Topic: World’s biggest plant discovered off Australian coast

The largest known plant on Earth - a seagrass roughly three times the size of Manhattan - has been discovered off the coast of Australia.

地球上已知的最大植物－大約是曼哈頓面積3倍大的一種海草－已在澳洲海岸外被發現。

Using genetic testing, scientists have determined a large underwater meadow in Western Australia is in fact one plant.

使用基因測定，科學家已判定在西澳洲的一片大型水下草甸其實是一棵植物。

It is believed to have spread from a single seed over at least 4,500 years. The seagrass covers about 200 sq km , researchers from the University of Western Australia said.

據信這片草甸從一顆種子擴散而成，歷時至少4500年。西澳洲大學的研究人員說，這棵海草覆蓋的面積約200平方公里。

The team stumbled upon the discovery by accident at Shark Bay, about 800km north of Perth. They had set out to understand the genetic diversity of the species - also known as ribbon weed - which is commonly found along parts of Australia’s coast.

研究團隊在伯斯北方約800公里的鯊魚灣意外找到這發現。他們先是著手了解這些常在澳洲部份海岸被發現的物種－也被稱為絲帶海草－的基因多樣性。

Researchers collected shoots from across the bay and examined 18,000 genetic markers to create a "fingerprint" from each sample. They had aimed to discover how many plants made up the meadow.

研究人員從整個鯊魚灣蒐集幼芽，並且檢視了1萬8000個基因標記來為每個樣本製造「指紋」。他們原本目標是要找出有多少棵植物構成這片草甸。

"The answer blew us away - there was just one!" said Jane Edgeloe, the study’s lead author.

該研究主要作者珍．艾吉羅說：「這個答案讓我們大吃一驚，居然只有一棵！」

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Topic: Not a square to spare: Australian shops ration toilet paper amid coronavirus panic 一張都不分：澳洲商店在冠狀病毒恐慌中限購衛生紙

Australia’s major grocers put strict limits on purchases of toilet paper on Wednesday, after shoppers stripped shelves in a rush of panic buying spurred by fears over a coronavirus.

在購物者因冠狀病毒掀起的恐慌而倉皇大肆搶購，將貨架上商品一掃而空後，澳洲大型零售商店週三對購買衛生紙祭出嚴格限制。

The demand for toilet paper, in particular, has sparked the trending hashtags #toiletpapergate and #toiletpapercrisis on Twitter, along with photographs of overloaded shopping trolleys, and calls for calm from baffled officials.

尤其，對衛生紙的需求已經在「推特」掀起「衛生紙門」和「衛生紙危機」熱門話題標籤，以及一張張堆到爆滿的購物車照片，和對此難以理解的官員喊話呼籲冷靜。

The biggest grocery chain, Woolworths Group Ltd, limited sales to four packs a shopper, to keep up stock levels while suppliers ramp up production.

在供應商加速生產的同時，最大連鎖零售商Woolworths集團為了維持存貨量，限制每人最多購買4袋。

Shoppers have swooped on other products also. Costco has put limits on purchases of milk, eggs, rice, disinfectants and soap.

購物者也搶購其他商品。好市多限制牛奶、雞蛋、米、消毒殺菌品和肥皂的購買量。Source article: https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1523717 ; https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1361291?fbclid=IwAR3kVmMFa5gdommS4R4Ftm8HzoQ7DeQzQ5yjoI0jTvkQDeAtMfTFjDfgQCI

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Topic: Australian prison to be evacuated after mice move in

A plague of mice that has ravaged vast swathes of eastern Australia has forced the evacuation of a prison while authorities repair gnawed electrical wiring and clear dead and decaying mice from walls and ceilings.

一場蹂躪澳洲東部廣泛地區的鼠疫，已迫使一間監獄全員撤離，好讓當局修復被啃咬的電線，以及清除牆壁和天花板裡死亡發臭的老鼠。

Around 200 staff and 420 inmates will be transferred from the Wellington Correctional Center in rural New South Wales state to other prisons in the region.

新南威爾斯州鄉下的威靈頓矯正所，將撤離約200名職員和420名受刑人到區內其他監獄。

Millions of mice have caused havoc in the grain-growing region of Australia’s most populous state for months, devouring crops and haystacks as well as invading homes, businesses, schools, hospitals and prisons.

數月來，上百萬隻老鼠在澳洲人口最稠密的穀物栽植地區大肆破壞，吃光作物和乾草，還入侵住家、商店、學校、醫院和監獄。

The most common complaint about the plague is an ever-present stench of mice urine and decaying flesh. People report being bitten by mice in bed. Mouse carcasses and excrement in roof guttering are polluting farmers’ water tanks and causing sickness.

對鼠疫最常見的抱怨，是前所未聞的老鼠尿液和腐敗屍體的惡臭。有人通報躺在床上時被老鼠咬。屋頂排水系統內的鼠屍和鼠便，也污染農夫的儲水槽，並帶來疾病。

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Australian ute whizzes across seven lanes of traffic unscathed澳洲休旅車呼嘯穿越七車道而毫髮無傷

Australian police captured dramatic footage of a white truck speeding unscathed across seven lanes of traffic in a once-in-a-lifetime incident.

在一起難得一見的事件中，澳洲警方拍攝到一輛白色卡車加速橫越七車道卻毫髮無傷的戲劇性影片。

Though a mere five seconds, the riveting video shows a Toyota Hilux truck in Australia’s Northern Territories drive over a sandy median, narrowly avoid a collision with another car in three lanes of moving vehicles, thread through two lanes of stationary cars, bounce across two empty lanes and then hurtle toward a line of storefronts.

雖然僅有五秒，這段精彩影片顯示，澳洲北領地的一輛豐田Hilux卡車駛過一個沙地分隔島，在三個車輛行駛中的車道上差點就撞上另一輛車，接著越過兩線車輛靜止的車道，再彈越過兩個空車車道，衝向一排店面。

The driver of the utility vehicle, or ute as the vehicle is commonly known in Australia, was heading towards the city of Darwin when she allegedly lost control, failed to negotiate a turn, and crashed into a business, according to the police in a post on social media.

根據警方在社群媒體上的貼文，這輛運動型休旅車（在澳洲常被稱為ute ）的駕駛在駛向達爾文市時，據說她失控，過彎失敗，最後撞入一個店家。

"It is incredibly lucky no one else was injured in this incident," said Superintendent Daniel Shean of the Northern Territory Police, reminding people to always drive with due care and attention.

北領地警局警司丹尼爾．辛恩說，這起事故沒有其他人受傷真是不可思議，提醒人們開車應該要小心謹慎，注意安全。Source article: https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1481283 ; https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1479057

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Topic: With Australia-UK deal, Biden again shows China is paramount priority

Forging a new three-way alliance with Britain and Australia to the anger of the French, US President Joe Biden has again made brutally clear that his top international priority, overriding all else, will be facing China.

美國總統喬‧拜登不惜激怒法國，與英國及澳洲建立新的三方聯盟，再次殘酷地表明，他的國際事務首要目標，是面對中國。

Under the alliance christened with the acronym AUKUS, Australia will be the only country other than the UK to have access to US technology to build nuclear-powered submarines — which could deploy in contested waters where Beijing is assertively exerting its claims.

該聯盟名為AUKUS，為澳、英、美三國的首字母縮寫。根據其協議，澳洲將成為除英國之外唯一能獲得美國技術以建造核動力潛艇的國家——這些核子潛艇可部署在北京強勢主張所有權之爭議水域。

The announcement infuriated China, but also France, which lost a contract to build conventional submarines for Australia that was worth A$50 billion (US$36.5 billion) at the time of signing.

此消息公布，激怒了中國，卻也激怒了法國；法國丟了為澳洲製造傳統動力潛艇的合約，該合約簽署時之價格為五百億澳元（三百六十五億美元）。

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian denounced the “stab in the back” by the US, and Paris has recalled its ambassadors to the US and Canberra.

AUKUS was unveiled weeks after Biden withdrew remaining US troops from Afghanistan, prompting unusually strong statements from European allies who decried the swift return to power of the Taliban.

法國外交部長尚-伊夫‧勒德里安譴責美國的「背後捅刀」，巴黎已召回其駐美國及坎培拉大使。拜登完成美軍撤出阿富汗後數週，AUKUS聯盟計畫公布，引起歐洲盟國發出異常強烈的聲明，譴責美國的撤軍讓塔利班迅速重掌政權。

Biden had long pushed to end the 20-year war and has repeatedly said that Afghanistan was a costly sideshow to China, which his adminstration has described as the primary US rival in the 21st century.

“The world is changing. We’re engaged in a serious competition with China,” Biden said in a speech after the last US troops left.

拜登長期以來一直努力想結束這場長達二十年的戰爭，並一再表示與中國問題相較，阿富汗戰爭是一個代價高昂的枝節問題；拜登政府稱中國為美國在二十一世紀的頭號競爭對手。「世界正在改變。我們正與中國進行一場嚴峻的競爭」，拜登在最後一批美軍離開阿富汗時所發表的講話中說道。

Relations between Beijing and Washington look set to continue on their current tricky path, while the Western alliance has also been shaken.

北京與華盛頓之間的關係看來將繼續沿著目前棘手的道路前進，而西方聯盟也受到了動搖。Source article: https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2021/09/27/2003765047

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