Native American-made pipe tomahawks from the 19th and early 20th centuries are supreme examples of all-in-one technology: The metal tomahawk blade was topped with a neat little tobacco bowl, and the wooden handle was hollowed out so the warrior could puff when he wasn't whacking someone.

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In ten minutes, a guerrilla can scrape back a few inches of dirt, uncover some pipe, attach a bomb made from one of the country's abundant abandoned artillery shells, and thereby wreak havoc in Baghdad.

ECONOMIST: Iraq's petrol shortages: Oil, oil, everywhere | The

Criticism of the disaster has sprung in part from decisions made over the design of the BP well, which used a single pipe, known as a "long string", that ran from the sea floor to the bottom of the well.

BBC: Oil spill: BP 'did not sacrifice safety to save money'