Not all hot air

SORRY to hear that Steve Fosset, the around-the-world-in-a-balloon man, came down with a bump. But not everyone greeted it as bad news. Several people dislike his habit of emptying his waste bucket by sloshing the stuff out of a hatch. Is this the best system? 'One hopes that he will not be flying over Hong Kong on a China-Japan leg. Else, all of us, from Clear Water Bay to Shekkipmei and beyond, could be left besplattered, bemused and wondering about this strange new manna from heaven,' said one worried reader.

Fear not. Boffins from the University of Science and Technology tell me that anything that accelerates at 9.8 metres per second from a height of 6,600 metres would probably disintegrate before it reaches your head.