Talk of the Town: Simples solution to stress on the roads

IT'S a common complaint that our streets are becoming cluttered with the sort of pointless signs which are seemingly put up just to make driving round the Capital even more stressful than it already is.

But motorists in Comely Bank will get a little light relief from this latest addition to the streetscape.

Oh, and before you ask, the meerkats are toys and come complete with smoking jackets.

It's better than cupping a hand over your face

IT MAY well be time to resort to extreme protective measures amid fears over the ash cloud polluting our atmosphere.

Perhaps we should join the Edinburgh International Science Festival in celebrating one of the Ig Nobel Prize-winning ideas – a bra that turns into a protective face mask. Invented by Dr Elena Bodnar, the versatile piece of clothing was awarded a Public Health Ig Nobel prize last year.

The Ig Nobel Prizes celebrate improbable research projects – those that make people laugh, then think.

Other prizes awarded recently include for determining why pregnant women don't fall over, and for research which shows that cows with names produce more milk than cows without names.

Mum's the work

IT'S often said that being a mother is life's hardest job – but never more so than in Edinburgh it seems.

For researchers have discovered that in the Capital, working mums spend around one and three quarter hours on household chores before they even make it to their jobs.

Apparently, more than a quarter of Edinburgh mums also regularly skip breakfast, despite spending around 18 minutes preparing it for their loved ones.

So let's hear it for mums.

'Wee-search' makes splash

ARMITAGE Shanks, the famous toilet maker, has conducted some "wee-search" to promote a new product.

The world-renowned firm decided to ask men across Edinburgh about their urinary habits, particularly while using toilets in pubs and restaurants.

They found that across the UK, around 1.5 million pints of urine are "spilled" in such venues each year, and as a result have developed a new pan to reduce "splashback".

Most blokes, though, are concerned about the damage caused to their clothes and shoes as a result of repelled pee – along with what's charmingly called "third party splashback" in the survey – rather than hygiene implications.