• AI to be deployed more widely across the NHS

    The UK government has announced a £21m funding pot that NHS trusts can apply for to implement AI tools for the likes of medical imaging and decision support. This includes tools that analyse chest X-rays in suspected cases of lung cancer. AI technology that can diagnose strokes will also be available to all stroke networks by the end of 2023 – up from 86 per cent – and could help patients get treated faster and lead to better health outcomes. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said the technology could help cut NHS waiting lists ahead of winter. Bids are being welcomed for any AI diagnostic tool, although the DHSC said they “will have to represent value for money for the funding to be approved”. The government has invested £123m in 86 AI technologies to date. Professor…

  • European airlines face legal action over greenwashing accusations

    The complaint filed with the European Comission was made by 23 consumer groups from 19 countries, who claimed the airlines have made  misleading climate-related claims that breached EU commercial rules, the European Consumer Organization (BEUC) has said.  The airlines involved in the suit are Air Baltic, Air Dolomiti, Air France, Austrian, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings, Finnair, KLM, Lufthansa, Norwegian, Ryanair, SAS, SWISS, TAP, Volotea, Vueling, Wizz Air. Aviation, which accounts for approximately 3 per cent of total CO2 emissions worldwide, is considered   a hard-to-abate sector   due to a lack of technologically mature alternatives to traditional jet-fuelled engines. Currently, decarbonisation efforts are focused on lowering the carbon emissions of jet fuel by mixing conventional fuel…

  • Hands-on review: Boulies Effectual Series office chair

    If a job involves a great deal of sitting down – which is practically every office-based job – top of the list of priorities for any employee should be a good chair. What constitutes a good chair in 2023? An ergonomic, body-friendly design is crucial. Breathable materials, so you don't get sweaty in summer. Adjustable neck and lumbar support. Fully customisable height and seat. Padded armrests. Plus, ideally, it also needs to look good, suitable for office and home use. It's 2023: there's no reason for functional furniture to look offensively pedestrian. The new 'Effectual Series' office chairs from Essex-based Boulies ticks all these must-have boxes. We've been testing one for the last couple of months, using it all day, every day, and it's been a revelation. It's front-of-desk predecessor…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • View from India: Digital lending models unlock value for borrowers

    Digital transactions have given rise to some unlikely yet niche collaborations, including the case of Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS), an electronic platform for MSMEs or Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. The platform facilitates the financing or discounting of trade receivables of MSMEs through multiple financiers. These receivables can be due from corporates and other buyers, including government departments and Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs). “TReDS aims to bring transparency into the operations. Quite appropriate as MSMEs contribute to 30 per cent of the GDP. Still, they tend to encounter difficulties in procuring loans,” said Kailashkumar Varodia, chief financial officer, Receivables Exchange of India Limited, at Resurgent India’s recent virtual session, Unlocking New…

  • New Oyster card released to mark 20th anniversary

    Transport for London (TfL) said the limited edition cards - which display the message, “20 years shaping life in London” – are available from all Tube stations in Zone 1, as well as visitor centres and selected Oyster ticket stops. The launch of the Oyster card on 30 June 2003 revolutionised the way passengers paid for London Underground and bus journeys in the capital. They allowed passengers to add money to a smartcard for pay-as-you-go travel in London for the first time, avoiding the need to queue to buy paper tickets or hand over cash to bus drivers. Oyster cards led to the introduction of payments by contactless cards and devices in London, as well as pay-as-you-go technology in many cities around the world. Nearly 17 million Oyster cards were used in the past 12 months. …

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Less than a fifth of Leave voters believe Brexit has ‘gone well’

    The findings – based on an online survey of 4,005 UK adults from 26 May to 2 June and carried out by Public First on behalf of UK in a Changing Europe – show that only 18 per cent of Leave voters believe Brexit has gone “well” or “very well”. Thirty per cent believe it has “neither turned out well or badly”, while 29 per cent of original Leave supporters think Brexit has subsequently had a negative economic impact on the UK. According to the polling, 72 per cent of Leave voters now want to stop talking about Brexit. Of Leave supporters currently unhappy with how Brexit has turned out, 70 per cent believe it could have gone well, while 18 per cent feel the decision to leave the EU could only have turned out badly. Nearly half of that group believe Brexit could have been made to work…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Campaigners lose High Court challenge against Sizewell C nuclear plant approval

    Protest group Together Against Sizewell C launched a bid to challenge development consent granted for the multi-billion-pound project in Suffolk by then business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng in July 2022. At a hearing in March this year, lawyers for the group of local residents argued the government failed to assess possible environmental impacts, including that of providing an “essential” water supply to the project. They also said the government did not consider “alternative solutions” to meeting its energy and climate change objectives. The government, ostensibly supporting the project with a £700m stake, argued it made “legitimate planning judgments” and that the campaigners’ bid was “unarguable”. In a 47-page ruling on Thursday (22 June), Mr Justice Holgate dismissed the opposition…

  • US sues Amazon for tricking customers into renewing Prime subscriptions

    In a lawsuit filed this week, the FTC said Amazon had used "manipulative, coercive or deceptive user-interface designs" to trick consumers into enrolling in automatically renewing Prime subscriptions. Amazon denied the accusation, stating the charges are "false on the facts and the law". The company's Prime service – which offers access to shipping discounts and streaming services – currently has over 200 million subscribers, who pay $139 a year in the US and £95 per year in the UK. The watchdog said Amazon "knowingly duped millions of consumers" into enrolling in the service by using website designs that promised discount offers for those who subscribe to the programme, without making the price clear, nor informing users that the programme would renew automatically every month. Amazon…

  • EU carbon costs could ‘crush’ the UK steel market, trade body warns

    The British trade association has called for the UK to introduce a carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) that would come into effect at the same time as the European Union ’s, in 2026. The EU views CBAM as a way to create a market for low-emission steel and help the industry decarbonise. The mechanism will begin its transitional phase in October, initially applying to imports of certain goods and selected precursors whose production is carbon-intensive and at most significant risk of carbon leakage: cement, iron and steel, aluminium, fertilisers, electricity and hydrogen. Eventually, CBAM could capture more than 50 per cent of the emissions of covered sectors, the EU said. Due to these carbon costs, UK Steel’s new statistics predicts that 23 million tonnes of steel currently imported…

  • UK’s National Semiconductor Strategy - a plan begins to form

    When the company was trying to fight off a hostile acquisition by a temporary alliance of GEC and Siemens in the late 1980s, Plessey used its newly built semiconductor fab near Plymouth as one of the arguments to press politicians as to why it was important for the company to stay in one piece. Managers at the site pointed out the advanced features, for the time, that the fab employed and the care that went into its design. Even the site was carefully chosen for its geological properties: stable rock formations in a country not known for earthquakes, unlike the other epicentres of chipmaking at the time on the US west coast and in Japan. The acquisition went through anyway and the Roborough fab did not remain under GEC management for very long. However, it is still running. After passing…

  • View from India: Upcoming job openings, new silver lining for economy

    The third quarter of 2023 carries hints of positive sentiments as far as the job market goes. And this is despite news of layoffs and anticipated global economic slowdown, as the ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey reveals. Nearly half the employers surveyed expect to increase their staffing levels. However, 13 per cent anticipate a decrease in hiring intent and 34 per cent do not anticipate any change, resulting in a seasonally adjusted Net Employment Outlook of +36 per cent. When compared to the same period last year, the hiring sentiments have declined by 15 per cent. Still, there is a growth of 6 percentage-points when compared to the last quarter. Hiring markets in India rank second after Australia in the APAC (Asia-Pacific) region, and fifth globally. The ManpowerGroup surveyed…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Pangolin-inspired robots could assist with medical procedures

    The pangolin's ability to curl up their scale-covered bodies in a flash was the inspiration behind the robots, designed by the Physical Intelligence Department at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart. Pangolins are the only species of mammal completely covered with hard scales made of keratin. The scales overlap and are directly connected to the underlying soft skin layer, allowing the animals to curl up into a ball in case of danger. Inspired by this skill, the researchers developed a flexible robot made of soft and hard components that can become a sphere in the blink of an eye, with the additional feature that the robot can emit heat when needed, for use in future medical procedures. Pangolin-inspired robots / Max Planck Institute for Intelligent…

  • Nasa selects five experiments for 2024 total solar eclipse

    A total solar eclipse will darken a swath of North America as the Moon blocks the light of the Sun for a few minutes on 8 April 2024. In addition to casting a breathtaking, passing shadow over the heads of millions of people, this total solar eclipse gives scientists a unique opportunity to study the Sun, the Earth and their joint interactions. Nasa will fund five interdisciplinary science projects to make the most of this opportunity. The projects, which are led by researchers at different academic institutions, will study the Sun and its influence on Earth with a variety of instruments, including cameras aboard high-altitude research planes, ham radios and more. Two of the projects also encourage participation from citizen scientists. “Seven years after the last American total solar eclipse…

  • US missile system passes South Korea environmental review

    The findings of the assessment have cleared the way for the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in South Korea. THAAD is a defence system defence against short, medium and intermediate-range ballistic missile threats. It is also the only US system designed to intercept targets outside and inside the atmosphere. South Korea first deployed THAAD in 2017. Its location in the south-eastern air base of Seongju, 214 kilometres southeast of Seoul, provoked complaints from China and local residents. Moreover, it also led to concerns  that the missile system would emit radiation above safety standards. The Yoon Suk Yeol administration has been pushing for the "normalisation" of the system for six years, but p ublic protests regarding the system's impact on residents…

  • Bizarre Tech: Debugger AI drone, Oenklen Ozone mouthwash and Nagualep Kitchen Composter

    Debugger Exterminate! Exterminate! Oh. You don’t kill the bugs with this? That’s nice. I imagined it being like a UAV (uncrewed aerial vehicle) in the military, pew pewing little insects in its path, destroying any invertebrates in its way. However, this is not that. To be honest, if people had access to assassination drones, there would be a lot more falling from the sky. So, the Debugger is a home drone the size of your smartphone, which allegedly can autonomously catch mosquitoes, bugs and other insects. The AI-powered drone is “eco-friendly and innovative”, and is designed to hunt for the insect, catch it, and move it elsewhere, far away from your person. It is then released to harass others and leave you to be bugless another day. Or you can guide the drone into your mortal…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • 3D-printed rocket engines tested in the UK

    Skyrora has begun a series of full-duration tests of its engines, as it awaits the Civil Aviation Authority's licence to carry out orbital launches from SaxaVord Spaceport in the Shetland Isles. The engines have been 3D-printed by using Skyrora’s Skyprint 2 machine for the first time, a process the company claims is 66 per cent faster and 20 per cent cheaper than current manufacturing processes.   The new engine design features an improved engine cooling chamber to increase the efficiency of the cooling process and, in turn, extend the engine’s life cycle. Skyrora's engine test site in Midlothian, Scotland / Skyrora Image credit: Skyrora If approved, the updated 70kN engine will become the first ever commercial engine to use a closed-cycle staged combustion

  • Mastercard launches global plan to recycle credit cards

    Initially partnering with British lender HSBC in eight branches in Britain, Mastercard said banks across the world, some of which have launched local initiatives, would be able to join the programme and help build economies of scale. "We are inviting all card issuers around the world to partner with us, no matter what region they are in, and offer card recycling to their customers," said Ajay Bhalla, president of cyber and intelligence at Mastercard Inc. Under the plan, Mastercard will provide shredding machines to HSBC, each of which is capable of holding 10,000 cards, equivalent to 50kg (110lb) of plastic. Once full, the shredded material will be transferred to a plastic recycling facility. Financial details about the plan were not disclosed. The pilot project, which will run for an…

  • Covid-19 patients with high air pollution exposure spent longer in hospital

    According to researchers from Hasselt University in Belgium, the effect of pollution on patients’ time in hospital was equivalent to being a decade older. Conversely, the effect of reducing exposure to pollution was 40 to 80 per cent as effective in reducing patients’ time in hospital as some of the best available treatments. In a second study, the researchers used data on all 3.7 million Danish people aged 30 or older to establish the impact of air pollution on Covid-19. They found that long-term exposure to pollution at levels well below current EU limits increased the risk of contracting Covid-19, being hospitalised and dying of the disease. The research team used data on levels of three pollutants – nitrogen dioxide, soot and fine particles (PM2.5) – at the patients’ home addresses…

  • Quarter of UK workforce expected to quit jobs in the next 12 months, research says

    Nearly one in four UK workers (23 per cent) expect to change jobs within the next twelve months - up from 18 per cent in 2022 - according to PwC's 'Workforce Hopes and Fears' survey, indicating that the post-pandemic 'Great Resignation' wave is far from over. The survey of over 53,000 workers across 46 countries, including over 2,000 respondents in the UK, also finds that as economic conditions remain challenging, UK employees are increasingly struggling with the cost of living crisis.   Almost half (47 per cent) of the UK workforce have little to no money left over at the end of the month after expenses, and a further 15 per cent said their household struggles to pay all or some of the bills every month. In comparison, the average of the global workforce who have little to no money left…

  • Insulating British homes would deliver £39bn boost by 2030

    The large-scale drive would also save the NHS £2bn and cut new cases of childhood asthma by 650,000, whilst also creating an economic and social boost for regions with the most inefficient housing, the charity said. It said public and private investment in an “urgent” programme of retrofitting would tackle health inequalities, reduce household energy bills and help the UK reach its net-zero targets. A study by the advisory service found that more than 15 million homes across Great Britain are energy-inefficient. It said 13 million of these could be upgraded to achieve a 'C' Energy Performance Certificate. Its research also suggests that upgrading homes to EPC C level would prevent 570,000 children and adults developing mental health conditions associated with cold homes. This would…

  • Review of ethical culture and practices in UK engineering launched

    The audit was one of the actions proposed in the 2022 report ‘Engineering Ethics: maintaining society’s trust in the engineering profession’, which the Engineering Council and RAEng agreed to take forward with the support of the professional engineering institutions. The independent findings in the ‘Ethics in the Engineering Profession’ audit found that the UK engineering profession has a good foundation of ethical practice, that ethical behaviour compares favourably with the wider workforce, and that engineers and technicians take ethics very seriously. However, there is also variation in the support for ethical practice across the industry that must be addressed in a coordinated fashion. The audit was carried out by GoodCorporation and involved asking more than 2,000 individuals, companies…

  • Hands-on review: Tozo Golden X1 true wireless ‘Hi-Res Audio’ earbuds

    As Tozo Acoustic Lab's first 'high-end' offering, the Golden X1 true wireless earbuds represent an excellent inaugural step down the premium path. Shooting for the 'Wireless Hi-Res Audio' market, Tozo has positioned the Golden X1s as a high-end mobile listening experience. HD audio is a growth area for headphone manufacturers, as consumers demand better-quality sonics for everything from music to film and TV streaming and gaming, be that from in-ear offerings or over-the-ear Hi-Res headphones, such as 1More's Sonoflow . For the Golden X1s, Tozo has taken a hybrid design approach to sound reproduction, featuring its own-design polymer composite 12mm dynamic bass/midrange driver paired with a customised Knowles Electronics-designed balanced armature driver for the high end. This 'dual-speaker…

  • Plastic waste and excess CO2 converted into sustainable fuel

    The researchers have developed a solar-powered reactor that converts captured CO2 and plastic waste into sustainable fuels and other valuable chemical products. In tests, CO2 was converted into syngas, a key building block for sustainable liquid fuels, while plastic bottles were converted into glycolic acid, which is widely used in the cosmetics industry. The team took CO2 from real-world sources – such as industrial exhausts or carbon captured from the air itself – and concentrated it to transform it into sustainable fuel. Although improvements are needed before the technology can be used at an industrial scale, the researchers said the project demonstrates the possibility of producing clean fuels without the need for environmentally destructive oil and gas extraction. “We’re not just…

  • Labour Party pledges to turn UK into a clean energy superpower by 2030

    In a speech given in Scotland today (Monday), the Labour leader set out new targets to reduce the time taken to complete clean power projects from “years to months”, as one aspect of the party's 'Green Prosperity Plan'. The party has also committed to a local power plan which it says will allow households across the UK to receive discounts on their bills if their area signs up to new green initiatives. Sir Keir will set out how a new public body, called Great British Energy (aka GB Energy, an idea previously announced in September 2022), will collaborate with councils, communities and the private sector to bring down energy costs. The power plan would be directly owned by local people, with profits from the energy sold to the grid from local renewable energy schemes being returned to…

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