They estimate that at least a third of the planet's mass is diamond - the equivalent of three times Earth's mass.

BBC: Oddballs: The strange worlds beyond our Solar System

Instead, these giants may simply have dumped all their contents back into space, dispersing heavy elements like iron equivalent to the mass of 10 of our Suns.

BBC: Astronomers detect 'monster star'

The closest equivalent to a DDOS attack in the offline world would be a mass sit-in or a mob milling around a building, making entry and exit impossible.

ECONOMIST: WikiLeaks, protest and the law

In this bastion of mass consumerism, where a meal can easily cost the equivalent of an average day's wages, some parents can be seen watching their children gobble a burger while they eat nothing.

CNN: LITTLE EMPERORS

Some other mass-market brands also have their equivalent, like the Toyota Safety Connect system.

FORBES: Luxury-Car Tech Helped Catch Boston Bombing Suspects; Your Chevy Probably Has It, Too

Mr Snyder's scrupulous and nuanced book steers clear of the sterile, sloganising exchanges about whether Stalin was as bad as Hitler, or whether Soviet mass murder in Ukraine or elsewhere is a moral equivalent of the Nazis' extermination of the Jews.

ECONOMIST: How Stalin and Hitler enabled each other��s crimes

Traders are also doing 7% of their volume in "dark pools, " the electronic equivalent of a back alley where buyers and sellers transact anonymously, according to Tabb Group, a Westborough, Mass. market researcher.

FORBES: About Robert Greifeld