Topic Reading-Vol.4023-4/30/2023

Dear MEL Topic Readers,  
Accelerating melt of ice sheets now 'unmistakable'
Sea-level rise is caused by several factors, such as melting ice sheets, meltwaters from glaciers, and thermal expansion of water, all of which are affected by global warming. According to satellite data taken in the last three decades, over 7,500 billion tons of ice sheet has melted in Greenland and Antarctica, having raised sea levels by 21 mm, approximately a quarter of all sea-level rise. The problem is that the ice sheet melt is contributing to the sea level rise five times more than it did three decades ago, and accelerating even further. The majority of the ice sheet melting is occurring in Greenland and the peninsula region and the western part of Antarctica, relatively warmer than the elevated inland. As global warming worsens, more ice is going to melt in the colder regions in Greenland and Antarctica. How much sea level rise, climate change, and environmental and bio-diversity destruction are we going to witness and suffer in the next decade and beyond?
Read the article about the latest analysis of global warming.
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-65317469

Topic Reading-Vol.4022-4/29/2023

Dear MEL Topic Readers,  
An elephant living in a Berlin zoo learns how to peel a banana
Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Asian, African bush, and African forest elephants are the three living species. The most remarkable part of the elephant is the trunk. It consists of around 150,000 muscle units, the most sensitive organ found in any animal. Recently, carers of an Asian elephant in Berlin Zoo found that the elephant peeled bananas. Then researchers observed and discovered that she peels bananas by using her trunk to tear the peel open and then throws the banana to the ground to free it. Interestingly, she pees neither fresh, yellow bananas nor over-ripen brown ones but does so only brownish bananas. Elephants do love bananas but they also seem to enjoy eating good ones more. Since their lifespans range from 50 to 70 years, they learn from experience and adapt to the changing environment, especially the ones under human influences. Life is about learning.
Enjoy watching the video and reading the article to learn about how elephants use their mighty yet sensitive trunks.
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/04/13/europe/zoo-elephant-peels-bananas-scn/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.4021-4/28/2023

Dear MEL Topic Readers,  
The journey from Kunming to Vientiane, step by step
Laos is a landlocked country in northeast-central mainland Southeast Asia with a population of about 7.5 million. It consists of an irregularly round portion in the north, which is bordered by Myanmar and Kunming, China, and a peninsula-like region stretching to the southeast. The capital and the largest city of Laos is Vientiane, which lies on a bend of the Mekong River bordering Thailand. On December 3^rd, 2021, a 1,035-km China-Laos Railway was fully opened connecting Kunming and Vientiane. There are 8 passenger stations along the rail line: four stations in China and four in Laos. The train line features high mountains, deep valleys, primitive upland forest and rainforest views, and some minority villages along the way. On April 13, a direct high-speed international passenger service started operating, connecting the 1,000-kilometer-apart cities in about 10 hours. You may wonder if this is really a high-speed rail journey, but there is a three-hour stop at the first station in Laos where all passengers must go through immigration and customs. Departing early in the morning from either terminal station, you’ll enjoy a full-day train journey in the center of South East Asia. It may not be such a long train journey if you consider how remote and untouched the area is compared with other popular train lines.
Enjoy checking this long high-speed China-Laos Railway service.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202304/18/WS643dcac6a310b6054face215.html

Topic Reading-Vol.4020-4/27/2023

Dear MEL Topic Readers,  
Why ghost guns are America's fastest-growing gun problem
These days, gun control is getting even more difficult in America. In 2021, the ATF, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, seized over 460,000 conventional guns from crime scenes, as well as nearly 20,000 ghost guns. Ghost guns are unsterilized and untraceable firearms that can be bought online and assembled by anyone, including prohibited purchasers, domestic abusers, and gun traffickers without a background check. They are often sold through ghost gun kits, which include all of the parts and often the equipment necessary to build these weapons, at gun shows and online every day throughout the country. While the federal and state administrations have been trying to mandate a serious number to be included in the key parts of ghost guns, the use of such easily procured and assembled weapons has been increasing. In fact, the number of crimes with ghost guns has increased by over 10 folds since 2021. And this problem isn’t limited to the US.  As 3D printing technology improves, the use of 3D-printed firearms, though they aren’t as durable as conventional metal guns, has been spreading outside the USA. Guns are lethal and dangerous as they can be fired by anyone by intention or accident.
Read the article and learn about what ghost guns are about.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65170507

Topic Reading-Vol.4019-4/26/2023

Dear MEL Topic Readers,  
She spent 500 days alone in a cave for a human experiment … but didn’t finish her book
In 2010, 33 Bolivian miners and children survived 69 days after having been trapped 688 meters below ground, which was the longest time survived trapped underground. On April 15, a 50-year-old Spanish woman emerged from a 70-meter-deep cave after spending 500 days there, alone. She entered the cave voluntarily on November 20, 2021, not to escape from the Covid pandemic, and had had minimal contact outside during that time. She had two birthdays in the cave and turned 50 when she got out there. It was not an accident but an extensive physical, psychological, and mental challenge for the elite athlete and also a rare experiment for scientists to study the human mind and circadian rhythms in such isolation and environment. What did she do during the solitary days in the dark, soundless cave? Interestingly, she seems to have enjoyed the time there reading, exercising, drawing, and knitting instead of counting how many more days she had to stay there. Also, she hadn’t been bothered by any news on the ground for 500 days, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. She seems to be quite fit to take a round-trip journey to Mars, which would take over 400 hundred days.
Enjoy reading the article and learning about how she survived and enjoyed 500 days in the cave.
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/04/14/europe/spanish-athlete-500-days-in-cave-intl-hnk/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.4018-4/25/2023

Dear MEL Topic Readers,  
The clean energy milestone the world is set to pass in 2023
Our planet has already passed the tipping point in terms of global warming. The tipping point means the time or timing at which a change or effect is no longer reversible. It often occurs during a transition phase from old to new technologies. For example, the power of trains had shifted from steam to diesel or electricity long ago, meaning it had passed the tipping point. However, even though electric vehicles are becoming more popular these days, many more gasoline-powered vehicles are still being sold. So, it’ll take some more years to pass the tipping point. Once a tipping point is passed, the shift or trend is accelerated and become irreversible, like global warming. There are several factors to make a remarkable transition to a new method or technology, such as the economy, convenience, availability, and awareness. Now, the world seems to pass a critical tipping, or turning point in renewable energy this year, according to a think tank in London. This means despite the growing demand for electricity, the power sector as a whole is not expected to emit more greenhouse gas. Yes, there still are coal and gas power plants and even more to be built, but expansion in renewable energies like solar and wind is going to surpass the growth in demand. That’s good news. Then, when will the tipping point arrive for non-fuel cars to outsell conventional fuel vehicles?
Enjoy reading the article and learning about a good tipping point in the power sector.
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230414-climate-change-why-2023-is-a-clean-energy-milestone

Topic Reading-Vol.4017-4/24/2023

Dear MEL Topic Readers,  
Explaining JUICE Mission to Jupiter and its moons
Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system, over 300 times the size of Earth. The gassy and stormy planet orbits around 778 million kilometers or 5.2 astronomical units (AU) from the Sun (Earth is one AU from the Sun), taking about 12 Earth years for one orbit. First discovered by an Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei in 1610, there are over 80 moons that orbit Jupiter. On April 14, The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) launched an Arian 5 rocket to send a spacecraft to explore Jupiter and three of its largest and most intriguing moons, Callisto, Ganymede, and Europa, each of which is between 25% and 40% the size of Earth. Though there is no water on Jupiter, these three moons are believed to have water under the ice surface, which could possibly support some lifeform. The spacecraft will enter Jupiter’s orbit by 2031 and make a number of flybys of the planet and the moons in the following years and study the habitability of those three icy moons. What would we do if we found a sign or chance of any organism or even possibilities of sustaining lifeform there?
Enjoy reading the article and learning about the JUICE mission.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/4/13/explaining-juice-mission-to-jupiter-and-its-moons

Topic Reading-Vol.4016-4/23/2023

Dear MEL Topic Readers,  
Car-charging and dog hotels: Seven perks to lure you to the office
While many workers of tech companies are being laid off, lucky employees are offered various perks in their workplaces. As many workers have gotten used to working from home during the pandemic, companies are trying to encourage and entice their employees to come to work. Also, as the consumer prices index soared to a 10% level in February and March, many employees and their families in the UK are struggling to manage their living. So, some companies are trying to make their workplaces more attractive for employees to come. Some benefits are free electric car-charging points, lunch, and a dog hotel, which all help employees save money and add another reason to come to work. Other examples are a well-being zone to relieve stress, an office bar to socialize with colleagues, and a dedicated quiet space to concentrate on some work, which might offer some employees incentive to come to work. What motivates you to come to work the most?
Enjoy reading the article and think about what is important for you to work for.
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-64914894

Topic Reading-Vol.4015-4/22/2023

Dear MEL Topic Readers,  
Disneyland’s record-breaking regular shares his wisdom from nearly 3,000 park visits in a row
Some people walk in the park every day even on a rainy or stormy day as part of their daily routine. But can you think of anyone who visits Disneyland every day for years? Opened in 1955, Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California. It is one of the world’s most beloved and visited wonderlands. Though new attractions have been added from time to time, what makes the theme park most attractive is the experience, atmosphere, and people. Indeed, you can sit and walk around all day without riding any attractions in the park. There is a man who visited the theme park every day nearly 3,000 times consecutively. He could have kept coming to the park if the Covid pandemic hadn’t closed the doors. Why did he come to the park day after day? What’s the difference between this die-hard Disneyland visitor and those who walk in the same park every day? After all, some people seem to enjoy walking in the park daily.
Enjoy reading the article and learning about a man who visited Disneyland more often than its cast.
https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/disneyland-guinness-record-jeff-reitz-cec/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.4014-4/21/2023

Dear MEL Topic Readers,  
Plants aren’t silent. They make clicking sounds, a study finds
When we are surrounded by plants in a quiet place, we feel peaceful and enjoy a noiseless environment. But are all plants really mute? Recently, researchers set up a closed environment to record the sound of plants with an ultrasonic microphone at very low frequencies that are difficult to be detected by human ears. Some of the plants were stressed, having been cut their stems or not watered for five days, and others were in a good state. They found that those stressed plants emitted popping or clicking sounds irregularly but distinctly, 30 to 50 times per hour, much more often than unstressed plants, which made only one or so in an hour. The researchers think the noises were made when air bubbles in the plant’s water column collapsed. If so, does that sound like a call for help? Well, even though sounds in the world are not always intentionally generated, other organisms can benefit from the sounds. For example, female moths might avoid such noise-making stressed flowers to lay eggs on. So, if the plants in your room aren’t in a good shape, you might be hearing their stress.
Enjoy reading the article and learning about the sound of plants.
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/03/30/world/plants-make-sounds-scn/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.4013-4/20/2023

Dear MEL Topic Readers,  
India’s Indigenous people pay price of tiger conservation
The tiger, on average, is the world’s biggest living cat species. Tigers require large contiguous areas of habitat to support their needs for prey and grow their offspring. After a century of decline, the overall wild tiger population is starting to tick upward through various conservation efforts. It is estimated that around 4,500 tigers remain in the wild now mainly in India, and also in Nepal, Bhutan, Russia, and China, but much more work is needed to protect this species. In fact, because of the aggressive and protective conservation effort in the last 50 years, India is now home to about 3,000 tigers, over 75 percent of the world’s wild tiger population. In the meanwhile, many indigenous people who used to live in the protected areas were displaced in the name of conservation, having lost access to natural resources and traditional assets in the area. Indeed, the tiger is endangered species but those indigenous peoples are also vulnerable to changes in the environment. Conservation efforts shouldn’t be limited to only wildlife animals.
Enjoy reading the article about India’s tiger conservation efforts and side effects.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/4/9/indias-indigenous-people-pay-price-of-tiger-conservation

Topic Reading-Vol.4012-4/19/2023

Dear MEL Topic Readers,  
The ‘world’s best’ cities for public transit, according to Time Out
Getting to your travel destination is just the beginning of your trip. Getting around the place is what makes your trip more fulfilling and enjoyable. Unless you can just walk or cycle around the place, you’ll need some means of transportation, such as a car, bus, train, tram, or boat. And unless you hire a car or hail a taxi privately, you’ll most likely use public transportation, especially in major cities like New York, Paris, or Tokyo. Then which mega-cities have easy and safe to get around public transportation systems? The best way to find that is to ask the local users. According to polls from 20,000 people in 50 cities, some of the European and Eastern Asian cities are ranked high, such as Berlin, Prague, Tokyo, and Singapore. Another factor that needs to be considered is easy-to-understand guidance for foreign visitors, whether they are shown or announced. Also, one-for-all, non-cash payment helps visitors get around without carrying cash or buying tickets each time they get on a bus or train. So, next time you plan to visit a foreign city, you may study what the local transportation system is like
Enjoy reading the article and learning about what cities are easy to get around.
https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/world-best-cities-public-transit-photos/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.4011-4/18/2023

Dear MEL Topic Readers,  
How mobile phones have changed our brains
Many of us use our smartphones for a few hours or longer a day. But do you have any idea how many times you check your phone a day? A report found that US adults check their phones 344 times a day on average. That’s once every 2.8 minutes in waking time, more than necessary for most people. Indeed, most of us are so obsessed with the convenient yet addictive device nowadays. But what’s wrong with it besides our eyes? Well, you need to be aware that multitasking impairs our memory and performance. Reading or sending messages while driving is definitely out of question. It’ll lose your attention from the road and slow your reaction time. Also, when you try to perform a task that requires concentration like desk work or exams, your phone distracts your attention away from the task even if you don’t use or touch it. It seems that your mind is so dependent on the phone if it is accessible. So, if you need to work on some task such as driving, cooking, writing, reading, or talking with someone, you’d better put your phone away from you. You’ll generate better results and relationships.
Enjoy reading the article and learning about what your smartphone does to you.
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230403-how-cellphones-have-changed-our-brains

Topic Reading-Vol.4010-4/17/2023

Dear MEL Topic Readers,  
Myanmar coup: Thousands of Burmese flee to Thailand after intense fighting
Myanmar, also known as Burma until 1989, is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia with a population of 54 million. The majority of the population is Buddhists but there are Muslims like the Rohingya people, who have suffered genocide and forced displacement by the military since 2017, many of whom fled to neighboring Bangladesh. On February 1, 2021, the military regime took control of the country from a democratically elected government by coup. It led to continuous ongoing widespread protests in Myanmar and has been marked by violent political repression by the military, as well as a larger outbreak of the civil war. Since then, the nation’s political, economic, and humanitarian crisis has only grown direr, with reports indicating nearly 3,000 killed, nearly 17,000 detained, and more than 1.5 million displaced. People in various regional and ethnic groups formed armed forces and have been fighting with the military intensively around the country. It’s a civil war. Recently, as fighting between the military and militias intensifies, thousands of Burmese people fled to Thailand looking for shelter. Indeed, there are already many Burmese refugees who had crossed the border and settled in Northern Thailand. Since its independence in 1948, Myanmar has had a very short and limited democracy. When will the Burmese people be able to enjoy peace?
Read the article and learn about this ongoing crisis in Myanmar.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-65210336

Topic Reading-Vol.4009-4/16/2023

Dear MEL Topic Readers,  
Here’s the real reason to turn on airplane mode when you fly
To prepare for landing, all of the passengers are required to fasten their seatbelts and put their seats and trays upright. Also, many airlines ask passengers to set phones and tablets to flight mode or turn them off, but not all. Indeed, airlines that offer inflight Wi-Fi services don’t need to bother their passengers to switch the device mode any longer. In fact, modern mobile communication had not interfered with airplanes’ communication or navigation systems until the 5G wireless network became popular. In the meanwhile, more airplanes have been equipped with Wi-Fi services, which neither cause any troubles nor impair safety during the flight, take-off, or landing. That’s why you may still be told to turn off or change the mode of your phone or tablet before landing depending on the flight.
Enjoy reading the article and learning about the safety tips on your flight, especially during landing.
https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/airplane-mode-reasons-why/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.4008-4/15/2023

Dear MEL Topic Readers,  
How do fish survive in the deep ocean?
Recently, video footage of snailfish was released by oceanographic scientists. What is surprising is that the film was recorded at a depth of 8,336 meters just above the seabed in the Izu-Ogasawara trench off Japan. Until 1977, life in the deep ocean had been thought impossible. But around hydrothermal vents, volcanic vents on the seabed, where geothermally heated water is discharged, biological communities get heat and nutrients found in the dusty chemical deposits and hydrothermal fluids. So, even in the deep ocean with complete darkness and freezing temperatures, some ocean creatures, such as snails, shrimp, crabs, and fish are found. But how can those creatures survive under extreme pressure? For every 10 meters you go down, the pressure increases by one atmosphere. So, at a depth of 8,000 meters, the pressure is approximately 800 atmospheres or 800 times greater than the pressure at sea level. It’s like putting scores of elephants standing on your head! There is some mechanism that allows fish to swim naturally under such pressure.
Enjoy reading the article and learning about the mechanism of deep-sea creatures.
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230404-how-do-animals-survive-in-the-deep-ocean

Topic Reading-Vol.4007-4/14/2023

Dear MEL Topic Readers,  
Plastic wet wipes ban planned in England to tackle pollution
A wet wipe, or wet towel, is a small moistened piece of paper or fabric that is used for cleaning purposes for hygiene and cleaning. It became more widely used during the Covid pandemic. Though wet wipes look flushable, most of them aren’t. In fact, around 90% of wet pipes are produced from nonwoven fabrics made of polyester or polypropylene. Thus, they don’t break apart or dissolve in water and often cause sewer blockages. Even though the package states flushable, it often clogs internal plumbing. Furthermore, if they are discharged into rivers and waters, part of wet wipes will stay in the water for a long time like any other single-use plastics. While we enjoy the convenience and cleanliness of wet wipes, we may need to rethink how to use and dispose of them until stricter regulations come into place.
Enjoy reading the article and learn about what wet wipes bring about.
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-65166859

Topic Reading-Vol.4006-4/13/2023

Dear MEL Topic Readers,  
Goalkeeper scores from a goal kick – it could set the record for the longest range goal in history
On March 18 at the Cobresal’s stadium in El Salvacor, Chile, Chilean Primera Division club Cobresal’s goalkeeper Leandro Requena scored directly from a goal kick. His big kick flew over the head of all 20 outfield players without bouncing before the ball pitched midway inside the Colo-Colo half. The ball then bounced over the head of the Colo-Colo’s keeper, who was around 10 yards outside of his penalty area. The ball kept moving toward the goal while the keeper tried to chase it but stumbled. Then the world’s longest goal was made by a goalkeeper from a distance of over 100 meters. The goal kick originally didn’t look offensive or anything but bounced higher than the Colo-Colo’s keeper had anticipated. True. The stadium sits at 2,400 meters above sea level, where any air-filled ball bounces much higher than sea level.
Enjoy watching this amazing goalkeeper’s goal kick.
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/03/22/football/leandro-requena-goalkeeper-longest-goal-spt-intl/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.4005-4/12/2023

Dear MEL Topic Readers,  
Iranian women arrested for not wearing hijab after yogurt thrown on them
Hijab is a head covering worn by some Muslim women. The use of the hijab has been on the rise worldwide since the 1970s and is viewed by many Muslims as expressing modesty and faith. For example, hijab had been legally mandatory in Saudi Arabia, a very conservative Sunni Islam kingdom, until 2018 but now it is not any longer, thanks to the reforms initiated by the Crown Prince. In Iran, hijab for women was made mandatory after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The current law requires women and girls over the age of 9 to wear a head scarf in public. However, many women have flouted the rule over the years and pushed the boundaries of what officials say is acceptable, including exposing more of their hair and wearing smaller and more colorful head scarves. The enforcement of the law had been somehow loosened under the former administration but recently, Iran’s morality police have been increasingly active and violent in enforcing what the authorities have called the “complete hijab.” However, more women have chosen to show up in public without a head covering in protest. Recently, two women who weren’t wearing a head covering in a store were thrown yogurt on their faces by a male customer, and the two women were arrested after the incident. The Iranian authorities reemphasized that wearing a hijab is a legal mandate for women. How long will Iranian women be required to cover their heads by law? The interpretation of the Quran and implementation the of law seem to be at the discretion of the ruling authority in some Islamic nations.
Read the article and learn about what wearing a head covering means for Iranian women.
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/04/02/middleeast/women-arrested-hijab-yogurt-iran-intl/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.4004-4/11/2023

Dear MEL Topic Readers,  
Bill Nye explains light-years and the vastness of the universe
The distance from the Sun to Earth is about 150 million kilometers. Since light travels approximately 300,000 kilometers per second, it takes over eight minutes for sunlight to reach our planet. In other words, the Sun we see on Earth is that of about 8 minutes ago. This Sun-Earth distance is called 1.00 Astronomical Unit (AU), which is used to scale the distance within our solar system. For example, the farthest planet in our solar system is Neptune, which is about 30 AUs from the Sun. It takes 4.3 hours for sunlight to reach this distant planet. Now, our nearest star, Proxima Centauri, is 40,000,000,000,000 (40 trillion) kilometers, or 268,770 AUs away. Since light travels about 9.46 trillion kilometers a year, it would still take over four years to get there if you traveled at the speed of light or light speed. Now, you might understand what unit to use to scale the distance. Within our solar system, Astronomical Unit (AU) is just sufficient. But when you talk about stars and galaxies, the light-year is more convenient. To your surprise, the most distant star ever seen is still 28 billion years away from us. How many kilometers is that from the Earth?
Enjoy reading the article and learn about why light-year is used to measure the distance of the universe.
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/03/31/world/bill-nye-light-year-scn/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.4003-4/10/2023

Dear MEL Topic Readers,  
Thailand's extreme air pollution: 'I feel sorry for my daughter'
Chiang Rai is the northernmost major city in Thailand, where borders to Laos and Myanmar are closer than the neighboring major city, Chiang Mai. Every year after harvesting grains, farmers in the region burn crop residues and weeds in the field. The ash provides the newly-cleared land with a nutrient-rich layer to help fertilize crops. But this open burning practice poses risks to the environment and public health. Ash pollutes the soil, groundwater, lakes, rivers, and streams. Also, outdoor burning often causes wildfires. In addition, smoke pollutes the air in and around the region. Indeed, the air quality of Chiang Rai province has been so bad since the beginning of the year that people have been forced to stay indoors. But even with air conditioners and purifiers, air quality is nearly hazardous, especially for newborn babies and small children. The problem and the cause of the problem are not limited to Thailand but to Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. How could people solve the problem that is caused by themselves?
Read the article and learn about this devastating air pollution caused by farmers.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-65120502

Topic Reading-Vol.4002-4/9/2023

Dear MEL Topic Readers,  
Isle of Wight cow 'faking sleep' attracts global sympathy
Dairy cows are cattle bred to produce milk. They are kept in herds or dairy farms, cared for, and collected milk by dairy farmers. Dairy cows produce milk for about 10 months after calving. Then they can take a two-month break before calving again. Though dairy cows could produce milk economically for as many as 10 lactations, most of them are culled only after a few lactations in commercial farms for various reasons, such as infertility, infection prevention, and productivity. In general, milk cows enjoy the milking process. They are put into a parlor and attached to suction tubes to gently pull the milk from the teats. If a milk cow isn’t milked too long, milk will build up in her udder, causing it to become full, which causes her to become uncomfortable. However, not all dairy cows are the same. There is a milk cow on a farm on the Isle of Wight in England that doesn’t want to be milked early in the morning. In fact, she pretends to be asleep to get out of being milked. The cow’s pretending of being asleep was filmed and Tik-Toked, and then went viral. The farmer thinks the cow is more like a person than a cow.
Enjoy reading the article and seeing the video of a milk cow that tried to avoid early morning milking.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-hampshire-65123453

Topic Reading-Vol.4001-4/8/2023

Dear MEL Topic Readers,  

Ten photographs that made the world wake up to climate change

Governments from most countries discuss, argue, and agree on plans and actions to curb global warming. Goals are set and regulations are imposed. Investors and enterprises invest their funds and make their efforts trying to meet the new requirements. Yet, the planet keeps warming, the climate is changing, and extreme climate events like heat waves, heavy rainfalls, and droughts are causing devastating impacts on communities and natural ecosystems. We may need more attention to realize how serious the situation is. One way is to show visual images of the place, people, flora, and fauna that are affected. As seeing is believing, visual images are inviting the viewers and engage them with the reality that is hardly seen otherwise. Founded in 2014, SeaLegacy, an NGO that uses films and photos to raise awareness of climate issues to help protect the planet. Some of the images they took clearly show the evidence, such as waterfalls off an ice cap due to an extremely warm summer in Norway, bodies of six dead giraffes under severe drought in Kenya, and villagers standing on eroded land caused by seal level rise in Bangladesh. Quite convincing, aren’t they?

See the photos and think how serious climate change is to our planet.

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/03/29/world/climate-change-photography-paul-nicklen-cristina-mittermeier-c2e-spc-intl-scn-climate/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.4000-4/7/2023

Dear MEL Topic Readers,  
Airfares across Asia are sky-high this year. Here’s why
As borders reopened for travelers after three years of Covid restrictions, many people are so eager to travel abroad. But even with their unused travel budget during the Covid period, some people find it too expensive to fly especially across Asia Pacific regions where travel restrictions were lifted just recently, much later than in Europe and North America. The main problem is the flight capacity, which had been significantly reduced in the last three years. It takes time for airlines to position crew and ground staff, coordinate with airports, and relocate aircraft to increase capacity. Now, demand is higher than supply, so prices become higher accordingly. Then, higher fuel costs, inflation, and labor shortages all increase ticket prices. Furthermore, as Russian airspace has been closed to many countries since the invasion of Ukraine, flights between Europe and Asia have been forced to reroute, which takes longer distance, flight time, and fuel. For instance, a flight from Tokyo to London now takes 2.4 hours longer and burns 20% more fuel. All in all, airfares have become more expensive than pre-Covid era, especially in Asia Pacific regions, and don’t seem to get back to the pre-Covid levels anytime soon or never.
Enjoy reading the 4,000^th topic reading and think about your next travel strategy to cope with the rising airfare and most likely, ground transportation and accommodations.
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/03/24/business/asia-airfares-flights-travel-recovery-intl-hnk/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.3999-4/6/2023

Dear MEL Topic Readers,  
New cars sold in EU must be zero-emission from 2035
In 27 European Union countries, all new cars sold from 2035 will not emit exhaust gas or other pollutants on the road. This landmark agreement has just recently been reached, with one vote against it and three abstentions, in a bit to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to zero. New cars in the EU, whose present population is about 450 million, will only be electric, fuel cell vehicles powered by hydrogen, bio-fuel, or e-fuels vehicles. The share of electric vehicles, the most popular zero-emission vehicle today, has risen to 12 percent of the total new car market in 2022, up from 1.9% in 2019. As electric vehicles become more economically affordable and charging stations become more easily accessible, they are expected to increase their share quite rapidly. What about e-fuels? E-fuels or electro fuels are synthetic fuels that are made from carbon dioxide captured from the atmosphere and hydrogen from clean energies. They are thought of as an option for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in transportation but haven’t been commercially mass-produced yet. Car manufacturers, new ventures, and their suppliers are now making in their investments in clean energy vehicles around the world. Do you want to drive a car that is run on gasoline in 2030? Will there be enough gas stations then?
Enjoy reading the article and thinking about what type of vehicles driving on the road in the near future.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65105129

Topic Reading-Vol.3998-4/5/2023

Dear MEL Topic Readers,  
Climate change: trees grow for extra month as planet warms – study
We know that trees are sensitive to local climate conditions, such as rain and temperature. For example, tree rings usually grow wider in warm, wet years and they are thinner in years when it is cold and dry. Indeed, tree rings give us some information about that area’s local climate in the past and recent years. Recently, scientists have studied trees in a forest in Ohio, USA, and compared the data with an old record kept by a local farmer between 1883 and 1912, when the climate hadn’t been affected so much by global warming. They found that leaves nowadays stay on trees about 15% longer than they did in those pre-industrial days. This means trees nowadays have a substantially longer growing season than about a century ago. Can you imagine human activities have extended trees’ growing period by 15% just in 100 years? Though this means those leaves absorb carbon dioxide more from the atmosphere, such temperature fluctuation might cause stress to the trees as well as the biodiversity of the surrounding environment. As we’ve already witnessed cherry blossoms bloom a week or two earlier than decades ago, global warming seems to cause much more significant impacts on flora than we’ve realized, or admitted.
Read the article and learn about the impact on trees by global warming.
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-65037659

Topic Reading-Vol.3997-4/4/2023

Dear MEL Topic Readers,  
‘World’s longest’ bus journey will take 56 days to cross Europe
As more people are choosing land travel over air travel these days, old services are being resumed like sleeper trains in Europe (Vol.3985) and new services are emerging. What about a 56-day trip from Istanbul, Turkey to London? To your surprise, this isn’t a cruise trip but a 12,000-kilometer bus trip! With up to 29 fellow passengers, you can board the bus in Istanbul and travel through the Balkans, Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, and Western Europe, and reach London. Also included in the trip is a ferry ride along the Scandinavian region. You can enjoy the trip without worrying about local transportation, accommodation, breakfast, documentation, or permits at a price of $24,300, or just around $430 a day, including 30 lunches and dinners.
While a cruise trip is pretty much around coastal regions, this bus trip seems to offer broader travel options. This amazing bus journey is planned by an Indian expedition company and is scheduled to leave Istanbul on August 7.
Enjoy reading the article and learning about the world’s longest bus journey.
https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/worlds-longest-bus-journey-istanbul-to-london/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.3996-4/3/2023

Dear MEL Topic Readers,  
Food pods and vertical farming could help us grow crops on Mars
Vertical farming grows crops in vertically stacked layers under a controlled environment including lighting, temperature, humidity, and watering. It uses nutrient-rich water straight to a plant’s roots, which uses much less water and fertilizer than conventional outdoor agriculture while creating much less waste. Since the environment and nutrients are fully under control in vertical farming, what plants and where they are grown are at the grower’s discretion. In fact, there is the world’s largest vertical farming facility in Dubai, UAE that produces a thousand tons of crops annually. If vertical farming can produce that many plants in such a harsh desert environment, it might be able to do the same on Mars, our next frontier. Interestingly, NASA is considering if vertical farming could help feed astronauts on the red planet, where there is 100 times thinner air, half sunlight, and no fresh water. Whether vertical farming will grow plants on Mars or not, it is expected to provide environmentally friendly agricultural produce even in extremely arid, cold, or hot places on Earth.
Enjoy reading the article and learn how to feed people on Mars.
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/03/24/world/mars-food-interstellar-lab-climate-scn-spc-intl/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.3995-4/2/2023

Dear MEL Topic Readers,  

The French are up in arms over retiring at 64. How do other countries compare?

King Charles III’s state visit to France, which was scheduled to start on the 26^th of March, was postponed after a request by France’s President Emmanuel Macron because of the widespread unrest caused by pension reform protests and strikes. A series of general strikes and demonstrations started in January to oppose the 2023 pension reform bill, which would raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 years old. That sounds like a big hit for those who are retiring soon but it would be still younger compared with other developed countries. In fact, France’s public pension is quite generous, whose public spending per GDP is about 14%, the world’s third highest only after Greece and Italy, and much higher than Germany’s 10% and UK’s 6%. The government wants to reform the pension and retirement system to cope with the increasing number of senior citizens, and thus the beneficiaries. It is of course one of the least favored measures to propose and impose, for any governments of democratic or autocratic. Even if people understand the necessity of such a painstaking reform, no one wants to pay for it.

Read the article and learn why French people are so angry with the pension reform.

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/03/24/business/pension-age-developed-countries-oecd/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.3994-4/1/2023

Dear MEL Topic Readers,  
Rare print of Hokusai's 'Great Wave' sets new auction record
Ukiyo-e (pictures of the floating world) was one of the most important genres of art between the 17th and 19th centuries in Japan. Its artists produced woodblock prints and paintings of such subjects as female beauties, kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers, scenes from history and folk tales, travel scenes and landscapes, flora and fauna, and erotica. However, after the economic reform in the mid-19th century, the landscape genre came to a dominant category, which is also well-perceived by western art lovers because the Japanese landscape differed from the Western tradition. Hokusai (1760-1849) was one of the most renowned artists of that time, especially with 36 views of Mount Fuji, which includes The Great Wave off Kanagawa, one of the world's most widely reproduced images. Ukiyo-e is not painting but printing and the process of making Ukiyo-e is painstaking, demanding utmost precision. The artist dampens the washi paper before applying paint and rice glue to the woodblock. Each side of every block represents a different color that will be layered into Ukiyo-e. In those days, labor cost was cheap so popular ukiyo-e works were printed as many as thousands of copies until the woodblocks wore out. Now, one of the well-preserved, early copies of the print was sold at $2.76 million at an auction in New York. Though the print is rare, it is still one of the mass-produced prints. This is no April-fool joke.
Enjoy reading the article and watching the video to learn about what Japan’s ukiyo-e is like.
https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/hokusai-great-wave-auction-christies/index.html