In India, electric crematoriums, which are cheaper than the elaborate ritual of the funeral pyre, are becoming increasingly popular, while in China ash-scattering-at-sea is becoming all the rage.
The first quarter of 2011 has seen piracy-at-sea hit an all time high with 142 attacks worldwide and 97 of the East coast of Somalia, up from 35 a year ago, a report by the IMB Piracy Reporting Center says.
During warm interglacial periods, when there may have been no sea-ice at all, an abundance of marine organisms would have left behind fossilised shells.