Topic Reading-Vol.3162-12/7/2020

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

The 'romance scammers’ cashing in on lockdown loneliness

Even though Hong Kong’s job opportunities are relatively gender-equal, women there seem to feel pressure in their personal lives. As unmarried women of their late 20s or early 30s still tend to be seen as “leftover,” older women are even more desperate to find their partners. But in fact, in the age group older than 30, there are only two men for every three women in the city-state, which makes women even more eager to develop a love relationship. On top of the cultural pressure, many are working from home nowadays because of the coronavirus pandemic. Indeed, those who don’t have social engagement opportunities tend to rely on SNSs and online dating or matching sites. Since those online-matched couples have never met in person, such lonely women are quite vulnerable to online romance scams. After intense texting to be cyber lovers, catfishers then ask them to transfer money to meet them in person or help their financial problems. In fact, 50% more such victims were reported between January and September this year over last year. There may be even more victims who hadn’t reported their cases.

Read the article and learn about how vulnerable people could become when they are isolated from social engagements.

https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20201125-te-romance-scammers-exploiting-lockdown-loneliness

Topic Reading-Vol.3161-12/6/2020

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

China has reached a major milestone in ending absolute poverty. But the Communist Party isn't celebrating yet

It was 99 years ago when the Communist Party of China was formed. Back then, most people in China, whether in cities or rural villages, were poor. It took the party a little over a quarter of a century to establish a unified country, the People’s Republic of China. The first three decades were a very difficult time for the nation. But for the last four decades, especially the latter half, China’s economy grew at an unprecedented pace to become the world’s second-largest economy only after the US. The majority of the growth came from first-tier cities especially in the east coast areas, such as Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Wuhan. Now, the per capita disposable income in urban areas stands around $6,500, just about enough to afford a small car. On the other hand, the income for rural households was still around $2,500, less than 40% of urban areas. Has China moved out of the century-long poverty? It seems that the ruling party is very cautious about announcing the milestone achievement before next year’s centennial anniversary. Well, from now on, they seem to need to build a large and stable middle class to enjoy sustainable economic growth. 2021 will be the time for the ruling party to celebrate the anniversary but also the time to begin a new challenging era.

Enjoy reading the text and learn about great China’s achievements and new challenges.

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/11/27/asia/china-xi-jinping-poverty-alleviation-intl-hnk/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.3160-12/5/2020

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

UK to pilot blood test that may detect 50 types of cancer

As nearly one in six deaths in the world is due to cancer. Also, about 40% of Americans are diagnosed with cancer during their lives. Besides a person’s genetics, external agents like radiation or viruses, habitual factors like alcohol, poor diets, smoking, and a lack of exercise could trigger this fatal disease. Nowadays, there are a variety of treatments to slow or cure cancer, such as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy, if they are applied in the early stages. Therefore, early detections are the key to effective treatment.

Now, the UK’s National Health Service is going to pilot the Galleri blood test with 165,000 patients that could detect over 50 types of cancer, hoping to identify types of cancer that are currently difficult to diagnose and treat early. The developer of the novel blood test is expecting the test, with existing care, will reduce the number of cancers diagnosed at a late stage by almost half. Indeed, if a simple blood test detects signs or developments of cancers, it would save time, costs, and manpower to detect and cure the fatal disease. The future may be coming soon.

Enjoy reading the article the learn about how effective an early diagnose is to treat cancers.

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/11/27/health/cancer-blood-test-pilot-gbr-intl/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.3159-12/4/2020

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Sri Lanka digs trench to keep elephants away from rubbish dump

Elephants aren’t scavengers by nature. They usually spend 16 to 18 hours, or nearly 80% of the day, eating between 149 and 169 kg of vegetables like grasses, small plants, bushes, fruit, twigs, tree bark, and roots. But just like other native creatures that live around human habitats, such as bears and crows, they also like easy and nutritious food like human waste.

In Sri Lanka, there are about 7,500 elephants that live in nature and sanctuaries. Some elephants that live in a sanctuary have been invading the landfill site nearby to scavenge waste. Despite the electrified fence that was installed by the government, they seem to have found a way to get in the landfill and are eating not only food waste but also plastic bags and containers, which could be stuck in their stomach and kill them slowly. So, the government is now trying to dig a moat around the landfill site to keep them away. Which ingenuity will win, humans or elephants?

Please be reminded that African elephants are listed as vulnerable and Asian elephants as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. And they already have enough human-caused problems, such as poaching for their ivories, habitat destructions, and conflicts with local residents, especially the farmers. Humans are the most threatening predator in nature.

Read the article and watch the shocking video to learn what turned elephants from vegetarians to scavengers.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-55086465

Topic Reading-Vol.3158-12/3/2020

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Smaller long-haul planes are the future of flying -- but also its past

Even if you aren’t so familiar with passenger aircraft, you probably notice if there are one or two aisles in the aircraft when you get onboard. An aircraft that has two aisles is called a wide-body aircraft whose fuselage is wide enough to accommodate two passenger aisles with seven to ten seats. Because of the size, it offers more space for passengers, carry-on baggage, and cargo space as well as fuel tanks to fly a longer distance. Boeing’s 747, 777, and 787, and Airbus’s A380, 350, and 330 are some of the most widely used examples. If you take a long-haul flight or fly between major hub airports, you probably have a chance to get a seat on one of them.

On the other hand, a narrow-body, or single-aisle aircraft is a passenger aircraft that has only one aisle with three to six seating in a row. Turboprops and small-to-medium size jets, like Boeing’s 737 and Airbus’s A320 are the most popular aircraft of this category. They are usually used for shorter flights up to four to five hours with fewer passengers because of the size capacity. Many of low-cost carriers, or LCC, use this type of aircraft and fly between non-major airports. It had not been designed to offer comfort to the passengers for a long-haul flight until recently. But the Airbus A321XLR, the most recent member of the A321neo family, can fly as long as 10 hours which could fly from Paris to Beijing!

Will the airline’s economy work for passengers’ economy and comfort?

Enjoy reading the article and learn about what wide and narrow means to airliners.

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/narrow-body-planes-long-haul-flights-future/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.3157-12/2/2020

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Why don't Facebook and Apple like each other?

Founded by Mark Zuckerberg with his fellow Harvard College students and roommates in 2004, Facebook is an online social media and social networking service company. Facebook products include popular SNS services like Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and Facebook Shops. Most of Facebook's revenue comes from advertising. The company has been the subject of numerous controversies, including user privacy and political manipulation such as with the 2016 U.S. elections, and mass surveillance.

Apple was incorporated as Apple Computer Inc. in 1977 by Steve Jobs and his fellows to develop and sell personal computers. In 2007, it was renamed Apple Inc. to reflect the focus on consumer electronics like the iPhone. The company’s revenues are generated by personal IT devices like iPhone, iPad, and iMac and App Store where the company has been receiving 30% commission from the app sales, which has been highly criticized as unfair for app developers.

So, there are no obvious issues or grounds to compete between these two tech giants. However, they do not like each other and they even criticize the other’s business practices. Why so?

One analyst attributes the cause to their cultural and personal differences.

Enjoy reading the article and learn about how emotional issues affect business relationships.

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-55079454

Topic Reading-Vol.3156-12/1/2020

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Lying down and vomiting between courses: This is how Ancient Romans would feast

The ancient Roman upper classes often indulged in hours-long extravagant feasts to show off their wealth and status. In order to enjoy lavish dishes after dishes for a long time until midnight, they developed a unique culinary culture. For example, they didn’t sit at tables but just lied down on a comfortable cushion to eat. That was because the horizontal position was thought to help digest excess food better. Also, they didn’t excuse themselves to leave the dining room to go to the toilet. Instead, they had servants bring a piss pot to urinate on the site. When there are leftovers, meat bones, or fish heads, the diners simply threw them on the floor. The most surprising practice to eat more food was to vomit the food they’d just eaten. Indeed, they could put more food into their empty stomachs. Furthermore, they didn’t even bother to leave their cushion to break wind while eating because discharging gas was considered essential for good health and diet. Indeed, eating seems to have been the supreme act of civilization and celebration of life for the Roman elites.

Enjoy reading the article and learn about what an extreme extravaganza was like in ancient Rome.

https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/ancient-roman-feasting-history/index.html