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M A Y

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PAGE 102
W O R L D ’ S

NORTHERN Get Your

BEST EVER

LIGHTS SLEEP
PAGE 28
B E S T

PAGE 94
DRAMA
Reasons To Run Over By A
L O V E D

STOP TV BINGEING Speedboat

PAGE 36
And Start Pacing
Yourself!
PAGE 118
M A G A Z I N E
|

MAY 2022
r d a s i a . c o m

ISSN 0034-0383

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 22

CONTENTS
PHOTOS: (COVER) VINCENT DEMERS/GE T T Y IMAGES; (THIS PAGE, SABLE) COURTESY OF PEDRO VA Z PINTO; (FAMILY LIFE) GE T T Y IMAGES

MAY 2022

Features
22
earth’s heroes
36
drama in real life 54
Saving The
Giant Sables
Run Over By
A Speedboat
54
family life
One man’s quest A snorkelling trip Family Friendships
to save Angola’s left marine biology Ways to build and
threatened giant student Carter Viss strengthen sibling
sables before the maimed after a speed bonds, regardless
curly-horned antelope boat failed to see him of how old you are.
was lost forever. in the water. CHARLOTTE HILTON
ASHLEY STIMPSON GARY STEPHEN ROSS ANDERSEN
FROM ATLAS OBSCURA

46 58
28 food on your plate health
health Pass The Peas, Please The Promise Of
Get Your Best This tiny and tasty Intermittent Fasting
Sleep Ever green vegetable is one Could the benefits of
Have trouble getting to of the oldest crops in this kind of diet extend
sleep or staying asleep? human history and beyond your waistline?
Read the latest expert delighted royals in ROZALYNN S. FRAZIER
advice on getting a bygone years.
good night’s shut-eye. ON THE COVER:
KATE LOWENSTEIN,
CHASING THE NORTHERN
LEAH RUMACK DANIEL GRITZER AND LIGHTS – PAGE 94
AND MARK WITTEN DIANE GODLEY

rdasia.com 1
 66
CONTENTS 82
MAY 2022

62 78 94
first person humour travel
Mama, This Raising Kids: To Chasing The
Story Is For You Coddle Or Neglect? Northern Lights
Showing affection A father weighs in A trip to Canada’s
in a special way brings on the birth-order Northwest Territories
this mother joy. parenting debate and for a primeval
HELENE MELYAN provides his insight encounter with nature.
FROM THE OREGONIAN into who really turns SALLIE TISDALE FROM
HARPER’S MAGAZINE
66 out the best.

102
RICHARD GLOVER
photo feature
Once Upon A Time 82 bonus read
See how nature 13 things... The Last Frontier
and decay are Boredom-Busting Meet the quirky
turning yesteryear’s Facts About canines that can detect
trash into surprising Board Games medical issues.
treasure. From favourite ADAM PIORE
DORIS KOCHANEK classics to new

72
favourites, board
games are a great way
what it’s like to... to spend a night at
Volunteer On An home. EMILY GOODMAN
Archaeological Dig
Opportunities 88
72
are aplenty for quiz
those seeking the Easy Pickings
fascinating world of Pride yourself as a
archaeology. detective? Try our
GIL DAVIS FROM quiz on robberies.
THE CONVERSATION CAROLINE FRIEDMANN

2 may 2022
 76
ILLUS TR ATION: (BOARD GAMES) SERGE BLOCH; PHOTOS: (LIGHTHOUSE) PANTHER MEDIA GMBH/AL AMY S TOCK PHOTO; (ALL OTHERS) GET T Y IMAGES

Departments
the digest
16 Pets
18 Health

16
21 News From The
World Of Medicine
115 RD Recommends

regulars
4 Editor’s Note
6 Letters
10 My Story
18 HAVE YOU
VISITED THE
14 Smart Animals
READER’S
50 Look Twice
81 Quotable Quotes
DIGEST
93 Tell Me Why
FACEBOOK
PAGE LATELY?
humour Constantly
44 Life’s Like That updated, our

20
76 Laughter, Facebook feed
The Best Medicine offers stories,
86 All In A Day’s Work videos, advice,
humour, quotable
the genius section
quotes, cartoons,
118 Should You Press
Pause? quirky
122 Puzzles photographs
125 Trivia and more.
126 Puzzle Answers FOLLOW US
127 Word Power @ReadersDigestAsia

rdasia.com 3
R E A DER’S DIGE ST

EDITOR’S NOTE

From Mum, With Love

THIS MONTH, MY FAVOURITE ARTICLE, ‘Mama, This Story
Is For You’ (page 62), beautifully captures the way an elderly
mother shows her love through gift-giving. The nurturing
she offers her family through random acts of decluttering
(disguised as gift-giving) will ring
true to many of us. While a pleasure
to read, this tale is easy to relate to
with our own mothers.
Intermittent fasting, the 5:2 diet,
alternate day fasting ... call it what
you will, this dieting approach has
received a lot of attention in recent
years. While it sounds extreme,
don’t be turned off by the fasting
element because this diet is all
about controlling when you eat,
not necessarily eliminating the food you enjoy to eat.
As Rozalynn S. Frazier reports in our health feature,
ILLUS TR ATION: JOHN HENDRIX

‘The Promise Of Intermittent Fasting’ (page 58), intermittent

fasting offers a whole range of health benefits.
I hope you enjoy our selection of feature stories in this
month’s issue, as well as our shorter and fun regulars.
Happy reading!
LOUISE WATERSON Editor-in-Chief

4 may 2022
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R E A DER’S DIGE ST

LETTERS
Reader’s Comments And Opinions

Very Best Of Friends

Two wombats are better
than one thanks to Anna
Culliton (‘Best Of Buddies’,
March). These lovable
marsupials now have a
fighting chance of survival
due to this carer’s dedication
and love.
Anna’s endearing nature
means that the natural
world will always endure.
MICHAEL WOUTERS

Rescued From The Cave this story to have a happy ending.

When news broke of the successful
rescue of the Wild Boars soccer
team and their coach from deep
inside a flooded Thai cave, there
were shock waves of disbelief and
joy around the world (‘The Boys In
Their incredible and perilous rescue
by real life heroes will go down in
history as one of the greatest; the
story of a miracle rescue, and angels
in wetsuits. JUDITH CAINE
PHOTO: COURTESY ANNA CULLITON

The Cave’, February). After more A Whole Lotl Love

than two weeks lost to the outside The axolotl story (My Story,
world, and with no food and little February) really entertained me.
water, few would have expected I did not know they could procreate

Let us know if you are moved – or provoked – by any item in the magazine,
share your thoughts. See page 8 for how to join the discussion.

6 may 2022
 Letters

so fast (and so much!) like that.

Congrats on 100 years of Reader’s
Digest. ERINA TABOR A NANAGAS

Mind Your Manners

Regarding table manners (‘What’s
The Point Of Table Manners’,
February), I have always told my
sons that nobody notices good table
manners, they only notice bad ones. HAPPY FEET
We asked you to think up a funny
LYN CAMPBELL caption for this photo.

What A Treat I wanted slippers not flippers.

RAJ SANEJA
The recipe for soft and tender
I’ll be a shoo-in this time, for sure.
coconut macaroons (I Am the Food CYNTHIA BRINKMAN
On Your Plate, February) was much Footloose – The Prequel.
appreciated. It was straightforward MICHAEL GOATHAM
enough for me to follow and the The BIG problem with
macaroons actually turned out as hand-me-downs.
pictured! Easy and delicious and IVAN LIM

sure to become one of my regulars. The advertisement said ‘GIANT

ALICE LAWREY
SALE’, but this is ridiculous!
DAVID STEVENS

Congratulations to this month’s

WIN A PILOT CAPLESS winner, Michael Goatham.

FOUNTAIN PEN
The best letter each month
will win a Pilot Capless WIN!
Fountain Pen, valued at over
$200. The Capless is the
perfect combination of luxury
and ingenious technology,
featuring a one-of-a-kind
retractable fountain pen nib,
CAPTION CONTEST
PHOTOS: GE T T Y IMAGES

durable metal body, beautiful

rhodium accents and a 14K
gold nib. Congratulations to this
month’s winner, Alice Lawrey.
Come up with the funniest caption
for the above photo and you could win
$100. To enter, email
asiaeditor@readersdigest.com.au
or see details on page 8.

rdasia.com 7
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
Celebrating A Century Of RD
Congratulations to the staff at RD,
both past and present. Having
been a subscriber since 1948, I
have learned such a lot from your
magazine and been both uplifted
and amused by the different
sections.
I was introduced to your
magazine after starting my first
job after leaving school. The man
I worked for surprised me with
a gift subscription. After that, I
continued, and expect to be able
to enjoy Reader’s Digest for a few
more years yet! Is 70-plus years a
record?
I have even been ‘inspired’ to
write a bit of verse. Yes, I took my
Digest everywhere, even into the
maternity ward!
May your worthy magazine
continue for another century.   Here’s how to reach us:
AUDREY TWINING
Advice On Back Pain
Thanks for clearing up the
confusion around cold or hot
therapy for back pain (Health: Ice
Or Heat For Back Pain, February).
Like many people who suffer
from recurring back pain, I have
been given well-intentioned but
contradictory advice for many
years.
Your article spells out very
clearly what should be done,
when and for which reasons.
DON KENNARD
8 may 2022
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RE ADERSDIGESTASIA
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Share antics of unique pets
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My Story $250
Do you have an inspiring or
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 MY STORY
Finding
Myself In
India
Life took me in a
different direction from
what I had planned
BY Barbara Ann Briggs
T
he year was 2001. It was
November and the weather
was cold and brisk, typical
British weather. I was about
to embark on a journey
to the Asian sub-continent. The
airport was Heathrow; the plane was
scheduled to depart in four hours.
During a visit to India the
previous year, a monk named Swami
Awadheshanand Giri had met me
at a religious festival and invited me
to come and live in his ashram. He
wanted to help me fulfil my wish to
devote myself to the study of Sanskrit
and the Vedic literature. He even
wrote a letter which I presented
to the Indian High Commission in
10 may 2022
London. His letter helped me get the
difficult five-year visa which I was
hoping to secure.
After arriving at the airport, I
stood in the check-in queue. As my
luggage was loaded onto the plane,
I murmured a silent farewell to
England, the country which had
sheltered me for eight years. I had
emigrated to England to escape
the social tensions that divided my
ILLUS TR ATION: GE T T Y IMAGES
native US. I had the opportunity to
visit India several times, and felt an
inner calling to go back. This wish
appeared to be fulfilled when I met
Swami Awadheshanand Giri, the
orange-robed monk, and he began
to talk about his ashram near the

Punjab. After expressing my desire
to find a quiet place to focus on
spiritual knowledge, he offered his
help.
With complete faith in his
promises, I loaded all my worldly
possessions onto a ship bound for
India. The shipping company told
me that in a few months I would be
able to collect my things in Delhi.
Everything had gone smoothly
in the run-up to the trip. I was
confident that this adventure was
the next big step I had to take.
At 4am on
November 21, the “THERE IS NO
plane landed at
Indira Gandhi
PLACE HERE
airport. The porters, YOU. YOU
seeing that I was STAY HERE FOR stretched out flat on
alone, ran up to
help me with my
A LONG
luggage. They carried
it to the taxi stand where I asked
the driver to take me to the train
station. I tried to sleep on the train,
but couldn’t take my eyes off my
luggage which was piled up around
me. “Is this really happening?” I
asked myself. It was like a movie
unravelling around me and yet this
was my own life unfolding.
Finally, we reached the small
town of Ambala. A taxi driver on the
platform urged me to take his cab
Barbara Briggs is a writer, poet and
journalist. She is a teacher of transcendental
meditation and lives in Uttarakhand, India.
My Story
and we set off in the direction of the
ashram. The taxi driver knew the
way.
When I arrived, a young boy
showed me to a simple, sparsely
furnished room in a courtyard. The
ashram itself looked charming with
its pink buildings and blossoming
rose gardens surrounding well-kept
lawns. It was quite a lavish entrance.
The most ornate building belonged
to the monk whom I had met; he
was the head of the ashram. I was
informed that he would return soon.
I was so relieved to
have reached the
place safely and in
FOR a happy but totally
CAN’T exhausted state, I
the bed and fell fast
TIME.” asleep.
A few days later, I
was summoned to the main house
to meet the head of the ashram.
“Namaste,” he said in a deep tone
of voice as he peered into my eyes.
“I’m so glad you have come.”
He was tall with a shaven head
and broad shoulders. His long
orange robe reached the ground,
flowing in waves around his
muscular frame.
I thanked him for inviting me,
and assured him that I had enjoyed
a smooth trip and was glad to have
finally arrived at the ashram.
“I’m glad you like it,” he said. “You
may stay here for a few days. Then it
rdasia.com 11
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
will be better to find another place.
I helped you get the five-year visa.
Now that you are in India, you are on paid me for them. After my five-
your own.”
I was stunned. I was so shocked
that I couldn’t speak. I just sat there
like a frozen statue.
“But – but, but you said I could stay
in your ashram ...” I whispered.
“I wanted to help you, but now
things have changed. There is
no place here for you.
You can’t stay here for
I STOOD
a long time.” PERCHED
That was it. THE BRINK OF only stayed in the
That was all he
said. I stood up and
THE
somehow reached UNKNOWN
the door. My dream
had faded into thin air. I stood
perched on the brink of the vast
unknown, not sure of what to do.
I was so disappointed and later,
the anger surfaced. I could not
go back to England as all my
worldly possessions were on their
way to India.
That was the first page of the new
chapter of my life in India. After
leaving the ashram, I spent the next
eight years living on the equivalent
of A$57 a month. Financially, it was
all that was available. I traversed the
length of India from the bustling
ashrams of Haridwar to the hot
plains of Kerala and up to the
Himalayan heights of Almora. Since
I didn’t have a work visa, it was not
really possible to earn during this
12 may 2022
time, although I did submit articles
to magazines and, occasionally, they
year visa expired, I renewed my visa
three times. I travelled overland by
bus to Nepal twice and by train to
Bangladesh once.
Those years of wandering left an
indelible impression. I was searching
for an appropriate place to settle,
but only later did I realise that the
movement itself was
meant for my spiritual
ON development. If I had
ashram, I would never
VAST have learned many
valuable lessons. One
such lesson was that
through perseverance and dedication
to one’s highest ideals in life, any
adverse situation can be overcome.
Those years of hardship enabled me
to gain an unshakable trust in the
power that administers the universe.
The monk’s refusal to provide me
a home left me no alternative except
to face the vicissitudes of life with
endurance, courage and faith.
I am writing this story from my
home in India. I have continued
my study of Sanskrit and continue
to study the Vedic literature in my
home.
Do you have a tale to tell? We’ll pay
cash for any original and unpublished
story we print. See page 8 for details
on how to contribute.
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
SMART ANIMALS
Harbingers from the animal kingdom
Feathered Brothers
MARGARET GERTZ
In 1987, a male Muscovy duckling
came to live with us. Thinking
Muscovy ducks were a Russian
breed, my 12-year-old daughter
Janine named him Vladimir.
Research later showed us that
Muscovy ducks are actually native
to the Americas.
He was placed in the fowl yard
in our backyard where a hen with
chickens took him under her wing.
He thrived under her care and grew
to be a big drake among the fowls.
14 may 2022
We also had a fine-looking Black
Australorp rooster who was the
boss of the chicken pen. Strangely
enough, the two males got along.
Vlad had been with us for about
a year when one afternoon, he came
I L LU S T R AT I O N S: G E T T Y I M AG E S
down the side of the shed flapping
his wings and making unusual
drake noises. He was very excited
about something.
You could earn cash by telling us
about the antics of unique pets or
wildlife. Turn to page 8 for details
on how to contribute.

Since I couldn’t immediately
follow, he waddled away quickly
but a few minutes later returned,
just as agitated. This time I went to
investigate what might be causing
the fuss.
I got up to the backyard and
saw the reason: our valiant Black
Australorp rooster was standing
there with blood dripping from his
comb and feathers all ruffled. A big
black rooster from a neighbour’s
pen was strutting his stuff in front
of the chickens. When he saw me he
flew off. It was heart-warming to see
Vladimir go to our rooster as though
he was inspecting his injuries and
consoling him.
Vladimir stayed with us as a
much-loved pet, living a long and
happy life.
Guard Dogs
ONG SEE HAI
In Singapore, most males aged 18
serve mandatory national service.
Occasionally, we are selected for
guard duty, which entails patrolling
the perimeter of the military
camp in pairs. On my first patrol
last August, armed with only a
torch and a map, my buddy Justin
and I got lost and couldn’t find
the checkpoint marked on the
map. Worried, we froze and, as
we deliberated our next course of
action, we noticed a pair of dark,
medium-sized dogs approaching.
We couldn’t identify their breed but
Smart Animals
they seemed friendly. After prancing
in front of us for a couple of seconds,
they moved on but regularly
turned their heads back to look at
us. They even slowed down, as if
beckoning for us to follow. Since
we could not think of any other
viable alternatives, we let them lead
us. Much to our amazement, after
walking for five minutes we reached
the next checkpoint. Subsequently,
the dogs led us to all our remaining
checkpoints, and even brought us
back to base camp.
We found out later that these dogs
have been accompanying groups
of soldiers on their guard duties for
some time, and as a result, were
very familiar with the route. From
that day on, whenever it is my shift,
I have made a point of feeding
the dogs treats to show them my
gratitude for their tireless efforts in
guiding us soldiers around camp!
rdasia.com 15
R E A DER’S DIGE ST

PETS

Teaching Your Dog Tricks

A fun and rewarding experience for you and your dog
BY Dr Katrina Warren

DOGS ARE SOCIAL ANIMALS who enjoy spending

time with us, and training is a wonderful way to create
quality moments together. Teaching tricks not only
provides a great mental workout for your dog, it also
improves your relationship and trust. Teaching your
dog tricks should always be fun and rewarding for you
both. It’s entertaining and lets you show friends just
how clever your canine pal is.
Here veterinarian Dr Katrina Warren shares her
expert tips to help you get underway.
Our regular
pet columnist, Start the moment you bring your puppy home. Most
Dr Katrina Warren,
puppies are very enthusiastic and eager to learn, and
is an established
and trusted
you will be amazed at what you can achieve together if
animal expert. you commit to regular training.
You can teach an old dog new tricks. Older dogs will
also benefit from the mental stimulation of learning
tricks and it can further strengthen your bond.
Train when you are in a good mood. Training should
be a positive experience for your dog, so only train
when you are not tired or distracted. Put your mobile
phone away so you can focus without distractions. 
Train when your dog is alert. A dog has a short
attention span, so you should train when it is alert
and focused. Most dogs are eager for food before their
meals, so this is usually a good time for training. Keep

16 may 2022

sessions short – five to ten minutes,
a couple of times a day, is enough to
make progress.
Free up your hands. Use a pouch to
hold your treats. This will allow you
to access rewards quickly and keep
your hands free for teaching.
Use ‘high value’ treats. These are
treats that smell good to your dog
and will motivate it, for example,
small pieces of cooked chicken
or meat. They’re especially useful
when training new tricks. Don’t
forget to use verbal rewards as
enthusiastic praise will help keep
your pup motivated.
Teach the basics first. Many tricks
will require your dog to know
the basics such as Sit, Stay and
Drop before you can progress. For
example, you can’t teach your dog
to shake paws without it knowing
how to sit, or to roll over without it
knowing how to drop.
Finish training on a happy note.
Always let your dog know when
a session has finished by using a
release word such as ‘OK’ or ‘free’
and then playing a quick game.
Teach your dog to shake paws.
Start by asking your dog to sit and
let it watch you place a ‘high value’
treat in your hand and close your
PHOTOS: GE T T Y IMAGES
fist. Place your closed fist, palm
up, in front of your dog at its chest
level. Your dog will probably look at
your fist and sniff it but do not open
your fist for them.
Your dog should then paw at your
Pets
EASY TRICKS TO TEACH
YOUR DOG AT HOME
z Shake paw z Roll over z Spin
z High five z Jump through a hoop
fist to try to get the treat. As soon
as this happens, immediately say
‘shake’ and let it have the reward
with lots of verbal praise, so it
understands that is the behaviour
you want.
Practise this several times,
gradually moving your hand up
and rewarding each time it offers its
paw. Once it has mastered this, offer
it your palm without the treat. As
soon as it offers its paw, quickly give
a treat from your other hand.
Teach your puppy to spin. When
your dog is standing, show it the treat
in your hand. With its nose following
the treat, move your hand in an arc
so its head and body will follow your
movement. Tell your dog ‘spin’ and
reward with the treat when it starts
moving in a circle.
rdasia.com 17
R E A DER’S DIGE ST

F
or those of us who can’t
HEALTH live without a morning
cup (or three), the
latest assessments of
the health effects of
coffee are reassuring. Its
The Benefits consumption has been linked to a
reduced risk of all kinds of ailments,

Of Coffee including Parkinson’s disease, heart

Drinking it is likely more
healthy than harmful
BY Jane E. Brody
F R O M T H E N E W YO R K T I M E S
disease, type 2 diabetes, gallstones,
cirrhosis, liver cancer, melanoma
and prostate cancer.
In fact, in numerous studies
conducted throughout the world,
consuming four or five 250 ml
cups of coffee (or about 400 to 500
milligrams of caffeine, coffee’s main
active ingredient) a day has been
associated with reduced death rates.
Published in 2015 in Circulation,
a study of more than 200,000
participants followed for up to 30
years found that those who drank
three to five cups of coffee a day, with
or without caffeine, were 15 per cent
less likely to die early from all
causes than were people who
shunned coffee.
As a report published
in 2020 by researchers at
the Harvard T. H. Chan
School of Public Health
concluded, although
current evidence may not
PHOTO: GE T T Y IMAGES

warrant recommending
coffee or caffeine to
prevent disease, for most
people drinking coffee in
moderation “can be part

18 may 2022
 Health

of a healthy lifestyle”. They found likely increases with age. People

that consumption of three to five also vary widely in how rapidly
standard cups of daily coffee may in they metabolise caffeine, enabling
fact reduce the risk of several chronic some to sleep well after drinking
diseases, including type 2 diabetes caffeinated coffee at dinner while
and cardiovascular disease. others have trouble sleeping if they
It wasn’t always this way. Aside have coffee at lunch.
from the many health conditions Some of coffee’s other benefits
coffee has been deemed to cause, in come from polyphenols and
1991 it was even listed by the World antioxidants. Polyphenols can
Health Organization as inhibit the growth
a possible carcinogen. WHEN IT of cancer cells and
But in some of the lower the risk of
now-discredited
COMES TO type 2 diabetes;
studies, it was smoking, DECAFFEINATED antioxidants,
not coffee drinking COFFEE, THERE which have anti-
(the two often went inflammatory effects,
hand in hand), that
ARE STILL SOME can counter heart
was responsible for the HEALTH disease and cancer.
purported carcinogen BENEFITS None of this means
hazard. coffee is beneficial
“These periodic regardless of how it’s
scares have given the public a very prepared. When brewed without
distorted view,” says Dr Walter C. a paper filter, as with a French
Willett, professor of nutrition and press, espresso or Turkish coffee,
epidemiology at the Harvard Chan oily chemicals called diterpenes
School. “Despite various concerns come through that can raise
that have cropped up over the years, artery-damaging LDL cholesterol.
coffee is generally remarkably safe However, these chemicals are
and has a number of important virtually absent in both filtered and
potential benefits.” instant coffee.
That’s not to say coffee warrants a When it comes to decaf, there are
totally clean bill of health. The most still some health benefits. As with
common ill effect associated with caffeinated coffee, the polyphenols
it is sleep disturbance. While Dr it contains have anti-inflammatory
Willett says “you don’t have to get to properties that may lower the risk
zero consumption to minimise the of type 2 diabetes and cancer.
impact on sleep,” he acknowledges FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES (JUNE 14, 2021), ©2021 BY
that a person’s sensitivity to caffeine THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY

rdasia.com 19
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
HEALTH
Honey As
A Home
Remedy
F R O M : B E S T H E A LT H
FOR GRAZES, MINOR BURNS
AND CUTS Slather some medical-
grade honey, then cover the wound
with clean gauze. Change the
dressing two or three times a day.
FOR SORE THROATS AND TICKLY
COUGHS Honey is known as a
demulcent, which means it coats the
throat as it is swallowed and so eases
irritation. The sweetness of the honey
also encourages salivation, so easing a
dry throat and encouraging expulsion
of phlegm. Steep 2 tablespoons
(40 ml) of grated ginger root in
1 cup (250 ml) of boiling water for ten
minutes. Add 2 teaspoons (10 ml) of
honey and 1 teaspoon (5 ml) of lemon
juice. Drink before bed.
FOR DRY SKIN AND ACNE
Bathe the face in warm water to
open the pores, then apply a layer
20 may 2022
of honey to the skin and wash off
after 20 minutes.
READY-MADE OPTIONS
Alternatively, you can purchase
ready-made honey products,
which are available from several
pharmaceutical and natural
health companies; these include
wound dressings and gels. Ask your
pharmacist for further information.
WHAT HONEY SHOULD YOU
CHOOSE? Large randomised studies
have shown that manuka honey is
superior to other types of honey in
terms of its antimicrobial properties.
As well as being antimicrobial,
PHOTO: GE T T Y IMAGES
manuka honey aids the removal
of dead tissue from wounds and
moistens the affected area, making
it more comfortable and easier to
remove and reapply dressings.
 News From The
WORLD OF MEDICINE
TAI CHI TRIMS BELLY FAT
If walking on a treadmill seems
monotonous, consider tai chi, which
offers a more fluid and graceful way to
stay fit. A Hong Kong study found that
this centuries-old form of exercise
– often described as ‘meditation in
motion’ – trims abdominal fat as
effectively as conventional exercise. In
fact, older adults who did tai chi three
times a week for 12 weeks reduced
their waistlines as much as those
who did regular aerobic exercise and
strength training, while also boosting
their HDL, or good cholesterol.
WHY YOU NEED A SUPPORTIVE
LISTENER
You can get by with a little help from
your friends, as the Beatles song goes,
but it turns out that support might
also keep your brain in better shape,
too. A JAMA Network study found
that people who had a good
listener available to them
throughout their adult
ILLUS TR ATION: GE T T Y IMAGES
lives showed greater
cognitive resilience
and were less likely to
develop Alzheimer’s
disease.
Cognitive resilience is
the term used to explain
why some people stay mentally sharp,
even though their brain may show
signs of physical ageing or disease-
related changes. In fact, people
in the study who consistently had
good listeners available when they
needed to talk had a brain that acted
four years younger than would be
expected based on their age.
While researchers don’t know
exactly why this works, they believe
it stimulates new connections in
the brain. Supportive listening may
also lessen the effects of chronic
stress on the brain, such as systemic
inflammation.
BERRIES PROMOTE GOOD
BLOOD PRESSURE
A German and Irish study revealed
that eating foods rich in flavonoids
– such as berries, pears and apples –
creates a virtuous cycle inside your
body. These plant compounds
increase the abundance and
diversity of good bacteria
in the gut, which in turn
helps your body better
metabolise the next
flavonoids to come
along, enhancing their
natural medicinal effects
on blood pressure.
rdasia.com 21
R E A DER’S DIGE ST

Saving The
Biologist Pedro Vaz Pinto is on a mission to bring Angola’s

A herd of giant sables in Luando

Integral Nature Reserve

22 may 2022
 EARTH’S HEROES

Giant Sable
curly-horned antelope back from the brink of extinction

BY Ashley Stimpson
F R O M AT L A S O B S C U R A

rdasia.com 23
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
T
he giant sable bull
arrived dangling
b e n e a t h a s u n-
ny-yel low hel i-
copter, its 1.3-me-
t re-long hor ns
cur v ing back to-
wards its f lanks.
As it came into view, the hundreds
of people who had been waiting to
greet the massive antelope at the dry,
grassy edge of Angola’s Luando Inte-
gral Nature Reserve broke into tears,
song, laughter and dancing.
For the Angolan people, the giant
sable is a national symbol, adorning
everything from soccer jerseys to
postage stamps. But this particular
animal represented something even
WHEN ANGOLA’S CIVIL WAR ENDED, NO ONE
KNEW IF THERE WERE ANY GIANT SABLES LEFT
greater – hope.
After the helicopter pilot deftly de-
livered the tranquillised bull to the
ground, a group of rangers and sci-
entists rolled it onto a stretcher. As
a dozen people hoisted the stretcher
into the belly of a second, larger hel-
icopter, the crowd pushed forward.
Some people tried to get one last
glimpse, others hoped to hug or shake
hands with curly-haired biologist
Pedro Vaz Pinto, who stood nearby,
looking a little dizzy with disbelief.
Somehow, against enormous odds,
he had just led a team in tracking,
24 may 2022
tranquillising and transporting the
250-kilogram bull. It would journey
another 100 kilometres north to Can-
gandala National Park, where it and
nine female giant sables would com-
prise the world’s first captive breed-
ing programme for the nearly extinct
animal.
“It was an absolute magical mo-
ment,” Vaz Pinto says with an in-
credulous smile as he ref lects on
that summer day in 2009. Though
Vaz Pinto has enjoyed many magical
moments over the course of his 20-
year mission to save the distinctive
ungulate, the creature’s future re-
mains fraught.
The giant sable is found in Angola’s
largely undeveloped interior, when it
can be found at all. No foreigner laid
eyes on one until 1916 – more than
four centuries after Portuguese ex-
plorers first landed on Angola’s shore
– and not for lack of trying.
The antelope is notoriously elusive,
and also long enjoyed the cover of
the Lwimbi and Songo peoples, who
often denied its existence to outsid-
ers and deliberately misled trophy
hunters attempting to bag a palanca
negra gigante (Portuguese for giant
sable), according to journalist John
Frederick Walker in his book A Cer-
tain Curve of Horn. For locals, the
 creature was a totem,
the tip of its horns a por-
tal into the spirit world.
Walker describes it as
“almost heraldic in its
stateliness, more like a
proud beast from legend
than one of this earth.”
But even the giant sa-
ble wasn’t spared the
carnage of Angola’s bru-
tal 27-year civil war. In
the early 1970s, before
t he con f l ict, a n est i-
mated 2000 giant sables Biologist Pedro Vaz Pinto (left), pictured with
i n habited t wo of t he wildlife veterinarian Pete Morkel, has spent two
country’s preserves, the decades tracking the endangered giant sable
Luando Integral Nature
Reserve and Cangandala National him to develop the film, the biologist
Park. By 2002, when the war finally mailed each roll to his mother in Por-
ended, no one knew if there were any tugal. One day, about a year into the
PHOTOS (PRE VIOUS SPRE AD AND THIS PAGE): COURTESY OF PEDRO VA Z PINTO

left at all. effort, she called with some promis-

“Nobody could tell me for sure,” ing news.
says Vaz Pinto, who returned to his “She said, ‘There’s a lot of brown
native Angola from Portugal at war’s animals in this one’,” Vaz Pinto re-
end. He had taken a job as an ecol- members with a chuckle. He asked
ogist at Quiçama National Park, but her to be more specific. “Brown,
curiosity about the status of the sable kind of reddish?” she tried again. He
gnawed at him. had to wait an agonising week to get
“For a biologist who likes adven- the pictures in the mail. When they
ture, this was too much to ignore.” arrived, the biologist knew immedi-
Vaz Pinto decided to do some ately that he was looking at the first
reconnaissance work. In 2004, he photograph of a giant sable in nearly
strapped motion-activated cameras three decades.
to trees in Cangandala National Park With evidence that the animal
near termite mounds where giant endured, Vaz Pinto secured public
sables – grazing herbivores – might and private funding to establish the
visit to eat the sodium-rich dirt. Be- Giant Sable Conservation Project. “I
cause there was nowhere nearby for thought it would be easy,” he says. “I

rdasia.com 25
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
thought there would be more.”
Instead, subsequent photos always
showed the same nine animals, sug-
gesting that the giant sable was just
barely holding on. More worrying-
ly, there didn’t appear to be a bull
among the group.
And something else about the pho-
tos began bothering Vaz Pinto. “Some
of the animals looked a bit funny,”
he says. “They had floppy ears and
clownish faces.”
He began tracking the herd on foot.
When Vaz Pinto finally caught up
with them, what he saw confirmed
his worst fears. Standing in the mid-
dle of a harem of females was a roan
bull, a completely different species
of antelope. Left without a sable bull,
the female giant sables were mating
with the roan and giving birth to hy-
“I THOUGHT THE CHANCE OF US FINDING
A MALE GIANT SABLE WAS SMALL”
brids. Vaz Pinto knew that with only
a handful of pure sables left, hybridi-
sation would doom the animal to ex-
tinction in short order. “The sky fell
on my head,” he says.
If the tiny sable population in Can-
gandala was going to survive, Vaz
Pinto wouldn’t just need to separate
the pure females from the hybrids,
he would also need to deliver them a
giant sable bull.
Vaz Pinto quick ly dev ised a n
ambitious plan. He would recruit
26 may 2022
all the help he could and build a
44-square-kilometre enclosure in
Cangandala National Park. Mean-
while, he would begin scouting for
a bull in the nearby Luando Integral
Nature Reserve, where giant sables
had historically roamed. If all went
according to plan, in the summer of
2009, Vaz Pinto’s team would move
the nine females and one yet-to-be-
found male via helicopter to the en-
closure at Cangandala.
“I thought the chance of us finding
a male was small,” says Pete Morkel,
the wildlife veterinarian Vaz Pinto re-
cruited for the effort. “In fact, I told my
wife it was probably a waste of time.”
With the help of area rangers, Vaz
Pinto began collecting and testing
dung for evidence of giant sables in
the Luando Reserve. One month be-
fore the group had scheduled their
translocation mission, a sample came
back positive for giant sable DNA.
Vaz Pinto was thrilled that there
were still giant sables in the reserve,
but locating the animals wouldn’t be
simple – it covers about 8200 square
kilometres, the landscape a hypnotic
collage of browns and tans.
And then, when he needed it, Vaz
Pinto had another one of those mag-
ical moments. On the first day of the
translocation mission, without any
 Saving The Giant Sable

including the unexpected

infertility of several females
and an aggressive bull that
joined the enclosure, leading
to the death of another male
sable in 2011. Funding, Vaz
Pinto laments, has been a
constant struggle, especially
during the pandemic, when
longstanding corporate do-
nors withdrew support. And
Angola’s current economic
depression has driven more
people to poaching.
But for the most part, the
herd has thrived. Today Vaz
Pinto guesses there are more
than 100 sables living in Can-
The giant sable now has a fighting chance of survival gandala National Park. “It’s
been a spectacular success,”
other leads to go on, the group began he says, while acknowledging the spe-
their aerial search for the sable where cies is still perilously endangered. Be-
the dung had been collected. When tween the populations at Cangandala
they arrived, a bull was standing in and Luando, only about 300 remain.
that very spot, as if he knew they were For Vaz Pinto, who never meant to
coming. Morkel tranquillised the devote two decades of his life to the
animal from the air and the group giant sable, his role in its survival is
rushed to place a GPS collar on him. both an honour and an obligation,
A couple of weeks later, after the fe- but he admits he’s itching for a new
males had been moved to the enclo- adventure.
sure one by one, the group flew back “I want to stay linked to the giant sa-
to Luando to collect the bull. Because ble forever,” Vaz Pinto says. “But in a
the animal could be suspended by its way, I feel like a doctor in the ICU eager
legs for only a short time, the crew for the patient to be discharged – not
PHOTO: GE T T Y IMAGES

stopped to transfer the sable to a larg- because I don’t love what I’m doing, but
er aircraft, providing the locals time because it will mean the job is done and
for their impromptu farewell party. the patient can move on.”
In the years since, the captive popu- FROM ATL AS OBSCURA (JUNE 8, 2021), © 2021
lation has run into several challenges, BY ASHLEY STIMPSON

rdasia.com 27
 HEALTH

Get Your
BEST
SLEEP
Ever
28 may 2022
 Your health depends on it.
Here’s the latest expert advice and
tips for a good night’s rest
BY Leah Rumack AND Mark Witten
P H O T O G R A P H B Y V I C K Y L A M I L L U S T R AT I O N S B Y J E F F K U L A K

rdasia.com 29
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
The bad news first: we
are sleeping less than we
should and often don't get
enough rest. According
to statistics, at least 35%
of Malaysians have some
sort of sleeping disorder,
while almost half (49%)
of Singaporeans say they
are not satisfied with
their sleep. Chronic stress
and a more sedentary
lifestyle – both of which
increased during the
pandemic – are two
reasons for that.
If you don’t get enough sleep, the neg-
ative effects on your health can be
profound. Once you reach your 50s,
if you’re sleeping less than the rec-
ommended seven hours a night, your
risk of developing dementia jumps
by 30 per cent. That is, if you make it
to that point. Inadequate sleep also
increases the risks of heart attack,
stroke, hypertension, obesity, diabe-
tes and other health issues.
On the flip side, a restorative sleep
is good medicine, a natural elixir that
far exceeds the benefits of any pill.
And getting enough keeps you men-
tally sharp during the day, better able
to deal with life’s stresses.
The good news? We spoke to the
experts and did the research to help
you rest easier, starting tonight.
30 may 2022
STE P ONE
OPTIMISE
YOUR
BEDROOM
THE PILLOW THAT
ADAPTS
A good pillow will give your
head, neck and shoulders the
right support. Consider
investing in an adjustable
pillow. Removable foam
cubes let you customise the
pillow to the perfect height
and firmness for you.
THE SOUNDS OF
SILENCE
A white-noise machine has
always been a must-have to
assist troubled sleepers, but
now you can also pump
ambient sounds directly into
your ears to drown out
unwelcome noise. Try the
Bose Sleepbuds II, which are
surprisingly comfortable
earbuds that allow you to
choose from a bunch of
instrumental tracks that are
specifically designed to mask
the low-frequency
disruptions – like snoring and
noisy neighbours – that are
the most common sleep
disturbances.
 Get Your Best Sleep Ever

THE BLANKET THAT

KEEPS YOU COSY
Over the last few years,
weighted blankets have
moved from a niche product
1 used mostly in therapeutic
settings to a standard
bedroom item. They’re
designed to feel like a nice,
2 firm hug. The pressure from
weighted blankets prepares
your body for rest by calming
your heart rate and breathing,
thus helping your body to

(PRE VIOUS SPRE AD) OFF-FIGURE S T YLING BY DEE CONNOLLY; EMBROIDERY ON MA SK BY BRIANNA KINNAIRD
calm down enough to get the
sleep it needs so you can wake
up feeling refreshed,
according to Penn Medicine.

THE MATTRESS THAT’S

3 ALWAYS COOL
Waking up because you’re too
hot is a common complaint,
whether it’s due to the
weather, medication,
hormonal hot flushes or plain
old human biology. When we
sleep, our temperature drops
by a couple of degrees, and
we shed that heat into our
sleeping environment.
Cooling mattresses use
temperature-regulating
4 materials, such as gels and
memory foams, to draw heat
away from your body. This
means your body remains
cooler, which can improve
sleep quality.

rdasia.com 31
 STEP T WO
TROUBLESHOOT YOUR SLEEP ISSUE
We asked sleep expert Dr Ram Randhawa for some advice
on what to do about the most common problems.
YOU CAN’T GET TO SLEEP, STAY
ASLEEP OR WAKE UP TOO EARLY
These symptoms all fall under
insomnia and are usually caused by
stress, irregular sleep schedules or
excessive use of electronic devices in
the evening. Dr Randhawa suggests
three basic strategies:
1. Lower your arousal level before bed
with relaxation techniques or soothing
rituals and routines, such as reading a
book or listening to a meditation app.
2. Re-establish the bedroom as a calm
place to sleep by going to bed only
when you’re sleepy and getting out of
bed when you can’t sleep. Keep
electronic devices out of the
bedroom.
3. Although it may sound
counterintuitive, spend less time in
bed. Go to bed later, which increases
the pressure on your body to sleep,
and then wake up earlier. You might
get less sleep the first week, but
Dr Randhawa says this will settle down
and the quality of your sleep will
improve.
YOU DON’T FEEL
RESTED
If you’re sleeping
between seven and
32 may 2022
nine hours a night and are still feeling
exhausted and irritable in the
morning, Dr Randhawa says you
should be assessed for sleep apnoea
at a sleep-disorders clinic. This
condition causes people to stop
breathing and wake up for five to 15
seconds multiple times an hour
through the night. Sleep apnoea is
often treated with a CPAP
(continuous positive airway pressure)
machine, which helps you breathe by
keeping the airway open while you
sleep. Shedding excess weight and
avoiding alcohol before bed may also
be effective for mild sleep apnoea.
YOU SLEEP TOO LONG
Oversleeping can be a symptom of
depression because the same brain
systems involved in causing mood
disorders can also disrupt your
body’s regulation of sleep. And since
regularly sleeping too much – more
than nine hours a night – is linked to
health problems such as heart
disease, type 2 diabetes and
obesity, Dr Randhawa
suggests oversleepers
speak to their GP
about getting a
mental-health
assessment.

S T E P T H RE E
LEARN HOW TO GET
REST WHEN STRESSED
Worries about work, health and finances,
as well as stressful life events, such as job
loss, divorce, major illness or the death of
a loved one, are all common causes of
insomnia. This happens because, even if
your body is ready for rest, stress causes
your brain to go on high alert. That, in
turn, triggers the release of hormones
like adrenaline and cortisol and increases
your blood pressure and heart rate.
“It doesn’t matter how tired you are,”
says Dr Randhawa. “If you are in a room
with a tiger, you won’t fall asleep.”
Thankfully, the physiology of how
stress disrupts sleep points to effective,
non-pharmaceutical antidotes.
Get Your Best Sleep Ever
TIME TO REFLECT
For starters, you can try writing down a
list of pressing problems and worries
before going to bed. Give yourself time
to reflect, process and work out next
steps or solutions. Then let those worries
go so you don’t ruminate into the night.
RELAXATION TECHNIQUES
Once you’ve thought things through,
to bring down your blood pressure
and heart rate, neurologist
Dr Andrew Lim recommends trying a
variety of relaxation techniques and
rituals. Meditation, yoga, abdominal
breathing, soft music or taking a hot
bath can all help calm your nervous
system and switch off the body’s 'fight
or flight' response.
THERAPY
If those strategies aren’t working,
cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) can
help with insomnia caused by stress. For
this treatment, a therapist will help you
recognise negative thoughts, feelings
and behaviours that are contributing to
insomnia, and, in six to eight sessions,
you’ll learn to reframe them in a way that
is conducive to sleep.
TRY TO NOT WORRY
Lastly, try not to add to your stress by
worrying about a lack of sleep.
“Paradoxically, sleep isn’t something
you can achieve with effort. The harder
you try to sleep, the more elusive it
becomes,” says Dr Randhawa. “The
best advice is to improve your stress
management and let your sleep
improve naturally.”
rdasia.com 33
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
S T E P FO U R
GET ON THE RIGHT
SLEEP SCHEDULE
The time that we fall asleep and wake up
is regulated by something called a
circadian rhythm, or internal clock,
that’s mainly set by visual cues of light
and darkness. Circadian rhythms also
affect other biological processes, such
as body temperature, metabolism,
appetite and hormone release – all of
which adjust so that our bodies move
into sleep.
The best sleep schedule is a consistent
one. If your natural sleep-wake rhythm
gets thrown off by shift work, jet lag or
bedtimes that are all over the map, this
can seriously disrupt sleep and affect
34 may 2022
your overall health. A 2019
Harvard University study found
that irregular bedtimes and
wake-up times, and
fluctuating amounts of sleep,
increased the risks of obesity,
high cholesterol, high blood
pressure and high blood sugar,
among other health
problems. For each hour of
sleep variability, these health
risks rose by up to 27 per
cent.
It also helps to know
whether you’re naturally an
early bird or a night owl –
tendencies called chronotypes.
Because chronotypes are genetically
influenced, it can be hard for some
people to purposefully change them.
About five to 10 per cent of people are
true early birds, and 15 per cent are true
night owls, with most people falling into
the intermediate range of sleeping from
11pm to 7am.
Naps can be either helpful or
detrimental to sleep, depending on the
individual, duration and specific sleep
issue. If you don’t generally struggle
with sleep, a short nap of less than
30 minutes, not too late in the day, can
restore alertness without
compromising night time sleep.
“For people with insomnia, our
advice is usually not to nap,” says sleep
disorder expert Dr Najib Ayas,
explaining that it’ll reduce the healthy
pressure to sleep that builds up
throughout the day.

S T E P FI V E
TRY THESE
SLEEP AIDS
Sleep meditation apps, like
Calm or Headspace, offer
guided meditations and
breathing exercises to help
you fall asleep. And a recent
study showed that they really
work if you stick with them –
PHOTOS: (PILL S) IS TOCKPHOTO.COM/EHS TOCK; (TE A) IS TOCKPHOTO.COM/SVE TL ANA _ ANGELUS;
people with insomnia who
used Calm for eight weeks
improved their sleep quality
(MA SK) IS TOCKPHOTO.COM/SANTJE09; (LIGHT-THER APY BOX) COURTESY OF VERILUX
and reduced their daytime
sleepiness and fatigue.
Your body naturally produces
the sleep-inducing hormone
melatonin in response to
darkness. But since people
can become melatonin
deficient, supplements may
help. There’s also emerging
evidence that magnesium
can assist with sleep, as it
relaxes the muscles and has
anti-anxiety properties.
Get Your Best Sleep Ever
The calming effects of
chamomile tea may be
due to an antioxidant
called apigenin that
binds to brain receptors
that may reduce anxiety
and initiate sleep.
Artificial light at night sends the wrong
signal to your brain and disrupts sleep. A
Sleep Science study found that sleep masks
were an easy way to improve the quality of
sleep for patients hospitalised in a brightly lit
coronary-care unit – so they’ll work for that
street lamp outside your window, too.
A Sleep and
Biological Rhythms
study reported that
insomniacs slept
better after sitting in
front of a light-therapy
box for an hour each
morning. As long as the
device emits at least
10,000 lux of light, it’ll
trigger your body to
release melatonin, the
sleepy-making hormone,
later that evening to settle
you into a night’s rest.
rdasia.com 35
 DRAMA IN REAL LIFE

A gruesome accident nearly killed Carter Viss.

Healing from the injuries would be tough;
forgiving the boat’s driver even tougher

RUN OVER
BY A
SPEEDBOAT BY Gary Stephen Ross

PHOTO: ERIK A L ARSEN

36 may 2022
 Carter Viss, near where
he was snorkelling on the
day of the accident

rdasia.com 37
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
BENEATH THE OCEAN’S
SURFACE WAITS
A DIFFERENT WORLD
– quiet, shimmering with life. Cart-
er Viss loved that world. It’s why he
decided to study marine biology at
Palm Beach Atlantic University in
Florida. It’s why he got a job at the
Loggerhead Marinelife Center on
Florida’s east coast. And it’s why he
spent so much free time snorkelling
in the reefs at Palm Beach.
This particular Thursday morn-
ing – November 28, 2019 – was a
Thanksgiving holiday, and tourists
and locals were visiting the beaches.
The water was flat, the sky blue, and
the underwater visibility spectac-
ular. Carter, 25, and his 32-year-old
colleague, Andy Earl, spent a couple
of hours among the sharks, eels, tur-
tles, octopus and angelfish. Finally,
around noon, they headed for shore.
Outboard motors have an un-
mistakable sound when divers are
underwater. But swimming on the
surface, Carter didn’t hear the pow-
erboat until it was almost on top of
him. When he saw it, he knew he had
just an instant. He pulled desperately
to one side, getting his head and up-
per torso out of the boat’s path before
it ran him over.
He braced a nd t u mbled. T he
38 may 2022
seawater around him turned crim-
son. A severed limb was sinking to
the bottom – a human arm, the hand
enclosed in a black diver’s glove. This
can’t be happening, he thought. It was
too bizarre.
Inhaling blood and seawater, Carter
realised he would drown if he didn’t
swim. But his right arm was gone, and
both his legs were smashed, dangling
beneath him. His remaining hand was
damaged. Screaming for his life, he
slipped beneath the surface.
Andy Earl heard his friend’s mor-
tal terror. So did Christine Raininger,
who was sitting on a paddleboard
nearby and had yelled at the boat
to slow down. They reached Carter
at about the same time. While Andy
kept Carter’s face out of the water,
Christine squeezed his upper arm to
stem the blood flow, then fashioned
a tourniquet from the cord on her
paddleboard.
Meanwhile, the 11-metre speed-
boat, named Talley Girl, was revers-
ing urgently. It was powered by three
400-horsepower outboard engines
with five-blade propellers. On board
were retired Goldman Sachs execu-
tive Daniel Stanton, his 30-year-old

son, Daniel Jr, his son-in-law and two
grandchildren. Daniel Jr was at the
wheel. Horrified, in shock, he helped
Earl and Raininger load Carter onto
the boat’s stern.
I’m not going to make it, Carter
thought, pain searing through the
adrenalin. No way I’m gonna make it.
Earl, too, feared his friend could
not survive such wounds. “God is
with us,” he reassured Viss, over and
over, holding his hand as Talley Girl
made for shore.
Car ter felt his fear and panic
melt away. In its place came total
After striking Carter Viss, the driver of the
Talley Girl delivered him to the beach
PHOTO: COURTESY OF THE PALM BE ACH POLICE DEPARTMENT
Run Over By A Speedboat
surrender, a kind of blissful accept-
ance.
Dying felt like diving down into
another beautifully peaceful realm.
But the worst day of Carter’s life was
not without things to be thankful for:
Earl and Raininger being so close; the
speedboat reversing so quickly; the
first responders wading into the ocean
to meet Talley Girl. At St Mary’s Medi-
cal Center, the 12-person critical-care
team received Carter in the trauma
bay barely 20 minutes after the boat
struck.
Dr Robert Borrego, a critical-care
rdasia.com 39
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
surgeon and the medical director of
trauma at St Mary’s, was in the mid-
dle of his shift. The son of a Cuban
fisherman, Dr Borrego had come to
the US at age nine. Thirty years at St
Mary’s and a stint at a field hospital
in Iraq had acclimatised him to deal-
ing with trauma. Many soldiers he’d
worked on had been devastated by
explosive devices.
Dr Borrego did a quick assess-
ment. Major open wounds in the
ocea n a re doubly
perilous because the CARTER HAD LOST
victim’s bleeding is
not slowed by clot-
A LOT OF BLOOD
ting, and infection AND WAS VERGING
is very likely. Carter ON MULTIPLE
had lost at least 40
per cent of his blood
ORGAN FAILURE
volu me a nd was
on the verge of multi-organ fail-
ure. His arm had been retrieved by
a diver, but there was no hope of
reattaching it.
Dr Borrego noted the damaged left
hand and wrist. The right knee was
dislocated, the kneecap was nearly
severed, and the femur was frac-
tured. The lower left leg and ankle
were smashed, and the left foot was
turning blue.
It was a miracle Carter was alive,
but ever y moment counted. One
option was to amputate both legs,
which would lower the infection risk.
But because Carter was young and
otherwise healthy, Dr Borrego and
his team decided to try to save them.
40 may 2022
Three surgeons and two residents
got to work. First came amputation
of the mangled arm. Next, each leg
was reset and encased in a fixator,
a sort of exoskeleton that maintains
proper alignment as the bones begin
their slow process of repair. Fractures
in the left hand and wrist were also
set and soft-tissue damage repaired.
Three-and-a-half hours later, infused
with saline and eight units each of
red blood cells, plasma and platelets,
Ca r ter was moved
to the intensive care
unit (ICU).
The next 48 to 72
hours would be crit-
ica l. T he hu ma n
body can only fight
so many batt les at
once before shutting
down. All anyone could do now was
wait, and hope, and see if he’d pull
through.
In Centennial, a town outside Den-
ver, Chuck and Leila Viss were taking a
chilly, snowy walk when Leila’s phone
rang. The display showed a Florida
number; she assumed it was a tele-
marketer.
Back in the car, heading home
to start dinner, she saw there were
two voicemail messages. She put the
phone on speaker so Chuck could
listen too. It was a police officer in
Palm Beach. As the mother of three
active boys – Carter was her mid-
dle son – Leila wondered, what had
Carter done?

“Boating accident ... lost one arm ...
trying to save his legs.”
Panicked, weeping, they pulled
into a car park. “We took turns losing
it and comforting each other,” said
Leila. The day became a desperate,
blurry scramble – cancelling dinner,
urgent calls, sobbing helplessly, try-
ing to book flights on a public holiday.
Chuck’s persistence paid off when he
found two seats out of Denver that
evening, with a layover in Boston.
If t here’s such a
place as purgator y, ONE MORNING,
it just might resem-
ble Boston’s Logan
DR BORREGO
Airport at 4am when TOLD CARTER THAT
you’re so emotionally THE BATTLE WAS
spent that you’ve run
out of tears, unsure
90 PER CENT WON
w het her you r son
would be alive when you reached
him. And daring to contemplate
whether, if he ended up with just one
limb, it might be better if he passed
away – this young man who lived to
snorkel and fish and play guitar and
piano.
Frayed and exhausted, the Visses
reached the hospital around 10am.
The sight of their son in the ICU, swol-
len and bandaged, right arm missing,
and tubes down his throat, was over-
whelming. They had to be helped out
to compose themselves.
So began their vigil. The Visses took
turns by his bedside, where Carter
was on a ventilator. He was torment-
ed by hallucinations – ‘ICU psychosis’,
Run Over By A Speedboat
doctors call it. He knew his family was
there, tearful and comforting, but so
were strange, gruesome creatures that
were crawling all over him.
“Get them off me,” he begged.
Carter didn’t know he’d had four
operations. Infected flesh had been
excised, a titanium rod inserted in
his shattered tibia, and hardware in-
stalled in his left wrist and right knee.
Leila, a piano teacher, needed to be
back home, but Chuck could work re-
motely, so he stayed
on.
One morning, af-
ter Carter had had
his tubes removed,
Dr Borrego told him
the battle was 90 per
cent won. I’ve got a
long road ahead of
me, Carter thought, but I’m going to
make it.
He decided he would use his spared
life to educate others about ocean
safety and conservation. Heading into
yet another surgery, he told his par-
ents, “I can make a bigger difference
now than I ever could before.”
Over the 68 days Carter spent in
hospital, his recovery felt agonis-
ingly slow. Actually, says Dr Borre-
go, it was remarkably fast. His par-
ents noted each milestone. The first
day Carter sat up. Being moved out
of ICU. The first time, after surgery
on the nerves in his right knee, he
wiggled his toes. The first time he
sat in a wheelchair. Then, standing
rdasia.com 41
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
Carter during his rehabilitation
unaided and, a few days after that,
taking his first shaky, painful steps.
But another battle had just begun.
Heavy doses of morphine, oxycodone
and fentanyl had eased his pain. Dr
Borrego explained to the Visses that a
successful outcome depended on him
getting off opioids: “I’ve seen many
lives ruined when pa-
tients can’t break free.” PHYSICAL
Ca r ter u nderstood
the gravity of the issue.
HEALING IS
He gradually reduced ONE THING.
his doses, and then tore THE EMOTIONAL
off his fentanyl patch.
Withdrawal made for a
LEGACY IS LESS
harrowing few days, but OBVIOUS
Carter, as Dr Borrego
42 may 2022
puts it, “has incredible men-
tal strength.”
In June 2020, Carter re-
turned to work. His duties
include helping rehabilitate
loggerhead sea turtles that
have been injured in boat
strikes.
Today he can bend his
r ig ht k nee on ly 9 0 de-
g rees. He’s been f it ted
with a prosthetic arm but
finds it cumbersome. But
all in all, says Dr Borre-
go, his recovery has been
almost miraculous.
Physical healing is one
thing. The emotional legacy
is less obvious. “I try not to
remember how real the ac-
cident was, the panic and
horror,” Carter says. “It feels more like
a dream, or a nightmare. And I try not
to think of what I can’t do and focus
on ways to work around things.”
An investigation found that Talley
Girl had been going at least 80 kilo-
metres per hour when it struck Cart-
er, despite the red-and-white ‘diver
down’ marker on the wa-
PHOTOS: COURTESY OF THE VISS FAMILY
ter. In September 2020,
Daniel Stanton Jr was
charged with wilful and
reckless operation of a
vessel, punishable by up
to a year in gaol.
“Carter insisted he
did not want Stanton to
face incarceration,” says
 Run Over By A Speedboat

“I’D RATHER
Chuck Viss. “He said, ‘I’d his hand. Tears flowed
rather have him work- and the wall of silence
ing with me on ocean HAVE HIM between the families
safety than sitting in a
WORKING WITH came down. As the two

ME ON OCEAN
gaol cell.’” men embraced, Carter
The court hearing two said quietly, “Let’s make
months later marked SAFETY THAN a difference.”
the first time Carter and
SITTING IN A One of their ideas is

GAOL CELL”
Stanton Jr had seen each
other since the day their
lives changed. Leila and
Chuck were there, as was Stanton’s
mother. Stanton Sr attended via Zoom.
The families avoided eye contact.
Carter read a victim-impact state-
ment and then Daniel Stanton Jr ad-
dressed him directly. Carter knew
that the remorse was genuine and
profound. “There was no doubt how
he felt,” Chuck agreed. “You could see
the pain in his eyes.”
Stanton Jr was sentenced to
75 hours of community service, one
year of probation, a US$1000 fine,
and a mandate to work with Cart-
er on legislation to enhance ocean
safety and conservation. Afterwards,
Carter went to Stanton Jr and shook
a better ‘diver down’
marker. The current de-
sign is a red flag with a
diagonal white stripe. Depending
on wind direction however, a boater
may not see it. Carter favours a big-
ger, three-dimensional buoy, visible
in any weather, with reflective strips.
In addition, Carter wants strict speed
enforcement.
Has the legal resolution led to for-
giveness? “Forgiveness comes from
the heart,” says Carter.
“I feel like I’m going in the right di-
rection. If I were him and had to live
with the guilt and remorse,
I’d almost prefer to be in my shoes.
It’s a complex thing emotionally, but
if I can ease someone else’s pain,
I will.”

Smarter Than Your Average Bird

Wanting to learn more about the social dynamics of the highly
intelligent magpie, scientists from Australia recently tagged five
with a small harness tracker. What the academics didn’t expect was
to discover altruistic and problem-solving behaviour. Within minutes
of the trackers being fitted, one magpie was walking around without
it. Within hours, the group of birds had successfully cooperated to
remove all the trackers by pulling and pecking at them.
THECONVERSATION.COM/AU

rdasia.com 43
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
LIFE’S LIKE THAT
Seeing The Funny Side
“Sorry, that spot is reserved.”
Fateful Name
My son and I were walking in the
cemetery when we came upon an
ornate mausoleum. New to reading
and interested in words, my son
pointed to the name carved at the
top and asked, “What does that
say?”
I told him the family name:
“Eaton.”
Now horrified, he responded,
“By what?”
SUBMITTED BY AUDREY MALDONADO
44 may 2022
Blow-Out
My mother is seven years
older than my father, and
he never lets her forget it.
It was her birthday
recently and he put just
one candle on her cake.
She seemed puzzled, and
he told her, “Well, I didn’t
want to put a strain on
your lungs.”
SUBMITTED BY JOANNE
AITCHISON
Downing Tools
A few years ago, my
CARTOON: CARTOON BY GUTO DIA S. ILLUS TR ATIONS: GE T T Y IMAGES
father-in-law set about
a task in the kitchen
that his wife required
to be undertaken. He placed the
necessary tools and equipment
on the worktop in readiness for
the work and then briefly left
the kitchen. On his return, the
worktop was clear of his careful
preparations. He enquired as to
their whereabouts, upon which my
mother-in-law said she had tidied
them away as he had left them
lying around, cluttering up the
kitchen!
SUBMITTED BY ALLAN BRIDGER

She’s Curious
After a typical rapid-fire question
session with our five year old, my
wife wondered why she asks so
many questions.
Her response: “Well, I don’t
know anything.” —via Reddit
Let’s Jam
ME, IN MY TEENS: This radio
station is playing my jams.
ME, IN MY 20s: This disco is
playing my jams.
ME, IN MY 30s: This supermarket
is playing my jams. @mommajessiec
JUST YOU WAIT
My husband had a man-to-
man talk with our grandson.
He told him that in the future
he would have feelings for
girls. Our grandson nodded
and replied he already had
feelings for them.
Surprised, his granddad
asked what he meant.
Our grandson replied, “They
make me really, really mad!”
SUBMITTED BY DEMI ROBERTS
Life’s Like That
THE GREAT TWEET-OFF:
SUPERSTITION EDITION
Of course the people of Twitter have
their own strange particular beliefs.
If you see a clock with 11:11 on it,
make a wish.
@FARKASVILKASRH
When at a large staff meeting,
event or any occasion that involves
a round of applause, I always get
the last clap. If I have to, I will keep
going. Don’t test me. You will lose.
@ABBYTRIBBLE
I keep a broom by the door
because I was told the ghosts will
have to stop to count the broom
straws and forget why they were
coming to haunt us.
@DONNETTA_W
When I was little, I noticed that
movie vampires only ever bit their
victims on the right side of their
neck. I didn’t sleep on my left side
until I was 30. Just in case.
@MIKECHEQ123
rdasia.com 45
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
I Am The
FOOD ON
YOUR PLATE
Pass
The
Peas,
Please
T
he sleepless princess in
Hans Christian Anders-
en’s fairy tale, The Prin-
cess and the Pea, was far
from the only aristocrat
to f uss over a pea. In 16t h- and
17th-century France, the vogue veg-
etable sent the nobility into a tizz.
So great was the craze around eat-
ing these bright green mini-treats
in the springtime that Madame de
Maintenon, the second wife of King
Louis XIV, wrote one season:
46 may 2022
BY Kate Lowenstein,
Daniel Gritzer AND Diane Godley
“The question of peas continues. The
anticipation of eating them, the pleas-
ure of having eaten them, and the joy of
eating them again are the three subjects
that our princes have been discussing
PHOTO: K. SYNOLD/TMB S TUDIO
for four days ... It has become a fashion
– indeed, a passion.”
Peas are among the oldest crops in
human history, though exactly what
constitutes a pea is a little hard to pin
down. Just about anything we call a
pea – whether a garden pea, snow pea,
chickpea or peanut – grows in a pod

and is a member of the larger legume
family called Fabaceae (generally pro-
nounced “fuh-’bay-see-ee”).
That’s the same family from which
fava beans (also referred to as broad
beans) get their name. The peas we
eat when fresh, green and sweet – in-
cluding garden peas, sugar snap peas
and snow peas – are usually mem-
bers of the Pisum genus.
That also goes for green PULSES AND
split peas, which tend to DRIED PEAS
be sold dried rather than HAVE BEEN
fresh, and are frequent-
USED IN CHINA
ly cooked into soup and
porridge, such as mushy TO MAKE
peas. CAKES AND
An all-time favourite DESSERTS FOR
in Great Britain, mushy HUNDREDS
peas are traditionally
made from marrowfat
OF YEARS
peas. These peas are
larger than regular peas and are left
to mature and dry naturally on the
vine. They have a high starch content
too, giving them a smooth, creamy
consistency, and a very different tex-
ture to mushy peas that are made
with regular peas. Marrowfat peas
are also used in Japan to make wasa-
bi peas. Other types of peas, such as
chickpeas and peanuts, belong to dif-
ferent genera.
In China, peas aren’t reser ved
just for savoury dishes. Pulses and
dried peas have been used in cakes
and desserts, such as Wandouhuang
(or Beijing pea cake), for hundreds
of years. Peddled at market fairs
I Am The Food On Your Plate
during spring and summer, the tra-
ditional folk treat became popular
in Beijing during the Ming Dynasty
(1368-1644), and spread to the impe-
rial Forbidden City during the Qing
Dynasty (1644-1912) – establishing a
rightful place in Chinese cuisine for
perpetuity. Comprising dried yellow
peas, sugar and water, it is a slightly
sweet and light treat and
fairly simple to make
(alt hough you’ll need
to start a day ahead as
the peas need overnight
soaking and slow cook-
ing for three-plus hours).
It is no wonder peas
h av e b e en d r ie d for
centuries. The season
for fresh sweet peas is
tantalisingly short. The
tender stalks and pods
pop up as the winter months start
morphing into spring; within a few
weeks, the plants are overgrown
and the peas not nearly as tasty. In
fact, as soon as you pick a pea off the
vine, its sugars start converting to
starch, rendering it less delicate and
sweet. Hence why peas are so com-
monly sold frozen – freezing them
when freshly picked preserves a lot
of their desirable qualities.
Had the court of Louis XIV en-
joyed the luxur y of refrigeration,
they might not have spent a few
weeks every spring being so enthu-
siastic over some tiny green vege-
tables.
rdasia.com 47
R E A DER’S DIGE ST

PASTA E PISELLI
A quick, tasty pasta dish that
includes green peas that the
whole family will enjoy.

• Place a large, heavy-bottomed

pot over medium-high heat, add
2 tbls extra virgin olive oil and
110g diced pancetta.
• Cook, stirring often, until most
of the pancetta has lightly browned
and most of its fat has rendered,
about 7 minutes.
• Add 1 minced small brown
onion; cook, stirring and scraping
the bottom of the pan, until the
onion is softened, about 4 minutes.
• Stir in 500g frozen peas,
followed by 3 cups water and a large
pinch of salt.
• Bring to a boil, then add
500g pasta. Cook, stirring and
scraping, until pasta is al dente,
adding more boiling water, 1/2 cup
at a time, as needed to keep the
pasta just submerged.
• Remove from heat, then
season with salt and stir in about
15 torn mint leaves followed by
1/2 cup freshly grated
Parmigiano-Reggiano.
• Add boiling water if necessary
to give the sauce a thickened but
brothy consistency.
• Serve right away, sprinkling with
more grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
at the table.

48 may 2022
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R E A DER’S DIGE ST

50 may 2022
 PHOTOS: FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP VIA GE T T Y IMAGES

SEE Turn page ››

rdasia.com
THEtheWORLD...

51
R E A DER’S DIGE ST

...DIFFERENTLY

AN EMPHATIC MESSAGE for

the planet: 125,000 drawings
and messages from children
around the globe about
climate change. The mosaic
covered 2500 square metres
of Switzerland’s Aletsch
Glacier and was laid out in
2018 by activists. It aimed
to inspire governments and
people around the world to
fight climate change while
committing to limit the global
temperature increase to a
maximum of 1.5° C. The Aletsch
Glacier, which is melting at an
alarming rate, is the largest
glacier in the Alps.
PHOTOS: FABRICE COFFRINI/
AFP VIA GE T T Y IMAGES

52 may 2022
rdasia.com 53
 FAMILY
Friendships
No matter how old you are, your relationship with
your siblings is incredibly important. Try these tips
for strengthening your brotherly or sisterly bonds
BY Charlotte Hilton Andersen

54 may 2022
 FAMILY LIFE
FOCUS ON THE POSITIVE
It’s all too easy to focus on our family
members’ negative traits, especially
when sibling quirks that drove you
up the wall when you were a kid are
just as likely to push your buttons
PHOTO: GE T T Y IMAGES
now. But while it might have felt im-
possible to ignore their loud chew-
ing or penchant for creating drama
when you shared a bedroom, now, as
an adult, it’s much easier to choose to
forget the negative and focus on the
positive. After all, do you really care
if they chew loudly if you only have to
eat with them once a month?
“You can always find positive attrib-
utes in someone. Think of something
you’ve always admired or enjoyed
about them,” says behavioural analyst
Wendy Patrick. “Find these positive
attributes and incorporate them into
your invitation to reconnect.”
rdasia.com 55
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
DON’T FALL BACK INTO
CHILDHOOD ROLES
Birth order can play a huge part in
shaping your personality, life and re-
lationships, according to a large body
of research. But that doesn’t mean
you’re stuck being the bossy first child,
the attention-seeking middle child or
coddled youngest child forever.
In fact, you should actively try to
break out of those roles, says family
counsellor Joseph R. Sanok. We of-
ten fall back into these roles subcon-
sciously, but they can cause a lot of
friction, he says.
“You may have to actually verbal-
ise it, and say something like, ‘I know
I’ve been bossy in the past but I want
you to know I’m trying to get past that
and let you do your own thing.’”
MEET THEM WHERE
THEY ARE
“Some people have siblings who be-
came famous while others became
homeless and everything in between.
So it’s important to consider their
stage in life and meet them where they
are now – whether or not you agree
with their choices,” Patrick explains.
No matter what the circumstances,
do your best to refrain from judging
them or trying to ‘fix’ them, she adds.
Estranged siblings are more like-
ly to feel comfortable reconnecting
when you respect them for who they
are, rather than what they have done
with their lives. Unconditional love
heals many old wounds.
56 may 2022
GET IN ON A GROUP CHAT
Technology is often blamed for sep-
arating families, but you can use it
to bring you closer together as well.
Sanok recommends a simple group
chat that includes all your siblings.
“It allows you to communicate in an
on-going way and keep each other
updated on the little daily things,”
he says.
The only trick is to make sure you
set good ground rules – say, poli-
tics are off the table. And make sure
you’ve brushed up on the rules of
good group texting etiquette.
If you’re tech sav v y, you could
set up group chats online, a private
family website, or Facebook page or
schedule weekly Skype sessions.
SET CLEAR BOUNDARIES
“The key to establishing good rela-
tionships as adults – especially with
siblings you may have had a rocky
relationship with in the past – is
to make good, clear boundaries,”
Sanok says.
To do this, know what you need
and want from the relationship. Iden-
tify your own personal triggers and
come up with a list of non-negotiable
rules. For instance, you could tell a
sibling you’re competitive with that
you won’t discuss money matters. Or
you could make a rule that you’ll lim-
it visits to a certain number of hours.
Once you’ve established what will
make you feel safe and happy, and
what makes them feel the same,
 you’re off to a great start. If you’re a
people pleaser, setting boundaries
can feel really hard at times, but
persevere.
TIME IS THE BEST GIFT
In our busy world, time truly is our
most valuable resource and giving
your siblings your undivided time
and attention is a clear signal that
you care about them. While giving
tangible gifts is a thoughtful ice-
breaker, your siblings will remem-
ber how they felt with you much
more than anything you gave them,
Patrick says.
Start by scheduling a time where
you can meet or talk on the phone
and then stick to it. Make sure you’re
not distracted by anything else that
might make them feel less impor-
tant.
GET TO KNOW YOUR
NIECES AND NEPHEWS
Family is so important and it’s likely
that if your siblings have children
they are their whole world. Taking
an interest in their kids shows that
you care about what is important
to them. “Attending a school play
feat uring your sister’s adorable
four-year-old daughter is a bonding
experience for you and your sibling
PHOTO: GET T Y IMAGES
– even if your niece has no speak-
ing lines and is playing a tree in the
background,” Patrick says. “Demon-
strate that you love your relatives as
yourself.”
Nurturing good adult relationships means
not falling back into childhood roles
GOT AN OLD GRUDGE?
LET IT GO
No one can find your sore spot like a
sibling, and when you were young-
er chances are you hurt each other,
perhaps even badly.
Forgiveness and moving on from
childish mistakes is the key to es-
tablishing healthy adult relation-
ships w ith your siblings, Patrick
says. “Do not let the past dictate the
future. Forget about past grievanc-
es and look forward rather than in
the rear-view mirror. You cannot
change the past, but you can change
the future,” she says.
And if you just can’t get over it?
Remember that it is easier emotion-
ally and psychologically to forgive.
Enlist a therapist to help you over-
come and deal with deep past hurts
and problems.
No one ever said forgiveness is
easy but it’s worth it.
rdasia.com 57
R E A DER’S DIGE ST

The Promise of
Intermittent
Fasting A popular diet trend works well
for many weight watchers, and the benefits
could extend beyond your waistline

L
BY Rozalynn S. Frazier

ike many people who put on turned 40, he found 90 kilograms on

extra weight, Jerico C. was
surprised when it happened
to him. He loved walking, he
used to be able to eat what-
ever he wanted whenever he
wanted and stay relatively thin. But
then life happened. A new advertis-
ing sales job meant more driving and
less walking, and required company
dinners and later nights. Two kids
left little time to think about healthy
his 1.82-metre frame. “Given my fam-
ily history of heart disease, high cho-
lesterol and diabetes, I didn’t want to
create any additional risks,” he says.
It was around that time that he
came across a post on social media
by a friend who had dropped about
27 kilograms. How did he do it? Jerico
asked. “IF,” said the friend.
“If? If what?” Jerico responded.
The answer was intermittent fast-
PHOTO: GE T T Y IMAGES

eating, and get-togethers with his
extended Filipino family meant lots
of big meals. “When you welcome
anyone into your home, it’s an au-
tomatic feast,” he says. When Jerico
ing (IF): fasting completely for certain
periods of time and eating most any-
thing you want otherwise. That can
mean fasting for parts of a day, a day
at a time, or two days a week. Jerico

58 may 2022
HEALTH

rdasia.com 59
R E A DER’S DIGE ST

decided to try an 18:6 plan, which in-

volves carving out a six-hour window
– say, from noon until 6pm – when he
could eat whatever he wanted and
then going the next 18  hours with
no food (but unlimited water, coffee,
tea and other noncaloric beverag-
es). Two-and-a-half years later and
11 kilograms lighter (give or take a
few, thanks to the pandemic), Jerico
hasn’t looked back. “I like it a lot,” he
says. “It has made me realise that our
appetite is more tied to seeing food
than needing it. I do miss breakfast Intermittent fasting
food, though. In fact, I regularly have might ward off
breakfast for dinner.” neurological diseases
No one would say that intermit-
tent fasting is easy, but it has many such as Alzheimer's
advantages. There’s no counting
kilojoules, resisting snacks, cutting when we eat, our bodies break down
out food groups or various challenges the carbo hydrates from the food
that come with other types of dieting. and turn them into a form of sugar
Instead of focusing on what you eat known as glucose, one of the body’s
as dieters do on Paleo (no processed preferred fuels. Unused glucose is
foods, grains or sugar), Atkins (low stored for later use in your liver. So if
carbs), Whole30 (no sugar, alcohol, you are eating three meals a day, your
grain, dairy, legumes), and other re- body always has energy on hand as
gimes, IF puts the emphasis on when well as a reserve it can tap.
you eat. But when you’re fasting, your body
“Rather than saying ‘Just eat less,’ doesn’t have a steady stream of food
we tell them not to eat after 6pm,” to turn into energy. That means it has
says Elisabetta Politi, a dietitian and to tap its reserves. After about eight
the nutrition director for the Duke hours, it depletes the stored glucose
Diet and Fitness Center in North and needs another source of energy.
PHOTO: GE T T Y IMAGES

Carolina. “For those who have the
discipline, it works.”
No matter how long your fast-
ing period, the metabolic impact
on your body is similar. Typically,
This is when t he body begins
burning fat for fuel, explains Mark P.
Mattson, adjunct professor of neuro-
science at Johns Hopkins University
School of Medicine. This, combined

60 may 2022
 The Promise Of Intermittent Fasting
with the fact that you are likely taking
in fewer kilojoules during the shorter
eating window, is going to help get rid
of excess weight.
If those were the only benefits of
IF, it would be worth a look for many
people. But as the diet has become
more widespread, studies have dis-
covered that its benefits extend be-
yond what you see on your scales.
Research in Nutrition Journal re-
vealed that IF reduces artery-block-
ing LDL cholesterol as well as tria-
cylglycerol, which causes hardening
and thickening of the arteries. Both
arterial conditions are major factors
in heart disease. A 2019 study in the
New England Journal of Medicine re-
ported that IF might ward off neuro-
logical diseases such as Alzheimer’s,
Parkinson’s and Huntington’s. The
theory: the plaques that clog neurons
in the brain feed on glucose.
Not surprisingly, glucose reduction
also benefits people with diabetes. A
study published in 2018 in JAMA Net-
work Open showed that the 5:2 diet
(limiting kilojoules to 2000 to 2500 per
day for two days and eating regularly
for five days) results in weight loss and
improved blood sugar control for peo-
ple with type 2 diabetes. These fasts
may promote autophagy, a deep cellu-
lar clean-up that allows your body to
purge old, damaged cells and replace
them with new ones.
That said, intermittent fasting isn’t
a miracle, and as with any strict diet,
you should consult your doctor and
carefully weigh the benefits against
the potential side effects. People with
diabetes, heart disease or gout should
know that the lack of food triggers
steep dips in blood sugar.
All types of fasting can cause head-
aches, fainting, weakness and dehy-
dration, says Dr Scott Kahan, the di-
rector of the National Center for Weight
and Wellness in Washington, DC. In
some cases, IF could backfire, leading
to increased appetite and binge-eating,
as well as a slower metabolism. What’s
more, a randomised control trial pub-
lished in a 2020 issue of the Journal
of the American Medical Association
found that most of the fasters’ lost
weight was lean muscle, not fat.
Lastly, if you are under high lev-
els of stress or in intense athletic
training, consider steering clear.
In par t icular, you should avoid
36:12 fasting, which calls for 12 hours
of unlimited eating followed by
36 hours of zero kilojoules.
“When you do any type of fast,
part of the benefit comes from mild-
ly stressing your body; like when you
lift weights, you damage the mus-
cle to make it stronger,” says Robin
Foroutan, an integrative medicine di-
etitian. “With fasting, you are stress-
ing out the body, but it gets stronger
in response.”
And, if you stick to the programme,
it can get thinner too.
With reporting by Denise Mann,
Kim Fredericks and Corey Whelan
rdasia.com 61
R E A DER’S DIGE ST

62 may 2022
 FIRST PERSON

Mama,
This Story Is For You
For many mothers, a card or some
flowers are perfect. My mother is more
unusual – and demands something special

BY Helene Melyan F R O M T H E O R E G O N I A N

T
here is a country – I read
about it once – where the
local custom is that if you
go to a house and praise
some small possession,
the owners feel obliged to offer it to
ILLUS TR ATIONS BY JOHN HENDRIX
spoken. If she catches me staring at
anything small enough to put in a
shopping bag, she hands it to me as I
leave. It does no good to protest.
“I was merely staring at that photo-
graph of Mount Hood because I have

you as a gift. I don’t remember the
name of the country; the only other
place I know of with such a custom is
my mother’s apartment.
Knowing Mama, I have always been
careful with my compliments, but that
doesn’t stop her. Mama senses ad-
miration far more subtly than what’s
one exactly like it in my living room.”
Mama would only nod and say, “Of
course. You were thinking how nice
it would be to have a set. If a mother
doesn’t understand, who does?”
Being with Mama is like watching
an Alfred Hitchcock movie: I never
know what’s going to happen next.

rdasia.com 63
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
For instance, I have lasting memories
of childhood walks with her. Mama
noticed everything. We had to stop
to admire a nice house, a nice tree, a
nice flower. Mama regarded the peo-
ple we saw (those who didn’t look like
her relatives) as portraits in a muse-
um – no matter if people stared back.
“She was pretty once, but has seen
tragedy,” Mama would whisper, or,
“Such a handsome man, but conceit-
ed to the core.” Her sharpest epithet
was “Minky”, reserved for the type of
woman Mama thought would wear a
mink fur coat to the supermarket.
As far back as I can remember,
Mama was telling people they were in
the wrong line of work and suggest-
ing alternative careers. If the landlord
fixed the sink, she told him he should
have been a plumber. If he couldn’t fix
it, Mama would wait until the plumb-
er came and then tell him he should
have been a landlord. And if either
one of them told her a joke, she would
ask why he hadn’t gone into show
business. My turn came when I grew
up and became a housewife.
“You missed your calling,” Mama
sighs, examining the doodles on my
phone book. “You should have been
an artist.”
Later, when I tell her how I returned
rancid fish to the supermarket and de-
manded a refund, she amends this to
lawyer.
“You missed your calling,” I tell
Mama. “You should have been a vo-
cational counsellor.”
64 may 2022
“I know,” she sighs. “But that’s life.
Maybe now that it’s spring ...”
According to Mama, there is no
problem that will not be a little bit
solved by the coming of spring. I grew
up believing that there was only one
correct way to end a discussion of
things unpleasant or troublesome:
nod at the calendar, pat somebody on
the back if possible, and sigh, “Maybe
in the spring ...”
I could understand how certain
problems – sinus conditions, chapped
lips, sticking windows – would re-
spond to the change of seasons. But I
never tried to unravel the spring mag-
ic that Mama vowed would help me
PRE VIOUS SPRE AD: MARIA AMADOR (BANNER AND FLOWERS). THIS SPRE AD: MARIA AMADOR
understand fractions or long division.
I was not the only target of Mama’s
philosophy. At one time or another,
Mama had several dozen people in
the neighbourhood waiting for spring
to relieve them of indigestion, mice,
domestic difficulties, and trouble with
the horizontal hold on their TV sets.
Sometimes, sitting in school during
history (which Mama promised me I’d
find less boring in the spring), I would
daydream my mother into other places
and other times. Once I saw her patting
Napoléon Bonaparte on the back, after
he got the news from the Russian front.
(“Maybe in spring ...”) She was looking
over Thomas Edison’s shoulder, com-
forting him in his early failures. (“Don’t
worry; maybe in the spring you’ll try
something new.”)
I have been worrying for weeks
now about what to give my mother

There is always
the danger that a
gift given to Mama
will bounce
swiftly back to
the giver
for Mother’s Day. For most people,
this is a modest problem, solved by
the purchase of a dressing gown or
chocolates. For me, however, Moth-
er’s Day represents an annual chal-
lenge to do the impossible – find a gift
that will make neither Mama nor me
feel terrible.
Expensive gifts – which Mama de-
fines as costing over $1.98 – are out,
because they make Mama feel terri-
ble. (“This is awful,” she says, exam-
ining an apron. “I feel just terrible.
You shouldn’t have spent the money
on me.”) Inexpensive presents – un-
der $1.98 – please Mama, but they
make me feel terrible.
Mama, This Story Is For You
There is always the danger that a
gift given to Mama will bounce swift-
ly back to the giver. If I buy her some-
thing wearable, she perceives in an
instant that it could be let in here, let
out there, and it would fit me perfect-
ly. If I give her a plant, she cuts off the
top for me to take home and root in a
glass of water. If I give her something
edible, she wants me to stay for lunch
and eat it.
Papa, a sensible man, long ago
stopped trying to shop for Mama. In-
stead, on Mother’s Day, her birthday,
and other appropriate occasions,
he composes a short epic poem
in which he tells of their meeting,
courtship, and subsequent mar-
riage. After nearly 30 years of po-
ems, Papa sometimes worries that
the edge of his poetic inspiration has
dulled, but Mama doesn’t complain.
She comes into the room while he is
struggling over a gift poem and says,
“It doesn’t have to rhyme as long as
it’s from the heart.”
This year, finally, I think I, too,
have found a painless gift for Mama.
I am going to give her a magazine ar-
ticle, unrhymed but from the heart,
in which I wish her “Happy Mother’s
Day” and tell her there’s nothing
Papa or I could ever buy, find, or
make her that would be half good
enough anyway.
THIS STORY ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN THE MAY
1977 ISSUE OF READER’S DIGEST. THE OREGONIAN
(OCTOBER 2, 1975), © 1975 BY OREGONIAN PUB.
CO., OREGONLIVE.COM.
rdasia.com 65
 PHOTO FEATURE

Once
Upon A
TIME
The hands of time show no mercy to anyone
or anything. This cycle of inevitable decay PHOTO: BARCROF T MEDIA VIA GET T Y IMAGES/DIETER KLEIN/BARCROF T MEDIA

can at least be somewhat spectacular

BY Doris Kochanek

66 may 2022
How long will it take for nature to
completely overgrow this
unintended sculpture of wrecked
cars? The bodies of the lowest row, at
any rate, have almost sunk into the
Swedish forest floor.

rdasia.com 67
 PHOTOS: (COOLING TOWER) MIRNA PAVLOVIC; (ICE FACTORY) GER BEEKES/AL AMY S TOCK PHOTO; (SHIP) MICHAEL POLIZ A
Colourful graffiti adorns the remains of a disused ice factory in the historic
Luisenstadt district of Berlin. No doubt to the disappointment of local children,
ice cream was never manufactured here. Instead, until 1991, only ice for food
refrigeration was produced at the facility.

The interior of this cooling tower at an abandoned power plant near Charleroi
in Belgium would make a good backdrop for an end-of-the-world movie.
However, its demolition is imminent.
 Once Upon A Time

The Eduard Bohlen seems to be stranded in the desert.

The ship ran aground off the Skeleton Coast of Namibia in
1909. Over the years, the desert has expanded, engulfing
the shore; the wreck now lies hundreds of metres inland.

rdasia.com 69
R E A DER’S DIGE ST

PHOTOS: (LIGHTHOUSE) PANTHER MEDIA GMBH/AL AMY S TOCK PHOTO; (S TAIRWELL) DIMITRI BOURRIAU, JAHZ-DESIGN; (NEON SIGN) JA XPIX/AL AMY S TOCK PHOTO
From 1900 to 1968, the Rubjerg Knude lighthouse in
northern Jutland, Denmark, indicated the way for ships. Then
the ever-shifting sand dune, whose name it bears, took away its
function. By 2019, the colossus was only a few metres away from
the edge of the coast, and in danger of collapsing. In a
spectacular operation, it was lifted with hydraulic presses and
transported 80 metres inland. The 122-year-old lighthouse is a
popular tourist site, attracting about 250,000 people a year.

70 may 2022
 Once Upon A Time

Once, their flashing and blinking

attracted gamblers and pleasure
seekers to the bars and casinos of
Las Vegas. Today, visitors to the
city’s Neon Museum can see
discarded neon signs that divulge
the city’s colourful history.

Today, silence reigns in the ornate

stairwell of a chateau in the French
municipality of Dammartin-sur-
Tigeaux. When the building still
housed a sanatorium, the footsteps
of nurses could be heard up and
down the stairs.
rdasia.com 71
R E A DER’S DIGE ST

72 may 2022
 WHAT IT’S LIKE TO ...
Volunteer On
An Archaeological
DIG BY Gil Davis F R O M T H E C O N V E R S AT I O N
A
few more brushstrokes
and the student gasped
with excitement. There
in the dirt was a small,
bronze statue of a calf,
revealed for the first time in 3000
years. Places on archaeological digs
are not confined to university stu-
dents. If you are interested, there are
PHOTO: GE T T Y IMAGES
opportunities to become involved in
the fascinating world of archaeology
both locally and abroad.
Archaeologists in popular imagina-
tion are like Indiana Jones and Lara
Croft – seeking powerful lost artefacts
and unimaginable wealth. You don’t
need me to tell you this is the stuff of
fantasy. Gone too are the days when
real archaeologists just wanted to
find palaces and temples and signifi-
cant objects to stuff in museums.
The reality is more absorbing and
less dangerous. The questions that
interest us nowadays involve under-
standing how people lived and inter-
acted with their landscape. What did
they eat, drink, wear and believe, and
what tools and technologies did they
rdasia.com 73
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
use? This comes under the rubric of
‘material culture’.
Excavation is the essential part, but
it is destructive. We excavate the min-
imum area possible to answer specif-
ic research questions. We leave the
remainder for future archaeologists
with different questions and even bet-
ter technologies.
Uncovering architectural remains
and artefacts is vital, but only if we
can interpret the finds. To do so, we
need to employ a wide range of spe-
cialisations, many of them scientif-
ic. For example, a team in Israel was
excavating the site of Ramat Rachel,
which was the administrative centre of
the Persians outside Jerusalem. It was
complete with a palace and pleasure
gardens traditionally kept by Eastern
potentates – think the Garden of Eden
full of exotic species. No plants had
survived from 2500 years ago, but the
walls in the garden were plastered an-
nually, and in the plaster was micro-
scopic evidence of pollens and phyto-
liths (the mineralised remains). Bingo!
Brushes are used to carefully
remove dirt from artefacts
HOW DOES A DIG WORK?
A typical dig in the Middle East, Eu-
rope and the UK will start with a
survey to identify what is likely to be
found and the most promising areas
to excavate. This includes plotting sur-
face finds.
Just as sultanas in a cake mix will
come to the surface, ubiquitous bro-
ken sherds of pottery litter the ground.
Diagnostic elements can be identified,
giving a snapshot of what lies beneath.
Geophysical surveying reveals the
outline of subterranean structures.
The dig director then decides
where to dig in 5m-by-5m squares.
Each square has a supervisor and a
few people to help dig and record the
finds. Those squares don’t dig them-
selves. First you get down to the levels
of interest by removing all the topsoil.
It’s usually filled with tree roots and
rocks. Mattocks, spades and an end-
less supply of buckets are the go.
This is where your labour comes
in. Most digs need volunteers to do
the hard work. The dig supplies the
equipment, training and supervision;
the volunteers do the work. Soon
the team reaches the levels of inter-
est. The work becomes more careful,
turning to trowels and brushes. Volun-
teers become adept at identifying and
recording finds and levels. Fit people
don’t need a gym on a dig. Others less
physically able will contribute to light
duties, logistics and preparing meals.
A dig draws on a wide range of
expertise including geophysics,
 surveying, photography, computing,
pottery, biology, zoology, archaeome-
tallurgy, chemistry and isotopic analy-
sis. There is always call for volunteers
able to offer specialised skills. People
with medical and health training are
especially welcome, as are those who
can speak a local language.
Australian sites are handled differ-
ently as they mostly deal with under-
standing Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander use of land and historical
(post-European settlement) sites. Re-
search questions are usually linked to
cultural heritage management.
The way the sites present does not
lend itself to excavating in squares
and is more to do with plotting sur-
face finds such as campsites spread
out over a wide area. Nonetheless,
volunteers are usually welcome and
specialised skills and knowledge are
prized.
HOW TO VOLUNTEER
Be mentally prepared. It’s tough work
in the dirt with long hours and very
basic accommodation. Hats and sun-
screen are essential – but not whips
like Indiana Jones. Usually, you pay
for the privilege of participating,
though the dig will supply your ac-
commodation, food and transport.
PHOTOS: GE T T Y IMAGES
There are endless opportunities to
volunteer but finding them takes a
bit of sleuthing on the internet. Some
countries provide a contact point.
For digs in Israel, contact the Israel
Antiquities Authority. Field schools
Pottery sherds are studied to reveal
their age, style and composition
are ideal, such as ones in Menorca
(Spain), Ireland and Bulgaria. The
Archaeological Institute of America
also lists many opportunities. For
digs in Australia, and other regions of
the world, inquire at universities that
offer archaeology to find out which
digs they are doing and whether they
accept volunteers.
WHY DO IT?
A dig offers a unique and worthwhile
experience. You challenge yourself in
many ways, work in a team and cre-
at e a m a z i n g f r iend s h ip s w it h
like-minded people. As you gain ex-
perience, you become more valuable.
You could then be employed as a su-
pervisor and not have to pay. Many
volunteers become archaeolog y
junkies who can’t wait to spend their
next holiday digging up the dirt.
Gil Davis is Associate Professor and
Director, Ancient Israel Program,
Australian Catholic University.
R E P U B L I S H E D U N D E R A C R E AT I V E
COMMONS LICENCE
rdasia.com 75
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
LAUGHTER
The Best Medicine
“Wow, that’s taken years off you!”
Like No M-Other
A young man was walking through
a supermarket when he noticed an
elderly lady following him around.
Thinking nothing of it, he ignored her
and continued on.
Finally he went to the checkout line,
but she got in front of him. “Pardon
me,” she said. “I’m sorry if me staring
at you made you feel uncomfortable.
It’s just that you look just like my son,
who died recently.”
“I’m very sorry,” said the young
man. “Is there anything I can do?”
76 may 2022
CARTOON: ROYS TON ROBERTSON. ILLUS TR ATION; GE T T Y IMAGES
“Yes,” she said, “As I’m leaving, can
you say ‘Goodbye, Mother’? It would
make me feel so much better.”
“Sure,” answered the young man.
As the old woman was leaving,
he called out, “Goodbye, Mother!”
As he stepped up to the checkout
counter, he saw that his total was
$127.50. “How can that be?” he
asked, “I only purchased a few
things!”
“Your mother said that you would
pay for her,” said the shop assistant.
www.i30ownersclub.com

Rocked Their World
REALISATION: The asteroid
that ended the dinosaurs was
technically the highest ratio of
killing birds to one stone in
Earth’s history. @cubosh
Somewhat Arresting
Could I do an impression of a
flamingo being arrested? Easy, I
could do it standing on one leg with
my hands tied behind my back.
JAKE LAMBERT, COMEDIAN
Switch Off
HER: Are you going to walk around
all day without a shirt on?
ME: Just giving you a show.
HER : Can I change the channel?
@XplodingUnicorn
Down, But Nut Out
A guy goes into a bar in the middle
of the day. It’s quiet and practically
deserted. He sits alone, thinking
about the twists and turns his life has
taken. He hears a soft voice:
“Nice tie.”
He looks around but he doesn’t
see anyone. The voice speaks again:
“Great haircut.”
A few moments later, he hears:
“Congratulations on your promotion.”
He waves over the bartender to
ask her if she hears anything. The
bartender says: “That’s the peanuts,
they’re complimentary.”
Seen online
Laughter
ON THE BRIGHT
RIDE OF LIFE
Fill your tank up with our
driving jokes.
„ Subway is definitely the
healthiest fast food available
because they make you get
out of the car.
„ I’ve never once been able
to explain my car trouble to
a mechanic without resorting
to sound effects.
„ Two dogs are walking along
a street. They are passed by a
third dog driving a truck load
of logs. One turns to the other
and says: “He started fetching a
stick and built up the business
from there.”
„ I didn’t realise how bad of a
driver I was until my sat nav
said, “In 400 metres, do a slight
right, stop, and let me out.”
Seen on the internet
rdasia.com 77
 HUMOUR
RAISING KIDS:
To Coddle, Or Neglect?
BY Richard Glover
T
he you ngest sibl i ng i n
a fa m i l y, ac cord i ng to
a recent report, is often
sleeker and fitter than the
first-born child. While I’m
with the scientists when it comes to
global warming, the importance of
vaccines, and the need for dental hy-
giene, I must break ranks on this.
78 may 2022
I have had children. I have ob-
served the children of others. The
only possible conclusion: standards
slip with each additional child.
PHOTOS: SAM ISL AND
With the first born, everything
must be perfect. They are fed a diet of
high-quality vegetables and organi-
cally reared meat. The staff, by which
I mean the mother and father, are in
the kitchen night and day, pausing superior – and so much more con-
in their culinary efforts only to read venient”. The bedtime reading ses-
linguistically challenging texts and sion, which, with the first child, had
to perform ethnically diverse folk involved 50 minutes of funny voices
dances for the child’s amusement. and entertaining asides, now lasts
Photographs are taken, almost the three minutes between when
constantly, recording events such as Daddy first lies on the bed and when
First Burp, First Wriggle and What Daddy begins snoring.
We Took To Be The First Smile But In The number of photographs mod-
Retrospect Was Just Colic. erates from five a day to one every
As the child grows older, a pro- six weeks. A trendy brand of jump-
tective, loving and educationally suits in which the first child was
rich system is established in which dressed has been replaced w it h
t he y a re per m it te d cheap copies from the
to watch one hour of BALLET SHOES discount store.
television each week, ARE BOUGHT. Television viewing is
providing it’s a nature still restricted to ‘na-
documentary.
A CELLO IS NOT ture documentaries’
Ballet shoes are pur- CONSIDERED but the definition of
chased. A cello – a cel- TOO GREAT ‘nat ure documenta-
lo! – is not considered ries’ appears to have
too great an expense.
AN EXPENSE widened to include The
The first soccer game Lion King, Toy Story 4
is witnessed not by one parent, but and real-estate reality shows.
by two parents, four grandparents, The soccer entourage has dwindled
and an uncle visiting from overseas. to one rather hungover father, whose
There are pop stars with smaller interest seems to be largely focused
entourages. on finding something to eat. And the
The child, inevitably, is considered request for a trumpet, in order to join
‘gifted’. the school band, is declined on the
It’s at this point that the second basis of expense – why don’t you try
child is born. Standards immediate- Mum’s old guitar?
ly decline. All this, of course, is just limbering
The hand-operated mincer, in up for the arrival of the third child,
which baby food had been freshly at which point standards collapse
prepared by the kitchen staff, is nev- completely.
er retrieved from the bottom draw- The definition of toddler food has
er. Instead, commercially produced now grown to include a serving of
slop is suddenly rated “nutritionally nachos and some gnawing on the

rdasia.com 79
R E A DER’S DIGE ST

edge of last night’s pizza. This ‘meal’ kid is still in the womb, and so the
is served while watching a ‘nature proto-kid shifts its metabolism in or-
documentary’ – one that appears to der to store more fat.
involve Bruce Willis shooting at peo- This then becomes a lifetime habit,
ple in a New York airport. with the first-borns waddling around
The third child will be six years old trying to keep up with their sleeker,
before they are the subject of a single younger siblings.
photograph, and even What nonsense.
then it’s just their right THE THIRD Here’s my alternative
leg in a photo of the CHILD WILL theory: the younger
dog. They are dressed ones, having grown up
in clothes handed
BE SIX YEARS with parents oblivious
down from a second OLD BEFORE to their welfare, are now
cousin, soaked in ex- THEY ARE THE living a life so dissolute
tra-strength detergent
to remove the stains.
SUJBECT OF A they don’t have time to
put on weight.
They hitchhike to SINGLE PHOTO Or maybe, just may-
soccer. be, humans are like
They learn music on a kazoo. grapevines. The best wine often
When it comes to table manners, comes from grapes planted in stony
the only guidance they are given in- soil and starved of water. They thrive
volves the phrase: “Don’t wipe your on the neglect. The grapes are smaller,
hands on the furniture, that’s disgust- but more powerful, filled with flavour.
ing. Use your T-shirt like your father.” And that may be the story of the fit,
How, given all of this, can science slim, and intense younger siblings.
still claim that the youngest siblings I’d like to prove my various theories
tend to be the healthiest? by showing you photographs of these
Their theory, should you be inter- later-born children, recording the cir-
ested, goes like this: first-time moth- cumstances of their childhood and
ers, it is said, are less adept at pump- adolescence. What a shame that there
ing kilojoules into the kid when the appear to be none in existence.

Quick Brain Teaser

In a drawer you have black socks and white socks.
They are not stored away in pairs. Without looking, how many times will
you have to reach into the drawer to come out with a matching pair?
ANSWER: TO BE GUARANTEED A PAIR YOU WILL HAVE TO REACH IN THE DRAWER THREE TIMES.

80 may 2022
 QUOTABLE QUOTES

Your image isn’t Just as you think

your character. you know someone,
Character it turns out you
is what you actually have no
are as a person. idea who a person
DEREK JETER, really is until
BASEBALL PL AYER
you’ve travelled
with them.
You have GABRIELLE UNION, ACTRESS
brains in
your head. THE BEGINNING IS THE
You have
feet in your MOST IMPORTANT PART
shoes. OF THE WORK.
You can steer PL ATO, PHILOSOPHER

yourself any
direction you WHEN WE
choose. RECOGNISE
DR. SEUSS, THE VIRTUES,
CHILDREN’S AUTHOR
THE TALENT,
THE BEAUTY OF
MOTHER EARTH,
SOMETHING
IS BORN IN US,
SOME KIND OF Write it on your
PHOTOS: GE T T Y IMAGES

CONNECTION, heart that every

LOVE IS BORN. day is the best
THICH NHAT HANH,
day in the year.
CLERGYMAN R ALPH WALDO EMERSON, POET

rdasia.com 81
 13 THINGS

13 Boredom-Busting
Facts About
Board Games BY Emily Goodman

1
We have been play ing board the midst of play on hundreds of piec-
I L LU S T R AT I O N: S ERG E B LO C H

games – in some cases, the same
board games – for millennia.
Chess, checkers, backgammon and
Go all have origins in the ancient
world. King Tutankhamun was bur-
es of Greek pottery. And the Ashanti
people of Ghana are believed to have
created a board game called wari,
which you may know as mancala.

2
ied with multiple sets of an Egyptian It wasn’t until the 19th cen-
game called senet. Ajax and Achilles tury that board games began
still appear hunched over a board in to be sold commercially. The

82 may 2022
first, Mansion of Happiness, came
out in England in 1800. The ‘man-
sion’ was heaven, and players raced
to get there. Decades later, American
board game magnate Milton Bradley
reworked and rebranded it as ‘The
Checkered Game of Life’. It was the
only board game Bradley personally
worked on.
3
Another popular racing game,
Parcheesi, has roots in an-
cient India, where it was called
pachisi, from the Hindi word for 25,
the highest possible outcome of a
single throw. But whereas Americans
only tweaked the name, the Brits de-
cided to call it Ludo, Latin for ‘I play’.
So when Englishman Anthony E.
Pratt developed his murder-mystery
board game in 1943, he called it Clue-
do, playing on Ludo.
4
In international versions of
Cluedo, the colourful cast can
look quite different from what
we’re used to. Professor Plum was
originally called Dr Orange in Spain.
Mr Green goes by Chef Lettuce in
Chile. Mrs Peacock is Mrs Purple in
Brazil and Mrs Periwinkle in France,
and in Switzerland, she’s Captain
Blue, a man.
5
Board games occasionally in-
spire screenwriters. There’s the
1985 whodunit Clue, the 2000
fantasy film Dungeons & Dragons,
and the 2012 action movie Battleship.
Even the 2014 horror flick Ouija is
technically based on a game, as the
Ouija board was patented as a toy.
Hasbro still sells it as a ‘family game’.
6
At least one board game is be-
ing adapted into a television
show, although its creator was
a famous filmmaker. Albert Lam-
orisse, who wrote and directed the
1956 Oscar-winner The Red Balloon,
also created a board game he called
La Conquête du Monde (Conquest of
the World). Never heard of it? That’s
because Parker Brothers bought the
game and renamed it Risk.
7
Another game inventor, Alfred
Butts, first called his creation
Lexiko, then Criss Cross Words,
before settling on Scrabble – a word
that means ‘to hold on to something’.
And that’s exactly what Butts did, as
it took years for the game to gain trac-
tion. Approximately 150 million sets
have now been sold worldwide.
8
It was over a game of Scrabble
that Chris Haney and Scott
Abbott came up with the idea
for their game, Trivial Pursuit. Its
success launched a years-long le-
gal battle from an encyclopaedist
who claimed Haney took trivia from
his books, something Haney read-
ily admitted to doing. In the end, a
US Federal Court decided you can’t
steal trivia and dismissed the suit.
During the 1980s, Trivial Pursuit
rdasia.com 83
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
outsold even Monopoly, racking up
US$800 million in sales in 1984 alone.
9
At the highest levels of play,
it’s not all play money. The US
National Scrabble champion
takes home US$10,000; the world
champion earns twice that. Even
the Monopoly world champion takes
home some real cash: US$20,580, the
amount that comes in a standard
Monopoly game.
10
The man who sold Monop-
oly to Parker Brothers in the
1930s, Charles Darrow, of-
ten receives the credit for creating the
game. But it was Elizabeth Magie who,
decades earlier, earned a patent for
her invention, ‘The Landlord’s Game’.
Players purchased railroads, paid rent
and occasionally ended up in gaol.
Ironically, Magie’s aim with the game
was to show the evils of accumulating
wealth by bankrupting others.
11
Monopoly made a splash even
in communist countries. Fidel
Castro banned the game in
Cuba, and while Richard Nixon and
Nikita Khrushchev had their ‘kitchen
debate’ at an American trade show in
Moscow in 1959, all the Monopoly sets
Age Gauge
“You know you’ve reached middle age when you’re cautioned to
slow down by your doctor, instead of by the police.” JOAN RIVERS
84 may 2022
that had been brought in were stolen.
But an even more dramatic bit of
board-game history occurred during
World War II. Since POWs in Germany
were allowed board games, American
troops hid maps, compasses and real
money inside Monopoly sets to help
prisoners escape.
12
While there are plenty of
board games about war,
illness is another recur-
ring theme. There’s Operation, with
its perennial patient, Cavity Sam.
Following the 2003 SARS outbreak,
Matt Leacock dreamed up a coop-
erative board game – one in which
the players all win or lose together –
called Pandemic.
13
Thousands of new games
are released each year. How
can you tell which are best
to buy? One reliable indicator is the
Spiel des Jahres (‘Game of the Year’ in
German), considered the most pres-
tigious award for board games. Previ-
ous winners include Settlers of Catan,
Dominion and Ticket to Ride. If you
prefer to support aspiring game mak-
ers, you’ll find hundreds of proposed
projects on crowdfunding sites such
as Kickstarter.
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
ALL IN A DAY’S WORK
Humour On The Job
What’s this I hear about large quantities of ice, fish
and snow being purchased by your department?
Stupidity Is What Ales Him
I was working at a bottle store when
a man tucked four six-packs of beer
under his arms and bolted without
paying. I called the police, then went
home when my shift ended. The next
day, the police came to the store
with a suspect in tow. They asked the
assistant working then, “Is this the
man who stole the beer?”
The suspect shouted, “How would
he know? He wasn’t here when I ran
out the door.”
SUBMITTED BY R.N.
86 may 2022
Not-So-Sweet Treat
My husband is a
firefighter and last
Halloween he had to go
out with his colleagues
to a big house that had
recently had a chimney
fire to give the owners a
talk about fire safety.
He stood outside
with another colleague
holding his helmet
upside down in his
hands and the man of
the house came to
the door.
He took one look
at the firefighters and
proceeded to put some
sweets in their helmets muttering
under his breath, “They’re getting
a bit too old to be doing this these
days...”. He then closed the door on
CARTOON: P. C . VE Y; GET T Y IMAGES
them.
SUBMITTED BY SUZANNE S. ROSWELL
Too Much Of A Hood Thing
The people in my Zoom meeting
deserve better than the same three
hoodies I keep wearing over and
over, but that’s all I have to give.
AKILAH GREEN, TELEVISION WRITER

DON’T CALL US,
WE’LL CALL YOU
Looking for a job? Be sure to
think about your CV. Below,
we’ve strung together actual
statements made by job seekers.
OBJECTIVE: “I would like to work
for a company that is very lax
when it comes to lateness.”
SKILLS: “I can edit and improve
any document someone puts in
front of me. I love animals, too!”
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY:
“Drove a toe truck.”
„ “My long period of
unemployment had to do with a
variety of time-consuming events
such as a tax audit of my finances,
in particular.”
REFERENCES: “My girlfriend.”
PAY GOALS: “I am looking for
a rate of either $120 per day or
$120 per hour.”
ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
“My shirt is always tucked in.”
Source: Robert Half International
Employment Agency
All In A Day’s Work
FIRST DAY
HORROR STORIES
People share their worst
first-day-at-work stories.
„ At my preliminary visit for my
first teaching practice, I was sent
to an English class.
After finishing my discussion
with the teacher, I got up and
turned round to leave the room.
As I opened the door and closed
it behind me, the class burst
out laughing – I was in a dark
cupboard, which did not have a
door handle on the inside.
When the teacher let me out,
he said, “Everyone makes that
mistake.” He showed me out
through an identical door next to
the cupboard door.
SUBMITTED BY VICTOR FLUTE
„ First corporate job. We had
these large metal coffee urns
in the break room. You put the
grounds in the cup thing and hit
a button because they were piped
into the water line.
What I did not know was that
it would run a cycle for each
button push. I pushed it twice in
a row and left for it to brew. When
I came back it had doubled up
and overflowed. There was coffee
everywhere. Day one.
captain_trainwreck; WWW.BUZZFEED.COM
rdasia.com 87
 QUIZ

Easy
Pickings
ILLUS TR ATION: (HAND) GE T T Y IMAGES/DIGITAL VISION VECTORS; (CROWN, BACKGROUND) GET T Y IMAGES/IS TOCKPHOTO
Crooks are highly creative when it comes to getting
their hands on money, artwork or jewels. Try our quiz
about some of the world’s most spectacular heists

BY Caroline Friedmann

QUESTIONS

1
Leona rdo da Vinci’s master-
piece, t he Mona Lisa, disap-
peared from the Louvre Muse-
um in Paris on August 21, 1911. The
painting vanished without a trace
c) He was suspected of stealing
the painting
d) He made a public appeal for
the safe return of the painting

2
for two years. Even Pablo Picasso
came to be involved in this case.
What role did the famous painter
play?
a) The thief offered to sell him
the painting
b) He was asked to make a copy
of the painting
In 2003, a band of criminals
spent 27 months working on
t heir intricate master plan,
staking out their target and empty-
ing the vaults of the Antwerp Dia-
mond Centre. The loot was worth at
least 100 million euros (US$110 mil-
lion). What set the police on the trail
of the culprits?

88 may 2022
rdasia.com 89
 a) Rubbish thrown away during
the getaway
b) A gang member bragged about
it in a pub
c) A girlfriend of one of the
thieves told police after she
received a large diamond ring
d) DNA on a door handle
3
A hold-up in Switzerland made
headlines in 1997. During the
raid on Zurich’s main post office,
robbers made off with 53 million Swiss
francs (US$57 million). An unusual
factor also helped the gang to pull it
off because it later turned out that ...
a) the post office alarm system
wasn’t working properly that day
b) the robbers were only armed
with toy pistols
c) a door to the post office was
accidentally left open
d) the police were involved in an
accident on the way to the crime
scene
4
1976 saw France’s biggest bank
robbery to date. A gang dug an
eight-metre tunnel from the
sewers to the vault of the Société
Générale bank in Nice. They seized
money and valuables worth about
46  million francs (US$7.7 million).
The robbers appeared so laid back
and comfortable that they ….
a) enjoyed a picnic inside the
bank
90 may 2022
b) gave themselves two days to
pull it off
c) had a nap
d) A and B
5
On 18 March 1990, burglars
hauled away 13 paintings from
the Isabella Stewart Gardner
Museum in Boston, Massachusetts,
worth US$500,000. Among the pri-
vate collection were artworks by
Rembrandt, Degas and Manet. What
cunning ploy did the thieves use to
gain access to the museum at night?
a) they were hired as cleaning
staff
b) they started a fire in the foyer
c) they disguised themselves as
police officers
d) they gained access to a
cupboard and hid there until the
museum closed
6
In London, four robbers used
drills to break into the vault
of the Hatton Garden Safe De-
posit Company over the 2015 Easter
Holiday. They smashed their way
through a 50-centimetre-thick rein-
forced concrete wall and stole jewel-
lery and jewels worth 18 million eu-
ros (US$20 million). After the gang
was caught, the public couldn’t be-
lieve their eyes because the thieves
were ...
a) almost all pensioners
b) university students

c) police officers
d) complete amateurs
7
In Oslo in 1994, thieves stole
the world-famous painting The
Scream by Edvard Munch from
the Norwegian National Gallery. But
the heist had a humorous twist. What
did the robbers leave behind at the
crime scene?
a) a group photo of them wearing
masks
b) a postcard saying thanks
c) a fine art print of the painting
d) an admission ticket to the
gallery
8
Stealing an ATM at night, instead
of raiding a bank during the day,
may have been what five crimi-
nals were thinking when they robbed
a bank near Potsdam, Germany, back
in August 1995. But their plan to use a
steel cable to rip the ATM out of its an-
choring and haul it away went horribly
wrong. What happened?
a) the rope broke and killed two
robbers
b) the building collapsed
c) they accidentally took away a
bank statement printer
d) the ATM was empty
9
In 2008, robbers stole four paint-
ings from the E.G. Bührle private
collection in Zurich, including
The Boy in a Red Waistcoat by Paul
Easy Pickings
Cézanne and Blossoming Chestnut
Branches by Vincent van Gogh. What
was so special about this crime?
a) the theft was only noticed days
later
b) the robbery turned out to be
an insurance scam
c) the robbery took just three
minutes
d) the original plan was to take
paintings by Monet
10
On September 23, 2009, a
gang robbed a cash depot
in Västberga, Stockholm,
in a daring Holly wood-style raid.
What type of unusual transport did
the robbers use to make their fast
getaway?
a) a Formula 1 racing car
b) the train
c) a tank
d) a helicopter
11
Crooks had the IT company
Yahoo! in their sights in 2013.
What did they gain access to
during their electronic heist?
a) the data of all users.
b) the company’s accounts.
c) the control of the central
computer
d) the accounts of wealthy
celebrities and global leaders
>> Turn to page 92 for quiz answers
rdasia.com 91
 ANSWERS TO EASY PICKINGS QUIZ

1  c) Pablo Picasso was briefly

under suspicion following the
theft of the Mona Lisa. Vincenzo
time of the robbery; one was in his
late 60s and the others over 70.

Peruggia – a 29-year-old Italian

working at the museum – was
eventually found guilty of the crime.
7 b) The robbers left a postcard
thanking the museum for its
poor security. The police quickly
arrested them, though, and the

2 a) The thieves dumped rubbish,

including fragments of a receipt,
stolen painting was also recovered.

in a wooded area during their

getaway. This gave the investigators
a lead. Several were arrested.
8  c) At first, everything went
according to plan for the bank
robbers. They ripped a machine out
of its anchoring using a steel cable,

3 b) This heist went down in Swiss

criminal history as the “post
office robbery of the century” not
just because of the amount of money
stolen but also because the thieves
only carried toy guns.
heaved it onto a stolen truck and
drove off – with a bank statement
printer in tow.
9  c) It took the thieves just three
minutes to remove the valuable
paintings from the walls and

4 a + b) The thieves chose a long

weekend to rob the bank in
Nice and took two days to empty
disappear with them. All artworks
have now resurfaced.

the safety deposit boxes. When they

got hungry, they stopped to have a
picnic inside the bank.
10 d) The robbers stole a
helicopter, landed it on the
roof of the cash depot, blew off
several doors and made off with

5  c) Disguised as police officers,

the thieves took the museum’s
night watchmen by surprise, tying
sacks full of money. Their exploit
is considered the most spectacular
robbery in Swedish history.
them up and walking off with the
13 masterpieces. To date, no culprits
have ever been caught and none of
the artworks have been recovered.
11 a) Yahoo! stuck with their
statement that “only” one
billion user accounts were hacked
by unknown persons for four years,

6 a) Almost all the Hatton Garden

thieves were of retirement age.
The youngest was 58 years old at the
until in 2017, Yahoo! finally
confirmed that indeed all three
billion user accounts were affected.

92 may 2022
 TELL ME WHY...

Flamingos Are Pink

How the gangly birds get their distinctive colour
BY Jen McCaffery

F
lamingos are so famous for
their colour that they’ve even
inspired their own hot pink
lawn ornament. So they must
be born rosy, right?
Nope. It turns out that flamingos are
not naturally pink. The lanky-limbed
birds are actually born with light grey
feathers. Pink is not in their DNA.
So what causes the birds to turn
pink? Well, their favourite things to
eat in the wild are brine shrimp, larvae
and blue-green algae. All three con-
PHOTO: GE T T Y IMAGES
orange molecules. Those molecules
are absorbed by fats in the liver and
are eventually deposited into flamin-
go’s skin, feathers, beak and legs. Over
time on this diet, a flamingo’s feathers
will gradually turn from grey to a more
vibrant hue.
Of course, flamingo feathers range
in colour from white to many different
shades of pink to orange and red.
The colour a flamingo’s feathers
turns depends on where they’re lo-
cated and what they’re eating. For

tain compounds called carotenoids, or example, the pink feathers of some

yellow, red or orange pigments. When flamingos living in zoos started to
these foods make their way into a fla- fade until zookeepers started feed-
mingo’s digestive tract, enzymes break ing the birds a synthetic version of
the carotenoids down into pink and the pink dye.

rdasia.com 93
 TRAVEL

Chasing The
NORTHERN
LIGHTS I visited Canada’s Northwest Territories in
search of a primeval encounter with nature

BY Sallie Tisdale
FROM HARPER’S

94 may 2022
 The aurora borealis
lights up the sky near
Yellowknife in Canada’s
Northwest Territories

rdasia.com 95
R E A DER’S DIGE ST

B
y the time I finish As we emerge from the woods, Céline
dressing and walk points out the path to the heated,
i nto t he lobby of 360-degree-rotating recliners. We
t he E x plorer Ho- find our teepee at the edge of a field –
tel in Yellowknife, a place to warm up and rest, but not
it’s 9pm. There is to stay. We aren’t here to be indoors.
a crowd of tourists The clouds lift. The teepees are in
from Japan wearing identical red par- a small bowl, and trails lead through
kas and black polar boots the size of the trees to low bluffs with longer
toasters. Outside, in the black Cana- views. I join a crowd of silhouettes. I
dian winter night, four yellow school shift from foot to foot. I went north for
buses pull up. The group from Japan the aurora, but also this: the dark, the
fills the first three, and the rest of us, sky, the ice.
a mixed dozen from several coun- “Is that it?” someone asks, pointing
tries, climb into the last. at a small dome of brightness on the
The bus bumps onto the dark high- horizon. I think it is Yellowknife. The
way. It is February 2020, and it’s al- city has dark-sky compliant street-
most as cold inside as out; the win- lights, but the town is plainly visible
dows are already icing from a distance.
over from our breath. WE WATCH “Is that it?” somebody
Our guide is Céline, THE GLOWING else asks, pointing at
a petite Frenchwom- a pale flash on the op-
an. “The prediction is
TRACK CROSS posite horizon. But it is
clouds tonight,” she THE SKY LIKE just headlights from the
tells us. “But a predic- A PAINTER’S highway. We don’t really

PHOTO (PRE VIOUS SPRE AD): VINCENT DEMERS/GE T T Y IMAGES

tion is just a prediction. know what we are seek-
So we will be hopeful.”
BRUSH ing, what we will see.
After about 20 min- We may see nothing at
utes, the bus turns down a narrow all. The aurora follows its own subtle
road towards Aurora Village, a collec- schedule, and aurora tourism runs on
tion of teepees and small buildings hope, on expectations deformed by
beside a frozen lake. The few lights Instagram and travel websites. Thou-
are dim and downcast to protect sands of edited, enhanced photos of
our night vision. We follow Céline’s emerald-green drapery and quivering
blinking red headlamp, the only ruby-red arcs make false promises.
way we can tell her apart from the I’ve tried to keep my own expectations
crowd. More than a hundred people tightly bound.
are plodding from the carpark along We watch, and over about 20 min-
hard snowy trails between dark trees. utes, a cloud grows into a fine white

96 may 2022

Yellowknife sits on the shore of Great Slave Lake, one of the world’s
largest, deepest lakes
arc stretching across the lower half of
the sky, brightening until it is a river
of pearl. Céline and I lie back on a pile
of packed snow, watching the glow-
ing track cross the sky like a painter’s
brush. It changes without changing;
a fraction dissolves and reappears,
slides away, returns. The river cleaves
into two puddles of ghostly milk. I
can’t see it changing, yet it changes.
Soon the two wide swathes thicken
PHOTO: HIROMI YONEDA/SHUT TERS TOCK
and then burst, flooding the banks
until the entire sky is filled with vi-
brating light. A hundred voices shout
from the darkness all around. Flutter-
ing sheets of pale light, pinkish folds
shifting as if from a breath, shimmer-
ing rays, and billowing golden clouds,
liquid and shining in all directions.
Now, I know.
The year before, a friend invited me
Chasing The Northern Lights
to come along on a trip organised by
the Cloud Appreciation Society (CAS),
of which I was also a member, to view
the aurora borealis in Yellowknife. I
don’t generally do that kind of thing:
travel in packs, with guides. I’m too
cheap for curated trips, too introvert-
ed for groups, and I prefer to stay close
to the ordinary daily life of a destina-
tion. But viewing the aurora is a pecu-
liar undertaking, something best done
in very cold places at night, far from
cities, in an environment that doesn’t
reward the solo traveller. I decided I
would need to go in a group for this,
and if so, this was the group for me.
THE CAPITAL of the Northwest Terri-
tories sits on the shore of Great Slave
Lake, one of the world’s deepest and
largest lakes. The Dene people have
rdasia.com 97
R E A DER’S DIGE ST

lived along its shores for thousands turboprop. We crammed in among

of years; Yellowknife is named for In- luggage and supplies, and the un-
digenous copper knives. It began as a pressurised craft slid over a quilt of
fur-trading outpost, then ignited with spindly trees, frozen lakes and satiny
a gold rush in the 1930s, and is now a mounds of snow. This is part of the
diamond-mining centre with a pop- immense Canadian Shield, where the
ulation of roughly 20,000. Until 1960, continental crust was swept clean by
the whole region was inaccessible by ice, and the oldest rock in the world
road, and until about ten years ago, was found. The boreal forest of black
Yellowknife was not a major tourist spruce scribbled across the white in
destination. Its winter visitors were all directions, a fraction of a vast bi-
mainly miners, trappers and a few ome stretching around the globe. Ex-
travellers seeking a hideaway. By cept for a few snowmobile tracks just
2019, there were almost six times as outside Yellowknife, there were no
many visitors as residents. signs of humanity at all.
A large proportion of visitor spend- We landed on the lake; a smooth,
ing here is related to the aurora bo- fast slide between small islands. The
realis. Viewing it is often promoted lodge, at the top of a hill, was to be our
as a kind of primeval living room for several
encounter with nature. TO INDIGENOUS days. Our cabins were
Just as people yearn to
see megafauna such
COMMUNITIES, down the long slope,
along interlacing trails;
as lions and elephants, THE LIGHTS their paths compressed
we seem to have a col- ARE WORTHY by snowmobiles. The
lective desire for the surrounding snow was
cosmic view, for those
OF RESPECT deep and fine; I learned
things large enough to to beware of the trail’s
push us down into our place, close to edge when I stepped off it and into
the skin of the planet. powder up to my waist.
Three of us from Oregon shared
I JOINED THE CAS GROUP for a trip the cabin farthest from the lodge,
to Blachford Lake Lodge, about 100 near the shore. The low trees leaned
kilometres away from Yellowknife. every which way in the permafrost,
Small bush planes are a common way small and dark and ancient, and the
to get around in this vast territory of lake stretched out of sight around lay-
more than 163,000 square kilometres ered hills under virgin blue sky.
of fresh water. There were about a doz- Our time at Blachford Lake was
en people from the US, England and marked by shared meals and conviv-
Australia going up in the Air Tindi iality. We gathered every evening in

98 may 2022

Blachford Lake Lodge is best reached by bush plane
the lodge. One night, Elizabeth Mac-
Donald, a visiting space scientist from
NASA, gave a lecture on the aurora’s
physics. She told us how glad she was
to be here; she spends most of her
time on data. “I study the aurora,” she
PHOTO: COURTESY BL ACHFORD L AKE LODGE & WILDERNESS RESORT.
said, “but I don’t get to see it that of-
ten.”
*SOURCE: W W W.NRC.GOV/DOC S/ML1209/ML120960701.PDF
We see the aurora because elec-
trons charged by the solar wind
collide with atoms in the upper at-
mosphere, mostly atomic oxygen. A
fountain of resulting photons spills
across hundreds of kilometres in
seconds. Atomic oxygen releases red
light when high in the atmosphere
and can emit greenish-white light
at lower altitudes. Sometimes deep
blues and purples appear from ion-
ised nitrogen. A furious discharge
cascades down through the atmos-
phere into increasingly dense air
Chasing The Northern Lights
until it is exhausted. The power of
the aurora can be as high as 100,000
megawatts – enough to power 40-90
million houses*.
FOR EONS, people have said the
aurora makes noise, that it swishes,
whistles, cracks. One polar explorer
described it as “the sound of field-
ice, then it was like the sound of a
water-mill and, at last, like the whir-
ring of a cannon-shot heard from
a short distance.” It has been long
thought, however, that whatever au-
dible sound reaches a human ear at
ground level could not be an effect of
activity at such a high altitude. But
in 2012, Finnish scientists captured
faint hissing, popping and clapping
during an aurora, and proved the
sounds were coming from the sky. A
geophysicist in Alaska reacted to the
rdasia.com 99
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
The Aurora Village viewing area and its collection of teepees
news by saying that auroral sound
was “scientifically unreasonable”,
but admitted that he has heard it, too.
To Indigenous communities, the
northern lights are familiar but worthy
of respect. Many Inuit people in the
Arctic share a myth of the lights, which
they call aqsarniit. They are said to be
the spirits of the dead playing football,
usually with a walrus skull. The aqsar-
niit were traditionally considered dan-
gerous because they move so quickly
and heedlessly in their pursuit. It’s
been said that the Sámi people, of
Fennoscandia, believed that the au-
rora, called guovsahasat, could swoop
down and burn a person. Women
would cover their heads to keep the
aurora out of their hair, people kept
silent to avoid irritating it, and bells
were taken off reindeer when the au-
rora was bright. Early European and
100 may 2022
Asian observers thought the aurora
was a heavenly battle, a line of enor-
mous candles, or a fissure in the sky.
Edmond Halley – the early 18th cen-
tury astronomer of Halley’s Comet
fame – theorised it was the result of
water vapour somehow igniting the
atmosphere after being released from
fissures on the Earth’s surface.
The aurora is only a few hundred
metres thick, since it follows the lines
of our planet’s magnetic field. But it
is also immense, hundreds of kilo-
PHOTO: KEN PHUNG/SHUT TERS TOCK
metres wide and high, and it occurs
between 100 and 1000 kilometres
above the Earth, in the ionosphere.
The International Space Station flies
through this range. The lights cannot
form lower in our skies because the
energy of colliding particles is lost as
the atmosphere becomes denser.
Each evening at Blachford Lake, we

waited. The intensity of the aurora
depends on many factors: the rough-
ly 11-year solar activity cycle and its
many effects; whether the solar wind
is steady or gusting; and the sun’s ro-
tation in relation to Earth’s. Once you
are in the right place at the right time,
all you can do is wait.
AFTER LECTURES, we mingled in the
lodge, an artificial family. I joined
games of Trivial Pursuit. I hung out
with a doctor from Melbourne and
talked to a retired social worker from
the US. About 9.30pm, someone
would say, “It’s starting.” We would get
dressed and go out, and move slowly
from one viewpoint to another. A few
gentle arcs would gradually widen and
join and become an arch with trailing
ribbons, wavering, glowing, seeming
to shimmer.
Before I had seen aurora borealis, I
had imagined it erupting above me,
an abrupt display of light spilling out
of the sky. I put myself in the centre.
But I was just spinning slowly be-
neath an enormous event. It is hap-
pening all the time, this torrent of
ionisation and spectral light; mostly
we don’t see it. For a few hours each
night, I was granted a fractional view
of cosmic forces, by the benevolence
of darkness and a clear sky.
The days were clear and bright and
flagrantly cold. After breakfast, peo-
ple would break into pairs and small
groups to go on snowmobile rides or
ski across the lake. I read, napped,
Chasing The Northern Lights
played more Scrabble. I went for
hikes, stomping along snowmobile
tracks in several layers of insulation.
The trails passed through mounds
of glittering snow dappled w it h
velvet-blue shadow, broken by the
marks of other travellers: snowshoe
hares, caribou, lynx. Walking was
cacophony; every step a chorus of
squeaking snow, swishing pants and
creaking ice. But when I stood still,
silence. A single bird’s note. Then
silence again.
“It’s starting,” someone says. This
is our last night at the lake, and the
temperature is -32°C. We stand at the
ice’s edge under the black sky. The
snow, which is everywhere, reflects
the faint fog of starlight, and yet we
see one another only as shadows.
Above us the sky is a white wash.
The wash glows, widens, brightens
and begins to spin over my head, a
luminous cyclone of pearl and dove
and alabaster, suddenly so thick
and near I could pluck off a tuft in
my hand. Faint flashes of pink and
green and blue, barely there, gone.
We spin and crane our necks, gasp
and laugh.
When I first arrived in Yellowknife,
I kept reminding myself that I might
not see the aurora at all, that it
wouldn’t look like the pictures, that
the real thing would be less than I
expected. And I was wrong. I am not
sorry that I couldn’t see what is in the
photos. I am sorry that the photos
don’t capture what I could see.
rdasia.com 101
102
may 2022
PHOTOGR APHS BY JA SON VARNE Y
 BONUS READ

Does This

DOG
Know Whether
You Have
CANCER?
The canine nose is a marvel of nature. Science believes
that a computerised model will save millions of lives

BY Adam Piore

rdasia.com 103
OSA, an athletic
28-kilogram
German shepherd with a long fluffy
tail and a fondness for red bandannas,
seems to be an unlikely superhero.
She chews on t he couch when
she’s bored and isn’t above mak-
ing a scene to get attention. On a
recent day when her foster mother
and trainer Annemarie DeAngelo
stepped outside their home while
chatting with a visitor, Osa bounded
up and barked for attention; when
that failed, she leaped onto the patio
table, stuck her snout in DeAngelo’s
face, and began whining.
“You are unbelievable,” DeAngelo
growled before cracking a smile.
But if Osa wants to play the diva,
she’s entitled. After all, how many
six-year-old dogs do you know who
have mastered the art of sniffing out
cancerous tumours and are involved
in a research project that has the po-
tential to revolutionise oncology?
Despite the remarkable success
of immunotherapy, gene editing,
and other recent breakthrough
treatments, oncologists’ inability
to detect some cancers in their ear-
ly stages remains one of the field’s
most intractable shortcomings. One
disheartening case in point: of the
104 may 2022
estimated 250,000 women around the
world diagnosed each year with ovar-
ian cancer, a disease that is treatable
when found early, about 140,000 die
from it.
Osa might soon help improve
those odds. She is part of an ambi-
tious effort launched five years ago
at the University of Pennsylvania
that aims to reverse-engineer one of
the most powerful scent detection
machines ever discovered – the ca-
nine nose. Osa is able to distinguish
between blood samples taken from
cancer patients and their healthy
peers simply by sniffing them. In
fact, she’s one of eight cancer-de-
tection dogs trained by DeAngelo
and her colleagues at the Penn Vet
Working Dog Center, a non-profit
organisation that breeds and trains
‘detection dogs’. The ultimate goal is
to develop an ‘electronic sniffer’ that
can approximate the cancer-sniffing
super powers of Osa and her pals.
Such a machine could then be de-
ployed to doctors’ offices and medi-
cal diagnostic facilities.
 Does This Dog Know Whether You Have Cancer?

Annemarie DeAngelo
with her star pupil, Osa

rdasia.com 105
R E A DER’S DIGE ST

And cancer is only one possible tar-

get. This type of system could lead to
similar devices for different health is-
sues, such as bacterial infections, dia-
betes and epilepsy. Some dog trainers
have even begun setting their sights
on COVID-19. “It’s basically the exact
same approach,” says Cynthia Otto,
the founding director of the centre.
It all starts with the canine nose.
Our own sniffer doesn’t even come
close. The average human is equipped
with five million olfactory receptors,
tiny proteins capable of detecting in-
dividual odour molecules. These re-
ceptors are clustered in a small area
in the back of the human nasal cavity,
meaning a scent must waft in and up
the nostrils. In dogs, the internal sur-
face area devoted to smell extends
from the nostrils to the back of the
throat and comprises an estimated
300 million olfactory receptors, 60
times more than humans.
Dogs also devote considerably more
neural real estate to processing and
interpreting these signals than hu-
mans do. Compared with a paltry five
percent for humans, 35 per cent of a
dog’s brain is dedicated to smelling.
Add it all up, and the dog nose is up
to a million times more sensitive than
the human nose.
“Sniffing is how dogs see the world,”
explains Marc Bekoff, professor emer-
itus of ecology and evolutionary

For Osa, here with DeAngelo and Cynthia

Otto, cancer research is not all work

106 may 2022

Does This Dog Know Whether You Have Cancer?

biology at the University of Colorado,

Boulder. “That’s how they pick up in-
formation about who has been there,
are they happy, are they sad, is the fe-
male in heat, are they feeling well or
not. Their nose leads the way – dogs
sniff first and ask questions later.”
Humans have always appreciated
the potential of the canine snout. In
the Middle Ages, authorities in France
and Scotland relied on dogs and their
sniffing abilities to hunt down outlaws.
Search-and-rescue dogs emerged in

A DOG’S NOSE IS UP
TO A MILLION TIMES
MORE SENSITIVE
THAN A HUMAN NOSE

the 18th century when the monks of

the Great St. Bernard Hospice in the
Swiss Alps discovered that the canines
they’d been breeding could lead them
to avalanche victims buried beneath
the snow.
Despite this history, science hadn’t
considered whether dogs could de-
tect cancer until the late 1980s, after
DANIEL PE TERSCHMIDT/SCIENCE FRIDAY

30-year-old medical resident Hywel

Williams stumbled on scientific gold.
Upon arriving at King’s College
Hospital in London to begin his
training as a dermatologist, Wil-
liams was tasked with reviewing
every case of melanoma seen at the
hospital over the previous 20 years.
It was an eye-glazing assignment,

rdasia.com 107
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
recalls Williams. But one afternoon,
he came across a four-word notation
in a file that caught his attention. It
read simply: “Dog sniffed at lesion.”
What did that mean? Was it possible
the dog in the file actually smelled
cancer?
“So I phoned the lady in the file,”
Williams recalls. “And we had the
most fascinating conversation.”
The patient, a 44-year-old woman,
108 may 2022
told Williams that her collie-Dober-
COURTESY PENN VE T WORKING DOG CENTER
man mix named Baby Boo had be-
come fixated on a mole on the wom-
an’s left thigh, sniffing it often. The
ritual continued for several months,
with Baby Boo nuzzling the woman’s
leg through her trousers. Baby Boo
finally tried to bite the lesion off, at
which point the woman saw her GP.
When doctors excised the mole, they
found it was malignant melanoma.
 Does This Dog Know Whether You Have Cancer?
DeAngelo and Otto were moved to tears
when the dogs learned to detect traces
of ovarian cancer on the scent wheel
“Something about that lesion fas-
cinated the dog,” Williams recalls.
“And it literally saved this woman’s
life.” Williams and a colleague pub-
lished their findings in The Lancet, a
well-respected medical journal. Sud-
denly, dog lovers around the world
were reaching out to Williams and
sharing similar experiences. There
was the 66-year-old man who devel-
oped a patch of eczema on the outer
side of his left thigh – a lesion that
became the obsession of his Labrador
retriever until he went to the doctor.
It was found to be basal cell carcino-
ma. There was George the schnau-
zer, trained by a Florida dermatol-
ogist. George “went crazy” when he
rdasia.com 109
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
sniffed out a suspicious mole on the
leg of a patient. It turned out to be
malignant.
Over the years since, a growing
body of evidence has emerged sug-
gesting that dogs can sniff out blad-
der cancer, prostate cancer, diabetes
and even malaria, among other con-
ditions. But not just any Chihuahua,
corgi or beagle can do the job.
Like most of the dogs, Osa arrived
at the Penn Vet Working Dog Center
from a breeder at two months of age.
“We look at their genetics,” says De-
Angelo. “We look at their work abili-
ty. They have to come from working
lines, not show or pet lines, but one
that has that hunt/prey drive.” Osa
began taking obedience and agility
training (walking a plank, climbing
a ladder, negotiating a rubble pile)
and quickly advanced to basic odour
detection skill training.
During these sessions, the dogs
are introduced to a universal detec-
tor calibrant, a potent, distinct odour
developed by a veterinary scientist to
train dogs. The trainer places the cal-
ibrant – a powder contained within a
Mylar bag with a tiny hole to let the
odour out – on the floor or on a wall,
or holds it in hand. As soon as the dog
sniffs at the odour to investigate it,
the trainer ‘marks’ the smell by mak-
ing a noise with a clicker or simply
saying yes, and then rewards the dog
with a treat. This process is repeated
until the dog learns that when it finds
this odour, it gets rewarded.
110 may 2022
Next, the trainer begins offering
the dog choices – for instance, plac-
ing two distinct odours in identi-
cal containers, only one of which
produces a click and a treat when
sniffed. Once that is mastered, the
trainer begins withholding the treat
until the dog freezes in front of the
container of choice and stares.
As the dogs undergo this founda-
tional training, the trainers evaluate
their skill sets and temperaments,
and use the data to choose a particu-
lar area of specialisation. Dogs that
demonstrate a passion for running
MEDICAL-DETECTION
DOGS ARE THE
ONES WITH QUIRKY
PERSONALITIES
on rubble enter search-and-rescue
training. Those that don’t enjoy rub-
ble but have strong noses might be-
come narcotics or bomb dogs. Dogs
who think that lightly “biting people
is a fun game,” DeAngelo jokes, end
up as police dogs.
Penn’s medical-detection dogs are
the ones with quirky personalities
and narrow focuses. Otto calls them
the centre’s “sensitive souls.” They
dislike noisy, crowded environments,
such as airports or disaster recovery
sites. Osa is very suspicious of peo-
ple she doesn’t know – so much so
that nobody is allowed to approach
 It’s a family affair: DeAngelo’s dogs, Grizzly (left) and Prior, also work at the centre
DeAngelo’s house unannounced (to
do so results in loud barking and pan-
demonium). Upon entering the home,
visitor, host and dog must all proceed
immediately outside to play ball to set
Osa at ease before any business can be
conducted. But with these neurotic
traits also comes an uncommon focus.
“I often refer to our medical-detec-
tion dogs as the accountants,” Otto
says. “They would love to just look
at the spreadsheets and find the one
number that’s out of place. They really
like having things very neat and con-
trolled. They’re the detail dogs.”
While Osa had all the qualities
that make up a great sniffer dog, that
didn’t guarantee that she’d be able to
master the most essential task of all.
To find out if she could, DeAngelo and
her team put Osa in front of a scent
wheel, a stationary metal contraption
with multiple arms, each one of which
is large enough to hold two separate
containers – one containing plasma
from a woman with metastatic ovari-
an cancer and the other plasma from a
healthy volunteer. When Osa stopped
in front of the correct sample, point-
ed her nose at it, and froze, DeAngelo
and her colleagues hugged and cried.
“You don’t know if it’s going to
work, so you train it, and you train it,”
she says. “You’re actually now going
to put the real cancer in the wheel, in
the plasma, and see if the dogs can
rdasia.com 111
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
OSA’S NOSE WILL
POTENTIALLY SAVE
MANY THOUSANDS
OF LIVES
identify it and ignore the other sam-
ples. And it worked! The very first
time! It was very emotional.”
And yet that’s only half the chal-
lenge. To transform Osa’s remarkable
abilities into something replicable
– an electronic nose – researchers
have to figure out what it is precisely
that Osa and her friends are reacting
to. DeAngelo says the blood samples
she has trained her dogs with contain
112 may 2022
Training a dog like Osa to
sniff out cancer can take a
year to 18 months
hundreds of different organic
compounds, any one of which
could be capturing the dog’s
attention. And that is why the
Penn team includes not just the
physicists and engineers de-
signing the instrumentation for
their electronic nose but also
chemists to help figure out what
exactly that electronic nose
needs to be calibrated to smell.
The group has been breaking
the cancer samples down into
progressively smaller constitu-
ent parts and presenting them
to the dogs to see which of the
hundreds of potential aromat-
ic chemical compounds (odourants)
grab their attention.
A similar approach is used to ‘train’
the device. The engineers start with
two separate samples consisting of
many odourants mixed together and
make sure the machine can distin- PHOTO: DANIEL PE TERSCHMIDT/SCIENCE FRIDAY
guish between the two. Then they
remove individual odourants from
each sample, training the machine
to distinguish increasingly subtle
differences that are more and more
difficult to detect. The goal is to even-
tually place a vial of plasma inside a
microwave-sized electronic sniffer
that can analyse its odourants and,
within minutes, provide a reading
of healthy, benign or malignant.
 Does This Dog Know Whether You Have Cancer?

Another version might handle up to have an impact on saving lives,” says

ten samples at a time.
While most people would likely
prefer to have what ails them sniffed
out by a sympathetic (if wet) nose
rather than a cold machine, that’s not
in the cards, according to Bruce Kim-
ball, a chemist at the Monell Chem-
ical Senses Center in Philadelphia.
“The sheer numbers of dogs and han-
dlers that would have to be deployed”
to hospitals, labs and medical facili-
ties “is not practical,” he says.
A n elect ron ic nose protot y pe
has been built, and it’s successful
in sniffing out cancer 90 to 95 per
cent of the time. As impressive as
that sounds, researchers say there’s
still more work to be done. Right
now, they have a good idea of what
compounds or chemicals create the
odour, but the team wants the de-
vices to be even more specific. One
objective is to be able to distinguish
between early- and late-stage cancer.
“It would be incredible to identify
people at an early stage and really
Otto. “The dogs have been able to de-
tect that.” With that ability, a blood
test could be sent to a central lab – or,
ideally, performed in a doctor’s office
– and rolled in as part of one’s annual
check-up, making some hidden can-
cers a thing of the past.
If it all works as DeAngelo and Otto
hope – and Otto is confident that a
working device is “on the horizon” –
it will be one of the most important
victories in the war against cancer
yet. Of course, neither Osa nor any
of her furry friends have much idea
what the fuss is all about.
“To them, it’s just a game,” says
DeAngelo. “Osa just knows that, I was
trained and when I find this odour and
I indicate on it, then I get rewarded.”
Osa prefers that reward to be a
piece of cheese. It’s a small price to
pay. After all, Osa’s nose is potential-
ly revolutionising how and when we
detect countless types of cancer and
saving many thousands of lives along
the way.

Any Volunteers For A Prison Stint?

Would you willingly go to gaol and live like a prisoner for a few
days? Nearly 1000 people have jumped at just such a chance in
the Swiss city of Zurich, volunteering to take part in testing a new
gaol before the facility accepts its first inmates. The volunteer
‘prisoners’ won’t have to pay – or get paid – and will be treated
like inmates in some regards: testing food, undergoing intake
procedures, walking the yard, etc. They will, however, be able to
bail out if they start to crack under the conditions. AP

rdasia.com 113
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Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness
I
f you’re partial to a Marvel
superhero comic, then this movie
will be a no-brainer. But it’s also got
another thing going for it – Benedict
Cumberbatch. You may have seen him
in the first Dr Strange movie, or as the
mathematical genius Alan Turing in
Imitation Games, Sherlock Holmes in
the TV drama Sherlock, or more recently
in Jane Campion’s The Power Of The
Dog. Wherever you’ve seen him, you
will know that he brings distinguished
prowess to every role he plays.
COMPILED BY DIANE GODLEY
Movies
Superhero
In the second instalment of this
franchise, we see Dr Strange cast
a forbidden spell that opens the
door to the multiverse, including
an alternate version of himself.
The combined forces of Dr Strange
and his allies Wong (Benedict
Wong) and Wanda Maximoff
(Elizabeth Olsen) have to traverse
the mind-bending and dangerous
alternate realities of the multiverse
to confront a mysterious new
adversary.
rdasia.com 115
 PHOTOS: COURTESY (FIRES TARTER) PHOTO: © 2022 UNIVERSAL S TUDIOS; (PE TS) © 2021 WARNER BROS. ENTERTAINMENT INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
DC League Of Super-Pets Animated/Family

M
an and dog have never been as inseparable as Krypto the Super-
Dog and Superman in DC’s latest animated adventure of heroic
proportions. Sharing the same superpowers and fighting crime side
by side in the big city, they fall into an easy pattern, until the man-of-steel
and the rest of the Justice League are kidnapped. To help him on his rescue
mission, Krypto has to convince a rag-tag bunch of shelter pets – Ace the
hound, PB the potbellied pig, Merton the turtle and Chip the squirrel – to
master their own newfound powers.

Firestarter Thriller/Supernatural

I
n this new adaptation of Stephen King’s
classic thriller, Ryan Kiera Armstrong
(Anne With An E) plays Charlie, a girl
with pyrokinetic powers that she uses to
protect herself and family from sinister
forces. The family has been on the run for
more than a decade because a shadowy
federal agency wants to use her powers
to make a weapon of mass destruction.
Although Dad (Zac Efron) has taught
Charlie how to defuse her power, after
she turns 11 the fires become harder to
control. When the family’s secret location
is revealed, a federal operative
is deployed to hunt them down.

116 may 2022

 RD Recommends

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Unforgettable Christy Brown
Born with cerebral palsy, Irish writer and
painter Christy Brown is well known for his
autobiography My Left Foot. This is a moving
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dreams and living his life.

Huberman Lab
Hosted by neuroscientist Dr Andrew Huberman,
the podcast examines how our brain and its
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advice and tools for everyday life to browse through.

British Scandal
PHOTOS: COURTESY RD TALKS, HUBERMAN L AB, BRITISH SCANDAL, SPOTIF Y AUDIO BOOKS

One thing the British seem to do well is scandals.

Scandals that bring down governments and shatter
the gilded lives of the rich and powerful. This series
gets to the heart of famous transgressions such as
the Profumo Affair, Lord Lucan, the Murdoch Phone
Hacking and the Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko.

Discover Audio Books On Spotify

Streaming and music service Spotify
has a selection of audiobooks. Young
adults can listen to The Hunger Games
by Suzanne Collins or J.K. Rowling’s
Harry Potter series. For science-fiction
lovers, titles include Sandworms of Dune by Frank
Herbert and Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five.

HOW TO GET PODCASTS To listen on the web: In a search engine, look up

‘British Scandal’, for example, and click on the play button. To download: Download an
app such as Podcatchers or iTunes on your phone or tablet and simply search by title.
TO LISTEN TO RD TALKS GO TO
www.rdasia.com/podcasts and click on the play button.

rdasia.com 117
 T
he term binge-watch was

THE a contender for the 2013

word of the year in the Ox-
GENIUS ford English Dictionary. Al-

SECTION though it didn’t win (‘self-

ie’ ultimately took the crown), this
pointed to the rise of what was be-
coming a popular activity of watch-
ing multiple episodes of a TV show in
a single sitting.
Today, millions of us – including
me – regularly consume our favourite
series in this way. The proliferation of
streaming services over recent years
has made it easy to do. Unsurprising-
ly, during COVID-19 lockdowns, re-
search shows many of us spent more
time binge-watching than usual.
But can binge-watching become
problematic or addictive? And if you
can’t tear yourself away, what can you
do?

Should You Problematic binge-watching isn’t

defined by the number of episodes
watched (although most researchers

PRESS agree it’s at least two in a row), or a

specific number of hours spent in
front of the TV or computer screen. As

PAUSE?
How to know if your
with other addictive behaviours, more
important is whether binge-watching
is having a negative impact on other
aspects of the person’s life.
binge-watching habits Over many years studying addic-
are a problem – and what tion, I’ve argued that all addictive
PHOTO: GE T T Y IMAGES

behaviours comprise six core compo-

to do about it nents. In relation to binge-watching,
this would mean:
BY Mark Griffiths • It is the most important thing in the
F R O M T H E C O N V E R S AT I O N person’s life (salience).

118 may 2022


• The person engages in binge-watch-
ing as a way of reliably changing their
mood: to feel better in the short-term
or to temporarily escape from some-
thing negative in their life (mood
modification).
• Binge-watching compromises key
aspects of the person’s life like re-
lationships and education or work
(conflict).
• The number of hours the person
spends binge-watching each day has
increased significantly
over time (tolerance). DURING
• The person experi-
ences psychological
LOCKDOWNS,
and/or physiological MANY OF US
withdrawal symptoms SPENT MORE TIME
if t hey ’re unable to
bi nge-w atch (w it h-
BINGE-WATCHING
drawal).
• If the person manages to temporar-
ily stop binge-watching, when they
engage in the activity again, they go
straight back into the cycle they were
in previously (relapse).
In my view, any person who fulfils
these six components would be gen-
uinely addicted to binge-watching.
A person who only fulfils some of
these may be exhibiting problemat-
ic binge-watching, but wouldn’t be
classed as addicted by my criteria.
Like many other behavioural ad-
dictions, such as work addiction and
exercise addiction, binge-watching
addiction is not officially recognised
in any psychiatric manuals. We
also don’t have accurate estimates
The Genius Section
of the prevalence of problematic
binge-watching. But research into
this phenomenon is growing.
A LOOK AT THE EVIDENCE
In the latest study on this topic, a re-
search team in Poland surveyed 645
young adults, all of whom reported
that they had watched at least two ep-
isodes of one show in a single sitting.
The researchers wanted to understand
some of the factors underlying prob-
lematic binge-watch-
ing.
The authors, who
based their defini-
tion of problematic
binge-watching part-
ly on my components
model of addiction,
used a questionnaire
they developed in an earlier study to
assess problematic binge-watching
among participants. Questions includ-
ed: “How often do you neglect your
duties in favour of watching series?”
“How often do you feel sad or irritated
when you can’t watch the TV series?”
and “How often do you neglect your
sleep to binge-watch series?”
Participants had to give answers on
a six-point scale from one (never) to
six (always). A score above a certain
threshold was deemed indicative of
problematic binge-watching.
Using a range of other scales,
the researchers found that impulse
control difficulties, lack of premed-
itation (difficulties in planning and
rdasia.com 119
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
evaluating the consequences of a
given behaviour), watching to es-
cape and forget about problems,
a nd w atc h i ng to avoid fe el i ng
lonely were among the most sig-
nificant predictors of problematic
binge-watching.
Using the same data, the research-
ers reported in an earlier study
that problematic
binge-watching had a SET REALISTIC
significant association
with anxiety-depressive
DAILY LIMITS.
syndrome. The greater FOR ME, IT’S 2.5
the symptoms of anxi- HOURS DURING
ety and depression, the
more problematic a
THE WORK WEEK
person’s binge-watch-
ing was.
Other studies have reported sim-
ilar findings. A Taiwanese study of
adults, for example, found problem-
atic binge-watching was associated
with depression, anxiety around so-
cial interaction and loneliness.
An American study found the be-
haviour was associated with depres-
sion and attachment anxiety. Most
related studies have also show n
escapism to be a key motivation of
problematic binge-watching.
In terms of personality traits, re-
search has shown that problematic
binge-watching appears to be asso-
ciated with low conscientiousness
(characterised by being impulsive,
ca reless a nd d isorga n ised) a nd
high neuroticism (characterised
by bei ng a n x ious a nd prone to
120 may 2022
negative emotions). We see these
types of associations in addictive
behaviours more generally.
BREAKING THE HABIT
If you want to cut down on the num-
ber of episodes you watch in one sit-
ting, my golden rule is to stop watch-
ing mid-way through an episode.
It’s really hard to stop
watching at the end of
an episode as so often
the show ends with a
cliff-hanger.
I also suggest setting
realistic daily limits.
For me, it’s 2.5 hours
if I have work the next
day, or up to five hours if I don’t. And
only start watching as a reward to
yourself after you’ve done everything
you need to in terms of work and so-
cial obligations.
Remember, the difference between
a healthy enthusiasm and an addic-
tion is that the former adds to your
life, whereas the latter detracts from it.
If you feel binge-watching is taking
over your life, you should seek a refer-
ral from your GP to see a psychologist.
Most addictions are symptomatic of
other underlying problems.
Mark Griffiths is the director
of the International Gaming
Research Unit and Professor
of Behavioural Addiction,
Nottingham Trent University.
REPUBLISHED UNDER A CREATIVE COMMONS LICENCE
 WHAT’S
NEW IN

TA L K S

Join the happy readers who have downloaded our podcasts over
190,000 times. Each story is guaranteed to thrill, engage and inspire.
READ BY Zoë Meunier
BACKGROUND IMAGE: GE T T Y IMAGES

LOST JACKIE’S LAST DAYS RESCUE IN MIDAIR

Despite their extraordinary The untold story of an The free-falling sky diver
wilderness skills, this incredible farewell. slammed into a fellow
Finnish couple was in How Jacqueline Bouvier jumper and was knocked
grave danger. Listen to Kennedy Onassis remained unconscious. Parachute
a tale of survival in the herself – a private woman unopened, she plummeted
Arctic Circle. leading a very public life. towards the Earth.

TO LISTEN GO TO:
www.rdasia.com/podcasts
R E A DER’S DIGE ST

PUZZLES
Challenge yourself by solving these puzzles and mind
stretchers, then check your answers on page 126.

Crossword
Test your general
knowledge.

DOWN
1 Popular pets (4)
2 Protected from
the weather (9)
3 No good (7)
4 Weeps (4)
5 Pair (3)
6 Incomplete (7)
7 Latin for ‘above’ (5)
8 Cunningly (5)
13 Rural (6)
14 Scrutinize (4)
15 Inclined (6)
ACROSS 20 Circumscribed 18 Nonsense (9)
1 Masked (9) swellings (5) 19 Regretted (4)
22 Fit for publication (9) 21 Wave riders (7)
CROSSWORD: CROSSWORDSITE.COM

6 Mexican money (5)

9 Diving bird (5) 24 Fashion industry (3,5) 23 Stage (7)
10 Life story (9) 26 Effluent carrier (5) 24 Capital of
11 Yorkshire (UK) town 29 Apiarist (9) Morocco (5)
on the River Wharfe (5) 31 Strong thread (5) 25 Valleys (5)
12 Commonplace (8) 32 Trials (5) 27 Extent of space (4)
16 Hard-shelled pupa (9) 33 Necessary to 28 Quick sharp bark (4)
17 Pilsner (5) get to Mars (9) 30 Step in ballet (3)

122 may 2022

 BRAIN POWER
Puzzle brought to you by
Answers
PAGES 126

1 3 7 2 6 8
2 1 4 9 5
4 8 3 1
3 2 9
9 7 8 1 5 4
8 5 9 1 6
9 3 8 6
4 1
1 6 8 9 4 2
Sudoku
HOW TO PLAY: To win, you have to put a number
from 1 to 9 in each outlined section so that:
• Every horizontal row and vertical column
contains all nine numerals (1-9) without repeating
any of them;
• Each of the outlined sections has all nine
numerals, none repeated.

IF YOU SOLVE IT WITHIN:

15 minutes, you’re a true expert
30 minutes, you’re no slouch
60 minutes or more, maybe numbers aren’t your thing

"Write, Erase, Rewrite"

R E A DER’S DIGE ST

Puzzle
FAMILY FUN Answers
PAGE 126

Spot The Difference

There are ten differences. Can you find them?

1
Quick Crossword 2
Place the names of these Pacific 3
islands into the grid, then go and 4
find them on a map:
ILLUS TR ATION: VECTEEZ Y.COM

FIJI HAWAII 6
GUAM EASTER
TONGA TAHITI 7
PALAU VANUATU
SAMOA TOKELAU 8 9

124 may 2022

 The Genius Section

TRIVIA
Test Your General Knowledge
1. What famous international of the plant known as deadly
fashion designer was born in nightshade? 1 point
Penang, Malaysia? 1 point 8. Which is the lightest element,
2. With 85 characters, Taumata and the most plentiful one in the
whakatangi hangakoauau o universe? 2 points
tamatea turi pukakapiki maunga 9. What sad clown appears in works
horo nuku pokai whenua kitanatahu by Picasso, Manet and Watteau,
is the longest place name in the among others? 1 point
world. What country does it belong 10. Which country celebrates
to? 1 point Hinamatsuri, or the Festival of
3. Nintendo didn’t always make Dolls, on March 3? 1 point
video games. What did it originally 11. The Three Musketeers recounts
manufacture? 2 points the swashbuckling adventures of a
4. According to Finnish lore, what group of close friends. How many
natural phenomenon is caused by friends, precisely? 2 points
the tail of a mythical firefox? 1 point 12. Camiguin in the Philippines is
5. The majority of adults can’t fully the only island on the planet with
and comfortably digest more volcanoes than
lactose, which is found towns. True or false?
in dairy products. 1 point
True or false? 1 point 13. What are Python,
6. Who reigned C and Perl? 2 points
the longest, Queen 14. Australian
Elizabeth II (so far) or researchers outfitted
15. The first records
Queen Victoria? 1 point of curling as a sport date which marsupials
7. What colour are back to the 16th century, with Fitbits last
the attractive but in which two countries? year, to record their
poisonous berries 2 points heart rates? 1 point
PHOTO: GE T T Y IMAGES

16-20 Gold medal 11-15 Silver medal 6-10 Bronze medal 0-5 Wooden spoon
programming languages. 14. Koalas. 15. Scotland and the Netherlands.
6. Elizabeth II. 7. Black. 8. Hydrogen. 9. Pierrot. 10. Japan. 11. Four. 12. True. 13. Software
ANSWERS: 1. Jimmy Choo. 2. New Zealand. 3. Playing cards. 4. The Northern Lights. 5. True.

rdasia.com 125
R E A DER’S DIGE ST

PUZZLE ANSWERS
From Page 122
Spot The Difference

Crossword

CROSSWORD: CROSSWORDSITE.COM; ILLUS TR ATION: VECTEEZ Y.COM

Sudoku
5 1 9 3 7 2 6 4 8
Quick Crossword
2 3 8 6 1 4 7 9 5 1
E
4 6 7 9 8 5 3 2 1 2T O N G A
3 5 1 4 2 6 8 7 9 3P S
A T 4
6 9 2 7 3 8 1 5 4 V
5T O K E L A U
L
7 8 4 5 9 1 2 6 3 6S A M O A R N
9 2 3 1 4 7 5 8 6 U H U
I 7H A W A I I
8 4 5 2 6 3 9 1 7 T T
1 7 6 8 5 9 4 3 2 8F I J I 9G U A M

126 may 2022

 The Genius Section

WORD POWER
Words Based On Hebrew

You may not know it, but many of the words we use in
English have their roots in Hebrew, such as balm,
cherub, cider, kosher and Sabbath. See if you can
schmooze your way through our quiz, and then go to the
next page for answers.
BY Sarah Chassé

1. pharaoh – A: ancient grain. B: herdsman. C: one unfairly

B: small boat. C: Egyptian king.
2. jubilee – A: 50th anniversary.
B: candied fruit. C: lucky charm.
3. cabal – A: secretive group.
B: prayer shawl. C: city-state.
4. golem – A: set of rules. B: artificial
human. C: poached fish.
5. hosanna – A: mountaintop.
B: shout of praise. C: eldest
daughter.
6. babel – A: noisy confusion.
B: skyscraper. C: naughty child.
7. matzo – A: flatbread.
B: ceremony. C: card game.
8. scapegoat – A: one who swears.
blamed.
9. philistine – A: allergic.
B: uncultured. C: foreign.
10. maven – A: expert.
B: matchmaker. C: rebel.
11. messiah – A: follower.
B: saviour. C: traitor.
12. jezebel – A: hoopskirt.
B: immoral woman. C: ram’s horn.
13. behemoth – A: something huge.
B: something old. C: something holy.
14. chutzpah – A: cookie.
B: nerve. C: blessing.
15. manna – A: godsend.
B: great-aunt. C: winged beetle.

rdasia.com 127
R E A DER’S DIGE ST
Answers
1. pharaoh – (C) Egyptian king.
The pharaoh commanded that a
giant pyramid be built in his honour.
2. jubilee – (A) 50th anniversary.
Our town celebrated its jubilee with
a parade down Main Street.
3. cabal – (A) secretive group.
The mayor and her cabal of insiders
have ruled this city for decades.
4. golem – (B) artificial human.
In Frankenstein, a young scientist
brings a hideous golem to life.
5. hosanna – (B) shout of praise.
The new production of Wicked
opened to hosannas from theatre
critics.
6. babel – (A) noisy confusion.
“I can’t hear myself think over all
this babel!” Akiko shouted.
7. matzo – (A) flatbread. The only
matzo I eat is the kind that’s been
covered in chocolate.
8. scapegoat – (C) one unfairly
blamed. Though the whole team
played badly, the opening batsman
became the scapegoat for the loss.
9. philistine – (B) uncultured.
Call my taste philistine if you like; I
128 may 2022
still think that The Three Stooges was
hilarious.
10. maven – (A) expert.
Jaden is the financial maven of our
group, advising everyone on saving
for retirement.
11. messiah – (B) saviour.
The self-help guru has been hailed
as a messiah by his followers.
12. jezebel – (B) immoral woman.
“In my day, you’d be labelled a
jezebel for showing your knees!”
Aunt Betty said with a laugh.
13. behemoth – (A) something huge.
The merger would create a tech
behemoth that could crush
all competition.
14. chutzpah – (B) nerve. “I can’t
believe he had the chutzpah to say
that to me!” Tamar fumed.
15. manna – (A) godsend.
This medical breakthrough might
be the manna that so many patients
have been waiting for.
VOCABULARY RATINGS
5–9: Fair
10–12: Good
13–15: Word Power Wizard
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