Cancer Laser, Python Meat

News Bites

Hi there.
You're listening to an all-new episode of News Bites.
I'm Nancy Sun.
And I'm Brody Halverson.
In today's stories…
How a laser could fight cancer, how our food affects the planet, and how a "bee's-eye-view" helps find the sweet spot.
Stay tuned for those stories, coming up next.
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偵測癌細胞的雷射系統
A Laser that Finds Cancer Cells Fast
Taiwan's Ministry of Health and Welfare (衛生福利部) says cancer has been the leading cause of death in Taiwan for 41 consecutive (連續) years.
But now there may be a new way to fight cancer.
It's a breakthrough (突破) in medical technology.
A team at National Taiwan University of Science and Technology has developed new technology.
It is a laser that can detect cancer cells in an hour.
When cancer happens in a human body, a tumor (腫瘤) grows in the affected part.
The tumor then releases circulating tumor cells (CTCs 循環腫瘤細胞) that spreads the cancer throughout the body.
That's how cancer spreads to other parts of the body.
One way to fight cancer is to find it early.
And to find it, doctors follow CTCs.
Usually, doctors take a little bit of the patient's blood.
They send the blood to a lab to get tested.
Experts do the testing and look at the results.
It usually takes at least two weeks to get the test results.
All this takes a lot of time, work, and money.
CTC tests are not covered by National Health Insurance.
The tests cost around $15,000 to 20,000 NT.
This may be a lot of money for some people.
But NTUST's new laser can quickly scan (掃描) for CTCs.
The team says this uses less materials and costs less money.
The old way of testing also kills the CTCs.
But the new laser allows the CTCs to stay alive.
This way, the live CTCs can be cultured (培養) for cancer drug testing, speeding up early treatment.
這項科技目前正在申請醫療儀器認證中，預計3年後能量產。
The team hopes this technology would make a change in cancer treatments.
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科學家提議蟒蛇肉為食物來源
Could Python Meat Change the Way We Eat?
The effects of global climate change have been threatening (威脅) our food sources.
Traditional farming takes up a lot of resources.
You need land, food, water, and more.
The carbon footprint (碳足跡) that traditional farming produces is also shocking.
Researchers are trying to find a more sustainable (永續) meat source that is eco-friendly.
And they might have just found the answer…
Snake meat.
Not just any snake, but the long and enormous python (蟒蛇).
Snake meat is considered a delicacy (佳餚) in many countries.
To meet this demand, commercial snake farming has been popping up (出現) in recent years.
Snake meat is healthy in some ways.
It is high in protein and low in saturated fats (飽和脂肪).
Some say it tastes like chicken.
Some researchers think python farming has a low impact on the environment.
They believe snakes do not need to be fed often.
They say the snakes can even go months without eating.
On top of that, pythons can be fed waste meat, such as rats or dead animals.
They also don't need much water.
Sometimes they can drink the dew (露水) that forms on their scales (鱗片) every morning.
Pythons don't need a lot of space.
They seem to be able to tolerate (忍受) small confined (狹窄) spaces.
Compared to other animals, pythons are relatively easy to farm.
But some feel that treating animals this way is wrong.
There are still many questions that need to be answered.
And more research needs to be done.
Many also wonder if people would be willing to eat snake meat.
縱使養殖蟒蛇作為食物有一些好處，那也要人們願意接受才行。
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So in today's News Bites,
A team at National Taiwan University of Science and Technology has developed a laser that can detect cancer cells in an hour.
The new laser uses less materials and costs less money.
The team hopes this technology would make a change in cancer treatments.
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And,
Researchers are trying to find a more sustainable meat source that is eco-friendly, and they're thinking about python meat.
Some researchers think python farming has a low impact on the environment.
But some feel that treating animals this way is wrong.
There are still many questions that need to be answered.
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趣味小點
Tasty Tidbit
And in today's Tasty Tidbit,
Many people like looking at beautiful flowers.
But did you know that these flowers have "secret signs" for bees?
Bees see the world differently. They can see ultraviolet light. And under this light, many flowers have patterns and colors that humans can't normally see.
These patterns and colors help bees find pollen (花粉).
So next time you see a bee buzzing around a flower, remember, they're not just smelling the roses, they're seeing the secret signs!
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 [e-mail], 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!