If it can be developed for practical use "it could benefit families that have no access to electricity, especially those living in very isolated areas," he said.

More than a quarter regularly drink too much and many isolate themselves from friends and family: almost a half had not left their homes for a long period and more than a quarter had lost friends.

I don't know how these people go on for food when they are cut off by snow for days on end.

Living in a countryside tends to insulate us from the outside world.

We deal with the weather, which is something most people don' t do, as they' re cut off from the world in their glass and metal boxes.