A pilot struck an understated tone after one of the engines in the Qantas plane he was flying exploded following take-off by telling passengers “we’re a tad busy up here”.

Passengers on a Qantas jet en route from San Francisco to Sydney began screaming after hearing a loud explosion and seeing flames coming from the engine.

The captain, who has not been named, tried to reassure those on board by saying: “Normally, we do it in a simulator, of course – but we are trained.”

The Boeing 747-400 had to turn back to San Francisco about half an hour into Monday’s flight after an engine failed, blasting a large hole in its casing.

Video footage captured by one of the 212 passengers on board picked up the pilot’s message over the tannoy as panic spread through the aircraft.

On the tape he said: “Ladies and gentlemen, as you can appreciate we’re a tad busy in the flight deck at the moment and we’ll come back to you with some more information.

“In the meantime, you must be assured that we are trained for this situation. Normally, we do it in a simulator, of course – but we are trained.”

Passengers described yesterday how it felt like the plane had hit a “speed bump”, sending shudders through the aircraft.

No one was injured and the aircraft landed without incident, with the passengers taking a later flight.

Qantas, Australia’s national airline, said investigations were under way into the incident, which it described as “excessive vibration” in one of the plane’s four Rolls-Royce engines.

Initial checks confirmed that the engine had failed, and a spokesman said there were a couple of “holes” in the casing.

telegraph.co.uk

My name is talha and I'd just like to say hi to everyone. As everybody knows that nowadays forums are the best source of Knowledge, and through forums we can learn a lot. When I heard of the community I thought it would be wonderful to expand to a new community, meet like minded people and share thoughts and services with fellow members.I am sure there's a lot of interesting topics and discussions happening on this forum and wanted to check it out.I was looking for a new forum to join and the higher powers of Google has brought me here! I look forward to meeting you all and wish you the best of success.

Hi everyone. I'm Billy. this is the first time i'm here. I wanna say hello to everyone here

A home is always built in light of many things including the space for each and very new item to be brought in future. So before building a house one will be very much aware of his future also. A home to a great extent will be the fulfillment of an age old dream. A house is always built in line with ones own taste and is exceedingly personal. This is why the house which we feel small may be more and more spacious for others. This is the difference in the perspectives. Just like the same a green home is always built with a conscious or unconscious mind which throbs for the welfare of the environment. The idea behind the green home is to go hand in hand with the nature. The eco-friendly home not only maintains the efficiency of the inhabitants but at the same time helps in saving more energy. The use of a centralized biogas plant, use of solar energy, bathrooms with water usage to the minimum, building materials made of recycled materials…etc are some of the major features of a green home.

Today when more and more developments are attracting people, a convention of remodeling their home gets prevalent among the families. The remodeling varies as per ones own notion of a new house as it may range from increasing the square feet and changing the outlook to adding luxury and building another storey. But when it comes to the remodeling of a green home, it becomes a slightly different perspective. The remodeling of a home completely changes the existing environment as a whole. In a Green Home Remodeling can be done, provided it maintains the eco-friendly nature of its own and also maintains the energy saving conception.

The rain water storage systems and the sprinklers which automatically get adjusted, based on the weather forecast, are used on a large scale in remodeling a green home. Systems are remodeled to use solar energy, not only to replace electricity but also for cooking purposes as well. When the whole world is promoting nature conservation, a remodeling which fetches us in conserving more energy should be made. Even the FIFA Football World Cup witnessed teams wearing jerseys made of recycled materials. Thus remodeling, benefiting the nature and the environment is regularly done in one or the other part of the world for sure.

More than nine million British adults have never used the internet despite Government efforts to encourage elderly people to go online, official figures have shown.

While a million extra “silver surfers” have logged on in the last year, concerns have been raised that those who are still not using the internet are being excluded from key discounts and services.

More than 38 million British adults are now online, with 30 million logging on every day, the figures showed.

But the elderly, the widowed and people on lower incomes are least likely ever to have connected to the internet, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Adults who do not use the internet miss out on the opportunity to save money on a range of products and services, such as cars, holidays and insurance, through price comparison websites.

The new figures for 2010 showed that 31 million people have bought goods or services on the internet in the past 12 months.

Martha Lane Fox, the founder of Lastminute.com, was reappointed by Coalition in June to continue in her role as UK Digital Champion. She has been tasked with getting every adult in Britain connected to the internet.

David Cameron, the Prime Minister, said: "In the internet age, we need to ensure that people aren't being left behind as more and more services and business move online."

But fears have been raise that the drive is not moving quickly enough. Charities and campaigners warned that Britain faces being split by a “digital divide” if more progress is not made to get the nine million adults who have never used the internet online.

Michelle Mitchell, Charity Director at Age UK, said: “While many older people are embracing the benefits of getting online such as keeping up with friends and family more easily and making savings online, many people in later life are still missing out.

“It is essential that government, business and the third sector work together to provide older people with bespoke training and support to help them get online. Otherwise the digital divide will continue to deepen."

As well as elderly people, people on lower incomes and those with no formal qualifications were least likely to be connected to the internet, the ONS figures showed.

Almost a third of those who earn less than £10,399 said they went online, compared with just two per cent of those with an income of over £41,600.

Only 45 per cent of adults without any formal qualifications had used the Internet, compared with 97 per cent of those with a degree.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/in...-says.html

Renewable energy has taken the fascination of the world with its innumerable benefits. The fuel prices have been rising as its supply gets short and unable to meet the demand. Besides the high prices, the fossil fuels also lead to environmental degradation by leaving behind by-products along with the generation of energy.

The benefits of the renewable energy are many. The easy and plenty availability of renewable energy sources has made it a cost-effective source of energy. The renewable energy can be produced again and again on completion without the fear of it getting over. It is also environment friendly as it does not cause any pollution.

With the current recession in the economy, it makes sense to invest in the energy sector, which still remains recession proof. Along with high returns, the investment is also secure with the energy sector showing favorable growth trends. world energy research helps the investors in making sound investments in the energy sector and protecting the investors from the vulnerabilities of the market.

A tenth of salads sold on the high street contain more salt than a Big Mac, a survey has found.

Many office workers buy the ready made salads and pasta bowls as a seemingly healthy lunch option, and they are particularly popular with women on diets.

But most contain the hidden danger of high salt levels, according to analysis by Consensus Action on Salt and Health (Cash), a charity.



Despite their healthy image, only six out of 270 examined have less salt than the 0.5g in a normal (34.5g) packet of Walker's Ready Salted crisps.

One in 10 have more than the 2.1g contained in a McDonald's Big Mac - giving those who consume them more than a third of their recommended 6g daily limit in one dish.

This is not the first time such salads have been attacked as unhealthy: last year a similar survey found that some contained more fat than a Big Mac.

Some of the saltiest are from upmarket high street cafes, which market themselves as selling fresh and healthy products.

The worst offender is from Eat., which calls itself the 'Real Food Company'. Its Spicy Crayfish Noodles salad contains 3.51g of salt - making it more than 17 times saltier than Pret A Manger's No Bread Tricolore, with 0.2g of salt.

The other saltiest salads from high street cafes and fast food outlets are Pret's Super (Duper) Humous Salad (3.2g), KFC's Zinger Salad with dressing (3.1g) and its Original Recipe Chicken salad with dressing (2.9g), and McDonald's Crispy Chicken and Bacon Salad with dressing (2.6g).

But many supermarket salads are also high in salt. Among them, Marks & Spencer had seven of the 10 saltiest.

Top of the list was its Taste of Asia salad (2.83g), containing almost as much salt as six packets of crisps.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) recommends adults eat no more than 6g of salt a day - about a teaspoonful - to minimise the risk of high blood pressure, stroke and heart disease.

Campaigners have managed to reduce the amount of 'hidden' salt in everyday products like bread, but say quantities in many fast foods are still much too high.

Professor Graham MacGregor, of the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine, who is chairman of Cash, said: "It is absurd that only six salads contain less salt than a packet of crisps.

"Clearly the manufacturers still have a long way to go if we are to reduce our salt intake to 6g a day and save the maximum number of lives.

"Every gram of salt removed from our diet is estimated to prevent 6,000 deaths from heart attacks, heart disease and strokes per year, creating potential healthcare savings of £1.5 billion per year."

Katharine Jenner, the charity's campaign manager, added: "Many women choose salad as a healthy and convenient lunch, particularly when watching their waistline.

"Rather than feeling healthy, however, they often feel bloated and sluggish, symptoms of water retention which can be caused by the hidden salt in these salads.

"In the long-term the health problems are more serious, as salt intake is linked to osteoporosis and high blood pressure. Given the healthy image of salads it's surprising to find that they contain such high levels of unnecessary salt."

But Claire Hughes, an M&S nutritionist, said: "Unfortunately, Cash's survey makes comparing salt levels in salads very confusing for consumers as their survey looks at different pack sizes.

"We want to make it as easy as possible for our customers to eat a healthy diet and we meet all of the FSA salt targets for salads. We always provide front of pack colour-coded labelling on our salads and are committed to continuing to review the salt in our products whilst still offering a broad range of cuisines for our customers to enjoy."

A spokesman for Pret said: "While it can be tricky to reduce salt in products without compromising taste, we are committed to meeting the Food Standard Agency’s targets and are working hard to make reductions below those set out for 2012.

"At present we offer the salad with the lowest level of salt in the UK, while all of Pret’s food complies with the FSA’s current salt guidelines.”


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/health...g-Mac.html

There is an 11 year old US company, backed by a 39 year old multi-million dollar, debt-free, media company launching a highly effective, natural anti-inflammatory that is taking US/CND markets by storm.

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If human rights, democracy and the rule of law are the key positions for PACE indeed, and if Hurskainen stays in Minsk to pay particular attention to those three issues, then I find no sense in her further staying there. Cause after her meeting with the leaders of Belarusian opposition everything seems to be quite obvious! Look, according to the appeal of the Belarusian opposition to the CE and PACE: the current Belarusian authorities in their lawmaking and enforcements systematically contradict CE and PACE main values, aims and principals; still blatantly violate human rights and freedoms; haven’t fulfilled even a part of the PACE resolution requirements. What else do we need? As for me, everything is as clear as a day, all that shows us perfect picture of a real state of deals in Belarus. If here, in Europe, we want to see any progress in democratization of Belarus, then we should support true followers of the liberal idea instead of aiding and abating to the Lukashenko’s authoritarian regime. Look, Lukashenko doesn’t care even a little about the PACE’s resolutions. He is sure that sooner or later we will kneel to him. And I say we must put an end to this. Europe shouldn’t have any contacts with the current Belarusian authorities. That’s the only way out, I say!

A disease that first emerged in the UK in 2005 has caused a severe decline in the number of greenfinches and chaffinches, according to researchers.

In the worst affected areas, greenfinch populations have fallen by an estimated 35% and in 2007 about 500,000 birds of all species were killed, they say.

The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) has blamed a fatal infection caused by the parasite Trichomonas gallinae.

It said the number of deaths from such an emerging disease was unprecedented.

Findings about the "disease" are reported in the journal PLoS One.

The impact on birds has been estimated from a "citizen science" project in which more than 700 people have been monitoring bird numbers in their gardens since 2003.

The "Garden Bird Health Initiative" involved scientists from the BTO and other conservation organisations analysing population trends of several common garden birds.

Mike Toms, who is from the BTO and a co-author of the study, told BBC News: "It's really the first time we've seen this level of mortality from a new and emerging disease within birds in Britain."

The disease has caused a decline in the populations of both chaffinches and greenfinches, but it seems to impact particularly upon the greenfinches.

"Something makes [greenfinches] more susceptible," Mr Toms said.

"It could be because there are more of these birds gathering together. They tend to be seen in groups around bird tables, so there could be greater transmission."

He said the trichomonad parasite harbouring the disease was probably transmitted via birds' saliva.

"If a bird regurgitates something it can't swallow [or] if it takes a drink at a bird bath, that is a potential route of transmission," Mr Toms explained.

"Keeping things clean" could effectively break this cycle, so the researchers are urging bird-lovers to clean bird feeders and bird baths in their gardens at least once a week.

"People will be able to notice [signs of the disease]," Mr Toms said. "They might see birds in their gardens that are fluffed up, lethargic and they might look a bit wet around the bill."

The researchers do not yet know the original source of the infection but its emergence and spread has coincided with an increase in the population of wood pigeons.

BBC.co.uk