The Express Tribune hi five - September 6

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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

Pixar’s Tale PAGE 2-3

History of Paper PAGE 4

Clamshell friends PAGE 6

Chocolate milkshake PAGE 8

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, SEPTEMBER 6, 2015

The Pixar team came up with four movies in a single lunch

Steve ve Jo Jobs bs p purchases urch ur chas ases es the Computer Graphics Division from George Lucas and establishes an independent company to be christened “Pixar.” At this time about 44 people are employed.

1991

John Lasseter is invited to join the graphics group at Lucasfilm’s Computer Division, and works on Thomas Porter’s 1984 pool ball image as well as the short film The Adventures of André & Wally B.

1986

Ed Catmull is recruited by George Lucas from The New York Institute of Technology to head Lucasfilm’s Computer Division, a group charged with developing state-of-the-art computer technology for the film industry.

1983

2 1979

Hi light

Shortly after completing Toy Story, the chief creative staff for Pixar including Lasseter, Peter Docter, Joe Ranft and Andrew Stanton got together for a lunch meeting in 1994 that would become one of the defining moments in the studio’s history.

By the end of the hour-long meeting, they came up with the ideas for the plots and basic characters for A Bug’s Life, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo and WALL-E. Stanton would later remark, “There was something special that happened when John, Joe, Pete and I would get in a room. Whether ng, it was furthering an idea or coming up with something, ke we just brought out the best in each other. It was like a band.” The teaser trailer for WALL-E referenced the famous meeting.

Disney and Pixar announce an agreement “to make and distribute at least one computer-generated animated movie.”

Th voice of Boo in ‘Monsters Inc.’ wouldn’t The sit still long enough to be recorded.

Almost everyone watches animated movies and the best known name in the animated industry is Disney. What we don’t know is that Pixar has a lot to do with the company’s success. Before becoming a part of Disney, Pixar itself came up with some really great movie ideas.

There are a lot of cool facts about the studo - it has earned 15 Academy Awards, seven Golden Globe Awards, and 11 Grammy Awards, among many other awards and acknowledgments, for example. Since the award’s inauguration in 2001, most of Pixar’s films have been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Up and Toy Story 3 were also the second and third animated films to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, the first being Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.

On of the biggest stars of 2001’s Monsters’ Inc. wasn’t a monster, but a little girl One ni nicknamed Boo who scares the monsters more than they scare her. Unfortunately, sshe didn’t have the attention span that most trained actors do when they step behind a Pixar microphone. So the recording team actually had to follow her around as she talked and matched whatever sounds she could make to the actions on screen.

The water they made for ‘Finding Nemo’ was too real With each new movie, Pixar prides itself on achieving some new animation breakthrough or technique. The work on the ocean environment for Finding Nemo is no exception. The film’s supervisor animator, Dylan Brown, recalled some early tests that were so good that, “we couldn’t tell the difference be between the re-created footage and the original. It blew us a away.”

They sent the animators back to the drawing board because they didn’t want the audience to think they were staring at real footage of the ocean.

The “Pizza Planet Truck” has a cameo in every Pixar movie except one Cheers actor and voiceover artist extraordinaire John Ratzenberger may have the most appearances in any of Pixar’s feature-length films, but the beat-up Toyota truck with the plastic spaceship on top from the first Toy Story film comes in a very close second. Every film except The Incredibles features this classic clunker somewhere in its many digitally animated frames. Even Pixar’s Scottish epic Brave features a shot of the truck, despite the fact that it takes place in medieval times.

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, SEPTEMBER 6, 2015

Pixar celebrates its 20th anniversary. Cars is released in theaters on June 9. Disney announces its agreement to p purchase Pixar.

Pixar celebrates its 25th anniversary and completes construction of a new building on its Emeryville campus. Cars 2 is released in theaters on June 24.

Ratatouillee is released in theater theaters on June 29. It is nominated for five Academy Awards and wins the Oscar for Best Animated Feature.

The Incredibles is released in theaters on November 5. It will be nominated for four Academy Awards, and win two: Best Animated Feature Film and Achievement in Sound Editing

2009

Monsters, Inc. is released in theaters on November 2. It reaches over $100 million at the domestic box-office in just 9 days.

2004

A Bug’s Life is released in theaters on November 25, accompanied by the short film Geri’s Game.

2001

1998

2012

Finding Nemo is released in theaters on May 30 and breaks opening weekend box-office records domestically for an animated feature.

2007

2011

A bug’s land attraction opens on October 7 at Disney California Adventure Park.

2006

T St Toy Story 2 iis released l d iin theaters on November 24.

It is the first film in history to be entirely created, mastered and exhibited digitally, and is the first animated sequel to gross more than its original.

2003

1997

The Walt Disney Studios and Pixar Animation Studios announce an agreement to jointly produce five movies over 10 years. Pixar now employs 375 people.

2002

Toy Story, the world’s first computer animated feature film, is released in theaters on November 22.

1999

1995

3

Hi light

Up is the first animated feature to open the Cannes Film Festival and debuts in theaters on May 29.

TH

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

2010

2013

The toy from the short film ‘Tin Toy’ was supposed to be the star of ‘Toy Story’ The team was rewarded for their efforts when they won their first Oscar in 1988 with the short film Tin Toy. Pixar led talks with Walt Disney Pictures for a full-length animated film, tentatively called Toy Story, that would star the tiny wind-up toy Tinny from the short.

But later as the story boards for the film were drawn, the character evolved into Woody.

Brave is released in theaters on June 22, and won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film.

Toy Story 3 is released in theaters on June 18. It becomes the highest-grossing animated film of all time, and the first to reach the billion dollar-mark.

Monsters University is released on June 21, accompanied by the short animation The Blue Umbrella.

DESIGN BY NABEEL KHAN

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, SEPTEMBER 6, 2015

4 Why do bees have sticky hair?

Because they use honeycombs

Fun facts about Peacocks The collective term for these birds is ‘peafowl.’ The males are ‘peacocks’ and the females are ‘peahens.’ The babies are called ‘peachicks.’

Peacocks shed their train every year, so the feathers can be gathered and sold without the birds coming to any harm. The average lifespan of a peacock in the wild is about 20 years.

Why was the man running around his bed?

He wanted to catch up on his sleep

What does a snail say when it’s riding on a turtle’s back?

“Weeeee”

How did the barber win the race?

He knew a short cut

What does a robot frog say?

Rib-bot

A peacock’s tail feathers can reach up to six feet long and make up about 60% of its body length. Despite these odd proportions, the bird can fly, but not to great distances.

Only the male species have tail feathers. The tail is developed at two years and is becomes fully developed at 4 years of age. Each tail feather has a eye like spot and it is called oscellus.

Their main predators are tigers, leopards and mongoose. They fly and hide in trees when threatened. They usually spend the night in the trees.

There are no blue or green pigments present in the tail feathers of a male peacock. The color comes from reflecting light at some particular angles.

Peafowls are omnivorous i.e they eat both meat and vegetables. The meal consists of berries, seeds, leaves, insects, small mammals and reptiles.

They are one of loudest bird species and can produce many vocalisations.

The frequency of calling is increased in the monsoon season. In the wild their calls indicates the presence of some predator.

Did you know?

The History of Paper The history of paper dates back almost 2,000 years to when inventors in China first crafted cloth sheets to record their drawings and writings. Before that, people communicated through pictures and symbols etched on stone, bones, cave walls, or clay tablets.

Paper as we know it today was first made in Lei-Yang, China by Ts’ai Lun, a Chinese court official. In all likelihood, Ts’ai mixed mulberry bark, hemp and rags with water, mashed it into pulp, pressed out the liquid, and hung the thin mat to dry in the sun. During the 8th century, Muslims learned the Chinese secret of papermaking when they captured a Chinese paper mill. Later, when the Muslims invaded Europe, they brought this secret with them. The first paper mill was built in Spain, and soon, paper was being made at mills all across Europe. Over the next 800 years, paper was used for printing important books, Bibles, and legal documents. England began making large supplies of paper in the late 15th century and supplied the colonies with paper for many years. Finally, in 1690, the first U.S. paper mill was built in Pennsylvania.

At first, American paper mills used the Chinese method of shredding old rags and clothes into individual fibers to make paper. As the demand for paper grew, the mills started to use fiber from trees because wood was less expensive and more abundant than cloth.

Today, paper is made from trees mostly grown on working forests and from recovered paper. Recycling has always been a part of papermaking. When you recycle your used paper, paper mills use it to make new newspapers, notebook paper, paper grocery bags, corrugated boxes, envelopes, magazines, cartons, and other paper products. Besides using recovered paper and trees to make paper, paper mills may also use wood chips and sawdust left over from lumber operations.

Today, more than 36% of the fiber used to make new paper products in the United States comes from recycled sources. Many of us take for granted that paper allows us not only to enjoy our lives but also to go about our daily routines with greater efficiency. From the thinnest tissue, to the most absorbent diaper, to the toughest corrugated box, there are almost as many different kinds of paper as there are uses for it. Most of us begin our mornings by enjoying the comforts of paper products — from facial tissue and paper towels, to the morning newspaper, to the carton that holds your orange juice, and the paperboard packaging that holds your breakfast cereal.

Children benefit from paper each school day from classroom drawings and notebook paper to text books that students learn from. At work, office papers help in communication. Even in this digital age, and despite talk about the ‘paperless office,’ office papers are essential for copiers, laser printers, brochures, notepads, and other uses. And since digital documents can be deleted, there’s nothing like having a back-up on paper. Wherever we go, paper is there to help at every turn. It’s the bags that hold your groceries or latest clothing purchase. It’s the cards, letters and packages you receive, the cup that holds your coffee, and the album that holds your memories. Paper is in use in thousands of industrial and manufacturing applications helping keep the air clean, and providing innovative packaging. When you consider the tremendous benefit of paper, it’s clear that we must all continue to work together by recycling used paper.

Recycling is easy to do, and it’s good for business and the environment. So next time you read the paper, open your mail, clean out your files, or empty a box, don’t put that paper and paperboard packaging in the trash. Complete the circle and recycle it.

SOURCE: PAPERRECYCLES.ORG

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, SEPTEMBER 6, 2015

World wide weird

5

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

And the most offensive odor is ...

A new survey sniffed out the most annoying odors known to Americans — and cigarette smoke topped the list. The PU poll asked 1,000 Americans to discuss their least and most favorite smells in the home. Nothing reeked worse than cigarettes, according to 25% of the respondents. Rounding out the top five of rancidity were a full garbage can, a cat’s litter box, mold and mildew, and last night’s fish dinner.

On the other hand participants were asked to rank delightful scents. The people polled picked freshbrewed coffee as the smell they’d most like to wake up to. That is hardly an amazing coincidence, considering the poll was conducted for Cafe Don Pablo coffee roasters. The other top household odors include homemade cookies, clean sheets, pot roast and spaghetti sauce. Surprisingly, the smell of money didn’t make the list. HUFFINGTONPOST.COM

No melt icecream Ice cream that does not melt in the sun could hit the shelves within three years, scientists have claimed. Experts believe they have developed a recipe for a more robust frozen desert that will consign childhood memories of sticky hands and dissolving cones to history.

It is based on a naturally occurring protein that binds together the air, fat and water in ice cream to make it more resistant to melting. The new ingredient should create firmer, longer lasting ice cream that will keep it frozen for much longer in hot weather. The scientists, from the Universities of Dundee and Edinburgh, said it could also prevent gritty ice crystals from forming, ensuring a fine, smooth texture more reminiscent of luxury ice creams.

The development could also allow products to be manufactured with lower levels of saturated fat and fewer calories. Prof Cait MacPhee, an experimental biomolecular physicist at the University of Edinburgh who led the project, said, “We’re excited by the potential this new ingredient has for improving ice cream, both for consumers and for manufacturers.”

The researchers developed a method of producing the new protein, which occurs naturally in some foods, in friendly bacteria. It works by adhering to fat droplets and air bubbles, making them more stable in a mixture.

The experts said that exactly how long one might have to demolish a cone would depend on several factors, including the type of ice cream and the weather. The protein, known as BslA, was developed with support from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. TELEGRAPH.CO.UK

Parroting inference

Goffin cockatoos, a curious parrot species, can choose the correct answer in a task by ruling out wrong alternatives, a study has found. Researchers from the University of Vienna set out to develop a game that could test this ability in different species.

Goffin cockatoos are an Indonesian parrot species already proven to have remarkable cognitive capacities and great curiosity. In the task, the Goffins had to learn to associate a picture with a reward that they would receive right after touching the picture. Another accompanying picture would net no reward. Only once the birds reliably chose the “good” pictures over the wrong or new ones were they tested for their inference skills. “More than half of our cockatoos choose their pictures in a way that clearly indicates the ability of infer by exclusion about rewarded stimuli. However alternative strategies also play an important role,” said Mark O’Hara of the university, who developed the task with colleagues. MACHPRINCIPLE.COM

Magical photography It looks like a wintry forest — but this aerial photo shows a three-mile system of driedup rivulets in a parched lake. The ‘magical’ patterns cover a length of up almost three miles and have emerged because the dry lake has left a pattern in the lake bed which look like trees. The patterns in the Mojave Desert, California were snapped at 3,000ft by flight instructor Jassen Todorov — who’s clearly branching out into photography. Not only this but talented Jassen is also a concert violinist and professor of music at San Francisco State University. He has even had exhibitions at Chicago O’Hare Airport and the Heathrow Express in London. His image of the Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone was exhibited at the Summerset House, London, after winning Second Place in the 2015 Sony World Photography Awards — US Open Category. He has pictured some of the most stunning landscapes in the world, including Death Valley in California. MIRROR.CO.UK

On 6 September 1965, as a Company Commander in the Burki area of the Lahore sector, Major Raja Aziz Bhatti chose to stay with his forward platoon under incessant artillery and tank attacks for five days and nights in the defence of the strategically vital BRB Canal. Throughout, undaunted by constant fire from enemy small arms, tanks and artillery. He was reorganising his company and directing the gunners to shell the enemy positions. In order to watch every move of the enemy, he had to place himself in an elevated position, where he was exposed to Indian fury. He led his men from the front while under constant attack.

Although he tried to counter every offensive tactic in his area, he was hit by an enemy tank shell in the chest while watching the enemy’s moves, and embraced martyrdom on 12 September 1965.

A day before his martyrdom, the commanding officer had sent word that since he had been fighting untiringly for the last five days and nights, he should take a little rest and that another officer was being sent to replace him. Major Aziz replied, “Do not recall me. I don’t want to go back. I will shed the last drop of my blood in the defence of my dear homeland.” He is buried at his village in Ladian in the Gujrat district.

Each year, Major Bhatti is honoured in Pakistan on 6 September, Pakistan’s Defence Day. Major Raja Aziz Bhatti was awarded the Nishan-e-Haider, the nation’s highest military award for his gallantry and the display of exemplary courage for his homeland.

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, SEPTEMBER 6, 2015

Reading corner

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Materials:

• Black acrylic paint • Paintbrush • White beads or pebbles (fake pearls work well) • Clamshells • Hot-glue gun

Directions: • Paint black pupils in center of each bead; let dry. Sandwich two clamshells together so insides face each other and hunges -the pointed ends of shells- match up. Position a pair of beads between shells so pupils gaze out in same direction. Glue in place.

• Glue hunge end of shells together. Let dry completely.

SOURCE: ALLYOU.COM

A trip to heaven on earth — Part 2

By Ayaan Faraz The first leg of the trip was to Naraan, and was six hour long, I woke up around two hours out of Islamabad when we passed through Balakot with ‘Welcome to the land of the Shaheeds’ written on the sign. The scenery had begun to get hilly and mountainous, and there were advertisements for hotels and graffiti painted and sprayed on any rock that could possibly be painted on. A while later the driver stopped by a beautiful masjid with sides of glass overlooking the ground from the top of a hill, underneath it was a pipe from which glacial water flowed, had it not been Ramazan, Ameel and I would have filled bottles of that sweet cold water, it was a waste to not drink it. After finishing prayer we had to set out again in the detestable coaster, and I fell asleep again. When I woke up about an hour away from Naraan, the scenery had completely changed, tall lush green mountains towered above us, I could see little villages and establishments on the outskirts of the mountains, and for the first time in my life I saw bee farms. What was most delightful was the clean icy wind, purified by the greenery. As the car sped along on the horribly bumpy roads, and scrambled my insides my only retreat was sticking my head out the window and breathing in the clean air which I had never breathed in anywhere in the world. It was a typical country scene on the ground with green grass, cattle, wildflowers springing up, and indigenous birds flying everywhere, boxed in by towering green mountains. When we entered Naraan, Nimmi and Ammi were shocked and horrified by the marketplace. When they had come here years ago, this was a quiet secluded place which very few people came to, but now there was a bustling market, and soon we passed a tent city. Hundreds of different types of tents in rows; it was the same scene seen at Hajj. Fortunately when the driver pulled into PTDC Naraan where we were spending the night, it was built in an isolated place where you truly felt the experience of being in the wild and experiencing nature. We had a little cottage booked overlooking the Neelum River, and a suspension bridge of some sort connecting to the mountainside opposite us. Everyone was extremely worn out from the unexpected eight hour drive which was supposed to be six hours, so everyone except Ameel and Raima rested. Ameel spent the whole afternoon zapping flies, and Raima yelling and cheering him on. In the evening Ameel and Raima left with me and Ammi to go take pictures on the mountainside, soon after that our hunt for iftaar began and so in the valley sent straight fom heaven we broke our fast. The next few days were spent in a haze of serenity and it was only upon our return that I fully realised how amazing the whole experience had been.

Share your short stories with us. Email them to hifive@tribune.com.pk

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, SEPTEMBER 6, 2015

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Artwork

Alihy

Abeeha Amir Winner

Mohsin Soomro

Maaz

Aliza Kamran Winner

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, SEPTEMBER 6, 2015

Ingredients:

Material

Milk

175ml

Vanilla ice cream

75ml

• A dry plastic comb • An indoor faucet • A head full of clean dry hair

Chocolate chips

50g

Directions: • Turn on the faucet and slowly turn down the water until you have a very thin stream of water flowing.

• Take the plastic comb and brush it through your hair 10 times.

• Now slowly bring the comb close the the flowing water, (without actually touching the water) If all goes well, the stream of water should bend towards the comb! Magic you ask? Not really.

Method: • In a blender whiz together the milk and chocolate chips.

• Pour the mixture in a tall glass.

• Top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and serve.

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: When you brushed that comb through your hair, tiny parts of the atoms in your hair, called electrons, collected on the comb. These electrons have a negative charge. Now that the comb has a negative charge, it is attracted to things that have a positive charge. It is similar to the way some magnets are attracted to certain metals.

When you bring the negatively charged comb near the faucet it is attracted to the positive force of the water. The attraction is strong enough to actually pull the water towards the comb as it is flowing! If you want to try another experiment with your comb, tear up pieces of tissue until they are as a small as possible. Then charge your comb again by brushing it through your hair, and bring it close to the tiny pieces of tissue. If the pieces are small enough they will jump off the table to the comb the same way that the water was pulled to the comb. It is all thanks to the wonders of static electricity.

SOURCE: SCIENCEBOB.COM