Seawater Machine & Mount Fuji

News Bites

Hi everyone! It's time for an all-new episode of News Bites.
I'm Jacob Ingram.
And I'm Hope Ngo.
In today's episode, a machine that can get energy from seawater, and tourists destroying property in a Japanese town.
And for today's Tasty Tidbit: the world's best-selling video game.
Stay tuned for those stories.
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把海水變成能源的神奇機器
A Machine That Can Turn Seawater into Energy
Did you know you can make energy from seawater?
A research team at National Sun Yat-sen University says they've made a machine that can break down seawater to get hydrogen (氫).
They say it's the first of its kind in the world.
Why would anyone want hydrogen?
Hydrogen is a clean fuel that only makes water as a byproduct (副產品), making it good for the earth.
Hydrogen is important because it makes green electricity.
Green electricity is made from solar, wind, or hydro power.
It doesn't use fossil fuels.
Many industries (行業) need hydrogen to make important chemicals like rocket fuel (火箭燃料).
It's also important for making metals stronger.
So, how does the machine make hydrogen from seawater?
It does it by using electrolysis (電解), which causes a chemical reaction.
The machine passes an electric current (電流) through seawater, helping water molecules (水分子) split up.
It sounds like something we should be able to do easily.
But it's not easy.
The lack of technology is a problem.
It's difficult to show that making big amounts of hydrogen is possible.
目前最大的困難之一，在於還沒有 那樣的技術，來 證 明大量生產氫氣辦得到。
But the new machine is exciting because its inventors say it can produce plenty of hydrogen.
The machine will help Taiwan accomplish its dream of becoming a zero emissions (零排放) country by 2050.
Then Taiwan won't need to buy energy like oil from other countries anymore.
The researchers have been working with the government to make their special machine.
But it's not enough.
And they are hoping other government and industry partners will work with them develop this promising technology.
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富士山美景被遮擋 觀光客卻找辦法攝影
Holes in Screen Fail to Block Mount Fuji Photos
At the foot of Mount Fuji, there is a town that enjoys amazing views of this special mountain.
This town has a long name - Fujikawaguchiko - and it's got big problems.
Tourists who are trying to take pictures of Mount Fuji have been bothering the locals that live in the area.
They've been blocking pavements, walking into busy roads, and standing on private property to take photos.
因為當地人抱怨遊客堵住了人行道、占用繁忙的道路、並且還站在私人領地上拍照。
So to stop the tourists from taking photos of the mountain, officials there put up a big black screen.
The screen is outside the Lawson convenience store.
If you take a picture from there, it looks like Mount Fuji is sitting on the roof.
But the screen didn't stop some sneaky tourists from trying to take their pictures anyway.
Destroying public property is something we should never do, particularly when we are visitors in a new country.
But some tourists don't seem to remember this, because they have cut holes in the screen and in fences.
Officials found about ten holes at eye level the day after the screen was put up.
They think some tourists made holes in the screen just the right size for a camera lens.
This kind of behavior is one reason why many people around the world don't like tourists, and not just in Japan.
In fact, overtourism (過度旅遊) is a problem in many in many countries around the world.
So governments are coming up with ways to deal with this problem.
For example, Venice in Italy charges a €5 fee for tourists to enter the city on certain days to manage the crowds.
That's about 175 NT.
The Canary Islands (加那利群島) are considering stricter rules to control the number of visitors.
In Tenerife (特內里費島), locals protested to limit tourist arrivals.
And last September, some parts of a popular heritage site in Peru - Machu Picchu (馬丘比丘) - were closed to tourists because of erosion (侵蝕).
Let's remember to respect local customs and be considerate when travelling to other countries.
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So in today's News Bites,
A research team at National Sun Yat-sen University made the world's first prototype that can generate hydrogen from seawater.
It does this via electrolysis, which is using electricity to cause a reaction.
The team said their machine can make produce hydrogen on a large scale.
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And,
Officials in the Japanese town of Fujikawaguchiko put up a black screen to stop tourists taking pictures of Mount Fuji.
But some tourists are suspected of making holes in the screen.
Despite this, officials say the screen has helped reduce some problems.
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趣味小點
Tasty Tidbit
And in today's Tasty Tidbit: Did you know the best-selling video game of all time is Minecraft?
Minecraft has sold over 300 million copies.
Have you played Minecraft before?
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And that's it for today's episode of News Bites!
If you have a fun fact, a joke or an 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!