Topic Reading-Vol.3259-3/14/2021

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Instagram photos help Facebook AI 'teach itself'

AI seems to be advancing very fast. Facebook announced that their algorithm was able to identify unsorted, unlabeled images with nearly 85% accuracy. The self-supervising algorithm managed to decide which pixel belongs to which concept without being disturbed by the different parts of each picture, such as the background images or pets in one’s arms. They claim it is much more difficult than processing language because individual words are easier to identify. This technology is expected to be able to sort or categorize images without human intervention or bias. It then may be able to identify the images of someone who altered the appearances or whose appearances have changed from a huge database.

Will this make the world fairer for everyone? In any case, it’ll make or help the visual identification process more accurate and reliable.

Enjoy reading the article and think which is more reliable to identify an individual, a human, or an AI algorithm.

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-56321296

Topic Reading-Vol.3258-3/13/2021

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Koneru Humpy: Chess player is BBC Indian Sportswoman of the Year

In India, overcoming barriers of traditionally deep-rooted sexism and gender inequality is quite challenging. Still, there are quite a number of female sportswomen who broke the glass ceiling and recognized as champions in certain sports categories. The BBC Indian Sportswoman award for 2020 was won by a chess player who had won the World Raid Chess champion title in 2019 after a two-year maternity break. She also won another world champion title at an elite-level tournament for women in 2020. Though it is not one of the Olympic Games, chess is regarded as an indoor sport that increases the analytical skills, focus, visualization skills, and patience level of the player substantially. Indeed, the winner of the BBC award tells young sportswomen to try to make it to the end, believe themselves, earn respect and recognition, be confident, and look up to the goal. She also emphasizes the importance of willpower and confidence and encourages female players never to give up for marriage or motherhood as they are just part of life.

Sounds really like a sportswoman. Indeed, battling setbacks will make you stronger as long as one hopes and tries to be a better version of themselves.

Enjoy reading the article and learn about sportswomen in a country where women traditionally have not been treated or regarded equally as men.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/55547052

Topic Reading-Vol.3257-3/12/2021

 Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Italy has a new way to combat overtourism
The Uffizi Gallery is a world-famous art museum located in the historic center of Florence, Tuscany, Italy. It is one of the most visited Italian museums and known for a vast collection of Italian Renaissance works. In fact, it drew over four million visitors from around the world. However, it was so overcrowded that visitors only had a few moments to look at the renowned works such as Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Michelangelo’s Holy Family after having been waited in the line to enter the museum. Also, the city and the residents had been annoyed by those visitors’ unruly behaviors. True, if most of the attractions are centered in the city, the place is overcrowded and things get messy. So, the city came up with a new project called the Uffizi Diffusi, meaning scattered Uffizi. Instead of putting all the famous artworks that visitors come to see in one place, they scattered some of the famous works in other places in the region, where each artwork is more connected to its roots. This project not only disperses the tourists but also creates stable businesses in surrounding places.

Will this scattered approach help make the tourism rebound less overcrowded after the pandemic?

Enjoy reading the article and think about which approach you prefer as a tourist, to see everything at one packed place or to move around different places.

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/uffizi-diffusi-tuscany-galleries-overtourism/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.3256-3/11/2021

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Lab-grown wood could be future of furniture

Nowadays, there already are various kinds of “cultured” or “lab-grown” meat and dairy products, like beef, chicken, and shrimp. Instead of growing cows, sample tissue of cow meat can be grown by regenerative techniques to create “lab-grown beef.” This way, no part of the cow is wasted and no slaughter is needed. Furthermore, greenhouse gas emission is significantly reduced if no cows burp methane into the atmosphere.

Then, what about lab-grown wood to produce furniture? There is a team of scientists growing the wood by using a 3D-printed gel to replicate plant cells into wood parts or planks that could be used as pieces of furniture. Though it takes much longer to produce a piece of furniture by lab-grown wood, for now, the lead scientist hopes to get attention and involvement by more people to advance this technology to make the process faster and more economical.

Will we soon see a replicator like the one shown in the Star Trek series?

Enjoy reading the article and think how many lab-grown or lab-produced products we’ll live with a decade from now.

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-56270691

Topic Reading-Vol.3255-3/10/2021

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

World's first space hotel scheduled to open in 2027

Commercial space travel is just around the corner and coming soon. As posted on Vol.3266 yesterday, a trip to the Moon is already scheduled in 2023 and fully booked already. Also, Virgin Galactic is planning to start selling seats for a flight into sub-orbital space at a price of $250,000. So, what about accommodations? Yes. A California company is preparing to open a space hotel called Voyager Station in 2027. The guests of the space hotel will be able to experience the activities and movements that can’t be done on Earth in the weightless and reduced gravity environment near the center of the station, such as jumping and floating. But as the guests move down the outside of the hotel, gravity increases so that they can eat, drink, and even take a shower. The guests will also enjoy seeing the Earth and other views as the hotel rotates. Space travel seems to add another category of extraordinary experience soon. How many nights do you want to stay there if you had a chance?

Enjoy reading the article and think if you want to start saving for a space trip.

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/voyager-station-space-hotel-scn/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.3254-3/9/2021

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Japanese billionaire seeks eight people to fly to moon

The SpaceX Starship is a reusable heavy-lift launch rocket by SpaceX, Elon Musk’s space project. It is designed to launch space vehicles for tourism, earth-lunar transport, Mars colonization, and more. The second stage of the rocket, or Starship, will carry cargo and passenger-carrying spacecraft into space. On March 3, the 122-meter-tall prototype rocket successfully soft-landed during a test flight. However, shortly after the touchdown, the rocket exploded on the launch pad because of a methane leak.

A few days before the incident, a Japanese fashion billionaire announced that he invites eight passengers to join him for a trip to the Moon on a SpaceX flight. He wants people who are willing to help others including the co-passengers and offers them a free ride. Yes, he bought all the seats of the first commercial flight to the Moon and made it a private tour.

Now, after seeing the explosion video, how many applicants will the billionaire get? The flight is planned for 2023, about a half-century after the last lunar journey by humans.

Enjoy reading the article and think if the first commercial passenger flight to the Moon should have been made a private one.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-56261574

Topic Reading-Vol.3253-3/8/2021

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

The couples accused of destroying Japan's families

In Japan, a married couple has to have one family name. Unless the couple had the same family names before marriage, one of them has to give up his or her long-used family name. And 96% of married women changed their family names to their husbands’ mainly because of the tradition. However, that is not always the way married and marrying women want. More women nowadays have already developed their currier and identity before marriage and they don’t want to change them. Some of the married women keep using their maiden names unofficially after marriage. But in their official identifications, such as family registration, passport, driver's license, and insurance, the registered family names are used.

There have been court cases to find whether such law is constitutional but the Supreme Court ruled it is constitutional and said it is the parliament that should decide whether to keep or change the law. Advocates are now focusing more on human rights rather than just women’s rights, and more male plaintiffs and supporters are seen in court cases.

In fact, Japan is one of the leading developed countries that still have small female representations in parliament, government, and corporate boards.

Are most Japanese people happy with the status quo for everything?

Enjoy reading the article and think why Japan is so reluctant to change anything.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-55472446