Hoover Dam is a triumph of civil engineering, a spectacular edifice of sculpted concrete, rising majestically in an imposing canyon, taming a wild river once thought to be untamable. It’s a colossal statement about man conquering nature. Now imagine there is no Hoover Dam and one must be built: how would engineers build it today? What would they do differently and what would stay the same? Join us now, as we reinvent Hoover Dam.
胡佛水壩是土木工程的勝利,這個雕塑混凝土的雄偉建築,堂皇矗立在壯觀的峽谷之中,降服曾被認為無可馴服的河流。這是人類征服自然的巨大宣言。現在請想像沒有胡佛水壩,必須打造一座新水壩的情形:今日的工程師會如何建造?他們會有哪些不同作法?哪些部分又會照舊?請跟著我們一同再造胡佛水壩。
Hoover Dam is an American icon. The US Bureau of Reclamation built it in the 1930s, and it’s been the model of modern dam engineering ever since. Its purpose is threefold: to harness the wild Colorado River and control flooding; to store water to irrigate vast desert farmlands and quench the thirst of growing cities such as Los Angeles and Las Vegas; and to provide clean, consistent power to the American southwest, enabling a population boom unmatched in history. To do so required a monumental engineering achievement.
胡佛水壩是美國的象徵,一九三0年代由美國墾務局所興建,此後成為現代水壩工程的模範。其目的有三:控制科羅拉多河的氾濫;儲水灌溉偌大的沙漠農地,並提供洛杉磯和拉斯維加斯等成長中城市的用水;提供美國西南部乾淨而持續的用電,達成史無前例的人口成長。為此,需要完成一項不朽的工程。
When you consider that the Colorado River had been running through Black Canyon for millions and millions of years, actually cutting the canyon in many places, to have been able to move the river first of all, and then to put this enormous chunk of concrete right in the middle of it, was a feat of engineering that had never been done before.
想到科羅拉多河流經布拉克峽谷千百萬年,切穿了峽谷許多地方,而這會兒還能先讓河流改道,然後把巨大混凝土置於其中,這真是前無古人的工程壯舉。
When it was completed in 1935, Hoover Dam was called the eighth wonder of the world. Rising 221m, it contains six million tonnes of concrete — enough to pave a road from New York to Los Angeles. It’s a gigantic concrete pyramid wedged in a desolate canyon, straddling the Nevada-Arizona border, 56km from Las Vegas. The reservoir created by Hoover Dam, Lake Mead, covers 620km2 and has a storage capacity of over 35 trillion liters — enough to cover the entire state of New York in 30cm of water. Hoover’s hydroelectric power plant has 17 generators, capable of producing two million kilowatts of electricity — enough for 1.7 million homes. In sum, it’s a gargantuan public works enterprise.
胡佛水壩一九三五年完工時,被稱為世界第八大奇觀,高兩百二十一公尺,內有六百萬公噸混凝土──足以鋪出一條從紐約到洛杉磯的公路。這巨大的混凝土金字塔,楔立在荒涼的峽谷之中,橫跨內華達和亞利桑那州,五十六公里之外就是賭城拉斯維加斯。由胡佛水壩構成的米德湖水庫,占地六百二十平方公里,蓄水量超過三十五兆公升,足以讓整個紐約州泡在三十公分深的水裡。胡佛的水力發電廠有十七座發電機,發電量達兩百萬千瓦,足敷一百七十萬戶用電所需。簡言之,這是巨大的公共事業。
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)
It’s no secret that Japanese people have a deep affection for noodles. Like in the rest of East Asia, noodles are an important staple food, second only to rice. Japanese people have enjoyed noodles for over 1,000 years. The first noodles came from China and were introduced around 800 CE. As time passed, noodles in Japan not only became widespread but also developed some unique Japanese characteristics. The three most popular types of noodles in Japan are ramen, soba, and udon. Ramen, typically made from wheat flour, is usually thin and firm. The dough is kneaded and left to
Rice is an essential ingredient in Taiwanese cuisine. Many foods are made of rice, adding more variety to our cooking, such as rice cake, or “gui.” Wagui is made by steaming rice flour batter in a bowl. The term “gui” refers to a type of food made from rice, while “wa” refers to a bowl. The pronunciation of “gui” in Taiwanese Hokkien is similar to the word for “nobility” in Chinese, so it is common for people to prepare various types of gui, including wagui, as offerings to the gods or ancestors,. 米是台灣重要的主食,用米製成的食品十分多元,豐富我們的飲食,如米做成的「粿」。粿的意思是米做成的糕點,碗粿是將在來米漿倒入碗中蒸熟,因而得名。粿因為音同「貴」,因此碗粿等粿食常用作供品祭拜神明和祖先。 nobility (n.) 高貴,高尚;貴族 offering (n.) 供品 While Taiwan may not be
Continued from yesterday(延續自昨日) https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang As with many aspects of Japanese culture, there is etiquette to follow when you enjoy noodles. To fully experience noodles like a local on your next visit to Japan, consider these simple guidelines. First, be careful where you put your chopsticks. Don’t leave them sticking up in the broth or set them at the side of the bowl. When you have finished eating or if you’re taking a break, place them on the chopstick rest next to the bowl. Also, it is impolite to wave chopsticks around or bring them above mouth-level. Second, don’t take too