塑膠容器加熱釋出百億塑膠微粒
Taiwan Study on Dangers of Heating Plastic

Mmmm....

Nothing like a hot meal on a cold winter day.

But wait a minute...

If your hot meal comes in a plastic container...

You might be getting a lot more than just yummy food!

Scientists in Taiwan did a new study.

And guess what they found?

When you heat plastic food boxes or cups...

They can release millions of microplastics (塑膠微粒) into the food.

These are super small pieces of plastic...

Really tiny, so small you can't even see them.

A professor and his team wanted to test this.

They heated up plastic containers...

And they found many, many tiny plastic pieces came out.

The scientists did some more testing.

They learned that the plastic pieces caused health problems.

They could hurt people's bodies.

They could even cause problems in people's brains!

研究團隊發現，塑膠容器和包裝加熱後可能釋出百億顆塑膠微粒，這些微粒可能會被吸收到身體內的各器官。

But there's more bad news.

The team checked 50 young people in Taiwan.

And all of them had microplastics coming out of their bodies!

It looks like microplastics are almost everywhere.

The scientists say they don't know everything yet.

But they know plastic inside the body is probably bad.

So for now, they say it is better to use less plastic...

Especially when food is hot.

So what can we do?

Try to use glass (玻璃) or metal (金屬) to hold your hot food.

Don't heat (加熱) your food in plastic.

Try to use reusable items when you can.

Tiny plastics may be small...

But taking care of our health and our planet is a BIG job!
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Today, a student from Taipei gets a little "punny"...

***BITE-SIZED BREAK***

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牛津辭典年度代表字 "Rage Bait"
"Rage Bait" is Oxford's Word of the Year

Have you ever seen something online that makes you go, "What?!"

Or, "Why would someone DO that?!"

Well… guess what?

Some people make these on purpose, to make you angry.

This is called "rage bait."

It means something made to make you mad, so you click, comment, and share
more.

And guess what?

Oxford Dictionary says "rage bait" is its "Word of the Year"!

Why this word?

Because lots of people are talking about it.

This year, people used the word three times more than before.

More and more of us see silly or angry posts online that try to pull us into
fights.

牛津大學出版社選出的 2025 年度代表字"rage
bait"（憤怒誘餌），故意惹人生氣，用這股怒氣來換流量。

Is rage bait always bad?

Not always!

Sometimes it's just funny or a bit gross.

But sometimes… it's not so funny.

Some people use rage bait to make people argue.

That's when things can get messy.

Other dictionaries also picked cool internet words.

Collins Dictionary chose "vibe coding".

That's using AI to turn normal words into computer code.

Cambridge Dictionary chose "parasocial".

That's when you feel like someone online is your friend…even if you don't
really know them.

Last year, Oxford picked "Brain rot".

We talked about this on our show too.

It's when your brain feels tired from too much scrolling.

Yeah… been there.

And it's all related (有關).

Oxford says "rage bait" plus "brain rot" together make a big loop.

Rage makes you click more.

Then internet algorithms show you more.

And your brain gets more tired.

Yikes!

And there were other words that almost won.

"Aura farming" is trying to look cool or mysterious online.

"Biohack" is trying new things to be super healthy.

So what can we learn from Oxford's Word of the Year?

If something online makes you SUPER mad…take a breath, count to five, and
don't let rage bait catch you!

Stay curious, stay kind, and stay smart online.
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So, in today's News Bites:

Scientists in Taiwan found that when you heat plastic food boxes or cups,
they can release millions of microplastics into the food.

They learned that the plastic pieces caused health problems.

To avoid microplastics, try to use glass or metal to hold your hot food.

And don't heat your food in plastic.
________________________________

And,

Oxford Dictionary says "rage bait" is its "Word of the Year"!

This year, people used the word three times more than before.

Some people use rage bait to make people argue, and that's when things can
get messy.
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News Flash

In today's News Flash, a word for when we want change.

"Boycott" is choosing not to buy or join something to show you want a change.
Maybe you think something is wrong, or not fair. It's like saying "I don't
like what you're doing, and I won't support you until you change."

For example, if a toy company is being unfair to its workers, people might
boycott the toys.
That means they stop buying the toys to show they want things to be better.

And now you know!

20251216NB.mp3