Scientists have finally solved the mystery of a milky rain that **coated** cars and raised eyebrows across a wide swathe of North America’s Pacific Northwest region this February. A Washington State University team said they had determined that dust from the dry bed of a shallow lake some 772 kilometers from where the rain fell was to blame for the unusual precipitation.
The rain left a trail of powdery residue across a nearly 322-kilometer stretch of eastern parts of Oregon and Washington State, leaving scientists and residents **perplexed** about its origins. Some scientists initially **speculated** that an erupting Japanese volcano was the source of the powdery white substance. Others blamed wildfires, and some thought that a Nevada dust storm was the cause.
All three theories were proven wrong. That led researchers to consider Oregon’s Summer Lake, which is shallow and often largely dries up during droughts. A storm with winds reaching 96 kilometers per hour struck Summer Lake the night before the milky rain.
Photo: Wu Chun-feng, Liberty Times
照片：自由時報記者吳俊鋒
“That would have been powerful enough to lift a good-sized dust plume,” said Nic Loyd, a meteorologist at the university.
(Courtesy of the Liberty Times)
今年二月間，在北美太平洋西北地區廣大地帶讓車輛覆蓋白白一層、讓人驚訝不已的牛奶雨之謎，終於被科學家解開。美國華盛頓州立大學的研究團隊說，他們判定這種不尋常的降雨，都是約七百七十二公里外一座淺湖乾涸湖底的沙所造成。
那陣雨降在奧勒岡州與華盛頓州東部，將近三百二十二公里的地帶遍佈粉末，讓科學家與居民不解其來源。某些科學家起初推斷，這種粉末狀白色物質來自日本一座噴發的火山。有人怪罪野火，也有人認為原因在於內華達州的沙塵暴。
結果證實上述三種理論都不正確。這讓研究人員開始考慮水不深、乾旱期大半乾涸的奧勒岡州夏湖。天降牛奶雨的前一晚，夏湖下了一場挾著每小時風速達九十六公里的暴風雨。
華盛頓州大氣象學家尼克．羅以德表示：「那種力量強大到足以捲起大片沙塵。」
(自由時報提供／翻譯：自由時報國際新聞中心)
Global coffee prices have soared to their highest in nearly 50 years due to poor weather in Brazil and Vietnam, forcing roasters such as Nestle to raise prices and consumers to hunt for cheaper brews amid the cost of living crisis. Spiking prices will benefit farmers with the crop this year, but challenge traders who face crippling hedging costs on exchanges and a scramble to receive the beans they pre-bought. WHAT DRIVES PRICES? Production problems linked to bad weather in Brazil and Vietnam have seen global supplies lagging demand for three years. That has left stocks depleted and driven benchmark ICE exchange prices
The vast ocean stages countless miracles of life, but none are quite as awe-inspiring as the phenomenon of a “whale fall.” When a giant whale reaches the end of its life, its immense body gently descends and eventually lands in the inky abyss. This moment, which might seem like the end, ignites a burst of new life on the ocean floor. Deep beneath the ocean’s surface, where sunlight is unable to venture and nutrients are scarce, a whale fall is like an oasis in a barren landscape. Over decades, even centuries, the remains of a single whale can sustain thousands of
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電視節目畫面底下常會出現橫條滑動的「新聞跑馬燈」文字，顯示最新發生的新聞，這英文叫 chyron 或 news ticker。「新聞跑馬燈」是 1970 年代 Chyron 公司為廣播業研發的滑動圖案文字顯示器，因此廣播新聞業就把它稱為 chyron。 Merriam-Webster 對 chyron 的定義如下： chyron / ?ka? r?n/ : a caption superimposed over usually the lower part of a video image (as during a news broadcast) 台灣的讀者對 chyron 這詞可能很陌生，但據 Merriam-Webster 的統計，這詞算是常用詞，普及程度是 “Top 30% of words”，台灣的讀者會覺得令人難以置信。不過若就新聞英語而言，chyron 無疑的是經常出現，就以底下這則 CNN 跑馬燈新聞報導為例：川普總統手拿聖經，走往白宮附近一座教堂供媒體拍照，和平示威人士遭噴催淚瓦斯驅散。 CNN chyron: “PEACEFUL PROTESTERS NEAR WHITE HOUSE GASSED, SHOT WITH RUBBER BULLETS SO TRUMP CAN HAVE CHURCH PHOTO-OP” CNN 新聞跑馬燈：白宮附近和平示威人士遭發射催淚瓦斯 及橡膠子彈。 (June 1, 2020) 2018 年初，美國聯邦政府差點停擺事件前，也出現以下報導： “U.S. Government Hours Away From Shutdown,” heralded the chyron. 新聞跑馬燈預告：美國聯邦政府即將「停擺」 (Vanity Fair , January 19, 2018) 下次看到 chyron 這個字時，多看它一眼，它可是新聞裡常出現的詞彙呢！ 防疫必備詞彙：疫情新聞詞彙 宿主 host 中間宿主 intermediate host 野味 bushmeat; game 菊頭蝠 rufous horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus spp. ) 穿山甲 pangolin P4 實驗室 Biosafety Level 4 lab
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