Topic Reading-Vol.5073-3/15/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

These filmmakers know exactly how to get you hooked on bizarre one-minute dramas

A study found that the time an average person spends on a screen is now only 47 seconds, significantly shorter than in the pre-smartphone era. (Vol.5072) However, when it comes to a “micro-drama”, there is only a second or two to get viewers’ attention and stop them scrolling further on their smartphones.  Originating in China, a micro-drama is a highly serialized, short-form video series designed for mobile viewing, featuring dozens of 1–2 minute episodes with fast-paced, melodramatic plots, often shot in a vertical format. Viewers can watch the first five to ten episodes free, and then need to pay to watch the remaining episodes. Therefore, it’s not the title or trailer that grabs viewers’ attention but the impact of the beginning scene. In production studios in Korea, screenwriters, producers, and editors all use AI to save time and cost to produce numerous episodes and titles of micro-dramas. It seems that the time to grab and keep attention is getting shorter as people scroll the screen faster.

Read the article and learn about how micro-dramas are produced.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg5q6wq11no

Topic Reading-Vol.5072-3/14/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

You’ll likely move on in 47 seconds. Can I hold your attention a little longer?

It seems that most of us live in a life where we switch our attentions from one thing to another much faster than ever before. On the smartphone, many people keep swiping through the next videos or images in less than a minute. Also, people quickly turn their eyes to the screen whenever they have a few seconds to spare. A study found that the time an average person spends on a screen is now only 47 seconds, significantly shorter than in the pre-smartphone era. When there is always more content that grabs your interest at the blink of your eye, you may find it difficult to pay attention to off-screen activities and interactions that don’t gratify you with such instant pleasure. Then, how should you switch focus and concentrate on the work or task that requires good attention?

Read the article and learn about the mechanism of attention and how to improve it.

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/02/27/health/attention-span-improvement-wellness-vis

Topic Reading-Vol.5071-3/13/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers,
Five countries that are actively welcoming travellers in 2026
Tourism contributes economy, creates jobs, and improves infrastructure, if planned and managed sustainably. But if the number of tourists exceeds the sustainable capacity, it is labeled as overtourism, which often ends up creating bans, caps, and raising fees for tourists to curb the number, like in France and Italy. Still, there are countries that are welcoming more international visitors, in Africa, South America, and Europe.
Namibia, a South African country that borders the Atlantic Ocean and also South America, offers conservation-minded wildlife-spotting tourism. Brazil, the South American giant with the Amazon River, is encouraging visitors to travel around different regions, seasons, and types of experiences. Vietnam, an elongated coastal nation stretching over 1,600 km from north to south with a diverse climate and varied landscapes, has eased visa requirements and is about to complete upgrading Ho Chi Minh City’s international airport. Lithuania, a small Baltic country, is projecting to increase not just the number of travellers but the length of their stay so that they can experience local culture and food better. Canada, the world’s second-largest country after Russia, offers diverse tourism attractions stretching over 7,000 km east to west across six time zones. So, it’s better not to limit your travel destinations to already-popular world heritage sites, but rather expand your scope to other attractive places where local nature, culture, gastronomy, and environment are waiting for your visit.
Read the article and learn about places that are welcoming more visitors.
https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260306-five-countries-that-are-actively-welcoming-travellers-in-2026

Topic Reading-Vol.5070-3/12/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

We feel it in our bones': Can a machine ever love you?

Loving someone is not just having a romantic feeling but involves a deep, conscious commitment characterized by care, respect, and unconditional support for another person's well-being, growth, and happiness. As the relationship develops, it often evolves beyond initial infatuation into a stable partnership built on trust, shared values, and mutual sacrifice, according to an AI overview. Nowadays, some people are emotionally so engaged with AI that they feel love for their AI companion or avatar. In an extreme case, a Japanese woman had a marriage ceremony with a ChatGPT character (Vol.4995). However, unlike human companions, chatbots are designed to engage users and agree with their perspectives and emotions. While they become comparable to humans in understanding emotions, chatbots are often submissively responding without feeling anything. But as people use AI more from an earlier age, another kind of “love” might be developed. In fact, many people love their pets just like their family members, even if they don’t speak the same language.

Read the article and think about what human love is about.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260209-can-a-machine-ever-love-you

Topic Reading-Vol.5069-3/11/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

The business of not ageing: Why people are spending $1,300 on longevity treatments

There are quite a few evidence-backed lifestyle habits to live longer, healthier lives, such as eating a nutrient-rich, balanced diet, engaging in regular physical activity, getting enough sleep, refraining from smoking or drinking alcohol, managing stress, and maintaining social connections, none of which costs any money but one’s mindset, attitude, and determination. In the meantime, there is an increasing number of businesses that offer longevity treatments, such as mindfulness sessions, mental longevity, diagnostics, neurostimulation, sleep optimization, and stress-resilience therapies, none of which seem to be supported by clinical trial data or evidence. These diagnoses and customized treatments cost thousands of dollars, but there are quite a few people who don’t mind spending money to delay aging and live longer. Indeed, longevity treatment might be a healthier way to spend money than on luxurious ornaments or dresses. However, if you live alone longer than your loved ones or friends, you’ll miss them a lot. Will there be loneliness treatments that you can buy?

Read the article and learn about the treatments for a longer life.

https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20260211-the-business-of-not-ageing

Topic Reading-Vol.5068-3/10/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

'The damage is already there': A controversial airport comes to Peru's Sacred Valley

Sitting above the Urubamba River valley in the Andes Mountains in Peru, Machu Picchu is a famous Incan citadel. Built around 1450, this historic sanctuary stands 2,430 meters above sea level in the middle of a tropical mountain forest, which was abandoned about a century later during the Spanish conquest. Designated a World Heritage Site in 1983, it is one of the most iconic symbols of the Inca civilization and a major archaeological site in the Americas, drawing around 5,000 visitors a day, 1.5 million annually. But Mach Picchu is hard to reach. After arriving at Lima, Peru’s capital, which is a long way from the other continent, you need to take a 1.5-hour domestic flight to Cusco, then take a four-hour train to reach Aguas Calientes to catch a 30-minute shuttle bus to the entrance. However, a new international airport has been under construction for decades in Chichero, only about a 1.5 to 2-hour train ride to Aguas Calientes. Once completed, the now-hard-to-reach Incan monument will be much more accessible to many more travellers. Already, more hotels are being built to accommodate more guests in the area. But what will happen to Incan roads, irrigation systems, structures, farmlands, and an inland salt mine, some of which are all still in use? Also, can the infrastructure and environment sustain so many visitors, workers, and businesses that are planned on paper? Conservationists, environmentalists, archeologists, indigenous communities, and even local operators and guides are protesting the airport project.

Read the article and learn about this Incan archaeological site.

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260205-a-controversial-airport-comes-to-perus-sacred-valley

Topic Reading-Vol.5067-3/9/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

How where you grow up affects your personality

Which determines human behavior, personality, and traits, nature or nurture? Nature, or genetics, refers to innate biological factors inherited from parents, including DNA, eye/hair color, and genetic likelihood of developing certain diseases or mental health conditions. Nurture, or environment, includes external factors, such as upbringing, parenting styles, social relationships, culture, and life experiences. How different would the personal traits of identical twins, who share almost identical DNA, be if they grew up in different families, places, or cultures? For example, while people in the West tend to be more individualistic, the Japanese people are often more collectivistic. Also, religions play a significant or fundamental role in shaping personal identity and cultural values. In the meantime, research shows that Intelligence Quotient (IQ) is over 50% heritable on average, while about 40% of personality traits are heritable, meaning the rest is developed or formed by the environment and opportunities. All in all, it doesn’t seem to be just one or the other, but both nature and nurture develop one’s personality and capability.

Read the article and learn how one’s personality could be developed differently.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260206-is-our-identity-affected-by-where-we-live