Utility Week

Community Looking for a reaction All parents tend to think their little darling is a tad cleverer than the average, but when it comes to Mr and Mrs Oswalt, from Memphis in the US, they have more reason than most to believe that of little Jackson, who has been o cially recog- nised as the youngest person to have built a nuclear reactor – in his bedroom. Yup, you heard that right. Jackson, now aged 14 but only 12 at the time, sourced most of the vacuums and pumps and whatnot he needed from eBay, € nanced by his parents to the tune of $10,000. He posted plans for his reactor online and a team of amateur physicists con€ rmed that the contraption achieved nuclear fusion. We're not talking nuclear € ssion here, of the sort that powers conventional nuclear power plants (and nuclear bombs). Fission splits atoms apart. What Jackson did was fusion, which smashes atoms together. Fusion is what the sun does, albeit on a somewhat grander scale. The great virtue of fusion is that it's much less danger- ous and doesn't produce lethal radiation that hangs around for millions of years. The big downside, as young Jackson is well aware, is that it consumes more power than it generates. "Which is why I'm not a billionaire," he told Fox News mournfully. Buck up, young Jackson, says Disconnector. You may not have solved the world's energy problems, but at least you've got an interesting conversation piece to list on your CV under "other achievements". The wrong side of the bed To the long list of Inventions that Solve Problems that Don't Exist, you can add the "lane- keeping bed" from US vehicle manufacturer Ford. The company has invented a prototype bed that automati- cally rolls sel€ sh sleepers back to their side of the mattress whenever they stray on to the other half. The car maker has adapted its lane-centring assist technol- ogy, which it uses to ensure drivers remain in the middle of their lane, in a bid to help sleep-deprived partners pushed to the edge of the bed at night. Pressure sensors detect when a person moves from one side of the bed to the other, and gently rolls them back to their side with the help of an integrated conveyor belt. "If someone moves on to your side of the bed, your defence mechanism will kick in and you'll have a broken night, o˜ en while they continue to sleep soundly," intones Dr Neil Stanley, leading the team that developed the bed. Hmm. It occurs to Disconnector that trying to get to sleep while the person lying next to you is slowly revolving like a pig on a spit might be distracting in its own right, regardless of how much space it allows you. Weird weather we're having As temperatures in the UK hit 20C and more (the hottest February temperatures ever recorded), spare a thought for the "sunshine state" California, in the US, which is being bom- barded with freakish weather due to an "atmospheric river". This is the name given to the plume of moisture stretching across the Paci€ c Ocean to near Hawaii. The result has seen Califor- nia pummelled by snow, rain and mud, which has closed roads and let torrents of debris š ow across a landscape razed by last year's wild€ res. It looks like climate change is no longer merely on the horizon but is actually causing problems. Except if you're a Trump Believer, of course, in which case it's obvious that everything is Obama's fault – unless it's Hillary's. Disconnector Publishing director, Utilities: Ellen Bennett, t: 01342 332084, e: ellenbennett@fav-house.com; Acting editor: Suzanne Heneghan, t: 01342 332106, e: suzanneheneghan@fav-house.com Acting content director: Denise Chevin, 01342 332087, denisechevin@fav-house.com; Deputy editor: Jane Gray (maternity leave); Features editor: Lois Vallely, t: 01342 332080, e: loisvallely@fav-house.com; News editor: Katey Pigden, t: 01342 332082, e: kateypigden@ fav-house.com; Energy correspondent: Tom Grimwood, t: 01342 332061, e: tomgrimwood@ fav-house.com; Policy correspondent: David Blackman, e: davidblackman@fav-house.com; Reporter: Adam John, t: 01342 332069, e: adamjohn@fav-house.com; Production editor: Paul Newton, t: 01342 332085, e: paulnewton@fav-house.com; Business development manager: Ben Hammond, e: benhammond@fav-house.com. t: 01342 332116; Business development executive: Sarah Wood, e: sarahwood@ fav-house.com. t: 01342 332117 Conference sponsorship manager: Sophie Abbott, t: 01342 332062, e: sophieabbott@ fav-house.com; General enquiries: 01342 332000; Membership enquiries: Peter Bissell, t: 01342 332057, e: peterbissell@fav-house.com. ISSN: 1356-5532. Registered as a newspaper at the Post Offi ce. 2,500 Average circulation Jan–Dec 2018 Membership subscriptions: UK £769+VAT per year. Overseas £781 per year. Contact Peter Bissell on: 01342 332057 Utility Week is a member of the Independent Press Standards Organisation (which regulates the UK's magazine and newspaper industry). We abide by the Editors' Code of Practice and are committed to upholding the highest standards of journalism. If you think that we have not met those standards and want to make a complaint please contact the publishing director, Ellen Bennett, at ellenbennett@fav-house.com. If we are unable to resolve your complaint, or if you would like more information about IPSO or the Editors' Code, contact IPSO on 0300 123 2220 or visit www.ipso.co.uk UTILITY WEEK | 1ST - 7TH MARCH 2019 | 31 Rebecca Williams @reawilliams_ Speci c weather events are hard to pinpoint but consider the erratic nature of our weather. As lovely as it is outside THIS IS NOT NORMAL #ClimateChange William Marchant @ richonlyinname Very ambitious package of proposals from CMA. IMO largely bang on. I wonder how much will ever get implemented. Large chunks of it face signi cant vested interests. Will either Clark or govt survive & is there any prospect of legislative time to make any of it happen? #cmabaants Tom Steward @Steward_T The forward-looking network charging challenge group - De- carbonisation not an objective of the process, Ofgem views that it's implicit in the objective to make network charging eŠ cient. Record February temperatures, and STILL decarbonisation isn't a priority. David Watson @davidwatson__ EUK data has some mixed signals for those looking at whether the price cap has reduced the number of customers switching suppliers: 382k customers switched in Jan19, down ~85k from Dec18, but also broadly in line with levels for a 'typical' January Colin Mckerracher @colinmckerrache This is a remarkable statement from one of Shell's biggest share- holders, voicing scepticism about their push into electricity/EVs/ renewables/storage: "In our view the most shareholder-friendly option is to make a commitment now to a managed decline." Top Tweets

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