Topic Reading-Vol.5153-6/3/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Tourists can be refused tap water, Italy's top court rules

Yes, you can drink tap water in Italy, though it may taste differently from other places because it is often hard water with a high mineral content. However, you cannot expect free tap water at a restaurant there. Instead, you are expected to order bottled mineral water, choosing between sparkling or still. And a recent ruling by the Italian Supreme Court allowed hospitality venues in Italy to refuse requests for tap water and serve only sealed, bottled water at the table. The ruling was made in response to a claim by a woman who was refused to serve tap water at the restaurant of a five-star hotel in a ski resort. She was offered an eight-dollar bottle of mineral water when she asked for tap water. She argued that water is a natural resource and a universal human right. In Italy, however, laws and regulations do not mandate restaurants to provide free tap water to guests, and therefore, it is up to individual venues to serve tap water to their guests. When in Rome, do as the Romans do, a timeless proverb says, but the woman was visiting from Rome.

Read the article and learn how to order water in Italy.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g4yd8q0j7o

Topic Reading-Vol.5152-6/2/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

We’re living in the ‘premium economy’ economy

Premium economy is an airline cabin class situated between economy and business class, offering upgraded comfort with wider seats, extra legroom, enhanced dining options, and priority airport services, at 30% to 60% higher prices than economy class tickets. Recently, airlines have been adding more premium economy seats for passengers who are willing to pay more for better, but not thrice or more for business class. This move reflects the increasing number of upper-middle-class consumers in the US economy, whose annual household income ranges from $133,000 to $400,000. They cannot afford to buy a house whose values soared after the pandemic and inflation, but they earn higher wages that they can use for more comfortable travel experiences and higher-quality groceries. Full-service carriers and retailers like United Airlines and Walmart are generating more profits from these valued customers, while budget airlines and discount retailers are struggling to run their businesses, including the recently bankrupted Spirit Airlines. McDonald’s or Starbucks may be an economical option for these upper-middle-class consumers, but they are premium food and drink options for many Americans who are struggling to make ends meet due to soaring commodity, gas, and energy prices.

Read the article and learn what premium economy is like in the USA.

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/05/26/business/economy-retail-airlines

Topic Reading-Vol.5151-6/1/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Why did T. rex have tiny arms? A new study may finally have the answer

The Tyrannosaurus rex (T. rex) was one of the largest and most fearsome terrestrial carnivores that lived between 68 and 66 million years ago. An adult T. rex grew up to 12 meters in length, stood about 3.6 meters tall, and weighed six to nine tons. The unique, iconic feature of the carnivore was its massive, heavily reinforced skull, which was used as its primary weapon. As herbivorous dinosaurs grew larger to deter predators, predatory dinosaurs faced immense evolutionary pressure to grow larger and stronger to hunt them. So, T. rex and some other carnivores invested their most energy resources in growing a larger head, stronger skull, and sharper teeth. The trade-off was their forearms, which did not play any vital role in their survival. As a result, those non-essential parts of their body shrank over time. Researchers believe that was why the T. rex had disproportionately short forearms. Evolution seems to have grown T. rex’s skull stronger and larger while shrinking its forearms, and made the land carnivore like a giant land shark.

Read the article and learn how the T. rex evolved for survival.

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/05/25/science/t-rex-tiny-arms-function

Topic Reading-Vol.5150-5/31/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

This paint could cool your home and harvest water from the air

Cities are becoming hotter and hotter as concrete and rooftops absorb the sun’s energy, causing the urban heat island effect. If the sun’s energy is reflected, urban temperatures might be reduced during the summer. Do paints help increase the reflection of the sun’s energy? Total Solar Reflectance (TSR) measures how much sunlight a paint reflects. For example, black paint typically reflects less than 10% of sunlight, or absorbs 90% or more of the sun’s energy, while white paint reflects around 70% to 80% of incoming sunlight. Naturally, a white-painted building is cooler than a black-painted one under the sizzling summer sun. Now, an Australian startup has developed a special coating that reflects up to 96% of incoming sunlight, which keeps the roof surfaces as much as 6 degrees Celsius cooler than the surrounding air. If more rooftops are painted with this nanoengineered special coating, the urban heat island effect will be eased without costing any environmental burden. Also, if the surface temperature is lower than the surrounding temperature, moisture in the air is condensed on the surface, like water is formed on the outside of a cold glass. Once the water is collected, it can be used as a supplemental water source for the toilet or shower. Passive radiative cooling, a technology that cools surfaces by reflecting sunlight and radiating trapped heat outward into the cold sink of deep space, is expected to play a vital role in cooling cities while reducing carbon emissions.

Read the article and learn how city temperatures can be cooled without running air conditioning.

https://edition.cnn.com/science/dewpoint-paint-cool-home-water-harvest-climate-c2e-spc

Topic Reading-Vol.5149-5/30/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

'Everest Man' and 'Mountain Queen' break own records scaling world's tallest peak

This season, as many as 500 alpinists were permitted to climb Mount Everest from Nepal. Unfortunately, a massive block of glacial ice hindered the route to the summit and kept alpinists waiting nearly two weeks at the base camp. On May 13, the climbing route to the summit was officially cleared, and they started climbing the mountain. Among them was a renowned Nepali mountain guide, Kami Rita Sherpa, who broke his own record for scaling the 8,849-meter summit for the 32nd time. The 56-year-old mountain guide, known as the “Everest Man”, first scaled the peak in 1994 and has reached the summit almost every year. On the same day, a 52-year-old Lhakpa Sherpa, known as “Mountain Queen”, scaled the summit for her 11th time, breaking her own record for the most ascents by a female climber. A few days later, on the 20th, a record 274 climbers scaled Mount Everest from the south side. The world’s highest summit granted three records to climbers this season.

Read the article and learn about what happened at the top of the world this year.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3927ejpj4eo

Topic Reading-Vol.5148-5/29/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Why Canada is seeing its biggest military recruitment surge in 30 years

Despite its massive geographic size, Canada has a relatively small population of just around 41 million. While having the longest border and coastline in the world, Canada has only about 68,000 active and 32,000 reserve military personnel. Even though the Canada-US border is the world’s longest land border, neither country protects its border against the other because they are NATO allies. And Canada has been relying on the US military power against its other neighbor, Russia. However, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and Trump’s reference to Canada as the 51st state were wake-up calls for Canada’s national security. Last year, applications to the Canadian Armed Forces nearly doubled to 40,000 from the previous year. Also, Canada increased its military spending to 2% of its GDP last year, even though it is far short of NATO’s 5% target. Canada needs to raise pay for its military personnel, expand its troop size, and modernize weapons, equipment, and facilities to live up to the new reality.

Read the article and learn why Canada is building up larger military forces.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crrpd1pvgkzo

Topic Reading-Vol.5147-5/28/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

From AI to interceptors, Ukraine is trying to drone-proof its skies

The US’s Patriot missile system was originally developed in the 1980s as an anti-aircraft defence system, and it has evolved into an anti-missile defence system. Though it costs a few million dollars per shot, it is a reliable, cost-effective air defense system against more expensive ballistic missiles or aircraft. But during the prolonged Russian invasion of Ukraine, the tools and cost of air attack and defense have changed quite significantly. As hundreds of drones fly hundreds of kilometers beyond borders and attack buildings and facilities, Ukraine is now operating a sophisticated, economical layered air defence system. Using radars, sensors, video feeds, and artificial intelligence, Ukrainian forces can now detect and intercept Russian drones with 3D-printed interceptor drones, each of which costs just a few hundred to one thousand dollars. Also, remote machine guns controlled by trained civilians are used to shoot down drones as the last line of defence. Indeed, since drones are economical, mass-producible, expendable, effective, and upgradable, Ukraine is now the frontrunner in modern air defence technologies.

Read the article and learn how Ukrainians have been thriving in the war since 2022.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1k2lmmjvzxo