• Biological sensor allows robot to detect smells

    The robot designed by the Tel Aviv University team is able to detect and interpret electrical signals it receives from the biological sensor, as a response to the presence of a nearby odour.  The biological sensor's sensitivity to smell is 10,000 times higher than that of existing electronic devices, the researchers said. “We connected the biological sensor and let it smell different odours while we measured the electrical activity that each odour induced," said Professor Yossi Yovel, one of the researchers on the team. "The system allowed us to detect each odour at the level of the insect’s primary sensory organ. Then, in the second step, we used machine learning to create a ‘library’ of smells." The scientists were able to characterise eight odours in total, including geranium, lemon…

  • £1K potential savings for EV drivers with ‘Smart Charging Action Plan’

    The UK government has presented a new plan to boost smart electric vehicle (EV) charging, which it claims could save drivers up to £1,000 a year.  The ‘Electric Vehicle Smart Charging Action Plan’ would involve boosting the network of units with smart charging capabilities, which would minimise the impact of EVs on the grid by reducing demand peaks. The plan was drawn up by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and Ofgem, with the goal of making smart charging "the norm at home and work by 2025", as well as the preferred method of long-duration public charging. It stresses that smarter charging could save an average driver around £200 and a high-mileage motorist up to £1,000 a year by, for example, delaying a charge at peak periods until overnight when energy…

  • EV battery-maker Britishvolt collapses; hundreds to lose jobs

    Electric car battery company Britishvolt has fallen into administration and made the majority of its 300 staff redundant, administrators have confirmed. The company, which had plans to build a gigafactory to make the batteries in Northumberland, has appointed administrators at EY after failing to raise enough cash for its research and the development of its Cambois site. It comes after months of trouble as the company struggled to raise enough money to stay afloat. A week ago the group said it was in talks with potential investors. “The company has entered into administration due to insufficient equity investment for both the ongoing research it was undertaking and the development of its sites in the Midlands and the North East of England,” EY said today (Tuesday). “The joint administrators…

  • Big Tech bosses face prosecution in amended Online Safety Bill

    Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Conservative administration has promised to amend the Online Safety Bill to introduce prison sentences for managers that fail to protect children from online harm.  The proposal was pushed for by nearly 50 Conservative MPs, with the backing of the Labour Party.  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.  Under the new amendment, the government is…

  • Tempest jet programme facilitates experienced engineers passing on knowledge

    With the aircraft expected to enter service in 2035 and be operated for decades to come, a young engineer joining a company like Team Tempest electronics lead Leonardo UK could conceivably work exclusively on the jet for their entire career. But a programme like Tempest, which aims to speed up development by drawing on the lessons learned from building previous combat jets, faces a key challenge. How do the companies involved preserve the essential knowledge and experience gained from programmes like Tornado and Typhoon as older workers retire and are replaced by the next generation? The answer being put forward by Leonardo UK is its new ‘brain-to-brain’ initiative. Here, experienced engineers approaching retirement spend some of their final year in employment passing their hard-earned…

  • Scientists use laser to steer lightning bolts

    The demonstration was considered the first time that humans have been able to guide lightning with lasers, a technology that could help protect wider areas against dangerous strikes.   The Laser Lightning Rod (LLR) is a new laser system with an average power of 1kW, pulsing about 1,000 times per second while unleashing one joule of energy per pulse. To test the technology, a team of scientists from six research institutions set up the LLR on the summit of Säntis, in the Swiss Alps, near a 124m-high telecoms tower that is struck by lightning about 100 times a year. Between June and September 2021, the researchers beamed a laser into the clouds, aiming to create  a path of least resistance for the electricity to flow through. The system was used during four lightning strikes over the course…

  • Upcycling microfibres from laundered clothes - new study

    Microfibres are defined as tiny ‘threads’, smaller than 5mm, that break off from textiles through the everyday acts of wearing and laundering garments and textiles. Estimates suggest that every year more than half a million tons of microfibres are released into the world’s oceans simply from washing our clothing, while microfibres from synthetic textiles (known as microplastics) are one of the biggest sources of microplastic pollution in the world’s oceans, contaminating the entire planet from the summit of Mount Everest to the depths of the Mariana Trench. In order to address this significant environmental problem, Xeros Technology developed a washing machine filtration device - XFilter - which captures over 80 per cent of the microfibres shed during garment laundering and prevents their…

  • Indian Railways orders 1,200 freight locos from Siemens

    Under the terms of the contract, valued at around €3bn (£2.7bn), Siemens Mobility will design, manufacture, commission and test the locomotives and provide 35 years of full service maintenance. Deliveries are planned over a period of 11 years. The 9,000-horsepower (6.6MW) locomotives will be assembled in the Indian Railways factory in Dahod, in the state of Gujarat. Maintenance will be carried out in four Indian Railways depots located in Vishakhapatnam, Raipur, Kharagpur and Pune. Locomotive assembly and maintenance will be implemented together with the staff of Indian Railways. These locomotives will be used for freight transport throughout the Indian Railways network and are specified to haul loads of 4,500 tons at a maximum speed of 120km/h, putting them among the most powerful freight…

  • STEM ambassadors bemoan careers advice

    Fortunately for anyone working today in telecommunications, advice back in the 19 th century was largely ignored. “The Americans have need of the telephone, but we do not,” declared William Preece, chief engineer of the British Post office, in 1876. “We have plenty of messenger boys.” Variations of famously wrong forecasts litter history – “the horse is here to stay but the automobile is only a novelty” (advice to Henry Ford from the president of Michigan Savings Bank, 1903) through to the confident predictions that television – and later the internet – will never catch on, vacuum cleaners will be nuclear powered, post delivered by guided missiles, helicopters will replace cars... and so on. So, pity those charged with advising today’s teenagers about tomorrow’s careers, when we don’t even…

  • Interview: Bryan Dean, CEO and co-founder, Dragonfly Aerospace

    “I would like to explore Earth first. Then the Moon, Mars, the asteroids and even further beyond. And if the hardware that I am building is out there helping us to do that, it would give me large amounts of satisfaction.” Bryan Dean is describing his personal mission for Dragonfly Aerospace that designs and manufactures satellite cameras for monitoring what’s happening on Earth from orbit. His company is also just about to launch its first satellite. While Dragonfly’s CEO and co-founder is passionate about space, he recognises that there are “a lot of pressing matters here on Earth”. With his company based in South Africa, the national water crisis of 2017 is still fresh in his mind. “We were worried that the water was going to run out. We were calling it Day Zero, and getting to the point…

  • Social energy tariff essential for those in ‘dire need’, say charities

    In an open letter to chancellor Jeremy Hunt, the group including Age UK, Fair By Design, National Energy Action (NEA) and Scope warns that many older and disabled people, their carers and low-income households are facing an uncertain future as they grapple with unaffordable energy bills. A survey for Age UK suggests that 24 per cent of over-60s are living in homes which are colder than they would like them to be, rising to 27 per cent for older people with a disability. The letter calls for targeted support for those on means-tested benefits, disability benefits and carer’s allowance, as well as those missing out on welfare support but still struggling with their bills. It describes “deep concern” that the withdrawal of universal energy support from April “will leave many older and disabled…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • View from India: AI-generated art, for art’s sake?

    The work of the winners has potential impact in the areas of accessible healthcare and diagnostics, inclusive economic and social policy design, a better understanding of our mental health and how our Constitution protects India’s democratic polity. The winners, across categories such as Engineering and Computer Science, Humanities, Life Sciences, Mathematical Sciences, Physical Sciences and Social Sciences were felicitated with a pure gold medal, a citation and a prize purse of USD 100,000. The announcement about the winners of the Infosys Prize 2022 has already been reported in November 2022.  I would like to dwell on few aspects highlighted by jury members. Like the discussion of the Universe by Prof. Shrinivas Kulkarni (California Institute of Technology) for Physical Sciences. “Going…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Teardown: Meta Quest Pro VR headset

    The Meta Quest Pro headset features a lot of world-class engineering and it benefits from many novel design choices. But you cannot escape the feeling that the company, formerly known as Facebook, has fallen some way short of solidifying its new eponymous ambitions in the metaverse. At £1,500, a very expensive beta has been pushed into the wide market. Let’s be fair. Meta’s latest headset carries its ‘Pro’ branding not because it is a flagship consumer electronics device but because it is primarily aimed at commercial users. Any sales to the public are gravy. So much is evident from the price differential between the new headset and its immediate predecessor: the Quest 2 is sold for just £400. Getting businesses to invest in VR and the metaverse for workplace collaboration has become increasingly…

  • US to support Nevada lithium mine with $700m loan

    The Biden administration is doubling down on its effort to support the domestic production of EVs by offering a loan for w hat could become only the second lithium mine in the US.  The Ioneer Rhyolite Ridge Lithium-Boron Project could potentially obtain enough lithium to support the production of about 70,000 EVs each year. This would reduce annual gasoline consumption by nearly 145 million gallons and prevent the release of 1.29 million tons of carbon dioxide each year, the department said.  The loan would be the first of its kind that the White House has offered a US mining project for lithium, a key ingredient used to make electric vehicle batteries .  "The government is sending a strong signal that it's time to let us go build this mine," James Calaway, Ioneer's executive chairman…

  • Dear Evil Engineer: How can I tip the Isle of Wight into the English Channel?

    Dear Evil Engineer, I am President of a small island nation being gradually swallowed by rising sea levels. Last year, my presidential palace fell into the sea, forcing me to relocate to a less fashionable atoll. This is our home, but we are forced to question how much longer we can live in a country which is vanishing into the ocean. I’m trying to secure funding to build a sea wall around our capital and to begin a programme of land reclamation. However, capital doesn’t come cheap for us, and every time I’ve called to enquire about accessing some of the $100bn in climate finance promised by developed nations annually, I am told my call is very important but under these unprecedented circumstances, the line is receiving very high traffic and I must be prepared for a considerable wait time;…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • 510 UFO reports under scrutiny by US government

    The US National Intelligence office is examining 510 reported sightings of unidentified flying objects (UFOs), also known as UAPs (unidentified aerial phenomena) - more than triple the number reported in 2021.  The recently declassified 2022 report revealed that as many as 163 of these reports were deemed "unremarkable", as they were  suspected to be drones, birds, balloons, weather events or flying debris such as plastic bags.  However, hundreds more still remain unexplained.  The report added that encounters with UFOs continue "to occur in restricted or sensitive airspace, highlighting possible concerns for safety" and national security. Moreover, they are increasing in number. As many as 247 UAPs were reported to the agency from June 2021, compared to the 144 compiled in the spy…

  • How to break into tech with an arts background

    Coding, says a former National Trust professional, is a little like knitting. “It’s like magic – you write some code, click a button and results just appear. It’s more creative than I realised,” explains Jen Openshaw, a history graduate who’s retrained to become a software engineer. Her career, while unusual, follows a pattern familiar to many who’ve leapfrogged into engineering and technology from an arts and humanities background. But when an ill-judged government campaign back in 2020 suggested a ballet dancer’s next job was in cyber, it provoked scorn and ridicule, and the government thought best to scrap it. The UK needs its thinkers, artists and creatives as much as it does its engineers, data scientists and programmers – it’s just that today, tech careers appear better paid, more abundant…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Are Low Code platforms helping solve the skills crisis?

    We need more experts – a lot more experts. A 2021 government report, Quantifying the UK Data Skills Gap, found a shortfall of 178,000 to 234,000 individuals with data competency in the UK alone. It also found that nearly half (48 per cent) of businesses are recruiting for data roles, with 46 per cent struggling with recruitment. Digital skills – from data analytics to cyber security – are in short supply, with demand coming from far more than just the tech sector. In fact, Microsoft estimates that 77 per cent of jobs will call for technical skills in the next decade. This is not just a problem in the UK; in no part of the world can there be said to be an abundance of software engineers. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates the global shortage of software engineers could reach 85.2…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Royal Mail urges customers not to post items overseas after hack

    The company said it was experiencing “severe disruption” to its international export services and is temporarily unable to dispatch items overseas. It has yet to provide an update on when the incident is likely to be resolved and shipping would resume. It is believed to have already left more than half a million letters and parcels stuck in limbo, according to reports at the end of last week . The attack is suspected to have come from a Russian-linked ransomware gang called Lockbit, as reported first by the Telegraph. A Royal Mail distribution centre in Northern Ireland revealed its printers began “spurting” out copies of a ransom note on Tuesday, saying “your data are stolen and encrypted.” Lockbit, which is believed to have close links to Russia, was also behind a major hack of car…

  • Autonomous cars would worsen road congestion, study finds

    Department for Transport (DfT) traffic projections for England and Wales show delays may rise by up to 85 per cent from 2025 to 2060 once self-driving vehicles reach the mainstream.   The analysis is based on predictions estimating that connected and autonomous vehicles could make up half of the car fleet by 2047, allowing many more people to access this form of transport, including “the elderly and those who do not currently hold a driving licence”, according to the report. The document also claims that “the ability to work or relax while travelling in a self-driving car” means occupants will be “more amenable to sitting in traffic”. This view echoes that of experts and company executives who have predicted that autonomous cars will become mobile entertainment/infotainment ‘pods’ where…

  • EWB asks for ‘globally responsible’ engineers

    Engineers have, arguably, shaped the modern world more than any other profession. From railways to aircraft, computer chips to telecoms networks, batteries to new materials, their creations have dramatically improved our collective quality of life. But, by the same token, they also bear a great deal of responsibility for the world’s biggest problems. Whether it’s the threat of nuclear disaster, human-caused climate change, or the spread of hate speech on social media, engineers have had a hand in making these things possible. Part of the issue is that engineers are very good at delivering technical solutions to problems. Want to propel a car forward? Power it with petrol and emit the waste from an exhaust pipe. That’s an effective solution, but done at scale, it wreaks havoc on the planet…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • WEF will ‘spectacularly fail’ unless it advances crypto rules

    The stark message from Nigel Green, CEO of the financial advisory firm deVere Group, comes as many of the world's business, financial, economic, political, media, academic and civic leaders head to the Swiss mountain resort for the annual four-day conference. The event is returning to its traditional timeslot and destination after two years of pandemic-triggered disruption. This return coincides with Bitcoin, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation, recording a resurgent 28 per cent jump in value since the beginning of January.  Green said: “The leaders assembled in Davos at the WEF must next week return home to their governments who then need to insist that their financial regulators must stop ‘talking the talk’ and begin to up the ante on regulating the cryptocurrency…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • After All: Of ‘Vril’, Bovril and the ‘Vril’-powered ‘Kril’ya’

    At my travel writing seminars I often tell the students that they do not have to go to the ends of the Earth to make a discovery. Real treasures are often within easy reach, so instead of staring up at the sky in search of them, look down at the grass (or at the snow) under your feet. But look properly! Some of you, my dear readers, might take the above passage as a lame excuse for a tired traveller’s habitual start-of-the-year laziness, when it is so tempting to stay in a warm and cosy house rather than venture to some dark and frozen far-away fields. And you may be right! Continuing my quest for Britain’s technological, literary, and other Utopias, I want to introduce you to the one which originated – literally – on our doorstep, just a couple of miles away from the IET’s (and E&T’s) state…

  • The bigger picture: IBM Quantum System Two

    IBM’s quantum computer has a layered chandelier-like structure, called a dilution refrigerator. Qubits have to be cooled in stages, so each layer represents a stage. The wires carry microwave pulses into the chip to control the qubits. Image credit: Graham Carlow for IBM IBM Quantum System Two, currently under development at IBM’s Thomas J Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, New York, is designed to be modular and flexible, and will be a building block of quantum-centric supercomputing. Image credit: IBM The IBM Osprey 433-qubit processor has the potential to run computations well beyond the capability of any classical...

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