Topic Reading-Vol.3459/9/30/2021

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Quad countries vow to work for freedom in region.

The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, more simply the Quad, is a strategic dialogue between the United States, India, Japan, and Australia to enhance the quadrilateral military and diplomatic ties to ensure security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region. It was first formed in 2007 but somehow ceased for a while and was reestablished in 2017 to counter China’s military and diplomatic aggression in the South China Sea. The leaders of the four members recently met in the US and pledged to protect the rule of law, freedom of transport, peaceful and democratic values in the region and beyond. They also committed to encounter challenges to the order in the East and South China Seas without stating against which country. Along with the newly formed trilateral security pact between Australia, the UK, and the US (AUKUS) to have Australia deploy nuclear-powered submarines, Australia seems to have become a pivotal state for the new security alliance in the Indo-Pacific region.

In the meantime, the Quad countries agreed to provide more Covid-19 vaccines around Asia. It seems health is also one of the security issues in the region.

Enjoy reading the article and learn about this new regional alliance by four democratic nations.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-58689238

Topic Reading-Vol.3458/9/29/2021

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

The truth about lab-grown meat

Cultured meat is produced using tissue engineering techniques that are used in regenerative medicines. Though the production process is constantly evolving, lab-grown meat is still as economical as regular meat yet. Also, there are ethical, health, environmental, cultural, and economic discussions about this artificially grown meat.

How cultured meat is produced? In the case of chicken, first, take some cells from a chicken feather. Then feed the cells with nutrients in a liquid solution so that they can develop and multiply into muscle fibers. The nutrition given is no different from the feed that chickens are provided in terms of calories and proteins. Once grown, they look like ground chicken meat. If you make nuggets with the lab-grown chicken meat, you won’t find a distinctive difference from regular nuggets. It sounds similar to the sustainable aviation fuel (Vol.3457) to replace fossil jet fuels. The differences are the process for production and how much it costs. Would you be willing to eat lab-grown chicken nuggets?

Enjoy watching the video and learn about lab-grown meat.

https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p09s518l/the-truth-about-lab-grown-meat

Topic Reading-Vol.3457/9/28/2021

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

The climate can't wait for electric planes. Sustainable fuel may be the answer

Currently, the aviation industry is emitting over 2.5% of global carbon emissions, and the share is going to reach 3.5% by the end of the decade. Unfortunately, any green jet engine is expected to replace the present fleet of fossil fuel guzzlers in the foreseeable future. So, we need alternative fuel to reduce CO2 emissions. Sustainable aviation fuel, SAF, is very similar in its chemistry to conventional jet fuel. It’s produced from sustainable feedstocks, such as cooking oil and other non-palm waste oils from animals or plants; solid waste from homes and businesses like packaging, paper, textiles, and food scraps that would otherwise go to landfills or incineration. Though not all SAFs are equally green, they will certainly reduce carbon emissions. At present, only less than 1% of the jet fuel production is SAF. So, in order to bring more attention and investment into SAF production, a coalition of oil companies, airlines, and airplane manufacturers pledged to replace 10% of the global jet fuel supply with SAF by 2030. This announcement by cross-industry allies seems to send a strong demand signal to global investors and industries. Though any form of SAF is at least a few times costlier than conventional fossil jet fuel, the world needs it for a sustainable environment. Indeed, the rules of the games are different in this century.

Enjoy reading the article and learn about sustainable aviation fuel.

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/09/22/business/airline-oil-companies-sustainable-aviation-fuels/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.3456/9/27/2021

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Lithuania urges people to throw away Chinese phones

The Republic of Lithuania is one of three Baltic states in Europe and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Though it is small in population and land size, the country is full of innovation in the fields of software engineering, AI-driven solutions, and fintech product development. Recently, the nation’s Cyber Security Center tested 5G smartphones of Chinese brands and found built-in censorship tools in one of the models and security flaws in another. With those findings, the Defense Ministry warned the owners of those phones to throw away these 5G smartphones even though neither of the phone manufacturers admitted such problems in their latest smartphones. Lithuania’s market is small, but this warning most likely triggers further scrutiny in other European countries where the same models are sold.

Will Europe become another market that blocks phones made by Chinese manufacturers?

Enjoy reading the article and learn about Lithuania’s move to oust Chinese high-tech products.

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-58652249

Topic Reading-Vol.3455/9/26/2021

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

The Chinese version of TikTok is limiting kids to 40 minutes a day

Teenagers in China seem to be getting more restricted as to how they spend time with their smartphones. Recently, they were limited the time they can spend on online games to just three hours on weekends and barred to play any on weekdays. This new strict regulation shocked the online gaming companies and their investors badly, just like the cram schools and online tutoring services that were nearly abandoned their businesses earlier this year. Now, students are most likely spending more time watching videos, like Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok as they have been recently reduced their homework and limited the time for gaming. ByteDance, a video platform giant company, didn’t want to wait to be regulated like the gaming industry. It decided to limit the use of the short-form video app only up to 40 minutes a day for users under 14 years old. Also, it would make the video app unavailable between 10 pm and 6 am for those users. The company is hoping that it will be viewed by parents and regulators as more socially responsible for minors so that it won’t be suddenly banned its service. It seems like a proactive move, but will it be enough?

China has been growing rapidly since the new millennium. Also, changes have been made far more drastically than in any other country in the world. Chinese companies and people seem to be used to changes and surprises.

Enjoy reading the article and learn about how Chinese teenagers are guided and treated.

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/09/20/tech/china-tiktok-douyin-usage-limit-intl-hnk/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.3454/9/25/2021

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

China and the US were both born from armed conflict. They're now polar opposites on gun control

The People’s Republic of China was established by the Communist Party of China in 1949 after decades of bloody battles with the Nationalists. The nation was built by guns. China now has one of the strictest gun control laws in the world and saw only a few dozens of gun crimes a year despite the population that is over four times bigger than that of the U.S.

The immigrants to America expanded the frontiers to the west and protected themselves with guns. And the United States of America won its independence in the Revolutionary War between 1775 and 1873 against Great Britain. The U.S. enshrines the right to purchase, own, and carry guns in the Constitution, including military-grade assault rifles. Each year, there are hundreds of mass shootings and tens of thousands of suicides by guns.

Which country do you think is more civilized?

Read the article and think about if people should own guns and why.

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/09/20/china/gun-control-us-china-mic-intl-hnk/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.3453/9/24/2021

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

The ancient Persian way to keep cool

In most places, summer is hot, especially in arid places like Iran and Egypt where early civilizations developed millennia ago. How did those ancient people cool their buildings in summer? Surprisingly, they invented environmentally friendly yet efficient cooling architectural structures by catching the natural wind. Towers built on top of the roofs in rectangular or other shapes, catch air from the opening, funnel the air down to the ground floor, and deposit any sand or debris at the foot of the tower. Then the air circulates the building, goes up through another tower or opening being pushed by the pressure within the building, and leaves the building. There are quite a few factors to design these wind-catching towers more efficient, such as the direction and height of the tower, the number of openings, and internal configurations. Sounds ideal, doesn’t it? One drawback of this wind-catching tower is that it not only catches wind but pests, dust, and desert debris.

Still, this ancient architectural cooling system is drawing attention from many architects as it uses no electricity while modern mechanical air conditioning consumes about one-fifth of the total electricity.

Enjoy reading the article and learn about ancient ingenuity to cool buildings.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210810-the-ancient-persian-way-to-keep-cool