• Novel anode design set to improve battery performance for for EVs and laptops

    Researchers at the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM) and Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) have developed the world’s first electrode design for a high-performance lithium-ion battery.  The battery could, in the future, significantly improve the performance and stability of batteries used in electronic devices such as smartphones, laptops, and electric vehicles (EVs).   To achieve this, the researchers used an electrode (anode) structure that enhances the reliability and performance of traditional lithium-ion batteries. The anode is designed with grooves allowing small materials with improved ion conductivity and electrical conductivity to be placed between high-capacity materials.  The innovative design is able to maintain high performance and reliability even when the electrode…

  • Book review: ‘Code for What?’ by Clifford Lee and Elisabeth Soep

    Facial recognition software, a streaming service’s music-categorising algorithm, gendered and racialised high school dress codes and LBGTQ+ discrimination are some of the social issues that a team of teens at YR Media sought to address, using digital technologies.   In 'Code for What?: Computer Science for Storytelling and Social Justice' (The MIT Press, $29.95, ISBN 9780262047456), Dr Elisabeth Soep, and Dr Cliff Lee challenge current practices in computer science courses. Instead of teaching computing in a technical and decontextualised way, they encourage educators to push the boundaries of traditional education and lean into interactive and impactful methods that can approach the content from a more human perspective.  Could coding become a justice-driven medium for storytelling? Would…

  • Chancellor denies claims that HS2 will not terminate at London Euston

    The Sun originally reported that HS2 trains could stop at a new hub at Old Oak Common in West London’s suburbs due to soaring inflation, which would either delay the redevelopment of Euston station until 2038 or see it face the axe completely. But Hunt said there were no “conceivable circumstances” where the project would have its terminus changed when asked by BBC News. Hunt acknowledged that the UK does not have “a good record” of delivering complex, expensive infrastructure quickly, but he is “incredibly proud” that HS2 is being built under a Conservative government. “We’re going to make it happen,” he added. In April 2020, the Department for Transport released a 'full business case' for HS2 that stated that the target timeframe for services launching between Old Oak Common and Birmingham…

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  • Japan to block technological exports to China and Russia

    Japan has tightened its sanctions against Russia following the latter's latest wave of missile attacks in Ukraine that killed at least 11 people. The decision will include a ban on  Russia-bound shipments of goods that can be used to enhance military capability, including semiconductor equipment and components, robots, power generators, explosives and vaccines, according to the trade ministry. The decision will affect 36 individuals and 52 organisations. The sanctions target  exports by Japanese firms, target politicians, military officers, businesspeople and companies in Russia and regions in eastern and southern Ukraine.  “In light of the situation surrounding Ukraine and to contribute to international efforts to secure peace, Japan will implement export bans in line with other major…

  • Operating theatres covered in microplastics with unknown health impacts

    A University of Hull team analysed microplastic levels in both the operating theatre and anaesthetic room in cardiothoracic surgeries and discovered an average of 5,000 microplastics per metre squared when the theatre was in use - almost three times the amount found in our homes. The anaesthetic room had far fewer particles, with an average levels of just 500 per metre squared when in use. Both settings had no microplastics settling out from the air when not in use. Researcher professor Jeanette Rotchell said: “You can imagine that during a cardiothoracic operation, which may last as long as eight hours, there will be a lot of people, utensils and consumable items. These items are all wrapped in plastic and this is contributing to all those particles in the operating room. “It is a very…

  • UK underestimates oil and gas industry emissions, study finds

    A  recent study from researchers at Princeton University and Colorado State University has found inaccuracies within the current method for estimating methane emissions from offshore oil and gas production in the UK.  As a result, as much as five times more methane is being leaked from oil and gas production than currently reported, the researchers said.  Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas providing more than 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide within the first 20 years of it reaching the atmosphere. It is currently estimated to contribute at least a quarter of today’s climate warming. Currently, c ountries are obligated to report their greenhouse gas emissions to international bodies such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. However, the study suggested…

  • Hands-on review: Nexar Pro GPS dual dash cam

    We previously looked at the Beam , Nexar's 'one big-eye on the road ahead' single-lens dash cam. Now, the Pro GPS model brings double the eyes, with separate front and rear-facing cameras for those who want to capture both the road outside and also the in-car activity. This is a growth area for dash cam companies. While some people are happy to simply capture the road ahead for insurance purposes, other drivers - particularly those carrying fare-paying passengers in these side-hustle, gig-economy times - need a record of what's taking place inside the vehicle, as well as potentially what's happening on the road behind. Nexar is selling a lot of dash cams, so it clearly knows its in-car onions. According to the company's own stats, Nexar users worldwide have collectively driven 3,000,000…

  • Seaweed farming expansion could cut carbon emissions, improve food security

    Seaweed is thought to offer a sustainable alternative to land-based agricultural expansion to meet the world’s growing need for food and materials. “Seaweed has great commercial and environmental potential as a nutritious food and a building block for commercial products including animal feed, plastics, fibres, diesel and ethanol,” said PhD candidate Scott Spillias. “Our study found that expanding seaweed farming could help reduce demand for terrestrial crops and reduce global agricultural greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by up to 2.6 billion tonnes of CO2-equivalent per year.” The researchers mapped the potential of farming more of the 34 commercially important seaweed species. They estimated the environmental benefits of a range of scenarios based on land-use changes, GHG emissions…

  • Artificial skin could sense objects without touching them

    The artificial skin developed by researchers from the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore could be able to identify objects it has not yet touched.  The team demonstrated that the artificial skin could be used in a variety of applications, including the manipulation of virtual game characters, navigation of electronic maps, and scrolling through electronic documents. “Human skin has to touch something to tell it what is there,” said researcher Yifan Wang . “Human skin can only tell the softness or hardness of an object. We wanted our artificial skin to have more functions.” Even without touching an object, Wang and his colleagues´ artificial skin can sense if it is close by and can also discern some clues about the type of material it is made of. “We can tell whether it’s…

  • ChatGPT AI bot passes law exams

    ChatGPT was created by US firm OpenAI. The app uses artificial intelligence to generate streams of text from simple prompts. The results have been so good that some educators have warned that it could lead to widespread cheating by students, potentially even signalling the end of traditional classroom teaching methods. Jonathan Choi, a professor at Minnesota University Law School, gave ChatGPT the same test faced by students, consisting of 95 multiple-choice questions and 12 essay questions. In a white paper titled 'ChatGPT goes to law school', published earlier this week, Choi and his co authors reported that the bot scored an overall grade of C+. While this was sufficient for a pass, the bot was near the bottom of the class in most subjects and "bombed" at multiple-choice questions…

  • Climate policy ambitions ramping up in clean energy arms race

    The body, which makes forecasts about the climate transition, said that climate objectives for the likes of the EU and US have taken “centre stage along with domestic economic and industrial needs”. It recorded “significant developments” over the last quarter across clean power, industry, transport and buildings. Policies tackling methane from oil & gas operations and agricultural sources are also beginning to emerge. In particular, it noted that negotiations on the EU’s Emissions Trading System and Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism as well as bans to petrol cars have concluded. This is in addition to agreements fast-tracking renewables projects. The US floated a carbon border adjustment tariff on steel and aluminium via cooperative climate clubs alongside approving a program scaling…

  • IBM and SAP to slash thousands of jobs

    IBM and SAP are the latest companies in Silicon Valley to announce their plans to cut thousands of jobs, following similar moves made by Spotify and Alphabet earlier this week.  IBM has revealed it will cut around 3,900 jobs, amounting to 1.5 per cent of its global workforce. The layoffs will cost the company a bout $300m (£242m) this quarter, a spokesperson confirmed. German software giant SAP also said it planned to lay off 2.5 per cent of its global workforce of 112,000, amounting to around 2,800 jobs. The restructuring will cost SAP between €250m (£219m) and €300m (€263m). The companies have explained the layoffs as part of an effort to restructure their businesses towards specific products and models.   An IBM spokesperson told CNN that the layoffs were "entirely related" to the…

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  • Competition watchdog to clamp down on ‘greenwashing’ by household brands

    Shoppers spent over £130bn on ‘fast-moving consumer goods’ (FMCG) last year, which includes household essentials like food and drink, cleaning products, and personal care items. A significant number of these are marketed as green or environmentally friendly, including up to 91 per cent of all dishwashing items and 100 per cent of toilet products, the CMA said. The body is launching a review into whether these claims are justifiable as part of an expansion into its ongoing work into ‘greenwashing’, which seeks to get to the bottom of whether products and services that claim to be green or eco-friendly are being marketed to shoppers accurately. The review will examine a range of essential items used by people on a daily basis and repurchased regularly. In 2021, the average household spent…

  • UK car production hits lowest level in more than half a century

    A report by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said UK car production in 2022 shrunk to levels not seen since the 1950s.  In 2022, a total of 775,014 cars were built in the country. The figure constitutes a 9.8 per cent decline from the 859,575 made during the previous year.   December rounded off a volatile 12 months, with output down 17.9 per cent year on year, despite the growth that had occurred in October and November. The annual total for 2022 was 40.5 per cent down on pre-pandemic levels. The columns for the UK last year were up 9.4 per cent compared with 2021, but this failed to offset a 14 per cent decline in exports, with four out of five UK-built cars shipped overseas, the figures showed.   “These figures reflect just how tough 2022 was for UK car manufacturing…

  • View from India: Use tech upgrades to prosper or else perish

    President Droupadi Murmu has hoisted the National Flag at the Kartavya Path to begin the 74th Republic Day celebrations. President Murmu was honoured with a 21-gun salute with the Indigenous 105 mm Indian Field Guns as she arrived at the Kartavya Path along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President of Egypt Abdel Fattah El Sisi. This was the first time an Egyptian President has been the chief guest at the Republic Day. The Republic Day Parade at the Kartavya Path has been represented by 23 tableaux, 17 from states and Union Territories and six from various ministries and departments. New Delhi's iconic Rajpath has been rechristened as Kartavya Path. The parade has a patriotic fervour, depicting the nation’s rich cultural heritage, economic progress and strong internal and external security…

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  • Nasa could send nuclear rocket to Mars

    Nasa and DARPA could test the thermal rocket engine as soon as 2027, with a view towards unlocking the key to enable future Mars missions.   The two space organisations will partner on the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations, or DRACO, programme, designed to benefit both agencies and outline roles, responsibilities, and processes aimed at speeding up development efforts.  The project is intended to develop a pioneering propulsion system for space travel far different from the chemical systems prevalent since the dawn of modern rocketry. “With the help of this new technology, astronauts could journey to and from deep space faster than ever – a major capability to prepare for crewed missions to Mars,” said Nasa administrator Bill Nelson. “Congratulations to both Nasa and…

  • Hundreds of millions of people to be affected by sea level rise, new modelling suggests

    Researchers from Dutch firm Data for Sustainability say their data shows that the land areas that would be inundated after the first one to two metres of sea level rise have been underestimated in the past. The study used high-resolution measurements of land elevation from Nasa’s ICESat-2 lidar satellite, launched in 2018, to improve upon models of sea level rise and inundation. Previous assessments typically relied on radar-based data, which are less precise. “Radar is unable to fully penetrate vegetation and therefore overestimates surface elevation,” said researcher Ronald Vernimmen. This had the impact of making many coastal areas appear to be higher than they actually were. The underestimates of land elevation mean coastal communities have less time to prepare for sea level rise…

  • US sues Google over ‘anti-competitive’ advertising practices

    The DoJ said Google's market dominance was harmful to other business in the sector, and called for the company to be broken up. The complaint, filed on Tuesday 23 January in a Virginia federal court, accuses Google of using “anti-competitive, exclusionary, and unlawful means to eliminate or severely diminish any threat to its dominance over digital advertising technologies”. US Attorney General Merrick Garland added Google's actions had "weakened if not destroyed competition in the ad tech industry".  In response, Google accused the DoJ of "doubling down on a flawed argument". The legal dispute is the agency’s first antitrust lawsuit against a tech giant under President Joe Biden and an escalation in legal pressure on one of the world’s biggest internet companies. The lawsuit said…

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    E+T Magazine

  • CT scans of Egyptian mummified remains reveal precious amulets

    Computerised tomography (CT) scans revealed the boy was equipped with 49 amulets of 21 different types - many made of gold - which had been carefully placed on or inside the body.  The mummified remains are said to be those of a boy, estimated to have been 14 or 15 years old when he died around 2,300 years ago.  By leveraging CT technologies, scientists were able to 'digitally unwrap' the body and make 3D-models of the amulets found inside without physically disturbing the remains. The teen, nicknamed 'golden boy' has allowed researchers to unveil some of the ritual practices that Ancient Egyptians used in the belief that they would ensure their loved ones could safely reach the afterlife. The mummified remains were digitally unwrapped in four stages/ SN Saleem,…

  • Majority support higher road taxes to fund public transport services

    Approximately 8,073 respondents were surveyed in summer 2022 in London, Washington D.C., Toronto, Paris, Dusseldorf, Turin, Dubai and Bangkok. The survey found that three-quarters of people would prefer to choose a better-connected public transport system, rather than driving. However, 48 per cent of people said they were sometimes deterred from using the services due to overcrowding. Cost, convenience and comfort were also identified as the biggest motivators to use public services. 73 per cent of respondents said they would be more likely to travel on public transport if they could see live information about crowding levels on services, rising to almost 9 in 10 people in Bangkok. However, the move towards digitisation and adoption of apps presents barriers as well. Almost two-thirds…

  • Scientists develop cheapest carbon capture system to date

    The team at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNLL) has developed what is claimed to be the "least costly carbon capture system to date". Using a PNNL-developed capture solvent, the system snatches CO2 molecules before they’re emitted, then converts them into useful, sellable substances. As described in the journal Advanced Energy Materials, the system has been designed to fit into coal-, gas-, or biomass-fired power plants, as well as cement kilns and steel plants. While commercial systems soak up carbon from flue gas at roughly $46 (£37) per tonne of CO2, a new study described in the Journal of Cleaner Production set the cost of running the methanol system using PNNL-developed capture solvents at just below $39 (£31) per tonne of CO2. “We looked at…

  • How digital asset monitoring is creating a greener, more efficient grid

    Electricity networks are becoming more complex. Grids are receiving more renewable energy input than they were designed for, energy that is produced at different times in highly varying amounts, placing great pressure on grid stability. Input sources have proliferated; increasing wind-farm connections, especially in the UK with its renewed push for more onshore wind, are now joined by multiple ‘grid edge’ suppliers such as community renewable energy projects, PV sites, and residential feed-in sources, and these cause energy backflow. Neither the grid infrastructure nor protection schemes were designed for two-way energy flow in such quantities. Now consider the rapid growth of electrification: electric vehicles (EVs), rail, device charging and more residential heating with electric heat…

  • Single oil spill near key Qatari port could devastate global energy supplies

    More than 20 per cent of global LNG exports originate from a single port in Qatar. A major spill could cause the shutdown of export facilities and desalination plants on the coast for several days.  The new paper is from a joint group of researchers at the University of Louvain, the University of Southern California (USC) Viterbi School of Engineering, and the Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute. In the presence of an oil spill, tankers cannot navigate through thick oil slicks in order to continue exports abroad. Qatar’s desalination plants, which rely on the intake of seawater, would also not be able to perform normal operations with a heavily polluted water source. The researchers believe that such a shutdown could cause significant disruption in the global gas supply and…

  • Spotify fires 6 per cent of its workforce

    The audio streaming service is expected to cut about 600 jobs, as part of its post-pandemic restructuring plan. CEO Daniel Ek announced the restructuring in a message to employees, confirming reports leaked during the weekend.  Spotify has a total workforce of around 9,800 people, according to its latest filing. Based on that number, the job cuts are expected to impact about 600 employees.  Following on the lead of the main executives of Meta, Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet – which have recently announced large-scale layoffs – Ek explained the decision as a result of changes in customer and advertisers' behaviours, as they have reduced spending in the face of a looming recession.  “Like many other leaders, I hoped to sustain the strong tailwinds from the pandemic and believed that our…

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