SUNDAY 7 JANUARY 2018

BOLLYWOOD | 6 SCIENCE | 11

Thank you for making ‘Zero’ feel like a hero: SRK

Chemical ban helped closing

up of ozonelayer hole: Nasa

FEAST YOUR EYES

ON LUXURY IN

EVERY FORM

It is said that pictures say a thousand words. These pictures, however, will evoke feelings and tickle your fancy for the opulent.

P | 2-3

COVER STORY SUNDAY 7 JANUARY 201802

Bloomberg

This year, Bloomberg Pursuits photographers have captured a com-pelling range of imagery, from the

world’s most expensive house to a chilling free-dive in Egypt and mouth-watering tacos in Mexico City. Here, Pursuits’ photo editors Leonor Mamanna and Evan Ortiz selected some of their favourite pictures from the year and explain why each stood out.

A Living Room at Villa Les Cèdres

Leonor: This image from Ambroise Tezenas’s Villa Les Cèdres shoot is majestic and

showcases the epic nature of the historic property. A Free-Div-ing Course off the Coast of Dahab, Egypt

Leonor: I’d never worked with Wendy Timmermans, but I needed someone local with underwater photography experience. When I saw Wendy’s work, I knew I’d found the right person. She man-aged to make everyone look as though they were underwater ballerinas.

3x1 Jeans in ManhattanEvan: We sent Daniel Dorsa to

photograph the 3x1 Bespoke Jeans store in SoHo. What is nice about this image is how every part of the frame shows a part of the compa-ny’s jean-making process.

A Mahout, Wearing the Tra-ditional Mohom Outfit, Sits Atop an Elephant at Anantara

Leonor: When Wayne Law-rence and I spoke about this assignment, he asked me what I wanted to see, and I said, “Make your portraits, but just with ele-phants.” He delivered shot after shot of stunning portraits of the elephants and their caregivers.

The Interior of the 1957 250 GT Berlinetta

Evan: Car photos are a dime a dozen, and interior pictures usu-ally don’t provoke the senses. Arturo, however, was able to shoot this image that popped and felt classic, true to its time, and defi-nitely made you want to make sit

inside this revving ‘rrari.Stephen Cheuk of S10Evan: All I could think when I

saw this image was: “How?” Cait Oppermann manages to freeze Stephen Cheuk of S10’s workout in a way that made me question the laws of physics. If that hap-pens, I know it’s a great picture.

Chinoiserie-style Turrets Rise Above the Vines at Château Cos d’Estournel

Leonor: Celine Clanet spent a few days travelling around Bor-deaux, shooting some of the most special and exclusive vineyards in the region, as well as their res-taurants. This shot of the Château Cos d’Estournel is as grand as the château itself.

Bisate Lodge Villas at Night, Near Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda

The most fascinating luxury moments of

last year

COVER STORYSUNDAY 7 JANUARY 2018 03

Campechano Tacos from El Venadito in Mexico City

Evan: Lindsay Lauckner Gundlock was sent to run around Mexico City in pursuit of delicious tacos. Tough assignment, right? This photo shoot is probably the one I am most jealous to do and experience myself. All of the images were abso-lutely delicious, festive, and almost made me book a flight to Mexico, so I could enjoy them for myself.

Lev Alburt with a Pair of Queens in Carl Schurz Park in Manhattan

Leonor: Gabriela Herman caught this quiet moment with legendary chess player Lev Alburt while photographing him in the park.

Buckskill Tennis Club in East Hampton, NY.Leonor: Adrian Gaut has one of the most

graphic sensibilities of any photographer out there, so asking him to shoot the clean, white lines of a tennis court felt like a natural fit. He came back with an incredible series of photos that included this one, which he took with a drone.

Many Moser Watches Feature a Distinctive, Shaded Fumé Dial

Leonor: Mark Peckmezian flew to Geneva to photograph watchmaker Edouard Moser. While touring the factory, he captured this moment of movement with the iconic watches, which he shot on film, which I think adds a level of beauty to the shot.

The Pool at the Silence Manor, in Hualien County, Taiwan

Leonor: This magically calm photo by Brad Torchia belies the fact that he’d been schlepping his equipment on his back while cycling in the oppressive Taiwanese heat.

Animal Farm Butter, Made in Orwell, Vermont

Leonor: Luxury butter is not exactly an easy thing to make look beautiful, but Mitchell Fein-berg exceeded our expectations with this shot of the $50 a pound butter by Animal Farm. Mitchell was so invested in the shot that he got butter on his camera lens.

Bisate Lodge Villas at Night, Near Volca-noes National Park in Rwanda

Leonor: Andrea Frazzetta spent several days in Rwanda photographing the new Bisate Lodge. Between getting up close and personal with goril-las, he also captured the beauty of the new luxury hotel.

Andrea Frazzetta spent several days in Rwanda photographing the new Bisate Lodge. Between getting up close & personal with gorillas, he also captured the beauty of the new luxury hotel.

Chinoiserie-style Turrets Rise Above the Vines at Château Cos d’Estournel

The Interior of the 1957 250 GT Berlinetta

Campechano Tacos from El Venadito in Mexico City

The Pool at the Silence Manor, in Hualien County, Taiwan

CAMPUS SUNDAY 7 JANUARY 201804

Mitsubishi Elevators & Escalators recently carried out a ‘Safe Rider’ awareness program at the Al Maha Academy for

Girls for primary school students with an aim to help children understand basic safety rules while using elevators and escalators.

The current lifestyle in Qatar allows more people than ever the opportunity to use elevators and escalators in places like office buildings, schools, hospitals, airports and shopping malls. Moreover, people are moving from independent houses to apartments in Doha. Therefore, children have more opportunities to use elevators and escalators. Hence, children are especially at risk of accidents because they have less experience and understanding when making decisions.

With the growing usage of elevators in schools and other public places, eta-melco, the local representatives of Mitsubishi Elevators felt the need to create awareness especially amongst young children to eliminate preventable accidents and injuries caused by misuse.

The awareness programme was well received by the students and included series of video presentations apart from interactive sessions by eta-melco staff. Also, illustrative handouts were given to the children to remember and share the safety awareness with their parents and guardians.

Following an immense success and great feedbacks from the school management and principal of Al Maha Academy for Girls, Mitsubishi Elevator Doha Company has decided to continue the ‘Safe Rider’ in other schools as well as part of their corporate social responsibility.

As many of you know, last year’s National Day theme, the ‘Promise of Prosperity and Glory’, was inspired by a quote by

Emir HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. It reflects the solidarity and unity experi-

enced throughout this country at a time when the country is facing a stressful situation not of its own making which resulted in both Qatari locals and expatriates rising above the chal-lenges and demonstrating unified support to Qatar and its leadership.

The message was that we are now even stronger as a people and as a nation. Qatar is an amazing country which has opened its arms while welcoming so many of us from around the world to this great place which we now call home. With all of this on our minds, the pres-sure was on to make Qatar National Day (QND) day more amazing than ever before at Vision International School (VIS). Our plan was to include KG, Elementary, Middle & High School in an all school QND production making sure every grade level and every student felt a part of the celebration. The school was decorated with Qatari flags and pictures of the Emir, inside

and out. We erected our tent as our majilis which allowed for a wonderful place for stu-dents to visit before and after QND. The separate girls only QND performance was held later in the gym for mothers and other female family members. The gym was decorated beautifully

with balloons, banners and Qatari flags, a huge confetti spray at the end of a lovely perform-ance was enjoyed by the girls. The girls sang and danced to traditional Qatari music, recited original poetry and truly embodied the tradi-tions of Qatar.

Program ‘Safe Rider’ awareness at Al Maha Academy for Girls

Vision International School celebrates QND

ENTERTAINMENTSUNDAY 7 JANUARY 2018 05

Actress Meghan Mar-kles’ (pictured) half-brother Tho-

mas Markles fiancée Darlene Blount has been arrested for assaulting her partner.

Blount was arrested in Oregon on December 31 after a “booze-fueled altercation”, the police said, reports tmz.com.

Blount was booked for fourth degree assault about four hours into 2018.

Meghan, who is set to marry Prince Harry in May, and Thomas have the same father, but are not close to each other anymore.

Thomas said he has not seen Meghan since 2011 when she moved to take her role in “Suits”.

Reality TV star Khloe Kardashian (pictured), who is expecting her first

child with basketball player Tris-tan Thompson, says she has been getting a lot of pregnancy coun-selling from her sisters Kim and Kourtney Kardashian.

Khloe, who is currently six months pregnant, said besides her fans, she also kept her fam-ily in dark regarding the big news, reports dailymail.co.uk.

“I was nauseous, not feeling well and then he had to leave the country and I took a pregnancy test. I was like screaming. It’s so weird and surreal,” Khloe said on TV show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on Thursday. She shared that Kim and Kourtney have been giving her a lot of pregnancy advice, though “most of it is unwanted”.

Khloe said she and

Thompson “knew for a few weeks” that she was pregnant, but she didn’t share the news with her family. “He was out of the country and we wanted to tell everyone together. It’s actually all caught on ‘Keeping Up With The Kardashian’ which I’m excited about. They get to see all the stuff I was going through without them knowing,” she said.

IANS

Actress Jennifer Lawrence (pictured) says her parents never threw her a birthday

party when she was growing up. Lawrence was asked to recall her favourite birthday party in an interview with W magazine, how-ever the Oscar winner said she never had one before she was famous, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

“Definitely my 25th birthday when my friends surprised me with Kris Jenner holding my birth-day cake. I don’t want to sound like—I know that’s a famous per-son story—but when I was a kid my parents would be like, ‘It was your birthday yesterday’,” Law-rence said.

“We didn’t have like parties, so my only birthday parties are after I’m famous,” she added.

Socialite Paris Hilton (pic-tured), who got engaged to Chris Zylka earlier this

week, has hired security to look after her $2m engage-ment ring.

Hilton has hired 24/7 secu-rity to shadow her and keep an eye on her expensive ring, reports tmz.com. “They’ve had 24/7 security shadowing them. And specifically the ring ever since they got engaged last weekend,” a source said. Hilton’s latest move comes in the wake of the burglaries that targeted Nicki Minaj and Kim Kardashian’s homes here.

“She feels it’s best to have someone on guard at all times because of the rash of celeb burglaries this past year,” the source said and added that Hilton already has “around the clock security at home”.

Sisters give too much baby advice: Khloe Kardashian

Meghan Markle’s future sister-in-law arrested

Paris Hilton hires security for $2m engagement ring

Lawrence was denied birthday parties as a child

BOLLYWOOD SUNDAY 7 JANUARY 201806

IANS

Filmmaker Karan Johar (pictured) says that there should not be a divide between the small and the big screen as television is a

stronger medium than cinema.Karan has been a part of the small screen

with shows like “Jhalak Dikhla Jaa” and “India’s Got Talent” and will be now be seen co-judging a reality show titled “India’s Next Superstars” on Star Plus.

“I don’t think you should make a divide between television and film. Today as we know it television is a stronger medium than films, Karan told reporters in a group interaction.

The filmmaker, 45, says the digital platform and television has become huge.

“Today it reached out to at least nine times the audience... If three million people watch cin-ema and 27 million people watch television. So what is a bigger platform? Today digital and tel-evision is going to be huge. I respect those who earn name and money from television,” he added.

Karan will be seen in “India’s Next Super-stars” along with director Rohit Shetty. The show will air from January 13.

On former colleague and actor Om Puri’s first death anniver-

sary, veteran actors Anupam Kher and Paresh Rawal expressed their sadness on the loss of a “great actor and human being”. After contrib-uting to the world of cinema with projects like “Aakrosh”,

“Arohan”, “Ardh Satya”, “Wolf”, “Maachis”, “Mrityu-dand” and “A Death in the Gunj”, Om Puri died at the age of 66 on January 6, 2017, due to heart attack at his res-idence in Andheri, here. Remembering Om Puri on Saturday, Anupam tweeted:

“Miss you my friend”. Actor Paresh Rawal also posted:

“Remembering shri Om Puri on his first death anniversary. A great actor and a greater human being.”

Anupam Kher & Paresh Rawal rememberOm Puri

For those awaiting to see how Ranbir Kapoor brings alive the story of Sanjay Dutt on

the big screen, the wait has become a little longer. The biopic on the “Khalnayak” star will now release on June 29 instead of March 30. Apart from Ranbir, who even put on weight to fit Sanjay’s shoes for the biopic, the film stars Sonam Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, Dia Mirza, Paresh Rawal, Manisha Koirala, Karishma Tanna, Vicky Kaushal and Jim Sarbh.

Sanjay, son of late actors Sunil Dutt and Nargis, has had a career full of ups and downs and a tumultuous personal life, which has seen him through a jail term and multiple marriages.

Television is stronger medium than films: Karan JoharSanjay Dutt’s biopic to release on June 29

Thank you for making ‘Zero’ feel like a hero: SRK

IANS

Superstar Shah Rukh Khan has thanked his fans for showering love and appreciation to the teaser of “Zero”.

The teaser of his first creative collaboration with director Aanand L Rai released on the first day of 2018.

The teaser shows Shah Rukh essaying a vertically challenged man, dancing away at a party. The teaser ends with a dialogue in which he talks about people call him a “zero” and how he ampli-fies the lives of others if he stands behind them.

“Thank you all for making ‘Zero’ feel like a hero. Sometimes our importance in life is not who we are, but what we make others become by our presence in their lives. Aanand L Rai‘s ‘Zero’ stands for that. ‘Zero’ 20 million,” SRK tweeted.

The central character of the Red Chillies Entertainment film is described as ‘Paagal’, ‘Aashiq’, ‘Awaara’ and more, but he is seen happy in his own world, not seeking empathy from anyone. His disability does not stop him to live a happy life.

The film, releasing on December 21, also features Anushka Sharma and Katrina Kaif, but the teaser does not divulge anything about their roles. The actors had last featured together in “Jab Tak Hai Jaan”.

HOLLYWOODSUNDAY 7 JANUARY 2018 07

IANS

Film: “Insidious: The Last Key”; Director: Adam Robitel; Cast: Lin Shaye, Ava Kolker, Angus

Sampson, Leigh Whannell, Josh Stewart, Caitlin Gerard; Rating: Rat-ing: *1/2

Really, now. The American hor-ror genre has run out of ideas. The last really gripping horror movie from Hollywood’s hectic haunted reper-toire was “Don’t Breathe” which came a year ago. There have been numerous shiver givers since then, all following with a religious regular-ity the terror trope about the devil in a possessed house.

The fourth film in the “Insidious” franchise is even more formulistic than its predecessors, relying entirely on creepy corridors and spooky shad-ows to enrapture us with the eerie. But largely failing to grip us as the narrative changes gears from stand-ard horror to a gothic nightmarish vision of an infernal landscape with child abuse running on as an onging

leitmotif in a tale that purports to seem far more weighed down by existential issues than it ought to. The film begins lightly enough when we are introduced to our feisty 70-some-thing heroine Elise Rainer (Lin Shaye) and her two assistants who introduce themselves as the sidekicks to the psychic. Ha ha. Through the charac-ters of the two assistants played like Elvis and Costello by Angus Samson and Lee Wanell, the narrative keeps swerving into a kind of comic relief that is the equivalent of song breaks in Bollywood films. The film also pur-ports to be a parable on family values with an abusive father using the leather belt on our heroine when she is a child. I do not know how the vio-lence nurtured psychic tendencies in Elise.

Perhaps the film , through its hec-tic haze of horrific images wants us to believe that families splintered by domestic violence are prone to hal-lucinate about satanic images.

Pray really hard that the fifth film at the end does not materialise.

Actor Mark Wahlberg says he is a big fan of film-maker Ridley Scott and always wanted to work with him.

The actor added that working with Scott on “All the Money in the World” was a “win-win” situation as he got to learn so much from him.

“I was always fascinated by the story (of the film) itself but the real draw was Ridley Scott. I’ve always wanted to work with him; we’ve been friendly over probably the past 20 years,” Wahlberg said in a state-ment. “I’ve always been a huge fan and I was in the middle of shooting another movie. I had five days in between two films. I checked with my wife just to let her know what a unique opportunity it was to play this particular part, and also to work with a guy that I admire so much,” he added.

“All The Money In The World” revolves around oil tycoon J Paul Getty. It follows Getty’s grandson John Paul Getty III, who was kidnapped by an organised crime regime, and his mother Gail’s (Michelle Wil-liams) attempts to convince his wealthy grandfather to pay the ransom. Wahlberg is seen as Getty’s lawyer.

Actresses Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolie will both present trophies at

the 75th Golden Globe Awards.Aniston and Jolie—who were

both previously married to actor Brad Pitt—rarely attend the same events, but this year they will be among the celebrities handing out statuettes to the winners, along with other newly-announced presenters Helen Mirren and Emma Stone. Other stars who will be presenting tro-phies at the ceremony, to be hosted by Seth Meyers, include Hugh Grant, Isabelle Huppert, Ricky Martin, Penelope Cruz, Seth Rogen, Kerry Washington, Gal Gadot and Kelly Clarkson.

The ‘Insidious’ franchise creaks to a halt

I admire Ridley Scott: Mark Wahlberg

Aniston, Jolie to present Golden Globe Awards

FASHION SUNDAY 7 JANUARY 201808

Bloomberg

Chanel is no stranger to the watch game. In fact, the Parisian fashion house has

been on something of a roll lately. It all started a few years ago with the Boy.Friend, and then last year they made an even bigger splash with their first ever dedicated men’s watch, the Monsieur, which featured an in-house movement developed with none other than Romain Gauthier. It was a not-so-secret hit with us here at Hodinke, as one of the more surprising and interesting watches of that year’s Baselworld fair due to the jump-hour Caliber 1.

Then, keeping things going, Chanel followed up with the Première Camélia Skeleton and the Caliber 2 just earlier this year. Now, just in time for Paris Fashion Week, Chanel has released the Code Coco

watch in stainless steel, available with or without a diamond-set bezel. The new jewelry watch is inspired by the iconic (and in my humble opinion, desirable) Chanel 2.55 purse, which features a very special clasp.

The watch itself is reminiscent of something you might have seen from 1970s Piaget, with the unique stainless steel bracelet a major part

of the overall package. The black lacquered dial measures 38.1 x 21.5 mm and there is a high-precision quartz movement sitting under-neath. The rectangular black dial is bisected by a rotating metal bar that either exposes the time when it is perpendicular to the bracelet, or conceals the time when parallel to it.

This allows for an unusual and

discreet way to wear your watch and tell time, with the piece itself straddling the watch and bracelet categories. While this is currently a very unusual design and certainly innovative, it is not the first time that we have seen concealed watches for women. Van Cleef and Arpels designed the Cadenas in the 1930s, which championed the hidden dial so that women could check time dis-creetly, so as not to offend the company they were with of course. Van Cleef and Arpels has continued this design tradition in modern pieces as well. While the movement of the CODE COCO may be quartz, I myself love a good jewelry watch and think this one is pretty damn cool (you’ll be hearing more from me about this soon, whether you like it or not).

The Chanel Code Coco starts at $5,000 for the plain stainless steel version with single .05 carat dia-mond and $9,100 for the versions in stainless steel with a diamond-set bezel (with 52 diamonds to be exact). There is also a limited edi-tion of five pieces that is made in white gold entirely encrusted with diamonds. This will run you a cool $956,000.

The watch itself is reminiscent of something you might have seen from 1970s Piaget, with the unique stainless steel bracelet a major part of the overall package.

A new woman’s watch inspired by iconic Chanel bag

FOODSUNDAY 7 JANUARY 2018 09Joe Yonan The Washington Post

A funny thing happens every time I see a new quinoa recipe. I think: Maybe this will be the one! You know, the one

that ultimately persuades me to make this protein-rich grain (tech-nically a seed) part of my weeknight rotation. Sure, I’ve dabbled here and there, and as a self-confessed quinoa skeptic, I’ve come to know which ways work best for me and my palate. Mostly, that has con-sisted of combining the quinoa with a larger grain, toasting it for a top-ping or putting it in soups and stews.

Make Ahead: The cooked qui-noa can be refrigerated for up to 5 days before making the cakes. The assembled cakes need to be refrig-erated for at least 1 hour or up to 1 day in advance (to firm up). Cooked, they can be refrigerated for up to 1 week; reheat them in a low-tem-perature skillet or oven, if desired.

4 servings

Ingredients1/2 cup oil-packed sun-dried

tomatoes, drained and coarsely chopped, plus 1 tablespoon of their oil

4 scallions, trimmed and finely chopped (white and green parts)

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped2 cups water1 cup pre-rinsed quinoa1 teaspoon sea salt2 slices hearty white sandwich

bread1 large egg plus 1 large yolk,

beaten together1/2 teaspoon finely grated

lemon zest plus 2 teaspoons juice (from 1 lemon)

2 ounces (2 cups) baby spinach, chopped

2 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated (1 cup)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil1/2 cup regular, low-fat or non-

fat plain Greek-style yogurt, for serving

StepsLine a rimmed baking sheet

with parchment paper.Heat the tablespoon of oil from

the sun-dried tomatoes in a large saucepan over medium heat. Once the oil shimmers, add the scallions and cook until softened, 3 to 5 min-utes. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the water, quinoa and salt. Once the water starts bubbling, cover, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook until the quinoa is tender, 16 to 18 minutes.

Remove from the heat and let the quinoa sit, covered, until the liq-uid is fully absorbed, about 10 minutes. Transfer the quinoa to a large bowl and let it cool for at least 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, tear the bread into large pieces. Pulse them in a food processor about 10 times, or until coarsely ground. Add the beaten

egg/yolk and the lemon zest; pulse about 5 times, or just until the mix-ture comes together. Transfer to the bowl with the cooled quinoa and stir it in, along with the sun-dried tomatoes, lemon juice, spinach and cheese, until thoroughly combined.

To divide the mixture into 8 equal portions, use a spatula to first press it evenly into the bowl, then

“cut” it into 8 wedges, scooping each one out as you work.) Pack each por-tion firmly to form a 1/2-inch-thick cake that’s about 3 1/2 inches wide. Arrange them on the lined baking sheet as you work. Cover and refrig-erate the cakes for at least 1 hour, and up to 24 hours.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the vege-table oil in a large nonstick skillet

over medium-low heat. Gently lay in 4 of the cakes and cook until well-browned on the first sides, 5 to 7 minutes. Use a flexible spatula to gently turn them over; cook until golden brown on the second sides, 5 to 7 minutes.

Transfer them to a serving plat-ter and tent with aluminum foil (to keep them warm). Return the skil-let to medium-low heat and repeat with the remaining 1 tablespoon veg-etable oil and remaining 4 cakes.

Serve with yogurt dolloped on top, or on the side.

Nutrition: Per serving: 350 cal-ories, 10 g protein, 36 g carbohydrates, 20 g fat, 5 g saturated fat, 100 mg cholesterol, 690 mg sodium, 4 g dietary fiber, 3 g sugar.

Quinoa cakes with spinach and sun-dried tomatoes

TRAVEL SUNDAY 7 JANUARY 201810

The Washington Post

To commune with ourselves, we must trek two hours to Stanardsville, a town on the edge of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains whose pop-

ulation has stair stepped down over the years to 384 people, a country store and this wooded plot, which, before 20 tiny houses arrived this fall, was an RV campground called Heavenly Acres.

The heavenly part is debatable. On the second official day of winter, the tract is a colourless bog, surrounded by tall, barren trees and covered with a blanket of dead leaves. But this, promises Geta-way - a start-up that offers these rental not-cabins and this not-camping not far from major cities - is where we may rejuvenate our very souls.

As our car crunches up the gravel driveway, we pass an ominous charcoal-gray box on wheels. A sign proclaims it “Lenore.” It is a carbon copy of Lil-lian, Hank, Felix and Shirley, which is the tiny house we have been assigned, we learn in a succinct text from the company that also feeds us an entry code.

But Lenore sends the first ripple of excitement through the car. Tinys have a way of doing that.

In Getaway’s soft, wooded marketing photos, tinys such as Lenore are imbued with symbolism. Inside, couples slice avocados together. A multi-ethnic gaggle of cool kids in beanies convenes at a fire pit. Young women plant themselves in large picture windows overlooking the forest with hard-cover books you can only assume are by Zadie Smith or Audre Lorde. In one image, a woman sim-ply contorts herself in a display of yogic bliss.

The savvy emphasis on escape and disconnect-edness and repose has resonated among the millennials Getaway aims to reach. In each of its markets, outside New York, Boston and Washing-ton, Getaway’s houses are booked solid on weekends, and in early 2017, the company, founded by two Harvard graduates, raised $15m in venture capital funding, which suggests that a tiny house campground may soon be coming to a forest near you. Despite its name, Getaway does not sell the sort of wild weekend vacation you might experi-ence in Cancun or the food-focused travels you might have in Portugal.

Instead, it presents a dire vision of urban life, and then offers itself as the antidote. It evokes the Japanese practice of forest bathing, and disconnec-tion, and a little curative isolation. It encourages

you to use your tiny, at the rate of just over $160 a night, to finish your novel - because you obviously never have time to work on it otherwise - and insists that you remove yourself from a list of stressors conveniently noted in a Getaway pamphlet. These include: work, email, texts and competition.

We punch in the code and crack open Shirley like a safe and begin to poke around. I plop down on the large, soft platform bed. (“Memory foam?” I announce giddily.) I pore over the copious litera-ture, which informs guests, among other things, that the absence of mirrors is intentional. Because only monsters think about their pores when they’re sup-posed to be out here like Henry David Thoreau. (Need a reminder? There’s a copy of “Walden” on the bookshelf.)

We scan the kitchen, which comes with two plates, two mugs, and a pan. And we encounter the wooden box where you really, really, really should lock away your cellphone, source of so much pain and FOMO (Fear of Missing Out).

But just in case you can’t part with it, they’ve conveniently provided absolutely no WiFi.

“Idiot,” you think. “This is called camping.”Not exactly. Now, in tiny houses that no one

will acknowledge are honestly just what we used to call cabins, it’s called “escaping.”

Just what are we running from? For the suburban families that have made “Tiny

House Hunters” an HGTV hit, tiny houses are an alternate reality, an incredible stretch of the imagination.

“How could anyone live with so little?” is the obvious question. The better one: “What must that be like, to not be so in debt that your skin feels like it’s on fire every moment of every waking day?”

It’s no wonder that the tiny house, off the grid in fact and in spirit, appeals.

“Initially people were like, that’s so cute, I want one,” Turnbull says. But the tiny house movement has been mired in municipal wrangling and shunned by communities that won’t abide what ultimately are temporary homes. In many areas, they are illegal, she says. And so “you can’t live in them full time,” Turnbull says with some exasper-ation. “That’s the problem.”

But Getaway, and other tiny house rentals, such as Caravan in Portland, Oregon, or the Tiny Homes Hotel of Austin, Texas, can give you a taste of the tiny-house life.

Despite its name, Getaway does not sell the sort of wild weekend vacation you might experience in Cancun or the food-focused travels you might have in Portugal.

Modern life too much for you? A tiny box in the woods is the cure

SCIENCESUNDAY 7 JANUARY 2018 11

The DNA analysis of the remains of a 16th century mummy has confirmed that

the complex Hepatitis B virus (HBV) has existed in humans for centu-ries, researchers say.

HBV is a deadly viral infection that attacks the liver, can cause both acute and chronic disease and kills nearly one million people every year.

The findings are based on DNA extracted from the mummified remains of a small child buried in the Basilica of Saint Domenico Mag-giore in Naples, Italy.

Previous analysis of the 450-y e a r o l d m u m m i f i e d remains—which did not include DNA testing—suggested that the child was infected with Variola virus, or smallpox.

Using advanced sequencing techniques, researchers now sug-gest that the child was actually infected by HBV, throwing light on the evolution of the disease. “These data emphasise the importance of molecular approaches to help iden-tify the presence of key pathogens in the past, enabling us to better constrain the time they may have infected humans,” said lead

investigator Hendrik Poinar, an evolutionary geneticist at McMas-ter University in Hamilton, Canada.

While viruses often evolve very rapidly, this ancient strain of HBV has changed little over the last 450 years and that the evolution of this virus is complex, the researchers noted, in the paper published in the journal PLOS Pathogens.

Ancient mummy’s DNA reveals Hepatitis B has existed for centuries

Chemical ban

helped closing

up of ozone

layer hole: Nasa IANS

An international ban on ozone-destroying chlorine that contains manmade chemicals called

chlorofluorocarbons(CFCs) has led to less ozone depletion, Nasa scientists have reported.CFCs are long-living chemical compounds that eventually rise into the stratosphere, where they are broken apart by the Sun’s ultraviolet radiation, releasing chlorine atoms that then go on to destroy ozone molecules.

“We see very clearly that chlorine from CFCs

is going down in the ozone hole, and that less ozone depletion is occurring because of it,” said lead author Susan Strahan, an atmospheric scientist from Nasa’s Goddard Space Flight Centre in Maryland. The ban on the CFCs resulted in about 20 percent less ozone deple-tion during the Antarctic winter from 2005 to 2016, while chlorine levels declined by an aver-age 0.8 percent annually, the scientists said.

The Antarctic ozone hole forms during Sep-tember in the Southern Hemisphere’s winter as the returning sun’s rays catalyse ozone destruc-tion cycles involving chlorine and bromine that

come primarily from CFCs. The change in ozone levels above Antarc-

tica from the beginning to the end of southern winter—early July to mid-September—was com-puted daily from the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) aboard the Aura satellite every year from 2005 to 2016. “CFCs have lifetimes from 50 to 100 years, so they linger in the atmosphere for a very long time,” said Anne Douglass, a fellow atmospheric scientist at the Goddard Centre.

“As far as the ozone hole being gone, we’re looking at 2060 or 2080. And even then there might still be a small hole.”

TECHNOLOGY SUNDAY 7 JANUARY 201812

IANS

Google sold more than one Home smart speaker every second

since it started shipping in mid-October, taking the sales numbers to over six million, the company has announced.

“We sold more than one Google Home device every second since Google Home Mini started shipping in Octo-ber,” Rishi Chandra, VP, Product Management, Google Home, said in a blog post.

“Google Home usage increased 9X this holiday sea-son over last year’s, as you controlled more smart devices, asked more questions, listened to more music, and tried out all the new things you can do

with your Assistant on Google Home,” added Scott Huffman, Vice President, Engineering, Google Assistant.

The tech giant currently offers three Home devices—the original Home, the Home Max and the Home Mini.

However, it did not reveal the sales figures for the indi-vidual devices. Meanwhile Amazon, Google’s main rival in the smart speaker space has not revealed exactly how many Echo smart speakers it has sold but it pegged the number of its competing Echo Dot sales in the millions, according to Businessinsider.com.

Google in November rolled out an update that will allow you to use Home speakers as

intercom systems in your house.

People can now broadcast their voice from Google Assist-ant on smartphones or voice-activated speakers like Google Home.

“When you need to round up the family in the morning, just say ‘Ok Google, broadcast it’s time for school!’ and your message will broadcast to all Google Assistant-enabled speakers in your home,” Alex Duong, Product Manager, Google Home, said in a blog post.

To get the feature work, sign in with the same Google Account for all devices. The feature is currently available in the US, Australia, Canada and the UK.

Google sold one Home smart speaker every second since October

Global PC and printer giant HP Inc has issued a worldwide voluntary recall of 50,000 Lithium-ion batteries sold as accessories

or used as replacements through HP or an author-ised HP service provider over the danger of fire and overheating.

This includes affected devices shipped between December 2015 and December 2017.

“The quality and safety of all HP products is our top priority. We recently learned that bat-teries provided by one of our suppliers for certain notebook com-puters and mobile workstations present a potential safety concern,” the company wrote in a blog post.

“We are taking immediate action to address this issue including a voluntary recall and replacement of the batteries. This action pertains to 0.1 per cent of the HP systems sold globally over the past two years,” the PC major added.

According to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, affected models include HP “Pro-Books” (64x G2 and G3 series, 65x G2 and G3 series), HPx360 310 G2, HP “Envy” m6, HP “Pavil-ion” x360, HP 11, HP “ZBook” (17 G3, 17 G4, and

“Studio” G3) mobile workstations. Batteries sold as replacement or accessories

for the HP “XBook Studio G4” mobile worksta-tion are also named in the commission report.

Breaking the silence over potential security flaws in chips, Apple has admitted that

all Mac systems and iOS devices are affected but are safe at the moment.

Security researchers have uncovered security issues in chips known as “Meltdown” and “Spec-tre”. “These issues apply to all modern processors and affect nearly all computing devices and operat-ing systems. All Mac systems and iOS devices are affected but there are no known exploits impacting cus-tomers at this time,” Apple said in a blog post late.

Apple has already released mit-igations in iOS 11.2, macOS 10.13.2, and tvOS 11.2 to help defend against

“Meltdown”. “Apple Watch is not affected by

‘Meltdown’. In the coming days we plan to release mitigations in Safari to help defend against ‘Spectre’,” the iPhone maker added.

HP recalls 50,000 laptop batteries globally All Mac devices affected by chip bugs but safe now: Apple

BABY BLUES

HAGAR THE HORRIBLE

A mysterious outsider named Jacob King from South Africa arrives

in Los Angeles to avenge his younger sister’s death.Note: Programme is subject to change without prior notice.

VILLAGGIO & CITY CENTERNOVO — Pearllnsidious: The Last Key (2D/Horror) 10:00am, 12:10, 2:20, 2:30, 4:30, 6:40, 7:15, 8:50, 11:00, 11:40pm & 12:00midnightJumanji: Welcome To The Jungle (2D/Action) 11:00, 11:30am, 12:00noon, 1:30, 4:00, 4:20, 4:45, 6:30, 8:50, 9:00, 9:30 & 11:30pm Tadeo 2(Animation) 3D 10:00am, 1:20 & 4:40pm 2D 11:40am, 3:00, 6:20, 8:00&9:40pmFerdinand (2D/Animation) 10:00am, 12:10, 2:20 & 4:30pmPitch Perfect (2D/Comedy) 6:40, 8:50 & 11:00pmThe Humanity Bureau (2D/Action) 10:30am, 2:40 & 6:50pm Bleeding Steel (2D/Action) 12:30, 4:40, 8:50 & 11:00pm Loving Vincent (2D/Crime) 10:00am, 2:00, 6:00 & 10:00pm Disaster Artist (2D/Comedy) 12:00noon, 4:00, 8:00pm & 12:00midnight Molly’s Game (2D/Drama) 10:00am, 12:45, 3:30, 6:15, 9:00 & 11:45pm Alaa Wadaakh (2D/Arabic) 2:00, 6:50 & 11:15pm The Greatest Showman (2D/Drama) 11:00am, 4:15, 9:30 & 11:45pm Star Wars: The Last Jedi 2 (2D IMAX/Action) 1:15 & 6:30pm

MALL

LANDMARK

ROYAL PLAZA

ROXY

CINEMA PLUSSUNDAY 7 JANUARY 2018 13

ASIAN TOWNMasterpiece (Malayalam) 6:30, 7:30, 9:30, 10:30pm Aana Alaralodalaral (Malayalam) 5:30, 8:00 & 10:30pm

AL KHORMasterpiece (Malayalam) 12:00noon, 3:00, 6:00, 9:00pm & 12:00midnight Molly’s Game 11:00am, 4:00 & 9:00pm Insidious 1:45, 6:45 & 11:45pm Tiger Zinda Hai (2D/Hindi) 12:30, 6:00 & 11:00pm Jumanji 3:30 & 9:00pm

Aana Alaralodalaral (2D/Malayalam) 2:30pm Tadeo Jones 2(Animation)2:30 & 4:15pm Loving Vincent (2D/Animation) 2:45pm Masterpiece (2D/Malayalam) 6:00, 8:45 & 11:30pm Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle (2D/Action) 6:30pmDisaster Artist (2D/Drama) 4:30pm Tiger Zinda Hai (2D/Hindi) 8:30 & 11:00pm Molly’s Game (2D/Drama) 5:00pm The Humanity Bureau (2D/Action) 7:30pm Insidious: The Last Key (2D/Horror) 9:15 & 11:15pm

Tadeo Jones 2 (Animation) 10:30am, 12:30, 3:30 & 6:30pm Disaster Artist (2D/Drama) 10:30am, 12:45, 3:00, 5:15 & 7:30pm Insidious: The Last Key 10:30am, 5:45, 8:00, 10:15pm & 12:30am Masterpiece10:30am, 1:30, 4:30, 7:30, 9:45 & 10:30pm Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle (Animation) 12:45, 3:15, 8:30 & 11:00pm

Chupan Chupai (2D/Comedy) 2:30pm Disaster Artist (2D/Drama) 5:00pmTadeo Jones 2 (Animation) 2:30 & 4:00pm The Humanity Bureau (2D/Action) 7:15pm Tiger Zinda Hai (2D/Hindi) 5:00 & 11:30pm Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle (2D/Action) 5:30 & 7:30pmMasterpiece (2D/Malayalam) 2:15, 8:00 & 11:00pm Molly’s Game (2D/Drama) 9:00pm Insidious: The Last Key (2D/Horror) 9:30 & 11:30pm

Loving Vincent (2D/Animation) 2:30pm Masterpiece (2D/Malayalam) 2:30, 8:30 & 11:15pm Tadeo Jones 2 (Animation) 3:00 & 4:30pm Tiger Zinda Hai (2D/Hindi) 5:30 & 8:15pm Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle (2D/Action) 4:00 & 6:00pmAana Alaralodalaral (2D/Malayalam) 6:00pm The Humanity Bureau (2D/Action) 8:00pm Insidious: The Last Key (2D/Horror) 11:00pm Disaster Artist (2D/Drama) 9:45pm Molly’s Game (2D/Drama) 11:30pm

MESSAGE FROM THE KING

CROSSWORD CONCEPTIS SUDOKU

ALL IN THE MIND

08:00 News08:30 People & Power09:00 Face To Face 10:30 Inside Story11:00 News11:30 Talk To Al

Jazeera 12:00 News12:30 Walls of Shame13:00 NEWSHOUR14:00 News14:30 Inside Story15:00 Al Jazeera World16:00 NEWSHOUR17:00 News17:30 Listening Post18:00 Newsgrid19:00 News19:30 101 East 20:30 Inside Story21:00 NEWSHOUR22:30 Talk To Al

Jazeera 23:00 Al Jazeera

Investigations

13:00 Bunk’d14:15 Hotel

Transylvania: The Series

15:05 Miraculous Tales Of Ladybug & Cat Noir

16:20 Stuck In The Middle

17:00 Tangled: The Series

20:10 Miraculous Tales Of Ladybug & Cat Noir

20:35 Disney The Lodge

21:00 Alex & Co. 21:50 Lolirock 22:40 Evermoor

Chronicles23:05 Rolling With

The Ronks

13:50 Treehouse Masters

14:45 Bad Dog15:40 Wildest

Indochina16:35 Untamed &

Uncut17:30 Treehouse

Masters19:20 Whale Wars20:15 Bad Dog21:10 Swamp

Brothers23:00 Whale Wars23:55 Wildest

Indochina00:50 Untamed &

Uncut01:45 Treehouse

Masters02:40 Bad Dog

13:05 How Do They Do It?

14:40 Yukon Men15:30 Diesel

Brothers16:15 Super-

truckers17:50 Treasure

Quest: Snake Island

18:40 The Wheel: Survival Games

19:25 Yukon Men20:15 Diesel

Brothers21:00 Deadliest

Job Interview

21:50 Madiba22:40 Ed Stafford:

Left For Dead

23:30 Dangerman

King Features Syndicate, Inc.

Yesterday’s answer

Conceptis Sudoku: Conceptis Sudoku

is a number-placing puzzle based on a

9×9 grid. The object is to place the

numbers 1 to 9 in the empty squares so

that each row, each column and each

3×3 box contains the same number

only once.

AL PACINO, BRAD PITT,

BRITNEY SPEARS, BRUCE

WILLIS, CAMERON DIAZ, CHER,

DOLLY PARTON, DREW

BARRYMORE, ELIJAH WOOD,

EWAN MCGREGOR, GEORGE

CLOONEY, HALLE BERRY,

HARRISON FORD, HUGH

GRANT, JENNIFER LOPEZ,

JODIE FOSTER, JOHN CUSACK,

JOHNNY DEPP, JOHN

TRAVOLTA, KEANU REEVES,

KEVIN SPACEY, KURT

RUSSELL, LIV TYLER,

MADONNA, MEL GIBSON,

TOM HANKS.

SUNDAY 7 JANUARY 2018BRAIN TEASERS14