B-List

1. "Surprises make soccer the best sport"
   <http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn8531>
"Baseball has home runs, American football has touchdowns and basketball has
 slam dunks. But when it comes to which is the most exciting sport to follow,
 soccer takes the gold medal"

2. "Do you get less wet if you run in the rain?"
   <http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4562132.stm>
"The power of mathematics has finally given us the reassurance that, when we
 run for that bus shelter, store canopy or random shop (and start pretending
 to browse), we are getting it exactly right!"
[But it depends on the circumstances.  There are conflicting views out there.
 The Mythbusters have tackled the question, and I've got my own thoughts.
 I might write a B-List Extra post on this all-important question]

3. "Scientists explain the 'Cheerio Effect'"
   <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9425907>
"You may or may not have pondered why your breakfast cereal tends to clump
 together or cling to the sides of a bowl of milk. Now there is an easy
 explanation"

4. "Secret of Mona Lisa's smile revealed"
   <http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200512/s1531291.htm>
"It is official: Mona Lisa was 83 per cent happy, 9 per cent disgusted,
 6 per cent fearful and 2 per cent angry"

5. "Beauty enough to help win an election"
   <http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200510/s1492551.htm>
"Beauty may only be skin deep but it is apparently enough to carry an
 election, a new study says"

6. "Red is the colour if winning is your game"
   <http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg18625005.300>
"Evolutionary psychologist Robin Dunbar from the University of Liverpool
 speculates that primate eyes may be particularly sensitive to red. 'The
 significance is then a matter of context,' he says. Red fruit is good;
 red competitors are bad"

7. "NewScientist.com's top 10 news stories of 2005"
   <http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn8499>

8. "Best (and Worst) Gadgets of 2005"
   <http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,69912-0.html?tw=rss.index>

9. "The 50 Greatest Gadgets of the Past 50 Years"
   <http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,123950,pg,7,00.asp>