Lost Tortoise, Microplastics Gel, Seal ID

News Bites

In today's news, with Nancy and Paz:

A turtle takes a walk, a gel sucks up microplastics, and seals get I.D.ed.

All that and more, coming up next!

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巨大象龜挖洞翹家

Big Tortoise Goes on the Run

One day, a turtle went for a walk…

And had to be rescued by police!

You see, this was not just any turtle.

It's an African spurred tortoise (蘇卡達象龜).

In the wild, these big tortoises live in the Sahara desert (撒哈拉沙漠).

They are the third-biggest species of tortoise in the world.

Their shells can grow up to 1 meter long.

One of the biggest African spurred tortoises on record weighed over 120 kilograms!

One of these giant tortoise lives in Kaohsiung's Gangshan District.

And it ran away from home.

Many people saw it crawling around in a field outside.

散步民眾發現這隻巨大的蘇卡達象龜在田裡爬行。

And pretty soon, police officers came too.

They guessed that this tortoise was a pet.

And they quickly found the owner, and tried to get the tortoise home.

But this tortoise weighs about 50 kilograms, and was too big to pick up.

Police had to borrow a cart (推車) from a farmer close by.

And four people had to work together to move the tortoise onto the cart to get it home.

The owner says this tortoise really likes to dig holes (挖洞).

And she says this is not the first time the tortoise dug a hole and ran away from home (逃家).

The owner was very thankful for everyone who helped.

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去除水中微塑膠有新方法

Gel that Cleans Microplastics from Water

Microplastics are tiny.

But they are a big problem.

And we are just starting to understand how big a problem they are.

Microplastics have been found in all places around the world.

They've been found in ice in the Arctic.

They've been found close to the top of Mount Everest!

And they've even been found in our bodies!

Because microplastics are so small, they are very hard to find and clean up.

But a German company, "Wasser 3.0", thinks it can solve this problem.

They start by making a vortex in the water (旋渦).

Then they add a special gel (凝膠).

The gel sticks to microplastics in the water.

And the gel and microplastics become small clumps (凝結成塊).

This takes less than 5 minutes.

The company says these clumps look like pieces of popcorn.

They can be taken out of the water with nets.

And the water is now microplastics-free!

The company says the gel is non-toxic (無毒).

They say this idea can be used in any kind of water, including seawater.

這種去除微塑膠的方法適合各種水，包括海水。

And the clumps of gel and microplastics can be reused for things like insulation in buildings (建築隔熱材料).

Wasser 3.0 tried out this idea at a wastewater treatment plant (污水處理廠) in Germany.

They say in 12 months, over 270 kilograms of microplastics were removed from water.

The company hopes the idea can be used to keep the world's water safe.

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海豹也用臉部辨識

Facial Recognition Helps Save Seals

Facial recognition.

It's a technology that's becoming more common around the world.

It's used by police in some countries.

And it's used to unlock some smartphones.

But now scientists are using it to save seals.

US researchers have made a database (資料庫) of seal faces.

They call it "SealNet".

And using that database, they tested facial recognition technology on hundreds of seals.

They found that the tech can identify seals almost 100 percent of the time.

科學家發現臉部辨識系統竟可以用來辨認海豹。

Identifying seals help scientists track where they live and where they go.

This can help scientists protect them in better ways.

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So, in today's News Bites:

An African spurred tortoise ran away from home in Kaohsiung's Gangshan District.

Police and other people worked together to move the tortoise onto a cart to get it home.

The owner was very thankful to everyone who helped.

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German company Wasser 3.0 uses a special gel to get microplastics out of water.

The gel and microplastics become clumps that can be taken out of the water with nets.

And the water is now microplastics-free!

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And…

Scientists are using facial recognition to save seals.

They found that the tech can identify seals almost 100 percent of the time.

Identifying seals help scientists protect them in better ways.

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And that's today's episode of News Bites!