Topic Reading-Vol.726-4/7/2014

Dear MEL School’s Topic Readers,

Python's homing trick stuns scientists

Pythons, native to South and Southeast Asia, are among the largest snakes. They eat, maybe better to say swallow, anything that has lived until it is killed by them, from a bird to deer, even a crocodile as shown in Vol.795.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26413101

Researchers found that they are not only a big eater but also somewhat intelligent to be able to find the way to their home even they are taken and released dozens of kilometers away. And surprisingly, they seem to be very much motivated to go home by taking as long as 100 to 300 days.

How do they do that? What sort of navigational features do they have?

Enjoy reading and learning about the mystery of the world largest and longest snake.

http://news.yahoo.com/pythons-homing-trick-stuns-scientists-004128172.html

Topic Reading-Vol.725-4/6/2014

Dear MEL School’s Topic Readers,

Australia: Drone 'used to carry drugs near prison'

What’s a drone? It’s an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, or UAV in short. It has been used in military for missions like reconnaissance or bombing, quite routinely in Afghanistan and Pakistan by the U.S.

It reduces the cost and risk of the mission significantly compared to a manned operation while providing nearly the same accomplishment.

Because of its simple structure, the cost of making or getting drones is so low that even for carrier services like UPS or retailers like Amazon are planning to use them for delivery. Sounds convenient and efficient, doesn’t it?

The problem is that such benefits can also be enjoyed by those who try to avoid the risk of being captured for their criminal or illegal conducts. Smuggling is one of such examples. One could fly a drone to drop off something valuable to a prisoner, such as drugs, cigarettes, tools to escape or even a knife or gun. It also could be used to cross the border to smuggle things valuable to the other side. Border control agents may need to be trained to shoot down a drone some day.

Enjoy reading and learning how a drone was used in Australia and how drones could be used.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26511740

Topic Reading-Vol.724-4/5/2014

Dear MEL School’s Topic Readers,

Thousands of preschool kids face suspension

How tough schools should be when it comes to enforcing disciplinary policies? And how old is old enough to understand why a young student is disciplined, 4^th grade, 2^nd grade or at preschool?

A newly released study shows significant racial disparities among preschoolers in the U.S., the number of African American being disciplined outnumbering the others in a much larger scale than ever been thought, both boys and girls. Why so? Although the data doesn’t show why they were disciplined or what social or financial backgrounds those disciplined children are from, it draws attention and is expected to bring further research, discussions and actions to seek better ways to educate children especially at their young age.

Enjoy reading and learning about America’s social and racial problem.

http://news.yahoo.com/thousands-preschool-kids-face-suspension-040212074.html

Topic Reading-Vol.723-4/4/2014

Dear MEL School’s Topic Readers,

Dog 'sold for $2 million' in China

How much are you willing to pay to become a pride owner of a rare animal, say a giant panda? Well, you could do quick math to figure out how much return on investment you could earn for the cutest popular animal because so many people will pay just to see it. But what about a dog?

There was a deal made to a Chinese breeder a staggering sum of two million US dollars for a rare dog called Tibetan mastiff puppy which weighed 90 kilograms. The lion-look dog is admired and symbolized by the rich in China and the trading prices are skyrocketing.

However, some of such high price trades are said to be nominal insider trades between breeders, meaning that some breeders bid and close deals at extremely high prices and publicize them in an attempt to raise the market price.

Enjoy reading and trying to figure out if you could make a good return on investment by breeding such admired and appreciated pet dog.

http://news.yahoo.com/dog-sold-2-million-china-040642684.html

Topic Reading-Vol.722-4/3/2014

Dear MEL School’s Topic Readers,

Cosmic inflation: 'Spectacular' discovery hailed

Was there inflation 14 billion years ago? If there was, where was it?

A team of scientists in the U.S. announced that they have new evidence to support Big Bang Theory for the origin of the Universe.

What and how? They caught the signal left in space by cosmic inflation, the super-rapid expansion of space that is believed to have occurred right after everything came into being, before Big Bang. That signal was detected at a Telescope facility in South Pole.

It doesn’t sound so convincing but scientists believe that things exist today, the galaxies, the stars, the planets - were imprinted at this inflation moment which took less than a trillionth of a second. This finding is so significant that Nobel Prize is going to be their hands.

Enjoy reading and imagining what took place right after the born of universe 14 billion years ago.

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-26605974

Topic Reading-Vol.721-4/2/2014

Dear MEL School’s Topic Readers,

Japan accepts court ban on Antarctic whaling

While needing help from the global community on its territorial disputes and national security, why Japan has been conducting fiercely criticized whale hunting so long until it is judged unlawful by international court? Are Japanese people so fond of whale meat or in need of any part of the sea mammal?

It took nearly three decades to actually stop whale hunting since the country had signed up to a moratorium on whaling back in 1986, claiming it as scientific research provision. The country has caught 3,600 whales since 2005 for that purpose and been selling the meat commercially in the market. As a matter of fact, along with another widely accused hunting of dolphins, the meat of those sea mammals don’t seem to be vital for Japanese cuisines these days.

So why is the country keeping such “traditions” that are criticized by other countries?

Enjoy reading and learning about the decision by the International Court of Justice.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26818863

Please also enjoy reading another related article before the court ruling.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26114510

Topic Reading-Vol.720-4/1/2014

Dear MEL School’s Topic Readers,

China baby hatch suspended after hundreds abandoned

In just a month and a half, 262 babies have lost their parents. That’s nearly six babies a day. And all of those babies have some form of illnesses, such as Down’s syndrome and heart disease.

One of the 25 newly opened one baby shelters in China, or baby hatch they say, was temporarily closed to new babies because of the overwhelming number of babies have been left to their hands. But they had no choice but to suspend accepting new babies to care the ones already in their hands.

Baby shelter is a highly controversial issue. Supporters say it’ll help number of unfortunate babies from being left on the streets. Critics argue that it’ll encourage parents abandon their babies too easily. But when they found that all the 262 abandoned babies have some illness, what their argument will be? Is that because of the one-child policy or availability affordable medical care? How many of the 262 babies could have been left on the street or still kept in their parents hands?

Enjoy reading and thinking what the effects of the baby shelter are.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-26607505

Also, enjoy reading the original news of this baby shelter, "China expands abandoned baby hatch scheme." 

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-26219171