Taiwan Robot Dogs & Wayuu Kitesurfing Boy

News Bites

Hi everyone, welcome to a new episode of News Bites! I'm Kelly Kimura… And I'm Nancy Sun. Coming up next in today's news: Taiwan’s has its own robot dogs, and a mother lets kitesurfing change her son’s life And in today's Tasty Tidbit… a prizewinning chocolate maker couldn’t smell her chocolate! Stay tuned for more on those stories! ___________________________________________________________ **台灣機器狗的美好未來 ** A Paws-itive Future for Taiwanese Robot Dogs Taiwan’s robot dog industry (產業) is starting! A national university (大學) and the National Science and Technology Council (國家科學及技術委員會) started a robot dog project (專案) two years ago. They have now shown the first AI, or artificial intelligence, robot dogs developed (開發) in Taiwan. The project developed two kinds of AI robot dogs. Both kinds have sensors (感應器), so they can walk around by themselves (獨自的). Since they are AI robots, they can be trained (接受訓練). Both are being trained to use stairs and walk on different (不同的) kinds of terrain (地形). But there are differences in how the two kinds of robot dogs are used. Here, sweetie! Good boy! Yeahhhhh. One is a pet. It weighs 16 kilograms and is 53 centimeters long. Come. Sit. Stay. Good boy! It listens to commands (命令) and looks at facial expressions (臉部表情). The other robot dog is a worker. It weighs 40 kilograms and is about one meter long. Its sensors can detect (探測) sound, temperature (溫度), gas, and other information (資訊). It can report (報告) information immediately (馬上). This robot dog can work in factories or other industrial settings (工業環境). This is important for Taiwan, because some industries don’t have enough human workers. This kind of robot dog can also help rescue workers (救援人員). For example, in other countries, robot dogs take videos of the inside of burning buildings. Then firefighters (消防員) know if it is safe to enter the buildings. 這些機器狗將改變我們的工作方式以及我們與科技互動的方式。 The university and the National Science and Technology Council believe Taiwan can have a robot dog industry that is successful around the world. Why? Taiwan can make robot dogs for about half the cost of other countries! ___________________________________________________________ **風箏衝浪改變男孩的生活 ** A Mother Lets Kitesurfing Change Her Son’s Life In Colombia (哥倫比亞), there is a great place for kitesurfing (風箏衝浪). It is far from cities. It’s on the coast (海岸) of the land of the Indigenous (原住民) Wayuu people. At first, kitesurfers only went to the beach. They didn’t have contact (接觸) with the Wayuu. Wayuu kids watched the kitesurfers’ colorful kites fly over the water. They watched the kitesurfers jump high. It looked so fun! But the kids and their families had no money to kitesurf. The kids didn’t think they could ever join the kitesurfers. Then a kitesurfing teacher started a kitesurfing school on Wayuu land. He wanted local people to help and learn. Two young Wayuu brothers really wanted to learn. After (後) their mother gave them permission (許可), they started training with the teacher. After school and on weekends, after they finished their homework and chores (雜務), the boys used every minute to kitesurf. The younger brother had to work hard to get better. Wayuu people have to get permission from their leaders to go to the outside world (外面的世界). When he was 13, he got permission to go to a competition (競賽). For the first time, he saw escalators, elevators, and traffic lights (電扶梯、電梯和交通燈號). For every competition, he had to get permission. When he was 18, he went to a competition in Brazil (巴西). He wanted to stay and work as a kitesurfing teacher. He did not get permission, but he stayed. As a punishment (懲罰), he could not go home for two years. It was okay with his mother. Making a good life at home was hard. There were few jobs. She wanted him to live in the outside world and follow his dream. Now he’s the only Wayuu who is a professional (職業) kitesurfer. 在母親的鼓勵下，他發揮了自己的才能，實現了自己的夢想。 ___________________________________________________________ So in today's News Bites: A university has developed Taiwan’s first AI robot dogs, starting a new industry. This industry can be successful around the world. Taiwan can make robot dogs for about half the cost of other countries. ___________________________________________________________ And… A young boy from the Wayuu Indigenous group learned how to kitesurf. His mother wanted him to follow his dream. Now he’s the only Wayuu who is a professional kitesurfer. ___________________________________________________________ 趣味小點 ** Tasty Tidbit** A Taiwanese chocolate maker caught COVID-19 (新冠肺炎) last year and could not smell anything. She decided not to enter an international (國際的) chocolate competition. If she couldn’t smell, how could she make delicious chocolate? But she kept thinking about Beethoven (貝多芬). He couldn’t hear, but he wrote beautiful music. So… she entered the competition. She made a chocolate with a new taste. The taste comes from a bean that can kill you… if you eat A LOT of beans. But one chocolate uses just a little of one bean. The bean tastes like vanilla, almonds, and cinnamon (香草、杏仁和肉桂). Mmmmmm… The chocolate maker won one gold, two silver and two bronze medals (一枚金牌、兩枚銀牌和兩枚銅牌) and two special prizes! Those chocolates sound like very tasty tidbits! ___________________________________________________________ And that's it for today's episode of News Bites! If you have a fun fact, a joke, or interesting news you'd like to share with us, record your message and send your Tasty Tidbit to us at [e-mail]. You might hear it at the end of an episode! We'll see you next time for an exciting new episode of News Bites!