The Express Tribune hi five - August 16

THE

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IB U S TR PRES

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, 2015 ST 16

Your Proofness: Dilaira Dubash Master Storyteller: Hurmat Majid Creativity Analysts: Jamal Khurshid, Essa Malik, Talha Ahmed Khan, Mohsin Alam, Eesha Azam, Maryam Rashid, Hira Fareed and Umar Waqas

Summer and monsoon safety guide PAGE 2-3

The story of bread PAGE 4

Popsicle bookmark PAGE 6

Bread fritters PAGE 8

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, AUGUST 16, 2015

Hi light

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Summer is probably the liveliest season of all. With vacations and adventures brewing, kids around the world have a lot of fun during this season. But beware! Summers are also the season when the chances of getting ill are higher. Heat brings along with it ailments like heatstroke. Monsoon, on the other hand comes as a relief from constant hot spells. Rain brings new colour and brightness, but even that does not come free of disease and discomfort. The rainy season brings with itself many germs and bacteria. Thus, be it heat or rain, follow these steps to stay safe and healthy and enjoy the weather.

Summer Safety Sun protection With all the options in the market, picking a sunblock isn’t as easy as it used to be. Here are a couple things to look out when you’re buying sunscreen.

• Sunscreens use chemicals to absorb UV rays; sun blocks use minerals, such as titanium dioxide or zinc oxide, to physically deflect rays from the skin. These terms are often used interchangeably, so it’s a little confusing.

• Sunblocks are generally recommended for babies and children by pediatricians because they contain fewer chemicals.

SPF • Look for a sunscreen designed for children with an SPF of 15 or higher. If you have very fair skin, a family history of skin cancer, or conditions like lupus that increase sensitivity to sunlight, you should consider SPF 30 or higher.

• Avoid sunscreens with fragrances or preservatives if you have sensitive skin or allergies.

• Sunlight reflects off sand and water, intensifying UVR effects by up to 80%. If your skin gets dry, moisturising sunscreen formulas are a great idea.

Heat Protection It can take a person up to 14 days to get used to hot weather. Gradually increase outdoor time over a two-week period, taking breaks every 15 to 30 minutes during extreme weather.

Heatstroke is a condition caused by your body overheating, usually as a result of prolonged exposure to or physical exertion in high temperatures. If you are experiencing these symptoms, get help immediately.

Symptoms • • • •

A fever of 103oF or higher, but no sweating Hot, red, dry skin Rapid pulse Confusion

• • •

Dizziness Vomiting Restlessness

Take these measures in case you or someone around you is suffering from heat: • Get into shade or indoors.

• Remove excess clothing.

• Cool yourself down: Immerse in a tub of water or a cold shower; spray with a garden hose; sponge with cool water; fan while misting; place ice packs or cold wet towels on the armpits, groin, neck and head.

Dehydration Dehydration occurs when you use or lose more fluid than you take in, and your body doesn’t have enough water and other fluids to carry out its normal functions. Drinking more fluids can usually reverse mild to moderate dehydration, but severe dehydration needs immediate medical treatment.

Symptoms • • • •

Sleepiness Irritability Thirst Loss of skin elasticity

• • • •

Dry mouth Rapid heartbeat Rapid breathing Fever

AT THE BEACH Be wary of • Jellyfish stings • Stinging seaweed • Sand in eyes FIRST AID SUPPLIES: • Vinegar for jellyfish stings deactivates the stinging cells.

• Apply soap and water and then alcohol to rinse seaweed stings.

• Saline solution to clean out eyes.

IN THE BACKYARD Be wary of • Bug bites and stings • Plant pollen • Scrapes and cuts • Splinters • Ticks

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, AUGUST 16, 2015

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Hi light

Hygiene • • • • •

Don’t play in stagnent water When you come home, make sure you wash your hands and feet with clean water and soap.

It’s better to take a warm/hot water bath. You may add a little antiseptic or neem oil to the bath.

Towel dry yourself thoroughly; make sure you dry between the toes as well.

Keep nails short to avoid getting dirty.

Dressing •

FIRST AID SUPPLIES: • Topical calamine lotion, afterbite or hydrocortisone cream for mosquito bites.

• Tweezers, to remove the stinger.

• Antiseptic towelettes to clean out scrapes and cuts.

• Tick removal tip: Don’t use tweezers!

Use a card to scrape it away.

Monsoon Safety Food safety: Contaminated food might lead to jaundice or other water-borne diseases.

• Eating out, especially street food is a strict No! So no chaats, kulfi, sandwiches and fried items during monsoon season.

• While eating in restaurants, make sure you don’t eat cut fruits or salads.

• Wash all your fruits and vegetables before consuming them, especially leafy vegetables.

• Eat freshly cooked food.

• During monsoon months, the digestive system becomes weak. Hence, avoid spicy, fried and rich food. Instead concentrate more on light meals. Soups are light, nutritious and filling.

• Try to use more ginger in youe food as ginger has good digestive properties that are especially needed in this season.

• Drink plenty of water to keep your body well-hydrated. Boiled water with Tulsi leaves helps in fighting colds. Also, don’t drink tap water. When out, drink from a packaged water bottle.

SOURCE: SITTERCITY.COM

DESIGN BY EESHA AZAM What would you like to see in Hi Five? Send an email to hifive@tribune.com.pk and let us know!

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During monsoon season, the weather changes a lot. If it’s hot and humid, wear loose cotton clothes.

But when it rains, it becomes cold so wear warm clothes. You may even cover your arms and legs in order to prevent mosquito bites.

Never wear damp clothes. Damp clothes are more prone to mold, causing infections. Iron the clothes well in order remove the dampness.

Keep your shoes, socks and raincoats dry and clean.

HOME AND HYGIENE. • Use disinfectant while mopping the floor.

• Make sure there are no puddles or stagnant water pools near your home as they are a potential breeding ground for mosquitoes.

• Change the water for indoor plants and flower vases on a daily basis.

• Leave windows open often to air out your home.

• In extreme humid conditions, think of installing a dehumidifier at home. It creates a dry atmosphere.

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, AUGUST 16, 2015

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Fun facts about Koalas Koalas are native to Australia.

Q: Why did the opera singer go sailing?

A: Because she wanted to hit the high Cs

Koalas are not bears.

Koala fossils found in Australia have been estimated to 20 million years old.

Koalas eat eucalyptus leaves and almost nothing else.

Q: How does the ocean say hello?

A: It waves

The brain size of modern koalas has reduced substantially from their ancestors, possibly as an adaptation to the low energy they get from their diets.

Koalas have large noses that are coloured pink or black.

Q: Why did the sun go to school?

A: To get brighter

The closest living relative of the koala is the wombat.

Koalas have sharp claws which help them climb trees.

Outside of breeding seasons, koalas are quiet animals.

Q: How do hair stylists speed up their job?

A: They take short cuts

Koalas have similar fingerprints to humans.

A baby koala is called a ‘joey’.

Joeys live in their mother’s pouch for around six months and remain with them for another six months or so afterwards.

Q: What do you call a cow with no legs?

A: Ground beef

Legally koalas cannot be kept as pets.

Did you know?

The story of bread Bread, in all its various forms, is the most widely consumed food in the world. Not only is it an important source of carbohydrates, it’s also portable and compact, which helps to explain why it has been an integral part of our diet et for thousands of years. In fact, research suggests humans started baking bread at least 30,000 years ago.

Prehistoric man had already been making gruel from water and grains, so it was a small jump to starting cooking this mixture into a solid by frying it on stones.

A 2010 study by the National Academy of Sciences discovered traces of starch in the roots of cattails and ferns in prehistoric mortar and pestle-like rocks. The roots would have been peeled and dried before they were ground into flour and mixed with water. Finally, the paste would be cooked on heated rocks. But how did humansget from this prehistoric flatbread to a fluffy, grocery store loaf? There were three primary innovations that created “modern” bread.

Leavening Leavening is what makes bread rise into a light and fluffy loaf. Bread without leavening is a known as flatbread, and is the most closely related to mankind’s first breads. Examples include Middle Eastern pita, Indian naan and Central American tortillas. The most common leavening for bread is yeast. Yeast floats around in the air, looking for a nice place to make a home — like a starchy bowl of flour and water. The first leavened bread was likely the result of some passing yeast making a home in a bowl of gruel. The yeast began eating the sugars present in grain, and excreting carbon dioxide, producing bubbles that resulted in lighter, airier bread. Commercial yeast production dates back to the skilled bread makers of ancient Egypt around 300 BC. Refined Flour The earliest bread grains would have been ground by hand with rocks. This would have resulted in coarse, wholegrain bread — the descendants of which are dark, rustic breads from Europe, like pumpernickel. The Mesopotamians refined this process around 800 BC, using two flat, circular stones, stacked on top one another to grind the grain. These stones were continuously rotated by draft animals or slaves. This “milling” — which was the genesis for how we create flour today created smooth, finely ground flour that quickly became prized as a status symbol. The desire for the whitest, most refined bread continued through the modern era, and later advancements included the sifting of flour to remove the bran and the germ and the bleaching of the flour itself.

Mechanized Slicing For hundreds of years, the finest white breads were sold in whole loaves to be cut at home — like a French baguette or Italian ciabatta. The New York Public Library’s “Lunch” exhibit notes: “Nineteenth and early 20th-century cookbooks and magazines gave highly specific advice about lunchtime sandwich making. For ladies and children, the bread was supposed to be sliced very thinly and the crusts removed. For workers, thick slices with crusts were deemed more appropriate.” But in 1917, itinerant jeweler Otto Rohwedder created the first mechanized bread slicer. Initially, many companies were convinced that housewives wouldn’t be interested, and his bread-slicing machine wasn’t installed in a factory until 1928. However, within two years, 90% of store-bought bread was factory sliced. Progress led us to what was supposed to be the ideal loaf of bread: white, ultra-fluffy and pre-cut into even slices. This perfect bread was dubbed “American.” By this standard, Wonderbread should have been the last loaf of bread we ever needed. But modern science has uncovered the nutritional benefit of wholegrains, and more and more consumers prefer the toothsome texture and nutty taste of a rustic loaf.

SOURCE; HISTORY.COM

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, AUGUST 16, 2015

Get your weekly dose of unusual and funny news from across the globe!

Pluto’s mystery unraveled Tyler Glockner, who runs the Secureteam YouTube UFO channel, has released a video entitled: “Mysterious Pluto Anomalies Alien Ship or Dwarf Planet?” Regarding recent images of Pluto released by Nasa, he says, “What is going on with Pluto? I ask this after seeing the Nasa new New Horizons images. I am literally questioning whether this thing is actually a planet or something else. You can immediately make out anomalies — lines and structures.”

He pointed out four dark circular areas towards the bottom of the dwarf planet, which Nasa says are 300 miles each across. Even Nasa’s own experts are baffled by the astonishing regularity of the holes. Glockner goes further adding: “These are four perfect holes, sitting side by side. What other moon, plant or dwarf planet has such anomalies?

What is Nasa’s explanation? I can’t wait to hear it. They call it a dwarf planet, but I am not sure. This thing is very mysterious. I don’t think something is right here.”

Secureteam was behind the recent video appearing to show a code-shaped UFO descending to earth through the clouds, as revealed by several other UFO investigators have branded the channel’s videos as hoaxes, while Mr Glocker insists he is carrying out genuine research. EXPRESS.CO.UK

World wide weird

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Slippery encounter

Police officers have captured a five-foot snake on the loose in a public park. Metropolitan Police officers were called to King George’s Park in Wandsworth, South London, where the carpet python was found slithering along the edge of a fence.

In a series of tweets, Superintendent Steve Wallace revealed how a team of three officers snared the “slippery customer” on Monday night using a secure bag. He also shared a picture of Officer Faye Castleman posing boldly alongside the black and gold patterned python with its head raised. He said, “Slippery customer!

Pc Castleman attended King George’s Park yesterday — reports of large snake on the loose. Sargent Wainwright attended with a ballistic bag and handed it to Terry who captured the animal — safely delivered to Putney Animal Hospital.” MIRROR.CO.UK

Eggstraordinary An ordinary Sunday morning breakfast of eggs on toast turned into an adventure when a woman cracked open a quadruple-yolker. The odds of discovering a four-yolker are eleven billion to one. Jan Long, from Bromsberrow Heath, Gloucestershire, described the giant egg as a “mega monster”. It was almost three inches long, six inches in diameter and weighed nearly four ounces, around three times the size of a normal egg.

Ms Long, 63, said she spotted it when it was delivered to the shop where she works as a volunteer, where it dwarfed the other eggs. She paid £1.45 for a pack of half a dozen eggs with the giant included and shared it with husband Richard on toast for breakfast on Sunday morning.

“It was wonderful. I cooked it for my husband and it was delicious. I thought it tasted much richer than a normal egg. There was a much more powerful eggy taste. There were four yolks. An ostrich would have been proud of it.”

She said, “We had never seen anything that big before. Everyone in the shop was interested in it, but I’m quick off the mark. I had to have it.” Britain produces about ten billion chicken eggs annually but Ms Long’s is reckoned to be the only one of its huge size this year. Kevin Coles, of the British Egg Information Service, said, “The chances of an egg coming out with a double yolk are 0.1 per cent, so even finding a double yolk is quite unusual. To find a quadruple-yolker is, therefore, a very rare phenomenon indeed.” TELEGRAPH.CO.UK

Ghost town in Nevada Lest anyone forget, the drought in California and across the Southwest is still raging. And one of the places where its effects can be observed most clearly is Nevada’s Lake Mead. America’s largest reservoir has hit a series of troubling milestones over the past year, sinking to a record low in late June. Now, in the latest benchmark for the new Lake Mead, a town that flooded shortly after the completion of the Hoover Dam in 1938 has literally risen from the depths.

The ghost town — once called St. Thomas, Nevada — was founded as a Mormon settlement in 1865. But for nearly a century, it’s been uninhabited and uninhabitable, existing mostly as an underwater curiosity. The National Park Service has opened up a pathway from a parking area down to the ruins, which you’ll be able to visit for the foreseeable future. HUFFINGTONPOST.COM

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, AUGUST 16, 2015

Reading corner

6 Directions:

Materials:

• Cut a popsicle shape out of the craft paper and paint it the colour of your choice.

• Popsicle stick • White craft paper

• Let the paint dry completely.

• Red, orange and blue paint • Paint brushes • Liquid glue • Bold marker

• Using the bold marker write a quote on your popsicle.

• Spread glue on three quarters of your popsicle stick and carefully place your popsicle cutout on it.

• Let your bookmark dry before you put it between the pages of a book.

A good deed

By Ibrahim Laeeq Once upon a time there lived a boy named Aslam. He was very intelligent and always believed in telling the truth. Due to his immaculate personality he was loved and respected by all and sundry. One day he was late for school. As he was running to school, he found a 500 rupee note on the foot path. He picked it up and put it in his pocket. This was the first time that he had taken something which was not his. After procuring the 500 rupee note he saw his neighbour Bilal. He was searching for something. Aslam greeted him and he also greeted him back.

Bilal told him that he had lost 500 rupees. He asked him if he had found that note. Aslam denied seeing any kind of money. Overcome with fear and guilt, his whole body was quivering. This was the first time that Aslam had lied. Bilal was in such a hurry to find his note that he did not pay attention to his condition. He kept searching for his money. Aslam did not want to stay there. He ran to his school and reached just before the bell rang. That day in school he was not paying attention to his teacher or his studies. His thoughts kept on wandering to a particular hat that one of his classmates had gotten recently and had refused to share or show to Aslam. He thought that with the money that he had stolen he will get a hat just like that and show off to everyone.

He also conjured up ideas of going to the market and getting ice cream, pizza and his other favourite junk foods to enjoy. In the midst of his day dreaming he did not realize that the school bell had rung and school was finally over. He picked up his bag and ran towards his home. After reaching home he followed his usual routine, taking a shower, eating and then going to bed for an afternoon nap. Sleep was miles away, he kept tossing and turning in bed as his parents wouldn’t allow him to go out in the blistering afternoon sun. He wanted to spring right up and spend his newfound money according to his will. Finally after some time he was asleep. That particular slumber brought to him a dream that would change his life forever. In his dream he saw that the stolen 500 rupees that he had put on the desk flew away and fell onto the floor and the picture of Quaid-e-Azam printed on the note had come to life. Quaid-e-Azam was looking sad and disappointed. Immediately after looking at the great Quaid’s sadness he realized his mistake.

Quaid-e-Azam said “I am not angry at you as this is the first time you have stolen something and lied to someone. I know that you are a good boy. Boys like you will govern Pakistan someday. You will prove to the world that Pakistani kids are the best kids in the world.”As Quaid-e-Azam was saying this Aslam felt angry and remorseful over having done such a thing. Then his dream was over and he slept. He felt that someone was moving him. It was his mother she said, “Do you want to sleep all day today? Get up and do your homework.” When he woke up he saw that the 500 rupee note was lying on the desk. He jumped from his bed and ran outside. He saw his neighbor Bilal was coming back from the mosque. He give Bilal the 500 rupees and said, “I am sorry for stealing your note and lying to you. I will never do it again.” Bilal was surprised and grateful at the same time at Aslam’s honesty and he hugged Aslam with tears of joy. Aslam was filled with happiness that only good deeds can bring to a person and his face was gleaming with pride and joy. He saw Quaid-e-Azam smiling.

Share your short stories with us. Email them to hifive@tribune.com.pk

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, AUGUST 16, 2015

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Artwork

Mariam Maheen Winner

Zulqarnain

Noor-e-Hawa

Rubab Khalid Winner

Suhaira

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, AUGUST 16, 2015

Material

Ingredients: Bread Egg Milk Flour Salt Pepper Oil

4 slices 1, beaten 100 ml 5 tbsp To taste To taste For deep frying

• One small empty plastic soda or water bottle • Vinegar 1/2 cup • Small balloon • Baking soda • Funnel or piece of paper

Directions: • Carefully pour the vinegar into the bottle.

• Loosen up the balloon by stretching it a few times and then use the funnel to fill it a bit more than half way with baking soda. If you don’t have a funnel you can make one using the paper and some tape.

Method: • Cut each slice of bread into four triangles.

• In a bowl mix the egg, milk, flour and seasoning and beat well.

Add a little water to the mixture to make a thick batter.

• Ask an elder to heat oil in a deep pan.

• Under their supervision dip each triangle of bread into the batter and fry the pieces until they are golden brown.

• Serve with a dip.

Remember kids, always get permission from your parents before you start.

It’s always a good idea to have a helper nearby.

• Now carefully put the neck of the balloon all the way over the neck of the bottle without letting any baking soda into the bottle.

• Lift the balloon up so that the baking soda falls from the balloon into the bottle and mixes with the vinegar.

• Watch the fizz-inflator at work!

What is happening: The baking soda and the vinegar create an Acid-Base Reaction and the two chemicals work together to create a gas (carbon dioxide). Gasses need a lot of room to spread out and the carbon dioxide starts to fill the bottle, and then moves into the balloon to inflate it.

SOURCE: SCIENCEBOB.COM