Topic Reading-Vol.2514-2/28/2019

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

How can a distracted generation learn anything?

As things become more digitized and change faster, more videos, photos, and images are shown online than text. If you compare today’s websites to the ones ten years ago, you’ll find much more videos and photos but much fewer words. Likewise, as personal communication format shifted from letters to emails and emails to messaging apps, the length of text has become shorter and more concise, and the writing has become less descriptive but more expressive. Indeed, people can get another information or change the app only by clicking, touching, scrolling, or swiping on the screen in less than a second. As a result, digital-native young children who were born with digital media and devices become less tolerant to longer, effort-requiring text, and their attention and concentration last shorter. So, it’s not hard to imagine what is happening in the classroom. Teachers are struggling to get students’ attention to the tasks that require reading and concentration. How are they coping with such challenges that they had never experienced or anticipated when they took their jobs?

Enjoy reading and think what’s important for today’s children who will become adults in the 2030s.

http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20190220-how-can-a-distracted-generation-learn-anything

Topic Reading-Vol.2513-2/27/2019

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Chinese couples can't afford a second child, no matter what Beijing wants

Four decades ago, China introduced an extreme birth planning policy, called the one-child policy. It set a limit on the number of children parents could have to control the size of its rapidly growing population. It is estimated that over 500 million births were prevented until the policy was loosened in 2016.

So, the original goal to limit the population growth was reached. However, the policy also seems to have changed the way people form their families and raise their children, especially among the growing middle-class population. When people have only one child, all the affection, attention and expectation are given to the child. As eager parents try to provide the best possible education, medical care, and nutrition to their only child, the cost to raise a child has risen sharply, sometimes as much as one-third of their parents’ income. And the cost increase doesn’t stop there. Entertainment, clothes, and traveling expenses have risen, not to mention the housing cost. So, there is no wonder parents have become reluctant to have their second child even if they are encouraged by the government to do so. They can’t afford it! But this trend is also seen in Korea and Japan whose birthrate stays below replacement levels and the population has been declining.

Enjoy reading and think what only child means to their parents.

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/02/12/asia/china-second-child-economy-intl/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.2512-2/26/2019

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Lantern Festival: A romantic celebration in China

Originated back in as early as the Western Han Dynasty (206 BCE-CE 25), the Lantern Festival is a traditional Chinese festival celebrated on the 15^th day of the first lunar month. It is Chinese tradition that people hang lanterns in their house or in the streets. People walk around to enjoy the festival atmosphere by seeing the beautiful lanterns and the riddles written on them. In ancient times, it was also a romantic festival where unmarried young men and women met.

Like any other festival, no celebration ends without the special dishes to mark the season. Yuanxiao dumplings are a traditional treat during the New Year season, specifically at the Lantern Festival. They are sweet glutinous rice balls that are filled with a sweet red bean paste, sesame paste, or peanut butter. It is believed that the round shape of the dumplings and the special bowls which there are served are symbols of family union.

Enjoy seeing the photos of this beautiful traditional ceremony in China.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201902/19/WS5c6b57f9a3106c65c34ea025_1.html

Topic Reading-Vol.2511-2/25/2019

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Facebook security app used to 'spy' on competitors

What you do online is a valuable resource to Facebook, an online social media and social networking service company. A cross-party committee of the House of Commons, the lower house of the UK Parliament, accused the online giant of breaching data privacy and anti-competition laws by using an app to gather information on competitors. The app is said to be used to collect what other apps were downloaded and how often they are used by the user. Facebook then used that information to decide whether to acquire or disrupt the potential rival. Also, such data was sold, or given as a favor, to other app developers or research firms without clear consent to the users.

Since what you do, see, or search are all logged in the device you use and collected by the app developer, there has been no privacy protection until recently when EU General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, came into effect in 2018, which describes situations where a company can collect or reuse personal information. But how strictly the protection law is abided by? Also, the same practice can be made by any other GAFA company, Google, Amazon or Apple, which collect all sorts of data as to what their users do online and make use of it to gain competitive advantage and financial return.

While being known makes your life easier, it could also violate your privacy.

Enjoy reading and think which your priority is convenience or privacy.

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-47281906

Topic Reading-Vol.2510-2/24/2019

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Is dark chocolate good for you?

Do you like chocolate of any kind? If yes, what type of chocolate do you usually eat, milk, while or dark?

While chocolate is often considered negatively because of its high fat and sugar content and association with acne and obesity, researches now show that it has health benefits, such as lowering cholesterol levels, reducing the risk of cardiovascular problems, and preventing cognitive decline.

However, not all chocolates are equal. What you want to eat is cocoa, not sugar or other ingredients. The darker the chocolate looks and the bitterer the taste is, the higher the concentration of cocoa is thus, the more health benefits can be enjoyed. That is dark chocolate. Usually, dark chocolate contains 70% or higher cocoa, which contains a variety of chemicals, including antioxidants called flavonoids. It is not clear how these might work in the body, but they appear to cause relaxation of veins. This could lead to lower blood pressure. These compounds might also reduce the activity of chemicals in the body that promote inflammation or blockage of blood vessels. And there are more benefits that might justify another piece or bar of chocolate for a snack or dessert.

Will dark chocolate prevent or deter someone from going to the dark side?

Enjoy reading and learn what you get from dark chocolate.

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/dark-chocolate-good-you

Topic Reading-Vol.2509-2/23/2019

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Drinking two or more diet beverages a day linked to high risk of stroke, heart attacks

Sugary or non-sugary soda? Unfortunately for sweetened drink lovers, neither is good for health, according to a new study specifically conducted to postmenopausal US women over 50 years old. The study found that women who drink two or more artificially sweetened soda drinks a day have higher risks of clot-based strokes and heart attacks, which could result in early death.

Diet soda is mainly consumed in America where there are much more serious over-weight problems than most other countries. Though bottled water consumption recently surpassed carbonated soft drinks by volume, those who love sweetened drinks have difficulty giving them up.

But why Americans love soda in the first place? Is it because of their eating custom, the taste, or the accessibility? One thing for sure is that sweetened drinks don’t go so well with sushi or pasta while a hamburger or sandwich can be enjoyed more with flavored or colored drink or juice.

Enjoy reading and think which soda drink you will drink, regular or diet if you ever feel like having one.

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/02/14/health/diet-soda-women-stroke-heart-attack/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.2508-2/22/2019

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

How easy will it be to build a moon base?

Everyone knows NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, an independent US federal agency responsible for space programs and aerospace research. They sent first men on the moon a half-century ago. Though their recent focus has been on Mars exploration, they are planning to send people to the Moon again and also to set a lunar orbiting platform called the Gateway. Another well-known space agency is the European Space Agency, or ESA. an intergovernmental organization to explore space by 22 member states. They have a plan to build a moon village that is inhabited by a diverse population ranging from scientists to artists.

Also, there is the Chinse space agency called CNSA, China National Space Administration. Last year, they successfully landed an unmanned moon explorer on the far side of the moon. They are planning further explorations of the moon to build a permanent moon community.

Besides these powerful and resourceful government space agencies, there are private initiatives that are trying to send people to the moon.

But how soon will these plans be realized? The temperatures of the moon range from -173 to 127 degrees Celsius, there are two-week daylight days and two-week darkness days, and there is plenty of radiation but only one-sixth of gravity on the moon. The basic human necessities such as air, water, food, and power all need to be brought in from earth or sourced from the moon. How will all these challenges be met?

Enjoy reading and learn about the challenges humans are trying to meet.

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20190201-how-easy-will-it-be-to-build-a-moon-base