Popular Elsewhere
17:00 UK time, Wednesday, 24 August 2011
A look at the stories ranking highly on various news sites.
What do kite-flying and a pensioner's TV have in common? According to that's attracting readers, they both feature on a list of the "top ten barmy elf 'n' safety diktats". Apparently the flying of kites was banned on Bridlington beach in case one hits someone, with a £500 fine for anyone who dared try. In Colchester council staff were prohibited from taking an 85-year-old's TV to be recycled in case they hurt themselves.
Not the most popular but no doubt of interest to Magazine Monitor types is the news in the Wall Street Journal that . Well, ok, it's definitely not bad for you, or not as bad as emailing friends. Dr Lim, one of the authors of the report which has reached this conclusion explains why this is the case. He says that, when browsing the internet people "usually choose to visit only the sites that they like - it's like going for a coffee or snack break. Breaks of such nature are pleasurable, rejuvenating the web surfer." In contrast, replying to emails, even from friends, is "cognitively more demanding". Bosses of the world, are you listening?
Following the earthquake that struck the east coast of America, Slate readers are drawn to the article that asks . They needn't read too far for the short answer - "No." The longer answer is that "[T]he International Building Code's seismic provisions apply across the United States, but the specific requirements vary based on seismic hazard maps."
A popular article in the Telegraph reports on the fall-out over . The 30-ft (10m) tall statue, which will stand in the National Mall in Washington, has been carved by Lei Yixin in China. Although some feel the sculpture should have been crafted by an American, in particular a black American, others, including Dr King's son have argued that Yixin was the right man for the task. And it's no small task as the Telegraph points out: "More than 150 granite blocks, weighing some 1,600 tons, were then shipped from Xiamen to the port of Baltimore, and reassembled by a team of 100 workmen, including ten Chinese stone masons brought over specifically for the project."
"That pig can't hold its head still." In a New York Times article, evolutionary biology professor Daniel Lieberman describes his Eureka! moment. It occurred when he and a colleague, while watching a pig on a treadmill, realised that humans, unlike the animal in front of them, were able to keep their head still while running. This led them to investigate how .
