• 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...

  • The bigger picture: Boeing 747 rocket launcher

    Earlier this month, the historic first attempt to launch satellites from British soil reached space, but ultimately fell short of reaching its target orbit . On 9 January, after taking off from the runway at Spaceport Cornwall – located in Newquay Airport – and travelling to the designated drop zone, Cosmic Girl, the customised former Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747-400 N744VG that serves as the LauncherOne rocket system’s carrier aircraft, successfully released the rocket from a pylon under its wing. The rocket ignited its engines, going hypersonic and successfully reaching space. The flight then continued through successful stage separation and ignition of the second stage. However, during the firing of the rocket’s second-stage engine and with the rocket travelling at a speed of more than…

  • View from India: PM connects with economists ahead of Budget

    “Amid Amrit Kaal looking forward to discussions on Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address, Union Budget & other items,” tweeted Pralhad Joshi, Union minister of parliamentary affairs. The Budget Session 2023 of Parliament is expected to begin on January 31 and will continue until April 6 2022. A total of 27 sittings are expected in a total of over 66 days, with the usual recess. The session will start with an address by President Droupadi Murmu to the joint sitting of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha in the Central Hall of Parliament. What is interesting is that Modi stressed the need to enhance the presence of women in the workforce, urging the public and private sector to come forward and synergise for their benefit. Modi also lauded India’s digital story. Equally noteworthy is the…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Japan to release water from Fukushima plant into the ocean

    The Japanese government has said it will start releasing contaminated water from the nuclear power plant devastated by a tsunami in 2011, into the Pacific Ocean sometime “around this spring or summer”. The plan has been endorsed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), but the government said it would wait for "a comprehensive report" by the UN watchdog before the release.  In March 2011, a large undersea quake off the coast of Japan triggered a massive tsunami . At the time, three of the six nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant were in operation. When the huge waves flooded the backup generators, the cooling systems failed, causing the reactors to go into meltdown.   Every day, the plant produces 100m³ of contaminated water, which is a mixture of groundwater…

  • Hands-on review: Blueair DustMagnet 5240i

    The 5240i is the middle-sized device in Blueair’s range of three DustMagnet air purifiers. It’s compact, like a small side table, at 52x22x22cm. You could easily pop a houseplant on it. Or sit it next to the sofa and leave the remote control and a cuppa on it. Just be careful with the cuppa or when watering the plant. As the name suggests, it collects dust as well as allergens, germs, pollen and pet dander. Tech features include voice and app control, and even geofencing, so it saves energy when no one is home. This model is designed to completely filter the air in a 48m² room every 30 minutes. That’s a large room: it can do a more typical 20m² room every 12.5 minutes. Its clean air delivery rate (CADR) is 226 m³ per hour for dust, 232m³/h for smoke and 238m³/h for pollen. Below it in…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Gadgets: Blueair DustMagnet, Viofo A139 Pro dashcam, Garmin Tacx Neo bike and more

    Blueair DustMagnet 5240i Swedish, high-performance air purification with a furniture-style design. It collects dust as well as allergens, germs, pollen and pet dander. Techie features include voice and app control and even geofencing, so it saves energy when no-one is home. From £329 blueair.com Viofo A139 Pro 3CH Viofo’s first 4K three-channel, three-camera dashcam. Record front-facing footage in superb 4K HDR resolution, picking up numberplates, plus HD rear footage and HD Carpool Karaoke-style interior footage. The cameras connect wirelessly, so the Viofo can record all three at once. £352 viofo.com Doro Tablet and Watch An Android tablet...

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Letters to the editor: volume 18, issue 1

    Can we ever achieve a zero-waste economy? Reading the article ‘Is Chemical Recycling Greenwashing?’ in the December 2022 issue of E&T, I wondered why landfilling plastic waste does not qualify as a method of carbon capture. If plastics are made ultimately from hydrocarbons and if they last for millions of years in the environment, as is so often the complaint of green campaigners, then why not make a virtue of it? I dutifully recycle because it reduces my waste-collection bill and by now I have internalised the habit and its innate ‘goodness’. However, I long ago realised that it means I am also donating my time and some of my money to the cause as I wash the items in hot water and detergent to clean them first. I also fear that much of what I recycle ends up in developing nations and eventually…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Why 2023 promises great expectations in a value-driven EV market

    It may still seem as if electric vehicles (EVs) have made little progress in the wider market, with reports showing only two models in the list of the UK’s top-selling cars for 2022. Based on data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), this could be the result of different factors that are currently affecting the automotive industry, including rising inflation and cost of raw materials. With the cost-of-living crisis also influencing consumers’ approach when shopping for a new car, what can EV manufacturers do to differentiate their offerings and win market share in 2023? The public are are more aware of EVs than ever before, driven partly by rising fuel costs and their own response to the climate crisis, and many are now looking to switch their internal combustion engine…

  • Royal Mail hit by Russia-linked cyber attack

    Royal Mail has been unable to send letters and parcels overseas since Wednesday (11 January) due to a ransomware attack that affected its computer systems.  The organisation has advised people not to try to send international letters and parcels until the issue is resolved. The attack has been claimed by L ockBit, a hacker group widely thought to have close links to Russia. According to The Telegraph, the group was able to get the p rinters at a Royal Mail distribution site near Belfast in Northern Ireland to start printing ransom notes that threatened to publish the stolen information online. The note said: “Lockbit Black Ransomware. Your data are stolen and encrypted.” The back office system affected is the one used by Royal Mail to prepare mail for despatch abroad, and to track and…

  • 2025 gas boiler ban proposed in UK government’s net zero review

    Tory MP Chris Skidmore, the chair of the Net Zero Review, was tasked by the Liz Truss administration in September last year to develop recommendations on how the UK could improve its net-zero efforts. It includes energy efficiency proposals that would ensure that all homes sold by 2033 would be able to demonstrate an EPC rating of at least C. It also proposes a 10-year plan to ensure heat pumps become more widespread throughout the UK and the banning of new gas boiler installations from 2025. A new infrastructure strategy should be implemented by 2025 that supports adaptation for new green energy sources such as hydrogen and other liquid and gaseous fuels, the report recommends. It also suggests a series of tax incentives to encourage businesses to invest in decarbonisation, including…

  • Renewables industry calls for grid investment as delays threaten net zero

    Speaking in front of a cross party group of MPs this week, Chis Hewett, chief executive of Solar Energy UK, said investment in the transmission grid “is in the interest of the consumer, businesses and the taxpayer”. He added that the UK must invest in the grid “to get renewables into the system as soon as we possibly can because that’s the cheapest power and that will bring everyone’s’ bills down”. In written evidence to the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC), the solar trade body said it had received extensive reports of solar projects being delayed – sometimes into the 2030s – because distribution network operators (DNOs) could not connect them. Solar Energy UK said it knew of more than 40 projects and 3.5GW of capacity which had been impacted or delayed by grid connection problems,…

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