A New Home for Crabs Crabs, and Escaping the Heat Underground

B*News Bites 文字檔 (國中) ________________________________ Hi there! It's time for another episode of News Bites! I'm Nancy Sun. And I'm Hope Ngo. In today's news: Some big crabs find a new home, and some people head underground to escape the heat. And stay tuned for today's Tasty Tidbits at the end of the episode… Where we find out what we have in common with Pinocchio! ________________________________ 保育類椰子蟹現蹤綠島 Coconut Crabs Living Wild on Green Island A type of rare crab may have found a home on Green Island. Coconut crabs live on land. Adult coconut crabs have hard shells (殼), and can get very large. An adult coconut crab can weigh around 4 kilograms. That's about as heavy as a cat, or a small dog. And they can grow up to 1 meter wide, from the tip of one leg (的尖端) to the tip of another. Some of these big crabs have been found on Green Island. And scientists think the crabs may be making Green Island their new home. The scientists have spotted young coconut crabs living free on the island. These young crabs were found by scientists earlier this summer. And the crabs were 1 to 5 years old. They were still carrying seashells to protect (保護) their bodies. Coconut crabs are protected by Taiwan's Wildlife Conservation Act. They are mostly found along the coast of Pingtung, Taitung, and Taiwan's eastern outlying islands. 椰子蟹主要分布在屏東、台東及東部離島的沿海地區。 Their pincers (螯) are also strong enough to crack coconut shells. They do this to get to the coconut meat (椰肉) inside. 椰子蟹生活於沿海附近的熱帶海岸林中，他們會用強壯的螯夾裂椰子殼，享用裡面的果肉。 Scientists say young coconut crabs have been spotted on Green Island in the past. But they say the crabs haven't been carefully studied there yet. If the crabs can live and grow on Green Island, they could become an important part of the natural environment there. ________________________________ 逃離酷熱 澳洲地下小鎮 Australian Town Heads Underground to Beat the Heat We all felt the heat this summer. And many scientists say these super-hot summers could be the new "normal". So if we're going to get through these high temperatures, we may have to change the way we live. Some in Australia are heading underground (地下) to get away from the heat. Around 3,000 people live in a town called Coober Pedy. But sometimes, it looks very empty. That's because Coober Pedy gets very hot. The temperature there hits 52 degrees Celsius…and that's in the shade (陰涼處). It's so hot, people who live there have to put electronics (電子產品) in the fridge. So, more than half of the people in Coober Pedy live underground. 這個澳洲小鎮上的許多居民都進入地下生活，避開外面的灼熱氣溫。 All the underground buildings in the town are at least four meters deep. And down there, the temperature is always around 23 degrees Celsius. That's during daytime and at night. People who live there say it's very easy to make a home or a new building. They say the rock there is very soft. So if the want to add another room to their underground house, they just start digging (挖). And some people have made big homes with many rooms. Some have even added game rooms, and underground swimming pools. And it's not just homes that are underground, Coober Pedy also has underground restaurants, shops, and churches. 當地居民在地下建造了餐廳、商店、甚至還有教堂。 Some people have even made money while making their buildings bigger. A Coober Pedy hotel was digging to build more rooms, when the owners found opals (蛋白石) underground. The opals were worth almost $1 million US dollars! So is going underground the best way to deal with global warming? Not all places have stone and soil that is good for making underground buildings. And in some places, underground homes would be too damp (潮濕). This means living underground may not be a perfect solution (解決方案). But as the world gets hotter, we may see more underground towns popping up soon! ________________________________ So, in today's News Bites: Scientists think coconut crabs may be making Green Island their new home. The scientists have spotted young coconut crabs living free on the island. If the crabs can live and grow on Green Island, they could become an important part of the natural environment there. ________________________________ Some people in Australia are heading underground to get away from the heat. More than half of the people in a town called Coober Pedy live underground. Down there, the temperature is always around 23 degrees Celsius. As the world gets hotter, we may see more underground towns popping up soon! ________________________________ 趣味小點 Tasty Tidbit And before we go, here's a Tasty Tidbit you can take away from today's News Lunchbox: Just like the character Pinocchio, something also happens to our nose when we lie. Pinocchio is a story character whose nose grows longer when he lies. But did you know that when we lie, our nose gets warmer? Scientists took pictures that showed how hot someone's face is. They found that when we lie, the temperature around our nose, and the inner corners of our eyes goes up. They call this the "Pinocchio Effect". If you have a fun fact or a joke you'd like to share with us, record your message and send us your Tasty Tidbit to [email protected], 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!