Topic Reading-Vol.5263-9/21/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

More than 100,000 people in Japan are now aged 100 or older

Each year on the third Monday of September, Japan commemorates Respect for the Aged Day to honor elderly citizens and celebrate longevity, and announces the number of people aged 100 or older. The first centenarian survey found there were  153 centenarians in 1963, and the figure increased to 1,000 in 1981 and 10,000 by 1998. This year, the fast-aging nation recorded over 100,000 people whose ages are 100 or older for the first time, up almost 8,000 from the previous year. About 88% of them are women, as their average life expectancy is over 88, ranking among the highest globally, while that of men is about 82. The country’s longevity is attributed to wholesome diets and a well-covered healthcare system. However, Japan’s population is aging and shrinking rapidly. Last year, only 671,000 babies were born, while 1,589,000 died, losing 918,000 people. With the total fertility rate below 1.2, the population will decline from the current 123 million to fewer than 100 million by 2050, nearly 40% of whom will be aged 65 or older. How many centenarians will there be then? Who will care for them then, their also-aged children, foreign care workers, or AI-empowered humanoids?

Read the article and learn about Japan’s century-old population.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cmzezj5e18xxo

Topic Reading-Vol.5262-9/20/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Here's how to catch up on sleep, the right way

Sleep is one of the most important functions in our lives. Adults should get at least seven hours of good sleep each night to allow the body to repair tissues, regulate vital hormones, and maintain cardiovascular and immune health. A good night's sleep also clears toxic waste, consolidates memories, and repairs neural connections, so that you’ll regain energy, feel refreshed, focus better, and become more productive. When you didn’t sleep enough during the week, you may try to catch up on the sleep deficit by going to bed too early or sleeping in too much on the weekend. While extra weekend sleep helps you repay some of the sleep deficit, it confuses your body clock and makes it more difficult to have a sound sleep that night. Indeed, waking up and getting light exposure at a different time confuses your circadian rhythm like jet lag. To help you recover from the sleep deficit, you may try getting up a little later in the morning or taking a short nap during the day on the weekend.

Read the article and learn the tips to recover from a sleep deficit.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260911-should-you-try-to-catch-up-on-sleep-at-the-weekend

Topic Reading-Vol.5261-9/19/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

What are the five pros and cons of artificial intelligence?

AI is so helpful and convenient. If you ask a question, AI searches for relevant information and finds you the answer right away. If you assign a task, AI generates a document, chart, or summary in a matter of seconds. It boosts productivity and helps complete tasks faster and more easily. In the meantime, workers’ roles change, and new skills are required to work with AI. In the world with AI, young graduates are facing difficulty getting entry-level jobs, and existing workers are required to keep upskilling. Also, generative AI can create fake text, voices, images, and videos to deceive people or security systems. As recently reported, AI can hack other systems and steal or destroy information or operations. Environmentally, AI is very costly. It requires a large amount of electricity to run and water to cool the servers. AI data centers also create noise pollution as they emit a constant hum 24/7/365. AI is reshaping workplaces, our lives, and the environment, and just like smartphones, we cannot live without it anymore.

Read the article and learn what AI does to and for humans.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/9/13/what-are-the-five-pros-and-cons-of-artificial-intelligence

Topic Reading-Vol.5260-9/18/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Karaoke for one: China’s $1 trillion ‘loneliness economy’ gives a glimpse of the world’s future

Singlehood has been treated as a bridge stage between independence and marriage for young people. However, more people are now choosing to live by themselves longer and enjoy lonely lifestyles. Thanks to smartphones, they can spend time on video games, video clips, micro dramas, and SNSs as long as they want and never feel lonely. If they feel like talking or chatting with someone, AI companions are there 24/7. And businesses are becoming more accommodating to singledom, especially in Japan, South Korea, and China. Individual food packages at convenience stores and even supermarkets, smaller dishes and hotpot for solo diners at restaurants, and phone-box-sized karaoke booths for lone singers, to name a few. The so-called “solo economy” is attracting businesses because singles tend to have bigger wallets for themselves. Also, since the populations are fast shrinking and more people choose not to form families in these countries, single-person households have become an important market for businesses.

Read the article and learn about the increasing economy in Eastern Asia.

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/09/12/business/asia-loneliness-economy-intl-hnk-dst

Topic Reading-Vol.5259-9/17/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Drinking very hot beverages could triple cancer risk, large study finds

The esophagus is a muscular tube that carries food and liquid from your throat to your stomach. Like any other internal organ, this 25-centimeter-long food and beverage pipe isn’t cancer-free. In the UK, esophageal cancer makes up about 2% of cancer cases. Smoking, alcohol consumption, and indoor air pollution are known causes of this cancer, but a recent large-scale study in the UK added another risk factor, hot beverages. The risk of developing esophageal cancer increases when the beverage temperature is higher. It was found that those who regularly drink hot beverages have twice the cancer risk, and those who prefer very hot drinks, like 65 degrees or higher, have triple the risk. You may not have to check the drink’s temperature or stop sipping hot drinks altogether, but you can easily cool it down while checking and texting a few messages to reduce the cancer risk.

Read the article and learn what a very hot beverage could do to your esophagus.

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/09/10/health/hot-beverages-cancer-study-scli-intl

Topic Reading-Vol.5258-9/16/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Faster homework, poor exam results: What AI is doing to students’ learning

New York City, the US’s largest school district, is banning the use of generative artificial intelligence for public school students from 2K through 8th grade to protect students’ critical thinking abilities as well as the relationships between students and teachers. But students can still use AI to do their assignments or study at home. How do they use AI, and how does AI help them learn? According to a study that tracked 27,000 junior and senior high school students in China, 56% used AI to get information, 45% had AI explain terms and concepts, and 31% used it to get complete solutions to tasks. Also, students improved their homework scores with AI while spending 30% less time on it. However, their monthly exam scores fell by 20% within six months. AI certainly helps students get their studies done faster and even better, but it doesn’t seem to help them learn much better. Does banning or restricting the use of interactive technology for youth, like SNS, help students learn any better? It may be time for teachers and educators to calibrate or develop tasks and assignments that are suitable for the AI era.

Read the article and learn how AI is affecting students’ learning.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/9/2/faster-homework-poor-exam-results-what-ai-is-doing-to-students-learning

Topic Reading-Vol.5257-9/15/2026

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Mount Fuji pics, life-changing ramen and a weak yen - why young Brits are going to Japan

Last year, nearly half a million tourists from Britain visited Japan, up 25% on the previous year and a 40% increase from 2019, the pre-pandemic peak. It’s a long way to fly, about 9,600 kilometers, and lasting over 13 hours for a non-stop flight and around 16 to 19 hours for a one-stop flight through China, a more economical choice. But once you get to Japan, travelers can enjoy completely different nature, cityscapes, buildings, foods, and cultures from Europe. First-timers often follow the Golden Route, consisting of Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, and nearby Nara and Hiroshima. But nowadays, young people in particular are tempted by the places, things, and foods that are shown on TikTok or Instagram, such as Mt Fuji photo spots or Ramen noodles. Japan is also budget-friendly for young Brits. Thanks to the well-established public transport, visitors can travel around the country quite easily, inexpensively, and safely. Also, you do not have to pay high admission fees to visit World Heritage sites like Shiretoko. And thanks to the weak yen and long-term deflation, traveling around Japan is quite affordable, including transport, food, and accommodation, compared with European or North American destinations. And the British were among the record 43 million foreign visitors to Japan last year. 

Read the article and learn why more British people are visiting Japan.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c7704l1ypjgo