Construction: HK scaffolding unsafe
It has always looked highly precarious to foreign visitors. Now a new report published yesterday confirms that bamboo scaffolding really might be unsafe. The traditional scaffolding leans out of the side of buildings 30 storeys and more high around Hong Kong and is used across Asia because of bamboo's strength and its easy availability. Its proponents say bamboo is so strong there is no need to use steel scaffolding, and generations of expert scaffolders have passed on methods of tying and erecting bamboo scaffolds to dizzying heights. However, a two-year study by Hong Kong's University of Science and Technology found that the quality of the most commonly used bamboo in scaffolding varies greatly. It can also deteriorate quickly in high humidity.
Automakers: GM opens China shop
General Motors Corp has opened its first AutoWorld import dealer in northeastern China's Dalian city, to bring in Saabs, Cadillacs and Opels to the world's fastest growing vehicle market. GM plans to open five additional showrooms by the end of this year, and to expand the network to 30 outlets by the end of next year, said Lori Williams, its director of vehicle sales. "WTO is creating new opportunities for the sale of imported vehicles in China," Williams said. "We decided to take advantage and leverage our global resources and portfolio to better meet the needs of our Chinese customers." General Motors, which runs four joint ventures in China and employs more than 8,000 workers in the country, is expanding the range of its products to compete with other foreign automakers such as Volkswagen AG.
Memory Cards: Matsushita says demand up
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co, in response to more demand for storage capacity in devices such as digital cameras and mobile phones, may boost production of memory cards early next year. The world's No. 1 consumer-electronics maker has seen demand for its SD memory cards surge since the company lowered prices to below those of a competing technology from Sony Corp., Matsushita Electric general manager Nobuyoshi Yokobori said in an interview. SD memory cards are postage-stamp sized devices capable of storing data such as digital music files and photographs. They've become widespread in devices such as digital cameras and portable music players because of their convenience and ability to store large quantities of digital information many times over.
Drinking study: Alcohol warps perceptions
A study has established a link between drinking alcohol and perceptions of beauty. Researchers in Scotland found evidence of the so-called "beer goggles" effect in a study involving 80 students. Glasgow University students were shown color photographs of 120 male and female St Andrews University students aged between 18 and 26. Participants were asked to rate their aesthetic properties on a scale of between one - highly unattractive -- to seven -- highly attractive. Half of the students had drunk up to four units of alcohol, equivalent to a maximum of around two pints of lager or two-and-a-half glasses of wine. The 40 tipsy aesthetes rated the people in the photographs as broadly more attractive than their abstemious counterparts.
RSS