With India and China realising that their futures also depend on their investment in science, Lord Drayson's argument is that it may well be time for the research community to think about where its research strengths lie, and to prioritise investment in those areas.

BBC: How to divide up the 'science cake'?

Apple had no trouble selling the iPhone 4 with an extra-sharp 3.5-inch display, and it was even defensive about its choice: Jobs is well-known for insisting at the time that phones needed to be usable with one hand, and app compatibility was better served by maintaining the status quos for resolution and size.

ENGADGET: The ever-expanding smartphone screen: how supersized became everyday

After April's jump in prices, this ratio is well above its long-run average and only about 15% less than its all-time peak in 1989.

ECONOMIST: House prices

So Hyundai Engineering and Construction seems to be living on borrowed time as well as borrowed money, with about a fifth of its 5.2 trillion won debt falling due at the end of the year.

ECONOMIST: South Korea dumps the past, at last