Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe PIG CITY An exhibition at the Yale School of Architecture introduces the work of a Dutch firm, MVRDV, that uses the compactness of the Netherlands as a source of inspiration, The New York Times reports. Advertisement On exhibit is Pig City, a government-supported proposal that addresses issues of overcrowding, urban density and ecological imperatives. Ham is big business in the Netherlands and there now are as many pigs as people -- about 15 million -- so the design question is where to put them. MVRDV imagines that with no restraints, pork production ultimately could occupy as much as 80 percent of the country. The architects' solution is 40-story towers that would include pigpens with balconies providing sunlight, ceilings rigged with self-serve straw bales, slaughterhouses and hydroponic feed farms. ONE MILLION KIDS DIE FROM INJURIES How safe are our kids? Not as safe as we might think. Unintentional and preventable injuries take the lives of 1 million children worldwide each year. While injuries to U.S. kids are down nearly 40 percent, children in developing nations are very much at risk. "In developing countries, where 98 percent of injury deaths occur, children are five times more likely to die from an injury by the age of 15 than those in developed nations," Dr. Martin Eichelberger, founder of Safe Kids Worldwide, says in a statement. Advertisement Safe Kids Worldwide is a global effort to focus solely on preventable childhood injuries like traffic accidents, drowning, poison, fires and burns. BUYING ART ONLINE According to the fall (premiere) issue of Living Room, for the price of an armchair people can own original works of art, or at least a very nice armchair. Robert Goff and Cassie Rosenthal thought art collecting should be more fun and less sticker shock so they set up the Web site RedDotArt.com that shows featured art on the Net -- but they also have a brick and mortar location in Manhattan. Web surfer can pick up pieces from new masters such as Robert Mapplethorpe, Frank Stella and Robert Motherwell for less than $5,000. 'OPRAH' SHOW IN A CLOSET The elevator commute to the office used to offer precious moments of silence or maybe Muzak. But forget that, the ride up is now another chance to be chased by a news crawl, a jumpy stock market, the weather and sports, according to The Los Angeles Times. Giving new meaning to "captive audience," a Massachusetts company is determined to implant tiny video screens in every upscale office building in Manhattan and beyond. Advertisement The "24-hour elevator media network" hopes to capitalize on high earners in skyscrapers who spend six minutes a day -- or 26 hours a year -- alone in elevators. In a Manhattan elevator recently, a headline flashed that the Mets had canned their controversial manager, Bobby Valentine. Suddenly, everyone was sharing emotions. It was like an "Oprah" show -- in a closet, according to The Times.
