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Hydrogen-heated homes could ignited four times as many explosions as gas boilers, a government-backed study has found. Arup, working for the business department, said it could cause 39 blasts and 65 injuries per year in the kitchen or ground floor. This was compared to just nine detonations and 17 people getting hurt for natural gas. It comes as hydrogen is being tested across Britain to see if it can be used to replace gas for greener heated homes. But it is more flammable and lighter and is yet to have been used on the grid to heat the country. Arup, working for the business department, said it could cause 39 blasts and 65 injuries per year in the kitchen or ground floor (file photo) Hydrogen boilers have not yet hit the market, with Worcester Bosch building this prototype If hydrogen is part of a zero-carbon future, it could have to be produced by electrolysis (as shown above), which sees electric currents passed through water. Another option is for the plants to capture the carbon

Healthy children as young as 12 are likely to be offered Covid jabs, scientific advisers said last night. Vaccine officials yesterday confirmed that doses will be offered within weeks to all 16 and 17-year-olds – and they will not need parental consent. But Jonathan Van-Tam, the deputy chief medical officer, strongly hinted the programme could be extended to those aged 12 to 15. In a clear sign this could happen this year, he stressed the need to 'continually review the emerging data'. Children over 12 are eligible for the jab only if they have severe underlying health conditions or live with a vulnerable relative. But Professor Van-Tam said it was 'more likely, rather than less likely' that the list of eligible 12 to 15-year-olds would grow. At a Downing Street briefing, he said there was 'no time to waste' in starting the rollout to 1.5million 16 and 17-year-olds. 'Children are going to start going back to colleges and sixth-forms from September, and in Sc

Confusion over advice provided by Queensland's top doctor on essential retail has been slammed by a leading retailers' organisation. At yesterday's Covid update chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young bizarrely urged Queenslanders to avoid online shopping to help prevent the movement of people needed to deliver packages. But the National Retail Association pointed out that government health directives on retail since the lockdown started were 'contradictory' and left business owners guessing.  'On Monday and Tuesday, shoppers were being urged to use online shopping to reduce the number of shoppers in stores,' NRA chief executive Dominique Lamb said yesterday. 'Today, the official advice is to avoid online shopping to reduce the number of delivery workers in the community.'  National Retail Association chief executive Dominique Lamb criticised official Queensland health advice on essential retail, including online shopping, as 'contradictory'

Samsel faces three misdemeanor criminal battery charges and has a court hearing scheduled for Aug. 16  A Kansas lawmaker has given up his state substitute teacher's license after he was accused of kicking a student in the testicles.  Republican State Rep. Mark Samsel, 36, of Wellsville said on Wednesday that 'extreme' stress caused him to have 'an isolated episode of mania with psychotic features' in the classroom.  He also said that he was trying to make a point about mental health and the need for people to be kinder to one another in defense of his actions.   He has a court hearing scheduled for Aug. 16 and said during a brief interview that he does not know how the surrender of his teaching license or his mental health will affect the case.  He faces three misdemeanor criminal charges of battery following what the local prosecutor described as 'rude, insulting or angry' interactions with two students, ages 15 or 16, during an art class.  Samsel, who has

The Channel migrant crisis reached new heights yesterday as the number reaching Britain this year topped 10,000. More than 260 are thought to have arrived aboard a dozen boats yesterday. They were brought to Dover Marina in Kent for processing by immigration officers. The milestone was reached while the Home Secretary was in Greece to visit an asylum reception centre. Priti Patel sailed on the Aegean with the Hellenic coastguard, who have been accused of deploying hard-line tactics against migrants attempting to reach Europe. Her fact-finding mission to the Greek government's recently completed processing centre on the island of Samos is expected to feed into Home Office plans to build similar facilities here. Miss Patel is also introducing powers to allow Border Force to turn migrant boats around in the Channel. But France has so far refused to allow similar tactics, claiming it is in breach of international maritime law. Yesterday's total of Channel migrants had not been conf