Their method is unlikely to create a 21st century microbial gold rush as the technique is not cost-effective, one said.

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It was only by perfecting his odd technique on his own that Fosbury won the gold medal at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, setting a new record on worldwide television, and reinventing high-jumping overnight.

NEWYORKER: Personal Best

People laughed and people mocked the Fosbury Flop and then he won the gold medal and they stopped laughing and now everyone uses his technique.

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In the 1968 Games, in Mexico City, the American high jumper Dick Fosbury won the gold medal by flipping himself over the bar head first and backward a technique now known as the Fosbury Flop.

NEWYORKER: Glory Days

But a little scratching on the gold-plate of this ideal reveals it for what it is: a modern targeting technique, albeit a big step up from zip-codes, but certainly neither an answer to what consumers expect of brands in the digital space nor a guarantee of increased attention or ad contagion of the desired viral variety.

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Using the XRF technique, curators have already discovered that some of the hoard artefacts contain 94% gold (about 22 carat).

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