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13 THINGS

13 Boredom-Busting
Facts About

Board Games
BY Emily Goodman

1 We have been playing board the midst of play on hundreds of piec- ILLUSTRATION: SERGE BLOCH
games – in some cases, the same es of Greek pottery. And the Ashanti
board games – for millennia. people of Ghana are believed to have
Chess, checkers, backgammon and created a board game called wari,
Go all have origins in the ancient which you may know as mancala.
world. King Tutankhamun was bur-
ied with multiple sets of an Egyptian 2 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

100 may 2022

first, Mansion of Happiness, came Even the 2014 horror flick Ouija is
out in England in 1800. The ‘man- technically based on a game, as the
sion’ was heaven, and players raced Ouija board was patented as a toy.
to get there. Decades later, American Hasbro still sells it as a ‘family game’.
board game magnate Milton Bradley
reworked and rebranded it as ‘The 6 At least one board game is be-
Checkered Game of Life’. It was the ing adapted into a television
only board game Bradley personally show, although its creator was
worked on. a famous filmmaker. Albert Lam-
orisse, who wrote and directed the
3 Another popular racing game, 1956 Oscar-winner The Red Balloon,
Parcheesi, has roots in an- also created a board game he called
cient India, where it was called La Conquête du Monde (Conquest of
pachisi, from the Hindi word for 25, the World). Never heard of it? That’s
the highest possible outcome of a because Parker Brothers bought the
single throw. But whereas Americans game and renamed it Risk.
only tweaked the name, the Brits de-
cided to call it Ludo, Latin for ‘I play’. 7 Another game inventor, Alfred
So when Englishman Anthony E. Butts, first called his creation
Pratt developed his murder-mystery Lexiko, then Criss Cross Words,
board game in 1943, he called it Clue- before settling on Scrabble – a word
do, playing on Ludo. that means ‘to hold on to something’.
And that’s exactly what Butts did, as
4 In international versions of it took years for the game to gain trac-
Cluedo, the colourful cast can tion. Approximately 150 million sets
look quite different from what have now been sold worldwide.
we’re used to. Professor Plum was
originally called Dr Orange in Spain. 8 It was over a game of Scrabble
Mr Green goes by Chef Lettuce in that Chris Haney and Scott
Chile. Mrs Peacock is Mrs Purple in Abbott came up with the idea
Brazil and Mrs Periwinkle in France, for their game, Trivial Pursuit. Its
and in Switzerland, she’s Captain success launched a years-long le-
Blue, a man. gal battle from an encyclopaedist
who claimed Haney took trivia from
5 Board games occasionally in- his books, something Haney read-
spire screenwriters. There’s the ily admitted to doing. In the end, a
1985 whodunit Clue, the 2000 US Federal Court decided you can’t
fantasy film Dungeons & Dragons, steal trivia and dismissed the suit.
and the 2012 action movie Battleship. During the 1980s, Trivial Pursuit

readersdigest.com.au 101

READER’S DIGEST

outsold even Monopoly, racking up that had been brought in were stolen.
US$800 million in sales in 1984 alone. But an even more dramatic bit of
board-game history occurred during
9 At the highest levels of play, World War II. Since POWs in Germany
it’s not all play money. The US were allowed board games, American
National Scrabble champion troops hid maps, compasses and real
takes home US$10,000; the world money inside Monopoly sets to help
champion earns twice that. Even prisoners escape.
the Monopoly world champion takes
home some real cash: US$20,580, the 12 While there are plenty of
amount that comes in a standard board games about war,
Monopoly game. illness is another recur-
ring theme. There’s Operation, with
10 The man who sold Monop- its perennial patient, Cavity Sam.
oly to Parker Brothers in the Following the 2003 SARS outbreak,
1930s, Charles Darrow, of- Matt Leacock dreamed up a coop-
ten receives the credit for creating the erative board game – one in which
game. But it was Elizabeth Magie who, the players all win or lose together –
decades earlier, earned a patent for called Pandemic.
her invention, ‘The Landlord’s Game’.
Players purchased railroads, paid rent 13Thousands of new games
and occasionally ended up in gaol. are released each year. How
Ironically, Magie’s aim with the game can you tell which are best
was to show the evils of accumulating to buy? One reliable indicator is the
wealth by bankrupting others. Spiel des Jahres (‘Game of the Year’
in German), considered the most
11 Monopoly made a splash even prestigious award for board games.
in communist countries. Fidel Previous winners include Settlers of
Castro banned the game in Catan, Dominion and Ticket to Ride.
Cuba, and while Richard Nixon and If you prefer to support aspiring
Nikita Khrushchev had their ‘kitchen game makers, you’ll find hundreds
debate’ at an American trade show in of proposed projects on crowdfund-
Moscow in 1959, all the Monopoly sets ing sites such as Kickstarter.

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

102 may 2022

CALL FOR MANUSCRIPTS

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ISBN: 978-1-925707-77-9 The following book outlines, from lived experience, the true account
of a riot situation in a prison facility. The opening pages describe
‘business as usual’ — the routines, procedures and protocols
surrounding work in the prison arena — all from the perspective of a
young Correctional Officer.

Fast track a significant period of time to a new and somewhat ‘relaxed’
correctional context, adopted in an effort to foster communication
and openness. However, a sequence of events unfolds that has far-
reaching implications for a once ‘rigid’ system and an unsuspecting
officer; when opportunistically, prisoners undertake a riot, and he
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SID HARTA PUBLISHERS: 17 Coleman Parade, Glen Waverley Vic 3150

READER’S DIGEST

ALL IN A DAY’S WORK

Humour On The Job

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

What’s this I hear about large quantities of ice, fish the house came to

and snow being purchased by your department? the door.

He took one look

Stupidity Is What Ales Him at the firefighters and
proceeded to put some

I was working at a bottle store when sweets in their helmets muttering

a man tucked four six-packs of beer under his breath, “They’re getting

under his arms and bolted without a bit too old to be doing this these

paying. I called the police, then went days...”. He then closed the door on CARTOON: P. C . VEY; GETT Y IMAGES

home when my shift ended. The next them.

day, the police came to the store SUBMITTED BY SUZANNE S. ROSWELL

with a suspect in tow. They asked the

assistant working then, “Is this the Too Much Of A Hood Thing

man who stole the beer?” The people in my Zoom meeting

The suspect shouted, “How would deserve better than the same three

he know? He wasn’t here when I ran hoodies I keep wearing over and

out the door.” over, but that’s all I have to give.

SUBMITTED BY R.N. AKILAH GREEN, TELEVISION WRITER

104 may 2022

All In A Day’s Work

DON’T CALL US, FIRST DAY
WE’LL CALL YOU HORROR STORIES

Looking for a job? Be sure to People share their worst
think about your CV. Below, first-day-at-work stories.
we’ve strung together actual
statements made by job seekers. „ At my preliminary visit for my
first teaching practice, I was sent
OBJECTIVE: “I would like to work to an English class.
for a company that is very lax
when it comes to lateness.” After finishing my discussion
with the teacher, I got up and
SKILLS: “I can edit and improve turned round to leave the room.
any document someone puts in As I opened the door and closed
front of me. I love animals, too!” it behind me, the class burst
out laughing – I was in a dark
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY: cupboard, which did not have a
“Drove a toe truck.” door handle on the inside.

„ “My long period of When the teacher let me out,
unemployment had to do with a he said, “Everyone makes that
variety of time-consuming events mistake.” He showed me out
such as a tax audit of my finances, through an identical door next to
in particular.” the cupboard door.

REFERENCES: “My girlfriend.” SUBMITTED BY VICTOR FLUTE

PAY GOALS: “I am looking for „ First corporate job. We had
a rate of either $120 per day or these large metal coffee urns
$120 per hour.” in the break room. You put the
grounds in the cup thing and hit
ACCOMPLISHMENTS: a button because they were piped
“My shirt is always tucked in.” into the water line.

Source: Robert Half International What I did not know was that
Employment Agency 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

readersdigest.com.au 105

QUIZ

Easy ILLUSTRATION: (HAND) GETTY IMAGES/DIGITAL VISION VECTORS; (CROWN, BACKGROUND) GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO

Pickings

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

1Leonardo da Vinci’s master- c) He was suspected of stealing
piece, the Mona Lisa, disap- the painting
peared from the Louvre Muse- d) He made a public appeal for
um in Paris on August 21, 1911. The the safe return of the painting
painting vanished without a trace
for two years. Even Pablo Picasso 2In 2003, a band of criminals
came to be involved in this case. spent 27 months working on
What role did the famous painter their intricate master plan,
play? staking out their target and empty-
ing the vaults of the Antwerp Dia-
a) The thief offered to sell him mond Centre. The loot was worth at
the painting least 100 million euros (A$150 mil-
b) He was asked to make a copy lion). What set the police on the trail
of the painting of the culprits?

106 may 2022

readersdigest.com.au 107

a) Rubbish thrown away during b) gave themselves two days to
the getaway pull it off
b) A gang member bragged about c) had a nap
it in a pub d) A and B
c) A girlfriend of one of the
thieves told police after she 5On 18 March 1990, burglars
received a large diamond ring hauled away 13 paintings from
d) DNA on a door handle the Isabella Stewart Gardner
Museum in Boston, Massachusetts,
3A hold-up in Switzerland made worth US$500,000. Among the pri-
headlines in 1997. During the vate collection were artworks by
raid on Zurich’s main post office, Rembrandt, Degas and Manet. What
robbers made off with 53 million Swiss cunning ploy did the thieves use to
francs (A$77 million). An unusual fac- gain access to the museum at night?
tor also helped the gang to pull it off
because it later turned out that ... a) they were hired as cleaning
staff
a) the post office alarm system b) they started a fire in the foyer
wasn’t working properly that day c) they disguised themselves as
b) the robbers were only armed police officers
with toy pistols d) they gained access to a
c) a door to the post office was cupboard and hid there until the
accidentally left open museum closed
d) the police were involved in an
accident on the way to the crime 6In London, four robbers used
scene drills to break into the vault
of the Hatton Garden Safe De-
4 1976 saw France’s biggest bank posit Company over the 2015 Easter
robbery to date. A gang dug an Holiday. They smashed their way
eight-metre tunnel from the through a 50-centimetre-thick rein-
sewers to the vault of the Société forced concrete wall and stole jew-
Générale bank in Nice. They seized ellery and jewels worth 18 million
money and valuables worth about euros (A$27 million). After the gang
46 million francs (A$11 million). The was caught, the public couldn’t be-
robbers appeared so laid back and lieve their eyes because the thieves
comfortable that they …. were ...

a) enjoyed a picnic inside the a) almost all pensioners
bank b) university students

108 may 2022

Easy Pickings

c) police officers Cézanne and Blossoming Chestnut
d) complete amateurs Branches by Vincent van Gogh. What
was so special about this crime?
7In Oslo in 1994, thieves stole
the world-famous painting The a) the theft was only noticed days
Scream by Edvard Munch from later
the Norwegian National Gallery. But b) the robbery turned out to be
the heist had a humorous twist. What an insurance scam
did the robbers leave behind at the c) the robbery took just three
crime scene? minutes
d) the original plan was to take
a) a group photo of them wearing paintings by Monet
masks
b) a postcard saying thanks 10 On September 23, 2009, a
c) a fine art print of the painting gang robbed a cash depot
d) an admission ticket to the in Västberga, Stockholm,
gallery in a daring Hollywood-style raid.
What type of unusual transport did
8Stealing an ATM at night, instead the robbers use to make their fast
of raiding a bank during the day, getaway?
may have been what five crimi-
nals were thinking when they robbed a) a Formula 1 racing car
a bank near Potsdam, Germany, back b) the train
in August 1995. But their plan to use a c) a tank
steel cable to rip the ATM out of its an- d) a helicopter
choring and haul it away went horribly
wrong. What happened? 11Crooks had the IT company
Yahoo! in their sights in 2013.
a) the rope broke and killed two What did they gain access to
robbers during their electronic heist?
b) the building collapsed
c) they accidentally took away a a) the data of all users.
bank statement printer b) the company’s accounts.
d) the ATM was empty c) the control of the central
computer
9 In 2008, robbers stole four paint- d) the accounts of wealthy
ings from the E.G. Bührle private celebrities and global leaders
collection in Zurich, including
The Boy in a Red Waistcoat by Paul >> Turn to page 110 for quiz answers

readersdigest.com.au 109

ANSWERS TO EASY PICKINGS QUIZ

1 c) Pablo Picasso was briefly time of the robbery; one was in his
under suspicion following the late 60s and the others over 70.
theft of the Mona Lisa. Vincenzo
Peruggia – a 29-year-old Italian 7 b) The robbers left a postcard
working at the museum – was thanking the museum for its
eventually found guilty of the crime. poor security. The police quickly
arrested them, though, and the
2 a) The thieves dumped rubbish, stolen painting was also recovered.
including fragments of a receipt,
in a wooded area during their 8 c) At first, everything went
getaway. This gave the investigators according to plan for the bank
a lead. Several were arrested. robbers. They ripped a machine out
of its anchoring using a steel cable,
3 b) This heist went down in Swiss heaved it onto a stolen truck and
criminal history as the “post drove off – with a bank statement
office robbery of the century” not printer in tow.
just because of the amount of money
stolen but also because the thieves 9 c) It took the thieves just three
only carried toy guns. minutes to remove the valuable
paintings from the walls and
4 a + b) The thieves chose a long disappear with them. All artworks
weekend to rob the bank in have now resurfaced.
Nice and took two days to empty
the safety deposit boxes. When they 10 d) The robbers stole a
got hungry, they stopped to have a helicopter, landed it on the
picnic inside the bank. roof of the cash depot, blew off
several doors and made off with
5 c) Disguised as police officers, sacks full of money. Their exploit
the thieves took the museum’s is considered the most spectacular
night watchmen by surprise, tying robbery in Swedish history.
them up and walking off with the
13 masterpieces. To date, no culprits 11 a) Yahoo! stuck with their
have ever been caught and none of statement that “only” one
the artworks have been recovered. billion user accounts were hacked
by unknown persons for four years,
6 a) Almost all the Hatton Garden until in 2017, Yahoo! finally
thieves were of retirement age. confirmed that indeed all three
The youngest was 58 years old at the billion user accounts were affected.

110 may 2022



TRAVEL

Chasing The

I visited Canada’s Northwest Territories in
search of a primeval encounter with nature

BY Sallie Tisdale

FROM HARPER’S

112 may 2022

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

readersdigest.com.au 113

READER’S DIGEST

y the time I finish As we emerge from the woods, Céline
dressing and walk points out the path to the heated,
into the lobby of 360-degree-rotating recliners. We
the Explorer Ho- find our teepee at the edge of a field –
tel in Yellowknife, a place to warm up and rest, but not
to stay. We aren’t here to be indoors.
B it’s 9pm. There is
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 WE WATCH from a distance.
over from our breath. “Is that it?” somebody

Our guide is Céline, THE GLOWING else asks, pointing at
a petite Frenchwom- TRACK CROSS a pale flash on the op-
an. “The prediction is THE SKY LIKE posite horizon. But it is
clouds tonight,” she just headlights from the

tells us. “But a predic- A PAINTER’S highway. We don’t really PHOTO (PREVIOUS SPREAD): VINCENT DEMERS/GETTY IMAGES
tion is just a prediction. BRUSH know what we are seek-
So we will be hopeful.” 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

114 may 2022

Chasing The Northern Lights

Yellowknife sits on the shore of Great Slave Lake, one of the world’s
largest, deepest lakes

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

readersdigest.com.au 115

READER’S DIGEST

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 COMMUNITIES, down the long slope,
see megafauna such 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 OF RESPECT surrounding snow was
cosmic view, for those 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

116 may 2022

Chasing The Northern Lights

Blachford Lake Lodge is best reached by bush plane

PHOTO: COURTESY BL ACHFORD L AKE LODGE & WILDERNESS RESORT. the lodge. One night, Elizabeth Mac- until it is exhausted. The power of
*SOURCE: W W W.NRC.GOV/DOC S/ML1209/ML120960701.PDF Donald, a visiting space scientist from the aurora can be as high as 100,000
NASA, gave a lecture on the aurora’s megawatts – enough to power 40-90
physics. She told us how glad she was million houses*.
to be here; she spends most of her
time on data. “I study the aurora,” she FOR EONS, people have said the
said, “but I don’t get to see it that of- aurora makes noise, that it swishes,
ten.” whistles, cracks. One polar explorer
described it as “the sound of field-
We see the aurora because elec- ice, then it was like the sound of a
trons charged by the solar wind water-mill and, at last, like the whir-
collide with atoms in the upper at- ring of a cannon-shot heard from
mosphere, mostly atomic oxygen. A a short distance.” It has been long
fountain of resulting photons spills thought, however, that whatever au-
across hundreds of kilometres in dible sound reaches a human ear at
seconds. Atomic oxygen releases red ground level could not be an effect of
light when high in the atmosphere activity at such a high altitude. But
and can emit greenish-white light in 2012, Finnish scientists captured
at lower altitudes. Sometimes deep faint hissing, popping and clapping
blues and purples appear from ion- during an aurora, and proved the
ised nitrogen. A furious discharge sounds were coming from the sky. A
cascades down through the atmos- geophysicist in Alaska reacted to the
phere into increasingly dense air

readersdigest.com.au 117

READER’S DIGEST

The Aurora Village viewing area and its collection of teepees

news by saying that auroral sound Asian observers thought the aurora PHOTO: KEN PHUNG/SHUTTERSTOCK
was “scientifically unreasonable”, was a heavenly battle, a line of enor-
but admitted that he has heard it, too. mous candles, or a fissure in the sky.
Edmond Halley – the early 18th cen-
To Indigenous communities, the tury astronomer of Halley’s Comet
northern lights are familiar but worthy fame – theorised it was the result of
of respect. Many Inuit people in the water vapour somehow igniting the
Arctic share a myth of the lights, which atmosphere after being released from
they call aqsarniit. They are said to be fissures on the Earth’s surface.
the spirits of the dead playing football,
usually with a walrus skull. The aqsar- The aurora is only a few hundred
niit were traditionally considered dan- metres thick, since it follows the lines
gerous because they move so quickly of our planet’s magnetic field. But it
and heedlessly in their pursuit. It’s is also immense, hundreds of kilo-
been said that the Sámi people, of metres wide and high, and it occurs
Fennoscandia, believed that the au- between 100 and 1000 kilometres
rora, called guovsahasat, could swoop above the Earth, in the ionosphere.
down and burn a person. Women The International Space Station flies
would cover their heads to keep the through this range. The lights cannot
aurora out of their hair, people kept form lower in our skies because the
silent to avoid irritating it, and bells energy of colliding particles is lost as
were taken off reindeer when the au- the atmosphere becomes denser.
rora was bright. Early European and
Each evening at Blachford Lake, we

118 may 2022

Chasing The Northern Lights

waited. The intensity of the aurora played more Scrabble. I went for
depends on many factors: the rough- hikes, stomping along snowmobile
ly 11-year solar activity cycle and its tracks in several layers of insulation.
many effects; whether the solar wind The trails passed through mounds
is steady or gusting; and the sun’s ro- of glittering snow dappled with
tation in relation to Earth’s. Once you velvet-blue shadow, broken by the
are in the right place at the right time, marks of other travellers: snowshoe
all you can do is wait. hares, caribou, lynx. Walking was
cacophony; every step a chorus of
AFTER LECTURES, we mingled in the squeaking snow, swishing pants and
lodge, an artificial family. I joined creaking ice. But when I stood still,
games of Trivial Pursuit. I hung out silence. A single bird’s note. Then
with a doctor from Melbourne and silence again.
talked to a retired social worker from
the US. About 9.30pm, someone “It’s starting,” someone says. This
would say, “It’s starting.” We would get is our last night at the lake, and the
dressed and go out, and move slowly temperature is -32°C. We stand at the
from one viewpoint to another. A few ice’s edge under the black sky. The
gentle arcs would gradually widen and snow, which is everywhere, reflects
join and become an arch with trailing the faint fog of starlight, and yet we
ribbons, wavering, glowing, seeming see one another only as shadows.
to shimmer. Above us the sky is a white wash.
The wash glows, widens, brightens
Before I had seen aurora borealis, I and begins to spin over my head, a
had imagined it erupting above me, luminous cyclone of pearl and dove
an abrupt display of light spilling out and alabaster, suddenly so thick
of the sky. I put myself in the centre. and near I could pluck off a tuft in
But I was just spinning slowly be- my hand. Faint flashes of pink and
neath an enormous event. It is hap- green and blue, barely there, gone.
pening all the time, this torrent of We spin and crane our necks, gasp
ionisation and spectral light; mostly and laugh.
we don’t see it. For a few hours each
night, I was granted a fractional view When I first arrived in Yellowknife,
of cosmic forces, by the benevolence I kept reminding myself that I might
of darkness and a clear sky. not see the aurora at all, that it
wouldn’t look like the pictures, that
The days were clear and bright and the real thing would be less than I
flagrantly cold. After breakfast, peo- expected. And I was wrong. I am not
ple would break into pairs and small sorry that I couldn’t see what is in the
groups to go on snowmobile rides or photos. I am sorry that the photos
ski across the lake. I read, napped, don’t capture what I could see.

readersdigest.com.au 119

120 may 2022

PHOTOGRAPHS BY JASON VARNEY

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

readersdigest.com.au 121

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

122 may 2022

Does This Dog Know Whether You Have Cancer?

Annemarie DeAngelo
with her star pupil, Osa

readersdigest.com.au 123

READER’S DIGEST

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

124 may 2022

DANIEL PE TERSCHMIDT/SCIENCE FRIDAYDoes 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
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,

readersdigest.com.au 125

READER’S DIGEST

recalls Williams. But one afternoon, told Williams that her collie-Dober- COURTESY PENN VET WORKING DOG CENTER
he came across a four-word notation man mix named Baby Boo had be-
in a file that caught his attention. It come fixated on a mole on the wom-
read simply: “Dog sniffed at lesion.” an’s left thigh, sniffing it often. The
What did that mean? Was it possible ritual continued for several months,
the dog in the file actually smelled with Baby Boo nuzzling the woman’s
cancer? leg through her trousers. Baby Boo
finally tried to bite the lesion off, at
“So I phoned the lady in the file,” which point the woman saw her GP.
Williams recalls. “And we had the When doctors excised the mole, they
most fascinating conversation.” found it was malignant melanoma.

The patient, a 44-year-old woman,

126 may 2022

Does This Dog Know Whether You Have Cancer?

DeAngelo and Otto were moved to tears were reaching out to Williams and
when the dogs learned to detect traces sharing similar experiences. There
was the 66-year-old man who devel-
of ovarian cancer on the scent wheel oped a patch of eczema on the outer
side of his left thigh – a lesion that
“Something about that lesion fas- became the obsession of his Labrador
cinated the dog,” Williams recalls. retriever until he went to the doctor.
“And it literally saved this woman’s It was found to be basal cell carcino-
life.” Williams and a colleague pub- ma. There was George the schnau-
lished their findings in The Lancet, a zer, trained by a Florida dermatol-
well-respected medical journal. Sud- ogist. George “went crazy” when he
denly, dog lovers around the world

readersdigest.com.au 127

READER’S DIGEST

sniffed out a suspicious mole on the Next, the trainer begins offering
leg of a patient. It turned out to be the dog choices – for instance, plac-
malignant. ing two distinct odours in identi-
cal containers, only one of which
Over the years since, a growing produces a click and a treat when
body of evidence has emerged sug- sniffed. Once that is mastered, the
gesting that dogs can sniff out blad- trainer begins withholding the treat
der cancer, prostate cancer, diabetes until the dog freezes in front of the
and even malaria, among other con- container of choice and stares.
ditions. But not just any Chihuahua,
corgi or beagle can do the job. As the dogs undergo this founda-
tional training, the trainers evaluate
Like most of the dogs, Osa arrived their skill sets and temperaments,
at the Penn Vet Working Dog Center and use the data to choose a particu-
from a breeder at two months of age. lar area of specialisation. Dogs that
“We look at their genetics,” says De- demonstrate a passion for running
Angelo. “We look at their work abili-
ty. They have to come from working MEDICAL-DETECTION
lines, not show or pet lines, but one DOGS ARE THE
that has that hunt/prey drive.” Osa
began taking obedience and agility ONES WITH QUIRKY
training (walking a plank, climbing PERSONALITIES
a ladder, negotiating a rubble pile)
and quickly advanced to basic odour on rubble enter search-and-rescue
detection skill training. training. Those that don’t enjoy rub-
ble but have strong noses might be-
During these sessions, the dogs come narcotics or bomb dogs. Dogs
are introduced to a universal detec- who think that lightly “biting people
tor calibrant, a potent, distinct odour is a fun game,” DeAngelo jokes, end
developed by a veterinary scientist to up as police dogs.
train dogs. The trainer places the cal-
ibrant – a powder contained within a Penn’s medical-detection dogs are
Mylar bag with a tiny hole to let the the ones with quirky personalities
odour out – on the floor or on a wall, and narrow focuses. Otto calls them
or holds it in hand. As soon as the dog the centre’s “sensitive souls.” They
sniffs at the odour to investigate it, dislike noisy, crowded environments,
the trainer ‘marks’ the smell by mak- such as airports or disaster recovery
ing a noise with a clicker or simply sites. Osa is very suspicious of peo-
saying yes, and then rewards the dog ple she doesn’t know – so much so
with a treat. This process is repeated that nobody is allowed to approach
until the dog learns that when it finds
this odour, it gets rewarded.

128 may 2022

It’s a family affair: DeAngelo’s dogs, Grizzly (left) and Prior, also work at the centre

DeAngelo’s house unannounced (to master the most essential task of all.
do so results in loud barking and pan- To find out if she could, DeAngelo and
demonium). Upon entering the home, her team put Osa in front of a scent
visitor, host and dog must all proceed wheel, a stationary metal contraption
immediately outside to play ball to set with multiple arms, each one of which
Osa at ease before any business can be is large enough to hold two separate
conducted. But with these neurotic containers – one containing plasma
traits also comes an uncommon focus. from a woman with metastatic ovari-
an cancer and the other plasma from a
“I often refer to our medical-detec- healthy volunteer. When Osa stopped
tion dogs as the accountants,” Otto in front of the correct sample, point-
says. “They would love to just look ed her nose at it, and froze, DeAngelo
at the spreadsheets and find the one and her colleagues hugged and cried.
number that’s out of place. They really
like having things very neat and con- “You don’t know if it’s going to
trolled. They’re the detail dogs.” work, so you train it, and you train it,”
she says. “You’re actually now going
While Osa had all the qualities to put the real cancer in the wheel, in
that make up a great sniffer dog, that the plasma, and see if the dogs can
didn’t guarantee that she’d be able to

readersdigest.com.au 129

READER’S DIGEST

Training a dog like Osa to
sniff out cancer can take a
year to 18 months

OSA’S NOSE WILL hundreds of different organic PHOTO: DANIEL PE TERSCHMIDT/SCIENCE FRIDAY
POTENTIALLY SAVE compounds, any one of which
MANY THOUSANDS could be capturing the dog’s
attention. And that is why the
OF LIVES Penn team includes not just the
physicists and engineers de-
identify it and ignore the other sam- signing the instrumentation for
ples. And it worked! The very first their electronic nose but also
time! It was very emotional.” chemists to help figure out what
exactly that electronic nose
And yet that’s only half the chal- needs to be calibrated to smell.
lenge. To transform Osa’s remarkable The group has been breaking
abilities into something replicable the cancer samples down into
– an electronic nose – researchers progressively smaller constitu-
have to figure out what it is precisely ent parts and presenting them
that Osa and her friends are reacting to the dogs to see which of the
to. DeAngelo says the blood samples hundreds of potential aromat-
she has trained her dogs with contain 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-
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.

130 may 2022

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

readersdigest.com.au 131

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Movies

PHOTOS: COURTESY © 2022 DISNE Y/PIX AR. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness Superhero

I f you’re partial to a Marvel In the second instalment of this
superhero comic, then this movie franchise, we see Dr Strange cast
will be a no-brainer. But it’s also got a forbidden spell that opens the
another thing going for it – Benedict door to the multiverse, including
Cumberbatch. You may have seen him an alternate version of himself.
in the first Dr Strange movie, or as the The combined forces of Dr Strange
mathematical genius Alan Turing in and his allies Wong (Benedict
Imitation Games, Sherlock Holmes in Wong) and Wanda Maximoff
the TV drama Sherlock, or more recently (Elizabeth Olsen) have to traverse
in Jane Campion’s The Power Of The the mind-bending and dangerous
Dog. Wherever you’ve seen him, you alternate realities of the multiverse
will know that he brings distinguished to confront a mysterious new
prowess to every role he plays. adversary.

COMPILED BY DIANE GODLEY

readersdigest.com.au 133

DC League Of Super-Pets Animated/Family PHOTOS: COURTESY (FIRESTARTER) PHOTO: © 2022 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS; (PETS) © 2021 WARNER BROS. ENTERTAINMENT INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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.

134 may 2022

RD Recommends

Non Rebel Talk
Fiction
Jane Hutcheon

BRIO BOOKS

PHOTOS: COURTESY BRIO BOOKS; HACHETTE; ROCKPOOL PUBLISHING Mafioso Journalist, author From Earth: Create
and former foreign Your Own Natural
Colin McLaren correspondent Jane Apothecary
Hutcheon knows a
HACHETTE thing or two about Charlotte Rasmussen
conversations, and in
Depicted in books and Rebel Talk she draws ROCKPOOL
on the screen, the Mafia on her rich experience PUBLISHING
remains a subject of in the art of guided
fascination. Australian conversations to help The makings for simple
detective and author us initiate and nurture skincare and medicinal
Colin McLaren spent conversations. Rebel home remedies can
three years undercover Talk looks at ways be found in your own
in the Mafia in Australia to: transform poor garden or kitchen. From
gathering information conversation habits; Earth’s recipes employ
to shut down a cell of speak up about pure and natural
criminals. Following problems; generate ingredients such as
death threats, he energy, passion lavender and rosemary
travelled to Italy on a and optimism; stop and will inspire you
mission to understand lecturing and giving to enlarge your herb
the Mafia’s treacherous unsolicited advice; and patch. Beautifully
hold on criminal activity. most importantly, learn photographed, this
Mafioso tells that story: by humble listening. step-by-step guide
how the earliest Mafia explains how to use
aided politicians, how carrier oils, butters and
billions were stolen from dried flowers and is
the mints and banks, the perfect manual for
and how the New York anyone wanting to find
Godfathers conquered a more holistic way of
territories on both sides life. M.Egan
of the Atlantic.

readersdigest.com.au 135

Burning Questions Fiction Idol PHOTOS: COURTESY PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE; BANTAM PRESS

Margaret Atwood Here Goes Nothing Louise O’Neill

PENGUIN Steve Toltz BANTAM PRESS
RANDOM HOUSE
PENGUIN For influencer Samantha
Fans of Margaret RANDOM HOUSE Miller’s three million
Atwood, the creator young followers (or
of The Handmaid’s If you like your fiction “her girls”, as she calls
Tale and more than left-of-centre, then this them), she is an oracle
50 other works of fiction, book’s for you. Angus – telling them exactly
poetry and essays, will Mooney struggles for how to live through her
be interested in her most of his life, until lifestyle brand with a
collection of essays and he meets his wife, spiritual focus. When
occasional pieces from marriage celebrant she writes an essay
2004-21. Full of wit and Gracie (whose that goes viral about
wisdom, Atwood tackles wedding ceremonies an encounter with a
subjects such as the are anything but friend, she belatedly
climate crisis, freedom, traditional). Just when discovers the friend has
debt, tech, the rise of things are starting to a very different version
Trump and a pandemic. work out, an old guy of events. Idol examines
Other topics include: with a terminal illness female friendships,
When to dispense barges into their house the subjectivity of
advice to the young? and asks to stay – until memories, the #metoo
(only when asked); So he dies. When Angus movement and cancel
what if beauty is only does some research on culture. Addictive
skin deep?; and What their ‘guest’, he wakes and timely, this book
do zombies have to do up the next day in the doesn’t hold back.
with authoritarianism? ‘afterlife’, and has to M.Egan
watch on the sidelines
as his guest seduces
his wife.

136 may 2022

Podcasts RD Recommends

PHOTOS: COURTESY RD TALKS, HUBERMAN LAB, BRITISH SCANDAL, SPOTIFY AUDIO BOOKS 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
exploration of how he wished to be remembered
not for his human frailties but for achieving his
dreams and living his life.

Huberman Lab

Hosted by neuroscientist Dr Andrew Huberman,
the podcast examines how our brain and its
connections with the organs of our body controls
our perceptions, behaviours and health. There is a
good selection of science-backed topics with useful
advice and tools for everyday life to browse through.

British Scandal

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.readersdigest.com.au/podcasts and click on the play button.

readersdigest.com.au 137

THE The term binge-watch was PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
GENIUS a contender for the 2013
SECTION word of the year in the Ox-
ford English Dictionary. Al-
Sharpen Your though it didn’t win (‘self-
Mind ie’ ultimately took the crown), this
pointed to the rise of what was be-
PRESS coming a popular activity of watch-
PAUSE? ing multiple episodes of a TV show in
a single sitting.
How to know if your
binge-watching habits Today, millions of us – including
are a problem – and what me – regularly consume our favourite
series in this way. The proliferation of
to do about it streaming services over recent years
has made it easy to do. Unsurprising-
BY Mark Griffiths ly, during COVID-19 lockdowns, re-
search shows many of us spent more
FROM THE CONVERSATION time binge-watching than usual.

138 may 2022 But can binge-watching become
problematic or addictive? And if you
can’t tear yourself away, what can you
do?

Problematic binge-watching isn’t
defined by the number of episodes
watched (although most researchers
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
with other addictive behaviours, more
important is whether binge-watching
is having a negative impact on other
aspects of the person’s life.

Over many years studying addic-
tion, I’ve argued that all addictive
behaviours comprise six core compo-
nents. In relation to binge-watching,
this would mean:

• It is the most important thing in the

person’s life (salience).

The Genius Section

• The person engages in binge-watch- of the prevalence of problematic

ing as a way of reliably changing their binge-watching. But research into

mood: to feel better in the short-term this phenomenon is growing.

or to temporarily escape from some-

thing negative in their life (mood A LOOK AT THE EVIDENCE

modification). In the latest study on this topic, a re-
• Binge-watching compromises key search team in Poland surveyed 645

aspects of the person’s life like re- young adults, all of whom reported

lationships and education or work that they had watched at least two ep-

(conflict). isodes of one show in a single sitting.
• The number of hours the person The researchers wanted to understand

spends binge-watching each day has some of the factors underlying prob-

increased significantly DURING lematic binge-watch-
over time (tolerance). LOCKDOWNS, ing.
MANY OF US
• The person experi- SPENT MORE TIME The authors, who
based their defini-
ences psychological tion of problematic
and/or physiological binge-watching part-
withdrawal symptoms

if they’re unable to ly on my components
model of addiction,
BINGE-WATCHINGbinge-watch (with-

drawal). used a questionnaire
• If the person manages to temporar- they developed in an earlier study to

ily stop binge-watching, when they assess problematic binge-watching

engage in the activity again, they go among participants. Questions includ-

straight back into the cycle they were ed: “How often do you neglect your

in previously (relapse). duties in favour of watching series?”

In my view, any person who fulfils “How often do you feel sad or irritated

these six components would be gen- when you can’t watch the TV series?”

uinely addicted to binge-watching. and “How often do you neglect your

A person who only fulfils some of sleep to binge-watch series?”

these may be exhibiting problemat- Participants had to give answers on

ic binge-watching, but wouldn’t be a six-point scale from one (never) to

classed as addicted by my criteria. six (always). A score above a certain

Like many other behavioural ad- threshold was deemed indicative of

dictions, such as work addiction and problematic binge-watching.

exercise addiction, binge-watching Using a range of other scales,

addiction is not officially recognised the researchers found that impulse

in any psychiatric manuals. We control difficulties, lack of premed-

also don’t have accurate estimates itation (difficulties in planning and

readersdigest.com.au 139

READER’S DIGEST

evaluating the consequences of a negative emotions). We see these

given behaviour), watching to es- types of associations in addictive

cape and forget about problems, behaviours more generally.

and watching to avoid feeling

lonely were among the most sig- BREAKING THE HABIT

nificant predictors of problematic If you want to cut down on the num-

binge-watching. ber of episodes you watch in one sit-

Using the same data, the research- ting, my golden rule is to stop watch-

ers reported in an earlier study ing mid-way through an episode.

that problematic SET REALISTIC It’s really hard to stop
binge-watching had a watching at the end of

significant association DAILY LIMITS. an episode as so often
with anxiety-depressive FOR ME, IT’S 2.5 the show ends with a
syndrome. The greater HOURS DURING cliff-hanger.
the symptoms of anxi-
I also suggest setting

ety and depression, the realistic daily limits.
For me, it’s 2.5 hours
THE WORK WEEKmore problematic a

person’s binge-watch- if I have work the next

ing was. day, or up to five hours if I don’t. And

Other studies have reported sim- only start watching as a reward to

ilar findings. A Taiwanese study of yourself after you’ve done everything

adults, for example, found problem- you need to in terms of work and so-

atic binge-watching was associated cial obligations.

with depression, anxiety around so- Remember, the difference between

cial interaction and loneliness. a healthy enthusiasm and an addic-

An American study found the be- tion is that the former adds to your

haviour was associated with depres- life, whereas the latter detracts from it.

sion and attachment anxiety. Most If you feel binge-watching is taking

related studies have also show n over your life, you should seek a refer-

escapism to be a key motivation of ral from your GP to see a psychologist.

problematic binge-watching. Most addictions are symptomatic of

In terms of personality traits, re- other underlying problems.

search has shown that problematic

binge-watching appears to be asso- Mark Griffiths is the director

ciated with low conscientiousness of the International Gaming

(characterised by being impulsive, Research Unit and Professor

ca reless a nd d isorga n ised) a nd of Behavioural Addiction,

high neuroticism (characterised Nottingham Trent University.

b y b ei n g a n x iou s a nd pr one to REPUBLISHED UNDER A CREATIVE COMMONS LICENCE

140 may 2022



READER’S DIGEST

PUZZLES

Challenge yourself by solving these puzzles and mind
stretchers, then check your answers on page 146.

Crossword

Test your general
knowledge.

ACROSS 20 Circumscribed DOWN CROSSWORD: CROSSWORDSITE.COM
swellings (5)
1 Masked (9) 22 Fit for publication (9) 1 Popular pets (4)
6 Mexican money (5) 24 Fashion industry (3,5) 2 Protected from
9 Diving bird (5) 26 Effluent carrier (5) the weather (9)
10 Life story (9) 29 Apiarist (9) 3 No good (7)
11 Yorkshire (UK) town 31 Strong thread (5) 4 Weeps (4)
on the River Wharfe (5) 32 Trials (5) 5 Pair (3)
12 Commonplace (8) 33 Necessary to 6 Incomplete (7)
16 Hard-shelled pupa (9) get to Mars (9) 7 Latin for ‘above’ (5)
17 Pilsner (5) 8 Cunningly (5)
13 Rural (6)
14 Scrutinize (4)
15 Inclined (6)
18 Nonsense (9)
19 Regretted (4)
21 Wave riders (7)
23 Stage (7)
24 Capital of
Morocco (5)
25 Valleys (5)
27 Extent of space (4)
28 Quick sharp bark (4)
30 Step in ballet (3)

142 may 2022

Puzzle BRAIN POWER
Answers brought to you by

PAGES 146 "Write, Erase, Rewrite"

1 3726 8

2 1 4 95

4 83 1

329

9 7 8 1 54

8 59 1 6

93 86

41

1 68 94 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

To enjoy more puzzles and interactive games, go to

www.readersdigest.com.au/games-jokes

READER’S DIGEST

FAMILY FUN Puzzle
Answers

PAGE 146

Spot The Difference

There are ten differences. Can you find them?

Quick Crossword 2 1
3 4
Place the names of these Pacific
islands into the grid, then go and 5 ILLUSTR ATION: VECTEEZY.COM

find them on a map:

FIJI HAWAII 6

GUAM EASTER

TONGA TAHITI 7

PALAU VANUATU

SAMOA TOKELAU 89

144 may 2022

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 15. The first records researchers outfitted
Queen Victoria? 1 point which marsupials
7. What colour are of curling as a sport date with Fitbits last
the attractive but back to the 16th century, year, to record their
in which two countries?

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES poisonous berries 2 points heart rates? 1 point

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

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

readersdigest.com.au 145

READER’S DIGEST

PUZZLE ANSWERS

From Page 142
Spot The Difference

Crossword

Sudoku Quick Crossword CROSSWORD: CROSSWORDSITE.COM; ILLUSTR ATION: VECTEEZY.COM

5 1 9372648 1E
2386 1 4795 2T O N G A
46798532 1
35 1 426879 3P S
692738 1 54
78459 1 263 A T 4V
923 1 47586
8452639 1 7 L 5T O K E L A U
1 76859432
6S A M O A RN

UH U

I 7H A W A I I

TT

8 F I J I 9G U A M

146 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. blamed.

2. jubilee – A: 50th anniversary. 9. philistine – A: allergic.
B: candied fruit. C: lucky charm. B: uncultured. C: foreign.

3. cabal – A: secretive group. 10. maven – A: expert.
B: prayer shawl. C: city-state. B: matchmaker. C: rebel.

4. golem – A: set of rules. B: artificial 11. messiah – A: follower.
human. C: poached fish. B: saviour. C: traitor.

5. hosanna – A: mountaintop. 12. jezebel – A: hoopskirt.
B: shout of praise. C: eldest B: immoral woman. C: ram’s horn.
daughter.
13. behemoth – A: something huge.
6. babel – A: noisy confusion. B: something old. C: something holy.
B: skyscraper. C: naughty child.
14. chutzpah – A: cookie.
7. matzo – A: flatbread. B: nerve. C: blessing.
B: ceremony. C: card game.
15. manna – A: godsend.
8. scapegoat – A: one who swears. B: great-aunt. C: winged beetle.

readersdigest.com.au 147

READER’S DIGEST

Answers

1. pharaoh – (C) Egyptian king. still think that The Three Stooges was
The pharaoh commanded that a hilarious.
giant pyramid be built in his honour.
10. maven – (A) expert.
2. jubilee – (A) 50th anniversary. Jaden is the financial maven of our
Our town celebrated its jubilee with group, advising everyone on saving
a parade down Main Street. for retirement.

3. cabal – (A) secretive group. 11. messiah – (B) saviour.
The mayor and her cabal of insiders The self-help guru has been hailed
have ruled this city for decades. as a messiah by his followers.

4. golem – (B) artificial human. 12. jezebel – (B) immoral woman.
In Frankenstein, a young scientist “In my day, you’d be labelled a
brings a hideous golem to life. jezebel for showing your knees!”
Aunt Betty said with a laugh.
5. hosanna – (B) shout of praise.
The new production of Wicked 13. behemoth – (A) something huge.
opened to hosannas from theatre The merger would create a tech
critics. behemoth that could crush
all competition.
6. babel – (A) noisy confusion.
“I can’t hear myself think over all 14. chutzpah – (B) nerve. “I can’t
this babel!” Akiko shouted. believe he had the chutzpah to say
that to me!” Tamar fumed.
7. matzo – (A) flatbread. The only
matzo I eat is the kind that’s been 15. manna – (A) godsend.
covered in chocolate. This medical breakthrough might
be the manna that so many patients
8. scapegoat – (C) one unfairly have been waiting for.
blamed. Though the whole team
played badly, the opening batsman VOCABULARY RATINGS
became the scapegoat for the loss. 5–9: Fair
10–12: Good
9. philistine – (B) uncultured. 13–15: Word Power Wizard
Call my taste philistine if you like; I

148 may 2022