Topic Reading-Vol.3692-5/21/2022

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

California is in a water crisis, yet usage is way up.

California is the most populous state in the US with a population of around 40 million. Its economy is so large that should it be a country, it would be the fifth-largest economy in the world. This year, California is facing the worst drought ever. While there are 1,500 lakes and reservoirs in the state that store surface water, the state’s groundwater storage capacity is more than 10 times that of all its surface waterways. Most of California’s precipitation falls as snow in the northern part of the state during the winter. But because of global warming, the precipitation has been falling in recent years. As a result, the state’s both surface water and groundwater levels fell to the critical levels. The state and local governments have been urging the residents to conserve water usage, but many argue that the more conservation efforts need to be made by large water users like agriculture and fracking, the injection of a fluid at high pressure into an underground rock formation to allow trapped gas or crude oil to flow through a pipe to a wellhead at the surface. Those who depend on surface water are going to be asked to cut more water usage. Those who rely on groundwater are afraid of depleting it as more is being pumped to compensate for the disappearing surface water. How will California survive under water pressure?

Enjoy reading the article and learning about California’s management of its water crisis.

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/05/15/us/california-water-usage-increase-drought-climate/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.3691-5/20/2022

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

What you need to know about Finland, Sweden and NATO

Established in 1949 by 10 European states, the US, and Canada to cope with the Soviet and its satellite states, The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, usually called NATO, is an intergovernmental military alliance. The number of European member states has increased eastward to today’s 30. This expansion of the military alliance seems to have made Russia feel threatened. Though there is no militaristic dictator like Napoleon or Hitler in today’s western Europe, Russia won’t forget the deadly wars to defend their motherland even though NATO’s intention is to deter the Soviets from attacking western (now including central) European countries that are no match for Russia. But triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, two Scandinavian countries, Finland and Sweden, have announced that they are applying to become members of NATO to avoid becoming the next target of Russia. If Russia hadn’t invaded Ukraine, neither country would have sought to join the counter-Russia organization to avoid unnecessary provocation. European map seems to have been more distinctly divided by ally and enemy like a century ago. Does an alliance ever deter future aggression?

Read the article and see the map to learn what NATO could mean to Russia.

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/05/14/europe/sweden-finland-nato-next-steps-intl/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.3690-5/19/2022

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Spectacular world's longest suspension footbridge opens in Czech Republic

Do you like to walk from one mountain to another to enjoy the view and thrill? One way to do that is to walk across a suspension bridge. There is a brand-new, world’s longest suspension footbridge, which just opened to the public this month after two years of construction work. Sky Bridge 721 is a 1.2-meter-wide suspended footbridge in the Dolni Morova in the Czech Republic. The one-way footbridge has a 721-meter-long span and is suspended by six cables. It takes about a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Prague and a cable car ride to get there. When you walk on the bridge, you’ll enjoy magnificent views from 95 meters above the valley floor. Are you interested in walking across the world’s longest suspension bridge? Get a ticket!

Enjoy reading the article and watching the video to learn about this thrilling new suspension bridge in Czech.

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/worlds-longest-suspension-footbridge-czech-republic/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.3689-5/18/2022

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Royal Mail wants fleet of 500 drones to carry mail to remote UK communities

Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands, is a subarctic archipelago in the Northern Atlantic, between Great Britain, the Faroe Islands, and Norway. It is the northernmost part of the United Kingdom, about 170 km from mainland Scotland. So, how are mail delivered to and sent from these remote islands with a population of about 22,000? For now, human-piloted airplanes and boats carry goods and mail. But when they are too foggy, they can’t fly, and when the sea is rough, they can’t ferry. Also, human pilots are more costly compared to machines. So, Royal Mail plans to fly a fleet of autonomous drones to carry mail to and from such remote communities in the UK. These drones are designed to serve as middle-mile transportation, which means they just carry mail between distant postal workers. These drones leave a smaller ecological footprint besides the autonomous and all-weather flying capability. Indeed, delivering parcels and mail to the doorstep might be a bit complicated but taking the role of human-driven vehicles as a middleman might be more practical, economical, and environmentally friendly.

Enjoy reading the article and learning about Royal Mail’s autonomous middleman.

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-61409558

Topic Reading-Vol.3688-5/17/2022

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

A passenger with no flying experience landed a plane at a Florida airport after the pilot became incapacitated

An hour after taking off from Bahama on May 10, a Cessna 208, a single-engine utility aircraft was flying 2,750 meters high over the Florida coast. All of a sudden, the pilot became ill and incapable of flying the aircraft. One of the passengers with no piloting experience contacted air controllers and reported the situation. There was only one choice to save the people on board. Have the passenger land the aircraft. One of the air controllers who also is a flight instructor decided to help the passenger-pilot land at Palm Beach International Airport, the area’s largest airport to make the landing less difficult. Since the air controller had never flown that type of Cessna, he used a map of the aircraft’s cockpit to give proper instructions to the passenger-pilot. And you know what? They made it safely! Will the passenger fly again or learn to fly?

Enjoy reading the article and watching the video to learn about this amazing landing in the most desperate situation.

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/florida-passenger-lands-plane/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.3687-5/16/2022

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Apple to discontinue the iPod after 21 years

Many mobile music listeners have used iPods for some time, a series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It revolutionized how people listened to music. Before iPod, mobile listeners had used Walkman cassette players, portable CD players, and MP players. The big difference from them is that iPod is a mobile data storage device using hard drives, micro-drives, or flash memory depending on the model. When it was first introduced in 2001, Steve Jobs, then Apple’s CEO, said listening to music would never be the same again. Indeed, music started to be sold by title and copyright rather than in the media. However, as smartphones became more popular and capable, people started to listen to music from the all-in-one device instead of the iPod. In fact, Apple knew that transition would occur when it introduced the first iPhone in 2007. 15 years later, Apple finally announced discontinuing this iconic music device. Indeed, the birth of the iPhone was the beginning of the end of the iPod.

Enjoy reading the article and remembering what mobile listening device you used to use.

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-61401626

Topic Reading-Vol.3686-5/15/2022

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Why are we so obsessed with carrots, onions, peas and tomatoes?

Do you care how many kinds of vegetables and fruits you eat daily? We all know that they are good for our health. Experts suggest we consume a third of the food we eat daily with vegetables and fruits. They provide us with essential vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Also, it is beneficial to consume a wide variety of vegetables and fruits even though they aren’t always available or budget-friendly. And even if there is a wide variety of vegetables available at reasonable prices, we tend to eat the same kinds of vegetables most of the time. That may be because we have limited recipes, budget, and capacity for storage. Another challenge is that vegetables and fruits won’t last so long. One solution to these problems is to use frozen, dried, and canned vegetables and fruits. They are widely available, usually economical, and easily added to your dishes. Just an apple a day may not keep your doctor away, but one more vegetable per meal might work.

Enjoy reading the article and thinking about what another vegetable or fruit might be for your next meal.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/articles/veg_variety