Topic Reading-Vol.4573-10/31/2024

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Iceland embraced a shorter work week. Here’s how it turned out

Work-life balance generally means the amount of time you spend doing your job compared with the amount of time you spend with your family or for yourself. The shorter the time you work, the higher the well-being usually will be. Instead of working 40 hours a week in five days, working 35 hours might give you another weekend day or a shorter work hour each day. Whichever the workstyle might be, workers who were given shorter work hours responded positively about their work-life balance. Iceland is a Nordic island country with a population of 400,000 people. Though the size of the economy is small, its GDP per capita is ranked 8^th in the world, meaning Iceland’s productivity is very high. They tried to find out if they could maintain or improve productivity in shorter work hours. Researchers found there was no decline in productivity or economic growth but a significant improvement in workers’ well-being. Most people used to work six days a week and now they work five days. Why not four days?

Read the article and learn how reduced work hours could affect productivity and the economy.

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/10/25/business/iceland-shorter-working-week-economy/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.4572-10/30/2024

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Millions joined a livestream selling tickets to space on a Chinese rocket

The first space tourist traveled to space aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft in 2001. The passenger paid USD 20 million for his eight-day space trip. In 2021, Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and an aerospace manufacturer Blue Origin took a 10-minute sub-orbital spaceflight on his company’s space capsule. Sub-orbital spaceflight reaches outer space where there is very little gravity for minutes and comes back to the earth while orbital space flights circle the earth. Whichever the space trip might be, the tourists can enjoy a zero-gravity experience and a magnificent view of the mother planet from space. Space X, Blue Origin, and Virgin Galactic are now repeatedly sending tourists to space at a price of hundreds of thousands of dollars per seat. Recently, a Chinese commercial space firm put on sale two $140,000 tickets for a 12-minute sub-orbital spaceflight scheduled in 2027 on a shopping platform, Taobao. The sale was witnessed by some three million viewers and the tickets were sold immediately.

Nowadays, traveling to space sounds no more extraordinary than climbing the highest peaks or exploring Antarctica. Will there soon be a frequent flyer program for space flight?

Read the article and learn about China’s first commercial space travel.

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/10/25/china/china-space-tourism-ticket-sale-livestream-intl-hnk/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.4571-10/29/2024

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Amid McDonald’s-linked E. coli outbreak, here are symptoms to watch for and ways to stay safe

Recently, dozens of people who ate the Quarter Pounder hamburger at McDonald’s reported the symptoms of E. coli, a type of bacteria. The contaminated ingredient seems to be the slivered onions, which are used primarily for the product and not other items. E. coli are found in many places, including in the environment, foods, water, and the intestines of people and animals. Most of them are harmless and are part of a healthy intestinal tract. They help us digest food, produce vitamins, and protect us from harmful germs. However, some E. coli can make people sick with diarrhea, urinary tract infections, pneumonia, sepsis, and fever. Though most people can recover without treatment after several days or a week, some may need supportive care for symptoms and fluids for hydration. Then how can we prevent such contamination? For meat or seafood, heat thoroughly. For vegetables and fruits, wash them with water. Do not use utensils that have touched uncooked meat or seafood for other foods. Once you’ve realized the symptoms of E. coli infection like severe diarrhea, keep hydrated.

Read the article and learn about what E. coli is and does to us.

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/10/24/health/mcdonalds-e-coli-outbreak-symptoms-treatment-wellness/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.4570-10/28/2024

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

How long can you stand like a flamingo? The answer may reflect your age, new study says

Does it matter how long you can stand on one leg? The answer is yes. Balance reflects how the body’s systems are working together and is essential to prevent injury. For example, if you can quickly balance your body when you make a misstep, you may be able to avoid falling on the ground. Unfortunately, the ability to physically balance your body declines as you age. Older people tend to lose balance easily and fall. Of course, it is not just leg balance that keeps one in good shape. Static, dynamic, and overall strength are all essential for physical health and strength. But flamingo standing is one way to check how well you can balance your body. If you can balance for shorter than five seconds on one leg, whether on your dominant or non-dominant one, you have a greater risk of falling. To achieve healthy aging, you want to be physically active and work on strength and balance. But be careful not to fall when you check your balance!

Read the article and learn how important to be able to stand on one leg.

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/10/23/health/balance-one-leg-old-age-wellness/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.4569-10/27/2024

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

India’s start-ups look to villages to drive next leg of growth

Of India’s 1.4 billion-plus population, nearly 70%, or around 900 million people, reside in rural areas. Also, as many as 450 million mobile phones are being used outside cities, more than the entire North American population. Now, investors and entrepreneurs are looking at the next wave of growth opportunities in this underdeveloped market. But India is so diverse. There are nearly 20,000 different dialects and as many as 650,000 villages that have unique cultural identities. So one size doesn’t fit all. Still, the business potential for local dialects is nonnegligible. For example, a film company identified 18 dialects whose populations are large enough to create movies in the dialects. Yet the business models designed and succeeded in urban cities don’t always work in rural markets, the underdeveloped India’s rural markets are waiting for investments and businesses.

Read the article and learn about India’s next business frontier.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62gpp3dn15o

Topic Reading-Vol.4568-10/26/2024

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

From Wimbledon to VAR, is tech hurting the drama of sport?

A line judge is an official positioned near one of the lines of the court of tennis, volleyball, or badminton, who is responsible for indicating whether a ball or shuttle has landed in or out of the line. In the Wimbledon tennis championship, there are nine line judges at a time on the center court. A player is given three challenges against human judgment to ask for an electronic line call. As the accuracy and dependability of the electronic judging system have exceeded human eyes, the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) tour has decided to replace human line judge with an electronic system starting next season. Wimbledon, the most prestigious tennis tournament, has been using line judges since 1877 but will no longer use the 300 line judges. When the electronic line call can overrule the human eye, why do human judges need to make a call in the first place? Electronic judging seems to be well accepted in other sports like football, but the video assistant referee (VAR) is not so well. Why?

Read the article and learn how technologies work in sports games.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9dy4434nj3o

Topic Reading-Vol.4567-10/25/2024

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

How to build a nuclear tomb to last millennia

Radioactive waste is a byproduct of nuclear reactors, fuel processing plants, hospitals, and research facilities. The radioactivity of all radioactive waste weakens with time, not in years or even centuries but in hundreds of millennia. Since there are no viable technologies to weaken radio activities, we have no choice but to keep those radioactive wastes somewhere safe. Geological disposal facilities (GDFs) are planned underground structures to contain the most radioactive, thus the longest-lived nuclear waste. GDFs are built under 500 meters to 1 kilometer below the ground in geologically safe and stable places. There are planned or in development sites in the UK, France, Finland, and other 20 or so countries. In time, there will be safer, faster, and more efficient technologies to store or weaken radio activities. But for the time being, we bury nuclear waste like Emperor Qinshihuang's terracotta army or Tutankhamun’s tomb that lasted thousands of years. Would time solve the problem?

Read the article and learn about how nuclear waste is being kept.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20241018-how-to-build-a-nuclear-tomb-to-last-millennia

Topic Reading-Vol.4566-10/24/2024

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Father penguin uses unique call to distinguish chick

The emperor penguin breeds during the Antarctic winter, incubating and carrying its egg on its feet in a colony that is far away from the sea where they can catch fish. Imagine that you’re an emperor penguin coming back from the sea to your colony after catching fish and bringing it back in your stomach to feed your offspring. How can you find your mate and chick in a large colony? Emperor penguins don’t make nests, so there’s no fixed spot where you can meet up with your family. There’s just a large crowd of all-look-alike penguins standing around on a flat ice sheet. Interestingly, emperor penguins make a special two-voiced call that can be used for individual recognition. They use the call to draw their chicks from the rest to feed them.

Watch the video and learn how penguins identify their chicks.

https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p0jy42tq/father-penguin-uses-unique-call-to-distinguish-chick

Topic Reading-Vol.4565-10/23/2024

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Who supplies Israel with weapons?

Established in 1948, Israel is a small country in the Southern Levant of West Asia with a population of just around 10 million. The Jewish-dominant nation has been fighting against military groups like Hamas-led Palestinian militants, Iran-baked Hezbollah in Lebanon, and another Houthi in Yemen. On top of these, Israel is engaging in an armed conflict with Iran. The weapons used in these conflicts are substantial, and unlike Ukraine, the supply seems limitless. Who is the supplier? It is estimated that nearly 70% of Israel’s arms imports come from the US, including the latest fighter jets, guided missiles, precision bombs, and massive ammunition.  They are used to attack militants’ targets and personnel in Gaza and Beirut where many civilians live, and their casualties are increasing. Also, the US is providing billions of dollars of financial assistance to Israel. Another large weapons supplier is Germany, but its military aid has substantially declined this year. So, the US is no doubt the dominant weapons supplier to Israel. Why is the US assisting Israel to keep fighting?

Read the article and learn who supplies weapons to Israel.

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/10/16/middleeast/where-israel-get-its-weapons/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.4564-10/22/2024

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Eight dead as violent storms sweep Brazil after worst-ever drought

In September, water levels in many of the rivers in the Amazon basin in Brazil reached their lowest on record amid a continuing drought. There were over 100 municipalities that had not seen rain for over five months, including Brazilia, the capital. However, all of a sudden, brief but violent storms swept across the country on October 11. Rainfall reached as much as 10 cm with winds up to 100km/h, knocking out the power of over a million homes and businesses. At least eight people died. While the damage to the infrastructure was significant, many people welcomed the long-awaited rain, which is assumed to have extinguished at least some parts of the wildfires around the Amazon rainforest and Pantanal wetland. A long drought and downpour. Brazil, the Amazon River, and the Amazon rainforest seem to be facing fast-worsening climate change. Does this extreme weather shift sound similar to the one in the famous science fiction trilogy, “The Three-Body Problem” by Liu Cixin?

Read the article and learn about the recent radical weather conditions in Brazil and the Amazon.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czj98v31jjdo

Topic Reading-Vol.4563-10/21/2024

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

The world's sixth 'Blue Zone': Why Singapore values both quantity and quality of life

Singapore is an island city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula in Southeast Asia with a population of six million. After a long colonization by Britain, a brief occupation by Japan during World War II, and after-war confusion, it became a parliamentary republic in 1965. As it lies near the equator, Singapore has a tropical rainforest climate without distinctive seasons. Singapore’s life expectancy is nearly 84, one of the highest in the world. Recently, it was named the world’s sixth “Blue Zone”, a region where people enjoy long lives due to a lifestyle combining physical activity, low stress, rich social interactions, a local healthy diet, and low disease incidence. Other Blue Zones include Okinawa, Japan, Nuoro Province, Italy, and Icaria, Greece, all of which enjoy traditional slower lifestyles. Why do Singaporeans, who live in a fast-moving urban environment and highly populated multi-ethnic community, enjoy such longevity?

Read the article and learn how the tiny city-state manages food, healthcare, and the environment for people’s healthy lives.

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20241002-singapore-the-worlds-sixth-blue-zone

Topic Reading-Vol.4562-10/20/2024

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Bad weather puts tadpoles off turning into frogs

The frog is an amphibian when they become adults. Adult frogs lay thousands of eggs in the water to counter the range of predators that eat spawn and tadpoles. When the surviving eggs hatch, tadpoles come out. They swim around where they were born and eat nearby plants filtered by the water for a few weeks. During this stage, hind legs and a long tail will appear on the outside while the lungs start developing on the inside, which allows them to breathe out of the water when they become frogs. Over the next 14 weeks, the tadpole will do a whole heap of growing until it eventually becomes a froglet. Incredibly, tadpoles can control the rate of their transformation into frogs. In situations where they could be in danger from predators or environmental pressures, they can speed up the process to escape and move safely. On the contrary, if the temperature is too cold, for example, they could delay their transformation for up to a year. Recently, tadpoles in a river in North West England were found to delay their transformation into frogs due to bad weather. Observers hope that they survive the winter and become healthy frogs next spring.

Read the article and learn how tadpoles survive and grow into adults in the water.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgde8e3xnmo

Topic Reading-Vol.4561-10/19/2024

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Think allergy season is over? Not so fast, a doctor says

It is now the fall in the northern hemisphere and the spring in the southern hemisphere. Whichever the place might be, allergy seasons are getting longer as temperatures rise around the world because plants that release allergens have a longer time to grow. As a result, there are substantial quantities of allergen outside this time of year, which could cause alleging symptoms, such as runny or stuffy nose, sniffling, sneezing, coughing, watery eyes, scratchy throat, and itching and burning in the nose, mouth, and eyes. What sorts of treatments are effective to ease those annoying symptoms? Also, as the air gets drier in the fall, more respiratory viruses appear, which often cause similar symptoms to allergies. How can we distinguish between seasonal allergies and a virus?

Read the article and learn about allergies in the fall.

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/10/02/health/allergies-pollen-fall-wellness/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.4560-10/18/2024

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Teen breaks record by climbing Earth's highest peaks

The eight-thousanders are 14 recognized mountains whose heights are more than 8,000 meters above sea level, including Everest, K2, and Shishapangma, all of which are located in the Himalayan and Karakoram mountain ranges. Dozens of climbers aged between 30s and 60 have summited all 14 eight-thousanders since 1970. On October 9, an 18-year-old climber conquered the last of the 14 peaks and became the youngest climber of all eight-thousanders in history. Nima Rinji Sherpa, whose family runs Nepal’s largest mountaineering expedition company, achieved the record just in 740 days. The word “Sherpa” usually refers to a mountain guide or porter working in the Everest area, but it is actually the name of ethnic residents in the mountains of Nepal. He hopes to prove that Sherpas aren’t just supporters of climbers but have potential as top-tier athletes, adventures, and creators.

Read the article and learn about the youngest mountaineer who climbed all eight-thousanders.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c869y6qx6e4o

Topic Reading-Vol.4559-10/17/2024

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Large French ski resort to close as snow shortage leaves it struggling to build a future

Created in 1938, Alpe du Grand Serre is a ski resort located in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France. It sits at an altitude of 1,368 meters, one of the lower-lying ski resorts in Europe which has been facing a steady decline in snowfalls. As winter snowfall becomes increasingly unreliable, the town came up with a plan to transform the winter sports resort into an all-year resort by replacing ski lifts. Earlier this month, the local council decided to close the ski resort and discontinued a contract with the ski lift operator. Because of the warming climate and declining snowfalls, more ski resorts are relying on snow machines to stay open. As the ski seasons become shorter and the costs to keep the ski resorts open increase, the fate of Europe’s ski resorts is gloomy. How many chairlifts and gondolas will be running the Alps in winter ten years from now?

Read the article and learn about the impact of global warming on the Alps’s winter sports resorts.

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/10/09/travel/alpe-du-grande-serre-france-ski-resort-closes-climate-crisis/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.4558-10/16/2024

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Global forest loss exceeds targets in 2023, report warns

At the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland in 2021, leaders from 145 countries agreed on a global target to achieve zero deforestation by 2030. The countries that have signed the pledge cover around 85% of the world’s forests, including Canada, Brazil, Russia, China, Indonesia, and the USA. However, forests about the size of Irland were destroyed last year, nearly 50% more than the maximum of the year’s target. Since the beginning of the decade, deforestation has gotten worse, and most of the deforestation occurred in tropical regions. The main drivers of deforestation are agriculture, road construction, fires, and commercial logging, all of which are not likely to slow down in the foreseeable future. When a goal is set, people tend to think they still have the time to work on the solutions and actions, like the COP15 agreement to limit global warming to below 1.5 degrees. Act today, not tomorrow to avoid catastrophes.

Read the article and learn about still accelerating deforestation.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/10/8/global-forest-loss-exceeds-targets-in-2023-report-warns

Topic Reading-Vol.4557-10/15/2024

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Pope picks 21 new cardinals in move that broadens pool of who will choose his successor

The pope is the bishop of Rome and the head of the worldwide Catholic Church, whose followers exceed 1.3 billion. The incumbent pope is Francis, 87, who was elected in 2013. The next in the Catholic hierarchy is the cardinal, a lifelong title. There are 235 cardinals worldwide as of September, of whom 122, aged under 80, are eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope. Recently, Pope Francis announced 21 new cardinals from various parts of the world, including Muslim-dominant Iran and Indonesia. They will be among other cardinals who will elect his successor. Pope Francis hopes Catholic churches play a role to help bring an end to the conflicts in the Middle East, Ukraine, and other regions.

Read the article and learn about the latest moves in Catholic churches.

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/10/06/europe/pope-francis-new-cardinals-intl/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.4556-10/14/2024

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

The cooking method you need to learn to get excited about vegetables this fall, expert says

When you think of the main dish for a weekend dinner, people often choose from meat, fish, or dairy first and then add vegetables to accompany it. But there are so many kinds of vegetables that could occupy the primary space of the dish. They are so colorful, flavorous, and nutritious, especially the seasonal ones like corn and tomatoes in the summer and pumpkin and broccoli in the fall. There are various ways to enjoy seasonal vegetables as the main dish, such as fresh salad in the spring and summer and roasted vegetables in the fall and winter, to name a few. You can arrange the taste and flavor of the vegetables with dressing, sauce, and oil. Also, you can add some meat, seafood, or cheese to enrich the dish. And remember. Seasonal vegetables are not only tasty and nutritious but also friendly to your wallet.

Read the article and learn about how vegetables can become a main dish.

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/10/05/health/fall-vegetables-seasonal-cooking-wellness/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.4555-10/13/2024

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Not using these job interview tips can reduce your chances of getting that job

A job interview is often a deciding opportunity for one's career and life. Once you get a chance, you want to look not only qualified for the job but also valuable for the organization or the employer. Yet in the digital age especially after the pandemic, many young people aren’t used to in-person or one-on-one interactions. Interviewers have found young candidates bring parents to an in-person interview, refuse to turn on the camera in an online interview, avoid making eye contact, or dress inappropriately. Since interviewers are busy conducting interviews with many candidates, interviewees are expected to be well-prepared to stand out. Before the interview, you can research the industry, employer, and job, prepare questions, and practice mock interviews to look like a more valuable candidate.

Read the article and learn some valuable tips to prepare for a job interview.

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/10/04/success/job-interview-how-to-do-well-gen-z-wellness/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.4554-10/12/2024

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Automatic takeoffs are coming for passenger jets and they’re going to redraw the map of the sky

An autopilot is a device used to guide an aircraft without direct assistance from the pilot. Today, the autopilots of most commercial jetliners are capable of controlling every part of the flight envelope from just after take-off to landing, including the climb, cruise, and descent. Most commercial pilots are manually flying for only about ten minutes or so mainly during the takeoff and landing. Although automatic landing can land the aircraft safely, most pilots prefer doing it manually except under extreme weather conditions or poor visibility. Now, Brazil’s Embraer, the world’s third-largest aircraft manufacturer after Airbus and Boeing, is introducing its auto-takeoff system. It not only improves safety by reducing pilot workload but also efficiency for takeoff, which allows the aircraft to travel farther or carry more passengers or cargo. Will there be an auto-taxing feature soon?

Read the article and learn about what autopilot systems are and will be doing to commercial jetliners.

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/embraer-e2-enhanced-takeoff-system/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.4553-10/11/2024

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Scientists looked at images from space to see how fast Antarctica is turning green. Here’s what they found

The climate of Antarctica is the coldest on Earth and also extremely dry. Snow rarely melts on most parts of the continent. The mean annual temperature of the interior is below -40 degrees Celsius and the warmest coast area is around -10 degrees. There are no trees or shrubs, and only two plant species are found on the south islands and western Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctic hair grass and Antarctic pearlwort. The marine ecosystem around the western continental shelf of the Antarctic Peninsula has been subjected to rapid climate change. Recently, having analyzed satellite imagery and data, scientists have found that the vegetation levels on the peninsula have increased rapidly, more than 10 times over the past four decades, especially between 2016 and 2021. As the peninsula greens, the region is likely to be invaded by species that aren’t native to Antarctica, which will threaten the continent’s ecosystem. Also, the greener Antarctica becomes, the more heat will be absorbed by the land, and the less solar radiation will be reflected back into space. So, a greener Antarctica is bad news not only for its ecosystem and environment but also for global warming.

Read the article and see the images of greens in Antarctica.

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/10/04/climate/antarctica-greening-vegetation-satellite-images/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.4552-10/10/2024

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

This little robot is helping sick children attend school

In a remote class, the teacher and the students meet online. At school, they are all in a classroom. However, students who have physical difficulty due to illness or injury cannot join classes at school. So, a Norwegian company came up with a small desktop robot that can attend classes for such students. The AV1 robot has two eyes, a microphone, a camera, and a speaker to allow the student to see, hear, and speak in the classroom. When the student wants to raise a hand, the robot can flash the light on its head. Since the robot weighs only a kilogram, teachers or other students can move it from the classroom to other places in school, like the laboratory or cafeteria so that the student can take part in other in-school activities. It could be used for students who have emotional difficulties to attend school, too. Avatar robots seem to help students feel engaged and connected in the classroom.

Read the article and learn about a mini-robot that attends for students.

https://edition.cnn.com/business/tech/av1-robot-sick-children-school-spc/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.4551-10/9/2024

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Stark before-and-after pictures reveal dramatic shrinking of major Amazon rivers

Melting glaciers made Italy and Switzerland redraw their border in the High Alps (Vol.4550). On the other side of the planet, tributaries of the world’s largest Amazon River have plunged to the lowest levels on record, which affects the lives of people, animals, and plants. As Brazil has been suffering from extreme drought for two consecutive years, the impacts on the rivers and the Amazon rainforest, a vital spot for biodiversity and climate change buffer, are shockingly extreme. Riverbeds are exposed, ships are left stranded, and the pink river dolphins are found dead. Also, the drought has fueled devastating wildfires that have destroyed huge swaths of the Amazon rainforest and tropical wetlands. “Who Pays?”, Greenpeace activists drew on sandbanks of the dried upper Amazon River.

Read the article and see the photos of river beds and sandbanks of the Amazon.

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/09/30/climate/amazon-rivers-drought-satellite-pictures/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.4550-10/8/2024

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Italy and Switzerland have agreed to shift their shared border in the Alps. Here’s why

Much of today’s 744-kilometer border between Italy and Switzerland runs across the High Alps, rising above 4,000 meters. The impact of global warming is severe even at this high altitude. In 2022, Switzerland’s glaciers lost 6% of volume and another 4% last year, eroding some part of the border between the two states. In May last year, a joint Italian-Swiss commission agreed to redraw a border that traverses an Alpine peak as melting glaciers shift the historically defined frontier. Last month, Switzerland officially approved the treaty, and Italy is expected to approve it soon. As sea levels rise, glaciers recede, and ice sheets melt, we’ll soon see a world map that looks quite different from today’s.

Read the article and learn another impact of global warming.

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/10/01/climate/melting-glaciers-border-switzerland-italy/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.4549-10/7/2024

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

UK to finish with coal power after 142 years

It was 1882 when the first coal-fired power station engineered by Thomas Edison started generating electricity to bring light to London. Since then, coal had been widely burned to generate electricity, heat homes, and move trains and ships around the world until other cleaner fossil fuels, along with nuclear power, began to take place in the late 20^th century. In fact, nearly 40% of the UK’s power was still generated by coal power plants in 2012. However, the birthplace of coal power committed to ending the use of coal power, the dirtiest fossil fuel, before 2025 to meet the climate targets, and has been shifting the energy source to greener wind, solar, hydro, and bioenergy powers. The commitment to abandon coal power was successfully realized when the last remaining coal power station ceased operation on September 30, ending the UK’s 142 years of coal power history. So, if the birthplace of coal power can shift to cleaner powers, other countries should have no reason why they can’t.

Read the article and learn how the UK could stop using the dirtiest fossil fuel power.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5y35qz73n8o

Topic Reading-Vol.4548-10/6/2024

Dear MEL Topic Readers,　

1 in 3 children worldwide is now nearsighted, study shows

As children are spending more time gazing at smartphone screens, their eyesight gets impaired. Nowadays, children start using smartphones and playing video games much earlier and longer especially during and after the pandemic. Accordingly, their eyes are set on smaller images and characters at a close range for a long time without looking at things in the distance like they do when they are outdoors or playing with friends. New research in 50 countries found that around 36% of children and adolescents are nearsighted, a significant increase from 24% in 1990 when paper and TV were the main sources of information and entertainment at home. The rate of nearsightedness, or myopia, is particularly high in Eastern Asian countries like China, South Korea, and Japan where over 70% of children are nearsighted. How can children avoid impairing their eyesight? What should their parents encourage their children to do?

Read the article and learn about the recent decline in children’s eyesight.

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/09/25/health/global-myopia-research-scli-intl-wellness/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.4547-10/5/2024

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Cave discovery in France may explain why Neanderthals disappeared, scientists say

Neanderthals are an extinct group of archaic humans believed to have lived in parts of Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East until around 40,000 years ago. They were adapted to colder environments, thriving during the Ice Age conditions with their shorter but stockier bodies and limbs than ours. Homo sapiens, meaning thinking man, evolved in Africa around 300,000 years ago and immigrated to other places of the world. They were taller and their limbs were longer than Neanderthals. While Neanderthals lived in smaller and isolated communities Homo sapiens formed larger communities. They explored places beyond where they had lived, which gave them the chance to interact and interbreed with others and share knowledge and technology. Since Neanderthals and Homo sapiens lived in the same places and the same time, they seem to have interbred. As a result, modern humans have about 1-2% Neanderthal DNA even though Neanderthals became extinct about 40,000 years ago. The question is why Neanderthals disappeared despite their physical strength and adaptability to the cold climate in the Ice Age.

Read the article and learn about how archaeologists are trying to find the mystery of Neanderthals.

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/09/12/science/neanderthal-fossil-extinction-grotte-mandrin-france/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.4546-10/4/2024

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Smiles, surprises and sticky situations. Hilarious images from the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards

The time has come for this year’s Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards. There are so many funny scenes in the wild but only a few of them are captured by cameras. This year, the organizer received nearly 9,000 entries from 98 countries.

For those who cannot wait for the final results on December 10, see the photos, read the captions, and enjoy smiling and laughing at 15 of the 40 images shortlisted for the awards.

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/09/26/travel/comedy-wildlife-photography-2024-scli-intl/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.4545-10/3/2024

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Dubai’s millionaires are fueling a private jet boom

Dubai is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with a population of about 3.6 million, over 90% of which are expatriates. It has the world’s tallest building and over 60 five-star hotels, more than New York or Paris. Also, Dubai is a major hub for business, commerce, cargo, and air transportation. Dubai International Airport is the second-busiest in the world’s passenger traffic. Dubai is also a global hub for private jets. Located at Dubai South, Mohammed bin Rashid Aerospace Hub (MBRAH), is the region’s first aerospace hub. It registered a record surge in business jet movements during 2023, with over 16,000 business jet movements, and is projected to grow aggressively. Why is the private air travel business growing so much in Dubai? Isn’t there environmental consideration as private jets are 10 times more carbon-intensive than airliners on average?

Read the article and learn about how and why Dubai is a hot hub for luxurious air travel.

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/dubai-millionaires-private-jet-boom-spc/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.4544-10/2/2024

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

What does spending more than a year in space do to the human body?

Experiencing zero gravity or viewing the beautiful Earth from space for a few days might not affect the physical health or strength of space travelers but spending months or even a year significantly affects astronauts' physical conditions. Crew members of the International Space Station (ISS) are tasked to work out 2.5 hours each day in the space gym to minimize physical deterioration. Still, their bodies don’t function in the same way as they do on the ground. For example, without gravity on the limbs, muscle and bone mass diminish quickly in space. Also, since blood doesn’t circulate as it does on the ground, it can accumulate more in the head and affect body movement and sensitivity. Furthermore, the effects on genes, eyesight, skin, and immune system are being studied. So, although sending astronauts to and from Mars might technically be realizable soon, will astronauts be able to survive the years of lengthy missions without gravity while being exposed to radiation even though they have enough air, water, food, and gym equipment?

Read the article and learn about the effects of living in space.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230927-what-a-long-term-mission-in-space-does-to-the-human-body

Topic Reading-Vol.4543-10/1/2024

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Several arrested after woman dies in 'suicide pod'

In Switzerland, assisted suicide has long been legal, and hundreds of people travel there to end their own lives each year. Most of the assisted suicides concern elderly people who suffer from a terminal disease.  The Swiss assisted suicide organization EXIT reported that it helped over 1,200 people with extreme pain, unbearable symptoms, or an unendurable disability to end their lives by injection in 2019 alone. Recently, an elderly woman who was suffering from an immune disease ended her life using the Sacro capsule, a 3D-printed assisted suicide device. Once inside, the user presses a button that releases nitrogen into the chamber, reducing oxygen levels from 21 percent to 1 percent in about 30 seconds, which causes disorientation and euphoria before the person loses consciousness, leading to death through hypoxia (lack of oxygen) and hypocapnia (carbon dioxide deprivation) without panic or discomfort in 5 to 10 minutes after losing consciousness. Although the use of Sarco was legally greenlit in Switzerland, this first use reportedly resulted in several arrests based on technical violations including the use of nitrogen.

Read the article and learn about this 3D-printed suicide pod.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce8144v9pveo