• UK Space Agency launches £6.5m fund to boost domestic space technology

    One project will explore the potential for a space observatory and planetarium to be established in Snowdonia, taking advantage of the area being part of the most extensive dark skies reserve in the UK. Another will look at how space technology could be used to tackle water leakage and monitor coastal erosion and stability in Cornwall. The projects will harness space-enabled technology to address local priorities, such as using Earth observation data to improve local public services and help engineering companies access the UK’s growing space markets. Science minister Michelle Donelan said: “This funding will help link local clusters to valuable networks of innovators and investors, showcasing the strengths of the UK space sector to international investors and levelling up the economy…

  • Smart 3D-printed contact lens could offer AR with no headset

    A team of scientists from KERI (Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute) and the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) has been able to 3D-print smart contact lenses without applying voltage.  "Our achievement is a development of 3D-printing technology that can print functional micro-patterns on non-planar substrate that can commercialise advanced smart contact lenses to implement AR," said Dr Seol Seung-Kwon's of KERI.  "It will greatly contribute to the miniaturisation and versatility of AR devices." Smart contact lenses is a technology that could allow people to directly visualise digital environments, without the need for AR glasses, which are expensive and have been known to cause side-effects such as nausea.  The main expected application area is navigation…

  • Russian hackers disrupt earthquake aid missions in Syria and Turkey

    Technology has been at the forefront of the response to the two earthquakes that recently hit Turkey and Syria and which have claimed an estimated 36,000 deaths. In the wake of the disaster, Russian government-linked hacking group Killnet has claimed responsibility for a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack that has disrupted communications between NATO officials and military aircrafts engaged in search-and-rescue operations.  A DDoS attack is a type of cyber attack that floods the target with so much data that it becomes overwhelmed and can no longer handle legitimate traffic. This often results in users being unable to access the site or service. “We are carrying out strikes on NATO. Details in a closed channel,” the hacker group said on one of its associate Telegram channels…

  • Whales and dolphins under threat from deep-sea mining, study warns

    Commercial-scale deep seabed mining in international waters could be permitted for the first time later this year. Scientists from the University of Exeter and Greenpeace Research Laboratories believe the process could be a “significant risk to ocean ecosystems” with “long-lasting and irreversible” effects. The study, which focuses on cetaceans such as whales, dolphins and porpoises, finds that urgent research is needed to assess potential impacts. “Like many animals, cetaceans are already facing multiple stressors, including climate change,” said Dr Kirsten Thompson, of the University of Exeter. “Very little research has examined the impact that deep-sea minerals extraction would have on cetaceans. Cetaceans are highly sensitive to sound, so noise from mining is a particular concern…

  • Delays threaten net-zero goals

    Developers looking to connect renewable energy projects to the electricity grid are facing delays of more than 15 years, threatening the UK’s net-zero ambitions, E&T has heard. As the country’s target to decarbonise the electricity grid by 2035 looms ever closer, developers, engineering firms and consultancies have spoken to E&T about the connection delays that they say are putting both the climate targets and energy security at risk In the last 18 months, the time it takes for developers to connect renewable energy projects to the national grid has soared, and Peter Aston, a specialist connections engineer at the consultancy Roadnight Taylor, says the waiting times are now a major problem. “The transmission network just filled up and when you hit that limit on a network, you are suddenly…

  • Blurring the lines between art and engineering

    There are some feats of engineering that are so visually pleasing we instinctively call them works of art. And yet, when we make this statement in the 21 st century, it seems that we are crossing the frontier into a different land. There’s this idea that science is objective while art is subjective, the former a function of logical reasoning, the latter of interpretation. But there are, it seems, artist and engineers who never got the memo about these allegedly non-overlapping domains, as is proven by the existence of some breath-taking industrial aesthetics. The UK’s largest sculpture – the ArcelorMittal Orbit – is recognisably a feat of complex engineering, while some of the most stylish of our electronic gadgetry was designed by a man who went on to become chancellor of the Royal College…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Sponsored: Five ways technology is transforming the automotive industry

    As the automotive sector welcomes new technologies, analysts predict soon-to-come changes “not seen since the Model T Ford rolled into the production line in the early 1900s,” according to market research firm McKinsey. Traditional original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and start-ups have invested more than $280 billion in innovative software and hardware solutions since 2010, said McKinsey . In turn, OEMs and component suppliers have outperformed companies in other booming sectors, like high tech and chemicals—and as many analysts predict, the best is yet to come. That said, while today’s path toward automotive innovation is expected to lead to an awe-inspiring future, it is certainly not rid of obstacles, detours, and gaps. That’s why, at Keysight, we recently unveiled a new video series…

  • Spain becomes the first country to have robotic telescopes in all five continents

    The recently completed Burst Observer and Optical Transient Exploring System (BOOTES) comprises seven telescopes, located in Spain, New Zealand, China, Mexico, South Africa and Chile.  It has been described as the most complex network of its kind, as well as a unique and automated resource that will combine data from instruments from all around the globe, and will help survey the night sky.  “BOOTES is the result of almost 25 years of continuous effort, since we installed the first station in 1998 at INTA (Arenosillo, Huelva), the institution that initially supported the project," said Alberto J Castro-Tirado, a scientist at CSIC.  "The complete deployment represents a scientific milestone since it is the first robotic network with a presence on all continents." BOOTES' main objective…

  • Ford announces 3,800 job cuts including major UK losses

    The carmaker said 2,800 engineering roles will be axed by 2025 and around 1,000 jobs in its administrative, marketing, sales and distribution teams will also be scrapped. The job losses include 1,300 that will be lost in the UK. The news comes as a blow to unions who said in late January the worst-case scenario was 2,500 job cuts in Europe in product development and a further 700 in administration. Ford the new strategy is an attempt to make the firm “leaner” as it transitions to offer an all-electric fleet in Europe by 2035. Production of Ford’s first European-built electric passenger vehicle is set to start later this year. “We are completely reinventing the Ford brand in Europe. Unapologetically American, outstanding design and connected services that will differentiate Ford and delight…

  • BAE Systems partners with Home Office to help protect UK border

    The three-year contract, worth £38m, will enable Border Force and related agencies to manage, in real time, the vast amounts of data relating to the 300 million passenger journeys and 385 million tonnes of freight that enter the UK every year.   The amount of information held across the Home Office, wider government and industry is increasing rapidly, and understanding these large datasets quickly is critical for identifying risks to national security. Through the development of advanced risk analytics services with the Home Office, also known as ‘Cerberus’, BAE Systems Digital Intelligence is aiming to enable the Border Force and related agencies to streamline and augment the process of real-time threat detection and intervention.   The capabilities should also enable the government…

  • Robot creates physical paintings without human input

    Robohood Inc, an art and tech start-up specialising in artificial intelligence and robotics, says it has created the world’s first AI-robotic technology that enables users to create physical paintings from an idea to canvas without human involvement. The technology uses stable diffusion, a deep-learning, text-to-image model primarily used to generate detailed images guided by a text prompt. And Robohood combined this novel neural network with its software that renders and brush-paints them with robotic manipulators. Image credit: Robohood The system, called the Robotic Art Studio, uses a variety of painting techniques by calculating each brush stroke and delicately mixing colours straight on to various surfaces. The results are “fine art pieces that possess a unique…

  • UK patient fitted with pen lid-size sensor to detect heart failure

    The sensor has been designed by doctors at the University Hospital Southampton (UHS), in Hampshire. The device was implanted during a simple 45-minute procedure, using a small catheter which is placed in a vein at the top of the leg. With this innovative method, the doctors hope to enable more rapid interventions, helping keep people well for longer and easing financial pressures on the NHS.  “The procedure is part of a cutting-edge international research study which intends to prove this new way of monitoring and treating heart failure patients is safe and effective," said a UHS spokeswoman. “The unique technology is a sensor about the size of a pen lid which is designed to monitor the amount of fluid in the body – elevated levels can give an indication of worsening heart failure.…

  • UK ‘ready’ to snub £88.6bn Horizon research programme over Brexit row

    Michelle Donelan said she is prepared to snub the European Union’s €100bn (£88.6bn) flagship research programme and create an alliance with the US, Japan and Switzerland to replace it . Writing in The Telegraph, Donelan acknowledged that the science sector was eager to know about the UK’s association with the EU programme, Horizon. However, she stressed the government is "more than ready to go it alone” if the negotiations should fail.  Donelan was recently appointed to her role, following p rime minister Rishi Sunak’s Cabinet reshuffle last week, which resulted in the creation of a dedicated department for science, innovation and technology.  The UK government has previously accused the European Commission of refusing to engage in talks over UK membership of Horizon.  “If we cannot…

  • US and China clash over taking down of ‘spy balloons’

    The US and China have clashed over flying objects suspected to have been used as intelligence tools to spy on rival nations.  Earlier today (Monday 13 February), China's Foreign Ministry accused the US of “illegally” flying 10 high-altitude balloons into its airspace over the last year.  At a news conference today, Chinese ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin claimed it is “common for US balloons to illegally enter other countries’ airspace.” The US has rejected this accusation and described the claim as an attempt at damage control, after US President Joe Biden gave the order to shoot down a Chinese balloon flying over US airspace on 4 February. The White House declared that the balloon was equipped to detect and collect intelligence signals as part of a huge, military-linked aerial surveillance…

  • How origami inspires world-changing technology

    While styles of origami can be incredibly diverse, the art is rooted in mathematical principles that make it applicable to science and industry. The ability to fold two-dimensional structures into complex, yet compact three-dimensional shapes is especially valuable to space sciences and missions, where it pays to keep payloads small. Panel arrays on satellites must be folded down into compact forms in order to pack them into a relatively narrow rocket, and only unfurled to form large flat surfaces once the rocket has blasted into outer space. It’s thought that the first origami solar array was packed into a Japanese spacecraft that launched in 1995. This was accomplished using the Miura fold, which is a method of folding a flat surface into a smaller area and named after astrophysicist…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Interview: Chris Miller, author of ‘Chip War’

    These days the popular press likes to make the point that computer chips are the ‘new oil’. In fact, so does the jacket blurb for Chris Miller’s new book. And yet, for the author of ‘Chip War’, it’s not a particularly helpful comparison. Not because it’s overblown, but because it doesn’t address the central vulnerability of the humble integrated circuit in the 21st century. While Miller states that modern economies “can’t run without either”, governments need to be aware of the potential tensions created by the industry’s lack of geopolitical dispersion: “A far greater proportion of chips comes out of Taiwan than oil does out of Saudi Arabia.” Miller, who has just won the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year award, is the benefactor of a new trend in the way judges are thinking…

  • Government offers £12.4m funding package to help industry cut emissions

    The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said the funding has supported the deployment of a range of new technologies, from heat pumps to hydrogen-ready equipment. Some 22 projects from businesses across England, Wales and Northern Ireland received a portion of the money in sectors including pharmaceuticals, steel, paper, and food and drink. The winning bids include sustainably harvesting food in Carmarthenshire, Wales, through a new air source heat pump system; capturing waste heat to dry, heat, crush and grind materials for roadmaking in South Yorkshire, and using revolutionary high-temperature heat pumps to reduce the energy needed to heat and cool cheese, reducing emissions in dairy farms across the Midlands. It is estimated that industry is currently responsible for producing…

  • The rapid rise of AI art

    Generative AI art has exploded onto the scene over the past few months through advanced online platforms like DALL-E2, Midjourney and Stable Diffusion, which enable anyone with access to a smartphone or PC to create highly polished art by typing in simple text instructions. Sophisticated algorithms have learnt to mimic the specific styles, colours and brushstrokes of renowned artists, enabling users to instantaneously create their own unique versions of masterpieces by the likes of Van Gogh, Dali, Turner or Monet. The technology can bring outlandish and otherworldly creations to life in super-realistic detail. Type in ‘Cookie Monster climbing the Shard’ and you’ll see the children’s TV character incongruously scaling the tower. Type ‘Taylor Swift commanding a legion of the undead’ and a…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Cinematic depictions of AI scientists reaffirm gender disparities, study reveals

    A University of Cambridge study found that cinematic depictions of AI scientists “are so heavily skewed towards men” that a “cultural stereotype” has been established which may contribute to the shortage of women now working in AI development. The team from the University’s Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence (LCFI) whittled down over 1,400 films to the 142 most influential cinematic works featuring artificial intelligence between 1920 and 2020, and identified 116 characters they classed as 'AI professionals'. Of these, 92 per cent of all AI scientists and engineers on screen were men, with representations of women consisting of a total of eight scientists and one CEO. This is higher than the percentage of men in the current AI workforce (78 per cent). Researchers argue that…

  • View from India: Metal birds dazzle skies at Aero India show

    The 14 th edition of Aero India - Asia’s largest aerospace expo - has begun amidst fanfare at the Yelahanka Air Force Station in Bengaluru. National and international aerospace and defence companies are exhibiting their best indigenous aircraft carriers that are sleek in design and aerodynamically superior. Indoor pavilions are sporting their scaled-down versions, while the actual ones are taking to the skies. Fighter jets roar in full throttle as they seemingly disappear into the air. The supersonic speed and velocity of the metal birds is mind-blowing. “Globally, 75 countries are using India’s defence capabilities. Our country’s arms exports have grown to $1.5bn during FY 2021-22. The Aero India show has broken past records. The participation of over 700 global and domestic exhibitors…

  • Whitehall changes need to be more than just a distraction

    Changes to the machinery of government can be seen as cumbersome and bureaucratic, but they can also realign the national focus. The UK has a long history of world-leading innovation and new ideas. The bigger challenge is how to move from generating the ideas to getting them out there in the commercial world. So, what does the new Department for Science, Innovation and Technology need to do to meet that challenge? Its creation provides a welcome statement of intent that the UK is willing to back more ambitious innovation to bring wider benefits for individuals and society. Yet as The Economist recently put it: Britain is a great place to start a company, but a bad one to scale it up. To address that problem, the right national apparatus and mindset needs to be in place to scale innovation…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Letters to the editor: volume 18, issue 2

    UK business needs to look past qualifications When I left school in 1977, I walked out of the gates after my last exam and with no career advice went straight into an electrical apprenticeship, as that’s where most boys went then. A very small number went on to college and university. Most 16-year-olds haven’t a clue what they want in life – I have five children, so I have some knowledge about this. Three obtained degrees, one didn’t and he has done well with college qualifications. My youngest is following his dream in music. I so wish I’d had the opportunities he now has. It’s true having a degree can make you more employable. My daughter has given up teaching, sick of working 60+ hours a week, no free weekends, constant targets, stress, no life basically. Chained to an education system…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • The eccentric engineer: The forgotten great American inventor

    In 1856, just before the US Civil War, Granville T Woods, known in his later life as the ‘Black Edison’, was born to a part Native American mother and African American father. At age 10, poverty meant he was forced to leave school and take a machine shop apprenticeship. Here, however, is where Woods discovered his true calling, engineering. How he studied this novel subject is unclear, but he must have learned on the job and may have gone to night school. At 16, he began a series of jobs on the railway and in an iron works while studying electrical engineering in college. Six years later he was working on the British steamer ‘Ironsides’, where he was rapidly promoted to chief engineer. Woods had more sophisticated plans. In 1880, he moved back to his native Ohio and set up as an inventor…

  • AI discovers new cause of high blood pressure

    A team of scientists at St George’s, University of London, used artificial intelligence tools to analyse the blood vessels found at the back of the eye and their connection with heart diseases.  The team discovere d 119 areas in the genome (complete set of DNA) that help to determine the size and shape of these vessels and which could be used in routine eye checkups to help identify health problems.  In the past, scientists have shown that the shape and size of blood vessels on the retina are associated with health conditions including high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes and obesity. However, until now, little was known about how genetics play a role in determining the architectural characteristics of these blood vessels. The researchers found that an increase in ‘twisting…

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