It’s the longest and mightiest of the world’s rivers, flowing through the planet’s largest tropical rain forest. But the colossal Amazon basin is under siege in ways that could alter the face of the planet, making it the scene of one of the most important human adventures imaginable. Join Jean-Michel Cousteau and his team as they rediscover the Amazon of today. Spanning 322km at its entrance, the Amazon is the widest river in the world. Some of its flat channels are perfect for the phenomenon known by local people as the big roar. In wave after wave, the pororoca — a rare instance of water flowing upstream — pours in, up to 257km an hour, in a wall of water that can reach 7m high.
這是世上最長也最大的河流,流經全球面積最廣的熱帶雨林。但廣闊的亞馬遜盆地正遭遇攻擊,這些威脅可能改變地球的面貌,並讓這裡成為最重要的人類冒險場景之一。加入尚米榭•庫斯托和他的組員,重新認識現代亞馬遜。河口寬達三百二十二公里,亞馬遜是世上最寬的河流,部分平坦河道是當地人稱為大呼嘯的河口湧潮壯觀景象,一波波河口湧浪以時速二十五點七公里湧上,形成七公尺高的水牆。
Of the rich biodiversity found here, perhaps no animal is more of an icon of the Amazon than the pink river dolphin, or boto. Its vivid pink color is a display of the male’s maturity, something to show off like antlers of a deer. Largest of the river dolphins, they are protected by law. But it’s the mythology that surrounds them that has been their greatest protection. Dolphins are part of the culture, the folklore of the Amazonian people. They are the focus of many legends and supernatural stories, such as the story of the dolphin that can transform itself into a handsome man or beautiful woman to enchant people.
在當地發現的豐富多樣生物之中,堪稱亞馬遜頭號代表的是粉紅淡水豚,俗稱波托,亮粉紅體色是成年雄豚的象徵,跟公鹿的角一樣做為自我展現。最大的淡水豚受到法律保護,但相關神話才是粉紅淡水豚最大的保護網。淡水豚是亞馬遜部落文化和民間傳說的一部分,有很多相關傳說和神話故事,例如淡水豚會變成俊男或美女來誘惑人類。
Created by the Brazilian government in the late 90s, the Javari Valley indigenous reserve protects more than 77,000km² for indigenous tribes. No outsiders may enter without permits. However, illegal loggers, fishermen and hunters invade this area. And the possibility of federal road construction through the reserve remains an issue. An important topic is how humans are going to manage this ecosystem, and it seems that the natives will have to be heavily involved in this process. Of course, the bad news is the native populations are going under. Between diseases and other impacts from the outside, they’re really in trouble. The violent land grab for cattle, lumber, gold and oil, combined with the effects of diseases like malaria and hepatitis, which remain widely untreated, have devastated indigenous people.
一九九0年代後期由巴西政府設立的伐利多賈瓦利原住民保留區,為原住民保存超過七萬七千平方公里的土地,外人必須申請通行證才能進入,但非法伐木、捕魚和打獵在這裡仍層出不窮。人類要怎麼管理這個生態系統,答案很明顯,不交由原住民管理就不會成功的消息是原住民的處境惡劣,疾病和外界的衝擊讓他們陷入大麻煩,外界奪取土地畜牧、伐木、淘金和開採油礦,加上罹患瘧疾和肝炎等疾病的多數病患
未曾就醫,在在對原
住民造成重創。
Sept.16 to Sept. 22 The “anti-communist train” with then-president Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) face plastered on the engine puffed along the “sugar railway” (糖業鐵路) in May 1955, drawing enthusiastic crowds at 103 stops covering nearly 1,200km. An estimated 1.58 million spectators were treated to propaganda films, plays and received free sugar products. By this time, the state-run Taiwan Sugar Corporation (台糖, Taisugar) had managed to connect the previously separate east-west lines established by Japanese-era sugar factories, allowing the anti-communist train to travel easily from Taichung to Pingtung’s Donggang Township (東港). Last Sunday’s feature (Taiwan in Time: The sugar express) covered the inauguration of the
The corruption cases surrounding former Taipei Mayor and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) head Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) are just one item in the endless cycle of noise and fuss obscuring Taiwan’s deep and urgent structural and social problems. Even the case itself, as James Baron observed in an excellent piece at the Diplomat last week, is only one manifestation of the greater problem of deep-rooted corruption in land development. Last week the government announced a program to permit 25,000 foreign university students, primarily from the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, to work in Taiwan after graduation for 2-4 years. That number is a
This year’s Michelin Gourmand Bib sported 16 new entries in the 126-strong Taiwan directory. The fight for the best braised pork rice and the crispiest scallion pancake painstakingly continued, but what stood out in the lineup this year? Pang Taqueria (胖塔可利亞); Taiwan’s first Michelin-recommended Mexican restaurant. Chef Charles Chen (陳治宇) is a self-confessed Americophile, earning his chef whites at a fine-dining Latin-American fusion restaurant. But what makes this Xinyi (信義) spot stand head and shoulders above Taipei’s existing Mexican offerings? The authenticity. The produce. The care. AUTHENTIC EATS In my time on the island, I have caved too many times to
In a stark demonstration of how award-winning breakthroughs can come from the most unlikely directions, researchers have won an Ig Nobel prize for discovering that mammals can breathe through their anuses. After a series of tests on mice, rats and pigs, Japanese scientists found the animals absorb oxygen delivered through the rectum, work that underpins a clinical trial to see whether the procedure can treat respiratory failure. The team is among 10 recognized in this year’s Ig Nobel awards (see below for more), the irreverent accolades given for achievements that “first make people laugh, and then make them think.” They are not