• Handheld device speeds up landmine detection and removal

    It is estimated that over 100 million landmines remain deployed in more than 60 countries due to either previous or ongoing conflicts, causing around 6,500 casualties each year. The new technology uses hand-held detectors that more quickly, accurately, and cost-effectively detect landmines for clearing. “Science-driven innovation is solving our greatest challenges – from growing our economy by creating new industries and reinventing old ones, through to tackling a global humanitarian crisis that injures or kills thousands of people every year,” said CSIRO chief executive Larry Marshall. “The precision of this technology will be a game-changer for landmine-clearing efforts, delivering a solution that is faster and more reliable than current detectors, which in turn protects the people…

  • Ice sheets found to retreat up to 20 times faster than previously thought

    Researchers from Newcastle, Cambridge and Loughborough universities used high-resolution imagery of the seafloor to reveal the speed at which a former ice sheet that extended from Norway retreated at the end of the last Ice Age, about 20,000 years ago. The team mapped more than 7,600 small-scale landforms called ‘corrugation ridges’ across the seafloor which are understood to have formed when the ice sheet’s retreating margin moved up and down with the tides. Given that two ridges would have been produced each day under two tidal cycles, the researchers were able to calculate how quickly the ice sheet retreated. Their results show the former ice sheet underwent pulses of rapid retreat at a speed of 50 to 600 metres per day – much faster than any ice sheet retreat rate that has been observed…

  • Ofcom calls for further investigation into UK cloud market

    Ofcom has proposed to refer the UK cloud sector to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to investigate possible risks to consumers.  The regulator has been investigating the market dominance of cloud "hyperscalers", namely Amazon's AWS and Microsoft's Azure, which together hold approximately 60 to 70 per cent of the cloud services market share. Google is their closest competitor with a share of somewhere between 5 and 10 per cent. The results of this investigation have shown that the two companies' practices “could limit competition” and make it more difficult for users to switch providers, Ofcom has said.  The regulator pointed out that the two massive suppliers charge “significantly higher” fees than smaller providers to move data out of the cloud and to another company’s servers…

  • Policy incentives needed to boost zero-carbon steel, report finds

    The steel sector can be transitioned to a Paris Agreement-aligned emissions pathway by 2030, it found in a report, but the global pipeline of near-zero-emissions steel projects must triple within the next three years to do so. Such a feat would enable 190 million tonnes per annum of 'green' production by 2030 and keep industry emission reduction targets within sight. Steel already accounts for 7 per cent of annual global greenhouse gas emissions and demand is set to rise as the material is fundamental to building the energy transition, from wind turbines to electric vehicles, and to infrastructure growth in developing economies. "Breakthrough" iron- and steel-making technologies, centred around using low-carbon hydrogen to produce direct reduced iron, have been developed and offer a viable…

  • Google claims to have the ‘fastest’ supercomputer for AI and ML tasks

    Alphabet's Google has released new information about the systems used to power and train its AI supercomputers.  In contrast to most major software companies, which rely on Nvidia's A100 processors for AI and machine-learning workloads, Google has developed a custom chip which it uses for over 90 per cent of its AI training work.   The search giant has described in a blog post how this bespoke system reportedly outperforms Nvidia's processors in both speed and processing capabilities.  Google's TPU has now advanced to its fourth generation. The company has revealed how it has connected over 4,000 TPUs to create a supercomputer and developed custom optical switches to help connect individual machines. Google claims that its supercomputers make it simple to reconfigure links between processors…

  • Track cleaning system could eliminate delays caused by ‘leaves on the line’

    Fallen leaves can cause significant disruption to the network as they stick to damp rails and are then compressed by passing trains into a smooth, slippery layer, which reduces a train's grip. This can cause delays to services, which leads to disruption for passengers as well as affecting safety as braking is compromised. Developed with the University of Sheffield, the cleaning system works by firing dry ice pellets in a stream of air at supersonic speed at the railhead – freezing any leaves on the line. The frozen leaves are then blasted away as the dry ice pellets turn back into a gas. At the moment, railway lines are cleaned using expensive-to-run railhead treatment trains but there are only a limited number of these trains available, so they can’t treat the whole of the network. The…

  • Hands-on review: JLab Go Work Pop Bluetooth headset

    One year ago this month, we looked at, listened to and spoke through JLab's debut Go Work headset . At the time, we described them as a "straightforward, no-nonsense, good-quality headset with microphone, equipped with all the key functionality necessary for reliable video calling", with the caveat that there was only the sole black colourway. Well, good news, fans of the colour spectrum. JLab has reworked the Go Work Pop headset for 2023 with a few technical enhancements and a fresh choice of three colours. One of them is still Black (classic); the others are Lilac and Teal, the latter being a tropical shade of green. We had Teal on test, but the tech spec is the same for all three options. The key tweaks make the new Go Work Pop headset smaller, lighter, battery life-ier and Bluetooth…

  • Investment giant under fire over Ohio chemical disaster

    Vanguard is the world's second-largest fund firm and asset manager with about $7.2tr (£5.8tr) of assets on its books. It owns the largest stake in Northern Suffolk, the train company being sued by the State of Ohio after one of its trains derailed in the town of East Palestine in February. The accident led to the open-air burning of around 100,000 gallons of toxic vinyl chloride. Vanguard is also the third largest shareholder of Occidental Petroleum, the parent company of Oxy Vinyls, the firm which owned three of the five train cars that contained the hazardous chemical. This arrangement has led to anger from campaigners, who say individual investors should “know the negative impacts of their investments.” The chemicals were traveling from Oxy Vinyls’ plant in Deer Park, Texas to its…

  • Water-based batteries studied as safe alternative to lithium

    These new types of batteries would not only reduce the US's dependence on countries that export cobalt and lithium but would also be able to prevent battery-related fires.  “There would be no battery fires any more because it's water-based,” said chemical engineering professor Dr Jodie Lutkenhaus. “In the future, if materials shortages are projected, the price of lithium-ion batteries will go way up. "If we have this alternative battery, we can turn to this chemistry, where the supply is much more stable because we can manufacture them here in the United States and materials to make them are here.”  Water-based batteries consist of a cathode, an electrolyte and an anode.  The cathodes and anodes are polymers that can store energy, and the electrolyte is water mixed with organic salts…

  • Autonomous bus service to launch in Scotland next month

    The service will see five single-decker autonomous buses ferry around 10,000 passengers across the bridge every week. Two members of staff will remain onboard, a safety driver in the driver’s seat to monitor the technology, and a ‘captain’ in the saloon to take tickets and answer customer questions. The project, named CAVForth, will be the first registered bus service in the UK to use full-sized autonomous buses. A fleet of five Alexander Dennis Enviro200AV vehicles will cover a 14-mile route, in mixed traffic, at up to 50mph across the iconic Forth Road Bridge from Ferrytoll Park & Ride, in Fife, to Edinburgh Park Transport Interchange. Scottish transport minister Kevin Stewart said: “This is an exciting milestone for this innovative and ambitious project, and I very much look forward…

  • Virgin Orbit files for bankruptcy

    The California-based company lodged a filing with the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware as it seeks a sale of the remaining business. The chapter under which it filed – Chapter 11 – generally allows for the reorganisation of a struggling company, aimed at keeping the business alive and paying creditors over time. Virgin Orbit has been facing financial difficulties since its rocket failed to complete the first satellite launch from UK soil in January. Last week, the company fired 85 per cent of its workforce and paused all its operations .  “While we have taken great efforts to address our financial position and secure additional financing, we ultimately must do what is best for the business," Dan Hart, Virgin Orbit's chief executive, said while announcing the news.  …

  • Nasa names diverse crew for Artemis II Moon mission

    The US space agency Nasa has named the four astronauts who will take humanity back to the Moon, including the first woman and the first person of colour to be assigned to a lunar mission.  The astronauts won't land on the Moon. Instead, they will take Nasa's Orion capsule on a 10-day journey around the Earth's only natural satellite, to test the spaceship's life-support systems. If successful, the mission could pave the way for a new Moon landing, as well as future exploratory missions to Mars, as part of Nasa's Artemis programme.  “The Artemis II crew represents thousands of people working tirelessly to bring us to the stars," said Nasa administrator Bill Nelson. "This is their crew; this is our crew; this is humanity's crew.”  The members of the crew are Nasa astronauts Reid Wiseman…

  • Australia bans TikTok from government devices

    After receiving advice from intelligence and security agencies, the attorney-general Mark Dreyfus mandated a ban on the app on government devices that will be instituted “as soon as practicable”. It said exemptions would only be granted on a case-by-case basis with appropriate security mitigations in place. Australia is part of the 'Five Eyes' intelligence-sharing group, which also includes the US, Canada, Britain and New Zealand. The UK government imposed a similar ban on the social media platform last month after the app came under increasing scrutiny over its handling of user data. Several public administrations raised concerns over the possibility that TikTok's owners ByteDance will be asked to share its data with the Chinese government, undermining Western security interests. …

  • Volcanic eruption predictions improved using 3D-printed camera

    Gas emissions represent the amount of activity occurring beneath the surface of a volcano. Measuring these emissions lets researchers observe what can’t be seen from the surface. This knowledge is vital for hazard monitoring and the prediction of future eruptions. Since the mid-2000s, ultraviolet SO2 cameras have become important tools to measure emissions. However, these cameras typically cost upwards of $20,000 - meaning very few are installed permanently - and need to be continuously manned to harvest the data effectively. To get better long-term monitoring data, an international team of researchers has developed an SO2 camera to continually measure emission rates from volcanoes. “Our instrument uses a sensor not dissimilar to smartphone camera sensors. It is modified to make it…

  • British researchers develop technology that could prevent future pandemics

    A team at the Wellcome Sanger Institute is developing a new method for monitoring genetic changes in respiratory viruses as they circulate throughout the world. The p roject is working to roll out cheap, easy-to-use technology across the globe to spot the emergence of any new health threats and prevent large-scale crises similar to Covid-19. The system aims to pinpoint dangerous new variants as they emerge, allowing scientists to keep track of the evolution of a virus.  The technology will monitor a wide range of viruses including influenza viruses, coronaviruses and respiratory syncytial viruses, the researchers said. “Britain was at the leading edge of the genomic surveillance of Covid-19 and was responsible for about 20 per cent of all the Sars-CoV-2 genomes that were sequenced across…

  • Ozone-destroying chemical emissions on the rise, scientists discover

    The rise has been attributed to an increase in the use of the chemicals, known as chlorofluorocarbons (aka CFCs), that are used to make other ozone-friendly alternatives to CFCs. Prior to their ban, the chemicals were used in the manufacture of aerosol sprays; blowing agents for foams and packing materials; as solvents, and as refrigerants. The Montreal Protocol is an international treaty signed in 1987 designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of numerous substances that are responsible for its depletion. It includes an exception that continues to allow the use of the CFCs when used to create alternative chemicals. Dr Luke Western, lead author on the study, said: “We’re paying attention to these emissions now because of the success of the Montreal Protocol. CFC…

  • China opens probe into US chipmaker Micron

    China's cyber-space regulator has announced it will conduct a cyber-security review of products sold in the country by US-based Micron Technology, in what has been perceived as a retaliatory measure against US trade restrictions.  According to the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), the decision is aimed at protecting the security of the supply chain for critical information infrastructure, preventing hidden risks and safeguarding national security.  The agency specifically cited “security risks caused by hidden product problems” in chips sold by Micron in China as a cause for concern. The company has responded by saying it is collaborating with the investigation.  “Micron is committed to conducting all business with uncompromising integrity and we stand by the security of our…

  • Italy blocks ChatGPT over privacy concerns

    Italy has announced it will temporarily block OpenAI's chatbot ChatGPT from processing Italian users' data until the company "respects privacy".  The Italian Data Protection Authority, also known as Garante, said it was investigating potential breaches of the EU's data protection regulation by the popular AI chatbot. Garante accused the company o f failing to check that its users were aged 13 and above. It argued that this “exposes children to receiving responses that are absolutely inappropriate to their age and awareness.”  The Italian watchdog also stated ChatGPT has an "absence of any legal basis that justifies the massive collection and storage of personal data" to "train" the chatbot.  In response, US-based OpenAI has disabled ChatGPT for Italian users. The company also stated…

  • E-scooters face Paris ban after public referendum

    Over 100,000 of the city’s residents voted, with 89 per cent of them choosing to end services that rent e-scooters. However, while the tally looks definitive, with over 1.3 million people registered on the electoral lists, participation in the vote represents just seven per cent of those who were eligible. E-scooters have been available to rent in the capital since 2018, although the number of operators were reduced to just three in 2020 following complaints – Lime, Dott, and Tier. Easy to access via an app and found all over central Paris, e-scooters proved popular with tourists wanting to quickly navigate the city for a relatively low cost. In the five years since their introduction, following in the wake of shared cars and shared bicycles, for-hire scooters have also built a following…

  • Shapes of things to come: Nvidia's foray into litho bolsters curvy chip designs

    There are times when I watch a presentation and wonder if I’ve travelled back in time. Though the keynote at Nvidia’s Spring GTC was, as at the prior events, relentlessly focused on AI and the reformulation of virtual reality as the metaverse, that is pretty much par for the course for Silicon Valley conglomerates right now.   The bit that felt like falling through a hole in time to 2010 was around Nvidia’s foray into software for chipmakers. The cuLitho library, similar to the those the company has released for AI, graphics and simulation, is meant to underpin software that tweaks shapes on the masks used to help form nanometre-scale features on the surface of a chip. According to Nvidia, using GPUs will speed up this process by orders of magnitude. However, things have been that way for…

  • View from India: Hunt for solutions to save the tiger

    An ongoing scheme of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Project Tiger is India’s commitment towards saving the wildlife and restoring the population of tigers. Tigers need to be protected. Not simply because they are majestic or have an arresting gaze, or that they are a photographer’s delight, or that they are a symbol of might and power. They are essential for maintaining the ecology of the entire forest-wetland ecosystem. If tigers became extinct, the forest ecosystem could be badly damaged. Forests are important water-catchment areas. A dwindling tiger population could negatively impact trees and plant species. A concern for forest loss along with improper pollination, lack of temperature regulation and sparse rainfall led to the initiation of Project Tiger…

  • ‘Flattest’ explosion ever seen in space surprises scientists

    An explosion the size of our solar system has shocked scientists at the University of Sheffield, due to its unusually flat shape. The explosion was an extremely rare Fast Blue Optical Transient (FBOT), a type of explosion that was first discovered in 2018 and given the nickname 'the cow'. To date, only four explosions of this class have ever been detected, and its causes are currently unknown.  Explosions are almost always spherical, just like the stars themselves. However, a few days after its discovery, this particular explosion took the shape of a flat disk. It was observed 180 million lightyears away and it has been described as the "flattest" explosion ever detected.  “Very little is known about FBOT explosions – they just don’t behave like exploding stars should, they are too bright…

  • EU countries agree to double renewable energy targets

    The 27 nations that form the EU have reached a deal to almost double the share of energy originated by renewable technologies in the next seven years.  With this agreement, the EU aims to "fast-track the deployment of renewable energies" as part of the EU's plan "to become independent from Russian fossil fuels, after Russia's invasion of Ukraine", according to a statement from the Council of the EU.  Following overnight negotiations, the negotiators of the European Parliament and Council agreed that the share of renewable energy in the EU's overall energy consumption will need to be 42.5 per cent by 2030 with an additional "aspirational" 2.5 per cent top-up.  The target set in the Renewable Energy Directive (RED)  is below the 45 per cent requested by MEPs but above member states' preferred…

  • Ford scales back driverless ambitions to focus on ‘nearer-term’ technologies

    In a letter sent to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Ford Motor Co said it was withdrawing its petition to get its driverless technology approved for the roads. In October last year it was announced that Argo AI, an autonomous vehicle start-up that launched in 2017, was shutting down and being absorbed into its two main backers who were Ford and VW. “As evidenced by the planned shutdown of our ADS partner Argo AI, we believe the road to fully autonomous vehicles, at scale, with a profitable business model, will be a long one,” Ford said in the letter. “At this time, Ford has determined that it is more prudent to focus on nearer-term L2/L3 technologies, which do not require an exemption. “Hence, we would like to withdraw the subject petition for an exemption…

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