Topic Reading-Vol.2950-5/9/2020

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

See how a mask affects how a cough travels

Why is setting social distancing guidelines matter? Why should facial masks be required or recommended to prevent from spreading the novel virus?

Researchers at Florida Atlantic University carried out an experiment that shows how far droplets from a cough travel and stay in the air. Surprisingly, the artificially caused droplets hit 3 feet (90 cm) almost immediately, traveled 6 feet (1.8m), the recommended social distance guidelines, in 5 seconds, and reached 9 feet (2.7m) in 10 seconds. Also, in another 30 seconds, the droplets reached 12 feet (3.6 m) even though they became much less dense. Indeed, droplets not only travel farther but also remain in the air longer than you can imagine.

When facial masks become a social attire, will we see designer’s brands or virus-proof masks?

Enjoy watching the video and learn why face masks are now recommended or required.

https://edition.cnn.com/videos/health/2020/05/04/cough-coronavirus-masks-kaye-pkg-vpx.cnn/video/playlists/coronavirus/

Topic Reading-Vol.2949-5/8/2020

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

The place Chinese travelers want to visit in 2020 is... Wuhan

Wuhan is the capital of Hubei province. With over 11 million residents, it is not only the most populous city but also a major transportation hub and considered the economic, financial, commercial, and cultural center of Central China. But the city is now more known as the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the world. The city was locked down by the central government from January 23 until April 8 this year to prevent the virus from spreading to other parts of the country, and the world. There were over 50,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and nearly 4,000 deaths were attributed to the outbreak officially in Wuhan. Since the city officials, medical staff, and residents had to endure a long, difficult time, people across the country praised and supported their efforts. Now, when Chinese netizens are asked where to travel after the outbreak, many of them picked Wuhan more than any other city. It seems that the perseverance and courage that people in Wuhan demonstrated impressed others in China.

However, it is still too early to book tickets and a hotel room as no one knows if Wuhan, or any other city, is or will be free from COVID-19 yet.

Read the article and think about which Chinese city you may want to visit after the outbreak.

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/wuhan-travel-destination-survey/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.2948-5/7/2020

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Russia adds record 10,000 coronavirus cases in dramatic turnaround as Putin's problems stack up

The population of Russia is a little over 145 million, approximately the sum of the populations of Germany and Italy. Though it is the world largest country by land size, over 100 million people are urban residents, including 12 million in the capital city, Moscow.

Though the Russian government claimed that the government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic was under control about a month ago, the number of coronavirus cases have been on the rise recently. In fact, they added over 10,000 new cases on a single day, May 3, and brought the total number of cases over the 100,000 mark, the seventh-highest number in the world. Even though Moscow represents less than 10% of the nation’s population, over half of the total cases are in the capital city. One of them is the person was Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, who is hospitalized as of now.

Another chilling fact of Russia’s coronavirus cases is that of the over 1,300 recorded deaths by the novel virus, about 50% of them were reported asymptomatic [eɪsɪmptəˈmætɪk], having shown no symptoms or evidence of illness or abnormality. You can tell how difficult it is to deal with this silent and invisible deadly virus that could spread so easily and quickly without being felt or recognized. As a result, hospitals in Moscow are totally overwhelmed by the increasing number of patients, and more and more medical workers have been infected and fallen.

Read the article and think how easily COVID-19 could spread without strict measures by the government and consciousness of the citizens.

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/03/europe/russia-coronavirus-cases-intl/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.2947-5/6/2020

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Canada bans assault-style weapons after its worst ever mass murder

Nova Scotia [noʊvəˈskoʊʃə] is a small maritime province in eastern Canada with a population of just under one million. Surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, it usually is a peaceful place where lobsters, wild berries, and Christmas trees are exported more than any other place in the world.

On April 20, a 51-year-old man who disguised as a police officer shot 13 dead and killed nine in house fires during a 12-hour rampage near province’s capital Halifax. The mass murderer was reported to have used several semi-automatic handguns and two or more semi-automatic rifles, including a military-grade assault weapon. It was enough for Canada to take immediate action to prohibit the trade or use of any military-grade assault weapons. Canada’s brother states, Australia and New Zealand, had already adopted a similar measure after a mass shooting incident respectively. How many deaths must the US endure before they ban assault weapons? The answer my friend is blowin’ in the wind, the answer is blown’ in the wind.

Enjoy reading the article and think why assaulted weapons have been sold to ordinary civilians in the first place.

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/01/world/canada-assault-style-weapons-ban-trnd/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.2946-5/5/2020

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Critics said the flu kills more than coronavirus. Why that's not a fair comparison -- and now, it's not even true

The basic reproduction number, or the basic reproductive ratio, denoted R0 and pronounced “R naught,” is the reproduction number that indicates how contagious an infectious disease is. R0 tells you the average number of people who will contract a contagious disease from one person with that disease. If no one has been vaccinated or previously infected, an R0 less than 1 causes less than one new infection, and the disease will decline and die out eventually. If R0 is 1, the disease will stay alive and stable but won’t spread rapidly or widely. However, if R0 is greater than 1, each infected person causes more than one new infection, and therefore, the disease will be transmitted between people and could trigger an outbreak or epidemic. For example, the R0 of measles or chickenpox is over 10, smallpox is around 5, a common cold is between 2 and 3, and the SEASONAL flu is usually less than 2. However, the R0 of COVID-19 is at least 2 and possibly 3-5.

Another problem is that the outbreak of the coronavirus doesn’t seem to be seasonal as the virus spread to the southern hemisphere where March and April are summer months. Also, while symptoms of the seasonal flu appear within a few days, it takes more than several days before noticeable symptoms appear to the infected person. In addition, a flu vaccine could weaken the symptoms, no effective vaccine for the novel virus has been developed or approved yet. All in all, coronavirus is more contagious, long-lasting, and dangerous to humans than the seasonal flu. That’s why many cities have been locked down and strict measures have been taken by the national and local governments for more than weeks, even months.

Read the article and watch the video to learn why COVID-19 is such a threatening disease.

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/01/health/flu-vs-coronavirus-deaths/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.2945-5/4/2020

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

The dark side of working from home: loneliness

Working from home isn’t the same for everyone. It is a challenging environment for those who are used to working with colleagues in the office or dealing with customers face-to-face. When you work with others, there are uncountable numbers of interactions that make you feel connected. These physical, social interactions are essential for mental and emotional health and welfare, which affects significantly on productivity, motivation, and loyalty to the work. But when such social bonding is missed, many workers seem to find themselves feel isolated or disregarded, and they tend to take things from the dark side, according to some experts.

For example, not receiving a reply instantly to your message or request make the person feel neglected, even though the receiver has other immediate issues to deal with, such as changing the baby or boiling pasta at home.

How should you deal with such work loneliness that seems to last at least for a while?

Enjoy reading the article and learn some tips to work from home.

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/30/success/loneliness-working-from-home-wellness/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.2944-5/3/2020

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

'Crazy beast' fossil discovery shows the evolutionary weirdness of early mammals

Sitting about 400 kilometers off the coast of East Africa, Madagascar is an island country in the Indian Ocean. As the island has been isolated from other continents since 88 million years ago, its inhabitants, such as dinosaurs, reptiles, animals, and plants evolved very uniquely, some of which still live there and most others extinct long ago.

Recently, researchers found well-preserved fossil of an extinct mammal that is believed to have lived over 60 million years ago. Since its features widely differ from existing mammals, they named it “Adalatherium” or "crazy beast." For example, the crazy beast seems to have walked very differently from today’s mammals as their front half and back half do not match. Also, its back teeth look nowhere close to other animals of similar size.

Enjoy reading the article and imagining how the beast walked, ran, and ate in such an isolated environment millions of years ago.

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/29/world/crazy-beast-ancient-mammal-scn/index.html