Oyster shell heat pack is an eco-friendly cost saver
Oyster shell heat pack is an eco-friendly cost saverBy Chien Hui-ju and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporter, with staff writerA water-activated heat pack developed from oyster shells is expected to generate at least NT$10.35 million (US$357,155) annually for the industry, the Fisheries Research Institute said on Monday. The flameless cooker is made from oyster shells, so it is more environmentally friendly and safer than chemical-based alternatives, and production costs could fall 20 percent, the institute said. Council of Agriculture’s Fisheries Research Institute assistant researcher Ye Nien-tzu, right, and others yesterday in Taipei hold up signs introducing a water-activated heat pack developed by the institute. The institute in 2018 began introducing ways to better utilize the shells in the hope of advancing a circular economy, she added. Researchers found a way to transform the calcium carbonate in the shells into calcium oxide on contact with water, emitting heat in the process, Yeh said.
Source:Taipei Times
October 17, 2020 15:56 UTC
Taiwan in Time: ‘Not backing down even one step’
Control Yuan member and environmental activist Ma Yi-kung addresses the Taipei City’s mishandling of the Yuanta I Pin Building case. The cover of Ma Yi-kung and Han Han’s book, We Only Have One Earth. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia CommonsAccording to the Taiwan Environmental Information Association, experts still don’t agree on whether today’s mangroves are native to Tamsui. Those that support the theory maintain that as early as the 1600s, Spanish colonizers in northern Taiwan record seeing many mangrove forests in the area. The mangrove forests in southern Taiwan, however, are definitely not native as they were planted as a natural barrier in the 1950s to protect Taiwan’s shores.
Source:Taipei Times
October 17, 2020 15:56 UTC
Survey shows 80% back formal ties with US
Survey shows 80% back formal ties with US‘A CLEAR RESULT’: ‘ROC’ is being replaced, with people more often preferring ‘Taiwan’ for the nation, a World United Formosans for Independence official saidBy Jason Pan / Staff reporterMore than 80 percent of respondents supported formalizing ties with the US, while the proportion advocating using the name “Taiwan” in the relationship reached a new high, a survey released yesterday by the World United Formosans for Independence (WUFI) showed. Photo: Chung Li-hua, Taipei TimesThe results clearly show what the vast majority of Taiwanese want, independent Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐) told the news conference. Lim called on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to eschew a passive, indifferent attitude toward ties with Washington and instead strive to re-establish them. Three point one percent identified themselves as Chinese; 20.8 percent said they are Taiwanese and ROC nationals, with Taiwanese prioritized; and 14.8 percent said both, without prioritizing Taiwanese, she said. “The survey shows that 44.2 percent advocate use of ‘Taiwan’ to replace ROC, although 47 percent still favor retaining ‘ROC.’”The poll was conducted on Monday and Tuesday by Focus Survey Research Co.
Source:Taipei Times
October 16, 2020 15:56 UTC
New Taipei police seize 513 cannabis plants
New Taipei police seize 513 cannabis plantsBy Jason Pan / Staff reporterNew Taipei City police discovered 513 cannabis plants following two raids this week, with investigators saying the suspects stood to make an estimated NT$123 million (US$4.24 million) in illegal profits from the plants. In the first raid on Thursday afternoon in Tamsui District (淡水), police recovered 166 potted cannabis plants, along with cultivation tools and equipment. Seized cannabis plants are displayed at New Taipei City Police Department’s Tamsui Precinct yesterday. Photo: Wu Jen-jieh, Taipei TimesAfter questioning Liao, police later that afternoon raided another building in Bali District (八里), where they found a larger operation, recovering 347 potted cannabis plants, together with cultivation tools and equipment. However, experts and lawyers criticized the police figures as unrealistic and inflated, disputing the formula police used to estimate the street value of drugs.
Source:Taipei Times
October 16, 2020 15:56 UTC
Nearly 80% willing to fight: survey
Nearly 80% willing to fight: surveyPROTECTING THE HOMELAND: In a scenario where China attacks because Taiwan had declared independence, 71.5 percent said that they were willing to defend the nationBy Peng Wan-hsin / Staff reporterAsked if they would be willing to go to war if China attempted to take Taiwan by force, 79.8 percent of respondents said they would, according to a survey released yesterday by the government-funded Taiwan Democracy Foundation. The figure is 11.6 percentage points higher than when the same question asked in a survey last year. The results showed that 12.7 percent of respondents said that they would be unwilling to go to war, down from 20.5 percent in the survey last year. An M60A3 Patton tank fires a shell during the annual Han Kuang military exercises on July 16. The survey, conducted by the foundation from May 6 to May 10, collected 1,226 valid samples and had a margin of error of 2.8 percentage points.
Source:Taipei Times
October 16, 2020 15:56 UTC
Succulents becoming more popular amid dry spell
Succulents becoming more popular amid dry spellBy Wu Jun-feng and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporter, with staff writerSucculents are becoming more popular due to their resilience to drought and relatively little need for water amid an unusually dry year, an industry representative said. A woman arranges a display of potted succulents at a garden center in Tainan on Monday. Photo: Wu Chun-feng, Taipei TimesThere are thousands of succulent varieties, with the most common belonging to the cactus family, Huang said. Other common succulents include aloe, the pencil tree, Lithops or pebble plants, and dogbanes that have flowers, but no thorns, Huang added. Aside from their medicinal uses as balms or ointments, succulents can also clean the air and absorb radiation, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
October 16, 2020 15:56 UTC
Official touts ‘new high’ in India ties
It is noteworthy that India’s new representative to Taiwan, India Taipei Association Director-General Gourangalal Das, was a department head at the Indian Ministry of External Affairs prior to his move to Taipei in July, Tien said. Taiwan’s success in containing the pandemic and medical aid to India put the nation in sharp contrast with China, Tien said. The warming ties between Taiwan, India and the US herald new opportunities for Taiwanese businesses, especially in the electronics industry, Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center director Kristy Hsu (徐遵慈) said. Separately, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) in an interview with India Today on Thursday said that the nation hopes to advance ties with India. Taiwan has traditionally had good relationships with the US, Japan and Australia — which are involved in the dialogue — while ties with India are “getting better and better,” he said.
Source:Taipei Times
October 16, 2020 15:56 UTC
TWSE sees 41% more ‘big account’ investors in Q3
TWSE sees 41% more ‘big account’ investors in Q3By Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterThe number of “big accounts,” who invest and trade local stocks heavily, last quarter increased 41 percent to 2,369 from a quarter earlier, encouraged by the bull market, Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) data showed yesterday. The number of “big accounts,” which set an all-time high, is seen as an important indicator of investor confidence in the local markets. A “big account” is defined as an individual investor who trades at least NT$500 million (US$17.25 million) of shares on the exchange in a single quarter. The index then dropped to 12,515 points at the end of last month, dashing investors’ hopes that it would surpass 13,000 points. The increase in “big accounts” could be attributed to more mid-sized investors focusing on day trading to take advantage of market volatility, TWSE trading division director Ben Chen (陳正斌) told the Taipei Times by telephone.
Source:Taipei Times
October 16, 2020 15:56 UTC
Legislators protest against proposal to ban pit bulls
“Although pit bulls might look ugly, they have a very mild disposition,” DPP Legislator Tsai Yi-yu (蔡易餘) told a news conference in Taipei. DPP Legislator Kao Chia-yu (高嘉瑜) agreed, adding that they are tame and can be very clingy. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kao Chia-yu, second left, and other dog lovers attend a news conference in Taipei yesterday to urge the government not to ban pit bulls. Statistics from the council’s national pet registry showed that about 1,000 pit bulls are kept as pets in Taiwan. It is how owners treat and raise their pets that determine their behavior, DPP Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) said.
Source:Taipei Times
October 15, 2020 15:56 UTC
Xpark dismisses accusations of poor animal care
Xpark dismisses accusations of poor animal careSEA LIFE: Allegations of animal abuse come from a lack of understanding of the creatures or how they are adapting to their new home, the aquarium saidBy Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporterTaoyuan-based aquarium Xpark yesterday said it has adopted the highest standards to care for marine life, after reports by individuals and civic groups alleging mistreatment of the creatures. Jellyfish with their tentacles entangled are pictured swimming in a tank at the Xpark Aquarium in Taoyuan in an undated photograph. Xpark in a statement rejected allegations of animal abuse, saying it has adopted rigorous standards to attend to the animals. The aquarium would improve its public communication and promotion of ocean life, it said, but added that it would take legal action against false accusations. The Ocean Conservation Administration said it has no power over the aquarium’s operations, except to review applications for importing marine creatures.
Source:Taipei Times
October 15, 2020 15:56 UTC
TSMC raises revenue forecast, citing robust 5G demand
“Moving into the fourth quarter, we expect our growth in revenue to be supported by strong demand for our industry-leading 5-nanometer technology driven by 5G smartphone launches and HPC-related applications,” TSMC chief executive officer C.C. This quarter, revenue would grow mildly to between US$12.4 billion and US$12.7 billion, representing growth of between 2.14 and 4.61 percent from US$12.14 billion last quarter, TSMC said. TSMC said that Huawei Technologies Co (華為) would not contribute to its revenue this quarter, as it stopped shipping chips to the Chinese company on Sept. 15. Asked by an investor whether Washington’s export restrictions on Semiconductor Manufacturing International Co (中芯國際), China’s biggest foundry, would provide a boon for TSMC, Wei said the company is evaluating the impact. The chipmaker also adjusted upward its worldwide revenue forecast for the semiconductor industry to a 5 percent annual growth, rather than a slight increase.
Source:Taipei Times
October 15, 2020 15:56 UTC
NT dollar to continue flying high: central bank
Central bank Governor Yang Chin-long speaks at a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Chien Jung-feng, Taipei TimesThe NT dollar rose 1.38 percent against the US dollar last month. He said that the central bank does not have a defense in mind and the floated figure is purely a fabrication. Central bank Deputy Governor Chen Nan-kuang (陳南光) earlier this month wrote in The Taiwan Banker magazine that the central bank should put macro-prudential policies in place before expectations of property price increases take hold. The central bank would continue to closely monitor the property market, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
October 15, 2020 15:56 UTC
Workshop focuses on protecting trade secrets, IP rights
Workshop focuses on protecting trade secrets, IP rightsStaff writer, with CNAThe international community must protect trade secrets and intellectual property rights, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) told the opening day of a Taiwan-Japan-US workshop yesterday. The discussion yesterday focused on protecting trade secrets and intellectual property rights (IPR), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in statement. Photo: Lu Yin-hsuan, Taipei TimesAt the opening ceremony, Tien urged unity to protect trade secrets and intellectual property rights, saying that they are important components of economic growth and competitiveness, the ministry said. “Advanced economies all recognize that intellectual property rights protection is the key ingredient to attract investment and encourage innovation in order to compete in our modern global economy,” Christensen said. Prosecuting theft of trade secrets and stopping digital piracy of copyrighted content are the issues being highlighted at the workshop, which concludes today, the AIT said.
Source:Taipei Times
October 15, 2020 15:56 UTC
Virus Outbreak: EVA Airways streamlines virus-prevention boarding
Virus Outbreak: EVA Airways streamlines virus-prevention boardingBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterEVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) yesterday said it would change its boarding processes due to the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing social-distancing measures without sacrificing efficiency. An aircraft operated by EVA Airways Corp takes off at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Sept. 23. EVA yesterday said it would change its boarding processes due to the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing social distancing measures without sacrificing efficiency. Calling the procedure “diagonal” boarding, EVA said that the method would allow passengers to place their carry-on bags in the overhead compartments without interacting with others. “The boarding methods are here to stay even after the COVID-19 outbreak ends,” EVA said.
Source:Taipei Times
October 15, 2020 15:56 UTC
Subverting the present, envisioning the ‘femture’
Subverting the present, envisioning the ‘femture’The Women Make Waves Film Festival opens today with a selection that encourages the audience to imagine what it means to be a woman in the futureBy Han Cheung / Staff reporterPecha Lo (羅珮嘉) isn’t concerned that fewer female Taiwanese filmmakers are focusing solely on gender equality. Argentine/Italian film Maternal will open the Women Makes Waves Film Festival at tonight 7pm. “I’ve purposely blurred the portrayal of the woman, so that people are free to imagine what a woman might look like in the future,” Lo says. Photo courtesy of Women Makes Waves Film FestivalLast year, the festival addressed the big issues such as the MeToo movement and women regaining control over their bodies. The “Proud to Fail” section deals with a constant theme within the festival: “How to be a cool loser,” Lo says.
Source:Taipei Times
October 15, 2020 15:56 UTC