Following days of high temperatures and southerly winds, vast armadas of jellyfish have been repeatedly attacking the coast of Penghu Island. There have been a succession of reports of swimmers being stung, however all were isolated cases and there were no reports of large groups of injured being taken to hospital. Since there are many different species of jellyfish whose poison varies from mild to highly toxic, local authorities are urging the public to take extra care when swimming in the sea.
According to the Penghu Marine Biology Research Center, an influx of jellyfish can occur following a period of extremely hot weather which causes the temperature of the water to rise. The addition of a strong southerly wind will sweep jellyfish toward coastal areas which is the reason for successive waves of jellyfish appearing in the thousands, such as Papuan jellyfish — also called spotted jelly — at Baishawa Cove and “coin jellyfish” in the Magongshi area. Densely packed shoals of jellyfish can be seen blanketing the waters at any of Penghu’s harbors and beaches, however as for the potency of their venom, the Portuguese man o’ war, for example, is highly poisonous. Last year, an extremely poisonous box jellyfish was discovered in the Wukan marine area whose sting can be fatal to humans.
(Liberty Times, translated by Edward Jones)
Photo: Liu Yu-ching, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者劉禹慶
過去幾日來都吹南風,且氣溫居高不下,澎湖沿岸屢傳水母大軍壓境,並有泳客遭螫傷,但都為零星個案,並無集體送醫情事。水母因種類不同,毒性也有強弱之分,有關單位呼籲民眾下水時還是需要小心提防。
澎湖海洋生物研究中心表示,澎湖水母大爆發可能因近來氣候炎熱,海水溫度升高,加上南風強烈,將外海水母吹到沿岸,所以才會連續在白沙瓦硐港發現數以千計的珍珠水母、馬公嵵裡錢幣水母等,港區及沙灘都處處可見。不過這兩種水母毒性較弱,若是僧帽水母則毒性較強,而去年在烏崁海域更曾發現毒性十分強的立方水母,能螫人成傷,甚至致死。
(自由時報記者劉禹慶)
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
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)
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
It’s another school day with the same ritual. You wake up to your smartphone’s alarm, scroll through messages during your commute, and listen to your favorite playlist with your wireless earbuds between classes. These devices, integrated smoothly into your daily routine, certainly make life more convenient. However, where do these devices end up after you replace them? In fact, the issue of electronic waste is a growing global concern. According to the United Nations, in 2019 alone, we generated an astonishing 53.6 million tons of e-waste—an average of 7.3kg per person. Projections hint at the figure soaring to 110