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UTILITY WEEK | 14TH - 20TH OCTOBER 2016 | 31 Community Game theory Utilities are always decrying the low number of students who pursue science and engineering at university level and Discon- nector must concede that they seem to have a point. The X Factor generation seems less inclined to put in the dry hours studying than in watching juvenile pranksters on YouTube. And even science degrees can be a bit lacking in the science part. The great man was struck this week by a story – albeit in the Daily Mail – about Salford University encouraging students to play Pokemon Go as part of an IT course on the grounds that it makes its busi- ness information technology course more "accessible". Now, even if this does not amount to "a degree in Pokemon Go" as the headline screamed, it's hard to see what good this will do the average undergrad. Disconnector is pretty sure that youngsters today don't need middle-aged men to show them how to play video games – too many of them already spend their nights glued to FIFA when they should be studying. Disconnector thinks maybe the boffins running the IT courses should pop over and see their mates in the Media Studies department. Perhaps they could bone up on the module entitled "Bad Publicity". Bunch of clowns It's the question on everyone's lips this week. No, not how Donald Trump can think he'll get away with bragging about sexually assaulting young women, but rather, where the hell are all these clowns coming from? What must people in war-torn Aleppo or hurricane- ravaged Haiti think of the West that its citizens are so bored they dress up as clowns to frighten children "for a laugh"? Not much, is Disconnector's guess. It's only a matter of time before the PR-savvy jihadists at Isis present us with a clown- fronted execution video, at which point life will finally have come to imitate a 1990s Batman movie. Transparent lunacy Of course, stupid scary stunts are not confined to the West. In China they have just unveiled a set of public lavato- ries that are both located at the top of trees and made of glass. Yup, the tree house loos, near Shiyan Lake in southern Hunan province, offer views of the forest below and other people using the facilities. Cubicle walls, even those between the men's and women's sections, are separated only by lightly frosted glass. For some time now the Chinese have been world leaders in stringing up flimsy-looking glass-bottomed footbridges and daring citizens to walk across them, but the glass loos in the trees take it a step further. It's difficult to see what the dare is here: overcoming your sense of self- respect? Confucius must be spinning in his grave. Robot wars We Brits, on the other hand, seem to be altogether more fearful, if recent research con- ducted by the AI and robotics department at the University of Sheffield is to be believed. Apparently, more than half of us (58 per cent) are worried about the impact robots will have on society. Forty-one per cent believe robots will destroy humanity as we know it. It's touching, really, that so many people think humanity will be around long enough for killer robots to be the big problem – at the rate we're going, it's surely going to be a close-run thing. Disconnector Editor, Utility Week, and content director, Utilities: Ellen Bennett, t: 01342 332084, e: ellenbennett@fav-house.com; Acting editor: Jane Gray, t: 01342 332087, e: janegray@ fav-house.com; Insights editor: Mathew Beech, t: 01342 332082, e: mathewbeech@fav-house. com; News editor: Lois Vallely, t: 01342 332080, e: loisvallely@fav-house.com; Networks correspondent: Lucinda Dann, t: 01342 332083, e: lucindadann@fav-house.com; Reporters: Saffron Johnson, t: 01342 332050, e: saffronjohnson@fav-house.com and Tom Grimwood, t: 01342 332061, e: tomgrimwood@fav-house.com; Business development manager: Richard Powell, t: 01342 332062, e: richardpowell@fav-house.com; Business development executive: Nigel Searle, t: 01342 332009, e: nigelsearle@fav-house.com; Publisher: Amanda Barnes, e: amandabarnes@ fav-house.com. General enquiries: 01342 332000; Membership enquiries: Peter Bissell, t: 01342 332507, e: peterbissell@fav-house.com. ISSN: 1356-5532. Registered as a newspaper at the Post Office. Printed by: Buxton Press, Palace Road, Buxton, Derbyshire SK17 6AE. Published by: Faversham House Ltd, Windsor Court, Wood Street, East Grinstead, West Sussex RH19 1UZ 3,580 Average circulation Jan–Dec 2015 Membership subscriptions: UK £637 per year. Overseas £749 per year. Contact Peter Bissell on: 01342 332507 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 editor, 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 Water UK @WaterUK Reusing water is a great money saver if you are on a meter. Try watering your plants with bathwater or washing up water. #WaterTips Warm&Well @WarmAndWell If everyone in the UK put a jacket on their hot water tank, the CO2 saved per year would fill >5.2 million double decker buses! Wilma Miles @miles_wilma #SmartMeters Whether all this will eventually mean it's been £11bn well spent, however, remains to be seen. Smart... William Marchant @richonlyinname I keep seeing tweets saying the CCC has ruled fracking incompatible with meeting climate targets. It hasn't. Its position is less clearcut. Carl Maxim @carlmaxim Bloody EU pollution laws, coming over here and telling us what to breathe. Energy Saving Trust @EnergySvgTrust New tech could lead to lower #energybills for consumers who allow small variations in appliance #energy consumption. Mark Johnston @mark_johnston The world got 1.8% smarter at using energy last year, says @IEA, adding it needs be at least 2.6%. #EnergyEfficiency reuters.com/ article/us-iea… Tina Fawcett @fawcett_tina Smart meters as a source of artistic inspiration? And they say people don't care about energy... PPerrin @pperrin The government force smart meters on us, so they can ration electricity as they cynically make it scarcer with green crap. Paul Dorfman @dorfman_p Half of Scotland's energy could be produced by renewables Top Tweets