• Glitch in Heathrow Airport’s ePassport gates cause major delays

    Travellers have been facing long queues with wait times of up to four hours in order to board their flights or are simply being forced to remain on aircraft. The gates use facial recognition technology to verify the traveller’s identity against the data stored in the chip in their biometric passport, as well as run the data against numerous databases to determine if the traveller is a security risk. The Home Office did not give details about why the gates had failed other than chalking it down to a “technical issue”. On 24 September, Heathrow’s ePassport gates also faced glitches that prevented them working for a period of several hours. In 2017, it was estimated that around 100 million passengers had used ePassport gates since they first went live in Manchester Airport in 2008. Initially…

  • Drones carry post to remote island in Royal Mail trial

    Royal Mail, in conjunction with drone specialists Windracers Ltd, has started a two-week trial of scheduled, autonomous flights between Kirkwall and North Ronaldsay in the Orkney Islands to help better connect remote island communities. The mail is being carried by a large twin-engine, UK-built unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), named Ultra (pictured below, photos as supplied by Royal Mail Group), capable of transporting 100kg of post of all shapes and sizes – equivalent to a typical delivery round. Letters and parcels will ultimately be hand-delivered by the local postal service representative in the usual way when they reach North Ronaldsay. The island is situated geographically further north than the southern tip of Norway and is home to around 70 people. The drone trial is part of the…

  • Google Maps introduces low-carbon routing options for cars and bikes

    New eco-friendly routes will be available on Google Maps, including updates to biking directions and bike and scooter share information. A new routing model has also been implemented for cars which is designed to help lower fuel consumption to save on carbon and petrol money. While the new routes are only rolling out in the US at the moment, Google said it plans to expand this to “Europe and beyond” next year. It said the routing options could help to save over one million tons of carbon emissions per year, equivalent to removing about 200,000 cars from the road. The search firm has also implemented new carbon features into its flight comparison tools that let users see the emissions per flight. The information will be displayed next to the price and flight times in order to help users…

  • Data standards and digital skills will unlock innovation in transportation

    Intelligent transport systems, autonomous vehicles, the mass rollout of 5G and the growth of the Internet of Things IoT are collectively set to have a profound effect on the way we navigate our world in the coming years. Increasingly, geospatial data and the expertise to harness this information will be essential to enable new and compelling use-cases. According to a study commissioned by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders Ltd (SMMT), connected and autonomous vehicles are set to add £51bn a year to the UK economy by 2030, so there’s plenty to be excited about when it comes to innovation. Connected autonomous vehicles (CAVs) need to know where they are at all times, as do the organisations in charge of them. For this reason, and many others, consistent, reliable geospatial data…

  • Nobel Prize in Physics recognises climate modelling breakthroughs

    The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences recognised Syukuro Manabe, 90, and Klaus Hasselmann, 89, for their work in “the physical modelling of Earth’s climate, quantifying variability, and reliably predicting global warming.” They will each receive a quarter of the 10 million kronor prize money (£840,000). The other half of the prize goes to Giorgio Parisi, 73, for “the discovery of the interplay of disorder and fluctuations in physical systems, from atomic to planetary scales.” The work of the three physicists can be described broadly as describing and predicting 'complex systems', such as Earth’s climate. These systems have many interdependent factors that cause what appear to be random and disordered behaviour. BREAKING NEWS: The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award…

  • Facebook blames ‘faulty configuration change’ for six-hour outage

    Tens of thousands of people reported outrages yesterday evening, prompting Facebook to confirm using its Twitter account that it was aware of the issues and working to resolve them. It apologised for the outage, particularly for its effect on businesses that depend on Facebook platforms for sales and thanked its users for “bearing with us”. According to reports, other tools which depend on Facebook services also suffered, including employees’ work passes and email, Oculus VR, and Pokémon Go, which requires a Facebook login. According to around 50,000 reports on Facebook submitted to DownDetector before 5pm, most problems (72 per cent) were with the website while some were with the server connection and app. More than 75,000 complaints were submitted regarding WhatsApp and 30,000 regarding…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Study reveals ‘shocking’ amount of plastic in the Mediterranean

    Researchers at the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research in Greece developed a model to track the pathways and fate of plastic debris from land-based sources in the Mediterranean. The model performed a simulation over the period from 2010 to 2017, tracking plastics from rivers and coastal cities, while considering important dispersion processes such as sinking, vertical/horizontal mixing, wind, and currents. According to the research team, the model also identified potential accumulation patterns of micro and macroplastics in the surface layer, water column, seafloor, and on beaches. This revealed that the total annual plastic load going into the Mediterranean is approximately 17,600 tons, of which 3,760 tons are currently floating in the Mediterranean. Of the total, 84 per cent ends up…

  • World must target absolute zero emissions, says Australian iron ore mogul

    Forrest, who grew Fortescue Metals Group into the world's fourth-largest iron ore miner in less than two decades, has more recently turned his attention to developing green energy projects such as hydrogen around the world. Australia's richest man said the idea of reaching net zero by 2050 - a pillar of the upcoming COP26 climate summit in Glasgow - is a "smokescreen" that suggests climate change could be solved by burying or offsetting carbon emissions. "It's not going to happen," said Forrest, speaking on a panel at the Reuters Impact conference. "The fossil-fuel industry has lobbied hard to get taxpayers to fund their attempt at a transition to 'clean' energy – on their timetable. But that's a highway to climate disaster." Of the 60 million tonnes of hydrogen produced every year, 96…

  • BT and Toshiba to build world’s first quantum-secured commercial metro network

    Countering the growing threat to traditional network security from quantum computing, BT and Toshiba today announced that the two companies will build and trial what they believe is the world’s first commercially available quantum-secured metro network. The new network will connect sites across London, from Docklands and the City in the east to the M4 Corridor in the west. The new network will be operated by BT, which will provide a range of quantum-secured services including dedicated high-bandwidth end-to-end encrypted links, delivered over Openreach’s Optical Spectrum Access Filter Connect (OSA FC) solution for private fibre networks. The QKD links will be provided using a quantum network that includes both core and access components and will be integrated into BT’s existing network-management…

  • Tech firms set to attend White House forum on quantum technology

    The White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) is hosting the event to discuss critical applications of quantum computing, which is expected to operate millions of times faster than today’s advanced supercomputers. Companies such as Boeing, Honeywell, IBM, Intel and Northrop Grumman are also expected to attend. “There’s a lot of excitement about quantum computers and quantum sensors, and there’s some hype associated with that,” said Charlie Tahan, assistant director for quantum information science at OSTP. “But what we really want to get down to is what are the applications that a future quantum computer could run that could really benefit our society.” Experts have said the technology, which is based on core principles of physics, is still in its infancy, but it has…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Psychological model could make driverless cars more human-friendly

    The researchers set out to determine whether a decision-making model called drift diffusion could predict when pedestrians would cross a road in front of approaching cars and whether it could be used in scenarios where the car gives way to the pedestrian, either with or without explicit signals. This would in turn allow the autonomous vehicle to communicate more effectively with pedestrians – in terms of its movements in traffic and any external signals such as flashing lights – to maximise traffic flow and decrease uncertainty.  Drift diffusion models assume that people reach decisions after accumulation of sensory evidence up to a threshold at which the decision is made. “When making the decision to cross, pedestrians seem to be adding up lots of different sources of evidence, not only…

  • Sponsored: To simulate or not to simulate, 100 UK manufacturing decision makers reveal their answers

    Join us for this webinar to go through the 5 Key Findings and discuss them with a couple of special VIP guests. Simulation software and its important role and business benefits will also be discussed. Register for this webinar to: Understand current trends in UK Manufacturing following recent Research Gain insights on what 100 UK Manufacturing professionals / decision makers have to say right now Hear what a couple of users / customers of Visual Components have to say about using simulation software How to improve and futureproof UK Manufacturing Recorded with live Q&A on 2 nd November 2021 – watch on demand This free webinar is available for IET members and non-members. Should you have any specific queries please email Danielle Thomasson at dthomasson@theiet.org

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Book review: ‘Scary Smart’ by Mo Gawdat

    There are only three things you need to know about artificial intelligence. First, it’s coming. Second, you can’t stop it. Third, it will be smarter than humans. This is the central argument of ‘Scary Smart’ (Bluebird, £18.99, ISBN 9781529077186), an extended essay on AI’s ongoing journey to the ‘singularity’ that will take place in the middle of this century, when machines will be "a billion times more intelligent" than ourselves. If AI will become Einstein, we’ll be no more than flies. What, asks author Mo Gawdat, is going to stop 'Einstein' swatting the flies? It’s a good question and one that Gawdat is well-positioned to address. As a former chief business officer at Google X, serial entrepreneur and start-up mentor, he’s native to a world that’s unafraid to take on big concept horizon…

  • Now is the perfect time to build Britain’s green space credentials

    More than three decades after the height of the US Space Shuttle programme, space travel is once again making the news. Recent investment and initiatives by billionaires have highlighted the potential of ‘space tourism’ and commercial space flight. At the same time, the considerable carbon footprint of these journeys has shone a spotlight on the sustainability issues associated with travelling into space, whether for recreational, commercial, or scientific purposes. The UK is committed to making the space industry more sustainable, working closely with its partners in the United Nations to ensure long-term space sustainability. Now, having recently become the first European country to introduce a framework for launching satellites and spacecraft from its home soil, the UK has a real opportunity…

  • Britain sends in military to solve fuel crisis as driver shortage persists

    Members of the armed forces arrived at the Buncefield oil depot in Hemel Hempstead as the military was drafted in to deliver fuel to petrol stations. Soldiers in uniform and wearing face masks were spotted walking near the gates to the Hertfordshire Oil Storage Terminal. Britain's supply chains for everything from pork, petrol and poultry to medicines and milk have been strained to breaking point by shortages of labour in the wake of a double-whammy of Brexit and Covid-19 crises. Panic buying of fuel amid the shortage of truckers triggered chaotic scenes across the UK last week, with long queues of drivers flooding areas around petrol stations. Some customers resorted to fist fights over the pumps and threatening queue jumpers with knives, while others hoarded as much fuel as they could…

  • ‘Leaves on the line’ excuse blown away by new rail-cleaning system

    Delays to train services caused by leaves on the line could finally become a thing of the past, thanks to new track-cleaning technology created by engineers at the University of Sheffield. The new rail-cleaning technique, developed by a team of researchers led by Professor Roger Lewis from Sheffield's Department of Mechanical Engineering, uses dry ice pellets in a stream of high-pressure air which first freeze the leaves. As the pellets turn back to gas they are blasted away from the railhead. The method was first developed by the group in 2015 and now after testing the technology on railhead treatment trains over the past two years and on passenger trains in early 2020, the technique has proven to be significantly more effective at removing leaves from the line, preventing delays and improving…

  • Sponsored: Designing the gold standard of immersive audio for virtual reality gaming

    Virtual reality is meant to immerse the user in the virtual world as much as possible by making it feel as real as can be. When virtual reality is done right, you could visit a historical site from your couch, experience a habitat from eons past at a museum, or explore Mars or the Moon from the comfort of your living room.   The gaming industry is making great strides in VR development, but one challenge that game developers have encountered is how to effectively obtain suspension of disbelief in the virtual world.   Whether you're using VR to study an asteroid approaching Earth or playing a game where you have to fire missiles at it, the more immersive the experience, the better. Other entertainment fields, like literature and film, face the same challenge of suspension of disbelief, but…

  • Greenpeace demonstrates against Shell in Rotterdam port, calls for advertising ban

    In the action in Rotterdam, the 33 metre-long Greenpeace vessel The Beluga anchored at the entrance of Shell’s section of the port, which houses the Pernis refinery, and activists scaled a large oil tank. Shell spokesman Marc Potma said in reaction that the company supports groups' right to demonstrate "provided this is done in a safe manner," before adding, "However, that is not the case now. The protesters are illegally on our property [in Rotterdam] where strict safety regulations apply". Rotterdam Port spokesman Tie Schellekens said there was "barely any" disruption to shipping traffic, but openings to some docks had been blocked, and that "Because of that, two barges are unable to load or unload". Image credit: Eva Plevier | Reuters The Rotterdam...

  • View from India: Garbage-free cities and clean rivers key to economic growth

    Prime minster Modi first unveiled 'Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U) 2.0', an endeavour to make India's cities garbage free. The second mission is 'Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) 2.0', a move towards making cities water secure. Modi recalled that when the Swachh Bharat Mission began in 2014, countrymen pledged to make India 'open defecation free' (ODF) and they fulfilled this pledge with the construction of more than 10 crore toilets. Now the goal of 'Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0' is to make the cities garbage-free - i.e. completely free of garbage. The garbage will be processed and removed as part of the Swachta second phase. “With this second phase, we also aim sewage and safety management, making cities water-secure and ensuring that dirty nullahs…

  • Exhibition review: ‘Our Broken Planet’ at the Natural History Museum

    From its blunt name (which the usual suspects are certain to describe as “political”) to the colourful slogan stickers with which visitors adorn themselves, Our Broken Planet is steeped in the culture of Extinction Rebellion and similar grassroots climate movements. Paired with a handful of well-chosen artefacts from the museum unique collection, it makes for a striking bijou exhibition. The exhibition rests largely on the contributions of the NHM’s hundreds of resident scientists, who were asked: “What is breaking the world or fixing it?” Their answers span the gamut of environmental concerns: deep sea mining; carbon-intensive agriculture; zoonoses (infectious diseases jumping from animals to humans); wildlife smuggling; plastic waste, and fast fashion. Some of these challenges are represented…

  • Bezos’ Blue Origin workplace is ‘sexist and toxic’, while company sues Nasa over Moon

    The open letter , signed by 21 current and former Blue Origin employees, claims the rocket company fosters a ‘toxic’ and sexist environment, leaving staffers feeling ‘dehumanised’ and causing some to have suicidal thoughts. The damning letter also accuses the spaceflight company, created by Amazon founder Bezos, of sacrificing safety to get ahead in his space race with rival fellow billionaires Sir Richard Branson, at Virgin Galactic, and Elon Musk, at SpaceX. "Competing with other billionaires – and ‘making progress for Jeff’ – seemed to take precedence over safety concerns that would have slowed down the schedule," wrote Alexandra Abrams, former head of employee communications at Blue Origin. Abrams, who was fired from Blue Origin in 2019 (for transgressions refuted by Abrams), signed her…

  • Net-zero CO2 plastic could be more affordable than expected

    The vast majority of plastics – one of the most ubiquitous human-made materials – use fossil fuels not only as feedstock but also to power their manufacture. The production of plastics currently accounts for 6 per cent of oil consumption. This is expected to rise to nearly 20 per cent by 2050. In order to meet climate targets in line with the Paris Agreement, the plastics industry must strive towards reducing its CO2 output to net zero. Proposed strategies to cut carbon and other greenhouse gases in plastics manufacturing include decarbonisation of the plastics supply chain (such as using EVs for transport) and implementing circular technologies to reuse fossil carbon feedstock (such as chemical recycling, mechanical recycling, biomass, and carbon capture and utilisation). While much research…

  • New IET president to champion technicians and enhance status of UK engineers

    Air Marshal Sir Julian Young, who retired recently from the Royal Air Force after 40 years of service as an engineer officer, became the 140th president of the IET today (1 October 2021) for 2021/22, succeeding Professor Danielle George MBE. With an increased government focus on vocational training and technical skills, such as the introduction of T-Levels, Sir Julian intends to lead the IET over the next year to increase the visibility and importance of technicians – both within the IET’s membership and more widely to enhance the overall status of engineers. Sir Julian is also aiming to continue to build on the success that past-president Professor George achieved over the last 12 months during the IET’s 150th anniversary. He hopes to encourage and inspire the next generation of talent…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Government proposes ‘non-nuclear’ regulation for fusion

    Nuclear fusion technology, which scientists often joke is “always 50 years away”, generates electricity from energy released as lighter nuclei fuse to form heavier nuclei. Vast temperatures and pressures are required to start nuclear fusion and maintain it for long enough to produce useful amounts of energy, meaning huge engineering challenges such as confinement must be overcome first. Nuclear fusion research is part of the UK government’s long-term decarbonisation plan, along with the expansion of new nuclear fission technologies, such as advanced modular reactors. Now, the government has announced plans to be the first to legislate for the safe and effective rollout of fusion energy, outlined in a Fusion Green Paper. Due to the expected low hazard of fusion power, it proposes the continuation…

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