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Need a 10-minute break? Step into the Reading Room…

Ferguson and Facebook, eating meat, and the Ice Bucket Challenge.

LOOKING FOR SOME articles and videos to help break up the afternoon, but only have 10 minutes to spare?

Try these nuggets for size – all take 10 minutes or less to enjoy.

1. Can eating meat be eco-friendly?

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That’s the question posed by Dr Michael Mosley in this BBC article. One for the omnivores and the veggies. [BBC - 6 mins]

Roughly 30% of the crops we grow are fed to animals. The latest UN Food and Agriculture Organisation reports suggest livestock are responsible for 14.5% of man-made greenhouse gas emissions – the same amount produced by all the world’s cars, planes, boats and trains.If that wasn’t scary enough, meat consumption is predicted to double in the next 40 years as people globally get wealthier. So how will the world cope?

2. Ferguson and Facebook

Police Shooting MissouriSource: AP/Press Association Images

It's not difficult to find information about the unrest in Ferguson on Twitter - but why is it so difficult to see it on Facebook? Is it a conspiracy, due to an algorithm, or something totally unexpected? [Buzzfeed -6 mins]

Meanwhile, this John Oliver video about Ferguson has been very thought-provoking (it's 15 minutes long but worth it):

LastWeekTonight / YouTube

3. Life advice from literature

“You just hold your head high and keep those fists down. No matter what anyone says to you, don’t let ‘em get your goat. Try fighting with your head for a change…it’s a good one, even if it does resist learning.” — Atticus Finch (To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee)

If you're looking for some helpful advice about this troubling state we call 'life', you might find it in a great book. Here are some examples.  [Flavourwire - 7 mins]

4. Ice Bucket Challenge

JimmyStumblePants / YouTube

By now you'll have seen the plethora of Ice Bucket Challenge articles all over the place. But did you know about the essentials dos and don'ts? Let us fill you in. [DailyEdge.ie - 10 mins]

5. Barbara the bricklayer

female bricklayer

in 1973, 21-year-old Barbara Moore was the only female bricklayer in Baltimore. After more than 40 years in the job she's worked on a number of landmarks, and here she talks about how she beat the doubters. [NPR - 5 mins]

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