Members of the public were yesterday invited to try their hands at being explorers in one of the world's most inhospitable continents when it was announced that Taiwan's first expedition to the South Pole, intended to encourage Taiwanese scientific endeavor in Antarctica, will take place in January 2004.
The 2004 Taiwan Antarctic Expedition Executive Committee -- a task force jointly established by the National Alpine Association of Taiwan and the Antarctic Society of Taiwan -- made the announcement at a press conference yesterday.
"We will welcome members of the public to apply to take part in the expedition, as long as they join one of our two associations," said Lee Hou-chin (
The Alpine Association is an association of mountain climbers, and the Antarctic Society is an association of enthusiasts for Antarctica, some of whom have led tours to the continent.
Lee said that Antarctica, with its extreme cold, dryness, wind, unpolluted ice and seasonal changes, is an excellent resource for scientific research in the fields of meteorology, oceanography, geology and glaciation.
He said that not only advanced countries, but many developing countries such as Pakistan and Indonesia, have carried out national Antarctic research expeditions and Taiwan should follow suit.
The planned mission itself, however, will not carry out research.
"The [2004] expedition is intended to serve as a means of promoting Antarctica to Taiwanese people so that one day we can actively participate in international forums on Antarctic research."
Successful applicants will receive physical training, including two mountain-climbing expeditions, and training in communications, English and first aid. They will also receive preparatory training by psychiatrists.
"From the first explorers who landed on the Antarctic Peninsula in 1821 to today, Taiwan has never taken part in any activity regarding Antarctic research expeditions or Antarctic adventures," Lee said.
The Taiwan Fisheries' Research Institute sent four expeditions to study fish stocks in the Antarctic Ocean between 1976 and 1984.
"But those expeditions never landed on the continent," he said.
The 2004 expedition, according to the committee, would take about a month and the route would include climbing Mt. Vinson, the tallest mountain on the Antarctic continent at 4,897m, traveling to the South Pole via human-hauled sledge and visiting the US Amundsen-Scott Station.
After the expedition, Taiwan's Maritime Museum will establish a permanent exhibition showcasing documents and photos from the endeavor.
The committee plans to send six explorers but the final number will depend on the amount of funding they are able to raise. It estimates that it would need at least NT$10 million to send six explorers. It hopes to raise funds from private companies and is in talks with banks about schemes that would involve a portion of credit-card payments being used to fund the project.
A recently discovered supernova is the brightest and closest to Earth identified in the past decade, and can be observed with basic equipment, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said on Wednesday. The supernova has an absolute magnitude of 14.9 in luminosity and is in the Pinwheel Galaxy (M101) about 21 million light-years from Earth. It was discovered early on May 20 by Japanese amateur astronomer Koichi Itagaki, who immediately reported the finding to the International Astronomical Union, the museum said. The supernova was designated SN 2023ixf following the astronomical naming conventions for supernovas, it added. The museum said that it observed
Tropical storm Guchol is moving in a northeasterly direction off the east coast of the Philippines and will not hit Taiwan, but will impact local weather starting on Friday, the Central Weather Bureau said Thursday. The storm would bring a low-pressure system northward toward the vicinity of Taiwan, forecaster Chao Hung (趙竑) said. Northern Taiwan will see intermittent rain showers in the morning, and thunderstorms in the afternoon on Friday, he said, adding that rain would be heavier on the east coast and in the central-southern mountainous areas. Rainfall would continue into Saturday, and would spread throughout Taiwan proper, he
Exiled Chinese democracy advocate Wang Dan (王丹) yesterday denied an accusation by former Taiwanese political worker Lee Yuan-chun (李援軍) that Wang had sexually harassed him in a hotel room in New York nine years ago. There was a huge gap between Lee’s accusation and his own understanding and memory, Wang wrote on Facebook, adding it was hard for him to respond further regarding a “unilateral description” made by someone else. Wang made the remarks after his initial response on Facebook was met with criticism, with people saying he did not directly address the allegation. Lee on Friday wrote on Facebook that he
A man was arrested in Hsinchu on Saturday on suspicion of filming women in the women’s washroom of a shopping mall in the city, local Chinese-language media reported on Thursday. The man was arrested at around noon on Saturday when a woman using a stall in the mall’s washroom noticed a cellphone being held above her from the neighboring stall, reports said. The woman ran out of the washroom and yelled to her husband to help her, after which the suspect – who was dressed as a woman – attempted to flee, but was subdued by other men until police