Mind's Eye Prep 2018

P E R P

2018

Minor Repor ity t

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a ure ect? t u f sp he ro is t ful p ght fri

Rac is and m is al kick ive ing

The Big C how it f to live eels w cancerith

Troubled Waters Drowning in An ocean of plastic

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Mind’s Eye Prep | 2018

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Mind’s Eye Prep | 2018

Our production team was overwhelmed by the universally positive response to the first edition of Mind’s Eye Prep, and we are hugely grateful for the support and advice given since then by our teaching colleagues from prep schools all over the South East. Although for this second edition time constraints and the pressure of public exams prevented several keen schools from getting involved, we still had more schools participating this year, and more articles from which to choose the excellent pieces in the following pages. Once again, we were astonished by the broad general knowledge, delicate moral compass, precocious powers of expression and interest in the future of the human race and its fragile home that were shown by this year’s contributors, alongside their aching concern for our fellow creatures.

It is amazing to think that these articles were written by people under the age of thirteen. They are young adults indeed who are such wise children. In a barrage of balance and good sense they cover art, god and birds, drones, genes and festival, lobbies and bullies and chickens, racing cars and driverless cars, opera, cancer, travel and transport, climbing, shopping, cooking, schooling, prejudice, pollution, veganism, dyslexia and Islamophobia, organ donors, soccer pay, laser eye surgery, railways, buildings, terrorism, socialism and racism, the high spots of history, the Spanish Civil War and the evils of homework. Something here for everyone, then.

My thanks as ever to colleagues at King’s - David Hopkins, Ian MacEwen and Peter Roberts - without whom this project would never have left the ground, and to the talented team at Cobweb Creative who put the stunning visuals to the worthy verbals with such sympathetic aplomb. We hope even more schools will get involved in the third edition, for which entries (six per school maximum) are due by Friday 15 March 2019. Next year we will be back to publishing in the Summer rather than the Autumn.

Mind’s Eye Prep, child of the senior Mind’s Eye magazine started at King’s in 2011, has this year been joined by a sibling - Mind’s Eye Kent, an online collection of articles written by pupils at state schools in Kent. All three magazines can be read online at www.mindseyemagazine.com.

Anthony Lyons Editor The King’s School Canterbury Design by Cobweb Creative www.cobwebcreative.org

Mind’s Eye Prep | 2018

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zies methods ying Moz 6 Modif ivan assesses new ull Oscar S modification e n e g f o

s ny Mask rt of Ma the many faces of A e h T t 10 looks a ia Zhang Lyd Opera Sichuan

es Up! he virtu 12 Going idge celebrates t urb Henry B ing of climb

28 Bac k

to the Oliver Future travel Tidbury get s us up s in tim to spe e and s ed with pace 3 2 The P

rice of Liliana Life vegan French is h appy t o have becom ea 36 Home

s for H Stanle ens recenty Southgate ly ado t pted s ells us why ome tir h ed fowe l

14 Mind the Gap Poppy Sutcliffe deplores the continuing North-South divide

16 Cyber Bullying Sam Coxen scorns bullies online

17 Count Me Out Rameen Power wants lobbying to be transparent

38 Cross Words

to the Thomas Liggett get Caitlin Hopkins and ia lex dys of m rock botto

art 42 Listen to Your He

gan ols the virtues of or Henry Langford ext donation

?

43 Where is the Love

d decries the unjustifie Kamran Ogilvie-Khan am global fear of Isl

46 Sold!

20 Troubled waters

shopping Nell Hickson loves

Abigail Head is appall ed by the waste we chuck in the sea

22 The Big C

Olivia Griffin explor es how it feels to live with cancer

26 A Beautiful Day

Aanvee Moskal obser Festival of Colours ves the Hindu

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48 Bue nA

ppetito Gaia G ! re for Ita enwood sha res he lian co r pass oking ion

50 In the

Fast La Adam C ne h creativ illingworth extols e cred ential s of F1 the

r the en Music ssion fo 72 Froz ton shares her pa Bea Imogen chitecture r a f o art

rt hat is a it Art? is know w y t l u l a B e r 75 esn’t Davis do

ool g Sch ducation in in h is e n

in 53 F

aims lass in cl c Hogb p of the r e o t Oliv is nd Finla

rney ime is g Jou pez says tg n o uin L l-Lo King Pen 56 A orue e an B r th Estab g out fo in n n ru

Cerelia is not t and wha

asure an’s Tre know what is art M r e h t 78 Ano n doesn’t really e art Maja M t is not a h w d an

y

ar necess Faith ion is a ig l e r s 80 Bad believe Turner Theo evil

our Trip o serve 81 Guilt is best t it s im a l Lygoe c Holly ces conscien

57 Easy Game Finlay Sutcliffe condemns the vast sums paid to soccer stars

58 Hands Off Alvaro de Calonje assess es the chances of a car crash with no one beh ind the wheel

e f or an Ey friend o 82 Eye f explores how rthe n e o i Huds he oth t Lex e foe of one is th

re egs Bad ys be mo 84 Two L ays some will alwa s o Bevan s Le an other equal th

60 The Sky is the Limit

Louis Clarke explains how our children’s children will get from A to B

62 All Aboard Hugo Allen transports us into the future of travel

65 Bright Eyes Harry Shouksmith raves about laser eye surgery

? re rt Move he futu 66 Sma r asks whether t

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inor Ine rea s Tenn ity R e lly a wer nt-Hol port e co der lou w 88 r-b ishes lind the Max Ego S wor trip und Hitch ld i ern n te eat h-it ars a -all st 89 wim rip or A Br py k Ale id two of ief f an H wha xande i sto r Ho t si ry o nce w f yea ells s r do how Histo t ry s us wha t’s

oste Danny F tful prospect h is a frig

n untdow Inal CO nders whether F e h T wo 68 tterell a law unto ison Co Harr come will be robots es lv themse

nes our ne On 69 Dro lzia says with dro s Ca off Charle ly take ill real lives w

Up! new 70 Line eaux wonders if sa cross u d e ry Cor l mak wil Har railway London

93 Big Bird

ley wonders Jacob WhiteEVER , ke li ever

rd e biggest bi what was th

story will s Ojos 95 Abre Lo de Frutos hopes Spanish hi nta Blanca Lasaitself not repeat

ork and ework Now! 97 Ban Hom hates (really hates) homew iel Cassius Yech says so

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OSCAR

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LLIVAN modific marve ation ls at m but wo have t odern nders he las metho whethe t word ds of r Natu gene re wo n’t stil l

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Gene modification is used to grow corn that can resist insects and rapeseed that produces more oil

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f you read the news, you can hardly avoid hearing about gene modification, the improvement of a living thing by its microscopic manipulation. The possibilities are endless. Gene modification right now produces corn that resists insects, healthier plums that resist Plum Pox Virus and rapeseed that produces more oil.

SPR as CRI ogy w by l d o te hn s tec inven ut wa t b n i o n ans red hum cove ria dis acte b

CRISPR is a complicated process that takes place inside a bacterial cell. The science is difficult and full of chemical reactions and long molecule names.

But the actual procedure is much like baking a cake. The tools and chemicals needed to do this are easily available.

The process starts with The science is prepared petri dishes.

There are many different difficult and Some contain normal ways to perform gene full of chemical Agar Liquid Broth and modification. One of the reactions but the some have the addition newest is called CRISPR actual procedure Cas9. CRISPR Cas9 does is much like baking of Streptomycin, an antia cake bacterial chemical that not, strictly speaking, normally prevents E. Coli do any gene modifying directly but simply cuts out small from growing. The plain Agar plates are strands of DNA. The rest is done by used to grow a large colony of E. Coli. nature in the cell that is being changed.

Normally, when DNA is damaged, the I collected some of the newly grown cell starts trying to put it back together bacteria and prepared them for the rest by getting a template and using it to of the experiment by adding special know what the DNA used to look like. chemicals to improve the success of So, if we cut the DNA and then give it the gene modification process. They a different template, the DNA will be are now called ‘compliant’. The CAS9 protein is added to these compliant repaired differently. bacteria and the modification process CRISPR technology was not invented by starts. These newly modified bacteria humans but discovered in bacteria. The are then spread on the Agar Plate bacteria would use the Cas9 protein to containing Streptomycin. Some of my cut an invading virus, thus disabling bacteria successfully accepted the gene it, and would then store the piece of modification. They also passed the virus in a special DNA library so, when modification on to future generations the same type of virus returned, the and now large colonies were visible on bacteria would know how to defend the agar SREP plates.  itself. Scientists have found ways to manipulate this process. The Cas9 THE CAS protein can be made to cut the DNA 9 BACTERIA PROTEIN IS AD DED at any point the scientist chooses.

AND TH STARTS E MODIF TO COMPLIANT ICATION Technically, any part of DNA can be PROCESS located and cut by the Cas9 tool.

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NOLOGY ING TECH NOWN IT D E E N USE GE RRECT K WE CAN DISEASES AND CO T TO TREA FECTS E GENETIC D

CRISPR is a great tool for science but it must be used sensibly and by people who only wish to do good

problems in the local ecosystem. A genetically modified plant might become more dominant than others and push them out. This could lead to problems in the soil, even erosion, and must be taken into consideration by all scientists who perform gene At first glance, CRISPR gene editing modification. We do not control nature looks like a great solution to a large so it can be unpredictable and have alarming consequences. number of problems. We CRISPR is an amazing can use gene-editing A genetically discovery and a great technology to treat modified plant diseases and correct might become more tool for science but it dominant than must be used sensibly known genetic defects others and push and by people who only and problems.

But them out wish to do good and help unfortunately it’s not everyone. the miracle for fixing all things. Scientists have discovered that most humans naturally have a defence Scientists from the University of against the Cas9 protein, which makes California have used CRISPR to modify the CRISPR technique unusable on mosquito DNA so that it will not carry malaria. The DNA change was also these individuals. passed on to the mosquito offspring.

According to recent research, there This appears to be working well. are many long-term negative effects However, new research is showing that can occur from gene modification. that, in the wild, things don’t happen Authors discuss issues indirectly associated with genetically modified plants. They notice that sometimes these have an unfair advantage over natural plants that eventually cause

Some ge n unfair ad etically modified vantage plants h ov causing p a roblems er other natural ve an with the plants, local eco system 8

Mind’s Eye Prep | 2018

Ac o Am mpan use eric y in a d tec the C has dis R abl hniqu ISPR e v e to pig iruse DNA s in

the same way as in the laboratory. Researchers from Indiana University show that genetic diversity is badly affected by the gene modification process and they have also found that new types of virus that can resist the modification start appearing unexpectedly. The study also reports that mosquitoes have found ways to avoid passing on the genetic modification and formed isolated genetic groups.

Pigs have a similar anatomy to humans. Many of their organs are the same size and shape as ours.

The technique of using pig organs in humans is called xenotransplantation. The problem with xenotransplantation is that pigs have many viruses embedded inside the DNA passed down from their parents. A company in America has used the CRISPR technique to disable the viruses in the pig DNA. They have had some success in breeding these pigs with modified DNA and this makes it likely that we will be able to use pig organs for organ transplants in the near future.

“

We do not control nature so it can be unpredictable and have alarming consequences

I am fascinated by this science and think it is amazing that I can modify an organism on a microscopic level.

I hope my research will encourage others to take an interest in the technology.

’t don s y g a thin e w ild e sam tory; w th und the ora In ppen e lab ve fo ng i a a h h sh ass on in t as quitoe void p ficati i a s mo ys to ic mod a t w ene g on

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T he t r A of

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Many Masks

Mind’s Eye Prep | 2018

LYDIA ZHANG shows why performers of Sichuan Opera need great skill to avoid losing face

S

ichuan Opera is one of many local operas in China, popular in the provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou. Face-changing is one of its unique features.

This is not simply changing facial makeup in the usual theatrical way, but a special technique that refers to the changing of masks in quick succession to show the different emotions of a character. It is said the origin of face-changing has something to do with protection against wild beasts. In ancient times, when coming across a ferocious animal, people used to draw patterns on their faces to scare the animal away.

In the dark, a man dressed in costume comes towards the audience, sometimes still and glaring, sometimes sideways trembling, and sometimes raising his head with pride. You see his long sleeve waving over his head – only a slight touch then his body shivers, his face suddenly red and his eyes filled with angry emotions. The man turns around, stretches out his hand and shows a pink face, his eyes full of tears. Once again, the man stretches out his hands and touches his face swiftly without anyone noticing and the face is white and blue, an evil, defiant face, as if he was captured but doesn’t care about being condemned. At last he turns out a white face, and his mouth emits a great flame. How charming! The stage erupts into thunderous applause. 

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A man d re the audie ssed in costume n sometim ce, sometimes comes towards s es sidew ays trem till and glaring, bling

artist pulls the masks off one after the other under cover of various dancing movements.

The dancing movements have to be natural and the action of pulling has to be invisible to the audience

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Mind’s Eye Prep | 2018

The first method of the three – ‘wiping’ – is employed most because it is the simplest, while ‘blowing’ is more Face-changing techniques generally complicated because you have to fall into three categories – ‘wiping’, close your eyes and mouth in case the ‘blowing’ and ‘pulling’. ‘Wiping’ is powder flies in. But ‘pulling’ is the most troublesome among the spreading paint over the If the audience three skills. The dancing face while performing. sees through movements have to be The paint is put on a the trick of natural and the action of certain part of the face in face-changing, they become pulling has to be invisible advance. ‘Blowing’ is only dissatisfied and to the audience. If the employed when powder then they pull audience sees through cosmetics are used. On their own faces! the trick of face-changing, the stage, a tiny box is hidden beforehand. Prostration near they become dissatisfied and then they the box will enable the performer to pull their own faces! blow the powder onto his face. To use the ‘pulling’ technique he has to draw facial masks on fine pieces of silk cloth, cut them into the right size, tie a thin thread to each mask and stick them onto his face before the performance.

The threads are fastened to somewhere hidden in his costumes. Many performers prefer to tie them onto their waistbands. When performing, the

ple peo mb e r Mo ld cli kes u sho e it ma nd s a u a bec strong arns you , and e t ec ve bra u resp yo

Going

CLIMBING IS AW TO MODERN EQ HOLE LOT SAFER DUE UIPMENT

HENRY BURBRIDGE

I

surveys new ways of climbing and counts their blessings

n the early 19th Century, Rock Climbing became a recreational activity. Alpine shepherds used to lead men up mountains with very little equipment – usually just an alpenstock (a metal-tipped walking stick), primitive crampons, which are metal boot grips for ice and snow, and a woodcutter’s axe, which the climber placed into cracks on the ascent. A thick rope would help a client climb, but if he or she fell it would probably break, so it was mostly taken for show.

CLIMBI N YOU CA G IS EASY T O N CLIMBI VISIT YOUR PRACTISE, NG WAL IF LOCAL L INDOOR

Climbing outdoors is great fun and you feel brilliant when you get to the top of a route. If you go climbing often, you get really strong because climbing uses virtually all of your muscles. Climbing is easy to practise because you don’t need a mountain – you can visit your local indoor climbing wall. ads e lo limb r a e c ther ces to oks la idebo p o f o gu sy t with are ea w you that and sho d tes rea rou

Climbing is no longer dangerous owing to recent safety measures. First, the modern harnesses are amazing. In the beginning you just tied a rope around your waist, and a fall could break your ribs, but then the first harnesses, which were really just belts to which you tied the rope, would slide up to your armpits during a fall, which was better.

And before belay plates, the metal clips that now control the rope feed, climbers had to put the rope under their right armpits, around their backs and under their left armpits. Specially designed cams - metal levers that open inside cracks when they are pulled have replaced the nuts and bolts from engines that climbers used to use, and sticky boots have replaced the uncomfortable hiking boots that made an easy route rather hard.

In a nutshell, climbing is a whole lot safer due to modern equipment: the ropes are stronger and the gear is better. The worst accident you are likely get these days is a wedgie. More people should climb because it makes you strong and brave, and earns you respect from other climbers if you have done a route they haven’t. Since I started climbing I myself have got stronger and braver.

Climbs range in levels of difficulty, from Mod to E9. If you don’t know how to set up the ropes there are loads of courses you can do. And there are loads of places to climb with guidebooks that are easy to read where you can find out routes and what grade they are. You can even get guide books on your phone so you don’t need to carry books up to the crag. If you do get hurt, mountain rescue is very good and will pick you up quite quickly. And if you climb outdoors, naturally the moves are more interesting than indoors. Mind’s Eye Prep | 2018

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Mind

P A G the

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ivide e UK d h t ind s the m claim in E l F l F a I SUTCL and South is Y P P O P rth en No e w t e b

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ngland is supposedly one country but the division between North and South makes me wonder.

Some people say the real division is about accents; others say it’s the distance between places, or that it’s to do with wealth and culture. But these reasons are no excuse. We are the United Kingdom yet there is no unity.

We need to break the divide.

Weird names like ‘duck’, ‘hen’, ‘pet’, ‘poppet’ and ‘love’ seem to get on Southern nerves WE NEED TO ED OTHER SIDE A UCATE OURSELVES ABO UT ND SORT FACT FROM FICTIO THE N

e th m e gdo o r a in s n We ed K re i eed n he it he Un t t ; We k t ye nity rea e b vid u to di

Northerners say that Southern people put an unnecessary ‘r’ in words that do not need one. Northerners say the word ‘bath’ is spelled B-A-T-H so why add an ‘r’? Southerners may not criticise the Northern accent (even though some find it strange) but they do criticise some of the dialect, such as ‘calling strangers by weird names’: ‘duck’, ‘hen’, ‘pet’, ‘poppet’ and ‘love’ seem to get on Southern nerves. To resolve this ludicrous feud, we all need to move past the other side’s unusual ways and accept that everyone has their differences.

First, we as a nation have false impressions of people in different parts of the country. This is due to the way the media cling on to the stereotypical perceptions of the two halves. When people think of up North they think of pie, chips and gravy, binge drinking and poverty. When they think of the South, they think of wealth, materialism and weak softies. These views are enhanced through TV shows, When people comedians and other Finally, but just as think of up North means of entertainment. importantly, the they think of pie, Having lived in both cultures, by no fault chips and gravy, halves of the country, I of their own, split the binge drinking and poverty; of the know for a fact that these North and the South. judgements are far from South, they think of Mr. Sutcliffe, my dad, is wealth, materialism the truth. In order to a true ‘Northerner’ and and weak softies fill up the gap between when he moved down North and South, we need to educate here he was shocked to say the least. ourselves about the other side and sort For starters pie, chips and gravy is the fact from fiction. pride and joy of the North (don’t forget the mushy peas) but down South even Second, the accents are beyond the thought of chips with gravy puts different and push the North and South you off your lunch. In addition, diction even further apart. The other day I has caused a raging row for centuries. was looking on the internet for what Southerners say ‘supper’ instead of the North and South hate about each ‘dinner’ and Northerners say ‘tea’. Both other and six out of the top ten things sides thinks the other one is mad. were to do with accents. For example, Finally, it is pure fact that up North  Mind’s Eye Prep | 2018

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people love their food and they can’t stand the fact that Southerners apparently don’t know what carbohydrates are. But, on the other hand, Southerners can’t believe how many words people up North have for a bread roll.

SOUTHERNERS CAN’T BELIE VE HOW MANY WORDS PE OPLE UP NORTH HAVE FOR A BREA D ROLL

Within any country cultures are going to be different and we need to see past these differences and unite, embracing every person, place and dialect. We should say proudly that we live in a ‘United Kingdom’ when that statement is true.

r B u l l y e i n g b Y C

owing number SAM COXEN laments the gr screens d glass of bullies who hide behin

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ocial Media companies worldwide are said to have ‘failed’ in their attempts to tackle cyberbullying. According to the BBC, almost half of the 1,089 11- to 25-year-olds questioned for the Safety Net Report had experienced threatening or nasty social media messages, emails or texts. Yet social media giant Snapchat says no further action is required because it already has ‘uncountable’ safety precautions for the users on their app. Nearly 43% of children have been bullied online. One in four says it has happened more than once.

on victly one in t par ims i e e adu nt o nform n r lt a a tru bo s abu ut th ted eir se

While cyberbullying is becoming more common, primary school children around the globe are having talks about the dangers of cyberbullying and staying safe online. Despite this, cyberbullying is on the rise. This is mostly because only one in ten victims inform a parent or trusted adult of their abuse. 91% of children who say they have been abused or bullied online say no action was taken.

Many turn a blind eye to cyberbullying, even though it’s become the most common type of bullying, with around half of children and teens being victims of cyberbullying, and almost the same number admitting they have engaged in cyberbullying.

One of the main reasons cyberbullying is so widespread is because teens think that if they hide behind a screen they can say whatever they want online and nothing will happen, because they are not saying it to the face of the victim. But it still hurts.

Cyberbullying will keep increasing until everyone understands the pain it can cause. To escape this pain, a lot of young people have taken their own lives.

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COU

NT ME

OUt!

er o long n d l u o s sh obbyist l s e v elie OWER b d doors P e s N o E l E c RAM ehind trade b ir e h t ply

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“

One lobbyist even said that he had gone as far as offering congressional aides high-paying jobs just to gain the support of one politician

Although lobbyists should play a positive role in society, today they often have a negative impact pent $34.5 ociation s emocrats, s s A le if R D nal The Natio ads against the nton n li C o ry n a o il li mil st H lion again $19.8 mil

I

n many democracies, companies and organisations will often use lobbyists to help influence politicians when they pass laws.

Although lobbyists should play a positive role in society, today they often have a negative impact. To be clear, the question is not whether the beliefs lobbyists are advocating are ‘good’ or ’bad’ since everyone is entitled to their beliefs. The real issue is whether the tactics they use help or damage the democratic process. The secretive nature of lobbyists is particularly damaging. I believe the activities of lobbyists should be transparent, and financial contributions to individuals and political groups should be restricted. Otherwise, the true motives of politicians will always be open to speculation.

‘Lobbying’ means seeking to influence legislation or policy related to a particular issue or industry. This can include campaigning for a cause, either publicly or privately. While lobbying is common in politics around the world,

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it is huge in the United States, where the public is aware of its occurrence but does not know the details. Some of the tactics used by lobbyists' companies or interest groups, called Political Action Committees (PACs), are controversial and are suspected of corrupting the incentives and decisionmaking of politicians. For instance, lobbying groups and PACs contribute to politicians’ election campaigns as well as holding fundraising events.

One lobbyist even said that he had gone as far as offering congressional aides high-paying jobs just to gain the support of one politician. Such methods damage the democratic process because instead of advocating through discussion or persuasion they simply use money to buy support.

The National Rifle Association (NRA) in the United States is a powerful and high-profile organisation that lobbies against gun control. It also contributes millions of dollars to politicians’ campaigns – spending over $54 million during the 2016 election campaign.

Of this, $14.5 million was dedicated to campaign ads for Republicans,

l dividua from in rupting s t is y y lobb cted of cor g of used b Tactics s are suspe ecision-makin ie d compan ntives and e c in e th ns politicia

including $11.4 million dollars for Donald Trump. The organisation also spent $34.5 million on ads against the Democrats, $19.8 million against Hilary Clinton. While the effect of these contributions is difficult to prove, it is suspicious that as recently as 2012 Trump praised Obama’s proposals on stricter gun control. Yet his stance dramatically shifted when he started his campaign for President. In the wake of a tragic mass shooting in a Florida school, gun control groups published the names of 276 US lawmakers who have received NRA funding; they have also blocked gun control. These lawmakers could argue that they are, in fact, voting according to their true beliefs. But since lobbyists pay them, their motives are going to be called into question.

Lobbying is often not transparent and the links between the activities of lobbyists and the actions of policy makers are not clear. For example, recent data show that the UK arms industry has earned over £6bn from weapon sales to Saudi Arabia, and during its conflict with Yemen the Department of Trade and Industry

“

Greenpeace’s meth od on moral rather than s appeal to politicians monetary grounds

granted a higher number of export licences to UK arms manufacturers.

This occurred despite widespread criticism within the UK of the war itself and the human rights record of Saudi Arabia. It also raises questions why these lucrative exports have been allowed to continue while the Saudi military bombs Yemen, creating what the UN has described as the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. Further transparency on the discussions between the industry and the government would give us a better picture of what is behind the decision-making for these export licences.

Greenpeace is another well-known lobbying group but one that uses a different approach, possibly because it does not have the same financial power as industry lobbyists.

Greenpeace influences policy makers

The National Rifle Association lobbies against gun control and contributes millions of dollars to politicians’ campaigns - spending over $54 million during the 2016 American election campaign

through a number of strategies such as publishing reports, engaging directly with governments and participating in various international conferences and conventions. Greenpeace claims to have influenced many initiatives across a range of issues including a moratorium on commercial whaling and mineral exploitation in Antarctica.

The combination of public pressure, education and direct dialogue is, in my view, a much more appropriate way of influencing politicians. However, this does not mean Greenpeace is perfect. In fact, critics say that some of its protests, such as sit-ins, are illegal or disruptive. The important point is that Greenpeace’s methods appeal to politicians on moral rather than monetary grounds.

In recent years, elections around the world have demonstrated that the public has lost its trust in the ‘Establishment’ and believes that politicians are not serving the interests of the people they represent. One important step governments can take to regain this trust is to fix the issue of lobbying. To do this, they should limit the amount of money lobbyists can contribute to political campaigns.

And they should require all forms of lobbying to be disclosed and recorded.

This would allow the public to have a much clearer understanding of why policy decisions are made and who benefits as a result. This will be the true test of whether politicians are willing to give up these benefits in order to allow us to progress as a democratic society. Mind’s Eye Prep | 2018

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d e l b u Tro Waters e ns of marin

lio mourns mil D A E H L I A G ABI stic ague of pla l p a in s h t dea

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lastic that gets dropped in our streets is washed into drains by rain and out to sea. It is the most common form of ocean waste and is not biodegradable so it can take centuries to break down into tiny particles.

Studies have shown that a plastic singleuse water bottle can take over 450 years to disintegrate.

Fishing gear is also lethal. Nets, lures, buoys and lines are particularly dangerous, since all these items can trap unsuspecting sea animals. Food packaging is also taking up a large part of our oceans, so if you go to the beach for a picnic and leave food packaging on the beach the tide will pick it up and take it out to sea. Glass is especially dangerous for sea life. Although it may be fun to find smooth glass on the beach, when the glass first goes into the ocean it is sharp and can be dangerous to both divers and sea life.

Seals get caught up in rubbish or mistake plastic for fish. Also, seals can get tangled in plastic bags or food packaging and then all they do is drift in the currents and die a slow death of starvation. Sea turtles can mistake plastic bags for food, such as jelly fish, and get them stuck in their digestive systems.

Sea birds can mistake plastic for fish which they might take back to their young, which will either choke the parents when they regurgitate or choke their young. If a fish eats a piece of plastic, then it may die a slow death. Because that fish is now feeling weak,

NETS, LURES, BUOY S AND LINES ARE PARTICULARLY DANG EROUS

it is an easy target for other marine animals who are unaware that this fish has eaten a piece of plastic.

They might eat the fish, and then the plastic is passed up the food chain, killing numerous animals since plastic cannot escape the digestive A recent study has system. Krill eat a type of plankton called zooplankton, as well as phytoplankton, but found that zooplankton have started to the zooplankton are mini-crustaceans. A eat micro-beads of recent study has found that zooplankton plastic, found in some toiletries, which get have started to eat micro-beads of plastic stuck in the krill’s found in some toiletries. These microdigestive system and beads will get stuck in a krill’s digestive passed up the food system and passed up the food chain. In all, chain 267 marine species are being affected by plastic: 86% of sea turtles; 44% of sea birds; and 43% of sea mammals.

At current rates of pollution, by 2050 there will be more plastic in the oceans than fish.

et an glastic c s p l , sea led in aging is k g o c n d a a ent s or p y can nts bag ll the curre f he na yo the ift in t slowl n r d die tio and starva

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What do you do w hen you g You no l et the ne onger t ws every ake life GRIFFIN one fear for gra s? nted, sa ys O

LIVIA

I

still remember like it was yesterday, sitting in the living room with my brother, mum and dad, our dad telling us the awful news and making me feel as though my whole life was going to be ruined. It is now over two years ago on 12 February, when I was just 11 years old, that my mum was diagnosed with breast cancer. The next day I came into school and decided to tell my close friends but just ended up in tears hardly able to talk. By the end of the day the whole year group knew. This was when I found out who my true friends were.

Everyone wanted to be my best friend. Within the next few weeks we had piles of cards at home and the freezer was full of homemade food. Phones were buzzing with texts: ‘I’m so sorry’; ‘Get well soon’; ‘Text me if you need anything.’ But people don’t understand this really doesn’t help.

On 3 March my mum went for an operation and all I could think about was the worst that could happen. When I was picked up I was buzzing to find out whether she was all right and when my grandparents told me she was fine and in hospital with my dad I was ecstatic with relief. I can recall the photo I sent her of our dog lying with legs in the air and tongue hanging out and the numerous kisses on the end of the message.

One of my worst memories is when I was having a bad day and someone said, ‘Why are you sad? Your mum’s cured now.’ It then hit me that it’s not over within a few weeks; it takes over your life. Without my true friends and my family I don’t think I would have got through. 

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It then hit me that it’s not over within a few weeks; It takes over your life

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e h T

Big

C

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One of my worst memories was sitting in bed on the school French trip, crying, being scared that she was not going to be okay. ex Alth app perie oug ht a n me lling ce ha his , sb b ma it r imp de m aver, has meen e or tan rea And i ade t l famt fri ise h ’s ily ends ow ar an e d

But the worst part was the chemo.

The patient loses her immune system and her hair. Chemo is a six-session programme and the patient gets very sick every time, as my mum did. I tried to go to friends’ houses each time she went because I did not want to be around. I even spent Easter with some really close friends. My brother and I also went on a family holiday to Greece without our parents – one of the weirdest things. And then there was Radiotherapy. This can be very painful and give you burns. It’s so horrible to see loved ones in pain.

After a few months everything began to look better. We started to regenerate our family life. But after I thought everything was over she had to have another operation in September.

Although I knew everything was going to be okay, I was still so worried and all I could think about was the worst.

Luckily this also went fine and after a few weeks everything came back, just like before. Well, almost. Although it C ses hemo is a sio and n pro sixt he p gram ge m eve ts ver atient e ry t y si ck im mum e, as my did

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THE WORST PART WAS TH E CHEMO; THE PATIENT LOSES HER IMMUNE SYSTEM AND HER HAIR

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Treasure what you have and never take life for granted; We must understand how lucky we are and behave accordingly

seems as though it’s all finished now, it still infects my mind. She is still having injections every month. The really bad thing nowadays is never having any unhealthy food in the house!

Although this experience has been appalling, it has made me braver. And it’s made me realise how important friends and family are since without their support I doubt I would be able to talk about it like this today. I guess the real message is to treasure what you have and never take life for granted. We must understand how lucky we are and behave accordingly.

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A

Beautiful Day!

l indu festiva H a s e t a r b KAL cele AANVEE MOS ss rkne a d d h an deat s t u tp s tha r u o l de of co in the sha

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H

oli, also known as The Festival of Colours, is a Hindu festival across India and Nepal that celebrates the victory of good over evil and the end of Winter for Spring. It is a time to play and laugh with your family, friends, and even strangers. You throw paint and dye at people, and by the end of it you are a walking rainbow. Holi is also a thanksgiving for the harvest. It lasts a day and a night, starting on the evening of the Purnima (full moon day) in the Vikram Samvat Indian Calendar, in the month of Phalguna, which is between February and March. The most recent celebration was Thursday 1 March 2018. The first evening is known as Holika Dahan, or Chhoti Holi, and the following day as Holi, Rangwali Holi, Dhuleti, Dhulandi, or Phagwah.

There is a symbolic legend that explains why Holi is actually the Festival of Colours.

It honours the Hindu god Vishnu and his follower Prahlada. King Hiranyakashipu, according to a legend found in chapter seven of Bhagavata Purana, was the King of demonic Asuras, and had earned a boon that gave him five special powers: he could

l evi a’s him d a d hal cke on Pra t tri ting er aun o sit ith h s int re w e wa t y a a p en sh a co r wh ring e he e d a we t ma to fir tha une imm

be killed by neither human nor animal, neither indoors nor outdoors, neither day nor night, neither by projectile weapons nor Holi is also a by any handheld weapons, and neither thanksgiving for the in land nor water nor air. Hiranyakashipu harvest; It lasts a day and a night, starting started to become arrogant and wanted on the evening of to be a god, so he started forcing everyone the Purnima (full to worship him. However, his son Prahalda moon day) in the rebelled because he was devoted to the Vikram Samvat Indian Calendar god Vishnu. This made his father angry and he subjected Prahalda to very cruel punishments, but none of them made his son change his mind. Finally, Holika, Prahalada’s evil aunt, tricked him into sitting on a pyre with her when she was wearing a coat that made her immune to fire.

t pain ow ople, r h e t p d You ye at e en a d h t d e an d by r u a bow an t yo in of i ing ra k l a w

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Back

to the

Futu

re

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OLIVER TIDBURY tells us where we are in the race to boldly go wherever we like whenever

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fter going to a 4D cinema have you ever wondered what a four-dimensional shape looks like, and whether space and time travel are possible? Well, to be fair it is nothing like the experience in the cinema. No, it is not smell or touch. It is time. We live in a four-dimensional universe, with the spacetime continuum combining the three dimensions of space with the one dimension of time. Since the beginning of our existence human beings have explored – from Africa to the Americas, and space in the 20th Century in the shape of the moon, which many generations before thought was impossible. We thrive to explore. Will it ever be the turn of time?

The human race has always been curious and each generation has great explorers. The next big mission for man is travelling to Mars, our closest planet neighbour. The journey will take two years with the current methods of space travel. For Man to explore beyond that, even in our solar system, and further into the vast void of space, we are limited by time. Suppose we could travel at the speed of light or ‘Warp Drive’ like in Star Trek, although Einstein proposed that nothing bigger than a proton of light could travel at the speed of light.

In 1908 Hermann Minkowski presented papers explaining the principles of time or the fourth dimension in spacetime, and the geometrical figures of the spacetime continuum, a theory brought about by the famous physicist, Albert Einstein. Matter can affect the continuum, which can even affect light; black holes have so much gravity that if they collide they could affect the continuum drastically. A four-dimensional shape is called a rotachoron with four measurements – of width, length, height and strength. The Tesseract in Marvel is so called after the 4D cube because it can distort space.

People dream of travelling in time. Albert Einstein’s General Relativity theory says that if you could travel faster than the speed of light it would be possible to travel back in time. But his theorem also restricts anything travelling at the speed of light due to the energy required and the increase in mass of an object when it travels faster. As E=MC2 energy equals mass times speed of light squared. A current view of some scientists is that space is expanding and because space has no mass it could reach the speed of light.

Some scientists believe that you could also bend the spacetime continuum to make a wormhole between two different points in the universe or by a transcendental bijection of  Mind’s Eye Prep | 2018

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THE HU M CURIOUS AN RACE HAS AND EAC H GENER ALWAYS BEEN EXPLORE ATION HA RS S GREAT

very slightly and can gain a few seconds of time. This means that long distances that take billions of light years to travel would not seem so long.

If this were ever possible there are other problems to overcome. Communication would be nearly impossible because radio waves cannot travel very fast, and calls could take years to finish.

Perhaps you are reading this in the future after travelling to the Jurassic Period for your holidays from 51 Pegasi b

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When you look at the stars in the night sky you are actually looking back in time

the spacetime continuum. This would allow you to travel to other universes (if they exist), and anywhere in our own universe at any point in time, in just a few metres. In the past few weeks a few Did you know that when you look reports have popped up in the news of at the stars in the night sky you are actually looking back in people who claim to have travelled to the future Recently reports time because they are so of people who far away? So even light’s and back. They have even claim to have finite speeds can be noted: passed a lie detector test travelled to the a star could have died when quizzed on their future and back experiences. have even passed a billions of years ago but lie detector test we can still see them in the night sky today!

Using Einstein’s Theory of Relativity ‘Warp Drive’ could be possible but even with today’s technology it is Perhaps you are reading this in the not viable according to NASA. Maybe future after travelling to the Jurassic more research on light will find out Period for your holidays from 51 what will help push mankind to ‘Warp Pegasi b. Just spare a thought for the Drive’. Some astrologists predict that a people who have devoted their lives ship could be made that slows down researching our universe. The human spacetime in front of it and speeds up race is always pushing itself to the that behind so it moves spacetime and limits, pushing the laws of physics to not itself. This could produce speeds explore the vastness of space. at 90% of the speed of light. The faster you travel the more time slows down.

In everyday life this effect cannot be noticed but astronauts experience this

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Maybe more research on light will find out what will help push mankind to ‘Warp Drive’

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Wormhole in the centre of Milky Way Galaxy

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The

P r i ocfe

e f i L

d health an o t h t a p od the cently tr e r H C N E R LILIANA F egan ecame a v b e h s : s s happine

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‘You should go vegan,’ my older sister told me.

To me it was a crazy idea. ‘What?’

I thought. ‘I love meat!’

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e cam he ll s day ith a cts. ry w a eve o me new f ts. i t f f e o ts h ben efits. r o s lt en Hea cal b taken i r e h Et otag ughte fo sla s m se fro hou

ost people want to live forever when they can’t.

But they can lengthen milk. These animals produce ten times their lives. How? It’s called veganism. the natural amount. And this is not I remember the first time I heard this happening in third-world countries. word. I was eleven. ‘You should go No. I’m talking about in America, vegan,’ my older sister told me. To me it the country with the world’s biggest was a crazy idea. ‘What?’ I thought. ‘I love economy, and in the UK. Also, such meat! I love cake too, and that includes cows are kicked and beaten by workers milk and eggs!’ So I refused at first. It who are paid only for how much milk they can get the cows to seemed so inconvenient.

When I ate meat, produce. So cows lie in And I, like many others, I realized I was stalls filled with their own had been told that just feeding off urine and faeces. In the humans were omnivores. the dismembered And I knew that vegan corpse of another end I had to go vegan. animal. Like a foods had higher prices. vulture You are probably I kept on giving my thinking this is just sister reasons why it was a ridiculous idea and I became another fad, but it’s not. There are angry and defensive. But every day she famous vegans today like Olivia Wilde came to me with all sorts of new facts. or Alicia Silverstone, but veganism is Health benefits. Ethical benefits. Illegal far older than you might think. Einstein footage taken by animal rights activists was a vegan because he knew that from slaughterhouses. So much so that ‘those who have the privilege to know I stopped being defensive. I started have a duty to act.’ So was Leonardo da Vinci, once he decided that his body doing research. ‘would not be a graveyard for others.’

Every night the eyes of dying animals Gandhi was also a vegan who wrote came to haunt me. When I ate meat, that ‘to my mind the life of a lamb is I realized I was just feeding off the no less precious than that of a human dismembered corpse of another being. I should be unwilling to take the animal. Like a vulture. It made me feel life of a lamb for the sake of the human sick. So I became a vegetarian. But I felt body.’ guilty when I ate ice cream for dessert.

I thought about the cows in the dairy Veganism is more popular nowadays, industry. I thought about how few not only due to the numerous health of them saw grass. I thought how the benefits, but also because of animal genetically modified cows were hooked welfare issues. Pigs used to lumber up to machines to get pregnant at the happily through grass and roll around in age of one. How they were kept in the mud. Now that idyllic scenario is stalls so small they couldn’t turn round.

PIGS USED TO In fact, some cows are genetically RO THAT IDYLLIC SC LL AROUND IN THE MUD; N modified so much they can’t stand up OW ENARIO IS ONLY SEEN IN MOVIE because their huge udders are so full of S Mind’s Eye Prep | 2018

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Ga nd an hi w to d ‘u as v n e t of ake will gan th a l the ing e s am l hu ake b fo ife ma o n b f thr od e y’

Einstein was a vegan because he knew that ‘those who have the privilege to know have a duty to act’

confinement. But a hen’s beak is as sensitive as a human being’s fingertips.

Research shows that beak trimming leads to acute and chronic pain with symptoms similar to those of human amputees who suffer phantom limb pain. Bertha is unhealthy because she never gets any exercise. While she is in the egg Industry, four of her eggs are fertilized. The first egg is male. He cannot produce eggs, so he is tossed alive into a grinder. The second egg only seen in movies. Prepare for a cold, is also male. A worker pops him into hard truth. Over fifty six billion farmed a plastic bag, where he suffocates. animals are killed for food each year. I The third egg is female. Her beak is shortened, so that she don’t know about you, does not peck another but I can’t imagine fifty hen to death whilst in six billion of anything.

Over fifty six a cage. If she could, the Not to mention deaths. billion farmed There is a saying that animals are killed meat could be ruined. one death is a tragedy for food each year The fourth and final egg is male. He is gassed – and one million is just England’s method of a statistic. But this isn’t one million. It’s fifty six billion. And that choice for killing male chicks. One year doesn’t even include fish, who are so later, Bertha is mercifully killed. If you comprehensively massacred that their are going to eat meat, eat it in full view corpses are measured in tonnes. But of a slaughterhouse, because if it’s not you do end up asking: ‘How many fish good enough for your eyes, it’s not die each year for human food?’ Well, good enough for your stomach. dear reader, it’s between 970 and 2,700 billion.

Take the egg industry. Imagine a hen called Bertha who is ‘free range’. Let go of the misconception that ‘free range’ hens are happy. They do not see daylight. Even ‘free range’ hens are kept in vast sheds with thousands of other birds. Up to nine birds can occupy one square metre of space, so Bertha is kept with eight other birds.

Bertha’s beak has been shortened with a hot blade without anaesthetic, so that she can’t peck others with her in close

EVEN ‘FR E SHEDS W E RANGE’ HENS A ITH THOU R SANDS O E KEPT IN VAST F OTHER BIRDS 34

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hows rch s Resea t beak tha ads ing le trimm ute and to ac pain with ic r chron ms simila o t p f m o sy ose to th putees m a n huma

‘Thou shalt not kill’ are the four most important and yet most ignored words in all religious teaching. There is not an asterisk next to that commandment saying, ‘Unless you walk on all fours and have fur, feathers, a horn, beak or gills.’ So why do some religions believe in sacrifice? In fact, why, after a vegan activist spoke, did a Christian man shout, ‘God put animals on Earth to fill my stomach.’ And it’s not just that. I don’t know if God exists, but if he or she does why don’t religious people worship his or her creations? We worship Bibles, Churches, Synagogues, Mandirs, Temples, Mosques, Gurdwaras, the Torah, the Vedas, the Qur’an, statues and more things that we created. But what do we do with things that God created? What do we do with bushes, forests, trees, animals and insects? We burn them or we kill them. And we need to stop now. The ones who feel pain most should be our starting point – animals.

In case you think veganism is unhealthy, let me explain.

The average vegan lives fifteen per cent longer than the average meat-eater. Vegans have up to a forty two per cent lower chance of getting heart disease. Vegan food is particularly beneficial to heart health since reducing high blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar levels may reduce the risk of heart disease by as much as forty six per cent. Vegan diets can also decrease the chance of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Also, it can help you lose excess weight. Veganism can also help prevent certain types of cancer and reduces the risk of type two diabetes.

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Being vegan can also reduce the risk of heart disease, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis

Unnecessary and unjust deaths are occurring every second that you delay. Animals are not products and life doesn’t have a price. What are you waiting for?

nI whe or y lt m f t gui a h elt e cre houg the f I e ic t n t i I at sert. ows ough c h des t the ry. I t f them u t o abo indus few s. w y s r o i a da out h w gr sa ab

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Millions of battery chickens are kept in cages where they cannot flap their wings, roost or forage

s e m o H For

Hens of agery v a s l to stria our bit he indu t o d s e l s l xpo an a HGATE e lains how we c T U O S STANLEY arming and exp y f g batter ufferin s e h t relieve

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illions of battery chickens in Once the two years are over, the battery Europe and the US are kept hen farmers either kill the birds or sell in cages the size of an A4 them to battery hen charities. They are piece of paper, where they cannot replaced by hatching fertilized eggs. flap their wings, roost or forage. The Any male chicks that hatch are fed live EU has passed a law that cages should into a grinder. be ‘enriched’, which should give birds a bit more room, but many countries, When the retired birds arrive at their including the UK, ignore new homes, they are After a few days in this law. featherless with white their new pen they combs and they don’t enjoyed the things So that their droppings all chickens should know how to walk. That’s pass straight through how we received Plum, have: the right to to the floor, battery drink clean water; a Cherry, Apple, Pancake, chickens are kept in wire soft, safe bed; being Muffin and Nutella. able to dustbath; cages. This is painful and feeling a sense After a few days in their for their feet. And new pen they enjoyed of freedom chickens peck other the things all chickens birds’ feathers through boredom, so should have: the right to drink clean they become featherless. Despite their water; a soft, safe bed at night; being suffering, these chickens lay an egg able to have a dustbath; and feeling a every twenty-four hours for two years. sense of freedom.

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Despite their suffering, these chickens lay AN egg every twentyfour hours for two years

Hens are replaced by hatching eggs; male chicks are fed live into a grinder

T wa here spoys yo are ns u ca man o y n r e chi -ho r a c hel c p: h m ic Fre ken e e R s o som ken, r an ge join e Ca mp the aig n

There are many ways you too can help.

You can sponsor a chicken; re-home a chicken or chickens; become a regular giver; or arrange a free-range Friday (a bake sale using only free-range eggs); or just make a one-off donation. If you are really keen, why don’t you join the Free Range Campaign? This campaign gets people to send emails to big brands that use eggs to make sure they are free-range.

The British Hen Welfare Trust offers all of these services. Their phone number is 01884 860084. Or you can go to their website at www.bhwt.org.uk.

If you are planning to keep some of these hens, you will need an appropriate shed that is safe and wellconstructed, and a feeder. They will eat pellets and grain. They will also need a box of sand, ash or dry dirt to have a dust bath, since this is a chicken’s natural way of getting rid of mites and lice. Keeping these hens will make them happy for the first time in their lives and it is greatly rewarding. You will get lots of eggs and enjoy watching miserable birds become happy and relish their retirement.

Please remember: even in the year 2018, life can be horrible for some creatures. So please make some hens happy today.

h tis Bri e e h far at tT Visi n Wel bsite k e H we rg.u t.o re st’s Tru w.bhw ut mo ww ind o f to

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ands, tty dem o n k s it tand true le the t unders g o n n a n t a n c u ho hools e of us w rent sc e f if For thos d ils from two pup ia f dyslex nature o

I

Caitlkin Hop ins

magine you are taking an exam and you know exactly what to write and you are just about to start when someone comes along and ties your hands together. Then someone else starts shaking the question paper. Then you look around and see that everyone else has handed in their papers and you’ve only written a few lines.

This is dyslexia. And 10% of people suffer like this every day. You’d start to lose confidence, wouldn’t you? No matter how good your ideas are, when it comes to writing you’re struggling to remember the difference between d and b. Over time you lose self-esteem and you’re told you’re stupid by people who don’t understand.

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Many famous people have struggled with dyslexia. For example, the actor Orlando Bloom said, ‘School for me was just a lot of extra work … a lot of frustration and sometimes screaming at whoever it was that was making me feel like I wasn’t good enough.’ Orlando Bloom was diagnosed with dyslexia at the age of seven. He struggled with reading and spelling, like most dyslexics. He is now an actor worth $35 million.

d

From recent research, many psychologists believe that low self-esteem puts people at risk of developing depression.

According to the UK charity, Mind, ‘Depression is a low mood that lasts for a long time and affects your life every day.’ It is a mental illness and can be serious. One 

Over time you lose selfesteem and you’re told you’re stupid by people who don’t understand

“ t

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d

S

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Ia sub m go ubt jectsod at to whet , but most my be t her I ofte cla her de n f e wheinishe ssma ; oft serve n I d th tes en ’ve eir hav o few nly w essay e lin ritt s es en a do

as I described earlier, would be a regular occurrence and give a sensitive person a lot to beat themselves up about. To highly sensitive people, accusations of being ‘slow’ and ‘stupid’ are likely to hurt more. They might well end up crying and then be labelled a ‘wimp’.

The other 80% of people might go bungee jumping or watch sad and scary movies to feel the level of emotion highly sensitive people feel every day

depression sufferer describes it like this: ‘It feels like I’m stuck under a huge, grey-black cloud. It’s dark and isolating, smothering me with every opportunity.’

There is a concept called the ‘Vulnerability Model’ that argues low self-esteem contributes to depression.

This seems relevant to dyslexics, who are likely to have low self-esteem.

After the experience of school, which I described earlier, you can see why they can feel inferior.

There is another theory that 15 to 20% of people are more sensitive than others. Highly sensitive people can be easily overwhelmed by their surroundings and feel more intensely than most people. The other 80% of people might go bungee jumping or watch sad and scary movies to feel the level of emotion highly sensitive people feel every day. It is possible that dyslexic people are more likely to be highly sensitive as well. According to the organisation, Dyslexia and Learning Solutions, ‘Dyslexics are highly perceptive, sensitive and intuitive.’ So there could well be a link.

Highly sensitive people process everything more than others. They go over and over things. If you are dyslexic and highly sensitive, there is even more to go over. The experience of the exam,

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This is not just a problem for someone’s school years. It could be for life. As psychologist Suzanne Lachmann explains, ‘The shame of feeling as if you aren’t good enough can be difficult to shake, even if you learn your own ways to accommodate your academic difficulties.’

Of this all I have personal experience.

I have been diagnosed professionally as dyslexic and after doing research I think it is likely I’m also highly sensitive.

Academically, I am in good sets for most subjects, but often doubt whether I deserve to be there because, like I wrote at the start, often my classmates have finished their essays when I’ve only written a few lines, probably riddled with spelling mistakes. I have many ideas that I just can’t put on paper.

Even now, writing about this subject, which fascinates me, I struggle to put my thoughts into sentences. When people laugh at my spelling, it makes me feel small and stupid and, once again, makes me doubt whether I should be allowed in high sets. Other people tell me I’m not ‘really’ dyslexic or I couldn’t be in good sets, which makes it sound as if I’m pretending as an excuse, but as an excuse for what?

Being lazy because I don’t write much?

For being stupid? It’s easy to lose a lot of self-esteem in a surprisingly short time.

So, what can schools do about this?

Well, first, they just need to be aware.

This is happening, and mental health is not a swear word. We’ve already mastered the basic ways to cope with dyslexia, like extra time in exams, having laptops and no word searches, but not many people know about the low self-esteem and almost no one knows about high sensitivity and the links among them all. Without the whole picture, extra time and laptops can just make dyslexics feel different and perhaps even more stupid.

Once the problem is identified, schools need to think about ways they can support and work with dyslexics in a more holistic way.

They need to find out about any high sensitivity and/or low selfesteem in dyslexic students. Some ideas that could be helpful might include support groups, messaging networks, counselling and educating other children about dyslexia, so there are fewer comments about ‘stupidity’ and ‘slowness’.

Outside of schools, I would like to see more research being done into dyslexia because new discoveries and measures will have the potential to improve lives.

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SCHOOLS NEED TO THINK ABOUT WAYS CAN SUPPORT AND THEY WORK WITH DYSLEX ICS IN A MORE HOLISTIC WA Y

Thomas Liggett ah ghrd irg mitarat lata taf, ajqu sa oas mavf atf otl ata ozs atr, armk lestes atb?

How was reading that for you? Difficult? Impossible?

Welcome to my world. That is what it is like to be a dyslexic.

Dyslexia is like having somebody in your head putting a wall up to stop you from doing everything you want to do and you can’t break it down, as hard as you try. You just can’t break it down. You have all the ideas in your head but just cannot get them down on paper. It is like being trapped inside a cage. More than two million people in the UK suffer this imprisonment.

I have dyslexia and it stops me from doing things. But the key to unlocking the door to success and freedom is to never give up. Sometimes I am inevitably told off for doing something wrong or when I hand my prep in late.

But just think: you learn from your mistakes. There is a famous saying: ‘I didn’t succeed despite my dyslexia, but because of it. It wasn’t my deficit but my advantage.’  Mind’s Eye Prep | 2018

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Some of the brightest people in the world have dyslexia. Richard Branson is a multi-billionaire but he has dyslexia.

Tom Cruise has dyslexia. Look at him now! One of the most successful actors in the world, he has been in at least 50 films. He said, ‘My childhood was extremely lonely. I was dyslexic and many kids made fun of me. Those experiences made me tough inside, because you learn to quietly accept ridicule.’ Is it right that we are ridiculed?

Even Albert Einstein had dyslexia and struggled. But he said, ‘Imagination is more important than knowledge.

Imagination encircles the world.’

The trick to overcoming dyslexia is believing in yourself. Knuckle down with grit and determination and never, ever give up, no matter how tough or hard it gets, no matter if you’re in Maths or doing DT. Never, ever give up. Many people have helped throughout my time at my school and they have kept me going, even when times have been really tough. If you have struggled as I have, take comfort that you are not alone and know that, despite your difficulties, there is a bigger and brighter future ahead, as many famous people have proved.

‘My childhood was extremely lonely.

I was dyslexic and many kids made fun of me. you learn to quietly accept ridicule’

n e t s Li ur to yo

t r a He

ove The t rick rco is b ming d to elie ysl you dow rself ving in exia ; n with Knuc det k nev ermin grit a le atio er, nd eve n r g and ive up

y good citizen HENRY LANGFORD says ever ath r to grant life after de has the powe

R

ight now there are 6500 people in England waiting for an organ transplant. Last year 457 people died because there were not enough organs available. The more people donate organs, the better their chances of survival.

At the moment, to donate an organ if you die you have to opt in and sign up. Your relatives also have to agree, even if you have signed already to say that you would like to donate. I think this is wrong.

Organ parts should be automatically donated to save other people’s lives using an opt-out system by which you have to sign a piece of paper to say you do not want your organs used – otherwise they will be.

Last year only 36% of the English population registered to become donors after death. However, in countries that have chosen the optout system there has been a 25% increase in organ donations. If a young person dies it is always tragic but their death could mean other people live. This would mean their death had not been pointless.

We should all sign up as organ donors and the government should change the law.

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Where is

e h t Love ?

or ce and f n o e v o o pr N tries t A H K E I OGILV fear KAMRAN lam is nothing to Is all that

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As ha a M ve u pe expe had slim op r me le ien som I c l e in a d ook e of ing i f wa fer a y en t t

America was discriminatory to start with, especially after 9/11 and various Isis terrorist attacks. But when Donald Trump came to power he did not make the situation any better. He has banned certain countries from entering the US, which is unacceptably divisive. When people see the news, their minds are influenced by the actions of people like Trump.

Mike Haines has toured the world spreading the message of unity, resilience and awareness, proving that Islam is not a thing to fear S MIKE ATING MUSLIM ’ H D N A G IN R CT FEA ENESS PROJE INSTEAD OF THE ‘FORGIV ED T R A ST ES HAIN

P

rejudice. Discrimination. Injustice.

Those are just a few words to describe our world today. Every day a Muslim will be left without a job, her or his dignity diminished. Every day Muslims will be looked upon like another species altogether. How can we let this happen? Not only the United States but the rest of the world judges Islam and finds it wanting. Everywhere there is Islamophobia.

Don’t let yourself be affected by the extremists of this world, no matter what their religion. For example, socalled ‘Isis’ does not represent Islam at all. People think the actions of Isis mean others of the same religion should be tarred with the same brush.

But no matter what Isis does, it should not affect what people think of Islam, although it is a sad thing to hear that Isis does have a large association with Islam.

Second, Trump has brainwashed much of the population of America into thinking the Islamic faith is inferior and does not deserve a place in this world. But only 2% of the population of America have a basic knowledge of Islam and 60% have no knowledge at all and many of that 60% have been brainwashed into Islamophobia.

Imagine if half of the most powerful country in the world thought that your religion was inferior. You would have every reason to be scared. But isn’t that what happens to Muslims every day of the year? It is one thing to have doubts about Islam, but another to stop its followers from entering countries or deliberately post racist videos about them for the world to see. Discrimination is so intense that Muslims have been judged on their faith at interview rather than their ability to do a job, and some have even lost their jobs.

THE MAJ O MUSLIM RITY OF PEACE S HAVE DONE N LOVING, LAW-A OTHING B WRONG IDING Image: https://mikehaines.globalactsofunity.com

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s p ha ch Trum hed mu n s o i lat inwa bra he popu into of t merica he of A nking t is thi ic faith m a r l Is rio infe

R FAITH AT GED ON THEI DO A JOB D JU N EE B TO VE MUSLIMS HA HER THAN THEIR ABILITY AT R W IE V ER INT

“

ANTI-TR U AT THE MP PROTEST O SAN DIE GO CONV UTSIDE A TRUM P ENTION CENTER RALLY

Don’t let yourself be affected by the extremists of this world, no matter what their religion

As a Muslim I have had some experience of people looking at me in a different way. People I thought were my friends have sent spiteful emails and spoken wicked words. This is happening on a grand scale all over the world and must stop.

You may have heard, back in 2013, the horrific news that a British aid worker named David Haines was beheaded by ‘Jihadi John’. The whole event was filmed for the world to see and was a turning point in the way people saw Muslims. David’s brother, Mike Haines, at first grieved for his brother’s death but, soon after, instead of fearing and hating Muslims he started the ‘Forgiveness Project’. He says that he does not blame Islam for his brother’s death and that Isis does not represent Islam. He has toured the world spreading the message of unity, resilience and awareness, proving that Islam is not a thing to fear because the majority of peace-loving, law-abiding Muslims have done nothing wrong.

No matter who you are, make up your own mind about Islam. No matter what it is, think before you make that decision. Don’t be emotionally blackmailed by racist propaganda into an ignorant, infantile, ill-informed opinion. Find out for yourself. Mind’s Eye Prep | 2018

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ONl S K IC tai

L Htes re an L E N oca as

he y for t v p d a a r e an the t cur of m ien ies anc alad m

pping is omen, sho w st o he m r Fo of life. T tial part n for e s e s is e d n a a like par is l l a m e y spac s shopping bright, air s we l ir g . In fact, most g we need in h ly t l y a r u e t v with e h we ac ps so muc . When love sho s to shop e s u c x e h it shopping come up w sed, it is s e r p e d l omes off we fee a zipper c if r O . the y p a ther is off to jeans, it we f o o d ir y pa h a ion is, w st e u q e g h hoppin ? shops! T eed for s n a h c u s feel

Shopping is in the DNA

The solut ion scient ists came that shop up with w ping is in as our gene caveman s. Back in times, me n were hun would go ters: the out, kill w y hat they come hom needed a e. Women nd were gat would go herers: t out, fora hey ge for th and take e best fr home only uit t h e ripest a Several m nd juiciest illennia l . ater thin same. If gs are th you send e a man out he will ge to the sh t only th ops, e essentia that the ls, the th home abs ings olutely n else. If y eeds. Not ou send a hing woman, s time in mu he will sp ltiple sho end ps and ma carries o ke sure s ff the lu he xuries.

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fect way to is the per g in ool p p o h s Senior Sch Second, y am going to m I h . it s d w n g ie shoppin make fr o g I d n a to , y er at wa in Septemb it is a gre te often; ui the next q r s d fo n y ie fr et read g d n a at I h ug . I hope th have a la education ates ur m o e f o us o e stag y new h m h it w g in opp k the ice; can go sh elps brea h ly l k a e r a girl loo because it like seeing g in to th g o in n there is ne someth ive everyo stupid to g ut. b laugh a o

d stan nder es u t o v do n at invol n h ople o t e p g g in in e Som someth und, try huge g ro ggin then a u how l g d in walk hings, an ing, but on x t a l n e mel e r fifte can be weet ? Well, s n a s c ice bag , how be so n explain in a g m a ha and y to alty a wa behave to on s ce has s e d bu n r sid . u scie r taste o itch o on ou how ce is als hopping s n scie lain the exp

liant ping is bril nline shop o ait , w e r to o m e v r u ha Furthe lise that yo ive. a r e r r a u to yo e il s unt purcha ur yo wo r t fo r e afte 3 to 5 days often gon is e. t m n a e g m e g waitin The excit it is just a ing it n a e w th e d r n a a days, when you l fu a s s r e r fo e st ently This can b u need urg e yo s a at h c th s ur e the p for a dres op in-stor h is s u n io yo t c n a e party. Wh the trans s soon as ound for is yours a waiting ar o n is e g r e Th se annoyin complete. paying tho r o , n a ! m s l your the post es. It’s al shipping fe

‘I’m so glad I waited six weeks for these boots,’ said no -one ever!

Al ente so, sho ps a r re d real tain. Sh es ops ly c alwa igned t o o l has v i b e. Br ys give o av wal an of ls a intage feel dy Melv f a nd p In T i ille c w o t pum pshop t ures e ith oak v ping h e ere r Wate a is lo ywhere rsto nd fun . ud m k n y e sinc u c s is e yo quie lothes sic u ar t an , e su d st and r u dio r ound boo ks. ed b us y

e you No matter wher mall a in , are shopping are u yo , et re or in a st and miles, walking miles the best and walking is easurable pl exercise. It is it is en wh as well opping. sh by ed ni accompa m ti e and It even saves u might yo money that gym. e th in spend

In conclusion, shopping is the perfect way for us to have fun, relax, and improve our health.

However, the real reason we love it is because our ancestors loved it too.

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n e u B

Appetito!

e, GAIA ok a l’Italienn o c r eu at m a A keen rt for Posh Jam Ta e ip ec r r he shares

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GREENWOOD

C

ooking is my happy place. It makes me feel proud of myself, creative and imaginative. I was taught to enjoy cooking by my grandmother, Nonna, and being half-Italian helps. Nonna’s cooking is a work of art. She isn’t fixated on just one type of food or style of cooking: she is open to everything, which makes her an even better cook. For example, she bakes, roasts and grills, and makes both sweet and savoury food. But you never know: sometimes she combines the two! Like me, she believes if you cook with passion you can disperse love, happiness and warmth to others.

My family is five people – me, my sister, brother, mother and father. My sister goes to a university in Montreal called Mcgill and during the week my brother goes to a boarding school in Hertfordshire so from Monday to Friday it is just me and my parents. During the week the main cooks in our house are my father and me. My dad enjoys cooking vegetable frittatas and fish but I prefer classic Italian cuisine.

For example, most nights I cook pizza and focaccia, using our proper pizza oven, or pasta. My favourite pasta is amatriciana, tomato-sauce-based with pieces of bacon or speck that originates from Amatrice, where my ancestors come from. Hence the name of the dish!

At the weekend, when my brother is home, I always bake. Recently I made crostata for a couple of weekends, which is another typical Italian bake that uses a recipe from ancestors. Crostata is a simple jam tart (I use strawberry) but it is rather special.

The family rule is that if I bake at the weekend I have to make a mini version for my brother to take back to boarding school.

Like any cook I have some favourite recipes. Ciambellone al limone is a simple lemon cake in the shape of a doughnut. And I could die for my home-made focaccia with speck (pork fat that tastes similar to bacon). But my favourite of all is strawberry jam crostata.

Ingredients • 200g flour • 100g sugar • 100g diced unsalted butter at room temperature • 1 egg • 1 egg yolk • pinch of salt • strawberry jam Method • Preheat oven to 175 C • Mix flour, sugar and salt • Blend with butter, egg and yolk to make a smooth ball (use a blender to keep things cool) • Rest the dough for at least an hour • Meanwhile butter a flat-bottomed 12-inch round pan • Roll out dough quickly to 1cm thickness • Fit the dough into tin and spread with jam • Cut trimmings into strips and lay over the jam in diagonal cross-hatch pattern • Bake until dough turns golden brown – at most 30-40 minutes • Do not overcook Buon appetito!

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In e h T Fast 50

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e n a L

, One a l h mu For muc y s i h w e, ins ativ a v l o p n x in TH e lessly R O INGW and end e rich L L I h H d rne or t M C ADA ly gove t a toy f ct jus n stri a h et mor

I

first watched Formula One on TV when I nine years old.

It was the Monaco Grand Prix. Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa were racing for Scuderia Ferrari, the team I have supported ever since. The action overwhelmed me. Now, whenever I watch a race the excitement still sends a shiver down my spine, as if I am watching for the first time – even when the current Ferrari drivers, Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen, don’t do as well as I hope. F1 is the seventh mostwatched sport, with 425 million people tuning in from around the globe. But is a rubber-munching, fuel-guzzling sport really going to last in these environment-conscious times?

Surprisingly, F1 comes out on pole as the most sustainable sport because there have been massive cuts in the consumption of resources. The teams are now allowed to use only four engine units instead of eight, and if this condition is not met a grid penalty of 10 places is imposed. The goal the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile) set itself was to reduce its CO2 output by 7% but unlike most sports teams the FIA beat its own goal by 27%. Since the ten teams have been using hybrid engines, sales in hybrid cars have risen by 56%, and emissions from F1 have dropped by 34%, proving that, even though it looks massively unsustainable, F1 is changing for the better.

The KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) makes the cars more efficient. It takes energy that is usually lost during braking and stores it in batteries or a flywheel until the driver needs the extra power and acceleration. Kimi Räikkönen won the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix with a KERS-assisted overtake.

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And such hybrid technology that was pioneered in F1 cars is now being used in road cars, making millions of vehicles more efficient.

Tyres are subject to strict rules too. The regulations state that racing teams can use up to thirteen sets of tyres per race weekend and they are only allowed six sets of tyres for the race. This means that at least 44 tyres of the 112 that they start with on the Friday will be left at the end of the race. If a driver’s tyre wear is over 50% he needs to plan a pit stop, but if he does not have enough tyres left to make another pitstop he will have to ease off. This means lifting off and coasting before a corner and then braking instead of going hard on the power, stomping on the brakes at the braking point so that they hit the apex instead of spinning off into the gravel at the side of the track or into the barrier. To keep fuel usage to a minimum, pit stops that include

refuelling are no longer permitted.

Also, to keep race liquor consumption low, any car must not use more than 105 kg per race, and fuel flow may not exceed 100 kg an hour. If these rules are breached, the driver is disqualified.

F1 is a great blend of man and machine, and has matured from Sunday entertainment for the aristocracy of Europe to a sport watched by millions around the world. It continues to evolve responsibly and is clearly here to stay.

t id ha br gy t ed y h o l er no ione s is d h c r e te as p ca us , 1 ing rs w F in be ca ions d w l re no roa mil mo in ing les t k n c ma vehi icie f f f e o

#KeepFightingMichael After Michael Schumacher’s horrific skiing crash, the Mercedes AMG Petronas team wore the slogan #KeepFightingMichael as a message to the legendary driver, widely considered the best F1 driver ever.

Schumacher was put into a medically induced coma and is now on the slow road to recovery. He is looked after by a full medical team in Geneva, Switzerland.

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Finnishin

g

l o o Sch OLIVER HOGB IN says we ca n learn a g from the edu reat deal cation syste m in Fin land

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“

There is a lot of competition to become a teacher, which means the pupils receive the highest standard of education

But in Finland the government is being praised for the way its education system is structured. In Finland only 5% of the children cannot speak either Finnish or Swedish and the school day usually runs from 9am to 1pm, consisting of about three hours and 45 minutes of lessons. An average group has 25 periods a week, each lasting 45 minutes, and all schools serve a warm meal at lunch time. The reason the Finnish government chooses to have shorter days is because it believes you can’t learn without being well rested and that the most important thing in life is socialising. This is why most schools close at 1pm. When the system is compared to England’s, the shorter day is only one difference.

The Finnish government chooses to have shorter days because it believes you can’t learn without being well rested

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T

Finnish children start school aged seven, and throughout school in Finland, from primary to secondary school, pupils are only required to take one standardised test. The government believes this reduces stress, which is what causes people in other countries to not succeed. Also, all teachers in Finland are highly trained in general education, and all are required to have a Masters degree. (In vocational education

he UK is currently ranked 15th in the world for the most well-educated country.

Primary school runs from 5 to 13 and throughout this period pupils have to take many standardised tests. England has recently updated its education system so that in Year 2 and Year 6 SAT tests will be more vigorous. Pupils are then graded by how well they do in these tests and the tests determine where they go for secondary school.

Eventually this determines whether they are successful in life or not. As well as these standardised tests many schools across the country give pupils mock tests so that they get used to exams. Many people believe this is beneficial since pupils become less stressed about such exams, but other people believe children just become more stressed because there is a lot of pressure for pupils to succeed in exams, which can lead to anxiety and depression. t given nland are no ive a Fi in n re d il rece ol ch Primar y scho secondar y school pupils ight n d an er p rk o rk o w e w hom home one hour of f o m u im ax m

teachers have a Masters degree or a Bachelor’s degree.) The high-level training is thought necessary because teachers in Finland are autonomous professionally. Teaching and guidance staff within day-care centres generally have bachelors degrees. Pre-primary teachers in schools hold a Masters degree.

HIGH-LEVEL TEACHERS TRAINING IS THOUG IN FINLAND H ARE AUTON T NECESSARY BECAU OMOUS PRO S FESSIONAL E LY

To become a teacher in Finland, you have to do years of training and although there is a syllabus all teachers can choose what they teach. In Finland there is also a lot of competition to become a teacher, which means the pupils receive the highest standard of education possible. As well as the short school day, pupils do not receive homework at primary school and, even when they reach secondary school, pupils receive a maximum of one hour of homework per night. Pupils only receive one grade per term from their class teachers.

“

Finland routinely tops the rankings of global education systems because classes are not sorted by ability

In the world Finland ranks high in terms of education. Finland routinely tops the rankings of global education systems because classes are not sorted by ability. A test was taken to see which country had the best education system and this test consisted of reading, maths and science. Finland ranked second in this test, a narrow 15 points behind South Korea.

I think Finland’s education system is very good and many countries around the world, including England, might learn from its example.

re Pu q p st uir ils a e a be - T nda d t re lie he rd o t on ve go is ak ly s ve ed e st this rnm tesone re r e t ss ed nt uc es

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A

Long

Journey UELR O B AN less n B u E ST uin s E eng P m i a g , cl the Kin nge a t h e ou e c p t i a w l Clim , wil Z E So when 2100 comes 70% of King Penguin species will be LOP t fast c we a

K

ing Penguins are some of the most loved creatures in the world. But recent scientific research tells us that, due to climate change, they might be driven out of their sub-Antarctic home and become extinct.

Like other penguin species, mated King Penguins job-share: one penguin will tend to the chick on land, while the other penguin hunts fish in the perilous ocean. This food journey is at least 400 miles on average and could last for a week. Although King Penguins travel a lot, they are actually homebodies, and rather choosy ones!

They nest only on islands located between 45 and 55 degrees South. This location is bustling with krill and small fish, making it Penguin heaven. It is known as the Antarctic Polar Front.

But recent discoveries show that the Antarctic Polar Front is moving South. An international research team has determined that the distance from the most densely occupied islands to areas with lots of food will stretch and stretch, making survival more and more unlikely, until about 2100 when the penguin mate and chick waiting on shore will most certainly starve before the other adult returns.

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wiped out. Even if they relocate to islands closer to Antarctica, survival is not guaranteed. There are still some islands further South where King Penguins may go, but the rivalry for breeding sites and for food will be tough, especially with the other penguin species like the Chinstrap, Gentoo or Adélie penguins.

Climate change is endangering the lives of penguins, but litter is making things even worse. When hunting for fish, King Penguins often eat rubbish and many choke and die. We need to respect the environment and not throw our rubbish around. Just this little bit of thought might save a penguin’s life.

th ed wit ista wil h l nce o l t su str ts o o ar e r th viva tch f fo eas o a e pe l u , ma d on nd c ngu nlike king hi in s l ce hor ck w mat y; rta e w ait e inl ill ing y s mo ta rv st e

ally mor ying e w can ote pa when m pro allers nited b t n eU o fo f th pulatio o % o p t 6.5 n ’s iste dom King in persty? s i er pov

Easy e m a G How can we justify paying a footballer in one week, asks FINLAY SUTCLIFFE, five times what a firefighter earns in a year?

T

he average week for a footballer involves a training session, an appointment with the physio, a press conference and a 90-minute match. And at the end of the week he has enough money to buy a terraced house in the North of England. You could argue this is not every footballer and footballers are highly skilled in their own right, entertaining people week in week out while being subjected to the criticism of the media. But can you honestly say such high salaries are justified?

DO YOUNG PEOPLE WHAT INCENTIVE , ME PARAMEDICS HAVE TO BECO IGHTERS? -F TEACHERS OR FIRE

The salaries footballers receive are scandalous when you consider they could be paid half of what they are now paid and still be super-rich. How can we morally promote paying footballers like this when a recent survey showed that 6.5% of the United Kingdom’s population was classified as being in persistent poverty, which means about 3.9 million people? The UK’s overall poverty rate – 16.8% – is the 12thhighest in Europe.

The average week for a fire-fighter involves 48-hour shifts, emotional exhaustion from visiting scenes of trauma, and saving lives. And at the end of the week he or she is lucky if there is enough money to feed a family of four, while struggling to pay a 25year mortgage on that terraced house in the North. Full-time fire-fighters earn around £25,000 a year and paramedics £28,000. Soldiers fight for our country and protect us all. They risk their lives while being separated from friends and family for long periods of time and they can be mentally disturbed by the whole experience. Yet they too are paid very little. How can saving lives, while risking your own in the process, be worth 30 times less than kicking a ball about?

What incentive do young people have to become paramedics, teachers or firefighters when they can earn more in a day as a footballer than they could in a year in one of the ‘caring’ professions?

The aspirations of the young are shaped by modern culture and this modern culture will produce a generation of dreamers wanting to be professional footballers. Why save lives for £25,000 a year when you can play football for £125,000 a week?

Fu ll f a ig -t ye rou hte ime r f a n liv r a d £ s ea irend 25 e rn s s fr epa wh ris ,000 k ien ra ile t a ds te b he an d fr eing ir d fa om mi ly Mind’s Eye Prep | 2018

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s d n Ha Off

O , asks ALVAR K U e h t to in ars driverless c tion?

If we allow e right direc h t in g in o g LONJE, are we

P

DE CA

utting driverless cars on the road is all the rage. But are they really a good idea?

First, they could put millions out of work. According to a recent report, as many as four million truck, bus, delivery and taxi drivers could lose their jobs if fully autonomous vehicle technology is adopted. This would increase unemployment around the world to unmanageable levels.

There would also be many legal problems with driverless cars because there are serious safety concerns. The technology has not been properly developed and tested to make sure they would be safe on our roads. A recent study showed that, when a Google driverless car was tested, it had 58

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thirteen minor crashes over a distance and won’t be suitable for motorways of 1.8 miles. This suggests these cars and longer journeys. Also, the Google are still not ready to be released onto driverless cars will only have a range our streets since they might lead to of 100 miles when the battery is fully even more accidents and traffic jams. charged.

If a crash happens, who But the safety argument is to blame? Should can also favour driverless A recent study the passengers or the cars because human car company be held showed that, when a error causes over 85% Google driverless responsible? The new of accidents. Driverless car was tested, it Google driverless cars cars might actually had thirteen minor crashes over a will have no steering reduce the number of distance of 1.8 wheels or pedals, accidents because cars miles meaning passengers will be more rational will have no control. and automatically do what is safest for the driver. And drinkSelf-driving cars are not a viable driving, which adds to the number of replacement for our current cars crashes per year, would be a thing of because they are limited to a maximum the past. Google is ensuring that if one speed of 25 mph (40 kph). This means of its cars does bump into something, they will have to avoid certain roads the damage and harm will be minimal

Peo als ple wo ob e a uld t b pro o do mor le duc tive on e suc a long thing ha s w drive s sle ork o , ep r

because the car uses a foam bumper and a flexible windscreen. If a human body, inside or outside the vehicle, is hit by one of these, the energy absorption should prevent fatality.

The use of driverless cars could limit the number of people travelling by plane because travelling by car would not be as tiring, even though it would take a very long time. People would also be able to do more productive things on a long drive, such as work or sleep. Parking places would no longer be needed because cars would automatically ca huma acc uses o n erro i v r car dents er 85 %o s m ; Dr ive f re igh of duce t t act rless acc ua h car idente numb lly sw sb ec er il rat l be m ause ion al ore

SOME DRIV ER PEDALS, ME LESS CARS WILL HAVE ANING PASS N ENGERS WIL O STEERING WHEELS OR L HAVE NO CONTROL

return home without a driver. This could increase the number of green spaces in densely populated and developing countries, and release space for new housing to be built, thus alleviating the housing crisis in many big cities. If many people stop travelling by plane, there would be a decrease in carbon dioxide emissions, which would help the fight against global warming.

So I am sceptical about the benefits of driverless cars in the short term. But I do believe that in the long term they could improve road safety and our quality of life.

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The Sky is the

t i m

i L A

When yo u look a t the ar current ray of t ly on th ranspor e table, from A tp says LO to B wil UIS CLA rojects l never RKE, gett be the s ing ame aga in

s climate change becomes an even hotter topic, many people are thinking about the future of transportation.

A plane could one day transport 100 people from London to Sydney in 45 minutes. This plane would launch into space and fly at Mach 7, seven times the speed of sound. This will be revolutionary for the environment because the burnt fuel will stay in space.

But if people can commute from London to Sydney, the increased links could cause the economic structure of one city to collapse because most people would then be able to commute transcontinentally. The greater connectivity would make the world like a city so one country could become residential, one country could have the best schools, 60

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one country could have the business zone and one country could be where lots of production takes place. There may be upsides for the environment with such connectivity but it could turn the world into one big country.

first mass-market car, most electric cars took 15 hours to charge, struggled to hit 60 mph, and had no luxury features at all, with a range of under one hundred miles. The Model S, a saloon sportback, was released by Tesla Inc. in 2013. It has five The Model S, a seats for adults and two saloon sportback, The most important rear-facing seats in the was released by Tesla Inc. in 2013. part of future transport boot for children, and involves cars. As of It is the safest car full leather seats with in the world, with a 2016, treaties have been luxurious amenities. It 250-mile range and signed pledging to is the safest car in the a 0-62 mph time to rival any Ferrari help the environment world, with a 250-mile by 2030. Shortly after, range and a 0-62 mph many governments issued incentives time to rival any Ferrari. It sells for to buy electric and hybrid cars. One of mid-market prices of around £60,000the frontrunners in environmental cars £110,000 depending on how fast you is Tesla Inc., which has made the fastest, want the car, how long-range, and how most luxurious electric cars so far. Until luxurious. Second-hand the Model 2013, when the company released its S sells for £40,000. But the reason it

A plane could one day transport 100 people from London to Sydney in 45 minutes

caught on so well is because it is just like a normal car, despite being electric, meaning that there is little adjustment in lifestyle for its owners. These electric cars are also harmless to the environment because they generate no emissions.

The Model X Tesla has just been released, with gull-wing doors that open like a supercar, and seven seats to fit a family. And in the USA the Tesla Model 3 has just appeared, with a market price of about £28,000, a 220mile range and loads of features. Many luxury car companies as well as massmarket brands have begun to sell their own hybrids as well. One of the first and best-known hybrids is the Toyota Prius, which is affordable and can have seven seats. Other companies like Volvo have their flagship estate, SUV and saloon

t ou is t t ge t i ss to hilspre p ve w n ap ha car ca he to e u t r u yo ur yo on ca pac f o i y ing on he g s of ain utt et t kin wn r b g ar o p ts a nd a da ni o fin

Ada Con ptive you trol Cruis e a t car o fol llows the in fr low th on e m a s otorw t on et d a y a ista nce t

with hybrid powertrains, and even Jaguar Land Rover has begun selling hybrids in their Range Rover Sport, and Vogue, Vogue SE and Autobiography models. Many new makes of car are hybrid and electric, not only to help the environment but to increase acceleration and decrease engine noise.

Tesla has also pioneered an autopilot system that works when no one is in the car. This means that if you have to get out of your car whilst it is raining you can press a button on the app and get the car to find a parking space on its own. Then, if it is still raining but you want to get back into the car, it will come and pick you up. The flagship Volvos also have autopilot but only when someone has a hand on the wheel, and then the car will operate the accelerator, brake and steering. Some brands like Range Rover, BMW and Mercedes have ‘Adaptive Cruise Control’, which follows the car in front on the motorway at a set distance, meaning that you only have to control the steering, and BMW can keep the car between solid white lines painted on the road. So maybe autopilot will become a reality, not just a fantasy portrayed in films like I, Robot.

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Aboard

Climate change, says HUGO ALLEN, is forcing vehicle designers to think outside the box and all travellers will benefit

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amborghini has released a concept car called the Terzo Millennio, meaning ‘Third Millennium’ in Italian, which it claims can ‘heal’ itself. It uses carbon nanotube capacitors that monitor the car to fill in cracks in the precious bodywork and prevent them from spreading. It also harvests electrical power when braking, which makes it energy-efficient. There are also many developments in the self-driving car industry.

Nissan wants to take on Uber by creating its own driverless taxi service called ‘Easy Ride’, using their own cars, while Uber has bought up to 24,000 autonomous Volvos. Autonomous taxis could reduce cab fares by 80 per cent. By 2030 all of the cars in Germany will be electric so major companies are being forced to design electric cars fit for the modern era. Tesla has taken front stage with a range of electric cars including the Model S, X, 3 and Roadster. Tesla has developed one of the best electric motors and has placed its superchargers across the globe. As well as being eco-friendly, the Tesla boasts driverless systems and impressive speed.

Now fossil fuels are running out, what is the future of air travel?

UK company Reaction Engines Limited has designed a plane called the A2 that uses liquid hydrogen. The company claims the A2 can travel hypersonic speeds over the ocean but cannot have windows due to stress on the fuselage, so claustrophobia could be an issue. Boeing has taken a different approach. Its Pelican plane uses a cushion of air and specially shaped wings to create the ‘ground effect’ of flying only six metres above the sea’s surface. Flying at normal altitude over ground, over water Boeing hopes it will be super-fuel-efficient. But the UK does not steal all the glory speed-wise, since Canadian company Bombardier has made a small business jet capable of Mach 24 that travels from London to New York in 11 minutes! The

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AWWA-QG Progress Eagle is one of the many concept planes that include solar panels on their wings and use only renewable energy sources to stay in flight.

Over the past few years, the maritime and light railways. Although selfindustry has seen a ‘green revolution’ driving cars have taken the spotlight, of development in ecodriverless trains are friendly technology. also being developed.

250 autonomous NYK’s eco ship is a front 250 autonomous trains trains will be runner, its concept will be introduced in introduced in using new fuel cell London by 2022 to London by 2022 to technology, wind sails provide the firstprovide the first-ever ever air-cooled and solar cells to harvest air-cooled deep-level deep-level train its energy in the most train service.

Maglev service efficient ways possible. (magnetic levitation) Similar technology is and high-speed rail used in Eco Marine Power’s wind-solar services are being developed to make ships, a concept that shows some of travelling by rail much more swift, the most promising features. Wallenius thus decreasing congestion. Maglev Wilhelmsen Logistics’ E/S Orcelle is the uses superconducting magnets on the world’s first zero-emission vessel, due tracks to allow it to ‘levitate’ and cause to be launched in 2025. zero friction. This leads to incredible speeds, shown by the Maglev train in The US Department of Transportation Japan that reached 375 mph in 2015. wants to spend 76% more money, or 115 billion USD, on new metro lines The future looks good for transport and getting from one place to another will become more efficient and convenient, but to come into being the new systems may take a toll on the environment.

ses v u cting e l u g Ma cond n the r o low e s p su gnet o al e ma cks t vitat e tra to l it

ge t on ting e an pla fro be othe ce t m c eff ome r wil o l i m co cient ore nv a en ien nd t

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end e sp l p o ,000 e pe Som to £22 s and p e u s ses las on g act len lives t con g their in r u d

Bright Eyes HARRY SHOUKSMITH tells the four-eyed amongst us to see the light and dump the specs

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eople all over the UK struggle every day with the hassle of glasses and contact lenses. With glasses there are many problems: they can steam up in rain, smash or even change your appearance (often for the worse). And with contacts you have the pain of putting them in and taking them out; they get itchy as the day goes on and it can feel like something is stuck in your eye. Most important, they can both cost a fortune over time.

Some people spend up to £22,000 on glasses and contact lenses during their lives.

LATEST CHEAPE LASER EY E R THAN CONTAC TREATMENT TS

But change is coming. Laser eye surgery has been developed that is affordable for all. With just one initial outlay, this innovative procedure provides you with 20/20 vision and saves you thousands of pounds in the long term.

But how quick and safe is it? People are shocked to discover how many misconceptions they have about laser eye surgery. Not only does it correct your vision painlessly, quickly and efficiently but it provides perfect long-term vision, freeing you from your contacts and glasses. It’s one of the world’s safest and most common elective treatments, and today over 25 million people have had laser eye surgery.

The biggest surprise for most people is how quick it is. The procedure only takes around 15 minutes and in my opinion that’s not a waste of time for getting your vision fixed. So it’s no surprise that the most common statement after the surgery is, ‘I wish I’d done it sooner.’

Not only d correct yo oes it u painlessly r vision , and efficie quickly n it provide tly but s perfect long-term vision

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t r a Sm Mov e?

to e in to k o br only g ice in e pol hous a hav d a the Alex She h the d ; n d y i f i an nt art a p d Sir sista e s t A invi ogle o to Go

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, Y FOSTER

NN warns DA , g in n e t ed frigh all invit e may be e r r u a t u e f w e Th which party to a ’s it t bu

T

echnology has recently come a long way. We make cars that drive better than humans, mobile phones are several centimetres less thick and thousands of times more powerful, and we have successfully 3D-printed a working human organ, as well as a pizza. But are these ‘advances’ a good thing, or should we be scared?

Anything powerful can both create and destroy. This was the case with nuclear power, and it may be the case with the Quantum Computer. These computers are millions of times more powerful than standard computers and can solve complex equations incredibly fast. With these machines, we could develop a cure for cancer, for example, but we could also immediately crack passwords, encrypted data (files that are scrambled up to prevent people from viewing them, like online banking details) and in the wrong hands this could be a powerful weapon. However, with the Quantum computers we may be able to make even stronger encryption, but right now it is impossible to tell.

AI is also an amazing development within the last decade – Google in particular has been conducting many experiments, and has made robots that have taught themselves how to walk and have a conversation. Amazon has even released its own smart assistant, the Amazon Echo, which can control the lights and heating in your home. However, if this was accessed remotely, a hacker could heat up your home to the point of burning, or turn your lights on and off. How would you like it if someone you didn’t trust had full control over your home? (I suppose you could just shout through someone’s window, ‘Alexa, turn on the lights’, or ‘Alexa, play Spotify on full volume.’ That would be hilarious.) In fact, such a bust-up has already happened. Police came round to a house after neighbours accused the owners of having a loud party while they were trying to sleep. The police broke into the house only to find Alexa having a party all by herself. She had invited Siri and the Google Assistant too. Had their Amazon Echo been hacked? Possibly.

Also, I know it may be a century at least before this happens, but scientists have also begun to experiment on genes, and in the future we may be able to customize our own children: we could give them super strength, or a third arm. (I’m not sure why you’d do that but I suppose it would be helpful.) The trouble is this could allow the creation of a perfect soldier and a clone army.

We still consider this to be sci-fi stuff but it is possible.

Should we be scared of the future? I say no, but we should be wary. The future will be amazing, but we have to be careful. In the future, crime may go down to an all-time low – China is infamous for keeping a close eye on its citizens, and has cameras everywhere equipped with facial recognition and tracking which, as BBC reporter John Sudworth discovered when they found him within seven minutes, are extremely effective. However, in the West we would see this as an invasion of privacy. For every pro there seems to be a con. As for your own opinion of the future, I will leave you to decide, but the future will definitely be another country.

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Final n w o d t n u o C

ts, ping shallo p o h c o t s e hing dron gests From launc keover, sug ta a r o f p u lining robots are ELL

OTTR HARRISON C

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n the stories of Isaac Asimov there are three laws of robotics, which govern the behaviour of all robots: 1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. 2. A robot must obey the orders given by human beings except when such orders would conflict with the First Law. 3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.

It is programmed with none of Asimov’s three laws and is effectively a mechanical psychopath. There is also a military drone under development called the TRITON. This drone might operate autonomously, making it a robot able to kill people at an astonishing rate, should it be equipped with bombs or guns. So, most of the hardware is already developed. How long until world powers install some more dangerous software?

Most robots today are safe because they can’t understand or violate any of the three laws. Examples include industrial robots, leisure robots and cleaning robots. But there are some robots that might be harmful to humans. One of these is surgery robots. These are not fully intelligent yet, and most of them have to be operated by a human surgeon, but with new advancements in Artificial Intelligence these machines could be dangerous. This is because the machine by its very clinical purpose would have the capacity to violate the first law. When operating on a patient, the robot would not be thinking of its work space as a human body and would not comprehend the magnitude of making a mistake, and so it would be able to kill humans.

Another danger is that some robots are unable to stop when someone is in danger. In 1953, Robert Williams was struck on the head and killed by the one-ton industrial robot on which he was working. This was the first robot fatality. The robot could not stop itself.

Industrial robots rely on several lines

Another type of dangerous robot is military. One of these is the Samsung SGR-A1, a large sentry gun currently being used in the demilitarised zone between North and South Korea.

It works by identifying the thermal signature of a human being and firing big bullets. It has deadly accuracy and no morality outside of thinking ‘human-shaped things are targets’.

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the S is pr amsun g o non gramm SGR-A1 e of ed w it thre A e la simov’s h is ef ws a a me fective nd ly c psyc hanical hopa th

of code that tell them what actions to perform but there is no input from the outside world to tell them if they are doing something wrong. Even a mildly talented hacker could send such a robot more dangerous codes. Companies do put up extensive firewalls, but with the hacking industry improving it is getting easier and easier to break them down.

Who knows what hackers will do in the future?

Robots are dangerous, especially ones equipped with tools that can kill people. So how do we control them?

Most designers and engineers have not yet employed Asimov’s three laws, so in this rapidly developing world we have to ask ourselves if the benefits of robots are going to be worth the risk.

s one g dr ed to n i d See e us onitor m ld b cou crops, ombat c t g d n n a pl h a sprayin t w gro se by es a d dise pestici

THE NEAR FUTU RE FOR DRONES, SU WILL BRING EVEN MORE USES CH AS DELIVERI NG FOOD

Drone

On

Once just a toy and now a handyman, drones could be the soldiers, doctors and farmers of the future. CHARLES CALZIA explains

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n 2018 drone hardware will raise $9 billion for the world’s economy and in 2021 over $12 billion, according to BI intelligence estimates in 2016.

Drones today deal in espionage, law enforcement and the inspection of oil rigs, and are evolving rapidly.

The near future will bring even more uses for drones, such as delivering food.

Companies like Dominos are testing drones to deliver food much faster: a test has shown that a drone can deliver two pepperoni pizzas over 4 miles in 10 minutes.

GOLDM A BILLION N SACHS PRE D DRONE WILL BE SPE ICTS THAT $7 NT ON S EACH MILITAR 0 YEAR Y

ld cou nes sential o r D es re ver deli ealthca uch m h lies an supp r than e e fast bulanc am

Drones will soon predict natural disasters such as tsunamis (through measuring air pressure), which could save thousands of lives. They may also locate missing people in avalanches with heat-sensing cameras.

And they could deliver essential healthcare supplies such as vaccines or a defibrillator much faster than an ambulance, which could mean tipping the balance between life and death.

Drone racing may turn out to be a future entertainment, with speeds of up to 150mph. They can also be used as a light display. Companies such as Freefly Systems have even constructed a drone which can tow someone while they surf. The new sport has been named Dronesurfing.

Goldman Sachs predicts that $70 billion will be spent on military drones each year because drones are much cheaper than helicopters and more effective.

According to Texas’ Montgomery County Sherriff’s Office, a Shadowhawk drone costs $30 to run each hour, while a helicopter costs $500. Military drones can be used to reach areas which are inaccessible to humans or just too dangerous. In future they could also perform co-ordinated attacks.

Seeding drones could be used to plant crops, monitor growth and combat disease by spraying pesticides.

BioCarbon Engineering has planned to use drones to plant one billion trees each year to reforest the Earth. They plan to send one drone to survey the area and another to plant the seeds.

This is several times more efficient than planting seeds by hand and is a major leap in battling deforestation.

Drone swarming will provide huge benefits. Swarms can be controlled easily by a single operator and be used to check chimneys, pipelines, power lines and industrial factories cheaply and easily. A swarm could lose several drones yet still work.

It looks like drones will revolutionise food, safety, entertainment, the military, farming and maintenance. Our future may well be drones. Mind’s Eye Prep | 2018

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e n i L up!

HARRY C ORDEAU

X assess train tr es the v ack bur alue of r owing it of Lond a new s w oners ay right under t he feet

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ondon is today shaped by an extensive transport system that connects all four corners of the city. The only problem is the city is growing in population so the network has to grow too. Since 2012, Transport for London has been working on its most ambitious project to date: Crossrail.

Also known as the Elizabeth Line, this new underground track stretches from Heathrow Airport and Reading in the West to Abbey Wood and Shenfield in the East. As well as constructing the labyrinth of tunnels that make up the railway, the engineers and designers have the challenge of building ten brand-new sleek stations, many of which are in the city centre.

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To ease congestion, a fleet of 70 new works. For example, in Tottenham trains will be rolled out along the Court Road the architects have put in line. These trains will each carry up beautiful lights that absorb sound to to 1500 passengers and all carriages minimise noise across the ceilings of will be inter-connected to allow free the station. Transport for London has movement through all used seven different parts of the train. And principles to build Also known as the each one of these trains Crossrail: Identity, Clarity, Elizabeth Line, this will be the length of two Consistency, Inclusivity, new underground track stretches football pitches.

Sustainability, Security from Heathrow and People Focus.

Airport and Reading The new stations are all in the West to Abbey unique, with individual Building a new Wood and Shenfield in the East designs. Many of the underground railway stations feature grand line is painstaking and ticket halls, wide entrances and roomy takes a long time. However, it will ease tunnels. The entrances are designed the gridlock around London during to let light flood in. For many of the busy times. After all, a new suburban new central stations, upcoming and line through the centre of London already-famous artists have been could be just what the city needs; it commissioned to create impressive would make the area around it worth

BUILDIN RAILWA G A NEW Y LINE UNDER TAKES A LONG IS PAINSTAK GROUND ING AN TIME D

more, creating thousands of new jobs, and it would boost the economy and generate new income for the population. On the other hand, the Elizabeth Line will pollute the city and the surrounding area, making people’s health worse. Also, it will take a lot of money and time to clean and maintain a fleet of seventy 200-metre long trains.

Images: crossrail.co.uk

Disabled access has been a key concern.

All stations on the network have been made ‘step-free’, which means that if you have a disability you won’t have to use the escalators or the stairs. And the doors will all be level with the platform, just like on the other lines. In addition, all stations will have lifts down from the ticket hall to the platform.

Safety is a key feature of designing a station for any public transport network. All platforms on the subterranean part of Crossrail have floor-to-ceiling protective screens with automatic doors. All new stations have no wood in the underground parts, which means in case of fire hardly anything will burn. To construct the tunnels the engineers have had to use eight giant tunnel-boring machines: their names are Phyllis, Ada, Elizabeth, Victoria, Jessica, Ellie, Sophia and Mary.

It may seem like a lot of hardware but these machines can only go up to 70 metres a day. On certain historical buildings like the ones around Soho they have had to build huge shafts with long tributary pipes. These pipes

e s th er lt c ine ne ru ng tun eir t th , ns e e t co th ian es: llis ria, g To els t hin hy to a n igh ac e P Vic phi n e m r h, So tu d g e in es a bet ie, s u or m za ll ry b na li , E Ma E ca d i a, n Ad ess a J

are then pumped full of grout to prop up the buildings. One building in particular has required a whole load of scaffolding just to hold up a staircase.

For the residents of Canterbury, where I go to school, the closest station is Abbey Wood: at just over 50 miles away, it will take you up to an hour and a half to get there. On the railway, you can get the highspeed to St. Pancras International and get off at Stratford International.

From there you can walk to Stratford or get the DLR (Docklands Light Railway) to Stratford and then get on the Elizabeth Line. So it will take just 15 minutes to get to Tottenham Court Road. And to get to Heathrow Airport from Central London will take just 35 minutes; on the Piccadilly Line, it would take over an hour. But we’ll have to wait and see if it makes any real difference to living in cities like Canterbury.

Much time, effort and money has been spent on this project, but is it really worth it? Will the transport system only get busier with the arrival of the Elizabeth Line? Will transport for London make any money or will they eventually have to close? There are many questions but only time will reveal the answers. Mind’s Eye Prep | 2018

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n e z o FMr usic

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A lifetime lover of great buildings, IMOGEN BEATON agrees with Goethe’s view about architecture

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have been fascinated by buildings for as long as I can remember. We are all surrounded by architecture, especially in a hodgepodge like my hometown of Cambridge. I remember moving here, from London, at six years old, and just standing on the street motionless. We had places to go, people to see, but compared to what I was used to – grey, dark and dirty block of flats after block of flats – I had never seen such strange houses. I had no idea it was even possible to build things like that.

There are many different kinds of buildings, putting a little bit of originality and wonder in everyone’s lives. While you could live in a block of flats, a feat of precise engineering, you could also go round the corner to see a beautiful, timeless church from Saxon times. There might be a modern McDonalds next to a row of tudor houses, or even a Victorian gothic mansion next to a shopping centre.

For example, the Cambridge Law Faculty is really modern while King’s College, a world-famous iconic Cambridge building, provides an enormous contrast because the latter is really gothic and churchy.

Architecture involves many different designs and people.

First, let’s look at the most modern styles, such as the work of Zaha Hadid and Frank Gehry, who specialize in very modern structures and abstract pieces. Their buildings use a lot of steel

“

He had the courage to invent something really worthwhile that would stand for centuries

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ize in pecial ings s y r h d nk Ge t buil nd Fra ed abstrac a d i d rv Ha Zaha ng and cu and glass i l p e e e t e s sw of t o l a using

had the courage to invent something really worthwhile that would stand for centuries, but he wasn’t above having a hand in building it either.

Do you ever really think what it would have meant to the person who developed it – how much it mattered?

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Next time you are out on the street, take a look around you, like my sixand glass, which either makes them year-old self, and imagine what that sweeping and curved, or jagged and street would have been like a 100 years twisted, or a mix between the two. This ago. Would that building be there? recalls a big, quite new city, like New Would those ruins have been a church?

What would that block of flats have York. been used for? And have Filippo a closer look at your home.

Second, we can look at Brunelleschi’s How hard would it have some of the more classic style was really challenging been to design and to architectural stylists, because he made build? Would it have been like Filippo Brunelleschi, the biggest dome the first Renaissance the world had ever a new idea at the time, or a really classic design? Do architect, who designed seen you ever really think what churches.

His most famous work is the octagonal brick it would have meant to the person who developed it – how much it mattered? dome of Florence Basilica.

His style was really challenging because he made the biggest dome (before factories) the world had ever seen. It was hard because not only did he have to design the octagonal dome as a complete first, but there were no machines that could help him build it so he also had to invent the machines. It goes without saying from this achievement that he was a master mathematician and builder in one. I like his work so much because he not only

Well, have a good think and you might change your mind. Lots of people think architecture is a subject for the history books or for clever mathematicians, but really it’s something we can all enjoy and be part of, whether we are users or builders.

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But

is it

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“

the oldest drawings were created by humans during the prehistoric Stone Age

edges of art have become blurred by the development of new forms of expression, such as photography, conceptual art, the use of found objects, installation work, performance art and land art. Nowadays, you need to consider many factors to decide whether or not something is a work of art.

The edges of art have become blurred by the development of new forms of expression

M

ost people think a painting, drawing or sculpture made by an artist, placed in a gallery and praised by the art world is a work of art. But what about a photograph on an iPhone or graffiti on the side of a train? Are these artworks as well? In my opinion, to some extent art is all around us; you just need to have the vision to see it. But I also agree with Arthur Danto: ‘Just because anything can be art, it doesn’t follow that everything is art.’

According to some paleoarchaeological information the oldest drawings were created by humans during the prehistoric Stone Age, between 300,000 and 700,000 years ago. So art has happened for many centuries, mostly in the traditional form of drawing, painting and sculpture. But it has changed into the modern art we have today. Modern artistic expression is so varied that there is some dispute whether some of it is art or not. The

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LERY, IS IT IS IT IN A GALLERY? IF IT ISN’T IN A GAL ?

ART FOR IN A PUBLIC SPACE MEANT

One factor is location. Is it in a gallery?

If it isn’t in a gallery, is it in a public space meant for art? If a photograph is just sitting on your iPhone in your schoolbag, many people probably wouldn’t count it as art. However, a photograph hanging in the Getty Images Gallery would probably pass the test. Duchamp put a urinal on show in a public exhibition to create the artwork ‘Fountain’. However, some artists have huge enormous pieces of land art in deserted places, such as Smithson’s ‘Spiral Jetty’ in Utah, rather than showing their work in the traditional way.

Another test is whether enough of the right kinds of people consider something to be art. Although everyone can have an opinion, really the people who make the important decisions about art are the critics, curators, gallery owners, rich investors, teachers, dealers, media, collectors and the general public. If they are mostly

in agreement that something is art, then it will generally be seen as art. And if someone is prepared to pay a lot of money for a work then it is more likely to be considered proper art.

ANOTHER T ES PEOPLE CO T IS WHETHER ENOUG NSIDER SOM H ETHING TO OF THE RIGHT KINDS BE ART OF

A true piece of art is also likely to provoke a strong response in the viewer. Art can just be a plank of wood with a dot of paint on it. It could be as simple as that. Rothko painted large abstract works of simple blocks of colour, but they are artworks because they have an almost spiritual impact on people. In my opinion art should always be original and come at least partly from the imagination. It should push the boundaries of what has been done before and make people think. Simply copying another work of art isn’t really art. For many people, they wouldn’t consider something to be art unless they personally found it to be beautiful, which is a very subjective test.

Perhaps art needs to be produced or exhibited by someone who considers themselves an artist and meant the work they created to be a piece of art.

Duchamp’s ‘Fountain’ was just an everyday urinal until he declared it to be a work of art. Likewise, Carl Andre’s ‘Equivalent VIII’ could simply have been a pile of bricks if he hadn’t turned it into a piece of art.

Andy Warhol made a sculpture of a brillo box and this is a work of art (worth millions of dollars), even though it looks just like something you could buy in a shop. Some people might also argue that to

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be a work of art a piece should involve the use of sophisticated, technical, artistic skills.

However, Rothko’s colour field paintings and Duchamp’s ‘Fountain’ might struggle to pass this test.

If you’re still not sure if something is art, then Grayson Perry’s rubbish heap test might help you. Just leave your possible piece of art on a pile of rubbish and if passers-by stop and wonder why there is a piece of art on that pile of rubbish, then it’s a work of art. If they just pass by, then it’s probably not a work of art and is just another piece of rubbish. (Of course the outcome of this test depends on the kind of people passing by and their artistic tastes. Also, the pile of rubbish itself could be the work of art these days.)

If a piece passes at least some of the above tests there is a good chance it will be thought a work of art. But in the end maybe it isn’t necessary to define what is or is not art. Perhaps it doesn’t really matter if the boundaries of art are blurred. Art is difficult to pin down. As Basquiat said, “I don’t know how to describe my work. It’s like asking Miles Davis, ‘How does your horn sound?’”

If we struggle to answer the question ‘What is art?’ maybe we’re asking the wrong question.

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When M AJA MA RTEN d went t idn’t k o Tate now wh Moder at art n to fin was, sh d out e

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hile I walked past a herd of canvases in my school’s art exhibition, I thought to myself: is Art nothing but dried-up paint on a blank canvas? When I sat on a train to London on the way to Tate Modern, the thought again entered my mind.

I had chosen Tate Modern to help me answer my question. In the first gallery there was nothing but canvases, all there to tell a story and divert my eyes – but not to answer my question. As I progressed, photos replaced canvases and the texture became flat, widening the scope of what was considered ‘Art’. From one room to another, the variety of such ‘Art’ was unbelievable.

I walked through another door and the room, which would normally have been in darkness, was lit up by 800 radios hanging over me, each one tuned to a different station. Noise echoed around the walls, each channel expressing a different language to represent the great Tower of Babel.

I marched on and came across five kilometres of real hair dropping from the walls, held up by car bumpers. In the next room I saw filled and rounded sacks strewn across the floor and wrapped up as if they were priceless. There were pieces of wood lying on top of each other, clay sculptures, metal lined up against a wall and even a collection of lipsticks in a jar. 

“

I marched on and came across five kilometres of real hair dropping from the walls, held up by car bumpers

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r e h Anot Man’s

E R U S EA

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At the end of the day I wondered whether some of what was on display was truly Art or whether the pieces of wood and other stuff were simply there to provoke questions and widen the debate.

PHOTOS REPLACED CANVA SES AND THE TEXTURE BECAME FLAT, WIDENING THE SCOPE OF WHAT WAS CONSIDERE D ‘ART’

Perhaps Art is not just what you see on canvas – perhaps it can also be seen in photos, sculptures, woodwork, metalwork and even five kilometres of human hair hanging from car bumpers.

My question remains unanswered.

Bad

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d at Go h t s ct ion is refle ig r l e e r n Tur des onclu Theo c t u d, b is dea evil sary s e c e an

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ou are walking down the street. You see a man on a makeshift stage and the crowd begins to thicken. There are banners reading ‘Vote for the Party’. The man begins to speak.

‘If you vote for me as Prime Minister, anyone who respects me, who doesn’t vote for anyone else, who doesn’t question my decisions, who cares for me, who does whatever I say, and who doesn’t do anyone any harm, will be cured of all diseases and be taken to a place of permanent comfort. Their lives will be perfect. But if you break these rules you will be locked up forever and tortured. I will decide.’ I can’t read your mind but I don’t think your response would be positive.

You probably think he’d make a rather nasty dictator. But this is the basic idea behind Christianity and, when tweaked, most of the world’s other religions. A god or gods are dictators who want total control over everyone and will punish all those who break their laws. Yet billions of people believe in these dictators.

Another flaw in religion is praying. This involves moaning to an infinitely more powerful being about how unfair your life is, and asking him to make an exception for you and break all the laws of Physics by performing a miracle.

There are many arguments giving this dictator the power to be our supreme ruler. For example, ‘He always does what is right.’ But what is ‘right’? There might be an alien species amongst whom the greatest honour is to be murdered; or they might encourage adultery or stealing. What is right then? And what about ‘He created us.’? Well, my parents created me and they don’t have any right to complete control.

It’s a shame religion is so ridiculous. It can give a clear structure and clear laws for us to follow, as well as motives not to break them.

Whether there is a god or not, if we all believed in the same religion the world would be a much better place. Religion may be a holy dictatorship but, given human nature, it is necessary.

Guilt Trip

Holly Lygoe wonders

how to live the right life, and decides that conscience does not make cowards of us all

I

f someone always follows their conscience, they can never do the wrong thing because in their minds they are doing the right thing.

It is unfair to judge someone’s actions when they truly believe they are doing right. For example, members of the KKK believe that black people don’t feel anything. We know this is not true, but that is what they believe.

When people can’t decide what they think is the right thing to do, sometimes they follow rules. One of the methods people use to structure their morals is utilitarianism. The basis of this philosophy is to consider the following things before you act: how many people it affects, the intensity of the emotion affecting them and whether it is a good or bad emotion (eg. happy or sad). An issue with utilitarianism is that sometimes it is hard to predict how actions will affect people, because one person might react much more to a petty dilemma than another person.

Some people base their morals on Kant.

This is a far stricter way to assess your decisions and many people disagree with this method due to its harshness.

The rules of Kantianism state that before you act you should consider the general rules that the law states and follow them no matter what because you can only control your actions and not the consequences. A lot of people view this as quite selfish because it is almost like saying ‘not my problem’.

If someone asked you whether it is better to lie or tell the truth, you would most likely say to tell the truth, but now I’m going to adjust the scenario.

Imagine a murderer comes into your house and asks you where one of your family members is. How would you react? Would you lie and invent a different place, or would you tell the truth? Most people would say lie. Now I ask you the same question I asked you before the murder scenario. Is it better to lie or to tell the truth? I’m guessing your response to my question has changed. So circumstances can change what you think is right and wrong.

Do you now agree with Kantianism?

To lie to a criminal seems acceptable because it could save a life, but lying to him could put more people in danger, including yourself.

Your mind is filled with temptations to do wrong and all these temptations might cloud your judgment. Your sub-conscious might convince you to do wrong by making up compelling excuses, without you even realising.

Perhaps this is why you shouldn’t trust your conscience to guide your actions, but what else can you trust?

In conclusion, I think that if you follow your conscience you can do no wrong, because in your head that is the right thing. So I think no one should be blamed or punished for something they didn’t think was wrong. What do you think?

Last, another technique, used mainly

by Christians, is the Divine Command Theory. This rule argues that you should follow any rule set out in the Bible (by God). But you might find this task difficult to fulfil since throughout the Bible rules contradict each other constantly. For example, early on in the Bible God tells Adam and Eve that it is wrong to want to distinguish between good and evil, but later the Bible says it is immature not to be able to tell good from evil. Maybe these contradictions are actually God telling us he has changed his mind and so maybe we should just obey the most recent version of God’s rules in the Bible. But this is impossible because the texts of the Bible are undated.

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An

Eye for

an

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a terrorist e r a u o y r e th decides whe Lexi Hudson te dispu f o er matt a s i er fight m o d free or a

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ARMED P O ELYSÉES LICE PATROLLING AFTER TE RRORIST THE AVENUE DES ATTACKS C IN PARIS HAMPS

s there such a thing as a ‘good terrorist’?

Many people do not think so. In the modern era we picture the terrorist as a villain, someone who uses the most horrific acts to promote their backward and barbaric agenda. But we forget that many of our heroes from history were once classified as terrorists.

The proper definition of terrorism is ‘the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims’. Based on this definition, we would need to define some significant people as terrorists. For example, Nelson Mandela and The Suffragettes both pursued violent campaigns to achieve their political aims, although both tried to avoid civilian casualties. The Suffragettes even bombed the home of the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

The proper definition of a freedom fighter is ‘a person engaged in a resistance movement against what they believe to be an oppressive or illegitimate government’.

Following this definition, we can also define Mandela and The Suffragettes as freedom fighters, since they both pursued political campaigns to change the world for the better and did so to fight oppressive or inequitable governments.

A more extreme example, of course, is ISIL. Most of us view ISIL as terrorists whose sole purpose is to harm the lives of civilians and

engage in widespread violence. While this is true, they do have political goals, including the creation of an Islamic caliphate, and in the eyes of their supporters they are also fighting against what they see as unlawful regimes imposed on them by America ‘One man’s terrorist is another man’s and the West.

freedom fighter’: The lines are blurred by our differing perspectives

They say, ‘One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.’ The lines are blurred by our differing perspectives. Terrorists get bad press – but both terrorists and freedom fighters resist what they see as unfair.

Some day we might all have to do the same and chance being defined as one or the other, and probably both.

and la s e d e Man ett nt son ffrag viole e l e N Su iev ed The pursu o ach ims t a h s bot paign itical cam ir pol the

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Bad an insurmountable level. It is this issue which is highlighted by Orwell’s bestknown novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four.

T

he writer known as George Orwell renewal and revolution. The problem was born Eric Arthur Blair on 25th arises when these revolutionaries June 1903. His work is widely come to the realisation that they have deemed some of the best written won and are in charge, as in the events on the subject of socialism and anti- of Animal Farm. The human nature of fascism. Orwell himself was a strong the ‘freedom fighters’ pushes them to believer in true socialism but a harsh merge themselves with all the injustice critic of its use as a term to mask so- they strove to overcome. When the called democratic dictators. His novella, oppressed gain control, they see the Animal Farm, comments on the gross world from the perspective of the oppressor and again mutation of socialist the cycle continues. The ideals that he supported into the power-obsessed When the oppressed ideals of freedom and gain control, they equality are good, but no monster of Stalinism. see the world from place can be run entirely the perspective by those who are equal It seems, when put of the oppressor and again the cycle and inhabited entirely well, that the ideal of continues by those who are free. democratic socialism Animal Farm focuses on is a good one. But to the movement of this many its ideals have been shoved into a corner of ‘the left’ cycle, but if this cycle stops, and leaders and looked upon with spite by those manage to protect their power until who consider themselves right-wing. the point that they are all-powerful The concept of democratic socialism and accepted as such, revolution has, most often, been associated with cannot occur and oppression reaches 84

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Nineteen Eighty-Four focuses on a dystopian future when everyone is watched and controlled by the government. The far-right controlling force, embodied by Big Brother, wipes any controversial thought out of the minds of the people, brainwashing them by threat of torture into believing the word of the government, no matter how untrue or contradictory. The novel is one of the first and most famous of its genre, inspiring in the reader a need to reflect on the direction of our own society. The dystopian ‘Oceania’ seems, at first, far off and implausible, but looking at the issues that arise with dictatorship in both history and the modern world, Nineteen Eighty-Four becomes more of a warning than a farfetched fantasy novel.

Socialism is, conceptually, a good idea. The portrayal of capitalists as selfish and bigoted suits well those who do not benefit from capitalism as an explanation for the world’s lack of conformity to what is clearly a superior idea. The easiest solution is to think that

, ight r-r force a f e g h g n i i T ll y B ny db tro a con bodie wipes l a i em er, s th f ver Bro ntro out o e h co ght t u of tho minds e l the peop

capitalists, and indeed conservatives or republicans, are bad people and for that reason choose not to enforce a political system which is beneficial to most people. The fact is that, although the world could work as a perfectly democratic, socialist super-state, it does not. Capitalism is perceived, by those who are not wealthy in a capitalist state, as the reason that they are not, which is reasonable. Communism is perceived, by those who are wealthy in a capitalist state, as a scheme which would cause them, effectively, to hand out their money to people they do not know. This is also reasonable. The rich hold the power in the cycle until revolution occurs, which is why much of the cycle is capitalist, all the way from the power of the new leaders growing until revolution occurs again.

George Orwell provided insight into the ideals and problems of socialism.

His commentary on the evolution of control in Animal Farm provides an opportunity to reflect on why true freedom can never be achieved. Just like the people’s leaders of the real world, in Animal Farm the tyrannical humans are overthrown by the pigs, who with their power are established as a higher class. The pigs begin to oppress the rest of the animals, and walk on their hind legs. They ‘develop’ to such a point that they are indistinguishable from the humans they were once trying to overthrow.

the t hu yran ove mans nical the rthr are o p the igs, w wn by i ho r p est abl ower with i high shed are er cla as a ss

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Minority t r o Re p INe’ S TENNAN T-HOL

DER wonders as if the sub when we will stance of a p behave e r son counts m surface ore than the

A

re you part of a minority? This is a group of people who, according to sociologist Louis Wirth, because of their physical or cultural characteristics are singled out from others in society for unequal treatment, and who therefore regard themselves as objects of collective discrimination.

There are many types of minorities. You can be grouped by religion, skin colour or gender, as in the recent allegations of sexual assault and pay inequity. Is it a good thing to be part of a group of people like you or is it just a way to separate those that are different?

I am multiracial. This can be suffocating at times because there are not many people around like me. At first you think there is no one to relate to, then as you get older more and more multiracial people begin to appear. But I am now part of a growing minority and I see that being different makes the world more accepting and open to diversity.

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There are always people who will judge can’t breed.’ This was because Harrison you. For example, Miriam Margoyles, sported signs saying ‘anti-racist means an actress who played Professor Sprout anti-white’ or (and this is my personal in the Harry Potter series, presented a favourite) ‘diversity is a code word for television show recently called ‘Miriam’s white genocide’. During the interview Big American Adventure’ the man said these in which she travelled things verbatim. He Harrison sported America, stopping in embodies hatred and signs saying ‘antiplaces like New Orleans, prejudice that should be racist means antiTexas and Ohio, and avoided. white’ or (and this at one point Harrison, is my personal Arkansas. Harrison has favourite) ‘diversity As a multiracial person is a code word for been described as the myself, I have had white genocide’ ‘most racist town in experience with people America’ and is also near who aren’t open to the KKK (Ku Klux Klan). Miriam wanted acceptance and can’t see past the to interview the KKK, but they declined colour of my skin. It can happen so she asked to interview another racist anytime, anywhere. Once I was organization. standing in a lunch queue (I had only moved schools a few weeks before) Before the interview began you and two boys came up and said, ‘Go suspected the leader would say things home to your own country,’ even like ‘Jews are the root of all evil’ or ‘I want though I was born in England. But they to send all black people away to live assumed that, because of the colour of on an island and then make sure they my skin, I was an outsider, an intruder.

two boys came up and said, ‘Go home to your own country,’ even though I was born in England

The second incident happened when I was attending a squash lesson with one of my friends and another girl. Out of the blue the girl came up and said, ‘If people eat too many carrots then they turn orange.’ Then she turned to me. ‘You must have eaten too much chocolate because you’re brown.’ They don’t see the effects of what they are saying or doing or how much it hurts the people they target.

Recently more mixed race people have risen to power, such as Barack Obama and Meghan Markle, who has just become part of our Royal Family, but they have always been controversial. The exUKIP leader Henry Bolton’s ex-girlfriend, Jo Marney, sent a series of racist text messages stating that Meghan Markle would ‘taint’ the Royal Family with her ‘seed’. And Donald Trump is always trying to prove that Barack Obama was not born in Hawaii, making him ineligible as President of the United States. His research amounted to nothing but still he claimed the birth certificate was fake.

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I exp have peo erie had ope ple w nce wi t h n and to ac o are h c c e a pt n’t the n col ’t see ance pas our skin of m t y

Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson is another example. His father is black and his mother Samoan. Her father was Peter Fanene Maivia, also a professional wrestler. While growing up Johnson travelled a lot with his parents and watched his father perform in the ring.

During his high school years, he began playing football and soon received a full scholarship from the University of Miami, where he had great success on the field.

In 1995, he suffered a back injury that cost him a place in the NFL. This meant he couldn’t play any more so he resorted to wrestling, much like his father and grandfather before him. Today he is one of the biggest celebrities and household names. He has also starred in many films, such as Moana, Fast and Furious and Baywatch.

In a modern society we do not want members of minority groups to feel isolated. Instead, we need to accept them for who they are and move towards a new future, a future of diversity and integration. We do not need to label ourselves, because, as Colin Wright said, labels define you but they are not you.

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Ego Strip MAX HITCHIN explains

why the protagonist of The Diary of a Wimpy Kid is an out-and-out sociopath

I

remember being an 8-year-old curled up on my sofa, reading the first of many ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ books that would start my love affair with this series. I adored everything about the books, but nothing was more interesting than the main character, Greg Heffley. However, on closer inspection, there was something amiss about his personality. Greg is a sociopath.

What is a sociopath? The Oxford English Dictionary says a sociopath is ‘a person with a personality disorder manifesting extreme antisocial attitudes and behaviour.’ Although on the surface Greg seems like a normal, average 12-year-old, he fits these criteria. In fact, he exhibits 12 of the 13 traits used to diagnose sociopaths consistently – normally only about six are required for someone to be certified.

First, Greg shows a big ego or ‘grandiose sense of self’. To pick one from countless examples, in the most recent book (at the time of writing), Double Down, to make himself appear smart to college students he takes a large stack of psychology books from the shelves. Instead of stopping there, he calls himself a psychology genius but even at this point it is not too late for Greg to admit his mistake and back down, letting his ego take a minor hit.

Instead, he decides to tutor a 20-yearold psychology student for an exam, and has to stay up all night to pick up the pieces of his mistake. All this was caused by just a bit of bragging.

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At least he doesn’t put out the student who was relying on him. Sadly, the same cannot be said of his supposed best friend, Rowley, who often is more like a puppet to Greg in his constant attempts at popularity. When he breaks Rowley’s arm by hitting him with an American football, causing him to fall off his trike, Rowley receives some time in the limelight when everyone wants to sign his cast. Greg then piggybacks on Rowley’s newfound fame by pronouncing that he broke Rowley’s arm. Greg is incapable of realising this will not inspire awe and popularity among his peers, but revulsion.

This incident also shows Greg’s inability to feel shame for poorly motivated actions, another trait of sociopaths.

Likewise, despite showing throughout the books that he isn’t the musical type, in Double Down he asks his parents if he can take up a musical instrument at an astronomical cost, namely the French Horn. There is no solid reason other than wanting to go to an apparently ‘epic’ Halloween party and the only way for him to be invited is for him to be in the orchestra. Eventually, this results in him not even being invited to the party because he is in the brass and not the wind section, but he manages to manipulate Rowley so that he is still at the party.

Although this does display a good piece of creative thinking, it is Greg’s failure to have a greater, long-term life plan that reveals his next sociopathic tendency.

There is of course the obvious argument

that he wants to, and is certain that he will, be rich and famous when he is older. The argument to the contrary is that Greg slacks and assumes that he will reach this goal without having any inkling of how to get there. He exhibits this further in Double Down, when he believes there is a reality TV show about his life: according to him, at least, the reason he slacks is because he has already made it.

The final sociopathic trait Greg shows is pathological lying. Not only does he have a bad habit of lying, but his lies put others in the firing line. For example, in Double Down Greg is supposed to bring his apple core home to prove that he has eaten his fruit at school. Forgetting about the promise, he throws away the apple so when asked about the apple core he says it was stolen by a bully on the way to school. He then describes the bully and his mother confronts the parents of an innocent boy who fits the description. As a result, Greg is bullied by this boy for the rest of the 4th Grade. The incident need never have happened.

Although it in no way detracts from our enjoyment of the books, these traits are just the tip of the sociopathic iceberg: there is much more to Greg and his condition than can be stated here.

In the meantime, enjoy these funny books, and others too. But remember there is always more to a character than meets the eye. 

A f e i r B y r o t His Of

S picks L L E W O ER H rom ALEXAND e highlights f r so o out sombillion years e are w the few us to where t that go today

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I

have always asked questions about the creatures around us: ‘What is the biggest animal?’ or ‘What is the biggest creature that ever lived?’ Here I am going to ask, ‘What is the biggest bird?’ There are many ways to answer this question, but first what is a bird?

Birds are normally described as warmblooded, sharp-beaked creatures with feather-covered bodies, but can a bird be more than that? One could argue that birds are in fact the direct descendants of several types of dinosaur, so dinosaurs could be classed as a type of bird. Does the title of the largest bird need to belong to a species that currently exists? Are creatures that no longer exist just a form of prehistoric life, no longer a worthy contender for the title?

Furthermore, what is meant by ‘the biggest’?

Is it the heaviest? Or the bird with the largest wingspan? Or even the longest when measured from head to toe?

If the largest bird can only be a species that currently exists, and you define ‘the largest bird’ as the bird with the greatest wingspan, the title belongs to the wandering albatross.

The wandering albatross typically has a wingspan ranging from 8 feet 3 inches to 11 feet 6 inches, which is greater than any other living bird. However, you may think ‘the biggest’ means the heaviest bird, not the bird with the greatest wingspan. Some types of bird, particularly the larger types, have either

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THERE ARE MANY TY PES OF PREHISTORI C ‘BIRD’ THAT COULD BE TH E LARGEST BIRD EV ER

shortened or completely lost their wings and are too heavy to fly. In this case the largest bird would be the ostrich. The ostrich weighs 344 pounds and males can grow up to 9.2 feet tall, heavier and taller than any other living bird.

There are many types of prehistoric ‘bird’ We have no idea how that could be the largest bird ever. One a creature so large managed to take such is argentavis magnificens, a giant type off; it may have used of teratorn, which is thought to have had a thermal currents wingspan up to 23 feet. It lived in Argentina instead of its wings about six million years ago in the Miocene.

Although we have no idea how a creature so large managed to take off, it may have used thermal currents instead of its wings. It is said to have been a scavenger related to modern-day vultures. Another bird supposed to have a wingspan even greater than that of argentavis magnificens is pelagornis sandersi. Pelagornis sandersi had an estimated wingspan of 24 feet, meaning it had the largest wingspan of any bird that ever lived.

It may have taken off by diving from the top of cliffs. However, the heaviest bird that has been discovered is a type of elephant bird. Elephant birds are related to the modern-day ostrich. They lived in Madagascar and they became extinct 500 years ago.

They weighed about 1100 pounds and were 9.8 feet in height.

THE WANDERING ALBATROSS HAS WINGSPAN RANGING A FROM 8 FEET 3 INCH ES TO 11 FEET 6 INCH ES

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We know that birds are descendants of several types of dinosaur, but does this mean dinosaurs are a type of bird? If this is the case, the largest of the dinosaurs that are the ancestors of birds may also be the largest bird. However, we must keep in mind that birds are not descended from all types of dinosaur.

It is commonly thought pterosaurs are the closest relatives to birds but pterosaurs are not even dinosaurs; therefore, they cannot be related to birds. It was in fact the superior survival skills of birds that drove pterosaurs to extinction. The largest type of dinosaur, the sauropod, is not an ancestor of the bird either. The largest of the dinosaurs that did evolve into birds are the allosaurids. They were a family of large carnivorous dinosaurs living mainly in the Jurassic period. Although the allosaurids do not have a wingspan, they are said to have weighed up to 3300 pounds in adulthood, heavier than any other ‘bird’.

are direct descendants of quite a few dinosaurs, I still think you cannot count birds as a type of dinosaur, just like you do not call mammals a type of reptile, even though mammals are descended from reptiles, specifically a type of reptile known as the synapsid. I also believe that calling a bird the largest because of its weight is inaccurate, since all birds that can fly have evolved characteristics to make themselves as light as possible: for example, a bird’s bones are hollow. Therefore ‘the largest’ bird cannot be the elephant bird. So we

cannot say how large a bird is because of its weight. I think that saying the biggest bird is one that exists today is also not logical, since one day species like the wandering albatross or the ostrich may not be alive. The title of the biggest bird cannot change simply because the previous species of bird, which was the largest, has died off. It only changes when we discover new species. Who knows?

One day a discovery may be made that renders everything I have just written meaningless.

We are know t se desc hat b din veral endan irds thi osau type ts o s f r are mean , but s of at din doe s os ype of aurs bir d?

I believe that the largest type of bird was pelagornis sandersi. This is because it had the largest wingspan of any bird that has ever lived. Even though birds

M

ost countries have a civil war at some point in their history. Some outcomes are as good as we could realistically expect from war, and some are not so good, leaving a country with no hope or any real future.

Abre Los Ojos A

BLANC that the 6 3 9 1 of ed tonish il War s iv a C is e th RUTOS F After gain E D A t it a T a N e A b S to LA seem h is n a Sp

The Spanish Civil War was horrible. Parents were forced to send their children away to other European countries perhaps never to see their families again. Families were destroyed when their beliefs were different, dividing them in the same way as the country as a whole was divided. Sometimes, people didn’t even fight for the political party they supported, and sometimes soldiers knocked on doors and gave two options: fight with us or die.

It all started on 17 July 1936. Before this point, there had always been differences but the mutual disdain and rivalry had never reached 

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PARENTS WERE FORCED TO SEND THEIR CHILDREN AWAY TO OTHER EUROPE AN COUNTRIES; MANY NEVER SAW THEIR FAMILIE S AGAIN such heights of violence. The conflict started to get bigger and bigger, until nobody even knew the real reason this catastrophic war even started.

On one side were the Republicans: democratic, left-leaning and allied with the anarchists and communists. On the other side were the Nationalists: right-wing Falangist Catholic Carlists, led by Francisco Franco. There had always been intense rivalry between the two, often described as a struggle between democracy and dictatorship. Since then, nothing was ever going to be the same again, or that at least is what they thought.

30,000 to 35,000 children were forced to evacuate Spain, especially in the Basque regions. Most of them were sent to other countries in Europe. In the UK, where thousands of Spanish children were accommodated, they were known as ‘los niños’ (‘the children’ in Spanish). Most of those children never got to see their families of friends ever again. And there are some, after more than 60 years, who still haven’t got back to Spain.

SOMETIMES SOLDIE RS GAVE TWO OPTIONS: KNOCKED ON DOORS AND FIGHT WITH US OR DIE

By WRI and Brocca family - Brocca family, CC BY-SA 3.0, wikimedia

But my question is this: even after this cataclysmic conflict, why are there still continuous political arguments in Spain? What is the point? The war has barely changed the political state of Spain.

There are still discussions in Spanish everyday life about politics; there are still discussions in Spain about the civil war; and there is still a massive rivalry between nationalists and communists. In a way, nothing has really changed.

For the children at that time who had to evacuate and emigrate to other European countries, leaving their families, their houses and their dearest possessions behind, for those children it must have felt like they were the long-lost children in Peter Pan, wondering what happened to their families and friends; wondering if they’d find another family; wondering if they had a future.

I probably won’t have to suffer what those children suffered, but what about the next generation? Do we want the sons and daughters of my generation to have to go through the same thing all over again? Things are currently stable, but everything could change dramatically in less than ten years, just like it did in 1936. Can it change so radically that Spain could lose another 500,000 lives in one year? Possibly.

But we don’t have to follow that path. If the only heated conflicts are arguments around the family dining table on an ordinary Saturday, the probabilities of it happening again are reasonably low. Everybody has the right to their own opinions; everyone has the right to freedom of speech and to vote. But as long as things are kept this way, they won’t be able to knock on your door and force you to fight with them, whether you support them or not. So let’s keep things this way.

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Less Stress

y xample, m ging. For e a s, m g a d in is th k out most Homewor n y calm ab a t c t e e r h p s k is mother homewor comes to , barmy but when it e-spewing r fi , g in g a r a reports a turn into er the NHS d n o w ues. o n health iss beast. It’s ’s mental n e r d il h c rise in

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Develop Social Skilz

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Brambletye k www.brambletye.co.u • Zhang • Theo Turner Maja Marten • Lydia Lexi Hudson

nor Eaton House The Ma ools.com ch es us ho www.eaton on Oliver Hogbin • Harris Alvaro De Calonje • • rke Cla is Lou • a lzi Ca Cottrell • Charles y Power • Oliver Tidbur Hugo Allen • Rameen

hool pper Sc U l l a H ood Broomw mwood.co.uk o o r www.b kson Nell Hic

Junior King’s School, Canterbury www.junior-kings.co.uk Cerelia Davis • Harry Cordeaux • Caitlin Hopkins • Stanley Southgate • Abigail Head• Blanca Lasanta de Frutos

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chool House S school.co.uk h g u o r e Marlbo boroughhous rl a .m w w w

St. Ronan’s School www.saintronans.co.uk Jacob Whiteley • Oscar Sul livan

ivia han • Ol gilvie-K O er• t n s a o r F • Kam anny Liggett lder • D o s H a tm n o a h n T ’ en • Ines T Griffin wells o H r e d Alexan

The Hall k www.hallschool.co.u

Northbourne Park www.northbournepark.com

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St. Andrew’s Prep .co.uk www.standrewsprep

Finlay Sutcliffe • Henry Lan gford • Poppy Sutcliffe

uksmith • Esteban Sam Coxen • Harry Sho e Moskal Boruel-Lopez • Aanve

St John’s Coll ege School www.sjcs.co.uk Imogen Beaton • Henry Burbrid ge • Gaia Greenwood • Ad am Chillingwo rth • Max Hitchin • Lilian a French

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