Topic Reading-Vol.2462-1/7/2019

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

NASA provides first image from record-setting flyby of Ultima Thule

The Kuiper Belt is a region of leftovers from the solar system's early history. It is a circumstellar disc in the outer Solar System, extending from the orbit of approximately 50 AU from the Sun. (AU: astronomical unit, roughly the distance from Earth to the Sun, about 150 million kilometers)

Launched in this month 13 years ago by NASA, New Horizons is an interplanetary space probe. The spacecraft reached Jupiter in 2007, conducted a reconnaissance flyby study of Pluto and its moons in 2015, and has just reached one of the outermost orbiting objects of our solar system this month, over 6 billion kilometers from the Sun. It had been thought to be an object shaped like a bowling pin and called Ultima until it was found that it is actually an attached two objects by gravity, forming a snowman like shape. The newly named Ultima Thule is thought to be formed about 4.5 billion years ago when the solar planet was born. One researcher calls it as the time machine to time zero as it is one of the first planetesimals or objects that went on to form planets.

Enjoy reading and learn about this outermost extraterrestrial object that orbits the sun like our planet.

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/01/01/world/new-horizons-ultima-thule-flyby-success/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.2461-1/6/2019

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

MIT invents method to shrink objects to nanoscale using basic lab equipment

Shrinking humans and objects to nanoscale have only be seen in movies. But researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have come up with a new method that shrinks objects to as small as one-thousandth of the original size.

Nanotechnology develops and produces extremely small tools and machines by controlling the arrangement of separate atoms. Such technology can be applied in science fields, such as chemistry, biology, physics material science, and engineering. For example, mobile phone manufactures may one day use this technology to shrink conventional microchips, instead of developing complex and expensive Nano-size chips, to produce lighter and smaller phones with more features economically. What is remarkable about this newly announced shrinking technology is that unlike other methods, it requires neither sterile rooms or toxic materials. This could mean that you may use it at school or at home.

Enjoy reading and think what you would like to shrink if you had a home-use shrinking machine.

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/12/17/us/mit-nanosize-technology-trnd/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.2460-1/5/2019

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Venice to charge tourist entry fee for short stays

The central part of a northeastern city in Italy is lived by only around 55,000 residents. But this historical city of art and architecture is visited by as many tourists each day as residents. Situated across 118 small islands that are separated by famous canals and connected by more than 400 bridges, Venice is one of the most popular tourists’ destinations in Europe. You might have seen tourists with cameras/smartphones or newly-wed couples with bouquets riding on gondolas in a photo or video in this World Heritage Site. This overwhelming number of tourists overcrowds the city and causes environmental problems and financial burdens. This floating city is already collecting taxes from hotel occupants as much as €30m annually, but none to day visitors who just stop and go without lodging or stay on a cruise ship. Now, short time visitors are going to be levied an entry fee of up to €10 depending on the season. The question is how such specific tax is going to be charged. Will there be entry points to collect the tax? Will credit cards or online payments be accepted?

How much is too expensive to experience a World Heritage Site? For example, a one-day pass to visit Angkor Wat and nearby monuments costs foreigners $37 dollars.

Enjoy reading and think if such tax or fee could change your mind whether to visit or omit a World Heritage Site in your trip.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-46721456

Topic Reading-Vol.2459-1/4/2019

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Vanuatu uses drones to deliver vaccines to remote island

It doesn’t sound so surprising to use a drone to shoot photos or videos, spray pesticide, or deliver something. But transporting vaccines had never been done until this recent approach by UNICEF in a remote island on the Pacific Ocean.

Vanuatu is an archipelago country lies some 1,700 kilometers east of northern Australia. Of the 14 islands that consist the nation, Erromango is the fifth largest one. Since there isn’t any paved road to go across the island, it takes humans to hand carry or sail things from one side of the island to the other, which makes extremely inconvenient to transport ice-packed vaccines. In order to solve this last-mile delivery problem, UNICEF wisely used a commercial drone, which took only 25 minutes to fly 40 kilometers.

While drones could interfere with commercial air traffic if they were used near or around an airport like Gatwick in England, they’ve just been proved to be of great help to save lives.

Enjoy reading and learn about how a drone could be commercially used to save lives.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-46616004

Topic Reading-Vol.2458-1/3/2019

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Electric 3D-printed motorbike provides a glimpse into the future of green travel

E-motorcycle doesn’t sound so new any longer these days, not only on the theater screens but only on the street. Also, 3D-printed commodity items, industrial parts, and artworks are nothing new. But what about a 3D-printed functional electric motorcycle?

A German manufacturing company has broken the limits of conventional mechanical design and engineering and created a prototype of 3D-Ebike, named Nera. Everything but the electronic components is 3D-printed, including the tires and wheels, which means each motorcycle could be custom-built. Without a steel chassis, the Nera E-bike weighs just 60 kilograms, but not any other number on performance or range has been announced yet.

How long will it take to see fully customized 3D-printed E-bikes running on the street? Will we see ones for ride-share services?

Enjoy seeing this futuristic prototype of a printed motorcycle.

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/12/20/motorsport/electric-motorbike-3d-printed-bigrep-nera-spt-intl/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.2457-1/2/2019

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

How a country suddenly went ‘crazy rich’

A double standard is emerging among commoners in Indonesia. It is the world's largest island country with more than seventeen thousand islands. Indonesia has a population of over 260 million, the fourth largest population in the world and the most populous Muslim-majority country. The Indonesian archipelago is abundant in natural resources, such as oil, natural gas, tin, copper, and gold. On the ground, they produce agricultural produces like rice, palm oil, tea, coffee, cacao, spices, and rubber. All these resources and produces but rice make an only limited number of corporations and individuals very wealthy while the vast majority of the workers, miners, and farmers and their families live well below what is considered standard among developed nations. In fact, the nation’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP, ranks 7^th largest in the world while the per capita GDP is merely above 100^th. So, the newly emerging middle class is enjoying luxurious lives by taking advantage of their growing income and low living costs. When they’ve gotten everything tangible from home, cars, and commodities, they are now spending money on occasions like dining, travels, and events. But how luxurious or outrageous such occasions are?

Enjoy reading and learn about the extravaganza of Indonesian’s growing upper middle class.
https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-46529582

Topic Reading-Vol.2456-1/1/2019

Happy new year to MEL Topic Readers,

For the new year, try 12 monthly 'micro-resolutions'

Did you maintain your new year’s resolution last year, or do you remember it if any? How long did it last? If the resolution was kept throughout the year, you are the winner of the self-discipline award. While many people make their new year resolutions, only a few of them maintain them till the end of the year. That may be because the resolutions were too ambitious or abstentious. For example, jogging 10k every morning, cutting out all sweets, quitting smoking or drinking entirely, or learning 10 new words every day are all too demanding tasks. But what about committing yourself to something only for a month? You may have a better chance to remember and stick to it. After a month, you may reward yourself for the achievement. Yes, a short-term win or loss makes you review, rethink, or renew the custom or behavior you’ve had for some time. You don’t have to come up with all the 12 monthly resolutions now. You can try something for a month and set another one, or continue the same one, for the next month.

Enjoy reading the article and think what resolution to take on for the first month of 2019.

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/12/18/health/micro-resolution-wisdom-project/index.html