Episode Details

Hi there, it's an all-new episode of News Bites. I'm Nancy Sun. And I'm Jacob Ingram. In today's news, The sound of music, but not after 10pm, and a comeback from extinction. And in today's Tasty Tidbit: We've got a great place to get some peace and quiet. We'll tell you all about it at the end of the episode! ________________________________ 北市住宅區禁夜間音樂商業行為 Taipei Bans Music for Business after 10PM in Residential Areas We know pollution is bad for the environment and our health. But we often forget about one type of pollution…noise pollution. During daytime, we hear a lot of noises. Some of those noises come from traffic, construction, and the sounds of people going to work or school. But at night, some of those noises are very annoying (令人困擾). That noise pollution can make it hard for us to sleep. The World Health Organization says night noise levels should be less than 40 decibels (dB 分貝). That's about the sound of a quiet library. According to a study, around 30% of people who live in Taipei deal with noise levels of 45 dB at night. That is the legal limit for night noise. Some of these night noises come from restaurants. In Taipei City, many restaurants and cafes are in lanes and alleys. They're often on the 1st floor of residential buildings (住宅). Sometimes this noise can bother people who live nearby. In the first 10 months of this year, the city government got more than 1,500 complaints about noise caused by restaurants. More than half of these restaurants were in residential areas (住宅區). When the government checks the noise level, the levels are not over the legal limit. But people living nearby still say the noise level is too high. So, the city government is now changing laws. Now, businesses in residential areas are not allowed to play music after 10pm. This includes using music equipment, like amplifiers (擴大器) and speakers (喇叭). 台北市環保局禁止住宅區晚上10點至隔日上午8點播放音樂致妨礙安寧的商業行為。 If a business does not follow the law, it could be fined between $3,000 and $30,000 NT. The law applies to restaurants, bars, cafes, convenience stores, and other shops. And things that make noise are not allowed, such as using a leaf blower (吹葉機) or other cleaning work. People can make a report to the city's citizen hotline, if someone breaks the law. ________________________________ 渡渡鳥有望復活？ "De-Extincting" the Dodo Humans have come a long way as a species. But we have also caused damage to the ecosystem. Over the past few centuries, many species have gone extinct. As we need more land, we cut down forests. And cutting down forests makes animal species go extinct even faster. The dodo bird (渡渡鳥) was discovered in the 1500s. Less than 80 years after it was discovered, it was wiped off the surface of the Earth. But now, scientists have a plan to bring them back. A genetic engineering company named Colossal Biosciences is working closely with top researchers. They want to "de-extinct" (復活) the dodo. Scientists need to figure out the Dodo's genetic information, also known as a genome (基因組). But the bird is extinct. So scientists will study the genome of the Nicobar pigeon. The pigeon is the Dodo's closest living relative. By doing this, scientists hope to rebuild the Dodo's genetic code. If they are successful, they will then use genetically-modified (基因改造) chickens to breed real dodos. The dodo is not the only species on the "De-Extinction" list. The company is also trying to bring back woolly mammoths (長毛象). They are using DNA from frozen mammoths to reengineer the genome of an Asian elephant. In their labs, they're searching for ways to grow a mammoth calf. The company says its work could prevent extinction of other species. Some endangered species only have a few animals left. This means they don't have genetic diversity (