Topic Reading-Vol.5088-3/30/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

2026 ‘Dirty Dozen’ produce: Nearly 100% tested positive for pesticides, including ‘forever chemicals’

Pesticides are chemicals or biological substances used to prevent, destroy, or repel pests, such as insects, weeds, fungi, rodents, bacteria, and viruses, to protect crops and increase yields. Unlike organic or hydroponic farming, conventional soil farming usually uses pesticides to some degree. Exposure to pesticides has long been linked to health problems, including birth defects, heart disease, and cancer. Even if you aren’t exposed to pesticides, they often remain on or in the food you consume as residue. And some of the chemicals aren’t broken down in the environment even after decades or centuries, called forever chemicals. Leafy greens, strawberries, and grapes have more pesticide residues, while pineapples, sweet corn, and avocadoes are much less contaminated. But pesticide residues remain in most vegetables and fruits. So, whether they are skinned, prewashed, or frozen, you want to wash or rinse them thoroughly before cooking or eating.

Read the article and learn about pesticide residue on and in the farm products.

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/03/24/health/2026-dirty-dozen-pesticide-produce-wellness

Topic Reading-Vol.5087-3/29/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Artemis II: Inside the Moon mission to fly humans further than ever

Artemis II is a NASA spacecraft mission to return humans to the Moon, the first crewed deep-space and lunar mission since 1972. The 10-day mission will carry four astronauts on a free-return trajectory around the Moon and back to Earth. The 98-meter-tall Space Launch System is powered by two rocket boosters and four engines. Combined with the Orion spacecraft that goes to the moon, it weighs approximately 2,600 metric tons when it is loaded with fuel. Once reached space, the astronauts will spend 10 days in the 5-meter-wide by 3-meter-high capsule, where they will work, exercise, eat, sleep, urinate, and defecate. When it reaches the far side of the Moon, the side cannot be seen from Earth, and the crew will have their prime three hours to observe the Moon, which will help NASA plan for a future landing. After the 10-day, two-million-kilometer journey, the cone-shaped, 9-square-meter crew capsule will reenter the Earth’s atmosphere at 40,000 km/h, faster than any previous human mission, and splash down in the Pacific Ocean. A gigantic rocket to launch and a long journey to reach and return, Artemis II is a highly demanding but rewarding mission.

Read the article and see the images of the first manned mission to the Moon in the last half-century.

https://www.bbc.com/news/resources/idt-86aafe5a-17e2-479c-9e12-3a7a41e10e9e

Topic Reading-Vol.5086-3/28/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Which countries have strategic oil reserves – and how much?

The Strait of Hormuz is a 167 km long, 40-to-100 km wide waterway between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. It provides the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, allowing around 20% of the world’s oil and liquified natural gas (LNG) from the Gulf to the world, particularly to Europe and Asia. The crucial waterway for the world’s energy supply has been effectively closed by Iran for weeks, which has been under attack by the USA and Israel. The world is now sourcing oil and gas from other exporters, including Russia, reducing supply like South Asian countries, or releasing its reserves like Japan. Global strategic petroleum reserves (GSPR) refer to crude oil inventories held by 30 governments of the International Energy Agency (IEA) members, including the USA, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, France, Germany, and the UK, along with major importers like China and India. It held over 1.2 billion barrels of public emergency oil stocks and 600 million barrels of industry stocks held by private organizations, equivalent to a few months’ consumption. Which countries have such oil reserves, and how much?

Read the article and learn how the world has prepared for oil shortages like now.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/23/which-countries-have-strategic-oil-reserves-and-how-much

Topic Reading-Vol.5085-3/27/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Parents think they know how kids use AI. They don't

Every decade or so, we’ve had technological breakthroughs, such as PCs and keyboards from the mid-1980s, cellphones after the late 1990s, Google searches in the early 2000s, and smartphones around 2010. Teenagers are usually early and aggressive adopters of new technologies and practices, and use new gadgets more fluently and aggressively than their parents, who have no choice but to accept or neglect how their children engage with their new tools. Now, AI, a silent and invisible yet influential tool, has become the closest companion of today’s children and teenagers. According to newly conducted studies, most US teenagers use AI chatbots for practical purposes, such as searching for information, getting help with schoolwork, entertaining themselves, summarizing an article or video, or creating or editing images or videos. In the meantime, about 16% of the respondents said they use it for casual conversation, and 12% said they use it for advice or emotional support. While they seem quite comfortable using AI for various purposes, their parents are more sceptical about their reliance on their artificial companions. Since it’s no news that children become more familiar with new technologies, parents should try to talk more with their children about the use of AI.

Read the article and learn about how children are actually using AI.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260317-how-kids-are-actually-using-ai

Topic Reading-Vol.5084-3/26/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Counting calories doesn't work. Try eating smarter instead

Some people in the world are struggling to get as much energy as they can from the little food they eat, while overweight people, especially in the US and the UK, are trying to aim the opposite, to get the least from as much food as they eat. Why some people are overweight is not just because they eat too much food, but also because they consume it at the wrong time, at the wrong speed, and in the wrong way. Our body metabolizes the food we eat; the process of our organism to create energy, facilitate growth, and produce waste. But how fast or efficiently this process works varies widely by the food, timing, speed, and duration of eating. For example, taking the same calories at breakfast burns the energy more than at dinner. Also, if you eat more slowly, the food is digested better, and your gut feels fuller for longer. And it’s not just about calories but also about the nutrition you get from the food you eat. Of course, what you eat matters the most, too. Naturally grown food is more nutritious than artificially processed food, like whole grain vs granola and chicken breast vs protein bars. All in all, eating smartly seems to help you benefit the most from the food you eat.

Read the article and learn what smart eating means to your health.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260320-counting-calories-doesnt-work-try-eating-smarter-instead

Topic Reading-Vol.5083-3/25/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

India's young are more educated than ever. So why are so many jobless?

Though young people in India are more educated than ever before, over 20% of them cannot find jobs. In the last three decades, the number of colleges and universities has risen from 1,600 to 70,000, producing five million graduates annually. This has narrowed the gender gaps and caste barriers to some extent, but has not helped the increasing number of graduates secure aspiring, stable, salaried jobs. Unlike other East and Southeast Asian countries that have been growing with export-led manufacturing industries to employ a large number of not-so-educated workers, India’s leading industries are skill-intensive services like IT and communication, which aren’t producing as many job opportunities as labor-intensive industries. As a result, hundreds or thousands of applicants compete for limited job opportunities in government services, and many graduates have given up their aspirations and taken on family farms or businesses. When they reach their 30s, will they become financially or professionally independent from their families to create their own families?

Read the article and learn how India’s young people are struggling to find jobs.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c17841zez8wo

Topic Reading-Vol.5082-3/24/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Cuba is going dark under US pressure. How the crisis unfolded and why its troubles are far from over

Initiated in the 1960s following the communist revolution and nationalization of US assets, the US maintains its long-standing economic embargo on Cuba to pressure the Cuban government to transition toward democracy and improve its human rights record. After losing its main oil supplier, Venezuela, due to the US’s capture of its president by force, Cuba has also lost other oil suppliers, including Mexico, because of US pressure. Now, the 10 million Caribbean islanders suffer from severe fuel shortages, constant blackouts, and limited access to water. Accordingly, garbage collections, hospital operations, and transportation services, all essential to people’s lives, are affected. In Havana, the capital city with a population of over two million, patients are waiting for surgeries in hospitals, garbage is piling up in the streets, and people are spending nights in their dark homes. Once the attack on Iran ends, will the US administration move on to displace the Cuban government as it did to Venezuela? Whichever the case may be, those who suffer the most are ordinary citizens.

Read the article and learn about the recent situation in Cuba due to the US blockade.

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/03/18/americas/cuba-us-pressure-blackout-latam-intl