Such scientific findings still catch skeptics by surprise in part because many claims haven't been carefully studied.

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Did the rise of online video viewing catch marketers by surprise?

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The next crisis will catch everyone by surprise.

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Such lawsuits regularly catch defendants by surprise.

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With Christmas right around the corner, the traditional holiday push for stocks could catch a lot of folks by surprise.

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This would catch quite a few of the pros by surprise, as many argue that with the Spyder Trust ( SPY) already up 16.8% for the year, a 19% gain with this economy would be too much.

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If India - with its own important historical association with Africa - was initially taken by surprise by the scale of China's interest in Africa it has been playing catch-up in a major way, too.

BBC: Africa