Plastic-Consuming Bacteria and Tourist in Norway Fined

News Bites

Hi there. It's time for an all-new episode of News Bites. I'm Jacob Ingram. And I'm Paz Bueno. In today's news: A research team from National Taiwan Ocean University discovered a bacteria that consumes plastic, and a tourist in Norway was fined for getting too near a walrus. And in today's Tasty Tidbit: Elevator music! Stay tuned for those stories, coming up next. ________________________________ 海大研究團隊發現能分解塑膠的新細菌 NTOU Research Team Discover Plastic-Consuming Bacteria A team from National Taiwan Ocean University recently discovered something incredible. What would that be? I'll give you a clue: It can do incredible things for the environment. Care to tell me? Oceanimonas pelagia. Never heard of it. It's a bacteria strain (細菌株) that can decompose plastic (分解塑膠) and partly remove diesel (去除柴油). Consider me interested. 讓我十分感興趣。 The researchers say the bacteria strain was isolated from marine sediments along Taiwan's northern coast. 這種細菌是從台灣北部海岸的海洋沉積物分離出來的。 Do you remember its name? Oceanimonas pelagia. Well done on remembering that. I just read it off the script. This special bacteria's full name is actually "Oceanimonas pelagia NTOU-MSR1". The researchers said not only can it degrade plastic, it can also produce plastics that are more environmentally friendly than traditional petroleum-based plastics. 研究人員說除了能分解塑膠外，這種細菌還可以製造比傳統塑膠產品更環保的替代品。 So why is this such a big deal? Well, plastic pollution is a big problem worldwide. Every year, millions of tons of plastic waste end up in our oceans, damaging marine life. So this new discovery might just be the solution to the problem. What's more is the bacteria can also survive in lots of different environments. For example, environments with high salinity (高鹽度), and even a wide range of temperatures and pH levels (酸鹼值). 它有很好的環境適應能力，能夠耐受高鹽度，在各種不同溫度和酸鹼值下也都能存活。 So, what's next? Well, the team plans to dive deeper into the potential of this bacteria. They want to explore how it can be used to protect our environment and recycle resources. ________________________________ 挪威觀光客因為太靠近海象而被罰錢 Tourist in Norway Fined for Approaching Walrus Time to head to Norway for this next story! Recently a tourist there was fined for approaching a walrus on the archipelago of Svalbard. 有一名觀光客因為太靠近海象而被懲罰。 He was fined 12,500 Norwegian Kroner, which is about 34,000 NT. Fined that much just for getting too near a walrus? Yeah! The tourist went out onto an ice floe (大浮冰) to try and take a photo of it. But many considered his actions disrespectful and dangerous. People nearby took photos of the man and reported him to the local governor (當地總督). Authorities said the man "disturbed a walrus that was lying on the ice", and that bystanders (旁觀者) saw him approach the mammal. They added, "The incident was also observed by the governor's employees". There is a law in Svalbard which states that people must not unnecessarily disturb wildlife. 斯瓦爾巴群島有一項法律規定，人們不可以無緣無故騷擾野生動物。 The tourist was brought to the governor's office, where he accepted the fine. According to the government's Norwegian Polar Institute, walruses were hunted in Svalbard and almost went extinct. That was until they were protected by law in 1952. 斯瓦爾巴群島居民曾經獵捕海象，讓牠一度瀕臨滅絕，直到1952年才受到法律保護。 Even though walruses in that area have been protected since then, their numbers are still low. To this day, they remain on a Norwegian endangered species list. Norwegian authorities are planning to introduce more rules to protect walruses, such as lowering speed limits. ________________________________ So in today's News Bites, Researchers from National Taiwan Ocean University discovered a new strain of bacteria that can consume plastic. Oceanimonas pelagia was isolated from marine sediments off the northern coast of Taiwan. It can survive in lots of different environments that have high temperature and pH ranges, and those that have high saline levels. Researchers hope it can help solve the problem of plastic waste in oceans. _______________________________ And, A tourist in Svalbard, Norway was fined around 34 thousand NT for getting too close to a walrus. He went out onto an ice floe to take pictures of it, and the authorities say he broke the law. Walruses there are protected by law, as their numbers are low. That means people there are not allowed to act in a way that disturbs wildlife unnecessarily. _______________________________ 趣味小點 Tasty Tidbit And in today's Tasty Tidbit, Do you know why elevator music was invented? It was to calm fearful passengers who were using an elevator for the first time. It was first introduced in the 1920's, when elevators were becoming more common. ________________________________ And 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!