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Man crushed to death by robot in South Korea​

A man has been crushed to death by a robot in South Korea after it failed to differentiate him from the boxes of food it was handling, reports say.
The incident occurred when the man, a robotics company employee in his 40s, was inspecting the robot.
The robotic arm, confusing the man for a box of vegetables, grabbed him and pushed his body against the conveyer belt, crushing his face and chest, South Korean news agency Yonhap said.
He was sent to hospital but later died.
According to Yonhap, the robot was responsible for lifting boxes of peppers and transferring them onto pallets.
The man had been checking the robot's sensor operations ahead of its test run at the pepper sorting plant in South Gyeongsang province, scheduled for 8 November, the agency adds, quoting police.

The test had been originally been planned for 6 November, but was pushed back by two days due to problems with the robot's sensor.
The man, a worker from the company that manufactured the robotic arm, was running checks on the machine late into the night on Wednesday when it malfunctioned.
In a statement after the incident, an official from the Donggoseong Export Agricultural Complex, which owns the plant, called for a "precise and safe" system to be established.
In March, a South Korean man in his 50s suffered serious injuries after getting trapped by a robot while working at an automobile parts manufacturing plant.

Via BBC News
 
So, in the countdown of the portents of doom, who had lion roaming the streets of Rome?
How very Shakespearean!


Lion wanders streets of Italian town after escaping from circus

Residents of Ladispoli, on the coast near Rome, told to stay at home before animal was sedated and captured
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A lion prowled the streets of an Italian seaside town for several hours after escaping from a local circus, prompting campaigners to call for Italy to ban wild animals in entertainment.

Alessandro Grando, the mayor of Ladispoli, near Rome, had told residents to stay at home on Saturday while police and circus staff sought to catch the animal, which was eventually sedated and captured.

Videos later published in Italian media, apparently taken by locals and not authenticated by the Guardian, showed the adult lion walking through dark and deserted streets.

But Rony Vassallo, who is responsible for the animals in the Rony Roller Circus, said that while the thought of confronting a lion would make most people fearful, eight-year-old Kimba posed little danger.

“He met with people in an environment he wasn’t used to ... and nothing happened. He didn’t even for a second have the instinct to attack a person,” he told AFP at the circus site. He said his fear had been “that someone could have harm the animal, out of fear, or excess enthusiasm”.

In a Facebook post at about 10.30pm (2130 GMT), more than five hours after his message raising the alarm, Grando said the lion had been “sedated and captured”. “Now he will be taken in hand by the circus staff,” he wrote, thanking emergency services and volunteers who helped during “these hours of great concern”.

“I hope that this episode can stir some consciences, and that we can finally put an end to the exploitation of animals in circuses,” the mayor added.

Via the Guardian
 
Dobermann mauled two people at pet crematorium as its owner buried her dead guinea pig


The court heard the grieving Michelle Hiscoke, 57, lost control of the two and a half foot tall dog during a ceremony for her dead guinea pig.

She had slipped and fallen over when Harlow, who she only owned for two weeks, bit the crematorium owner and a visitor.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/24722317/dobermann-mauled-two-people-at-pet-crematorium/

maximus otter
 
What I find amazing is that she worked in a creche .... surely her collegues would know about her level of drinking? Is it that hard to find people to work in a creche?
 
Sollywos said:
What I find amazing is that she worked in a creche .... surely her collegues would know about her level of drinking? Is it that hard to find people to work in a creche?
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Possibly, but they can't do anything. People are alcoholics.

It's the incredible cruelty with which she responded ie. leaving someone who rolled over her hood after she had hit him. I have heard of people running over someone and not realizing it, but she can't even claim that.
 
Ascalon said:
Human skull found in Florida charity shop Halloween section
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A shopping trip in Florida has taken an eerie turn after a human skull was discovered in the Halloween section of a charity shop.

An eagle-eyed anthropologist browsing the store on Saturday spotted the skull and suspected it belonged to a human, officials said.

Detectives visited the store and agreed it was likely to be human.

The store owner told investigators the skull had been in a storage unit after being purchased several years ago.

Police in North Fort Myers, around 160 miles (260km) north-west of Miami, and the local medical examiner are now investigating the discovery and will inspect the skull further.

Officials do not believe the case is suspicious.

Via BBC News
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That is a rather archaic-looking skull.
It's not just the old patina, but the backward-angling cranium, large orbits, receding chin and slight but noticeable brow-ridges.
Has it been definitively DNA-dated?
 
Hands off our Camembert! France kicks up a stink over draft EU recycling law

Former French President Charles de Gaulle warned years ago: "How can you govern a country which has 246 varieties of cheese?" Brussels should have listened.

French cheesemakers are rallying against a proposed EU recycling law, accusing Brussels of endangering one of the country's most prized traditional foods. The draft law aims to phase out single-use packaging in favor of recycled materials. But French cheese producers fear the new regulation poses a threat to traditional packaging, such as Camembert’s distinctive wooden box.
 
uair01 said:
Hands off our Camembert! France kicks up a stink over draft EU recycling law

Former French President Charles de Gaulle warned years ago: "How can you govern a country which has 246 varieties of cheese?" Brussels should have listened.

French cheesemakers are rallying against a proposed EU recycling law, accusing Brussels of endangering one of the country's most prized traditional foods. The draft law aims to phase out single-use packaging in favor of recycled materials. But French cheese producers fear the new regulation poses a threat to traditional packaging, such as Camembert’s distinctive wooden box.
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It always did strike me as wasteful for an individual Camembert, costing maybe £3, to be encased in a thin wooden box which ended up being thrown away. Makes ecological sense to replace that with recyclable cardboard.
 
Unless the packaging makes a difference to the product, why not?
Of course, it might be a question of identifying a 'genuine' cheese ...
 
blessmycottonsocks said:
It always did strike me as wasteful for an individual Camembert, costing maybe £3, to be encased in a thin wooden box which ended up being thrown away. Makes ecological sense to replace that with recyclable cardboard.
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Cardboard is recyclable, but cardboard packaging is often made with bleaches, dies and glues, and often incorporates a plastic insert.

A wooden box is made of renewable materials, and will rot away if it goes to landfill. Of course, there are other environmental costs to production.

I imagine that a full environmental audit of both methods of packaging would show pros and cons but not much to separate them. Either is better than a plastic wrapper as most of the cheese in my local supermarket has.
 
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