SPACE
No collision risk from asteroid
A potentially hazardous asteroid nearly the size of Taipei 101 is to zoom past Earth on Friday, but there is no collision risk, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The asteroid, known as 2008 OS7, is to make its closest approach to Earth at 10:40pm on Friday, passing at a distance of 0.019 astronomical units (about 2.85 million kilometers), at a speed of 18.2 kilometers per second, the museum said. Astronomers estimate the asteroid to be about 210m to 480m in diameter, making it nearly the height of the Taipei 101 skyscraper, it said, adding that it would not enter Earth’s atmosphere. Based on information provided by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, five asteroids are to travel close to Earth in the coming days, including 2008 OS7, which has been classified as potentially hazardous because it has a diameter of more than 150m, it said. The next significant approach by a potentially hazardous asteroid would on April 14, 2029, it said.
SOCIETY
Keelung plans Ferris wheel
Keelung Mayor George Hsieh (謝國樑) yesterday unveiled his plan to build a Ferris wheel in the city’s downtown area in a bid to promote tourism. It is to be located in a plaza between Keelung Harbor and Taiwan Railways’ Keelung Station. and is expected to have a diameter of 40m to 60m, Hsieh said. While the cost of the Ferris wheel was not immediately clear, he said that additional funds would be allocated to the project, which would replace the temporary amusement facilities the city government is planning to construct later this year in the same area. The city government is also to develop a business operating model for the Ferris wheel service and aims to allocate time slots for residents to visit, he said.
SOCIETY
Fisher dies at sea
An Indonesian fisher on Monday died after falling into the sea while aboard a ship operating in waters off Penghu County, the Coast Guard Administration’s Fleet Branch Penghu Offshore Flotilla said. The flotilla said it dispatched a patrol boat on Monday night after receiving a request for assistance in the search for a person who had fallen overboard from the Penghu-based Da Jin Man No. 16, which was 60 nautical miles (111.12km) southwest of Cimei Island (七美島). The fishing ship subsequently found the 22-year-old fisher nearby, it said, adding that authorities are examining the body. The ship had one Taiwanese and six Indonesian crew members on board.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
Taiwanese celebrities Hank Chen (陳漢典) and Lulu Huang (黃路梓茵) announced yesterday that they are planning to marry. Huang announced and posted photos of their engagement to her social media pages yesterday morning, joking that the pair were not just doing marketing for a new show, but “really getting married.” “We’ve decided to spend all of our future happy and hilarious moments together,” she wrote. The announcement, which was later confirmed by the talent agency they share, appeared to come as a surprise even to those around them, with veteran TV host Jacky Wu (吳宗憲) saying he was “totally taken aback” by the news. Huang,
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
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