• AIs could help plan biological attacks, research finds

    The RAND Corporation has released a report warning that artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots could be used to facilitate biological attacks by providing advice on how to conceal the true purpose of the purchase of anthrax, smallpox and plague bacteria.  The research team conducted tests on LLMs – although it did not reveal which ones – that it accessed through an  application programming interface (API), similar to that of OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Google’s Bard. In one instance, the researchers asked LLMs about which biological weapons could create a plague pandemic scenario and talked to the system about p otential agents, as well as considering budget and success factors. The LLM answered by identifying potential biological agents – including those that cause smallpox, anthrax and plague…

  • Rolls-Royce cutting 2,500 jobs as part of ‘streamlining’ efforts

    Rolls-Royce employs 42,000 people worldwide and estimates that the new plan will see around 2,000 to 2,500 made redundant. This amounts to about 6 per cent of its total workforce, half of which are in the UK, with a further 11,000 in Germany and 5,500 in the US. While it has not detailed exactly where the cuts will be made, its Derby factory that makes nuclear-powered reactors for Royal Navy submarines will not be affected. The team responsible for product safety and engineering standards is expected to be unified across the business and will be led by Simon Burr, who currently heads the firm’s product development arm. “The proposals include creating a new enterprise-wide procurement and supplier management organisation to support the consolidation of group spend, leverage scale and develop…

  • Scotland’s largest offshore wind farm now fully operational

    114 Vestas V164-10.0 MW turbines at Scotland’s largest offshore wind farm have all been switched on, taking the country a step closer to net zero. The 1,075MW wind farm has enough capacity to power nearly 1.6 million homes annually – approximately two-thirds of all homes in Scotland – displacing over 2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from electricity generated by fossil fuels every year.  Humza Yousaf, Scotland ’ s first minister, said the project is “ a fantastic example of the work being done to unleash Scotland’s renewable potential ” and  that would take the nation one step closer to “ creating a net zero energy system that delivers affordable, secure and clean energy ”. The facility is located  27km off the Angus coast in the North Sea’s Firth of Forth. In addition to being the…

  • Interview: talking techno-panic with Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic

    A heavy cost of everything being connected in the digital landscape is that humans will start to lose their identity. This is the conclusion offered by technology entrepreneur, psychologist and author Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, who thinks that, for the past decade “we’ve been worrying about the rise of AI [artificial intelligence] and the automation of jobs, while inadvertently automating ourselves by living robotic lives. Today, we’re busy training AI by clicking here, dragging there and ignoring the real world. This makes us a predictable and boring species.” The idea of trading in humanity’s uniqueness for a digitally enabled existence in which content creation, social media and data become part of an extended homogenised machine forms the central theme of Chamorro-Premuzic’s latest book…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • All newbuilds should be fitted with rooftop solar panels, climate advisers say

    The NICW called for an “immediate review” into building regulations that would see all new housing developments fitted with solar panels and batteries to store excess energy. The extremely low cost of both solar thermal and photovoltaic technologies is one of the reasons the NICW suggests mandating them on newbuilds. According to the International Energy Agency, the cost of solar has plummeted in recent years because of improvements in panel technology. This has led to a higher percentage of sunlight being converted into electricity. In the early 1980s, the average cost of solar panels was around $30 (£24) per watt. Today, it is less than $0.50 (£0.40) per watt – a 98 per cent cost reduction. The NICW said that solar thermal technologies in particular can make a sizeable impact on buildings…

  • AI deciphers part of ancient Herculaneum scroll

    The breakthrough could allow for the deciphering of the carbonised papyrus scrolls from the Roman town of Herculaneum, which were damaged by the volcanic eruption that destroyed Pompeii in AD 79.  Researchers had been unable to read the documents – until today. By relying on 3D X-ray scans of the scrolls produced by a University of Kentucky team, as well as the latest AI tools, researchers have been able to translate one word in the scrolls: “porphyras”, which means “purple”. The breakthrough was achieved simultaneously by Luke Farritor , a 21-year-old computer science student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Youssef Nader , a data science graduate student at the Free University of Berlin in Germany.  “When I saw the first image, I was shocked,” said Federica Nicolardi, a papyrologist…

  • Letters to the editor: volume 18, issue 8

    Open archaeology It is good to see an issue (July 2023) discussing archaeology and using Indiana Jones as a way into the subject. As a ‘scientist’ (I have a BSc so I must be), I have always had an open mind. I have grown up reading books by Graham Hancock, Robert Bauval and local hero Andy Collins, who have studied in depth the evidence from physical remains and ancient astronomical alignments. Extinction events that are now being accepted by mainstream archaeology have been written about by these ‘pseudo-scientists’ but dismissed. But, like it or not, their arguments are now being validated by ‘proper, real’ scientists. Evidence has recently been discovered of a mass extinction event that wiped out perhaps 80% of life on Earth around 250 million years ago. New evidence is always coming…

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  • Construction more likely to occur in green spaces found in UK’s most deprived areas

    In 2012, the government introduced Local Green Space (LGS) designations that give green belt-like protections to smaller areas of land. Since then, 7,286 LGS areas have been established for reasons including their recreational value, beauty and importance for wildlife. The report from rural charity CPRE revealed that LGS designations increased by 771 since 2022, most of them in northern England. In London, the total number of LGSs grew by 64 per cent. But while LGS designations have increased in deprived areas, the mapping also revealed a strong correlation between deprivation and a lack of green space. The charity suggests that engagement with neighbourhood planning may not be a priority for people facing poor housing, low incomes and barriers to accessing healthcare and other essential…

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  • UK missed out on £2bn in tax in 2021 as tech firms moved abroad, report finds

    The group looked at seven large tech firms – Adobe, Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Cisco, Meta and Microsoft – to calculate the amount of corporate taxes they would have paid if their British subsidiaries declared profits at the same rate as they declared them worldwide. The analysis did not suggest that the companies had evaded taxes illegally, but rather looked at the impact of their tax strategies.  TaxWatch estimated the seven companies had made £60.5bn in UK revenues over the 2021 tax year. The group then applied global profit margins to estimate that the firms had made £14.8bn in UK profits that year. Using a UK tax rate (19 per cent), this would mean the seven firms would have been liable to pay £2.8bn. However, by looking at the tax paid by UK subsidiaries, TaxWatch estimated that they…

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    E+T Magazine

  • Off-road solar-powered car completes 1,000km desert trip

    A solar-powered car has completed a 1,000km (620-mile) test drive across Morocco and the Sahara. Developers from Eindhoven University initially believed the vehicle, dubbed Stella Terra, would have a shorter range than the 550km it achieved on its maiden trip. The car started its journey in Morocco – where it travelled through dry riverbeds and forests, and along steep mountain trails – before it reached the Sahara. Image credit: STE Bart Van Overbeeke “It was an incredible trip with a positive ending,” said Wisse Bos, manager of Solar Team Eindhoven. “Stella Terra’s efficiency was hard to predict. That’s why we weren’t sure if we would make it on solar power. During the ride, Stella Terra turned out to use 30 per cent less energy than expected. We were able…

  • Government urged to adopt plan to boost engineering apprenticeships

    The five-point plan from Lord Knight and Lord Willetts, with support from charity EngineeringUK, was launched following an inquiry looking into the “worrying decline” in apprenticeships in recent years.  Despite a modest uptick in numbers last year, engineering-related apprenticeship starts in England are still 9 per cent lower than in 2014/15. The uptake varies by subject, but engineering and manufacturing technologies in particular have seen a 34 per cent decline. Lord Knight, who co-chaired the inquiry and is a former education minister for Labour, said: “Despite 20 years of reviews and reform, Britain is lagging behind our competitors in developing the skilled workforce we need to engineer a prosperous future.  “This failure to better link schools and skills wastes the great potential…

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    E+T Magazine

  • Nasa launches first mission to study a metal asteroid

    The  spacecraft will take six years to reach a metal-rich asteroid that could have been formed from the remains of an early planet’s core. The probe took off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida inside the cargo bay of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. Its journey has been estimated to be 2.2 billion miles long (3.5 billion km), taking approximately six years.  The mission is expected to provide scientists with clues of the Earth’s formation.  “It’s long been humanity’s dream to go to the metal core of our Earth. I mean, ask [author] Jules Verne,” said lead scientist Lindy Elkins-Tanton, Arizona State University. “ The pressure is too high. The temperature is too high. The technology is impossible. But there’s one way in our solar system that we can look at a metal core and that is by…

  • Starlink’s satellite broadband service coming to 4G smartphones in 2025

    The Elon Musk-founded firm operates a constellation of over 3,000 satellites in low-Earth orbit that can provide a broadband data service to devices across the globe, including in areas that aren’t served by traditional radio towers. The newly-announced ‘Direct to Cell’ satellite phone service will launch next year ahead of plans to make it compatible with current 4G handsets by 2025. Direct to Cell satellites will initially be launched on Falcon 9 rockets flown by SpaceX, which is also owned by Elon Musk, and then Starship, its upcoming super heavy lift launch vehicle. Once in orbit, the satellites will connect over laser backhaul to the Starlink constellation to provide global connectivity. Peter Kibutu, advanced technology lead at satellite consultancy TTP, said: “Starlink continues…

  • Could the next pandemic be triggered by melting permafrost?

    The melting permafrost of Siberia exposed live anthrax spores in the remains of long-dead animals. What other possible triggers are there for another pandemic? The pandemic revealed a great deal about our weaknesses (and strengths) in the face of global disaster. As hospitals filled with the infected, frontline healthcare workers dressed in bin bags to treat patients, and we stood in the streets to clap and bang pots together in appreciation. Everyone who could stayed at home, missing birthdays and funerals. Rule-breakers were held up like compromised ants before the rest of the colony.  The Covid outbreak showed us the best in ourselves – but it also tested our sense of justice. We agreed to follow the rules, but with the proviso that, in doing so, we would eventually be allowed to take…

  • Melted lunar dust could pave streets on the Moon

    Dust is one of the main challenges faced by astronauts and spacecraft on the Moon: it erodes space suits, clogs machinery, interferes with scientific instruments and makes moving around difficult. However, p aving the lunar surface could help to address this problem. “You might think: ‘Streets on the moon, who needs that?’” said Professor Jens Günster, a co-author of the report. “But [...] it’s very loose material, there’s no atmosphere, gravity is weak, so the dust gets everywhere. It contaminates not only your equipment but other nations’. No one would be happy to be covered in dust from another rocket.” For this reason, scientists have created a proof of concept demonstrating how lunar dust could be melted using a giant lens to create solid roads and landing areas.  The Aalen University…

  • Households face higher bills due to relaxation of climate targets, experts say

    Last month, Sunak reduced ambitions on a raft of green policies, including pushing back the ban on the sales of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030 to 2035; phasing out 80 per cent of new gas boilers, rather than all of them, by 2035; delaying the ban on off-grid oil boilers to 2035; pledging to not introduce new home energy efficiency regulations for landlords or homeowners; and ruling out taxes to discourage flying. The CCC said that electric vehicles (EVs) will be “significantly” cheaper than petrol and diesel vehicles to own and operate over their lifetimes, so the undermining of their roll-out will ultimately increase costs for consumers. However, it did find that the decision would only have a small direct impact on future emissions, due to a new mandate ensuring that 80 per cent…

  • UK regulators finally clear Microsoft’s $69bn takeover of Activision

    The UK watchdog initially blocked the acquisition over worries it would “alter the future of the fast-growing cloud gaming market”, leading to reduced innovation and fewer choices for UK gamers. In response, the company reworked the agreement, offering to sell Activision’s non-European streaming rights to Ubisoft Entertainment as a way to assuage the regulator’s concerns. Microsoft said its new proposal was a “substantially different transaction” to the one proposed in 2022. As a result of this concession, the CMA agreed to look afresh at the deal and launched a new investigation in August, which has now been concluded. It said the agreement will also help to ensure that cloud gaming providers will be able to use non-Windows operating systems for Activision content. “The CMA is resolute…

  • Britons throw away nearly half a billion ‘fast tech’ items annually, research shows

    According to Material Focus, around 471 million ‘fast tech’ items were binned in the past year, with an average cost of around £4 per item. But while many of the items are perceived to be disposable, even low-cost electricals contain precious materials such as gold, aluminium and lithium, which should be recycled instead of sent to landfill, the campaign group said. Annual spend on fast tech reportedly passed the £2.8bn mark for the first time in 2023 and there are over 100,000 tonnes of waste electricals thrown away yearly.  Material Focus said the study has been released in a bid to raise awareness of the issue and encourage people to donate or recycle anything with a plug, battery or cable.  The research also shows that the UK’s consumption of fast tech is expected to outstrip fast…

  • Gadgets review: Acer’s e-assist bike, EZVIZ PS300 Portable Power Station and more

    Haloo Revolve Image credit: Haloo £549.99 This gas-fired garden pizza oven heats up the pizza stone to 500°C and, unusually, the 13in stone slowly revolves for more even cooking. The design is simple and innovative, with a detachable, battery-powered motor. https://haloobrands.com/pages/revolve-pizza-oven Acer ebii Image credit: Acer Around €2,499 Acer’s first-ever e-assist bike uses artificial intelligence to adapt to riding conditions, pedalling power, route and rider preferences. Maintenance is minimalised, thanks to the no-rust carbon belt drive and airless tyres that can’t puncture. It also alerts you to potential collisions...

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    E+T Magazine

  • BT launches first drone SIM in the UK

    BT Group has unveiled the UK’s first Drone SIM, with the goal of tapping into the true potential of beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drone operations. The SIM has been designed to function at high altitudes and under difficult weather conditions, as it is expected to be used in emergency situations such as search and rescue. Other uses include delivery of medical supplies and infrastructure inspection.  The SIM will use the EE network and offer unlimited data plans and continuous connectivity in the sky. The product represents a “dramatic shift” from using local Wi-Fi or radio transmissions, enabling drones to travel significant distances while staying connected, according to BT.  It will also enable “high priority and ultra-responsive connectivity” and improved video-streaming quality…

  • Project watch: a look at Sizewell C and the Thames Tideway Tunnel

    Sizewell C The UK government has pledged a further £170m to speed up construction of the upcoming Sizewell C nuclear power plant. With the UK’s ageing fleet of eight nuclear power stations needing replacement, and only EDF’s Hinkley Point C undergoing construction, Sizewell C will play an important role in backing up renewable energy in the switch away from fossil fuels. It is anticipated it will provide 7 per cent of the UK’s electricity needs. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said the funding for Sizewell C would be used to prepare the site for future construction, procure key components from the project’s supply chain and expand its workforce. The funding announcement came as Great British Nuclear was launched, a public body established to help deliver the UK’s nuclear…

  • World’s first hydrogen-powered gas turbine run by European consortium

    The Hyflexpower consortium has successfully adapted a combustion system of a Siemens Energy SGT-400 gas turbine for hydrogen.  The consortium was formed by Britain’s Centrax, French energy company Engie, the German Aerospace Center, Siemens Energy and European universities, with financial support from the EU. The test was carried out at a Smurfit Kappa paper packaging factory near the French city of Limoges.  The process was compared to replacing the carburettor of an internal combustion car engine by Engie vice president Frank Lacroix. “We’ve just achieved a world first, which involves injecting 100 per cent hydrogen into a gas turbine to produce electricity,” he told reporters. Green h ydrogen is a versatile, storable, potentially zero-carbon fuel source that has been hailed as a…

  • Cutting methane emissions ‘essential’ to achieve climate targets, IEA says

    The agency has highlighted the importance of reducing methane emissions – something now possible due to new a nd affordable technologies.  The organisation has published a report named The imperative of cutting methane from fossil fuels. The document shows that, while a drop in fossil fuel demand would cut methane emissions, these reductions by themselves would not occur fast enough to meet the world’s climate goals.  For this reason, its authors called for additional targeted actions to tackle methane emissions from fossil fuel production and use to be implemented. These could include eliminating routine venting and flaring and repairing leaks. Methane is far less abundant in the atmosphere than CO 2  but is responsible for around 30 per cent of the global rise in temperatures to date…

  • UK installs 50,000th electric vehicle charger

    The country’s 50,000th charging device to be installed is an ultra-rapid device at a service station in Weston-super-Mare. The 40,000th EV charger was installed in February 2023, meaning the speed at which the UK is now deploying EV charging infrastructure has significantly increased. In contrast, a full year passed for the previous 10,000 chargers to be installed (February 2022 to February 2023). The news has been celebrated as a huge milestone in the country’s target of installing 300,000 chargepoints by 2030.  “Hitting 50,000 public charging devices is a really important milestone for the country and illustrates the sea change behind the increased rate of chargepoint installations,” said Melanie Shufflebotham, chief operating officer at Zapmap. “Having passed 40,000 chargepoints in…

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