In both France and Germany, reckons McKinsey, the expense of financial advisers means that it currently costs more to advise the typical mass-affluent customer than his investments give back in fees.

ECONOMIST: Banking for the well-off

Even though they account for only about 1% of the mass of a typical interstellar cloud, interstellar dust grains play a crucial role in the creation of this rich variety of molecules and in the process of star formation.

BBC: University of Nottingham

The process is also capable of transforming virtually all plant matter into liquid fuel, whereas typical ethanol refining uses only the fatty acids that make up around 10 percent of the mass of dried plants.

CNN: Green breakthrough for 'biodiesel'

Single-use zoning and planning for different functions was thought to be efficient, but we now know that most office buildings are grossly underoccupied, with only 30% to 40% of their workspace used in a typical work day, never mind the gross inefficiencies of time and energy spent on large scale mass commuting.

FORBES: Move up http://i.forbesimg.com t Move down