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Book review: ‘Artificial Communication’ by Elena Esposito

When it comes to the algorithms that work with deep learning and big data there’s a strange paradox emerging, says Elena Esposito in ‘Artificial Communication’ (The MIT Press, £22.50, ISBN 9780262046664). The better they become at driving cars, composing music and scanning books, the more our discomfort increases. You only have to type an email or peck at a text to find that the untrustworthy predictive text of yesteryear has given way to a spookily accurate set of suggestions about what your next word might be in your linear narrative. Or even how to complete your sentence. This eerie feeling of machines or software behaving in a way that’s too similar to our own human thought processes has given rise to the expression ‘uncanny valley’. Esposito, who is a professor of sociology working in…

E+T Magazine in Telecommunications
The eccentric engineer: dreaming up the sewing machine

Elias Howe had dreams of a career in the textile industry and became an apprentice in a textile factory in 1835. However, his ambitions did not pan out quite as he had hoped. Just two years into his apprenticeship, the financial panic of 1837 bankrupted his factory, and he was forced to move to Cambridge Massachusetts, where he worked in a carding factory before finding an apprenticeship with a master engineer who specialised in the construction and repair of scientific instruments. The combination of working in precision engineering and a background in cloth production seems to have inspired Howe’s great idea. He would invent a machine for sewing. There was a problem with this, of course. The sewing machine had already been invented – lots of times. The first patented machine appeared in…

E+T Magazine in History of Engineering
View from India: New job avenues in the offing

The PM’s announcement seems like a breather for the employment sector but it could also be an opportunity for those seeking employment to up-skill and re-skill their digital working knowledge. Remote working could also be part of the upcoming agenda. Newer openings in the departments and ministries may even open up indirect avenues. For instance, collaborations with the private sector or startups for outsourcing work are likely to happen. Allied services may be required to support the ecosystem. Technologies such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing, data analytics and automation may be leveraged for precision and accuracy in operations. Better employment options could translate into economic growth; the multiplier effect could be a move towards the PM’s vision of a US$5tn economy…

E+T Magazine
Almost 400 automated vehicle crashes reported in the USA in the last year

The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has revealed that carmakers reported nearly 400 crashes involving automated vehicles in the last 11 months. Tesla alone reported 273 crashes. The regulator asked manufacturers to report crashes involving these cars from July 2021 through to 15 May this year, with the goal of examining the status of the technology in detail for the first time. After publishing the findings, the authority cautioned against using the numbers to compare automakers, saying it didn't weigh them by the number of vehicles from each manufacturer that uses the systems, or how many miles those vehicles travelled. "As we gather more data, NHTSA will be able to better identify any emerging risks or trends and learn more about how these technologies are…

E+T Magazine in Road transport systems
Spanish airline reserves Airlander 10 blimps for 2026 passenger service

The 44m wide and 26m high airship was originally developed for the US government as a long-endurance surveillance aircraft. The US later scrapped the programme due to defence funding cuts, prompting Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV) to redesign and redevelop the craft for civilian purposes. However, in 2016, during what was supposed to be the beginning of 200 hours of test flights, the prototype aircraft crashed setting back its commercial deployment. The Airlander 10 fleet is now set for initial operations across Spain from 2026, with production of the aircraft expected to start this year in South Yorkshire. Air Nostrum said the project would create “thousands of skilled jobs in green aerospace technologies” as well as supporting the UK government’s levelling up agenda in the region. The reservation…

E+T Magazine in Aerospace
‘People still think of sensors as devices that will steal their data’

By 2025 there will probably be a trillion sensors on the planet. It’s not an exact figure, but for Chris Slater it hardly matters: they’re going to outnumber humans by orders of magnitude. What matters more to the author of ‘Sensing Machines’ is that the public – who are becoming more reliant on the interconnected world of sensing devices – don’t really understand them. “People still think of sensors as devices that will steal their data. But they’re just transducers that take a signal out of the world and change it into another form of energy so that a computer can read it.” What people are thinking of, he says, is the machines connected to the sensors; they’re thinking about the corporations that harvest data to create wealth. For Salter, sensors are the bridge that provides the interface…

E+T Magazine in Electromagnetic Devices
Book review: ‘Elon Musk: Risking it All’ by Michael Vlismas

It’s a safe bet that there will be barely a single reader of E&T who has not heard the name of arguably the most famous person in the world of technology today. But let’s imagine for a minute that there is; asking the question that journalist Michael Vlismas has set out to answer - who is Elon Musk? The short response is readily available on virtually any newsfeed you care to consult, for the co-founder and CEO of Tesla – depending on how you measure it, probably the richest human on Earth – can’t be accused of staying out of the limelight. The longer answer comes in the form of ‘Elon Musk: Risking it All’ (Icon Books (£14.99, ISBN 9781776191857), which depicts the entrepreneur as a boundary-pushing tech-cult billionaire. He’s also a trigger-happy tweeter with a ‘will he/won’t he?’ starring…

E+T Magazine in Electric Vehicles
UK plans £1bn insulation scheme for low-income homes

The UK government is reportedly working on a project to help low-income households insulate their homes, in order to protect them from the cost of living crisis. The plans would require the government to remove £1bn in funding from other initiatives in order to expand the Energy Company Obligation scheme, which helps fuel-poor customers insulate their homes. The expansion is expected to allow middle-income households to access the programme. According to The Times, the funds necessary for the project might be taken out of the Public Sector Decarbonisation scheme, which aims to increase the energy efficiency of schools, hospitals and other public buildings. “The fastest and simplest way to tackle the cost-of-living crisis is to invest in insulation which has the potential to save £150…

E+T Magazine in Power Utilisation
Breakthrough material opens door to remote-activated pills for healthcare

Developed by researchers from Chalmers University in Sweden, the material is a polymer surface that changes state from capturing to releasing biomolecules when an electric pulse is introduced. The material also functions in biological fluids with a buffering capacity, in other words fluids with the ability to counteract changes in the pH value. This property paves the way for the creation of a new technique for implants and electronic 'pills' that release the medicine into the body via electronic activation. “You can imagine a doctor, or a computer program, measuring the need for a new dose of medicine in a patient, and a remote-controlled signal activating the release of the drug from the implant located in the very tissue or organ where it’s needed,” said Gustav Ferrand-Drake del Castillo…

E+T Magazine in Research and Innovation
When it comes to tackling climate risk, knowledge is power

The World Economic Forum’s 2022 Global Risks Report places ‘climate action failure’ as the most severe threat to the world over the next ten years. In addition to the escalating public health and ecosystem impacts, climate change presents significant financial risk to the global economy. Across the board, governments, businesses and financial markets need clear, comprehensive, high-quality information on the effects of climate change to provide decision support for implementing mitigation and resilience strategies. Expectations from stakeholders and investors to disclose climate-related financial risks means organisations not only need to assess their impact on the climate, but also the impact of the climate on their assets, under various future climate scenarios. Failure to effectively assess…

E+T Magazine in Business Planning
Microsoft retires Internet Explorer browser after 27 years

Almost 27 after the first version of Internet Explorer greeted users’ screens, Microsoft has disabled the web browser. Released in 1995, Internet Explorer was once the dominant internet browser, achieving a 95 per cent share of the market in 2004. However, since then, its usage has shrivelled, having been overtaken by other browsers such as Google Chrome, Apple’s Safari and Mozilla Firefox, which adapted better to the mobile world. Microsoft first announced its intention to retire the browser in August 2021, when it first revealed that Internet Explorer 11 was no longer supported in Windows 10 and Microsoft 365. In a submission sent to an Australian competition regulator, Microsoft said its decision to retire Internet Explorer was largely due to the fact web developers were less likely…

E+T Magazine in History of Engineering
Sponsored: Consider the anti-glare angles for outdoor displays

The characteristics of TFT displays mean they have become a common feature in our everyday lives. The displays are low in energy consumption and slim, making them convenient and versatile for a wide variety of applications. In the course of a single day, it is usual to come into contact with several as we use our mobile phone, our desktop computer, buy lunch using a supermarket’s automatic checkout and when watching TV at the end of the day. The technology is also popular because it delivers a sharp image with good contrast and clarity of image. However, all of the TFT displays examples mentioned above are indoors. There are many examples where a slim, high resolution display is required to be in an outdoor setting, for example transport information and ticket kiosks. Large TFT displays are…

E+T Magazine
View from Brussels: JUPITER ascending

Brussels continues to try and up its tech game so that it can compete with Asia and the United States, whether that be through big investments in quantum computing research or sweet tax perks aimed at luring big microchip producers to Europe. This week, the EU’s high-performance computing division announced that sites have been chosen for the next generation of supercomputers. The jewel in the crown will be an exascale-level device known as JUPITER, which will be built at the Jülich Supercomputing Centre in north-west Germany. Once up and running in 2023, JUPITER will be capable of performing more than 1 quintillion arithmetic calculations every second, which will place it third in the global ranking, ahead of LUMI, a pre-exascale unit in Finland that is currently Europe’s most powerful…

E+T Magazine in Computing
Thermoelectric ink paves way to battery-free IoT devices

Thermoelectricity is the direct conversion of heat to electricity. It’s possible to capture the heat that a device generates and convert to power that can be used by the same device, or another device. Researchers from KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm report that they have developed a promising blend of thermoelectric coating for devices that generate heat. When one end of a thermoelectric material is heated up, charge carriers (electrons and holes) move away from the hot end towards the cold end, resulting in an electric current. Researcher Muhammet Toprak said his team focused on the design and development of hybrid thermoelectric materials for room-temperature operations, which integrates solid-state semiconductors with flexible materials such as polymers, to formulate…

E+T Magazine in Power Conversion
Malaysia considers Korean-built maglev for city transport

In an official statement posted on Facebook, Dr Wee Ka Siong said he had been given a presentation on the plan during a recent courtesy visit from senior representatives of several major South Korean businesses, including Hyundai Corporation and train-maker Hyundai Rotem, electrical equipment manufacturer EP Korea and Maglev MKC. Dr Wee was accompanied by the CEO of Malaysia’s principal railway operator, KTMB, and the transport ministry’s rail director. He said the briefing on plans for a maglev system for the Putrajaya area was given by EP Korea’s railway senior MD Yoo Jai Tark. South Korea has practical experience of the technology, as Incheon International Airport is served by a 6km maglev line that opened to the public in 2016, using ‘Ecobee’ trains built by Hyundai Rotem. Development…

E+T Magazine in Railways
Technology versus the waste mafia

“Our goal for waste crime is very simple: stop it. That’s an audacious ambition, about which we are totally unapologetic,” said a determined Sir James Bevan in a stirring speech to the waste industry earlier this year. Bevan, who is chief executive of the Environment Agency (EA), noted that waste crime costs the economy around £1bn each year and attracts organised criminals, who invest their ill-gotten proceeds into cycles of violence. This is because rewards are high – often greater than robbery, drug dealing or contract killing – and the chances of being caught “have always been relatively low, and the penalties if you are caught traditionally light”, he said. The EA is talking tough. Yet the concern is that six years ago Bevan made a similar speech, in which he famously likened waste…

E+T Magazine in Waste Management
Vodafone switches on ‘self-powering’ mobile mast in Welsh countryside

The mast - located in Pembrokeshire, Wales - also incorporates a wind turbine, solar panels and on-site battery storage so that it can operate in remote areas without a good electricity supply. It will provide 4G coverage to the community of Eglwyswrw and is one of the initiatives that Vodafone is taking to meet its target of net zero UK operations by 2027. The specially designed mast will improve connectivity in ‘not-spots’ in the UK’s most remote and inaccessible locations and could help the industry achieve its stated goal of 95 per cent coverage of the UK landmass by 2025. Vodafone also said that every area of its business in the UK – including its network, data centres, retail stores and offices – is now 100 per cent powered by electricity from renewable sources, such as wind, solar…

E+T Magazine in Renewable Energy
Scientists study use volcanic ash to develop cement and concrete

A research team based at the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), has found that volcanic ashes are sufficiently reactive to be applied in the manufacture of several types of cement. The samples were taken from the Cumbre Vieja volcano, on the island of La Palma, which erupted in September 2021 for 85 days, after lying dormant for over 50 years. The ashes produced by each volcano are distinctively different, according to researchers, and the relative youth of the samples from La Palma could make the ashes have characteristics that could be leveraged by the construction sector to support its decarbonisation efforts. "To date, we have carried out physical, chemical, mineralogical and mechanical tests, and the results show that these volcanic ashes meet the regulatory requirements…

E+T Magazine in Research and Innovation
Shape-shifting drone both flies and dives to study aquatic environments

The ‘dual robot’ drone – developed at Imperial College London and tested at Empa and the aquatic research institute Eawag in Switzerland – has successfully measured water in lakes for signs of microorganisms and algal blooms, which can pose hazards to human health. The drone could be used in future to monitor climate clues such as temperature changes in Arctic seas. The researchers developed the drone to boost the ability to quickly deploy monitoring drones to aquatic environments. The unique design, called 'Multi-Environment Dual robot for Underwater Sample Acquisition' (Medusa), could also help monitor and maintain offshore infrastructure such as underwater energy pipelines and floating wind turbines. Professor Mirko Kovac, principal investigator on the project and director of the Aerial…

E+T Magazine in Research and Innovation
China’s lander finds water on the Moon

Chang'e-5 , the lunar lander designed by China, has found water at its landing site using spectral reflectance measurements of soil and rocks. The lunar unit landed near Oceanus Procellarum on the Moon's near side in 2020, where it collected and tested over 60oz (approximately 1.7kg) of lunar samples from a core about three feet deep. The findings were validated through the analysis of samples the lander returned to Earth in 2021. Now, the Chang'e-5 team has published the conclusions of the experiment in the journal Nature Communications . Although it was India's Chandrayaan-1 mission that first detected the presence of water on the Moon from orbit, using NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper instrument, no mission has been able to confirm these findings on-site. "For the first time in the world…

E+T Magazine in Space
Offshore electric boat charging system cuts emissions from turbine maintenance

Developed by MJR Power, the offshore wind vessel charging system uses energy generated by the turbines themselves to power the electrified marine transport vehicles. The cables and foundations that support turbines and carry power from wind farms back to the mainland need constant monitoring and maintenance. Conducting this work on offshore wind turbines usually requires energy companies to send out large vessels that use vast quantities of fuel, with very high operating costs, and are often crewed by up to 60 people from engineers and submersible pilots to cooks and cleaners. But the new project to install offshore charge points will enable all electric crew transfer vessels and other offshore support vessels to connect in the field to a green energy source. It has secured funding…

E+T Magazine in Renewable Energy
Racing against the microplastics tide

Complex tides and constantly shifting weather make circumnavigating Britain a tough job. It needs good navigation skills as well as experience of coastal sea conditions. If you are rowing against the clock in a non-stop race in which competitors won’t set foot on dry land until it is over, you need to back up this expertise with the strength, stamina and determination that go with being an elite athlete. This is the GB Row Challenge, the prestigious Annual Around Great Britain Rowing Race. This year, three teams - Albatross, All Systems Row and Sea Legs - will form up at the start/finish line on 12 June at London’s Tower Bridge on the Thames. As well as competing against each other, they will be aiming to beat the Guinness World Record race time of 26 days, set in 2013 by a four-man crew…

E+T Magazine in Air Pollution
UN climate plan sets tough standards for members to eradicate fossil fuels

The global Race To Zero campaign currently represents a coalition of 1,049 cities, 67 regions, 5,235 businesses, 441 of the biggest investors, and 1,039 higher education institutions. The new rules mean corporations and investors must restrict the development, financing, and facilitation of new fossil fuel assets, which includes no new coal projects. The exact pathways and timelines differ across regions and sectors. It also makes explicit a pre-existing requirement to publicly disclose a Transition Plan within 12 months of joining Race to Zero. Nigel Topping and Mahmoud Mohieldin, high-level climate champions for COP26 & COP27, said: “The clarity these criteria provide, together with strengthened data transparency, will help us identify the progress made and gaps remaining. “They will…

E+T Magazine in Climate Change
Rising sea levels put 200,000 English homes at risk

The predicted rise of sea levels might have placed a third of the English coast at risk. A study published in the journal Oceans And Coastal Management has compared the rising risk of coastal flooding with existing policies for managing the floods, concluding that nearly 2 00,000 homes and businesses in England are currently at risk of being lost forever to the seas. According to the research, these properties would have to be abandoned due to the high costs of putting protections such as seawalls and coastal defences . Some of the areas most at risk include North Somerset, Sedgemoor, Wyre and Swale. The figure does not include the 30,000 to 35,000 properties which already have a policy in place to realign the coast. "It just won't be possible to hold the line all around the coast," said…

E+T Magazine in Research and Innovation

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