• How AI Wi-Fi technology could peer inside our homes

    As part of a wider pose-estimation programme called DensePose, Carnegie Mellon University engineers take advantage of the humble Wi-Fi chips found in, well, almost everything, and use them to figure out where in the room we are standing – and even the position or pose that we are making. Their system does this not by using any special sensors, but by taking the raw Wi-Fi signal data and applying some clever machine learning. And the researchers have now published their experiments in a paper, which shows the DensePose software accurately drawing a wireframe mesh identifying test subjects – and even correctly predicting the direction they are facing, and the position of their arms and legs. Research professor Fernando De La Torre, alongside his colleagues Jiaqi Geng and Dong Huang, believe…

  • Britain's first autonomous bus service launches in Scotland

    The UK has celebrated the launch of its first driverless bus service, operated by Stagecoach.  The start of the pilot programme was marked by a journey on the service between Ferry Toll near Inverkeithing, Fife, and Edinburgh Park.  Scotland’s transport minister Kevin Stewart was one of the first to take his seat for the short journey. A fleet of five driverless buses is expected to operate on a trial basis until 2025. Each bus will carry two members of staff – a safety driver who can take control of the vehicle, and another ‘captain’ to sell tickets and provide customer service. One of the new buses crosses Forth Road Bridge in Scotland, during the launch of the UK's first autonomous bus / Andrew Milligan/PA Wireservice. Image credit: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire …

  • After All: Herons - not drones - above the motorways

    “The road is life” – Jack Kerouac. The devil is not as black as he is painted. Particularly if the ‘devil’ is French and is better known as ‘le diable’. We came close to cancelling this trip only days before it was due to start. France was being reportedly paralysed by protests against President Macron’s pension reform. According to some reports, the protests would often turn violent, with cars, and occasionally even campervans, overturned and set on fire. That last bit was a particular put off for us (my wife, myself and our dog Tashi), for that was exactly how we were planning to travel across the whole of France – in a converted ‘grey import’ Toyota Alphard, nicknamed Alphie, familiar to E&T readers from my previous After All columns. The aim of the journey was a brief reunion with my…

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    E+T Magazine

  • Microsoft to be powered partly by fusion energy from 2028

    Bill Gates' Microsoft has become the first Big Tech company to sign a power purchase agreement with a nuclear fusion company.  Fusion   is based on the same physical reactions that power the sun and stars, which   create energy by forcing atoms together.   It is the opposite of standard nuclear reactors which rely on fission, breaking atoms apart, and it produces zero carbon.  Fusion is hailed as a potential source of almost limitless clean energy, but is has proved very difficult to harness. However, a mid rising energy prices and a cost-of-living crisis, it could become a   safe and clean alternative   source of energy that might become available in the not-too-distant future - or so Microsoft believes. The company that will provide Microsoft with the clean electricity is Helion Energy…

  • EU lawmakers agree on toughening AI rules

    Members of the European Parliament have voted to add a raft of amendments to the much-awaited 'EU AI Act', the world's first comprehensive legislation regulating the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technology.    The law covers a wide range of AI applications, including controversial uses such as smart chatbots like ChatGPT, f acial recognition and biometric surveillance.  Under the new draft,  providers of foundational models will be required to apply safety checks, data governance measures and risk mitigations prior to putting their models on the market. The regulation would classify AI tools  based on their perceived level of risk to health, safety, fundamental rights, the environment, and democracy and the rule of law. Those tools that employ  "subliminal or purposefully manipulative…

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  • Letters to the editor: volume 18, issue 5

    Don’t expect widespread eVTOL travel any time soon I too am struggling to find some credibility in claims about the prospects of urban travel by electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft ( ‘eVTOL’s Overpromise on Green’ , April 2023). Flying at night, or in poor visibility, into a major city or airport would require some of the most demanding piloting imaginable. The act of safely piloting an eVTOL under these conditions, whilst relying upon an already very busy air-traffic control system to separate you from all the other eVTOLS and conventional aircraft, would require a very talented pilot and ATC officer. I fail to see how any aviation authority could expect to achieve a safe standard of operation by “shortening and simplifying” the certification to that required for a “powered…

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    E+T Magazine

  • ‘The poison plastic’: why calls are growing for a ban on PVC

    Dramatic images of the Ohio train derailment and its aftermath gripped the world’s attention in February: a huge plume of thick, black smoke towering into the atmosphere; the blackened carcasses of railcars on their sides, scattered in an unnatural formation; a land scorched and scarred from 50 rail cars, many carrying toxic chemicals, coming off the tracks. Scientists have told E&T that it could be decades before long-term health impacts of the accident are fully understood. They are concerned about the release of carcinogenic chemicals into the atmosphere, as well as into the soil and potentially, the food chain. However, the Ohio derailment was more than a one-off environmental disaster. The accident has lifted the lid on policies around hazardous chemicals, as well as corporate responsibility…

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  • TransPennine Express to be nationalised over ‘continuous cancellations’

    The government has decided not to renew the TransPennine contract from 28 May, after a quarter of the operator's services were cancelled in January and February and one in six trains did not run in March 2023.  The constant cancellations and delays have resulted in a considerable decline in confidence for passengers who rely on the trains to get to work, visit family and friends and go about their daily lives. The government's 'operator of last resort' (OLR) will now run the service, which covers Manchester and Liverpool in the North of England and runs to Edinburgh and Glasgow in Scotland. Although passengers will not see changes in timetables and ticket prices, the government's goal is to improve its performance, officials have said.  The decision was announced by Transport Secretary…

  • South of England facing ‘severe water stress’ by 2030, analysis finds

    According to home improvement company Kingfisher, which owns B&Q and Screwfix, the West Midlands, London, parts of the South West, the East Midlands, the East of England and the South East are all regions expected to be severely impacted, unless there are developments in water resilience in the near future. Regions in the South of England are expected to be the worst affected. By comparison, the North West, the North East and Yorkshire and the Humber will be less vulnerable to severe water stress. Despite government targets to reduce water usage in the home, consumption has risen by 2 per cent since 2017/18. According to a survey of 3,000 UK adults, Brits were found to “significantly underestimate” how much water they use per day, estimating that they use just 57 litres, compared to the…

  • Safety warning issued after live cabling found in wheelie bin

    UK Power Network (UKPN) said last year, between April 2022 and March 2023, more than 1,000 instances of interference were recorded across London, the East and South-East of England. That is triple the number recorded the previous year. Power workers are now finding unsafe sites on a regular basis, the distributor said. In one recent case, live cabling was found dumped in a wheelie bin, where it could kill someone. Other examples include finding live cabling hanging from a fence or tacked onto a piece of wood. The company has warned builders, demolition workers and homeowners to take care and call their network distributor if they want cables moved and a site survey will then be undertaken. UKPN electricity surveyor Chris Slattery attends properties where customers have requested alterations…

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  • Emirates announces $200m fund to cut fossil fuel usage in aviation

    The funds will be disbursed over three years and will see the airline identify partnerships with organisations working on solutions in advanced fuel and energy technologies. In January, Emirates flew a Boeing 777 with one of its engines powered entirely with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) for the first time. SAFs are typically derived by combining jet fuel with alternatives such as biofuels or recycled oils from industrial food facilities. Currently, SAF is approved for use in all aircraft, but only in blends of up to 50 per cent with conventional jet fuel. Following the successful trial on one engine, Emirates said it wanted to continue to develop the initiative with engine airframe manufacturers. However, bio-based SAF, currently the only type of commercially available SAF, is extremely…

  • New electric ‘Slant’ on getting the shopping home given funding boost

    A team of innovation master’s students at the University of Bristol have developed a tap-to-rent electric trailer that can be attached to a bike or e-scooter. The e-trailer could help cut the estimated 4.5 billion car journeys made to and from supermarkets in England each year, as well as assisting the millions of car-less shoppers who must either use taxis or buses or walk home carrying heavy bags. Shoppers would merely unlock the trailer with a debit or credit card – much like renting a shared bicycle or e-scooter – before bringing their shopping home and leaving the trailer outside, whereafter a Slant (the name given to the e-trailer concept) employee would retrieve it and return it to the supermarket. The team behind Slant say the trailers would be “weightless” due to their electric…

  • Alps and Arctic microbes able to digest plastic at low temperatures

    The microbes have been found in regions with near-polar temperatures, such as the Alps and the Arctic.  Scientists were previously aware of other types of microorganisms that are able to digest plastic. However, when the enzymes that make this possible were applied at an industrial scale, they typically only work at temperatures above 30°C.  The higher temperatures meant that money and energy would need to be spent heating the organisms, which is costly and carbon-intensive.  In contrast, the newly-discovered microbes can digest plastic in temperatures as low as 15ºC. “Here we show that novel microbial taxa obtained from the ‘plastisphere’ of alpine and arctic soils were able to break down biodegradable plastics at 15°C,” said researcher Dr Joel Rüthi. “These organisms could help to reduce…

  • Book review: ‘Nuts and Bolts’ by Roma Agrawal

    The idea that small and simple things can be big and complex things in disguise is one that’s fascinated novelists for centuries. In Jane Austen’s world, for example, the merest of imagined slights can have the most far-reaching and dramatic of outcomes, leaving us wondering just how crucial the minutiae of manners can be in constructing a wider social context. It is this notion that forms the core of Roma Agrawal’s non-fictional examination of the engineering fundamentals behind the physical world we live in today. In ‘Nuts and Bolts’ (Hachette, £22, ISBN 9781529340075), Agrawal’s Seven Wonders of the Ancient World aren’t grand constructions, but the humble nail, wheel, spring, magnet, lens, string and pump. Perhaps not so humble after all. As frameworks for expressing the central ubiquity…

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    E+T Magazine

  • Gadgets: Dyson Zone, Alexa Swan kettle, Reskube and more

    Dyson Zone Image credit: Dyson Dyson’s first audio product and first wearable. These are high-end, wireless, noise-cancelling headphones with a difference. A contact-free visor attaches to the front, delivering purified air to your nose and mouth. A cleaner commute with a love-it-or-loathe-it Daft Punk look. From £749.99 dyson.co.uk Read Caramel's full hands-on review. The Alexa Swan Kettle Image credit: Swan Use voice control to request a brew thanks to this, the first ever kettle with Alexa built in out of the box. You can tell the 1.5-litre 1800W kettle to boil, pick a temperature, ask it to keep warm, even set routines...

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    E+T Magazine

  • National Grid hints Demand Flexibility Service could take on expanded role

    According to National Grid ESO, this would be enough to power nearly 10 million homes for an hour across Great Britain. In total, 1.6 million households and businesses signed up to participate in 22 service events across the winter, covering both live events to balance the electricity network and monthly test events to deliver savings for consumers and demonstrate how effective the system could be. In November, Ofgem approved the introduction of the DFS, which pays businesses and the public for reducing or moving their electricity use outside of peak hours. It ran until 31 March 2023, and meant that a typical household could save approximately £100 through the scheme while industrial and commercial businesses with larger energy usage could save multiples of this. Households participating…

  • FBI disrupts hacking network used by Russian spies

    The FBI has used a court order to cut off hackers' access to a network of US computers used to infiltrate diplomatic and military agencies of 50 Nato countries and allies for over 20 years. The FBI operation and US public advisories said it would now be “difficult or/and untenable” for Russia's domestic intelligence service (FSB) to effectively use it again.  The news is the latest on a series of actions taken by US authorities to crack down on foreign spying and criminal rings using custom-built FBI tools. "We assess this as being their premier espionage tool," one of the US officials told journalists. He said Washington hoped the operation would "eradicate it from the virtual battlefield." The malware, known as Snake, was said to have been designed by a notorious hacking group tracked…

  • Dated IT infrastructure leaves government department open to cyber risks

    The parliamentary group said the department has one of the “most significant” legacy IT challenges across government as it still uses a raft of outdated applications. “While Defra is making good progress in tackling its most urgent legacy systems it does not have a long-term strategy for its much-needed wider digital transformation,” the PAC warned. Defra systems are used by a wide range of customers and are critical to the country’s trade, disease prevention, flood protection, and air quality monitoring. But its customers are often forced to rely on paper forms or documents and IT systems that feel outdated and difficult to use. Defra and its organisations handle around 14 million transactions per year that still involve paper forms, which makes them inefficient and expensive. Furthermore…

  • Why everyone benefits from more gender-inclusive city design

    With over 55 per cent of the world’s population now residing in urban areas, and the numbers rising, designing equitable and inclusive cities should be our top priority. As designers and custodians of our built environment, it is our responsibility to ensure that cities and urban neighbourhoods feel safe, welcoming, and home to everyone. Progress has been made in recent years, but there is still a significant amount of work to do, not least in how we address the inequality in how city design affects women and girls. Historically, urban environments have not been designed to consider the specific challenges faced by women in society. For example, transit systems are overwhelmingly designed for both men and women, but are inadequate in supporting the travel patterns and needs of carers, who…

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    E+T Magazine

  • King breaks ground for new Cambridge laboratory focused on net-zero aviation

    King Charles toured Cambridge University’s Whittle Laboratory, which has recently secured funding to develop a new £58m lab, where he spoke of his admiration for engineers. As he walked to perform the ceremonial breaking of the ground, where a lump of mud was already visible on the grass, he joked: “Don’t tell me it’s already been done? It’s very unfair. I was rather looking forward to doing a bit of gardening.” The King then sank the spade into the earth, using his foot to help lift a lump of turf out, before raising the spade aloft. He then jabbed the spade into the ground, leaving it standing, and walked to the stage where he gave a short speech expressing his “enormous admiration” for the work of the laboratory and unveiled a plaque to mark the occasion. The King had previously visited…

  • Briton pleads guilty to major 2020 celebrity Twitter hack

    Joseph James O’Connor, also known as PlugwalkJoe, has pleaded guilty in New York to participating in the hacking of over 130 Twitter accounts in July 2020.  O'Connor and his co-conspirators gained access to Twitter’s administrative tools, and used it to post tweets from high-profile accounts promoting a Bitcoin scan that urged people to send $1,000 in Bitcoin to receive double back. Joe Biden, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Kim Kardashian, Bill Gates, Kanye (Ye) West and Barack Obama were some of the people whose accounts were affected.  PlugwalkJoe was extradited from Spain in April and has now pleaded guilty to hacking, cyber stalking and money laundering. He will now have to return the stolen money and faces a potential prison sentence of 70 years.  O'Connor's co-conspirators have also been…

  • View from India: The US may be India’s largest trade partner

    A diversified economy, increasing foreign investments, trade, productivity gains and the growing consumption in the domestic market could be responsible for India’s growth. As an economy, India may be at a global vantage point. When we look at US-India investments, India has received around US$84bn in FY22 as FDI (foreign direct investment) across sectors. The US has been India’s second largest investor since FY21; India had received 811 industrial investment proposals to the tune of $43bn up to August 2022. In FY23, the US-India bilateral trade could reach $191bn; with this, the US may be India’s largest trade partner. Other factors unfold, like the recent US-India agreement. The US. has proposed a stronger US-India collaboration through iCET 2023. iCET 2023, the United States-India initiative…

  • Securing inactive oil and gas wells could cost the US $30bn, study finds

    The 14,000 inactive oil and gas wells in the US Gulf of Mexico region can still leak and harm marine ecosystems in the process. However, the cost of securing them could reach $30bn (£23.7bn), according to researchers at the University of California. The team collected data from the US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement on the 82,000 wells drilled in the Gulf of Mexico. Although the majority of the wells have been secured, the researchers found evidence that more than 14,000 wells are still unplugged, despite having been inactive for at least five years - a point beyond which they are unlikely to restart production. Operators are legally required to plug wells once they are taken out of production, which usually involves a cement cap covered with sediment.  "The wells aren…

  • Canada’s e-waste triples in just two decades

    The University of Waterloo researchers completed the first comprehensive estimate of e-waste in Canada to understand its lifecycle, from sales of electronic items to e-waste generation. Their findings reveal that the e-waste generation per person has increased from 8.3kg in 2000 to 25.3kg in 2020. The e-waste in Canada is expected to continue rising in the near future and underscores the need for proactive forecasts to better manage the evolving electronics sector. “This study provides useful insights to policymakers for setting up targets for e-waste reduction and recycling to recover valuable resources from e-waste,” said researcher Komal Habib. “E-waste could also help to create a secondary supply chain of critical materials, reducing the risks of potential supply disruptions.” According…

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