• Robot swarms could mine and build on lunar surface

    Lunar mining could be moving into the realm of reality. Last September, Nasa announced an initiative to pay private companies to mine lunar regolith (rock and dirt covering the surface), in the hope of establishing international standards for business in space. Mining on the Moon could be a more efficient way of building structures on the lunar surface, as it would not require rock, dust and dirt to be transported from Earth. It could also provide rare earth metals needed for technologies such as smartphones and medical devices, as well as titanium, precious metals and helium-3 (which is rare on Earth). Now, a University of Arizona team is working on advanced space-mining methods, using Nasa funding. “It’s really exciting to be at the forefront of a new field,” said Professor Moe Momayez…

  • LG unveils flexible glass for folding smartphones

    Samsung has been pushing foldable smartphones as an alternative to their mainstream flagship devices, but their displays are covered with a hardened plastic that is much easier to scratch than traditional glass-fronted screens. While LG left the smartphone business in April after years of dwindling sales, its subsidiary LG Chem is still working on new materials including one dubbed Real Folding Glass. Samsung’s foldable devices, such as the Z Fold 3 and the Galaxy Z Fold, typically feature a visible crease in the screen at the tightest fold point. LG said its new glass has “improved fold lines” in the folding area compared to existing products as well as crack prevention. It is also durable and can be folded more than 200,000 times before breaking – equivalent to folding the phone more…

  • Three brings back roaming charges in Europe for UK customers

    The EU banned roaming fees in 2017 for all its member countries as part of an overhaul of Europe’s telecoms market that was designed to boost growth and innovation. With the UK formally exiting the European Union in January this year, the country’s networks are no longer beholden to EU law. Three plans to reintroduce the charges from 23 May 2022, after which date its customers will have to pay a charge of £2 per day when roaming within the EU and £5 a day when roaming outside the EU. The new rules only apply to customers who take out new contracts with the firm from 1 October 2021. “We know that 'Go Roam' has always been important to our customers and we had hoped to retain this benefit, but unfortunately there are now too many unknowns, which has made it commercially unviable for us…

  • View from Washington: Theranos 3 – Me too

    During the pre-trial process in the Theranos fraud case last year, presiding District Judge Edward Davila issued a ruling that surprised virtually everyone following the case: co-defendants Elizabeth Holmes, the founder and CEO of the failed blood-testing company, and Ramesh ‘Sunny’ Balwani, her former partner and from 2009 Theranos’ COO, would be tried separately and not together as originally expected. In early September, unredacted portions of her legal team’s filings revealed why. Holmes’ defence will partly depend on demonstrating that she was subjected to “a pattern of abuse and coercive behaviour” during the relationship whereby Balwani was a toxic influence who drove her into a resulting pattern of deception towards potential shareholders and members of staff. The abuse included,…

  • Biden shoots for 40 per cent solar by 2035

    The Solar Futures Study describes the potential of solar energy for decarbonising the US energy sector and helping to achieve the government’s goal of achieving net-zero emissions in electricity generation by 2035. The cost of solar has dropped drastically in recent years with technological advances and increased uptake, amid a push to decarbonise energy sectors. The International Energy Agency has projected that by 2050, solar could contribute almost 30 per cent of worldwide electricity consumption, making it the largest source of electricity. At present, solar provides three per cent of the nation’s electricity.  Biden’s Energy Department would scale up production of photovoltaics to reach 40 per cent by 2035 and 45 per cent by 2050, transforming the US energy sector and infrastructure…

  • Fossil fuel extraction needs 50 per cent cut to meet climate targets

    The Paris Agreement of 2015 saw countries around the world commit to keeping global warming to 2°C above pre-industrial levels, alongside more ambitious targets to keep this to below 1.5°C. According to the report from Carbon Tracker, companies are still approving billions of dollars of investment in major projects which are inconsistent with these goals. “Oil and gas companies are betting against the success of global efforts to tackle climate change,” the report’s co-author Mike Coffin said. “If they continue with business-as-usual investment, they risk wasting more than a trillion dollars on projects which will not be competitive in a low-carbon world. “If the world is to avert climate catastrophe, demand for fossil fuels must fall sharply. Companies and investors must prepare for…

  • Nasa’s Perseverance rover collects its first Mars rock sample

    The rover dug out a core slightly thicker than a pencil from Mars' Jezero Crater. The sample is now enclosed in an airtight titanium sample tube, making it available for retrieval in the future. Perseverance used the rotary-percussive drill at the end of its robotic arm to retrieve the core sample from a flat, briefcase-size Mars rock nicknamed 'Rochette'. After completing the coring process, the arm moved the corer, bit and sample tube so that the rover’s camera could image the contents of the still-unsealed tube and transmit the results back to Earth. After mission controllers confirmed the cored rock’s presence in the tube, they sent a command to complete processing of the sample after which the container was hermetically sealed. Image credit: nasa The sample…

  • Welsh graphene company’s Chinese acquisition halted by security review

    The business secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, has told the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to investigate the planned acquisition of Pepetuus Group by an academic and a company called Taurus International. Kwarteng said he had issued the public intervention notice “on the public interest ground of national security”. The department has concerns about the implications of the takeover because while Perpetuus has just 14 employees and reported a turnover of £479,000 in the year to March 2020, it supplies “at least one-quarter” of all graphene plasma goods in the UK. Kwarteng has said that foreign investment in the UK “must not threaten national security”. Perpetuus is working on applications for graphene , which has been frequently described as a wonder material thanks to its superlative…

  • Tim Peake turned into comic book character; IET launches ‘Super Realoes’ competition

    Peake, who became the first British astronaut to walk in space, has been rebranded as Orbital in the new comic book called the ‘STEM Squad’, which highlights the work of prominent people working in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). “I’m so excited to have been invited to join the STEM Squad,” he said. “I’ve always loved superheroes but never imagined I could get to become one someday, let alone Orbital, helping to defeat elemental climate change monsters.” The 49-year-old from Chichester, who is also an Honorary Fellow of the IET , features in the comic book alongside coding entrepreneur June Angelides; engineer Shrouk El-Attar, and bionics educator James Young, who is a double amputee. The comic sees the team come together as a team to tackle a giant smog monster threatening…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • ‘No errors’ in smart motorway safety report, says regulator

    The regulator, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), said all the available data was used in the “stocktake” of the Department for Transport (DfT) report, published in March last year. However, the ORR pointedly noted that “there is a limited amount of data available”, given that only 29 miles of motorways in England with the hard shoulder removed have five years' worth of safety figures. The ORR made a series of recommendations to National Highways, the government-owned company responsible for motorways and major A-roads in England, which was still known as Highways England when the review was commissioned in March 2021. Transport secretary Grant Shapps commissioned the ORR's independent review of safety data for the controversial roads, following a Sunday Times analysis which suggested…

  • Driverless ride-hailing service to open in Munich next year

    The firm said it ultimately wants to deploy the service across Germany and other European countries later this decade. Riders will be able to access the service via an app and although safety drivers will initially be present in the vehicles to take control in the event of a problem with the driverless system, Mobileye hopes to remove them by the end of 2022. The service is able to launch after Germany passed a new law permitting driverless vehicles on German roads. The fleet of vehicles will still need to undergo thorough testing before being granted regulatory approval however. “Germany has shown global leadership toward a future of autonomous mobility by expediting crucial autonomous vehicle legislation,” Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said. “Our ability to begin robotaxi operations in Munich…

  • AI could help to diagnose lung cancer earlier

    Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer death, with around 1.8 million lives lost around the world each year. It is often diagnosed at a later stage when treatment is less likely to succeed. But researchers worldwide hope that using AI to support lung cancer screening could make the process quicker and more efficient, and ultimately help diagnose more patients at an early stage. Computerised tomography, or CT scans, are already used to spot signs of lung tumours, followed by a biopsy or surgery to confirm whether the tumour is malignant. However, each scan involves an expert radiologist examining around 300 images and looking for signs of cancer that can be small. Trials using CT scans to screen people with a high risk of lung cancer have shown promise, but screening is hindered…

  • £113m funding to turn scientists’ bright ideas into reality

    The science minister, Amanda Solloway, announced that 97 science and research leaders would receive Future Leader Fellowships, which come with shares of the £113m funding to “bring their innovative ideas from lab to market”. Among the beneficiaries is Dr Dimitrios Kanoulas from University College London, who is building autonomous four-legged 'RoboHike' robots for navigating difficult terrain. He hopes that they could provide assistance in construction, agriculture and rescue missions at the scene of natural disasters. This will enable fast, robust and reliable navigation in situations where timely delivery of services and emergency aid is essential. Newcastle University’s Dr Yujiang Wang hopes to use her share of the funding to develop a system that combines long-term brain recordings…

  • New coking coal mine would invite accusations of climate hypocrisy

    West Cumbria Mining (WCM) wants to open a deep coal mine – the first in 30 years – on the former Marchon chemical works on the outskirts of Whitehaven, Cumbria. The mine is intended for the extraction of metallurgical or coking coal for use in the steel industry; steelmaking is a particularly challenging sector to decarbonise. WCM first put forward its proposal in 2017 and it has been approved three times by Cumbria County Council. The plans were roundly criticised by climate scientists and campaigners as being entirely at odds with the government’s pledge to cut carbon emissions to net zero by 2050; an effort that will require rapid cuts in fossil fuel use, among other measures. In particular, critics drew attention to the need for the UK to establish credibility regarding decarbonisation…

  • Openreach to waive broadband connection fees for poor households

    A recent report from telecoms regulator Ofcom found that UK households which don’t adopt an internet connection due to affordability “are likely to experience the greatest harm” and explained that a decent broadband connection can provide “better access to education and employment opportunities, as well as wider benefits such as social inclusion”. The issue has been particularly relevant during the pandemic due to a greater reliance on internet-based technologies for many activities. Furthermore, the Ada Lovelace Institute recently warned of a "data divide" of inequalities in access, knowledge and awareness of digital health technologies used in the pandemic, such as symptom-tracking apps, contact-tracing apps and consumer-facing mental and physical health apps. Openreach’s decision to…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • £270m Green Heat Network Fund to boost district heating

    Heating buildings, which overwhelmingly uses fossil fuels, accounts for 21 per cent of the UK’s total carbon emissions. Cutting these emissions through improvements in efficiency and alternative heating is a major part of the government’s decarbonisation plan . The new heating fund will assist the rollout of the “next generation of heat networks”, which will enable more towns and cities to take up green heating technologies from 2022. Heat networks, also known as district heating, supply heat to buildings from a central source, avoiding the need for individual buildings to have their own inefficient, energy-intensive heating sources such as gas boilers. At present, there are over 14,000 heat networks in the UK, providing heat to around 480,000 people. As well as improving heating efficiency…

  • British Airways pledges to source sustainable aviation fuel for COP26 flights

    The COP26 conference, set to take place in November this year, will be the most significant gathering of world leaders to discuss how to tackle climate change since the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015. Sustainable aviation fuels are typically derived by combining jet fuel with alternatives such as bio-fuels or recycled oils from industrial food facilities. BA said that the fuel it intends to use provides a lifecycle carbon reduction of up to 80 per cent compared to traditional jet fuel. BA has also announced a programme allowing its customers to purchase sustainable aviation fuel to help reduce their personal carbon footprint via its not-for-profit organisation Pure Leapfrog. This is in addition to the existing option for customers to offset their emissions. Airlines, alongside fossil…

  • ICO proposes unspecified mechanism to overhaul endless cookie banners

    Denham will propose a mechanism that would allow people to set lasting data privacy preferences within their browsers, apps and device settings, rather than having to manage pop-up cookie banners for every website they visit. “I often hear people say how tired they are of having to engage with so many cookie pop-ups,” said Denham. “That fatigue is leading to people giving more personal data than they would like. The cookie mechanism is also far from ideal for businesses and other organisations running websites, as it is costly and it can lead to poor user experience. “While I expect businesses to comply with current laws, my office is encouraging international collaboration to bring practical solutions in this area.” She will raise the issue during a virtual meeting with leaders from…

  • Siemens Gamesa launches recyclable wind turbine blade

    Wind power is one cornerstone to help tackle the climate emergency. With more than 200GW of new offshore capacity projected by the Global Wind Energy Council to be installed by 2030, it is critical to introduce recyclable solutions. So catering to this, Siemens Gamesa has introduced RecyclableBlade which is ready for commercial use offshore. With this technology, separation of the materials in the blade is possible at the end of its lifetime, enabling recycling into new applications and defines the next milestone in sustainability, according to the company. The first six 81m-long RecyclableBlades have been produced at the Siemens Gamesa blade factory in Aalborg, Denmark. “The time to tackle climate emergency is now, and we need to do it in a holistic way,” said Andreas Nauen, CEO of Siemens…

  • Smishing and spoofing targeted for eradication by SMS Protection Registry

    In the UK, many major banks and government brands are now better protected, with 352 trusted SenderIDs registered to date. Furthermore, over 1,500 unauthorised variants are being blocked on an ever-growing list, including 300 senderIDs relating to the government’s coronavirus campaign. Government agencies, including HMRC and DVLA, are participating in this ecosystem wide anti-fraud solution, which is supported by BT/EE, O2, Three and Vodafone, along with the UK’s leading message providers including BT’s Smart Messaging Business, Commify, Dynamic Mobile Billing, Firetext, Fonix Mobile, IMImobile, Infobip/OpenMarket, mGage, Reach-Interactive, Sinch, TeleSign, Twilio and Vonage. The cross-stakeholder working group has seen a significant drop in fraudulent messages being sent to the UK consumers…

  • UK plans to increase storage time limits for frozen sperm, eggs and embryos

    The new rules are a significant boost to the 10-year time limit currently imposed and will allow people to reassess whether they want to keep or discard their frozen cells on a 10-yearly basis. The same rules will apply to everyone and storage limits will not be dictated by medical need. The proposed changes are made possible by using the latest freezing methods. Research from the Royal College of Obstetricians (RCO) has found that frozen eggs can be stored indefinitely without deterioration, due to a new freezing technique called vitrification. The changes also reflect the increasing success of using frozen embryos in routine in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment. The Department of Health and Social Care said it would be “inappropriate” for the limit to apply to all cases and there…

  • View from Washington: Theranos 2 - Fake it... and then what?

    The story of collapsed healthcare start-up Theranos and its founder Elizabeth Holmes fits into a popular Silicon Valley genre: ‘Fake it till you make it’. The fact that it does is set to form a major – and, for other tech companies and investors, discomforting – part of the disgraced CEO’s defence over the coming weeks. FITYMI does have a more positive side where it describes an approach to personal empowerment and optimistic positivity: behave like the person you want to be, and gradually you will turn into that person. Holmes herself leveraged the concept, most notably adopting a Steve Jobs polo neck-led uniform to look like a tech mover-and-shaker some time before she was declared a billionaire and, according to former fellow students at Stanford University, lowering her voice so that…

  • View from Brussels: Europe’s train of thought

    The jewel in the year’s locomotive facilities was unveiled last week in Lisbon, when a special ‘Connecting Europe Express’ pulled into the station in Lisbon, ready for a month-long trip through most of the EU’s member states. After 20,000 kilometres and 26 countries, the train should pull into station in Paris on 7 October. The idea is to show people how connected Europe is and demonstrate the green credentials of train travel, at a time when clean transport is sorely needed. According to EU transport commissioner Adina Valean: “Over the coming weeks, the Express will become a rolling conference, laboratory and forum for public debate on how to make rail the transport mode of choice for passengers and businesses alike.” “Rail has shaped our rich, common history. But, rail is also Europe…

  • Fact-checking shown to be highly effective in four-country study

    A team at George Washington University looked at the impact of fact-checking in Argentina, Nigeria, South Africa and the UK, and found little variation in their positive effects. They also found no evidence of a “backfire” effect of fact-checking, said co-author of the study Thomas Wood. “When we started doing misinformation work about five years ago, it was the consensus that correcting misinformation wasn’t just ineffective, but that it was aggravating the problem and making people more entrenched in their false beliefs,” he explained. “We found no evidence of that in these four countries.  What we did find was that fact-checking can be a very effective tool against misinformation.” The researchers worked with fact-checking organisations in the four countries that are part of the…

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