The "And in other news..." thread

[Ediswan]

BBC News - Climate change: 'Sand battery' could solve green energy's big problem

We also now have the 'Water battery': https://www.autoevolution.com/news/...er-battery-after-14-years-of-work-192894.html

Spoiler - it is pumped storage. A big installation, and no doubt very useful, but not new technology. About twice the capacity of Dinorwig if I read correctly (20 GWh vs 9.1 GWh).

 

[Baxenden Bank]

We also now have the 'Water battery': https://www.autoevolution.com/news/...er-battery-after-14-years-of-work-192894.html

Spoiler - it is pumped storage. A big installation, and no doubt very useful, but not new technology. About twice the capacity of Dinorwig if I read correctly (20 GWh vs 9.1 GWh).

And, like Economy 7 domestic tariffs, pumped storage is built around the assumption of coal burners running most efficiently when 24/7 so the greater cost of pumping water uphill (but overnight) than is generated in the downhill direction makes it worthwhile. Without coal burners the argument must be less strong, save for the ability to generate very quickly from standstill when the TV adverts come on (strictly speaking the turbines start spinning in air before the water arrives rather than standstill).

I guess the same principle can be applied to pumping water uphill when wind turbines or solar generate more energy than is needed at that point in time.

 

[Ediswan]

I guess the same principle can be applied to pumping water uphill when wind turbines or solar generate more energy than is needed at that point in time.

That is the declared reason for the new Swiss system.

Slartibartfast is still waiting for us to figure out what fjords are for.

 

[najaB]

That's quite an interesting idea. You could pretty much build one yourself!

The main issue is that it's good for storing heat, not so good for storing electricity.

I guess the same principle can be applied to pumping water uphill when wind turbines or solar generate more energy than is needed at that point in time.

That's exactly the idea!

 

[341o2]

That is the declared reason for the new Swiss system.

Slartibartfast is still waiting for us to figure out what fjords are for.

A Fjord is a Scandanavian motor car

 

[Lost property]

A hitherto unannounced amendment to the RTA...

Driver filmed mounting pavement to avoid red light

The BMW is recorded on a dashcam in Southampton on the path next to a school.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[brad465]

This is commitment:

Llanelli woman jailed for taking 150 driving tests for others

Police say Inderjeet Kaur's offences put people at risk and were motivated by greed.

www.bbc.co.uk

A woman who took about 150 theory and practical tests for other drivers has been jailed for eight months.
Inderjeet Kaur, 29, of Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, admitted taking the tests between 2018 and 2020.
Police said she was taking tests for people who had difficulty with English.
Swansea Crown Court heard suspicion grew at test centres that Kaur was impersonating other people and the police were tipped off.
Kaur took the tests in Swansea, Carmarthen, Birmingham and London.
Det Ch Insp Steven Maloney said Kaur's crimes were motivated by greed.
"Frauds such as these pose significant risks to the general public," he said.

Caroline Hicks of the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency said fraudulently-gained test passes could be cancelled.
She added: "Driving and theory tests exist to help ensure people have the correct knowledge, skills and attitude to drive on our roads. Circumventing the tests puts lives in danger."

 

[MotCO]

This is commitment:

Llanelli woman jailed for taking 150 driving tests for others

Police say Inderjeet Kaur's offences put people at risk and were motivated by greed.

www.bbc.co.uk

Would they be able to identify the drivers for whom she took the test, so that their fraudulently obtained licences could be taken away?

 

[High Dyke]

BBC News - Escaped peacocks rounded up by Lincolnshire Police

Escaped peacocks rounded up by Lincolnshire Police

Lincolnshire Police said 10 birds were on the loose near Deeping St Nicholas in the early hours.

www.bbc.co.uk

A group of peacocks have been strutting on a Lincolnshire street after escaping from a nearby farm.
Lincolnshire Police said 10 birds were on the loose in the A1175 at Hop Pole, near Deeping St Nicholas, at about 05:30 BST on Friday.

Strutting yer stuff on the highway isn't always the best idea.

 

[najaB]

Strutting yer stuff on the highway isn't always the best idea.

Isn't that the basis of the worlds senior profession?

 

[High Dyke]

Isn't that the basis of the worlds senior profession?

Meanwhile: BBC News - India: Police rumble fake 'IPL' cricket league

India: How a fake 'IPL' cricket league ran for Russian punters

Police say a gang set up a fake version of the Indian Premier League and fooled Russian gamblers.

www.bbc.co.uk

Police in India have arrested a group of conmen who set up a fake version of cricket's Indian Premier League (IPL) and fooled gamblers in Russia.

Punters parted with more than 300,000 rupees (almost $4,000), police said.

The conmen staged the match on a farm in Gujarat, paying labourers to pose as players, sporting jerseys of real IPL teams, with a bogus umpire instructed to signal a boundary or wicket.

 

[najaB]

Problem-plagued U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker has presented an astounding argument for not enacting laws against air pollution: America’s “good air” will simply “decide” to go to China, he told supporters in Georgia.
...

“Since we don’t control the air, our good air decided to float over to China’s bad air, so when China gets our good air, their bad air got to move,” Walker explained. “So it moves over to our good air space. Then now we got to clean that back up,” he added.

Link: https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/gop-senate-candidate-herschel-walker-003940817.html

 

[birchesgreen]

Meanwhile: BBC News - India: Police rumble fake 'IPL' cricket league

India: How a fake 'IPL' cricket league ran for Russian punters

Police say a gang set up a fake version of the Indian Premier League and fooled Russian gamblers.

www.bbc.co.uk

Not the first time a fake league has been set up, i remember a similar story a few years ago.

 

[pdeaves]

Link: https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/gop-senate-candidate-herschel-walker-003940817.html

Wow. How deep into denial can one get?

 

[ABB125]

BBC News - Tobias Ellwood suspended as Tory MP after missing confidence vote

Tobias Ellwood suspended as Tory MP after missing confidence vote

Tobias Ellwood says he is sorry to lose the party whip, but argues he was away on a foreign trip.

www.bbc.co.uk

Nothing particularly remarkable about this article. However, they have (at the time of writing) managed to change Penny Mordaunt's gender in adjacent paragraphs...

 

[GusB]

BBC News - Tobias Ellwood suspended as Tory MP after missing confidence vote

Tobias Ellwood suspended as Tory MP after missing confidence vote

Tobias Ellwood says he is sorry to lose the party whip, but argues he was away on a foreign trip.

www.bbc.co.uk

Nothing particularly remarkable about this article. However, they have (at the time of writing) managed to change Penny Mordaunt's gender in adjacent paragraphs...
View attachment 117925

There's no problem with that - she ought to be able to self-identify... Oh, wait

 

[brad465]

Not for the faint hearted:

Peckham woman lay undiscovered in flat for two years, inquest told

Sheila Seleoane, 58, had to be identified by dental records as her body had decomposed.

www.bbc.co.uk

The body of a woman lay undiscovered for two-and-a-half years in her south-east London home despite repeated calls by residents, an inquest heard.
Sheila Seleoane, 58, had to be identified by dental records after she was found in the living room of her flat in Peckham in February.
The inquest was told there had been numerous missed opportunities by both her landlord and the police.
Housing association Peabody has apologised for what happened.
Ms Seleoane was last seen alive during a GP visit in August 2019.
A post-mortem found the cause of her death was unascertained due to the advanced state of decomposition of Ms Seleoane's body.
However, she suffered from Crohn's disease and bowel inflammation, London Inner South Coroner's Court heard.

The inquest was told residents had repeatedly contacted the housing association and police about Ms Seleoane.
She had not paid rent since August 2019 but landlord Peabody cut off her gas supply in June 2020, three months after applying for universal credit to cover her rent.
There were also two police visits to Lord's Court within a week in October 2020, where officers were unable to make contact with the resident.
However, a miscommunication by a Met Police controller mistakenly concluded that Ms Seleoane had been seen alive and well - and this was passed on to Peabody.
That controller retired from the Met last year, but would have been recommended for possible disciplinary action, Det Ch Insp Amanda Mawhinney told the inquest.

 

[High Dyke]

Is this the apocalypse?

Eerie glow in sky confuses Australian town and outs cannabis farm

Though soon proven not to be supernatural, the light in the sky did reveal a secret.

www.bbc.co.uk

When a pink glow lit up the evening sky above an Australian town on Wednesday, local woman Tammy Szumowski wondered if the apocalypse had arrived.

Medicinal cannabis was legalised in Australia in 2016, but recreational use of the drug is banned.

Few growing facilities exist and their locations are top secret for security reasons - but the cat's out of the bag for this farm.

 

[PG]

Not for the faint hearted:

Peckham woman lay undiscovered in flat for two years, inquest told

Sheila Seleoane, 58, had to be identified by dental records as her body had decomposed.

www.bbc.co.uk

I might be reading that wrongly but, to me one scenario is that lack of a gas supply could well have contributed to her death. Peabody should hang their heads in shame...

 

[Baxenden Bank]

I might be reading that wrongly but, to me one scenario is that lack of a gas supply could well have contributed to her death. Peabody should hang their heads in shame...

COVID lockdowns may play a part here, preventing home visits.

GP visit August 2019.
No rent paid since August 2019.
Maggots in another flat late summer 2019.
Foul stench September 2019.
Universal credit applied for by landlord in March 2020.
Gas cut off (by landlord) June 2020.
Police visit x 2 in October 2020.
February 2022 - body found.

Neighbours always have a part to play - even if the lady was a recluse it's pretty obvious if your neighbour is up and about - curtains opening and closing, noise moving about or listening to TV/radio, going to and from the shops or having deliveries and so on. This is a block of flats rather than a detached house. The only reason for complete silence would be the person having 'moved out' (living elsewhere, hospital, prison) or being dead. The report mentions that the neighbours did raise concerns but got nowhere.

The landlord has a part to play rather than simply accepting rent direct from the benefits system. Not sure how Peabody can apply on the tenants behalf without some kind of input from the tenant themselves. Or failing that some checks be undertaken by the council / DWP (whoever processes / investigates / pays 'housing benefit' nowadays) to see why the tenant isn't applying themselves.

The other utility companies presumably weren't being paid, unless that was bundled in with the rent. At the minimum there would be water and electricity.

The fact that the police visited and 'wrongly recorded' the status of the individual as having been seen is concerning, but that person retired from the force, so no worries, no need to improve processes or anything.

It is sad that we live in a society where people can fall through the gaps in such a way. I don't want to live in a society where I get daily visits from, or remote monitoring by, 'officialdom' to check on my status but there must be a middle ground.

 

[najaB]

COVID lockdowns may play a part here, preventing home visits

She was likely long dead by the time lockdowns started.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

She was likely long dead by the time lockdowns started.

Indeed. Maggots, flies and strong smells are the usual pointers. I guess the only mitigating factor is that the flat is on an upper floor so no-one can easily, casually, look through a window. Determined by photographs accompanying the story. As an aside the full name and address can be determined from the photo on the BBC news story, which seems wrong to me. Some pixellation required?

If the windows were externally cleaned by a contractor on an at least annual basis....

Other triggers:
Annual electoral role return missed in 2019, 2020 and 2021 despite it being a legal requirement to complete.
Census not completed in 2021 despite it being a legal requirement to complete.
Annual gas safety check possibly missed between August 2019 and June 2020.
Annual GP health check / regular review of medications / repeat prescriptions not confirmed or collected.
Annual / regular checks for 'housing benefit' fraud.
Annual / regular checks for 'single person discount' on council tax.

Postal workers also perform a useful role here, especially if the build up is substantial to the point that the external box is overflowing.

None of the above would be useful in saving the life of a person but would aid quicker identification and resolution.

Perhaps Peabody should be required to pay back the 'housing benefit' wrongfully claimed from at least March 2020, that would make it cost effective to visit tenants on a regular basis. Again constant visits from a landlord could be seen as unnecessary interference but an annual in person contact seems good practice - how are things going, any maintenance or other issues to report type visit. A recluse tenant can always open the door, or shout through, everything is fine thanks, see you in 12 months.

 

[Ediswan]

I might be reading that wrongly but, to me one scenario is that lack of a gas supply could well have contributed to her death. Peabody should hang their heads in shame...

Found dead in February 2022. Died at least two years earlier, February 2020. Gas not cut off until June 2020.

 

[PG]

Found dead in February 2022. Died at least two years earlier, February 2020. Gas not cut off until June 2020.

While in this specific case the lack of gas supply is unlikely to have been a causal factor it could well be in slightly different circumstances, e.g. Gas being cut off in September and a still alive but unwell tenant deteriorating further through cold.

Regarding this specific case it is concerning that the landlord sought to cut off the gas 3 months before any police visit - to my mind the latter should have preceded the former.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

There is a slightly revised version of the story today, which includes:

It only made one "proactive attempt" to contact the tenant and cut off her gas.

One neighbour said: "How embarrassing - 89 attempts yet they closed the case based on the police saying they spoke to her but somehow they couldn't.

So it isn't exactly clear. 89 attempts seems a lot to get nowhere, but the article also states only one pro-active attempt. Perhaps there were lots of unanswered telephone calls or unreplied letters?

Peckham flat death: Peabody sorry for not spotting dead woman

A housing group that did not realise one of its residents had been dead for two and a half years has apologised.
Sheila Seleoane, 58, was found in her Peckham flat in February and had to be identified by dental records.
Residents repeatedly told Peabody of a foul stench and maggots in summer 2019. It only made one "proactive attempt" to contact the tenant and cut off her gas.
"We weren't asking the fundamental question: is Sheila OK?" Peabody's chief executive Ian McDermott admitted.
He said: "We've apologised to the family. We're deeply sorry for what happened.
"The biggest apology though I think does go to the residents of Lord's Court. They did tell us that something was wrong."
Miss Seleoane's last known contact was with her GP in August 2019, the same month she stopped paying rent at her south-east London flat.
Landlord Peabody cut off her gas supply in June 2020, three months after applying for Universal Credit to cover her rent when the first lockdown started.
Peabody has not yet paid this money back but says it will.
A post-mortem examination found the cause of her death was unascertained due to the advanced state of decomposition of Ms Seleoane's body.
However, she had Crohn's disease and bowel inflammation.
An inquest on Thursday found there had been numerous missed opportunities by both Peabody and the police.
Delivering an open verdict, coroner Dr Julian Morris said: "Any death is sad. To lie undetected for in all likelihood over two years is difficult to fathom in 2022."
There were two police visits to Lord's Court within a week in October 2020, one at the request of residents and another at the request of Peabody.
Officers were unable to make contact with Miss Seleoane.
However, a miscommunication by a Met Police controller led to the mistaken conclusion that Ms Seleoane had been seen alive and well and this was the information that was passed on to Peabody.
Mr McDermott said: "We asked the police to get involved, they called in and and reassured us that Sheila was alive.
"Clearly that wasn't the case. We should have spotted those signs earlier."
In response, the Met Police said in October 2020 a Peabody representative contacted the force to ask if Ms Seleoane was safe and well and the Met said it "mistakenly informed" the housing body she was.
A spokeswoman added: "This response was based on information held on MPS (Metropolitan Police Service) systems as to the outcome of officer attendance that day.
"The staff member who documented that incorrect information no longer works for the MPS, but had they still been employed they would have been referred to Professional Standards for unsatisfactory performance.
"We sincerely apologise for the error and for any distress that it caused to the family of Ms Seleoane."

'So many unanswered questions'​

Ms Seleoane's body was found in February by police officers who forced entry after residents heard her balcony door swinging open following Storm Eunice.
Her skeletal remains were discovered lying in the recovery position. She had been wearing blue pyjamas and a white top, while there was "a brown substance around her body which must be a product of decomposition", police said.
Residents have told the BBC their concerns were not taken seriously and they have "so many unanswered questions".
One neighbour said: "How embarrassing - 89 attempts yet they closed the case based on the police saying they spoke to her but somehow they couldn't.
"My thoughts are the same as the residents, really. It's all words until we see the action and they have yet to demonstrate how 'sorry' they are.
"The main thing is we don't want anyone to have to go through what Sheila and us as residents went through. No human being deserves to be treated like that."

 

[yorksrob]

Indeed. Maggots, flies and strong smells are the usual pointers. I guess the only mitigating factor is that the flat is on an upper floor so no-one can easily, casually, look through a window. Determined by photographs accompanying the story. As an aside the full name and address can be determined from the photo on the BBC news story, which seems wrong to me. Some pixellation required?

If the windows were externally cleaned by a contractor on an at least annual basis....

Other triggers:
Annual electoral role return missed in 2019, 2020 and 2021 despite it being a legal requirement to complete.
Census not completed in 2021 despite it being a legal requirement to complete.
Annual gas safety check possibly missed between August 2019 and June 2020.
Annual GP health check / regular review of medications / repeat prescriptions not confirmed or collected.
Annual / regular checks for 'housing benefit' fraud.
Annual / regular checks for 'single person discount' on council tax.

Postal workers also perform a useful role here, especially if the build up is substantial to the point that the external box is overflowing.

None of the above would be useful in saving the life of a person but would aid quicker identification and resolution.

Perhaps Peabody should be required to pay back the 'housing benefit' wrongfully claimed from at least March 2020, that would make it cost effective to visit tenants on a regular basis. Again constant visits from a landlord could be seen as unnecessary interference but an annual in person contact seems good practice - how are things going, any maintenance or other issues to report type visit. A recluse tenant can always open the door, or shout through, everything is fine thanks, see you in 12 months.

Hi i would have thought that a social landlord would have a policy to inspect the property on a regular basis (at least once a year, say).

 

[High Dyke]

What are the chances?

Plane crashes near lifeguard competition; pilot rescued

A small plane towing a banner crashed in the ocean during a lifeguard competition that turned into a real-life rescue along Southern California’s popular Huntington Beach

www.sandiegouniontribune.com

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. —
A small plane towing a banner crashed in the ocean Friday during a lifeguard competition that turned into a real-life rescue along Southern California’s popular Huntington Beach.

Corinne Baginski was at the beach for her 17-year-old daughter’s races in the junior lifeguarding division around 1:30 p.m. when she heard the sound of the aircraft slamming into the water. She instinctively turned to the tent where the teens were waiting for the next event to begin as part of the 2022 California Surf Lifesaving Association Junior Lifeguard Championship.

“I heard a thump and then I looked at the tent and I see all the kids turning and running,” she said.

Like well-trained lifesavers, they ran towards the crash. The young lifeguards were told to stay on the beach, while the professionals quickly paddled out to the single-engine Piper Cub that floated on its wings.

The pilot appeared to emerge from the plane on his own and was sitting atop it floating when the lifeguards reached him, she said.

He was later seen sitting on the back of a lifeguard pickup truck on the beach with a neck brace.

 

[brad465]

What are the chances?

Plane crashes near lifeguard competition; pilot rescued

A small plane towing a banner crashed in the ocean during a lifeguard competition that turned into a real-life rescue along Southern California’s popular Huntington Beach

www.sandiegouniontribune.com

David Mitchell once joked about the whistle on life jackets being pointless because the coastguard wouldn't be able to hear it, looks like that aged well.

 

[High Dyke]

David Mitchell once joked about the whistle on life jackets being pointless because the coastguard wouldn't be able to hear it, looks like that aged well.

I seem to recall Dave Allen also relating a story about plane crashes; that's even older.

 

[najaB]

Played by humans, chess is a game of strategic thinking, calm concentration and patient intellectual endeavour. Violence does not usually come into it. The same, it seems, cannot always be said of machines.

Last week, according to Russian media outlets, a chess-playing robot, apparently unsettled by the quick responses of a seven-year-old boy, unceremoniously grabbed and broke his finger during a match at the Moscow Open.

“The robot broke the child’s finger,” Sergey Lazarev, president of the Moscow Chess Federation, told the TASS news agency after the incident, adding that the machine had played many previous exhibitions without upset. “This is of course bad.”

Video of the 19 July incident published by the Baza Telegram channel shows the boy’s finger being pinched by the robotic arm for several seconds before a woman followed by three men rush in, free him and usher him away.

Chess robot grabs and breaks finger of seven-year-old opponent

Moscow incident occurred because child ‘violated’ safety rules by taking turn too quickly, says official

www.theguardian.com

Is this how the rise of the machines begins...?