Saudis in the northern areas drew on their imagination and sense of fun as they braved the cold weather to build snow camels in a rare tribute to the local culture. However, it was not all fun for Saudis.
A prominent religious scholar in Saudi Arabia has given the cold shoulder to snowmen – by issuing a fatwa against them. The fatwa said that building snowmen – or indeed creating any living creature out of snow – was an insult to the Islamic religion. Only inanimate things such as ships, fruit and buildings could be imitated, the fatwa said.
No date was mentioned about when the fatwa was issued, but it was widely circulated on social networks, triggering a wide and often heated online debate mainly among Gulf nationals. Those who supported the fatwa said that building snowmen was a crude imitation of the West. However, Mishaal, an angry blogger, blasted the fatwa.
Photo provided by Banciao District Office
照片: 板橋區公所提供
“We have snow for fleeting days, maybe even hours, and there is always someone who wants to rob us of the joy and the fun,” he posted. “It seems that the only thing left for us is to sit down and drink coffee,” he said.
沙烏地阿拉伯北部地區的民眾發揮想像力和幽默感,冒著冷冽天氣堆出雪駱駝,在這難得的機會中展現地方文化。然而,對沙國人來說,這種事不盡然好玩。
一名沙國重量級宗教法學者發出教令禁止,冷漠看待雪人。這道教令裁決指出,堆雪人或者用雪創造出任何有生命的受造物,都是汙辱伊斯蘭。禁令說,只能模仿無生的物體,如船、水果和建築物。
這道禁令發出時間不明,但在社群網站上被廣為流傳,在波斯灣國家為主的網友間引發時而熱烈的廣泛辯論。支持發令禁止者說,堆雪人是不加修飾地模仿西方。不過,為此大感憤怒的部落客米夏爾抨擊這道禁令。
「我們下雪的日子就短短幾天、甚至幾小時而已,但卻總是有人要剝奪我們這樣的樂趣」,他發文說。「似乎我們能做的只剩下坐著喝咖啡」,他說。
(自由時報國際中心 管淑平翻譯)
South Korea’s famous kimchi is falling victim to climate change, with scientists, farmers and manufacturers saying the quality and quantity of the napa cabbage that is pickled to make the ubiquitous dish is suffering due to rising temperatures. Napa cabbage thrives in cooler climates, and is usually planted in mountainous regions where temperatures during the key growing summer season once rarely rose above 25 degrees Celsius. Studies show that warmer weather brought about by climate change is now threatening these crops, so much so that South Korea might not be able to grow napa cabbage one day due to the intensifying heat. “We
It’s widely recognized that there are far more right-handed people than left-handed people in the world. Being right-handed simply means preferring to use one’s right hand for tasks that involve only one hand, such as writing and eating. But have you ever wondered about the possible reasons behind the global dominance of the right hand over the left? As with many complex biological questions, multiple factors appear to be at play. First, one reason seems to be genetics. __1__ Therefore, the global dominance of right-handedness is something that has been passed down through many generations of humans. Next,
On blazing hot summer days, fresh ingredients and cool refreshments straight from a refrigerator feel like nothing short of a miracle. However, chilled foods didn’t begin with modern refrigerators. In fact, the origin of refrigeration precedes the invention of this now-indispensable appliance by centuries. Initially, the quest for refrigeration was motivated more by the desire to cool beverages than to preserve food. The ancient Greeks and Romans, for instance, used snow stored in insulated pits to chill wine. Around the fourth century BC, the Persians made a significant stride in refrigeration techniques when they devised the yakhchal. Fashioned from
Continued from yesterday(延續自昨日) https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang Finally, cultural influence also plays a role in which hand people prefer. Historically, items that require physical manipulation have been designed for right-handed use. For example, tools like scissors and musical instruments are often constructed with right-handers in mind, making it difficult for left-handers to use them. __4__ While these factors offer some explanation, they remain speculative. The precise reasons for the global prevalence of right-handed people continue to be debated. Nevertheless, left-handedness will remain a phenomenon of great curiosity among scientists and researchers for many years to come. 最後,文化影響也在人們偏好哪一隻手上扮演一角。歷史上,需要用到肢體操作的物品都被設計來供右手使用。舉例來說,像是剪刀、樂器等工具常常就是考慮到右撇子而打造的,造成左撇子難以使用這些工具。因此,許多天生就是左撇子的人可能就必須透過學習使用右手來適應。 雖然這些因素都提供了一些解釋,但它們仍是推測而已。全球右撇子如此普及,確切的原因仍持續被爭論著。不過,在未來的許多年裡,左撇子依然會是科學家和研究人員相當好奇的一個現象。 What Did You Learn? (A) Specifically, different areas of