• Acoustic fields used to levitate polystyrene ball

    Optical trapping is a technology which has allowed scientists to move tiny objects around for many years, enabling manipulation with no contact. In fact, one of the recipients of the 2018 Nobel Prize for Physics, Arthur Ashkin, was recognised for his work on optical trapping. Despite the many possibilities opened up by this technology, it has some limitations. Chiefly, it places limits on the properties of objects which can be manipulated. Acoustic trapping is an alternative technology which uses sound waves instead of light waves; the technology is sometimes referred to as 'acoustic tweezers'. Scientists hope that they may be able to manipulate individual cells and other tiny objects using the technology. Sound waves, unlike light waves, can be applied to a wider range of object sizes and…

  • Wearable computer vision aid helps blind people avoid collisions

    A team of researchers showed that people using a long cane or a guide dog were able to reduce the number of collisions by 37 per cent, compared to using other mobility aids alone. “Independent travel is an essential part of daily life for many people who are visually impaired, but they face a greater risk of bumping into obstacles when they walk on their own,” said Gang Luo, an associate professor of ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School. “Although many blind individuals use long canes to detect obstacles, collision risks are not completely eliminated. We sought to develop and test a device that can augment these everyday mobility aids, further improve their safety.” The experimental device and data recording unit were enclosed in a sling backpack with a chest-mounted, wide-angle camera…

  • Hands-on review: RiutBag X35 3-in-1 backpack

    RiutBag (pronounced 'Riot Bag' and derived from 'Revolution in user thinking', natch) was started by commuter Sarah Giblin in 2014 to address what she perceived as a fundamental flaw with most backpacks: when worn on the back, as on a bus or train, the zips and flaps face away from the wearer and are instead invitingly within sticky-fingered reach of any opportunistic thieves standing nearby. Following this Damescene revelation, Giblin quit her City day job and pursued her dream of launching the 'backwards' backpack with her life savings and a Kickstarter campaign. Fast forward to today, where it's 20,000 Riutbags sold and the company recently 'bagged' a European Product Design Award. E&T looked at the company's pandemic-inspired backpack back in May, with its focus on the specific needs…

  • Why spatial computing is the next frontier for industrial efficiency

    Smart factories are about to get even smarter. With the adoption of spatial computing – the digitisation of spatial relationships between machines, people and objects in order to identify their precise location and movements within a 3D space – industrial companies have an opportunity to take the optimisation of worksites to a whole new level. To understand the scale of that opportunity, let’s first take a step back. Over the past decade, manufacturers have been able to reach new levels of efficiency through industrial internet of things (IIoT) programmes. These have equipped factory-floor machinery with smart sensors able to report on their status and usage and receive instructions remotely. Connected operations provide far greater insight into how facilities are running. In turn, companies…

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    IET EngX

  • Facebook blind spot allows timber wildlife trafficking to Asia to continue

    “Can people buy Kosso wood from you?”, was the message to a Nigerian log trafficker that kicked off an investigation into dozens of Facebook accounts responsible for smuggling precious, often protected wood species from Africa into Vietnam. The answer to our   inquiry about Kosso, a   CITES -listed rosewood illegally harvested in Africa where loggers   wreak havoc with local biodiversity and from where it's   mostly illegally exported - was hardly surprising: “I have lots of Kosso wood for sale in Nigeria,” the Nigerian Facebook account replied. Records show the account owner   is very active on Vietnamese Facebook   groups. It's just one example of a larger analysis that reveals how Facebook facilitates trading accounts and groups that shift large quantities of precious wood across continents…

  • Mars interior mapped using data from Nasa’s Insight probe

    InSight was sent to Mars in 2018 to study the internal structure of the Red Planet and shed light on how rocky planets, moons and meteorites in the solar system formed. It detected its first ‘Marsquakes’ in 2019 which proved that the planet was seismically active underneath the surface. Using information obtained from around a dozen earthquakes detected on Mars by the 'Very Broad Band' (VBB) SEIS seismometer, Nasa scientists were able to determine the internal structure of Mars. They estimated of the size of the planet’s core, the thickness of its crust and the structure of its mantle based on the analysis of seismic waves reflected and modified by interfaces in its interior. It is the first-ever seismic exploration of the internal structure of a terrestrial planet other than Earth and…

  • ‘Postcode lottery’ for access to EV chargepoints, CMA warns

    The CMA found that some parts of the new EV charging sector are developing relatively well, including charging at shopping centres, workplaces, and private parking (such as garages and driveways), but other parts are facing problems that could hinder the planned petrol and diesel engine phase-out. The regulator expressed particular concern about the choice and availability of chargepoints at motorway service stations where competition is limited; the speed of the roll-out of on-street charging by local authorities; and lack of investment in building chargepoints in rural areas. It also cited research showing that charging can be difficult and frustrating for drivers, as well as issues around reliability and cost putting drivers off going electric. The CMA laid out four principles which…

  • Jurors who view the scene of a crime in VR make better decision, study finds

    In a study published by the University of South Australia, researchers, legal professionals, police and forensic scientists simulated a hit-and-run scene, reconstructing the events with a laser scanner to compare verdicts between ‘jurors’ using 3D headsets and those relying on photographs from the scene. They found that the jurors using the VR headsets had better recall, spatial accuracy and more consistent verdicts. “Virtual reality also required significantly less effort than using photographs to piece together the sequence of events,” said researcher Dr Andrew Cunningham. Study participants viewing the scene through a 3D headset were 9.5 times more likely (87 per cent) to choose the same verdict – death by dangerous driving – than the group who relied on photographs, who were split…

  • New chip design exponentially boosts data rate for processors

    According to the United Nations' telecommunications agency, 93 per cent of the global population has access to a mobile-broadband network of some kind. With data becoming more readily available to consumers, there is a greater demand for more of it and at faster speeds. Now a research team at Texas A&M University has designed a chip that could revolutionise the current data rate for processors and technologies such as smartphones, tablets, laptops and desktop computers. Ramy Rady, a doctoral student in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and his team - including faculty advisor and professor Dr. Kamran Entesari, along with Dr. Christi Madsen and Dr. Sam Palermo, are moving toward the use of microwave photonics, a branch of optics that focuses on improving the quality…

  • Touchscreens could double as lab-grade sensors

    Researchers from the University of Cambridge showed how a typical phone’s touchscreen could be used to identify common ionic contaminants in soil or drinking water by simply dripping liquid samples onto the screen. The sensitivity of the touchscreen sensor is comparable to typical lab-based equipment, rendering it useful in low-resource settings. The researchers say their proof of concept could one day be expanded for a wide range of sensing applications, including for biosensing or medical diagnostics. While other research teams have utilised the computational power of smartphones for sensing applications, this is the first study to use the screen itself, rather than the camera or peripheral devices or significant additions to the screen. A typical phone screen is covered with a grid of…

  • Summer STEM Challenge: Fire from Water

    STEM Challenge #49: A great big burning glass for solar-powered chemistry Heating things up is really important in chemistry. But in the early days of the science, this wasn’t easy. Fire was probably a pile of dirty wood or sooty coal in a grate. So pioneer chemists like Joseph Priestley and Anton Lavoisier used nice clean sunshine... and a lens. Not a little one like you keep in your pocket. No, these ‘burning glasses’ were huge, 30cm or more. Lavoisier even had a monster lens 2.5m in diameter. Here is how to make your own great big burning glass – out of water. As well as water, you’ll need cling-film and a ring, ideally a bit smaller than the cling-film. The wheel-rim from a child’s bike will do nicely, or even a full-size bike wheel-rim. You’ll also need a mirror as wide as the ring…

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    IET EngX

  • EU battery recycling regulations should be adopted globally, scientists urge

    Experts from Newcastle University, the University of Birmingham, the University of California, amongst others, have written in the Science journal calling for a unified policy on approaches to batteries such as recycling, use of recycled raw materials and creating a circular economy. With the European Union becoming a rapidly growing market for electric vehicles, the effects of its regulation will be felt by battery supply chains in many other countries, the group said. The effects of these rules could be hard to predict, however, and could result in a competitive disadvantage for European companies. This is because the EU must operate in the global marketplace where there is an imbalance between new and mature markets and uncertainty caused by the rapid rate of growth and innovation in…

  • Customer trust is essential to large-scale adoption of connected cars

    When the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was introduced in May 2018, it was a step-change that overhauled the way in which businesses process and handle personal data. It also raised public awareness of the importance of privacy and the need to protect personal data. This issue has only grown more significant with the accelerating pace of connected-technology deployment in vehicles, encompassing everything from connected applications, telematics and black-box insurance to mobile phone use. In-vehicle data collection and processing has increased in terms of content type and volume, and now encompasses a vast array of personal information including phone numbers, address books, emails, location history, browsing history, preferences and driving habits. Collection and processing…

  • R&D spending hiked to £22bn to stimulate UK innovation

    T he department for business, energy and industrial strategy said that the coronavirus pandemic has demonstrated that major challenges can be resolved by “ambitious” investment in innovation. The plan says that the crisis had proven that the UK can deliver when given the necessary support, freedom and risk tolerance, giving the example of the national vaccine taskforce which is composed of both public and private bodies. Riding on the back of this success, the government will lay out “innovation missions” to set direction, urgency and pace on issues confronting the UK. These will be determined by the new National Science and Technology Council and supported by the Office for Science and Technology Strategy. The government is also outlining seven strategic technologies in which the UK already…

  • US gears up to pursue right to repair with ‘new vigour’

    The FTC restated the growing impression that restrictions imposed on repairs to consumer electronics by the original manufacturers, whether through warranty clauses or by limiting the availability or compatibility of parts, have increasingly obliged customers to use manufacturers' and sellers' own repair networks or, in many case, simply abandon the item entirely and purchase a new replacement long before the end of its useful life. The FTC's 'Right to Repair for small businesses, workers, consumers and government entities' policy statement is the Commission's first step towards actively addressing this issue. The FTC has invited the public to submit complaints about offending companies. If the FTC acts as is expected, it would mean consumers in the US would be free either to repair popular…

  • Laser technique pushes data at 40Tbit/s through existing internet cabling

    The speeds, which are fast enough to download around 5,000 standard-definition Netflix films in a second, were achieved by using a new way of splitting up light channels to deliver more information inside and between data centres. Instead of using a single channel, the team use multiple wavelengths to deliver information all on a single Photonic Integrated Circuit (PIC). PICs use photonics or light-based technology to deliver much higher bandwidth in a power-efficient manner than traditional chips. By using what are known as optical combs, a single laser can be used to generate a broad spectrum of equally-spaced optical frequencies which enable higher capacity internet traffic on a single fibre without upgrading existing infrastructure. It does this by eliminating 'guard-bands' or wasted…

  • Brain-machine interface with VR turns intentions into actions

    An international research team – led by the lab of Woon-Hong Yeo at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) – combined wireless soft-scalp electronics and virtual reality (VR) in a BMI system that allows the user to imagine an action and wirelessly control a wheelchair or robotic arm. The technology could even help those  struggling with locked-in syndrome – when a person is fully conscious but unable to move or communicate. “The major advantage of this system to the user, compared to what currently exists, is that it is comfortable to wear, and doesn’t have any wires,” said Yeo, associate professor Georgia Tech’s School of Mechanical Engineering. BMI systems are a rehabilitation technology that analyses a person’s brain signals and translates that neural activity into commands…

  • Industry calls for end to isolation for fully vaccinated as production slows

    Make UK's survey of 436 companies revealed that two-thirds of responding companies backed the call for free Covid-19 tests for workers and provision of statutory sick pay, in tandem with an end to isolation for fully vaccinated individuals. The follows a marked slowdown in production at many manufacturing facilities impacted by protracted staff absences. With an increasing number of staff having to isolate, 13 per cent of companies said that some production has already stopped. The survey, carried out on July 21, also showed that the majority of companies are continuing to prioritise the safety of their staff, with two-thirds (67 per cent) saying they had not removed any pandemic-related restrictions and would continue to uphold these safety measures in future. Around one-fifth of companies…

  • Sodium-based battery could enable cheap mass storage for renewable energy

    While molten sodium batteries have been used for many years to store energy from renewable sources such as solar panels and wind turbines, commercially available molten sodium batteries, called sodium-sulphur batteries, typically operate at 270-350°C. This new type of sodium battery operates at a much cooler 110°C, making it much cheaper to operate. “We’ve been working to bring the operating temperature of molten sodium batteries down as low as physically possible,” said Leo Small, lead researcher on the project. “There’s a whole cascading cost saving that comes along with lowering the battery temperature. You can use less expensive materials. The batteries need less insulation and the wiring that connects all the batteries can be a lot thinner.” But the traditional sodium-sulphur battery…

  • Simulator helps robots sharpen cutting skills

    The system – developed by researchers from the University of Southern California (USC) Department of Computer Science and computing company Nvidia – could also simulate cutting through human tissue, offering potential applications in surgical robotics. Many researchers in the past have had trouble creating intelligent robots that replicate cutting. One challenge, they’ve argued, is that no two objects are the same, and current robotic cutting systems struggle with a variation. To overcome this, the team devised a unique approach to simulate cutting by introducing springs between the two halves of the object being cut, represented by a mesh. These springs are weakened over time in proportion to the force exerted by the knife on the mesh. “What makes ours a special simulator is that it…

  • Paper-thin origami-like artworks wriggle, flutter and bend

    Their early creations, which they call Electriflow, include origami cranes with bending necks, wriggling flower petals and fluttering butterflies. “Usually books about butterflies are static,” said Purnendu, a graduate student. “But could you have a butterfly flap its wings within a book? We’ve shown that it’s possible.” Origami-inspired butterly/Pernendu Image credit: Purnendu Purnendu explained that Electriflow designs don't require motors or other traditional machine parts to come to life, allowing them to be soft to the touch. Instead, they use a type of artificial muscle developed at the university which has since been commercialised by Artimus Robotics. These artificial muscles harness hydraulically amplified self-healing electrostatic actuation; they rely…

  • Drone flight algorithm beats all human pilots in test race

    Due to their limited battery, speed is of the essence when drones are completing tasks like searching for survivors on a disaster site, inspecting a building or delivering cargo. The routes they take are sometimes complex and narrow, requiring precision flying. Up to now, the best human drone pilots would always outperform autonomous systems in drone racing, according to researchers at the University of Zurich (UZH) in Switzerland. But they have now created an algorithm that can find the quickest trajectory to guide a quadrotor – specifically a drone with four propellers – through a series of waypoints on a circuit. “Our drone beat the fastest lap of two world-class human pilots on an experimental race track”, said researcher Davide Scaramuzza. “The novelty of the algorithm is that…

  • Smaller chips, bigger packages, even bigger headaches

    When OpenAI unveiled its GPT-3 engine and showed how its AI model could generate sensible text seemingly out of nothing based on a few cues, it set a new limit in how much processing and memory a language model could use. At 175 billion trainable parameters, GPT-3 is enormous. But it’s time at the top of the supermodels did not last long. Google, which introduced the Transformer concept on which many of today’s AI language models are based, soared past it earlier this year with the 1.6 trillion-parameter Switch. At his company’s Spring Processor Conference in April, analyst Linley Gwennap claimed language models are currently growing at the rate of around 40 times a year. Apparently, the rapid growth is worth it and not just in natural language processing. The results from other areas, such…

  • Tesla’s self-driving software ‘lacks safeguards’, safety experts claim

    Elon Musk’s electric car firm started rolling out over-the-air updates earlier this month to enable “full self-driving” for eligible owners, albeit in a beta form. Owners are still obliged to be able to take control of the vehicle at a moment’s notice, and Musk admitted on Twitter that there could be “unknown issues” that could need to be addressed in the future. Consumer Reports (CR) said it plans to independently test the software update, known as FSD beta 9, once its in-house vehicle has received it, but its experts have already expressed concern over footage of the car’s behaviour that has emerged online. They saw it scrape against bushes, miss turnings and even head towards parked cars. Tesla’s vehicles already had some level of autonomy when travelling on highways, but the FSD beta…

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