• More 5- to 7-year-olds are online than ever before, with many unsupervised – Ofcom

    More 5- to 7-year-olds are online than ever before, with many unsupervised – Ofcom

    Communications regulator Ofcom is preparing to consult on a set of proposals to ensure children are better protected online. This follows results from its annual study, which reveals young children are increasingly online and given more digital independence by parents. Many adults will readily admit that they spend more time on their smartphones than they should. Time seeps away as we scroll through various apps. Go anywhere these days – on a train, waiting in a queue or eating lunch in a cafe – and you’ll find people heads down and eyes on their phone. But what about our children? They are growing up with technology, but are we giving them access to technology too early and unsupervised at that? Ofcom has released some startling statistics from its annual study of children’s relationship…

  • Octopus suckers inspire robotic mechanism with potential for industrial applications

    Octopus suckers inspire robotic mechanism with potential for industrial applications

    Scientists at the University of Bristol are developing a new robotic suction cup inspired by octopus suckers that can grasp rough, curved and heavy stone. The average octopus has eight arms and 240 suckers per arm. These suckers offer the creatures superb adaptive suction abilities, enabling them to grasp onto various objects – including attaching to dry, complex surfaces such as rocks and shells. A research team based at the university’s Bristol Robotics Laboratory has been looking into just how these biological suckers work, with the aim of creating artificial suction cups that can be used in industrial environments. Currently, industrial solutions use air pumps to generate suction. However, many natural organisms with suckers, including octopuses, suckerfish and leeches, are able to…

  • Climate change will cost the world $38tn a year by 2050, study finds

    Climate change will cost the world $38tn a year by 2050, study finds

    The negative impact of climate change on agricultural yields, labour productivity and infrastructure will cost the world an estimated $38tn annually by 2050, scientists at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) have said. In a study, they found the world is “already committed” to an income reduction of 19% until 2050 due to the impact of past emissions, even if CO2 emissions were to be drastically cut down from today. The damages incurred are an estimated six times larger than the mitigation costs needed to limit global warming to 2°C. “Strong income reductions are projected for the majority of regions, including North America and Europe, with South Asia and Africa being most strongly affected. These are caused by the impact of climate change on various aspects that are…

  • Offshore wind industry unveils plan to triple manufacturing over the next decade

    Offshore wind industry unveils plan to triple manufacturing over the next decade

    A coalition of industry bodies has unveiled a plan to triple the ability to manufacture offshore wind turbines in the UK in a bid to meet the government’s rapidly approaching energy decarbonisation deadline. RenewableUK, the Offshore Wind Industry Council, the Crown Estate and Crown Estate Scotland have all signed up to the Industrial Growth Plan, which will supposedly support an additional 10,000 jobs a year and boost the UK’s economy by £25bn between now and 2035. According to the plan, the UK needs around 300 giant turbine towers to be built every year between now and 2030 to deliver meet the targets. But the analysis also finds that supply chain constraints in many of the key components needed in offshore wind farms are already starting to be felt in the global market, and that the…

  • Boston Dynamics’ humanoid robot Atlas enters a new electric era

    Boston Dynamics’ humanoid robot Atlas enters a new electric era

    Following the recent ‘retirement’ of the hydraulic-powered Atlas, Boston Dynamics has unveiled an all-new electric version of its humanoid robot that is destined for use in real-world applications. In 2013, Boston Dynamics, an engineering and robotics design company based in Boston, US, released its 6.2ft humanoid robot Atlas. Over the ensuing years we’ve seen many videos of the hydraulic-powered Atlas hopping, jumping, dancing and even tossing tool bags around a (fake) construction site. Eleven years later, Boston Dynamics has announced it’s time for Atlas to “kick back and relax” in retirement. In its stead, the robotics company has unveiled an all-new electric version of Atlas. Unlike its predecessor, this new electric Atlas, which features a ring light on its rounded head, along with…

  • Climate change means we adapt or die

    Climate change means we adapt or die

    As the climate changes, society will have to keep up. What adaptations will we need to make, and what progress has been made already? How do we bounce forward, rather than just bouncing back? How do we use this pressure to go even better?” asks Dr Juan Pablo Orjuela, a transport researcher at the University of Oxford. The effects of climate change are well and truly here. Last year we saw global temperature records tumble, wildfires rage, and torrential storms batter nations. Addressing the root causes of climate change is, of course, essential to guarantee a liveable future for the planet. But even in the best-case scenario, where we keep temperatures at no more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, a certain amount of climate change is now baked in because of the emissions already released…

  • Framatome selected to replicate Hinkley Point C’s reactor technology for Sizewell C

    Framatome selected to replicate Hinkley Point C’s reactor technology for Sizewell C

    Sizewell C Ltd has signed a multi-billion-euro contract with French firm Framatome to provide a replica of the technology that will be used in the Hinkley Point C nuclear plant. While construction works on Sizewell C are still not expected to take place until later this year, Framatome will ultimately be tasked with delivering the two nuclear heat production systems, the plant’s safety instrumentation and a long-term fuel supply agreement under which it will fabricate the fuel needed to power the two reactors. The firm has said it will try to replicate as close as possible the technology it has already developed for Hinkley Point C – the UK’s first nuclear power plant in a generation that could start generating as soon as 2029. “Framatome is proud to continue supporting the UK’s net zero…

  • UK’s four largest robots heading to new aerospace innovation facility in Sheffield

    UK’s four largest robots heading to new aerospace innovation facility in Sheffield

    Aerospace automation specialist Loop Technology will soon take delivery of seven FANUC industrial robots, including four of the largest ever ordered in the UK, as part of a new aerospace project looking to solve composite manufacturing challenges. In July 2023, the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) announced that government investment of £50m had been secured to establish the COMPASS (Composites at Speed and Scale) facility. This new innovation facility in Sheffield will see a a consortium of partners, including Boeing, Spirit AeroSystems, Loop Technology and the AMRC, attempt to help solve composite manufacturing challenges in order to meet future demand for lighter commercial aircraft and help the aviation industry reach net zero. According to the…

  • Japanese tech giants reveal results from real-world 6G speed tests

    Japanese tech giants reveal results from real-world 6G speed tests

    Four Japanese tech giants, including NTT DOCOMO, NTT, NEC and Fujitsu, have revealed the development of a 6G wireless device capable of ultra-high-speed 100Gbps transmissions in the 100GHz and 300GHz sub-terahertz bands over distances of up to 100 metres. As a comparison, 100Gbps is approximately 20 times faster than the maximum 4.9Gbps data rate of current 5G networks. Since 2021, these four tech firms have been working together to conduct R&D on sub-terahertz devices in anticipation of the coming 6G era. When this era does arrive, wireless networks will need to be able to support diverse applications, from ultra-HD video streaming to real-time control in autonomous vehicles. To achieve this high-capacity wireless communication, the abundant bandwidth available in the sub-terahertz band…

  • One of Europe’s largest data centres could be built on Britishvolt’s former gigafactory site

    One of Europe’s largest data centres could be built on Britishvolt’s former gigafactory site

    The north England site that was going to house a gigafactory from start-up Britishvolt has been purchased by a US private equity firm, which plans to build one of the largest data centres in Europe. The 95-hectare site in Blyth has been bought by Blackstone Group for an estimated £110m, according to documents from Northumberland County Council. Council leader Glen Sanderson said: “Driving growth and jobs is a key priority for this council. Next week, cabinet will consider this really unique opportunity for Northumberland, which offers a huge boost to the regeneration and renaissance of the local area. “The project would represent a significant inward investment of up to £10bn, putting our county at the forefront of developments in the digital economy and delivering over 1,600 direct jobs…

  • Nissan makes progress on the construction of its all-solid-state battery production plant in Japan

    Nissan makes progress on the construction of its all-solid-state battery production plant in Japan

    Nissan has revealed its battery pilot line at its Yokohama Plant in Japan is on track to produce all-solid-state batteries that will be a “game-changer” for the electric vehicle (EV) market. Nissan has announced it aims to launch EVs powered by its own all-solid-state batteries by early 2029. In a bid to play catch-up with rivals Volkswagen and Toyota, which have already announced their plans to produce solid-state EVs, the Japanese manufacturer promises its batteries will be more powerful, cheaper, safer and faster to charge than the lithium-ion batteries in use in today’s EVs. Nissan says it is conducting wide-ranging research and development, from molecular level battery material research to EV development, and even city development using EVs as storage batteries. The reason why…

  • Nasa deems its Mars Sample Return programme ‘too expensive’ and seeks alternatives

    Nasa deems its Mars Sample Return programme ‘too expensive’ and seeks alternatives

    Nasa has put its efforts to return samples of Martian soil back to Earth on hold until it can find a cheaper way to do it. In recent years the agency has been focused on trying to determine the early history of Mars and how it can help us understand the formation and evolution of habitable worlds, including Earth. As part of that effort, the Mars Sample Return (MSR) programme has been a long-term goal for the past two decades. Nasa’s Perseverance rover has been collecting samples for collection and return to Earth since it landed on Mars in 2021. Nasa had planned to launch its Sample Retrieval Lander in 2028 to return the samples to Earth. The lander would be the first to bring along a rocket and two helicopters designed to send the samples into Mars’ orbit to meet the earth return orbiter…

  • Tesla halves the cost of its autonomous driving tech in a bid to boost uptake

    Tesla halves the cost of its autonomous driving tech in a bid to boost uptake

    Tesla has slashed the price of its self-driving technology to just $99 per month, down from $199, but the tech still requires a fully attentive driver behind the wheel. Tesla’s autopilot and full self-driving (FSD) capability features come standard on every new Tesla. For those purchased before 2019, these features can be retrofitted. While Tesla claims these features are designed to become more capable over time, they currently do not make the vehicle autonomous. FSD technology allows drivers to benefit from more active guidance and assisted driving, but there has to be an attentive driver who has both hands on the wheel and is prepared to take over at any moment. While these features come as standard, they are not free. The electric vehicle giant has announced that the cost of its full…

  • Evil Engineer - Can I steal a river?

    Evil Engineer - Can I steal a river?

    The Evil Engineer advises a dictator on how to get one over a rival by rerouting a river away from his borders. Dear Evil Engineer, I am the dictator of a small landlocked state. I have a long-running feud with the dictator of a neighbouring small landlocked state, which began the day he gave me a swirlie when we were at public school together. Last year, he spread misinformation claiming that my country smells of Stilton. I responded by flying drones over the border blasting a Kidz Bop cover of his country’s national anthem at 165dB. After some weeks of cowed silence, I assumed that was the end of it, but then I discovered he had released feral hogs on my side of the border; already they are multiplying and causing chaos for my farmers. I’ve decided that, in retaliation, I’d like to…

  • Smart motorways need hard shoulders to make them safer, RAC says

    Smart motorways need hard shoulders to make them safer, RAC says

    The government has been urged to reintroduce hard shoulders on the UK’s smart motorways to reduce the danger to motorists. The RAC’s head of policy, Simon Williams, said that either smart motorways should be converted to ‘dynamic’ ones, where the hard shoulder is only opened to traffic during busy periods, or a permanent hard shoulder on those roads should be installed. “In either case, queue-busting technology, such as variable speed limits, could remain to help ensure traffic flows as smoothly as possible,” he added. Last year, 14 planned smart motorways were removed from the government’s road-building plans in England due to concerns over safety and costs. Currently, there are 375 miles of smart motorway, making up 10% of England’s motorway network. But as well as scrapping a planned…

  • Wiring finishes on 57km of T-pylons to connect Hinkley Point C to the grid

    Wiring finishes on 57km of T-pylons to connect Hinkley Point C to the grid

    National Grid has completed the installation of 116 T-pylons in Somerset as it builds out the infrastructure needed to connect Hinkley Point C to the grid. The project spans about 57km in total between a new substation in Shurton on the Hinkley Point C site and the existing Seabank substation in Avonmouth. The majority is made up of 48.5km of overhead lines, while an 8.5km stretch runs underground through the Mendip Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Once complete, Hinkley Point C will be the UK’s first new nuclear plant in a generation. Its two nuclear reactors are expected to be able to generate enough low-carbon electricity to power around six million UK homes. The project has faced repeated delays, with EDF admitting in January that the first reactor would not be ready to generate…

  • Switching from grey to green wastewater infrastructure reduces emissions, study finds

    Switching from grey to green wastewater infrastructure reduces emissions, study finds

    Researchers at Colorado State University (CSU) have found that switching from waste greywater treatment facilities to green solutions, such as wetlands, could save $15.6bn and 29.8 million tonnes of CO2-equivalent emissions per year. A grey infrastructure system includes water treatment facilities such as sewage plants, which remove problem nutrients before releasing water back into circulation. These facilities require substantial power to run and, as such, release emissions into the atmosphere. According to researchers at CSU, existing facilities already account for 2% of all energy use in the US and 45 million tonnes of CO2 emissions. Grey infrastructure treatment facilities also address other forms of freshwater contamination, such as fertiliser run-off from agriculture entering rivers…

  • Fatigue-monitoring tech project aims to alert drivers and cut road accidents

    Fatigue-monitoring tech project aims to alert drivers and cut road accidents

    The FitDrive project is using advanced monitoring technologies to spot early signs of driver fatigue to improve road safety and prevent accidents. According to road safety charity Brake, it is estimated that between 10% and 20% of all road crashes worldwide are fatigue-related. Tired drivers have slower reaction times and are less able to control their vehicles. For this reason, Brake claims that driving tired can be as dangerous as drink-driving. If a driver starts feeling tired behind the wheel they may rub the back of their neck, yawn, stretch their shoulders or rub their eyes. They may not even be aware they are showing these indicators of the onset of mental and physical fatigue. However, a new tool in development by a team of EU researchers is able to detect these signs and alert…

  • Cloud ‘engineering’ proves effective at combating global warming, study finds

    Cloud ‘engineering’ proves effective at combating global warming, study finds

    A recent study has uncovered exactly how the method of cloud ‘engineering’ works and its effectiveness as a potential tool for climate cooling. 2023 was the hottest year ever recorded, and while countries find ways to ramp up decarbonisation initiatives, one method of offsetting global warming effects in the meantime could be through marine cloud brightening (MCB), otherwise known as marine cloud engineering. In MCB tiny particles or aerosols are injected into marine clouds to make them even brighter and more reflective. Seeding these clouds with aerosols increases the amount of sunlight they reflect, thus redirecting incoming solar radiation back into space. It is thought that this ‘cooling’ method could contribute towards offsetting global warning. MCB is already in use. For example…

  • Japan signs Nasa deal to design lunar rover and land astronaut on the Moon

    Japan signs Nasa deal to design lunar rover and land astronaut on the Moon

    Nasa has asked Japan to design a pressurised rover for crewed and uncrewed exploration on the Moon, with a Japanese astronaut to become the first non-American to land on the lunar surface. The rover is intended to enable astronauts to travel farther and work for longer periods while exploring the Moon. It will also function as a mobile habitat and laboratory for the astronauts to live and work in for extended periods of time. It will be able to accommodate two astronauts for up to 30 days as they traverse the area near the lunar South Pole. Nasa currently plans to use the pressurised rover on Artemis VII and subsequent missions over an approximate 10-year lifespan. The project is part of Nasa’s Artemis programme, which was formally established in 2017 during the Trump administration.…

  • £200m carbon capture project in North Wales could remove 235,000 tonnes of CO2 annually

    £200m carbon capture project in North Wales could remove 235,000 tonnes of CO2 annually

    ‘Energy from waste’ operator Enfinium is bidding for a UK government grant to create a new carbon capture and storage plant at its Parc Adfer facility in Wales, with the aim of accelerating efforts towards net zero. The operator has announced a £200m investment in carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology at its facility in Deeside, North Wales. The project has the potential to capture up to 235,000 tonnes of CO2 every year. Currently the plant diverts up to 232,000 tonnes of unrecyclable waste from landfill. With CCS installed, the plant will contribute towards decarbonising the waste sector in the region, in line with the Welsh government’s ambition of reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2035. According to Enfinium, as over half of the waste processed at the facility is organic…

  • 5G deployment in the UK at risk from ‘investment gap’, industry warns

    5G deployment in the UK at risk from ‘investment gap’, industry warns

    Mobile network operators have said a £25bn “investment gap” is putting the government’s 5G plans at risk. Mobile UK, which represents all the major operators – O2, Three, EE and Vodafone – said that while the industry invests around £2bn a year on infrastructure, urgent change in the “investment environment” is required to meet targets. In a report, the body said the £25bn gap is particularly integral to the roll-out of advanced 5G Standalone networks, which are able to support a higher density of devices, as well as ultra-low-latency use cases. Currently, much of the 5G network relies on modifications to pre-existing 4G towers. The findings suggest that crucial infrastructure upgrades are too reliant on an under-resourced planning system. There is also “a growing social demand” on the…

  • China accounted for two-thirds of coal-burning power capacity in 2023, new report finds

    China accounted for two-thirds of coal-burning power capacity in 2023, new report finds

    With China’s surge in coal power development and low retirement rates in the rest of the world, global operating coal capacity grew in 2023, potentially affecting climate change targets. According to Global Energy Monitor’s (GEM’s) annual survey of global coal-fired power units, capacity grew by 2% in 2023 to 2,130GW. This is the highest net increase since 2016 – despite the retirement of 21.1GW of coal capacity last year. Of the 69.5GW of coal-fired power capacity that came online in 2023, China accounted for two-thirds (47.4GW). The surge in capacity also originated in Indonesia, India, Vietnam, Japan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, South Korea, Greece and Zimbabwe. According to GEM, this growth in capacity could be tempered if China takes immediate action to ensure it meets its target of shutting…

  • UK signs deal with North Sea countries to protect subsea electricity and oil pipelines

    UK signs deal with North Sea countries to protect subsea electricity and oil pipelines

    The UK has signed an agreement with Norway and four other North Sea countries to protect critical energy and telecommunications infrastructure that lies under the sea. Recent damage to energy pipelines and subsea fibre optic cables has led to an increased focus on making sure the critical infrastructure is secure. Over the last few months, the Houthis in Yemen have threatened to sabotage crucial undersea communication cables, including internet lines, that run under the Red Sea. In September 2022, a series of underwater explosions on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines caused gas to leak into the surrounding waters. The pipelines were designed to transport natural gas from Russia to Europe, although that trade had ceased several months prior due to the conflict in Ukraine. The North Sea…

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