Probiotics and Mollusk Fossils

News Bites

Hi there. It's time for an all-new episode of News Bites. I'm Jacob Ingram. And I'm Kelly Kimura. In today's episode, we'll be talking about probiotics and fossils! And for today's Tasty Tidbit: Imagine bringing your very own pet bear to school! Stay tuned for those stories. ________________________________ 雲林水稻田添加益生菌以減少溫室氣體 Yunlin Officials Add Probiotics to Rice Paddies to Cut Carbon Emissions Do you know what bacteria (細菌) is? Bacteria are tiny living things. They can be found almost everywhere: in the air, on animals, plants, deep in the ocean and even inside your body. There are good and bad types of bacteria (好的跟壞的細菌). Good bacteria are important for keeping us healthy. It helps us digest food (消化) and absorb nutrients (攝取營養). It also supports our immune system (免疫系統). Bad bacteria, on the other hand, can harm our health. It causes many illnesses and infections. Now that we're 'up to speed' with what bacteria is, we can head over to Yunlin County for today's story. Officials there have been trying to reduce greenhouse gases from rice fields. 他們在研究怎麼減少稻田的二氧化排放。 Rice fields produce a lot of greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide (二氧化碳) and methane (甲烷). These gases are bad for the environment. The officials teamed up with a local university. Together, they came up with an ingenious idea (巧妙的主意). Researchers added probiotics (益生菌), or good bacteria, to rice paddies. They said probiotics help the rice grow better and reduce (減少) harmful gases, making farming better for the planet. The researchers measured the gas emissions (測量氣體排放) and checked the environment during the rice-growing season. They say the initial results look promising. 初步結果看起來很有希望。 They found that harmful gas emissions, like carbon dioxide and methane, dropped by 80 to 90 percent. They say these big reductions can help fight climate change. It can also help Taiwan achieve its goal of net-zero emissions by 2050. 這個計畫也有助於臺灣實現2050年淨零排放的目標。 The county plans to expand this project to more areas and involve businesses. They hope farmers and companies can work together to protect the environment. ________________________________ 軟體動物的古老起源 The Ancient Origins of Mollusks Scientists have found a very old fossil (化石). How old is it? They say it is half-a-billion-years old! 五億年喔! Wow! Why do scientists study fossils? Well, fossils offer a glimpse into the past, revealing the history of life on Earth. They contain clues about how different plants and animals looked, where they lived, and how they changed over millions of years. Fossils allow scientists to piece together the story of Earth's evolution (地球的演化), like solving a puzzle, one piece at a time. Fossils can also help scientists understand more about extinct creatures, like dinosaurs (恐龍). It's like finding a really old family photo that shows how your grandparents looked when they were young! So anyway, back to this old fossil. The fossil is of a slug with spines. These creatures are known as mollusks (軟體動物). Today, mollusks come in many forms, such as snails, clams, squids, and octopuses! Scientists say the fossil shows that earliest mollusks were flat, slug-like creatures without shells. 科學家說化石顯示最早的軟體動物是扁平的、類似蛞蝓的無殼生物。 It also shows the creatures had spiny armor (帶刺的殼) for protection. This suggests it is from a very early stage in mollusk evolution. 這表明它來自軟體動物演化的早期階段。 The spines on its back likely helped it stay safe from predators (肉食動物). The mollusk fossil was found in China's Yunnan Province. Researchers said it was the size of a thumb (大小跟大拇指差不多) and looked like a rotting plastic bag (腐爛的塑膠袋). But later, they used a magnifying glass (放大鏡) to look at it more closely. Then they discovered the mollusk fossil was spiny (多刺的). The researchers described the fossil as strange, completely different from any other fossils they had ever seen. They published the findings in the journal Science (科學 (期刊)). ________________________________ So in today's News Bites: Rice fields release harmful gases that hurt the planet. So scientists added good bacteria to rice fields in Yunlin County to see what would happen. They found it helps the rice grow better and produce less harmful gas. Bacteria are tiny living things found everywhere, including inside our bodies. Some help us stay healthy, while others can make us sick. Using good bacteria in rice fields could be a big help in fighting climate change. ________________________________ And scientists found a very old fossil with spines in Yunnan, China. It's called a mollusk. Mollusks are animals with soft bodies, like snails, clams, squids and octopuses. This fossil shows that early mollusks were very different from the ones alive today. This discovery is exciting, because it helps scientists better understand the history of life on Earth. _______________________________ 趣味小點 Tasty Tidbit And in today's Tasty Tidbit: It was said that the famous British poet Lord Byron kept a pet bear when he was studying at Cambridge! Byron bought the bear when he was told that he could not keep a dog in his room. So instead, he decided to get himself a tame bear as a pet. Byron was even seen taking his pet bear on walks across campus. 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!