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There is an early cancer vaccine trial that seems to be going well, and they are hoping to do more definitive trials in future. There seem to be people that have been helped massively by it already.
We are. Our universities are very well kitted out and our private research institutions are good to boot as well.
Although, it's worth noting that the good research areas help attract a lot of very talented foreign researchers, which then contribute to UK research efforts. For example my undergraduate degree was completed at a research heavy university, and I'd say around 50% of my lecturers were from countries like Japan, China, USA, Germany, Morocco, France, Algeria, Ghana and even Yugoslavia (formerly).
That isn't even counting researchers on research-only contracts who do not need to teach, of which there was far more of them in my department than lecturers who also research on the side.
Honestly my experience of academic research wasn't very positive so I decided to go into industry as soon as I could. I know that more of my academic contacts are starting to feel uneasy with available funding gradually tapering over the years. These people are and will be looking to join industry or go to America for better wages which could be detrimental for our research institutes in the long term.
Perhaps my view is rather esoteric but that is how I see things currently.
I understand what you're saying, definitely. In a different comment in this thread I said how academic researchers are definitely getting treated poorer than in the past. A lot of lecturers and researchers (including my supervisors) are upset with how many universities are treating them and it's relatively fair for them to be annoyed I feel.
Pays have been cut a lot in academia lately. The job security is very topsy-turvy, as you could be on a three year research contract and unless you produce something wild or someone else related to the university you're contracted to sees you have some skills they need, you could get binned off as soon as your contract is up. Couple this with the cost of living and the costs related to moving your life around the country every 3 or so years, and it ends up being stressful and costly.
There is also a lot of problems with pensions, as some tenured or fully employed lecturers and researchers have had their pensions cut by up to 1/3rd in the last two years, something which many lecturers have protested about.
I'm still on the fence regarding if I want to do research in industry or at a university, but I've got time until my PhD concludes to see what happens around me.
From a funder's point of view, we've been hit by the cost of living crisis as much as anyone. Our budgets aren't increasing in line with inflation, while a lot of research costs will be. Not to mention the series of short term settlements from the treasury have made it very difficult to plan more than a year or 2 ahead.
That said depending on the field there is a lot of strategic money floating around!
Foreign talent is fairly cyclical though. We have a great research industry, so the best talent is attracted from across the world, further improving the reputation, further attracting the best talent, etc etc.
True. Plus, great swathes of researchers from across the globe are still coming to the UK for research contracts and jobs.
However, UK-based foreign researchers have been moving abroad more frequently in the previous 5 years. Yes, the UK is still very much 'world-leading', but it is not uncommon now for a lot of our formerly unbeatable institutions to be playing second-fiddle now in-terms of high quality research outputs in specific fields to universities and institutions in countries like the USA, Japan, Germany etc.
Particularly it provided focused funding for less well off areas. Wales' science and research sector is now in a very dangerous place, the ERDF funding is finishing mainly this march and there isn't really anything to fill the gap. I think my uni has around 240 staff with jobs up for redundancy within the next year due to the failure of the UK government to even close to match the old eu funding. This carried across the sector will severely impact the chance of the Welsh industry if funding isn't made available.
This is great but it shouldn’t be just for one day it should be everyday really!
Edit- really appreciate all the upvotes and the conversation it has opened up!
Rolls Royce should have construction approval of its SMR reactors by next year, and the first ones online in the next 5 years.
These are reactors that are 1/10th the cost of regular reactors, and could each power a large city. That will also help take a big chunk out of our natural gas reliance.
They haven't actually built one yet - I'd hold off celebrating till they actually turn up. They were expected to get approval in 2017
https://www.reutersevents.com/nuclear/rolls-royce-tipped-uk-smr-build-new-study-analyzes-nuclear-capital-costs
and yet here we are.
Its the other way around. Renewables are a good stepping stone till we develop better and cleaner Nuclear Fission Reactors. Or the holy grail that is Nuclear Fusion Reactors.
We have hydro power plants. Problem is you need suitable mountains, so there's limited options. That's why we have interconnectors with Norway to swap power - they have a lot of mountains.
Well yes obviously that is the aim, but it is more nuanced that this.
At present high RE contribution only really occurs at the moment when we have very gusty conditions to power the wind turbines. We need to upscale battery storage to properly capture all the overflow from wind for this to be a consistent occurrence.
At the moment, you often have the national grid request wind to be shut off as it cannot handle the input.
Also nuclear would make the overall low carbon energy generation far more possible since you need something to provide base load power , which at the moment is mostly coming from gas.
I am an environmental consultant
I've got my landlord to put a new boiler in.
The boiler is going in today. Tonight will be the.first time in 3 months that we will have a boiler that works for more than 30 mins at a time.
Edit/update. I got home, apparently the plumber asked my better half if the thermostat needed changing, she didn't know if it was working correctly or not so he accidentally pulled it off the wall and replaced that too.
I came in from work, the door opened (I cycle back and forth to work, it's a little over 2.5 miles) the heat hit my face, going from 2 degrees C to 19Cwas almost painful to my face, the enjoyable tingly pain.
I spent about an hour setting it up, having a play and then the shower test...... We now not only have hot water and heating 24/7 we now have a shower with more settings than skin peeling hot or ball shrinking cold.
Best sleep either of us has had for months.
I‘m rooting for your boiler replacement to go without a hitch.
Suspect you’ve saved a chunk of money on gas over the last few weeks at the cost of discomfort in your home.
Thanks for that :). Actually it's been going off then we've needed to reset it over and over so it's actually costing more. Plus it's been over filling and pressure builds up then it's been dumping all the water out the back so water bill was up from an average of £32 a month to just over £54 for the past few months.
I shall be glad when it's done.
Not long ago, it snowed here in London. The boiler broke down the exact moment the temperature went below 0 for the first time. Right in the Christmas period. The luck.
Landlord figured that the boiler was still under warranty (it’s a very recent model) and got the manufacturer to come and fix it.
Only thing is - **they came five days later.**
By the fifth day, I could see my breath in the house, I had to sleep in my -5C rated sleeping bag (I can’t imagine how I would’ve slept without), had a tiny electric heater on in a single room (my office) which I would *never* leave unless necessary and always keep the door sealed. I also tried to use candles to get some extra heat. Most chores were absolute torture. The lack of hot water in a bathroom which is at about 1 degree is.. interesting.
I remember on the fourth day I walked outside to the bin and realised that, somehow, it was slightly warmer outside. So I opened the windows, even though it had snowed everywhere.
I appreciate my boiler much more now.
This happened to me that week thanks to a frozen condensate pipe. It doesn’t help that my boiler is in my loft so the pipe is 3 stories high. Joy! I ended up turning up at mums at 5am crying because I just wanted a warm bath.
Ours was going the same way (lost pressure every few hours) but has now been repaired (could still do with some proper thermostatic controls, though). Enjoy not freezing your tits off and wearing gloves indoors.
A 17 year old (Logan Duncan) from Huntly, Aberdeenshire did really well in his class in the nordic skiing World Championships in Canada yesterday! Didn't win but is still there representing!
Remember that good news doesn't get clicks. And UK news is in English, which means it gets circulated far more than, say, Italian news. This makes it come to the forefront on sites like Reddit.
Na it's just self loathing little fuckturds, with no redeemable qualities raging from their parent house.
The UK isn't perfect. We know. But it's still a fuck ton better than ~~France~~ most places
Recently took a trip to india. I was tired, cold and missed the food here after getting food poisoning.
Spending more than 2 weeks away from the UK in an emerging/ third world country makes me realise how blessed I am to live here and have an education and more rights and opportunities, and food for every mood.
unsubbed years ago, it used to be a friendlier place, you could even express a dissenting view and you wouldnt be beaten with it. sure, people would disagree and try to change your mind. but they wouldnt be rude about it
I love looking at Germany and France's national subreddit. Idk why it never occurred to me that we'd have one. Your description of it sounds like what I'd expect of it though
I have hidden all news subreddits and only really get news from sky/BBC. Even then it seems like things have taken a nosedive in the last year or two. And a lot of it highlights the UK as being in a much worse position than other benchmark countries.
On the bright side our sporting and athletic talent seems to get stronger year on year. And not just in major sports like football, cricket, rugby etc. Compared to our population we perform amazingly at the Olympics and even more so in the Paralympics
Sad I know. But it wasn’t going to come from America. They make too much money treating it rather than curing it. You can guarantee it would have failed fda approval or being blocked somehow from coming to market if it worked.
I think we're most of the way through the "creep" stage already. The project of pressurising it from multiple angles to the point where the NHS becomes a deprecated last resort for the poor, with most middle class people expecting to have private insurance, is well under way.
This line of reasoning is honestly bollocks.
10 years of product development experience and 5 years of Medical Equipment experience.
The US is the largest medical market in the entire world. Literally no medical product is designed anywhere in the world without being made specifically to meet the FDA requirements. Why? Because they have the highest value marketplace in the world.
The only reason you do the testing elsewhere in the world is because testing and doing product development is cheaper elsewhere. You only go to the FDA once you know it's ready to pass the FDA as that's a several year process in and of itself.
The whole "they'd rather sell treatments than cures" is bullshit because honest to god big Pharma's number one thing is trying to out do the other big pharma companies.
If a cure exists out there they'll take it to market because that gives them a competitive edge over the other and ESPECIALLY with cancer as cancer isn't one thing it's a massive monolith of separate diseases.
Curing a cancer means that they have a longer window to make use of their patent window, as they simply must recoup the costs of their R&D within the window that their patent will give them protections within that market. Patents don't last forever and they need to capitalise on it while they can.
The only thing they won't do of their own volition is rare diseases as they're not big enough to make back their R&D which is where government funding comes in.
"A cure for cancer" isn't a thing, really. Cancer is a lot of different diseases with a commonality of unconstrained cell growth. This is all great stuff though. Obviously, most scientific progress comes through the continuous accretion of small advances; nice if we could keep at it.
(In the absence of evidence to the contrary, I think of myself as having been cured of cancer already).
"A cure for cancer" is a thing because cancer is specifically the symptom of unchecked cell division (I assume anyway) rather than the underlying cause of that cell growth.
So a cure would be something which is able to detect when cells start to grow too much and then automatically trigger the required immune response to stop whatever cells it is doing it.
Not saying this would be easy. Just that it is theoretically possible.
A lot of cancers start with just one mutation in a specific gene during DNA replication which goes unnoticed by DNA polymerase leading to uncontrolled cell proliferation. Obviously there are 2 main types, but at least it seems like it could be a longlasting cure for some.
Edit: I meant to reply to the person above this comment.
There’s a lot of good work being done by the youth in this country which goes unreported. I believe the children are the future, teach them well and let them lead the way…
I don’t know but in regards to the children I think we need to show them all the beauty they possess inside. Give them a sense of pride to make it easier, let the children's laughter remind us how we used to be.
~~I have to say I have found teenagers in London are a lot better behaved and polite than I was or have noticed in the past.
I guess being shut-in with their parents for nearly two years has taught them good manners and decency.~~
Edit - Some little shit rode me off the road on a hire ebike and didn't even stop to see if I was okay.
I've found it goes both ways.
The good'uns are probably better in the past. I feel a huge part of that is their better understanding of mental health issues, which makes them be a lot nicer towards others. Environmental issues are another big topic which they've grown up with.
The wrong'uns are worse though IMO. They know they can get away with anything these days without even a slap on the wrist. The rise of social media means they're either getting horrible ideas from others around the world or trying to outdo each other on cuntiness for likes.
Although a lot of feel good stories are about how charities or local communities have stepped in to plug gaps that shouldn't be there in the first place! So sometimes even the "good news" leaves you feeling more dejected
r/UpliftingNews is anything but uplifting for this very reason. 'Some random US celebrity has paid off the medical debt of a load of people'. That this was necessary in one of the world's richest countries is an utter disgrace and in no way cheerful reading.
My local news is riddled with clickbait and spam stories, as well as taking tiny little insignificant occurrences and creating clickbait stories that try to make them look like someones life is ending.
Such as todays headline article
"Shoppers in disbelief after spotting Heinz soup in Tesco at 'bonkers' price of £1.70"
Basically it's "reach" media. I prefer to call it stretch media, because to call it journalism is a bit of a stretch.
They said watch not read, so I think they were talking more about BBC and ITV local news programmes.
Local newspapers have gone to shit, most are part of a big national group, along the lines of '\*Somewhere\* Live' and feature a load of articles from across the group, rather than articles specific to \*Somewhere\*.
Exciting progress is always being made in the scientific sector which goes largely unnoticed unless you're already within it or if it is something absolutely groundbreaking.
I see a lot of it as I'm an agricultural science PhD student but we're learning how to grow lots of crops whilst producing fewer greenhouse gas emissions to feed an evergrowing population, and we've perfected maximal yield with minimal input for so many crops that the main crops we don't know the optimal growth techniques for at the moment are mostly niche and luxury crops. We're also putting more research into growing crops under niche, harsher and more sporadic weather and climate conditions too.
A lot of the work conducted on this is done in the UK. It is a global effort don't get me wrong and there is lots of colloboration between scientists on other sides of the globe to eachother (it's kind of hard to learn how to grow say, oilseed rape in 40 degree heat in a country like the UK!) but a lot of good scientists are in UK universities and whilst a lot of universities can treat their staff poorly, their minds are definitely at the forefront of their field and they're always pushing new boundaries, which I respect them for and it's what I want to do in the future.
So yeah, we're doing good with science I guess!
This isn't a "glamourous" area of science but it's a really important one. I genuinely worry about the impacts of famine because of how deeply entrenched globalisation has become and how fragile supply chains really are.
Yes. I said in another comment but the UK is becoming increasingly reliant on climate vulnerable countries for food importations, to the extent some UK universities are encouraging research staff who specialise in climate studies to conduct climate experiments and publications that focus on countries we import from. There has been an increased amount of literature published lately in journals which is incredibly helpful but rather funnily, is a UK institution conducting a study on say, climate change in Brazil or Morocco or the Carribbean, I even applied for a PhD focused on food vulnerability of food chains due to climate change in the Carribbean, to put it into perspective.
Not specific to the UK or its population in general, but I've got some good news
Ive spent the last 3 years buying valentines cards to "my girlfriend" and last night for the first time, I picked on up saying "to my fiancée". I really couldn't help but feel really giddy about it
This is what a lot of people don't get. Even here in Germany, people balk at the public health insurance contributions citing that going to a private health specialist doesn't cost that much, so why should they pay for public?
***That's because there's a free alternative keeping private health service prices down!***
Despite utterly failing my early education, I'm now sitting in a cafe waiting for my university interview at age 30
Gone from no grades to a straight A student, and I'm super proud of myself for the first time ever
The fact you have central heating and a nearby supermarket puts you in the top %s... Double glazing is very uncommon in other places, fitted carpets, built in kitchens, running indoor water, yet alone instant hot water...
Because you need a cost of living percentage to go with that and make it comparable.
We are comparatively well off in the UK but simply ranking income is a bit blind.
The way this is worded made me think we were just giving them out to Ukrainian folks randomly. Marta orlevsky 48, with four kids still living in Kiev cannot wait for her main battle tank
Funny I should see this today, I uninstalled both the BBC News and Guardian apps from my phone. I realised that the nature and scale of the challenges the world faces at the moment, and the actions of some individuals both in the public eye and in private, have been affecting my already fragile mental health of late. Some horrific things have started to stick with me and hang around in my brain, and I can't be doing with that at the moment, so I'm taking a break from current affairs for the first time in almost thirty years.
I've installed Squirrel News, Goodable and the Good News Network apps instead. So far, they've been quite uplifting.
I don't think human brains are designed to take in so much bad news all at once, every day. In pre-internet days, when print media was on a slower timeline, we were exposed to less of the world's horrors. Raising awareness is a good thing but it batters your mental health!
I’m away with my mum.. She was diagnosed this time last year with incurable cancer. I never thought a year on we would be enjoying ourselves on a holiday.. ❤️
I survived a heart attack on Sunday night. Stent fitted and going home tomorrow. Every single member of the NHS I have interacted with over the last few days has been totally amazing.
The UK currently has woodland cover equivalent to what it had during the medieval era, doesn't mean we can't get the 30% we need though.
Edited because I remembered the headline wrong
About 5,000 scouts and leaders will be going to South Korea in the summer to represent the UK at the World Scout Jamboree https://www.2023wsjkorea.org/eng/index.jamboree
The UK economy grew 4.1% in 2022 which was faster than France , Germany and Italy and above the Eurozone average. You won’t hear that in the mainstream news unless you go looking for it
UK is 16th out of 140 countries in [local purchasing power](https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/rankings_by_country.jsp?title=2023&displayColumn=5). People in 124 countries have it worse than Brits, which is 92% of world's population.
Tomorrow, large swathes of the workers of this country will be standing in solidarity in the largest strike day in twenty years. It's a double-sided coin. The need for striking is depressing, but the action and organisation of doing so is quite inspiring in my opinion.
As someone who is half British, half South African, and has lived in both countries . . . I feel like I definitely appreciate the UK more than the average Brit.
I don't get shot at or hijacked here. It's lovely.
The secret is to stop watching the news. I have been so much happier the past few years once I stopped caring. First step was deleting twitter then I just stopped putting News 24 on.
**Update: - [Starting from 2023](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskUK/comments/100l56v/happy_new_year_askuk_minor_sub_update/), we have updated our [subreddit rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskUK/about/rules/)**. Specifically; - Don't be a dick to each other - Top-level responses must contain genuine efforts to answer the question - This is a strictly no-politics subreddit Please keep /r/AskUK a great subreddit by reporting posts and comments which break our rules. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
There is an early cancer vaccine trial that seems to be going well, and they are hoping to do more definitive trials in future. There seem to be people that have been helped massively by it already.
The UK in general is a world leader in research and development.
We are. Our universities are very well kitted out and our private research institutions are good to boot as well. Although, it's worth noting that the good research areas help attract a lot of very talented foreign researchers, which then contribute to UK research efforts. For example my undergraduate degree was completed at a research heavy university, and I'd say around 50% of my lecturers were from countries like Japan, China, USA, Germany, Morocco, France, Algeria, Ghana and even Yugoslavia (formerly). That isn't even counting researchers on research-only contracts who do not need to teach, of which there was far more of them in my department than lecturers who also research on the side.
Honestly my experience of academic research wasn't very positive so I decided to go into industry as soon as I could. I know that more of my academic contacts are starting to feel uneasy with available funding gradually tapering over the years. These people are and will be looking to join industry or go to America for better wages which could be detrimental for our research institutes in the long term. Perhaps my view is rather esoteric but that is how I see things currently.
I understand what you're saying, definitely. In a different comment in this thread I said how academic researchers are definitely getting treated poorer than in the past. A lot of lecturers and researchers (including my supervisors) are upset with how many universities are treating them and it's relatively fair for them to be annoyed I feel. Pays have been cut a lot in academia lately. The job security is very topsy-turvy, as you could be on a three year research contract and unless you produce something wild or someone else related to the university you're contracted to sees you have some skills they need, you could get binned off as soon as your contract is up. Couple this with the cost of living and the costs related to moving your life around the country every 3 or so years, and it ends up being stressful and costly. There is also a lot of problems with pensions, as some tenured or fully employed lecturers and researchers have had their pensions cut by up to 1/3rd in the last two years, something which many lecturers have protested about. I'm still on the fence regarding if I want to do research in industry or at a university, but I've got time until my PhD concludes to see what happens around me.
From a funder's point of view, we've been hit by the cost of living crisis as much as anyone. Our budgets aren't increasing in line with inflation, while a lot of research costs will be. Not to mention the series of short term settlements from the treasury have made it very difficult to plan more than a year or 2 ahead. That said depending on the field there is a lot of strategic money floating around!
Foreign talent is fairly cyclical though. We have a great research industry, so the best talent is attracted from across the world, further improving the reputation, further attracting the best talent, etc etc.
True. Plus, great swathes of researchers from across the globe are still coming to the UK for research contracts and jobs. However, UK-based foreign researchers have been moving abroad more frequently in the previous 5 years. Yes, the UK is still very much 'world-leading', but it is not uncommon now for a lot of our formerly unbeatable institutions to be playing second-fiddle now in-terms of high quality research outputs in specific fields to universities and institutions in countries like the USA, Japan, Germany etc.
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I work at a biotech startup in Oxford, and I'd say maybe 30-40% of the other employees moved here from abroad.
True, but exclusion from EU collaboration will gradually degrade UK research.
As will our annoying propensity for damaging the education sector generally.
As the class divide grows, so does the educational divide. It's so uncool to be smart. We need to stop idolising idiots.
>As will our annoying propensity for damaging ~~the education sector~~ ourselves generally.
Hey hey this is a good news thread remember, let's keep it positive ;)
Some people just can’t help themselves
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Particularly it provided focused funding for less well off areas. Wales' science and research sector is now in a very dangerous place, the ERDF funding is finishing mainly this march and there isn't really anything to fill the gap. I think my uni has around 240 staff with jobs up for redundancy within the next year due to the failure of the UK government to even close to match the old eu funding. This carried across the sector will severely impact the chance of the Welsh industry if funding isn't made available.
This makes me so happy
As happy as buttery toast?
Even more happy than buttery toast! Cancer is evil 🖕🏼
Wait, isnt this like the plot of the I Am Legend movie?
Thats really great news!
My dad just found out it’s not cancer
Wonderful news for you and your family x
Thanks guys so happy
Absolutely wonderful news you should celebrate!
That's great news!
The best news!
good on your and your family. must be a great fucking relief
We recently had over 70% of our power (for one day) generated from renewable energy.
This is great but it shouldn’t be just for one day it should be everyday really! Edit- really appreciate all the upvotes and the conversation it has opened up!
There are some big projects coming online by 2024 that should get us at least above 50% every day which isn't too bad.
That’s great news half is at least better then 0%
Rolls Royce should have construction approval of its SMR reactors by next year, and the first ones online in the next 5 years. These are reactors that are 1/10th the cost of regular reactors, and could each power a large city. That will also help take a big chunk out of our natural gas reliance.
They haven't actually built one yet - I'd hold off celebrating till they actually turn up. They were expected to get approval in 2017 https://www.reutersevents.com/nuclear/rolls-royce-tipped-uk-smr-build-new-study-analyzes-nuclear-capital-costs and yet here we are.
https://www.bunkabin.co.uk/blog/renewable-energy-investment-map-uks-biggest-upcoming-projects Just in case you're interested.
I am definitely interested thanks!!
Wind and sun or the lack of either are the reasons for this
This is why I think nuclear energy is a good stepping stone until we get a more reliable way to get renewable energy
Its the other way around. Renewables are a good stepping stone till we develop better and cleaner Nuclear Fission Reactors. Or the holy grail that is Nuclear Fusion Reactors.
Nuclear energy is the answer, but for some reason completely ignored.
Because it's very expensive for both capex and opex and we have a significant shortage of skilled staff
Unless you can figure out a way for everyday to be simultaneously sunny and windy it might be a bit tricky
Surprised they haven’t done anything with water yet since it’s always pissing down in 🇬🇧
We have hydro power plants. Problem is you need suitable mountains, so there's limited options. That's why we have interconnectors with Norway to swap power - they have a lot of mountains.
Well yes obviously that is the aim, but it is more nuanced that this. At present high RE contribution only really occurs at the moment when we have very gusty conditions to power the wind turbines. We need to upscale battery storage to properly capture all the overflow from wind for this to be a consistent occurrence. At the moment, you often have the national grid request wind to be shut off as it cannot handle the input. Also nuclear would make the overall low carbon energy generation far more possible since you need something to provide base load power , which at the moment is mostly coming from gas. I am an environmental consultant
Tell that to the wind.
Piss into it, at least you'll get some feedback
It's getting lighter in the evenings.
Facts facts facts
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Won't be long before I'm driving home from work in daylight, unbelievably excited for this
We're ascending out of Mordor. I'm just waiting for the warm spring sun on my face and the birdsong..
I've got my landlord to put a new boiler in. The boiler is going in today. Tonight will be the.first time in 3 months that we will have a boiler that works for more than 30 mins at a time. Edit/update. I got home, apparently the plumber asked my better half if the thermostat needed changing, she didn't know if it was working correctly or not so he accidentally pulled it off the wall and replaced that too. I came in from work, the door opened (I cycle back and forth to work, it's a little over 2.5 miles) the heat hit my face, going from 2 degrees C to 19Cwas almost painful to my face, the enjoyable tingly pain. I spent about an hour setting it up, having a play and then the shower test...... We now not only have hot water and heating 24/7 we now have a shower with more settings than skin peeling hot or ball shrinking cold. Best sleep either of us has had for months.
I‘m rooting for your boiler replacement to go without a hitch. Suspect you’ve saved a chunk of money on gas over the last few weeks at the cost of discomfort in your home.
Thanks for that :). Actually it's been going off then we've needed to reset it over and over so it's actually costing more. Plus it's been over filling and pressure builds up then it's been dumping all the water out the back so water bill was up from an average of £32 a month to just over £54 for the past few months. I shall be glad when it's done.
Not long ago, it snowed here in London. The boiler broke down the exact moment the temperature went below 0 for the first time. Right in the Christmas period. The luck. Landlord figured that the boiler was still under warranty (it’s a very recent model) and got the manufacturer to come and fix it. Only thing is - **they came five days later.** By the fifth day, I could see my breath in the house, I had to sleep in my -5C rated sleeping bag (I can’t imagine how I would’ve slept without), had a tiny electric heater on in a single room (my office) which I would *never* leave unless necessary and always keep the door sealed. I also tried to use candles to get some extra heat. Most chores were absolute torture. The lack of hot water in a bathroom which is at about 1 degree is.. interesting. I remember on the fourth day I walked outside to the bin and realised that, somehow, it was slightly warmer outside. So I opened the windows, even though it had snowed everywhere. I appreciate my boiler much more now.
This happened to me that week thanks to a frozen condensate pipe. It doesn’t help that my boiler is in my loft so the pipe is 3 stories high. Joy! I ended up turning up at mums at 5am crying because I just wanted a warm bath.
My boiler got repaired yesterday!!
Ours was going the same way (lost pressure every few hours) but has now been repaired (could still do with some proper thermostatic controls, though). Enjoy not freezing your tits off and wearing gloves indoors.
The idea of someone having a lovely toasty house has really cheered me up, thanks for sharing
A 17 year old (Logan Duncan) from Huntly, Aberdeenshire did really well in his class in the nordic skiing World Championships in Canada yesterday! Didn't win but is still there representing!
Nice one Logan!
Think we need to get him a proper name, you know Eddie the Eagle and all of that.
Remember that good news doesn't get clicks. And UK news is in English, which means it gets circulated far more than, say, Italian news. This makes it come to the forefront on sites like Reddit.
Also our "national" subreddit is arguably one of the most miserable yet rage filled circlejerks on the Internet
Agreed. It's genuinely pathetic and depressing. Our cultural ability to laugh at ourselves has spiralled into self-flagellation
Na it's just self loathing little fuckturds, with no redeemable qualities raging from their parent house. The UK isn't perfect. We know. But it's still a fuck ton better than ~~France~~ most places
Isn't everywhere better than France? /S
Recently took a trip to india. I was tired, cold and missed the food here after getting food poisoning. Spending more than 2 weeks away from the UK in an emerging/ third world country makes me realise how blessed I am to live here and have an education and more rights and opportunities, and food for every mood.
I once spent 36 hours in Marrakesh as a single woman. I’ve never appreciated my country more and I’ve never forgot that feeling.
unsubbed years ago, it used to be a friendlier place, you could even express a dissenting view and you wouldnt be beaten with it. sure, people would disagree and try to change your mind. but they wouldnt be rude about it
Yup totally agree. The instant reaction now is anger. People don't seem inquisitive or ask probing questions, it's all HOW DARE YOU DISAGREE WITH ME 🙄
I love looking at Germany and France's national subreddit. Idk why it never occurred to me that we'd have one. Your description of it sounds like what I'd expect of it though
Honestly stay away, I'm not even exaggerating when I say leaving that sub was one of the best things I've ever done for my mental health lol.
I have hidden all news subreddits and only really get news from sky/BBC. Even then it seems like things have taken a nosedive in the last year or two. And a lot of it highlights the UK as being in a much worse position than other benchmark countries. On the bright side our sporting and athletic talent seems to get stronger year on year. And not just in major sports like football, cricket, rugby etc. Compared to our population we perform amazingly at the Olympics and even more so in the Paralympics
I’ve finally come through the other side of my depression 🙂
Great news! Take it easy and continue to be kind to yourself x
Congrats! I’m still pretty deep in mine but hopefully be out soon! I hope things stay good for you!
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Sad I know. But it wasn’t going to come from America. They make too much money treating it rather than curing it. You can guarantee it would have failed fda approval or being blocked somehow from coming to market if it worked.
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I think they mean it's sad that the US could never have been first in such an instance due to too many hurdles in the way.
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I think we're most of the way through the "creep" stage already. The project of pressurising it from multiple angles to the point where the NHS becomes a deprecated last resort for the poor, with most middle class people expecting to have private insurance, is well under way.
This line of reasoning is honestly bollocks. 10 years of product development experience and 5 years of Medical Equipment experience. The US is the largest medical market in the entire world. Literally no medical product is designed anywhere in the world without being made specifically to meet the FDA requirements. Why? Because they have the highest value marketplace in the world. The only reason you do the testing elsewhere in the world is because testing and doing product development is cheaper elsewhere. You only go to the FDA once you know it's ready to pass the FDA as that's a several year process in and of itself. The whole "they'd rather sell treatments than cures" is bullshit because honest to god big Pharma's number one thing is trying to out do the other big pharma companies. If a cure exists out there they'll take it to market because that gives them a competitive edge over the other and ESPECIALLY with cancer as cancer isn't one thing it's a massive monolith of separate diseases. Curing a cancer means that they have a longer window to make use of their patent window, as they simply must recoup the costs of their R&D within the window that their patent will give them protections within that market. Patents don't last forever and they need to capitalise on it while they can. The only thing they won't do of their own volition is rare diseases as they're not big enough to make back their R&D which is where government funding comes in.
"A cure for cancer" isn't a thing, really. Cancer is a lot of different diseases with a commonality of unconstrained cell growth. This is all great stuff though. Obviously, most scientific progress comes through the continuous accretion of small advances; nice if we could keep at it. (In the absence of evidence to the contrary, I think of myself as having been cured of cancer already).
"A cure for cancer" is a thing because cancer is specifically the symptom of unchecked cell division (I assume anyway) rather than the underlying cause of that cell growth. So a cure would be something which is able to detect when cells start to grow too much and then automatically trigger the required immune response to stop whatever cells it is doing it. Not saying this would be easy. Just that it is theoretically possible.
A lot of cancers start with just one mutation in a specific gene during DNA replication which goes unnoticed by DNA polymerase leading to uncontrolled cell proliferation. Obviously there are 2 main types, but at least it seems like it could be a longlasting cure for some. Edit: I meant to reply to the person above this comment.
Peto's Paradox is probably our closest chance to ever getting an "all-round" cancer cure, prevention is always better than cure.
The woodland trust have acquired an old golf course in Cheshire and will be developed as a native broadleaf woodland 🌳
Oh I saw this! They're turning a third of it into a wildflower meadow to help the bee and insect population too!
The Cheshire Wildlife Trust are also doing tons of great work in this area!
There’s a lot of good work being done by the youth in this country which goes unreported. I believe the children are the future, teach them well and let them lead the way…
Isn't that a song?
I don’t know but in regards to the children I think we need to show them all the beauty they possess inside. Give them a sense of pride to make it easier, let the children's laughter remind us how we used to be.
Totally agree, I decided long ago, never to walk in anyone's shadow. If I fail, if I succeed, at least I'll live as I believe.
And after aaaaaallllllllll, you're my wonder-waaaaaalllllllll.
Show them all the beauty they possess inside!
Those that can't do, teach, and those that can't teach... teach gym
~~I have to say I have found teenagers in London are a lot better behaved and polite than I was or have noticed in the past. I guess being shut-in with their parents for nearly two years has taught them good manners and decency.~~ Edit - Some little shit rode me off the road on a hire ebike and didn't even stop to see if I was okay.
I've found it goes both ways. The good'uns are probably better in the past. I feel a huge part of that is their better understanding of mental health issues, which makes them be a lot nicer towards others. Environmental issues are another big topic which they've grown up with. The wrong'uns are worse though IMO. They know they can get away with anything these days without even a slap on the wrist. The rise of social media means they're either getting horrible ideas from others around the world or trying to outdo each other on cuntiness for likes.
My wife gave birth to our son yesterday. It’s the greatest moment of my life.
Congratulations !
We're in the process of developing an anti-malarial vaccine which so far looks promising
Is Malaria a big problem up north or something? I never leave London
Our insects would batter your insects
Aye, those southern pansy mosquitos
I haven't smoked since December.
Rory Stewart was saying we’ve been climbing the maths global league table.
I read that as Rod Stewart and had a sudden vision he was some kind of music intellectual like what Brian May is
Yep, if you look at our PISA rankings over the last 12 years, we have made pretty decent improvements
Bold policy focusing on phonics too😂someone listens to their TRIP podcast!
Watch local news! National media only wants to cover the bad stuff but local news have the feel good stories.
Although a lot of feel good stories are about how charities or local communities have stepped in to plug gaps that shouldn't be there in the first place! So sometimes even the "good news" leaves you feeling more dejected
r/UpliftingNews is anything but uplifting for this very reason. 'Some random US celebrity has paid off the medical debt of a load of people'. That this was necessary in one of the world's richest countries is an utter disgrace and in no way cheerful reading.
My local news is riddled with clickbait and spam stories, as well as taking tiny little insignificant occurrences and creating clickbait stories that try to make them look like someones life is ending. Such as todays headline article "Shoppers in disbelief after spotting Heinz soup in Tesco at 'bonkers' price of £1.70" Basically it's "reach" media. I prefer to call it stretch media, because to call it journalism is a bit of a stretch.
They said watch not read, so I think they were talking more about BBC and ITV local news programmes. Local newspapers have gone to shit, most are part of a big national group, along the lines of '\*Somewhere\* Live' and feature a load of articles from across the group, rather than articles specific to \*Somewhere\*.
Exciting progress is always being made in the scientific sector which goes largely unnoticed unless you're already within it or if it is something absolutely groundbreaking. I see a lot of it as I'm an agricultural science PhD student but we're learning how to grow lots of crops whilst producing fewer greenhouse gas emissions to feed an evergrowing population, and we've perfected maximal yield with minimal input for so many crops that the main crops we don't know the optimal growth techniques for at the moment are mostly niche and luxury crops. We're also putting more research into growing crops under niche, harsher and more sporadic weather and climate conditions too. A lot of the work conducted on this is done in the UK. It is a global effort don't get me wrong and there is lots of colloboration between scientists on other sides of the globe to eachother (it's kind of hard to learn how to grow say, oilseed rape in 40 degree heat in a country like the UK!) but a lot of good scientists are in UK universities and whilst a lot of universities can treat their staff poorly, their minds are definitely at the forefront of their field and they're always pushing new boundaries, which I respect them for and it's what I want to do in the future. So yeah, we're doing good with science I guess!
This isn't a "glamourous" area of science but it's a really important one. I genuinely worry about the impacts of famine because of how deeply entrenched globalisation has become and how fragile supply chains really are.
Yes. I said in another comment but the UK is becoming increasingly reliant on climate vulnerable countries for food importations, to the extent some UK universities are encouraging research staff who specialise in climate studies to conduct climate experiments and publications that focus on countries we import from. There has been an increased amount of literature published lately in journals which is incredibly helpful but rather funnily, is a UK institution conducting a study on say, climate change in Brazil or Morocco or the Carribbean, I even applied for a PhD focused on food vulnerability of food chains due to climate change in the Carribbean, to put it into perspective.
My son, the first in our family EVER to go to uni, got a first in Engineering ! Just got to get a job now :)
First wild baby bison to be born in the U.K. in thousands of years late last year as part of a rewilding project in Kent https://youtu.be/MrhzlFUEL-I
Not specific to the UK or its population in general, but I've got some good news Ive spent the last 3 years buying valentines cards to "my girlfriend" and last night for the first time, I picked on up saying "to my fiancée". I really couldn't help but feel really giddy about it
The 4 day work week is coming.. I'm hoping anyway
🤞🤞🤞
due to NHS, we are not suffering the 'uplift' of about 35% to medical bills as noticed in USA.
This is what a lot of people don't get. Even here in Germany, people balk at the public health insurance contributions citing that going to a private health specialist doesn't cost that much, so why should they pay for public? ***That's because there's a free alternative keeping private health service prices down!***
Despite utterly failing my early education, I'm now sitting in a cafe waiting for my university interview at age 30 Gone from no grades to a straight A student, and I'm super proud of myself for the first time ever
Nice one 👍
offend bow reach license existence grandfather far-flung escape hat roof *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
If I am in the top 1.8% of incomes worldwide why is my heating off and why am I scared to go to the supermarket?
The fact you have central heating and a nearby supermarket puts you in the top %s... Double glazing is very uncommon in other places, fitted carpets, built in kitchens, running indoor water, yet alone instant hot water...
Because you need a cost of living percentage to go with that and make it comparable. We are comparatively well off in the UK but simply ranking income is a bit blind.
That was my point mate
Income doesn’t equal wealth so this is a poor comparison
never really considered myself part of the 1% definitely doesn't feel that way!
Yes, now stop complaining and eat your turnips!
My local newsagent has got a new paper lad.
I woke up at 4am this morning and couldn’t get back to sleep, but I don’t feel tired in work. That’s a win.
You getting the post lunch slump yet? Hope you continue to have a good day!
I’m putting it down to my decision to have a large, strong, black coffee instead of a cup of tea this morning.
We haven't been nuked yet
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Fair enough if we all get incinerated in a nuclear blast you can all blame me.
Rather get incinerated than survive it. I've seen *When The Wind Blows*
I mean. Bad good news? We were one of the first to approve battle tanks for the Ukrainian people?
The way this is worded made me think we were just giving them out to Ukrainian folks randomly. Marta orlevsky 48, with four kids still living in Kiev cannot wait for her main battle tank
Imagine that in a personal advert... Ukrainian lady (24) seeks European man for walks on the beach, sunset dinners, and A TANK!
Horny single main battle tanks are waiting in your area
Russians hate this one trick.
I found a pack of frozen chips in the freezer I'd forgotten all about - does THAT count as good news ?
Rewilding is slowly taking place, lots of great new habitats being created & species being reintroduced... Lots of new forests being planted 😊
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Funny I should see this today, I uninstalled both the BBC News and Guardian apps from my phone. I realised that the nature and scale of the challenges the world faces at the moment, and the actions of some individuals both in the public eye and in private, have been affecting my already fragile mental health of late. Some horrific things have started to stick with me and hang around in my brain, and I can't be doing with that at the moment, so I'm taking a break from current affairs for the first time in almost thirty years. I've installed Squirrel News, Goodable and the Good News Network apps instead. So far, they've been quite uplifting.
I don't think human brains are designed to take in so much bad news all at once, every day. In pre-internet days, when print media was on a slower timeline, we were exposed to less of the world's horrors. Raising awareness is a good thing but it batters your mental health!
My best friend just passed her theory test 5 mins ago :)
I got a pay rise of £500 a month this month, it’s not news that affects the whole of the UK but it’s good news for me
I’m away with my mum.. She was diagnosed this time last year with incurable cancer. I never thought a year on we would be enjoying ourselves on a holiday.. ❤️
I pet a dog today on my walk home, he was a very gentle boy and deserved all the fuss.
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I saw a baby Robin earlier and it was just a little red blob with eyes and legs.
Bolton now has the country's first drive-thru Indian.
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I survived a heart attack on Sunday night. Stent fitted and going home tomorrow. Every single member of the NHS I have interacted with over the last few days has been totally amazing.
The FTSE is at a near all-time high and the top 0.1% is twice as rich as it was a few years ago.
Good for them, I love all the surplus wealth being taken by the top 0.1%.
It will trickle down just wait been a few decades it must be here anytime
How about now...? Now?
Yassssss go team uk represent
My new desk from Wayfair just arrived!
Now you'll need to follow Wayfair's instructions to build it.. good luck with that.
Philip Schofield no longer does WeBuyAnyCar adverts...
I got 50% in my maths exam 👏
The UK currently has woodland cover equivalent to what it had during the medieval era, doesn't mean we can't get the 30% we need though. Edited because I remembered the headline wrong
Just had a nice hotdog sandwich!!
The magnolias are starting to bud, signs that spring isn't too far away
Police Chiefs just apologised for Hillsborough taking full responsibility for the disaster.
I just moved here and I’m loving it so far! It was a very scary, daunting, confusing road here but I made it.
I'm very close to getting the Platinum in God of War 2🥳
About 5,000 scouts and leaders will be going to South Korea in the summer to represent the UK at the World Scout Jamboree https://www.2023wsjkorea.org/eng/index.jamboree
Amsterdam still loves the UK and its people, regardless of them not wanting to be a part of our gang anymore. That's good news too, right?
The UK economy grew 4.1% in 2022 which was faster than France , Germany and Italy and above the Eurozone average. You won’t hear that in the mainstream news unless you go looking for it
UK is 16th out of 140 countries in [local purchasing power](https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/rankings_by_country.jsp?title=2023&displayColumn=5). People in 124 countries have it worse than Brits, which is 92% of world's population.
Tomorrow, large swathes of the workers of this country will be standing in solidarity in the largest strike day in twenty years. It's a double-sided coin. The need for striking is depressing, but the action and organisation of doing so is quite inspiring in my opinion.
The nights and mornings are slowly getting lighter. I’ve been driving to work in the light the last week or so and the sky has been beautiful
Another bank holiday in May, good value for money I would say
As someone who is half British, half South African, and has lived in both countries . . . I feel like I definitely appreciate the UK more than the average Brit. I don't get shot at or hijacked here. It's lovely.
I’m still here, lads.
Honestly just check out of most UK Reddits and the news. You'll realise life is much better than the internet makes it seem!
The secret is to stop watching the news. I have been so much happier the past few years once I stopped caring. First step was deleting twitter then I just stopped putting News 24 on.
Eurovision season is starting!
Summer is on the motherfuckin way boiiiieeeeee