A Week of Transport Incidents

Only 18 days ago, on the 13th of July I made a post with the same name. A week of transport incidents. It looked at three major events that had taken place within that week in which everyday transport turned deadly.

 

It has been a bit of a chaotic week for some places around the world, with many incidents occurring on what we deem relatively safe transportation.

 

It looked at the catastrophic explosion that engulfed the town of Lec-Megantic in Quebec in which a freight train carrying oil, derailed in the centre of town killing tens of people.

There was also a train derailment in France in which 6 people were killed and 30 injured as it crashed at a station.

There was a plane crash at San Fransisco airport that killed 3 people after it was travelling to slow and hit the runway seawall.

 

Now only 18 days later, I am talking about the same thing. 3 devastating incidents that have occurred which have led us to believe that public transport is not as safe as we thought.

 

In Spain as many people will know a train travelling faster than the speed limit, derailed on a sharp corner in Spain close to Santiago de Compostella. It has been revealed today, that the black box recorded that the driver had been on the phone at the time of the incident. The current death toll is 79, as the ten carriages carrying 218 passengers flipped off the track in one of the worst train disasters in recent times.

 

A Coach crash near Avellino in Italy, on Monday, claimed the lives of 38 people in one of the worst road accidents seen in this area. The coach which had about 50 people on board after travelling back to Naples from a pilgrimage careered off the top of a tall viaduct after hitting numerous vehicles. The coach fell 98ft into the ravine below after what is believed to have been after a tire puncture.

Finally, a head on collision on a railway line in Switzerland claimed the life of a train driver, injuring 26 people. Switzerland railways are deemed the safest and best railway lines in the world.
  

 

RIP to those killed in these disasters.

GTA V: 7 weeks to go

Its getting closer! Only 7 weeks till the release date of September 17th!

So exciting! Anyway here are a handful of recent screenshots from the game, if you want more check out http://www.rockstargames.com/V/ or IGN!

 

Look at this beast!!

 

The best view

Now there are places you visit around the world and pictures you take, but there aren't many that where you stand, you wish you could capture the whole feel; the sea breeze, the hot air, the nerves as you step on that platform on the edge of the cliff and the delight as you melt into one of the most spectacular views you set your eyes upon.

Them are the feels as you visit this place.

Picture this: A breathtaking and astounding colleseum of cliffs, pearly white, made of pure limestone with the whitest of beaches in the centre. The most aqua blue, clear and clean with the boats as if they are floating on air.

Then the deeper, darker blue, in the distance; wishing you can just dive in!

And minus the tourism boats and the specs of people, the view is almost perfect, a hidden gem, glittering on the coast.

And there it lays, perfectly placed in the centre of the beach, decaying into the sands, a shipwreck from times gone by....

 

 

And as the yachts and posh boats come in to see the crystal clear waters and the shipwreck you get an idea of the scale of the place.

 

 With coral to snorkel with and an X visible from above, marking the spot of hidden treasure. But the treasure has already been found. The location.

 

 

But to get to this hidden cove, with shipwreck and clear waters you have to enter by sea. There is no access by land and this small concrete platform over the edge provides the only glimpse of the treasure from land.

 

It is a magical and astounding place to visit. A must see. A Best View.

 

Zakynthos, Greece. Shipwreck Cove.

Is it what you pictured?

Chinese Landslide Caught on film

Footage from the Chinese media have released dramatic footage of a landslide. The video, from a CCTV camera along the road shows the moment hundreds of tonnes of dirt and rocks come sliding off the hillside onto the road below. A car seems to be crushed by the slide, but luckily all of those inside survived without severe injuries. If they had been seconds earlier or closer to the slide they could have been crushed or swept off the roadside and down the cliff  below.

 

The landslide comes after heavy rainfall.

 

 

 

 

One year on from the London Olympic Games

Can you believe that its exactly a year since the start of the London Olympic Games, two weeks of sporting triumph and sunshine in what was the wettest year!

 

The whole anticipation and buzz around the Olympics was fantastic! There was so much excitement around the opening ceremony with lots of surprises in store. With appearances from James Bond and the Queen to Mr Bean. It was truly an amazing extravaganza and it was such a build up to the big day. The world, an estimated 900 million people, watched Danny Boyles show, entitled Isle of Wonder, made it the most watched opening ceremony ever!

 

Its crazy how much excitement there was and its a shame that there is nothing as exciting that would bring the country together and make Britains proud of what was a very successful games. Everywhere you went, people were talking about the Olympics.

And when the night came to watch the opening ceremony 24 million UK viewers sat down in front of their TVs to see what Danny Boyle had created to show the world.

And from the very beginning the countdown, sounded amazing and with some very British numbers...

And then what followed! A masterpiece. You can watch the full thing here:

 

I myself managed to get down to London to see the Paralympic games and it was so amazing to be in that park were history was being made.

  

Its such a good memory to look back on and tonight a celebration games is on bbc1 at 8.30pm which will look back on the Olympics as well as bringing live sports including Jessica Ennis and the one and only Usain Bolt. 
 Everyone will remember the London 2012 Summer Olympic Games.

Footage of the worst Spanish rail disaster in decades.

The driver of a train which derailed killing over 70 people and injuring hundreds more in a horrifying accident is facing questioning tonight. There is increased pressure on the investigators to question the driver after it is thought the train was travelling almost twice over the speed limit.

 

 

 

The train derailed on a sharp corner after shortly leaving a tunnel on the line close to Santiago de Compostella. Spain will hold 3 days of mourning. The black box of the train has been seized by investigators from the high speed Madrid to Ferrol train. At least 130 people were taken to hospital after the disaster, where technical problems or terrorism has been ruled out. It is expected to be one of the worst rail disasters in Spanish History.

 

The train had around 218 passengers and around 10 carriages. It seems the front four carriages and engine came of the track hitting the side wall. The following carriages therefore flipped and piled up on top of each other as the train flipped.

 

Footage from the disaster has been revealed taken from a railway line camera showing the moment of devastation.

 

 

Thoughts are with the victims, injured and their families in this truly horrific incident.

 

Didn't they do well

So every now and again I like to share an awesome song that I am liking at the moment and looking back I can see how much everyone else really liked them too! Definitely good tracks of the summer!

 

So lets have a look...

 

Sebestian Ingrosso (Feat. Tommy Trash) - Reload Sebastian Ingrosso New Song reached number 3 in the charts.

 

Icona Pop - I Love it  Do You Love it? reached number one!

 

Avicii - Wake Me up New Avicii is currently residing at numero uno!

 

John Newman - Love Me again John Newman: Love Me Again also reached number one!!

 

I mean I also talked about other songs that didn't do as well but are just as good :)

 

Seems I am a bit mainstream

 

Keep checking anyway for other music I think sounds amazing and may do well in the charts!

Gravity

Here is a new teaser trailer for the new film coming out early October starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney.

 

This terrifying teaser just shows the sheer horror of being lost in space and the struggle to survive.

 

The film see's two astronauts attempt to return to Earth after debris crashes into their space shuttle.

 

But is this going to be the best part of the film?

 

 

Here is the original trailer

 

 

I feel a storm brewing

Well this morning saw some huge monsterous thunderstorms, across the South East and North. I woke up to some rumbling rolling thunder myself. These storms have been violent with numerous lightning strikes and torrential downpours causing flash flooding.

 

London had a spectacular storm in the early hours.

 



(BBC) ap



 Manchester also saw violent thunderstorms with a huge bolt hitting close to Piccadilly Station causing signal outages causing trains to be cancelled and delayed for up to 90 minutes for most of the morning.

 



Manchester Lightning Strike via MSN



The storms are forming with the high temperatures and high humidity in the atmosphere. They follow weeks of hot weather and the heatwave. They are set to continue over the next few days also. Warnings for heavy rain and potential flash flooding due to the amount of rainfall in a short space of time and the dry and solid ground

 



Jamie McDonagh, Northampton (BBC)

 

Track the storms

 

Early this morning there were oover 1586 strikes in one hour and you can track the thunderstorms and their lightning strikes via netweather at

http://www.netweather.tv/index.cgi?action=lightning;sess=

 

 

it shows the location of the lightning strikes and the time since showing the movement of storms.

 

Earlier today I accidentally called a Thunderstorm a Voldemort.

 

But when I came to think about it, they both are very similar and Voldemort would be a good alternative name form a thunder storm.

 

If you think about it the word Volt is in his name, like lightning electricity....

Also the word Storm is almost in his name which is probably the reason why I got confused in the first place.

But additionally, they are both destructive, terrifying (for some) and produce lightning scars.

Maybe that's where the name comes from?

 

 

A Momentus Day!

Today is a momentus day!!! Why? Not only has the new royal baby been born.....finally.... but it is my Great Grandmothers 90th Birthday :)

And she is still a fit and healthy young lady!

90 years young

 

 

Fingers crossed she will share her birthday with the new royal!

 

Significant Events of 1923

 

First outside broadcast from BBC

Howard Carter opens the burial chamber of Tutankhamun

Wedding of The Prince Albert, Duke of York (later George VI) and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (later Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother) in Westminster Abbey

Law to stop under 18s buying alcohol.

The BBC Broadcasts the chimes of the big ben for the first time!

Greece adopted the Gregorian Calendar

Time magazine hits the shelves for the first time.

Warner Bros. was founded

The Irish Civil War ended

Mt Etna erupts making 60,000 homeless

 The Great Kantō earthquake devastates Tokyo and Yokohama, killing an estimated 142,807 people, but according to a Japanese construction research centre report in 2005, 105,000 are confirmed dead

 A major fire in Berkeley, California erupts, consuming some 640 structures, including 584 homes in the densely built neighborhoods north of the campus of the University of California.

Roy and Walt Disney found the Walt Disney Company

 

 

And finally a congratulations to Prince William and Kate on the birth of their new son, third in line to the throne; born at 4.42pm weighing 8 pounds 6 ounces.

Avengers: Age of Ultron and a Superman/Batman Movie

Its Comic Con at this time of year and you get to hear some awesome news to your favourite TV shows and films. And here is some BIG NEWS.

Information on the new Avengers film and the sequel to Man of Steel, a Batman Superman movie.

So the next Avengers film from Marvel, to be released in 2015 has been given the title Avengers: Age Of Ultron. Revealed at Comic Con a short teaser of the film was shown, with glimpses of the Avengers and dialogue from the first film followed by a robotic face, not of Iron Man but Ultron and his glowing red eyes.

Ultron has been in some of the comics since the 1960s and is a superpowered robot, who often needs a big team to bring him down

ULTRON

 

Another huge film which has just been confirmed is this...

 

Zack Snider appeared at the end of Warner Bros. Comic Con panel to confirm that the Man Of Steel: Sequel will be a Batman Superman Movie.

 

No further details were given and the film is still in writing stage but a quote was given from the comic books which shows that Batman and Superman may not be the bestest of friends.

 

“I want you to remember my hand at your throat. I want you to remember the one man who beat you.,” a line from comic The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller

17 days of sun

So July has been a scorcher of a month and for some it seems that the current heatwave is drawing to a close. However, its not over for many, temperatures are set to vary in the twenties throughout the next few weeks Though there will be more moisture in the atmosphere meaning a more humid feel and thundery downpours.

 

Over the last two weeks and for some even longer, high pressure has been locked above the UK, blocking any weather systems from coming across the UK and deflecting them far above the UK, where the Jet stream is much further North than usual.

 

 

This image from netweather, shows the Jet Stream in red and it rippling way above the UK. This has allowed conditions to stay calm and dry across the UK and has meant that the air has stagnated and warms up with clear skies. Temperautres reached a maximum over the last few days as temperatures continued to rise. However things over the next few days are going to change.

 

This is the position of the Jetstream in a few days time showing that it has rippled further south allowing more moist air and wetter weather to flow across the UK. As the temperatures too are also high its going to spark off some thundery downpours in places. Forecasters have said that the thundery downpours will be heavy and may cause potential for flash flooding. As the ground is so dry and hard a sharp heavy shower will mean the water may just run straight off and into the rivers.

 

The wetter weather comes as a saviour for farmers and gardeners as some areas have seen no rainfall for the last 17 days! However, some areas across the far south of the UK will still see some sunshine and dry weather with temperatures being in the mid twenties. Meaning that for some the good weather could continue in what might be the longest sunny spell since 1995.

 

Temperatures will begin to die down soon but are likely to reach their maximum over the next few days.

 

So expect stormy weather over the next few days, potentially disruptive. But don't put those BBQs away just yet, sunny days may come in between!

Godzilla Poster Revealled

I still cant get over the fact they are making a new Godzilla!

This looks sooo good, look at the size of the beast! New poster just revealed for comic con:

 

 

 

Release date is rumoured to be 16 May 2014!

Ways to keep cool on a hot night and day.

On the rare occasions when the sun comes out in the UK over summer we are not prepared to how it may affect our sleeping patterns. In countries abroad many have air conditioning but hardly any residential properties in the UK do. So how do you keep cool at night? Here are a few ideas:

 

To reduce the temperature in your bedroom, ensure that all curtains are closed during the day to keep the sunshine out. Keep the windows open on the side of the house with no sun and closed on the sunny side. This will dramatically reduce the temperature of your room. When the sun sets open all windows to let through a full breeze.

 

An electric fan, though expensive and noisy, they will cool you down and allow the air to move in your room, thought if you turn it off it soon warms up again!

 

Sleep with your bed cover sheet rather than the thicker cover.

 

Have a cool or hot shower. If you shower you can come out refreshed and if it is a hot one you will feel the air is cooler as your body temperature is much hotter than the surrounding air.

 

Sleep on a camp bed, sun lounger or floor so the heat isn't absorbed into the mattress.   

 

Some people dampen clothes or your sheet with water to cool it down.

Otherwise there isn't much else you can do.

You could always do what this guy does....

 

Parts of UK upgraded to level three heatwave

 

 

So its been almost ten days now since the sunny weather first began across the country and since then, there has been a strong high pressure in charge which has meant the weather has continued to be sunny and dry. This has also meant that for many areas across the UK there has been no rain! I haven't seen a single drip from the sky for at least ten days! Meaning river levels in the UK are quite low, however due to last year being one of the wettest ever, the water stocks are plenty healthy at the moment and there is no risk for hose pipe ban.

 

Today the Met office has a current heatwave watch level of 3! This is in force for the South and South East. With Level 2 found in the North and North West and Level 1 across the rest of the country. Level 3 states there is a 90% chance of heatwave over Wednesday to Thursday. This is just one level below a national emergency as the chances of the young, old and those with chronic illness are at serious risk.

 

This is the first prolonged heatwave since 2006. The heat has caused problems on roads with some surfaces melting and on railways with buckling tracks. Many people have been killed or injured swimming in reservoirs and other open waters. Numbers suffering from heatstroke, sun burn and dehydrations is stretching emergency departments.

 

Today temperatures reached their hottest at 31.9C at Heathrow. Temperatures are set to cool in the South but for more northern areas they are set to increase into the weekend.

 

Heatwaves come when temperatures during the day are above 28-32C and 15-18C above at night

A Belated Graduation

So last year I graduated from Lancaster University but unfortunately my official graduation ceremony clashed with a big family holiday I was going on! Typical!!

 

 

So I deferred till this year and I am actually quite glad I did! Though it was a long ceremony and extremely hot in that gown. It was good to have an official and formal ending to my time at university. It was a good way to end, spending my last few minutes in the hall in which I spent my first few minutes in freshers week (just a year late.) But it was good to have the whole gown and hat official photograph and ceremony thing because its an important event!

 

I am the first to go to university in my family really and it was something that had to be done properly.

 

It was sad however, not to have all my year around me, I mean I knew a handful of people but it would have been such a good way to end if I had done it last year! But still I was glad I have done it.

 

It was a lovely day and great weather too, and just showed off how beautiful Lancaster was, I was sad that I was likely not to return for a while. The heat was a bit much however in that suit and gown and hood and hat!

 

But overall a great day and I am glad I did it! :)

 

 

The scream of a Volcano

If you don't already know, there are precursors to a Volcanic eruption. From an inflation of a volcanoes flanks, to a change in gas levels given off, to producing earthquakes with different frequencies and causes.

 

Today, scientists have revealed further signals that come before an eruption by looking at the earthquakes further. There are two main types of earthquakes produced from a volcano, ones that are caused from the fracturing of rock as the magma pushes upwards and ones that are caused from the vibration of magma as it rises through these cracks. The latter are more common at a later stage, closer to the eruption, seen on a seismograph as a long and gradual wave. The fracturing quakes are much shorter and start of with a sharp movement.

 

Scientists have been studying the volcanic eruption at Redoubt, Akaska. They found that these later stage earthquakes change from a steady drum beat to an increasingly rapid succession of tremors. It was described as a sound rising from one pitch to another which stopped just before the eruption. There analysis of these eruptions have seen that volcanoes can produce earthquakes to much higher frequencies and stop abruptly minutes before the eruption. These occur on the more explosive seen around the world.

 

The scientists involved, have described as this phenomenon as a scream!

The Hottest day of the year.

Many parts of the country have experienced the hottest day of the year so far but many have already seen the hottest day since 2006. The ridge of high pressure which has been in charge of our weather luckily formed over July, one of our hottest months! Ireland which doesn't often see temperatures into the high twenties saw one of its hottest temperatures in a long time. Today temperatures reached 30C at Heathrow!

 

The week of high temperatures follows a largely dry June, registering as the driest since 2006 for England. This is much different to the comparatively wet summer months witnessed in previous years. Rainfall for Scotland and Wales was less than 75% of average. Thanks to the 2012 being the wettest year for a long time, groundwater resources remain healthy and therefore there is no need for any hose pipe bans which may have been seen if last year was not so wet. But if the settled weather is set to continue then there maybe cause for measurements to be put in force. 

A week of transport incidents

It has been a bit of a chaotic week for some places around the world, with many incidents occurring on what we deem relatively safe transportation.

Over the past decade there have been hundreds of improvements and rules to reduce the likelihood of accidents and many have them have worked, the amount of accidents have significantly reduced in both aviation and the railway networks. However, this week there has been a few events which have led us to believe they are not as safe as we have thought.

The Asiana airline crash in San Fransisco last weekend was due to Pilot error and the fact that it came into landing much slower than it should have done, crashing into the sea wall causing it to spiral out of control. Footage showed the horrifying moment the accident happened. It was revealed that numerous casualties were left spread across the runway as they fell out the back of the airplane as it spun around. Two air hostess were "ejected" out the back of the aircraft along with some passengers.

 

 

Today it was revealed that a third person has died following the crash after their injuries. It was also revealed on the panic that followed the crash and that one of the people that had been killed had been hit by a fire truck racing to the scene, whether or not she had survived the initial impact it is unknown. She was covered in foam at the time. It was also revealed that it took 14 minutes for rescue workers to realise that there was bodies on the runway and to locate them as they were far from the aircraft some still in their seats. A dozen are still injured in hospital. The amount of deaths and accidents has almost halved in the last decade for aviation incidents.

 

Yesterday another aircraft caught fire at Heathrow airport. The Dreamliner flight, which has had many issues, caught fire close to terminal buildings but with nobody on board. Fire crews took control of the blaze quickly but both runways were closed for almost 2 hours. It is believe it may have been due to a battery on the aircraft.

 

 

France yesterday, experienced its worst railway disaster in years after 6 people were killed and 30 others injured after their train crashed closed to Paris were it derailed and hit the station platform. Shockingly, some media reported that some people were trying to steal from victims and threw rocks at emergency personnel.

 

 

In Canada, bodies are still being recovered after the explosion of a freight train in Lec-Megantic in Quebec. The train carrying oil derailed and exploded in town centre destroying many buildings packed with local residents on their night out. With what looks like something out of Final Destination there are many hundreds still missing and the death toll is likely to rise. The freight train was revealed to have not had its parking brakes on.

 

 

 RIP to those killed in these disasters.

All in White

 

This song comes from one of my favourite albums... What did you expect from the Vaccines? I was so surprised with this album! After listening to the full thing for the first time whilst travelling back from the opposite side of the world on a Qantas flight, I was amazing to find that I loved every single song! This was a favourite

 

Because I will one day shine with you,

I will shine on a faithful few

 

Oh, show me low quotations,

have you earned your stripes?

Fabricate salvation,

Lord, I know your type

I've known you all my life

I was always wrong, you, all in white

Giant Iceberg Calved from Pine Island Glacier

Scientists have known it for some time, but over the last few days satellites have shown that the Pine Island Glacier in Antarctica has calved one of the largest icebergs ever seen. The Pine Island Glacier is one of the fastest and longest glaciers in Antarctica and the size of the Iceberg calved is said to be 8 times the size of Manhattan New York and at around 720km sq in area. The Pine Island Glacier travels several kilometres from the land and floats out on the ocean water. Scientists believe warmer waters and melting of the base of the ice shelf has caused this iceberg to crack off the glacier.

 

 

 

The glacier is one of the most rapidly shrinking glaciers on the planet losing more ice than any other. It is one of the main flows off Antarctica also and contributes most to sea level rise. Another thing that is worrying scientist is the fact this occurred in deep winter and not in the winter months when there is colder conditions. It is also a concern on how much freshwater will be melted from the glacier into the salty sea water and whether that will affect temperatures and currents.

 

GTA V: Official Gameplay

Its hereeeee!! Its unexpectedly just been released and it looks absolutely amazing! Flying, driving, racing, diving, car modifying..... and more take a look :)

 

 

Footage of Asiana Flight 214

Footage has emerged of the moment the Asiana Flight 214 crash landed at San Fransisco International Airport on Saturday. Today it has been revealed that one of the pilots was a trainee with just 43 hours of experience and also that the plane was travelling significantly slower when approaching the runway than it should have been. 2 young passengers were killed when the planes tail hit the sea wall sending the plane flipping and spinning along the runway.

 

It was also being investigated today whether one of the victims was actually killed from being run over by an emergency vehicle.

 

It was stated that the two victims from this accident were the first from any Boeing 777 crash.

 

It just shows that even today, with all the technological advances in flight safety, these crashes can still occur.

That Woman

So the web has been a buzz this week of an interview on UKs This Morning in which Phil and Holly are interviewing two ladies on the topic of childrens name and their relation to class and behaviour. Holly really loses her cool!

That lady is Katie Hopkins. If you haven't seen the interview then here it is! But check out the other videos below she is a highly controversial lady and is always on the negative side of most arguments!

 

 

So this week her silly argument has hit the web with over 9.8 million views!

Bubble Football

Now I have just come across this on youube and found this amazing new sport!!!!!

Now i wish they had this at school it would make it wayy more fun!

Now I think its been around for a while... so how am I only just coming across it!

 

 

#BubbleFootball