Twitter gone crazy

People are going Twitter crazy! Over the last few weeks I’ve heard it mentioned on the return of Jonathan Ross show, almost daily in the Metro newspaper, being used in the courtroom, by politicians, fake twitter accounts for various famous celebs… even the Dalai lama was not spared! lol. I joined Twitter back in 2007, mostly just to keep in touch with my family members. I don’t regularly update my account but I do like reading about what everyone else in my family is up to… my family plus Stephen Fry for some strange reason :)

So I guess this micro-blogging service has really taken off. People do really want to know what we had for breakfast this morning! Ok so I’m being sarcastic but honestly I do think it is actually a neat little service and I really like it. I guess the development in technology and services like Twitter seem to bring out the reporter in people with many news events being covered by everyday people and it allows the collection of data in one go-to site. For example the landing of the jet in Hudson River or the snow spell that recently took place in the UK; people were twittering pictures of such events back and forth.

But sometimes things can spiral out of control - people inventing solutions to problems that weren’t really there to begin with. Something that caught my eye in the paper today was the introduction of a twitter service that tells you when you need to water your plants via a sensor placed in the plant pot. It detects changes in moisture and then via twitter sends you a message to say that your plant is gasping for a drink. OK that’s fine, people are busy I accept that… but to charge $99.99 for such a service is ridiculous, we’re going through economic issues as it is! So quite useful or utterly useless – you decide.

In all honesty, Twitter does get a lot of flak in the news, being ridiculed on a regular basis. So later this week Twitter will try to prove its’ worth. Twestival as it is being called takes place on 12th Feb. Twitters in nearly 200 cites will come together to raise £700,000 for charity and have a good party while they’re at it. Sounds like a plan, lol. Hope it all goes well and I’m sure they’ll all be twittering like crazy on the night to keep us informed ;)

Gritting – where does it all go?

For the past week or so, the unexpected snowfall has been the major talking point in the news. However this has now been taken over by the news that stockpiles of grit/salt are running dangerously low, something that could bring certain roads in Britain to a standstill. Who knew salt stocks would become such an issue in Britain? Looking back salt has always played an important part in our lives. Many years ago salt was used as a preservative for foodstuffs but over time we’ve been educated in the dangers of excessive salt consumption. Increased levels of salt can lead to illnesses such as hypertension, ulcers, osteoporosis and even death. With the recommended daily allowance (RDA) set at 6g per day, recent government initiatives have been aimed at reducing our salt consumption via the use of Sid the slug and so forth. So would it not be fair to assume that excessive levels of salt would also have a detrimental effect on our countryside and wildlife?

When grit is spread over icy roads, the salt dissolves the ice to form salt water (brine) that is a mixture of sodium and chloride ions.

This brine then flows from the roads into the countryside. As well as seeping into the land, passing vehicles can throw brine up into the air allowing it to become airborne and spreading over a larger area. The gritting trucks themselves scatter the salt with great force which causes the substance to bounce off the road surfaces into adjacent areas. These chloride ions can move through the environment and are resistant to natural decomposition, which can cause upset in the natural balance of things.

With the Romans, once they conquered a city they would often plough the fields with salt so that nothing could be grown. High levels of chloride in the soil can alter pH levels, which may kill micro-organisms and change the structure of the soil. This coupled with increased levels of heavy metal pollutants means that the soil is unable to support growth. In plants themselves, chloride ions can prevent absorption of water and nutrients causing dehydration which eventually leads to the plants dying.

Like humans, wildlife is also affected by salt. Wildlife such as rabbits and so forth are attracted to the roadside pools of salt water and are often killed by passing vehicles. Those that aren’t killed outright are poisoned to death by extreme salt levels. It has been found that some birds are left in a haze which affects their reactions times, again leading to their death. Certain amphibians have permeable skin and so the influx of salt can cause changes in the homeostatic levels within their systems. Going back to Sid the slug, we all know what happens when he is exposed to salt. It has also been shown high levels of salt can kill frog spawn and newt eggs and changes in their breading areas can also cause problems.

Finally coming back to humans again, high salt levels can cause pipe corrosion which can release toxic metals such as lead into our already saltier drinking water. Looks quite bleak all around! I’m not saying we should stopping gritting the roads as that would be chaos – something that we’ve already seen this week. Alternatively, I could also just be making things up – a few equations and plausible science can be quite convincing, lol. But it does make you wonder where all that salt does go.

Britain can’t cope with snow?!

My snow covered garden

Yes shocking I know. A country commonly associated rather gloomy weather (where snow is seen as a given…) discovers that it can’t actually deal with consistent snowfall. To be fair, over the past decade or so, we’ve not had much snow – probably due to global warming – and so we’ve not really thought about it much. Therefore as snow started following on Sunday 2nd February, we just assumed that there wouldn’t be much. Roll around Monday morning and everyone was taken aback.

Now usually it’s the north that gets the worst of it, but this time it was the south of the UK that got taken by surprise. The roads were not gritted and blocked by numerous car accidents, people couldn’t get to work due to lack of public transport, flights were delayed from most London airports, schools were shut and so parents stayed home… basically it was chaos! For the first time ever, public transport in London came to a standstill. As the week has progressed, we’ve found ourselves facing depleted stocks of grit for our roads further adding to our transportation problems. Experts reckon that with all the people being off work, it has had an adverse effect on our economy, whilst hospital A&E departments are struggling to keep with increased numbers of patients – mostly being told to rest and drink plenty fluids. The snow is expected to stay until next Monday, but I’m guessing that the novelty of snow will soon wear off for most people.

On bright side, due to the weather Dad took the day off work, Billy’s school was closed, I was off from uni and mum did her usual cooking/ baking thing… all my family were at home together :) We played in the snow till our hearts were content, Bilal and I building an army of snowmen, which looked rather sinister in the dark, lol. It must be the child within me, but I do actually like snow and by that I mean proper snow, not the horrible slushy grey stuff that we usually get. It has this amazing ability to cover everything in sight making it seem clean and bright. Even the ugliest thing when covered with a blanket of snow makes everything seem so much prettier. Just thought I’d share some pictures of my snow - man/woman/people? building attempts… I have to say they are rather erm… unique, lol.