Topic Reading-Vol.4867-8/21/2025

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

A heartbreaking economic indicator: More people are giving up their pets

During the COVID-19 pandemic, as in some other countries, pet adoption surged in the US as people suddenly had more time at home and sought companionship. Naturally, as the pandemic eased, the market for pets slowed down as well, largely due to the pulled-forward demand. Some pet owners then realized that owning and caring for canine and feline companions are more demanding and costly than they had expected. Daily walk, vet visits, food, treats, and pet sitters during absence all add up. Some pet owners gave up living with their once-beloved pets and surrendered or abandoned them. In addition, recent inflation has hit pet owners even more severely. For example, the price of dog food has increased by over 40% on average when compared to 2020 prices. In addition, inflation has pushed up housing costs and food prices. As a result, an animal care & control center in North Carolina has received 43% more owner surrenders so far this year over last year. With higher tariffs on commodities, deportation of undocumented workers (Vol. 4853), rising housing prices and home insurance premiums, and continuing layoffs by tech companies, more pet owners may have to make a hard decision. Will all those abandoned or surrendered pets be rescued and adopted? A deposit or insurance for new pet owners might ease the financial burden on animal shelters.

Read the article and learn about increasing pet surrenders in the US.

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/07/27/economy/us-pet-surrenders-shelters-economy

Topic Reading-Vol.4866-8/20/2025

Dear MEL Topic Readers,
Watch a cheetah up-close as it chases its prey
The cheetah is a large wild cat that has narrow shoulder blades and long limbs. Adult cheetahs reach 67 to 94 cm at the shoulder and weigh between 21 and 65 kg. Unlike other big cat species, cheetahs cannot roar. Instead, they chirp, purr, and make other noises. They mainly live in grasslands, mountains, and deserts in southern and eastern Africa, some in Iran, but their habitat has shrunk to one-tenth of their historic range. Because of the habitat loss, conflict with and poaching by humans, their population is estimated to be around 6,500, and the cheetah is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. They are active during the day, during dawn and dusk in particular, and hunt small mammals like hares and birds, to medium-sized mammals like gazelles and impalas, in deserts, savannas, or grasslands. The cheetah is the world’s fastest land animal, top speed reaching 100 km/h, to chase their prey. Can you imagine how it runs?
Watch the video to see how the fastest land animal runs in close range.
https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p0lsb4qj/watch-a-cheetah-up-close-as-it-chases-its-prey

Topic Reading-Vol.4865-8/19/2025

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Why Americans can’t chill out about ice-free European beverages

In Europe, it is uncommon to put ice into cold drinks. If you request ice for your drink in Europe, you may find an ice cube in your drink. However, in America, cold drinks are usually served with ice cubes, and they aren’t floating in cold drinks but the drink is poured into a mass of ice cubes. For example, if you order a glass of Coke or iced tea at a café or on a flight, you’ll find massive ice with little drink. If you stay at a hotel in America, you’ll likely find ice machines on each floor. Also, American refrigerators usually have huge freezers and ice dispensers. It is an American custom to enjoy cold drinks with ice, even though ice dilutes the drink and changes the taste. Why are Americans so obsessed with ice? Is that because of Americans’ love for soda, which tastes dull if you drink it lukewarm? Interestingly, you’ll also see ice in cold drinks in Eastern and South-Eastern Asia, whose modern cultures are somewhat more influenced by the US than Europe. One thing you might want to check before enjoying your drink with ice is if the tap water there is safe to drink.

Read the article and learn why Americans love ice in cold drinks but Europeans don’t.

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/07/25/travel/european-versus-us-ice-water-debate

Topic Reading-Vol.4864-8/18/2025

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Make your daily walk do more for your body

We all know that walking offers a lot of benefits to our physical and mental health. Many of us also know that 30 minutes of brisk walking per day helps enhance fitness, improve cardiovascular health, reduce stress or anxiety, and even lower the risk of chronic diseases. However, some people walk like ducks, hips open and feet angled outward, or the opposite, hips internally rotated and feet angled inward, both of which could hinder glute activation and postural alignment. Also, carrying a bag or gazing at a smartphone with one hand would outbalance your walking posture. To improve your daily walking quality and benefits, there are several aspects you want to pay attention to, such as foot strike, balance, use of glutes, eyes, breathing, and arm movements. Do you want to do the wrong thing for your body for half an hour every day, or do the right thing?

Read the article and watch the video to learn how to walk better.

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/07/24/health/walking-full-body-exercise-wellness

Topic Reading-Vol.4863-8/17/2025

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Turbulence is increasing.  Here's how the aviation industry is trying to smooth things out

Most air travelers, whether on commercial or private flights, have probably experienced bumps or shaking during flight. Turbulence is irregular air movements that are caused by various factors, including weather events, jet streams, and geographical features like mountains. Also, clear-air turbulence (CAT) sometimes occurs suddenly and violently in clear skies, which is invisible to satellites, radar, or human eyes. The number of CAT incidents reported has been increasing, and some of them have caused injuries and even deaths. Last year, when a London-Singapore flight encountered severe turbulence over Myanmar, the aircraft dropped over 50 meters in less than five seconds, killing one passenger and injuring dozens. Because of global warming, air turbulence is expected to increase by three times in the next 20 years and have impacts on busy routes across East Asia and the North Atlantic. One of the countermeasures is to use AI to predict turbulence, especially CAT, more accurately. Another approach is to use Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) to create a 3D map of the air around an airplane, just like self-driving vehicles on the road. Also, adding small flaplets to larger flaps on aircraft wings could counteract changes in airflow. In the meantime, always buckle up when you are seated on your flight.

Read the article and learn about increasing air turbulence.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250725-how-aircraft-designers-are-beating-rising-turbulence

Topic Reading-Vol.4862-8/16/2025

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

India can't wish away coal - but can it be made cleaner?

India, the world’s most populous country with over 1.4 billion people, is situated in the tropical and subtropical temperate zones where summer temperatures often go well over 40 °C. Its economy is the fourth largest in the world and is growing rapidly, and also the third-largest greenhouse gas emitter after China and the US. India's greenhouse gas emissions have been increasing rapidly due to its growing population, expanding economy, and therefore, rising energy demand, which has grown nearly 10% in the last several years and is growing more rapidly. More than 40% of the carbon emissions are created by electricity generation, and over 70% of the nation’s electricity is generated by coal-fired power plants, emitting a significant amount of greenhouse gases. To clean the air on the road, drive EVs and E-motorcycles. To make the room temperature livable or workable in the heat, turn on the air conditioning. How should India deal with the rapidly growing demand for electricity while limiting greenhouse gas emissions?

Read the article and learn about India’s high dependency on coal-fired power generation.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpd184g6dj8o

Topic Reading-Vol.4861-8/15/2025

Dear MEL Topic Readers, 

Denmark zoo asks people to donate unwanted pets to feed predators and imitate ‘natural food chain’

Carnivores, like lions, tigers, wolves, and sharks, are animals that primarily eat meat or other animals. They can be predators or scavengers and play a vital role in the food chain by regulating populations of other animals. In zoos in Denmark, when animals have died or been culled to avoid inbreeding or maintain a healthy population, they are fed to predators in the zoo. For example, when a young healthy giraffe named Marius was euthanized to avoid inbreeding in 2014 in the Copenhagen Zoo, it was fed to other zoo animals (Vol. 685). So, it was not new when a zoo in northwest Denmark posted on social media channels last month a call for unwanted animals, such as chickens, rabbits, guinea pigs, and small horses, to feed its carnivores. It said those donated animals would be gently euthanized by the zoo’s trained staff and then served as food for lions, lynxes, and Sumatran tigers. It is, indeed, the natural food chain that is essential for the survival of all animals in a given biosphere. When you have a domestic animal whose life is about to end, would you eat it yourself, bury it if you have the land, or donate it to feed predators?

Read the article and learn about how the food chain is maintained in zoos in Denmark.

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/08/04/europe/denmark-aalborg-zoo-pets-predators-intl-hnk