Hi everyone, it's time for a new episode of News Bites…

I'm Paz Bueno.

And I'm Jacob Ingram.

In today's stories…

A sword dancer goes to France, and monkeys see some old friends.

And in today's Tasty Tidbit…a fact about rats!

Let's get into it!

________________________________

台灣劍舞者走紅法國

Taiwanese Sword Dancer Famous in France

Do you like dancing?

Sure, it's fun.

Lots of people know how to dance.

But can you dance with swords?

That's right! It's called sword dancing (劍舞).

It's difficult, it's dangerous, and it looks amazing.

In fact, a sword dancer from Taiwan has become famous in France.

The dancer's name is Tsai Hong-yi (蔡宏毅), but everyone calls him Titos Tsai.

Recently, Titos danced on a TV show called "La France a un Incroyable Talent".

It's a popular talent show, and the French people voted him into second place.

Titos在法國熱門選秀節目中獲得第二名。

It was all because of his incredible performance.

First, Titos dances with two flaming swords (火焰劍舞).

He flips them around and throws them in the air.

Then, Titos does a blindfolded dance (蒙著眼睛跳舞).

A cloth is tied over his eyes so he can't see anything.

But he still does the dance perfectly.

Titos even shaved his head bald, so he could spin a sword on his head.

Finally, he dances with six swords at once (六劍舞).

He not only uses his hands, but also his back, his knees and his feet.

Just when you think he's about to drop them, Titos keeps his balance (保持了平衡).

The show's judges were very impressed.

節目的評審團印象深刻。

How did he put on such a successful dance?

Titos says he used Taiwanese culture for his performance.

While he is dancing, four Taiwanese drummers (鼓手) play music for him.

Titos says he used to dance at temple fairs and parades in Taiwan.

Titos曾經在台灣的廟會和遊行中跳舞。

In 2020, he started putting videos online.

He said he wanted to allow the world to see Taiwan.

His videos were viewed over 100 million times.

Last year, Titos went on an American talent show.

The American judges liked him, but he did not get picked.

But he kept going, finally appearing on the French talent show.

He says French people were able to notice the creativity of his performances.

Titos說法國人注意到他表演的創意。

He thanked his fans from France, Taiwan and around the world for supporting him.

________________________________

猴子可以認出老朋友

Monkeys Can Recognize Old Friends

Have you ever run into an old friend?

You might meet someone on the street who you haven't seen for years.

Maybe your childhood friend, or your elementary school classmate.

You may not even recognize them!

Especially if it's been a long time since you saw them last.

久別重逢的老朋友，你可能都認不出來了！

Scientists recently did a study (研究) about recognizing old friends.

Only it wasn't with people.

It was with monkeys (猴子).

They wanted to know if monkeys could recognize their old friends.

The scientists tested two kinds of monkeys, chimps and bonobos.

科學家研究了黑猩猩和倭黑猩猩。

Amazingly, these monkeys could recognize other monkeys they had spent time with, even if they hadn't seen each other in decades.

It was a surprising result.

Scientists didn't expect these animals to have such a long memory (長記憶力).

How did they do the test?

The scientists showed each monkey two photos (兩張照片).

One photo was another monkey they used to know.

The other photo was another monkey they had never met.

Then, the scientists watched the monkey's eyes as it looked at the two photos.

They found that monkeys pay a lot more attention to pictures of other monkeys they knew.

猴子們花更多的時間看它們以前認識的猴子的照片。

What's more, the monkeys spend more time looking at photos of other monkeys they liked.

According to the scientist, that means monkeys remember each other better if they had a positive relationship (正面的關係).

That makes sense.

Even for humans, we tend to remember the people we like, and forget the people we don't care about.

So, monkeys are more like people than we thought.

They might run into old friends in the forest, and recognize them.

I wonder how a monkey says "long time no see?"

________________________________

So, in today's newsbites…

A Taiwanese sword dancer got famous in France.

Titos Tsai danced with swords on a talent show, and he won second place.

He got his start dancing at temple parades in Taiwan.

________________________________

And,

Monkeys can recognize their old friends.

Scientists tested monkeys with photos of other monkeys they used to know.

Just like people, monkeys remember the other monkeys that they like the most.

________________________________

趣味小點

Tasty Tidbit

Did you know rats can't throw up?

Rats have a special body design that stops them from vomiting.

They have a strong barrier in their throat and their muscles and nerves are not set up for vomiting.

Instead of throwing up, rats have other clever ways to avoid getting sick from bad food.

They learn quickly not to eat food that makes them feel bad.

Also, if they feel sick, they eat things like clay to help.

If you have a fun fact, a joke, or interesting news 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!