North Korea advised its citizens on Sunday to use their pets as an early-warning system for earthquakes, amid heightened fears following Japan’s quake-tsunami disaster.
Governments worldwide have focused on ensuring their alert systems go some way to protecting them against the horror wreaked by natural disasters such as the massive tremor and giant waves which killed at least thousands in Japan on March 11.
While Pyongyang has also told North Koreans about the technology it has in place to anticipate disasters, state media urged the public to take note when animals behave oddly.
Photo: Reuters
照片:路透
The Sunday edition of Rodong Sinmun, a newspaper of the North’s ruling party, and a report Saturday from the official Korean Central New Agency (KCNA), warned that people should beware if they see dogs barking incessantly, cattle refusing to eat or horses constantly trying to storm out of stables.
Evidence of the reliability of animal behavior in predicting quakes remains inconclusive, although National Geographic magazine reported after the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami that many species fled to safety before the catastrophe.
Elephants ran for higher ground, dogs refused to go outdoors and flamingos abandoned their low-lying breeding areas, nationalgeographic.com reported.
Photo: Reuters
照片:路透
“The belief that wild and domestic animals possess a sixth sense — and know in advance when the earth is going to shake — has been around for centuries,” the magazine said.
It is thought that low-frequency electromagnetic signals may cause animals to behave unusually before an earthquake.
The state-run Korean Central TV station aired a series of programs last week on how to respond to government quake alerts, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said.
Photo: AFP
照片:法新社
The programs detailed how the alerts would be issued via sirens and bells in case of emergency and advised people to evacuate to open spaces such as nearby parks.
“Please respond calmly since a quake alert will be issued several hours in advance,” Yonhap quoted one broadcast as saying.
The isolated regime was “taking aggressive action to cope with potential earthquakes” by beefing up nationwide monitoring and research on seismic activity, the KCNA said on Saturday.
(AFP)
日本地震海嘯災難後人心惶惶,北韓週日建議其人民可將他們的寵物當作是一個早期地震預警系統。
世界各地政府已聚焦在確保警報系統多少能發揮保護他們(的居民)免於受到如三月十一日在日本造成至少數千人喪命的大震動與大浪等天災。
平壤已告知北韓人民國內具備預期災害的科技,不過官方媒體力勸民眾留意動物行為怪異的癥候。
週日的北韓執政黨報《勞動新聞》與週六北韓官方朝鮮中央通訊社的報導,警告人民必須在聽到犬隻持續吠叫、牛隻食慾不振,或是馬匹不斷試圖衝出馬廄時,要提高警覺。
雖然國家地理雜誌報導,二零零四年印度洋海嘯發生後,許多物種在大難臨頭前即已飛往安全地方,但以動物行為來預測地震的根據尚無定論。
根據國家地理網站nationalgeographic.com報導,大象跑到高處,犬隻不願到戶外,且紅鶴棄守牠們的低窪繁殖地。
雜誌指出,「野生與家畜動物有第六感的看法,也就是能預知地球即將要晃動的能力,已流傳數世紀。」
一般認為低頻率電磁波的訊號可能是動物在地震前行為反常的因素。
南韓聯合新聞通訊社說,國營的朝鮮中央電視台上週播報一連串有關如何配合政府地震警報做出應變的節目。
這些節目詳細說明這些警報如何在緊急時藉由汽笛與鈴聲啟動,並通知民眾疏散到如鄰近公園等空曠地方。
南韓聯合新聞通訊社引用其中一個節目的話說,「因為地震警報會在地震發生前數小時發出,請(民眾)冷靜應對。」
朝鮮中央通訊社週六說,這個被孤立的政權藉由加強全國地震活動監測與研究,「採取積極的動作以應付可能發生的地震。」
(法新社/翻譯:林亞蒂)
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
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