鈥淭here was so much asbestos dust that my head was covered with it every day. Managers told me it would melt in my lungs.鈥�
Hidekuni Morimoto, who has asbestosis, on why he is suing two construction firms he worked for (Yomiuri Shimbun, Tokyo, 2 February)
鈥淚f you don鈥檛 use your brain, it will age quickly. You鈥檒l get out of shape and weak! But don鈥檛 fret! You can train your brain just like your body.鈥�
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Animated screen message from Professor Kawashima鈥檚 Brain Game, a portable computer game that has taken Japan by storm and uses maths, memory and syllable tests to exercise the mind (The Observer, London, 5 February)
鈥淭his notion that the situation is predestined or cannot be stopped鈥t鈥檚 not true. They have not crossed the point of no return. They don鈥檛 have all the know-how and equipment they need.鈥�
Israel鈥檚 ambassador to Washington, Daniel Ayalon, arguing that it is not too late to stop Iran acquiring nuclear weapons (Reuters, 6 February)
鈥淭hey might want to talk about volcanoes and lakes and oceans and whatever, but they don鈥檛 feel that they can say as scientists that these things exist. I鈥檓 useful because it gives them entr茅e to talk about it credibly.鈥�
Space artist Lynette Cook, whose drawings appear in a new book about extrasolar planets (CNN, 6 February)
鈥淚f people value their health, avoid these killer heels at all costs. They鈥檙e not worth the risk.鈥�
Posture expert Dax Moy on the dangers of the unnatural stance women are forced to adopt when wearing very high heels (Daily Mirror, London, 7 February)