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d games Ancient boar PAGE 2-3
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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, Nabeel Khan and Umar Waqas
THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, NOVEMBER 1, 2015
Hi light
2
Have you ever wondered where the idea of games and sports came from? It is as old as human civilisation. Without a threat to defend themselves against, and a hunger to satiate, humans needed some form of entertainment to keep boredom at bay. Soon humans found a way to keep their minds occupied in the form of games and as time passed these activities began getting elaborate and diversified into different fields. This week we give you a look at what ancient board games were like.
The Royal Game of Ur is the oldest-known board game for which the original rules survive. The oldest sets were discovered in Iraq in the 1920s, these sets date back to around 2600 B.C. The Royal Game of Ur is a race game, in which one throws the dice to move one’s pawns towards the goal. The game had been thought long-dead until game enthusiast Irving Finkel, who had poetically discovered the game’s rules carved into an ancient stone tablet, stumbled upon a surprising photograph of a game board from modern India. A small amount of detective work later, Finkel met a retired schoolteacher who had played what was basically the same game as a youngster—making this the game that has been played for longer than any other in the history of the world.
Mancala refers to a family of games with the same basic method of play. Known as count-and-capture games, there is some evidence to suggest that they may be the earliest games played—predating even The Royal Game of Ur but further verification is needed. To play the game, all you need is a patch of soft ground and a handful of seeds or pebbles. Rows of holes are dug alongside one another, and players distribute counters one at a time in a path round the board. There are a number of goals; but the key to victory in every version is basically to count really fast. Mancala was little-known in Europe and America until relatively recently. A report from the Smithsonian Institute described it as the “national game of Africa.”
Wei-qi or Go enjoys a special place in board game history, because not only is it one of the oldest games known, it has kept essentially the same rules for longer than any other board game out there. After its origins in China perhaps as far back as 2,300 BC Wei-qi spread into Korea in the Second Century, where it was called Pa-tok, now Baduk or Badug, and finally, when it traveled to Japan via trade routes sometime around the year 700 A.D. -- it developed into a most sophisticated game unlike just about any other class of games -- and the rules have not varied significantly since that time. It later became the base for other games like draft and checkers. Because Go is really a game about capturing territory, it falls outside all the usual classifications of games: alignment games, war games, capture games, hunt games, race games -- though it has hints of some of these in it. Though capture is a part of Go, and it is often considered a war game, capture is just one aspect, and it is not so much about aspects of war (generals and soldiers and war equipment) as it is about defining who owns what spaces on the board. The pieces have no differing powers at all -- they simply serve to mark the borders of territory.
THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, NOVEMBER 1, 2015
3 The Sixteenth Century Indian game of Vaikuntapaali or Leela, was a tool for teaching morality and spirituality. It was the game that went on to be launched as Chutes and Ladders in America and Snakes and Ladders elsewhere. In the original version, the climbing of a ladder was supposed to show players the value of good deeds in the search for enlightenment; the chutes or snakes were meant to show that vices such as theft and murder would bring spiritual harm to the sinner. The Victorians altered the moral teachings when they brought the game to England in the late Nineteenth Century.By the time Milton Bradley brought it to America in 1943, all anyone really wanted was a bit of distraction and so the game became what it remains today, a basic race to the finish rather than a lesson in morality.
Hi light
The Landlord’s Game was invented in 1903 by Maryland actress Lizzie Magie. The game board consisted of a square track, with a row of properties around the outside that players could buy. The game board had four railroads, two utilities, a jail, and a corner named ‘Labor Upon Mother Earth Produces Wages,’ which earned players $100 each time they passed it. This should all sound quite familiar: the fact is, The Landlord’s Game was patented three decades before Charles Darrow ‘invented’ Monopoly and sold it to Parker Brothers. The Landlord’s Game—later known as Prosperity—was intended to illustrate the social injustice created by land ownership and “rent poverty.” It also offered a solution to this injustice: players could opt to have rent from properties they owned paid into a communal pot, which would then be shared out, making things better for everyone. The great irony of the story is that when the idea was stolen by Darrow, the prosperity-for-all ideal was removed completely—and the game that went on to be played by more than one billion people ended up encouraging them to make their opponents bankrupt.
Chaturanga is a game that deserves to be known, if only because of its enormous legacy: Chess. There are few games as widely known as chess. Chess became an extension of the Cold War in 1972; it has ousted all contenders in Europe for the title of ‘Game of Kings’—and the western game is not alone. The Chinese have Xiangqi, the Japanese play Shogi, and there are equivalents in Korea, Thailand and India. Chess is sometimes used as an analogy for life itself, and in the popular mind it is a symbol of genius. Chaturanga—which dates from as far back as the Seventh Century AD — is the common ancestor of all the modern versions of chess. The board and most pieces are the same, though the exact rules are sadly forgotten. But it seems that the creators of Chaturanga hit upon the formula that would go on to spread the game throughout the world: The pure battle of skill and the resemblance to real life.
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DESIGN BY HIRA FAREED
THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, NOVEMBER 1, 2015
4 Q: Why couldn’t the athlete listen to her music? A: Because she broke the record
Facts about Oranges In 1873, three citrus plants were brought from Brazil and then planted in Riverside, California. Brazil is the largest citrus producing country in the world with production of 17.8 million tons per year. A single seed of orange wil yield multiple plants.
Q: What type of music are balloons scared of? A: Pop music
Citrus fruit will never rot before it is plucked from the tree. Oranges that have been cooked in a tree for too long can change colour from orange to green. This event is called re-greening and affects only the color, while the quality or taste remains.
Q: What makes music on your head? A: A head band
In addition to Vitamin C, citrus fruits were also contains calcium, potassium, vitamins A and B-complex along with antioxidants. Orange juice is the world’s most popular juice. Oranges, however, rank fourth in terms of popularity.
Q: What part of the turkey is musical? A: The drumstick
Oranges and orange blossoms are a symbol of love. More orange trees are killed by lightning than plant diseases.
Q: What has forty feet and sings? A: The school choir
Oranges were known as the fruits of the Gods. They were often referred as the ‘golden apples’ that Hercules stole in Greek mythology. There are over 35,000,000 orange trees in Spain.
? w o n k u o y Did The Honduran white bat The Honduran white bat Ectophylla alba is a species of bat that resides in Honduras, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and western areas of Panama. This species prefers to live in rainforests and groves, but it can also be found roosting in hollow trees or abandoned manmade structures. One of the Honduran white bat’s most unique features is that it can modify its surroundings to create roosting sites. It will use the leaf of the heliconia plant to create a tent by cutting the veins that extend from the midrib down the sides of the leaf. Typically, about six bats will roost in these tents, although larger groupings have been found. Groupings of these bats are referred to as colonies or clouds. The Honduran white bat reaches a size of one to two inches and typically weighs just 0.2 ounces. This small bat is white or greyish in colour, and its ears and nose are yellow to orange. It is thought that this colouration allows the bats to blend in with the leaves they roost under when the sun hits them at the right angle. The Honduran white bat is one of two known species to have a white colouration, with other species holding only some white or other lighter colours. Females of this species will give birth during the spring months to one pup. Unlike other bat species that create tents, this species will not be disturbed by light movements of the leaf, like a human gently looking underneath it. However, if the stem of the leaf is disturbed, the bats will become alarmed. Although it is currently listed as Near Threatened on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, it is thought that the Honduran white bat could become threatened in the near future and could be re-evaluated under new IUCN criteria. SOURCE: STEAMREGISTER.COM/
THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, NOVEMBER 1, 2015
World wide weird
5
Get your weekly dose of unusual and funny news from across the globe!
Tea wars Brian Keating says the US knows best and Britain will soon be overtaken as the go-to country for guidance on the perfect beverage. His book How To Make Tea: The Science Behind The Leaf offers a 34-page illustrated guide covering everything from filling the kettle to pouring properly. Britons drink 165 million cups of tea a day, but the British Science Association claims they get it wrong. A survey found 80 per cent were unaware of tea’s optimum brewing time of two to five minutes. Bill Gorman of the UK Tea and Infusions Association said he was unsure if the book would see success in the UK. He said, “Ask 100 Britons how they like their tea and you’ll probably get 50 different views. There are differences even in my office at the centre of the British tea industry.” EXPRESS.CO.UK
Ancient shark tooth
A giant shark’s tooth measuring the size of an adult hand washed up on a beach. The fossilised denture, found on the Topsail Beach in North Carolina, is thought to be from the giant ancient shark, the Megalodon. The prehistoric shark roamed the oceans 15 million years ago. The Aurora Fossil Museum says that the fossils had been disturbed and then swept ashore. By comparing today’s sharks and the length of their teeth , they estimate one inch of a tooth’s length is equal to ten feet in length, which would make a six-inch long tooth belong to a Megalodon around 60 feet long. The name Megalodon, which means ‘big tooth’ in Ancient Greek, was first given in 1843 by Swiss-born biologist Louis Aggasiz. Other teeth which have been found suggest that the creature may have weighed 70 to 100 tons — up to 30 times as much as the Great White Shark. MIRROR.CO.UK
Fried rice record dumped by Gunnies
Get meow-t
Organisers of a world record attempt to make the largest ever bowl of fried rice got disqualified because it wasn’t edible. On Thursday 22nd of November, 300 chefs in the eastern Chinese city of Yangzhou made a bowl of fried rice that weighed in at nearly 9,242 pounds. The group’s goal was to break the current Guinness world record of 6,944 pounds, set Septe. 27, 2014, by the Turkey Culinary Federation in Bolu, Turkey. Although the organisers got a Guinness certificate at the unveiling, participants ended up with egg in their faces a short time later. The fried rice record attempt was seasoned with controversy after witnesses posted videos of workers stepping on the rice in order to shovel the starch into a dump truck after the attempt. Viewers who saw the clips slammed the organisers for wasting food. However, officials with the Yangzhou Cuisine Association, the event’s co-organiser, said only the top layer of rice was discarded because it was not sanitary. Organisers stress the walked-on rice was not thrown away but sent to farms to feed animals. HUFFINGTONPOST.COM
A kitten had a lucky escape after being found 150ft underground in an electricity pipe after workers heard her desperate mewing — just before the pipe was due to be covered over. The six-month-old kitten was rescued by an electrical maintenance crew deep underground as they worked on a threemile long electricity pipe in St John’s Wood in north London. They picked up the terrified little kitten and took her back to the surface and placed her in the care of nearby Mayhew Animal Home. Nobody has any idea how the black and white kitten got down so far, but she is believed to have slid down the huge pipe after sneaking into a former Royal Mail sorting office in St John’s Wood. It is believed she sneaked out of her owner’s home in St John’s Wood sometime on October 11 before falling down the pipe — where she is believed to have been stuck until October 14 when she was rescued. Workers said she was lucky as the wires running along the pipe were not live as it was undergoing maintenance — otherwise she would have been electrocuted. TELEGRAPH.CO.UK
Treasure Hunt The Adventures of Tin Tin Having bought a model ship, the Unicorn, for a pound off a market stall, Tintin is initially puzzled that the sinister Mr. Sakharine should be so eager to buy it from him, resorting to murder and kidnapping Tintin — accompanied by his marvellous dog Snowy — to join him and his gang as they sail to Morocco on an old cargo ship. Sakharine has bribed the crew to revolt against the ship’s master, drunken Captain Haddock, but Tintin, Snowy and Haddock escape, arriving in Morocco at the court of a sheikh, who also has a model of the Unicorn. Haddock tells Tintin that over three hundred years earlier his ancestor Sir Francis Haddock was forced to scuttle the original Unicorn when attacked by a piratical forebear of Sakharine, but he managed to save his treasure and provide clues to its location in three separate scrolls, all of which were secreted in models of the Unicorn. Tintin and Sakharine have one each and the villain intends to procure the third very soon. With aid from bumbling Interpol agents the Thompson Twins, our boy hero, his dog and the captain must prevent Sakharine from obtaining all three scrolls to fulfil the prophesy that only the last of the Haddocks can discover the treasure’s whereabouts. Treasure Planet As futuristic take on Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, Treasure Planet follows restless teen Jim Hawkins on a fantastic journey across the universe as cabin boy aboard a majestic space galleon. Befriended by the ship’s charismatic cyborg cook, John Silver, Jim blossoms under his guidance and shows the makings of a fine shipmate as he and the alien crew battle a supernova, a black hole, and a ferocious space storm. But even greater dangers lie ahead when Jim discovers that his trusted friend Silver is actually a scheming pirate with mutiny on his mind.
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THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, NOVEMBER 1, 2015
Reading corner
6 Directions:
Materials:
• Paper plate
• Create the feather markings in middle of the plate.
• Coloured markers
• Fold the paper plate as shown in the picture and colour the feathers.
• Yellow and brown craft paper
• Cut two large circles out of the yellow craft paper to make eyes and paste them on the plate. • Cut two crown shapes out of brown craft paper to make feet and a triangle shape to make the nose. • Paste them upside down onto the plate.
Around the world My Chicago summer By Mahnaz Mir
This summer I had the amazing opportunity to have visited Chicago and experience one of the most colourful cities I have ever been to. Chicago is a city in the state of Illinois. All of Chicago is so lush and green that one feels like they are in a picture book for a while. The landscape of the entire city is a remedy for sore eyes since every house owner is supposed to landscape their front yards with plants, trees, stones, fountains, rocks and anything else that they can afford. Chicago is sub-divided into smaller counties like Naperville, Hyde Park, Cook County etc. Downtown Chicago is considered the main city. I went to downtown Chicago to spend a whole day at the Shedd Aquarium. That place houses fish from all over the world. There are sections for each continent. My favourite were the Coral Reefs from Australia and the tiny glittery fish from the Carribean. However, what I am never ever going to forget is that, the aquarium allowed kids to pet the stingrays. I will always remember the soft velvety touch of the sting ray and how the jelly fish turned themselves neon when the lights were out. Chicago has many nicknames -- its called ‘the city of lakes’ because there is a lake after every five miles or so, adding to the beauty of the landscape, ‘the windy city,’ because it keeps blowing cool breeze even in the middle of a scorching sunny afternoon and ‘chi-beria’ because of how cold it gets in the snowy winters. I like ‘the city of lakes’ the best. Although my family and I all are nature-lovers, there is a wonderful urban side to Chicago as well. Anyone visiting Chicago has to visit one of its many bowling alleys. We had a kids tournament and I stood third while my sister took the first spot. Not bad, when you consider we were bowling for the first time. There are many indoor skating rinks too that are crowded during summer and winter since the temperature drops to lower than -40 degrees in the winter. Every county has its own police force, natural spring water, electricity production system and their own local government. Smaller areas make management easier and more efficient. I was surprised to see many old people all around me. Especially in parks, restaurants, swimming pools etc. I was told they were retired people and they could live without paying taxes, medical bills or even utility bills. There were special cabs that they could call to be dropped off anywhere for free. They could live in old people’s homes or their own. So all they had to worry about just what to eat and most of them would just eat out. Chicago is worth visiting as it has attractions for everyone.
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THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, NOVEMBER 1, 2015
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Artwork
Syed Sharib Ahmed Winner M Asim
Fabiha
Alishbah
Afsha Naz Winner
THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, NOVEMBER 1, 2015
Ingredients: Cocoa powder
2 tbsp
Sugar
2 tbsp
Salt
A pinch
Milk
1 cup
Vanilla essence
2 drops
Cinnamon powder
For garnish
Material
• Cabbage leaves • Red, green blue and yellow food colours • Water • Four jars Directions: • Add some water to each jar. • Add a different coloured food dye to each jar. Use about 10 drops per jar to make sure the water is nice and vibrant. • Add a cabbage leaf to each jar and check back every half hour to see the changes. • Record your findings about each jar on a notepad. • See which colour catches more quickly than the others and which is the slowest.
Method: • In a large mug mix the cocoa powder, sugar and salt with a couple of tablespoons of milk. • In a pan bring the rest of the milk up to a boil. • Turn the stove off and add the vanilla essence to the milk. • Carefully pour the milk into the mug and mix together. • Garnish with cinnamon powder.
Remember kids, always get permission from your parents before you start. It’s always a good idea to have a helper nearby.
What is happening: This is the science of transpiration. It basically means that the plant draws water up through its stem. The water then evaporates from the leaves and flowers through openings know as stomata. As the water evaporates, it creates pressure that brings more water into the plant — similar to drinking from a straw. Some trees can transpire dozens, even hundreds, of gallons of water on a hot day. How fast a plant transpires depends on temperature, humidity, and even wind. SOURCE: PAGINGFUNMUMS.COM