Astronomers can most successfully study the planet Mars when it is at perihelion, the point in its orbit at which it is closest to the sun. This occurs every fifteen or seventeen years. A newspaper story told of the suburban residents of Johannesburg, South Africa, who keep geese instead of watchdogs. An act that stirs up discontent against government authority is called sedition. Sedition is conduct that tends towards treason but that cannot be called treason, for it involves no overt act to harm the government.
Many countries have laws against sedition, laws that are unpopular except in wartime.
It is sometimes said that the hand is the partner of the brain in making human life different from that of other earthly creatures. The skin of the hand is very elastic and very sensitive. The hands are very sensitive to cold, and they are highly vulnerable to injury. Injuries to wrists, hands, and fingers account for almost half of the total casualties in industrial accidents. The thumb is the most important finger.