Monkeys do more than just monkey around. They also help people with important work. In Thailand, coconut farmers often teach monkeys to pick coconuts from tall trees. This monkey has just returned from picking a coconut for his owner.
Coconut trees don't have any branches, so it is very dangerous for people to climb them. Monkeys, however, are really good at climbing tall trees. They can pick coconuts faster and more safely than people can.
This monkey is taking a break. He gets to drink some coconut milk as pay for his hard work. The next coconut you eat might have been picked by a monkey!
PHOTO: EPA
As bee populations around the world continue to decline at an alarming rate, scientists are developing an innovative solution: robotic bees. Recent advances at research institutions like Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US have produced tiny flying robots capable of performing pollination tasks similar to those of real bees. These tiny machines represent an impressive technological achievement. MIT’s latest models can hover in the air for over 1,000 seconds and perform complex movements, demonstrating the agility needed for successful pollination. The robots are designed to mimic the flight patterns of natural bees, offering potential support to agriculture
A: Taiwan legalized same-sex marriage on May 24, 2019, so this week marks the seventh anniversary of that milestone. By the end of 2024, a total of 32,126 LGBT couples had tied the knot. B: How many of them got married to foreign partners? A: In 2024, there were 504 cross-border same-sex marriages. By the end of that year, there were 130 cross-strait same-sex marriages between Taiwanese and Chinese — accounting for only about 0.4 percent of the total. B: I’ve heard that a seven-year marriage brings the “seven-year itch.” I bet some couples regret their decisions now. A:
A: While Taiwan is celebrating the 7th anniversary of legalizing same-sex marriage, a poll shows that the support rate for same-sex marriage rose sharply from 37.4 percent seven years ago to 69.9 percent last year. B: Actually, I’m a bit curious about the size of Taiwan’s LGBT population. A: I’m not sure. But if we take a Gallup poll in the US as an example, 9.3 percent of American adults identified as LGBT in 2024. B: Wow, is it because the Americans are relatively open? In many other countries, the figures hover around 5 percent. A: Based on this,
Taiwan Travelogue, the novel by Taiwanese author Yang Shuang-zi and translated into English by Lin King, won the prestigious International Booker Prize in London on May 19. It marks the first time a Taiwanese literary work has received the International Booker Prize, setting a historic milestone both for Taiwanese literature and for the award itself. Prior to this achievement, Taiwan had only once appeared on the Booker radar, when Taiwanese author Wu Ming-yi was longlisted for the Booker Prize in 2018 with The Stolen Bicycle. The International Booker Prize honors works of fiction translated into English and published in the UK or Ireland.
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