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The Wiki Man

Why plane crashes are getting weirder – and if we’re lucky, other problems will too

As the obvious fixes are found, we discover less and less likely ways that things can go wrong

11 April 2015

9:00 AM

11 April 2015

9:00 AM

In the late 1980s, the parks service in the United States were concerned about the deterioration of the stonework on the Lincoln Memorial. So they asked the maintenance staff why the stone was decaying.

The crew explained that they used high-power sprays every fortnight to clean the masonry. The water penetrated cracks and joins, weakening the stone.

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Rory Sutherland is vice-chairman of Ogilvy Group UK.

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