• STEM politicians - from labs to legislators

    How a recent injection of STEM expertise among MPs could shape Britain’s science sector. Only one UK prime minister has held a science degree – chemistry graduate Margaret Thatcher. And while there have been historians and classicists aplenty among the UK’s former leaders, there’s not a single engineer. Only one mention of engineering was made in all the parties’ manifestos ahead of July’s election – by Labour in reference to green energy. And yet thorny policy challenges – net zero, regulating AI, boosting productivity, building new energy infrastructure, maintaining an international research profile and tackling the UK’s skills gap – have a strong science, technology and engineering (STEM) element. Industry figures believe these can, in part, be tackled by leveraging the UK’s prowess…

  • Sandvik introduces 14-week paid parental leave for all employees

    Sandvik is rolling out a new gender-neutral parental leave program that enables employees around the world to take 14 weeks of paid leave. Sandvik’s new parental leave program provides 90% of the base salary to all employees in countries where no equivalent or better benefit already exists. While most Sandvik employees work in countries where predominantly women benefit from parental leave, this new Sandvik program will benefit all new parents, regardless of gender, location or family structure. Stefan Widing, president and CEO at Sandvik, who is based at the company’s headquarters in Stockholm, said: “One of our strategic objectives is to be the employer of choice. We believe that it is crucial for us to be successful as a company; to be able to attract, retain and develop our employees…

  • Wasted heat from London sewers and underground to warm buildings in £1bn scheme

    Buildings in Westminster including the Houses of Parliament are to be warmed by low-carbon heat generated by the River Thames, London Underground and the sewers. Initiated by the government’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), the £1bn heat network scheme will enable around 1,000 London buildings, including listed and World Heritage Site buildings, to switch to low-carbon heating. Heat networks work by supplying heat from a central source and delivering it to a number of buildings via a network of underground pipes. Known as the South Westminster Area Network (SWAN), the scheme has reached a significant milestone with the announcement that it will be developed as a joint venture between heat network developers Hemiko and Vital Energi. Infrastructure consulting firm…

  • Emissions from private jets soar almost 50% in four years, research finds

    Private aviation is making a growing contribution to climate change, with many being used as ‘taxis’ for distances less than 50km, according to a study. In the study – led by Stefan Gossling, a professor at Linnaeus University in Sweden – the researchers aimed to quantify the contribution private aviation makes on climate change. To do this they analysed the flight tracker data of more than 18.6 million private flights, which were flown by 25,993 registered business jet-type private aircraft over a four-year period from 2019 to 2023. Analysing the CO2 emissions of each of these flights, they concluded that they cumulatively produced approximately 15.6 million tonnes of CO2 in direct emissions in 2023. This equates to approximately 3.6 tonnes of CO2 emitted on average per flight. The…

  • Nissan to cut 9,000 jobs after posting 2024 financial results

    Nissan has said it will cut global production capacity by 20% and reduce its workforce by 9,000 after failing to meet financial targets. In its first half 2024 results, the firm’s net revenue decreased by 79.1bn yen (£400m) to 5.98tn yen, with profit margins falling to just 0.5%. Global sales volumes decreased year-on-year to 1.6 million units, while higher selling expenses and inventory optimisation efforts, particularly in the US, also impacted its profitability. “Facing a severe situation, Nissan is taking urgent measures to turn around its performance and create a leaner, more resilient business capable of swiftly adapting to changes in the market,” the firm said. “To achieve healthy growth in the future, the company will implement a structure to secure sustainable profitability and…

  • UK to create 'early warning system' to diagnose diseases and monitor future pandemics

    The UK will create the world’s first real-time surveillance system to monitor the threat of infectious diseases and rapidly diagnose cancer, the government has announced. A new partnership has been formed between the UK government, Genomics England, UK Biobank, NHS England and life sciences company Oxford Nanopore, which was founded in 2005 as a spinout from Oxford University. Oxford Nanopore uses long-read sequencing technology to analyse genes and pathogens to rapidly diagnose a range of cancers, along with rare and infectious diseases. The technology can sequence long strands of DNA or RNA in one go, without breaking it up into smaller fragments. The aim is for Oxford Nanopore’s technology to help create an early warning system for future pandemics and potential biological threats…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • This year ‘virtually certain’ to be hottest on record, finds EU’s climate monitor

    Data from the European Commission’s climate monitor Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) has revealed that 2024 is “virtually certain” to be the hottest on record, with warming above 1.5°C. Just two weeks after the UN warned that current climate policies risk a catastrophic 3.1°C global temperature rise, the C3S has released new data revealing how the world is passing a “new milestone” of temperature records. This year has seen our environment ravaged by extreme weather conditions, from flooding to droughts and wild fires to hurricanes. Scientists argue that these extreme weather events are made even more likely as the result of human-driven climate change. Each month often surpasses temperatures for that month the year previous. For October 2024, CS3 data reveals that the month was…

  • Amazon launches same-day drone delivery for household essentials in Arizona

    Amazon has started a same-day drone delivery service in Arizona, US, that will give customers access to “over 50,000 everyday essentials”. The firm said the available products include household and beauty items as well as office and tech supplies, and customers who live near the warehouse can purchase an eligible item weighing 2.2kg or less for drone delivery in under an hour. “Safety is our top priority,” Amazon said in an attempt to address concerns consumers might have with the service. “Our new drone, the MK30, has received FAA [Federal Aviation Administration] approval to begin operations to customers. “Our approval includes the ability to fly beyond visual line of sight, using our sophisticated on-board detect-and-avoid system. This is an historic, first-of-its-kind approval for…

  • Trump’s return to the US presidency and its implications for the engineering and tech sectors

    Donald Trump promises to bring about massive change – hiking import tariffs, boosting oil production and rolling back climate regulations – with the ramifications going far beyond US borders. Trump has been elected the 47th US president, marking his second time in office, and at 78 he is the oldest person ever to be elected. He was declared the victor on Wednesday morning (6 November) having secured more than the 270 electoral votes needed to take the presidency. Addressing supporters in Florida, he said: “It’s a political victory that our country has never seen before – nothing like this”. The race between the Republican Trump and the Democrat Kamala Harris looked extraordinarily close until the very end. It was only in the early hours of Wednesday morning that it became apparent that…

  • Longest vacuum capsule journey completed on scaled-down hyperloop system

    Scientists have completed the longest-ever vacuum capsule journey in Europe’s first operational hyperloop test facility, albeit using a scaled-down version one-twelfth the size of a system capable of carrying passengers. The original idea for a hyperloop was first put forward by Elon Musk in a 2013 white paper. It is a form of high-speed mass transit in which capsules travel on magnetic rails in a low-pressure environment that could theoretically cut the time taken to travel between New York and Washington to just 30 minutes – twice as fast as a commercial jet flight and four times faster than a high-speed train. Interest in the technology has been waning since the Hyperloop One ceased operations at the end of 2023. The Los Angeles-based firm completed the world’s first passenger ride on…

  • BP further scales back renewables ambitions with shelving of 18 hydrogen projects

    Oil giant BP has announced that as part of its cost-saving ambitions it has “focused its portfolio”, which includes killing off 18 early-stage hydrogen projects. BP has released its Q3 2024 financial results, which was delivered during a video presentation and published in a 32-page report. Murray Auchincloss, BP’s CEO, who took on the role earlier this year, started off by highlighting how its operations are doing, which he said are running well “supporting delivery of an underlying profit of $2.3bn in the quarter”. However, this profit is down from last quarter ($2.8bn to $2.3bn), and to help drive improvements he said that the company will “reshape [its] portfolio to set up BP to grow value and returns”. This reshaping of the portfolio includes the killing off of 18 early-stage hydrogen…

  • Comment: Biotechnology’s potential in the fight against climate change

    Tim Dafforn is professor of biotechnology at the University of Birmingham, IET vice-president and chair of the IET Policy Oversight Committee. They say that when one plans for the future, one should look at certainties and construct your plan around them. Paying tax, the law of physics and – in my opinion – the failures of the England cricket team are all certainties in our world, but global climate change represents perhaps one of the most certain certainties of the new millennium. Given the requirement that we plan to avert this truly existential crisis, it is clear that our technological foundation must move away from its petrochemical base. One clear option is offered by the emerging biotech sector. Biotech is truly one of the only technological platforms that can replace hydrocarbons…

  • Plastic on beaches identified from space using satellite imaging tool

    A satellite imagery tool that is able to spot plastic pollution building up on beaches 600km below could be used to help tackle the world’s ocean waste problem. According to US environmental advocacy group Ocean Conservancy, 11 million metric tons of plastic enter our oceans every year. This is in addition to the estimated 200 million metric tons that are already there. Satellite technology is already used to track the massive amounts of plastic floating around our oceans – from relatively small drifts containing thousands of plastic bottles, bags and fishing nets to gigantic floating trash islands like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which is three times the size of France. Now researchers from Australia’s RMIT University have used satellite imagery to pick up on differences in how…

  • Labour’s 2030 grid decarbonisation plans at the ‘limit of what is feasible’

    Labour’s aim to decarbonise the UK’s electricity grid by 2030 is a “huge challenge” but achievable with the right policy incentives, the newly-formed National Energy System Operator (NESO) has said. The state-owned body, which operates both the electricity and gas distribution systems, said the goal was at the “limit of what is feasible” but could be done if a variety of measures were quickly implemented. In October, NESO was acquired by the government from National Grid in a £630m deal that gave it greater powers to align future strategy for the energy grid. In its manifesto, Labour set itself a lofty goal of entirely decarbonising the UK’s energy grid by 2030 – bringing forward the already-ambitious 2035 target. But for this to be achieved, green energy infrastructure needs to be installed…

  • Vodafone-Three merger could get go-ahead, says UK’s competition watchdog

    Following an 18-month investigation, the UK’s competition watchdog says the proposed £15bn merger between Vodafone and Three could get the green light if concerns are addressed. In 2023, Vodafone and Three announced they were set to merge. The £15bn tie-up would reduce the number of mobile network operators from the ‘big four’ to three, with the other two being O2 and EE. The merger would create the largest mobile operator in the UK, with more than 27 million customers. In March 2024, UK watchdog the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) referred the Vodafone-Three deal to an in-depth probe. It said the deal risked leaving consumers worse off, with concerns that the merger would result in higher prices for consumers and businesses and lower investment. The proposed deal also sparked…

  • Next-gen materials blast off to the ISS for testing in harsh space environments

    A new generation of materials that could be used to build spacecraft are on their way to the International Space Station (ISS) to be rigorously tested. Developed by researchers at the University of Bristol, the carbon-fibre reinforced composites will need to survive extreme temperatures between -150°C and +120°C, space debris travelling at speed, severe electromagnetic radiation, high vacuum and atomic oxygen that erodes even the toughest materials. The composites will be placed on the Bartolomeo platform, located on the front of the ISS, where they will orbit Earth up to 9,000 times over the next 12 to 18 months at speeds of 17,000mph (27,400km/h). “Space is the most challenging environment for which to design new materials. You’re pitting your materials expertise, skills and ingenuity…

  • US firm Joby Aviation completes first international air taxi flight in Japan

    Joby Aviation’s electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) has taken off from Toyota’s technical facility in Shizuoka, completing its first test flight outside the US. eVTOL aircraft represent a substantial leap forward in the aviation industry's path to net zero. Designed for short-range travel, these aircraft are targeting the on-demand air taxi market for use by commuters, business travellers and tourists in predominantly urban areas. One of the major players in the eVTOL industry is Californian company Joby Aviation, which was founded in 2009 and has received $1.7bn in funding to date. Developing electric air taxis for commercial passenger service, Joby believes that ridesharing in the air is an invention that will shift the way people live and move, tackling both congestion and…

  • US firm’s three-wheeled solar-powered car successfully completes first function test drive

    Aptera Motor’s production-intent solar-powered electric car has successfully undergone a test drive conducted in a San Diego car park. Since 2019, San Diego-based Aptera Motors has set a goal of developing a solar-powered electric vehicle (sEV). In this pursuit, the firm has now announced it has reached a significant milestone – the successful first drive of its latest “production-intent” (PI2) vehicle, which will now be used for real-world validation and testing. The first in a series, Aptera Motors says the PI2 has been engineered to rigorously test the production-intent design, production components and critical performance metrics such as range, solar charging capability and efficiency. According to the company, the PI2 doesn’t need to be plugged in to recharge and instead gets…

  • Vodafone unveils space-saving 5G mast design

    Vodafone has unveiled a new space-saving 5G mast design that could lower the number of masts needed in some areas. The new technology could also help to reduce numbers of street-level equipment cabinets and could boost the capacity and speed of Vodafone’s mobile network. The new mast design, called ‘quad stack’ by network engineers, has been designed with London in mind. Built-up areas often have less space for masts, so they need to be slimmer, with a smaller footprint as a result. The downside to this is that they cannot host all the antennae and radio units needed to provide 2G, 4G and 5G services to the surrounding area. The problem is especially acute in parts of the country where Vodafone shares masts with other mobile operators – needing a second mast to do so. The firm recently…

  • UK aerospace engineering company Reaction Engines enters administration

    Reaction Engines’ 30-year ambition to develop an engine for hypersonic flight is at risk as it goes into administration. British accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has published a statement on its website announcing it has been appointed as joint administrators of Reaction Engines after the company was unable to raise the funding to continue operations. Reaction Engines, founded in 1989, is a privately-owned aerospace engineering research company with headquarters in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. For most of these 35 years, the company has been focused on the development of SABRE (Synergetic Air Breathing Rocket Engine), a new class of engine combining the fuel efficiency of a jet engine with the power and high-speed capability of a rocket. The aim is to eventually use this heat exchanger…

  • Microsoft builds data centres out of wood in a bid to cut its rising carbon emissions

    Microsoft has started building data centres using fire-resistant wood in an effort to cut carbon emissions and use more climate-friendly building materials. Engineers are using a material known as cross-laminated timber (CLT) in combination with steel and concrete, which it estimates could reduce the embodied carbon footprint of two new data centres by 35% compared with conventional steel construction, and 65% compared with typical precast concrete. Because engineered wood is naturally low in carbon, abundant and easy to manufacture, CLT has been in increasingly wide use in the US and Europe, where it has been a staple of green building for at least a decade. In 2021, Microsoft built its new Silicon Valley headquarters out of CLT, as part of the company’s first large-scale use of the material…

  • India’s Chandrayaan-4 mission to Moon’s south pole planned for 2028 launch

    India aims to launch its Chandrayaan-4 mission to the Moon’s south pole by 2028, bringing back 3kg of lunar samples. The lunar south pole has been a target of several recent lander missions and is a focus of intense scientific interest as there have been indications that its craters may harbour natural resources such as water ice, the main prerequisite for long-term human presence on the Moon. Just a few days ago, Nasa revealed that its Artemis III mission – which aims to return humanity to the Moon – has proposed landing regions all located near the lunar south pole. India, which is very much part of the race to the Moon, has now announced its Chandrayaan-4 mission. It aims to collect around 3kg of lunar samples from an area near the Moon’s south pole and deliver them to Earth. This…

  • Volvo Cars to buy out Northvolt from battery-making joint venture

    Volvo Cars has released a statement declaring that it plans to take full ownership of Novo Energy, a joint venture between Volvo and the Swedish battery company Northvolt. Novo Energy was launched between the two Swedish companies in June 2021. The aim of this joint venture was to build the next generation of pure electric Volvo cars. Volvo, which is majority owned by China’s Geely, says it plans to become a fully electric car maker by 2030. With Northvolt being a homegrown battery technology company specialising in lithium-ion technology, a collaboration between the two seemed an obvious one. The pair said it would collaborate across R&D and battery production, for which a new 50 GWh gigafactory would be built in Gothenburg to enable the production of tailor-made batteries for the car…

  • TfL plans purpose-built solar farms to power London Underground

    Transport for London (TfL) is seeking partners to build a network of purpose-built solar farms that will be used to power the London Underground. The proposals could bring up to 64MW of electricity to the network, or approximately 5% of the electricity needed to run the entire network. The project is part of broader efforts to power all of TfL’s operations using 100% renewable energy by 2030. TfL said the projects will link directly to the London Underground, bypassing the National Grid entirely, while in the longer term private wire schemes could generate further savings. TfL is the largest single electricity consumer in London with a demand of approximately 1.6TWh per year – equivalent to the electricity consumed by around 420,000 homes. “By opening up new opportunities in the energy…

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