Discovery Channel Magazine India 2014-02 Vol. 1 No. 1

GREAT ESCAPES 48 FLIGHTS TO FREEDOM

EDIBLE SAVIOURS 62

RISE OF THE SUPERFOODS

IMMERSIVE GAMING 100 ARE YOU ADDICTED?

PREMIERE ISSUE

FEBRUARY 2014 I `150 Invitation price `100

C H A N N E L M AG A Z I N E I N D I A

UNDER SIEGE THE ODE TO IMMORTALITY PG 36

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF'S LETTER

C H A N N E L M AG A Z I N E I N D I A Editor-in-Chief Aroon Purie Group Chief Executive Officer Ashish Bagga Group Synergy and Creative Officer Kalli Purie

CURIOUS MINDS, REJOICE!

Editorial Director Jamal Shaikh Associate Editor Seetha Natesh Art Director Piyush Garg Designer Kishore Rawat

Impact (Advertising)

Group Business Head Manoj Sharma Associate Publisher (Impact) Anil Fernandes Senior General Managers Kaustav Chatterjee (East), Jitendra Lad (West), Head (North) Subhashis Roy General Manager Shailender Nehru (Bangalore), General Manager Velu Balasubramaniam (Chennai)

Business

Head, CRM/CMS & Senior GM Vikas Malhotra Chief Manager, Operations GL Ravik Kumar Marketing Managers Kunal Bag, Anuradha Rana Production Anuj Jamdegni

News stand Sales

Chief General Manager DVS Rama Rao General Manager - National Deepak Bhatt Sr Manager - North Manish Shrivastava Sr Manager - East Joydeep Roy General Manager - West Rajesh Menon General Manager - Operations Rakesh Sharma

DISCOVERY NETWORKS ASIA-PACIFIC Editorial Board

President and Managing Director Arjan Hoekstra SVP Content Group Kevin Dickie SVP and CFO Shitiz Jain SVP and GM, South Asia Rahul Johri VP, Marketing, South Asia Rajiv Bakshi VP, Communications Charles Yap VP, Programming Charmaine Kwan VP, Marketing Magdalene Ng

Editorial (Novus Media Solutions) Editor Luke Clark Design Director Richard MacLean Chief Subeditor Josephine Pang Staff Writer Daniel Seifert Photo Editor Haryati Mahmood Senior Designer Bessy Kim

Subscription/Customer Care

Email: [email protected] Phone: +91 120 246 9900 Mail: Discovery Channel Magazine India, A 61, Sector 57, Noida 201 301 VOLUME 1 NUMBER 1

Discovery Channel Magazine reserves all rights throughout the world. Reproduction in any manner, in whole or part, in English or other languages, is prohibited. Discovery Channel Magazine does not take responsibility for returning unsolicited publication material. • Published and distributed monthly by Living Media India Ltd. (Regd. Office: K-9, Connaught Circus, New Delhi – 110001) under license granted by Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific Pte Ltd., 21 Media Circle #8-01, Singapore 138562. • All Discovery Channel logos © 2014 Discovery Communications, LLC. Discovery Channel and the Discovery Channel logo are trademarks of Discovery Communications, LLC, used under licence. All rights reserved. • The views and opinions expressed or implied in Discovery Channel Magazine do not necessarily reflect those of Living Media India Ltd., MediaCorp Pte Ltd or Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific, including their directors and editorial staff. • All information is correct at the time of going to print. • All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent courts and forums in Delhi / New Delhi only. • Published & printed by Ashish Bagga on behalf of Living Media India Limited. Printed at Thomson Press India Limited 18 - 35, Milestone, Delhi Mathura Road, Faridabad - 121 007, (Haryana). Published at K - 9, Connaught Circus, New Delhi - 110 001. • Editor: Jamal Shaikh

04 DISCOVERY CHANNEL MAGAZINE INDIA

Welcome to the premiere edition of Discovery Channel Magazine India. There is something about a curious mind that immediately creates an impression. A curious child is labelled intelligent. A teenager who’s full of questions may be a tad tiresome, but is called enthusiastic and bright. And an adult with a thirst for information is often the best conversationalist you can find. Discovery Channel Magazine is a feast for those minds searching for answers. Built with the DNA of the immensely popular international television channel Discovery, this magazine seeks to educate and entertain, inform and enrich. Covering Science, Technology, Urban Life, Inventions and Obsessions, you will find stories written with clarity and depth, and a vision for the future. Let me also assure you that the features in this magazine are not going to be mere print versions of the shows on TV. Instead, these will be independent ideas on topics of interest and intrigue, streamlined with cuttingedge information and statistics. Leading from the front in this launch issue is an elaborate feature on the slow

but steady deterioration of the Taj Mahal. The time for debates about environmental factors and maintenance shortfalls is long gone. It turns out that human activity is the biggest threat to India’s First Monument. Shifting your attention to structures of the present is a story on skyscrapers of the world: on how the phenomenon that started in Chicago and New York in the last century is continuing to scale newer heights all over the world. Then there’s a fun, easy-to-read story on the greatest escapes in the world, charting the incredible tale of a young man who got away from a North Korean camp, to a funny story about a bunch of monkeys who outsmarted high voltage electric fencing that humans couldn’t toe, only to return for some peanuts! Last but not the least, those into technology will find our stories on immersive video gaming and cutting-edge sports gear extremely hard to miss. Go on, take in the wealth of information this magazine holds with delight. Whatever they say, curiosity never killed the cat … or anyone else for that matter!

Aroon Purie Editor-in-Chief

ISSUE 02/14

CONTENTS DEPARTMENTS

14

FRONTIERS

IN PLAIN SIGHT

12

FRONTIERS

SCHOOL OF ROCK

20

Their magical voice may set your heart on fire, but don’t go believin’ these beautiful liars FRONTIERS

I SPY

24

8

24

3

The human brain just loves to spot patterns, figures and faces, whether it’s on an inkblot, or the surface of Mars

22

IN CONVERSATION WITH

FREUD

26

The assertive psychoanalyst pushes DCM out of its chair and onto the couch. At least we’re not on the floor with his dog BIG PICTURE

GAME ON

116

Well played, to the Korean gamer whose fingers are insured for US$6,250

116

26

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE THE GRID 13 A BABY PANDA PLANS AN ESCAPE, AND MATHS CAN MAKE PIZZA TASTE BETTER NEWS 14 SUIT UP! IT COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE, BUT THIS THREEPIECE WONDER AIN'T CHEAP

06 DISCOVERY CHANNEL MAGAZINE INDIA

QUOTE UNQUOTE 14 IF IT STARTS SOUNDING LIKE YOUR FRIENDLY CIVIL SERVANT IS TALKING ABOUT SANDWICHES... UH OH! OBSESSIONS 22 TAKE OFF YOUR SHOES, EAT SOME EXPLOSIVE

FISH, AND SWEAT YOUR CARES AWAY, AS WE EXPLORE NATIONAL PASSIONS PHARAOH FUN 28 HERE'S ONE PARTY YOU CAN INVITE YOUR MUMMY TO

WHAT'S ON 118 WALK WITH DINOSAURS, ROAM THE VAST EXPANSE OF PANGEA, DISCOVER NATURE'S BOUNTY, DELVE INTO THE DETAILS OF MASSPRODUCED FOOD AND GET LURED BY THE GLINT OF GOLD

COVER PHOTO: CORBIS; COVER DESIGN: PIYUSH GARG IMAGES: MARK McCORMICK (BIG PICTURE ILLUSTRATION); CHRIS EDSER AT ILLUSTRATIONROOM.COM.AU (INTERVIEW ILLUSTRATION); THERESE DE JESUS OF ARTIESE STUDIOS (BULLETPROOF SUIT)

Why did it take us so long to find these body parts hiding inside us? We blame the Ancient Greeks

100

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36

62

FEATURES ISSUE 02/14 COVER STORY

SAVING AN ICON

36

Among the world’s most remarkable man-made achievements, the Taj Mahal is becoming a victim of its own popularity. Can it survive pollution and millions of tourists? ADVENTURE

BREAKING OUT

48

DCM delves into some of history’s most amazing escape stories — some cheeky, some courageous, and others deadly serious. Be warned: they don't always end well SCIENCE

82

72

MIRACLE MEALS

62

Feast your eyes on the superfoods that pack a healthy punch. DCM chews the fat with medical experts and food gurus to find out what we should be eating more of TECHNOLOGY

NEED FOR SPEED

72

Gone are the days of the simple sneaker. Today, sports embraces nanotech polymers, carbon fibre and even the odd skin-sensor temporary tattoo ARCHITECTURE

GOING UP

82

When it comes to skyscrapers, height is might. Learn the secrets behind some of the most iconic buildings in the world TECHNOLOGY

IN CONTROL

100

Playing a video game is so old school. The latest trend is not controlling a character, but becoming one

09 FEBRUARY 2014

FREEZE FRAME By Seetha Natesh

The polar vortex, which swept across northern America last month, stopped the roaring cataract that is the Niagara Falls in its tracks quite literally. Ice, snow, hoar and frost descended on the area in a dawn-white blanket, giving it a fairytale-like look, and quite soon, the internet was flooded with news reports and Instagrams of this spectacular sight. Although the temperatures were severe enough for polar bears to take shelter, tourists came out in droves to see the normally roaring Falls temper its voice to a whimper, and perhaps even fall silent. Eager beavers hoped for an ice bridge, last seen in 1938, to form over the Falls, despite the fact that it's now illegal to walk over one. 10 DISCOVERY CHANNEL MAGAZINE INDIA

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

WOW

FEBRUARY 2014

11

ISSUE 02/14

ILLUSTRATION: CARLO GIAMBARRESI AT ILLUSTRATIONROOM.COM.AU

FRONTIERS

YOUR SNEAKY BODY: SCIENTISTS DISCOVER NEW BODY PART IN 2013 For millennia, doctors have been discovering all the parts that make the average human tick. You would think that with advanced technology, we would have inspected every cranny. So why did 2013 see us finding out about a hidden layer in the cornea that’s just 15 microns thick, and later, a knee ligament that was discovered in 1879, but lay forgotten until now? Together the discoveries could make for better eye surgery and knee injury treatment — but it’s tempting to ask of today’s anatomists: what else are we missing? But hey, medical

12 DISCOVERY CHANNEL MAGAZINE INDIA

science is a constantly evolving field of study. What seems like gospel truth in one century is viewed as totally bananas in another. The ancient Greeks, for example, were dead sure that a woman’s uterus was capable of wandering round her body, wreaking havoc by causing everything from sleeplessness to vertigo, headaches and death. One famous physician of that ilk complained that the uterus “is altogether too erratic”. Might this explain why body parts lie hidden for millennia — tiny legs that allow them to skitter out of sight?

NEWS

THE GRID

PHOTO: LUCKYIRONFISH.COM (IRON KANTROPS)

ESCAPES

MATHEMATICS

HUMAN RIGHTS

A S I A- PAC I F I C

AMERICAS

STRANGE AND SERIOUS EVENTS FROM ACROSS THE WORLD EUROPE

007 TO THE RESCUE:

EYES ON THE WORLD:

AD POWER: A good ad can

SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECIES: Stereotypes,

such as the cliché that women don’t fare as well in maths as men, can be powerful. A postdoctoral research fellow at Australia’s Macquarie University wanted to find out how much sway these beliefs held, and the answers were surprising. When Asian women were asked to include their gender on a maths test, they fared worse. But when they were asked to name their race as Asian, they fared better.

LIGHTS, TRAFFIC, ACTION: Game theory is a branch

of maths that studies co-operation and strategy among various “players”. A civil engineer at Toronto University, Canada, found that modifying lights to “talk” to one another minute-to-minute, rather than co-ordinating through a central control system, made it possible to reduce jams drastically. On testing, the engineer found this could cut delays by 40 per cent. Game on!

PIZZA PI: Dr Eugenia Cheng, a mathematician at the University of Sheffield, United Kingdom, has developed a formula for the perfect pizza, though that depends on how you like yours, of course. Compiling research on the doughy meals at British chain Pizza Express, Cheng found that the 11-inch version has 10 per cent more topping per bite than 14-inch ones. She also advised that pizza-makers should give smaller pizzas a thicker base to prevent sogginess.

BEAR BREAKOUT!

TALES FROM THE CRYPT: A woman recently vis-

ESCAPIST FILMS: In

Activists are using the media to fight the authoritarian regime of North Korea. Chung, a former political prisoner who escaped to South Korea, now ferries radios, USBs with TV shows, and DVDs to his countrymen. Of his countrymen's tastes, Chung told The Independent that “the men prefer watching action films. I sent them Skyfall recently.” The women, on the other hand, enjoy soap operas and dramas.

The award for the cuddliest-wuddliest escape attempt of 2013 goes, perhaps unsurprisingly, to two panda cubs at an animal reserve in Sichuan, China. The escape began when one cub tried to clamber out of a nearby window. Alas, it was too small to reach the window bars. So it climbed on top of its buddy, who was sound asleep, before losing steam and tumbling back down on its colleague, who remained oblivious throughout the ordeal. Hashtag Aww!

Insisting that privacy is “essential to democracy”, Brazil and Germany have drafted an antisurveillance resolution and submitted it to the United Nations. The draft is likely to be supported by over 20 nations. Both Brazilian and German leaders have voiced their outrage at being spied on by the US National Security Agency (NSA). Former employee Edward Snowden revealed that the NSA has spied on at least 35 world leaders.

iting the grave of a loved one in São Paulo, Brazil, heard strange sounds coming from a nearby grave. Then, the soil began to shift and shudder. A flailing hand popped out. Turns out a man had been beaten by hooligans who had half-buried him. Police were understandably flummoxed by the woman’s report, and she had to get cemetery staff to back her up before the man was taken from the scene by paramedics.

live on even when its campaign finishes. That’s what happened with Amnesty International’s “It may not be happening here, but it is happening now” posters, 200 of which went up in Zurich, Switzerland, in 2006. The posters show images of human rights abuses Photoshopped into Zurich street scenes that mirror where the ad was placed. As of writing, the stirring posters were once again making rounds on blogs and social media.

a bid to toughen what the British government is calling the “easy life” of prisoners, inmates will no longer be able to watch films rated 18 (suitable only for adults). However, as local news agency ITV pointed out, they can still get their hands on some interesting viewing, in the form of movies such as The Shawshank Redemption, Escape to Victory, Con Air, Escape from Alcatraz and The Great Escape.

MIDDLE EAST/AFRICA EDUCATING GIRLS: Ma-

lala Yousafzai is the world’s most famous schoolgirl, and rightly so. The young Pakistani gained worldwide fame after her efforts to secure education for girls saw her near-fatally shot by the Taliban. Her international profile has been further raised by her new memoir, I Am Malala, but her book has been banned by some private schools, which fear their students will be left “in a confused state of mind” after reading about her experience.

PRISON PROBLEMS:

A recent news piece on KwaZulu-Natal, dubbed South Africa's most secure prison, raises many questions. The Independent’s online article quoted the prison's warden as saying “the day a prisoner escapes will be the day I resign”. According to the article, the area commissioner boasted that the prison was so secure that “an inmate would have to bribe at least 80 officials to get out”. (Now why would a public official say that?)

Fish Fight Anaemia

IN 2008, A CANADIAN EPIDEMIOLOGIST THOUGHT OF A WAY TO REDUCE ANAEMIA IN CAMBODIA. HE GAVE WOMEN SMALL IRON BARS TO PLACE IN THEIR POTS THAT WOULD RELEASE TINY PARTICLES — EXCEPT THAT THE WOMEN USED THEM AS DOORSTOPS. HE CONSULTED THE VILLAGE ELDERS, WHO TOLD HIM OF A LOCAL FISH CALLED KANTROPS THAT THEY REGARDED AS A SYMBOL OF LUCK, THEN MADE THE BARS INTO THE SHAPE OF SMILING KANTROPS. ANAEMIA IN VILLAGES WHERE THE FISH WERE USED QUICKLY DROPPED TO NEAR-ZERO

13 FEBRUARY 2014

NEWS NEWS CATCH THAT SLEEPY CAT!

6.4KM

104KPH 11AM–3PM

DISTANCE FOUR KENYAN VILLAGERS RECENTLY A CHEETAH’S TOP SPEED, THE VILLAGERS WAITED FOR THE HOTTEST PERIOD OF THE RAN TO CHASE DOWN AND CAPTURE TWO NEARLY 2.5 TIMES FASTER DAY, WHEN CHEETAHS ARE TIRED AND REST, BEFORE CHASING CHEETAHS, WHO HAD KILLED 15 OF THEIR GOATS THAN AN OLYMPIC SPRINTER’S THEM DOWN AND HANDING THEM OVER TO THE AUTHORITIES

HIGH-CALIBRE DRESS SENSE

Don’t lie. You’d totally pay US$19,000 for a bespoke, three-piece pinstripe suit. Did we mention it’s bulletproof? The outfit is the brainchild of Canadian tailor Garrison Bespoke, which writes on its website that “the idea was to create a stylish and discreet alternative to wearing a bulky bulletproof vest underneath a suit.” As such, it points out, its clients “wouldn’t have to worry about looking awkward during meetings.” Garrison Bespoke explains that the suit comprises the same carbon nanotubes that are used in US troop uniforms in Iraq — only even better. “The patented suit material is a lot thinner and flexible; 50 per cent lighter than Kevlar. The entire suit acts like a shield, with nanotubes in the fabric hardening to block force from penetrating through.” Bespoke claims it can

stop anything up to a .45-calibre bullet. News coverage of the suit does indeed seem to prove it works, though it’s likely you’d still suffer severe blunt trauma. And don’t go boasting about your super-suit if you’re in most Australian states, where the unapproved use of body armour can land you in prison for two years. Speaking of blunt trauma, you’re far more likely to be in a car accident, so why not supplement your nanotube threads with an invisible bike helmet? Developed by Swedish researchers, the Hövding helmet is more of a scarf, draped around your neck. But milliseconds after accelerometers in the device sense sudden catastrophic movement, an airbag unfolds, protecting your neck and cranium. Stylish and, at US$535, way cheaper than the Garrison Bespoke suit. Considering that very few of us wear helmets, invisible protection could one day be as ubiquitous as seatbelts — and hopefully as cheap.

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Hot Flushes Quote Unquote

“YOUR THANK YOU DOES NOT PUT BUTTER ON MY BREAD”

A worker concentrates on a section of rail inside the Eastern Discharge Tunnel #7. The 62-km wastewater treatment tunnel in Mexico City, Mexico, expected to be completed in 2014, will boost the city's drainage capacity.

JUSTICE MINISTRY OF MURMANSK

OTHER THINGS CORRUPT MINISTERS SHOULD STOP SAYING

According to a recent report issued by the Justice Ministry of Murmansk, bureaucrats are now “Leave the money in forbidden to say this to any my Bentley. Not that members of the public. It’s a Bentley, my other Bentley” sly, winking way for Russian government officials to “It is time for you say, “You should give me to bribe me” a bribe.” Other banned phrases include “So what do we do now?”, “Now let’s “Your thank you does not put rubies in my talk about some details” untraceable Zurich and “I can deal with this, but safe deposit box” it’s not going to be easy.” Which might make it rather hard to deal with anything at all (“Nope, we can’t talk about the details, but, uh, I can deal with this easily. Your thank you is extremely buttery!”).

`

PHOTOS: THERESE DE JESUS OF ARTIESE STUDIOS (BULLETPROOF SUIT); GETTY IMAGES (TUNNEL)

Bullet-proof suits for edgy sartorialists

TECHNOLOGY KICK HITLER!

RUBE'S APPLIANCES A madcap scientist’s crazy inventions

and gained nearly nine million hits. The other features a gloriously complex RGM, and has over 41 million. Don’t be thinking that the human minds behind RGMs are weird either. Heck, when you think about it, the human digestive system seems like a painfully convoluted RGMmechanism too — from the teeth that tear up the food to the small and large intestines, before being expelled as faeces.

The DCM RGM: Automatic Magazine Page-Turner

As the reader’s head turns down and to the right at the bottom of the article, a match strikes

This sparks a firecracker attached to the top right of the magazine

Eyes in the Sky Is Big Brother watching you?

WHY IS IT REVOLUTIONARY INNOVATIONS SEEM SO OBVIOUS IN RETROSPECT (WE’RE LOOKING AT YOU, LUGGAGE WITH WHEELS)? A SIMILAR GAME CHANGER IS LOOKING FOR CROWDSOURCED FUNDING AS WE SPEAK. IT’S CALLED PANONO, A 36-CAMERA, 72-MEGAPIXEL, 360-DEGREE SNAPPER YOU CAN THROW IN THE AIR. AND CLICK! YOU’VE CAPTURED A GLORIOUS BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF YOUR FAMILY PICNIC. OR STAR WARS FAN CONVENTION. OR YOUR NEIGHBOUR, PICKING HIS NOSE BEHIND HIS THREE-METRE FENCE. BLURRY SHOTS? NOPE. SENSORS ACTIVATE WHEN THE DEVICE HAS REACHED ITS APEX, CAPTURING THE PHOTO IN THE MOMENTS BEFORE THE BALL STARTS TO DESCEND AGAIN. IMAGINE IF THEY INTEGRATED THE CAMERA IN THE FOOTBALLS USED IN THE FIFA WORLD CUP — “BALL’S-EYE VIEW” OF SPORTING HISTORY, ANYONE? APART FROM BEING A COOL GIZMO IN AND OF ITSELF, YOU HAVE TO WONDER HOW SEEING OUR PHOTOS OF SPECIAL OCCASIONS FROM A RADICAL NEW VIEWPOINT WILL AFFECT MEMORY AND NOSTALGIA. PEOPLE WHO GREW UP ON BLACK-AND-WHITE MOVIES, FOR EXAMPLE, OFTEN DREAM IN GREYSCALE. MIGHT WE ONE DAY START DREAMING IN FISHEYE MODE?

“Keep him talking, sarge! I need 60 seconds to trace that call.” Watch a spy movie long enough and someone will grunt that line (also “you’re off the case!” and “I always knew you would betray me in the end, Natalya”). But that line hasn’t been factually accurate since the time Clint Eastwood asked punks if they felt lucky, and it’s time it stopped. That whole 60-second thing is based on technology that was retired in the 1980s, when telephone

switchboards went from mechanical switches to electronic switching systems. These days, tracing is instant — to an approximate location, anyway. But that’s nothing compared to how police can build up a picture of your habits from your smartphone. In just a single data extraction session, they can pull up your recent call activity, stored text messages and voicemails, photos, videos, apps, passwords and hundreds of geolocation points.

With such tracking powers only getting stronger, how are shows of the future going to inject any drama at all into their procedurals? Clint Eastwood: Sarge, are you tracking the serial killer? Sergeant: We caught him six months ago, Clint. He downloaded an app called Axe Murdering And You, and we traced his credit card bill in about two seconds. If you don’t mind me saying so, you’re getting way too old for this.

T H E G O O D , T H E B A D A N D T H E U G LY : HOW (NOT) TO EVADE TRACKING

Which flies to the left, dragging the page with it and flipping to the next sheet (apparatus must be reset for every page)

16 DISCOVERY CHANNEL MAGAZINE INDIA

TURN PHONE OFF? The US National Security Agency is able to remotely turn on your phone and track you, or activate the microphone to record conversations

COMMUNICATE ONLY VIA PHOTOS? Digital photos can contain geolocation data, which reveals where they were taken

TAKE VOW OF SILENCE? Throw phone away, live in cave, and never speak to anyone again

ILLUSTRATIONS: BEN MOUNSEY

You may not have heard of a Rube Goldberg Machine (RGM), but you must’ve seen one in the movies. It usually involves a crazy inventor who may want a simple alarm clock. Instead, the sunrise gets funnelled through a magnifying glass, which burns a string, which releases a dangling basketball, which hits a sleeping cat, which yowls and wakes him up. Such devices were the brainchild of cartoonist Rube Goldberg. He drew his first in 1914 (an Automatic WeightReducing Machine), followed by hundreds more over the next halfcentury — including an Automatic Hitler-Kicking Machine in 1942. Apart from making his way into the dictionary (the adjective “Rube Goldberg” is used to refer to something that is “ingeniously or unnecessarily complicated in design or construction”, according to Oxforddictionaries. com), Goldberg has become something of an icon in engineering circles. Each year, dozens of schools and universities compete to build their own contraptions, some involving 125 steps. Not only do educators love RGMs for their ability to get students to think creatively about cause and effect, engineering, physics and mechanics — the devices also make for great advertising. Alternative rock band OK Go created two videos for their track ‘This Too Shall Pass’. One sees the band traipsing in a field with a marching band,

SCIENCE Q&A

SHERLOCK VS NEANDERTHAL CAVEMAN EXPERT DR DAVID FRAYER PICKS THE WINNER BETWEEN BRAIN AND BRAWN

tie. I am not sure anyone looks too closely at anyone anymore, especially on subways, but Neanderthals would fit right in. So, to the fight: What’s your gut take on this? I assume it is a male Neanderthal, but in either case, given their body builds, a male or female Neanderthal would clean up the skinny detective. European Neanderthals were short and stocky, with a body build like a rugby player. So once they got him in their grasp, the fight would be over. We kinda thought Sherlock would win, unless it was a three-on-one scenario. In all scenarios, I would bet on the Neanderthal, unless a gun is involved. Your numbers are reversed in that it would take three or more Sherlocks to bring down a Neanderthal. What burning questions do you wish could be answered about prehistoric man? I would like to know why they went extinct. They survived a lot of changes in Europe and adapted to all of them, then were gone about 35,000 years ago. I know all species eventually go extinct, but what triggered the Neanderthal demise? We know that they interbred with the moderns entering Europe, so there was not a complete replacement. But their morphology dropped out pretty fast.

ABOVE: A NEANDERTHAL’S PHYSICAL STRENGTH WOULD PROVE NO MATCH FOR HOLMES (INSET)

How violent were Neanderthals? I have just finished a chapter with Virginia Hutton in a book 18 DISCOVERY CHANNEL MAGAZINE INDIA

about violence at the Krapina Neanderthal site in Croatia. We compared violence at the site (blunt force trauma, bone breaks, an amputation) with violence in recent humans. Neanderthals were not more violent, at least as measured by trauma evidence. The only exception to this might be the evidence for cannibalism

at a few sites, but most Neanderthal bones show no evidence for cannibalism. If you dressed a Neanderthal in modern clothes and stuck him in a subway, do you think anyone would notice him? Carleton Coons proposed this long ago, even showed a picture of a Neanderthal in a fedora and

COMPILED BY: DANIEL SEIFERT PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES (NEANDERTHAL)

WHO WOULD WIN IN A FIGHT BETWEEN A NEANDERTHAL AND SHERLOCK HOLMES? WE TURNED TO DR DAVID FRAYER, A PROFESSOR OF BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY AND EXPERT ON NEANDERTHALS (AKA NEANDERTALS), FOR HIS TAKE

SCIENCE AC/DC AND E=MC 2

THUNDER ONLY HAPPENS WHEN IT’S RAINING... We were rocking out to ‘Dreams’ by Fleetwood Mac — because that’s how cool we are — when a line of their lyrics stopped us cold: “Thunder only happens when it’s raining.” We immediately pressed our hypothetical nerdglasses against our face and blared: incorrect! Thunder can happen during volcanic eruptions, forest fires, “dry” storms and, our favourite, during a snowstorm (the term “thundersnow” exists, which is a good thing). But it got us thinking. What other icons of funk have been misleading us, science-wise? Or conversely, who has been nailing the facts?

'TNT' by AC/DC. “I’m TNT, I’m dynamite.” Pick one and stick with it, Bon Scott, for they are not the same. Trinitrotoluene (TNT) was invented in 1863. It’s highly toxic, but more stable than dynamite, which was invented by Alfred Nobel in 1867. B-

'We are all Made of Stars' by Moby. “We are all made of stars.” What kind of claptrap is this, eh? Actually, he’s right, and he’s backed it up with quantum physics during an interview: “On a basic quantum level, all the matter in the universe is essentially made of stardust.” A+

'Still Ill' by The Smiths. “Does the body rule the mind? Or does the mind rule the body?” A bit more philosophical, this one, so there’s no real answer. Morrissey sits on the fence by answering his own question: “I dunno.” B

'Galaxy Song' by Monty Python. “Just remember that you’re standing on a planet that’s evolving, and revolving at 900 miles an hour.” Yep, life is constantly evolving. But nope, it’s more like 1,040 miles per hour, or 1,670 kilometres per hour. And that depends where you’re standing — Earth’s rotation speed changes as you head further away from the equator. B-

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'Don’t Stop Believin'' by Journey. “Just a city boy, born and raised in South Detroit.” Tut tut, Steve Perry — no such district exists. Should’ve checked a map, city boy. We hereby banish you to the midnight train goin' an-y-wheeere. C+

'Do they Know it’s Christmas' by various artists. “There won’t be snow in Africa this Christmas time.” Wrong! The frigid Atlas mountains in Africa actually see regular snowfall. B 'Spirit of the Age' by Hawkwind. “I am a clone, I am not alone.” The latter might be true, but the former is not yet authorised — human cloning is still illegal. Maybe if the singer was Dolly the sheep. C-

'Man Down' by Rihanna. “Could’ve been somebody’s son. And I took his heart when I pulled out that gun.” He could’ve been somebody’s dad. He must have been somebody’s son. Biology, Rihanna. Biology. F

Radioactivity: Good for Nature?

Let’s clarify: it’s not so much that radioactivity is good — it’s that human activity is bad for nature. The total evacuation of Chernobyl, after a radioactive meltdown in 1986, is a good example. To this day, humans are not allowed to live in an area almost twice the size of Luxembourg. This lack of human activity has, many activists say, directly correlated to a resurgence in plant and animal life. Biologists ask: Exclusion zone? More like Europe’s biggest wildlife refuge. Populations of wolves, wild boar, elk, moose, lynx, white-tailed eagles and several other species in the region are on the rise, though scientists are divided as to how much of a lingering effect radiation is having on the area. Meanwhile, a 1,000-square-kilometre demilitarised zone splits North and South Korea — and has done for six decades. Tensions over this no man’s land has kept humans out, and left biologists to identify 70 types of mammals and 320 types of birds. A cynic might point out it’s a pretty fair system — when mankind fails the Earth with civil war and nuclear meltdowns, we should also lose the territory in question.

PHOTO: AFP (RADIOACTIVITY) ICONS: THE NOUN PROJECT, ILSUR APTUKOV (PHYSICS LOGO), NIKI FORECAST (GENTLEMAN)

And other popular songs with lyrics gone wrong

OBSESSIONS WEIRDOS!

T H E M ATC H U P : N AT I O N A L PA S S I O N S FOOD

PUFFIN HEART

VEGEMITE

is a popular meal for Icelanders, who engage in “sky fishing” by nabbing the birds in nets, breaking their necks, skinning them and eating the heart raw.

in Australia for every one that is exported. Women trying to conceive should try a spoonful — it’s brimming with folate, which helps reduce the risk of birth defects.

AUSTRALIA Thirty jars are sold

SURSTRÖMMING

SWEDEN This beloved Swedish dish of herring ferments in the tin, making it bulge dramatically. Some airlines have banned it for fear of eruptions. An open tin was once mistaken for a gas leak.

ROBERT SHIELDS 1918—2007

SPOR TS

FOOTBALL

ARCHERY

penalty shoot-outs to fan heart attacks. When England lost to Argentina in the 1998 World Cup, hospital admissions in the United Kingdom increased by 25 per cent.

despite the fact that most kids are shortsighted. As one Olympian says, archery is “90 per cent mental, nine per cent physical and one per cent measuring the wind”.

JAPAN The global hero has to be Takeru “The Tsunami” Kobayashi, who once ate 50 hot dogs in 12 minutes. He also challenged a Kodiak bear to a hot dog-eating contest — but lost (31 to 50).

SAUNAS

NOT POINTING

SHOE REMOVAL

the only Finnish word to cross over into English. There are 5.3 million people and 3.3 million saunas in Finland. Some can reach up to 160 degrees Celsius.

pointing with your fingers is the height of rudeness. Some Native American tribes have solved this by gesticulating with pouted lips. (“You flirting with me, Red Owl?”)

ENGLAND Research has linked

KOREA Koreans love this sport

COMPETITIVE EATING

IES ODDIT

FINLAND ‘Sauna’ is said to be

“1:00–1:05 I ATE A MEDIUM BANANA”

AMERICA In many cultures,

ASIA A must in many Asian nations. A reporter in Japan once saw a squad of cops ready to bust into a yakuza house “stop at the front door to remove their shoes before undertaking their search”.

TOP THREE WINNERS

That’s just one of the entries from a man who kept a diary from 1972 to 1996. Not just any diary — many think it’s the longest in existence. At 37.5 million words (nobody’s really sure — who can blame them?) long, it fills 91 boxes. More than a few reporters asked Shields, an American minister and teacher, why he chose to chronicle his life in five-minute intervals for decades. “Maybe by looking into someone’s life at that depth, every minute of every day, they’ll find out something about all people,” was his answer. He also inserted samples of his nasal hair “for DNA”. But we shouldn’t scoff at Shields. The diaries of Samuel Pepys, for example, have proved invaluable for those wanting a detailed picture of 17thcentury London. Shields’s nasal hair may just do the same.

OTHER SHIELDS ENTRIES 10:30–10:40 I REGISTERED THIS MORNING'S MAIL RECEIPTS 6:15–8:50 I SLEPT FOR THREE, AND POSSIBLY THREE-ANDONE-HALF HOURS

SWEATIN’ FOR PEACE

A former Finnish president held meetings in saunas to boost peaceful resolutions, which may have led to the saying “all men are created equal; but more so in a sauna”.

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WE

PUFFIN HEARTS

If only for the mid-meal puns. “Man, is this meat chewy. Look how I’m huffin’ and puffin’!” “I luff this stuff, can’t get enough of the puff!” And so on.

DOGGY BAG, PLEASE At heart, every teenage boy on the planet is a competitive eater. “Bet I can eat an entire jar of mustard faster than you can!” Ah, memories.

9:55–10:05 JIM BROATCH OF MILFORD, CONNETICUT, CALLED… HE IS HEAD OF SOME SORT OF ORGANISATION THAT DEALS WITH COMPULSION AND I ADMITTED THE DIARY WAS “AN OBSESSION OF SORTS”. HE IS SENDING ME FREE LITERATURE ABOUT THE ORGANISATION

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES (COMPETITIVE EATING)

ICELAND The “clown of the sea”

Quote Unquote

OBSESSIONS ICON: BARBIE

FACES, FACES EVERY WHERE

Popular responses Bat, butterfly, moth

3

Popular responses Two people, human figures

5 Popular Responses Bat, butterfly, moth

7 Popular responses Human heads or faces

The Rorschach inkblot test might be the most famous psychological tool in history (sorry Freud — page 26). Developed by the Swiss psychologist Hermann Rorschach in the late 1910s and early ’20s, the shapes are still used today to give a clue to how an individual views the world. Some might project their paranoia, for example, seeing axe murderers where most people envision a cuddly bear. Others say that the Rorschach test has no place in psychiatry, but it’s still a key example of how our brains are hardwired to perceive significant things (like faces or figures) in random shapes, a process known as pareidolia. Some scientists argue that we picked up this trait so that we could distinguish friend from foe at a distance, when they were just a hazy shape. But this survival instinct has left us with an unstoppable habit. Stare at a cloud, and you’ll start seeing the whole world — that one looks like a chameleon on a Harley; that one looks like your mother-in-law breakdancing. Pareidolia also makes for some interesting cultural differences. Where some people in the West see a man in the moon, the Chinese see a rabbit. Pareidolia may also lie behind many ghost and alien sightings. When the Viking 1 probe photographed the surface of Mars in 1976, it seemed to capture an ethereal man-made (alien-made?) face. “Proof of extra-terrestrials!” crowed conspiracy theorists. Not necessarily, said sceptics, pointing out that the Viking 1 also seemed to have captured the uncanny shapes of a smiley face, then-US senator Ted Kennedy… and Kermit the Frog.

Skinny dolls and vocal surgery GI Joes trade voices with trilling Barbies

2 Popular responses Two humans, a fourlegged animal, dog, elephant

4 Popular responses Animal hide, skin, rug

6 Popular responses Animal hide, skin, rug

8 Popular responses Four-legged animal, but not cat or dog

Eight of the 10 inkblots that Rorschach printed in his Rorschach Test — PsychoPsycho diagnostic Plates in 1921. To us, Number four looks more like a tap-dancing troll than an animal hide. And number two is definitely bears high-fiving. Right? 24 DISCOVERY CHANNEL MAGAZINE INDIA

Pink, plastic, pretty — these might be just a few of the words that come to mind when you think of the most famous doll in the world. But Barbie’s popularity since her launch in 1959 (when her full name was Barbara Millicent Roberts) has also led to an intense backlash of hatred. Although she’s now 54, Barbie still boasts impressive — and dangerously unhealthy — body measurements. A study found that when scaled up to human size, she would measure 36-1833 — that is, 91 centimetres around the bust, with a 45-centimetre waist, and hips almost 84 centimetres around — and be unable to hold her head upright. Such body image shenanigans weren’t helped by the 1965 Slumber Party Barbie, which came with a tiny book entitled “How to Lose Weight”. Its diet plan was summed up in two words: “Don’t eat!” The doll also came with a weighing scale, permanently showing a gaunt 50 kilograms. Then, Barbie gained a voice, and things got even worse. The 1992 Teen Talk Barbie chirped several phrases, including “Will we ever have enough clothes?” and “Math class is tough!” Far from busting stereotypes. To voice their displeasure, an advocacy group called the Barbie Liberation Organisation (BLO) took action. Nabbing several hundred GI Joe figures and Barbie dolls, the BLO swapped the voice boxes of the two. As a result, America’s toughest toy soldiers trilled, “The beach is the place for summer”, while a gravel-throated Barbie growled, “Vengeance is mine!”

e c n a e Veng ine! is m

HISTORY SMALL PRINT IN 2010, A UK-BASED GAMES RETAILER ADDED A CLAUSE TO ITS TERMS AND CONDITIONS DURING ONLINE SALES. BY PLACING AN ORDER ONLINE, YOU “AGREE TO GRANT US A NON-TRANSFERABLE OPTION TO CLAIM, FOR NOW AND EVER MORE, YOUR IMMORTAL SOUL”

56 PAGES

88%

OF CUSTOMERS DID NOT NOTICE THE CLAUSE, WHICH WAS PART OF AN APRIL FOOL’S JOKE HIGHLIGHTING

THE PROBLEMS WITH FINE PRINT

IN CONVERSATION WITH...

Sigmund Freud Psychoanalyst

THAT’S HOW LONG THE ITUNES TERMS AND CONDITIONS ARE — AND THEY EXPECT YOU TO READ THEM EVERY TIME THEY UPDATE. WE BET YOU DON’T

MIN BEND D ER AND S MAMA ’S BOYS

Quote Unquote

"LET THEM EAT CAKE!"

problems with my girlfriend… FREUD: [Sighs] There I cannot help you. Why do you think I wrote “the great question that has never been answered… despite my 30 years of research into the feminine soul, is ‘What does a woman want?’” A difficult issue, my son. DCM: Son, eh? Was that a Freudian slip? FREUD: Tsk. I actually called those telling errors of speech that reveal our hidden desires, fehlleistungen, or “faulty actions”. DCM: Catchy. Speaking of sons, you say you were your mother’s favourite, despite having seven siblings — and being saddled with the middle name “Schlomo”. What was it you once said about mama’s boys? FREUD: “I have found that people who know that they are favoured by their mothers give

evidence in their lives of an unshakeable optimism which often brings actual success to their possessors.” DCM: Well said, Schlomo. Tell me about Jofi, the Chow Chow you became close to. FREUD: I loved that bear-like dog. She gave me much comfort as my jaw cancer took hold. DCM: That’s what happens when you smoke up to 20 cigars a day. And being addicted to cocaine probably didn’t help. FREUD: But Jofi was also helpful with my clients! They would open up about their problems much more when she was around. Plus, Jofi would yawn when an hour was up — so I always knew when a session was over. DCM: On that note, that’s all the time we have today. Bye daddy — I mean, Schlomo!

Although he claimed to be stringently scientific, Freud was superstitious and suffered from hallucinations. Due to the pseudoscience of a friend, Freud first believed he would die at 51. Then, aged 43, he got a new phone number, 14362, leading him to believe he’d die at 62. Then that changed to 81. He actually died at the age of 83, an age he did not see coming.

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MARIE ANTOINETTE 1755—1793 It’s a good line, supposedly sniffed by the French royal when she heard that her peasants were starving for lack of bread. But Marie Antoinette never said it. The phrase first appears in the autobiography of JeanJacques Rousseau, who penned his Confessions when Marie was an unknown 11-year-old. Rousseau’s quote isn’t even directly attributed to her — he recalled the words from an unknown “great princess”. Historians do know that she said this, though: “It is quite certain that in seeing the people who treat us so well despite their own misfortune, we are more obliged than ever to work hard for their happiness.”

THEY NEVER SAID IT THE ENDS JUSTIFY THE MEANS NICCOLÒ MACHIAVELLI WELL-BEHAVED WOMEN RARELY MAKE HISTORY MARILYN MONROE I CANNOT TELL A LIE GEORGE WASHINGTON

IMAGE: CHRIS EDSER AT ILLUSTRATIONROOM.COM.AU (INTERVIEW ILLUSTRATION) ICONS: THE NOUN PROJECT, JOE AIMONETTI (CONTRACT), MICHAEL ROWE (APPLE)

DCM: It is a true pleasure to welcome the father of psychology into our studio. FREUD: Hm, how interesting that you mention fathers so quickly. Tell me about yours. DCM: Uh, shouldn’t I be the one asking the questions? FREUD: Here, why don’t you sit on the sofa. I shall sit behind the desk. [They swap places] FREUD: Tell me about your father. DCM: I know you’re asking because a child’s relationship with his parents features heavily in your theory of psychological development. FREUD: Quite so. And? DCM: Well, he — he didn’t think I was sporty enough when I was a boy. “Get out of your room!” he’d shout. “Why do you insist on constantly reading?” FREUD: You may cry, if you w ish. DCM: [Begins to cry] I also have

HISTORY GLOBAL WARS

Three Uses for Egyptian Mummies

THE REAL FIRST WORLD WAR

1756–1763 (maybe!)

Those are the “official dates” of the conflict, which led to its name. But it has different monikers and dates depending on the theatre. The North Americans named it the French and Indian War (1754–1763). In Northern Europe it is known as the Pomeranian War (1757– 1762) and the Austrians dubbed it the Third Silesian War (1756–1763). Yeah, complicated.

THE CAUSES Like World War I, it stemmed from antagonism among various European empires, each with interlocking alliances. Once one was dragged into the fight, others were forced to follow because of their defence pacts. A jealous hunger for land expansion and trade helped too. Diplomatic hostilities between Prussia and Austria kicked off the European front, and in America, George Washington, worsened hostilities between the British colony and the

French: A Native American under his command “took his Tomahawk and split the Head of the French Captain.” GLOBAL SPREAD Battles were fought in regions as far apart as North America, India, France, Senegal, the Philippines, Cuba and more, with a clash on one continent often deciding the fate of another. The British joined the war with the motto, “Canada will be won in Silesia,” a place in southwestern Poland.

Other uses included wrapping paper, rags, souvenirs, stage props, fertiliser and firewood. Why such rampant disregard for ancient life, you might ask? You’re underestimating how many mummies were popping up from the ground: scientists estimate the ancient Egyptians buried 70 million mummies over 3,000 years. Mark Twain even mocked the phenomenon with a fictional incident, writing in The Innocents Abroad Abroad, “The fuel use for the locomotive is composed of mummies […] purchased by the ton and […] sometimes one hears the profane engineer call out pettishly, ‘Damn these plebeians, they don’t burn a cent — pass out a king!’”

TOTAL DEAD Between 8,50,000 and 1.2 million people died, more from sickness than battle. The Royal Navy reported that out of 184,899 conscripts, 133,708 were missing or dead from disease. OTHER CONTENDERS To complicate matters further, some argue other earlier conflicts actually take the mantle of first global conflict. They include the equally confusing Eighty Years War, the Thirty Years War, the War of the Spanish Succession and the War of the Austrian Succession. LONG-TERM EFFECTS The French were expelled from Canada by the Brits. High debts from the war led Britain to strongly tax its American colony, thus contributing to the American Revolution. Lingering French resentment led to a successful alliance with America during the aforementioned American Revolution, and the loss of Britain’s largest colony. In the end, Britain’s success was also its downfall. History is a big old tangled web, people.

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"Breaking News: Two Explosions in the White House and Barack Obama is Injured" THAT'S A TWEET BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS (AP), IN APRIL 2013. HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE? A FOLLOW-UP TWEET ON ANOTHER OFFICIAL AP ACCOUNT, OVER AN HOUR LATER, ANSWERED

THAT QUESTION: “THE @ AP TWITTER ACCOUNT HAS BEEN SUSPENDED AFTER IT WAS HACKED. THE TWEET ABOUT AN ATTACK ON THE WHITE HOUSE WAS FALSE.” IN THE MEANTIME, THE TWEET HAD CAUSED THE DOW JONES TO TUMBLE 143 POINTS IN MINUTES. ANOTHER STOCK, THE S&P 500, TEMPORARILY LOST US$136.5 BILLION. THE STOCK MARKET QUICKLY RECOVERED ITS LOSSES, BUT THE

INCIDENT CAUSED MANY TO QUESTION HOW EASILY ONE CAN CAUSE “FLASH CRASHES”. ONE WONDERS WHAT WORLD-ALTERING EVENTS COULD HAVE HAPPENED IF THE FAKE TWEET HAD BEEN EVEN MORE MONUMENTAL. COULD “N. KOREAN GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES IMMINENT NUCLEAR STRIKE ON NEIGHBOURS” HAVE SPARKED A REAL WAR? A SCARY THOUGHT

R E A L H I S T O R I C T W E E T S , FA K E T W I T T E R A C C O U N T S

@CHUCKNORRIS

“Chuck Norris has already been to Mars; that’s why there are no signs of life there”

@DARTHVADER

“The bad news is we had to let go of about 8,000 clone troopers today. The good news is it really only counts as one”

@BPGLOBALPR

“Thousands of people are attacked by sea creatures every year. We at BP are dedicated to bringing that number down. You’re welcome!”

IMAGE: PARROTBEAK (MUMMY)

It’s difficult to imagine this year marks the centenary of World War I. Could the first global war really have started 100 years ago? No: The First World War wasn’t really the first world war. That honour goes to the Seven Years War, a conflict just as convoluted, complicated and catastrophic.

MEDICINE FROM THE 11 TH TO 17 TH CENTURIES, MUMMIA OR MUMMY POWDER WAS A POPULAR CURE-ALL FOR WEALTHY EUROPEANS PARTY TRICKS VICTORIANS WOULD END A DINNER PARTY WITH A BANG BY UNWRAPPING A MUMMY AND GAZING AS IT RAPIDLY DECOMPOSED PAINT UP UNTIL THE 1900 s , GROUND MUMMY MADE FOR A PLEASING COLOUR KNOWN AS MUMMY BROWN. EVEN IN 1964, A LONDON RETAILER TOLD TIME “WE MIGHT HAVE A FEW ODD LIMBS LYING AROUND SOMEWHERE”

SCIENCE

THREE OUT OF FOUR UNJUST CONVICTIONS LATER OVERTURNED BY DNA EVIDENCE IN THE UNITED STATES RELY ON FAULTY EYEWITNESS EVIDENCE

25%

OF THE TIME, WITNESSES SELECT THE WRONG SUSPECT FROM A PHOTO LINE-UP

1/3

WHEN THE ACTUAL CRIMINAL IS LEFT OUT OF THE LINE-UP COMPLETELY, WITNESSES WILL ACCUSE AN INNOCENT PERSON ONE-THIRD OF THE TIME

CRIMINAL INTENT Animal thieves that can confuse the sharpest sleuths So you’ve decided to become the head of a criminal organisation composed entirely of animals? Interesting career move. Here’s who should form your posse. A KOALA Because koala (Phascolarctus cinereus) fingerprints are indistinguishable from a human’s. In case you ever need to frame an innocent marsupial AN OCTOPUS Specifically, the mimic octopus (Thaumoctopus mimicus), which impersonates other marine life to deter predators. It can spread its tentacles to mimic the poisonous lionfish, bury its body and spread out

two tentacles to look like a sea snake, and puff up its body before floating down like a jellyfish. Not surprising this Southeast Asian genius was only discovered in the 1990s. You’ve got your master of disguise — if you can find one

A HONEY BADGER Every crew needs an unpredictable sociopath. Y’know, for street cred. Honey badgers (Mellivora capensis) fear nothing, routinely stealing food from crocodiles and lions, and shrugging off bites from poisonous adders. This despite weighing no more than 15 kilograms. That’s why South Africans don’t say “tough as nails”. They say “tough as a honey badger”.

Sweets with a sting

The only thing cooler than the company name “Lick Me I’m Delicious” is its product. As creator Charlie Francis explains: “It’s a glow-in-the-dark jellyfish ice cream using calcium-activated proteins that react when agitated.” In other words, he says, it glows neon-green in the dark when you lick it. Is it safe to eat? Francis’s words do not inspire thoughts of scientific rigorousness. “Well I tried some and I don’t seem to be glowing anywhere, so we’ll go with a yes for now.” Each scoop, he says, costs about US$220. Perhaps the more important question is, what would happen if you licked a stinging jellyfish? You’d actually be licking its tongue — a jellyfish’s taste receptors are scattered over its body. You’d have about a millisecond to ponder this irony before agony, swelling, seizures and possible death set in. So we don’t recommend it. 30 DISCOVERY CHANNEL MAGAZINE INDIA

Quote Unquote

71%

IF WITNESSES ARE ALLOWED TO COMMUNICATE, OVER 70 PER CENT WILL CHANGE DETAILS OF THEIR STORY TO CONFORM WITH THEIR CO-WITNESS (“YEAH, THE SUSPECT WAS DEFINITELY A ONE-ARMED MIDGET”)

Left-handed Molecules

Molecules are molecules, CH right? Not HC H really – they can be as different (+) limonene from each other CH as a left hand HC and right hand. CH H This concept is called chirality (-) limonene (from the Greek word chiral, meaning hand). Despite being mirror images of each other, two chiral molecules can have huge differences. Take the molecule limonene, seen above. They’re as different as oranges and lemons — literally. The top left-hand symbol is responsible for the smell of oranges, and the image below creates that zesty scent of lemon freshness. Meanwhile, chiral toxicology is a real danger when creating medicines. Take the case of thalidomide, an anti-nausea agent sold to pregnant women in the 1950s and ’60s. The left-handed molecule cured nausea. The right-handed molecule caused horrific birth defects. Lewis Carroll unwittingly touched on this in Through the Looking-Glass, when a wise Alice noted, “Perhaps Looking-Glass milk isn’t good to drink.” CH3

2

2

2

3

2

"THE GOOD THING ABOUT SCIENCE IS THAT IT’S TRUE WHETHER OR NOT YOU BELIEVE IN IT"

NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON Inspirational words from an inspirational astrophysicist. Although there are some areas of science that require your belief, otherwise they simply won’t work. Like placebos. If you don’t believe the fake pill will cure your headache, it won’t. Thank heavens, though, Tyson’s theory mainly holds true. Imagine if we needed to not just believe in a concept for it to work, but totally understand the theory as well.

IMAGINE IF…

The sun would only rise once you had completed an advanced degree in thermonuclear fusion Only Bill Gates himself could install programs on your laptop Your fiancée dumped you because you couldn’t identify the neurotransmitter for love

PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES (THALIDOMIDE); NASA (NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON)

JUSTICE IS BLIND?

MASS PRODUCED

CHOOSE YOUR CHAIR We delve into the crazy world of furniture, which can either kill you or make you a popular world leader

2

SCHOOL CHAIR

OFFICE CHAIR

The bane of lefties everywhere! Manufactured at a time when being lefthanded was thought of as “wrong”, these right-biased school chairs find lefty students straining into awkward positions to write on them, often resulting in cramps and even lower scores in written exams.

A 2012 study found that people aged 45 or older who sat for more than 11 hours a day had a 40 per cent greater chance of dying within three years than those who sat under four hours a day, being more at risk of cardiovascular failure and diabetes.

4

3

PLASTIC CHAIR

The mass-produced monobloc plastic chair is likely the most ubiquitous chair on the planet, with one rolling off the line every 70 seconds in dozens of countries. Heated to 220 degrees Celsius, a single piece of polypropylene is moulded to form a chair — hence the name.

5

6

DECKCHAIR

EAMES LOUNGE CHAIR

ROCKING CHAIR

Although foldable seats have been around since Ancient Egypt, the modern deckchair was born in 1886, when British inventor John Moore filed a patent for an adjustable folding chair design. They became hugely popular on ocean-going passenger ships, including the Titanic, which had 614 of them.

First fashioned as a gift for Billy Wilder, director of Sunset Boulevard, in 1956, this leathery slice of comfort is still an icon today. Co-creator Charles Eames wanted it to evoke “the warm receptive look of a wellused first baseman’s glove”. And if you’ve ever sat in one, you’ll know he nailed it.

The most famous is undoubtedly the P&P “Kennedy”, named after former US president John F. Kennedy, who favoured them for his chronic back pain. Photos of JFK rocking in the Oval Office boosted chair sales, and also garnered the president sympathy from voters.

Self-Destruct Chair

CONSTRUCTED IN A MERE 48 HOURS BY SWISS DESIGN STUDENTS, THE DRM CHAIR IS A HUMOROUS TAKE ON DIGITAL RIGHTS MANAGEMENT (DRM) SOFTWARE, WHICH CAN LOCK OUT COMPUTER USERS AFTER A CERTAIN NUMBER OF DOWNLOADS, TO DISCOURAGE PIRACY. THE DRM CHAIR IS BASED ON THE QUESTION: WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF REAL-WORLD OBJECTS LIKE FURNITURE SELF-DESTRUCTED AFTER A SET PERIOD? AFTER EIGHT SITTINGS, ELECTRONICS MELT THE WAX JOINTS OF THE CHAIR, CAUSING IT TO COLLAPSE. LET’S HOPE IT DOESN’T MAKE ITS WAY INTO THE HANDS OF YOUR PRACTICAL JOKE-LOVING FRIENDS.

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PHOTOS: HERMAN MILLER, INC. (EAMES CHAIR); JOHN LEWIS (DECKCHAIR); THIBAULT BREVET (DRM CHAIR)

1

FEATURES 36

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PAGE 36 IS THE TAJ MAHAL IN SERIOUS TROUBLE?

PAGE 72 THE REAL SUPERSTARS OF SPORTS

PAGE 48 GREAT ESCAPES OF EXTRAORDINARY MEN

PAGE 82 MEGATALL: ASIA'S GIANT SKYSCRAPERS

PAGE 62 THE HOT PLATES OF HEALTH

PAGE 100 THE FUTURE OF IMMERSIVE GAMING

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PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

COVER STORY

IT IS INDIA’S HERITAGE JEWEL, AND ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST CELEBRATED LOVE STORIES. BUT NOW, THIS JEWEL RISKS BEING LOVED TO DEATH. THREATENED BY HUMAN ACTIVITY, POLLUTION AND CONTROVERSY, CAN OUR TAJ BE HEADED TOWARDS A TRAGIC END? NINAD SHETH ASKS PERTINENT QUESTIONS 37 FEBRUARY 2014

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COVER STORY

PHOTO: CORBIS

In its perfect symmetry is order. In its glittering pearl-like white marble dome, you witness a miracle. In the streamlined grid of four perfectly manicured gardens criss-crossed by water concourses, is the ideal Islamic paradise. Those who have walked these grounds testify to a strange numbing tranquillity in this splendorous place — as if you have become one with the Taj. That legwork, those air miles, all of your life even. In that fleeting rendezvous, they almost seem to melt away.

epending on the time of day, the marble has its own special translucence. If you visit the Taj in the morning, it appears pink. During the day, snowwhite. Then in the evening, it takes on a distinctly golden hue as the sun sets behind the Yamuna river, which flanks this most magnificent of monuments. The tomb at the centre is large, very large. The octagon is roughly 55 metres on each of four sides (it is essentially a cube with the four corners chamfered, giving it eight

sides of unequal length), flanked by minarets that seem to reach for the sky. The central dome, which dominates all other features in beauty and dimension, is 35 metres high. Amazingly, this is an unsupported dome, and rises as if on its own. Isaac Newton would likely have enjoyed a look-in at its creation. It is only when you face this splendid white marble monument that you realise the most extraordinary feature of the Taj. The water concourses take away the size (and it is as if the Taj Mahal is afloat), giving it a cloud-like lightness that betrays the sheer scale, itself encased in perfect symmetry.

TO ETERNAL LOVE

Once famously described by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore as a teardrop on the cheek of time, the Taj Mahal is much more than

an architectural or aesthetic marvel. It is the monument’s legacy of love — and attendant tragedy — that is its real draw. When the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan started constructing it in 1632, his purpose was to ensure forever his own grandeur, and the memory of his love for his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Eternity after all, brooks no compromise.

THE UNSUPPORTED DOME RISES AS IF ON ITS OWN. NEWTON WOULD HAVE ENJOYED A LOOK-IN AT ITS CREATION The 17th century in India however was no time for love, and more so for royals.

u

39 FEBRUARY 2014

Marriages were always arranged, with the singular purpose of consolidation of the alliances of the empire through matrimonial agreements. Love was but a footnote. That would not do for the king of the world, Shah Jahan. As the tale goes, he met his would-be wife, herself of noble blood, at a Friday bazaar — the equivalent perhaps of a carnival. Historic sources recount it as love at first sight. Yet, that ardour also took its toll. The woman who is remembered around the world for her love story saw her life end in tragedy, dying as a result of complications following the birth of her 14th child, in the town of Burhanpur, around 900 kilometres south of Agra, where the Taj now stands.

FOR ALL PRACTICAL PURPOSES, AGRA IS NOW A SUBURB OF THE INDIAN CAPITAL. THIS TRANSLATES TO AN AVERAGE FOOTFALL OF 50,000 PER DAY — WHICH CAN GO UP TO 70,000 ON WEEKENDS Foreign travellers and court chroniclers record in detail the emperor’s grief at the death of his beloved wife. It is said that Shah Jahan confined himself for a week in a room given up to war campaigns. Wailing was often heard from the room where the emperor sat, disconsolate.

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It is also recorded that he gave up food for long periods. Yet, ultimately, grief would prove an alchemist — with the Taj Mahal the result. Strangely, there are few references to the Taj Mahal itself in the Shahjahannama, the official chronicles of the emperor’s life. On the whole though, historians agree that Shah Jahan was very closely involved with the scale, design and details of his luminous testimonial. The man who is thought to be the main architect is Ustad Ahmed Lahauri; and it was his execution that made this the near-perfect building it turned out to be. The Taj Mahal is said to have taken up to 22 years to build, including the other structures in the complex, which features a mosque and a guesthouse flanking two sides, with the river at the rear. At the hallowed grounds, the legacy of love fuses with the heart-stopping beauty of the Taj Mahal. One can be forgiven for thinking of this jewel as timeless. Sadly, between here and eternity, reality is intervening.

TAJ UNDER SIEGE

In a rapidly expanding India, the Taj Mahal faces threats on several fronts at once. The greatest is from the sheer number of people who visit it each year. This has increased dramatically, especially since a 165-kilometre superhighway was completed in 2012 between Delhi and Agra. This new road has cut travel time from the earlier six hours to two-and-a-half hours from the nation’s capital and major transport hub. For all practical purposes, Agra is now a suburb of the Indian capital. This translates to an average footfall of 50,000 per day — which can u

ABOVE: POLLUTION IS A MAJOR THREAT TO THE TAJ, PARTLY BECAUSE THE WATER QUALITY, AND THE STRENGTH OF THE RIVER, CAN DIRECTLY AFFECT ITS FOUNDATIONS BOTTOM LEFT: MILLIONS OF PEOPLE COME TO AGRA EACH YEAR TO VISIT THE ICONIC TAJ MAHAL, DRAWN BY IMAGES LIKE THIS VINTAGE POSTER BOTTOM RIGHT: THEY MAY LIVE NEXT TO ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS MONUMENTS IN THE WORLD, BUT RESIDENTS OF AGRA STILL HAVE TO GO ABOUT THEIR DAILY LIVES

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MILESTONES OF THE TAJ MAHAL ITS FAÇADE HAS GRACED COUNTLESS ARTWORKS, POSTCARDS AND FILM SCENES FOR MILLENNIA. BUT THE TAJ MAHAL’S HISTORY IS ALSO ONE OF NEAR-DESTRUCTION BY CARGO PLANE, AND EVEN ILLICIT BESTSELLING ALBUMS

1631

MOURNING MUMTAZ

Shah Jahan undertook a military campaign in Burhanpur accompanied by his wife, Mumtaz Mahal. When she died giving birth to their 14th child, he was so griefstricken, he is said to have ordered his entire court into a two-year mourning period

1632

BIRTH OF THE TAJ Shah Jahan began construction of the Taj Mahal as a tomb for his beloved wife. It took over 20,000 labourers, 1,000 elephants and, most sources agree, up to 22 years to complete the monument

1665

PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES; CORBIS (POSTER)

THE BLACK TAJ In 1665, the French writer Jean-Baptiste Tavernier became one of the first Europeans to see the Taj Mahal. His writings spawned the myth that Shah Jahan planned to build a duplicate Taj, all in black, opposite the original, but was deposed by his son before his plans were completed uu

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go up to 70,000 on weekends. Given that children under 15 years of age are not counted among visitors (they enter for free), the total number is in reality much higher. According to one of those in charge of the mausoleum’s security detail, speaking under condition of anonymity, “It is impossible to sustain these numbers. Even if five per cent of these visitors touch the monument, especially the marble tomb, the wear and tear could be of extreme levels.”

“5,000 OF THE ORIGINAL FIXTURES HAVE BEEN PAINSTAKINGLY REPLACED OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS. AT THIS RATE, NOTHING OF THE ORIGINAL TAJ MAHAL WILL BE LEFT” This degradation is visible everywhere. Today, workers chip away at doors and arches at the marble platforms and walkways, trying to replicate what is worn. Surprisingly, these workers are not uniformed, and could easily be mistaken for vandals. Most of those who actually do the conservation work do so by hand, with poor tools. Some are just contract labour, and not even full-time employees of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), the body responsible for the upkeep of ancient monuments in the country. For them, this is just another job on daily wages. The net effect being that the Taj Mahal is perhaps not in the safest of hands. 42 DISCOVERY CHANNEL MAGAZINE INDIA

HISTORY REMEMBERS The world remembers the name Shah Jahan, but in truth, it was more of a title, meaning “king of the world” in Persian. Born Shihab-uddin Muhammad Khurram, the prince was also aptly dubbed the “builder of marvels”. As history has it, he fell in love with Arjumand Banu Begum, granddaughter of a Persian noble, at the age of 15, and the two were soon betrothed. They married five years later, and he gave her the title Mumtaz Mahal, meaning “jewel of the palace”. It is widely held that she had no political aspirations, despite being the emperor’s closest confidante.

ABOVE: HOPEFULLY, THE MOVE TO CONSERVE AND RESTORE THE TAJ WILL GAIN GREATER MOMENTUM, SO THAT IT CAN CONTINUE TO AWE VISITORS LONG INTO THE FUTURE LEFT: THE INTERIORS OF THE TAJ FEATURE ELABORATE ARTWORKS SUCH AS THESE INTRICATE MOSAICS RIGHT: A LABOURER WORKS ON RESTORING THE TAJ. INDIAN ARCHAEOLOGISTS BEGAN THE STRUCTURE'S FACELIFT WITH A MUD PACK TO ITS MARBLE EXTERIORS

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MILESTONES OF THE TAJ MAHAL uu

1666

MAN AND WIFE

Shah Jahan was buried next to Mumtaz Mahal in the Taj Mahal. Aside from the Taj, he has been credited for building many other monuments, including the Moti Masjid, or Pearl Mosque, in Lahore, Pakistan

1944

PHOTOS: CLOCKWISE FROM MAIN (AGEFOTOSTOCK, REUTERS, GETTY IMAGES)

AIRPLANE REMODELLING In his memoir Fate is the Hunter, American pilot Ernest Gann recounted taking off in a C-87 cargo plane from Agra. With his wheels having just left the ground, his overloaded C-87 was flying disconcertingly low. “Now, a new obstruction, dead ahead. The Taj Mahal. They are making repairs. Much of it is covered with scaffolding and I can see the workmen moving about. I can see the folds in their turbans. I can see their mouths open as we approach.” Gann cleared the monument with just metres to spare. “What a way to observe a thing of beauty,” he deadpanned in his book

1968

DUET WITH A LANDMARK

While on a visit to India in the 1960s, jazz flautist Paul Horn sneaked a tape recorder into the Taj. He recorded a series of improvisational pieces within the walls, and the echoing marble became an accompanying “voice” in itself. During the recording, a guard intended to ask Horn to leave but, moved by the music, allowed him to continue. The resulting album, Inside, sold over a million copies uu 43 FEBRUARY 2014

“SANITATION IS ALMOST NONEXISTENT, AND POLLUTION IS RAMPANT. THE AIR AND THE WATER ARE TOO FILTHY FOR A MONUMENT OF SUCH DELICACY TO SURVIVE.” Yet, the time for bureaucratic assessments may well be long past. The sheer numbers of people touching the structure over its motifs, sometimes even trying to fiddle with its inlays, puts unbearable pressure on the monument. In addition, the humidity generated by the immense crowd is causing algae to grow, damaging the marble, and directly threatening the 366-yearold structure. Surprisingly, no one seems to care enough to act, despite the fact that the solution seems utterly simple — stopping entry to the marble tomb. Yet, this is not on the agenda, although off the record, almost anyone associated with the Taj Mahal’s upkeep believes it 44 DISCOVERY CHANNEL MAGAZINE INDIA

is the best solution, if the building is to be saved from further degradation. Originally, the tomb was supposed to be sealed off, with no one setting foot in it. Even then, the several vantage points all around would allow people to gaze at its lustrous beauty. To put it bluntly, India can either retain the Taj Mahal — or it can allow up to 70,000 people a day access to the inner recesses of the marble mausoleum. Time is running out. Perhaps sadly for the monument, it is located in Uttar Pradesh. Had this state been an independent country, its population of over 200 million would make it the sixth most populous nation in the world. Yet, as part of India, it sits amidst an overall 1.2 billion. Here, the concept of too many people almost doesn’t seem to exist.

LABOUR OF LOVE

Probably the most recognisable material used in the Taj Mahal is white marble, but sandstone and slate also feature in the building’s foundations, masonry and as finishing touches to some external surfaces. To decorate the interiors of the buildings, largely appearing in delicate inlays, floors, turrets and mosaics, Shah Jahan had semiprecious stones and rare minerals — such as agate, turqouise, lapis lazuli, coral, onyx, cat’s eye, jade and bloodstone — brought from places as far away as Upper Tibet and Ceylon. Fitting indeed, for a monument to his lost love.

A DEAD RIVER

The Taj Mahal was conceived to last an eternity. To ensure this, it was built on a raised platform, with many wells sunk at its base. As such, the base of the monument forms a very large area, where wooden logs were sunk into wells and act as a supporting mechanism. This underground, support with its wooden structure was to be hydrated by its permanent water source, the river Yamuna. There is however, a crisis developing. “The Yamuna river is dead for all practical purposes,” says civil society activist D. K. Joshi. “It has become a rain-fed river, instead of the perennial snow-fed source it was in Shah Jahan’s time. This is terrible news, since the foundation of the Taj Mahal stands on a wooden substructure buried deep in the ground — and will rot without moisture.”

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

One of the workers, busy repairing the main door of the Taj, tells Discovery Channel Magazine, “At least 5,000 of the original fixtures have so far been painstakingly replaced over the last few years. At this rate, nothing of the original Taj Mahal will be left.” This sheer number is clearly unmanageable. As N. K. Pathak, superintendent at the Taj Mahal for the ASI, notes, “We have ordered an assessment report of the number of tourists who visit the Taj.”

Joshi has raised the issues of pollution in the Yamuna, and saving the Taj Mahal, with the Supreme Court of India. He is a part of the monitoring committee that oversees the plan to save the Taj Mahal. Experts say that inadequate flowing water, in addition to the fact that the Yamuna is actually shrinking in volume each year, mean that the structural stability of the Taj Mahal is now coming into question. A barrage constructed at a town called Gokul some 50 kilometres upstream has reduced the flow of the Yamuna river from roughly 28 cubic metres a second, to only about seven. What’s more, a half-finished shopping arcade across the river has changed the Yamuna's flow from a consistent flanking one, to an indirect one that only skirts the Taj — further reducing the base’s access to the water flow. “The Yamuna is dead, and that could kill the Taj,” laments Dr D. D. Basu, who was until recently a member of the central pollution control board, working directly on the Taj Mahal. “The sanitation system is almost nonexistent in Agra, and vehicle pollution is rampant. Both the air and the water are too filthy for a monument of such delicacy to survive.” According to some sources, there are 27 points in the city of Agra from which raw sewage, factory chemical waste, human waste and plastic meet the river. Of these, only 12 places have a water treatment plant — the rest meet the river without any checks. Without clean water, the long-term viability of India’s favourite gem is in doubt. Other threats to the delicate structure come from the air. Acid rain has been sometimes reported from an 46 DISCOVERY CHANNEL MAGAZINE INDIA

old oil refinery in Mathura some distance upstream, and while considerable progress has been made in controlling sulfur dioxide emission levels, it is still considered a long-term threat that could cause what is known as marble cancer — or the yellowing of the white stone of the Taj Mahal. There is also troubling news on the forestation front. The Taj Mahal stands very near the border of the desert state of Rajasthan, and sand granules from the state can be stopped if trees are planted. This has sadly not happened as yet, and on days when the winds blow from Rajasthan, a haze envelopes the mausoleum, gradually causing further erosion to the marble.

INDIA CAN EITHER RETAIN THE TAJ MAHAL — OR IT CAN ALLOW UP TO 70,000 PEOPLE A DAY ACCESS TO THE INNER RECESSES OF THE MARBLE MAUSOLEUM. TIME IS RUNNING OUT Nevertheless, the beauty remains intact today. Next time you visit this monument, it will remind you again of eternal love — and yet, like so many love stories, also of an impending and perhaps inevitable tragedy. The battle to save the Taj Mahal will begin only when its hosts realise the grim urgency required to tackle the problems that face this timeless tomb. Unfortunately, for now at least, there are few signs of urgency.

MILESTONES OF THE TAJ MAHAL uu

1998

PROTECTIVE MEASURES The Supreme Court of India, worried about air pollution from nearby factories, ordered some facilities closed and vehicular traffic in the Taj's vicinity banned, in an effort to preserve the white marble façade

2008

SLUMDOG SNEAKINESS While

filming the 2008 movie Slumdog Millionaire, set in India, director Danny Boyle only managed to get a portion of the shots he needed for a scene in the Taj Mahal before he was barred from the site. So he sent in a fake documentary crew to shoot more footage. “We had to do a little bit of stealth,” Boyle told the press

2012

SITE FOR MORE EYES The monument drew 5.8 million visitors in 2012, a record figure and the highest for any site in India. As entry is free for children, this is likely an underestimation of the true figure

2014

TAJ 2.0 A Dubai developer announced that it would invest US$1 billion into building a bigger replica of the Taj. Dubbed “The New City of Love”, the facility will include a 300-room hotel and shopping centre, as well as replicas of the Eiffel Tower and Great Wall of China. Completion is scheduled for 2014

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

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BREAK FREE

When th e gets toug going tough ach h, the insane fe ieve utterly a Daniel Sets to get going. the incre ifert looks at that peopdible lengths monkeys le (and a few )w order to bill go to, in e free

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If there is one thing the people in this story have in common, it’s their hypothalamus. This almond-sized structure, nuzzled deep in the brain, is responsible for regulating an astounding number of functional activities in our bodies. One of its most important jobs can be summed up in three words: fight or flight. When the hypothalamus screams into action, it revs up the adrenal-cortical system and sympathetic nervous system. It’s like flicking a lit Zippo into dry kindling. Whoosh — your pupils dilate, your muscles tense up and prepare for action, lungs start hoovering in oxygen. The desperate, fearless men and women in these pages, though divided by nation and history, all felt this rush when their hypothalamus kicked in. Their bodies asked them a fundamental question. Fight or flight? Stand your ground, or risk everything in a daring escape? For better or worse, they all chose the latter.

The History of the American Indians, published in 1775 and written by James Adair, may not at first glance seem a pageturner. But the tome, readable in full at Openlibrary.org, has passages that put Tom Clancy to shame. If you have to skim, start from page 393, when “a party of the Senekah Indians came to war against the Katabha [now Catawba], bitter enemies to each other”. Adair, who lived for years amongst the Indians, describes how several Senekah tribesmen came upon a young Katabha warrior, out hunting with his rifle. They aimed to capture him, but he killed seven of them before he was surrounded. After a march of several days, the victors dragged their trussed captive to their village, where women and children whipped

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him, and he was condemned to die by torture. After laying out the stakes for the young Katabha, Aider essentially proceeds to ask the reader, “But was he scared? Heck no!” Having rashly untied the warrior while leading him to the torture grounds, the crowd of Senekah tribesmen could only watch as their enemy plunged into a nearby river, swam across “like an otter” and amongst a hail of bullets, bid farewell. Here, Adair writes that the warrior’s “heart did not allow him to leave them abruptly, without taking leave in a formal manner, in return for the extraordinary favours they had done.” The young warrior “turned his backside toward them, and slapped it with his hand; then moving round, he put up the shrill war whoo whoop, as

his last salute”, and dashed off. The end, right? Hardly. The Senekah gave chase across the countryside for days. Then, though “naked, torn and hungry”, the fearless warrior stole into their campfire while they slept, “took one of their tomahawks, and killed them all on the spot. He then chopped them to pieces, in as horrid a manner as savage fury could excite.” When yet more Senekah pursuers came upon the scalped and burned bodies of their comrades, they were aghast. The slaughter “gave them a greater shock, than they had ever known before.” No human could have done this, said the Senekah’s “chilled war council”. The naked, bloodthirsty berserker “was surely an enemy wizard. And therefore they returned home.”

PHOTO: CORBIS

1.THE KATABHA WARRIOR’S CURIOUS MAGIC

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A MEMBER OF A DIFFERENT NATIVE AMERICAN TRIBE, EXACTING REVENGE. SCALPING WAS A COMMON PRACTICE AT THE TIME

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2.RUNAWAY MONKEYS The facility had all the makings of a chilling prison camp. A 5.2-metre-tall, high-voltage wire fence. Sharp-eyed staff patrolling the area, ever watchful in their white medical coats. And dozens of inmates, all serving a life sentence.

The place? Kyoto University’s Primate Research Institute in Aichi prefecture, Japan. The prisoners? Fifteen monkeys. And apparently, they were bored of life on the inside, though they were welltreated and seemingly beloved by the staff. A regularly updated photo gallery on the official site shows them playing with an array of objects, including a rubber

boot — for which the photographer added a caption squealing, “I was surprised that [Cleo the chimpanzee] could carry by holding it by her teeth and her mouth!!! However, she moved away from me, so I was sad.” Perhaps rubber boots weren’t exciting enough for the monkeys anymore. But how to get over the electrified fence from their forested enclosure? In a scene that we like to picture as the part of 2001: A Space Odyssey when the Neanderthals use bones as tools for the first time, the monkeys noticed the long, bendy trees nestled near the fence. Freedom was as simple as using stretchy branches to fling themselves over. Dubbing it “an incredible escape and the first time something like this has ever happened,” the deputy head of the institute told the Daily Telegraph that his team was “extremely surprised by the intelligence and the power they used in order to escape.” Retrieving the monkeys proved far easier, as they didn’t seem to know what to do with their newfound autonomy. Researchers lured them back in with peanuts.

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BELOW: DILLINGER IN 1934, BEFORE HE PULLED OFF HIS WILY WOODEN-GUN TRICK RIGHT: IN 2008, DILLINGER'S DEATH MASK WAS KEPT ON DISPLAY IN THE NEWSEUM IN WASHINGTON DC

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PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES (JOHN DILLINGER); AFP (MASK OF JOHN DILLINGER); DREAMSTIME (MONKEY)

3.FAKE GUN, DARING JAILBREAK Never, ever dub your prison “escape-proof”. That’ s just asking for trouble, particularly when John Dillinger, possibly America's most infamous gangster and bank robber, has just been captured and is now your inmate. In 1934, he broke out by threatening guards with a Colt .38 pistol. But how did he get a gun in there? The answer is, he didn’t. In a letter replete with spelling errors, scribbled just a few days later to his sister, while on the run again, Dillinger crowed about how the chagrined prison guards had told the press they were definitely threatened by a real gun. Not so, said Dilinger. “That’s just a lot of hooey to cover up because they don't like to admit that I locked eight deputies and a

dozen trustees up with my wooden gun before I got my hands on the two machine guns. I showed everyone the wooden gun after I got hold of the machine gun, and you should have seen their faces. Ha! Ha! Ha! Pulling that off was worth 10 years of my life.” The episode is vivid in American pop culture today, not just visible in the title of rock band The Dillinger Escape Plan, but in Public Enemies, a 2009 film that saw Johnny Depp playing Dillinger and re-enacting his pretend-pistol prank. In an interview, director Michael Mann explained why Depp only locked up three policemen (as compared to Dillinger’s alleged 17 guards): “It wouldn’t be credible if you put it in a movie, so we had to tone it down.”

WHAT NEXT? DILLINGER WASN’T LAUGHING FOR LONG. LESS THAN FIVE MONTHS AFTER HIS ESCAPE, HE WAS GUNNED DOWN BY THE POLICE OUTSIDE A CHICAGO MOVIE THEATRE. IT’S SAID THAT SEVERAL BYSTANDERS DIPPED THEIR HANDKERCHIEFS IN DILLINGER’S BLOOD BEFORE HE WAS TAKEN AWAY, A GRISLY SOUVENIR OF THE MAN WHO HAD BEEN PUBLIC ENEMY NUMBER ONE 53 FEBRUARY 2014

PHOTOS: CAMP14-FILM.COM (CAMP 14 STILLS)

4.FROM HELL WITH A PLAN

CAMP 14 LAWS

There is a hell on earth, and it has an innocuous name: Camp 14. Until 2005, this North Korean forced labour camp, just outside Pyongyang, held a young man now named Shin Dong-Hyuk. Shin did not miss life outside the camp, because he had never experienced it. He was born there, his mother sent to Camp 14 because her brother had escaped to South Korea years earlier. Under laws set by the nation’s Eternal President, Kim Il-sung, any traitor automatically had three generations of family imprisoned to purge them of their “blood crimes”. Escape From Camp 14, written by Blaine Harden, chronicles Shin’s life, explaining the kind of Orwellian vacuum he grew up in. According to the book, “In

Do not try to escape. Anyone caught escaping will be shot immediately.

Camp 14, Shin did not know literature existed. He saw only one book in the camp, a Korean grammar, in the hands of a teacher who wore a guard’s uniform, carried a revolver on his hip, and beat one of his primary school classmates to death with a chalkboard pointer.” Raised in this black hole, Shin “accepted its values. He called it home.” Brainwashed, Shin was closer to the guards than to his mother, whom he viewed as competition for food. When, aged 13, he learnt his mother and brother were planning to escape, he informed the guards and expected to be rewarded. Instead, they tortured him, while his mother and brother were executed. It took the arrival of another prisoner, the worldly Park Yong Chul, to finally give

the malnourished Shin the literal hunger to flee. Park’s tales of Pyongyang, a city Shin had never heard of, and magical meals that included roast meat, made him decide it was worth the risk of escape. The two engineered a plan to crawl through the highvoltage electric fence — a move Park did not survive. His body was flooded with electricity just inches from freedom. Shin only made it by crawling over his dead companion. It was only after walking across the border to China, then making it to South Korea, that Shin began to think of himself as free. Meanwhile, over 200,000 North Koreans, nearly one per cent of the population, toil in camps just like Camp 14, which can still be seen today via Google Maps.

ESCAPE FROM CAMP 14 NOTES THAT SHIN WAS REQUIRED TO MEMORISE THESE RULES. DUE TO SPACE CONSIDERATIONS THERE IS NO ROOM TO LIST ALL OF THEM.

No more than two prisoners can meet together. Anyone who fails to secure permission for a meeting of more than two prisoners will be shot immediately. Do not steal. Anyone found stealing, in possession of arms, or foodstuff, will be shot immediately. Guards must be obeyed unconditionally. Anyone who harbours ill will towards or physically assaults a guard will be shot immediately. Anyone who sees a fugitive or suspicious figure must report him. Each prisoner must observe others and remain vigilant. Anyone who provides cover for or protects a fugitive will be shot immediately. Prisoners must more than fulfil the work assigned. To fulfil one’s work quota is to wash away one’s sins, as well as to recompense the state for the forgiveness it has shown. Prisoners who neglect their daily work quota will be considered to harbour discontent and will be shot immediately. Beyond the workplace, there must be no intermingling between the sexes for personal reasons. Should sexual physical contact occur without prior approval, the perpetrators will be shot immediately.

SHIN DONG-HYUK IS THE ONLY PERSON BORN IN A NORTH KOREAN PRISON LABOUR CAMP WHO IS KNOWN TO HAVE ESCAPED LEFT: AN ANIMATED STILL OF SHIN'S MOTHER'S EXECUTION, FROM THE DOCUMENTARY CAMP 14: TOTAL CONTROL ZONE

WHAT NEXT? “THERE IS NOTHING IN MY LIFE TO COMPARE TO THIS BURDEN,” SHIN SAYS, DESCRIBING HOW HE BETRAYED HIS MOTHER. ALTHOUGH HE WANTS NOTHING MORE THAN TO FORGET HIS PAST LIFE, HE CONTINUES TO SPREAD THE MESSAGE ABOUT NORTH KOREA’S PRISON CAMPS IN AN ATTEMPT TO RELIEVE SOME OF THAT GUILT

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Prisoners must genuinely repent of their errors. Anyone who does not acknowledge his sins will be shot immediately. Prisoners who violate the camp's laws and regulations will be shot immediately. Prisoners must consider guards as teachers and, abiding by the laws of the camp, yield themselves through toil and discipline to washing away their past errors.

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5.THE NOT-SOGREAT ESCAPE Released in 1963 and still a classic getaway film, The Great Escape, a tale of a mass breakout from Stalag Luft III, an infamous Nazi prisoner of war (POW) camp, is one you can watch over and over again. Thanks to the star cast and Steve McQueen’s motorbike shenanigans, the ending always comes as a bit of a shock — since most of the POWs die in the end. A climax unfortunately based on the truth. Yet, it had all begun so well, with 76 POWs sneaking out through three tunnels. The original scheme called for over 200 to break out, but an air raid partway through, and the discovery of one tunnel scuppered that plan. Even so, their tunnels were a thing of beauty, a secret construction that moved over 100 tonnes of earth, later to be distributed by “penguins” — POWs who hid bags of dirt in their pants and let the incriminating earth run out of their pant legs as they moved about in the yard. Of those that made it out, 73 were soon recaptured. Under direct orders from Hitler himself, 50 of them were shot. General Major Adolf Westhoff told Allied interrogators after the war that he had protested such measures, which were illegal under the Geneva Convention. The response from the German High Command was withering: “The convention is a scrap of paper which doesn’t interest us.” HONOUR IN WAR. TIMES WERE DIFFERENT IN WORLD WAR I. IN 1916, THE BRITISH CAPTAIN ROBERT CAMPBELL, A POW AT THE TIME, SENT A LETTER TO THE KAISER, WILHELM II, WITH A REQUEST. HIS MOTHER WAS DYING OF CANCER BACK HOME. COULD HE VISIT HER? SURPRISINGLY, THE KAISER AGREED — AS LONG AS CAMPBELL GAVE HIS WORD AS A GENTLEMAN AND OFFICER THAT HE WOULD RETURN. AFTER TWO WEEKS' LEAVE, HE DID COME BACK, AND THEN PROMPTLY TRIED TO ESCAPE. WHILE CAMPBELL WAS IN BRITAIN, GERMAN AUTHORITIES ASKED IF ONE OF THEIR POW s COULD VISIT GERMANY FOR FAMILY REASONS IN RETURN. THE BRITISH ANSWERED, “UNABLE TO AGREE… CAPTAIN CAMPBELL’S CASE CANNOT BE QUOTED AS PRECEDENT”

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PHOTOS: TPG/EVERETT/CLICK PHOTOS

A SCENE FROM THE 1963 FILM THE GREAT ESCAPE. HERE, AMERICAN POW VIRGIL HILTS WALKS THE WALK (TO THE "COOLER" CELL, FOR SOLITARY CONFINEMENT), AFTER BEING "ILL-MANNERED" TOWARDS KOMMENDANT VON LUGER

6.THE TANK TO FREEDOM East German soldier Wolfgang Engels was sick of communism, and sick of the Iron Curtain. He wasn’t helped by the fact that he'd literally helped build the Iron Curtain in 1961, having erected some of the barbedwire borders of the Berlin Wall. Now, Engels wanted out. But getting to the West was tricky, with the iron-hard German Democratic Republic wary of attempts to defect. In April of 1963, while the country was gearing up for celebrations that included military parades, there were a lot of tanks lying around. Which is when he probably thought, “Aha! Ich konnte in einem Panzer durch die Berline

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Mauer fahren!” (Aha! I could drive a tank through the Berlin Wall!) So that’s what he did, despite having zero experience driving a 9.5-tonne piece of military equipment. Instead of a tank, he commandeered an armoured personnel carrier (APC) from the depot. The keys, luckily, were in the ignition. With that, Engels trundled 20 kilometres to the Wall and summarily rammed it. The APC crunched through the wall — but only its nose got through; the doors were still in the East. Guards were now sounding the alarm. Engels later described how “I called out, ‘Don’t shoot!’ But he shot [me]

anyway — from a distance of about five metres. The bullet went in through my back and came out the front.” Wounded, he still managed to clamber onto the hood of the vehicle, and was pulled to safety by West Berliners. They dragged him to a bar, where he was quickly introduced to alcohol brands he’d never seen before. As he told the press, “That’s how I knew I had made it.” Afterwards, Engels began to build a new life in the West. Predictably, he was branded a deserter and thief by the Soviets. Unfortunately, even his mother, a staunch communist still in East Berlin, also called him a traitor.

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7.LONDON’S INFAMOUS ‘HOUDINI’

PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES

There’s a reason a third of London’s populace, came to watch Jack Sheppard be hanged. This was 1724, before the cliched means of escape became, well, cliched. Sheppard used them all to great effect, escaping from jail no less than four times. It all started when young Sheppard tired of a toiling life as a carpenter’s apprentice. Petty thievery, surely, was easier? And it was — until he landed in jail. And then escaped again within three hours, by lowering himself to the ground with his knotted bedclothes, sneaking into the crowd that had come to investigate the commotion, and distracting them by shouting that he could see someone lurking in the shadows. Sheppard thus managed to steal away. After a short stint on the outside, he was imprisoned again, this time with his wife Besse. Again, they climbed out of the jail window using knotted sheets, this time completing the cartoonish stereotype by filing through their manacles first. Sheppard’s wife reportedly provided the means of his third escape — luckily for him. By this point London’s annoyed courts had sentenced the plucky thief to death. While visiting Sheppard, Besse slipped him some voluminous female

clothing, and they walked out together, Sheppard affecting a ladylike sashay. Escape number four was a toughie, as Sheppard was heavily chained in a foreboding prison dubbed “The Castle”. He then picked the locks of his chains, forced his way through six doors and crossed from the prison roof to a nearby house. The rooftop hop was again accomplished with bed sheets (naturally). Sheppard’s fifth stint in jail was his last. By now, the devil-may-care lad was one of the most popular names in the country. Some records say guards charged a four-shilling fee for allowing star-struck members of high society to visit him. He was even drawn by King George I’s own portrait painter. Prominent people appealed to the courts to spare Sheppard the noose, explaining that “he was always Chearful and Pleasant to a Degree, as turning almost everything as was said into a Jest and Banter”. It was not to be. And yet, even during his walk to death, he had a plan to saw through his ropes with a hidden penknife. Unfortunately, a sharp-eyed guard discovered the blade, and the plan was foiled. On a cold November morning, the 22-year-old was led through the crowd of 2,00,000, and hanged.

WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? IT’S HARD TO OVERSTATE HOW MUCH OF A LEGEND YOUNG JACK SHEPPARD HAD BECOME, AND REMAINED EVEN AFTER HIS DEATH — BUT THESE TWO EXAMPLES SHOULD HELP CLARIFY. OVER A CENTURY AFTER HIS DEATH, THE LORD CHAMBERLAIN BANNED ANY PLAY WITH “JACK SHEPPARD” IN ITS TITLE FROM PERFORMING IN LONDON, FOR FEAR OF INCITING COPYCAT CRIMINALS. THE BAN REMAINED IN FORCE FOR 40 YEARS. THE BOY THIEF EVEN POPPED UP IN BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA , WRITTEN 173 YEARS AFTER HIS HANGING. “JACK SHEPPARD HIMSELF COULDN’T GET FREE FROM THE STRAIT WAISTCOAT THAT KEEPS [THE INMATE] RESTRAINED.” THE INMATE ESCAPES A FEW PAGES LATER

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WHAT NEXT? AFTER SIX WEEKS ON THE LAM, THE DUO WAS CAPTURED BY POLICE AT A CARAVAN PARK. DUDKO WAS IMPRISONED BUT RELEASED IN 2006. ONE OF THE CONDITIONS OF HER PAROLE WAS THAT SHE WAS BANNED FROM VISITING KILLICK

58 DISCOVERY CHANNEL MAGAZINE INDIA

In 1999, helicopter pilot Tim Joyce didn’t think overmuch about the soft-spoken, quiet passenger in his chartered chopper as they flew around the outskirts of Sydney, Australia. Although he did think it was a little odd that she had insisted on carrying a rather bulky bag into the cramped cockpit. That decision became clear when, some minutes later, she pulled a sawn-off shotgun out of it, touched it to his throat and calmly said, “This is a hijack.”

PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES (HELICOPTER); AFP (LUCY DUDKO)

8.LUCY IN THE SKY The passenger was Russian-born Lucy Dudko, whose boyfriend, John Killick, was at the time serving 28 years for armed robbery. Dudko pointed the pilot in the direction of the maximumsecurity Silverwater prison, and they landed in the exercise yard, where Killick was waiting. To a hail of gunfire and the cheers of his fellow inmates, the lovers and captive pilot took off again. After landing in a park several kilometres away and tying up the pilot, Dudko

and Killick went on the run, managing to avoid the law for around six weeks longer. During this time, the romantic Bonnie and Clyde-style escape was enthusiastically rehashed by the press, who dubbed the redheaded librarian “Red Lucy”. They also noted with glee that the week before the hijacking, Dudko had rented three videos to watch, presumably for research: Captive, Breakout (which featured a helicopter prison bust) and The Getaway.

9.A SPORTING CHANCE TO RUN

1948: The first recorded defection occurred at the 1948 London Games, when Marie Provaznikova, the Czech president of the International Gymnastics Federation, did not return to her country, which had been recently annexed by Russia. 1956: There’s a reason the Olympic water polo game between Russia and Hungary in 1956 became known as the “blood in the water match”. Russian troops had just invaded Hungary to brutally

quell an anti-Soviet uprising. Not surprisingly, the game rapidly devolved into fisticuffs. A Hungarian player recalled how a Russian player had “tried to punch me out. I felt warm blood pouring down. We felt we were playing not just for ourselves but for our whole country.” Hungary won the match, but lost the uprising. Only 38 of Hungary’s 83 sportsmen decided to fly back home. 1972: The Munich Olympics, which saw terrorists murder several Israeli athletes, is also noted for being the Olympics with the most recorded defections — 117 in total. 2012: Fifteen African athletes and coaches defected during the most recent Games. The majority hailed from Cameroon, which lost seven of its 37 athletes.

10.SPECIAL DELIVERY TOFREEDOM WHAT NEXT? BROWN ROSE TO FAME AS AN ABOLITIONIST AND USED HIS TALE TO SPREAD THE HORROR OF SLAVERY. FREDERICK DOUGLASS, ONE OF THE MOST FAMED ABOLITIONISTS IN THE COUNTRY, CHIDED BROWN FOR SHARING HIS STORY WHEN SECRECY COULD HAVE MEANT THAT “WE MIGHT HAVE A THOUSAND BOX BROWNS PER ANNUM”. THE HELPFUL CARPENTER, SAMUEL SMITH, SERVED TIME IN JAIL IN 1849 FOR ATTEMPTING TO REPLICATE THE BOX RUSE

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ABOVE: HUNGARIAN ERVIN ZADOR WITH BLOOD POURING FROM A CUT EYE. HE RECEIVED THE INJURY FROM A RUSSIAN PLAYER IN THE CLOSING STAGES OF THE 1956 HUNGARY VERSUS RUSSIA OLYMPIC WATER POLO MATCH. THROUGHOUT THE MATCH, FISTS, ELBOWS, KNEES AND FEET WERE USED WITH EXTREME PREJUDICE WHENEVER PLAYERS CAME INTO CONTACT

BLOOD IN THE WATER. WHILE THE RUSSIAN TEAM DID GET VIOLENT DURING THE 1956 WATER POLO SEMI-FINAL AT THE OLYMPICS, ERVIN ZADOR, THE HUNGARIAN PLAYER WHO WAS STRUCK, LATER TOLD THE PRESS THAT HIS TEAM HAD AGITATED THEIR OPPONENTS ON PURPOSE. "WE FIGURED, IF THEY GET ANGRY, THEY'LL START TO FIGHT. ONCE THEY FIGHT, THEY WON'T PLAY WELL. IF THEY DON'T PLAY WELL, WE'LL BEAT THEM — AND IF WE BEAT THEM, WE'LL WIN THE OLYMPICS!"

Sixty-one centimetres by 81 centimetres by 91 centimetres; the same volume as three bathtubs. Not that small,but not roomy if you’re Henry Brown, a black slave in the United States who in 1849 wanted to escape, and decided to mail himself to freedom in a wooden box. Brown’s hunger for freedom was fed by his past. He and his wife Nancy, another slave, and three children had lived as happily as a human piece of property could in those days. Then, Nancy and the children were sold to another slave-owner, and Brown was left alone.

That’s when he went to a free black friend, who in turn enlisted the help of Samuel Smith, a white carpenter and sympathiser, who constructed his box. Smith slapped a “this side up” marking on the crate, addressed it to the slave-free state of Philadelphia, and squeezed Brown in. According to most sources, he had just one container of water, a few biscuits, and three air holes. Several times during the trip, his box was mishandled and placed upside down. But after 27 hours, he emerged a free man, with a new name: Henry “Box” Brown.

PHOTO: CORBIS (ERVIN ZADOR)

The Olympics are heralded as a time for mankind to recognise the achievement of international athletes. But they also have a long history of helping people make the proverbial 100-metre dash to freedom, by defecting from their home country while they are competing abroad.

SUPER

Why do certain cultures resist disease longer than others? As science answers this question, a group of mega-foods is

Chia seeds

From a flowering plant of the mint family, these seeds are a source of healthy omega-3 fatty acids and fibre, and very easy to incorporate into the diet.

Serving Size 2 tbsp (15 g)

Calories 58

Calories from Fat 45 % Daily Value*

Total Fat 5.0g

8%

Saturated Fat 0.4g

2%

Cholesterol 0mg

0%

Sodium 0mg

0%

Carbohydrates 6.0g

2%

Dietary Fibre 5.0g

20%

PHOTO: AGEFOTOSTOCK

Sugars 0.0g Protein 3.0g Vitamin A 0%

Vitamin C 1%

Calcium 12%

Iron 7%

*Based on a 2,000-calorie diet

POWER PLATES

Across ople be, pe ate the glo or the ultim ying king f ger, sta f are loo oking youn e process o g o h nt to l win secret slowing dow dustry is gro or in y, f nd fitter a he diet food too is obesit 980. 1 .T so ageing year — but oubled since ildren by the ates have d 0 million ch ht in r ig which ide, nearly 4 ere overwe lth w w ea World e age of five he World H that s th ,t under . Shockingly O) estimate ach 2010 ation (WH eople die e g p is Organ t 2.8 million esult of bein at leas lobally as a r obese. year g erweight or ov

FOODS!

emerging, with properties beyond those normally found on our plate. Alison Marshall looks at this champion’s league of edibles

Ginger (raw)

Revered since ancient times in many parts of Asia, ginger has excellent antiinflammatory properties, without irritating the gut. Can be eaten fresh or preserved.

Serving Size 1 tsp (2 g)

Calories 2

Calories from Fat 0 % Daily Value* 1.58g

Water

7kj

Energy

8mg

Potassium

1mg

Magnesium Vitamin C, total absorbic acid

0.1mg

Choline

0.6mg

Sugars 0.0g Protein 0.0g Vitamin A 0% Calcium 0%

Vitamin C 0% Iron 0%

*Based on a 2,000-calorie diet

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o help target rising obesity rates, in 2011 the United States Department of Agriculture launched MyPlate (www. choosemyplate.gov), which offered a clear visual breakdown of what a healthy plate should look like. This replaced the widely recognised Food Guide pyramid, the go-to nutrition guide since the 1990s. The new plate diagram shows how much of each food group should make up a healthy plate without any need for calculation, and is promoted alongside guidelines helping people make healthier choices, from exercising portion control, to swapping sugary drinks for water. Despite the number of diet plans and diet meals sold each year, the overall population of developed countries is not getting any thinner or healthier. Diet fads come and go too. Among other things, we have been advised to eat more fibre (F-Plan); less carbohydrate and more protein (Atkins); like a caveman (Paleo) or to consume specific foods aligned to our blood group (Blood Type Diet). Even government advice changes frequently. The “five a day” advisory for fruit and vegetable consumption in the United Kingdom (first dreamed up in the United States) was adopted to help improve general eating patterns. Yet, despite it being a continuous campaign since 2003, British eaters today still average around three-and-a-half portions of fruit and vegetables per day. What actually constitutes an ideal amount of fruit and vegetables is perhaps best explained by the WHO, which recommends a minimum serving of 400 grams daily, not including starchy tubers like the humble potato. The organisation estimates that around 16 million

POWER PLATES

disability-adjusted life-years (a measure of the potential life lost due to premature mortality and productive life lost as a result of disability) and 1.7 million deaths are attributable to a low intake of fruit and vegetables — a good enough reason for us to focus on consuming more of them. Yet, some suggest that even this amount might not be enough. In one study, over 3,00,000 people in eight different European countries were interviewed about their eating habits. The result was a report, published in the European Heart Journal in 2011, in which researchers found that on average, five portions of fruit and vegetables were consumed a day, with people in Greece, Italy and Spain eating more, and those from Sweden in particular eating less. However, the researchers found that those who ate at least eight portions of fruit and vegetables a day (around 640 grams) had a 22 per cent lower risk of dying from ischaemic heart disease, compared to those who consumed less than three servings daily. So perhaps we should be adjusting our daily quotas to “eight a day” — although the team also cautioned that it may not be a cause-andeffect relationship.

POWER-PACKED SNACK

PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES (GINGER); CORBIS (GOJI BERRIES)

Even within the healthy food spectrum, it seems not all things may be considered equal. Enter, a new breed of superheroes of nature, or superfoods, each boasting high nutritional and phytochemical (chemical compounds that naturally occur in plants) content. From açai berries to spinach, chia seeds to spirulina, raw honey to coconut water, nature’s bounty, it seems, can be as good for you as it is delicious. According to advocates, these are the foods that nutritionally pack a punch far exceeding

Goji berries ALSO KNOWN AS THE WOLFBERRY, THIS ORANGERED BERRY IS NATIVE TO CHINA AND HAS BEEN A DIET STAPLE FOR GENERATIONS, IN THE HOPE OF ACHIEVING LONGEVITY. FULL OF ANTIOXIDANTS AND VITAMIN A, GOJI BERRIES ARE DELICIOUS BOTH FRESH AND DRIED, AND CAN BE ENJOYED IN SWEET AND SAVOURY DISHES

their weight. High in minerals, vitamins and antioxidants, they are nutritionally rich and generally low in calories — reputedly helping us lose weight, stave off disease and even fight ageing. David Wolfe, acclaimed American writer and nutritionist, is of the opinion that people need to focus more on eating quality over quantity. “The health of the world can change easily through diet,” he tells Discovery Channel Magazine. “We don’t need to eat that much. People eat for nourishment and once we get that, the amount decreases.” Wolfe believes portion size is a serious issue for health: “It’s very important to eat less to live longer. People eat a lot of empty calories in the current age — we need to dial the clock backwards.” He claims to be the first person to coin the term “superfoods”. Wolfe, who has worked for 25 years, maintains that while traditional medicine is required in emergency situations, for healing as well as maintenance we should let healthier eating act as our medicine. His research has shown that by eating the right foods and keeping our immune systems in good order, our bodies can regulate themselves. He believes that many 21st century ailments, such as diabetes and high blood pressure, can be kept at bay with more attention to consuming foods that contain natural medicinal properties. Good practices can soon become good habits, he says — noting that your body will, over time, crave the food that you give it. “Basically, you crave whatever is in your digestive tract,” explains Wolfe. “The more of something you eat, the more you want and the more you crave.” Eating unhealthy food can therefore be a downward spiral. Many processed foods, for instance, are usually calorifically high and nutritionally empty, meaning that you have to eat an enormous amount of them to get to a point where your body is nutritionally satisfied. This can take a long time. And the longer it takes, the more we eat — and the fatter we get. Conversely, something nutritionally dense will satiate you sooner, satisfying your hunger in a much healthier way. While we need all the different food groups, the various substances are required in differing proportions, depending on lifestyle. Proteins are the most important, as these help your body’s cells to renew and repair themselves, and contribute to a healthy immune system.

Carbohydrates on the other hand give a quick energy fix, entering the bloodstream as glucose, which the body will use as a fuel. But beware, if you are not active enough, this leftover glucose will be converted to fat and stored.

WITHIN THE HEALTHY FOOD SPECTRUM, IT SEEMS NOT ALL THINGS MAY BE CONSIDERED EQUAL. ENTER, SUPERFOODS, BOASTING HIGH NUTRITIONAL CONTENT Fats protect organs, and help some vitamins move through the body. The socalled “good fats” are mono-unsaturated or poly-unsaturated, found largely in plant-based foods and grains. In particular, omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, which are examples of poly-unsaturated fats, have been found to reduce cholesterol, and a common source is cold-water fish such as salmon and tuna.

BALANCED BENEFITS

Clean eating may act as an upward spiral to better health. Wolfe maintains that when you eat food in its original form, the body gets more accustomed to knowing what’s good for it. “When you eat naturally, your body is much more attuned to what it needs — this is called the aliesthetic taste change. Our tastes instinctively change, and if you’ve eaten too much of something your body will reject it,” he says. Having seen the benefits these foods can have when included in the diet through his own research, Wolfe adopted a superfoods diet a decade ago and says his body is now so attuned that if he has eaten too much of a certain type of food, he’ll quickly find he can’t stand the sight of it. Fortunately, science is backing up the claims that superfood “rock stars” like Wolfe are making about the foods’ beneficial properties. As the European Food Information Council (EUFIC) noted recently, “In order to distinguish the truth from the hype, it is important to look carefully at the scientific evidence behind the media’s superfood claims.” It points u 65 FEBRUARY 2014

SUPERFOOD GURU SHARES HIS WISDOM DAVID “AVOCADO” WOLFE IS A HEALTH, ECO AND NUTRITION EXPERT, WHO ADVOCATES THE BENEFITS OF NATURAL NUTRITION. How have you helped drive the superfood movement? We were the first people to talk about goji berries and raw cacao on the internet. Plus, we stood behind the hemp industry to enable the hemp seed to be used.

So should we all be adopting a diet of coconut water and goji berries? No, it’s all about balance — consuming coconut in the North Pole is not right. You have to look at the intrinsic energies that are appropriate, and go with seasonality and locality. Should we be eating superfoods raw, to maximise their effects? Raw food is great, but raw food followers get fanatical. Bee pollen is the big buzz in superfoods at the moment. What’s your take on it? I’m a big fan of bee products and the healing power of bee pollen and bee stings. A lot of people are allergic to bee stings, so they would have to be careful. But bee pollen and honey is a magic combination. Is there one right diet for everyone? There are as many diets as there are people. We are all affected by the climate we live in, our history, toxicity because of digestive changes, or problems. We are all very unique — but if you were to pick one superfood category, I’d say berries are best for human consumption. Blueberries, goji berries, blackberries — nutritionally they are at the upper echelons of all the foods on the planet. What are your top superfoods? My favourite superfoods change on a regular basis. At the moment I’d say they are raw honey, raw cacao, aloe vera, chlorella and hemp. Honey and lucuma — a fruit native to Peru — are fantastic natural sweeteners. And monk fruit, a lime-like fruit also known as luo han guo, is delicious. 66 DISCOVERY CHANNEL MAGAZINE INDIA

Blueberries u out that there is a solid body of research

showing the beneficial qualities of foods including blueberries, açaí berries, pomegranate juice, beetroot, cocoa, as well as salmon and other oily fish. “The science in this area has demonstrated that certain components of foods and drinks may be particularly good for you,” the EUFIC notes in an article titled “The Science Behind Superfoods: Are they Really Super?” It continues, “This is also reflected in the existence of approved health claims, for which the European Food Safety Authority has found the scientific evidence base to be sufficiently convincing.” Yet, it advises caution, noting that isolated studies indicating healthpromoting properties do not necessarily translate to life-saving powers in the real world. “It is unrealistic to expect a narrow range of ‘superfoods’ to significantly improve our well-being,” notes the EUFIC.

Lingzhi mushrooms ALSO KNOWN AS THE RED REISHI MUSHROOM, THIS FUNGI HAS BEEN USED IN TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS. CHINESE ROYALTY OF ANCIENT TIMES HOPED THAT ITS CONTINUED USAGE WOULD AFFORD THEM IMMORTALITY. THE MUSHROOMS ARE SAID TO HAVE A POSITIVE EFFECT ON BOTH HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE AND RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS. A DOCTOR SHOULD BE CONSULTED BEFORE INCLUDING THESE FUNGI IN THE DIET

Ideal as a healthy snack, blueberries are cholesterol-free, and high in vitamin C, manganese and dietary fibre. However, they contain a great deal of sugar, so consume in moderation.

Serving Size 1 cup (145 g)

Calories 83

Calories from Fat 4 % Daily Value*

Total Fat 0.5g

1%

Saturated Fat 0.0g

0%

Cholesterol 0mg

0%

Sodium 1mg

0%

Carbohydrates 21.0g

7%

Dietary Fibre 3.5g

14%

Sugars 14.4g Protein 1.1g Vitamin A 2% Calcium 1%

Vitamin C 23% Iron 2%

*Based on a 2,000-calorie diet

“When looking at the evidence behind superfoods, we need to be realistic about how this translates into real diets.” Like everything else, even superfoods should be eaten in moderation. Sugar is still sugar and fat is still fat, even if it comes from a natural source. The avocado, a key weapon in the superfood armoury, has about 30 grams of fat. While this is mostly mono-unsaturated fat, which may help reduce the risk of conditions such as heart disease and cancer, avocados should not be eaten to excess. The same goes for fruit. While blueberries are said to have excellent antioxidant properties, they also contain a high proportion of sugar, too much of which can be bad for the system, whether in its natural or processed form. “Sugar can be problematic, ” observes Wolfe. “Some raw foodists are sugar addicts. It is u

PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES (LINGZHI MUSHROOMS; HONEYCOMB)

Do you feel that traditional medicine conspires against using food as a natural medicinal alternative? Certain parts of the pharmaceutical industry want to make medical monopolies; it’s not really the doctors’ fault because pharmaceutical companies fund them. Pharmaceuticals are just bad herbalism; we can get to a pharmaceutical level naturally.

POWER PLATES

Honey (raw)

Honey can vary in composition and flavour depending on the flowers used to make it. With its antibacterial and antiinflammatory properties, it is a favourite of holistic practitioners.

Serving Size 1 cup (339 g)

Calories 1,031

Calories from Fat 0 % Daily Value*

Water

58.0g

Potassium

176mg

Calcium

20.3mg

Sodium (Shelf Life) Dietary Fibre 1g

13.6mg 1,000 yrs± 3%

Sugars 278g Protein 1.0g Vitamin A 0% Calcium 2% *Based on a 2,000-calorie diet

Vitamin C 3% Iron 8%

Avocado

Among other things, avocado is rich in fibre, omega-3 fatty acids, carotenoids, and vitamins C and E. It is also said to help guard against inflammation.

Serving Size 150g

Calories 240

Calories from Fat 198 % Daily Value*

Total Fat 22.0g

34%

Saturated Fat 3.2g

16%

Cholesterol 0mg

0%

Sodium 11mg

0%

Carbohydrates 12.8g

4%

Dietary Fibre 10.1g

40%

Sugars 1.0g Protein 3.0g Vitamin A 4%

Vitamin C 25%

Calcium 2% *Based on a 2,000-calorie diet

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Iron 5%

POWER PLATES

u not necessarily healthy — natural sugar is still sugar.” In the meantime, for the uninitiated, trying to harness the potential of superhealthy food can at first seem daunting. “The whole reason why many people are unsure about using superfoods in their diet is that they don’t know where to start,” says Wolfe. “Education is the crux of it. ”

GO OLD-SCHOOL

PHOTOS: CORBIS (AVOCADO); ALPHA ELEMENT (SPACE)

In recent times, the traditional diets of some countries have been proven to be demonstrably healthier than others, perhaps in ways that researchers did not at first expect. In the Mediterranean, the superfood trio of tomatoes, olives and oily fish form a large part of the diet for everyone, rich or poor. Published in 1998, a study by the French School of Medicine surveyed 605 patients with coronary heart disease from the Lyon Diet Heart Study, who were following either a cardioprotective Mediterranean-type diet, or a control diet close to the American Heart Association diet. Surprising many at the time, the researchers found that those on the Mediterranean-type diet had prolonged survival rates, and may also have been protected against cancer. The findings changed many people’s outlook towards food and diet, and led people to reassess their long-held assumptions about what we eat. In 2010, UNESCO officially recognised the Mediterranean diet of Italy, Greece, Spain and Morocco in its Intangible Cultural Heritage List. Similarly, mothers in the West must have known they were on to a good thing when they urged their children to eat their greens. Broccoli is the king of greens, containing the phytonutrient glucoraphanin, which our body turns into sulforaphane. The latter is thought to boost levels of antioxidant enzymes and

Spirulina ITS INTENSE GREEN COLOUR AND SLIGHT POND AROMA MAY PUT YOU OFF, BUT THIS BLUE-GREEN ALGAE CONTAINS 26 TIMES THE AMOUNT OF CALCIUM IN MILK AND FOUR TIMES THE ANTIOXIDANTS IN BLUEBERRIES. STIR A DESSERT SPOON’S WORTH INTO YOUR SMOOTHIE FOR ALL THE BENEFITS — AND NONE OF THE FISHY TASTE

Noni juice

According to the US National Centre for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, research in the lab has shown that juice from the noni fruit (also known as the Indian mulberry or hog apple) has antioxidant, immune-stimulating, and tumour-fighting properties.

Serving Size 1 Serving

Calories 14

Calories from Fat 0 % Daily Value*

Total Fat 0.0g

0%

Saturated Fat 0.0g

0%

Cholesterol 0mg

0%

Sodium 0mg

0%

Carbohydrates 4.0g

1%

Dietary Fibre 0.5g

2%

Sugars 1.0g Protein 0.0g Vitamin A 0% Calcium 0%

Vitamin C 2% Iron 0%

*Based on a 2,000-calorie diet

protect us from some diseases. Scientists in the United Kingdom spent over 10 years developing a super-broccoli, Beneforté, by cross-breeding standard broccoli with a wild variety from Italy. This new type supposedly has two to three times the level of glucoraphanin compared to the average broccoli. If even the life-enhancing enzymes of green vegetables aren’t enough to make you beg for broccoli, help is at hand — some sweet treats have superfood powers too. Cacao in its raw form is chock-full of antioxidants, vitamins, magnesium and iron. For those who find raw chocolate too much to stomach, a chocolate bar with the highest percentage of cocoa solids possible is the right place to start. A 10-year study of Dutch men conducted by researchers at Wageningen University in the Netherlands

examined the eating habits of 470 healthy men above the age of 65. It found that those who ate cocoa products equivalent to a third of a bar of chocolate a day had, on average, 50 per cent lower blood pressure, and a reduced risk of death — though they noted it was too early to conclude that eating chocolate results in better health. Another sweet elevated to superfood status is honey, used as long ago as ancient Egyptian times for healing, both as a medicine and as a dressing for burns. Thousands of years later, honey’s powers are still being harnessed. In particular, manuka honey from New Zealand is said to have incredible healing properties. This is usually attributed to an ingredient known as methylglyoxal, a powerful antibacterial compound that is u 69 FEBRUARY 2014

DIETS COME AND GO — AND AS HISTORY WILL ATTEST, SOME OF THE MOST ENDURING ARE THOSE THAT HAVE GARNERED CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT.

1820s

Lord Byron popularised the water and vinegar diet — water witth a dash of apple cider vinegar — that is still consumed today

1930s

The Grapefruit diet was born. It includes a grapefruit with every meal — to the delight of grapefruit growers everywhere

1950s

The Cabbage Soup diet promised a weight loss of 4.5 kilograms a week — and probably the loss of a number of friends, given its gaseous side effects

1992

The world shunned carbs in the Atkins Diet, a high-protein, low-carb plan

1995

The Zone Diet was developed. This diet calls for a specific ratio of carbohydrates, fat and protein at each meal

2006

The Master Cleanse: a concoction of hot water, maple syrup, lemon juice and cayenne pepper, it was favoured by celebrities looking for a quick red carpet fix. Was it perhaps also inspired by Lord Byron’s diet?

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absent in other types of honey. But fans of this sweet supplement should be wary of impostors. Recent tests by the UK’s Food Environment Research Agency on honey labelled as manuka showed that just under 50 per cent of products tested revealed themselves to be fake. Ancient India too had strong beliefs about which foods would promote good health, some of these, like goji berries, are still consumed today “Goji berries were documented 5,000 years ago in ayurvedic medicine, where things were written down,” Wolfe says. “So we know for sure that these have been used for years — a major indication that they’re safe.” In contrast, in the West, some established health practices are now beginning to fall out of favour. Popping a vitamin pill for instance, may no longer be a substitute for a healthy diet — and may even do you more harm than good. Researchers from Minnesota University in the United States found in a 2011 study that women who took multivitamin supplements died at a higher rate than those who didn’t, while a longrunning study known as the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial found that men who took vitamin E supplements demonstrated an increased risk of prostate cancer. It seems as if the human body finds it easier to stay in balance by getting vitamins and minerals from the food we eat, as supplements tend to be highly concentrated. u

HOLISTIC HEALTH

The “discovery” of foods with nutritional superpowers may be relatively new to the West, but they have been a mainstay of Eastern medicine for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Singaporean Felicia Koh comes from a long line of respected Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioners; her father has run a successful practice for more than 50 years. She is currently entering the later stages of a seven-year degree to become a TCM doctor, to follow in the family tradition. “In TCM, everything is about holistic health — that the body has to be in homeostasis, or balance,” says Koh. “When the body is healthy, it can work on its own. Disease cannot occur when there is no imbalance,” she says. “An excess or deficiency causes imbalance. In TCM, it’s all about restoring that balance. If you u

Broccoli (raw)

Former US president George Bush may have declared that he was going to give up broccoli, but many know that this is likely the most important veggie in the war against cancer. It’s an excellent source of vitamins A, B6 and C, among other essential vitamins and minerals.

Serving Size 88g

Calories 30

Calories from Fat 3 % Daily Value*

Total Fat 0.3g

1%

Saturated Fat 0.0g

0%

Cholesterol 0mg

0%

Sodium 29mg

1%

Carbohydrates 5.8g

2%

Dietary Fibre 2.3g

9%

Sugars 1.5g Protein 2.5g Vitamin A 11% Calcium 4% *Based on a 2,000-calorie diet

Vitamin C 131% Iron 4%

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES (BROCOLLI)

A BRIEF HISTORY OF DIETS

POWER PLATES

have a sore throat or fever, you stay away from pepper and chocolate — they’re heatgiving foods,” she explains. One favourite is turmeric, which has been used for centuries in Chinese medicine. “Not everyone can take it,” says Koh. “But in the right amounts, it’s good for moving the blood and for removing tumours. Too much can create ulcers as it’s too heaty, or can lead to stomach ulcers. And an excess can exacerbate inflammation.” While there are foods recognised for their health-giving qualities, Koh says “superfoods” is not a term used in TCM. Further, she sees a lot of the movement as a form of marketing, which can in turn push up the prices of some beneficial foods, putting some of them out of the reach of all but a few. “Cordyceps, a type of fungi, is used in TCM and has been called a superfood,” she says. “It can now sell for US$4,000 for 100 grams.” Equally, self-prescribing any new substances, natural or otherwise, can have its hazards. “Not everything suits everyone,” she warns. “In TCM, everything is bespoke. So what might be right for one person is wrong for another. Furthermore, I’ve always used food and herbs to promote health. And it’s important to remember that what we do in our youth impacts how we are in old age.” While there have been many crosscultural scientific studies investigating the efficacy of traditional medicines, including TCM, these have not provided evidence that TCM — or the medicinal properties of superfoods, for that matter — can outdo pharmaceutical medicine. For her part, based on her personal observations, Koh has no doubts. “I know of a case of twin sisters who both had nasal cancer,” she says. “One pursued Western medicine, one followed TCM. The first died from the disease and the latter was cured.”

BALANCE NEEDED

For many people, the best path may be one that adopts a balanced approach to both medicine and diet alike. Just as with food tastes, people in today’s more open climate at least have the opportunity to try different things, and through consultation and paying attention to their bodies, figure out what works best for them. The EUFIC’s The Science Behind Superfoods wisely notes that superfoods should not take all the credit for health either. In fact, many not-as-super

ingredients have great benefits for our health. And equally, studying foods on lab rats in isolation does not necessarily mean they’ll perform with flying colours outside of the lab. “There is evidence to suggest that in some cases co-consumption of foods can actually increase the body’s ability to absorb nutrients,” it adds. “The beta-carotene in carrots and spinach, for instance, is more readily absorbed when eaten together with a source of fat such as salad dressing.” Just as MyPlate advises American eaters, this hints at the merits of a diet based on nutritious value and variety — so don’t just eat handfuls of superfoods.

FOODS WITH NUTRITIONAL SUPERPOWERS MAY BE RELATIVELY NEW TO THE WEST, BUT THEY HAVE BEEN A MAINSTAY OF EASTERN MEDICINE FOR HUNDREDS, IF NOT THOUSANDS OF YEARS While recognising their benefits, the report gives superfoods a suitably cautious response as a cure-all. “When it comes to ensuring a balanced nutrient intake for good health, we need to increase the range of nutritious foods in our diets, rather than focusing solely on a handful of foods claimed to be ‘super.’” This means consuming a greater quantity and variety of fruits and vegetables, it adds. Proof again that the persistent advice of our mothers to eat our veggies was well on the mark. Even proponents of this league of extraordinary edibles stress that jumping blindly on a bandwagon isn’t the way to go. Wolfe emphasises that superfoods should not be seen as a panacea to either ageing or obesity. “Superfoods alone cannot promote health,” he says. “It’s all about a holistic approach — including diet, exercise and drinking plenty of water.” And of course, watch the quantities. “We don’t need to eat that much,” he repeats. “It’s very important to eat less to live longer.” 71 FEBRUARY 2014

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PHOTOS: NIKE, INC; CORBIS (F1 LOTUS)

WINNING EDGE

IN SPORTS, WHERE A FRACTION OF A SECOND SEPARATES THE WINNER FROM THE LOSER, IT IS OFTEN THE SCIENTISTS WHO MAKE THE DIFFERENCE. WHILE SPEED AND TOUGHNESS COUNT, SPORTSMEN MUST LOOK AT MATERIALS THAT CAN GIVE THEM THE WINNING EDGE. JEREMY TORR REPORTS

PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES

LIGHTER, FASTER, STRONGER

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PHOTO: CORBIS

Modern materials now help push records ever higher, winning margins ever tighter and human achievements ever more incredible. Want to jump out of a capsule 36 kilometres above the earth’s surface and break the sound barrier on the way down? No problem, Mr Baumgartner, we have the suit for you. Want to reduce the drag of your Formula One (F1) racing car through the use of high-tech hollow wheel nuts? No problem Mr Maldonado. Scientists and engineers are standing attentively by the competitive trackside, clipboards and laptops at the ready — all prepared to make almost as much difference as the skill and ability of the athletes themselves. 74 DISCOVERY CHANNEL MAGAZINE INDIA

CHASSIS BOASTS MOULDED CARBON FIBRE AND ALUMINIUM HONEYCOMB COMPOSITE

WINNING EDGE SPORTS TECH

uca Marmorini, head of engine and electronics for the Ferrari F1 team, says that technology now plays an absolutely essential part in keeping any F1 team’s competitive edge. “Fifty years ago no F1 team had its own materials department, but now we have very advanced materials [experts] in-house and can perform analysis in our own buildings. The approach has completely changed,” he says. Today, he notes, F1 cars are so complex that F1 teams simply cannot function without a crew focused on materials technology. The most highly developed materials used in F1 racing cars — carbon fibre; magnesium, titanium and aluminium alloys; and synthetic high-performance polymers — are all finding their way into the cars we drive today. With drivers and consumers demanding better performance, along with more frugal energy consumption, any extra weight or structural inefficiency needs to be shaved off in the pursuit of efficiency, both on the track and on the way to the supermarket.

~US$30 PER KG

CARBON CULTURE

THE LOTUS 2012 F1 RACE CAR, DRIVEN BY KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN AND ROMAIN GROSJEAN, HAD A CHASSIS THAT WAS DESIGNED FOR MAXIMUM STRENGTH AND MINIMUM WEIGHT

Since its introduction to the F1 racing industry back in the early 1980s, carbon fibre has revolutionised both chassis and bodywork design and construction. Strands of very stiff carbon fibre laid into a resin mould produce a material that boasts race-worthy strength with feather-light weight, used

for such highly stressed parts as downforce wings, suspension components and even gearbox casings. Yet, the problem with carbon-fibre composite is that although it is stiff, it is brittle too. Watch an F1 car hit the wall or smack into another car, and immediately the track is littered with razor-sharp shards of splintered composite material. Designers take a blended approach to this inherent Achilles’ heel in an otherwise perfect material. They use a more resilient material as a core — such as aluminium honeycomb, Kevlar, Nomex, even polymer foams — then coat it in a carbon-fibre skin. This gives a perfect mix of shock-resistance and rigidity. However, this approach is very expensive, and can cost up to US$30 per kilogram, compared to US$2.50 or so for aluminium — and half that for high-carbon steel. There’s a price to pay for the weight saving. On the bright side, as with things like aluminium saucepans (once considered luxury items), mass markets will drive the price down. One recent example of this is the BMW i3 city car, which made an appearance at the Geneva Auto Show last year. The i3 is a lightweight-bodied electric production car, aimed purely at the consumer space. And it offers a first in using composite materials extensively for both chassis and bodywork. BMW plans to sell up to an estimated 40,000 of the new vehicles each year, so it looks like we will soon see increasing numbers of commercial vehicles that offer efficiency through construction pioneered on F1 cars. Plastic cars? Seems like those Trabants may have been ahead of their time.

RUNNING ON NANO

According to polymer chemist Dr Tony Ryan, who is at present pro-vice-chancellor of the Faculty of Science at the u 75 FEBRUARY 2014

WITH DEMAND FOR BETTER PERFORMANCE AND MORE FRUGAL ENERGY CONSUMPTION, ANY EXTRA WEIGHT OR STRUCTURAL INEFFICIENCY NEEDS TO BE SHAVED OFF IN THE PURSUIT OF EFFICIENCY “Shoes are designed — especially if you are going for a run, or standing up — to absorb energy,” he continued. “But if you make them soft and squishy so they absorb the energy, they will eventually flatten out, especially if you wear them for a day or so.” So Ryan’s task, along with the boffins from the EPSRC, was (and still is) to come up with a compound that absorbs energy and still maintains its shape until the end of a hard run. In previous shoe designs, this was usually achieved by layers of different

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materials in the sole, but that’s obviously more time-consuming and expensive to produce than just moulding a complete shoe base in one operation. Ryan’s team was, at the time, working on using nanotechnology to craft a complex polymer that combined elements at molecular level, to both absorb impact and simultaneously maintain stiffness. “When we make the polymer that is used to produce the sole, we design in the precise ratio of the length and stiffness for the components of its [individual] molecules. Then, when gas is injected into the polymer, [the foam expands] and the nanoparticles allow the right amount of stiffness and squishiness to be written in even before you start,” he says. This means marathon runners can happily pound the pavements. Another cunning example of modern materials technology that will very likely be put to work by runners also has to do with comfort, but nothing to do with impact or shape. “One of the really interesting things we are now seeing is the use of phase-change materials to help control the body temperature,” notes Dr Martin Strangwood of the School of Metallurgy and Materials at the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom. “This applies especially to athletes such as footballers, playing in unfamiliar environments,” he adds. “When footballers from Europe go to places like Qatar or Singapore, they find it really hard to cope with the heat during a game,” says Strangwood. “Using phasechange materials, the player can introduce a level of control over what their maximum [body] temperature will be, even though their own internal regulator can’t cope with such extremes,” he explains.

1975 TRABANT

East Germany’s 1975 Trabant might have been somewhat ahead of its time — since it used a form of plastic supposedly twice as strong as steel at a given thickness, and much lighter — yet it was also an entry in TIME magazine's 2007 list of the 50 Worst Cars of All Time. Scathingly describing the Trabant as “the car that gave Communism a bad name” the article noted, “Powered by a two-stroke pollution generator that maxed out at an ear-splitting 18 horsepower, the Trabant was a hollow lie of a car constructed of recycled worthlessness.” Harsh.

It works like this. A phasechange material (PCM) is made from a variety of materials, such as salt hydrates, esters, ionic liquids and octodecane, and has the unique quality that it is solid (or firm) at a specific temperature and liquid at another temperature.

ABOVE: SEBASTIAN VETTEL, DRIVING FOR INFINITI RED BULL RACING, PREPARES FOR A TEST RUN RIGHT: COLOURED SCANNING ELECTRON MICROGRAPH OF A CARBON FIBRE-REINFORCED CERAMIC BRAKE DISC. THE RAW MATERIAL (COMPOSITE CERAMIC), SHOWN IN CREAM, IS SILICON CARBIDE, WHICH IS VERY HARD AND ABRASION-RESISTANT. HIGHSTRENGTH CARBON FIBRES (BLUE) ARE EMBEDDED IN IT TO ABSORB STRESS. A BRAKE DISC MADE OF THIS COMPOSITE MATERIAL WILL LAST FOUR TIMES LONGER THAN A CONVENTIONAL STEEL BRAKE DISC

PHOTOS: RED BULL MEDIA HOUSE (F1 CAR); SPL/CLICK PHOTOS

University of Sheffield, United Kingdom, making running shoes is no less tricky than making car bodies. A few years ago, speaking as one of the world’s foremost experts in polymer technology and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Senior Media Fellow, he described it as a particularly difficult juggling act — one that he compared to the art of cooking with a complex recipe. “Although I’ll probably get killed for saying that,” he joked, referring to his work with makers of running shoes to perfect the recipe for the plastic polymer compounds used in their products.

WINNING EDGE

COMPOSITE CHASSIS HOUSES RENAULT V8 ENGINE

But the clever part is that, a bit like water melting, as it changes state, the PCM absorbs heat. Then, and unlike water, it carries on absorbing heat in large amounts. So a player can run out onto the field wearing phase-change patches, or with the material woven into their clothing, and as the game (and their body temperature) heats up, the patch turns to liquid and absorbs heat to cool them down. It works a little like a thermostat in a car, but with the materials designed so that the temperature at which the PCM starts to change state is precisely calibrated — so the athletes don’t suddenly start to feel cold when they don’t need to, says Strangwood.

DUBIOUS BENEFITS

The trend of using clothing to improve an athlete’s performance has been around for almost a decade now . In 2009, at the FINA World Swimming Championships, over 40 new world records were set by athletes wearing the then-new LZR friction-reducing swimsuit. The governing body, FINA, cried foul and banned the suit, which copied the ability of slightly rough shark’s skin to cut down parasitic drag. FINA estimated wearers could potentially gain up to two per cent time reduction just by wearing the suit. Yet, cyclists and some runners still use tight-fitting clothing to help smooth airflow, cut drag and rescue precious hundredths of a second. Another clothing-related technology that proponents claim helps boost performance is the compression garment. These are tops or tights that utilise a combination of stretch fibres, including lycra, rubber and spandex, to apply compression over highly muscled areas. The manufacturers claim the external pressure allows muscles to work better and

TECH SHACKLES One problem with better training and equipment is that the goalposts move, figuratively speaking. As javelins became more and more high-tech, using composites and metals rather than just the traditional simple wooden sticks, the distances Olympians could be expected to throw rose from a mere 60-plus metres in 1912 to a stadiumstretching 105 metres in 1984. This was so long a throw that spectators were at risk — so the governing bodies used technology to ensure javelins flew shorter distances. The regulations specified a different centre of gravity (so the javelins behaved less like an aircraft wing), a fatter body and a blunter nose to cause more drag and slow them down. Problem solved — almost. As time passed, clever designers started putting dimples, similar to those on golf balls, and holes in the shaft, to apply drag where it was most aerodynamically efficient — and increase travel again. So, of course, the regulating authorities banned dimples. Result? Safe spectators once more. In the field of cycling, particularly in the 1990s, competitors repeatedly broke records with high-tech bikes — many of which looked like the mutated cousin of a normal bicycle — not to mention some very strange riding positions. This led the governing body, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), to ban almost all hightech bicycles, especially with regards to the hour record: the longest distance cycled in one hour on a bicycle. Probably the tipping point for the UCI came when Briton Chris Boardman set a new hour record of 56.375 kilometres in 1996 while riding an exotic, aerodynamic monocoque bicycle. According to High-Tech Cycling, the UCI was worried that it was "becoming a contest among engineers, designers and scientists instead of between athletes." 77 FEBRUARY 2014

“reduces muscle oscillation and fatigue”. They say they bring improved muscle endurance, strength and power output — though research thus far indicates this is not the case. According to a 2008 study published in the International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance titled “The Effects of Wearing LowerBody Compression Garments During Endurance Cycling ”, the researchers found that overall there was “no discernable difference” in real power output. The one plus was that very fit athletes (cyclists, in this case) who wore compression tights saw a slightly faster recovery after vigorous exercise. A research expert in the field of fatigue recovery, Dr Shona Halson, who is Head of Discipline at the Australian Institute of Sport Recovery Centre, concurs, noting there can still be “positive physiological, perceptual and performance effects of compression for recovery.”

PHOTOS: NIKE, INC

“SHOES ARE DESIGNED TO ABSORB ENERGY. BUT IF YOU MAKE THEM SOFT AND SQUISHY SO THEY ABSORB THE ENERGY, THEY WILL EVENTUALLY FLATTEN OUT” Yet, the downside for less-fit people wearing compression garments is that the thicker stretch panels preclude good breathing and heat radiation from the skin, so overheating might result. This would, of course, mean extra phasechange patches would need sewing in, to cool the wearer 78 DISCOVERY CHANNEL MAGAZINE INDIA

down — making the suit so heavy that any gains could be negated. Sportsmen and women are today making extensive use of ultra-lightweight materials and drag-reducing designs to shave microseconds off times, but the actual reductions are so minute, percentage-wise, that they are hard to measure. So, like F1 teams, athletic coaches no longer rely on stopwatches to check the improvement — they monitor performance in real time to hundredths of a second. “The really big thing in sports technology at the moment across racing, running, football, cycling, swimming, golf and almost everything — is data collection,” asserts Jason Anson, a sports technology consultant based in Canada. But it’s more about market than performance, if we believe what the experts are saying. “Sensors are the big thing in sports tech today,” says Anson. “The main reason being they are relatively easy to develop, especially by commercial organisations, which can see a relatively rapid return on their research money.” This might seem a jaundiced view, but Ben Schlatka, vice-president of business development at, and co-founder of wearable monitor company MC10, agrees. His company makes skin patches that use flexible circuitry and proximitypowered radio transmitters to send real-time condition information to smartphones. In Fast Company, Schlatka points out that athletes are a rich potential market segment, because they appreciate technology, there is no regulation on sports monitors (for now), and it is faster to the market than medical instruments that might require approval from the US Food and Drug Administration. Not necessarily because such consumer-level monitors make for better performance.

SENSORIAL OVERLOAD

As a result, MC10 and its competitors are busy researching and producing easy-to-use consumer devices that detect body temperature, electrical signals from the heart, brain and muscles, and body hydration too. Additionally, a whole swathe of new wrist-wearable, iPhonelinked accelerometer-based bands are being marketed to measure overall activity and interpolate it into a simple “fuel consumption” figure — such as Nike’s FuelBand, Jawbone’s UP, Adidas’ MiCoach, the FitBit Flex and more. Anson is not a big fan of these. “The question is, now that we can accumulate all this data, do we know what to do with it?” he asks. “For many of these consumer-level devices, and the software that goes with them, like RunKeeper, there is little more point than having them simply for bragging rights. “The makers are selling millions of them but the users are doing virtually nothing with the data they get.” Anson mentions that he buys most of the monitoring equipment for his research off Craigslist, because as he puts it, “People buy monitors then don’t understand how to use them. They very quickly get rid of them.” However, at the top end of the scale, professional products will measure not just absolute values but more importantly, the variability of key data sets. This information is much more useful to serious athletes than a single number. For example, Omegawave, a “physiological readiness” tracker, records cardiac variability, aerobic and anaerobic systems, and electrical activity in the brain in real time. Omegawave inventor and ex-athlete Val Nasedkin agrees with Anson that collecting data should not be the end objective — instead, the interpretation of that data should be the point of it.

WINNING EDGE

WATERY HISTORY SIMILAR TO HOW DIMPLES ON A GOLF BALL HELP IT TRAVEL FARTHER AND FASTER, THE TECHNOLOGY USED IN NIKE PRO TURBOSPEED ITEMS REDUCES DRAG

1912 The Olympic Games saw many swimmers, particularly women, wearing heavy woollen, thigh-length swimming attire. A 1913 woollen model weighed around four kilograms when wet. 1924 The British Olympic swimming team donned lighter outfits made of silk. 1928 American coach David Armbruster pioneered the field of high-tech stroke analysis when he used an underwater camera to film swimmers. 1956 Jon Henricks became one of the first Olympian swimmers to shave his body hair in a bid to reduce drag. He won a gold medal in the 400-metre freestyle (among other wins) for Australia. 1976 The Montreal Olympics marked the first time goggles were allowed. 2008 The high-tech swim bodysuit LZR Racer was released. Within 17 months it, and similar products, helped break over 130 swimming world records. According to NASA, 94 per cent of swimming gold medals at the 2008 Olympics were won by people wearing an LZR. It was later banned.

ABOVE: AFTER YEARS OF RESEARCH, NIKE HAS DEBUTED ITS NIKE PRO TURBOSPEED UNIFORM (LEFT), WHICH IT SAYS USES REVOLUTIONARY TECHNOLOGY, PATTERNS AND SURFACE ARCHITECTURE TO REDUCE AERODYNAMIC DRAG. A RELATED PROJECT HAS PRODUCED THE NIKE ZOOM VICTORY ELITE (FAR LEFT), WHICH IS OUTFITTED WITH CUTTING-EDGE TECHNOLOGY THAT CLAIMS TO IMPROVE TRACTION, SUPPORT AND FLEXIBILITY, WHILE REDUCING WEIGHT

2009 The World Swimming Championships in Rome were dubbed the “Plastic Games” by the press, owing to the overflow of high-tech bodysuits. Fortythree world records were set, compared to 19 in 2003. 2012 Swimmers at the London Olympics donned the latest in Speedo gear: the Fastskin3 bodysuit, which Speedo claimed would compress the body and reduce full body passive drag by 16.6 per cent; a swim cap with a “hair management system” for women, designed using 3D head scan data; and lowresistance goggles made with thermoplastic rubber, shaped for enhanced peripheral vision. Incidentally, it took roughly 15 minutes for users to put the bodysuit on properly. 79 FEBRUARY 2014

2%

DECREASE IN SKIN FRICTION THANKS TO HIGH-STRETCH PULSE-FLEX FABRIC

16.6%

PASSIVE DRAG REDUCTION WHEN WORN WITH FASTSKIN CAP AND GOGGLES

MOVING WITH THE TIMES

ABOVE: SPEEDO HAS DEVELOPED A WHOLE RANGE OF PRODUCTS THAT PURPORT TO IMPROVE SWIMMING PERFORMANCE, INCLUDING THE BANNED LZR BODYSUIT. ONE OF THE COMPANY'S LATEST OFFERINGS IS THE FASTSKIN3 SUPER ELITE. A CLOSE-UP OF THE SUIT IS SHOWN ON THE RIGHT

3.3%

REDUCTION IN SKIN FRICTION DRAG FROM 3D ZONED COMPRESSION AND HYDRO-K 3D FABRIC

Possibly the most important advance in sport technology after exotic materials, say both Anson and Strangwood, is not in amazing new materials or smart design, but in what Strangwood describes as “lots of little steps” that optimise athletic performance for a particular individual.

PHOTOS: SPEEDO INTERNATIONAL; MC10 INC; HINCAPIE (SKIN SUIT)

“There is a great gap between sport science as taught in the United States, and applying the methodology in training. Very often, I see coaches concentrate on details and completely miss the big picture,” Nasedkin noted in one interview. He said that a “unifying philosophy of training” should be used to build a suitable training programme — and that onesize-fits-all wristbands cannot tell the whole story. Although pro athletes are looking for more than bragging, some also use on-skin sensors. These measure the same basic pulse and movement data, plus information on physiological state such as oxygen uptake, temperature, blood constituents, percentage power outputs and so on. One new handheld sensor unit from AgPlus Diagnostics, or Ag+, analyses saliva samples from athletes before and after exercise, to gauge their cortisol levels. This supposedly indicates their ability to respond to demand for peak energy and effort. Also monitored are testosterone levels, said to indicate the person's ability to increase protein synthesis and improve muscle mass and strength. The sensor trend continues. “Soon we will see sensors in everything,” asserts Anson. “They will be in balls, on seats, linked sensors and displays in swim goggles — even maybe sensors in our brains,” he grins. “At the moment though, there is still lots of smoke and mirrors. But the situation will improve.”

WINNING EDGE

“Things like adjusting a cyclist’s posture for lowest drag — without compromising their power output — are becoming more and more important,” he says. And the most effective tool for analysing these tiny changes vis-à-vis optimum performance? High-speed video and digital movement analysis. According to Anson, the technology for this kind of sports data analysis is now stable, and gaining popularity.

“THE REALLY BIG THING IN SPORTS TECHNOLOGY AT THE MOMENT, ACROSS ALMOST ALL FIELDS, IS DATA COLLECTION. ” With this kind of analysis, high-speed cameras record

athletic movements using the reflection of light from reference dots applied in key places on an athlete’s clothing. The movement and speed of the dots is then broken down into easily analysed steps, which can be adjusted minutely to check if performance can be improved. The only snag is, this works fine in static, solo or indoor sports where the environment can be controlled — such as in a gym, in a wind tunnel, or in a lab. But try to apply little dots to a footballer dashing about a pitch — and even harder, try to accurately track their movements — and the system gets a severe headache. UK firm Charnwood Dynamics has come up with a high-tech system that claims to solve this problem — even allowing the mystery of footballer David Beckham’s famous free kick "bend" to be decoded. “For the first time ever it is possible to look at forward spin technique on the pitch in minute detail,” enthused

MC10'S BIOSTAMP IS COMPOSED OF SENSORS EMBEDDED IN BENDABLE, STRETCHABLE MATERIAL, WHICH CAN BE APPLIED TO THE SKIN LIKE A TEMPORARY TATTOO

WEARABLE FOR UP TO TWO WEEKS, THE BIOSTAMP USES NEAR FIELD COMMUNICATION TO SEND DATA TO THE WEARER'S SMARTPHONE

Ashley Gray, sports scientist at Loughborough University, United Kingdom. Gray has been working with Charnwood to solve the motion capture problem. The technique uses sensors fixed to specific spots on a footballer’s leg and foot, which are then detected by infrared cameras. This allows a degree of accuracy and robustness that shows exactly how a skilled penalty taker can bend a penalty over or around a defender. The new infrared analysis system has been so successful that tennis coaches are now looking at using it. But is all this newfangled technology, data-crunching and sophisticated measuring and analysis making sport better? Some think not. “The ability to measure the results of sporting performance will become increasingly meaningless when the performances themselves are determined by technology rather than natural ability,” writes Dr Emily Ryall, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy of Sport at the University of Gloucestershire, England, in Bulletin of Sport and Culture. “It will become increasingly obvious that we are deceiving ourselves to believe otherwise,” she adds. Should sports technology just be a competition in its own right and leave the athletes to get on with being athletic? You tell us.

PUT IT TO THE TEST With improvements in technology enabling developers to put their products through more rigorous testing, apparel for sports — particularly those with a need for speed — are more aerodynamic than ever. Take the Hincapie Edge TT Skinsuit (above) for example. According to its makers, it boasts “wind tunnel-tested StealthWerks 3 yarns woven into channels to optimise airflow over the body at time trial speeds”. In addition, they say, the bodysuit, meant for cyclists, will repel moisture and provide protection from UV radiation. 81 FEBRUARY 2014

REACH THE SK BURJ KHALIFA IS STUNNINGLY JUXTAPOSED WITH THE SPRAWLING CITY OF DUBAI

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H FOR KY

VERTICAL LIMIT

COURTESY OF ADRIAN SMITH + GORDON GILL ARCHITECTURE; PHOTO BY JAMES STEINKAMP

They dominate our skylines, and reflect our hopes and dreams — not to mention our egos. Chris Wright reports on the structures of the future that continue to scale new heights

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IT TOOK GUTS AND DARING TO BE A CONSTRUCTION WORKER IN NEW YORK CITY IN 1950 — WALKS ALONG GIRDERS HIGH UP OVER THE SIDEWALK, WITH NOTHING TO BREAK A FALL, WAS A FACT OF LIFE

hen he went to Asia. “And I realised — no, I was born at exactly the right time.” Johnson went on to become a design partner for NBBJ, designing buildings including the Sail at Marina Bay in Singapore, one of the tallest residential towers in the world. He also became chairman of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, the leading source of information on supertall towers. 84 DISCOVERY CHANNEL MAGAZINE INDIA

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

In 1987, a young architecture student named Timothy Johnson, an undergraduate at the University of Minnesota, visited Chicago, in the US state of Illinois, for the first time. He was overwhelmed by the mighty skyscrapers that rose, muscular, from the city floor — the Sears Tower, the John Hancock Center — and became both delighted and deflated. On his way back to the Midwest farmland where the tallest buildings were grain silos and water towers, he recalls he “was quite depressed, thinking I was born 100 years too late. Wouldn’t it have been great to be in a city like Chicago at the turn of the century, when it was all being built — when the United States itself was being built?”

VERTICAL LIMIT

EMBODIMENT OF POETRY

When asked which building he admires most, Adrian Smith, the designer behind Burj Khalifa and co-founder of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, opts for the city where he works: Chicago, in the United States. “I admire the John Hancock Center in Chicago for its bold, strong statement, its simplicity and its adherence to the orthogonal character of the Chicago grid,” he says. “To me, it represents the ‘City of Big Shoulders’ in the Carl Sandburg poem.”

A glance at the Council’s data tells us that we are, without question, amid a golden age of skyscraper design and construction that is every bit as dramatic as 1930s New York, when the Chrysler and Empire State buildings created the world’s most iconic skyline; or the 1970s, when the World Trade Center and Sears Tower (now the Willis Tower) traded world records. In 2011 alone, 88 buildings higher than 200 metres were completed, including 17 additions to the 100 tallest in the world. In 2010, Dubai’s Burj Khalifa shattered the world record for tall buildings by over 300 metres; it is more than twice the height of the Empire State Building. And plans are afoot for a building that will reach a kilometre into the sky. Folly or function? The jury is out. Most architects can make a strong practical case for going tall, but there is no question that we do so too because it fires the imagination. “A supertall tower represents a meaningful step forward and a symbol of success and optimism for the future,” says Adrian Smith, the man who designed both the Burj Khalifa and the tower that will take its record, the Kingdom Tower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. A busy man indeed, he is also responsible for Shanghai’s Jin Mao Tower. “We must always strive for greatness and find the means to attain it. If not, we will become irrelevant,” says Smith. “If cities don’t continue to build and improve their conditions, they will die,” he says. “When we lose the spirit to reach for glory, we lose our soul.”

LOOKING BACK

So how did we get here? One can make a case for numerous structures as the first skyscraper, all the way back to the Pyramids of Giza, in Egypt. A man called

Imhotep, who 4,500 years ago realised that a thick, strong base was essential to building tall — hence the pyramids — is sometimes described as the first structural engineer. Various Chinese pagodas and Gothic French cathedrals also fit into the tradition. “For all of recorded history, mankind’s fascination with structures that rise towards the sky has been constant,” writes Kate Ascher in The Heights: Anatomy of a Skyscraper. But if we take as part of our definition that skyscrapers are commercial objects, designed to foster commerce and to make money in their own right, rather than just tall structures, then our story really starts in America — and more specifically, Chicago and New York in the 1880s. That’s where the prompt to build high came from. Businesses in both cities were getting bigger but needed their offices to be downtown. Since land was scarce, and land values rising, it made sense to go upwards, if only to cover the costs. In Chicago, the need was particularly acute since much of the downtown area was levelled by fire in 1871.

OUR STORY REALLY STARTS IN AMERICA — MORE SPECIFICALLY, CHICAGO AND NEW YORK IN THE 1880s At the same time, technology began to allow people to go upwards more efficiently. If all you do is build high with masonry, your walls have to get thicker and thicker until the lower floors have less and less space, defeating the point. But then came the internal 85 FEBRUARY 2014

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eras of construction, and the names of its buildings still stir the soul today: the Singer Building, the MetLife Building, the Woolworth Building, the Bank of Manhattan, the Chrysler Building, and finally, the Empire State Building. At 102 floors and over 380 metres, with more than 2,60,000 square metres of office space, it is one of New York’s top draws, and was the tallest building in the world for 41 years.

THE PRICE OF STEEL DROPPED FROM US$167 PER TONNE IN 1867, TO US$24 PER TONNE IN 1895, ALLOWING IT TO REPLACE CAST IRON AS THE BACKBONE OF NEW BUILDINGS. Helped by new methods such as concrete caisson foundations, braced frames to resist wind, and the idea of express elevators — all of them used when the Woolworth Building opened over a century ago in 1913, and still commonly used today — the sky really was the limit. This was an era of Art Deco style, and bold corporate shenanigans. When the Chrysler went up in 1930, its fabulous spire was built in secret, and raised from TOP LEFT: WORKERS BUILD THE FRAME OF BANK OF MANHATTAN TRUST BUILDING, THE WORLD'S TALLEST BEFORE THE CHRYSLER AND EMPIRE STATE (LEFT) BUILDINGS WENT UP OPPOSITE: THE FLATIRON BUILDING IN NEW YORK CITY

PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES (CONSTRUCTION); AGEFOTOSTOCK (FLATIRON BUILDING); ERIC MAYVILLE (EMPIRE STATE BUILDING)

metal skeleton, with cast iron columns within masonry walls. This enabled walls of tall buildings to be thinner, and therefore allowed for more space for commercial use, as well as greater natural light penetration. It is widely accepted that the first building to use this on any meaningful scale was the Home Insurance Building in Chicago, designed by William LeBaron Jenney and built in 1884. The era also coincided with the mass production of steel. The price of steel dropped from US$167 per tonne in 1867, to US$24 per tonne in 1895, allowing it to replace cast iron as the backbone of new buildings. On top of that, inventions that allowed for safer and more efficient elevators made skyscrapers more practical, particularly when hydraulic power replaced steam. Even Edison’s light bulb, and the wider availability of electricity, played a role. “The modern skyscraper was very much a product of the Industrial Revolution — and of a myriad of its most transformative inventions,” writes Ascher. With new buildings came new innovations. The first to be built exclusively on a steel skeleton was the Tower Building in New York. Possibly the first with a frame designed to counteract sway was the Manhattan Building, which oddly, is in Chicago. Next came the first to be built on steel beam-based cages: the Flatiron Building in New York (pictured right), still one of the city’s iconic sights for its odd shape, alongside the diagonal rise of Broadway. Then Chicago rather ceded the race to New York when an 1893 law limited the height of downtown buildings to 40 metres, roughly 10 floors. So New York took the torch — and how it ran with it. The turn of the century to the 1930s was among the golden

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FROM THE GROUND UP Start with a big hole. No, seriously: there’s a lot of science in this, first with the blasting and excavation — which may require the underpinning of neighbouring buildings — and then with sheeting and bracing (securing the perimeter so that the sides of the hole don’t fall in). One consequence of the destruction of the World Trade Center in New York, United States, was that people saw this usually invisible “bathtub”, a diaphragm wall built to ensure that the surrounding earth, and ultimately the Hudson river, did not slide into the site. The “bathtub” survived the destruction of the buildings and is still there beneath the new towers and monument. "Piers", "caissons" and "piles" refer to foundations that link the base of the building to the bedrock beneath, which can be a long way down. The foundations of the Petronas Twin Towers, built on a concrete mat deep beneath the ground, go down as far as 120 metres. With the foundations complete, the structural steel is raised, followed by the pouring of concrete slabs, fireproofing, and then curtain wall installation. Designs vary; tall towers today often use a relatively small number of columns, attached to high-strength concrete cores by big outrigger arms that stretch horizontally across the building. The columns are attached to one another by belt walls, which encircle the perimeter of the building. This was the approach with Taipei 101 in Taiwan, for example. Ever wondered how the glass stays on? Unitised glass panels — those that have been assembled and glazed in a factory — are shipped to the site fully assembled, and lifted by crane. Workers guide each panel into place, then hang it from brackets installed on the building. They are then bolted into place, and the joins sealed with silicone, caulking or gaskets. Once the curtain wall is up on a particular floor, the mechanical plant installation begins. After the building reaches its final structural height, the roofing installation begins. Traditionally, topping out is a cause for celebration, with the final beam often accompanied by a fir tree or a flag. Often, the final beam is painted white and signed by all the workers involved. Next come the elevators, and finally the tenant fit-out. Construction management is no mean feat. Dozens of different subcontractors can be involved on just one project. It is a sign of their efficiency that businesses can move in well before the entire building is complete — at the International Commerce Centre, Hong Kong’s tallest building, bankers at Morgan Stanley were working on the lower floors while there were still bits of steel and glass poking naked out of the top of the tower. As a result, the building was already drawing rentals before it was even close to structural completion.

WHILE THE MIDDLE EAST WILL CONTINUE TO PLAY A LARGE PART IN THE HIGH-RISE INDUSTRY, ESPECIALLY WITH THE MUCH ANTICIPATED KINGDOM TOWER (ARTIST'S IMPRESSION PICTURED), CHINA'S CITIES SUCH AS SHANGHAI (OPPOSITE), WILL ALSO CONTINUE TO BUILD HIGH

WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE? NBBJ’s Timothy Johnson nominates three, including one of Adrian Smith’s designs, the Pearl River Tower in Guangzhou. The building fits in with his ethos of sustainability, thanks to its many innovative green elements: “It is one of the clearest examples of how the drivers in society today can form a building.” Johnson also nominates the HSBC headquarters in Hong Kong. “Turning the building inside out, what an amazing way to look at the building.” He also likes Frankfurt's Commerzbank Tower, with sky gardens on nine levels.

within the building in order to make sure that the Bank of Manhattan, being built at the same time, would not be taller. By 1930, practically all of the 100 tallest buildings in the world were in North America, with just one exception in São Paulo, Brazil. If you look at photos from that period., you’ll see flatcapped construction workers in vests perching nonchalantly on beams that reach out into the sky, armed with a cigarette and a hip flask instead of a harness. This is to see a city being built: not just its steel and cladding, but its very soul. Yet, nothing lasts forever. Next came the Depression 88 DISCOVERY CHANNEL MAGAZINE INDIA

(the Empire State would remain largely untenanted for years) and World War II. The imperative to go tall would not return for decades. By then, new technologies like the glass curtain wall — cheaper, lighter, and allowing better working conditions — had made new ideas possible. A key architect in the late 1960s, when interest was returning to tall buildings, was Fazlur Khan of Chicago’s Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. His innovation of a tubed support structure, where instead of steel columns a tall building would be made of several load-bearing tubes, was the method used in both New York’s World Trade Center

— the new world’s tallest in 1972 — and the Sears Tower in Chicago, which took the title in 1974, and would not give it up until more than 20 years later (with some acrimony). It was to be a brief renaissance. The oil crisis in the 1970s stopped tall buildings in their tracks once again, and this time when they returned to the fray, the centre of the action would move to Asia, and then to the Middle East. This transition happened quickly — 30 years ago, the United States was the only place that mattered in a discussion of tall buildings. Today, only one American building makes the global top

THIS WAS AN ERA OF ART DECO STYLE AND BOLD CORPORATE SHENIGANS. WHEN THE CHRYSLER WENT UP IN 1930, ITS FABULOUS SPIRE WAS BUILT IN SECRET AND RAISED FROM WITHIN

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BUILDING TALL THROUGH THE YEARS

1871

Fire devastates downtown Chicago, making office space scarce — and prompting developers to build upwards

1870s

Development of safety features in passenger elevators and of internal steel skeletons in buildings make taller structures feasible

1884

Home Insurance Building, built in Chicago, is what many consider the first skyscraper

1893

IMAGES: JEDDAH ECONOMIC COMPANY/ADRIAN SMITH + GORDON GILL ARCHITECTURE (KINGDOM TOWER); CORBIS (WORKER); LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, PRINTS & PHOTOGRAPHS DIVISION (SINGER BUILDING)

A change of law in Chicago limits the height of downtown buildings to 40 metres, ceding the skyscraper race to New York

10 (the Willis Tower, in eighth place) and only three make the top 20. By 2020, there will be only one in the entire western hemisphere that makes the top 20. And it’s not even built yet: the new One World Trade Center in New York. First, the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, took, by some definitions, the world’s tallest title (see box on page 98), before Taipei 101 in Taiwan claimed it in 2004, the first building to pass 500 metres in height. Then all debates about tall structures, whether buildings, masts or towers, were comprehensively ended by the scale of Burj Khalifa

in Dubai. At 828 metres and 163 floors, it was 320 metres taller (an entire Chrysler Building) than Taipei 101 .

LOOKING AHEAD

The future is already out there, as written up in a glossy brochure. The Kingdom Tower will be the centrepiece of the US$20 billion Kingdom City development in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The claim is that it will be 1,000 metres, according to architects, with a total construction area of 53,000 square metres, housing a luxury hotel, offices, condos, apartments and the world’s highest observatory. The tower, the architects say,

1903

The Flatiron Building, a steel skeleton pioneer and still an icon in New York City, officially opens

1908–1913

New York buildings take turns to break the world height record: Singer Building (right), then MetLife Building, then Woolworth Building

1916

The blocky and ugly Equitable Building leads to the Building Zone Resolution, allowing unlimited height but only over a quarter of the lot. This gives rise to the tapered shape of buildings that follow uu 89 FEBRUARY 2014

uu

1930–1931

New York’s golden age. Bank of Manhattan Trust becomes the world’s tallest for a month before being beaten by the Chrysler Building (above), which is then defeated the following year by the Empire State Building, which will hold this record for 41 years

1972

World Trade Center in New York becomes the world’s tallest building

1974

Record returns to Chicago with Sears Tower (below), but the subsequent oil crisis ends the American era of tallest buildings

1998

Impetus to build tall moves to Asia, where Kuala Lumpur’s Petronas Twin Towers take the record, by some definitions. Other towers rise in Hong Kong and Shanghai

2001

Twin towers of World Trade Center, New York, are destroyed

2004

Taipei 101 in Taiwan becomes the world’s tallest building

2007–2010

Shanghai World Financial Center and Hong Kong’s International Commerce Centre put Greater China in the lead when it comes to building tall. However, the Middle East quickly overtakes everyone in the race. In 2010, Burj Khalifa smashes every height record for any kind of structure 90 DISCOVERY CHANNEL MAGAZINE INDIA

“evokes a bundle of leaves shooting up from the ground — a burst of new life that heralds more growth all around it. The sleek, streamlined form of the tower was inspired by the folded fronds of young desert plant growth.” A kilometre? Upwards? The first question one always puts to architects is, just how high can you go? “We had an opportunity a few years ago to design a building where the client’s requirement was that it was at least a mile and a half (2.4 kilometres) tall,” says Johnson, chairman of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. We asked, why would you do that? The response was: “We want to push human ingenuity. We want to see how far we can go. We send space shuttles into flight, we smash atoms apart, why can’t we do that?” Nevertheless, there are practical limits along the way. Smith, the architect behind the Burj Khalifa, says that he is often asked whether it is possible to build a milehigh tower (that’s around 1.6 kilometres tall). Not surprisingly, he has carefully investigated the issue: “The biggest challenge for a building of that height is the issue of elevators,” he says. “To get to the top, you’d have to transfer from one elevator to another at least two or three times, if not more. Which would be extremely time-consuming. So that would be a significant limiting factor, and will have to be addressed by advances in elevator technology before a mile-high building is realistic.” Another challenge is the size of the base that is needed to support the structure. “Within the cavity of the building at the base would be a great deal of space, most of it nowhere near the perimeter of the building — that is, near windows. How would you

use all that area? As a giant atrium?” asks Smith. “And if you did, would it make economic sense?” Structurally, the big issue is wind resistance. Wind vortices build up vertically around buildings, which can have several knock-on effects. They can cause lateral movement, which can move the building uncomfortably for occupants, and can cause wind effects on the ground that are problematic for pedestrians. “To combat this problem, we look for ways to confuse the wind,” says Smith. Wind

WHY BUILD HIGH? “TO PUSH HUMAN INGENUITY, TO SEE HOW FAR WE CAN GO. WE SEND SPACE SHUTTLES INTO FLIGHT, WE SMASH ATOMS APART, WHY CAN’T WE DO THAT?” tunnels make it possible to test structures very specifically and to tweak them to best effect. “With Burj Khalifa, we addressed the problem by developing a stepped pattern of setbacks. With Kingdom Tower, we sloped the building, meaning each floor plate is slightly smaller than the one directly below it.” Many architects share the idea that meeting technical challenges is half the fun, and in some places these are more acute than others. When you are next in Taipei, don’t miss the opportunity to visit the observation deck of Taipei 101, the world’s second tallest building. The views are great — Taipei’s surroundings are

IMAGES: GETTY IMAGES (CHRYSLER BUILDING); CORBIS (JIN MAO TOWER); AFP (ABRAJ AL BAIT TOWER)

BUILDING TALL THROUGH THE YEARS

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WHERE TO GO WHEN IT WAS FIRST COMPLETED, SHANGHAI'S JIN MAO TOWER WAS THE TALLEST BUILDING IN CHINA

HERE ARE SOME OF THE WORLD'S TALLEST BUILDINGS, WITH A FEW TIPS ON HOW TO VISIT THEM:

TAIPEI 101 Taipei, Taiwan The ticket booth is on the fifth floor of the mall in the tower. The observatory includes an indoor section, with views across Taipei, and a smaller outdoor observatory higher up, as well as a chance to see the huge pendulum suspended in the upper floors, to dampen wind and earthquake movement. NT$500; 9am to 10pm daily PETRONAS TWIN TOWERS Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia You often have to queue first thing in the morning, before being told to come back later in the day for your visit. The skybridge between the two towers is interesting, but the tour brings you to the lower level of the bridge, meaning you can’t see much upwards. RM80; tickets on sale from 9am to 9 pm from Tuesday to Sunday; closed between 1pm and 2.30pm on Friday BURJ KHALIFA Dubai, United Arab Emirates You can either buy a ticket and be told when to come back, or pay four times as much for immediate entry to the world’s highest observation deck (called At The Top), 124 floors up. AED125 for general admission, AED400 for immediate entry; 8.30am to 1am ABRAJ AL-BAIT or MECCA ROYAL HOTEL CLOCK TOWER Mecca, Saudi Arabia This is one most people can’t visit. Said to have reached structural completion at 601 metres, it is the second tallest building in the world (and the tallest hotel, with the largest clock face, five times bigger than Big Ben) when it formally opens. But most of the world will never see it, as the entire city is off-limits to non-Muslims.

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HEAVY FOG ROLLS IN FROM THE SEA, SHROUDING DUBAI IN MYSTERY. ITS HIGH-RISES ALMOST SEEM TO PEEK OUT OVER THE QUIET, TO THE DAWN

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PHOTO: REUTERS

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THE FOUNDATION OF SUPERTALLS INTERVIEW WITH ADRIAN SMITH, THE AWARD-WINNING ARCHITECT BEHIND DUBAI’S BURJ KHALIFA, SHANGHAI’S JIN MAO TOWER, AND THE UPCOMING KINGDOM TOWER IN SAUDI ARABIA

What sort of advantages do you capitalise on when designing a green building? Tall buildings — including supertall buildings, which I would define as those that contain 60 storeys or more — can take advantage of the faster wind speeds at higher altitudes and drive wind towards building-integrated turbines, to generate power. Because they are less likely to have shadows cast on them, high-rises also make efficient use of photovoltaic systems to absorb solar power. And deep foundations make them ideal for geothermal heating and radiant cooling systems. What does a supertall building express to you? Supertall towers can be a catalyst for growth and prosperity. People create such buildings for a number of reasons: to celebrate a place or people, to create a symbol for an organisation or individual, or to serve as a spark for future development. Landmark supertall buildings also generate publicity and 94 DISCOVERY CHANNEL MAGAZINE INDIA

spur economic development and tourism, as seen in Malaysia with the Petronas Twin Towers. It established Kuala Lumpur as a tourist destination and enhanced its reputation as a location for business, and bolstered the country’s economy. There was a similar effect in Dubai with Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, which I designed while at Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM). Economically, a very tall tower makes sense as the centrepiece of a larger development. The central tower can increase the value of the adjacent land and the buildings around it, making the overall project financially feasible. This was the concept with Burj Khalifa, where the tower itself made little or no profit, but increased the value and desirability of the land around it — making the overall development very profitable. In Shanghai, the Jin Mao Tower, which I also designed while at SOM, was a similar example. What lessons were learned in the design, construction and operation of Burj Khalifa? With every new supertall that gets built — which is rarer than people think; a lot of supertall building projects get announced that never get built — we add about 10 per cent to our body of knowledge of the typology. In the case of Burj Khalifa, it represents a step forward in sustainable design of very tall towers. The building has a great number of sustainable features, including a condensate recovery system that collects about 14 Olympic-sized pools of moisture annually for use in irrigation — very significant in a desert climate.

The design of Burj Khalifa will probably be most influential for its manipulation of form, as a means of addressing wind vortex action that builds up around supertall buildings and causes lateral movement near the top. We were able to reduce the buildup of wind vortices, making the building much more stable than many other supertalls. What advances in technology have enabled you to build taller buildings in recent years? Would a project like the Kingdom Tower have been feasible even 10 years ago? The advances have been significant, but incremental. Most relate to the potential for making tall towers more sustainable, with highperformance exterior wall systems, building-integrated photovoltaics and wind turbines, which are becoming less expensive, more available and more valued by clients. That said, we’re obviously pushing the limits of existing technologies with very tall buildings. The performance of the mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems in these buildings is stateof-the-art, resulting in considerable efficiencies over conventional systems. The high-performance exterior wall system maximises natural lighting while reducing solar heat gain. It features lowemissivity reflective glass that reduces heat gain as much as possible while providing the panoramic views that building occupants want. Where glass is not needed for viewing, we use an insulated “shadowbox” panel that minimises heat gain and has essentially the same thermal performance as a stone panel.

PHOTO: CORBIS

Why build tall? More than any other typology, the tall building can address the needs of the future while staying green. Skyscrapers can accommodate a large number of people on a small footprint of land. They also offer efficient vertical transportation systems. Further, tall buildings offer significant economies of scale compared to similar amounts of housing constructed in low-rise form. You have to build one roof and one foundation, rather than the multiple roofs and foundations that a group of buildings with the same cumulative area would require.

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THE ATRIUM OF SHANGHAI'S JIN MAO TOWER, LOOKING INTO THE GRAND HYATT HOTEL. DON'T LOOK DOWN IF YOU ARE AFRAID OF HEIGHTS

surprisingly hilly when you are up high — but the really fascinating bit is inside: a huge 660-tonne steel pendulum called a tuned mass damper, suspended from the 91st to 87th floors, designed to offset movements caused by strong winds or earthquakes. Elsewhere in the region, the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur have the world’s deepest foundations, extending 120 metres down, to deal with the sharply sloping limestone bedrock beneath. But it is noticeable that the limitations architects refer to on going higher are economic and practical. While it can be done, to do so would at this stage be inefficient. Architects are at pains to point out that, whatever trophy value cities take from tall buildings, practicality still has a vital role to play. While Johnson calls himself a “tall building junkie”, when speaking with DCM, he revises this to DCM “city junkie”. “I love urban environments. The density, the energy, the imperfect nature of a lot of things coming together at that scale,” he says. He argues with exponentially rising populations, much of it in poverty, the density of accommodation that comes with high-rises is essential to supporting a reasonable quality of life. “How do we design for the people nobody’s designing for? You hear the argument that any building over 60 storeys is just an inefficient ego trip. But if you put them in a collection to create a city and build an infrastructure that’s more compact, that is far more sustainable than a suburban model.” City towers, he says, are certainly economically sustainable, otherwise they wouldn’t be built. “We have a building in construction in Dalian, China, that’s almost

400 metres. And I can guarantee you the owner is not building it just for his ego,” says Johnson. “It’s going to make money.” But this sense of social sustainability is important too, he says. Likewise, Smith argues that tall buildings can “address the needs of the future while having the least environmental impact”, especially in terms of efficient use of space. Skyscrapers are sustainable because they can house a large number of people on a small area of land. In addition, elevators are 40 times more energy-efficient than an average car, he says, and in general, high-rises create more walkable cities.

“YOU HEAR THAT ANY BUILDING OVER 60 STOREYS IS AN INEFFICIENT EGO TRIP. BUT IF YOU CREATE A CITY MORE COMPACT, THAT’S FAR MORE SUSTAINABLE THAN A SUBURBAN MODEL” They also create a catalyst for growth. “Petronas Twin Towers made little economic sense and sat two-thirds empty for several years after completion,” says Smith.“But the worldwide attention it brought to Kuala Lumpur and to Petronas as an oil and gas company was very significant.” Burj Khalifa is doing the same in Dubai, he says. Also on this theme, Johnson insists there is an environmental opportunity in building tall. “The skin of a building needs to 95 FEBRUARY 2014

LOOK TO THE FUTURE: THE TALLEST BUILDINGS OF 2020 The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat have estimated that by 2020, the world’s tallest buildings would be ranked as shown here. In its report, the Council suggested that instead of buildings being “tall” and “supertall”, there should be a new designation of “megatall”, for buildings over 600 metres in height, as these will become much more common. The council predicts that China and the Middle East will continue to play a large part in the industry. So if you live in or near these areas, be prepared to be wowed within the next six years.

A

KINGDOM TOWER | JEDDAH | 1,000 METRES

B

BURJ KHALIFA | DUBAI | 828 METRES

C

PING AN FINANCE CENTER | SHENZHEN | 660 METRES

D

SEOUL LIGHT DMC TOWER | SEOUL | 640 METRES

E

SIGNATURE TOWER | JAKARTA | 638 METRES

F

SHANGHAI TOWER | SHANGHAI | 632 METRES

G

WUHAN GREENLAND CENTER | HUBEI | 606 METRES

H

MECCA ROYAL HOTEL CLOCK TOWER | MECCA | 601 METRES

I

GOLDIN FINANCE 117 | TIANJIN | 597 METRES

J

LOTTE WORLD TOWER | SEOUL | 555 METRES

K

DOHA CONVENTION CENTER TOWER | QATAR | 551 METRES

L

ONE WORLD TRADE CENTER | NEW YORK CITY | 541 METRES

M

CHOW TAI FOOK CENTRE | GUANGZHOU | 530 METRES

N

CHOW TAI FOOK BINHAI CENTER | TIANJIN | 530 METRES

O

DALIAN GREENLAND CENTER | DALIAN | 518 METRES

P

PENTOMINIUM | DUBAI | 516 METRES

Q

BUSAN LOTTE TOWN TOWER | SEOUL | 510 METRES

R

TAIPEI 101 | TAIWAN | 508 METRES

S

KAISA FENG LONG CENTRE | SHENZHEN | 500 METRES

T

SHANGHAI WORLD FINANCIAL CENTER | SHANGHAI | 492 METRES

MIDDLE EAST

ASIA

USA

IMAGE: COUNCIL ON TALL BUILDINGS AND URBAN HABITAT (GRAPHIC)

"MEGATALL" 600 METRES

"SUPERTALL" 300 METRES

A

B

C

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D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

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WHEN THEY FIRST ENTERED THE RACE FOR THE TITLE OF "WORLD'S TALLEST", THE PETRONAS TWIN TOWERS IN KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, DREW A LOT OF ATTENTION (SEE SIDEBAR)

In 1998, the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur became the world’s tallest buildings. Or did they? Chicago’s Sears Tower wasn’t giving up the title without a fight, its backers pointing out that if the antennae on its roof were included, it retained the title. And furthermore, it had a higher occupied floor. The dispute brought the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat to popular attention. This organisation is, among other things, the arbiter of rules on height. Indeed, there are actually three categories for height: height to architectural top, which includes spires but not antennae; highest occupied floor; and height to tip, including antennae, flagpoles or signs. Under these specifications, there were actually three tallest buildings in 1998: Petronas Twin Towers for category one, and the Sears Tower for category two. Category three was the tower of the World Trade Center, with antenna. Taipei 101 took the first two categories in 2004. All such argument was ended by Burj Khalifa, which didn’t just wipe the floor with all competitor buildings but also beat all other things like towers and radio masts. Timothy Johnson, chairman of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, says these rules matter. “There’s a pride to it, a history of mankind to it. People ask, what is the tallest building? It’s like, who is the fastest man or woman on the planet. It’s a part of human achievement that everyone is interested in. That’s why we do things like this. Otherwise we’d still be sleeping in caves and hunting tigers.”

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IMAGE: CORBIS (PETRONAS TWIN TOWERS)

THE RULES

do more. It needs to create energy Possibly it can grow things,” he says. When he was looking at the mile-and-halfhigh project, Johnson was intrigued by the difference between the temperature on the ground floor — the building was in a desert — and the top of the tower. “We were working with an engineering firm to create a kind of loop that would allow the use of that difference to create energy. Also, the taller you go, there’s more wind pressure. Why don’t we harvest that wind?” Other ideas include using elevators’ push-and-pull to create the energy they need to run. “Elevators use three to five per cent of the energy

of an office building. It’s not huge. But you start with things like that,” he says. Some of these ideas are already in practice. Burj Khalifa, for instance, has many green features. And architects are learning. One sad postscript is that while towers going up are iconic, so too are towers being brought down. When alQaeda wanted to hit America with maximum loss of life and symbolism, it knew that bringing down New York's Twin Towers would give the most powerful possible message. Equally, the message of recovery and rebuilding, and rebuilding higher, is

highly symbolic for New York. September 11 raised safety issues, for sure. Smith says one lasting impact is the appearance of places of refuge every 20 floors in new tall towers, with a higher fire rating. And Johnson calls for greater study of fire situations in buildings, and more prescriptive fire codes in some parts of the world where people are building tall. But Johnson adds: “I don’t think we should be planning on designing buildings that can withstand a terrorist attack of someone with a plane-load of fuel flying into the side of a building. Our optimistic human life would be over at that point.”

THROUGH THE RABBIT HOLE VIDEO GAMES OF THE FUTURE WILL DO MORE THAN BLUR THE LINE BETWEEN FANTASY AND REALITY. THEY WILL REMOVE IT ALTOGETHER. ILIYAS ONG EXPLORES THE BRAVE NEW WORLD OF IMMERSIVE GAMING AND THE TECHNOLOGY THAT MAKES THE VIRTUAL FEEL REAL PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARK TEO

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PHOTO: 2013 BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT, INC (WORLD OF WARCRAFT SCREENSHOT)

GAME ON

FEBRUARY 2014

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Fire in the hole!” yells the soldier ahead of me as he ducks behind a wall for cover. A split second later, a jet-black orb no bigger than a clenched fist arcs towards us, and clunks on the ground a few metres from me. I instinctively swing around and dive away from certain death. But I’m too slow. The grenade erupts, sending shards of heat and lung-crushing force across my torso, the stench of charred flesh steadily filling my nostrils. My vision goes dark, save for two words that remind me all is not lost: “GAME OVER.” Thankfully, I’m not a soldier fighting in a bunker somewhere, and this isn’t real warfare. It’s a computer simulation. A game. Or rather, what games will look — and, crucially, feel — like in a few years’ time. 102 DISCOVERY CHANNEL MAGAZINE INDIA

An onslaught of peripheral devices will soon be released on the market, finally fulfilling the promise made by “coin-ops” (arcade games) decades ago — fully immersive worlds that stimulate all five of our senses. Gamers will be able to smell bitumen in a racing simulator, taste a health potion in a role-playing game, and feel the recoil of an M-16 in a first-person shooter. They will be playing not with controllers, but with their entire bodies.

Our physical world will be indistinguishable from the virtual one. “This is the first time in human history that we have infinite data and communication,” says Dr Adrian Cheok, a professor of pervasive computing at City University London in the United Kingdom, and an expert in human-computer interfaces. He is presently working on devices that transfer smell, taste and touch over the internet. “But we still cannot communicate

GAME ON

PHOTOS: 2013 ACTIVISION PUBLISHING, INC (SCREENSHOT); MARK TEO

CALL OF DUTY (PICTURED) HAS BECOME ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL VIDEO GAME FRANCHISES IN THE INDUSTRY BELOW: TRADITIONAL CONTROLLERS MAY SOON BECOME A THING OF THE PAST

[in virtual terms] with all of our senses as we do in the physical world. Sixty per cent of communication is nonverbal, and these channels are tough to transmit digitally.” According to Cheok, in the next decade we will move from the “Internet Age” to the “Experience Age”. Technology will be sophisticated enough to replicate at least 80 per cent of the human experience through a digital medium, and we will be able to design fictional experiences that feel

almost as good, or bad, as the real thing. You don’t need to be a game addict to figure out what this means for Halo or Call of Duty. As the 42-year-old tells Discovery Channel Magazine, games are all about storytelling. “Cavemen were drawing pictures on the walls. We have a great desire to tell stories, and most of history is about trying to make these stories more realistic. The more realistic, the more immersive, and the more we want that. In the future, we

can really ‘be there’.” But what’s taking so long? And what can players expect from the next generation of games and gadgets?

HIGH SCORES

Video games weren’t groundbreaking right off the bat. Invented during the 1940s, early games were made with primitive analogue electronics; many saw them as mere curios that wouldn’t take off. When digital computers became available in colleges in the 1950s and u

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1960s, bored university students tinkered with them and created games as a hobby. Then, Pong happened. Released in 1972, the table tennis emulator wasn’t the first coin-operated arcade game, but it was the first huge video game success. According to some sources, Atari, the creators of Pong, sold more than 8,000 units by the end of 1974, and the company estimated that each machine earned US$35 to US$40 a day, an amount unheard of at the time. Atari developed a consumer version of the game, in an early console. Launched to coincide with the 1975 holiday season, Home Pong was a hit: around 150,000 units were shipped. Video games had broken into the mainstream.

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THE GAMING INDUSTRY WAS WORTH US$67 BILLION GLOBALLY IN 2012. IT IS EXPECTED TO REACH US$82 BILLION BY 2017 According to Dr Qiu Lin, assistant professor of Nanyang Technological University’s psychology division in Singapore,

people have three basic psychological needs. “They need to experience autonomy, competence and relatedness. Games can satisfy these needs by allowing gamers to have full control over what they do, solve challenges and feel competent, and interact with other players.” It seems to be working. The gaming industry in 2012 was worth an estimated US$67 billion globally, and is expected to hit US$82 billion by 2017. In terms of console gaming, Sony and Microsoft lead the charge with PlayStation and Xbox respectively, with Nintendo’s Wii trailing behind. The computer games market is healthy too, growing eight per cent from 2011 to 2012, bolstering a flagging PC market. Sony and Microsoft have recently released their latest consoles — PlayStation 4 and Xbox One — and both sold more than a million units in the US and Canada after just 24 hours on the shelves. Despite these massive strides, games fundamentally haven’t changed since the early days, relying on the same few components: a screen, a handheld controller, and a console or PC. Graphics are uncannily lifelike, but gamers now want to do much more than mash buttons to manipulate pixellated avatars. They want the experience to be an extension of reality, not a distraction from it. They

want to hop into the rabbit hole and go beyond the edges of the screen.

WAR HAS CHANGED

To enhance a player’s immersion in a game, Cheok says technology has to embrace both sides of the equation: input (controllers) and output gadgets (displays and speakers) working seamlessly together to simulate a world over which gamers feel they have complete mastery. The most common virtual reality technology associated with gaming is the head-mounted display (HMD), which replaces screens and, to a small degree, controllers. These gizmos generally project a different set of images for the left and right eyes to produce a stereoscopic threedimensional effect. They also have sensors that track a player’s head movement: so if a player wants to look around the game world, instead of twiddling a joystick, they simply turn their head. One such HMD making waves among gamers is the Oculus Rift, which started shipping at the time of writing. With 360-degree head tracking and a 110-degree field of view stretching beyond the wearer’s peripheral vision, it is the first affordable and compelling consumer HMD purpose-built for gaming. u

GAMING MILESTONES

THE FIRST KNOWN INTERACTIVE ELECTRONIC GAME WAS RELEASED, NIMBLY CALLED THE CATHODE-RAY TUBE AMUSEMENT DEVICE

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THEATRE SCHOLAR ANTONIN ARTAUD USED THE TERM “VIRTUAL REALITY” TO DESCRIBE A “PURELY FICTITIOUS AND ILLUSORY WORLD”

THE FIRST HMD, DUBBED THE HEADSIGHT, WAS INVENTED FOR PEOPLE TO VIRTUALLY ENTER DANGEROUS AREAS

COMPUTER SCIENTIST IVAN SUTHERLAND PROPOSED THE ULTIMATE DISPLAY, “A ROOM WITHIN WHICH A COMPUTER CAN CONTROL THE EXISTENCE OF MATTER”. IT SET THE STAGE FOR VIRTUAL REALITY AS WE KNOW IT

GAME ON

BUILDING TOYS PIXEL POWER

UBISOFT SINGAPORE’S SEBASTIEN BERTON AND MUFIZAL MOKHTAR TALK ABOUT THEIR ROLES, INSPIRING GAMERS, AND WHY THEY DON’T THINK THEY’RE ROCK STARS

PHOTOS: MARK TEO; 2013 UBISOFT ENTERTAINMENT (ASSASSIN'S CREED SCREENSHOT)

Immersive, in-game worlds might be the future of video-gaming, but for now, retro still packs a punch. Minecraft is an online game where you… well, mine materials to create whatever you want. Some of the more stunning recreations include Minas Tirith from The Lord of the Rings, an entire Babylonian City and the Battlestar Galactica. Despite, or perhaps because of its blocky, Lego-like graphics, it has surged in popularity. In the past hour, some 1,000 people have logged in to play.

BEFORE FOUNDING ATARI, NOLAN BUSHNELL AND TED DABNEY CREATED COMPUTER SPACE, THE EARLIEST COIN-OPERATED ARCADE VIDEO GAME

What do you guys do at Ubisoft Singapore? Mufizal Mokhtar (MM): My role as an art director is to inspire my team to create the best visuals in line with the direction of the game. So for Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, we actually travelled to the Caribbean and absorbed the environment. What the world is going to look and feel like is very important, and we combine that with the experience that the designers are working on to come up with the birth of this particular world. Sebastien Berton (SB): My role as lead game designer is to take a vision of the game and then understand the world and experience we’re building. We create the rules and how the game works. So [Mufizal] creates how it looks, and I create how it works. What are some of the main considerations when you're building these worlds? SB: Consistent rules. What you can do here, you must also be able to do there. So, for example, if you push that chair and it moves, but you push another chair and it doesn’t, then the world is not consistent, and it’ll pull the gamer out from the experience. uu

PONG LAUNCHED TO WIDESPREAD ACCLAIM. THIS SAME YEAR, THE MAGNAVOX ODYSSEY INTRODUCED THE IDEA OF A HOME GAMING CONSOLE. IT CAME WITH SIX GAMES

SCI-FI TITLE EMPIRE WAS RELEASED. IT IS THOUGHT TO BE THE FIRST NETWORKED MULTIPLAYER GAME

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PLAYERS CAN RUN, JUMP, CROUCH OR STRAFE SIDEWAYS AND SEE THEIR AVATAR MIRROR THEIR ACTIONS IN THE GAME WORLD And then there’s the Virtuix Omni. The contraption, which starts shipping later in 2014, looks like a cross between a treadmill from the gym and a teleportation pod from sci-fi movies — and in a sense, it performs both functions. Players wear special shoes and climb onto the bowlshaped base, on which they can run, jump, crouch or strafe sideways and see their avatar mirror their actions in the game world. Think of it as Microsoft Kinect on steroids. Couple the Omni

with the Oculus Rift and a gun peripheral such as the Delta Six, and first-person shooters will feel tantalisingly and terrifyingly real. The last thing missing is blood. “You’re going to step onto the Omni, get your head display on, and have handheld controllers that act as your hands in the game,” describes 24-year-old Colton Jacobs, product manager for the Virtuix Omni. “So when you are in the virtual environment, you don’t have to think about how to move. You’ll interact like you would in the real world. You’ll have your hands, legs, eyes and head in the game.” Gaming media wasted no time in exploring the possibilities of the Omni and the Oculus Rift — even branding them “the future of gaming”. They might be right.

SHOW ME YOUR MOVES

But do we want real, or even better? “We build a world around experience,” says Sebastien Berton, a lead game designer at Ubisoft Singapore. “But this [virtual reality] technology allows us to create a more extreme experience. With these new peripherals, you’ll be able to go into outer space, dive underwater. You can push it so much more and make it a lot more real for the player. It’s seamless.” The word "seamless" comes up a lot when DCM speaks to Berton and his colleague, art

director Mufizal Mokhtar. According to the pair, immersion in games is rooted in the idea of seamlessness. Berton and Mufizal have spent the last two years developing Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. Based on the pirate-infested Caribbean of the 18th century, the game is set in an open world that players can explore to their heart’s desire. Sounds pretty on paper, but in practice it’s not always plain sailing. “The game’s mechanics are built around the mechanics of the controller,” explains the 32-year-old game designer. “So it’s still very clunky; it’s as though you have a character on the screen and a character in your hands. We are slowly eliminating that.” With a regular console controller, like the PlayStation’s DualShock, players have to toggle one mini-joystick to steer their character and another to rotate, pitch and yaw the camera’s angle. This typically requires two thumbs moving synchronously — an unwieldy technique that gamers have to learn. But with the Oculus Rift and the Omni, there’s no learning curve; your head replaces one joystick, your legs the other. Which means there is no longer a controller in between body and game. “It’s amazing,” says Jacobs, breathlessly recalling his experience using the Omni to play fantasy role-playing u

GAME SERIES LIKE ASSASSIN'S CREED ARE LAUDED NOT JUST FOR THEIR CINEMATIC VISUALS, BUT THEIR SANDBOX GAMEPLAY, ENCOURAGING PLAYERS TO ROAM THE ENVIRONMENT IN WHATEVER WAY THEY CHOOSE

PHOTO: 2013 UBISOFT ENTERTAINMENT (ASSASSIN'S CREED SCREENSHOT)

When it was announced on crowdfunding website Kickstarter.com, the Oculus Rift managed to raise US$2.44 million, almost 10 times its goal, in 30 days — evidence of the demand for virtual reality instruments. It now costs US$300, meaning that the technology, once restricted to military and industrial applications, is finally battleready for the home.

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GAMING MILESTONES

THE FIRST THREEDIMENSIONAL, MULTIPLAYER FIRSTPERSON SHOOTER WAS BUILT: MAZE WAR

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BILL GATES AND A FRIEND CODED THE WORLD’S FIRST PC GAME, DONKEY

THE SCI-FI FLICK TRON, ONE OF THE EARLIEST FILMS TO FEATURE COMPUTER-GENERATED GRAPHICS, FORESHADOWED THE COMPLETE INTEGRATION OF THE VIRTUAL GAME AND THE REAL WORLD

PERHAPS THE MOST ICONIC MASCOT OF THE GAMING WORLD WAS BORN: MARIO

GAME ON

BUILDING TOYS MM: The visual language also has to be consistent. While we want our players to explore new areas, we also give them very subtle hints about where might be a good place to go.

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How much of an immersive world is driven by technology? MM: World rules are created by technology, but it is also partly based on technology. The more technology we have, the fewer rules we have to give to the player. The ultimate goal is to give players as much freedom as they want. How can technology inspire game designers? MM: [With virtual reality], your eyes and brain will naturally adapt to the game and understand it. This allows the player to read the environment way better: a big opportunity for designers to come up with crazy levels. Do you think gamers now need less imagination than they did in the Space Invaders days? SB: I think we inspire players way more. Right now, the younger generation is extremely creative. They look to games for inspiration and make their own patterns in the game. MM: I think that’s why open world games are very popular now. When players sit down and play them, it’s all about creativity. It’s all about “I want to do this mission this way, I don’t want to follow the rules”. We don’t want to create zombies. We want to create intelligent players, so that they in turn can create intelligent things What do you think games will look like in a decade’s time? MM: They are going to evolve into a state where fantasy and reality will start to blur together. In the future, we can populate the entire world, from one end to the other, with all sorts of objects that are based on real things. The experience you will get from going from one site to the other will be a full-on world experience. The immersion will feel as if it's seamless. Some consider game designers today almost like rock stars. Do you agree with them? MM: Nah, we are ultimately just boys who build toys [laughs].

SEGA LAID THE FOUNDATIONS FOR ONLINE GAMING WITH THE SEGA NETWORK SYSTEM, WHICH ALLOWED PLAYERS TO DOWNLOAD GAMES OVER THE INTERNET AND PLAY WITH OTHERS OVER A DIAL-UP CONNECTION

NEVERWINTER NIGHTS WAS THE FIRST GRAPHICAL, MASSIVELY MULTIPLAYER, ONLINE GAME MADE, LAYING THE FOUNDATION FOR LARGE-SCALE ONLINE CO-OPERATIVE GAMEPLAY. PLAYERS FORMED COMMUNITIES, OR "GUILDS", TO SLAY DRAGONS

THE SONY PLAYSTATION ESTABLISHED AN EMPIRE THAT SHOWS NO SIGN OF WEAKENING EVEN TODAY

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GAME OVER?

"There have been a number of cases where excessive gaming resulted in fatal incidents. Some scholars have found that the symptoms of digital game addiction are similar to those of other, substance-related addictions. These include mood change due to the particular activity, salience (when the particular activity becomes the most important activity in the person’s life and dominates their thinking), and tolerance (the process where increasing amounts of the particular activity are required to achieve the former effects)." – Dr Qiu Lin, NTU

GAMING MILESTONES

NINTENDO STARTED SELLING THE ILL-FATED VIRTUAL BOY, A CONSOLE SYSTEM THAT INCLUDED A HEADSET CAPABLE OF DISPLAYING BASIC THREE-DIMENSIONAL IMAGES IN MONOCHROME

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NINTENDO LAUNCHED SUPER MARIO 64, ONE OF THE EARLIEST FULLY THREE-DIMENSIONAL OPEN WORLD GAMES

WHEN IT KICKED INTO ARCADES, DANCE DANCE REVOLUTION WOWED GAMERS WITH AN UNUSUAL CONTROLLER: THEIR FEET

GAME ON

u game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. “When you are in the game world, it’s a lot more physical than anything I’ve ever tried before. Say you’re in the middle of a battle, you are extra calculative and economical in your movements. And there’s nothing more immersive than having to take a breath while fighting a dragon.” Actually, there is. You can literally run rings around the beast and duck away from its claws — but you can’t feel the burn of its fiery breath. Yet.

MAIN PHOTOS: MARK TEO

FIRST BLOOD

Brodie Stanfield was playing Halo 2 with his dad when an idea struck him. Their characters were caught in a massive firefight, and charged into a buggy to escape the enemy horde. A plucky alien spotted them, fired from its plasma cannon and catapulted the vehicle through the air, killing the brave soldiers instantly. “Something was missing,” recalls Stanfield, who is now working on a master’s degree in artificial intelligence. “We imagined what it would be like if you could actually feel as though you were in the game; if you could be aware of everything happening around you. We knew we needed to have such an experience, but we couldn’t find anything offering it.” Stanfield did what few 17-year-olds could have

achieved, starting a company to fix this issue. Now 23, the co-founder of IFTech will in December be ready to unleash the ARAIG (As Real As It Gets) vest. The suit is a multi-sensory stimulation exoskeleton that sends physical sensations to its user — a hot blast, a light tingling or a robust punch are possible. It can even involuntarily move a user’s limbs. This is known as haptic feedback, and prior to the ARAIG, was limited to the vibrations of a handheld controller, triggered when, say, the spaceship you’re piloting crashes. Stanfield says this form of feedback is incomplete, as the player can only understand its purpose based on audiovisual stimuli. The vibrations alone don't give directional cues, or relay information. The ARAIG sits squarely on the “output” side of the equation for full immersion. “The key component to enhancing a gamer’s experience is by increasing their awareness of the game world, without forcing them to be additionally involved in that world,” says Stanfield. Imagine playing Battlefield 4, a futuristic first-person shooter, while wearing the ARAIG. As you sprint across a street, you’re hit by a sniper. You feel a strong vibration on the top-left part of your back, followed by smaller

MICROSOFT THREW ITS HAT INTO THE CONSOLE RING WITH THE XBOX SYSTEM

vibrations on the left side of your chest. Then the muscles on your left arm contract, forcing it forward as the impact of the bullet spreads. This happens within a split second, and you immediately sense your enemy is behind you, on higher ground. This is the link Stanfield was missing. “The player is now experiencing more, but he isn’t being more active. For ARAIG, this means providing as much output to the user as he or she desires. This seems to be the major component lacking with regards to player immersion.” Oh, and the ARAIG can be used together with both the Omni and Oculus Rift.

SUPER EFFECTIVE

The purpose of sophisticated haptic technology like the ARAIG is to present the gaming world with the highest possible fidelity. Similar to audiophile-rated speakers that accurately reproduce the tiniest whispers or deepest rumbles, high fidelity in games means their output has to be lucidly rendered. If a racing car’s engine sounds closer to a whimper than a roar, a player will be juddered out from the game. But what if we also could smell and taste the game in addition to seeing, hearing and feeling it? That’s where Cheok and his team from the Keio-NUS CUTE (Connective

SECOND LIFE WAS LAUNCHED AND PROVED THE VIABILITY OF A MASSIVE ONLINE OPEN WORLD IN WHICH PLAYERS CAN DO JUST ABOUT ANYTHING, EVEN SET UP BUSINESSES

Ubiquitous Technology and Embodiments) Center come in. The professor admits that while haptic technology today is “fairly accurate”, it is still early days for taste and smell for now. Then again, if the prototypes he has built are anything to go by, this may soon change.

“IN THE MIDDLE OF BATTLE, THERE IS NOTHING MORE IMMERSIVE THAN HAVING TO TAKE A BREATH WHILE FIGHTING A DRAGON.” One of those prototypes is an electric taste machine. The device takes the form of a small acrylic box, housing a mangle of wires, circuit boards and copper coils. Two metal strips protrude from the box, between which a user inserts their tongue. The machine stimulates the taste receptors on the tongue, in turn sending signals to the brain to trick it into thinking you’re tasting chicken, or the comforting warmth of a health potion — as your Diablo III character chugs one down. “The brain cannot sense anything by itself,” clarifies Cheok. “We are giving the u

WORLD OF WARCRAFT WAS UNLEASHED. NONGAMER GIRLFRIENDS AND BOYFRIENDS EVERYWHERE HEAVED A COLLECTIVE SIGH OF NEGLECT

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FIRST-PERSON SHOOTERS LIKE CALL OF DUTY: GHOSTS AIM FOR AN IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE. IMAGINE HOW MUCH MORE IMMERSIVE IT WILL BE WHEN YOU CAN ACTUALLY FEEL THE PRESSURE OF GUNSHOTS PUMMELLING YOUR BODY

LIGHT UP MY LIFE

You might have the best gaming system, but it’s not complete until you have a next-gen screen to play it on. For that, you’ll want IllumiRoom, a proof of concept by Microsoft that extends the game experience around your screen. IllumiRoom’s smart projector can allow shockwaves to blow out the screen when you fire a gun, throw snowflakes around the room as you traverse a winter setting, and extend the entire game’s background over your wall.

GAMING MILESTONES

THE NINTENDO WII BECAME ONE OF THE BEST-SELLING CONSOLES OF ALL TIME, THANKS TO ITS UNIQUE MOTION-TRACKING CONTROLLERS. IN THE SAME YEAR, TRAGEDY IN REAL LIFE SPILLED OVER TO THE VIRTUAL WORLD WHEN A WORLD OF WARCRAFT GUILD HIJACKED AN IN-GAME FUNERAL OF AN ENEMY PLAYER WHO HAD PASSED AWAY IN REAL LIFE, HELD BY HER ONLINE FRIENDS. ALL THE MOURNING CHARACTERS WERE MASSACRED

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THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS IN THE UNITED STATES BEGAN TO CONSIDER VIDEO GAMES AS CULTURAL ARTEFACTS WORTHY OF PRESERVATION, CALLED THE “GAME CANON”

GAME ON

sensation of taste with electrical currents rather than food. We’re basically bypassing the chemical layer, but the signals in the brain are essentially the same.” Smell is trickier. At present Cheok has to rely on chemicals, but he's collaborating with a neuroscientist on an electrical solution. His idea is a gadget placed behind your palatine bone, on the roof of the mouth near the back. This is close to the olfactory receptors in the brain. Pulsing magnetic fields will then be discharged, generating an electrical current that fools the grey matter into believing your nose is sniffing something. Given the rate of increase of technology as established by Moore’s Law (double the transistors on a circuit every two years), Cheok thinks the world will be “radically changed” in five to 10 years, when devices like those he’s creating are streamlined and affordable enough to grace living rooms. Given games are one of the major drivers of this technology, we can expect developers like Ubisoft’s Berton and Mufizal to start infusing taste and smell into their games. The relationship between hardware companies and game publishers is a two-way street, says the Ubisoft pair, with both parties influencing each other. If a

PHOTO: 2013 ACTIVISION PUBLISHING, INC (MAIN)

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A TOKYO RESIDENT MADE HEADLINES WHEN HE “MARRIED A CHARACTER IN A VIDEO GAME, LOVE PLUS

THE MICROSOFT KINECT ELIMINATED THE NEED FOR A HANDHELD CONTROLLER AND CHANGED THE WAY PEOPLE LOOK AT VIDEO GAMES

new controller like the Omni changes how designers build their worlds, then activating the remainder of our senses could revolutionise it. Berton and Mufizal might have to study, in addition to Caribbean history, the fruity tang of its rum. “We might even be able to feed content directly to the brain,” Cheok suggests. “We have already been able to use optical fibres as inputs into the neurons of mice, so there is a connection between electronics and neurons. In 10 years’ time we’ll find a way to input this directly into the brain, as bioelectronics. We’ll definitely see this in our lifetimes.”

DANGEROUS TO GO ALONE

Are our five senses enough? The social aspect of gaming can be as crucial as stunning graphics. Berton says the biggest technological change he’s witnessed in the industry is the “connection between people”. “People are always connected,” he says. “Everyone has a smartphone now and is in constant contact with their social world. So we have to think about how to connect people while they're playing.” There are three major variations of the social gaming phenomenon: massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs), such as

World of Warcraft; virtual open worlds with little to no narrative, like Second Life and Minecraft; and social “portals” outside the game world, such as Apple’s Game Center and Sony’s PlayStation Network. MMOGs focus on gamers adventuring together; and virtual open worlds on players creating their own digital enclaves to do as they please. Social portals focus on friends chatting and sharing high scores among themselves.

“EVERYONE IS IN CONSTANT CONTACT WITH THEIR SOCIAL WORLD. SO WE HAVE TO THINK ABOUT HOW TO CONNECT PEOPLE WHILE THEY'RE PLAYING.” Philip Rosedale, creator of Second Life, believes these three categories can be condensed into one — a limitless and persistent online world, that means the world continues to function even without the player.Inside, users will communicate, build and burn bridges, and of course, set off on quests together. This vision is part of his work within the company he u

THE OCULUS RIFT, OMNI, ARAIG AND STEM SYSTEM, A MODULAR MOTION-TRACKING SYSTEM THAT TRANSLATES FULL BODY MOTION INTO A GAMING INPUT, WILL HIT THE MARKET. THESE DEVICES WILL USHER IN A NEW AGE OF IMMERSIVE GAMING. THERE IS NO LOOKING BACK

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KEYBOARD WARRIORS

Bragging rights aren’t the only thing l33t gamers win, after sending opponents to digital doom. There are a bunch of gaming tournaments, dubbed eSports, with cash pools of over a million bucks. Call of Duty, a first-person shooter, is a particularly lucrative eSports title. Last year’s US$1 million Call of Duty Championships came down to the wire, with team Fariko Impact narrowly edging out EnVyUs 6–5. Perhaps the result would’ve changed if players had had to use gadgets such as the Virtuix Omni and Oculus Rift and literally run, jump and crouch. You’d probably not expect today's hard-core gamers to be paragons of physical prowess. If virtual reality devices make their way to competitive gaming, the prevailing stigma against it (“How dare they call it a sport?!”) might change. A wider pool of attendees

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could entice advertisers to hedge more sponsorship dollars, allowing organisers to stage bigger tournaments. Which is how eSports grew from “insignificant events boasting meagre returns” to the million-dollar affairs they are today, according to Cassandra Khaw, who writes about video games for Usgamer.net and Pcgamer. com, and the eSports industry for Ongamers.com. But the self-proclaimed “hard-core geek” cautions against being over-optimistic. Virtual reality may transform first-person shooters in eSports, but there're plenty of other competitive gaming formats. “League of Legends, Dota 2, Heroes of Newerth, StarCraft —these are all things with an isometric perspective,” she says. “Unless we see games restructured completely to suit virtual reality devices, it doesn’t look like much of eSports would change at all.”

Smashing your weapon down on the vermin, you make a mental note to grab some virtual flowers from the virtual supermarket for your virtual girlfriend after playing this game-within-a-game. It’s her avatar’s birthday. It’s either dangerously or deliciously spellbinding, depending on how much you love computers. But what if we told you it could go the other way round — not immersing a player so deeply and vividly into a game but converting our physical architecture into one gigantic playing surface?

“WE ARE GOING TO SEE VIRTUAL WORLDS THAT ARE AS COMPELLING AND MEANINGFUL AND DETAILED IN MANY WAYS AS THE REAL WORLD.” REAL-LIFE GAME

Called mixed-reality gaming, this refers to the entire spectrum that stretches from real environments, to completely virtual ones. In between are augmented reality (virtual objects layered over reality, like the user interface in Google Glass), and augmented virtuality (real objects that have been virtualised, such as having a life-like avatar of yourself ). Playing Call of Duty with the Omni, Oculus Rift and ARAIG, for example, is the far end of the continuum. Monopoly would be at the the near end. u

PHOTO: KENNETH LU (SIDEBAR)

recently founded, High Fidelity. “It’s not going to be a product or a site in the way that Second Life was. It’s more of a medium,” says the entrepreneur, whose keynote speech at SIGGRAPH 2013 was titled “The Revenge of Virtual Reality”. “As thinking beings, we seek to change the world around us in as profound a way as possible. I think that we’d also like to go to other planets and colonise them. So I think of [virtual worlds] as fulfilling our natural creative desire.” Rosedale maintains that virtual worlds are in their infancy as technical challenges, like high latency, will lead to an undersized user-base. After all, no one wants to hang out in a sluggish place. Though he claims Second Life has a million active users, this isn’t close to the total number of netizens worldwide (currently 2.7 billion). He wants all of us onboard. “We are ultimately going to see virtual worlds that are as compelling and meaningful and detailed in many ways as the real world,” he muses. “Once we have short enough delay times, I think then you might start to see game developers doing things like World of Warcraft on top of a virtual world environment.” Picture this: you’re fitted out in virtual reality gear, and launch yourself into the virtual world. You stroll down a street, bid hello to your friends, and then from a menu, fire up the Fantasy RPG app. Suddenly you’ve got chain mail on, and an Axe of Righteous Fury clutched in one fist — without ever leaving this world. You smell orcs close by, and sure enough, spot a green mob rampaging towards you.

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“MIXEDREALITY GAMING TURNS THE PHYSICAL WORLD INTO A COMPUTER GAME. PEOPLE WANT TO DO THAT BECAUSE IT’S A SOCIAL EXPERIENCE.” Human Pacman was built back in 2005, and its graphics are understandably homespun. But as proof of the potential of mixed-reality games to immerse players and check off the requisite social aspects, the game is an important first step. “We’re trying to put real action into mixed reality,” says Cheok. “Mixed-reality gaming turns the physical world into a computer game. People want to do that because it’s a social experience. That’s a very strong driver.” As mixed-reality gaming relies on physical spaces, our buildings, streets and atria will be designed for virtual

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applications. Perhaps this may involve a range of sensors, from radiofrequency identification (RFID) to Bluetooth, to motion that can translate information to wearable computers that users can see via augmented reality. A bus stop, for example, can also double up as a safe house from rampant zombies. Game developers will have to put on their architect’s hats, but because the laws of physics need not apply to virtual or augmented reality, they will be less Frank Lloyd Wright, and more Ariadne from Inception. “What we’re going to see is games that will be pervasive to our environment,” Cheok predicts of the future. “The actual physical environment then becomes interactive, and connected to the internet. The whole world can then react and adapt to you. Imagine MMOGs in the real world!” It sounds cool, but might it get a little too dystopian, with people constantly hooked up to the latest ultraimmersive game? Nanyang Technological University’s Qiu isn’t so sure. While he cites examples of video game addiction resulting in physical, psychological and social problems — even death — he is quick to point out that there has not been any conclusive evidence to officially brand it a mental disorder. But in immersive gaming, things do tend to get physical. A haptic suit might lend greater meaning to cyberbullying, for instance. “It is possible that players will be more likely to transfer their violent behaviour from the virtual world into the real world.” He is far from certain. “Past research

on the causal relationship between violent games and aggressive behaviour has been inconclusive.” What Qiu does know however, is that an hour of gaming per day “improves players’ cognitive functioning, such as spatial memory, visual search and cognitive control”. Add to that the athleticism required by mixed-reality gaming and virtual reality devices such as the Omni, and who knows: parents may one day even encourage their kids to duke it out with others online. And the kids will, gladly. If Cheok, the Ubisoft

developers, Rosedale and the hardware companies are right about where these current trends are headed, future games will truly make the leap from flat screen to multi-sensory peripherals, to virtual open worlds and mixed reality — and maybe even a hybrid of everything in between. Drawing from his background of Second Life’s free-for-all virtual world, Rosedale probably puts it best. “I fundamentally don’t know what games will look like, and I don’t want to know. I hope they’ll look like something I’ve never seen before.”

PHOTO: MARK TEO

Games making use of mixed reality involve all four “stages” of the spectrum. They exist now, on a crude scale. Cheok created a game called Human Pacman, a spin-off of the Namco arcade classic — except, instead of jiggling joysticks to control Pac-Man, players physically enact the role. And rather than a two-dimensional maze, players roam the real world. Using Bluetooth, GPS, Wi-Fi, sensors and all four stages of mixed reality, players collect virtual “cookies” or physically tag a Pac-Man player, to win.

u

“VIDEO GAMES ARE BAD FOR YOU? THAT’S WHAT THEY SAID ABOUT ROCK AND ROLL.” SHIGERU MIYAMOTO, CREATOR OF THE MARIO, DONKEY KONG AND THE LEGEND OF ZELDA FRANCHISES

25 YEARS In 2013, the New York Times printed a correction regarding a recent obituary for the president of Nintendo. The obituary included a quotation from a 1988 Times article that had inaccurately described the famous brothers of Super Mario Bros 2. “The brothers Mario and Luigi, who appear in this and other Nintendo games, are plumbers, not janitors,” the newspaper noted, just 25 years later

1995 It is widely believed that the most installed software of this year was not Windows 95, but the shoot-'em-up game Doom

US$

6,250 PER FINGER Hong Jin-Ho, one of South Korea’s most famous professional gamers, insured his fingers for US$62,500

BIG PICTURE

ELECTRIC DREAMS There is more to gaming than just money and an endless number of terrible movies ILLUSTRATIONS BY MARK MCCORMICK

TWO MILLION Controllers for the new Xbox One console are tested by machines that press each button two million times

10

VIDEO GAMES THAT MADE FOR TERRIBLE FILMS* 1% ALONE IN THE DARK (2005) 12% STREET FIGHTER (1994) 14% HITMAN (2007) 16% THE SUPER MARIO BROS (1993) 19% LARA CROFT: TOMB RAIDER (2001) 33% MORTAL KOMBAT (1995) 34% RESIDENT EVIL (2002) 34% DOA: DEAD OR ALIVE (2006) 35% PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME (2010) 44% FINAL FANTASY: THE SPIRITS WITHIN (2001) *AGGREGATED SCORES FROM MOVIE REVIEW SITE ROTTEN TOMATOES

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GAME ON

50

4,484

First-person shooter game America’s Army faced controversy when it was found the game was created by the US government to persuade gamers to enlist. As a protest, a professor at the University of Nevada, Reno in the United States would regularly log on solely to type the name of all soldiers killed in Iraq into the game’s messaging system. By 2011 he had entered 4,484 names

BILLION

HOURS

Since the insanely popular online role-playing game World of Warcraft was released in 2004, humanity has spent around 50 billion hours, or nearly six million years, playing it. That’s the same amount of time that humanity has spent evolving as a species, says one analyst

400 ACTIONS

PER MINUTE

Casual gamers average 60 keystrokes and mouse movements a minute in the game StarCraft.. Pro gamers can hit up to 400, or 6.66 unique sequences of movement a second

US$12,00,00,000 When Google changed the Google Doodle on its homepage to a playable version of Pac Man in 2010, it is estimated that people worldwide spent 4.8 million hours playing it, losing US$120 million worth of productive man-hours

SIX HOURS In 2011, in South Korea, children under the age of 16 faced a

curfew whereby they were locked out of certain online games between midnight and 6am. This law was later challenged in 2012. Online addiction affects over two million South Koreans

1947

The first known interactive electronic game was created in the United States in 1947. Named the Cathode Ray Tube Amusement Device, it allowed players to focus a light beam onto airplanes painted on the screen. Players had to shoot the planes in a set amount of time, with the beam simulating an explosion by defocusing. Eat your heart out, Halo 59 SQUARE KILOMETRES = SIZE OF MANHATTAN ISLAND, IN THE UNITED STATES 127 SQUARE KILOMETRES = SIZE OF THE MAP IN GRAND THEFT AUTO V

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WHAT'S ON THIS MONTH ON DISCOVERY CHANNEL

PLANET DINOSAUR Transporting viewers to locations across the globe and back in time through hundreds of millions of years, Planet Dinosaur uses unique hi-tech graphics to bring to life the most awesome and amazing creatures that ever lived. Presenting a brand-new global perspective on the prehistoric era, the series recreates the creatures, their habitats and their lives, from analysing their bones, to watching them fight to the death. PREMIERES 12 FEBRUARY AIRS EVERY WEDNESDAY AT 9 PM

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WHAT'S ON

RISE OF THE CONTINENTS Across the Earth, there are traces of a long-lost world. From seashells 8,000 metres above sea level, to species that seem to have jumped thousands of miles of ocean and rock formations that end in thin air, the clues are there to be found. The series pieces together such clues to reveal the story of how our world came to be. This is an epic journey through a land that no longer exists: the supercontinent of Pangea. PREMIERES 3 FEBRUARY AIRS EVERY MONDAY AT 9 PM

FOOD FACTORY Behind each chocolate bar, bread loaf, beer can and bag of chips is a mega-industrial production line that delivers it to the masses. Food Factory is a mesmerising behind-the-scenes look into the weird and wonderful processes that produce everyone’s favourite foods. From fresh ingredients to finished products, Food Factory reveals in awe-inspiring detail just how mass-produced favourites are really made. Put on a hard hat and get ready to meet the food! PREMIERES 10 FEBRUARY, AIRS EVERY MONDAY – SUNDAY AT 8 PM

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WILD DISCOVERY Wild Discovery is dedicated to the passionate filmmakers, conservationists and experts who put themselves in the most dangerous situations to showcase animals in their own habitats, proving that people can live in close proximity to nature. The show takes viewers on a journey through various geographies and landscapes to explore the spectacular beauty of the planet and its wonderful wildlife. AIRS EVERY DAY AT 6 PM

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WHAT'S ON

GOLD RUSH All three mining crews break new ground on gold claims across two continents. On the promise of better gold, the Hoffman crew moves their whole operation south, to the jungles of Guyana, South America, refusing to quit until they find the source of all of the gold in the entire Porcupine Creek valley. PREMIERES 3 FEBRUARY, AIRS MONDAY – FRIDAY AT 10 PM

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