoners order online.

The average (平均) order is almost $500 US dollars for one package.

They order phones, food, illegal drugs (非法藥物), books and many other things.

But the packages can't be heavier than 350 grams.

Drones can't carry more than that.

Delivery services mostly use small and quiet drones.

The drones deliver the packages late at night.

There are fewer prison guards then

深夜時.守衛人員比較少。

The drones fly with no lights on.

Prisoners shine a light (點亮一盞燈)from their prison cell windows.

The drones go to the light.

Then the prisoners put their hands out to catch their orders!

Prison guards say there are hundreds of deliveries every year.

The French government spent a lot of money on equipment (設備) to fight the problem.

But the equipment hasn't stopped all drone deliveries.

These delivery services are always thinking of new ways to deliver to prison cells.

這種貓捉老鼠的模式真是防不勝防。

Technology is great, but not when it's used to do something illegal.

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So in today's News Bites:

Lychee giant stink bugs damage two kinds of fruit trees every year in Taiwan.

A new idea to protect these fruits is to cook and eat these stink bugs.

And now there are stink bug cooking classes!

But can we eat enough lychee giant stink bugs to help protect some of Taiwan's fruit?

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And…

Drones are delivering orders to prison cells in France.

Prisoners order online.

The drones fly the orders to prison cell windows at night.

France's government is trying to stop these deliveries, but it's not easy.

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趣味小點

Tasty Tidbit

And in today's Tasty Tidbit…

Have you seen a hippopotamus at a zoo?

If you did, this big, interesting animal was probably in some water.

Hippos spend most of the day in water.

They need to keep their skin wet.

And they have a lot of skin!

When hippos are hot, their skin doesn't get wet with sweat.

They have something called "red sweat."

It looks like blood, but it's not.

This thick red sweat helps to keep their skin wet.

So… hippos love being in water.

But did you know they can't swim?

Their bones are too big and heavy.

Their legs are too short and thick.

When they're in a river or sea, they sloooowwwwly run.

And hippos can sleep with their heads underwater.

As they sleep, they come up for a very short time.

They take a breath (deep inhale).

Then they go back down into the water.

They don't wake up at all!

Hippos are cool in the water and out of it!

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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 you'd like to share with us, record your message and send your Tasty Tidbit to us at [email protected].

You might hear it at the end of an episode!

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