The Music Issue

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May 2011

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Issue 37

ANIMAL IDOLS

The animal world is full of natural-born singers.

Give it up for Mother Nature’s chart-toppers . . .

The tree tenors what katydid

They may not look like natural-born performers, but these monkeys love to sing. If you’re ever in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Burma or southwest China, you might see these white-handed gibbons, also known as lar gibbons, swinging around in the trees.

The boys are black and the girls are beige, and if you see a couple, listen out for the song they sing together. Sitting at the top of a tree, they’re known to shout out their love for each other – opera-style – especially in the mornings or evenings. Their ‘whoops’ and ‘whooahs’ also tell other monkeys to stay away from their love nest.

The female usually starts the performance with a sad call that gets louder and louder. The male then joins in with high-pitched hoots. But these monkeys won’t be singing for long if we don’t stop destroying their forests. People also hunt them for meat and sometimes, parents are even killed so humans can sell their babies as pets! To hear the song of the gibbons, search ‘monkey duet’ at www.hip2b2.com.

This isn’t just any old grasshopper.

It’s called a Katydid, because the song it sings over and over sounds like ‘Katy did! Katy did!’

Maybe it’s trying to tell us something about Katy Perry, or maybe it’s just our imagination, but either way, this bug likes to sing in the evening. And instead of using its mouth, it just rubs its two front wings together.

On one wing is a row of teeth (like a serrated knife) and on the other is a hard edge called a scraper.

When a male wants to sing, he rubs the scraper against the teeth and hey, presto! His song carries over the crowd of female fans.

Believe it or not, humans use a similar system to make music. A CD stores Wild animals aren’t used to data in a long row of bumps, paparazzi, so it’s not easy to get close-up which are too small to see footage. Which is why a British filmmaker named with the naked eye.

John Downer created a remote-controlled camera These bumps are read that looked like a boulder. Because it didn’t freak by running a laser the animals out, the camera could be wheeled right beam across inside a lion’s den, where it captured 3 000 hours them, just like a of footage of the cubs growing up. Imagine all the katydid’s scraper. other rare or shy animals we could learn more about with this technology! To watch a video, visit http://tinyurl.com/lioncam.

Smart tech: Boulder Cam

12

It may only be about as long as your finger, but this sea creature has a deadly weapon: sound.

Found in the tropical Indo-Pacific ocean, the tiger pistol shrimp is the loudest animal on Earth. It can make a sound of up to 200 dB – louder than a rock concert (115dB) and 20 dB louder than our ears can handle … (For more info on decibels, turn to page 7.)

So how does it work? When a tiger pistol spots his prey, he aims his claw like a gun and snaps it shut, firing a blast of bubbles that can reach 5 500 ºC – as hot as the sun – as they burst. This stuns the prey and throws it onto its back. Search ‘shrimp’ at www.hip2b2.com to see it in action.

But tiger pistols aren’t the only creatures to use sound as a powerful weapon. Armies have been known to use explosives called stun grenades or flash-bangs, which disorientate the enemy by producing a loud bang and a blinding flash of light.

Scientists create a singing mouse!

A few months ago, Japanese scientists announced that they’d created a mouse that tweets like a bird. Seriously. The mouse is part of an experiment called the ‘Evolved Mouse Project’, which was created to see how mice would change if they evolved a little faster.

The researchers created a group of mice with DNA that mutates – or changes – more easily. When an animal’s DNA changes, this can affect the way its babies look or behave … and that’s what causes a species to evolve.

The scientists didn’t plan to create a singing mouse, but a random change in one of the parent’s DNA codes created a tiny, tweeting baby. And by looking at how other mice respond to the strange new sounds and how the sounds change in different situations, scientists hope to get new information about how language is created. Check the little guy out at http://tinyurl.com/singmouse.

The Karaoke King Ever wished you could imitate the school bell? Well, this Australian bird can. It can also copy chainsaws, fire alarms, barking dogs, the human voice and many other crazy sounds!

A bird’s vocal organ is called the ‘syrinx’, and as far as syrixes go, the lyrebird has the Super Deluxe model.

It comes with the most complex muscular system of all songbirds, giving it amazing musical skills.

If this bird made it into Hollywood, it would put some people out of a job. When a movie is made, sound effects editors are hired to create all kinds of strange noises – people’s heads being chopped off, alien spaceships landing and so on. And they often use real animals to get the perfect sound – the roar of the T-Rex in Jurassic Park, for example, was the sound of a baby elephant mixed with that of a tiger and an alligator! Bet the lyrebird can’t do that … Search ‘lyre’ at www.hip2b2.com to hear what it can do.

what do you thin k?

Can you think of a way to carry out research without having to test on animals?

Email your opinion s, as well as your name, sc hool, grade and provinc e to thinkoutloud@hip 2b2.com.

FACTS A springbok sounds like a cross between a lion and a motorbike. Don’t believe us? Check out http://zar.co.za/sound.htm.

BY Nina Liebenberg; photographs: wikimedia; flickr/moshe rueveni; flickr/epicnom. illustration: natasha johnston

THE supersonic shrimp

Backpack beats

This Skullycandy backpack has a special compartment for your MP3 player, with a rubber slit so you can pull out your earphones and listen to your favourite tunes on your way to school.

Want to rock the house? Plug any MP3 player into this iHome compact capsule for an awesomely clear sound experience. They’re easy to carry around – just twist and the red part folds away – so you can party wherever you go.

www.lookandlisten.co.za

www.lookandlisten.co.za

PUMP IT UP

smart style

You may not be a rockstar (yet), but you can certainly dress like one. Give your feet a bit of bling with these feisty Iron Fist pumps.

www.revolutiononline.co.za

Calling all music fans (in other words, everybody)! This stuff will rock your world.

BY Lindi miti; images: Shavan Rahim/nmp photography

GOTTA GOLLA? Why shouldn’t your gadgets look as stylish as you? Slip your cellphone or MP3 player into one of these cute little Golla Digi bags, and then strap it on your belt or hook it to your bag for easy storage.

www.cna.co.za

listen up!

Jay-Z teamed up with Skullcandy to come up with the sickestsounding earphones ever. And if they’re good enough for Jay-Z, they’re definitely good enough for us …

www.revolutiononline.co.za

IS THAT A VUVUZELA? It may look like a painted box for pills, but blow into the hole and it’ll blast out a sound that’s as loud as – if not louder, than – a full-size vuvuzela.

And it’s a whole lot easier to carry around.

www.africanmusicstore.co.za

Hip hop hoodie Bust your best hip-hop moves in this crazy coloured and patterned gear from local designer, Skeet. Beware: the eye is watching!

www.shelflife.co.za

The best-selling album of all time is Michael Jackson’s Thriller, which has sold over 100 million copies.

win

wanna win THIS STUFF?

All you need to do is tell us what your favourite story in this issue is, and why. Email your answer – along with your name, school, grade and phone number – to thinkoutloud@hip2b2.com or SMS it to 31445, and all this stylish stuff could be yours.

Standard SMS rates apply. Competition closes on 1 August 2011.

fashion, accessories & gadgets

Pimp my player

MegaMind

5 The Arrows minutes with

What can you expect?

We catch up with the singers behind that catchy song called ‘Lovesick’.

me come from?

Where does your na d a dream that she One night, Pam ha ts ing shot over fores was on an arrow, be l. rfu we vivid and po and oceans. It was arsal Christie, out he re at The next day ll think we should ca of the blue, said: ‘I t. tha s wa t tha d ws.’ An ourselves The Arro ve? called Make Belie Why is your album me ur dreams beco It’s about making yo a lot of meaning s ha reality. The title ’t endent band that isn for us, as an indep sic mu r ou ng label. Getti signed to a record a is rld wo the around to reach audiences . en pp ha ke ma d to dream that we’ve ha

Reviewer: Jasmyn Connor, Grade 11, Danville Park Girls’ High School, Durban

cts? ourite school subje What were your fav . me Economics Pam: Drama and Ho Christie: Science

Many animated films have received positive reviews, but this one goes beyond the rest.

MegaMind is an alien criminal who overcomes his extra-terrestrial nemesis, MetroMan, only to discover that total oppressive domination isn’t all he thought it would be.

He creates a hero to try to get life in MetroCity back to normal, but his plan backfires, leaving him to question whether he really is meant to be evil at all.

This movie will have you clutching your sides with laughter, and later reaching for your tissues. A must-see!

Rating: 4/5

hits (two out of 20% chart-topping the 10 songs reached No.1) 30% excellent, sing-along pop tunes 6% old-school doo-wop-style R&B 10% soulful power ballads 14% soft, sensitive love songs 13% reggae-tinged grooves odseese-eXmingly C e 7% rock riffs ir Arrange th words in the

less meanincgorrect order. ers...) numb all in the (Clue: it’s en s e orf yv enat wontooth Using only the letters in the word THOUSAND, icksev create a new 8-letter word that means ‘worksheets received in class’. To test your skills even further, eef r t nyn see if you can also find one 7-letter word, three 6-letter

Thousands of combinations

Wann the B a win a c Crack runo M opy of a and this COD rs CD? name SMS you E-X puzz & sch r answ le ool to e Comp Standard 3144r, S etitio n clo MS rates 5. ses o a p ply n

Our FAVE tracks

‘Grenade’ and ‘Marry You’

Confessions of Georgia Nicolson Reviewer: Kendal Pyle, Grade 10, Harvest Christian School, PE

In this series of books, we meet 14-year-old Georgia Nicolson, whose irony and humour cover everything from pedantic parents to her bed-wetting little sister Libby.

Georgia records the events that happen almost daily in her diary, creating a hilarious account of her life. Through it, we learn what it means to be a modern girl on the brink of womanhood.

Author Louise Rennison is a comedy writer … and it shows. Whether Georgia is dealing with wearing a bra, pondering which way to turn your head when kissing, or managing the results of an overzealous eyebrow-plucking episode, she always cracks me up. Rating: 5/5

14

Complete the grid usin cal or horizontal group of tabs contain the sum total for each verti and six cells). In each group, two een betw ains cont cells (each group a number may not be repeated. For example, if a tab group consists of two cells, and the sum total is 4, the only possible combination is 1 and 3 (not 2 and 2).

Two numbers have been filled in as clues.

words and six 5-letter words. Remember: Only English words are allowed and names are not.

DEPARTMENT 6 IS THE ARMY. DEPARTMENT 13 IS MI5.

.

1 Aug ust 2 011.

Ri-Singstar

REVIEWER: Brand Ambassador Edward Reynierse, Goudveld Hoërskool, Free State

Tired of playing SingStar in your living room? Check out how tech can transform it into a global event!

Just snap a webcam onto your PS3 and broadcast your ‘livingroom performance’ around the world. Then, upload your content to your online profile – called My SingStar – where people can comment on and rate your work and you can interact with your ‘fans’.

If your content scores well, it may make it into the Hot Picks of the Week, and if it continues to dominate, you could even get into the Hall of Fame. Now who needs Idols and nasty judges? Rating: 4/5 ANSWERS

FACTS In Monaco, the national orchestra is larger than the national army.

IS THE REASON YOU’RE ALIVE. THERE IS A SECRET AGENCY THAT SAVES THE WORLD EVERY DAY, AND YOU’VE NEVER EVEN HEARD OF IT. DEPARTMENT 19 IS A SECRET ORGANISATION DEDICATED TO DESTROYING THE HEIRS OF DRACULA, BEFORE HIS BLOODLINE SOAKS THE WORLD RED...

AVAILABLE NOW FROM ALL GOOD BOOK STORES.

music reviews by nikki benatar; puzzles by ellen cameron-williger; imgaes: Nu Metro Home Entertainment: Paramount Studio; kalahari.net; HarpercollinsUK/Louise Rennison; supplied

The Arrows: Christie Desfontaine (left) & Pam de Menezes (right)

Bruno Mars: DooWops & Hooligans

puzzle Cross-number blue g only the numbers 1 to 9. The red and

CROSS-NUMBER PUZZLE: Hit www.hip2b2.com; Thousands of combinations 8-letter: handouts; 7-letter: astound; 6-letter: daunts, haunts, hounds; 5-letter: daunt, haunt, hound, hands, sound, stand.

CODE-X: You’ll have to work this one out to win!

pop culture & puzzles

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