• Battery the size of a human hair could power medical robots inside the body

    A tiny battery the width of a human hair could be used to power autonomous robots for drug delivery within the human body, researchers have discovered. A team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has developed the cell-sized battery, which is just 0.1mm long and 0.002mm thick. It works by capturing oxygen from air and using it to oxidise zinc, which can create a current of up to 1 volt – enough to power a small circuit, sensor or actuator. “We think this is going to be very enabling for robotics,” said Professor Michael Strano, senior author of the study. “We’re building robotic functions onto the battery and starting to put these components together into devices.” While other researchers have developed microscale robots that use solar power, they must have a laser or…

  • Altar stone at heart of Stonehenge hails from Scotland rather than Wales, research reveals

    Research has revealed that Stonehenge’s monumental six-tonne altar stone, long believed to originate from Wales, actually comes from northern Scotland. Stonehenge is a prehistoric megalithic structure on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire. It is believed that construction on the structure began 5,000 years ago, with changes and additions being made over the next two millennia. It consists of an outer ring of vertical standing stones each topped by connecting horizontal lintel stones. Lying in the centre of this stone circle is a ring of smaller bluestones. The largest of these bluestones, known as the altar stone, is a 50cm thick sandstone block measuring 5x1 metres and weighing six tonnes. It was believed that this stone, along with the other smaller bluestones, hailed from the Preseli Hills…

  • Shini Somara on diversity in engineering: “it’s not just ‘nice’—it’s crucial for our future”

    Shini Somara doesn’t think diversity is ‘nice’ – she believes it is crucial. Dr Shini Somara is a mechanical engineer and fluid dynamicist, author, TED talker and broadcaster, and has provided inspiration for both the current and next generation of engineers. She is passionate about creating a more diverse and equal engineering sector. Shini spoke to Tim Fryer about these issues. Q It’s fair to say that the issue of diversity both within the engineering sector and society as a whole has had a tumultuous few years. Certainly. It’s an interesting industry because it turns out so much innovation, it really advances technology and progresses society, but it’s not the most diverse or inclusive industry. Q In a diverse world we all benefit from a diverse engineering workforce. Absolutely…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • First cohort of students receive Engineering & Manufacturing T-level results

    It is exams results day for many students across England, and among this group are the first to study Engineering and Manufacturing T-levels. The two-year T-level courses were introduced by the UK government in September 2020. They are technical-based courses that can be taken by 16-18-year-olds after completing their GCSEs and are equivalent to three A-levels. The courses include a mix of classroom learning and on-the-job experience, with a 45-day industry placement. They have been designed with businesses to help give students the workplace skills that industry needs. T-levels are being phased in and currently there are over 20 subjects on offer. The first Engineering and Manufacturing courses started in September 2022, with students able to choose from the following: design and development;…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • BAE Systems Recruitment Insight Morning in association with E+T

    At BAE Systems, we provide some of the world's most advanced, technology-led defence, aerospace and security solutions. Employing a highly skilled workforce of around 100,000 people across 40 countries, we work with customers and local partners, in developing, engineering, manufacturing, and supporting products and systems to deliver military capability, protecting people and national security, while keeping critical information and infrastructure secure. Our new site in Filton will provide an outstanding engineering hub, where employees can utilise their knowledge and skill set and thrive within their roles on some really exciting Combat Air projects. We are recruiting for circa 100 roles across: Mission SystemsSoftware, Engineering IntegrationSafetyFlight Systems Simulation Join us…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Italian minister vows to save the iconic Vespa from future EU environmental restrictions

    Italy wants the Vespa Piaggio motorcycle to be recognised as a “national cultural heritage” and save it from future EU carbon emissions regulations for vehicles. Italy’s nationalist League party, part of the ruling coalition, has submitted a draft law to the Italian parliament in Rome, which states that “in view of its symbolic value and its excellent manufacturing quality as well as its historical, artistic and cultural value, the motorcycle Vespa Piaggio, patented on April 23, 1946, is to be recognised as national cultural heritage”. The party states this law would exempt the Vespa from future traffic restrictions related to pollutant emissions imposed by local, national or European lawmakers. The bill is actively supported by Matteo Salvini, Italy’s vice prime minister and transport…

  • Chinese robotaxi firm WeRide gets green light to test with passengers in California

    China-based autonomous driving start-up WeRide has received approval to test its driverless vehicles with passengers in California. The permit from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), which lasts three years, allows WeRide to test its vehicles with passengers both with a driver and without one. However, the company is not allowed to offer rides to the general public and cannot charge fares. The move comes as WeRide begins the process to go public on the US stock market at a valuation of nearly $5bn. However, Reuters reports that this is despite the US considering a ban on Chinese-connected vehicles, including autonomous vehicles. WeRide, founded in 2017, claims to be the first autonomous driving company in the world and is operating and testing in 30 cities across seven…

  • BP and Nasa to share technologies to advance space exploration and energy production

    BP’s drilling technology could one day be used on Mars or the Moon after it struck a deal with Nasa. The US division of the global oil company, BP America, has signed an agreement with the space agency to support common goals in space exploration and energy production. Under the terms of the Space Act Agreement, both have agreed to share digital technologies and technical expertise gained from operating in hostile environments. The hope is that collaborating on technologies such as digital twin technology and simulations will enable engineers and scientists to visualise equipment in remote, hostile environments, either thousands of feet underwater or millions of miles away on another planet. “We see a unique opportunity for BP and Nasa to work collaboratively on the forefront of digital…

  • Ofgem gives green light to UK’s biggest subsea connection project, Eastern Green Link 2

    UK energy regulator Ofgem has approved £3.4bn of funding for delivery of Eastern Green Link 2 (EGL2), an electricity ‘superhighway’ between Peterhead in north-east Scotland and Drax on the east coast of England. EGL2 will be the UK’s largest electricity transmission project and will include the country’s longest high voltage direct current (HVDC) subsea cable, spanning more than 270 miles (436km). The aim of this subsea connection project is to transport the vast amount of renewable energy generated in Scotland to other areas of the UK, where it will help to power two million homes. It will be delivered as part of a joint venture between the National Grid and Scottish & Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) Transmission. With Ofgem having approved the £3.4bn of funding, construction on…

  • Listen now: E+T Critical Podcast series

    Three years ago E+T looked at the challenges facing humanity and set seven Critical Targets that the engineering and technology sector needs to achieve if we want to look optimistically to the future. To evaluate progress on these Critical Targets and talk more broadly on these fundamental challenges, we talked to seven experts in a series of podcasts.

  • Rising temperatures exacerbated by carbon pollution killed nearly 50,000 Europeans in 2023

    High temperatures in Europe made worse by carbon emissions caused nearly 50,000 deaths in Europe last year, a study has found. 2023 was the warmest year on record globally, and the second-warmest in Europe, leading to heatwaves, wild fires and droughts. Indeed, data from the EU’s climate monitoring service shows that June 2024 was the hottest June on record, marking a 13-month streak of unprecedented global heat. To discover the effect these rising temperatures had on European mortality rates, a team at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) carried out a study. Using temperature and mortality records from 823 contiguous regions in 35 European countries from 2015 to 2019, the researchers were able to estimate heat related mortality in each European region over the entire…

  • Mature forests help tackle climate change by acting as carbon stores, new study reveals

    A forest of mature oak trees is able to extract CO2 from the atmosphere and lock it into new wood, researchers at the University of Birmingham have found. In 2016, the University of Birmingham’s Institute of Forest Research (BIFoR) founded the Free-Air Carbon Dioxide Enrichment (FACE) experiment to study the impact our changing climate has on woodlands. Within BIFoR FACE’s 52-acre forest in Staffordshire is a group of 180-year-old English (or ‘pedunculate’) oak trees with a canopy reaching 26 metres tall. Within this canopy a network of pipes has been inserted that pumps out CO2 to recreate the conditions of our future warming planet. For the past seven years, an international team of researchers working at BIFoR FACE have been measuring the effect of elevated CO2 on the oak trees’ wood…

  • Is AI winning the battle against cancer

    Artificial intelligence seems to offer a perfect solution to diagnosing and treating cancer more effectively - but is it working? Food, exercise, family medical history – any announcement by scientists that they have discovered a possible association with the likelihood of developing cancer is destined to grab headlines. However speculative the link, the media knows this is a subject we’re all quietly preoccupied with. Recently, attention has shifted to an emerging technology that promises significant breakthroughs: artificial intelligence (AI). If a host of projects in progress around the world prove successful, AI could make a big difference in tackling the world’s second-biggest killer. Experience so far will cause mixed feelings. In March, it was reported that in UK tests with more…

  • Flying taxi firm failed to achieve certification in time for the Paris Olympics

    Despite its confidence at launching an autonomous air taxi service before the Paris Olympics, German firm Volocopter was not able to fly its electric aircraft because of certification delays. It was more than 10 years ago that Volocopter performed the maiden flight and first test flights of its two-person electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft prototype. Having secured enough funding to proceed from prototype to production, in June 2021 the firm performed a test flight at the Paris Air Forum, marking the first public demonstration of an electrically powered air taxi in France. The Volocopter VoloCity flew a 500-metre route at speeds up to 30km/h and 30 metres high. At this demonstration the firm announced its ambition to introduce an autonomous air taxi service to the…

  • Building bonds in an esports arena

    The amount of time children spend gaming frightens many parents. But there are skills being developed and a bonding opportunity waiting to be enjoyed – it’s not all bad. I made my first kill the other day. No blood, no gore, just a puff of digital smoke and sparkles, but my pulse is racing. I’m playing the social and compelling game of Fortnite as a novice on a course to help parents understand why their kids love gaming. My balloon is punctured when I overhear my two sons sniggering and aping my avatar. But, as Kit Brunswick at Guild Esports tells us, gaming is where we can meet our children in their world – and understand and communicate with them. He should know – as head of safeguarding at the London-based esports academy, he looks after the young elite players, some of whom compete…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Eco-friendly building blocks made from recycled concrete and captured CO2

    Concrete from a demolished school building and carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air have been formed into new blocks strong enough to build a house. The team of University of Tokyo researchers behind the new method believe it could help to significantly cut down the CO2 emissions associated with the construction sector. An estimated 11% of global emissions are associated with the materials and construction of new buildings. To make the new blocks, demolished concrete from a school building was crushed into a fine powder, sieved and then carbonated over three months. Carbonation is usually a slow, natural process occuring when compounds in concrete react with CO2 in the air to form calcium carbonate. The researchers performed a sped-up version of this process to recreate the same kind of concrete…

  • Drax power plant ‘the largest single source of carbon emissions in the UK’, report finds

    The Drax power station is “by far the largest emitter of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the country” despite its self-proclaimed carbon-cutting credentials, the Ember think tank has said. Located near Selby in North Yorkshire, Drax started life as a coal-fired power station when it was opened in 1974, but started co-firing biomass by 2010 in response to government concerns about the UK’s carbon emissions. But according to the report, which collates official data and company annual reports to produce an annual ranking of emitters, Drax actually emits more CO2 than the next four largest power stations in the country combined. Emitting 11.5 million tonnes (Mt) of CO2 in 2023, Drax was found to be the largest single CO2 emitter in the UK, responsible for the equivalent of 2.9% of total UK territorial…

  • HS2 could boost rural internet by selling spare fibre-optic capacity along new rail route

    HS2 is considering selling spare data capacity from fibre-optic cables running alongside the in-construction railway project to local broadband providers in a bid to improve internet connectivity along the route. The new railway – which will link London and Birmingham – runs through largely rural areas of Buckinghamshire, West Northamptonshire, Warwickshire and Staffordshire, many of which lag behind the rest of the UK in terms of data speed and mobile coverage. Around 2,000km of fibre-optic cabling will run alongside the railway, as well as a series of telecoms masts, to support the railway’s signalling and telecoms and provide data to passengers. On a typical train, mobile devices get their data from each telecoms mast the train passes – jumping from one to another in quick succession…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Nasa considers using SpaceX to bring two astronauts stranded aboard the ISS back home

    Nasa has developed contingency plans to bring two stranded astronauts home from the International Space Station (ISS) early next year following problems with Boeing’s Starliner capsule. The long-delayed Starliner achieved its first crewed launch in June after years of delays, successfully docking with the ISS for Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams to undertake an eight-day mission before heading back to Earth. But the plans went awry when, during the docking procedure with the ISS, Starliner suffered various thruster failures and helium leaks. This forced the astronauts to remain aboard the ISS for two months while Nasa figured out how to get them home. While Nasa is still looking at ways it could continue to use Starliner to bring the astronauts back to Earth earlier, it is also considering…

  • Airbourne DNA sampler can detect crop diseases before it’s too late

    A new machine could help farmers to detect plant infections before they are visible by sampling the DNA of spores floating in the surrounding air. Developed by researchers at the Natural History Museum and the Earlham Institute, the machine, dubbed AirSeq, could save farmers money while promoting sustainable farming practices. Recent trials in England showed the potential for the device to combat devastating crop diseases. AirSeq filters thousands of litres of air to capture any biological material – including disease-causing fungi – before sequencing their DNA, identifying species present and measuring their abundance. According to the researchers, the technology represents “a huge shift” in crop disease management that could empower farmers to combat diseases more efficiently and sustainably…

  • Big Interview - Warren East

    Incoming IET president Warren East has refocused on helping smaller businesses grow alongside their novel technologies. There can’t be many in the engineering community that haven’t heard of Warren East. An engineer and business executive of vast and prestigious experience, he’s steered the ship at both ARM and Rolls-Royce, while watching over the third and fourth industrial revolutions and changes in attitudes to how we manufacture and work. He’s also played a big role in the digitisation of the technology landscape, as well as shifts in environmental outlooks and cultures. East retired from “full-time exec stuff” at the end of 2022. But rather than take up golf or grow wine, his ambition evolved into developing “a portfolio of non-exec activity”. More than that, he “wanted a substantial…

  • Royal Mint to recover gold from e-waste at new south Wales factory

    The Royal Mint has opened a factory at a site in south Wales, which will be tasked with extracting gold from e-waste for reuse. Gold is often used in electronics due to its excellent conductive properties and resistance to corrosion. But MPs on the Environmental Audit Committee recently warned that the government had made little progress on improving recycling rates as the UK’s e-waste piles up. The Royal Mint said its new factory would be able to process up to 4,000 tonnes of printed circuit boards (PCBs) from e-waste and the recovered gold will encourage more sustainable industry practices. Annually, this could amount to hundreds of kilograms, which it will use in its luxury jewellery range. The 3,700 sq m facility uses a new chemistry process from Canadian clean tech company Excir…

  • Rocket-propelled aircraft takes flight in bid to reach space

    A rocket-propelled aircraft developed by New Zealand’s Dawn Aerospace (DA) has completed a series of flights as the company looks to undergo supersonic testing next month. The Mk-II Aurora suborbital spaceplane was originally unveiled in July 2020 and is capable of flying up to an altitude of more than 100km several times a day. It can also take off and land at standard airports alongside normal aircraft. The aircraft is able to access parts of the Earth’s atmosphere that are too high for regular aircraft or balloons to operate and too low for satellites. Three flight tests were carried out in late July in which the DA team achieved a maximum speed and altitude of Mach 0.92 (967 km/h) and 50,000ft (15.1km). This represents three times and five times, respectively, what the firm had achieved…

  • Modern carbon-efficient planes worse for climate change than older models, study finds

    A study has found that even though modern commercial aircraft emit less carbon than their predecessors, they could be contributing more to climate change due to their longer-lived planet-warming contrails. Contrails, or vapour trails, are line-shaped clouds produced by aircraft engine exhaust or changes in air pressure, typically at aircraft cruising altitudes several kilometres above the Earth’s surface. While the exact warming effect of contrails is uncertain, scientists believe it is greater than warming caused by carbon emissions from jet fuel. ​Researchers at Imperial College London used machine learning to analyse satellite data on more than 64,000 contrails from a range of aircraft flying over the North Atlantic Ocean. ​Modern aircraft that fly above about 12km, such as the Airbus…

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