All posts tagged: advise

Survivors advise rescuers in search for last two stuck in Laos cave

Survivors advise rescuers in search for last two stuck in Laos cave

Published by Sam Flores

VIENTIANE: From their shared hospital room, several survivors freed from a semi-submerged cave in Laos after more than a week underground are advising rescuers on how to find the last two missing men believed to be trapped even deeper inside. Rescuers, including foreign cave divers, said on Sunday (May 31) they were devising a risky search for the two men and gaining insights about the narrow, flooded passageways from the survivors – one of whom spoke of “waiting to die” in the depths of the cave. A Laotian rescue group said the information on the cave system from the hospitalised men was “considered substantial” and “being used to prepare the search plan for the remaining two people”. “The hope is that today’s mission will locate both remaining victims,” the group wrote on Sunday on social media. Five men were found alive on Wednesday, huddling in a tight shaft around 300m from the mouth of the cave in a remote mountainous area of central Xaysomboun province. They were among seven stranded in the cave by flash …

Aim high but don’t shoot for the moon, mathematicians advise

Aim high but don’t shoot for the moon, mathematicians advise

Published by skeptic

Setting your sights high can lead to bigger rewards – up to a point Buena Vista Images/Getty Images Shoot for the moon and even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars, so the saying goes. But shooting straight for the stars instead might actually be the more effective option, according to mathematicians. In life, people tend to try to be ambitious, yet not overly so, when it comes to pursuing their objectives, such as landing a better job, finding an appropriate partner or achieving political goals. However, quantifying this balance hasn’t been studied in detail, and much research has focused on when people stop looking too soon and aren’t ambitious enough, says Thomas Hills at the University of Warwick, UK. Now, using mathematical models, Matt Burgess at the University of Wyoming and his colleagues have found that the best outcomes for uncertain scenarios typically come from aiming high, but not unrealistically so. “You can prove that the optimal ambition is strictly above average and strictly finite, meaning above average but you don’t shoot for …

Survivor of financial abuse invited to advise ministers after Guardian report | Money

Survivor of financial abuse invited to advise ministers after Guardian report | Money

Published by Sam Flores

A woman who was nearly killed by her abusive husband has been invited to advise the government on measures to support victims of financial abuse after the Guardian highlighted her story last weekend. Francesca Onody was left homeless and penniless when her husband doused their cottage with petrol while she and her two children were inside. Her husband, Malcolm Baker, died when the property exploded. She discovered that Baker had cancelled the couple’s insurance policies and emptied their business bank accounts after she began divorce proceedings following years of abuse. She was not named in his will and faced repossession by their mortgage lender. The repossession order was halted after the Guardian intervened. Lucy Rigby, the City minister and economic secretary to the Treasury, contacted Onody after reading about her ordeal. “I was moved to tears,” Rigby said. “Francesca’s case is a truly shocking example of economic abuse and demonstrates just how devastating the impact can be.” Lucy Rigby described Francesca Onody’s case as a ‘truly shocking example of economic abuse’. Photograph: Sarah Lee/The Guardian …