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British Scrabble to allow proper nouns

LONDON, April 7 (UPI) -- The company that owns the British rights to the 62-year-old board game Scrabble said a new version set for release will allow players to use proper nouns.

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Mattel said the new version, which will only be available in Britain, will allow players to score points by spelling proper nouns, including names of people and brand names, the New York Daily News reported Wednesday.

The toy company said the original version of the game will still be available alongside the update in stores.

"We are launching a new edition of Scrabble in the U.K. later this year which builds on the rules of the classic game to introduce a new dimension to the play format," a Mattel representative said. "One of the new twists being introduced does include an opportunity for players to play a proper noun."

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Hasbro, which controls the rights to Scrabble in the United States, has given no word on whether it has plans for a similar move.


Couple found baby on snowmobile trail

AMMARNAS, Sweden, April 7 (UPI) -- A Swedish couple said they nearly ran over a 6-month-old baby while snowmobiling in the north of the country.

Christian Karlsson, 19, and Nathalie Kyrk, 17, said they stopped the snowmobile Tuesday on a trail near Ammarnas to investigate the object on the trail ahead, Swedish news agency TT reported Wednesday.

"At first we didn't realize what it was lying there. We thought it was a doll. It was sleeping and murmured a little when we picked it up, but then it fell asleep again," Karlsson said.

The couple said they soon encounter two men on skis pulling sleds, one containing two children and the other empty.

"We drove up to them and asked if it was their child. One of the men confirmed that it was his and then added: 'I thought it had gone a bit quiet back here,'" Karlsson said.

The pair said they were shocked by the man's response to losing the baby on the trail.

"If we had been traveling at a slightly higher speed we would have driven straight over the child," Kyrk said.

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Housework slowing female scientists?

STANFORD, Calif., April 7 (UPI) -- California researchers said Wednesday's "No Housework Day" should also be a day to examine the impact of housework on potential female scientists.

The Clayman Institute for Gender Research at Stanford University said No Housework Day, a day encouraging U.S. residents to put off their chores and relax, should also be an opportunity to examine "the detrimental role (housework) plays in draining America's scientific resources."

Londa Schiebinger, Hinds Professor of History of Science and Director of the Clayman Institute, said in a Jan. 19 paper her research involving 1,222 tenured and tenure-track faculty respondents in the natural sciences found female scientists in long-term relationships performed 54 percent of their home's housework, while male scientists performed only 28 percent.

Schiebinger suggested extra employment benefits could help offset the extra time spent on housework by female scientists.

The director held a panel Wednesday featuring experts from human resources, the housecleaning industry and medical research to discuss the proposal.

"This work needs to be lifted out of the private sphere of the family and put on to the national grid," Schiebinger said.


150-pound dino sculpture stolen from yard

MIDLOTHIAN, Ill., April 7 (UPI) -- A suburban Chicago couple said thieves stole a 6-foot-long, 150-pound steel sculpture of a dinosaur from their front yard.

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Gary and Cathy Crawford said they discovered the 3-foot-tall velociraptor had been knocked off its concrete base in their Midlothian yard Friday morning and they put in back in place, only for the item to be stolen later Friday night, the Chicago Tribune reported Wednesday.

The couple said police have been notified but they will not file criminal charges if the sculpture, which Gary Crawford created 12 years ago, is returned. They said their biggest fear is that the thieves will sell the dinosaur for scrap metal.

"It should be displayed where people can see and appreciate it," Cathy Crawford said. "It's not worth more than $10 or $15 if someone decides to sell it for scrap metal."

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