President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday urged the public to pursue not only basic scientific knowledge, but also the latest research in order to make Taiwan more competitive in an era that emphasizes a knowledge-based economy.
Attending a ceremony for the launch of a traditional Chinese-character edition of US-based Scientific American magazine yesterday, Chen stressed that knowledge is the foundation that nations need to build their competitiveness.
"Taiwan must understand this point specifically. When facing global competition in this century, we have to establish advantages of knowledge and speed," Chen said.
The president said that he agreed with the goal of strengthening the nation by promoting science education supported by Wang Rong-wen (王榮文), publisher of the magazine.
Wang, also president of Yuan-Liou Publishing Company (遠流出版社), said he hoped the magazine would become a place where dialogue between the sciences and the humanities can occur.
Founded in New York City in 1845, the monthly magazine interprets scientific developments for scientists and advanced non-scientists. Its articles, solidly based on scholarly research, are well written, carefully edited and are accompanied by definitions of scientific terms, illustrations and graphics.
The magazine is currently published in 10 languages, including a simplified Chinese-character edition, which has been available in China since 1979.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Chairman Morris Chang (張忠謀) said that the public has to cultivate a scientific attitude toward controversial science-related social issues, such as nuclear power generation, genetically modified food, global warming and bio-terrorism.
"It [science] is too important to leave to scientists," Chang said.
Li Chia-wei (李家維), editor-in-chief of the new edition, said that the editorial board would seek not only timely translations of Western research, but also the work of Chinese research scientists.
Li, a life sciences professor at National Tsing Hua University, said that the publisher's had received an enthusiastic response from readers after releasing a test issue in January.
"After completely reading the first issue, I feel much better about my grasp of science-related issues," said Lin Hwai-min (林懷民), founder of Taiwan's premier dance company Cloud Gate Dance Theater.
Lin said he fears science because he failed chemistry during high school and has little idea of how to use computers.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
UNAWARE: Many people sit for long hours every day and eat unhealthy foods, putting them at greater risk of developing one of the ‘three highs,’ an expert said More than 30 percent of adults aged 40 or older who underwent a government-funded health exam were unaware they had at least one of the “three highs” — high blood pressure, high blood lipids or high blood sugar, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday. Among adults aged 40 or older who said they did not have any of the “three highs” before taking the health exam, more than 30 percent were found to have at least one of them, Adult Preventive Health Examination Service data from 2022 showed. People with long-term medical conditions such as hypertension or diabetes usually do not
POLICE INVESTIGATING: A man said he quit his job as a nurse at Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital as he had been ‘disgusted’ by the behavior of his colleagues A man yesterday morning wrote online that he had witnessed nurses taking photographs and touching anesthetized patients inappropriately in Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital’s operating theaters. The man surnamed Huang (黃) wrote on the Professional Technology Temple bulletin board that during his six-month stint as a nurse at the hospital, he had seen nurses taking pictures of patients, including of their private parts, after they were anesthetized. Some nurses had also touched patients inappropriately and children were among those photographed, he said. Huang said this “disgusted” him “so much” that “he felt the need to reveal these unethical acts in the operating theater
Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching