To find out, the 200 patients in the Houston trial are being given an amnesia-inducing drug to blot out the memory of the operation before they are whisked into the operating room.

ECONOMIST: Trial and error

To add to the charm of Al Ain, height limits on new buildings ensure that no skyscrapers blot out the skyline.

BBC: Al Ain: The desert��s oasis

Concentration of power production confines its viewscape blot to a small place (although it spreads out emissions, accidental and otherwise).

FORBES: The Lessons Of Solyndra: Green Swans, Opportunity Cost And Fast Neutrinos