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UTILITY WEEK | 9TH - 15TH DECEMBER 2016 | 31 Community Don't be so sure about that Well, that just about tops it off. Ever since the Brexit vote took everyone by surprise we've been told we need to junk the old certainties, but now they've gone too far: they're even hav- ing a pop at the speed of light. As any schoolboy could tell you, the speed of light is the only constant in the universe, and that speed is about 186,000 miles per second. Not any more. According to Joao Magueijo, of Imperial College London, and Niayesh Afshordi, of the University of Waterloo in Canada, light travelled much faster when the universe was born. It would explain why today the night sky seems to be filled with the same density of stars no matter what direction you look in. The standard theory to explain this phenomenon is "inflation", which has been around for years but has the drawback that it can't be verified by observation. The big difference with Magueijo and Afshordi's theory, they claim, is that it will soon be within our ability to test it using observable evidence. That said, when the great man ( Disconnector, that is) says "within our ability", he of course means within the ability of theoretical physicists rather than journalists. So, it may turn out that Einstein was only half right and that E=MC 2 only in the right environmental conditions. Which doesn't quite have the same ring to it. Slippery science If science takes away with one hand, if gives with the other. Over at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or MIT as it is bet- ter known, some of the world's best scientific minds have been working for decades to address a problem that has been vexing the western world for genera- tions: how to get the last bit of ketchup out of the bottle. Their solution is LiquiGlide, a miracle substance that acts as a slippery barrier between a container and any viscous liq- uid inside it. No longer will you have to consign your ketchup bottle to the bin knowing there's a usable, but unrecover- able, dollop of sauce in it. Okay, Disconnector must come clean (as it were) and admit that the guys at MIT actually spent decades working on a non-stick surface for use in steam turbines and desalina- tion plants, but that's because they're members of the urban liberal elite and we don't care what they think any more. What concerns the man in the street is how to empty a bottle of ketchup over his chips. Aliens suck And what is the man in the street fearful about? It goes without saying – immigrants. But aer that, aliens! And perhaps with good reason, if a scoop by the Daily Mirror turns out to be accurate. It managed to get hold of some footage of the sun – purport- edly from NASA – showing a small white dot near the sun's surface connected by a thin yellow line, and concludes reasonably enough that alien spacecra are draining energy from the sun. In what will surely be another crushing blow to the UK solar industry, the paper says "experts are concerned spacecra are recharging from the power provided by the sun". Okay, the Mirror provides little detail of the experts' precise areas of expertise, but these days who cares, as long as you've got a grainy photo and an opinion? 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 332057, 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 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 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 Lucinda Dann @LucindaDann I like to rate events based on the catering, @nationalgriduk win for the biggest teapot I've ever had to lift Emma Pinchbeck @ELPinchbeck "Climate Change as a topic is the kale smoothie of TV: everyone asks for it to be on offer but no one buys it". Quote from my meeting today. The Colcestrian @TheColcestrian It would be better if instead of #TweetFor- Shelter @BritishGas just stopped charging the vulnerable over Xmas #poverty EcoAct @eco_act India unveils the world's largest solar power plant. It will produce enough electricity to power about 150k homes Jonathan Davison @_jonnydavison Co-op Energy had looked at buying GB Energy Supply last month. Withdrew from process day before it ceased trading Mark Z. Jacobson @mzjacobson St. Pete will be the first city in Florida to use 100 per cent renewable energy Water UK @WaterUK Try cutting down your shower time - as much as 25% of your energy bill comes from heat- ing water! #WaterTips The Climate Group @ClimateGroup 500,000 solar panels installed every day last year as renewables overtake coal as world's largest new power source Julian Mertens @julianmertens1 Bhutan is only climate neutral country, has 100% renewables and more than half of the country is protected environment. #DNP2016 Siva Nistala @SivaNistala #Finland may become first country to ban #coal energy to #sustainability Top Tweets