ASTRONOMY
Meteor shower approaches
Stargazers will have an opportunity to see the Eta Aquarid meteor shower when it peaks on Saturday, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. Astronomy buffs can expect to see up to 50 shooting stars per hour during the peak period from Friday to Saturday, it said. Sky watchers in mountainous and suburban areas where there are no bright lights or air pollution will be able to see the shooting stars with the naked eye, it added. In central Taiwan, Hehuanshan (合歡山) or Alishan (阿里山) will be ideal viewing spots, while in northern Taiwan, Yangmingshan (陽明山) will be the best, the museum said, advising astronomy enthusiasts to watch the sky to the southeast to see the shooting stars.
SOCIETY
Facebook top choice: poll
More than 80 percent of Taiwanese have Facebook accounts, a survey on social network use by people over the age of 12 showed yesterday. Taiwanese on average have four social media accounts, with Facebook taking the lead with 90.9 percent, followed by Line at 87.1 percent, the poll by Innovative DigiTech-Enabled Applications and Services Institute showed. Line use among all age groups topped 80 percent — except for those aged 55 or above, where the percentage fell to 60 percent. Most users of social networking sites, especially YouTube and Professional Technology Temple, are male, the survey found. Only on three social networking sites — Sina Weibo, Pinterest and Snapchat — did female users outnumber males.
ENTERTAINMENT
Four films win in Houston
Four Taiwanese films on Sunday received awards at the 50th WorldFest-Houston International Film and Video Festival, an independent international festival that is one of the oldest and largest film and video competitions in the world. Lokah Laqi (只要我長大), by director Laha Mebow, won a special jury award for feature drama. The film depicts the story of three children growing up in a secluded Aboriginal village in Taiwan. The three other Taiwanese gold-award recipients were Sea Pig (海豬仔), a feature film by Huang Chun-hua (黃駿樺); Packages from Daddy (心靈時鐘), a feature film by Tsai Yin-chuan (蔡銀娟); and Barkley (小貓巴克里), an animation by Chiu Li-wei (邱立偉). The festival, which honors independent films and filmmakers, is one of the three original international film festivals in North America, the other two being in San Francisco and New York. This year’s event featured about 60 feature films and ran from April 21 to Sunday.
DIPLOMACY
Nova Scotia inks deal
Taiwan has reached a reciprocal driver’s license agreement with the Province of Nova Scotia, Canada, the ninth Candian province to sign such an arrangement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The agreement, which came into effect on Tuesday last week, allows licensed drivers from Taiwan and Nova Scotia to apply for a license in each other’s territory without having to take road or written test, the ministry said. Nova Scotia is one of Canada’s four Atlantic provinces and the second smallest. Taiwan also has reciprocal driver’s license agreements with Quebec, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Saskatchewan. It has similar agreements with more than 20 US states, including Maryland, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19
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