A bitter wind of minus 15°C howls through the streets of Kyiv as the Russia-Ukraine war is about to mark its fourth anniversary on February 24 this year. This is the fourth winter since the Russian invasion, and Kyiv is facing its harshest cold snap since 2014. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday, February 9, that temperatures in Kyiv dropped to minus 20°C, with around 1,400 apa

There are all kinds of awards in the world—have you ever thought that someone could win one just because their lawn is "ugly enough"?The seemingly joking and quirky "Ugliest Lawn Contest" was born in 2022 and expanded into the "World's Ugliest Lawn" in 2023. One of the founders, Johan Gustafsson, explained in an interview with the Environmental Information Center (環境資訊中心) that he wanted to challen

Recently, Orchid Island residents have been photographing green sea turtles (scientific name: Chelonia mydas) being bitten by stray dogs at Badaiwan (八代灣). A piece of each turtle's flipper was clearly bitten off. Residents told the Environmental Information Center that incidents of stray dogs attacking sea turtles and eating their eggs occur frequently. Nearby residents are accustomed to feeding t

Australian giant-tree photographer Steven Pearce speaks in the documentary "The island and the trees".While traversing the rolling, layered mountains and wading across a rushing stream, the mountain path was enveloped in a cold, damp mist. After a two-day trek, Taiwan's tallest giant tree, the "Heaven Sword of the Da'an River," finally came into view for the filming team. Pearce set up the suspens

On June 8, 2025, prominent anti-whaling activist Paul Watson appeared at a side event of the UN Ocean Conference (UNOC3) in Nice, France; his brief two-and-a-half-minute address was met with thunderous applause.Watson is a pioneer in marine conservation education who has never been intimidated by the forces that wantonly plunder ocean resources. He repeatedly confronted illegal whaling, shark fish

Although masked palm civets (白鼻心, scientific name: Paguma larvata) are commonly seen in Taiwan's urban and suburban hills, their movements remain elusive. To understand how they live in highly urbanized environments, a research team from National Taiwan University (NTU, 國立台灣大學) collaborated with public departments, academic institutions, and wildlife conservation groups. Utilizing 426 reports from

Anyone familiar with Taiwan’s bubble tea culture is no stranger to the Four Seasons Spring (四季春) tea. Nantou's Mingjian Township (南投名間鄉) which produces the vast majority of Taiwan's Four Seasons Spring tea, boasts over 2,000 hectares of tea plantations. The annual output value of Mingjian's tea industry is estimated to reach tens of billions of TWD. However, the Nantou County Government's recent p

Due to the global energy crisis triggered by the blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, many are thinking about how a possible Chinese invasion of Taiwan could trigger another energy crisis. Foreign media and think tanks generally believe that, in a war blockade, Taiwan's energy reserves would last a maximum of 14 days However, some scholars argue that Taiwan's energy reserves exceed 14 days' worth, an

Everyone in Taiwan has firsthand knowledge of the devastation of typhoons, yet the question still arises whether or not Taiwan has taken sufficient disaster prevention measures? Fifteen years ago, Typhoon Megi (梅姬颱風) devastated Su'ao Township in ​​Yilan, with torrential rains causing extreme flooding and powerful mudslides, resulting in the deaths of 38 people. In Subei Village, where the famous

The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC, 國家科學及技術委員會) plans to establish a 531-hectare "Shalun Ecological Science Park" (沙崙生態科學園區) in Tainan. This park will complete a key part of Greater Southern Taiwan’s new Silicon Valley. However, the development area involves a portion of the Eastern Grass Owl’s (scientific name: Tyto longimembris) habitat. For the first time, NSTC announced its plan

Whether you’re hiking alone in the countryside or taking a casual walk with good friends, you can easily use an app to record every bird you see or hear along the way. Taiwan’s app portal for “eBird”, the world’s largest bird database, has recently celebrated its 10th anniversary. It has surpassed over 10,000 users, and accumulated millions of birds’ data through public birdwatching. At the recent

“Rather than devising ways to maintain current bureaucratic practices, why not innovate the administrative process?” Along with the Puyuma derailment accident, there have been several shocking incidents in recent years concerning disaster, transportation and food safety. In the eyes of some scholars, these are not random isolated incidents but a result of systemic risk issues.Taiwan’s singular pur