The Express Tribune hi five - November 22

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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 22, 2015

Hi-light Hi light

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Did you know that Pakistan was once blessed with many rare animal species? With time and a lack of care many of these species are now under the threat of extinction.

Even though this situation is so precarious, little is being done to save these animals. Let us take a look at some of the many rare and endangered species and pledge to help organisations like World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) in preserving them.

Mountain weasel

Baluchistan forest dormouse

These are creatures that live at higher altitudes, mainly Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The change in their habitat, caused by human development is causing the sudden decline in their numbers. Their food supply is also reduced by having to share it with domesticated cattle and horses now.

This tiny rodent is apparently an ingredient in medicine.

This, alone, has caused an increase in its demand in the black market, especially in China. These tiny fluff-balls have an adorable crescent shaped mark on their chests. Small as they may be but these creatures are still an important part of the eco system.

Black fin-less porpoise For a sea creature to be fin-less is a quality enough to be the basis of it’s special treatment and preservation. Unfortunately, the black fin-less porpoise and many other marine creatures are suffering due to human negligence and pollution.

Asian black bear This big black monster has become nothing but a hunting trophy for many people. Combined with the expansion of human settlement into wildlife territory Asian black bears have visibly reduced in numbers

Vole Due to rapid changes in their surroundings these tint rats are also facing the threat of extinction. WWF specifically pointed out the threat these animals are facing in Pakistan.

European otter This endangered animal is one of the most rapidly dying creatures in Pakistan. The state of our freshwater reserves and the amount of pollution in them easily explains their rapid disappearance.

Snow leopard A unique creature in the mountainous areas of Pakistan that is also sadly under threat. According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, as of 2003, the size of the global population of these beasts was estimated at 4,080–6,590 adults, of which fewer than 2,500 may reproduce in the wild. Due to hunting and rapid human expansion few of these beasts remain.

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, NOVEMBER 22, 2015

Marco Polo sheep This sheep, found in the northern areas, is a target for many hunters. Their spiraling horns and imposing stature are a thing of beauty, which should be kept from being lost forever.

Markhor Yes, our national animal is also on the brink of extinction.

This wild goat is classified as ‘threatened’ by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. There is some good news, though. It was discovered in early 2015 that their population has increased by 20%.

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Hi-light

Banded eagle ray This fish is a part of the eagle ray family of fish who live in naturally low sea areas and shallow waters.

Unfortunately, water pollution is harming this beautiful sea creature.

Long-billed vultures These creatures may seem sinister because they are flesh eaters but they play an important role in Pakistan’s ecological landscape. The deadly drug Diclofenac Sodium, which is used in the feed for cattle, is a chemical compound is what is killing these vultures at an alarming rate. Pakistani skies were populated by throngs of vutlures until 2001 and now areas like Changa Manga forest, which boasted a population of over 1,500 vultures, have none left today.

The green sea turtle Siberian cranes Siberian Cranes nest in scattered breeding territories, preferring wide expanses of fresh water with good visibility. Sadly, water pollution due to human negligence and selfishness is the prime cause for their decrease in population. At one time, they were a common sight in Pakistan. If we continue with our distructive habits maybe one day we will be saying the same about cows and horses.

It’s shocking to know that one of the most fascinating creatures isn’t developing because of the error of our ways.

It is illegal, around the world to collect, kill or harm them but law never stopped Pakistanis, and so these animals are captured for their shells and skins to be sold at high prices in the black market.

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

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, NOVEMBER 22, 2015

Trivia

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Q: What do you call a boomerang that doesn’t work?

A: A stick.

Fun Facts about light In physics, light refers to electromagnetic radiation. The light we normally talk about in everyday life refers to the visible spectrum, which is part of the electromagnetic spectrum that the human eye can see.

Other animals can see parts of the spectrum that humans can’t. For example, a large number of insects can see ultraviolet (UV) light.

Q: What is a ghosts’ favourite position in soccer?

A: Ghoul keeper.

UV light can be used to show things the human eye can’t see, coming in handy for forensic scientists.

The wavelength of infrared light is too long to be visible to the human eye.

Scientists study the properties and behaviours of light in a branch of physics known as optics.

Q: What is a cheerleader’s favourite food?

A: Cheerios.

Isaac Newton observed that a thin beam of sunlight hitting a glass prism at an angle creates a band of visible colours that includes red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.

Light travels very fast. The speed of light in a vacuum is around 186,000 miles per second.

Q: Why can’t Cinderella play soccer?

A: Because she’s always running away from the ball.

Light travels slower through different mediums such as glass, water and air.

These medium are given a refractive index to describe by how much they slow the movement of light.

Glass has a refractive index of 1.5, meaning that lights travels through it at around 124,000 miles per second.

Q: When is a baby good at basketball?

A: When it’s dribbling.

The refractive index of water is 1.3 while the refractive index of air is 1.0003, meaning that air only slightly slows down light.

? w o n k u o y Did The mighty orcas Orcas hunt everything from fish to walruses—seals, sea lions, penguins, squid, sea turtles, sharks, and even other kinds of whales. Depending on the season and where they are, their diet varies— some orcas eat more fishes and squid than seals and penguins. But wherever they are in any of the world’s oceans, average-sized orcas may eat about 500 pounds of food a day. Orcas have many hunting techniques, and bumping seals off ice is just one of them.

Often referred to as wolves of the sea, orcas live and hunt together in cooperative pods, or family groups, much like a pack of wolves. They work together as they hunt. Groups of orcas cooperate to herd fish into a compact area so that they’re easier to eat. They will also slap their tails onto the water’s surface, causing a wave to wash prey, such as penguins or sea lions, off ice floes and into the water. Sometimes a pod of whales will join forces to surround a larger animal, such as a blue whale. They chase, bite, and wear it down until it becomes a meal.

Orcas have 45 teeth and with each measuring about thee inches long, they are perfectly shaped for ripping and tearing prey.

Orcas do not chew their food. They can swallow small sea lions whole. The prey slides down the orcas’ throats! Bigger prey is eaten in chunks. The color pattern of orcas may help them sneak up on and attack their prey. Their backs are black, while their stomachs are white. Animals looking down on an orca from above, such as a seal on an ice floe, might not see it because the whale’s dark back blends with the water below.

On the other hand, the whale’s white underside blends with the light streaming down into the sea from the surface, making it hard to spot from below. With orcas camouflaged so well, fish, penguins, or seals are likely to miss the danger heading their way, as the killer whale once again proves it is the oceans’ superbly designed hunter.

SOURCE: KIDS.NATIONALGEOGRAPHIC.COM

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, NOVEMBER 22, 2015

World wide weird

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

Oh, stuck!

Wildlife workers in Maryland were called for rescue after an adult male black bear got its head stuck inside the metal churn, in a scenario reminiscent of AA Milne’s popular children’s character. Department of Natural Resources spokeswoman Karis King said the bear was calm, but the workers tranquillised it for safety reasons in a rural area near Thurmont, Washington, in the USA. They then used a small saw on the milk can and their hands to pull the jug off. Patricia Allen, a spokeswoman from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, said, “It was calm and relaxed.

Tranquilizing the bear made it much easier and much safer,” she added. In AA Milne’s story, Pooh gets his head stuck in a honey jar. Winnie-the-Pooh, which was created in the mid-1920s, follows the adventures of Pooh, his best human friend Christopher Robin and the animals of Hundred Acre Wood including Rabbit, Piglet and Eeyore. MIRROR.CO.UK

A comedy of errors

Museums might seem like infallible hubs of knowledge and learning, but a new study suggests it might be wise not to trust everything that appears on the shelves. As many as half of all natural history specimens held in some of the world’s greatest institutions are probably wrongly labelled, according to experts at Oxford University and the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh. The confusion has arisen because even accomplished naturalists struggle to tell the difference between similar plants and insects. And with hundreds or thousands of specimens arriving at once, it can be too time-consuming to meticulously research each and guesses have to be made.

More than 50% of the world’s natural history specimens have been discovered since 1969, so it is virtually impossible for scientists to keep track. The problem is hampering scientific study by confusing biologists about where species exist in the wild and harming conservation efforts. TELEGRAPH.CO.UK

Game changer

Trick question

The Oxford Dictionaries’ Word of the Year, the annual survey of Britain’s changing language, has awarded the title to a “pictograph” for the first time, as its put an emoji at number one. The symbol, showing a yellow smiley face weeping tears of laughter, has been crowned Word of the Year thanks to its popularity on social media and instant messaging. It is the first time the list has included an entry that is not a word, after Oxford Dictionaries’ experts found the symbol “embodies a core aspect of living in a digital world that is visually driven, emotionally expressive, and obsessively immediate”.

It is joined on the 2015 list by other digital terms including “ad block” and “dark web”, in a collection of words intended to sum up the “ethos, mood or preoccupations” of the modern day. “Refugee” also made the shortlist thanks to current political situation, along with Brexit. Modern slang making its debut on the list includes “on fleek”, a term of approval. TELEGRAPH.CO.UK

Iceland, famous for its dramatic volcanic landscape is now being used as the training base for NASA teams surveying Mars, with most people unable to distinguish which pictures are of the planet and which are of Iceland. The Nordic country is not anything new to space explorers, who first started heading there when they were preparing for the Apollo missions to the moon. There was a brief lull in its popularity but now it is back under the spotlight of the NASA teams who are exploring the country again.

The images were taken by the NASA HiRISE team who have just returned from a meeting in the country which they found to be extremely relevant to their preparations for the next Mars mission. In a post titled “The Surreal Similarities of Iceland and Mars”, the team noted, “If you’re looking for a stunning example of Mars on Earth, this is the place.” HiRISE, which stands for High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, is photographing targeted swaths of Mars’ surface in unprecedented detail, creating high-resolution images of the planet’s surface in the same way that Google Earth has done for our planet. The detail is being so carefully mapped from a camera some 150 miles from the planet’s surface that it will now be possible to distinguish a metre-sized feature on the surface, allowing for better mission preparation than ever before. EXPRESS.CO.UK

The little pixie

By Minal Nadeem

In a forest far away, there once lived a pixie named Sarah. She had many friends but one by one they all disappeared as the invaders took over the forest. Soon after, Sarah was the only little pixie left in the forest with no friends to play with. She learned to hide in the shadows so that the invaders could not get to her.

One day Sarah was hunting for some berries to eat and did not realise how close to the edge of the forest she was. Soon a car stopped close to her and Sarah hid in the shadows. A girl stepped out of the car and waked towards where Sarah was hiding. Gripped by fear Sarah was unable to move or run: she just stood there crying, sure that nothing good was about to happen.

The girl came close to Sarah and whispered, “Don’t cry little pixie I won’t hurt you, what’s your name?”

Sarah meekly asked, “Are you one of the invaders.” The girl reassured Sarah that she was not one of the bad invaders, rather she had come to protect Sarah.

Once she was reassured, Sarah led the girl to her tiny pixie house and offered her some berries.

The girl soon became friends with Sarah and promised to visit her every week, to check up on her. The girl started visiting her little pixie friend in the forest every week, bringing her yummy treats and new clothes and sometimes even books. This way Sarah wasn’t lonely again.

Share your short stories with us.

Email them to hifive@tribune.com.pk

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, NOVEMBER 22, 2015

Reading corner

6 Directions:

Materials: • Plastic water bottles with lids • White and black acrylic paint or spray paint made for plastic • Googly eyes • Orange and black craft foam • Socks • Scissors • Low temp mini glue gun • Dry rice or Sand

• Remove the label from the water bottle.

• Use a funnel to fill the bottom of the bottle with sand or dry rice to about one inch.

This will keep your snowman from falling over.

• Paint the bottle with white paint and let it dry. If you are using acrylic paint, you will probably need two layers.

• To make the top hat draw a two-inch circle on black craft foam and cut it out.

Take the cap off the bottle and place it in the middle of the craft foam circle. Trace around the outside and then cut out the circle. Replace the lid and place the cut out part of the circle over the lid. Paint the lid black to match the craft foam rim of the hat.

• To make the cap cut the top off a sock so that it is about three inches long. Tie the cut end with a string. Make a matching scarf with the leftover part of the sock.

• Cut a carrot nose from orange craft foam. You can use real buttons or cut button shapes from craft foam to glue to the snowman’s body.

• Use sticks for the arms.

The adventures of Wallace and Gromit Here’s a look at some of the best Wallace and Gromit movies: The wrong trousers (1993) Wallace and Gromit are inventors of all manner of useful devices. Gromit finds himself being pushed out of his room and home by a new lodger who is actually a ruthless criminal. The penguin is planning a robbery and needs to use Wallace and his mechanical remote controlled trousers to pull off the raid. However, Gromit is wise to the penguin and comes to the rescue.

A close shave (1995) When Wallace and Gromit go over to wash windows, Wallace falls in love with a wool store owner named Wendolene. Meanwhile, Gromit is framed for killing sheep and is put in jail. So with help from sheep and Wendolene, Wallace must get him out of prison.

The curse of the were-rabbit (2005) Wallace and his dog Gromit, have built up a very respectable business which prevents any pests from destructing the vegetables of the village, but when a creature, only described as the were-rabbit, rampages through the village, all eyes are on Wallace. After hearing his plan, the villagers are on his side, except one man. Victor Quartermaine feels threatened by Wallace’s relationship with his fiancée Lady Campanula Tottington and aims to take out the bunny himself.

A matter of loaf and death (2008) Wallace and Gromit have a brand new business. The conversion of 62 West Wallaby Street is complete and impressive, the whole house is now a granary with ovens and robotic kneading arms. Huge mixing bowls are all over the place and everything is covered with a layer of flour. On the roof is a ‘Wallace patent-pending’ old-fashioned windmill. The transformation is perfect. Although business is booming, Gromit is concerned by the news that 12 local bakers have ‘disappeared’ this year - but Wallace isn’t worried. With his master’s life in jeopardy, Gromit must be the sleuth and solve the escalating murder mystery - in what quickly becomes a ‘matter of loaf and death.’

Do you have a favourite book or movie you would like us to review? Write to us at hifive@tribune.com.pk and tell us all about it.

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, NOVEMBER 22, 2015

Activity corner

Mind Games

Unleash the wizard in you and find the following words in the puzzle: Muggle Newt Squib Quiddich Potion

Wizard Nimbus Accio Alohomora Apparate

Auror Beater Bludgers Charm Dementor

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THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, NOVEMBER 22, 2015

Materials:

Ingredients: Cheddar cheese Egg + Milk Butter Ketchup Bread Salt Pepper

• Food colouring • Flower petals or body glitter • Sweet almond oil • Scented oil such as lavender oil • Ten tablespoons of bicarbonate of soda • Three tablespoons of citric acid • Two large mixing bowls • One large muffin tray • One small glass jar • Rubber gloves • Spoon

2 slices 1 3 tbsp 1 tbsp 3 tbsp 2 slices To taste To taste

Directions:

Method: • Beat the eggs, milk, salt and pepper together in a mixing bowl.

• In a flat pan heat up the butter, make sure the temperature is low so the butter does not burn.

• Pour in the egg mixture and start scrambling the mixture with a wooden spoon.

• Remove it from the pan once it is cooked.

• Toast the bread lightly on both sides.

• Place a slice of cheese on a slice of bread then evenly pour on the scrambled egg mixture over it.

• Place the second slice of cheese over the scramble.

• Evenly spread ketchup on the slice of cheese and place the second slice of bread over it.

• Press the sandwich down lightly then cut diagonally.

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

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

• Grease the sides and bases of a large muffin tray with a small amount of almond oil.

Use an alternative oil if allergic to nuts.

• Place the citric acid and bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl. Mix the ingredients together well to form the base mixture.

• Scoop out about half a cup of this mixture and put it into another bowl. This will make about one or two bath bombs.

• Add the flower petals or body glitter to the base mixture.

• In the small glass jar, mix together six drops of your scented oil, five teaspoons of sweet almond oil and about 10 drops of food colouring.

• Gradually pour the oil mixture into the half cup of the base mixture. While wearing rubber gloves, quickly mix it all together. The mixture is ready when it stays together in your hands without crumbling too much.

• Spoon the mixture into the muffin tray. Press it down firmly.

• You can use the rest of the mixture with other types of scented oil or food colouring to make more bath bombs.

• Leave the bombs in the tray to set for a few days.

• Carefully up-end your bath bombs to remove them from the moulds.

• Run a bath, hop in and drop a bomb.

What is happening: When the bath bomb dissolves in water, there is a chemical reaction between the citric acid and the sodium bicarbonate. The result is called sodium citrate.

During the reaction, carbon dioxide is released. This causes the ‘fizzing’ that you see, similar to that in carbonated water.

The sweet almond oil is released during this reaction. It will form a thin layer on your skin which can help to moisturise it. The lavender oil is for fragrance.

SOURCE: CSIRO.AU