Reader'sDigest Asia-Apr21

Harp Seal Nursery

and exploring their new ocean world. nudged both her pup and me out of
The 2011 assignment was a pho- harm’s way.

tographic success, and it gifted me I was still processing this as
with a life-changing moment. On our ship headed to port ahead of
our last day, as I floated respectfully a low-pressure system. The storm
near a mother seal and her pup, an tore across the gulf, whipping it to
aggressive male seal nipped at my froth. By the time we made shore,
ankles and scrabbled over my back, we learnt that the sea ice had disin-
pushing me below the surface. The tegrated beneath the herd and the
mother seal fought him off and then pups had been lost.

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READER’S DIGEST

THE STORM had made my and a Japanese photographer and
encounter with the mother guide celebrating his 30th year with
seal bittersweet and I knew the seals. There’s a young lady who
we were now facing a new brought her toy seal from childhood,
truth – that the world of ice was as and a 20-something man who slept
fragile as a dream. The realisation in his car and ate canned goods after
galvanised my resolve to return each spending his last dollar for the sea-
year that ice conditions would allow, son’s final helicopter ride. Passion
to track the harp seals’ lives and con- and curiosity brought them all here
nect others with these creatures and to learn and grow.
their diminishing realm.
Before my snorkelling encoun-
Fast forward to 2019. The boat ter with the protective mother
charter for our annual visit to the and her pup, I was a sceptic about
seal-nursery was cancelled; the fish- human-wildlife interactions. But I
ing boats were ‘iced in’. But it was now accept that sometimes things
looking like a good year for seals, so happen when we least expect it.
we joined a helicopter ecotourism Biologists can point out why a tes-
trip that takes travellers over the pack tosterone-fuelled male seal was
ice during seal pup season, landing compelled to challenge me while I
only if conditions are safe. was swimming with his potential
mate. But they cannot easily explain
That’s how I find myself watching why a mother seal would push me to
a pup nursing, as its mother soaks up safety with her pup.
the warm sun. As I walk back towards
the helicopters, I see a girl sitting I don’t need explanations. I just
quietly next to a chubby whitecoat embrace it.
staring back at her. Other travellers
I meet include a couple on a Val- FROM NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
entine’s Day date, a cancer patient, (DECEMBER 2019/JANUARY 2020),
©2019 BY NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

Reefs Key to Island Growth

Coastal erosion from rising sea level is considered a major
threat to many Pacific communities. However, new research
suggest that islands surrounded by healthy coral reefs are growing
in land size. Scientists at the University of Auckland found atolls in
the Marshall Islands, Kiribati and the Maldives archipelago have
grown by eight per cent in the past six decades due to a build up

of coral reef sediment. ABC.NET.AU

100 april 2021



BONUS READ

THE

JUMP
I decided to do the scariest
thing I could imagine:
go skydiving. Here’s
what I learned about
myself and what
holds us back

BY Eva Holland

FROM THE BOOK NERVE: A PERSONAL JOURNEY
THROUGH THE SCIENCE OF FEAR

ILLUSTRATIONS BY CORNELIA LI

102 april 2021

rdasia.com 103

READER’S DIGEST

n the last moments before I climbed into the
Cessna, I turned and faced a young, bearded
man who was pointing a video camera at
my face. I wore a jumpsuit made of panels

I of fluorescent orange and green fabric, the
colours faded by years of sun and wind. A pair
of goggles and a leather helmet were strapped on my
head. “Why are you here?” the man asked.

I took a deep breath. “My name’s Columbia, Canada, I panicked – an ILLUSTRATIONS: PLANE AND CLOUDS MARIA AMADOR
Eva,” I said, speaking to the camera irrational force took over my body
lens, “and I’m here to face my fear of and I refused to move any further.
falling from heights.” My fear put my own life, and the safe-
ty of others, in danger. I didn’t want
I crawled into the tiny plane, awk- my terror to control me that way ever
ward in my elaborate harness. Only again.
the pilot had a seat – all the others
had been removed – and I sat on the I’D ARRIVED AT THE SMALL AIR-
floor behind him, facing backwards,
spooning with my divemaster, Bar- STRIP in the village of Carcross,
ry. Another pair climbed in beside us: Yukon Territory, several hours ear-
divemaster Neil and his charge, Mat- lier. Among Carcross’s few claims to
thew, a first-time skydiver like me. fame is the Carcross Desert, billed as
the world’s smallest, a tiny collection
They sat by the open doorway, and of soft, rolling dunes surrounded by
Matthew and I bumped fists as the snow-etched mountains and boreal
little Cessna rattled its way down the forest.
gravel runway. Matthew looked elat-
ed. I knew I was supposed to be ex- Every summer, a skydiving outfit
cited, too, but I couldn’t get there. For based in British Columbia caravans
the moment, I existed in a bubble of up here for a couple of weeks and of-
cold calm. That, I figured, was pref- fers locals the chance to jump out of
erable to the likely alternative: wild, a plane, plummet through free fall,
hair-tearing panic. deploy a parachute and eventually
land in the forgiving embrace of the
I’d tried to work on my fear of tiny patch of sand.
heights over the years, but the mat-
ter never seemed urgent. Then, in The pro skydivers live by the
February 2016, during a weekend of airstrip, just outside the village,
ice climbing with friends in British for the duration. The vibe of their

104 april 2021

The Jump

encampment is somewhere between tried to grab on to the plane as we
summer weekend camp-out and itin- jumped, latching on in a last-minute
erant circus troupe. They gather in a panic, he would break my fingers to
jumble of tents, cars, RVs and trucks release my grip if he had to. His tone
loaded with campers. suggested that it wouldn’t be his first
time doing so.
Barry is their patriarch. When I
met him, he’d been jumping for 39 I signed the bluntest waiver form
years, including more than 2000 I’d ever seen. “Sport parachuting is
tandem jumps with clients. He had not perfectly safe,” it read. “We cannot
grey hair and a grey moustache, a and do not offer any guarantees. We
big belly and a bigger voice. He’s not do not guarantee that either or both
what you picture when you think pro- of your parachutes will open proper-
fessional thrill-seeker, but his age and ly. We do not guarantee that individ-
experience made me more comforta- uals at SkydiveBC North or Guardian
ble than any young gun could. Aerospace Holdings Inc. will function
without error. We do not guarantee
I was here because my three most

“WE DO NOT GUARANTEE THAT EITHER
OR BOTH OF YOUR PARACHUTES WILL OPEN

PROPERLY,” THE WAIVER READ

potent physical fears were of heights, that any of our backup devices will
speed and falling. And there was function properly, and we certainly do
nothing, I figured, that combined all not guarantee that you won’t get hurt.
three as effectively as skydiving. My You may get hurt or killed, even if you
notion was to take a blitzkrieg ap- do everything correctly.”
proach to facing my fears. I would
force myself to do the scariest thing The form did nothing to calm me
I could think of, in a full sensory as- down. I signed my name and handed
sault on my fear response, and if I it over. With the paperwork complet-
came out the other side, I would be ed, there was nothing much left to do
changed. Empowered. That was the but wait my turn – and stew.
idea. So far, I just felt sick and scared.
When the Cessna was ready for
Barry introduced us first-time us, Barry showed me how we would
jumpers to the gear we’d be using, enter and exit. The plane was tiny,
how the various safety mechanisms and when we launched ourselves
worked, and informed me that if I through its low doorway, we would
be harnessed together. There was a

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READER’S DIGEST

careful protocol to follow. I’d pictured Somewhere on the way up, shiv-
us stepping out of a full-height door- ering with cold and fear, I noticed
way, or even a yawning garage-style something: I wasn’t sweating. I had
opening, like in the movies. But the expected to be clammy with fear-
small plane, plus our joined bodies, sweat, but instead I was bone dry.
demanded an awkward crouch-and- Perspiration was on my mind be-
roll. For some reason, the sheer im- cause I’d recently heard about a sci-
possibility of the manoeuvre – really, entific study that used the sweat of
I was going to tandem-somersault first-time skydivers to answer a single
out of a tiny opening in midflight – question: can humans smell fear?
calmed me down. This couldn’t be
real. It seemed like a joke. We’ve long known that animals
can ‘smell’ fear on each other, al-
THEN, SUDDENLY, IT WAS TIME. I though in casual, non-scientific con-
pulled on my fluorescent jumpsuit, versation, we tend to talk about it in
helmet and goggles and got cinched terms of predators smelling fear on
into my harness. I faced the camera, their prey. That’s a misunderstand-
declared my intentions and climbed ing of the phenomenon. What hap-
into the plane. pens is that prey animals unknow-
ingly emit what are known as alarm
We were airborne, rising up above pheromones: airborne chemical

FOR SOME REASON, THE SHEER IMPOSSIBILITY
OF THE TANDEM-SOMERSAULT OUT THE

PLANE’S TINY OPENING CALMED ME DOWN

the desert, with Carcross and Bennett cues intended to silently warn other
Lake stretching away into the moun- members of their species, alerting
tains. The landscape below me was them to nearby predators and po-
familiar, comforting. I had hiked it, tential dangers.
biked it, paddled it, driven it, flown
over it in commercial jets countless SEVERAL STUDIES have pointed to
times. I’ve never minded flying; it was the possibility that humans, too, can
the falling I was worried about. I tried signal their fears to one another by
to breathe deeply and focus on the chemical means, through our sweat.
scenery. There was the train bridge. Two of those studies showed that test
There was the beach. There was the subjects were able to distinguish be-
highway leading home. tween the sweat of a person who was

106 april 2021

The Jump

watching a scary movie and a per- to determine whether exposure to
son who was watching something human fear-sweat provoked a meas-
non-frightening. Another found that urable reaction in another human’s
subjects who had smelt the sweat of amygdala, the key brain structure
scary-movie-watchers demonstrat- that triggers our fear response.
ed heightened cognition in the pres-
ence of a potential threat. Still more They started by collecting sweat
studies found an increased startle re- from 144 people who were partici-
sponse in people who’d been exposed pating in a first-time tandem skydive.
to someone else’s fear-sweat, as well Then they used those same 144 indi-
as a higher likelihood of perceiving viduals as their own controls, collect-
facial expressions as fearful or nega- ing their sweat after they’d run on a
tive. The takeaway was clear: people treadmill for the same length of time
who had smelt another human’s fear- that the skydive had lasted and at the
sweat were primed for a fear response same time of day.
of their own.
“Because the tandem master con-
But those studies were all based trolled the descent,” the researchers
on observed behaviours. A team of wrote later, “the skydiving condition
US researchers led by Lilianne Mu- produced a predominantly emotional
jica-Parodi wanted to look deeper. but not physical stressor for our sweat
They decided to use an fMRI scan- donors, while the exercise condition
ner (which tracks blood f low to produced a predominantly physical
measure brain activity in real time) but not emotional stressor.” They
confirmed the first-timers’ emotional

rdasia.com 107

READER’S DIGEST

stress by testing their levels of corti- exercise-sweat while being shown
sol, a hormone released by our ad- a range of images of human faces,
renal glands in connection with our with a carefully manipulated spec-
fight-or-flight response. Sure enough, trum of expressions ranging from
they had spiked. neutral to angry.

Then came phase two: presenting The results were striking. When
the sweat samples to test subjects they were inhaling the exer-
and using fMRI scans to view how cise-sweat, the subjects’ brains only
their brains reacted in real time. reacted strongly to the angry faces,
They showed that when a subject treating them, but not the neutral

AS WE CLIMBED TO 3050 METRES,
THE WEIRD OUT-OF-BODY CALM I’D

FELT ON TAKEOFF SEEPED AWAY

inhaled sweat taken from a stressed faces, as potential threats. But when
or fearful person, their amygdala they inhaled the fear-sweat, subjects
was activated. In a secondary proce- reacted strongly to the whole range
dure, they had also shown that what of faces, from those with neutral ex-
was happening wasn’t about smell, pressions to ambiguously angry to
exactly. Our noses can’t distinguish clearly angry.
between fear-sweat and everyday
exercise-sweat, but our brains react The suggestion, the researchers
differently to the two. That’s what’s wrote, was that the fear-sweat trig-
known as a chemosensory reaction: gered the brain to create a sort of
the pheromones in the fear-sweat heightened vigilance in the subjects,
trigger our emotional, not our olfac- a greater attention to the environ-
tory, sensors. ment around them.

Then they took it one step further. We can, indeed, ‘smell’ fear on
The researchers hooked another each other. And that chemical alert
group of test subjects up to an elec- system prepares our brains to react
troencephalogram (EEG) machine. to incoming threats.
Basically, an EEG lets researchers
see which parts of the brain are re- When we spoke, I asked Muji-
acting to a given stimulus. Once they ca-Parodi why she had chosen sky-
were wired and ready, the subjects diving as a way to gather the fear-
were exposed to both fear-sweat and sweat she needed. “Skydiving was
a way to induce actual danger in a
way that was also ethically sound

108 april 2021

The Jump

and scientifically sound,” she told Matthew’s jump. They shimmied
me. “The nice thing about skydiving towards the gaping hole where the
is that it’s an experience unlike any- plane’s door should have been and
thing you’ve ever encountered before. nudged themselves awkwardly into
Evolutionarily, there’s no animal that a spooning crouch on the lip of the
enjoys the feeling of being dropped, doorway.
and it’s also highly controlled.”
Seeing them inch towards open
I asked Mujica-Parodi if she’d ever space was nauseating, and I looked
gone skydiving herself. “I did force away. I couldn’t watch them vanish
myself to jump, and I felt very nau- into the sky; I stared at the plane’s
seous,” she said. “I would not say that riveted metal wall instead. The pi-
I enjoyed it.” lot dipped the plane slightly to the
right, tipping Neil and Matthew out
THE ASCENT TO 3050 METRES the door, and then, liberated of their
combined 135 kilograms, the Cessna
seemed to take hours, and as we sprang back suddenly to the left. My
climbed, the weird out-of-body calm stomach clenched and jerked and I
I’d felt on takeoff seeped away. swallowed hard.

It was like coming out of shock, Now it was our turn. Barry direct-
losing that numbed protection and ed me to roll over and scuttle into
feeling the full pain of an injury for position as the pilot got us lined up
the first time – only instead of pain, for our jump. My breath came fast;
I felt a terror that rose through my I struggled for control. I desperately
body until it reached my lungs, my wanted to shout, “No, no, I changed
throat and my brain and threatened my mind. I don’t want to do this!”
to choke me.
I clenched my jaw. I knew that if
Barr y, behind me, sensed my I said the word, they would take me
growing tension – no surprise, since back down to the ground, keep my
we were pressed together like two money and let me walk away. The
people on a luge sled. He period- whole day would be for nothing.
ically squeezed my shoulder and
pointed out landmarks below. As Eventually I got myself in place,
we neared jump height, the Cessna hunched over with my kneecaps
circled around a large cloud, skirt- level in front of the doorframe, with
ing its edge. Barry behind me. I tried to unfocus
my eyes so I couldn’t see the open-
“You might be a lucky girl and get a ing and the endless air next to me,
cloud jump,” Barry said. the ground far below.

I did not want a cloud jump. Over the roar of the wind and the
The pilot announced that we were plane, Barry shouted last-minute
nearly in position for Neil and

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READER’S DIGEST

adjustments to the pilot, getting us I’d had a recurring vision of myself
lined up just right. “Give me five left! reaching out in panic as we exited
Five right!” The seconds stretched the plane and fastening on to the
out while I fought the urge to quit. door frame or a strut with a vice grip
I had the sensation of trying to hold fuelled by fear, pulling the Cessna off
up some massive weight, my strength balance and risking everyone’s lives.
ebbing away, moment by moment.
We were halfway out of the plane,
Finally, Barry put his right foot out perched on the very edge. I was past
on the narrow metal step fixed to the bail-out point now. I closed my
the plane’s fuselage, below the open eyes and tried not to hyperventilate,
door frame, and yelled for me to do tried not to think about what was
the same. It took me three tries – the coming.
wind first blew my foot behind, then
in front, before I finally lodged it All I could do was stay limp and
against his. trust Barry to get us in the air. I felt
him rocking back and forth to get
Next I had to crouch down so my our momentum up, heard him yell
left knee pointed out over the lip of the something, but I was deep in my own
doorway and lock both my hands onto head. Then we rolled out of the plane
my harness, gripping a pair of handles and into space.
at shoulder height. I was glad to have
something to hold on to. Barry had urged me to keep an eye
on the Cessna as I somersaulted out
Ever since Barry had promised of it. Watching the plane appear to
to snap my finger bones if need be, fall away from you when you were

110 april 2021

The Jump

the one plummeting was, he as- 37 seconds of free fall. Once I got
sured me, one of the coolest parts of started, I couldn’t seem to stop. My
a jump. But I had no desire to watch voice got hoarse, my throat raw. I
the Earth and the sky spin around kept yelling. Dimly, over the sound
me. I kept my eyes shut hard until I of my own swearing, I heard Barry
could feel that Barry had stabilised say something about our chute, then
us in free fall. a force seemed to pluck at us from
above – not a hard jerk, but now my
I felt him tap me on the shoulder, feet were dangling below me and I
then again, and yell something in could feel my weight pushing down
my ear, and I peeled my hands off on the crotch straps of my harness.
the harness handles and thrust my
arms out wide, like I was supposed I stopped yelling. Barry reached for-
to. I tried to think about arcing my ward and offered me the straps that
body into a slight bow: feet together, controlled the parachute, to let me
head up, my belly pointing the way steer. It took me a couple of tries to put
down. I stared at the ground rushing my shaking hands through the loops,
up at us, and suddenly I opened my and I was too weak to pull effectively.

I WAS PAST THE BAIL-OUT POINT NOW.
I CLOSED MY EYES AND TRIED
NOT TO HYPERVENTILATE

mouth and spoke for the first time I could feel him pulling the cords for
since we’d started the flight up. me from above.

“Holy s***!” I yelled, and the Other jumpers had described the
wind seemed to tear the words long, leisurely parachute descent af-
out of my mouth to make room ter free fall as relaxing. But I couldn’t
for more. A small part of my brain relax – I was too aware of my weight in
noted, amazed, that I could even the harness, my feet dangling, the fa-
hear myself, could even pro- miliar landmarks far below me. There
duce audible speech, with the was the train bridge. There was the
force of the air roaring by me. beach. There was the highway.
Later, I would learn that we had
reached a peak speed of 163 kilo- Barry spun us around and I felt
metres per hour. sick, hated him for a moment, and
quavered that I didn’t like that.
I screamed those same two words The fall went on and on. Finally we
over and over through our entire neared the desert and Barry took over

rdasia.com 111

READER’S DIGEST

steering entirely, reminding me of my dug around inside myself, trying to find
role in landing. some pride in my accomplishment,
some kind of silver lining with which
He twisted us from side to side, to cover up the apparently bottomless
tacking like a sailboat to shed speed chasm of fear I carried inside me.
as we came in over the dunes. Then
he gave me the signal to pull my Later, after I’d stripped off my har-
knees up (I did my shaky best) and ness, helmet and jumpsuit, after I’d
pull down hard on the chute straps. calmed down enough to safely at-
I braced for impact, but my feet nev- tempt the drive home, I did find
er touched – suddenly I was on my some pride. I had done it, after all. I
belly in the sand, Barry on top of me. hadn’t backed down, pulled the plug
He unclipped the right waist clip so at the last minute and forfeited my
he could roll off of me as the ground money and my dignity. I hadn’t
crew approached, cheering and freed clutched on to the airplane as we
me completely. rolled out of it, killing us all. I hadn’t
screamed the entire way down.
THE CREW AND OTHER JUMPERS
EXCERPTED FROM NERVE BY EVA HOLLAND.
clustered around; someone helped © 2020 EVA HOLLAND. PUBLISHED BY ALLEN
me to my feet. I tried to smile, but my LANE CANADA, A DIVISION OF PENGUIN RANDOM
cheeks and lips felt as wobbly as my HOUSE CANADA LIMITED. REPRODUCED BY
arms and legs. I stared at the sand and ARRANGEMENT WITH THE PUBLISHER.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Puzzle TRAINS MATHELOGICAL
Answers
Route A, which will take 70 minutes. 249
From pages 786
FAVOURITE THINGS 531
122-124
Amar likes to zip-line, Oriana likes to
kayak, Rosa likes rock climbing and Joy
enjoys cooking lessons.

SUDOKU DOMINOES 1 TO 25

593812476 21 14 19 23 4 8 22
684739251 24 20 19 1 24 25 20
721456398 3 18 21 23 2 3 18
436271985 17 17 16 22 4 9 9
917385642 13 15 13 5 10 8 5
258694137 6 14 12 11 6 7 12
365148729 25 15 16 11 2 7 10
179523864
842967513

112 april 2021

RD RECOMMENDS

Wat Pho,
housing the

temple of
the reclining

Buddha, is
a Bangkok
landmark

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES Non
Fiction

Ultimate Travel List:
The 500 Best Places on the Planet

LONELY PLANET

T his second edition of the Ultimate Travel
List provides new entries and updated
rankings. With 500 landmarks and more
than 300 pages, as you’d expect, this hard-
cover coffee-table tome is a weighty beast.
Starting with the carved rose-red cliffs of the
Lost City of Petra in Jordan, it moves to the
natural world for entry number two with the
Galapagos, and finishes with the Tajikistan
wilderness. In between, every continent in the
world is represented as Lonely Planet writers
rank the world’s most thrilling, memorable
and downright interesting places.

COMPILED BY DIANE GODLEY

rdasia.com 113

READER’S DIGEST

Chatter: Mums Who Clean Secret and Special

The Voice in Our Rachael Hallett & Will Davies
Head, Why It Matters, Karlie Suttie
and How to Harness It PENGUIN
PENGUIN
Ethan Kross The author of Somme
To be honest, I’d
VERMILION rather read about Mud and Beneath Hill 60
cleaning a house
For many of us, the silent than actually doing brings to light the untold
conversations we have it. There is, however,
with ourselves can lead encouragement to be story of the Z Special
to negativity that can found from the creators
harm work performance, of this popular Facebook Unit and Operations,
damage relationships group, who share
and contribute to mental cleaning tips. This book and the extraordinary
and physical illness. catalogues everything
Although the author from odour-banishing feats this secret
is a leading academic recipes to room-by-
in the science of self- room cleaning and military reconnaissance
control, his language dealing with unexpected
is accessible, with guests when your house unit undertook in
interesting case studies is a mess. The advice
(including himself). The here is: swiftly light a
tools he shares include scented candle, close
reframing experiences bedroom doors, check
and learning how to the bathroom, and hide
positively motivate our dirty dishes in the oven.
inner voices. M.Egan
M.Egan
114 april 2021
Southeast Asia during

World War II. The unit

included Australian,

British, Dutch, New

Zealand, Timorese

and Indonesian

operatives, and

carried out 81 covert

missions, including

guerilla warfare and

amphibious attacks

by canoe on Japanese

ships in Singapore

Harbour. M.Egan

RD Recommends

Healthy Keto Air Fiction Dead Letters
Fryer Cookbook
The Awakening Michael Brissenden
Aaron Day
Nora Roberts HACHETTE
PENGUIN
RANDOMHOUSE HACHETTE From award-winning
foreign correspondent
A keto diet is basically Nora Roberts’s new and political reporter
a diet low in carbs and fantasy trilogy – Michael Brissenden,
high in the right kinds The Dragon Heart Dead Letters is a thriller
of fat that enable you Legacy – is set in a centred around politics.
to use your body fat misty and mysterious Counter-terrorism
instead of carbs or part of Ireland that expert Sid Allen is
protein for energy. And doesn’t appear on investigating the
an air fryer is exactly any maps. First up is death of a politician.
what its name imples, an The Awakening, which A journalist, Zephyr
appliance that uses hot whisks schoolteacher Wilde, is researching
air to cook your food. Breen Kelly away from a cold case, a brothel
This cookbook combines her mundane and debt- owner who rubbed
the two to provide ridden life to a mystical shoulders with
healthy recipes for two world of dragons and influential people.
people, such as quiche, faeries, good and evil, As they both ask too
stuffed mushrooms, and ancient blood and many questions,
beef skewers and sacrifice. With the Sid and Zephyr stir
breakfast muffins. secrets of her parents up a hornet’s nest
It also gives a detailed clouding her destiny, is of corruption, but
introduction to the she prepared to take a powerful forces are
keto diet and how to leap into the magic of out to silence them.
get the best results the unknown? M.Egan
from your air fryer. rdasia.com 115

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Project Hail Mary

Andy Weir

PENGUIN
RANDOMHOUSE

While Paris Slept Not content with The Wreck
stranding Mark Watney
Ruth Druart on Mars, the author of Meg Keneally
The Martian and Artemis
HACHETTE returns with what is ALLEN & UNWIN
my favourite novel by
Heartrending and him yet. Astronaut From the best-selling
strangely inspiring at Dr Ryland Grace wakes author of Fled comes The
the same time, While up alone in deep space Wreck, Keneally’s second
Paris Slept is about the with no memory of how moving tale of a strong
immense power of he got there or what female character during
love at a time when the his purpose is. Like the Australia’s convict era.
world was turned upside spaceship, the action It’s 1820 and Sarah
down by human cruelty. is fast, finely honed McCaffrey tries evading
In occupied France and pressurised. Weir’s arrest for her part in a
during World War II, a nerdy yet well-explained failed rebellion. Thinking
desperate young mother science, unexpected she has escaped, she
at a train station hands elements, wry humour discovers she’s hidden
over her most precious and likeable characters on a ship bound for the
possession to a stranger will transport you on an colony of New South
– and the lives of four unforgettable journey Wales. But when the
adults and one child through the stars. impulsive captain’s
take a different course. actions drive the ship
Told from alternating M.Egan into a cliff, Sarah is the
perspectives, Ruth sole survivor. Adopting
Druart’s debut novel is a false identity, she
an engrossing read forges a new life in the
that deals with themes new country, until her
of heritage, religion past follows her across
and culture. M.Egan the seas.

116 april 2021

RD Recommends

Beatrix Potter

Best known for her children’s books such as
The Tale of Peter Rabbit, writer and illustrator
Beatrix Potter lead a lonely life until her literary
success gave her the courage to break free of her
domineering parents – and seek for herself the joy
that generations have found in her work.

Even the Rich

While on the surface the wealthy and famous may
lead charmed lives, high mansion gates often shield
tears, tantrums and trouble. Gossipy comedians
Brooke Siffrinn and Aricia Skidmore-Williams
share tittle-tattle about some of the greatest family
dynasties in history, from the Murdochs to the Royals.

Rabbit Hole

This New York Times-made series explores how
watching one YouTube video can lead to several
hours of binge-watching – thanks to the site’s
recommendations algorithm. It interviews YouTube
‘king’ PewDiePie (108 million subscribers), covers
QAnon, and examines falling down the rabbit hole.

Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton Audio
Book
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edith
Wharton’s 1911 classic novel Ethan
Frome is about a farmer with dreams
and desires that end in an ironic turn of
events. It’s a thoughtful and somewhat
bleak narrative about whether we
should follow our duty or heart.

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

READER’S DIGEST

THE
GENIUS
SECTION

Sharpen Your

Mind

GO AHEAD,
DO NOTHING

We push ourselves to work harder, but taking a break

can often fuel a burst in productivity and creativity

BY Jeffrey David

FROM PSYCHOLOGY TODAY

118 april 2021

The Genius Section

n 1910, the Los Angeles Times because a lazy person will find an easy
ran a story about a boy who way to do it.”
was tasked with opening a valve
every so often on a water pump Research shows that our brains are
powered by a steam engine to wired for laziness. For our ancestors,
energy was a precious resource. Peo-
Irelease the built-up pressure. His ple had to conserve energy to com-
whole job consisted of staring at pete for food, flee from predators and

these whirring pieces of metal all day. fight. Learning to calculate the calor-

Needless to say, the kid got incredibly ic costs and benefits of our actions

bored. One day, the su- was critical to survival,

pervisor walked in and STRATEGIC and expending ener-
the boy was nowhere to gy on anything other

be found. Yet the pump IDLENESS MAY than short-term gains
ran just as it should. The ACTUALLY BE A was risky. So we learnt
‘lazy’ boy had contrived POWERFUL TOOL to play it safe.
a mechanised release
Now that day-to-day

for the pump and won survival is less of an

his freedom from mo- issue, it seems natural

notony. The first iter- that we would opt for

ation of the automatic indolence, or inactivi-

steam engine was born. ty, but the opposite has

Now, this story may occurred. Sleep pat-

be apocryphal, but the boy’s behav- terns have changed in the past 100

iour reflects a deeper truth. When years. Then the average person got

we are feeling lazy and disinclined to nine hours sleep. Today the average

do something, we often search for an sleep time is 6.8 hours a night.

easier way to do the undesirable task Our culture teaches by example

at hand. We try to streamline the pro- that our worth depends on how in-

cess and save time and effort. In other dustrious we are, so we work even

JONATHAN KIRN/GETTY IMAGES words, laziness can drive innovation. harder to produce even more. Until

In recent years, some psychologists ten years ago, many psychological

and business leaders have wised up to studies emphasised high executive

this insight, shifting our perspective of functioning – skills such as focus,

what laziness really means. Strategic memory and problem-solving – and

idleness may actually be a powerful achieving goals as essential traits for

tool. Both Bill Gates and Walter Chrys- success and happiness. Meanwhile,

ler have been credited (probably erro- daydreaming and mind-wandering

neously) with an apt quote: “I always were associated with unhappiness.

choose a lazy person to do a hard job This judgment has an almost ancient

rdasia.com 119

READER’S DIGEST

history. Long ago, many Christian your thoughts to drift can help your

theologians derided sloth as a sin – brain retain information, refocus,

one of the seven deadly ones, in fact. gain fresh perspective, and make

Idleness was declared a moral failing, new connections bet ween ideas.

and its cure lay in hard work. Just think of the ‘eureka moments’

But there’s one big paradox: the that occur when we’re engaged in

harder we work, the less productive the most mundane tasks, such as

we are. “When demand WE COULD showering or doing the
in our lives intensi- dishes.

fies, we tend to hunker DO WITH A One Canadian study
down and push hard- HEALTHY DOSE shows that mind wan-
er,” says Tony Schwartz, OF DELIBERATE dering increases ac-
head of the Energy tivity in the brain’s de-

DAYDREAMINGProject, a productivity fault mode network,

consulting firm. “The or DMN, a system of

trouble is that, without connected brain areas

any downtime to re- that deals with prob-

fresh and recharge, we lem solving and shows

are less efficient, make increased activity when

more mistakes, and get a person is not focused

less engaged with what we’re doing.” on the outside world.

This forced sustained focus leads to Here’s the core problem: when the

selective attention, which can hinder time finally comes to put our feet up,

our ability to generate fresh solutions we often don’t know how. We have IMAGE: CREATIVE STUDIO HEINEMANN/GETTY IMAGES

and ideas. Even worse: too caught little training in how to be idle. Take

up in the end result, we overlook the away a kid’s toys or a teen’s smart-

quality of our experience while work- phone and then tell them to entertain

ing and living and thus deprive our themselves. They’ll likely be at a loss.

lives of meaning. But would you fare much better? So

Amid this epidemic of overwork, maybe this week, notice when you

how can we make our labour more have some downtime in your day,

meaningful and our lives more ful- some white space in your calen-

filling? Perhaps we could do with dar. Instead of filling the space with

a healthy dose of deliberate day- more work or more digital distrac-

dreaming. Current research in psy- tions, step back, recline and be, in

chology and neuroscience points to the words of poet Mary Oliver, “idle

a new understanding of the value of and blessed”.

the wandering mind. Studies show PSYCHOLOGYTODAY.COM (NOVEMBER 28, 2019),
t hat tak ing breaks and allow ing © 2019 BY JEFFREY DAVIS.

120 april 2021

FAMILY FUN

Spot the Difference

There are ten differences. Can you find them?

Brain Bonanza

Which of the four boxed figures completes the set?

Check your answers for Family Fun on page 128.

rdasia.com 121

READER’S DIGEST

PUZZLES

Challenge yourself by solving these puzzles and mind
stretchers, then check your answers on page 112.

BY Marcel Danesi

21 14 19 23 4 8 22 (1 TO 25) JEFF WIDDERICH; (MATHELOGICAL) FRASER SIMPSON; (FAVOURITE THINGS) EMILY GOODMAN

24 1 20 1 to 25 Moderately Difficult

3 18 Move the numbers from the outer

ring onto the board. Each number

must be placed in one of the five

17 9 cells that lie in the direction

indicated by its chevron. The

13 5 numbers must snake together

vertically, horizontally or diagonally

6 12 so they link in sequence from 1 to

25. For example, 2 must be

25 15 16 11 2 7 10 adjacent to both 1 and 3. There’s
only one solution. Can you find it?

Mathelogical Difficult ABC
DEF
Each letter in the grid stands for one of the GHJ
whole numbers from 1 through 9. No two of
them represent the same number. With the
help of the clues, can you figure out which letter
stands for what?
1. B × F = the two-digit number AB
2. B + J = G
3. D × D = the two-digit number BC
4. One of the rows contains only odd numbers.

122 april 2021

81 4 BRAIN POWER
4 25
brought to you by
39
32 Now
1354 available in

94 3 0.4mm
65 and
79 8
0.5mm
2 67

Sudoku To Solve This Puzzle

Put a number from 1 to 9 in each empty square
so that: every horizontal row and vertical column
contains all nine numbers (1-9) without repeating
any of them; each of the outlined 3 x 3 boxes has
all nine numbers, none repeated.

Favourite Things Easy

Amar, Oriana, Rosa and Joy each have a different
favourite activity from among the following: rock
climbing, kayaking, cooking lessons and zip-lining.
Can you figure out who likes what, based on the
following clues?
◆ Amar’s favourite activity isn’t rock climbing.
◆ Oriana is afraid of heights.
◆ Rosa can’t do her favourite activity without
a harness.
◆ Joy likes to keep her feet on solid ground
at all times.

READER’S DIGEST

Trains Puzzle
Moderately difficult Answers

This map shows Luisa, her PAGE 112
destination and three train
routes she can take to get there. 80 km
Each segment of track has a 60 km
different speed limit, indicated by 50 km
the speeds shown. The distances 30 km
of each segment are indicated by
their colours and the legend to the A 120 km/h
right. Presuming that each train
always goes at the top permitted B 150 km/h
speed and doesn’t stop anywhere C 100 km/h
along the way, which route
(A, B or C) is the fastest? 120 km/h
90 km/h
100 km/h

120 km/h

Dominoes Easy

A standard double-six set of 28 dominoes has been arranged in a rectangle.
Can you draw in the lines to show the placement of the dominoes?
We’ve listed the 28 dominoes so you can cross them off as you find them.

124 april 2021

TA L K S

WHAT’S
NEW IN
RD TALKS

Sit back and enjoy the audio versions of the most engaging
stories to have appeared in Reader’s Digest magazine.

READ BY Zoë Meunier

THE DAY MY SILENT WHAT IT’S LIKE TO DEATH GRIP
BROTHER SPOKE RACE IN FORMULA ONE Rock climbing has
“We’ve got the best people a reputation as a
Awkward and numb, I could in the world working for us, dangerous sport. For two
not imagine how to reach our and we all want to win,” says rock climbers, what started
grandmother. But Page did. Aston Martin Red Bull Racing as friendly rivalry became
Listen to this heart-stirring team driver Alexander Albon. a terrifying ordeal.
podcast about a lesson in love.

TO LISTEN GO TO:

www.rdasia.com/podcasts

READER’S DIGEST

TRIVIA

Test Your General Knowledge

1. Which software giant promises 9. What geographic location lies at

to be carbon negative by 2030 and the centre of the world map on the

to remove its historical emissions official flag of the United Nations?

by 2050? 1 point 1 point

2. What special postmarks will 10. Which New Caledonian island
your love letters get if you send received an obituary in 2013, when
them through the post office in an Australian research ship found
Love, Saskatchewan? 1 point that it had, in fact, never existed?

3. What is the largest part of the 2 points

eye, giving it its shape? 1 point 11. What notable feature enabled

4. What was the fate of the first the Roman god Janus to look both

fire hydrant patent? 1 point backwards and forwards at the

5. Where is the largest known cave same time? 2 points

chamber in the world to be found? 12. Is Singapore in the Northern

2 points or Southern Hemisphere? 1 point

6. Which planet has a day that 13. Popular among scientists,
lasts almost eight months in Earth ‘agar art’ uses what as a pigment?
time? 1 point
2 points

7. There are more 15. 14. What YouTube PHOTO: STUDIO ARAMINTA/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
ways to arrange a deck sensation, where teams
of playing cards than Assuming you compete in such events
there are atoms on don’t drink it as ‘funnel endurance’,
Earth. True or false? immediately, ‘block pushing’ and
‘high jump’, helped
1 point how many sports fans endure
bubbles are the delayed 2020
8. What contains more likely to form
sugar, mangoes or in a glass of
champagne?

bananas? 1 point 2 points Olympics? 1 point

16-20 Gold medal 11-15 Silver medal 6-10 Bronze medal 0-5 Wooden spoon

ANSWERS: 1. Microsoft. 2. Teddy bear or heart. 3. Vitreous body. 4. It burnt in a fire.
5. Sarawak Cave Chamber, Gunung Mulu National Park, Borneo. 6. Venus. 7.True. 8. Mangoes.
9. North Pole. 10. Sandy Island. 11. Two faces. 12. Northern Hemisphere; 137 km north of the equator.
13. Bacteria. 14. The Marble League. 15. About one million.

126 april 2021

The Genius Section

WORD POWER

Second to None

This month, we visit the likes of nuns, protons and
sprouts – words made exclusively from the second

half of the alphabet, letters n to z

BY Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon

1. stuporous – A: hunched over. 9. sop – A: thick syrup or treacle.
B: leaking. C: impaired. B: bribe. C: wetland or swampy
area.
2. wry – A: ironically humorous.
B: disrespectful. C: made with flour. 10. zooty – A: an animal attendant
employed in a zoo. B: fit or flexible.
3. purport – A: transfer. C: flashy; ostentatious.
B: commit a crime. C: claim.
11. punt – A: university athlete.
4. tryst – A: final audition. B: flat-bottomed boat. C: smallest
B: natural disaster. C: lovers’ of a litter.
meeting.
12. tortuous – A: forming clumps
5. wonton – A: wild abandon. or thick grouping. B: winding.
B: Chinese dumpling. C: painful.
C: great quantity.
13. onyx – A: antelope found in
6. spoor – A: animal tracks. Africa and the Middle East.
B: rude rejection letter or message. B: gemstone. C: primrose.
C: plant cell.
14. yowl – A: rookie. B: felt hat.
7. yurt – A: custard dish. C: a loud wailing cry.
B: buffoon. C: circular tent.
15. ouzo – A: firearm manufactured
8. usurp – A: purée or mash before 20th century. B: Greek
vegetables. B: flip over. C: seize. liqueur. C: slow drip.

rdasia.com 127

READER’S DIGEST 12. tortuous – (B) winding.
The trail is tortuous and steep,
Answers but the reward is a spectacular
view from the summit.
1. stuporous – (C) impaired. 13. onyx – (B) gemstone. Harold
I can’t take medicine for my hay gave Esme a black onyx ring for
fever – just one pill leaves me her 21st birthday.
sleepy and stuporous. 14. yowl – (A) a loud wailing cry.
2. wry – (A) ironically humorous. If you accidentally step on your cat’s
Mr Russo’s students loved his wry tail, you’ll probably hear her yowl.
sense of humour and unusual 15. ouzo – (B) Greek liqueur.
lesson plans. “I’d like to propose a toast!” said
3. purport – (C) claim. Jack purports Nick, lifting his glass of ouzo.
to be a bad singer, but he always
brings down the house at karaoke VOCABULARY RATINGS
on Sunday nights.
4. tryst – (C) lovers’ meeting. 5-8: Fair 9–12: Good 13–15: Word Power Wizard
Clara and Lenny planned a
midnight tryst in the garden. FAMILY FUN ANSWERS See Page 121
5. wonton – (B) Chinese dumpling.
I see you’ve left all the broth and BRAIN BONANZA: A. Each line contains an
eaten just the wontons.
6. spoor – (A) animal tracks. image that has lost the top right white dot. Each line
The park ranger followed the tiger’s contains an image that has lost the bottom right
spoor back to the den. white dot. Each line contains an image that has been
7. yurt – (C) circular tent. turned 90 degrees to the left. Each line contains
Hannah teaches meditation a green character, and two grey ones. Each line
workshops in her backyard yurt. contains a character with a stripe on its chest, and
8. usurp – (C) seize. “I left for one two characters with no stripe. Each line contains a
minute to fetch a drink – and that character with level arms and two characters with
guy usurped my seat!” exclaimed raised arms. The missing image should have lost
Alessandro. a bottom right white dot, but not the top right one
9. sop – (B) bribe. If you give the (see middle figure). It should not have been turned
doorman a few bucks as a sop, 90 degrees. It should contain a grey character with a
he’ll let you in. stripe on its chest and have level arms.
10. zooty – (C) flashy; ostentatious.
Freddy looked very zooty in his
1940s-style suit with wide legs
and a pinstripe pattern.
11. punt – (B) flat-bottomed boat.
The travellers steered their punt
down the River Thames.

128 april 2021