The Express Tribune hi five - July 6

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Your Proofness: Sarah Munir Master Storyteller: Nudrat Kamal Creativity Analysts: Jamal Khurshid, Essa Malik, Samra Aamir, Talha Ahmed Khan, Munira Abbas, Omer Asim and Umar Waqas

Up In The C

LOUDS

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, JULY 6, 2014

Hi light

2 Up In The

CLOUDS

At some point in our lives, we have all wondered what it would be like to fly. Not the kind of flying where you are enclosed in an aeroplane, watching a movie as the plane takes you to whatever destination you choose. That kind of flying is not very adventurous. What fascinates us is the idea of truly flying, like birds do, with the wind in your face and your head in the clouds, soaring through the skies. And while we can never exactly fly like a bird, we can come pretty close with hot air balloon rides.

A hot air balloon consists of a huge bag called the envelope (the balloon) which is filled with heated air. Attached to the envelope is a wicker basket or a gondola which carries the passengers as well as a source of heat that is used to heat up the air in the balloon. If you’ve seen PIXAR’s animated film Up (2009), you will remember a huge house flying in the air tied to a million balloons. A hot air balloon is kind of like that, only instead of the millions of small balloons, there is one huge balloon. And instead of a house, there’s only a small basket which carries passengers.

The science behind hot air balloons So how does a hot air balloon rise up 2000 feet above the ground and stay floating in the air? It seems like a miracle, or at the very least a result of very complex and sophisticated mechanics and technology. In fact, hot air balloons work through the application of a very basic scientific principle — warm air rises in cooler air. Hot air is lighter than cool air because it has less mass per unit volume. Therefore, being lighter, the hot air automatically rises upward when it is surrounded by air which is cooler in temperature. But heating a small amount of air causes it to weigh only slightly less than it originally did. That is why a huge amount of air is needed to lift a whole hot air balloon.

To keep the balloon rising, you need to constantly reheat the air inside the envelope. Hot air balloons do this by placing burners under the open balloon envelope.

The air is heated by burning propane on these burners. The propane is kept in liquid form in cylinders that are placed inside the wicker basket.

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, JULY 6, 2014

Hi light

How to fly a hot air balloon You have to be skilled in order to pilot a hot air balloon, but the controls of the balloon are actually quite simple. There are essentially only two ways to control the movement of the hot air balloon: heat the air to make the balloon rise and vent out the hot air to make it sink. When the pilot pulls a cord attached to the balloon, some hot air can escape out of the envelope, decreasing the inner air temperature. And because cool air sinks, this causes the hot air balloon to descend down to earth.

But how does the pilot steer the balloon left to right? To manoeuvre the balloon horizontally, the pilot ascends or descends the balloon in height, catching different wind currents which then propel the balloon either towards the left or the right. But because the wind is something the pilot cannot control, it is impossible to steer a hot air balloon along an exact course. It is not like flying an aeroplane, where every movement of the plane can be controlled by the pilot. Flying a hot air balloon is more difficult because it requires the pilot to look at the wind conditions and make decisions on the spot.

3

The history of ballooning Hot air balloons are in fact the oldest form of air transport that man ever developed.

In 1783, 120 years before the Wright brothers invented and flew the first aeroplane in history, the world’s first passenger-carrying hot air balloon flew over France. The flight lasted for 10 minutes. But nobody could ask the passengers what the experience felt like, because these passengers were a sheep, a chicken and a duck. Once animals had successfully ridden a hot air balloon, human beings followed soon after.

In the same year, the French brothers Joseph and Jacquess Montgola as fier created a hot air balloon out of paper and silk which was z zier successfully ridden by two other Frenchmen, Pilatre de Rozier T and Francious Laurent, who were friends of the brothers. The balloon rose 500 feet above the rooftops of Paris and the ride lasted around 25 minutes. When the balloon landed in a vineyard outside Paris, local farmers thought it was a strange creature which had come from outer space, and they ran to destroy it with pitchforks. Luckily, Pilatre and Francious convinced them not to destroy it.

Envelope- To capture and hold hot air

What does a hot air a balloon ride feel like? k ke?

Burner- To heat the air B

Gondola- To hold passengers

Today, with such sophisticated ways of air travel having being developed, hot air balloons are only used for recreation and sightseeing, not as a means of getting from one place to another. But a hot air balloon ride is still one of the most exhilarating experiences.

Because the hot air balloon is travelling at roughly the same speed as the speed of the wind, you don’t feel any breeze blowing or pulling you away from the ground.

Instead, without the rushing winds you normally associate with high altitudes, a hot air balloon ride is like a calm, dreamlike gliding experience. It’s quiet and peaceful, and you can watch the sun race the clouds and the trees and houses and rivers grow smaller and smaller.

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

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, JULY 6, 2014

Activity

4 Jar Lid Fish Step 1

Step 2

Collect and clean several metal or plastic jar lids.

Take one jar lid. Create the fish’s round body by tracing around the lid onto coloured paper.

Step 3

Step 4

Supplies needed: • Jar lids (metal or plastic) • Coloured paper • Glue • Scissors • Pencil

Cut out the circle. The rest of the fish parts can be made from simple geometric shapes. Create the top and bottom fins (the orange ones on top) by cutting paper into a pair of right triangles. Make a tail (the pink one at the bottom) by cutting out an isosceles triangle, which has two equal sides. Cut out a smaller isosceles triangle to make the side fin. Lastly, cut out a small heart for the mouth.

Decorate the fish’s body any way you like: Draw with crayons, markers, oil pastels, or coloured pencils, paint with a brush or your finger, add sparkly lines and dots with glitter glue, cut out or punch out shapes and glue them on, or decorate with small stickers.

Step 5 Once all the paint and glue on the fish’s body has dried, flip the circle over so that the decorated side is facing down. Glue on the fins, tail, and mouth with their decorated sides facing down as well.

Step 6 Flip the fish over so that the decorated side is facing up.

Draw the eye. To close up your fish, apply white glue around the lid’s edges. Glue your paper fish onto the mouth of the lid. If you have a string on, align it to the top fin. Press on the edges to fix the fish in place.

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

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

SOURCE: FIRSTPALETTE.COM

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, JULY 6, 2014

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

Goldfish memory The idea that goldfish have a memory span of only three seconds is nothing but a myth, scientists have declared. In fact, goldfish might be much smarter than we thought. A study was recently conducted on African cichlids (a type of aquarium fish) in which the fish were trained to eat in a particular part of the tank. After a two–week break, the scientists discovered that the fish returned to the same spot in the tank to be fed again, proving that African cichlids have a memory span of at least two weeks. According to the researchers, this study shows that fish are actually quite brainy. Dr Trevor Hamilton of the MacEwan University, in Edmonton, Canada, who carried out the experiment, explained that this memory span gives the African cichlids an advantage over other species. “Fish that remember where food is located have an evolutionary advantage over those that don’t,” he said. METRO.CO.UK

World wide weird

5

A furry road trip buddy

A man travelling in his car for a 30-mile trip to his parent’s house had an unexpected road trip buddy: a small, stray kitten had somehow found a place to ride inside the engine compartment. Jim Michelotti says he heard meowing when he pulled over at a gas station during his road trip. The woman in the car next to him pointed out that the sound was coming from within his car, so he decided to check. With the help of a flashlight, Michelotti found the black kitten sitting on a bar between the engine and the firewall. It was just inches from the ground.

Michelotti says the kitten was scared and greasy, but otherwise okay. The kitten, which appeared to have been abandoned, had apparently hidden inside the engine compartment before Michelotti started his journey from his house in the Silicon Valley.

HUFFINGTONPOST.COM

Killer birds Birthday party crasher A bear recently crashed a boy’s birthday party in Alaska and helped himself to some birthday treats. The parents of the birthday boy said that the black bear fell through the skylight before the birthday festivities started. Glenn Merrill, father of one-year-old Jackson said he couldn’t believe what had happened when the bear appeared in the room. “I was literally in the room, and I heard this cracking. And the next thing you know, there’s this bear that, I mean, literally, fell right from (the skylight). It was like three feet away from me.” As everyone in the room ran out, the bear helped himself to the cupcakes laid out on the table, devouring every single one of them. Eventually, the family ushered the bear out of the house, but the bear was reluctant to leave the party even then. He stuck around and looked in through a window at the party inside. HUFFINGTONPOST.COM

The residents of the Scottish seaside town of Newhaven, near Edinburgh, are being attacked by increasingly violent seagulls. The birds have been harassing the townspeople to such a degree that they have begged local authorities to organise a cull, which involves killing the birds of a species. One terrified resident, Ellen Johnston, 57, explained how it affects her life: “I never leave the house without an umbrella and you can feel them bouncing off. At the moment one of their young has fallen off the roof, and we are getting attacked even more. They grab your hair and swoop so close.” Although the birds normally attack in pairs, there has been a sighting of five seagulls attacking just one victim. The residents of Newhaven have compared their experience with the murderous birds of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 thriller The Birds. Local authorities have not yet taken a decision to organise a cull. Instead, they provide advice to residents about how to deter the seagulls from nesting on their properties. METRO.CO.UK

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, JULY 6, 2014

6 Did you know?

Why do we cry?

It’s the first thing we do when we’re born. As soon as we come into the world, we open our tiny mouths and scrunch up our eyes and start to cry. But what function do our tears serve? Everything the human body does has a purpose. We sleep because our brain needs rest in order to function properly, we sneeze to get rid of the dust particles which try to enter our nose. Similarly, crying also has its purpose. In fact, crying has many benefits, and not just for the eyes. The human body can produce many different types of tears. Tears are produced in a small gland located on the corner of our eyes. The human body produces several types of tears. One type of tears is basal tears, which are produced throughout the day to protect the eye from drying. Depending on the size of the eye, the average human makes anywhere from just over one-half to just over one cup of basal tears every day. Another type of tears is reflex tears, which are produced in order to protect the eye from irritants like dust particles. The third and most interesting type of tears are emotional tears. Humans are the only species known to cry emotionally, and even emotional crying has many benefits. This type of crying helps remove stress-related hormones from our bodies, making us more relaxed. Studies also show that crying improves our moods, helps with healing, reduces levels of anger and boosts our immune system. So the next time someone calls you a cry-baby, tell them it’s just your body working its magic.

How to say ‘balloon’ in different languages

Cool facts Cheesecake was invented in Ancient Greece and served to athletes at the very first Olympic Games.

Albanian

:

Tullumbace

Basque

:

Puxika

Bosnian

:

Balon

Esperanto

:

Balono

An infant human has about 300 bones, some of which fuse together as the youngster grows up. An adult human’s body typically contains 206 bones.

Filipino

:

Lobo

King Louis XIV was so afraid of weapons that he ruled all pointed knives at dinner tables illegal.

Finnish

:

Ilmapallo

Galician

:

Globo

Hungarian

:

Léggömb

Icelandic

:

Blaðra

Italian

:

Palloncino

Malay

:

Belon

Portuguese

:

Balão

The antennae sticking out the head of a snail aren’t feelers; a snail’s eyes are located at the tips of those long stalks.

Orang means ‘man’ in Malay and hutan means ‘forest,’ so an orangutan is a ‘man of the forest.’

Depending on the time of year, the Earth’s distance from the Sun can vary more than three million miles.

Scientists believe heavy UV radiation has turned all the American flags on the moon white.

Light from the sun takes approximately eight minutes to reach the Earth.

While Antarctica is very cold, it’s not all ice and snow. About 1,200 square miles of the continent are made up of ‘dry valleys’ where mountains and ridges keep out any precipitation.

Spiders use their silk in many ways. Aside from building webs (which each spider does on its first try, suggesting inherited behavior), some species of male spiders wrap food in silk and offer these ‘presents’ to females.

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, JULY 6, 2014

7

Fun & games

Notable Entries for the Liberty Books Card Competition

Moinuddin Warsi

Atika Farheen Asghar

Anusha Shakeel Winner

Zainab Nasir Marium Javaid Winner

Books and Movies

by Faiza Rahman

Samosas made of seaweed Who isn’t a fan of samosas? Soft, spicy potato mash rolled together in the hot, crispy goodness of the fried crust. At other times, the filling is chicken mince, vegetables or even noodles! One never knows what could be inside. After all, the proof of a samosa lies in its eating – very like the pudding. But pudding, of course, lacks the surprise element.

Have you ever bit into a samosa and discovered the filling to be made of seaweed? No? Well, it so happens, that deep in the ocean, there is a little café run

by Battu the fish. The café is immensely popular in the underwater world and is

frequented by some of the most famous fish in the ocean, such as Dafli the Dolphin, Sammo the Salmon and Perry the Pomfret. One fine day, Battu, with the help of Mani (who is a little boy) decides to make samosas on the request of a new, scary patron – who happens to be an octopus. Mani steals some cucumber, corn, onion and ginger from the human world, chops it all up, and rolls lls it up in seaweed. As expected, the e octopus is pleased, and the recipe becomes comes an instant hit. To see the complete ete recipe of these interesting samosas, s, read “Seaweed ke samosay” by BookGroup. ookGroup ookGroup.

You will surely enjoy meeting g Mani, Battu and other friends of the ocean. an.

Do you have a favourite book that was made into a movie?

Write to us at hifive@tribune.com.pk and tell us all about it.

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, JULY 6, 2014

Make a hot air balloon bottle You will need: One empty 2-litre bottle, cap removed One round balloon (preferably larger than 5, see package for size) One sheet of paper towel

What to do: 1. Begin by filling the 2-litre bottle halfway with white vinegar. You can add a few drops of food colouring to the vinegar for a fun colourful look. The food colouring does not affect the reaction or play any other part aside from adding colour.

2. Cut or tear the paper towel into 4 equal pieces. Place one tablespoon of baking soda on the paper towel square.

3. Fold that square up burrito style. You want the baking soda to be inside so the reaction with the vinegar does not happen immediately, giving you time to add your balloon. But don’t wrap it too tightly.

One tablespoon baking soda One litre white vinegar

4. Drop the paper towel packet into the bottle and quickly add the balloon to the top of the bottle.

Food colouring (optional)

5. Watch as the balloon begins to fill with air as the vinegar penetrates the paper towel and reaches the baking soda.

What’s happening here: Sometimes when two chemicals come into contact with one another, a gas is produced as a result. This is what is happening in the above experiment. The acetic acid that is found in the vinegar reacts with sodium bicarbonate, a compound that’s present in baking soda, to form carbonic acid, which is a gas.

This gas then fills the balloon, making it swell, just like when you blow air into a balloon to blow it up.

SOURCE: KIXCEREAL.COM