Nurse Maria explained that Libyans like to take home any missing bits to show their relatives and to prove they had not been malingering.

BBC: My unexpected trip to a Libyan hospital

The kidney cells were forced to take up bits of DNA using a technique invented in 1973 that used a calcium solution.

FORBES: Biotech's Fear Factor

In another talk at Black Hat, researchers Don Bailey and Nick Depetrillo showed how they were able to take bits and pieces of mobile information (such as the IMSI), Caller Display Name (CNAM) and the Home Location Register (HLR) to put together a mobile White Pages that would allow them to stalk someone.

FORBES: Cell Phone Snooping: Cheaper And Easier Than Ever

What Starkweather wanted to do was take the array of bits and bytes, ones and zeros that constitute digital images, and transfer them straight into the guts of a copier.

NEWYORKER: Creation Myth

The thinking is that the bits of the banks that lend to and take deposits from British households and small businesses need special protection, by being financially and legally separate from the rest of the firm.

ECONOMIST: British banks

If your nails are dirty (male or female) or you have black bits in your teeth, no one is going to take you seriously.

FORBES: The Intern Wears Prada: Designer Bags vs Good Grooming

In India and elsewhere, consumers once resigned to choking down bits of bark or fistfuls of leaves can now take traditional medicine in more palatable forms - pills, potions and powders.

CNN: SPECIAL REPORT: HEALTH

ABB's best trick is its ability to take electric current of any voltage and frequency, chop it up into tiny bits and reassemble it into the form needed.

FORBES: Companies, People, Ideas