Flowers, gift vouchers, jewellery - all three are standard gifts for Mother's Day, but one which never fails to impress is a box of hand-made chocolates.
Three astronomers made an extraordinary discovery earlier this month. They found seven more moons around Jupiter. This is the stuff of starry-eyed dreams for astronomers. Many spend their entire stargazing careers wishing for this sort of breakthrough.
If a room full of children appeals as a workplace, nursery work is for you. Like teachers, nursery workers try to help children realise their potential. They deal with the first faltering steps a child takes in writing and reading.
Denise Leigh and Jane Gilchrist have just had the chance of a lifetime. Last Saturday, as joint winners of Channel 4's docu-competition Operatunity , the two thirtysomething mothers got to sing leads with the English National Opera. As the curtain fell, everyone beamed.
Forget Miss Marple, Bergerac and Columbo and their minimal use of 'the boys at the lab'. Today's detectives are more along the lines of Dangerfield, Amanda Burton in Silent Witness or 'Gruesome' Grissom in Channel 5's American show CSI: Crime Scene Investigation .
Most people have no idea what an actuary does. Outside the worlds of business and finance, the profession is shrouded in mystery. Where there is a perception of the actuarial profession, it is of groups of bespectacled men huddled over calculators, mumbling about death rates and future economic activity.
Iif Valentine's Day doesn't quite meet your expectations, don't worry. Ann Summers, the purveyor of female sex accessories, insists it's still possible to get that 'Valentine's Day Buzz'. They sell it at £22.95 (batteries not included).
Swimming with dolphins every day, deep-sea diving and boat trips. Who wouldn't want to be a marine biologist and live the holiday lifestyle all the time?
A non-executive director is employed largely to offer strategic, specific and objective advice at board meetings. In the light of recent corporate scandals and collapses, this part-time job has lost some of its cachet. But the Government, the City and the regulators - all of us - rely on this band of senior freelancers to keep companies focused, profitable and, crucially, honest.
Full-time staff work in shifts, as many hostels are open 24 hours. The job can include booking residents in, assessing them for treatment, employment or resettlement, and advising on welfare rights. They also have to plan activities, respond to incidents, and provide a listening ear to residents with difficulties.
It's one of those jobs people are always curious about. We secretly wonder what they actually do with their patients. And, even more interesting, what do they get up to with their own partners? Apparently, the answers are a lot less racy than many of us imagine.
