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September 2007/Issue 16

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THE MUSIC EVOLUTION

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The hottest CSI agent around

We reveal the making of the new Parlotones video • How music adds life to games 8/7/07 11:18:49 AM

Unscramble the yellow letters hidden in the text to form the name of a well-known group. Clue: they won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Group.

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COVER PHOTOGRAPHS: iSTOCK PHOTOS

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Sport Science: swim ming

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8/8/07 2:05:50 PM

Which of these tracks best describes your life right now? Are you ‘Love Stoned’ like JT or ‘Striving to Survive’ like Kabelo, or is your life song Fergie’s ‘Big Girls don’t Cry’ … or perhaps Tupac’s ‘Me against the World‘? I’m sure music is a language I don’t need to get you excited about: there’s music for every occasion and personality. But did you know that there’s a lot of maths and science behind music? It’s no coincidence, then, that it’s our theme in this issue. We begin by taking you along the timeline of music technology – and show you how science is even involved in determining whether a song will be a hit or not. If you’re in matric, you’re probably counting down to your final day at school. Is it a happy thought, or a scary one? I remember my own anxiety over facing ‘the most important exams of

your life’ (you’re probably sick of hearing that tired old refrain). In these last few weeks, capture some great memories of your school days: they’ll be gone before you know it. Why not write and tell us about it, and about your plans for the future – or start a forum for matrics at <www.hip2b2.com>. Better still, send us a poem or the lyrics of a song describing your life. Smart contributions will be featured on the Community of Hip page (our postal details are featured there), and will win an MP3 player. The beauty is that the song of your life can change. So if angry rebellion tracks or melancholic melodies are where you’re at right now, fast-forward to anthems of hope – and start dancing to it. The soundtrack to my life currently? It would be a collaborative remix of ‘Grace’ (Simon Webbe), the chorus of Timbaland’s ‘Give it to Me’ and Dido’s ‘Thank You’. Yes, I’m grateful for every bit of grace. N"#"$IA

Editor Nevelia Heilbron Art Director Anton Pietersen Managing Editor Mandy J Watson Editorial Consultant Stefania Johnson Creative Director Crispian Brown Publisher Helena Gavera Production Manager Shirley Quinlan Reproduction New Media Repro Advertising Director Aileen O’ Brien • Tel: 021 417 1228 Circulation (subscriptions) John Pienaar • Tel: 021 417 1218 Editorial Contributors Nikki Benatar, Kate Carmichael, Erin Classen, Ami Kapilevich, Michelle Minnaar, Anthony Samboer, Johan van Lill, Michelle Viljoen Editorial Intern Selena Abelse Picture Researcher Glynis Fobb Subeditor Barbara Mowatt Proofreader John Linnegar Educational Consultants Wordwise PUBLISHED ON BEHALF OF BSQUARE COMMUNICATIONS Communications Manager Kate Evans HIP2B2 PIONEERED BY MARK SHUTTLEWORTH <www.hip2b2.com>

WIN

Published by New Media Publishing (Pty) Ltd Tel: 021 417 1111 • Fax: 021 417 1112 <www.newmediapub.co.za> Managing Director Bridget McCarney Executive Directors Irna van Zyl, Naomi Herselman, John Psillos New Business Enquiries Martha Dimitriou • Tel: 021 417 1276 All rights reserved. While precautions have been taken to ensure the accuracy of information, the editor, publisher and New Media Publishing can’t be held liable for any inaccuracies, injury or damages that may arise. Printed by Paarl Print

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PHOTOGRAPHS: JOHAN WILKE, iSTOCK PHOTOS • HAIR AND MAKE-UP: MARELI SERFONTEIN • MP3 PLAYER SUPPLIED BY HIP2B2

CHAT ROOM

8/8/07 1:04:42 PM

RESPECT

IS N

ASH

I really like the new Hip2b mag and think it’s totally awesome. It’s a total upgrade and I enjoy reading it even more than before. Our copies were handed out late but luckily I was able to receive it from someone else. 2

09MASNDA

YOU SAID IT We spoke to students at the recent SABC Education Careers Fair. ANDISWA MLANJENI

Grade 12, Simon Estes Music High School ‘I’d love to be a nurse as I enjoy taking care of people when they are sick.’ Favourite subjects: biology and maths. Favourite gadget: a Samsung E370.

The ‘Energy’ issue has just arrived at my school and the cover looks much better than the last one, and catches your eye. It’s amazing how much this brand has grown over the years. My question is: do you think the whole repositioning of Hip2b2 has done the brand some good? Do you think the new publishing company is doing well in maintaining the standards previously set? The website is a job well done and I can’t wait to see the new set of the TV show!

Share your news, views and pictures – and please include your contact details, school and grade. • Write to: Hip2b2, PO Box 440, Green Point 8051 • Email: <talk2us@hip2b2.com> or <win@hip2b2.com>

ON HIP2B2.COM

VUYOKAZI MAJOLA

Grade 12, Simon Estes Music High School ‘I’d like to do medical bioscience or clinical technology. I love the vibe of the laboratory, and I could advise people on healthrelated issues.’ Favourite subjects: maths and biology. Favourite gadget: I’m not really a gadget person but I like the Nokia 6111.

ZULPHA ABRAHAMS

Grade 11, Trafalgar High School ‘I’d like to pursue a career in medicine, learn more about biology and chemistry, and help in needy communities.’ Favourite subjects: biology, physical science and maths. Favourite gadget: the Sony Ericsson K800i.

INGE VAN DER LECQ

Minkema School, Germany ‘I’d love to be a fashion designer so that I can make good quality clothes for the people.’ Favourite subjects: physics and language. Favourite gadget: the Sony Ericsson 2530i.

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NADINE STRYDOM

Nadine, a marine biologist specialising in larval fishes at the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity, is a young leader in the world of science. She has recently been named Best Emerging Young Woman Scientist at the Women in Science awards, for her Ph.D. research. Keep it up! Who do you nominate for the Hip2b2 badge of respect, and why?

8/8/07 1:04:57 PM

FORUM

69%

Grade 11, Beauvallon High School ‘I’d like to do mechanical engineering in order to learn to make safer cars.’ Favourite subjects: maths and physics. Favourite gadget: my desktop computer. Grade 11, Trafalgar High School ‘I’d like to be a chartered accountant because there is a need for honest accountants in this country.’ Favourite subjects: maths, business economy and accounting. Favourite gadget: the Motorola L7. For more comments, visit the events section in Chill at <www.hip2b2.com>.

TELL US ABOUT IT

Have you attended any fascinating or life-changing event, camp, conference or Olympiad? Tell us about it. Write to Hip2b2 Eyewitness, PO Box 440, Green Point 8051 (remember to include a photograph), or send an email to <talk2us@hip2b2.com>.

S HW IN

BY SELENA ABELSE • PHOTOGRAPHS: DENVER HENDRICKS

ASHWIN BESTER

SAVE THESE DATES

• September is African Origins Month. In our next issue we salute the pioneers, groundbreakers and innovators of our continent. • National Maths Week: 3 to 7 September.

B Y

ROWAN SIMONS

High School, recently attended a DST/Thuthuka Maths and Science Development Camp. ‘I attended this camp to gain information on different careers. One of the most interesting aspects was dissecting a baby shark. I also enjoyed the scientific experiments showing how pressure systems work. It was cool because we were able to understand how aeroplanes lift off. The highlights were the new friendships and the prizes, such as cash, microscopes and money. Kate Evans (everyone should know her) honoured us with her presence. Overall, the camp was so good that everyone was sad to leave.’

H I P

W O

EBRAHIM HOOSEN, Grade 11 at Pinelands

N U M B E R S

EYEWITNESS

of <www.hip2b2.com> website visitors believe in saving money, according to our recent online poll. Forty-two per cent are on Facebook and 23% are on MySpace. Visit the site now for more cool stats.

1964 was the year in which

American Robert Moog produced the first Moog synthesizer. Read about the evolution of music technology on page 11.

720 schools

throughout South Africa receive the Hip2b2 magazine. If you’d like to subscribe, refer to page 38 for details.

September 1882 was the day that Kimberley became the first place in the southern hemisphere to install electric streetlights.

13 countries competed in the

first World Cup Soccer tournament, which was held in Uruguay in 1930.

7,51

metres is the longest set of fingernails recorded, which belong to a woman. At least we know she doesn’t pick her nose all day.

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8/8/07 1:05:40 PM

SMART TECHNOLOGY the science of everyday things

LIGHT GA MIN G Be on the lookout for the new PSP (PlayStation Portable), which should arrive in stores from October. From the front it looks the same as the original but the developers have figured out a way to make it thinner and lighter without removing any features or changing the size of the screen. There is also a new video-out port, which means you’ll be able to hook up your PSP to a TV or VCR to play your games on a bigger screen, or record your action. Finally, you can now charge the PSP by plugging it into the USB port of your PS3 or PC.

LOW -TEC H MOM ENT Magically make it go away If you accidentally write on a whiteboard with a permanent marker instead of a whiteboard marker, it’s a bit of a disaster, right? Not necessarily. Here’s a trick to fix the problem: write over the permanent mark with a proper whiteboard marker, then clean the board with a damp cloth or whiteboard eraser as you normally would. Problem solved! Why is this? According to Dr Martin Bredenkamp of the department of chemistry and polymer science at Stellenbosch University, permanent marker ink’s adhesion (its attraction to other substances) is stronger than its cohesion (the forces that keep it together). The ink clings so strongly to the whiteboard that you can’t wipe it off. In contrast, whiteboard marker ink’s cohesion overpowers its adhesion ability. Its molecules don’t have a strong affinity for the whiteboard and it is easy to clean off. Permanent marker ink dissolves temporarily when you write over it with whiteboard marker ink. When the solvent evaporates, the molecules of the permanent ink adhere to those of the whiteboard ink, and the ink can be wiped off.

WANT TO IMPRESS YOUR TEACHER?

Here’s what you need to know: according to Dr Anwar Jardine of the department of chemistry and polymer science at Stellenbosch University whiteboard markers use methyl n-butyl ketone (MIBK) and n-butyl acetate (NBA), among others, as solvents (substances that dissolve other substances). These solvents remove the pigments (substances that colour the ink) in permanent markers.

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8/7/07 9:21:07 AM

SMART TECHNOLOGY

WATER MUSIC

BY MANDY J WATSON • PHOTOGRAPHS: DENVER HENDRICKS, iSTOCK PHOTOS • H2O AUDIO PRODUCTS COURTESY OF GADGET GURU <WWW.GADGETGURU.CO.ZA>

S U RF GUI TA R Imagine playing some interesting licks and cyber-surfing at the same time. This Fender Telecaster concept guitar has a built-in Hewlett-Packard tablet PC, which is a type of notebook computer with a touch screen. You can use it to listen to music through headphones, surf the Web, download tracks, and record, play back and email tracks. Unfortunately, because it is only a concept prototype designed to demonstrate music technology, you can’t buy one for yourself. It was a project between Intel, a company that manufactures computer processors, and Fender, the guitar manufacturer favoured by some of the world’s most famous musicians, including the members of Radiohead.

Waterwise technology means you can now listen to your favourite tracks while surfing or swimming. The H2O Audio Waterproof Housing for iPod nano (2nd Gen) has a rubber seal that prevents water from getting into the case. Plug the special H2O Audio Series Waterproof Headphones into the SealTight Connector and you’re good to go to a depth of three metres. The casing has a built-in scroll-wheel control called the ‘commander’ so you can operate your iPod normally while swimming, bodyboarding, or even snowboarding. The products are all tested in a pressure chamber before they are shipped to make sure that they will work and your iPod won’t be flooded. The American company that manufactures these casings, H2O Audio <h2oaudio.com>, also makes housings for other kinds of iPods.

DID YOU KNOW?

The Fender Telecaster is an electric guitar with a solid body (most guitars are hollow inside). It has been in production since 1950. The solid body results in a clearer sound than electric guitars that have hollow bodies.

FA S T FA CT

A hyperbaric pressure chamber is a device that can be used to re-create the higher-pressure conditions that occur under the sea, since water is heavier than air. The higher pressure can cause objects to break, crack or leak if they aren’t made of pressure-resistant materials.

The Freestyle Waterproof MP3 Player weighs less than 35 g and is waterproof for up to three metres. It is shockproof and is designed to be tough so that you can use it while doing most water sports or even while practising your dance moves. The player comes with waterproof in-ear buds and you can control it with four buttons on the housing. The website <www.freestyleaudio.com> has a Flash demo of the player so you can try out some tunes and play with the volume controls to see how it works.

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8/7/07 9:21:20 AM

we take it apart

DECONSTRUCTION The suspension supports the diaphragm above. dust cap

The diaphragm creates sound waves when moving back and forth.

The frame or basket is either cast steel or pressed steel.

Electrical signals from the amplifier flow into the wire terminals.

magnet

The spider supports the bottom end of the paper diaphragm.

DID YOU KNOW

It’s not a new thing to find rare materials in the construction of speakers but Markus Egger of Germany built his speakers with concrete. Why? Because the heavier they are, the better the sound – just feel the weight difference between a good speaker and a cheap one. Light and plastic: bad sound; heavy and ‘dead’: good sound.

The magnetic field of the voice coil interacts with the magnetic field of the magnet to create a force that moves the coil diaphragm back and forth.

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8/8/07 9:34:25 AM

THE SPEAKER front plate

spider

suspension

magnet back plate

TEXT AND ILLUSTRATIONS: ANTHONY SAMBOER

THE INNER WORKINGS

Loudspeakers are really very simple devices in terms of how they work. They essentially turn electrical energy into sound so that you can hear it. An amplifier generates electrical energy that alternates constantly between positive and negative in a pattern of waves that vary in size and frequency. The output from the amplifier is connected to the speaker at the wire terminals. There is a fine braided wire that carries the signal from the terminals on the frame to the conductors leading to the voice coil, which is mounted on a rigid cylinder in the centre of the cone. These wires are extremely flexible to enable the cone (diaphragm) to move back and forth without restriction or stress, and without breaking. All the moving parts operate as a single unit, moving back and forth in the magnetic field, and are suspended by the surround, or outer edge of the cone at the front, and by the ‘spider’ support at the rear. Since the voice coil is rigidly mounted to the cone, the resulting energy is transmitted to the cone, which produces a piston-like motion to move the air and therefore produce the sound.

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dust cap frame or basket voice coil

bolt

BEST BIT

cone or diaphragm

When the music is really loud you can physically see the vibrations generated as the cone or diaphragm moves back and forth. The cone is sometimes constructed of carbon fibre or titanium but paper is still commonly used in cheaper speakers.

WHO WOULD HAVE GUESSED?

Sound frequencies have healing properties. Specially designed stereo speakers known as sound columns can re-establish the sounds of nature. As in nature, you are surrounded by sound because there is no obvious point where the music, or sound, comes from. Modern digital music and hi-fi systems don’t, however, have these beneficial properties. The healing properties of the sound columns, which developed by German sound engineer Rudolf Mechow, were discovered by him after he suffered 9 a stroke.

8/7/07 9:34:47 AM

THE EVOLUTION OF

TECHNOLOGY

Would you believe that about 120 years ago it would have been impossible to listen to your favourite track on the radio? We take you on a journey from the phonoautograph to the iPod nano. And we also show you how science helps to determine a hit song.

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8/7/07 9:40:18 AM

Alexander Graham Bell asks his cousin Chichester Bell and engineer Charles Sumner Tainter to improve Edison’s phonograph. They use cylinders made entirely of wax and their stylus is loosely mounted. These changes improve sound clarity and steady the pitch.

It all begins when French inventor Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville creates the phonoautograph. It records sound waves by means of a membrane attached to a pen that traces the waves onto a roll of paper.

1857

Guglielmo Marconi makes history when he invents the radio. He makes the first transatlantic radio transmission in 1901 and in 1909 he wins the Nobel Prize for Physics.

1886 1877

1895 1887

1948(1950

Emile Berliner makes the gramophone the dominant force in audio playing devices for decades. His invention records and plays by means of grooves on the side of a flat disc rather than a cylinder. These discs become gramophone records and music becomes commercially available.

Thomas Edison invents the phonograph, the first device to record and play back sound. It consists of a cylinder covered in tin foil or wax and a stylus that leaves grooves on the surface as the sound is recorded. When the needle retracks these grooves and the vibrations are amplified, the recording is played back.

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The ‘war of speeds’ between Columbia Records and RCA Victor leads to developments in vinyl records. Shellac (a secretion from an Asian insect) had previously been used, but both companies manufacture sturdier vinyl records with better sound quality. In the end, Columbia’s 33 rpm long-play microgroove record becomes the standard for half a century. Home record players come with various speed settings, a number of stylus sizes and an adapter so that RCA’s 45 rpm records can be played on the same machine.

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TECHNOLOGY TIMELINE Stereo recordings, which lead to better balanced sound and higher fidelity (the degree of exactness with which something is copied), become the norm. Audio engineer John Mullin and singer Bing Crosby make magnetic tape recording commercially viable. It involves a magnetisable tape moving over a recording head at constant speed while an electrical signal sent through the head causes a magnetisation pattern on the tape. The pattern re-creates the signal when played back. Next comes the 8-track magnetic cartridge format. In 1963 Philips introduces the compact cassette.

1963

During the 1970s, digital audio gains momentum with pulse-code modulation. The immensity of the sound waves of an analogue signal is sampled at constant intervals and then converted to symbols in binary code*. This results in a digital form of analogue signal (or sound, in computer language). A joint effort by Philips and Sony results in the launch of the compact disc. Sony releases the first CD player, and a new audio revolution begins.

1998

1982 1979

1990 Cassette and vinyl sales drop and CD becomes popular. This creates a demand for portable CD players. The introduction of anti-skip or antishock technology in 1997 allows CD players to be used during activities such as jogging.

Sony revolutionises personal and portable audio devices with the launch of the first Walkman. Pedestrians take their personal soundtracks to the streets. FAST FACT

*Binary code is the representation of data as unique sequences or strings of eight binary digits.

European engineers combine their own ideas with previous proposals for audio compression, and the MP3 is born. The MP3 encoding format shrinks the amount of data needed for a sound signal. This is done with a lossy compression algorithm, which means some sound data is lost when the audio is converted from another source to MP3, but the sound remains true to the original recording. The first MP3 player comes on to the market in 1998.

2001 Apple launches the iPod MP3 player, which becomes the biggest-selling digital audio player in history. 2004 Oakley launches THUMP, the first sunglasses with a built-in MP3 player. 2007 and beyond Wi-Fi network music servers, high-resolution audio players, digital sound projectors and high-definition radios will all be on our gift wish lists as we make our way into a future that sure sounds schweet.

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8/7/07 9:42:17 AM

MUSIC AND MOOD

Going

on music Does music have the power to manipulate your mind, change your mood and help you to concentrate?

MIND UNDER MUSIC

When music is played, the brain literally becomes a symphony of electrical impulses, triggering anything from the urge to play air guitar to a feeling of serenity. Both hemispheres of the brain are needed to interpret the various parts of the auditory signal, which further proves that music is good stimulation for the brain. Playing an instrument also improves coordination, reading skills, mathematical ability and memory. For years there’s been a lot of speculation about the Mozart effect. The theory states that listening to music by Mozart improves memory function. A study was published in the 10 July 1999 issue of

DOES MUSIC BOOST BRAIN POWER?

Well, apparently it does … but that’s if you play an instrument. Hundreds of studies have proven that students who play an instrument show an improvement in their academic skills and their ability to concentrate, and they are more disciplined. The other advantage is that it’s good for stress relief and relaxation.

If playing an instrument is out of the question, there’s nothing wrong with just kicking back and listening to good music. Laid-back music with a tempo between 55 and 85 beats per minute helps stimulate brain waves, which leads to a state of being chilled out. So, next time exam stress levels skyrocket, the day seems a little dull or perhaps the mood just isn’t right, hit the play button and let the music move you. ENERGISE ALS AND MUSIC HE

Music is used in intensive-care unit (ICU) wards in hospitals to help patients maintain a positive mood. It is also used in the treatment of a variety of ailments, from pain relief to promoting a calm feeling in people with psychological disorders. Fitness experts encourage working out to a beat because it encourages people to exercise harder. Music is also recommended to students by every guide on dealing with exam stress.

BY ERIN CLASSEN • PHOTOGRAPHS: CNA, GALLO IMAGES/GETTYIMAGES.COM, iSTOCK PHOTOS, UNIVERSAL

Imagine being able to tune your brain the same way you tune a radio. Whenever you feel angry, you could listen to a song and be instantly calmed. What if you could press play to get your brain into study mode? Fantastic. This idea may seem far-fetched, but a lot of scientists are trying to make it happen.

Psychological Studies in which a team at Appalachian State University, USA, failed to find evidence to prove the existence of the Mozart effect. The fact remains that when Gordon Shaw and Francis Rauscher conducted their original research in 1993, they did find a temporary improvement in spatial-temporal reasoning (the ability to think in pictures and manipulate those pictures in your mind). This led to the coining of the term ‘Mozart effect’.

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8/7/07 9:42:45 AM

SOUND SEMANTICS WHAT’S IN A CD?

BY ERIN CLASSEN, WAYNE MULLER AND MANDY J WATSON • PHOTOGRAPHS: GALLO IMAGES/GETTYIMAGES.COM, iSTOCK PHOTOS

A CD consists of a label, a protective acrylic layer, a reflective layer (usually made of aluminium) and a plastic layer. Data is written on the reflective layer in a series of microscopic bumps and indentations, called lands and pits, in a spiral from the centre of the disc to the rim. To retrieve data, the laser bounces off the lands and pits and the computer translates these into 1s and 0s, or digital data. CD-Rs and CD-RWs (writable and rewritable CDs) each have an extra layer on which data is written. The extra layer on a CD-R contains dye that darkens to make the 0s when the laser light switches on and when the laser is off it makes a 1. The extra layer of a CD-RW has a chemical that the laser can repeatedly change to either clear or opaque, which is why you can can write to a CD-RW over and over.

Digital vs analogue

Frequency amplified? When you hear Beyoncé singing: ‘To the left, to the left …’, you’re hearing sound waves. A wave is created when something disturbs particles of air, liquids or solids. The particles clump together or move away from each other to form waves. This disturbance also causes a transfer of energy between particles, which enables the sound waves to travel. The frequency of sound is the number of waves that pass a certain point in a set time. To make sounds audible or cause changes in volume, the amplification is varied. Amplification is an increase of energy flow in the sound wave so that you can hear it. When you turn the volume down, you restrict the energy flow of the sound waves from your radio so you perceive the sound to be softer on the ears.

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Before the great MySpace versus Facebook debate, the big competition was between digital and analogue audio systems. Both produce high-quality audio, but digital audio is cheaper and recordings are perfect copies of the original sound. Digital recording translates the original sound into data known as binary code. Each piece of data is a ‘bit’ and is represented as 1 or 0. Bits eventually amount to bytes of data we commonly know as our iPod playlists. A song is typically three megabytes, or just over 25 000 000 bits of data.

SHATTER GLASS WITH YOUR VOICE The natural human voice can shatter glass, scientists have discovered, but it’s very difficult, even for a trained opera singer. All objects vibrate at a resonate frequency. To shatter a glass, the voice must match the frequency of the glass, that is, be at the same pitch that the glass vibrates. Other factors influence it too, such as the shape of the glass, type of glass (crystal is best because it resonates a clear tone) and for how long the note is held. Visit <www.google.com> and search for ‘MythBusters – Breaking Glass With Human Voice’ for videos and more information.

8/7/07 9:56:0. AM

MUSIC AND MATHS

Essentially, modern Western music is based on eight notes that vary in pitch. The numerical distance between notes makes up chords and harmonies. In order to create rhythm in music, the notes must also differ in length. Rhythm is a numerical pattern of beats in time. This is indicated by the time signature – for example, 3/4, 4/4, 6/8. 6/8 time is faster than 3/4 because the beats are shorter. It is interesting to note that the time signature almost always consists of numbers divisible by two or three. Can you use mathematics to make music? Greek philosopher Pythagoras believed it could be done. Pythagorean tuning is based on sets of five notes and these notes are tuned so that their frequencies are in the ratio 3:2. This system of tuning is suited to some

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genres of music, particularly classical music written in the early Renaissance period. THE SUM OF GREAT MUSIC

Another way of using mathematics to calculate great music is by analysing the frequency of notes. Jeffrey Rosenthal, a professor at the University of Toronto, Canada, explained this system in an article he wrote. He says that one can look at the pattern of the sound waves in the frequency of a particular note. The same note one octave higher has a frequency twice as high so the patterns of the sound waves will fit together. Chords are made when notes of different frequencies fit together symmetrically. THE SCIENCE OF A HIT SONG

An interesting use for maths and music is found in the commercial music industry. Spanish company Polyphonic HMI developed

a computer program, called Hit Song Science, that calculates whether or not a song will make it to the top of the charts. It starts by studying 20 assigned variables of a song, from the pitch to the tempo, matches it against a database of 3,5 million previous hits, and then gives the song a score that indicates whether it will be a hit or a flop. Hit Song Science not only accurately predicted the success of Norah Jones’s first album, Come Away With Me, but, more recently, predicted the success of Mika’s debut single ‘Grace Kelly’. Will the next Idols winner be predicted by a computer program? Will Rihanna resort to Pythagorean tuning? Who knows. The fact remains that maths and music are forever entwined. If music makes the world go round, go forth and calculate.

BY ERIN CLASSEN • PHOTOGRAPHS: iSTOCK PHOTOS

Music by numbers

Music is about notes but, more importantly, it’s about numbers.

MAKE MONEY WITH MUSIC

You don’t only need the Pop Idol look to pursue a musical career. Science and maths open doors to great careers, such as music therapy, electronic design engineering and ethnomusicology, to name but a few. For more on these and other careers, visit <www.hip2b2.com>.

8/7/07 9:56:69 AM

MUSIC DIY

Make your own Here’s an easy-to-follow plan to build an African finger piano.

INSTRUMENT DESIGN: COURTESY OF JOHN BERTLES AND BASH THE TRASH, <WWW.BASHTHETRASH.COM> • PHOTOGRAPHS: MANDY J WATSON

This well-known instrument is used in various forms of traditional African music and has a unique sound – the one on the right was bought from a street vendor. The DIY design comes from an organisation called Bash the Trash. It is an American educational organisation that educates children in music, recycling, maths, literacy and different cultures by showing them how to make instruments from recyclable materials. WHAT YOU NEED large hairpins (the bigger, the better) • pliers • hammer • heavy-duty staple gun • heavy-duty staples • plywood (15 x 15 cm and 1 cm thick) HOW TO MAKE IT 1 Break the hairpins in half. Start by crushing the bent part in the pliers or hammer the bent section until it’s flat, but be careful not to hurt your fingers. When you open the hairpin it will snap in half at the bent section. Each half of the hairpin will form a key of your piano and you’ll pluck on the rounded tip. Be very careful because you can hurt yourself on the sharp end of the hairpin. 2 Staple the halves of the hairpins onto the plywood. Use two or more staples for each key and start by placing the staples at the sharp end of the first key. You may need to hammer the staples into the wood to secure the hairpin. As you create each key from left to right, place the staples a little further away from the sharp end. On the last key the set of staples should be exactly halfway between the sharp end and the rounded tip. Each key will now produce a higher-pitched sound than the one to the left of it, creating a scale of notes. 3 After you’ve secured your piano keys, gently bend each key upwards so it will vibrate when you pluck it. Pluck the rounded tip of the keys and enjoy playing on your African finger piano.

CUT YOUR OWN MUSIC DEMO Who needs Idols to be a star? Load up on freeware such as Ardour and Audacity and turn your home into a studio. Ardour <ardour.org> is an open-source digital-audio program. You can use it to record, edit and mix multi-track audio. You can produce your own CDs, mix video soundtracks, or just experiment with new ideas about music and sound. Audacity is free, open-source software for recording and editing sounds and samples. It’s available for Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows. Visit <audacity.sourceforge.net> to download it.

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THE SECRETS OF THE

teenage brain

What helps you plan your day, fall in love, and walk upright? The answer is inside your head. Until recently, scientists could study the structure of the brain only after someone had died, which wasn’t much use in finding out how the brain functions while we’re alive. But now they have developed non-invasive brain-imaging techniques, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)*, which can produce clear images of the living human brain and help us understand how it works. The teenage brain is still growing and it is teeming with hormones. The changes happen mainly in the frontal cortex, The CEREBRUM (the Latin word for brain) is the largest part of the brain. It is where perception, imagination and thought occur, and where judgements and decisions are made. To improve your timemanagement skills you need to work your FRONTAL LOBE. It controls planning, reasoning, movement, and some aspects of speech. Can’t hear your mom calling you to do the dishes? The TEMPORAL LOBE

which controls executive (organising) functions such as concentrating, planning tasks and controlling our emotions. This explains the mood swings and feeling of being out of control that are so prevalent during adolescence: while the frontal lobe is growing, it is difficult for your brain to become organised (it is like trying to live in a house while builders are still doing alterations). The good news is that once this stage is over, you will be able to do all these things even better than before. Feeling hot or cold all the time? The PARIETAL LOBE receives information from the skin. Neurons (nerve cells) there process touch and sensation information, including information about heat, cold, pressure, pain and the position of the body in space.

Beauty is not just in the eye of the beholder but in your OCCIPITAL LOBE (often called the visual cortex). It processes and interprets sensory information from the eyes.

helps with hearing, speech and some kinds of memory. The BRAIN STEM (sometimes called the reptilian brain) controls essential survival functions such as breathing and heartbeat, as well as sleeping and waking, digestion, body temperature and the elimination of waste products.

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The CEREBELLUM controls involuntary (automatic) aspects of movement such as posture, balance and coordination. It takes over many physical skills once we’ve learnt them. That’s why riding a bicycle takes effort at first but becomes automatic with practice.

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BRAIN SCIENCE Fuse your logic with your creativity in the CORPUS CALLOSUM, a bundle of fibres that connects the left and right hemispheres of the brain. Like a telephone line, it carries the messages needed to coordinate left- and right-brain functions.

The LIMBIC SYSTEM, not the heart, is the centre of human emotions. It also helps to control temperature, blood pressure and heart rate. So it plays a big role in falling in love.

BY JOHAN VAN LILL • ILLUSTRATIONS: GALLO IMAGES/GETTYIMAGES.COM

The HIPPOCAMPUS helps put your fears in context and integrates sensory information, such as linking two objects in different places. It is essential to memory formation. This explains why visual aids such as mind-maps help us remember things.

A very active part of the teen brain is the HYPOTHALAMUS. It regulates body temperature, hunger, thirst, blood pressure, blood volume, sleeping, waking and urination.

Sometimes referred to as ‘fear central’, the AMYGDALA plays a part in integrating the senses, for example, hearing with sight. An example of it working is when you see something scary, such as a snake, and instinctively jump backwards or scream. The THALAMUS channels impulses from all the senses except smell to the cerebral cortex. It plays a role in memory, because it sorts the important information from the insignificant.

The PINEAL GLAND is thought to play an important role in regulating the body’s internal clock and daily rhythms. It produces a hormone called melatonin, which helps us go to sleep and wake up. This gland is clearly very erratic in the teenage brain.

FAST FACT

*The invention of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in 1977 was a major breakthrough in imaging technology. The person is placed on a moveable bed that is inserted into a giant circular magnet, and radio frequency signals are used to get crosssectional images of any part of the body.

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Researchers are asking what impact our brain has on our fears … and whether science can conquer it. Fear is a funny thing. It can show up unexpectedly and save your neck, and it can make you worry at 3 am about things that could go wrong or things you need to do. The nature of fear has always been a mystery. Now, using PET (positron emission tomography) and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scans to look

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inside the living brain, scientists have begun to map the geography of this intimate companion. They can point to a region of the brain where courage seems to be, and to another that is home to panic. They can also measure biological differences that appear to make one person brave and another timid.

BY RICHARD CONNIFF / FEATURENET.CO.ZA [ARTICLE HAS BEEN EDITED] • PHOTOGRAPHS: GALLO IMAGES/GETTYIMAGES.COM, iSTOCK PHOTOS

IT’S ALL IN THE BRAIN

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PSYCHOLOGY

Fear, it turns out, can be reduced to its neurobiological parts. Contrary to its reputation, fear, in moderation, is a good thing. Veterans of extreme sports all tend to put it the same way: ‘The people who worry me are the ones who have no fear, because they’re going to get killed,’ says Will Gadd, a paraglider, climber and kayaker. Fear was built into us as a survival mechanism, to keep us alert in a world full of danger. The basic machinery is the same in all mammals. As scientists now understand it, fear and courage alike are the products of a continual conversation, sometimes fast and heated, involving three parts of the brain: the amygdala, the hippocampus, and the prefrontal cortex. (See the brain feature on page 18.)

The amygdala is fear central. It has a type of inbox that comes programmed with innate fears (of snakes, for instance) and also forms vivid memories of new things that scare us (such as a close call with an avalanche). The amygdala’s inbox is constantly scanning for these threats, and any hint of them triggers the amygdala’s outbox to fire off the signals that produce a fear response: fight, flight or freeze mode. By the time the conscious brain catches on and says, ‘Snake!’ three-tenths of a

second later, this subconscious early warning system has already stopped you dead in your tracks. The hippocampus helps put your fears in context. It’s what tells you to be less afraid when the snake is in a zoo and more afraid when it is in a forest. Some people have a bigger, more active hippocampus, and it seems to make them more resilient. They

underside of the prefrontal cortex. Courage, it turns out, is largely a product of the pea-size region known as the ventral-medial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). This obscure patch of brain is what moderates the fear response in the amygdala. It’s where we learn when not to be afraid, and how to move forward despite our fears – a process scientists refer to as ‘extinction training’.

may be tumbling down the second-highest mountain in the world, deafened and blinded by an avalanche, but they still somehow manage to know up from down and focus on doing the right thing. Other people, with a less robust hippocampus, become disoriented by stress. What really excites fear researchers is the third party to this conversation, an area of the brain just behind the eyes, on the

Human beings are built to recall things that scare us badly. Having our emotions dictate memory helps keep us alive. The hormones that cause you to feel fear – raising your heart rate and your blood pressure – also cause you to remember. Noradrenaline in the brain grabs the amygdala by the inbox and yells, ‘Hey! This is important!’ It can keep on yelling for hours after the incident, until the scary details are consolidated, with the help of the hippocampus, and become a long-term memory. Therefore natural selection favours vivid fear memory. But fear memory alone isn’t enough. So we have also evolved extinction training, a process by which we extinguish the fear. We don’t forget the event that scared us. Instead, we gradually form a new memory in the vmPFC. By going back to the glacier and crossing it again and again, properly prepared now, we define the threat more precisely and learn when not to be scared. For instance, crevasses tend to occur on convex slopes. So climbers learn to be less worried on flat or concave surfaces. Learning essential skills also helps us to control fear. When a beginner feels one foot go into a crevasse, his panicky amygdala

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PSYCHOLOGY response can make him freeze and crash on through. But an experienced climber learns to suppress the response and jump forward.

The ability to get past the fear is a common theme among extreme athletes. Partly, they get there through training, experience, and breaking a problem down into steps; and partly, research now suggests, they get there through being biologically suited. The architecture of the brain itself may also enable some people to be better at handling fear without getting rattled. However, the most intriguing and counter-intuitive tool for handling fear does not require putting anything in the body, yet it produces significant structural and functional changes in the brain. In one meditation study, University of Wisconsin psychologist Richard Davidson used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to look at the brains of ordinary workers at a local company. Some people had more activity in the right side of the prefrontal cortex, an area associated with fear and withdrawal; others had a higher level of activity on the left side, an area associated with being positive and moving forward. Then test subjects began an organised programme of daily meditation. After just eight weeks, Davidson found that the balance of activity in the prefrontal cortex in these test subjects had shifted by as much as 15% to the less fearful left side.

WEIRD FEARS

Despite the old belief that our brain cells dwindle away and won’t be replaced as we age, Davidson’s evidence suggests that we can in fact make long-term improvements in the brain, particularly in structures associated with fear. Scientists have also recently demonstrated new cell growth in the hippocampus of adult human beings, and they theorise that physical exercise is a key contributing factor. Fear researchers have simply opened up the traditional toolbox of courage, expanded it a little, and added an instruction manual on the oldest challenge in the struggle for survival: how to do what needs to be done even in the face of death. It isn’t really about the fear, says climber Jack Tackle. ‘It’s not about being afraid, or being an adrenaline junkie. It’s about the ability to stay focused and keep solving the problem.’ Scientists have made real progress in teasing out the fear machinery of one man’s mind. But what about the peculiar process that takes shape when a group of minds comes together? Why does courage occur more readily in a tightly bonded band of brothers? Why is it so often contagious? What is the chemistry of pride that makes a person stand even when the fear centres of his brain say he should run? What makes an ordinary man risk his life to save a stranger? Neuroscientists are just beginning to answer these questions. Meanwhile, they have at least given us a few good tools to help when our own moment of fear comes knocking at the door.

Phobias are irrational fears – the fear of something that is unlikely to happen or not really dangerous. You’ve probably outgrown lachanophobia (the fear of vegetables) and achluophobia (the fear of the dark) but are there still days when you’d rather not go to school? Try telling the principal you suffer from didaskaleinophobia (the fear of going to school). Better still, get a medical certificate to prove it – unless you suffer from latrophobia, the fear of doctors, or katagelophobia, fear of ridicule. Everyone is scared of something; check out some of these unusual phobias. Alektorophobia – fear of chickens Alliumphobia – fear of garlic Arachibutyrophobia – fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth Barophobia – fear of gravity Cnidophobia – fear of string Consecotaleophobia – fear of chopsticks Helmintophobia – fear of being infested with worms Hippopotomonstrosequippedaliophobia – fear of long words Melophobia – fear of music Venustraphobia – fear of beautiful women Papyrophobia – fear of paper Philophobia – fear of falling in love Thaasophobia – fear of sitting Find more at <www.phobialist.com>. WHAT’S YOUR PHOBIA?

Scared of spiders, slime or sausage rolls? Tell us what frightens you in the Chat forum at <www.hip2b2.com>.

!"#$%&'(( *

+,+,-. /0120// 3M

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LARGEST INTERNAL ORGAN The liver is the largest internal organ in the adult body and performs over 100 bodily functions.

MOST MOBILE JOINT The shoulder joint moves very easily as it is held in place by muscle, not bones. Sadly, this increases the risk of dislocating it.

MOST ACTIVE MUSCLE Believe it or not, it’s estimated that eye muscles move more than 100 000 times a day (including while we sleep). That’s quite a busy job for such a tiny muscle.

UNIQUE MUSCLE The only place cardiac muscles are found is in your heart. What makes them extra special is that they never tire or rest.

STRONGEST MUSCLE Your strongest weapon is your mouth – literally. The masseter is a paired muscle (one on each side of the mouth), which is responsible for biting.

SMALLEST BONE The stirrup, found deep in your ear, is smaller than a grain of rice.

FAST FACT Our ears and the end of our nose are made of cartilage, which decays faster than bones after we die. That’s why there are no ears or noses on the skulls of skeletons.

Explore the smart workings of the human body.

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SOURCES: GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS <WWW.GUINNESSWORLDRECORDS.COM> AND WORLD WIDE WEB • PHOTOGRAPH: GALLO IMAGES/GETTYIMAGES.COM

FAST FACT Each of us has a unique tongue print, but identical twins don’t have identical fingerprints – DNA does not control finger skin patterns.

LARGEST EXTERNAL ORGAN It might seem strange but the skin is our largest organ because it is adapted for particular functions, namely protection, insulation and temperature control.

LONGEST BONE The longer your femur, the taller you’ll be – it makes up almost ¼ of your total height.

DID YOU KNOW? A man’s pelvis is narrower and deeper than a woman’s. A woman’s pelvis is wider and shallower so that it will be easier for a baby to pass through when a woman gives birth.

MOST SUPPORTIVE BONES Your calcaneus, or heel bone, and the talus, are the two largest bones in your feet and carry most of your weight.

DID YOU KNOW? The kneecaps of babies only start to turn to bone (ossify) at three years of age. Before that they are made of cartilage. There is a condition called Nail Patella Syndrome in which a baby can be born without kneecaps.

STRONGEST JOINT The head of the hip joint fits almost perfectly into the socket of the pelvis, so it’s the most difficult to dislocate.

LARGEST MUSCLE Don’t complain that your bum is too big; it’s meant to be. The heaviest of our muscles is usually the gluteus maximus or buttock muscles.

INSPECT THE EARTH

SCI DIY

Are you cut out for a career examining rocks, mountains and the earth’s natural resources? Do this experiment as your first test.

E XPE RI M EN T W IT H P OR O S I TY Geologists lead exciting lives: they study the link between the atmosphere, the earth, the ocean … and life. They study the earth’s surface in order to predict the possibility of disasters such as earthquakes. So they need to know how porous substances or formations are. How porous are the different types of sandstone such as gravel, sand and silt? Do the following experiment to find out.

WHAT YOU NEED gravel • sand • silt • two glass or plastic 500 ml measuring jugs • water

HOW TO DO IT 1 Fill one measuring jug with 350 ml gravel, sand or silt, whichever one you choose to test first. 2 Fill the other jug to the 500 ml mark with water. 3 Carefully pour the water into the first jug until it covers all the gravel. Record exactly how much water you use, which is the difference between 500 ml and what remains in the jug. 4 Go ahead and follow the same steps for the sand and the silt.

HOW TO DO THE SUM Divide the quantity of water you used by the total volume of the material, then express this result as a percentage. For example if you were able to add 120 ml water to 350 ml gravel, the result would be: 120 ml = 0,3428 = 34,28% 350 ml Therefore, the porosity of the gravel is 34,28%. Got it! Now try this experiment with the rest of the materials.

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ADVERTORIAL

EXPERIMENT: ADAPTED FROM < WWW.SEED.SLB.COM> • PHOTOGRAPHS: DENVER HENDRICKS, iSTOCK PHOTOS

RE ACH IN G N EW FRO NTI ER S

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Sasol is not just another fuel company. It is innovative beyond belief, going right back to the company’s origins, which grew out of the wacky idea of turning coal into petrol. Sasol uses science to create magic and improve lives, and it is an established market leader in the energy industry. Renowned as an excellent employer, it also offers exceptional opportunities for talented individuals. The Sasol bursary scheme is highly sought-after and aims to attract outstanding individuals to the organisation, specifically students who are genuinely interested in mathematics and science. The goal, therefore, is to provide students with the curiosity, enthusiasm and zest necessary to appreciate science and mathematics as subjects of learning for everyone, not just scientists. If you feel you have what it takes to work for this dynamic, market-leading company, find out if you qualify for its bursary scheme by visiting <www.sasolbursaries.com> or calling 0860 106 235. Bursaries are on offer for full-time university studies in the disciplines: BSc Engineering, BSc and BCom. An equal-opportunity employer, Sasol awards bursaries to deserving students of all population groups.

Choose a great career in science GEOLOGY How did Mount Everest get so enormous … and how did it get there? These are the types of questions geologists can answer. They are the scientists who study the link between the atmosphere, the earth, the ocean and life. In this field you learn how gems, gold, rocks (including mountains) and all kinds of industrial minerals such as coal, oil, gas, water and uranium are formed. The study of geology is not just to uncover the earth’s resources but to examine the causes of natural disasters such as earthquakes, landslides and volcanos. This career will suit you if you’re patient by nature, since research takes time. You’d have lots of opportunities to visit interesting places to study rocks, mountains, water, minerals and even volcanoes erupting in Iceland.

Do you want to be a geologist? You need at least a C symbol in mathematics and physical science on higher grade to register at a tertiary institution. UCT and Wits University offer a three-year Bachelor of Science degree (BSc) in geology. You can study for a fourth year for a BSc Honours degree, which is needed if you want to register as a natural scientist.

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BODY SMART

Keep your pearly whites

enamel wears down and reveals the darker dentine below. Teeth also collect stains, often caused by caffeinated drinks and smoking, so those should be avoided. SWEET THINGS

Most of us manage to avoid that pesky drill with skill and trickery: ‘Mom, I have a test today. I won’t be able to make my dentist appointment.’ Before going to sit in the dentist’s chair, it may help to know that he’ll check the health of your teeth and gums, then he’ll look for plaque and tooth decay. WHAT IS PLAQUE?

It is a build-up of various types of bacteria, also called biofilms, that cling to your teeth and consume sugars in the foods that pass through your mouth. What causes tooth decay? Bacteria thrive on anything that contains sugars or starch. The guys in the outer layer are exposed to oxygen and those beneath (the anaerobes) are not, and they therefore digest sugar differently and produce different waste products. The anaerobes produce acids that eat away at the enamel (the hard coating of your teeth) and tooth decay is the result. Why are some teeth whiter than others? First, our genes determine the natural colour of your teeth. Then, as you get older, the

Your diet plays a major role in the health of your teeth (and the girth of your belly). As you know, sugar is the main enemy and it also depends on how much you eat, what type it is and when you eat it. What type? Dentists agree that sucking sweets (including breath mints) can cause the most damage because your teeth are exposed to the sugar for longer periods of time. Fizzy drinks are also a no-no. The sweeter the snack, the happier the bacteria, and they especially love the little bits that get stuck between your teeth. The more sweets you guzzle, the worse off you will be. When? You should avoid eating sugary foods before you go to sleep because your mouth doesn’t make enough saliva to protect your pearlies during the night.

Ensure that you look after your teeth and gums by following these health tips: • Brush twice a day to remove plaque. • Floss once a day to clean between your teeth where a toothbrush doesn’t reach. • Make sure your toothpaste has a very important ingredient: fluoride. • If you have sensitive teeth, use a special toothpaste, but first check with your dentist whether any underlying factors are causing the sensitivity. • Visit the dentist every six months, not just when you have toothache. While you’re there, ask the dental hygienist to clean your teeth professionally when necessary.

FA ST F AC TS • In your lifetime, you will spend a total of 38,5 days brushing your teeth. • The average guy smiles almost eight times less than the average girl – sounds like a case of tooth phobia. • You should keep your toothbrush at least two metres away from the toilet so that bacteria don’t spread to it when you flush – gross! WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Two questions for the forum: how often do you floss? (Be honest.) What do you think about tooth jewellery? Share your views with us in the forum in the Chat section at <www.hip2b2.com>.

BY KATE CARMICHAEL • PHOTOGRAPHS: GALLO IMAGES/GETTYIMAGES.COM, iSTOCK PHOTOS

There’s one thing that can make even the brave shiver in their boots: a trip to the dentist.

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BRAIN

This is the control room of your body. We all know that. But did you know that it’s the brain stem (not the large lump of grey stuff) that makes your heart beat faster? The brain stem (see page 20) controls your involuntary muscles (heart, breathing, digestion) and passes on all messages that tell your muscles what to do – like swim. HANDS

These are the paddles you use to move through the water. Keeping your fingers together increases the resistance your hand gives to the water – some swimming instructors say your fingers should be slightly apart, but the difference is negligible. What is most important is to keep your hands relaxed. Water is about 10 times more resistant than air.

ARMS

The fastest swimming strokes, in order of speed are: • Freestyle (also called crawl) • Butterfly • Backstroke • Breaststroke

STROKE

Swimming exercises all your muscles and there is less risk of injury

SWIMMING GOGGLES

Goggles usually have a rubber seal (also called a gasket) around the edge, but competitive swimmers wear Swedish goggles that don’t have a seal – instead, the goggles fit snugly against the eye socket. You even get prescription lenses for goggles, but those are very expensive. Goggles often fog up when they have been used a few times, but a bit of spit usually prevents them from fogging. LUNGS

HEART

Even if you aren’t a great swimmer, staying afloat is as easy as holding your breath. Your body is actually 70% water – you are almost the same density as water – so only 30% of you wants to sink. All you have to do, then, is hold your breath and you will float. Most people’s lungs can hold from four to six litres of air.

Did you know that when you are in water, your heartbeat slows down (by up to 10 beats per minute)? Scientists say the reason is that your body orientation is horizontal (not vertical as it is in other sports) so your heart does not have to pump blood against gravity and therefore it can slow down.

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THE SCIENCE OF SWIMMING SWIMMING GEAR

The bodyskin, worn by competitive swimmers, is made of a type of spandex (or Lycra, the trade name) similar to the fabric dancers’ leotards are made of. It fits snugly, has less drag in the water and therefore increases speed. Adidas was the first to make a bodyskin because they wanted to increase muscle efficiency by compressing it. Speedo produces a bodyskin for backstroke.

BY STROKE

because water protects the body from jarring. The best part is it’s so much fun.

FAST FACTS

• The longest anyone has held their breath is 14 minutes and 12 seconds, a record set in 3 m of water by Tom Sietas of Germany. • In 1987, six swimmers in the Czech Republic swam 151 km under water in relay in 24 hours. • Bodybuilders are less buoyant than most people because they have more muscle (muscle is heavier than fat). Women are generally more buoyant than men, and we all get more buoyant as we get older.

FEET

Kicking helps to lift your body out of the water, therefore reducing your resistance and increasing your speed. And the bigger your feet are, the faster you will go. TORSO

In water, your body weighs only 10% of what it does on land; for example, if you weigh 70 kg, your weight in water is only 7 kg (which is why it’s so easy to pick up someone when you’re both in a pool). Most people float on their backs when they hold their breath, but some do not. This is a condition called negative buoyancy (buoyancy means ‘floatability’). It means your body is denser (heavier) than water even when your lungs are full of air.

HIPS

If you use the freestyle stroke, you don’t actually use your arm and shoulder muscles to move your hands through the water as much as your hip muscles. The hip muscles are much more powerful because they provide the power to pull your hands through the water.

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SENSATIONAL SWIMMERS

NATALIE DU TOIT

ROLAND SCHOEMAN South Africa’s Sports Star of the Year (2006) has been quietly going about the business of swimming faster than anybody else who dares to challenge him. Although he is based in America, Roland considers himself 100% proudly South African. • He has broken eight world records and currently holds three world records. • He was the first person to swim the 50 m freestyle in less than 21 seconds. • He’s the only South African to have won three medals at an Olympic Games. • Personal philosophy: ‘Believe in the impossible.’

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In 2001, Natalie du Toit was riding her scooter to school after swimming training when the unthinkable happened: a driver slammed into her and her left leg was very badly injured. Doctors were forced to amputate her leg below the knee. But Natalie clawed her way back and competed against able-bodied athletes in the 2002 Commonwealth Games. Because the use of one’s legs is more beneficial in short sprints, Natalie has discovered that longer freestyle races level the playing field, and she is aiming to participate in this format in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China.

BY AMI KAPILEVICH • PHOTOGRAPHS: GALLO IMAGES/GETTYIMAGES.COM, IMAGES24.CO.ZA/SARIE, IMAGES24.CO.ZA/YOU/ER LOMBARD, iSTOCK PHOTOS

Meet three athletes who’ve gone beyond the boundaries of human limitations.

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SWIMMING

LEWIS GORDON PUGH This endurance swimmer is best known for being the first person to swim long-distance at the North Pole, and he also holds the record for the fastest swimming time around Robben Island. • Superhuman talent: he’s able to raise his core body temperature by almost 2 °C when he’s about to enter very cold water. Professor Tim Noakes of the Sports Science Institute of South Africa has done research into this condition, called anticipatory thermogenesis.* • World-class ability: he is the only person to have swum long distance in every ocean of the world. • Swimming with a purpose: he completes all these feats to raise awareness of climate change and to encourage everyone to protect our environment. FAST FACT

• Lewis Gordon Pugh completed a recordbreaking swim at the North Pole, at –1,8 °C, the coldest water a human being has swum in.

A competitive swimmer doesn’t always train in a big pool, but can do resistance swimming in a small pool using a method to stay in the same place in the water. COUNTERCURRENT SWIMMING MACHINE

This is a small, deep pool with a machine that creates a current against which a person can swim for any period of time. The early swimming machines used jets of water like those of a Jacuzzi but this created too much turbulence (uneven currents) in the water. The modern machines use paddles. TETHER SYSTEMS

The swimmer wears a belt or harness, ankles straps or special water shoes tethered (attached) with a cord (a bungee cord is often used) to an anchor on dry land. This keeps the swimmer in one place – kind of like a leash. It is much cheaper and easier to use, but the artificial ‘drag’ or pull of the tether tends either to create waves or to influence the swimmer’s technique.

DID YOU KNOW • Ever wonder why your fingers go all wrinkly in the bath? It’s because the skin on your hands absorbs water like a sponge if left to soak for long enough. • In 1938, disabled athlete Charles Zibbleman, who had no legs, swam 235 km along the Hudson River. Three years later, he swam nonstop for 168 hours in a pool in Hawaii. *For more on anticipatory thermogenesis, visit <www.hip2b2.com>.

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AGENT MATH E. MATICS

Criminals don’t leave contact numbers at the crime scene but our crime-busting agent helps track them down. Imagine that your mom’s car was stolen and later found at an accident scene, with no sign of the perpetrator. How would the police ever find him? The car was recorded speeding on the highway but the number plate was blurred on the photo

taken by the surveillance camera. At the accident scene there are only a few tread marks and a mangled car. But the detectives manage to find a smudged fingerprint on the passenger door. Can maths come to the rescue? Let’s find out.

THE SPEEDING CAR The blurred image of the number plate can be put into focus again by using clever mathematics. Each pixel in an image has its own number or value and this determines its brightness and colour. This number changes when an image is blurred. For example, if a pixel had the value of x when it was in focus, after it was blurred it may have the value of z. What happens in between is the blurring itself (y), which also has a value. So basically, x + y = z (original pixel + blurring = new pixel). Mathematicians can work out the exact value of each of these variables and put them into a specific formula to blur an image. They use this same formula backwards to do the opposite; in other words, to put a blurred image into focus again.

D S S O R C T O N O D E IN L E IC L O P OSS R C T O N O D E IN L E IC L O P S S O E DO NOT CR WHAT IS A PIXEL?

A pixel is the abbreviation for ‘picture element’, which is a single point in an image. Every image that is printed or viewed on your computer is made up of thousands of pixels. It is just like a puzzle: every pixel is a piece and when put together with other pixels it makes a complete image. A good photo usually has about 300 pixels per inch.

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8/8/07 10:11:24 AM

I L O P S S O R C T O N O D E IN L ICE L O P S S O R C T O N O D E IN L POLICE &OR*NSIC MA!0S

DECODING THE FINGERPRINT

BY MICHELLE MINNAAR • PHOTOGRAPHS: GALLO IMAGES/GETTYIMAGES.COM, iSTOCK PHOTOS

THE ACCIDENT

How do we know whether the car was speeding when it was involved in the accident? Forensic analysts are able to reconstruct the accident by examining the damage to the car and the skid marks. The marks on the road are caused by the speed of the car, braking force, and friction between the tyres and the road. By measuring the length of the skid marks left by the car, analysts can determine how fast the car was moving before it crashed. This is the formula analysts use:

uC R O S S S DO NsO=T2μg 2

s = length of the skid u = speed of the car g = acceleration due to gravity μ = coefficient of friction times braking efficiency (the effect that the road has on the speed of the car) As you can see, it all comes down to simple maths: the faster the car was moving, the longer the skid marks will be.

!"#$%&'()!*+.)-.. 0

A blurred fingerprint, like the one found on the car, is useless because its unique swirls and lines have been smudged. However, by using maths to run the blurring process backwards, forensic scientists are able to clean up the fingerprint and create a clear image. (This is done in the same way as the blurred number plate was put into focus.) The ‘deblurred’ fingerprint can be checked against millions of existing prints in the fingerprint database. Using a technique called multiscale analysis, the fingerprint is analysed and compared on many different scales or positions. Each pixel of the print is compared with the exact same position on each and every other print on the database to find the perfect match. Hundreds of comparisons can be made each second by computers.

!R# I! &OR #OURS*+& Take your fingerprint (your thumb is best) by pressing it on an ink pad and placing it on a clean sheet of paper. Use a photocopier to enlarge your print to about the size of your hand. Do the same with your friend’s print on another sheet of paper. Now comes the maths: using a ruler, draw a grid on a transparent sheet of paper, with the lines 5 mm apart horizontally and vertically. Mark each line, for example, 5 mm, 10 mm, and so on. Place this grid over your fingerprint and mark about 10 points of your print on the grid. Now place the marked grid on your friend’s fingerprint and see if any of the marks match the same places on that print. You will find that very few places match, if any at all. This is how fingerprints are analysed by forensic scientists, except they use computers that can analyse hundreds more points for each fingerprint much faster and much more accurately.

C A S * S O + 1 * D Maths has put a blurred image into focus, determined the speed of a car involved in an accident, corrected the image of a smudged fingerprint, and searched for matching prints in an existing database. So not only can police find the man who stole the car but they can also charge him for speeding and causing an accident. Brilliant, isn’t it?

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ED FE ME

SIMPLE AND COMPOUND

IN#$R$S#

You might not win big on Deal or No Deal, but there are ways to save yourself to success. Not everyone will win a million but, with the principles of simple and compound interest, you could save your way there … over a few years, of course. When you deposit money into your bank account, you will earn interest on this money, which is calculated daily. The more money you deposit, the more interest you will earn.

HOW TO CALCULATE COMPOUND INTEREST

Compound interest is paid on the principal (the original amount) and on the accumulated interest. P=C 1+r n

HOW TO CALCULATE SIMPLE INTEREST

Simple interest is determined by multiplying the principal (the original amount) by the interest rate (per period) by the number of time periods (time frame). Simple interest is generally charged for short periods of time. C x r x t = interest earned Final value = C + interest earned

where: P = future value C = initial deposit r = interest rate per year (expressed as a fraction: for example, 6% = 0,06) n = number of times interest is compounded per year t = number of years

where: C = initial deposit r = interest rate (expressed as a fraction: for example, 6% = 0,06) t = time (in years) invested.

And when interest is compounded only once a year (n = 1), the equation is simplified to: P = C (1 + r) t

DEFINITIONS Per cent Per means ‘in every’. Cent is Latin for 100. So, 5% means 5 in every 100 or 5 or 1 100 20 To calculate %, you turn the per cent into a fraction and multiply it by the main amount. For example, 12% of R50 = 12 x R50 100 1 = R6

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WORK IT OUT FOR YOURSELF

QUESTION 1 How much is 10% of R200? QUESTION 2 If you invest R10 000 for seven years at a simple interest rate of 6%, how much interest will you earn? QUESTION 3 If you deposited R20 000 in a special savings account and didn’t touch the money for seven years, how much would your investment be worth based on a 6% annual compound interest rate?

8/7/07 10:09:23 AM

SMART MATHS MAKE YOUR OWN MILLION

COMPARE YOUR INTEREST

Look at the difference it makes when you invest R600 at the beginning of each year for five years at 6% using simple interest and compound interest. What you do with the interest makes the difference between simple and compound interest. If you withdraw the interest each year and spend it, you basically earn simple interest. If you leave the interest in the account and it accumulates with the principal amount, you earn compound interest. TOTAL INVESTMENT

Year Investment

SIMPLE INTEREST

Interest

COMPOUND INTEREST

Accumulated Investment interest

Accumulated interest

R600,00

R36,00

R600,00

R36,00

R1 200,00

R72,00

R108,00

R1 236,00

R146,16

R1 800,00

R108,00

R216,00

R1 910,16

R370,93

R2 400,00

R144,00

R360,00

R2 624,77

R753,19

R3 000,00

R180,00

R540,00

R3 382,26

R1 338,38

SOLUTIONS

QUESTION 2 C x r x t = future value R10 000 x 6 x 7 = R4 200 in interest. 100 Your initial investment of R10 000 will be worth R14 200 after seven years. This may sound like a lot of money, but it’s better to invest using compound interest. QUESTION 1 10 x R200 100 1 = R20

BY LIVING MATHS • PHOTOGRAPHS: iSTOCK PHOTOS

QUESTION 3 nt P=C 1+r n = R20 000 (1 + 0,06)7 = R30 072,61 You earn more than R10 000 over and above your initial investment – this is what people mean when they say ‘let your money work for you!’ Visit <wwww.livingmaths.com>.

!"#$% "#%'!()*+,, -

If you want to become a millionaire, here’s the way to do it via the principles of interest. First you need R10 000, which you deposit into your bank account and leave it to earn a compound interest rate of 9% for about 53,5 years. Without touching your money, you will end up earning more than R1 million. Reduce the amount of time to reach R1 million by making more deposits (money from birthdays, and so on). If you can add a few more thousand rand you will reach the R1-million mark in less than 30 years. As soon as you earn a salary, you can save money every month and could reach R1 million in less than 15 years. So start saving now! SAVING TIPS • Draw up a budget – when you commit to a written budget, you tend to stick to it. • Keep a diary of what you spend in a week to work out where you can save. • Find creative ways to earn money, such as part-time work or helping around the house. • Negotiate more pocket money by proving you deserve the increase. TRY THIS AT SCHOOL Imagine replacing your favourite cola with plain tap water every day. The first week will be tough but afterwards your wallet will see the benefits. Let’s investigate: one can of cola = R4,50. So you spend R4,50 each day for seven days = R31,50 per week. Assuming there are four weeks in a month, you end up spending R126 per month. (1 can of cola x 7 days) x 4 weeks = R126 saved a month! R126 x 5 years = R7 560 (at no interest) Can you imagine what would happen if you invested this money using compound interest?

./0/10 (1213245 67

Get a smart subscription 2 for a journey on the Subscribe to Hip2b magazine and get ready

smart side of life.

Why wait? Have your copy delivered to you hot off the press! For details on how to subscribe for yourself or your school phone us on 021 417 1218 or visit the Contact Us section at <www.hip2b2.com>.

think. what you can be

subs page.indd 2

PHOTOGRAPHS: iSTOCK PHOTOS

FOR ONLY R130 YOU WILL RECEIVE EIGHT ISSUES A YEAR!

8/7/07 1:18:35 PM

BY SELENA ABELSE AND MICHELLE VILJOEN • PHOTOGRAPH: NU METRO

PRESS

INTELLIGENT ENTERTAINMENT

PLAY

THE MONTH September is African Origins Month, time to celebrate our continent’s special contribution to the evolution of the human race. It’s also ‘officially’ spring, so smile. THE PUBLIC HOLIDAY We’re the only country on earth with 11 official languages; embrace South Africa’s cultural diversity on Heritage Day on 24 September. THE MOVIES Can you build a rocket ship in a barn? Find out in The Astronaut Farmer, the story of a NASA astronaut, forced to retire early to save the family farm, who has never given up his dream of space travel. It opens 7 September – the same day as No Reservations, which stars Catherine Zeta-Jones as a successful chef whose life turns upside down when her young niece and romance enter the picture. To prepare for the role, Catherine did a stint as a server in a New York restaurant; when patrons remarked on her similarity to the Hollywood star she’d reply, ‘I hear that all the time.’ • Opening 14 September: Stardust, a fairy tale in which a young man from England ventures into a magical land to prove his love to a beautiful lady, and Nancy Drew, in which the charming young detective of the same name travels to LA with her father on a business trip and ends up trying to solve a murder mystery. • Pixar’s latest animated movie, Ratatouille, opening on 21 September, is about the adventures of Remy, a rat who dreams of becoming a chef in Paris. If you love the movie, play ... THE GAME The Ratatouille multiplatform action game has a wide variety of missions, as well as mini-games and a multiplayer option.

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THE CONCERTS She’s coming out! Catch Pink live: 8 September at the Sun City Superbowl, 9 September at the Coca-Cola Dome in Johannesburg and 11 September at Cape Town’s Bellville Velodrome. Book your tickets through <www.computicket.com> or call 083 915 8000 for details. • Join local rockers Wonderboom on tour. The band plays on 12 September at the 88 Lounge in Norwood, on 15 September at JHB Day in Randburg, and on 28 September at Café Barcelona, Pretoria. THE EVENTS Not up for the 75 km FNB Swartland MTB Funrace on 1 September? Why not try the 25 km or 50 km mountain-bike race instead? Call 083 611 8515 or visit <www.live2ride.co.za/swartlandmtb/> for details. • Are you keen to live a drug-free life, making smart, positive choices about your future? Rock on at the ARA Be Your Best Rock Challenge, Standard Bank Arena, Gauteng, on 5 and 6 September. Call 011 906 6559 to find out when they’ll be in your area. • Budding palaeontologists can make a dinosaur with clay and paint daily from 22 to 29 September in Randburg. Call Melody on 011 791 4781/2 for workshop info. • Learn all about computers, gaming and technology at the biggest rAge expo yet; Coca-Cola Dome, Northgate from 28 to 30 September. Details at <www.rageexpo.co.za>. THE FESTIVALS Enjoy the annual Aardklop Nasionale Kunstefees in Potchefstroom from 24 to 29 September. • View the world’s biggest mammals and enjoy the festivities at the Hermanus Whale Festival from 21 to 29 September. Visit <www.whalefestival.co.za> for details.

8/8/07 11:13:39 AM

OPINION: MUSIC +ID-OS The Parlotones’ latest music video, for the song ‘I’ll Be There’, combines the animated realm that includes a knight, a dragon and, of course, a damsel in distress with the real world of live actors and events. Marco Raposo de Barbosa, director and lead flame artist at post-production studio Black Ginger, explains how the team worked with both techniques. What’s your favourite scene in the video? At the moment, the scene where the knight gets up and the camera tracks around him to reveal the dragon behind him. What is the best aspect of the production process? I love the part near the end where it all starts coming together – that’s a long

Director Marco Raposo de Barbosa takes us behind the scenes of

The Parlotones’

How long does the process take? Claudio Pavan, one of our animators, came up with the idea in November 2006. We are busy with the animation, grading and compositing, and should finish in October. The animation is the most time-consuming.

What tools and techniques were used? We’re using some of the latest animation techniques and some great equipment (not usually available on a tight budget), such as a Steadicam and a specialised lens, the T-Rex Lens System, for shots in which we track just above the ground, framing the animated characters. It’s about a metre long and the lens can get right on the ground. We put it on the Steadicam to get sweeping organic angles for the animation shots.

Did you write any new software? We wrote various pieces of simple software to allow us to streamline our production pipeline, but we didn’t write anything very complex. We have also made tools to help with file management and conversions.

What is a Steadicam? It’s a device that’s strapped onto a person and has a springloaded arm the camera is attached to. The arm absorbs vibrations and bounce so that the operator can run while filming and the picture stays smooth and bump-free.

way off. The shoot was frantic, good fun. Everyone really pulled together to produce the video, with very little or no financial reward, so that’s been amazing.

The Parlotones are ... from left: Niel Pauw, Glen Hodgson and Paul Hodgson, and Kahn Morbee (in front) The sound Indie rock Awards 2006 Best Rock Album SAMA for Radiocontrolledrobot. New album ‘A World Next Door To Yours is a blend of edgy and easy – the edgy songs rock hard and the commercial songs are upbeat and poppy. We’ve matured in terms of song-writing and ability. Lyrically, I’m inspired by [R.E.M.’s] Michael Stipe and The Smiths; more recent influences include The Killers and Interpol,’ says Kahn. Release date 27 September 2007 More info <www.parlotones.co.za>

press video.indd 2

The CDs reviewed on page 42 can be ordered online in the Chill Guide at <www.hip2b2.com>.

8/7/07 11:24:41 AM

latest music video, which is in production right now. The animation process takes place in stages. First, wire-frame models of the characters are created using Softimage|XSI, a 3D-animation software package. Then shaders are applied to the models to create the surface attributes – in this case the texture, specularity and reflectivity of tin foil. Next, the camera angle and lighting are matched to the live-action plates and the renderer calculates all these attributes to create a final CG (computer generated) image. HDRI (high dynamic range radiance imaging) techniques are used to simulate the lighting of the environment more accurately. The final step is to combine the CG and live action using Autodesk Flame compositing software.

BY MICHELLE VILJOEN • PHOTOGRAPHS: BLACK GINGER, DREAMWORKS SKG, SOVEREIGN ENTERTAINMENT

Was it difficult to combine live action (real world) with animated characters? It is always a challenge to create computergenerated images that look real. Our characters in the video are clearly animated but we want them to look as if they are really in the scene. To do this, we have to pay particular attention to lighting and shadowing and the subtle interactions with the environment, such as dust. The animated characters are modelled out of tin foil. How did you deal with the lighting challenges this created? Tin foil is actually quite forgiving from a lighting point of view. Because it is almost completely reflective, the light has very little effect on the look, while reflections play a much bigger part. We developed a 3D shader that cheated the look slightly to give the characters more shape by adding shadowing to unlit areas.

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DO YOU DREAM OF CREATING YOUR OWN VIRTUAL WORLD? Marco Raposo de Barbosa of Black Ginger tells us more about the animation business. What are the jobs available in animation? It’s a field with many disciplines. There is character animation, such as Shrek, and effects animation, which involves dynamic simulations of natural forces and properties, such as smoke, liquid and fire. There is the lighting, texturing and rendering side of things and also the in-depth technical side, which involves scripting and programming of new tools. To put it all together, the compositing side is fairly diverse and involved. What’s the best way to get into the business? There are colleges that specialise in character animation. You can also study computer science at university, which is far more technical and programmingbased, but it can lead to a career in computer graphics. Once you’ve studied, getting into a company that does good work will enable you to learn very quickly. No course teaches you to be ready for productions, so on-the-job training will probably be the most intense part of your development.

8/7/07 11:25:01 AM

The Parlotones’

!ahn &orbee reviews the latest grunge and indie CDs. LANGUAGE LAB

THE SMASHING PUMPKINS

Zeitgeist I’ve been a fan since Siamese Dream (1993) and Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness, the double-album follow-up (2005). SP stood out on the Chicago grunge scene because the music, although edgy, had a pop sensibility – it’s what made SP a mega-band. On Zeitgeist, the band’s first album in seven years, it has deviated from the pop element; although the songs are interesting, they are not immediately memorable. When I was at school, one of the best things about a new album was singing along – SP always includes the lyrics (few alternative bands do). Front man-singer-songwriter Billy Corgan still produces good lyrics – I sometimes have no clue what he’s singing about, but I still appreciate the metaphorical descriptions. Like this? Try Velvet Revolver and, locally, Sick Leaves and Driverlane. (Driverlane wrote the theme for the Crazy Monkey movie Footskating 101.) INTERPOL

Our Love To Admire I’m such a big fan of this New York indie rock outfit that ‘Evil’ (off Antics, their second album) is on my top-50 list. The group’s catchy yet edgy songs made it pioneers of the post-punk generation, but it’s been almost leapfrogged by bands more in touch with what the record-buying public wants. I like the group’s nonconformist approach but don’t think it has mass appeal. The guitar sound on Interpol is organic and not overly produced. ‘Pioneer to the Falls’ brilliantly blends fullness and sparseness (the percussion is removed at intervals) – the dynamics lift you up and bring you down. ‘Rest My Chemistry’ and ‘Heinrich Maneuver’ have the most commercial appeal. Like this? Try The Editors, Joy Division, The Strokes and, locally, The Black Hotels. THE CINEMATICS

A Strange Education These brilliant Scottish rockers are relatively new to the indie scene (2003). Stylistically, vocally and lyrically the band reminds me of ’80s bands The Cure, The Mission and The Smiths. Indie recently had a huge revival and, being an indie kid, I’m in my element. Stand-out tracks: ‘A Strange Education’, ‘Human’ and ‘Sunday Sun’. Like this? Try The Killers, Kaiser Chiefs, Muse and, locally, ahem … The Parlotones, The Black Hotels and Taxi Violence.

press video.indd ,

Indie (adj) Short for independent (that is, not signed to a major label). It originated in the UK in the ’80s and describes a less commercial style characterised by jangly guitars, overt English accents and, often, ironic lyrics. The Smiths, The Cure and The Stone Roses, pioneers of the genre, inspired a crop of ’90s bands such as Blur, Pulp and Oasis. New-millennium indie bands: Franz Ferdinand, Kasabian, Kaiser Chiefs. Grunge (n) Alternative-rock style that originated in Seattle, Washington, in the late ’80s. Aka the Seattle Sound, it is characterised by hard drumming, distorted guitars and elements of ’70s punk and heavy metal. Lyrics explore darker themes like apathy, anger and alienation. Era-defining moment: Nirvana’s 1991 ‘Smells like Teen Spirit’ on the album Nevermind. Want more? Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains, L7, Stone Temple Pilots. Zeitgeist (n) Spirit or general outlook of a specific time period. Example: ‘Green living, iPods and Facebook reflect the current Zeitgeist.’ Melancholy (n) (pronounced mellon collie) Sad, thoughtful state of mind.

COMPILED BY NIKKI BENATAR • PHOTOGRAPHS: EMI, GALLO, JUST MUSIC

OPINION: MUSIC

WHAT KAHN IS LISTENING TO

The Shins Wincing the Night Away The Smiths Louder Than Bombs The Parlotones A World Next Door to Yours Elton John Rocket Man: Number Ones R.E.M. In Time: The Best of

8/7/07 11:24:2, AM

!"#$%&%'( Fancy yourself a great writer? We are giving away five Hip2b2 MP3 players to the winning poems or lyrics, to be published on the Community of Hip page. See the ed’s letter on page 2 for details. !"#$%&%' *%+$, MP3 player

We have three great CDs to give away to lucky readers this month: Ne-Yo’s Because of You, the Shrek the Third soundtrack album and Bobby Valentino’s Special Occasion. !"#$%&%' *%+$, Ne-Yo !"#$%&%' *%+$, Shrek the Third !"#$%&%' *%+$, Bobby Valentino

!"#$$ &'(#)*'+(( ,

-. $*-$/

Write to: Hip2b2 Giveaway, PO Box 440, Green Point 8051 or email <win@hip2b2.com>. Please include the name of the giveaway, your name, contact details, school and grade. The closing date is 30 September 2007. Winners will be notified and their names will be published on the website.

-./.0/ ,12314/ 56

!"#$#!$% 'A)*+

PlayStation 2 game

!antastic !our: Rise of the Silver Surfer reviewed by you.

Play alone or with a friend as all four heroes in the second Fantastic Four movie: Mr Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch and The Thing. Switch between the characters whenever you want and use their special abilities to beat the onslaught of bad guys as well as a number of boss characters, including the Silver Surfer and Dr Doom. Throughout the game you can search for special tokens and earn new abilities as you gain experience and level up. The game is a third-person action adventure with an angled top-down perspective. This game can be ordered online at <www.hip2b2.com>. $#C-!.A+ /0$$

Grade 9, Hoërskool Uitsig The graphics are pretty good during the actual gameplay, but when the subtitles come on the men look a little blocky. The controls took some getting used to, but after that it’s pretty easy.

)*26. 4*$T7*.

Grade 9, Sutherland High School The graphics are very clear, but not the writing. It was easy to control the characters but there wasn’t much of a storyline – just kill the bad guys. I would have made the characters’ speech clearer.

Grade 9, Hoërskool Uitsig The sound is good but you can’t hear what the characters are saying. The responsiveness of the controls is good, but swapping players is a bit hard because it sometimes switches to a person that you don’t want.

/*2*5 /0 ".*++#+

5!$2A/ 1*C5

2*A1*T+4A )!A1#

Grade 9, Sutherland High School The text for the objectives and the help is too small and it’s difficult to read. It’s a nice game, but I don’t like the fact that the only mission is fighting: you open doors and then they all fight …

!ress games.indd 2

Grade 10, Hoërskool Zwartkop I would have preferred a first-person camera angle, a better intro, more music in the background and that the voices were a little louder. I found it easy to control and switching between characters was easy.

Grade 9, Hoërskool Uitsig There’s no real storyline, just kill, kill, kill. The text was big enough but not very clear. The characters’ attacks were brilliant. After a while it charges up so you can execute a big move, which is quite exciting.

BY MANDY J WATSON • PHOTOGRAPHS: DAVID WESSELS, <WWW.MOBYGAMES.COM> • GAME SUPPLIED BY STER-KINEKOR GAMES <WWW.PLAYSTATION.CO.ZA>

/A$#*. 10'*2A

Would you or your class like to be part of our Game Lab? Send your contact details to: Hip2b2 Game Lab, PO Box 440, Green Point 8051 or email <talk2us@hip2b2.com>.

./0/00 4:44:45 !6

Why music is important in games.

IN GAM IN I C Although music is S

• GAME SUPPLIED BY STER KINEKOR GAMES <WWW.PLAYSTATION.CO.ZA>

in the background of a game and you don’t always notice it, or the sound design, music is one of the important Retro gaming and tracking The Japanese influence components of gameplay. It is used to indicate In the late ’80s game music was Japanese game developers and when an ability-boost pickup is wearing off or if your revolutionised with the MOD file musicians are pioneers when it shield is about to die. It can tell you that a dangerous format and a program called comes to game soundtracks. enemy is approaching, or that you’ve found an important Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto treasure. It also adds to your emotions when a character dies. Ultimate SoundTracker, <www.miyamotoshrine.com> Important characters and situations are often given their own which was is one of the world’s themes, which can be woven into the soundtrack and written for most famous game then heard when the character appears on screen. This the Amiga designers. He has is called a ‘leitmotif’. Composers can use leitmotifs computer. The created and worked to tell more of a story without using dialogue. MOD fi le format on hundreds of Meanwhile intense, fast-paced music gets your allowed four game characters adrenaline going so that you’re amped for the sounds to be played and games, next boss battle. It puts your brain into the back simultaneously. including the Mario right mode for an important high-speed In the early ’90s this Brothers games, Donkey race on a difficult track. Most games technology made Kong and The Legend of Zelda, which is without music would just be, its way to the PC and tracking, as the considered by many to be the best game well, boring. ever made. His compositions and sound effects for the 1985 game Super Mario Bros, as well as how they were incorporated in the game, set a new standard for sound design in games. The Final Fantasy series of games, which debuted in 1987, is famous for its amazing music, which is as good as the kind of music you would hear in a film. Nobuo Uematsu <en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Nobuo_Uematsu> composed the score for the first game, as well as for many of the sequels. His styles vary from classical to electronica and rock. His music for Final Fantasy VI is one of the most loved video-game soundtracks.

A symphony from a speaker? How did programmers get a dinky speaker to produce music before there were digital samples, sound cards, and surround sound? Using a programming language the programmer would tell the computer to tell the speaker what kind of sound to make by programming the duration of the sound and its tone in code. The computer would then convert from the code into an analogue sound wave (basically, a beep) that the speaker could play. Expert programmers could code amazing sounds that sounded like music and not just bad beeping by using lots of different tones quickly.

composing was called, became a popular pastime for computer enthusiasts. Game soundtracks went from bad speaker beeps to full-on sampled heaven. One of the most famous games to use MOD files was Star Control II: The Ur-Quan Masters, which was released in 1992. You can find out more about the game at MobyGames <www.mobygames.com/ game/dos/star-control-ii> or download it at SourceForge <sc2.sourceforge.net>. The music for the game inspired a whole new generation of composers. Modern games such as the Unreal series still use tracking music, although the foursound limitation no longer exists.

Visit OverClocked ReMix <www.ocremix.org> for MP3s of remixed game soundtrack themes and favourite tunes. All the music is free because it’s composed and uploaded by the gaming community.

Press games.indd 3

8/7/07 11:30:35 AM

OPINION: BOOKS

Coconut, written by South African medical student Kopano Matlwa, reviewed by you. ELZETTE WANNENBURG

SHAVNA SINGH

Grade 11, Westville Girls’ High School, Durban

I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It revolves around how people of colour have changed and what inner battles they face as a result of the new South Africa. For me, the main message of the book is to appreciate your culture and way of life, and always to see the positive aspects of what you have. There is always someone who really wants what you have but doesn’t always get it. The title is appropriate because Ofilwe lives in an upmarket part of Johannesburg, always speaks English and does not take part in her customs, while Fikile (Fiks) hates black people (even though she is one) and wants to live her life Westernised. Another title for this book could be Rainbowless Nation because the two main characters don’t embrace who they really are. My favourite part is when Fikile is on the bus going back home and one of the commuters tells her how he feels about apartheid-free South Africa: that black people have evolved, for the better, although he feels that there is still so much richness in their culture and that black people should cherish that. Many people feel that teenagers today are too Westernised and don’t appreciate their culture, so Coconut may help us understand that sometimes our lives are superficial and we need to look at our morals.

WIN THE BOOK We have three signed copies to give away. Write to: Hip2b2 Coconut Giveaway, PO Box 440, Green Point 8051 or email: <win@hip2b2.com> by 30 September 2007. Include your name, contact details, school and grade. The winners’ names will be published on the website.

This book was enjoyable. The writer used local language to bring you into the characters’ world. It is a story about the ordinary lives of ordinary people, yet it shows that there is no such thing as an ‘ordinary’ life – everyone has a completely different experience of a situation. The title is appropriate because it is a symbol of how we all try to mould ourselves to fit into the accepted standards of our society. I found it amusing when Fiks is asked what she wants to be when she grows up. She answers, ‘I want to be white.’ It is sad that she feels her success will be determined by the colour of her skin instead of by hard work and determination. Any boring bits? I think that the story took a while to get to a point. It focused a little too much on conversations with irrelevant people. If I had written it I would have focused a bit more on the points of view of the other characters, such as Ofilwe’s brother. It is a beautiful illustration of the identity struggle many young people have every day. It shows that things are not always how we assume them to be and that we should focus on changing our circumstances and outlook on life instead of trying to change ourselves and things that are impossible to change.

BY SELENA ABELSE • PHOTOGRAPHS: DENVER HENDRICKS, JACANA

Grade 11, Sutherland High School, Centurion

Would you like to write a book review for us? Send your contact details to: Hip2b2 Book Review, PO Box 440, Green Point 8051 or email: <talk2us@hip2b2.com>.

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MEET THE AUTHOR

my manuscript but was unsuccessful. After numerous unsuccessful applications, Jacana Media published my book, and I won the European Union Literary Award. What motivates you to write? The topic was important because South Africa has changed, but there are a lot of things that haven’t. I’ve experienced trouble, such as once when my friends and I wanted to enter a restaurant; the waiter told us that it was full and we could see that it wasn’t, but white people could enter.

Kopano Matlwa is a 22-year-old medical student whose debut novel Coconut recently won a European Union Literary Award. Her book is about growing up black in the white suburbs, where the cost of fitting in can be your very identity. What does the title Coconut refer to? In South Africa it’s a derogatory term used to refer to someone considered to be black on the outside and white on the inside. Is this something you’ve experienced? No. At what age did you become interested in writing? It followed on from reading a lot. I don’t remember when exactly I started writing. How long did it take to write Coconut? About three-and-a-half years, from 2002 to mid-2006. How did you find a publisher? My younger sister told me about the TV competition ‘I’m a writer’ for writers who wanted to publish their work. I sent in

What were the challenges of writing the book? I had to face the questions that I’m asking in the book and sometimes it made me uncomfortable. So I guess it was a difficult book to write. What did you enjoy most about the writing process? Being able to speak through characters. It allows me to say things I would never say. And the least? I worried about whether it was okay to read, and if people were going to like it, because I didn’t study writing. What is the message of the book? I want people to think about issues such as home language, racial differences, why black people and other cultures slaughter animals, and to start talking about them so that we can open our minds in order to understand what’s happening. Where did you grow up? All over. I was born in Mamelodi, Pretoria, then we moved to Soshanguve, also in Pretoria. I lived in Alabama, USA, for a year, and I’m now living in Midrand, Johannesburg.

Who is your favourite author? I don’t really have a favourite author but Toni Morrison I’ve loved more than I’ve hated, and the author Chimamande Ngozi Adichie who wrote Purple Hibiscus. Why is reading important? One of the best things my parents gave me was books. They open your mind to different perspectives. If you live in a home that is homophobic or church orthodox, you won’t think of your surroundings as having rigid rules; instead you will learn how to accept other people. Every child should have books to read. Any advice for aspiring authors? Write what you like to read. There are people out there who will want to read it. Don’t be discouraged.

10 BOOKS (OU MUS+ R-AD B-0OR- (OU +URN 18

Kopano Matlwa gives us her hot list … 1 Oh, the Places You’ll Go, Dr Seuss – It’s my absolute favourite book. 2 Roots, Alex Haley 3 The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison 4 Nervous Conditions, Tsitsi Dangarembga – A must-read for every young girl. 5 I Write What I Like, Steve Biko 6 The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde 7 Animal Farm, George Orwell – So relevant for every South African, especially at this time. 8 The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho – Now available in Xhosa. 9 Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë – Don’t ask me why, it’s just one of those things. 10 Life of Pi, Yann Martel – This book really opened up my mind and made me laugh out loud, hysterically.

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THINK TANK

BRAIN BUSTERS MAGIC SQUARE

FILTER

FREQUENCY

An electronic device that permits certain frequencies to pass while stopping others.

The number of vibrations or oscillations per second, measured in cycles or hertz.

SYNTHESIZER

TIMBRE

An electronic device that can be configured to make sounds electronically that imitate other instruments.

The characteristics of a sound that distinguish it from other sounds that have the same pitch and volume.

SEQUENCER

EQUALISATION

A piece of hardware or software that can modify and arrange digital musical sounds that have been stored to be used for playback.

The volume selected at a certain frequency. MIXER

A device that combines and adjusts audio signals.

OH CR UM BS

A cake must be cut into eight equal pieces, and you must do it with only three straight cuts of the knife. How do you do it?

Arrange the numbers 1 to 9 on a grid [3 x 3 blocks] so that the numbers in each row, column and diagonal add up to 15. Use each number once only.

WHICH WOR DS

What is the longest English word without any repeated letters? (CLUE: You can find the answer if you can unscramble the following letters: hpyritaleungcob.) WINN ER TAKES ALL

Teams A and B have drawn their match, but don’t have enough time to play a shootout. So they agree that each team should add together the ages of their players to determine the winning team. Five players in team A are 13 years old, one player is 12 and the captain is 14. Team B has two 14-year-olds, three 13-year-olds and two 12-year-olds. Which team wins? If they had instead used the flip of a coin to decide the winner, what chance (as a percentage) would each team have had to win?

ANSWERS

WORD SEARCH BY SELENA ABELSE • SOURCES: <WWW.OJOHAVEN.COM>, <SCHOOL.DISCOVERY.COM>

OH CRUMBS A 3D cube or round (it’s actually a cylinder) cake can be divided into eight by two vertical cuts at right angles through the centre of one side (top) and one horizontal cut (through the centre of another side that is at right angles to the first side). MAGIC SQUARE There are various answers, 2 7 6 all of which have the even numbers in the 9 5 1 corner blocks and 5 in the centre block. 4 3 8 WHICH WORDS Uncopyrightable WINNER TAKES ALL The result is another draw because the combined ages in each team is 91 years. With the flip of a coin each team has a 50% chance of winning.

WORD FINDER

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