(うみ)

sea, ocean

(ぷらすちっく)

plastic

(ぶんかい)

decomposition, breakdown

(さいきん)

bacteria

(はっけん)

discovery

(にほん)

Japan

(だいがく)

university; college

(けんきゅう)

research, study

(ちーむ)

team

(ふえる)

to increase; to grow

(ごみ)

trash, garbage

(みつける)

to find; to discover

(たべる)

to eat

(からだ)

body

(なか)

inside

(ちいさな)

small / little

(ぶっしつ)

substance, material

(かえる)

to change

(これまで)

until now / so far

(しぜん)

Nature

(いう)

to say

(こうか)

effect

(ある)

a certain (some)

(せかいじゅう)

all over the world

(おおきな)

big (attrib.)

(もんだい)

problem

(さかな)

fish

(とり)

bird

(しぬ)

to die

(こまかい)

fine / small

(ひと)

person / people

(はいる)

to enter, be contained in

(しんぱい)

worry / concern

(してき)

pointing out, indication

(こうじょう)

factory

(など)

et cetera, and so on

(りよう)

use; utilization

(できる)

to be able; to be made

(さらに)

furthermore, even more

(すすめる)

to advance; to move forward

(ただし)

however, provided that

(じっさい)

actually; practically; in reality

(つかう)

to use

(まで)

until, up to, by the time

(まだ)

still; yet

(じかん)

time

(かかる)

to take (time/money), cost

(かんがえる)

to think; to consider

is doing, has been doing (ongoing state/action)

Expresses a continuing action or resulting state. Formed with て-form + いる. Can describe an action in progress or a state resulting from a past change.

according to ...

Cites a source of information. The noun before によると is the source. Often followed by a reported statement.

passive form

Passive voice. 愛される means 'to be loved', describing the kind of store the worker aspires to create.

hard to ~; difficult to ~

Attached to a verb stem to describe difficulty — 'people who have difficulty hearing'.

come toward (action approaching)

Indicates motion toward the speaker or a location. Here it describes rocks flying toward people.

I hear that / it is said

Reports hearsay. 大きく育つそうです means '(I hear) they grow big'.

to become

Expresses a change of state; Kawai became the new commissioner of the Sports Agency.

completely / finish ~ing (often regretful)

Expresses completion, often with regret or unexpectedness. Here the rice sold out quickly.

there are cases/times when ～

Describes a possibility or occasional occurrence.

so that ~

Indicates a goal or desired outcome. Here: so that trainees reach the Specified Skilled Worker level.

plan to / is scheduled to

Indicates a scheduled plan or intent.

come to / reach the point where

Indicates a change in state or ability.

海のプラスチックを分解する細菌を発見

Discovery of bacteria that break down ocean plastic

日本の大学の研究チームが、海に増えているプラスチックごみを分解する細菌を見つけました。

A research team at a Japanese university has found bacteria that break down the plastic waste increasing in the ocean.

この細菌は、プラスチックを食べて、体の中で小さな物質に変えます。

These bacteria eat plastic and change it into small substances inside their bodies.

研究チームによると、これまで自然に分解されにくいと言われてきたプラスチックにも効果があるそうです。

According to the research team, the bacteria are also effective on plastics that until now had been said to be hard to break down naturally.

海のプラスチックごみは、世界中で大きな問題になっています。

Ocean plastic waste has become a big problem all over the world.

魚や鳥がごみを食べて死んでしまうこともあります。

Sometimes fish and birds eat the waste and die.

細かくなったプラスチックが、人の体に入る心配も指摘されています。

It has also been pointed out that there is concern about plastic broken into small pieces entering the human body.

研究チームは、この細菌を工場などで利用できるように、さらに研究を進める予定です。

The research team plans to do further research so that the bacteria can be used in factories and elsewhere.

ただし、実際に使えるようになるまでには、まだ時間がかかると考えられています。

However, it is thought that it will still take time before they can actually be used.