Boys, on the other hand, may become stuck on less typical activities, such as lining up blocks or running sand through their fingers.

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As it became clear that Britain's efforts at the United Nations were running into the sand, French intransigence became a useful scapegoat.

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Woodland, a Manhattan Project scientist, came up with the idea for bar codes while running his fingers through the sand, trying to figure out how to put a unique code on every item of merchandise that could be easily scanned by a mechanical device.

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Many councils have warned that their stocks of grit are running low, with Scarborough Borough Council in North Yorkshire revealing it was using sand from the resort's beach to grit pavements in the town.

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