As the world celebrated the 60th birthday of Barbie, a doll manufactured by the US toy company Mattel, on March 9, many of you may not know that Barbie dolls in the early years were actually produced by Mattel’s factory in what is now New Taipei City’s Taishan District. For three decades, between the 1960s and 1980s, its production line supported the local economy.
In recent years, Mattel has given Barbie a makeover with more diverse looks and body types, and the strategy has paid off. Today, 58 million Barbies are sold each year in more than 150 countries worldwide. Warner Bros will be making the first live-action film about the doll this year.
Meanwhile, Japan’s Hello Kitty will also appear in a film for the first time in its 45-year history, her creator Sanrio said last week. A US$6 billion (about NT$180 billion) industry has successfully been built around the mouthless cat since its debut. It is now found in over 130 countries on more than 50,000 authorized items every year.
Photo: Chou Hsiang-yun, Liberty Times
照片︰自由時報記者周湘芸
(Eddy Chang, Taipei Times)
美國美泰兒玩具公司製造的芭比娃娃,於三月九日在全球歡慶六十歲。但許多人可能不知道早期的芭比娃娃,其實是該公司在現在的新北市泰山區的工廠生產的。在六○至八○年代間,其生產線支撐著當地經濟長達三十年。
近年來,美泰兒還為芭比進行了大改造,以呈現更多元化的樣貌和體態,此一策略也成功奏效。目前芭比在全球一百五十多個國家,每年熱銷五千八百萬個,華納兄弟公司今年還將拍攝芭比真人版電影。
而日本三麗鷗公司上週則宣布,旗下的Hello Kitty誕生四十五年以來,亦將首度進軍大銀幕。這隻無嘴貓出道後成功打造了六十億美元(約一千八百多億台幣)的玩偶王國,現在每年超過五萬件授權商品,在全球一百三十多個國家販售。
(台北時報張聖恩〉
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