Thanks to a group of third-graders, Washington state now has an official amphibian — the Pacific chorus frog.
Governor Chris Gregoire, wearing a toy frog on her forefinger, signed the bill last Monday, bantering with the students from Olympia who brought the law forward as a class project.
"There, you got a bill passed, and that's a really, really big deal,'' the governor said. "You made a law today.'' The students researched amphibians that live in Washington, and they chose the Pacific chorus frog — one that is found in all 39 counties in the state.
PHOTO: EPA
After state Representative Brendan Williams introduced their bill, the students took a field trip to the Capitol to lobby for its passage, bringing along a tape of the frogs in full chorus.
The measure, making the Pacific chorus frog the official state amphibian, zipped through the House and had an equally smooth path through the Senate.
Williams said that the bill would also help the citizens of Washington become aware of how fragile the natural world is in Washington. Frogs are a species that help scientists notice problems very early. (AP)
由於一群小學三年級生的努力,美國華盛頓州現在有了正式代言該州的兩棲動物─太平洋擬蝗蛙。
上週一,食指戴著玩具蛙的州長克莉絲?葛瑞格莉爾一面和這群來自奧林匹亞的小學生說笑,一面簽署這項法案。這條法規原本只是這些學生的一個課堂作業。
州長說:「好啦!你們促成一項法案通過,那可真是件大事呢。今天你們制定了一條法規。」這些學生研究了華盛頓州的兩棲動物,然後選定全州三十九個郡都可見的太平洋擬蝗蛙。
在州議員布蘭登?威廉斯提出他們的法案後,這些小學生帶著太平洋擬蝗蛙齊聲唱鳴的錄音帶,來到州議會大廈展開遊說工作。
這項推選太平洋擬蝗蛙為華盛頓州代言蛙的議案,很快就在參眾兩院順利通過。
威廉斯表示,這項法案也能幫助華盛頓州民察覺當地自然生態脆弱之處。青蛙是協助科學家及早察覺問題的指標。(美聯社/翻譯:林倩如)
The strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years killed at least 16 people and damaged dozens of buildings, but the destruction was largely contained thanks to decades of preparedness work. Taiwan sits on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity along the Pacific Rim, and — much like neighboring Japan — has a long history of catastrophic quakes. How does April 3 compare with other recent quakes? The April 3 earthquake, which measured 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, was felt across Taiwan. It was the most severe since a 7.6 magnitude quake in 1999 killed
Around the time of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, the streets of Taiwan are filled with the delightful aroma of zongzi, a traditional snack made of sticky rice wrapped in leaves. The leaves are folded into a cone and then filled with sticky rice and other ingredients such as braised pork belly, peanuts and salted duck egg yolks. The filled leaves are then tightly tied with kitchen twine and ready for cooking. 每到六月端午時節,街頭巷尾就會飄出粽子的香氣。粽子是將糯米包進粽葉的傳統美食,先將粽葉折成圓錐狀塞入糯米,以及紅燒肉、花生、鹹鴨蛋黃等配料,用棉線綁緊後即可烹煮。 Dragon Boat Festival (n. phr.) 端午節 aroma
Everyone has seen a piece of fruit turn brown after being cut. Have you ever wondered why that happens? It is a common phenomenon that occurs due to a chemical reaction called enzymatic browning. The appearance, flavor and nutritional value of the fruit are all affected by this reaction. Some fruits, such as apples, pears, bananas, avocados and peaches, are more prone to enzymatic browning than others. These fruits contain high levels of an enzyme called polyphenol oxidase, or PPO for short. __1__ This causes a chain of chemical reactions that ultimately transforms the phenolic compounds into
A: Artificial intelligence technology has been causing controversy lately: a student was caught cheating with AI to win the grand prize in an art contest. B: That’s so absurd. Does this mean that AI paints better than humans? A: Maybe. Luckily, the student was later disqualified. B: And more absurdly, it’s becoming more and more popular to use AI technology to “resurrect” people. A: Yeah, some netizens even posted videos featuring the late singer CoCo Lee, who was “resurrected” by them with AI software. A: 人工智慧的爭議不斷,有學生違規使用AI參加美術展,甚至贏得首獎。 B: 真誇張,這是不是代表AI比人類還強大? A: 或許吧,幸好得獎資格被取消。 B: 還有更誇張的︰讓死者重現的「AI復活」技術越來越熱門。 A: 對啊,還有網友製作已故歌后李玟「復活」的影片呢! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)