Just 85 miles (136km) from her destination, Endurance was frozen in place stuck fast in a great chunk of ice.

ECONOMIST: Antarctic exploration

But it was not until the second half of the 20th century, when material comforts ceased to satisfy and the wheels of human life seemed stuck in fast-forward for ever, that the search began in earnest for a simple way to make existence bearable.

ECONOMIST: Leo Sternbach

The difficulty is that the spice doesn't break down very fast and can get stuck in the throat, causing gagging and even vomiting.

WSJ: Cinnamon Challenge: Just a Spoonful Makes the Internet Rounds

Felipe Massa in the other Ferrari set the race's fastest lap and he, too, might have leapfrogged Barrichello - had he not been stuck behind the newly refuelled and therefore slower Button when he needed to be banging in the fast low-fuel laps.

BBC: Fast Ferrari close gap on Brawn