It turns out many Americans aren’t great at identifying which personal decisions contribute most to climate change.A study recently published by the National Academy of Sciences found that when asked to rank actions, such as swapping a car that uses gasoline for an electric one, carpooling or reduci
Has the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) changed under the leadership of Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌)? In tone and messaging, it obviously has, but this is largely driven by events over the past year. How much is surface noise, and how much is substance?How differently party founder Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) would have h
An internal Meta Platforms document detailing policies on chatbot behavior has permitted the company’s artificial intelligence creations to “engage a child in conversations that are romantic or sensual,” generate false medical information and help users argue that Black people are “dumber than white
It’s Aug. 8, Father’s Day in Taiwan. I asked a Chinese chatbot a simple question: “How is Father’s Day celebrated in Taiwan and China?” The answer was as ideological as it was unexpected.The AI said Taiwan is “a region” (地區) and “a province of China” (中國的省份). It then adopted the collective pronoun “
Two years ago, American footballer Travis Kelce famously used the New Heights podcast — which he hosts with his brother Jason — to announce that he wanted to date Taylor Swift. This was after he failed to get her attention at her Eras tour show at Arrowhead Stadium, home to his team, the Kansas City
Before Kristin Scott Thomas turned 12, she lost her father and stepfather. Both were Royal Navy pilots who died in crashes. The first happened when she was 5. The second at age 11. Thomas uses these facts, a kind of origin story, as the basis for her directorial debut, My Mother’s Wedding, a comedic
Do you want to know who might be starring, cameoing or in some way appearing in the upcoming sequel to The Devil Wears Prada? Well, you might not have a choice. Ever since filming on the Anne Hathaway/Meryl Streep reunion commenced in New York a few weeks ago, set photos and accompanying news items
Will she, or won’t she?The media has been abuzz in the past few days with reports citing people in Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen’s (盧秀燕) camp that she is “considering” not running for Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chair. If these reports are accurate, she is concerned about being distracted from her
Fingerprints, access keys and facial recognition are putting a new squeeze on passwords as the traditional computer security method — but also running into public hesitancy.“The password era is ending,” two senior figures at Microsoft wrote in a July blog post.The tech giant has been building “more
Michelle Miller stands in a field of corn, stalks stretching above her perfectly styled hair, holding a tiny microphone and addressing an audience online.She was farming genetically-modified corn in Iowa in 2017, she says, when a tornado hit. Now a social media influencer who goes by the name the “F
Development assistance rarely comes without strings. Whether its access to mineral wealth, debt-trap diplomacy or demands for good governance, the creditor expects something in return. In Taiwan’s case, since the transition from recipient to donor nation in the late 1950s, pragmatic politics have be
There’s not much a resident of this country can do to get Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) to burn less coal. The state-owned company has a monopoly on the distribution of electricity to households. Environmentally-conscious individuals can’t switch to another supplier, and living off-grid isn’t an option
For Hong Kong law student “C”, AI-made pornography was a distant danger until a university classmate created graphic images of her and multiple other women.“At first I was shocked, then it turned into panic,” said the 20-year-old, describing the ordeal as a “wound that will leave a scar.”C was one o
The latest edition of the Japan-Taiwan Fruit Festival took place in Kaohsiung on July 26 and 27.During the weekend, the dockside in front of the iconic Music Center was full of food stalls, and a stage welcomed performers.After the French-themed festival earlier in the summer, this is another exampl
It was Christmas Eve 2024 and 19-year-old Chloe Cheung was lying in bed at home in Leeds when she found out the Chinese authorities had put a bounty on her head. As she scrolled through Instagram looking at festive songs, a stream of messages from old school friends started coming into her phone. Lo
Water management is one of the most powerful forces shaping modern Taiwan’s landscapes and politics. Many of Taiwan’s township and county boundaries are defined by watersheds. The current course of the mighty Jhuoshuei River (濁水溪) was largely established by Japanese embankment building during the 19
Aug. 11 to Aug. 17Those who never heard of architect Hsiu Tse-lan (修澤蘭) must have seen her work — on the reverse of the NT$100 bill is the Yangmingshan Zhongshan Hall (陽明山中山樓). Then-president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) reportedly hand-picked her for the job and gave her just 13 months to complete it in t
Following the shock complete failure of all the recall votes against Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers on July 26, pan-blue supporters and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) were giddy with victory. A notable exception was KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), who knew better. At a press conference on
For their 15th wedding anniversary, Katie Walley-Weigert and her husband decided to take a beach vacation with their young son. But the trip didn’t go as planned. Walley-Weigert wound up needing to pack her computer because of a work assignment she couldn’t ignore.The 38-year-old marketing professio
The great number of islands that make up the Penghu archipelago make it a fascinating place to come back and explore again and again. On your next trip to Penghu, why not get off the beaten path and explore a lesser-traveled outlying island?Jibei Island (吉貝嶼) in Baisha Township (白沙鄉) is a popular de