Topic Reading-Vol.4146-8/31/2023

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 
Chandrayaan-3: India makes historic landing near Moon's south pole
India’s Vikram lander from Chandrayaan-3 successfully landed in the lunar south pole region as planned at 18:04 local time on August 23, only a few days after the Russian Luna-25 lander crashed into the same region of the Moon. The mission’s main goal is to search water-based ice, which is crucial for human habitation on the Moon as well as future missions to Mars and other destinations. The successful landing was achieved when Prime Minister Modi was attending the BRICS, Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, summit which was being held in Johannesburg, South Africa, which the Russian president attended only online. He must have been proud of his country’s successful mission and celebrated by other leaders.
However, on the same day, in a northeastern state of India, 26 people were killed and more were missed when a railway bridge under construction collapsed. 

India bridge collapse: At least 26 killed at construction site  

Also, over 16,000 people died from nearly 18,000 railway accidents in 2021 in India. India now surely is one of the world’s top countries in rocket science but not so in railway safety.
Enjoy reading the article about India’s historic achievement in moon landing.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-66594520

Topic Reading-Vol.4145-8/30/2023

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 
China wants to limit minors to no more than two hours a day on their phones
China has the world’s largest population when it comes to the number of people who have access to the Internet with over one billion users. Approximately one in five users are under 20 years old whose eyesight could be impaired in their early lives if their daily screen time goes over hours. Also, many of those young Internet users were addicted to online games. So, Chinese regulators have restricted the time young people could spend on gaming to only three hours on weekends, not at all on weekdays for the last two years. Then, a popular short video platform Douyin, China’s TikTok, introduced a teenage mode to limit the time children under 14 could spend on the app to 40 minutes a day. Now, the Cyberspace Administration of China is planning to mandate a built-in minor mode that would limit daily screen time to 40 minutes a day for children under eight, an hour for those between eight and 16, and two hours for 17 years old. This would certainly affect children who mainly use their smartphones with their accounts. Will they switch to their parent’s PC to enjoy watching videos or playing games? Though parents seem to welcome the move while tech companies have to comply with the regulation that could reduce their revenues.
Enjoy reading and learning about China’s regulations to keep children healthy.
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/08/03/tech/china-minors-mobile-phone-limits-intl-hnk/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.4144-8/29/2023

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Over 41% Chinese men, 28% women overweight or obese

Overweight and obesity are defined as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that may impair health, which is usually measured by the Body Mass Index (BMI). It is defined as a person's weight in kilograms divided by the square of his height in meters (kg/m2). Let’s think of a man whose height is 170 cm. If he weighs 60 kg, his BMI is about 20, if 70 kg, it’s 24, and if 80 kilograms, it’s nearly 28. For adults, WHO defines overweight as a BMI of 25 or higher, and obesity as 30 or higher. It is estimated that a little over 42% of American adults are obese and around 30% are overweight, which means more American adults are excessively too fat than just too fat. More health-conscious 

China has a little stricter BMI classification as BMI 24 is overweight and 28 is obese. According to recent research of 15.8 million Chinese adults, nearly 35% were overweight and about 14% were obese, so almost half of Chinese adults are too fat. Unlike the 20^th century when many Chinese rode bicycles and ate simple meals mainly consisting of rice or wheat, modern Chinese drive or ride cars and enjoy luxurious meals with meat and fat. Will there be another restriction on overeating or a mandate to exercise?

Read the article and learn about the health conditions of modern Chinese.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202308/21/WS64e3049aa31035260b81d54f.html

Topic Reading-Vol.4143-8/28/2023

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 
Which arm gets the Covid-19 booster may make a difference, study shows
Do you remember which arm you got the last Covid-19 booster shot? If you do, you may want your next booster shot in the same arm to get a stronger immune response. According to a study in Germany, the number of cells that attack and destroy target cells was predominantly higher in those who took the booster in the same arm as the previous one. Why? Since local lymph nodes provide the immune response, when the same ones are restimulated by the booster shot, a greater immunological response is expected. Even though this doesn’t necessarily mean that better or longer-lasting protection is created, getting a stronger immune response is a good start. This finding might apply to other respiratory syncytial virus like the flu. Good to know because it doesn’t cost any money or effort.
Enjoy reading the article and learn why the same arm creates a better immune response to Covid-19 infection.
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/08/18/health/covid-vaccine-arm-wellness/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.4142-8/27/2023

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Why Maui’s rebuilding effort will be so expensive

On August 8, a series of wildfires broke out in Maui, Hawaii, killing over 120 people just in the town of Lahaina, and hundreds more are missing. The wildfires also destroyed or damaged over 2,200 houses and buildings there. While searching for unaccounted victims continues, rebuilding and repairing works need to be taken up. But as Hawaii is isolated in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, about 4,000 km from California, and is not self-sufficient, most construction materials and items need to be shipped across the Pacific Ocean, which takes a week or longer. Furthermore, doing business in Hawaii is around 30% more expensive than in the mainland US on average, including the wage of construction workers even before the wildfire. And it is not easy to bring in more workers from the mainland because the cost of living, especially the housing is so expensive there. Then there is surging and urgent demand for reconstruction and repairs. You can imagine how expensive it will be to rebuild Maui when everyone tries to do the same things at once. And remember, many people have lost their jobs in the popular tourist destination. It is going to take some time to rebuild the paradise both for the residents and even longer for tourists, who are desperately needed for the local economy.

Read the article and learn about how costly it is to build and repair houses in Hawaii.

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/08/18/business/rebuilding-maui-hawaii-cost/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.4141-8/26/2023

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 
Growing and burying algae in the Sahara is the latest solution for the climate crisis
There are a number of ways to capture the planet’s warming carbon dioxide, such as direct air capture by machines, bio-capture and storage, and tree planting, each with pros and cons. For example, capturing CO2 by machines consumes energy, and planting trees requires land and water. But there is an abundant unused, uninhabited land in the world. Desert. Also, there is a substantial water resource on the planet that is yet to be used. Sea water. And there is an unpopular but still photosynthetic plant in water. Algae. A British startup is now growing algae in pools of seawater in a remote, desert, coastal town in southern Morocco, where neither the land nor the water has ever been used. Algae’s photosynthetic system absorbs carbon dioxide from the air and emits oxygen. So, it’s one of the nature-based solutions to remove carbon from the air without any cost to the environment or natural resources. Furthermore, the company plans to sell carbon credits for its operation and future expansion. Sounds like a pretty economical and environmentally friendly organic growth project, doesn’t it?
Enjoy reading the article about growing algae in seawater in the Sahara Desert.
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/08/18/africa/brilliant-planet-algae-carbon-removal-climate-morocco-scn-spc-intl/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.4140-8/25/2023

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 
America’s richest 10% are responsible for 40% of its planet-heating pollution, new report finds
It is a known fact that wealthy people use more space, energy, materials, and resources than less wealthy people as they live in big houses, fly private jets, drive large vehicles, and purchase non-essential items like jewelry and clothing that are seldom used. Now, a new study found that the wealthiest 10% of Americans are responsible for around 40% of human-caused planet-heating pollution in the US when their investment in fossil fuel-generating companies is taken into account. Another report released last year indicated that the planet-heating pollution produced by billionaires is a million times higher than the average person outside the world’s wealthiest 10%. Those researchers call for actions to governments to develop policies to curb greenhouse gas emissions mainly caused by the rich. Indeed, when energy prices rise, poorer people are the ones that are impacted hardest while higher tax rates on luxury items or properties won’t affect most people.
Read the article and learn about who is more responsible for global warming.
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/08/17/business/rich-americans-climate-footprint-emissions/index.html