The Express Tribune hi five - March 17

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THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, MARCH 17, 2013

Hi light

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ikings V

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, MARCH 17, 2013

Hi light

3 What comes to mind when you think of Vikings? Pointy hats with horns? Big scary warriors? Who exactly were the Vikings? How did they fight? And what about those hats?

Another name for Vikings is Norsemen. They were a seafaring people who came from three countries of Scandinavia: Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The name ‘Viking’ comes from a language called ‘Old Norse’ and means ‘a pirate raid’. People who went off raiding in ships were said to be ‘going Viking’. Some went to fight and steal treasure; others settled in new lands as farmers, craftsmen or traders.

The Vikings were so terrifying that the people who lived in Britain came up with a prayer: “from the fury of the northmen O Lord deliver us”.

Ships The Vikings built fast ships for raiding and war. These ships were ‘dragon-ships’ or ‘longships’. Viking longships could sail in shallow water. So they could travel up rivers as well as across the sea. In a raid, a ship could be hauled up on a beach. The Vikings could jump out and start fighting, and then make a quick getaway if they were chased. Imagine waking up in the morning and seeing the Viking longships coming down the river. What made them even scarier were the frightening figureheads on the front of their ships.

Battles and tactics Vikings were trained to use weapons when they were really young. They also learnt how to hunt, play sports and carry out raids. If a young Viking wanted to be a warrior, he would have to join the armies of the famous leaders. If he fought hard, he would soon be rewarded with weapons and fame.

When the Vikings entered the battlefield, the younger warriors would draw up in line and make a wall with their shields. Battle then began by throwing a spear over the enemy line to dedicate them to Odin, their most powerful god, and this was followed by a shower of spears, arrows and other missiles. If this was not enough to decide the outcome, the Vikings would try to capture or kill as many enemy leaders as possible.

Ever wondered where the word ‘berserk’ comes from? Berserkers were terrifying Viking warriors who wore bear or wolf skins and howled in battle like wild animals!

They believed that their gods would give them both protection and superhuman powers so they had no need of armour. They would work themselves into a battle frenzy so intense that they could even ignore the pain of wounds.

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Weapons The Vikings fought using long swords and axes. A good sword was handed down from father to son, but Vikings also buried weapons with their owner when he died.

The spear was the most common weapon and skilled spearsmen are said to have been able to throw two spears at once using both hands, or even to catch a spear in flight and hurl it back! Swords were very costly to make so they were a sign of high status. Viking craftsmen often decorated the sword and even gave them names, such as Leg-biter and Gold-hilt.

For defence, the Vikings used to use circular shields. They were made of wooden boards and would be painted with patterns or mythological scenes and heroes.

One of the strongest Viking myths is related to the Viking helmets. Contrary to belief, the Viking helmets did not have horns. That’s not to say that the Viking’s helmets were not cool, the helmets used to have a spectacles-like visor, an iron dome and a spike on the crown!

A Viking saying was, “Never leave your weapons behind when you go to work in the fields - you may need them”.

Viking Facts • Did you know that when the Vikings invaded Britain, they brought another group of invaders: mice.

When the Vikings set sail for the British Isles they had the small, furry stowaways aboard their ships.

• Did you know that Fenrir Grayback, the werewolf in the Harry Potter books, was named after a ferocious giant wolf from ancient Viking mythology?

• When important Vikings died, they would be placed with all their clothes, jewellery, even their animals, in a burial ship. This would either be covered with a huge mound of earth or set alight and pushed out to sea.

• Did you know that the word ‘window’ came from the Vikings? The word came into the English language after the Vikings raided and conquered parts of Britain. A vindauga, which means ‘eye of the wind,’ was a hole in a Viking house to let in air. This gave us our English word window.

• Around 500 years before Christopher Columbus discovered the American continent, the Viking Leif Eriksson visited its shores. He called it Vinland, or the “land of the grapes.” In fact, archaeologists have even found Viking weapons and tools in Newfoundland, Canada.

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, MARCH 17, 2013

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How to make colourful origami butterflies!

Butterflies are brilliant and wonderful little creatures, and Pakistan needs a lot more of them flying around! That’s why ToffeeTV’s Ayesha Mehmood is showing us how to make an origami butterfly out of paper! Remember, the more colorful paper you use, the more beautiful and vibrant your butterflies will be!

: d e d e e n s ie l p p u S

Instructions:

• Sheets of colourful card paper

1. Take a square sheet of paper. Fold it down the center, creasing it both ways. Unfold and turnover.

2. Hold the paper by the opposite edges and fold diagonally. Be sure to crease both sides.

3. Hold the lower edges and take them towards the ‘peak’. Be sure to crease this.

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4. Take the portion that is underneath, and fold it downwards.

5. Turn the butterfly over.

6. Fold the corner past the edge.

7. Fold along the centre line.

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8. Butterfly is ready. Enjoy!

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THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, MARCH 17, 2013

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

Ancient spider attack This is the only fossil ever discovered that shows a spider attacking prey in its web. Preserved in amber, it’s about a 100 million years old.

The extraordinarily rare fossil is in a piece of amber that preserved this event in remarkable detail.

George Poinar, Jr, a professor of zoology at Oregon State University and world expert on insects trapped in amber, outlined the finding in a study published in the journal Historical Biology.

Poinar said: “This was a male wasp that suddenly found itself trapped in a spider web. This was the wasp’s worst nightmare, and it never ended. The wasp was watching the spider just as it was about to be attacked, when tree resin flowed over and captured both of them.”

The tree resin that forms amber is renowned for its ability to flow over insects, small plants and other life forms, preserving them in near perfection before it later turns into a semi-precious stone. It often gives scientists a look into the biology of the distant past.

This spider, which may have been waiting patiently for hours to capture some prey, was smothered in resin just a split second before its attack.

Both the spider and wasp species are today extinct. SOURCE: EARTHSKY.ORG

World wide weird

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Danger diabolical dolphins

If you’re swimming in the Black Sea, beware of dolphins with weapons strapped to their heads.

Dolphin scientist Justin Gregg brings us this slightly disturbing, if hilarious, bit of Delphic news.

The Ukrainian military has apparently lost three of its trained dolphins in the Black Sea. Well, Gregg sets it up perfectly: “The Ukrainian Navy has a small problem on their hands. After rebooting the Soviet Union’s marine mammal program just last year with the goal of teaching dolphins to find underwater mines and kill enemy divers, three of the Ukrainian military’s new recruits have gone absent without leave. Apparently they swam away from their trainers ostensibly in search of a ‘mate’ out in open waters. It might not be such a big deal except that these dolphins have been trained to attack enemy combat swimmers using special knives or pistols fixed to their heads.”

Who would not want to watch the film adaptation of this story? It’d sort of be like Free Willy meets Rambo.

The Ukrainian navy’s dolphin program has a long pedigree. The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists noted that trainers there inherited the Soviet military’s 70 trained dolphins after the Soviet Union collapsed. Some of them were retrained to help with child therapy and other civilian tasks. The others? Well... SOURCE: THEATLANTIC.COM

Yummy paint

Lost and found — 40 years later

A German food company has invented the world’s first edible spray paint for people wanting to give meals a splash of colour.

The cans, called ‘Food Finish’, come in gold, silver, red and blue, and can be bought online. The spray paint has no taste by itself and can be applied on any item of food to offer a quirky alternative to regular meals.

To give food a makeover, cooking enthusiasts must spray the paint layer by layer and wait for it to dry to enjoy the perfect finish.

The unique idea was created by German food company The Deli Garage.

Project manager Kaya-Line Knust said: “We love to invent and produce products that are fun for both us and our customers. We develop hundreds of ideas for new food products, but only a few of those product ideas can be created and placed onto the market. And I’m thrilled that the spray food is one of the ideas that made it.” SOURCE: WEB.ORANGE.CO.UK

A Georgian resident, who lost his class ring 40 years ago, found it again via Facebook.

Richard Hale lost his prized ring in 1972, when he was a recent high school graduate.

Hale initially gave the ring to his now-wife Betty Ann to wear. “I was scared I was going to lose it, so I gave it back to him, and he loses it,” she said.

Hale said he accidentally tossed the ring from his car in 1972 and hadn’t seen it since.

His brother apparently saw the ring on Facebook and passed on the information to Hale.

Ellen Ramey had found it all those years ago. She said that she had always hoped to get the ring back to its owner. “My mother had a class ring,” Ramey said. “I wore it to school and lost it, and it just stayed in my mind that it was important that these people get their ring back.” SOURCE: DAILYMAIL.CO.UK

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, MARCH 17, 2013

Did you know?

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s n i g i r O d r o W Mouse The word ‘mouse’ comes from the Sanskrit word, “musuka”, which in turn comes from the Sanskrit “mus” meaning “thief” or “robber”, probably because mice steal food.

The Ancient Romans then used the word “mus” to refer to rodents and would distinguish between mice and rats only by “big” and “little” (“Mus Maximus”, big mouse, and “Mus Minimus”, little mouse).

The word “mouse” eventually was adopted to refer to a computer pointing device in the 1960s. Bill English and Douglas Engelbart named the pointing device a “mouse” because the original device had the cord coming out of the back of the mouse, which they thought resembled a tail. In addition to naming the device a mouse, they also named the cursor a “bug”, but this latter name for a cursor never caught on like “mouse” did.

How to say 'Long time no see' in different languages!

Basque Corsican Croatian Dutch Esperanto Fijian German Greenlandic Hausa Indonesian Italian Japanese Korean Latin Lithuanian Macedonian Malay Malayalam Norwegian Portuguese Russian Shona

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Aspaldiko!

Face un pezzu Dugo se nismo vidjeli Lang niet gezien Dum longa tempo mi ne vidis vin Sa dede da sega ni sota Lange nicht gesehen! (see) Qangali takugakkit Kwana biyu Lama tidak berjumpa Quanto tempo! hisashiburi orenmanida Quantum tempus!

Ilgai nematytas Dolgo ne sme se videle Sudah lama tidak berjumpa valarenalayi kandittu Lenge siden sist!

Quanto tempo!

Davno ne videlis’ Ko, vemakore!

Cool facts The body has 2-3 million sweat glands.

Sperm whales have the biggest brains; 20 lbs.

Most cats are left pawed.

250 people have fallen off the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

A Blue whale’s tongue weighs more than an elephant.

You use 14 muscles to smile and 43 to frown. Keep smiling!

Bamboo can grow up to 3 ft in 24 hours.

An eyeball weighs about 1 ounce.

It takes about 20 seconds for a red blood cell to circle the whole body.

It’s been proven that people can lessen reactions to allergies by laughing.

Laughing lowers levels of stress hormones and strengthens the immune system.

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, MARCH 17, 2013

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Fun & games

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Send your drawing with your name and age to: hifive@tribune. com.pk

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, MARCH 17, 2013

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