• Record number of solar panels and heat pumps installed in UK homes

    More UK homes than ever are turning to low-carbon technology, with the country on track to install certified renewable technologies in nearly a quarter of a million homes, according to a report by MCS, the official standards body for renewable technologies.  The body has found that, in the first half of 2023, more than 120,000 certified installations of heat pumps ,  solar panels and other renewable technologies occurred – a 62 per cent increase from the same period last year. This year is also the first to average more than 20,000 solar panel installations and over 3,000 heat pump installations per month. When looking at battery technology installations, each month has been breaking the previous month’s record, bringing the total number of batteries installed in homes and businesses…

  • Rocket Lab to launch two Nasa satellites monitoring climate change

    Two dedicated PREFIRE ( Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment) missions will use the firm’s Electron rocket to deploy one small satellite each to a 525km orbit. The two 6U CubeSats will have a baseline mission length of 10 months. Electron is a two-stage, partially recoverable orbital launch vehicle that has been in use since 2017. Although the rocket was designed to be expendable, Rocket Lab has recovered the first stage twice and is working towards the capability of reusing the booster. The two satellites will be equipped with a thermal infrared spectrometer to compare the data with conditions in cloud cover and sea ice levels below. Analysis of the measurements obtained by the satellites will inform climate and ice models, providing better projections of how a warming…

  • Nearly 34,000 children groomed in wait for Online Safety Bill – NSPCC

    The charity urged tech companies to accept the new legislation, rather than fight it, in an effort to protect children online. It added that 73 per cent of crimes were linked to Snapchat or Meta, and one in four online grooming crimes in the last five years were against primary school children. The much-delayed Online Safety Bill has been presented by the government as a ground-breaking law that will target online racism, sexual abuse, bullying, fraud and other harmful material often found on the internet. In its original form, the bill gave regulators wide-ranging powers to sanction digital and social media companies such as Google, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok. However, it has been significantly watered down in revisions over the past year. MPs and Lords are expected to make the final…

  • Self-driving cars could slow down traffic, study finds

    A team at North Carolina State University ran a series of simulations to investigate the impact of the widespread use of autonomous vehicles in cities.  The researchers found that although connected vehicles – which share data with each other wirelessly – significantly improve travel time through intersections, automated vehicles’ focus on safety leads them to slow down when not connected to other cars. “There are two significant reasons that people are interested in automated vehicles – improving passenger safety and reducing travel time,” said Ali Hajbabaie, associate professor of civil, construction and environmental engineering at North Carolina State University. “There is a lot of research showing that automated vehicles can improve safety. But our research here – which relies on…

  • UK space project to tackle air pollution in Singapore

    The Space South Central project will focus on monitoring air pollution and atmospheric weather forecasting in Singapore.  The initiative will be led by the University of Surrey, which will work with Singaporean researchers to develop instrumentation that can obtain data from very low Earth orbit and broaden understanding of the challenges and impact presented by climate change. Global climate change is a national priority for Singapore. The nation is often impacted by high levels of air pollution, particularly when wildfires in neighbouring countries cause haze. In addition, Singapore’s growing population and economy are putting pressure on the water supply, which is vulnerable to climate change.   The University of Surrey’s Dr William Lovegrove said: “We are thrilled to have been awarded…

  • Ancient ceramic water drainage system uncovered in China

    The infrastructure, which was found at the Chinese walled site of Pingliangtai, was created during the Longshan period about 4,000 years ago. “The discovery of this ceramic water pipe network is remarkable because the people of Pingliangtai were able to build and maintain this advanced water management system with stone-age tools and without the organisation of a central power structure,” said Dr Yijie Zhuang of University College London (UCL), corresponding author on the paper. “This system would have required a significant level of community-wide planning and coordination, and it was all done communally.” The ceramic water pipes make up what is thought to be the oldest complete drainage system ever discovered in China. Made by interconnecting individual segments, the water pipes run…

  • US grants $1.2bn for tech to vacuum carbon out of air

    The US government has announced it will invest $1.2bn (£945m) in two direct air capture (DAC) projects to pull carbon dioxide from the air.  The two facilities will be located in Texas and Louisiana, and each aims to eliminate 1 million tons of carbon dioxide per year – the equivalent in total to the annual emissions of 445,000 gas-powered cars. The Texas facility will be built by oil company Occidental Petroleum, while the Louisiana hub is being driven by applied science group Battelle in cooperation with technology developers Climeworks and Heirloom. “Cutting back on our carbon emissions alone won’t reverse the growing impacts of climate change,” energy secretary Jennifer Granholm said in the statement. “We need to remove the CO 2 we’ve already put in the atmosphere.” Granholm described…

  • Somerset acquires 800,000-litre tank to store sewer water during heavy rains

    Construction teams will begin upgrading a water recycling centre just outside North Petherton this month, which will see updated equipment treating excess water flowing through the system. The work, undertaken by Wessex Water, will allow more than 800,000 litres of sewer water to be housed in an underground tank. The increased storage will operate automatically to help reduce the number of storm overflows. The storage will be housed below ground on land next to the centre and will keep more mixed rain run-off and wastewater in the tank at the centre before it is treated and safely returned to the environment. The project is expected to take around 10 months to complete. Earlier this year, a major incident was declared in Somerset after heavy thunderstorms caused severe flash floods and…

  • Sustainable, edible ‘squid rings’ 3D-printed with microalgae ink

    Due to unsustainable fishing and aquaculture practices, there is a rising demand for mock seafood options that are better for the environment. Some firms, such as Singapore’s Shiok Meats, want to launch shrimp meat based on cells grown in a lab. But a team from the National University of Singapore is taking a different approach by creating an entirely plant-based alternative. “I think it’s imminent that the seafood supply could be very limited in the future,” said graduate student Poornima Vijayan, presenting the work at a meeting of the American Chemical Society. “We need to be prepared from an alternative protein point of view, especially here in Singapore, where over 90 per cent of the fish is imported.” It has proved difficult to mimic the flavour of seafood from plants and achieve…

  • Government platform offers British businesses decarbonisation advice

    The initiative offers guidance on how to cut costs and reduce carbon emissions for the country’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).  The platform provides a complimentary carbon calculator and lists ways to reduce a company’s environmental impact, including procuring items from eco-friendly suppliers, cutting freight emissions and implementing cost-efficient strategies for installing solar panels and electric vehicle  (EV) charging stations. SMEs currently account for 99 per cent of all UK private businesses. According to the Carbon Trust, the average SME generates around 15 tonnes of CO2 annually, yet research from Lloyds Bank has found that over three-quarters (77 per cent) of them do not have a business strategy to reduce their carbon footprint in the next three years. “The…

  • Insects converted into biodegradable plastic with new process

    A team from Texas A&M University have been utilising waste products left over from farming black soldier flies. The larvae of these flies contain many proteins and other nutritious compounds, so the immature insects are increasingly being raised for animal feed and to consume waste. However, the adults have a short life span after their breeding days are over and are quickly discarded. The adult carcasses are being used as a new starting material for the researchers, especially as they contain chitin, a polymer chain with numerous uses. “We’re taking something that’s quite literally garbage and making something useful out of it,” said Cassidy Tibbetts, a graduate student working on the project. This nontoxic, biodegradable, sugar-based polymer strengthens the shell, or exoskeleton, of…

  • IBM presents ‘brain-like’ chip for more environmentally-friendly AI tools

    IBM Research has unveiled a prototype of an analogue AI chip that demonstrates remarkable efficiency and accuracy in performing complex computations for deep neural networks (DNNs). The new design aims to  address concerns regarding the carbon emissions associated with the large number of computers needed to power AI systems, as well as extend the life of smartphones.  The chip's efficiency is down to components that work in a similar way to connections in human brains, according to IBM.  The 14nm CMOS IC is composed of 64 analogue in-memory computing tiles, each with a 256 x 256 crossbar array of synaptic unit cells. This allows the semiconductor to stores weights locally as analogue levels as conductance in phase-change memory, and implements analogue multiply-accumulate calculation…

  • India passes data protection bill despite activists’ concerns

    The upper house of the Indian parliament has granted its approval to the long-delayed legislation, which will give the government greater control over how Big Tech companies process user data.  The Digital Personal Data Protection Bill allows companies to transfer some user data abroad and imposes penalties on companies for breaches in data security. The law will also allow the government to seek information from firms and issue directions to block content on the advice of a data protection board appointed by the federal government. Under the new rules, firms will also be banned from processing personal data that could negatively impact a child’s wellbeing. In addition, the law will require parental consent for processing the personal data of children and force companies to delete user…

  • Surge in oil demand expected to falter in 2024 as global economy weakens

    According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), strong demand for summer air travel, increased oil use in power generation and surging Chinese petrochemical activity has put pressure on oil supplies this summer – with China accounting for more than 70 per cent of growth. But with the post-pandemic rebound running out of steam, lacklustre economic conditions, tighter efficiency standards and new electric vehicles weighing on use, growth is forecast to slow in 2024. “The global economic outlook remains challenging in the face of soaring interest rates and tighter bank credit, squeezing businesses that are already having to cope with sluggish manufacturing and trade,” the IEA said. Nevertheless, the surge in demand is expected to continue in the coming months. Despite recent increases…

  • Robotaxis receive approval to operate in San Francisco 24/7

    The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) made the decision after a contentious six-hour hearing, in which citizens expressed their concerns regarding the expansion of self-driving cars in San Francisco. “Today is the first of many steps in bringing AV transportation services to Californians,” said John Reynolds, CPUC commissioner and former Cruise general counsel.  Over the past year, Cruise has been testing 300 robotaxis in the streets of San Francisco. The service was free during the day, and paid at night, when only 100 robotaxis were allowed to operate. Meanwhile, Waymo's 100 autonomous vehicles have been providing free rides to volunteers and employees throughout the city.  Although the two companies have stressed that robotaxis remove the risks associated with human errors…

  • New plastic recycling process creates valuable oils from ‘junk’ waste

    Many of the materials commonly thrown in household recycling bins, including flexible films, multilayer materials and a lot of coloured plastics, cannot be recycled using conventional methods. And only about 9 per cent of plastic in the US is ever reused, often in low-value products. But a team at the University of Wisconsin–Madison believes that its new technique can turn low-value waste plastic into high-value products while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by roughly 60 per cent. The process relies on pyrolysis, a method whereby plastics are heated to high temperatures in an oxygen-free environment to create pyrolysis oil. This oil contains large amounts of olefins – a class of simple hydrocarbons that are central building blocks in today’s chemicals and polymers, including various…

  • Genetically-engineered bacteria could detect tumour DNA

    The discovery was made using a new Cellular Assay for Targeted CRISPR-discriminated Horizontal gene transfer (CATCH), designed by scientists from the University of California San Diego and their colleagues in Australia.  Their innovation, which detected cancer in the colons of mice, could pave the way for new biosensors capable of identifying various infections, cancers and other diseases. In the past, b acteria have been used to carry out various diagnostic and therapeutic functions. However, the method has so far lacked the ability to identify specific DNA sequences and mutations outside of cells.  “As we started on this project four years ago, we weren’t even sure if using bacteria as a sensor for mammalian DNA was even possible,” said Dr Jeff Hasty, a professor at the University of…

  • Biden bans US investment in China’s high-tech sector

    The long-awaited order has been justified as a way of protecting US national security by preventing US capital and expertise from supporting the military modernisation of China, The New York Times first reported. The measure will largely affect private equity and venture capital firms, as well as joint ventures with Chinese groups.  The order is focused on three main investment areas: semiconductors and microelectronics, quantum information technologies and certain AI systems. In addition to prohibiting specific investments, the policy will also require firms to notify the government regarding investments in high-tech sectors.  In a briefing with reporters, senior administration officials said the measure was a “national security action, not an economic one”, stressing that the US remained…

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  • Majority of emissions from UK firms not covered by decarbonisation targets

    According to consultants Bain & Company (B&C) and carbon disclosure platform CDP, 64 per cent of Scope 1 and 2 emissions by UK companies are not covered by a target, rising to 69 per cent for Scope 3 emissions. Scope 1 and 2 emissions cover those that are generated by a company itself including the emissions of the energy it sources. Scope 3 emissions encompass those that are not produced by the company itself but are generated as a result of consumers using its products. The report The road to net zero starts with your core business finds that even among UK companies that are setting targets, 21 per cent are currently expected to miss their 2030 targets for Scope 1 and 2 emissions, while 31 per cent are set to miss Scope 3 targets. The full number of companies off track in relation to…

  • ESA forecasting service will protect satellites from solar storms

    Scientists at Graz University of Technology and the University of Graz have developed a solar storm forecasting system. It is now officially part of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Space Safety Programme.  Solar storms can often cause satellites to crash or knock them off their orbit. In early February 2022, a solar storm passing Earth caused the loss of 38 Starlink satellites.  The forecast service is freely available through the ESA Space Weather Service and offers a warning with a lead time of around 15 hours. Solar orbiter - Nasa/ESA Image credit: ESA/ATG medialab Scientists have already studied the potentially dangerous effects of solar storms on satellite orbit.  SODA is based on the findings of SWEETS, a project funded by the Austrian Research Promotion

  • Automated malaria detection system developed using AI and a microscope

    Each year, more than 200 million people fall sick with malaria and more than half a million of these infections lead to death. The World Health Organization recommends parasite-based diagnosis before starting treatment for the disease. Doctors use a variety of diagnostic methods, including conventional light microscopy, rapid diagnostic tests and polymerase chain reaction. The standard for malaria diagnosis remains manual light microscopy, during which a specialist examines blood films with a microscope to confirm the presence of malaria parasites. But the accuracy of the results depends on the skills of the microscopist. “At an 88 per cent diagnostic accuracy rate relative to microscopists, the AI system identified malaria parasites almost, though not quite, as well as experts,” said…

  • Scientists turn plastic waste into soap

    The method could be effective in recycling plastics from milk cartons, food containers and plastic bags, say researchers at the Virginia Tech College of Science.  The chemical structure of polyethylene – one of the most commonly used plastics in the world today – is strikingly similar to that of fatty acids, which are used as a chemical precursor to soap. Both materials are made of long carbon chains, but fatty acids have an extra group of atoms at the end of the chain. Due to this chemical similarities, the research team set  out to develop a process to convert polyethylene into fatty acids, which could then be used to produce soap.  Guoliang ‘Greg’ Liu , associate professor of  chemistry, came up with the idea while looking at a fireplace. He then began to wonder what would happen if…

  • Widespread study claims Facebook does not cause its users psychological harm

    The study used wellbeing data from nearly a million people across 72 countries over 12 years and also harnessed individual usage data from millions of Facebook users worldwide. “Although reports of negative psychological outcomes associated with social media are common in academic and popular writing, evidence for harms is, on balance, more speculative than conclusive,” the research paper states. In 2017, Facebook’s director of research at the time admitted that there was evidence to suggest that scrolling through posts without interacting can leave users feeling low in mood. But according to Professor Andrew Przybylski, leader of the new study, “the best available data” does not support the idea that Facebook membership is related to harm. “In fact, our analysis indicates Facebook is…

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