Dear reader,
You may have heard about the recent terrorist attacks in Paris and we feel strongly that they were an attack against freedom of speech, liberty and the right to have a voice. Satirical comedy by its very nature is meant to challenge and confront the status quo and therefore, the purpose of the gunmen was to silence those who, in their opinion, were shouting too loudly.
As an outlet for those who have something to say we, at Snippet, would like to show our support to the ‘je suis Charlie’ campaign and to our neighbours in France. Any unjustified attack on the media is a passive attack on us and our shared values of free speech and democracy.
Unfortunately for the gunmen, the world was not prepared to let this heinous act go unnoticed. The considerable response from publishers around the world was met by millions of individuals who felt the need to say their own piece by taking to the streets in reflective and peaceful protest.
Everybody should have the right to have a voice.
We are Charlie.
Current Affairs: Space Exploration… Is It Worth It?............. Butterfly Poem…………………………………………………………………………… Freedom and Liberty………………………………………………………………. Poem: Fearful....................................................................................... Wreck Diving....................................................................................... Debate: Is Fear Good or Bad?..................................................... Freaky Dingbats.................................................................................. Dingbat Answers............................................................................... Fear: This Calls For a Scary Story................................................ Autumn and Winter Bucket List................................................ Book Review......................................................................................... Pantophobia......................................................................................... Beats and Blockbusters.................................................................... Media and Technology: Slenderman....................................... Science: Breakthrough Surgery Saves Man’s Hand........... A Day in the Life of a Vegetarian Vampire............................ Cinophobia........................................................................................... What’s Around The Corner?........................................................ Pointless Page: Abnormal Fears…………………………………………... Sports Infographic: How to Win the Premier League…… Sports: Time For a Change……………………………………………………. The Cut…………………………………………………………………………………….....
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Space exploration…
Is it worth it?
On Friday the 31st of October the first SpaceShipTwo exploded mid-air in a horrible accident. There were two people in the spacecraft at the time: a pilot named Peter Siebold and a co-pilot named Michael Alsbury. Of the two, only one survived. After the tragic accident Peter Siebold was declared dead, however Michael Alsbury managed to escape by parachuting to safety. US investigators say it crashed due to the failed tail boost when the “feathering” system, created to increase drag and ensure a smooth downfall, was activated too early and too slowly. The speed at which the “feathering” system was supposed to be used was Mach 1.4, however it was supposedly activated at Mach 1. This meant that, as the tail boost was
The awful disaster killed Peter Siebold this Halloween.
DEFINITIONS:
Mach is a measurement used to show the ratio of the speed of an object relative to the speed of sound for the fluid it is in. It can be written as Ma or M. Fluid is a term used to mean a substance that can be poured or that can flow for example water or air.
activated too early, the Space Plane ultimately exploded due to the lack of speed. Overall, the crash has only delayed the project of space exploration by around six months and has had no major effect on the sales of the tickets. As few as 20 of the 700 tickets were refunded. That is only around 3% of all that were sold. So, after such a long wait for space tourism, it turns out we will have to wait even longer as a result
of the crash. Despite the fact that testing any new form of transport carries risks (as this case shows), a successful test can be a move in the right direction. Every step, no matter how small or inconvenient, is a step forward. Thus, if you were to ask me, “was it worth it?”, my answer would be a resounding yes; the universe is our future…
Richard Branson says the British coverage of the crash was: “the British press at it’s worst”.
I bless thy bed of a butterfly’s wings, that they may carry you safely. Away, away on a summer’s wind, to your new found haven. Their strength, their courage, their undying love, will shepherd you into the sunset. Like the passing of peace by a dove, you will slumber at rest. The still skies above and the great oceans below. Nothing will slow you, nothing but love; the passionate calls urging you into your heaven. Think of me dear when you see, my carrier, guardian and guide to me, a beautiful butterfly flying free, fluttering into the sunset.
F re e d o m a n d L i b e r t y The world is calm, the early morning breeze Brushing past my ears, the morning sun rising into the clear sky, A vast golden orb, alight. I watch, as the streets, flooded in a stampede of shoppers, a normal day Unaware of life without freedom, democracy, things we take for granted. A privilege many still don’t have. They live a life of fear and insecurity, The pain, anguish, torment caused by various afflictions; No Freedom to speak your mind. To live or die, To laugh or cry, No Freedom to talk, No Freedom to walk, No Freedom to live in peace, To eat, sleep, the freedom to play, No freedom to be who you want to be Who you should be, who you need to be Yourself! The once calm world, frozen in time, In a single moment. The world is still, that sort of deadly calm you experience After a deadly and evil moment.
Flinching, Shaking, Trembling, Scuttling, Pupils dilated, The shrinking of height, Body slumping; Burning tears that screamed their painful way down my icy cheeks. Fear is irrational, Ridiculous, Ludicrous, A frivolous weakness that should never be indulged in. And yet… Fear is malicious; The laughter that creeps its way along the darkened corridor, The scratches, The silent tears, That night when you walk in darkness alone and hear a noise behind you. I couldn’t run; Fear is impulsive, Inescapable…
Wreck diving is where a group of divers visits a wreck. The wreck can either be purposefully or accidentally sunk. In a wreck dive, divers can then either stay outside of the wreck or enter the wreck: This is known as a penetration dive and requires special equipment and training. Wrecks can be anything from helicopters to submarines, cars to planes. They can be any size or depth, ranging from massive Naval Battleships to small inflatables. Each wreck has its highlights and artefacts. However, divers are discouraged from removing these. There are two reasons for this: 1) It makes the wreck less interesting 2) Archaeologists may want to research these. PADI offers a wreck diving speciality course. To take this course the diver needs to be 15 years old and an ‘adventure diver’. To reach ‘adventure diver’ status the participant needs to have completed their open water training and then made three additional adventure dives. These dives can be picked from a list of 16. This includes, deep, fish ID, search and recovery and night. There are many risks involved in wreck diving. Many of them can cause severe injuries or even death. One of the most common risks is DCS, also known as ‘The Bends’, in which nitrogen, which is not used in the body, is not given the chance to escape from the body. To prevent DCS a diver performs a safety stop at 5 meters for 3 minutes. This allows nitrogen to leave the body. Another common problem is running out of air. To prevent this, the diver will carry a bottle that they attach to their tank and if they run out of air they use the smaller tank. Another way to receive emergency air is for the to swim to their buddy and breath using their alternative air source. A buddy will have a yellow hose so it is easily located. Also when wreck diving, a diver can cut them self on the wreck. This problem is easily avoided by wearing heavy duty gloves. Nature colonises underwater wrecks.
Fear:
Goodor
Bad?
Nobody likes being scared. Neither the stomach-churning stab of a startling surprise nor the festering stench of a lingering worry is very appealing. So why bother writing a debate that argues for (and against) a sickening, negative emotion that can not only reduce grown men to tears but can also hold back the most ambitious, capable people from doing what they love, merely for fear of failure. Why would anyone defend this? One of the main arguments for keeping fear is that it stops us from doing stupid, life threatening things that we would be doing if we were not scared of them. However, I think that if we couldn’t feel fear, we would still be able to use our logic to assess and avoid a dangerous situation. For example, I’m sure that someone may still be able to a work out that an open flame is dangerous, and despite the fact they would not actually be scared of it, they would still be able to realise that it has the potential to cause pain which is bad and thus should be avoided. Fear is definitely a vital emotion. It protects us from making mistakes that put our well being at risk, both immediately and in the future. Whether it’s choosing to take a taxi late at night rather than walking down a potentially dangerous route, or wearing oven gloves when getting something out of the oven instead of risking burnt fingers, it’s a useful mechanism. Fear is a very good motivator as well. Yes, we all hate worrying about our overflowing homework schedules, or stressing about the revision you have to do for that terrifying test, but doesn’t it push you to just bite the bullet and get it done?
Also, we must recognise the difference between understanding things that could potentially hurt us and a fear of something harmless. People love horror films at Halloween, sleepovers or at the cinema. They are an integral part of the film industry and of our culture. Without fear, they are no longer enjoyable.
I agree that fear cannot calculate the outcome of a situation, but it may cause the person to avoid the potential pain from those circumstances. The avoidance of pain is through fear, and we would not be so cautious around dangerous things if we did not fear them. Don’t look at fear as something that merely makes us avoid the unpleasant, but known, outcomes. Look at it as something that protects us from things we don’t understand. It’s all very well being scared of fire because we already know it will hurt us, but this is a different kind of fear from what makes so many scared of the dark. The unknown nothingness is so terrifying because it is just that, unknown. Fear holds us back, not only as individuals but also as a society. Maturing and growing up into functional adults is not only stressful, but terrifying. So many people spend their lives stuck in careers they hate, merely because they are too frightened to pursue the pathway that they are destined to. Have the most successful people in today’s society climbed the career ladder because they are the best qualified for their jobs or just because they are able to ignore the fears that hold back so many others? Let’s look at the long-term effects of being scared. Small children that are exposed to things that frighten them may be scarred for life, and posttraumatic stress disorder is just one mental health issue brought on by fear. Constant worry can lead to anxiety and depression. How can you think fear is a good thing after all the pain it causes people?
Whether you think fear is necessary or not, we are stuck with it, so our only options are to feel it, and face it anyway.
1. Wish Upon a Star 2. Over My Dead Body 3. Alice Through The Looking Glass 4. First Aid 5. High Priest 6. Three Wise Men 7. Four Wheel Drive 8. Holy Water 9. Hot Water Bottle
Autumn was thinking. She did this a lot. But her thoughts now were greater than any before. Many believed she had the insight of a cat, seeing everyone, creeping everywhere, and knowing everyone's secrets. The continuous perplexity of one thing however, it was heavy, like pressure on her shoulders, never to release. This thought, however bothersome, was important. Men and boys, of all ages were disappearing, all over the town, even though it was very small. It bothered her that others came to her, as she was known for her knowledge. Ultimately, this was annoying. When the farmers son came to her, all apprehensive and young, he obviously knew what had been happening to the boys. On that subject, he asked Autumn the looming question that she knew would bid farewell to his mouth. “Will I disappear like all the others?” he said. She didn't know what to say. Even though she knew what she would be asked, the question still surprised her. “Well, that depends on whether you are a good boy or not!” she said, trying to weave a sort of positive view on the matter. The look on the boy’s face made Autumn want to laugh, but she tried to hold it in so as not to upset him. Later that evening, Autumn was wondering what would happen to the boys. When they all disappeared, who would chop down the trees, and
milk the cows? There weren’t enough girls or men to do it. This gave her the idea. The treacherous, dangerous idea that would probably get her killed. Even this thought did not dishearten her advance in her quest. She was going to take matters into her own hands. The following night, in the pitch black darkness, she packed a bag of only the necessities: food for three nights, spare clothes and enough water for her to survive. When her parents had retired to sleep, she crept out of her room, down the stairs, careful to miss the creaky 12th step down, and collected her keys. Before she exited her home, she did something she had never even thought of doing before. She prayed. She prayed for the boys, the boys that had gone and the ones that still remained. Finally she prayed for herself that she would return to her home that she loved. Then she left her once snug home behind, unsure if she would ever return. The strong wind howled, tossing her to and fro from her path. She didn't know where she was meant to be going. She just knew she had to go somewhere, to help the people who disappeared. *** Her water had run out three nights ago, two days after she departed. He food was now gone. When she was about to give up, she spotted the best thing she was going to get in her situation. Smoke. She ran towards it, and this proved favourable. A log hut. The smoke exited from the chimney and the door was open. She could hear sounds. Undistinguishable. But there. She crept towards the hut, and crouched under the low window. She panicked as the door creaked open and a male, ominous voice said, “You may as well come in dear, you don't want to catch a cold outside.” All she could do was go in. What she saw next scared the wits out of her...
Have a hot chocolate with squirty cream, marshmallows and chocolate sprinkles.
Go out into the forest for a walk through the autumn leaves on a weekend. Wrap up and go out to watch a local football match. Find a good film and watch it in front of a roaring fire.
Bake some cakes or biscuits and decorate them with a friend. (Then eat them!)
To keep with our theme of fear this issue, we have chosen three terrifyingly fantastic books that you should all read. Coraline by Neil Gaiman – many of you will have seen the film, but did you know that it was based on a novel? Coraline is a lover of adventures and when she moves into her new home, the first thing she does is explore. She finds a hidden door behind the wallpaper in her room and in the middle of the night, disappears into the world beyond the door. She discovers a parallel world, where her “Other Mother” and “Other Father” live. Everything seems perfect until, around the dinner table, her “Other Mother” offers her a pair of buttons. How charming you may think, until you realise that these buttons were to be sewn onto Coraline’s face. From this moment on, Coraline struggles to escape her ‘perfect’ world when the monsters start to affect reality. The Imaginary by A F Harrold and Emily Gravett – this story tells the tale of Amanda and her imaginary friend Rudger. Except he’s not really imaginary – he’s AN Imaginary. Her friends don’t believe he is real, so when Mr Bunting turns up on her doorstep, claiming to be able to see Rudger, both she and Rudger are pleasantly surprised. However, this acceptance is soon to be lost, as Mr Bunting reveals his intentions to capture and devour Rudger. He is a hunter of Imaginaries and will not stop until he has feasted upon Amanda’s imaginary friend and made him fade into nothingness. How will Rudger survive and keep his friendship with Amanda? Frankenstein by Mary Shelley – this story presents a beautiful comparison of the extremes of emotion. Dr. Frankenstein is an intelligent and talented scientist, who creates a living being out of flesh. The being escapes from his laboratory, and is never seen again, until it begins to reappear in Frankenstein’s life and makes terrible demands of him. Will Frankenstein comply? This is a chilling story for those that want to challenge their reading abilities.
Fear can come in many different forms. It is quite ironic that they invited me to Snippet to add an aspect of comedy and my first issue is on fear. I, myself, am afraid of clowns, which in some strange people’s minds are funny so perhaps the line between comedy and fear is smaller than you think. I find some fears amusing like triskaidekaphobia. If the name isn’t hilarious enough, what it means is even weirder. The fear of the number 13 is its definition. I don’t really understand why a number can be frightening. I find some things related to numbers scary, for example certain maths teachers. However, I’m not afraid of numbers in themselves. Here is a story about how things can be scary for one person but not for another… Pantophobia. I have pantophobia. My friend said it should be called irrational moaning disorder but I didn’t listen to him because I am afraid of friendship. Also listening. For people that don’t know, Pantophobia is the fear of everything. People also scare me. He told me I should go outside but I ignored the idea: “I could be caught in a breeze and be blown off a cliff or I could be attacked by a large dog or an angry cat or even a particularly vicious rabbit. Why would I want to ever go outside?” “OK, but at least get something to eat,” he said with a hint of urgency. I had not eaten for the past 3 days although I had drunk some water. I know what you’re thinking and yes I do have a fear of water but my fear of having a dry mouth is far worse. “I will not eat a single thing! What if something gets lodged in my throat or I get food poisoning. Do you want to get me killed?” “I don’t know,” he said shrugging his shoulders, “it might be a bit of a relief for both of us! In fact, I am going to leave right now.” “Good. I’m not quite sure why I let you in at all. You are making my house unsanitary just by being here. Leave, and leave quickly, but not so quickly that you fall and die and become a trip hazard. Now go and shut the door behind you but don’t slam it. Loud noises frighten me.” “Don’t ever try to make contact with me again!” he said. “I wouldn’t,” I yelled in retort, “Telephones scare me!”
This issue we are talking about fear, so as usual I’ve picked two music items and two films to relate to our theme.
Beats In music I’m all about Bastille right now, I especially love the song ‘Pompeii’ as it really sums up the fear of Pompeii’s inhabitants as the terror of the volcanic eruption unfolds. The rest of their album ‘Bad Blood’ continues the theme of tragedy and fear, in particular another single called ‘Icarus’. This English rock band were nominated for four Brit Awards in February 2014, taking home the British Breakthrough Act. They have recently shown their charitable side by partaking on the Band Aid Single for 2014. A band that can take famous events and make them a modern hit single is a definite: 10/10! Lorde– Yellow Flicker Beat
Mockingjay Part 1(cont.) The plot of this film hinges round the decisions Katniss must make, such as whether to choose Gale or Peeta (the love triangle). Another decision that really drives the plot is about Katniss possibly becoming the Mockingjay, the symbol of the rebellion. Whatever her decision is, it will have widespread consequences for all the citizens of Panem and the Capitol itself. A fast-paced film, which is a spectacular build-up to the series finale next year! 9/10! Guardians of the Galaxy Out on DVD is Marvel’s latest superhero flick, ‘Guardians of The Galaxy’. Marvel is famous for its superheroes, this family film is just the latest in a long line of superhero films. The difference with this film is that the superheroes are ‘rouge’ superheroes, their team consists of an assail, two bounty hunters, a hardened criminal and the main character: Peter Quill. This unlikely team must band together to defeat the evil Ronan, who is working for Thanos to recover the orb (which contains an Infinity Stone) that Quill stole right at the beginning of the film. The fear throughout the film is about the robbery and will the orb be regained by Ronan.
Lorde’s catchy new single ‘Yellow Flicker Beat’ was on the soundtrack for the new Hunger Games film: ‘Mockingjay Part 1’. This song sums up the fear and sadness of Katniss as she comes to terms with the consequences of her actions in ‘Catching Fire’. It is a very catchy song, also it’s the first of many brilliant songs from the It is a little bit of clichéd plot that I have seen in soundtrack. Catchy but it doesn’t stand out from countless Marvel movies. However, it works to build both hype and storyline for the second the crowd: 6/10! Avengers, which is out next year. For an interesting spin on the stereotypical superhero Blockbusters it’s a 7/10. In cinemas there has been one major release: Mockingjay Part 1. This film is pretty much fear in film form, with the shadow of civil war hanging over everything that Katniss does. With the constant fear over Peeta, Katniss is once again in a cliché of teenage films: the love triangle.
Slender Man has been gone for a while now. The first big game came out almost 2 years ago and since then there hasn't been much of anything. Maybe he has given up a life of stalking you around forests and making you scream. He may be living on a farm now or maybe he’s on a beach in the Bahamas, enjoying the sun on his pale face. Let’s face it: he hasn't been doing much. So where has he gone? Is Kate (the character you play) bored? There are so many questions that need answers so let’s get on with the most important, where is Slender Man? First off we are going to be looking at the two main slender games; Slender: The arrival and Slender: The eight pages. We will look at what Slender Man is in order to guess where he is and what he is doing. In The Eight Pages you find, well, eight pages. These carry some interesting comments. The one that is different from the rest says: “He sees you … no eyes”. This stands out as it doesn't reveal any troubled feelings and all but one of the words is underlined! Next we look at a notice you find at the start of Level 2 in The Arrival which says: “Do not interact with marine
life”. This has no significance at the moment but it could suggest that Slender Man is a sea creature. This might explain the “no eyes” from before, as down in the depths of the ocean you can't and don't need to see. So what would be the point of eyes? This could also explain his long thin body which would be good for swimming. Why was he here then? At Level 3 in The Arrival, you find a note:
This could suggest that Slender Man was disturbed by the mining company. Therefore, he may come up and start stalking forest walkers. However, there is no sea near there, I hear you say. Well there isn't one above ground but researchers have found underground oceans below America which have been undisturbed for millions of years. This could mean a creature such as Slender Man could belong to a whole species that has been trapped under America for years. As it would be so dark, eyes would not be necessary. So where is he? Well he may have gone back to his underground water cave to feast on the dead body of your character, maybe he will come back but with more of his kind!
Chinese surgeons have saved a man’s hand by grafting it to his foot. After a work-related accident Xiao Wei’s entire right arm was crushed and his hand severed. Unfortunately, the arm had too many injuries to be able to re-attach his hand immediately. There is a very small window of time within which a surgeon can successfully reattach a limb to its original place on the body. This is usually no more than a couple of hours. Putting the limb on ice does lengthen this window but not by much. Without a blood supply, the muscles and other structures in Xiao’s hand would die, so to keep his hand alive long enough for the arm to heal, the surgical team stitched it to Wei’s left ankle and ‘borrowed’ a blood supply from arteries in the leg. This is called grafting. One month after the injury, Wei’s arm had healed enough to re-attach his hand to his arm. Xiao Wei’s doctors say he will need to have several more surgeries but are optimistic that he’ll regain full use of his hand. Grafting body parts to unrelated body parts to keep them alive has become very successful with Chinese micro surgeons. Mr Ciaran Healy of the Royal College of Surgeons in England said, “Although procedures like this are rare, they are not inconceivable. The Chinese are pretty experienced in microsurgery.” Another example of successful microsurgery is when a man grew a new nose on his forehead after the cartilage in his original nose started disintegrating after a traffic accident. “Sadly,” says Ciaran Healy, “not all replantations are a success. Some patients don’t like the end result and may later opt for amputation because of side effects such as pain and stiffness.”
A Day In The Life Of A Vegetarian Vampire My life as a vampire used to be extremely repetitive, but I enjoyed it. I’d go out and hunt down a couple of humans, then go to the vets and suck the blood from one or two kittens. I’d usually go to the “Blood Bar” twice a yearwhen it was my birthday, and when it wasn’t, so people couldn’t really call me a bloodoholic. If a vampire stops drinking blood they are at risk of blood loss, so I made sure I had at least five litres a day. But then something changed my mind. I was at the “Blood Bar” drinking my usual pint of dog’s blood, when I suddenly felt a lump in my throat. I couldn’t breathe. I was rushed into hospital by the strangers around me and I was operated on. I had to go down to the hospital every day for a week! Imagine that. And guess what had got stuck in my throat? An eyeball. AN EYEBALL. That made me feel so sick I went off blood completely and suffered from blood loss. That meant my life was at risk. Something had to change. I was on my way to the hospital one morning when I saw a poster: “VVAT tonight at the square.”
I had never seen that
before, so I went along to find out what “VVAT” was. It stands for Vegetarian Vampires Alone Together. Weird. They were going on a “mission” as they called it, so I went along too. After all, I thought they’d all die of blood loss? There were about thirty of us all together. I wasn’t quite sure where we were going but I was pushed along with everyone else. We
arrived
at
some
sort
of
building
labelled
“Supermarket.” All I know is that a supermarket is in the human world because we learnt about it at school.
We smashed
through the glass and lights flashed on like lightning. I could see rows of food next to each other. We ran straight to the “quorn” isle. I remember having no idea what quorn was, but I went along with it anyway. The “VVAT” began to rip open packets of what looked like meat and sink their teeth in to it, sucking some weird juice from it. Someone came up to me and offered me a bit of “Quorn chicken” but I leapt back suddenly remembering the eyeball. I had no option but to eat it as I didn’t want to be rude. To my surprise the taste was delicious. I still love “VVAT” and go everyday but there is one problem. I have become a quornoholic.
(Fear of dogs) Strange, abnormal fears are hilarious. We all love laughing at someone who thinks that peanut butter on the roof of their mouths is literally the most torturous thing imaginable. Why? Firstly, because we don’t understand their phobias, but mainly because they are so unrealistic, and you are never going to run the risk of offending someone by laughing at their phobia of chins or wigs, simply because you will probably never meet such a person. I have a rather strange fear. I am scared of dogs. Yes, those little, cute, fuzzy balls of love. Yep, even the small ones. A few nights ago I lay awake in bed, wracking my brain for points for this article. I thought I had sorted everything I needed to say. Yes, I would talk about the miscellaneous difficulties that accompany such a domestic fear, I would maybe mention some celebrities who are also scared of dogs, and I might even quote some of the ruder people I have met in the past who told me to “get over it” and “stop being such a baby”. But then I realised that this was all in vain, and that you, my dear reader, are quite a heartless soul in reality. Of course you do not want to read about the arrogant, over exaggerated qualms and complaints of someone who, let’s be honest, doesn’t exactly have a difficult life otherwise. Because each quote, name drop and grumble, would only push you further from the only thing I need bother saying. Everything that I could write to try and make me look like some sort of victim, lumbered with this terrible disease of fear, would not satisfy you, because I would only be avoiding perhaps the only question that you want answered in this article: How? How on earth can, in this day and age, anybody possibly be scared of such a sweet, emotive, beautiful creature? How could someone, when faced with a bouncing beagle or luscious Labrador, do anything but immediately submit their hearts in admiration to the wonderful beast?
I have been struggling to answer this question for fourteen years, and had not found the answer until the said night when, racked with insomnia, I began a midnight brainstorm for this piece. Then, as if by magic, something in my mind clicked, clunked and rattled, and deposited the answer at my fingertips, which I shall now proceed to type for you. As humans, it would be impossible to predict, at least not with one hundred percent accuracy, what a dog is thinking at any given time. This is true of any given animal: it is very difficult to completely tap into their psyche. Perhaps your perfect parrot is a psychopath; your kitty is a killer, and your hamster a Hannibal in the making. But, and I must confess this is where I may start to slowly descend into my “sob story” part of the article, I am a weakling. Many a time has my inability to lift heavy objects (classroom tables, really light weights, piles of books) been met with suspicious, judgmental glances. And don’t get me started on arm-wrestling. However, I know that if one of my guinea pigs snaps one day and threatens me at knifepoint, I would probably be able kick their little furry bottoms in a fight situation. A dog though? With their sharp teeth and wolf ancestry? I’m not so confident… The combination of never being quite sure what a dog is thinking, with the sheer weight and bulk that would knock me over like a feather in a hurricane, is probably the root of my fear. And what about little dogs? The thought of their quick teeth and agile claws only makes them scarier! The terrifying unpredictability of any dog is, in conclusion, why I am scared of dogs.
It’s going to eat me!
Throw the bone, come on… THROW THE BONE!!!
What’s Around The
Corner ? People have always had fears and been scared of what could possibly happen. Of course, we do not often worry about being cursed or eaten alive, but this mechanism, which makes us fear the worst, is essential to our survival. It uses the tool of fear to make us do everything we can to prevent us letting everything go. It isn’t unusual to be scared of cancer, or being burgled, but there is, in my opinion, one terrifying, yet likely, near-future event that is surprisingly rarely feared.
We are unusual - maybe unique - in that we are organisms that have broken free of our evolution. With culture, learning, science and communication, adaptations that would usually take millions of years to evolve, now only need a few centuries to invent. This is because people can write their ideas down, other people can learn these ideas for themselves and we can create an organised society. It may have taken millions of years for birds to develop wings, but modern science has only been around for a few centuries and we have already invented wings, along with several other ways of flying. The result is that we have been able to vastly improve people’s lives, especially with medicine, intensive farming and education. So, there is no debating that modern life is better than our p rim ordia l hun t er-g a th erer existence; attacking woolly mammoths and dying in our twenties and thirties. The speed of improvement in our lifestyles has escalated over the last 200 years. Machines have enabled manufacturing of products; whilst intensive farming and fast travelling, are among
many other improvements. We have many more things in our lives than we were previously used to. Meanwhile, our effect on the environment has grown too. One example is that forests have been slowly reducing in area in the UK since the Middle Ages. They were felled for wood, which was used to build and as fuel. The process was largely sustainable because the majority of the wood was obtained from hazel coppicing, where stems are cut down every few years and allowed to regrow. While there was destruction of woodland, this was over hundreds of years. Less woodland and a more tidy countryside, along with many other factors, such as hunting of wildlife by people, did result in the loss of a few animals. Some, long forgotten, top predators were lost from our islands, such as wolves, bears and lynxes, but the ecosystems largely managed to continue. Now, however, the destruction has moved abroad, to the tropical rainforests. Modern technology, such as vehicles and chainsaws, has made an unprecedented rate of destruction possible. Technology is not to blame, because many
(Above right) Four species that have become extinct in the British Isles due to a wide range of human activities, including the loss of habitat, pollution and hunting. (Descending order) Orache Moth, Apple Bumblebee, Eurasian Brown Bear and the Eurasian Lynx. Luckily, these creatures survive elsewhere in the world.
factors have made a possibility into a reality. Poverty, exploitation from international corporations and illegal activity are new challenges for the rainforest. Technology is, however, what has made the change so rapid in recent years. According to most estimates, every day around 80,000 acres of rainforest is lost and a further 80,000 acres are degraded. At that rate, an area of around the UK is lost about every two years. The rainforest is part of the planetary system that is essential for our survival. As we lose the habitat, we lose the species that live there—around 50,000 a year. Farming trees, such as in Rendlesham Forest, means that the woodland habitat is not
(Above) The frightening loss of the rainforest is threatening animals, plants and fungi that have not yet been identified by modern science.
destroyed, but these dark, pine forests offer home to little nature. If you looked from space at various points since modern humans reached Britain, you would see the forests decreasing and fields and towns increasing in size. Our once mostly forested country is now only around 7 to 12% covered in forest. While the issues are complicated with many possible solutions and limitations for all of them, it is certain that we must preserve as much wildlife as possible. Ecosystems are reliant on all of their parts. There are many ways we are disrupting
ecosystems all over the world and all of this will ultimately impact us, because agriculture is dependant on nature. The soil must have worms in it and many crops need insects to pollinate them. There is no doubt that the more habitats are destroyed and the more species that become extinct, the closer we get to our own peril. I am not saying that the landscape should be reverted to how it was before humans were around. What I am saying is that it should probably be terrifying that we are quickly losing nature. Species of plants and animals are slipping through our fingers like
gold dust. Without nature, we can’t grow food, enjoy the right
weather for our climate, or even breathe, for that matter (a lot of carbon dioxide is being released into the atmosphere, but we won’t be suffocating any time soon!) I have only really explored a tiny proportion of the problem and why ecosystems are essential to our sur vival. Developed nations, such as the UK, will not be the first places to suffer the impact of how we are changing our environment. Global warming, caused by the pumping of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere is truly terrifying. How could changing the composition of the atmosphere, our shield from space, not cause fear? How could the sea level rise that could cause people living in low-lying land all over the world not worry us? How could the possible disruption of the ocean currents that prevent the UK being as cold as Moscow not make us anxious? In geological history, there have been five mass-extinction events. This is when the world has simply stopped working, for whatever reason. Many types of animals, plants and fungi disappear forever and the Earth resets itself over millions of years. The extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago happened at one such event, where a huge asteroid smashed into the planet. This was good for us, because our ancestors filled the gaps in the environment that dinosaurs left behind. It was not good for 75% of the species that were around before then, because scientists reckon that
was the amount that disappeared. Around 250 million years ago, 96% of all marine species died out in another extinction event. In rocks laid down during this time, a layer can be seen where forests turned to deserts. Imagine Woodbridge covered in ice all year long. Imagine Paris as a desert. This is the sort of change that would have been seen 250 million years ago. Some scientists think that the speed of extinction of species today is as fast, or even faster than it was in this event. We should be quaking in fear! But, we are not and it is, in my opinion, better that way. While fear keeps us on our toes, I think it is no use for this situation. We could be running around terrified, trying not to step on rare wildflowers, or we could be sitting in front of the television with the heating on high. Either way, it is not going to change anything. What we need is to wean ourselves off unsustainable dependence on limited resources. We need to waste less. We need to preserve the wildlife we have left. We need to use cleaner, greener electricity and we need to help developing countries improve people’s lives, without unsustainable destruction of the precious, vital and sustaining environments being destroyed. We do not only need to do this because nature is extraordinary and beautiful, but because we ourselves are the only intelligent life that we will ever encounter. Without a change, the human mass extinction will end in our own demise.
Do you have any abnormal fears? Any peculiar phobias that keep you awake at night? Well, just check these out...
Ablutophobia - Fear of washing or bathing. Alliumphobia - Fear of garlic. Arachibutyrophobia - Fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth. Barophobia - Fear of gravity Cathisophobia - Fear of sitting. Consecotaleophobia - Fear of chopsticks. Dextrophobia - Fear of objects at the right side of the body. Eleutherophobia - Fear of freedom. Epistemophobia - Fear of knowledge. Euphobia - Fear of hearing good news. Geniophobia - Fear of chins. Genuphobia - Fear of knees. Helminthophobia - Fear of being infested with worms. Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia - Fear of the number 666. Ideophobia - Fear of ideas. Lachanophobia - Fear of vegetables. Levophobia - Fear of things to the left side of the body. Linonophobia - Fear of string. Melophobia - Fear or hatred of music. Metrophobia - Fear or hatred of poetry. Mycophobia - Fear or aversion to mushrooms. Omphalophobia - Fear of belly buttons. Panophobia or Pantophobia - Fear of everything. Phobophobia - Fear of phobias. Pteronophobia - Fear of being tickled by feathers. Sitophobia or Sitiophobia - Fear of food or eating. Vestiphobia - Fear of clothing.
Zemmiphobia -Fear of the great mole rat.
Time
For a Change? For the last seven years of my life I have made the trip every other Saturday to see Ipswich Town. Every August, I hope. Every Saturday at 2:55, I hope. This season, for a very much welcome change, these hopes may not be shattered and we may finally return to the Premier League. The day I was born, Ipswich were third in the Barclays Premier League. Six and a half years later, as I made my own sort of debut at Portman Road, we were fourteenth in the Coca Cola Championship. Over the next year I witnessed a fantastic season. I attended nearly every home game, I saw us lose only once and I witnessed us smash in 65 goals at Portman Road. As a seven year old, when you see your team scoring goals for fun, getting large attendances, and rarely losing; you cannot help becoming attached. We finished seventh and just a couple of additions could see us launch ourselves into the Premier League. Over the next five years I was to see four managers come in and out of the door, us being dragged out of the relegation zone numerous times and our arch rivals Norwich get two promotions and enjoy life at the top flight of English football. That was
Tyrone Mings
Jonny Parr
before Mick McCarthy. He built and he built, and he is still building. Mick McCarthy has, without doubt, created a superb squad. He has developed the best back four in the division, with three fantastic centre backs fighting for a place week in, week out. We also have possibly the best up and coming left back in the Championship; Tyrone Mings’ attacking play has drawn scouts from the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea to Portman Road in recent weeks. Whilst at right back we have a defensively secure, and offensively exciting, player in Jonny Parr. We now have excellent depth across the
midfield. Last season’s black hole in the midfield has been filled with the unearthing of talents Teddy Bishop and Kevin Bru, McCarthy now has an embarrassment of riches across midfield.
with what could be described as dire football, these have without doubt been the best weeks I have ever had following Ipswich.
But surely the area that excites Town fans the most has to be the striking partnership between Daryl Murphy and David McGoldrick; last year they scored 29 goals between them. This time around they have hit 24 already. In goal there have been doubts over the first team quality of our men between the sticks. Despite both goalkeepers making some errors this season, Bartosz Bialkowski and Dean Gerken have shown signs of being topclass keepers and there is now a healthy rivalry between them for the number-one jersey.
Kevin Bru
Teddy Bishop
If this is not a squad capable of a promotion push, what is? Despite a 1-0 loss to fellow promotion challengers Derby, Town are still within a point of first and second placed teams Bournemouth and Derby. The next nine games are all against teams outside the top 10; it is the perfect opportunity to move back into the top two and open up a substantial gap on the teams below them. If the club do fail to make the automatic spots, they stand a very good chance of promotion in the play-offs: having already beaten the three other teams occupying the play-off places. Mick McCarthy’s first full season was the best in half a decade. Could this season be the best in fourteen long years? Could it be the best since we shocked England with a 2001 fifth place finish in the Premier League? Who knows? However, one thing is for sure - even if my hopes are shattered again - as a fourteen year old growing up
Bartosz Bialkowski
Dean Gerken
Mick McCarthy
The Cut In loving memory of Jude Cole, Alexandra’s favourite fish.
Ms Baynes-Robinson Harry Bradley Riki Buckles Alexandra Cole Sky da Silva Peters Sonny da Silva Peters Polly Dawson Elena Feretti Mati Feretti Alex Foden Miss Foster James Frost Olivia Goldsmith Jack Gowland-dale Miss Mardle Euan Mckenzie Emily Mitchell Sam Neil India Parkinson Maria Reed Beth Scahill Mr Tighe Rachael Vickery Alistair Wells Josh Wright Raffy Zoio
Look out for the next issue of Snippet: Technology.
Coming soon...