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THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, JUNE 10, 2012
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He’s tall, he’s hairy and you don’t want to run into him at night. And no, it’s not your dad going for a midnight snack. The creature we’re talking about is known by many different names, but the ones used most often are Bigfoot, Sasquatch, Yeti and of course, the abominable snowman! This creature has been a mystery for hundreds of years. But does he really exist? Sure, there have been sightings in just about every part of the world, ffrom rom m snowy Himalayas to Canada. But date, a creature fitting the deB ut to d scription has not been captured, so no scripti one really knows if they even exist! The legendary Bigfoot is a creaT ture thought to be living in the tu forests of the United States and fo Canada. Those who claim to see it C ssay it’s a large hairy ape-like creature, between 6 and 10 feet tall, tu weighing more than 500 pounds, and weig covered ccov overe in dark brown or dark reddish hair. Many believe that this animal, or h air. M its it ts clo cclose relatives, may be found around world the th ew wo under different regional names, as the Yeti of Tibet and Nepal and such suc ha Yowie the he Yo he ow of Australia. 1924, In 19 924 a man named Fred Beck claimed and that he a an n four other miners were attacked “apemen” throwing rocks at one night byy several s an area later called Ape Canyon. The their cabin n in in a incident was widely reported at the time supposed d inc incid d many but ma an nyy claimed claiiim that pranksters had harassed the cla men and
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planted fake footprints. Then, in 1958, large footprints were found by bulldozer operator Gerald Crew. The story was published in the Humboldt Times along with a photo of Crew holding one of the casts made of the footprint. Locals had been calling the unseen track-maker “Big Foot” which the Humboldt Times shortened to “Bigfoot”. The Yeti is the Asian cousin of Bigfoot and is said to be a humanlike monster whose tracks have been discovered in the Himalayan regions of India, Nepal and Tibet. According to locals, the Yeti is but one of several unidentified creatures that inhabit the highlands of southern Asia. The Yeti was first sighted in 1832 by B H Hodson. He described it as a hairy creature that had attacked his servants. The natives called the beast “rakshas”, which means “demon”. This was the first report of the Yeti made by a Westerner. Now most stories about the Yeti or even Bigfoot have always been about how they attacked someone, but in 1938, Captain d’Auvergne claimed that he was saved from death by a 9-foot-tall creature after he was injured while travelling on his own in the Himalayas. The creature resembled a pre-historic human which, after carrying him several miles to a cave, fed and nursed him until he was able to make his way back home. Stories like these also make scientists who study legendary animals (they’re called cryptozoologists) think that the Bigfoot may be a leftover type of human called a Neanderthal who managed to survive in far-off places! If you still think that these stories are made up then listen to this! In 1949, a Sherpa named Tenzing claimed to have seen a Yeti
playing in the snow near a monastery. This was the same Sherpa that accompanied Sir Edmund Hillary in the first successful ascent of Mount Everest. Sir Edmund himself has said that he had spotted giant footprints during his conquest of Everest. In 1960, Sir Edmund returned and led an expedition to search for the Yeti, but they didn’t find any trace of it. Disappointed, Hillary dismissed the Yeti as just a legend. Did you know that there have been reports of a Bigfoot like creature in Pakistan? The Barmanou is the Pakistani equivalent of the Bigfoot. This term is likely derived from the term Ban-Manus in Sanskrit, meaning ‘Man of the Forest’. The creature is thought to have both human and apelike characteristics and is said to abduct women. It is also reported to wear animal skins upon its back and head. The locals claim that the creature lives high up in the mountains of Kalash. There have been occasional sightings of the mysterious beast and many claim to have heard it roar. Lately, scientists have started looking for Bigfoot really seriously, and are starting to do DNA tests to find out once and for all if this mysterious guy even exists. They’re going to take what they think are pieces of Bigfoot’s hair and skin and test them to see if they’re human or not. In the meantime...be careful next time you’re climbing any mountains...you really DON’T want to step on Bigfoot’s foot!
THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, JUNE 10, 2012
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Yet another cousin of the Bigfoot, but this time from the land down under. Reports of an ape-like creature became popular throughout Australia, ever since European settlers first entered the continent. Before the coming of the settlers, Yowie sightings were made by the Aborigines and remembered in their folklore. An earlier name for the creature was ‘Yahoo’, which according to some accounts was an aborigine term meaning “devil” or “evil spirit.” In December 1979, a local couple ventured into the region for a quiet picnic. Suddenly, they came across the carcass of a mutilated kangaroo; also the creature responsible was only forty feet away. They described it as at least ten feet tall, and covered with hair. It stopped to stare back at them before finally disappearing into the brush.
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Chemosit The Chemosit is considered by some to be Africa’s Bigfoot, although it’s quite different from the regular Bigfoots. Reports of the creature are numerous, especially in east Kenya, and it is described as being as large as a man, with long reddish to yellow hair and a short broad tail. It sometimes goes on four legs and sometimes on two, and looks like a huge and very fierce baboon. It also climbs trees easily and attacks humans on sight, because human brains are apparently its favourite food!
Yeren This half-human, half-ape creature lives in the remote forests of central and southern China. It’s about six-and-a-half feet tall and is covered in thick brown or red hair and has a big belly and huge ears. The huge ears come in handy so that it can hear you approaching because this guy’s favourite food is…YOU! Yes, the Yeren likes to eat people, and when it meets its dinner, it grabs the person by the arms. Of course, it is also really dumb and when it catches someone, it gets so excited that it faints! Once it wakes up of course, it’ll kill you and eat you. This is why travelers in the mountains were advised to wear a pair of hollow bamboo cylinders on their arms. If a Yeren caught them, they could then, while the creature was asleep, slip their arms out of the cylinders and escape.
Mapinguari Brazil’s Bigfoot is probably the nastiest and scariest of all. It is fifteen feet tall, covered in bulletproof and arrow-proof hair, has one huge eye and stinks so much that it’s always followed by a cloud of flies! This creature is supposed to live in the rainforests of central Brazil where, in 1937, it went on a rampage and slaughtered over 100 cows by ripping them to pieces. But the most gross thing about this creature is that it has an extra mouth in the middle of its belly. When threatened it lets out a stink that smells like garlic, rotting meat and poop! Ewwww! The smell is so bad that even the strongest warriors have to run away and feel sick for days afterwards. ILLUSTRATION: JAMAL KHURSHID LAYOUT: SAMRA AAMIR
THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, JUNE 10, 2012
Activity Corner
4 String Phone Step back in time and use some old fashioned technology to make a string phone.
: d e d e e n s e Suppli • 2 paper cups • A sharp pencil or sewing needle to help poke holes • String (kite string and fishing lines work well) What’s happening? Speaking into the cup creates sound waves which are converted into vibrations at the bottom of the cup. The vibrations travel along the string and are converted back into sound waves at the other end so your friend can hear what you said.
Remember kids, always get permission from your parents before you start. It’s always a good idea to have a helper nearby.
Instructions:
Step 1
Cut a long piece of string, you can experiment with different lengths but perhaps 20 metres is a good place to start.
Poke a small hole in the bottom of each cup.
Step 3
Thread the string through each cup and tie knots at each end to stop it from pulling through the cup (alternatively you can use a paper clip or a similar small object to hold the string in place).
Move into position with you and a friend holding the cups at a distance that makes the string tight (making sure the string isn’t touching anything else).
Step 5
Step 2
Step 4
One person talks into the cup while the other puts the cup to their ear and listens.
THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, JUNE 10, 2012
World wide weird
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Get your weekly dose of the unusual and funny from across the globe!
Sailing in strawberry milkshake At first glance one would think that this unusually coloured lake looks like it has been a murder ground for marine life, their blood turning the water a light shade of red. For those of you who are faint hearted, imagine it to be a pool filled with strawberry milkshake. The bizarre looking Lake Retba, in Senegal, West Africa, has attracted much attention recently. The blood red colour is caused by high levels of salt — with some areas containing up to 40 per cent of it. Workers make their way to the lake daily in a bid to collect the mineral and piles of it can be seen on the banks of the African shores. Much like the the Dead Sea, swimmers lay back on the water, drifting with ease, as the salt content helps to aid floatation. If you can’t swim, you know where to head out this summer for a relaxing vacation. Michael Danson, an expert in extremophile bacteria from Bath University, said: ‘The strawberry colour is produced by salt-loving organism Dunaliella Salina. They produce a red pigment that absorbs and uses the energy of sunlight to create more energy, turning the water pink. Lakes like Retba and the Dead Sea, which have high salt concentrations, were once thought to be incompatible with life — hence the names. But they are very much alive.’ SOURCE: DAILYMAIL.CO.UK
Flying high Most people think twice before going trekking, let alone climbing a mountain and then jumping off it. But not Russian Valery Rozov who set a new world record with a leap from the top of Shiving, a 6,543metre mountain in the Indian Himalayas. After a 30-day expedition, including a six-day ascent, Rozov, 47, took off from a cliffside. Within seconds he hit speeds of 125mph. The Russian landed 2,200 metres further down on the glacier, just 90 seconds later. The other expedition members took three days to complete the descent. “This was my first project in the Himalayas,” said the two-time skydiving world champion after his record-breaking flight. “We had a few difficulties along the way, so I am really pleased that we were able to complete the jump successfully.” Mr Rosov is a superstar in base jumping, an extreme sport which involves jumping from cliffs, bridges, buildings and towers. His other breathtaking feats include jumping into an active volcano in Kamchatka, Eastern Russia in 2009 and from Ulvetanna Peak in the Antarctic in 2010, making him internationally famous. SOURCE: TELEGRAPH.CO.UK
An Ice Age moment If you’ve seen the Ice Age series, you are sure to be a fan of Ellie, the woolly mammoth. Unfortunately, one only gets to see the creatures in movies as they became extinct in the last few thousand years. Well, one lucky family got a closer look when they found mammoth bones in their backyard!! ABC 5 reported that a man named John and his sons were digging in their backyard two years ago when they found what appeared to be an enormous bone buried in the dirt. “I got down on my hands and knees on the bank and I could see a marrow line around the edge of this and I said ‘Boys, that’s a bone, that’s a really big bone’,” John told ABC 5. The family kept the discovery to themselves for two years, but then decided to enlist experts to help extract the rest of the mammoth skeleton. Researchers from the University of Iowa identified the original bone as the femur of a mammoth. Since then they have uncovered the mammoth’s vertebrae and ribs, all of which John keeps in his living room. SOURCE: FOXNEWS.COM
Restless Dead Confirming your worst fears, Bulgarian archaeologists say they have unearthed centuries-old skeletons pinned down through their chests with iron rods — a practice believed to stop the dead from becoming vampires. “These two skeletons stabbed with rods illustrate a practice common up until the first decade of the 20th century,” said National History Museum chief Bozhidar Dimitrov. He said that corpses were regularly treated in such a way before being buried in some parts of Bulgaria, even until the beginning of the last century. Widespread superstition led to iron rods being hammered through the chest bones and hearts of those who did evil during their lifetimes for fear they would return after death to feast on the blood of the living. According to Dimitrov, over 100 corpses stabbed to prevent them from becoming vampires have been discovered across Bulgaria over the years. “I do not know why an ordinary discovery like that has become so popular. Perhaps because of the mysteriousness of the word ‘vampire’,” he added. SOURCE: FOXNEWS.COM
THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, JUNE 10, 2012
Did you know?
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s n i g i r O Word Steal someone’s thunder Ever heard a friend claim “you stole my thunder” at a fancy dress party or after a theatrical performance? Since you aren’t exactly Zeus to do that, it is interesting to know where the phrase originated from. It came about after the English dramatist, John Dennis, invented nted a gadget for imitating the sound of thunder and introduced itt in a play in the early 1700s 1700s. Unfortunately, the play was a flop and soon after Dennis found out that another play in the same theatre was using his sound-effects device. He angrily exclaimed, “That is my thunder, by God; the villains will play my thunder, but not my play.” The story got around London, and the phrase grew out of it and effectively means drawing attention away from someone else’s achievement.
Crazy laws! In Vermont, a woman must get written permission from her husband to wear false teeth. In Los Angeles, it is illegal to bathe two babies in the same tub at the same time. In Oklahoma, it is against the law to have a sleeping donkey in your bathtub after 7pm. In Thailand, it is illegal to leave your house without your underwear on.
Cool facts A small child could swim through the veins of a blue whale. The total number of steps in the Eiffel Tower is 1665. The toothpaste ‘Colgate’ in Spanish translates to ‘go hang yourself’. Pirates wore earrings because they believed it improved their eyesight.
In California, it is illegal to keep a child from playing in puddles of water.
Los Angeles’ full name is “El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula.”
In Turkey, it is illegal for a man above 80 years to become a pilot.
It snowed in the Sahara desert for 30 minutes on 18th February 1979.
In Chicago, it is illegal for anyone to eat in a place that is on fire.
The first alarm clock could only ring at 4am.
In Pennsylvania, it is illegal to sleep on top of a refrigerator outdoors. In Ohio, it is against state law to get a fish drunk.
Slugs have four noses. Panphobia is the fear of everything ... which is a pretty unlucky phobia to have.
THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, JUNE 10, 2012
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Fun & games
Want to be hi five’s artist of the week?
Send your drawing with your name and age to: hifive@tribune.com.pk
THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, JUNE 10, 2012
The ice is melting so fast this polar bear might not make it back to shore. Can you help her through the maze and back to safety?
SOURCE:NETPLACES.COM
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