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Twitter sues Indian government over content removal orders

Twitter has filed a suit in the Karnataka High Court in Bangalore, India, challenging a recent government order for the company to remove content and block dozens of accounts. The decision has escalated the social media company’s fight against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's drive to acquire more control over the content published on social media platforms. Twitter complied with the order, made under India's information technology law, but immediately sought judicial relief. According to the lawsuit paperwork, Twitter has alleged that New Delhi had abused its power by ordering it to arbitrarily and disproportionately remove several tweets from its platform, some of which “pertain to political content that is posted by official handles of political parties”, the social media giant stated…

E+T Magazine in Ethical Aspects
Hands-on review: Ebo Air smart home companion robot

Ebo Air from Enabot is pitched as a "family companion robot", a mobile, self-charging, family-friendly robotic companion, designed to help people connect with loved ones at all times, from any location. Of course, we can already connect with our loved ones via the medium of telephone, message or video chat, but what this little robotic friend will do is propel itself around your home at programmed intervals, chattering away to itself, filming and taking photos (saving either to its 16GB external memory or a card up to 256GB), entertaining pets and children as it goes, monitoring your home for unknown intruders, and generally being a helpful little soul. In its core functionality, Ebo Air is reminiscent of Kuri , the home companion robot created by Mayfield Robotics, whose cute appeal famously…

E+T Magazine in Robotics
Hands-on review: Honor Earbuds Pro 3

Since being sold off by Huawei in 2020, Honor has been carving out a niche for itself releasing solid if unexceptional mid-range smartphones as well as accessories like earbuds. First impressions of the Earbuds Pro 3 are positive; the diminutive case feels solidly built, with a durable opening mechanism that snaps shut satisfyingly. It also comes with a handy charging light on the front and a sync button for quickly pairing with new devices. While hardly a revelation, the sync button is often absent from cheaper buds, which can make syncing an awkward experience. The buds themselves look relatively sleek, with a shiny, faux-aluminium design that fit comfortably in the ear without sticking out too much – unlike some of Honor’s previous efforts . Sound quality is excellent. While buds will…

E+T Magazine in Signal Processing
How the future of healthcare innovation puts medics at the centre

Medics are often the pioneers of new solutions – they have the knowledge and ambition to make things better for patients. Yet when it comes to the adoption of medical innovation in healthcare settings their views are often ignored, and purchasing decisions left to management and procurement teams who lack understanding of how technologies and products will be used, or any direct experience of working in a clinical environment. The misalignment between a product’s promise and its clinical reality ultimately hinders patient care, with doctors and nurses having to find workarounds for the product’s shortcomings in high-pressure, high-risk environments, such as an operating theatre. Over time, the lack of trust can undermine the successful adoption of new, efficient, lifesaving technologies in…

E+T Magazine in Functional Safety
AI ‘predicts crime with 90 per cent accuracy’

Scientists from the University of Chicago have developed a new algorithm that they claim can predict future crimes one week in advance with about 90 per cent accuracy. The AI, which has been taught to identify patterns in time and geographic locations using public data on violent and property crimes in the city of Chicago from 2014 to the end of 2016, was able to accurately predict crime levels several weeks in advance. The model was also trained and tested on data for seven other major US cities, with a similar level of performance. However, the AI's conclusions also suggested the existence of bias in police responses across the city, associated with race. According to the research, published in the journal Nature Human Behavior , crime in wealthier areas of Chicago resulted in more…

E+T Magazine in Ethical Aspects
Firefighters issue lithium battery warning after huge London blaze

At its height, the blaze, which began in a 12th-floor flat in Shepherd’s Bush on 22 June, was tackled by 60 firefighters. Fire crews led six people to safety and one man was taken to hospital. According to London Fire Brigade investigators, the fire was caused by the failure of an e-bike’s lithium-ion battery. The Brigade said it has seen a significant spike in e-bike and e-scooter incidents, which have become more popular in recent years. Just this year, fire crews have already attended 32 fires involving e-bikes and another seven involving e-scooters. So far in 2022, there have been a further 17 fires involving other lithium-ion batteries. Last year there were more than 100 fires in the capital involving lithium-ion batteries. The Brigade’s assistant commissioner for fire safety,…

E+T Magazine in Power Conversion
Online Safety Bill amendments target state-backed disinformation

The UK government is expected to present its amendments to the Online Safety Bill, which will make “foreign interference” a designated priority offence. The proposed change will impose a legal duty on social media companies, video streaming platforms and search engines to proactively identify and remove state-sponsored or state-linked disinformation . This would include tackling material from fake accounts set up by individuals or groups acting on behalf of a foreign state which is designed to influence or disrupt democratic or legal processes, the government said. This amendment will also require platforms to tackle the spread of hacked information designed to undermine democratic institutions. The changes to the Online Safety Bill come in part as a response to Russia’s activity around…

E+T Magazine in Ethical Aspects
Five areas in Celtic Sea identified for floating offshore wind farms

The areas were selected following technical analysis and discussions between the Crown Estate and the UK and Welsh governments. They will be offered to the market via competitive tender, a process to be launched in mid-2023. It is intended that the facilities could deliver around 4GW of floating offshore wind power by 2035 and could kick-start the fledgling industry. The UK is one of the world leaders in offshore wind power and harnessing that energy is considered to be a key component in meeting global net-zero carbon emissions targets by 2050. The Crown Estate will also be tendering larger, 1GW-scale projects which may be developed in a phased or ‘stepping stone’ approach. Research commissioned by the body indicates that the Celtic Sea has the economic potential to accommodate up to…

E+T Magazine in Renewable Energy
Rail freight growth explored to cut UK carbon emissions from goods transport

The Great British Railways Transition Team (GBRTT), which is a public body, is calling for a broad range of views on how to expand rail freight. It is estimated rail freight currently accounts for just 10 per cent of surface freight although it generates about 76 per cent less carbon emissions compared to HGVs per tonne of goods transported. GBRTT has called for a freight growth target to boost investment in the sector by setting a clear government ambition for growth. It said such a target would help the UK meet its legally binding greenhouse gas reduction targets. If rail freight volumes treble by 2050, as modelling indicates could be required to meet the net-zero targets, then there would be about 14 million fewer road lorry movements a year than today. Rail minister Wendy Morton…

E+T Magazine in Railways
Large Hadron Collider project discovers three new exotic particles

The international LHCb collaboration at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has observed three never-before-seen particles: a new kind of 'pentaquark' and the first-ever pair of 'tetraquarks', which includes a new type of tetraquark. The findings, presented today (July 5) at a CERN seminar, add three new exotic members to the growing list of new hadrons found at the LHC. They will help physicists better understand how quarks bind together into these composite particles. Exotic particles, such as those now discovered, had only been theorised but not observed until recently. These exotic particles are built out of quarks. Quarks are elementary particles and come in six flavours: up, down, charm, strange, top and bottom. They usually combine together in groups of twos and threes to form hadrons…

E+T Magazine in Research and Innovation
NHS to trial drone delivery of chemotherapy drugs

The NHS has revealed it is planning to trial the use of drone technology to enable doctors to make “same-day delivery” orders for drugs and medical equipment from anywhere in the country. The trial will see a drone deliver chemotherapy drugs from the pharmacy at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust to St Mary’s Hospital on the Isle of Wight. The journey is expected to take 30 minutes, eliminating the need for patients to travel three to four hours by car, ferry or hovercraft to collect life-saving medication. If successful, the technology might be used for similar drops elsewhere in the nation. The trial was presented by Amanda Pritchard, NHS England’s chief executive, as part of the celebrations of the 74th anniversary of the health service’s creation by the postwar Labour government…

E+T Magazine in Aerospace
View from India: Dark Sky Reserve, tourism with a difference

The Indian Institute of Astrophysics, the Ladakh Union Territory Administration and Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council have entered into a tripartite agreement for setting up a Dark Sky Reserve at Hanle. The Hanle Dark Sky Reserve (HDSR) will come under the Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary, which is part of the Hindu Kush Himalaya, nature’s bounty. The altitude of the sanctuary varies from 4,300m to 5,800m (14,000ft to 19,000ft). Light pollution can alter the natural light levels of the outdoors, so a dark sky reserve is an area devoid of light pollution. Its starry nights are protected and preserved for scientific studies; the only environmental resource is the galaxy of stars. Barring that, there is a natural darkness which makes it worthwhile for astro research or even just viewing…

E+T Magazine in Space
Energy dense batteries developed that operate at extreme temperatures

The researchers say the key to their battery is a newly developed electrolyte that is more versatile and robust than traditional materials throughout a wide temperature range. It is also compatible with a high-energy anode and cathode. Such batteries could allow electric vehicles in cold climates to travel farther on a single charge and they could also reduce the need for cooling systems to keep the vehicles’ battery packs from overheating in hot climates. Zheng Chen, senior author of the study, said: “You need high temperature operation in areas where the ambient temperature can reach the triple digits [i.e. above 100°F] and the roads get even hotter. “In electric vehicles, the battery packs are typically under the floor, close to these hot roads. Also, batteries warm up just from having…

E+T Magazine in Power Conversion
Thermal drones seek survivors of Italian Alps glacier collapse

Recuers are using any means at their disposal – including thermal drones – to search for over a dozen climbers that may have become trapped under the ice after a glacier gave way on Marmolada, the highest mountain in the Italian Dolomites. Authories said they do not know how many people were victim to the avalanche, which has already claimed at least six lives and injured eight people. "We found bodies torn apart, in a shapeless tide of ice and debris stretching over 1,000 metres (3,280 feet)," Gino Comelli from the Alpine Rescue Service told the Corriere della Sera daily. The disaster struck one day after a record-high temperature of 10°C was recorded at the glacier's summit. Emergency services spokeswoman Michela Canova told AFP an "avalanche of snow, ice and rock" hit an access path…

E+T Magazine in Engineering with a Disability
UK firms plan further automation as staff shortages bite

The UK is currently suffering from an acute shortage of staff for key positions following the reopening of the economy after the Covid pandemic and the impact of Brexit. The poll of 670 firms found that a record number of vacancies and a shrinking labour force has led some 40 per cent to say they feel negatively about their staffing numbers. A study from Arden University last week found that nearly a third of jobs in the UK could become redundant due to automation by 2030. In 2018, another study anticipated that just a fifth of jobs were threatened within the same time period. Fears have also been stoked that Brexit could hasten the automation of British jobs specifically or they could be moved offshore due to immigration curbs and more difficult trading environments. The HSBC study found…

E+T Magazine in Business Planning
NASA wants to use swimming robots to detect alien life

NASA and its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) have awarded Ethan Schaler a Phase II funding grant for a project that aims to build a swarm of small swimming robots that could be sent to places that humans and massive robots cannot reach, such as Jupiter’s moon Europa or Saturn’s moon Enceladus. Packed inside a narrow ice-melting probe that would tunnel through the frozen crust, the tiny robots would be released underwater, swimming far from their mothercraft to look for signs of alien life. “My idea is, where can we take miniaturised robotics and apply them in interesting new ways for exploring our solar system?” said Schaler, a robotics mechanical engineer at JPL and the leader of the project. “With a swarm of small swimming robots, we are able to explore a much larger volume of ocean…

E+T Magazine in Space
Nasa satellite heads towards Moon after breaking free from Earth orbit

The planned course of action is the latest step in Nasa’s ambition to land astronauts on the lunar surface again. It has been an unusual journey already for the Capstone satellite. It was launched six days ago from New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula by the company Rocket Lab in one of its small Electron rockets. It will take another four months for the satellite to reach the Moon, as it cruises along using minimal energy. Rocket Lab founder Peter Beck said it was hard to put his excitement into words: “It’s probably going to take a while to sink in. It’s been a project that has taken us two, two-and-a-half years and is just incredibly, incredibly difficult to execute. “To see it all come together tonight and see that spacecraft on its way to the Moon, it’s just absolutely epic.” Beck said…

E+T Magazine in Space
4G comes to rural Scotland as infrastructure plan marks halfway point

The £28.75m 'Scottish 4G Infill' (S4GI) programme has been designed to improve digital connectivity from the Shetland Islands to the Borders. The programme has reached its milestone halfway point, building and activating 28 phone masts, with the remaining 27 on track to be connected by 2023. Residents and businesses in Bogton, in Turriff, Aberdeenshire, were the latest to benefit from the programme. Mobile network operator EE is providing 4G services across all bar one of the new sites, including the new Bogton mast, but all sites are capable of supporting multiple operators in the future. Scottish economy secretary Kate Forbes said: “The Scottish Government is helping more residents and workers get online and tackling some of Scotland’s longest-standing mobile phone signal black spots…

E+T Magazine in Telecommunications
Environment Agency chief criticises greenwashing ‘deception’

In one of her final speeches before leaving the leadership of the Environment Agency, Emma Howard Boyd is expected to warn about the need for more transparency regarding organisations' environmental policies. Speaking at the UK Centre for Greening Finance and Investment Annual Forum at the Institution of Civil Engineers, Howard Boyd will warn that businesses are embedding liability by giving the false impression that infrastructure and buildings they own or are developing are resilient to climate change. As a result, nearly £650bn of public and private infrastructure investment planned by 2030 is reportedly at considerable risk unless urgent action is taken. The danger, she plans to say, is that people “won’t realise this deception until it is too late”. Her warning comes after the…

E+T Magazine in Sustainable Development
Fuel protesters bring M4 to standstill; other roads also affected

Fuel campaigners focused on a stretch of motorway between Bristol and South Wales this morning, including the Prince of Wales Severn Bridge crossing, as part of action calling for a cut in fuel duty. The protests are understood to have been organised via social media under the banner 'Fuel Price Stand Against Tax'. The action comes as latest figures from Experian show the average price of petrol reached a new high of 191.5p per litre on Sunday. The average price of diesel was 199.0p per litre, with prices at many sites across the country exceeding the 200p mark for both types of fuel. Among those gathering at Magor services, near Caldicot, was Vicky Stamper, 41. The former HGV driver, from Cwmbran, said she and her partner Darren had to leave jobs in Bristol because they could not afford…

E+T Magazine in Road transport systems
View from Brussels: Albania embraces a new energy dawn

Most of Albania’s electricity is produced using hydropower generated by the network of dams along its mountainous rivers. The rest of the power comes from wind, solar and imported electrons. The statistics for overall energy are far less impressive though, as more than 60 per cent of demand is met by fossil fuels like oil and gas. But the current government has big plans to change that, partly prompted by ongoing price spikes and Russia’s war on Ukraine. Albania enjoys the most sunshine hours of any country in Europe, so is ideally placed to exploit the power of the sun. Last week, Prime Minister Edi Rama laid the foundation stone for a new 140 megawatt solar power plant. French firm Voltalia – which has installed more than 1 gigawatt of clean energy across 20 different countries, with…

E+T Magazine in Renewable Energy
Motorless sailplane design could take flight on Mars

Inspired by the flight of the albatross, a team of researchers and space experts have designed the sailplane that could fly on Mars. The team aims to use the sailplane to analyse the Red Planet’s atmosphere and geology. "You have this really important, critical piece in this planetary boundary layer, like in the first few kilometres above the ground," said Alexandre Kling, a research scientist in Nasa's Mars Climate Modeling Centre. "This is where all the exchanges between the surface and atmosphere happen. This is where the dust is picked up and sent into the atmosphere, where trace gases are mixed, and where the modulation of large-scale winds by mountain-valley flows happens. And we just don't have very much data about it." At the moment, there are eight active spacecraft orbiting…

E+T Magazine in Space
UK Infrastructure Bank has £5bn pipeline of investments one year after launch

HM Treasury launched the bank in June 2021 to fund projects that will help tackle climate change and boost regional economic growth. In particular it has been asked to prioritise five sectors: clean energy, transport, digital, water and waste. Headed up by former HSBC chief executive John Flint, it was created partly in response to the UK’s exit from the European Investment Bank infrastructure following Brexit. It has been allocated £22bn in public funds for the first five years of its life for equity investments, loans, and guarantees to support infrastructure projects. The NAO found that the Treasury had “truncated some important elements of the usual process or deferred them until after launch” in order to set up the bank as quickly as possible. It is therefore relying on temporary staff…

E+T Magazine
Money & Markets: The randomness of markets

Markets are said to be random by regulators and theoreticians, but none of the practitioners agree. They laugh at the thought that markets are random, all the while ignoring the fact that markets like the huge equity options complex are based on equations with probabilistic distributions at their heart. With practitioner laughter ringing in your ears, you can go dig the data and what do you know, the time series are random. Now as most don’t know, there are many shapes of random and almost obviously market prices are bounded. While oil can go into negative values, it cannot go to a billion dollars a barrel. I wrote that with conviction then realised it wouldn’t take too much Weimar-style inflation for it to do just that, but even hyperinflation hits the buffers after a dozen or so zeros finally…

E+T Magazine

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