The Express Tribune T2 - October 15

21

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, OCTOBER 15, 2011

The amazing universe Maze

Explore

Kids, do you know about the exciting new discoveries about the universe? Do you know about the fifty new planets and the raspberry-tasting universe? If not, then read more to find out!

Asteroid narrowly missed Earth

A new solar system with alien life?

European astronomers have discovered 50 new planets outside our solar system, including 16 which are the size of Earth. This is the largest number of such planets ever ‘discovered’ at one time.

The biggest planet of the new lot has a rather strange name: HD 85512 b. It is 3.6 times the size of planet Earth and can be found 36 light-years away in the Vella constellation. The findings suggest that more than half of the stars like our sun possess planets, and that many of those worlds are lighter than Saturn.

And that’s not it. Scientists believe that water exists in these new worlds and thus there is a big possibility of alien life exiting there too!

SOURCE: PRINTACTIVITIES.COM

SOURCE: DAILYMAIL.CO.UK

Are you a fan of the movie Armageddon and worry about a comet from outer space hitting earth in the future? Well, many people might think that Hollywood movies about doomsday are silly but do you know that an asteroid the size of a tour bus narrowly missed Earth on June 27? This asteroid was called Asteroid 2011. An asteroid is any small body in space which revolves around the sun. You can think of asteroids as rocks in space. They are similar to comets but are made out of different component. Asteroids are made up of metals and rock, while comets are made out of ice, dust and rocky material. At times, asteroids are attracted to bigger planets, like Earth, because of gravity. Many scientists believe that dinosaurs were killed suddenly when the Earth was struck by an asteroid. There are famous craters — huge cavities in the ground — in Mexico and Arizona, US, which suggest that may be our planet was hit by asteroids millions of years ago.

Another massive asteroid, weighing 55 million tones, will narrowly miss Earth again later this year, NASA experts have predicted. Let’s pray it passes over our planet rather than getting attracted to it!

SOURCE: TELEGRAPH.CO.UK & SANFRANCISCO.IBTIMES.COM

Rasberries in the Milky Way Astronomers have recently concluded that the Milky Way tastes vaguely of raspberries.

They recently found ethyl formate — the chemical which gives raspberries their flavor — in space. Ethyl formate also has a very strong smell. In other words, if an astronaut visiting the center of our galaxy, decided to take off his space helmet he would be greeted by a powerful odour and the taste of raspberries! And then his lungs would explode...

SOURCE: TELEGRAPH.CO.UK

22

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, OCTOBER 15, 2011

Teen spirit Health tips

Trashing your ex When will boys stop using badmouthing for their former girlfriends?

Slipping up on sleep GOHAR WARRAICH

The day starts by getting a loud scolding for waking up late, subsequently dozing off in the restroom and then the car. Again in class the teacher keeps blurring in and out of view. And the next thing you know, the shrill sound of the bell ringing startles you awake and you wipe the drool off your face. If all this sounds familiar, then you are probably not getting enough sleep at night.

Different age groups have different sleep requirements.

Newborns can sleep as much as 16 to 20 hours a day; preteens need 10 to 12 hours and teens need between 8 and 9 hours. However, there is no magic number that applies to all ages and people. Sleeping less than what your body needs for recharging itself will have detrimental effects on your day. Sleep is like the man who comes to collect the electricity bill; it accumulates over time and eventually if you don’t pay up, he cuts out the power. This is called sleep debt or sleep deprivation.

Nowadays, students have lot of expectations to live up to. Classes, tuitions and sports are just a few items among the long list of extracurricular activities that teenagers are expected to perform well in. Sleep gets pushed way down the list of things to do, in an attempt to cope with everything else.

There are days when one reads social studies and finds him or herself wishing for a life on Mars where the days are longer.

However, lack of sleep is not something to be taken lightly. The body has a set biological clock. It releases certain chemicals (hormones) at certain times of the day and needs regularity in the daily routine. Some scientists think that the biological clock of teenagers is set to sleep a little late and wake up later too, while it may also be that some just think it is cool to sleep late at night and wake up even later in the morning. Sleep deprivation and irregular sleep timings on a long term basis can actually hold back the body from growing.

The benefits of fulfilling your body’s sleep requirements are countless. It reduces day time sleepiness, improves performance and athletics, and allows one to be in a brighter mood. One can deal with problems more creatively when well-rested. It’s actually dangerous if teenagers learning to drive doze off at the wheel. Sleep is actually the time that the brain is trying to memorize all that it learned during the day as well. So, if you are thinking that staying up an extra hour will improve your science grade, you are wrong.

The solution is something scientists call ‘sleep hygiene’.

Finish all your homework and chores in advance. Avoid exercising or intense physical activity at least 3 hours before bedtime, though around an hour of it during the day will help sleep more soundly at night. Don’t drink soda, tea, coffee i.e., drinks with caffeine in late afternoon. Most importantly, go to bed at regular times for the required number of hours. Allow some down time prior to that, say half an hour, when you dim the lights before turning them out. Turn off your computer, stereo and television.

Tell the friend you are texting that you will be turning in now. Do something relaxing, for instance reading. And in the morning pull the curtains apart and let the light in.

Finally, if you have been completing all your bodily sleep requirements for some time now, but are still waking up tired, talk to your doctor.

I have heard d too many boyss use nasty words ds to describe their former sweethearts arts ILLUSTRATION: JAMAL KHURSHID

ZOYA NAZIR

While having a conversation with a male friend, Ammar*, I was surprised and quite disgusted at the condescending tone in which he referred to his ex-girlfriend. “She was a little psycho anyway. I can’t believe I went out with someone with such a loose character,” he said in a patronising tone.

While it’s a universal thing for boys (well, girls too, for that matter) to talk poorly about their former beaus, what disturbed me immensely was that my friend had been showering her with ‘I love you’s’ just a week before she decided to break up with him. And now since he had been dumped, he was using the most appalling of words to describe her.

This article is not about whether

troubled teens

dating during teen years is right or wrong. That is a neverending debate.

And while our society doesn’t accept teenage dating as decent behaviour, it is still quite prevalent. The issue I want to raise in this article is how boys badmouth their ex-girlfriends.

Many boys would accuse me of being sexist, but I have heard too many boys use nasty words and phrases to describe their former sweethearts.

When a boy have a huge crush on the new girl in the school/neighbourhood, he swoons how she’s the next great thing after Megan Fox. When he finally gets his Megan Fox, he uses endearing words like ‘baby’ and ‘sweetheart’ to address her. But as soon as the relationship is over and addressing them as ‘darling/

baby/jaanu’ becomes a thing of the past, he automatically switches to dirty words.

A classmate of mine, S, got dumped some time ago. She was an emotional mess. S wouldn’t eat, talk much or do anything a typical fun-loving red-blooded teenage girl does. While we tried to soothe her by telling her that she was too good for her former boyfriend, the latter only made things worse for her. He sent a string of emails on facebook to students in our school, alleging how S was sasta maal and that no honourable boy should even think of asking her out. We were horrified, to say the least. The same guy, who had launched a slander campaign against S, had no too long ago told

her that she was the best girl in the whole wide world!

Appalled at her former boyfriend’s despicable conduct, S complained to his mother, thinking that she will at least look into the matter seriously.

Disappointingly, but not unexpectedly, the mother blatantly refused to believe my classmate’s words against her son.

Instead she went on to accuse S for trapping her ‘innocent’ son. It was aggravating to see a mother react this way.

Why is it that only the girl has fingers pointed at her while the boy’s reputation remains untainted? If a relationship is to be concluded, can it not be done with minimum fuss? Why does the girl’s life, in most cases, have to become hellish in the aftermath?

Having said all that, I have to

admit that girls can also take some precautionary measures to avoid being labelled after a bitter breakup.

They need to stop taking advantage of their boyfriends, like spending mountains of their cash and demanding expensive gifts from them.

Girls also need to avoid hitting on arrogant boys who generally have a tendency to badmouth and gossip. Moreover, many teenage girls have a weakness for bad boys, who appear ‘cool’ and adventurous. But just because a guy resembles Robert Pattinson, you should not go ga-ga over him. Chances are that he will have lots of trashy things to say about you once after you bid him good riddance. *Names have been changed.

Diary of a clumsy teenager Enterteenment

MTV’s “Awkward” is not just another run-of-the-mill sitcom about high school

UMRAT KHAN

Dear Miss Panacea, I am unable to manage my time. I have so much to do — school, tuition, socialising and web surfing — and I really don’t know how to manage my schedule. I end up spending more time on the internet or with friends and my studies are completely suffering as a result. Help me!

Distracted Hassan

Dear Distracted Hassan, It’s very common for young people to have trouble managing their stressful schedules. The best thing for you to do is make a timetable and dedicate time slots to specific tasks. So for example, from 2 pm — 4 pm, you will only study Biology and from 4 pm — 5 pm you will chat with your friend on the phone. Make sure that mentally demanding tasks, like studying, are given priority timing in your time table because socialising and web surfing can be done later in the day when your energy levels are low. You need a lot of discipline to adhere to your time table but once you are able to achieve that, you will see that you are able to accomplish a lot during the day.

Are you a troubled teen? Miss Panacea has the solution to all your problems.

Email her your issues at t2@tribune.com.pk

If you’re dreading watching another show about vampires or about the incredible lives of spoilt and uptight elite New Yorkers, then buckle up your seatbelts for a refreshing television sitcom: ““Awkward”” The show, which is aired on MTV and is centred on the life of teenager Jenna Hamilton, could not have had a more apt title.

Everything that young Jenna does fits that sitcom’s name perfectly and makes the viewer strongly emphathise with the high school student’s ineptness.

While watching the show, one get a clear sense that the social situation in high school hasn’t changed much over the decades — cliques comprising popular kids, the jocks, the cheerleaders, the nerds and the outcasts still prevail. In fact, these cliques become like castes; it becomes difficult to break or transcend them for the duration of high school.

And like most caste systems, it’s a lot easier to slide down than move up the ranks.

Most high school students find themselves outside the purview of the popular cliques and Jenna Hamilton is no excep-

tion. Jenna, played by Ashley Rickards, is wrapping up summer camp and is headed for sophomore year of high school at the start of the series. She has a huge crush on popular jockey Matty McKibben (Beau Mirchoff) and shares a fum-

bling few minutes of intimacy with him in a broom closet.

Being the courteous gentleman, Matty politely tells Jenna that she’s great, but she should not tell anyone that he likes her because of their stark ‘caste differential’. This is of course not

something a girl wants to hear moments after sharing a special moment with the guy she likes.

So lovelorn Jenna decides to vent her frustration in anonymous blog — the modern equivalent to a locked diary.

Her anonymous blogging stirs

a controversy, when she receives a ‘care-frontation’ letter which divulges the excruciating truth about her introvert character.

Her reply to this email leads to a misunderstanding of epic proportions as it is misconstrued by the entire student body as a sui-

cide attempt.

So, Jenna tries to revive from this false tittle-tattle that had managed to reverberate through the halls of her school.

However, instead of wallowing in self-pity, Jenna tries to cope with the situation and uses this unfortunate event as a launching pad for attaining higher visibility at her high school.

The best part about this show is that it doesn’t have the stereotype skinny and pretty ‘it’ girl.

The most popular girl in school, Sadie Saxton (Molly Tarlov), is a normal girl, slightly towards the heftier side. The manipulative overweight cheerleader has the entire school jumping at her whim. Sadie along with her best friend Lissa (Greer Grammer), are the gruesometwosome who are out to make Jenna’s life absolute hell.

You might think “oh no, not another high school sitcom” but ““Awkward”” is not a boring run-of-the-mill series. It’s a show capturing the essence of being a teenagers; it highlights the stigmas and pressures that haunt lives of many youngsters at high school. Unlike others shows currently on air, it’s actually pretty relatable.

23

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, OCTOBER 15, 2011

Japanese scientist unveils ‘thinking’ robot

Peek-a-boo

Ready, steady and “shoot” Warco, the upcoming game which simulates the travails of a war journalist, is attracting a lot of attention PHOTO: AFP

TOKYO

PHOTO: DEFIANTDEV.COM

PETER ROLPH

In an industry where the most successful video games allow the player to be a heroic fighter in a virtual world of conflict and gore, Brisbane-based Defiant Development is taking a different approach with their upcoming title, Warco.

In this game, the player is not a combatant; he is in fact the war correspondent. Even though the game follows the template of war-based, first-person shooters (FPS) like the Call of Duty or Medal of Honour series, the similarity between Warco and FPS games ends there. The player looks through the lens of a camera rather than a rifle and roams in a conflict zone hunting for potential stories rather than targets.

The challenge is to remain in proximity to the ongoing war in order to capture the best shots, without getting yourself killed.

The concept was conceived in 2008 by former war correspondent Tony Maniaty, who has worked in wartorn countries like Vietnam and

East Timor, after he observed his sons play an FPS game. “I was able to correlate this with a frontline TV camera,” explains Maniaty. “You’re in a warzone, you’re carrying your ‘tool of trade’, you bring it up to your shoulder, look through the viewfinder and ‘shoot’ — but you’re shooting footage, not bullets.

He shared the idea with his friend, film director Robert Connolly with whom he’d collaborated on Balibo, a film aboout the deaths of five journalists (Maniaty’s colleagues) during the conflict in East Timor in 1975.

After procuring funds for further developing the game, the pair ended up in contact with games industry veteran Morgan Jaffit, who has worked for giants like Electronic Arts, Midway Games and Vivendi. Jaffit found an independent company Defiant Development in 2010, which is all set to launch Warco.

While the game does not currently have a set release date yet, the recently released preview footage shows the

PHOTO: DEFIANTDEV.COM

player trying to film combat scenes from behind parked vehicles, accompanying soldiers through wrecked buildings and observing civilians still in the ruins of the warzone, before presenting a “news broadcast” comprising the footage.

Maniaty describes his experience as a journalist in establishing a credible setting for the game. “My role is largely making sure the game resembles the real world of frontline journalism, so there are no fantastic scenarios of TV correspondents leaping over fivemetre-high walls,” he emphasises. “[We are] trying to keep the look and feel of Warco as authentic and as close to real world events as possible.”

He adds, “I’ve drawn heavily on my experiences and those of other TV correspondents in developing scenarios, including the fictitious country of Benouja and the town of Al Djoubako, which perhaps not surprisingly looks like a cross between Libya and Somalia.”

Interestingly so, Maniaty originally conceived the simulation as a poten-

tial training tool of war journalists.

“Nearly one thousand media workers have been killed on the job in the past decade,” says the former war correspondent, highlighting the need for a simulation to train journalists working in warzones.

Maniaty is sure that the authentic feel of the game will be a factor in its success. “From the outset, I knew that if Warco was to work as a game that people related to, whether as a training tool or a retail game, it would have to be rooted in authenticity.”

How regular gamers will find the experience of being vulnerable, unarmed and exposed is uncertain since there is a currently accepted standard that war games typically have a combative protagonist. The last quarter of this year is expecting two big titles both embodying this philosophy with Battlefield 3 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 due for release.

Modern Warfare 3 is predicted to challenge the sales figures of its prequel, Black Ops, one of the biggest selling

games of all time.

However, Maniaty says that being unarmed does not mean the player is passive, and finding a balance between keeping safe and staying close to action may attract players who want to win without directly engaging in conflict.

Ultimately, Maniaty feels that Warco offers something unique — its realistic backdrop and scenarios. “Clearly the bulk of FPS games are fantasies, even those that claim some degree of ‘authenticity’,” he asserts. “Is it really possible to kill thirty people in even five minutes single-handedly?”

The game designer also dismisses the violence in FPS games, claiming, “It’s nothing like the horrible reality of actually seeing the aftermath of brutal warfare [in Warco].”

The game has recently generated a great deal of hype; it has already been nominated for four awards, including best design at the Freeplay Awards, an Australian independent games festival, and has won one for best art.

Tech Society

Robots that learn from experience and can solve novel problems, just like humans. Sound like science fiction, doesn’t it?

But a Japanese researcher is working on practically realising this theory, with machines that can teach themselves to perform tasks they have not been programmed to do, using objects they have never seen before.

In a world first, Osamu Hasegawa, associate professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, has developed a system that allows robots to look around their environment and do research on the Internet, enabling them to “think” how best to solve a problem.

“Most existing robots are good at processing and performing the tasks they are pre-programmed to do, but they know little about the ‘real world’ where humans live,” he says.

“So our project is an attempt to build a bridge between robots and the real world.”

The Self-Organising Incremental Neural Network, or “SOINN”, is an algorithm that allows robots to use their knowledge — what they already know — to infer how to complete tasks they have been told to do. SOINN examines the environment to gather the data it needs to organise the information it has been given into a coherent set of instructions.

Tell a SOINN-powered machine that it should, for example: “Serve water”. The machine begins to break down the task into a series of skills that it has been taught: holding a cup, holding a bottle, pouring water from a bottle, placing a cup down. Without special programmes for water-serving, the robot works out the order of the actions required to complete the task.

The SOINN machine asks for help when facing a task beyond its ability and crucially, stores the information it learns for use in a future task.

“In the future, we believe it will be able to ask a computer in England how to brew a cup of tea and perform the task in Japan,” says Hasegawa.

Like humans, the system can also filter out “noise” or insignificant information that might confuse other robots. “Human brains do this so well automatically and smoothly so we don’t realise that we are even doing this,” he says. Similarly, the machine is able to filter out irrelevant results it finds on the web.

“There is a huge amount of information available on the Internet, but at present, only humans are making use of such information,” he said.“This robot can connect its brain directly to the Internet.”

Hasegawa hopes SOINN might one day be put to practical use, for example controlling traffic lights to ease traffic jams by organically analysing data from public monitors and accident reports.

He also points to possible uses in earthquake detection systems where a SOINN-equipped machine might be able to aggregate data from numerous sensors located across Japan and identify movements that might prove significant.

But there are reasons to be careful about robots that can learn, cautions the professor. What kinds of tasks should we allow computers to perform? And is it possible that they might turn against us, like in the apocalyptic vision of Stanley Kubrick’s film 2001: A Space Odyssey.

“A kitchen knife is a useful thing. But it can also become a weapon,” he says. While Hasegawa and his team have only benign intentions for their invention, he wants people to be aware of its moral limits.

“We are hoping that a variety of people will discuss this technology, when to use it and when not to use it.” AFP

Talking robots?

Twenty seconds is all it takes for Pakistanis to inform their loved ones that they will soon reach home safely GRAPHIC: ESSA MALIK

Gone in twenty seconds

PHOTO: FIRE

There is an interesting commonality in all of us — the length of our phone calls YASMIN MALIK

Notwithstanding our myriad ethnic, class and regional differences, there is one peculiar tendency that unites us as a nation: our average call time.

In the world of telecommunications, we, as a nation, are defined by 20 seconds precisely.

Whether it’s a suave businessman sitting in his furnished office or a vegetable vendor by the dusty roadside, the average time it takes for a typical Pakistan to express himself/ herself in a phone call is merely twenty seconds.

The executive proclaims his impending arrival at a meeting and the traveller loudly

announces his arrival at the airport, within the average duration of a twenty-second phone call. Suprisingly, the short span of twenty seconds encapsulates festive flurries celebrating a win by the Pakistan cricket team from Karachi to Landi Kotal, the coordination between the paan-chewing office boy and the chai walla to ensure smooth delivery of tea on all office floors.

And twenty seconds is all it takes for Pakistanis, notwithstanding their socioeconomic background, to inform their loved ones, that they will soon reach home safely.

As our market for telecommunications has expanded

enormously, telecom companies have been paying more attention to our typical usage patterns i.e. what time of day we place a call, our average monthly spending on phone credit and indeed, how long we talk. Consequently, this analysis has yielded that a significant pattern — a typical call lasts on average for twenty seconds.

We, as a nation, comprise one of the fastest growing telecommunication industry, in terms of numbers of subscribers.

And if you are one of the 105 million-plus people in Pakistan who own a mobile connection, you also partake in the twentysecond phone call trend.

Some operators like Zong decided to capitalize on this by launching specific packages, like the Z20. “This was the first time that a telecom service provider offered its package on a 20-second basis, explains Amir Pasha, manager public relations Zong. “The concept behind Z20 was to promote the value of time and the importance of choti but zaroori baat.”

Some aspects of this trend were memorably captured by in the Z20 package ads and reiterated during key sporting events. And if you look at other telecom ads carefully you will notice that there are many other such “trends” that fit our

local profile.

The twenty-second phenomenon, as we see know it today, was not always the norm when cellular services were first introduced in 1994 by Mobilink.

Users who carried the oversized, cumbersome phones of the bygone era were reluctant to use them freely for fear of incurring huge expenses. But now things have drastically changed.

But because of proliferation of telecom providers during the new millennium in Pakistan, Mobilink is no longer the only predominant telecom firm.

Due to the surfeit of attractive telecom packages available in the market by Ufone, Telenor, Warid

and Zong, it has become cheaper to place calls. And thus our mobile pulse — the duration of our phone calls — has quickened.

We call more regularly throughout the day and often we connect with people to convey succinct messages — like a chauffeur calls his boss to let him he has arrived to pick him up. Hence the interesting phenomenon of the twenty-second call.

Next time you hit the dial button, know that there’s a probability that your call might just last less than half a minute!

About the Author: Yasmin Malik is a Telecoms Analyst and a Visiting Faculty at the IBA

Australian scientists have invented a new line of robots named Lingodroids, who have been programmed to create, use and share language. The bots can create words to describe places they have visited and wish to go to along with enunciating plans for getting there. “When they need a new word, they invent one,” says Janet Wiles, a cognitive scientist at the University of Queensland who leads an interdisciplinary team on the project. The rolling chatterboxes “see” using 360-degree cameras, laser range finders, and sonar. A microphone is used as their ears while a speaker acts as a voice box, producing the familiar beeps of a touch-tone phone. As for brains, Wiles fitted each Lingodroid with an alphabet of beeps that correspond to letters.

Wiles programmed them to take part in a series of games in which they paired the letters into nonsensical combinations like “ja” or “ku” and joined those syllables to come up with new neologism as required. For example, in one such exercise two robots went through a course and came across each other in an unfamiliar section of it. The meeting triggered one robot to name the spot “jaya” and relay the new term to its partner, who then added the word to its dictionary. Thus the robots gradually built their own terminologies and eventually even learned to communicate and understand directions.

SOURCE: DISCOVER MAGAZINE

24

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, OCTOBER 15, 2011

offbeat

Big foot — literally

Superhero on a smelly mission

A new superhero has emerged in the Czech Republic, with a mission to wage war on dog owners who don’t clear up their pets’ mess.

The caped crusader — complete with tights, helmet and a mask to protect his secret identity — patrols the parks of Prague.

The self-styled super hero, who also soaks inconsiderate smokers with buckets of water — says he was spurred into action after the city was dubbed the dog poo capital of Europe.

“I am SuperVaclav and I have decided to take action against the indifference and hypocrisy in society,” he said on his website.

“I’m tired of just sitting back and watching the injustice around us. It is my mission.”

One video for his campaign — posted on YouTube and his own website — shows him snatching up a handful of dog poo from the ground and pelting the dog’s owner with it.

“His only super power seems to be running pretty fast because the dog owner is furious and sprints after him as if he means to kill him,” said one observer.

SOURCE: ORANGE.CO.UK

Titanium treasure found on Moon A new map of the Moon has revealed an abundance of titanium ore that is up to 10 times richer than on Earth, a finding that could one day lead to a lunar mining colony, astronomers said on October 7.

The discovery was made by a camera aboard the US Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which swept the surface of the Moon, scrutinising it in seven different light wavelengths.

Mark Robinson of Arizona State University, who presented the research at a conference in Nantes, western France with Brett Denevi of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, sifted through the data for telltale jumps in the ratio of ultra-violet to visible light.

They established this signature thanks to rock samples brought back to Earth by Apollo 17 astronauts in 1972 and images of the area around the mission’s landing site by the Hubble space telescope.

Titanium is as strong as steel but nearly half as light, which makes it a highly desired and expensive metal.

On Earth, titanium is found, at the very most, in roughly one percent of similar types of ore. But the new map found abundances in the lunar maria — dark, basaltic plains on the Moon — that range from about one to 10 percent, the conference organisers said in a press release. In the lunar highlands, abundance was around one percent. AFP

TV ad only meant for a dog’s ears A new TV advert for dog food features a series of highfrequency signals beyond human hearing.

Nestle Purina produced the 24-second advert, for Beneful dog food, using a high-pitched whistle, which only dogs can hear.

The aim is to attract dogs to the screen during the ad which will in turn encourage owners to buy the product for them.

Behavioural experts from the US researched which sounds would have the most effect on canines in front of the television screen.

The advert features a dog twitching it’s ears with attention as its owner squeaks a toy duck, followed by the high frequency whistle.

The sound occurs twice within the clip and is near enough impossible for any human to hear.

Austria will be the first country to air the advert on national television this week.

SOURCE: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Two-faced cat beats the odds

A 12-year-old cat with two faces has been recognised as the longest living in the world with the condition.

The blue-eyed rag doll cat, called Frank and Louie, has made it into the 2012 edition of Guinness World Records, reports the Mirror.

Frank and Louise is a Janus cat, named after the Roman god with two faces, which don’t normally live longer than just a few days.

He was born with two faces, two mouths, two noses, three eyes and several doubts about his future.

Frank and Louie was to be put down when he was just one day old before owner Marty Stevens decided to adopt him.

Ms Stevens, of Worcester, Massachusetts, said: “Every day is kind of a blessing; [it’s]12 and normal life expectancy with this condition is one to four days.”

“So, he’s ahead of the game; every day I just thank God I still have him.”

She was working at a veterinary practice when Frank and Louie’s breeder brought him in to be put down.

Ms Stevens offered to take him home, but experts told her not to get her hopes up as Janus cats suffer congenital defects that make it difficult for them to eat or drink.

But Ms Stevens used feeding tubes to nourish him for three months, and incredibly he grew up as healthy as any normal cat.

SOURCE: ORANGE.CO.UK

Is this silk or milk?

A young fashion designer from the German city of Hanover is revolutionising high fashion by designing clothes with a staple she can find in her fridge — milk.

Anke Domaske, 28, has developed a fabric called QMilch made from high concentrations of the milk protein, casein, — the first man-made fiber produced entirely without chemicals.

Made from all natural materials, the QMilch fabric is ecological but also has many health benefits, said Domaske, who also said the amino acids in the protein are antibacterial, anti-aging and can help regulate both blood circulation and body temperature.

Domaske’s fashion label Mademoiselle Chi Chi — a favorite among the likes of Mischa Barton and Ashlee Simpson - has now started weaving the milk fiber into its collection. REUTERS

The first thing that people notice about Brahim Takioullah is not his feet — which he hopes will make him famous — but his enormous height. He stands more than eight foot (246 cm) tall.

As he strolls through downtown Paris people gasp, stare, take his picture and ask, “Are you the tallest man in the world?” He’s not but he officially has the biggest pair of feet on the planet.

Judges from Guinness World Records came to France to measure him and confirmed his suspicion that he had recordbreaking feet — his left measuring one foot three inches (38.1 cm) in length and his right, one foot 2.76 inches.

Takioullah cannot stand up straight in the small flat he shares with his mother in the Paris suburbs, has difficulty getting into a taxi or the Metro, and can never move around without attracting attention.

But he is surprisingly good-humoured about his situation, smiling and posing for cell phone snaps and politely answering questions about his condition. He has acromegaly — a pituitary gland disorder that causes the body to produce excessive growth hormone. The brain tumour can lead to other problems aside from great size, and Takioullah was advised to seek surgery.

Takioullah, 29, is from Morocco, and grew up in a small village — and he surely grew up fast. In one year in his teens he put on more than three feet (one metre) in a spurt.

But apparently he decided to finish his university studies in geography. When he began treatment, he was already huge and closing in on the world’s tallest man, Sultan Kosen of Turkey who stands at eight feet and three inches.

Takioullah contacted Guinness himself to challenge for the record, and says he is proud to have it recognised, though daily life is not without its problems.

He hopes one day to have a custom-built car he can drive himself, but for now even getting a pair of shoes stretches his budget — he takes a European size 58, which no shop has ever stocked.

He recently met an orthopedic podiatrist to be fitted with a specially made pair designed to support his huge weight. French doctors are working to reduce Takioullah’s brain tumour, and he hopes his newfound fame will help him find the specialist treatment he needs.

“The record now will be known around the world, and experts anywhere around the planet may be able to help,” said Craig Glenday of Guinness World Records, publisher of the famous guide to the world’s extremes. AFP

Penguin spotted on Hampshire beach

Day-trippers enjoying the heatwave on a Hampshire beach were stunned to spot a lost penguin frolicking in the waves.

It’s believed it was a jackass penguin which normally makes its home in South Africa, 6,000 miles away, reported The Sun. Visitors to Southsea beach, near Portsmouth, filmed the penguin diving in and out of the waves.

Joanne Gordon, 35, of Aldershot, said,“I couldn’t believe it when I saw it swimming around away just six feet from me.”

Earlier, the bird is said to have been seen waddling around the harbour to the surprise of onlookers.

SOURCE: ORANGE.CO.UK

Drunk driver finds odd parking spot

A drunk driver tried to park his car in a river after mistaking a slipway for an underground car park ramp in heavy fog.

Peter Thaler, 42, abandoned the car and walked home when he realised he’d almost ended up in the Ruess river in Sins, Switzerland.

But he was arrested the next morning when he returned to collect it while police were retrieving it and was still so drunk he failed an alcohol breath test.

“He was confused because of the fog but mostly because of the drink,” said a police spokesman.

“He lost his licence and will be fined and will have to pay all the costs of the recovery of his car.”

SOURCE: ORANGE.CO.UK