Topic Reading-Vol.5308-11/5/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Humans accidentally canceled the next ice age — but it’s no reason to celebrate, scientists say

An ice age is a long period of reduced global temperatures where thick ice sheets and glaciers expand across large areas of the Earth’s surface. It cycles between colder glacial periods when ice sheets advance and warmer interglacial periods when ice sheets retreat. The Earth is now in a warm interglacial period, and its glacial stage is in the Little Ice Age that began in the 16th century.

The massive continental ice sheet that covered North America 20,000 years ago shrank to a much smaller ice cap in northernmost Canada. But about two millennia ago, it slowly began to expand again, marking a new period of glaciation, an ice age. However, the ice cap suddenly started to shrink around 1960, when summer temperatures rose due to climate change caused by fossil fuel burning. Some geochemists believe that the reversal is a sign that the then-about-to-happen glaciation, or ice age, was halted by human activities. Some argue that the next ice age isn’t expected to start for another 50 millennia. Humans have most likely affected climate change and caused global warming. Have we also affected the ice age cycles?

Read the article and learn about the signs of ice age cycles.

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/10/29/climate/how-humans-halted-the-next-ice-age

Topic Reading-Vol.5307-11/4/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Dead dolphins, naval mines: Russia-Ukraine war destroys the Black Sea

Dolphins are marine mammals that feed mainly on fish and squid by tracking them using echolocation, a built-in sonar. There are a few dolphin species that live in the Black Sea, but their populations have declined drastically due to the Russia-Ukraine war. Explosions of ships and drones deafen and kill fish, and spilt toxic fuel and other chemicals poison the water and harm marine creatures. Deafened dolphins become unable to locate their prey, and when they are too hungry, they eat their own blubber, which makes them even weaker. Even if they find and eat fish, they are spoiled. Dolphins are at the top of the food chain in the Black Sea, and they are too vulnerable to war pollution. Over 120,000 dolphins, or one in four dolphins, have died in the Black Sea since 2022. Even when the war ends, it’ll take decades for dolphins to recover their population. The ecosystem in the Black Sea is being destroyed more than what is seen on the surface.

Read the article and learn how badly dolphins suffer from the Russia-Ukraine war.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/31/dead-dolphins-naval-mines-russia-ukraine-war-destroys-the-black-sea

Topic Reading-Vol.5306-11/3/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Turkish foods: 23 delicious dishes

Sitting at the historical crossroads of Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, Turkey is exceptionally diverse across ethnicity, culture, geography, and climate. Accordingly, Turkish food is a rich fusion of various traditions, including olive oil-based dishes on the Mediterranean coast, spicy flavors from the east, and hearty pastries from central Anatolia. Some of the popular dishes are; Piyaz, a butter bean salad, Ezogelin, a lentil soup, Saksuka, a vegetable side dish, Kisir, a bulgur wheat and tomato salad, Mercimek kofte, a red lentil nugget, Yaprak dolma, seasoned rice wrapped by vine leaves, Inegol kofte, grilled meatballs, Hamsili pilav, a baked rice dish covered by anchovies, Manti, small dumplings, Gzleme, a pastry with salty white chees, Pide, a stretched flatbread with fillings, Su boregi, a svory pastry with white cheese, Simit, a sesame seed-coated circular, twisted bread, Cig kofte, a raw meatball dish, and Baklava, a rich, sweet layered pastry. Food is one thing that you can feel the taste of local culture and traditions.

Read the article and learn about some of the most popular Turkish dishes.

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/best-turkish-foods

Topic Reading-Vol.5305-11/2/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

When is premium economy worth the extra cost? We compare five of the world's best-rated airlines

When booking an airline ticket, each traveler has their own priorities and conditions: flight schedule, non-stop or connection, airline preference, seating, the Internet, services, meals, and of course, the price, including airfare, surcharges, baggage, and seat selection fees. When you book a first or business class seat, you’ll get comfortable space and a seat, enjoyable meals and services, and lounge access and priority boarding. But such luxuries come with a cost, a few times higher than an economy ticket. Now there is another class that is closer to some of the business class luxuries, premium economy class. It offers a variable upgrade from economy class, including wider seats, more legroom, upgraded meals, more baggage allowance, and preboarding priority. For example, the legroom of an economy seat is between 28 and 32 inches, while premium economy seats offer 34 to 40 inches. The longer the flight is, the more attractive such upgrades become. But these luxuries come at a price, as much as twice the price of an economy class ticket. Major airlines are adding more premium economy seats and upgrading their features to stimulate passengers to pay more. How much better is premium-economy class compared with economy class?

Read the article about the rating results of the world's five best premium economy airlines

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20261022-when-is-premium-economy-worth-the-extra-cost-we-compare-five-of-the-worlds-best-rated-airlines

Topic Reading-Vol.5304-11/1/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

China's families are now supporting more old people than kids

The population of China has been declining since 2022, and it decreased by 3.4 million to 1.4 billion last year, with 7.9 million births versus 11.3 million deaths. Since the total fertility rate has been around 1.0 per woman, the population of children aged 14 and under now stands at about 15%. In the meantime, the population of elderly people aged 65 and older has been rapidly increasing, and now it consists of nearly 16% of the population. China’s retirement ages are relatively early, about 60 to 63 for men and around 55 for women, compared with Japan’s 65 and older, another fast-aging country. As a result, China’s dependent elderly population compared to the working-age group reached 23%, while the figure for children stood at 22%, supporting more elderly people than children. As life expectancies increase, China’s working population will support even more elderly people for longer in the future. It’s not just pensions and healthcare spending, but also day-to-day care that increases the burden on working populations. Will humanoids help sustain economic growth and help care for aging people when the younger population declines? If robots can dance and play sports, why can’t they?

Read the article and learn about the challenges of an aging population in China.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr20wzwyzl1qo

Topic Reading-Vol.5303-10/31/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Cat food investigation finds heavy metals, pesticides and plastic chemicals

Most dog or cat owners feed their pets the same foods almost every day, which are produced and packed by pet food manufacturers. If the packed food is contaminated by harmful substances, they may accumulate in pets’ bodies over time. A US nonprofit tested 100 top-selling cat foods and found that all of them, dry, wet, and air- or freeze-dried, contain more harmful substances, including toxic plastic contaminants, herbicide glyphosate, and heavy metals such as lead, mercury, and arsenic, than human food. Cat food labels show you the main proteins, such as beef, chicken, or fish, and other ingredients like fish oil, vitamins, and minerals. However, they aren’t as regulated as food for humans, and it’s hard to find which food is safer than others for your cat. To avoid accumulating certain harmful substances in a cat’s body, feeding various foods might help reduce the cat’s health risks, provided that the picky animal eats them all.

Read the article and learn how contaminated cat foods are.

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/10/02/health/cat-food-toxins-wellness

Topic Reading-Vol.5302-10/30/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Why is there no word for please in the Nordic languages?

Language is a structured system of communication that people use to share thoughts, feelings, and ideas using words, sounds, writing, or hand signs. In English, you may say “please” to be polite or ask something, and “thank you” to show appreciation. In Japanese, they say “Suimasen” for excuse me, please, I’m sorry, or thank you. In Scandinavian languages, such as Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, and Finnish, there are no words that directly translate “please”. Then, how do they show or add politeness when they ask someone to do something? Culturally, they prize directness and egalitarianism. People prefer to get straight to the point. If you still want to be extra-polite, you could say “may I ask for” in Danish, add “thank you” to the request in Swedish, or uplift the end of the request in Norwegian, of course, in their languages. When you are in a different culture, you’d better read the air, learn from how others say or do things in particular situations, instead of searching for a direct translation from your own language.

Read the article and learn how politeness is presented in Scandinavian cultures.

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20261008-why-is-there-no-word-for-please-in-the-nordic-languages