Red Ball Rises, Space Gas Stations

News Bites

Hi everyone, welcome to a new episode of News Bites!
I'm Kelly Kimura…
And I'm Paz Bueno.
Coming up next in today's news: the big RedBall rises again in Tainan and gas stations in space are coming soon!
And in today's Tasty Tidbit…schools of fish swim quietly!
Stay tuned for more on those stories!
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"紅球"在台南如鳳凰冉冉升起
RedBall Rises Like a Phoenix in Tainan
Did you see the RedBall? It's so big! It's four and a half meters wide.
Uh, no. Where is it? In a playground?
Well, it was in Tainan. The city, called the Phoenix City (鳳凰城) by people there, is celebrating its 400th birthday.
It's not in Tainan anymore?
No, the RedBall's a traveling street art (街頭藝術) project (計畫).
I thought street art was writing and paintings on buildings. Don't shopkeepers get mad about it?
No, street art can be anything.
It's art for everyone to see, but it isn't there forever (永遠).
And shopkeepers don't get mad about the RedBall.
The artist (藝術家) gets permission (允許) first.
Where does the RedBall travel?
It's been to 40 cities around the world.(它去過世界四十個國家)
What happens when it goes to cities?
Well, it goes for a week or two.
Every day, it's in a different place.
The artist puts it in famous places and surprising places.
Sometimes it's squished (壓扁) between two buildings.
Sometimes it's high up in an arch (拱門)!
What do people do when they see the RedBall?
Many people stop.
They're amazed (驚訝)!
It's like a UFO (飛碟) landed (降落)!
Their phones come out.
Some people pose (擺姿勢) for photos in crazy ways in front of it.
Kids run up to it.
They poke (戳) it.
They bounce off (在上面跳) of it!
That ball must be strong!
It is. But one day in Tainan, the RedBall went pop! pssssssssssss!
The big ball burst (破裂)!
Oh no! How did that happen?
Some scaffolding (鷹架) pierced (刺穿) it.
But the artist fixed it with a patch (補丁).
Then he wrote "RedBall Tainan 2024" and drew a heart on the patch.
Now Tainan is on the Redball forever!
What a great way to fix the RedBall! Oh - and one more question: why is the ball red?
Red makes people want to play with the ball.
The artist says red means energy (活力) and love.
From the first time he thought of the ball, it's been red!
和台南鳳凰城一樣，紅球重生了，現在台南的名字將傳遍全世界.
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太空加油站 即將登場
Space Gas Stations Are Coming Soon
Three, two, one, liftoff! (升空).
A rocket launches into space (火箭發射升空了)!
Rockets have carried more than fifteen thousand satellites (衛星) up high enough to orbit the Earth (環繞地球軌道運行).
Satellites give us a lot of important information.
We learn more about space science, the Earth, our weather, and climate change
(氣候變遷).
Satellites let phone, radio, television, and other telecommunication devices (電信設備) connect (連接) to other places all over the Earth.
Satellites help us know where we are and how to go to places with global positioning systems, or GPS (全球定位系統).
But about half of these satellites stopped working.
However, they weren't broken (壞了).
They didn't have enough fuel to keep working properly (燃料用完了).
Many of these satellites exploded (爆炸).
They became space junk (太空垃圾).
Some satellite space junk burned up when the pieces fell back to Earth.
But there are almost thirty-seven thousand pieces of space junk that are ten centimeters or more.
There are one hundred thirty million pieces that are one centimeter or less.
It's difficult to clean up space junk.
And space junk is dangerous!
The pieces fly fast.
They're seven times (倍) faster than bullets!
So they can cause a lot of damage (造成損害) to rockets and satellites.
New rockets and satellites are very expensive.
But now there's a way to help satellites work longer.
It also helps to make less space junk, making space safer.
Scientists and engineers are making spacecraft that are gas stations (加油站).
They're for satellites and other spacecraft in orbit!
These space gas stations will be in orbit too.
Spacecraft will be able to refuel (加油).
Then they'll go and do their important work for us for a long time!
太空加油站可以讓太空船工作更久，有助於減少太空垃圾的產生，也讓太空更加安全。
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So in today's News Bites:
The RedBall is a traveling street art project.
It traveled to Tainan for the city's 400th birthday.
The RedBall burst one day.
Now it has a new patch that says "RedBall Tainan 2024."
Now Tainan's name will travel with the RedBall!
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And…
Satellites give us a lot of important information.
But when they have no more fuel, they stop working.
They become space junk.
But soon there will be space gas stations for them!
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趣味小點
Tasty Tidbit
And in today's Tasty Tidbit…
Do you ever watch schools of fish?
A school of fish is a group of fish.
They swim together beautifully.
They swim together to stay safe from being eaten!
The number of fish in the school helps make them safer.
But something else does too!
Scientists found that swimming together makes fish quieter than when they swim alone.
A school of fish can sound like one fish!
How?
The fish don't move their tails at the same time.
They take turns.
This cancels out the sound of swimming.
When fish take turns moving their tails, another good thing happens.
The fish swim faster, using less energy!
Scientists also found that when one fish starts swimming with another fish, they get quieter right away.
And the more fish there are, the quieter the school is.
How about your school?
When there are more students, does your school get quieter?
No? Hmmmm… Maybe it's time to go swimming!
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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 [e-mail].
You might hear it at the end of an episode!
We'll see you next time for an exciting new episode of News Bites!