Snakehead, NYC Sinking, Titanic Scan

News Bites

Hi there, it's time for another episode of News Bites! I'm Nancy Sun… And I'm Hope Ngo. In today's news: What's lurking in Sun Moon Lake? What's weighing down New York City? And what does the Titanic really look like? All that and more, coming up next. ________________________________ 破紀錄「魚虎王」上鉤 Giant Snakehead Fish Caught in Sun Moon Lake A fishing team has caught the largest giant snakehead (魚虎) in Taiwan's history. The fish is more than 100 centimeters long. And it weighs 19.2 kilograms. That's about as heavy as a 5 year old child! 釣魚達人黃小四和工作團隊，釣到堪稱全國最大魚虎，這支「魚虎王」重達19公斤。 The catch was part of a project to get the invasive fish out of the lake. The giant snakehead is an invasive species (外來入侵物種) that has been a danger to the lake's ecology. Giant snakeheads were first introduced into Taiwan as ornamental fish (觀賞魚). Then people got tired of them and released them into lakes and rivers. The giant snakeheads have almost no natural enemies (天敵) here in Taiwan. So they multiplied (繁殖) rapidly, and grew to huge sizes. They also eat native animals, and cause serious damage to the ecosystem. Humans need to do more to protect the natural balance of the ecosystem. ________________________________ 紐約市沉重的大困境 The Weighty Consequence of New York's Skyscrapers New York City is often called "The Big Apple". It's an important city in the U.S. And it's also a must-visit city for tourists all over the world. There are also many famous buildings in New York… The Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building and many others. But all those giant skyscrapers (摩天大樓) is causing a problem for the city. The weight of the buildings is actually making the city sink! New York City has over 6000 high-rise buildings. These buildings are over 35 meters tall. Researchers calculated the weight of the city's structures (結構). They think the all the structures together weigh about 762 million kilograms! This enormous weight is pushing down on the ground. It causes the city to sink 1 to 2 mm each year on average. At first, this wasn't dangerous. But now, global warming is causing glaciers (冰河) to melt, and sea levels to rise. And that, along with the city sinking, means that the water around New York City has risen 22 centimeters since 1950. This means more flooding, especially when there's a hurricane. Researchers also say the situation will be the same in many coastal cities (海岸城市) around the world as the climate crisis deepens. 看來全球暖化導致海平面上升的問題真的不容忽視。 ________________________________ 鐵達尼號首次公開全貌 A Look at the Secrets of the Titanic Many movies and shows have been made about the sinking of the 'Titanic' in 1912. Researchers have been studying the wreck (殘骸) of the luxury ship since it was discovered in 1985. But the research hasn't been easy. It's deep under water. And the wreck has been eaten away by rust (銹). Researchers say the ship is deteriorating (惡化). They say those who study the ship have to be very careful not to cause damage. Now, a new project may change the situation, and help researchers get more information. A team of scientists have used deep sea mapping to make a 'digital twin' of the wreck. It's the largest underwater scan ever done so far. The scans were carried out in the summer of 2022. The researchers got around 715,000 images and 16 terabytes of data. This is about 10 times larger than any underwater 3D model ever created. This "digital twin" scan is very detailed. It's so detailed that even the serial number on the propeller (螺旋槳) can be seen. The researchers think this will help them learn more about what happened on the ship. 專家相信這將能解開導致這個悲劇的許多謎團。 ________________________________ So, in today's News Bites… A fishing team has caught the largest giant snakehead in Taiwan's history. The fish is more than 100 centimeters long. And it weighs 19.2 kilograms. ________________________________ New York City has over 6000 high-rise buildings. Researchers think the all the structures together weighed about 762 million kilograms. This enormous weight is causing the city to sink 1 to 2 millimeters each year on average. ________________________________ And, A team of scientists have used deep sea mapping to make a "digital twin" of the wreck of the Titanic. The researchers got around 715,000 images and 16 terabytes of data. This digital twin scan is so detailed that even the serial number on the propeller can be seen. ________________________________ And that's today's episode of News Bites!