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Should you use a tongue scraper? (The Economist, 1 October 2026, 'Should you be using a tongue-scraper?'.) Tongue scraping — an old Ayurvedic practice now trending on social media and a growing consumer market — removes the white tongue coating (舌苔) of food debris, dead cells and bacteria. Bad breath mostly comes from volatile sulfur compounds made by bacteria at the back of the tongue. Pedrazzi et al. 2004 (University of São Paulo, J Periodontol): crossover trial, 10 subjects; toothbrush cut VSCs 45%, tongue scraper 75%. Cochrane review (Outhouse et al. 2006): only 2 small trials qualified; scrapers/cleaners slightly better than toothbrushes, short-term effect, weak evidence. Twist: tongue bacteria (e.g. Neisseria, Rothia) reduce dietary nitrate (spinach, beetroot) to nitrite, which becomes nitric oxide, relaxing blood vessels and lowering blood pressure. Tribble et al. 2019 (Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology), 26 healthy volunteers: twice-daily chlorhexidine mouthwash for one week raised mean systolic BP from 113 to 115 mmHg; nitrate-reducing bacteria recovered afterwards; people who cleaned their tongues twice or more daily had microbiomes favouring nitric oxide over ammonia. Authors: regular tongue cleaning plus adequate dietary nitrate may help resting systolic BP. Persistent bad breath can signal gum disease or reflux — see a doctor. — HSK 2 level, 4:13. Key vocabulary: 起床 (qǐchuáng) — to get up; 眼睛 (yǎnjing) — eyes; 非常 (fēicháng) — extremely; 可能 (kěnéng) — may; possibly; 所以 (suǒyǐ) — so; therefore. Grammar: 把 + object + verb + 走 — Do something so the object goes away.; A 比 B + Adj — Comparison.. Read along with the free interactive transcript — tap any word for instant pinyin and definition, toggle pinyin display, and read the full English translation. https://fluentide.com/episodes/tongue-scraper-bad-breath-blood-pressure-2026?level=easy

Shanghai-born physicist Jun Ye (b. Nov 1967; Shanghai Jiao Tong University applied physics 1989; PhD University of Colorado 1997; JILA/NIST/CU Boulder; NAS 2011; 2022 Breakthrough Prize shared with Hidetoshi Katori) shares the 2026 Wolf Prize in Physics with Immanuel Bloch (Max Planck), announced 1 October 2026, 'for transformative, widely applicable advances in the control of ultracold atomic systems.' Ye's optical lattice clocks (~100,000 strontium atoms laser-cooled near absolute zero, held in an optical lattice, counting ~429 THz light vs caesium's ~9.19 GHz microwaves; enabled by optical frequency combs) would, per NIST, neither gain nor lose a second in 15 billion years. In 2022 (Nature) his team measured gravitational time dilation across a 1 mm height difference within one atom cloud — the smallest scale ever — which Ye said could connect quantum physics with gravity. Uses: GPS/navigation, geodesy, dark-matter searches, a future redefinition of the SI second. He is the second Chinese-born Wolf physics laureate after Chien-Shiung Wu (first laureate, 1978) — 48 years apart. 26 of 72 Wolf physics laureates later won a Nobel; the 2026 physics Nobel is announced 6 October. — HSK 2 level, 4:45. Key vocabulary: 手机 (shǒujī) — mobile phone; 可能 (kěnéng) — may; possibly; 觉得 (juéde) — to feel; to think; 非常 (fēicháng) — very; extremely; 所以 (suǒyǐ) — so; therefore. Grammar: 是从 + place + 来的 — Asks or states where something comes from.; A 比 B + Adj + 很多 — A is much more Adj than B.. Read along with the free interactive transcript — tap any word for instant pinyin and definition, toggle pinyin display, and read the full English translation. https://fluentide.com/episodes/jun-ye-wolf-prize-atomic-clock-2026?level=easy

FlyDubai flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv, Wednesday 30 September 2026, 174 people on board, mostly Israeli. About two hours in, at ~34,000 ft, the co-pilot, Omani national Hamam al-Hammami, attacked Indian captain Smit Machchhar (17 years' experience) with the cockpit's emergency crash axe. The plane dropped more than 17,000 ft (~5,180 m) in about two minutes; part of the rudder was torn away. The badly wounded captain, on the cockpit floor, made 'one last push' to unlock the reinforced cockpit door (post-9/11 design, opens only from inside). Passengers, led by an Israeli plumber, rushed in, pulled the co-pilot out and pinned him; two off-duty pilots travelling as passengers took the controls and levelled the jet at about 15,000 ft roughly 12 minutes later. A dentist travelling from China stanched the captain's bleeding. The flight diverted to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, landing about 85 minutes later. No passengers seriously injured; captain seriously hurt but stable. Oman Air had grounded al-Hammami over extremist views and moved him to a desk job; he resigned around 2024 and FlyDubai hired him after background checks that focused on criminal records. The UAE attorney general called it a terrorist attack; Netanyahu said he meant to crash the plane. Four regional countries are investigating. Germanwings 2015 precedent: co-pilot locked captain out, 150 died. — HSK 2 level, 5:54. Key vocabulary: 飞机 (fēijī) — plane; 门 (mén) — door; 已经 (yǐjīng) — already; 可能 (kěnéng) — maybe; possibly; 所以 (suǒyǐ) — so; therefore. Grammar: 让 + someone/something + verb — To make or let something happen.; X，就是 Y — Define or explain a word: X is just Y.. Read along with the free interactive transcript — tap any word for instant pinyin and definition, toggle pinyin display, and read the full English translation. https://fluentide.com/episodes/flydubai-copilot-axe-attack-2026?level=easy

Psychiatrist Awais Aftab argues (NYT, first edition of the series Therapeutic Window) that 'attention deficit' may be the wrong framing for ADHD. A major study in Cell last year found stimulants act on brain networks for salience, reward and arousal, with no detectable change in attention networks whether or not children had ADHD. Aftab distinguishes lab 'attention' (selectively amplifying relevant information) from 'sustained engagement' (keeping the spotlight on a task over time), which depends on whether the task registers as worth doing; stimulants make mundane tasks like homework and laundry seem more worthwhile, which also explains why they calm restless children. Earlier work: Edmund Sonuga-Barke's 1992 experiment showed hyperactive children chose small immediate rewards mainly when it ended the experiment sooner (delay aversion); Russell Barkley's 'time blindness' and emotional self-regulation. The name may leave people who struggle with lateness, boredom and emotional volatility undiagnosed. Psychiatric consensus holds ADHD is a genuine condition with effective treatments; modern work and phones make it more disabling. — HSK 2 level, 2:44. Key vocabulary: 注意 (zhùyì) — attention, to pay attention; 药 (yào) — medicine; 问题 (wèntí) — problem; 孩子 (háizi) — child; 手机 (shǒujī) — mobile phone. Grammar: 越来越多的 + noun — More and more…; verb + 完 — To finish doing something.. Read along with the free interactive transcript — tap any word for instant pinyin and definition, toggle pinyin display, and read the full English translation. https://fluentide.com/episodes/adhd-sustained-engagement-not-attention-2026?level=easy

For 20 years citrus greening (huanglongbing), spread by the tiny Asian citrus psyllid, has ravaged Florida's orange groves: fruit drops unripe and tastes bitter, production (90%+ for juice) is down 95%, 60,000 acres (26% of what remained) went out of production last year and about half a million acres sit idle. Only four juice processors remain, down from 54 in the 1980s; the workforce more than halved from 2003-04 to 2020-21; US juice consumption is down by more than half. This year the EPA approved two technologies: Soilcea's Crispr-edited rootstock, thousands of times more resistant (approved in April; Nian Wang of the University of Florida identified the genes), and Silvec's harmless virus that continuously produces antibacterial peptides (levels up 100x, bacteria down at least 90%). Growers have ordered hundreds of thousands of resistant trees for spring planting; Agromillora is growing over a million; Florida has a $330m two-year support package. Juice oranges are two years away. Grower Phil Rucks of Frostproof diversified into blueberries and bamboo; grafter Gary Farmer calls it the first real hope in 20 years. — HSK 2 level, 2:22. Key vocabulary: 希望 (xīwàng) — hope; 问题 (wèntí) — problem; 喝 (hē) — to drink; 工作 (gōngzuò) — to work; 先生 (xiānsheng) — Mr., gentleman. Grammar: 越来越 + adjective — More and more…; A 比 B + adjective + 了 + amount — A is (amount) more/less than B.. Read along with the free interactive transcript — tap any word for instant pinyin and definition, toggle pinyin display, and read the full English translation. https://fluentide.com/episodes/florida-orange-citrus-greening-crispr-2026?level=easy

A surprise inspection on 23 September 2026 by Indonesia's Ombudsman at Cibinong prison, a medium-security prison near Jakarta, found inmates living in at least 10 staff housing units outside the prison with flat-screen TVs and a gym, expensive cars parked in the complex, a golf simulator under construction and an unguarded exit to an adjoining forest. Guards first barred the inspectors; an inmate admitted living in one unit. Five officials including the warden were suspended, the Ministry of Immigration and Corrections' inspector general Rudi Setiawan announced; the director general of corrections told legislators 13 unregistered staff residences were found. Authorities are investigating whether inmates paid staff. Ombudsman member Syafrida Rachmawati Rasahan called it 'the tip of the iceberg'. Indonesian prisons are overcrowded and understaffed, with low-paid guards long accused of taking bribes; precedents include the 2017 Kerobokan tunnel escape in Bali and a 2018 finding that corruption convicts paid for VIP treatment. — HSK 2 level, 2:18. Key vocabulary: 房间 (fángjiān) — room; 让 (ràng) — to let; 贵 (guì) — expensive; 特别 (tèbié) — unusual, special; 运动 (yùndòng) — to exercise. Grammar: 本来 — Originally, (it was) supposed to…; 包括…… — Including…. Read along with the free interactive transcript — tap any word for instant pinyin and definition, toggle pinyin display, and read the full English translation. https://fluentide.com/episodes/indonesia-cibinong-prison-luxury-inmates-2026?level=easy

SpaceX's Starship reached orbit for the first time on its 14th test flight, launched Monday 28 September 2026 around 8:49 a.m. EDT from Starbase, Texas. One of the ship's six engines shut down early; a SpaceX spokesperson briefly said the orbit attempt was off before controllers pressed ahead. The ship reached a roughly 275 km circular orbit about 25 minutes in; Musk: 'First orbital flight of Starship successful!' The Super Heavy booster made a controlled splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico about seven minutes after launch. The ship deployed all 26 next-generation Starlink V3 satellites, the first operational ones launched by Starship, three carrying cameras to inspect its heat shield. The plan was about 10 hours and six orbits with splashdown west of Chile, but after the first orbital checkpoint SpaceX chose an early deorbit without giving a reason; after a landing flip and burn the ship splashed down north of Hawaii roughly three hours after launch, and reports said it caught fire seconds later. Starship is 124 m tall, with a 33-engine booster, and is designed for full and rapid reuse; NASA's lunar lander plans need in-orbit refuelling not yet demonstrated. SpaceX went public in June in the largest IPO ever; shares were about $150 versus a $135 offer price. — HSK 2 level, 2:37. Key vocabulary: 小时 (xiǎoshí) — hour; 公司 (gōngsī) — company; 担心 (dānxīn) — to worry; 问题 (wèntí) — problem; 一样 (yíyàng) — the same. Grammar: 本来…… — Originally (but things changed).; 就像……一样 — Just like…. Read along with the free interactive transcript — tap any word for instant pinyin and definition, toggle pinyin display, and read the full English translation. https://fluentide.com/episodes/spacex-starship-first-orbit-2026?level=easy

Richardson, a Dallas suburb, is one of the first US cities where Amazon is testing Prime Air drone delivery. Dozens of drones a day fly from a distribution center; each is about 5 ft by 5 ft and weighs 83 lb, hovers about 12 ft above the ground and drops the box. Footage shows a package dropped into a pool and a drone crashing into an apartment building. Residents call their neighbourhood a 'drone highway' and hate the noise, the sight and the cameras ('Can we not have one day of peace?'); complaints to the city council, Amazon and the FAA got little traction, and they now write to officials in other cities calling the programme a 'disaster'. Amazon says feedback is 'overwhelmingly positive' and plans to expand to about 100 more towns and cities in the coming months; Walmart also delivers by drone, and one complaining resident's daughter ordered ham by drone. — HSK 2 level, 2:40. Key vocabulary: 声音 (shēngyīn) — sound, noise; 问题 (wèntí) — problem; 公司 (gōngsī) — company; 送 (sòng) — to deliver; 女儿 (nǚ'ér) — daughter. Grammar: 试着 + verb — To try doing something.; verb + 过 — Has happened before.. Read along with the free interactive transcript — tap any word for instant pinyin and definition, toggle pinyin display, and read the full English translation. https://fluentide.com/episodes/amazon-drones-richardson-texas-2026?level=easy

Giant pandas Ping Ping (male, born March 2020) and Fu Shuang (female, born October 2020) flew overnight from the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding on a FedEx cargo plane painted with a panda, arriving at Zoo Atlanta on Sunday 27 September for a 10-year stay, days after Xi Jinping's White House visit where he promised 'envoys of friendship'. They are in quarantine for about a month; Chinese staff stay three months. Zoo Atlanta's previous pandas (Lun Lun, Yang Yang and twins Ya Lun and Xi Lun) returned to Chengdu in 2024. Georgia State professor Maria Repnikova says panda diplomacy softens China's image. Panda diplomacy dates to Nixon's 1972 visit, when Pat Nixon told Zhou Enlai she loved pandas; the National Zoo pair had five cubs, none survived. The US now has six pandas (pairs in San Diego and Washington since 2024). The summit produced few tangible outcomes beyond the pandas. — HSK 2 level, 2:44. Key vocabulary: 休息 (xiūxi) — to rest; 特别 (tèbié) — special; 问题 (wèntí) — problem; 知道 (zhīdào) — to know; 喜欢 (xǐhuan) — to like. Grammar: 正在 + verb — In the middle of doing something.; 对 + person + 说 — To say to someone.. Read along with the free interactive transcript — tap any word for instant pinyin and definition, toggle pinyin display, and read the full English translation. https://fluentide.com/episodes/giant-pandas-ping-ping-fu-shuang-atlanta-2026?level=easy

China's Supreme People's Court and Supreme People's Procuratorate published typical cases of online food-safety crime. Fake honey: a man surnamed Huang in Changge, Henan, mixed syrup and flavourings, labelled it as imported linden honey, sold it at about 6 yuan per jin with 'buy one get five', 1,200 orders a day and over 2.06m yuan in sales (one listing sold 34,000 orders in two months); no bee protein found; 15 years and a 1.2m yuan fine. Fake camel milk powder sold to elderly people and students by three people: 400,000 yuan; 3 years and 2 years 10 months. A livestream host sold 'diet tablet candy' containing the diuretic buthiazide while avoiding words like 'lose weight'; 1 year and 9 months. Diet coffee with sibutramine sold via social media in Inner Mongolia: 2 years 10 months. 'Ghost takeout': a forger made 3,961 fake business and food licences sold for 50-300 yuan each, used to register delivery-platform shops; 6 years. — HSK 2 level, 3:12. Key vocabulary: 便宜 (piányi) — cheap; 药 (yào) — medicine, drug; 真 (zhēn) — real, true; 万 (wàn) — ten thousand; 电脑 (diànnǎo) — computer. Grammar: ……，还要…… — …and on top of that, must also…; 差不多 + number — About, nearly.. Read along with the free interactive transcript — tap any word for instant pinyin and definition, toggle pinyin display, and read the full English translation. https://fluentide.com/episodes/online-food-fraud-fake-honey-ghost-takeout-2026?level=easy

NorthPoint Development offered $10,000 to each of the 4,500 households in Hazle Township, Pennsylvania ($45m in total) if the township allows its data center, the first of 15 buildings planned on 1,300 acres in the Pocono foothills. Median household income is about $60,000, yet few residents interviewed want the project: noise, property values, distrust of developers and of AI. Retired teacher Jeff Fasnacht: '$10,000 doesn't match how much it's going to tank my property value.' Teacher Diana Spallone: '$10,000 would be nice.' Charlie Leshko: '$10,000 don't come along every day.' Carl Majusiak: 'we don't need that around here.' NorthPoint CMO Brent Miles says the idea answers 'what's in it for me?', plans another $120m over 15 years and says close to 100 skeptics were converted. The township rejected the project on zoning grounds last November; NorthPoint sued; a temporary moratorium is in place; Gov. Josh Shapiro banned NDAs between local governments and data-center companies. Organizer Ed Negra: people ask 'are they trying to bribe us here?' — HSK 2 level, 3:08. Key vocabulary: 公司 (gōngsī) — company; 地方 (dìfang) — place; 每 (měi) — every; 担心 (dānxīn) — to worry; 钱 (qián) — money. Grammar: 如果……，就…… — If…, then…; 想怎么 V，就怎么 V — However you like — do it the way you want.. Read along with the free interactive transcript — tap any word for instant pinyin and definition, toggle pinyin display, and read the full English translation. https://fluentide.com/episodes/hazle-township-data-center-10000-2026?level=easy

Funky Fidgets, a sensory-toy shop in Darlington, northern England, was founded by Alex at 11 during the covid-19 pandemic; she is now 16, studying accountancy, and the firm ships worldwide with 14 staff. Most orders come via TikTok Shop, which about 300,000 British small businesses use (most joined in the past year). Britain has taken to live commerce faster than its European neighbours as high streets decline; about 57% of Gen Z and Millennials watch shopping streams; a butcher 70km north says 60% of its TikTok customers are women aged 40-60. Funky Fidgets has half a million TikTok followers and four-hour Saturday queues, with customers from London and Edinburgh. Her mother Melissa Brunskill runs the shop day to day: 'I want to keep it as small as I can... She wants to have stores all over the world.' — HSK 2 level, 2:42. Key vocabulary: 孩子 (háizi) — child; 奇怪 (qíguài) — strange, surprising; 小时 (xiǎoshí) — hour; 手 (shǒu) — hand; 远 (yuǎn) — far. Grammar: 不但……，还…… — Not only…, but also…; 越……越好 — The more…, the better.. Read along with the free interactive transcript — tap any word for instant pinyin and definition, toggle pinyin display, and read the full English translation. https://fluentide.com/episodes/tiktok-shop-funky-fidgets-darlington-2026?level=easy

Northern Ireland's strict liquor licensing (a capped number of pub licences that must be bought from existing holders, often for six figures) means supermarkets struggle to sell alcohol. German discounter Lidl got around it by opening a pub, the Middle Ale, inside its new Belfast store: shoppers can drink and buy take-away alcohol; seats look like shopping trolleys, the menu is Lidl's own crisps, décor in Lidl colours. It draws crowds, including tourists; staff hired bouncers after busy nights and police were called to a fight on opening night. The stunt revived debate on liberalising the licensing law: nightlife advocates such as DJ/producer Holly Lester say the law stifles Belfast's electronic music scene; existing licence holders who paid large sums treat licences as retirement savings and oppose change. — HSK 2 level, 2:32. Key vocabulary: 超市 (chāoshì) — supermarket; 难 (nán) — difficult; 必须 (bìxū) — must; 贵 (guì) — expensive; 颜色 (yánsè) — colour. Grammar: 只能 + verb — Can only… — there is no other choice.; A，还是 B？ — A or B? — a choice question.. Read along with the free interactive transcript — tap any word for instant pinyin and definition, toggle pinyin display, and read the full English translation. https://fluentide.com/episodes/lidl-supermarket-pub-belfast-2026?level=easy

Profile of Belgian cyclist Remco Evenepoel (26, about 1.70 m and 63 kg), nicknamed the 'Aerobullet' for his extraordinary aerodynamics: short arms, squat thighs, rivals say drafting him is like riding into a headwind (Romain Bardet). He earns about $8 million a year, second only to Tadej Pogacar; spends more time than anyone in wind tunnels and velodromes, and his bike sponsor keeps a full-scale mannequin of him; aerodynamicist Dan Bigham says he treats it as an optimization problem. A youth footballer at PSV and Anderlecht who never made it ('Thank you for breaking me'), he won the 2022 Vuelta, two Tour de France podiums and 2024 Paris Olympic gold. At the 2026 World Championships in Montreal he won his fourth consecutive elite time-trial title on 20 Sept, 57 seconds ahead of Filippo Ganna. With Pogacar out after a crash, he was a favourite for the 27 Sept road race, but American Brandon McNulty won with a solo attack about 32 km out, 13 seconds ahead of Michael Matthews and Mathieu van der Poel — the first US men's road world title in 33 years. Evenepoel finished 12th. Known for a short temper: 'You speak and you forget.' — HSK 2 level, 3:05. Key vocabulary: 身体 (shēntǐ) — body; 最 (zuì) — most; 累 (lèi) — tired; 重要 (zhòngyào) — important; 觉得 (juéde) — to feel, think. Grammar: 越……，就越…… — The more…, the more…; 对……来说 — For / as far as X is concerned.. Read along with the free interactive transcript — tap any word for instant pinyin and definition, toggle pinyin display, and read the full English translation. https://fluentide.com/episodes/remco-evenepoel-aerobullet-worlds-2026?level=easy

The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (1943-1954, 12 seasons, 639 players) was forgotten until the 1992 film A League of Their Own; 22 players remain, almost all in their 90s. This summer seven alumnae were celebrated at Beyer Stadium in Rockford, Illinois (home of the Rockford Peaches) by hundreds of girls; Gloria 'Mac' McCloskey Rogers, 91, threw a ceremonial first pitch. The same weekend: Women's Baseball World Cup qualifiers (six nations incl. Australia, Brazil, South Korea) and Baseball for All's national tournament, nearly twice last year's size. Founder Justine Siegal, first woman to coach a men's pro team: 'We stand on your shoulders.' Mary 'Sis' Moore, 94: people assumed she'd played softball, so she stopped mentioning it; 'it's come so far but needs to still go further.' Women's baseball lags because girls were steered to softball; Olivia Pichardo became the first woman to pitch in NCAA Division I; the new Women's Professional Baseball League (4 teams, 68 players, 8-week season in Springfield) averaged under 2,000 tickets and faces an investor lawsuit it denies. Kat Williams wants a permanent center in Rockford: 'We need to have a home.' — HSK 2 level, 3:11. Key vocabulary: 电影 (diànyǐng) — movie; 电视 (diànshì) — television; 开始 (kāishǐ) — to begin; 高兴 (gāoxìng) — happy; 觉得 (juéde) — to think. Grammar: 越来越 + adjective — More and more (here: less and less interested).; 以为…… — To assume, usually wrongly.. Read along with the free interactive transcript — tap any word for instant pinyin and definition, toggle pinyin display, and read the full English translation. https://fluentide.com/episodes/womens-baseball-league-of-their-own-2026?level=easy