■ Environment
Nanotechnology regulated
The Berkeley City Council has approved the US' only local nanotechnology regulations, another first for the city already well-known for taking the lead in banning Styrofoam containers. The council on Tuesday decided to amend its hazardous materials law to include nano-sized particles -- some as small as one-millionth the width of the head of a pin. The change takes effect tomorrow. The unanimous action compels researchers and manufacturers to report what nanotechnology materials they are working with and how they are handling them.
■ Semiconductors
Firms to make 45nm chip
Toshiba Corp, Japan's biggest chipmaker, Sony Corp and NEC Electronics Corp have jointly developed technology for making 45nm system chips to reduce unit costs and produce more powerful semiconductors. The new process will allow more efficient production of advanced system LSI, or large-scale integration semiconductors, which pack several functions onto a single chip, the companies said yesterday in a press release. Toshiba and the other two Japanese companies haven't decided when they will start commercial production of the 45nm chips, Toshiba spokesman Keisuke Ohmori said.
■ Environment
Asia's CO2 output to surge
Fast-rising family incomes and brisk demand for cars will treble Asia's carbon dioxide emissions over the next 25 years, according to a study backed by the Asian Development Bank and released yesterday. The report, Energy Efficiency and Climate Change: Considerations for On-Road Transport in Asia, presents one of the first comprehensive analyses of the relationships between transport and climate change in Asia, Philippines-based ADB said in a statement. Even under the most optimistic current scenarios for road traffic expansion management, emissions will treble over the next 25 years, the study said.
■ Computers
Firms launch search software
Yahoo and IBM jointly introduced free software on Wednesday that businesses can use to find information stored in their computers or on the Internet. IBM OmniFind Yahoo Edition was billed as a "no-cost, entry-level enterprise search product" and will compete against offerings from Google and others in a growing business data search market. Enterprise search systems typically cost thousands of dollars. Google has offerings selling for as much as US$30,000 in what is considered the low end of the business market. The Yahoo-powered IBM offering can be downloaded for free and easily installed on existing computer hardware, according to the firms.
■ Banking
Koreans love credit cards
South Koreans are the world's second-biggest credit cards users after the British, according to an international survey seen yesterday. New York-based Nielsen Media said nearly seven in 10 South Koreans have a credit card, the highest ratio in the Asia-Pacific after Australia with 61 percent and New Zealand with 59 percent. "South Koreans rank closely behind the British, the world's number one when it comes to credit cards, where penetration sits at 70 percent," said Helen Pemberton, a director at Nielson.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique