• Social media firms face hefty fines under new UK online safety rules

    Social media platforms will face significant fines if they fail to protect users from criminal content online under new powers that have come into effect today. In December, Ofcom published the first edition of its codes of practice and guidance on tackling illegal harms, which include terror, hate, fraud, child sexual abuse and assisting or encouraging suicide. The regulations form part of the UK’s Online Safety Act, which was finally signed into law last year. Social media firms must now carry out ‘illegal harms risk assessments’ to ascertain how likely it is that users could encounter illegal content on their service, or, in the case of ‘user-to-user’ services, how they could be used to commit or facilitate certain criminal offences. Ofcom said it would begin assessing platforms’ compliance…

  • Australian man lives with titanium heart for over 100 days

    An Australian man in his mid-40s with severe heart failure has survived 105 days with an artificial heart made of titanium. The implant, known as the BiVACOR Total Artificial Heart, was fitted in November 2024 following a six-hour procedure at St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney. The titanium device was invented by biomedical engineer Dr Daniel Timms, founder and chief technical officer of US-based BiVACOR. It has so far been successfully implanted into five patients in the US, the first taking place on 9 July 2024 at the Texas Heart Institute at Baylor St Luke’s Medical Center in the Texas Medical Center. The device is used as a stopgap for people with heart failure who are waiting for a donor heart. The Australian man is the sixth person to be fitted with the device, and the first outside…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Abandoned oil and gas wells could be turned into energy storage sites, study finds

    Depleted oil and gas wells could be repurposed as compressed-air energy storage (CAES) sites for stockpiling excess energy from renewables for use when needed. CAES plants compress air and store it underground when energy demand is low and then extract the air to create electricity when demand is high. But start-up costs currently limit the commercial development of these projects. “The problem is that sometimes when we need energy, there is no sunshine or there is no wind. That’s why it’s very important to have some storage capacity to support the grid,” said Arash Dahi Taleghani, a researcher at Penn State University. His team proposes a new geothermal-assisted CAES system that makes use of depleted oil and gas wells. Estimates suggest there are a vast number of abandoned oil and gas…

  • British Gas engineer trials hydrogen-powered van

    On its path to achieving a net zero fleet by 2030, British Gas has started a two-month trial of a hydrogen-powered van. British Gas has partnered with Oxford-based alternative fuel and energy solutions firm Ryze Power, which will supply the clean hydrogen for the Vauxhall Vivaro van. The van will be driven by a British Gas engineer in Birmingham, who will access Ryze’s refuelling station at Tyseley during their working day. British Gas’ parent company Centrica has set a target of achieving net zero emissions by 2040; as part of this it is aiming to decarbonise its entire transport fleet by 2030. Hydrogen fuel is considered an efficient alternative to fossil fuels. Hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (EVs) emit only water vapour, drastically cutting air pollutants and greenhouse gases…

  • US to develop utility-scale geothermal power plants to support military operations

    Global energy technology company Baker Hughes is to explore the use of utility-scale geothermal power plants to supply energy to US military bases. A collaboration with the US Air Force and Department of Defence will attempt to tap into the country’s abundant geothermal energy supply to enhance national security. Geothermal energy is considered a significant source of renewable electric power. Geothermal technology uses the heat from naturally occurring water sources deep underground to generate large amounts of usable heat or power. To tap into this limitless supply of heat requires wells drilled a few miles or more below the Earth’s surface. However, tapping these water sources has proved challenging, with many geothermal plants drawing energy from heat that simmers near the Earth…

  • Industry insight: What it will take to kickstart the circular economy

    Ask any business leader what the circular economy is, and you’ll probably get a well-informed response. But from a practical standpoint, most circular endeavours today remain controlled experiments rather than full-scale transformations. And it shows: according to some estimates, the world dumps over two billion tons of waste every year. One measure finds humanity is using resources gleaned from the earth 1.7 times faster than the planet can produce them. Businesses have had centuries to perfect the linear economy practices of resource exploitation – so what will it take to unlearn those wasteful principles and pivot to a circular mode of operation? The answer is as old as business itself: economic opportunity. Businesses need a compelling economic reason to make a radical shift from…

  • E+T | Expert Engineering - The Viking Link

    In an age when electricity is in huge demand, and energy security a cause for concern, it can take surprising and challenging engineering to find solutions. The Viking Line is one such engineering feat - the world's longest land and subsea interconnector that runs 765km between the UK and Denmark. How did they do it? And what has it achieved?

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • North Korean hackers spread spyware through Google Play disguised as utility apps

    North Korean hackers have infiltrated the Google Play app store, uploading spyware masquerading as utility apps. According to a report from cyber-security firm Lookout, the spyware known as KoSpy has been propagated by the APT37 hacking group, which is thought to be backed by the North Korean state. The group, believed to have been created in 2012, has previously been involved in attacks on various financial institutions, primarily in South Korea although they have actively been targeting other countries in recent years. The report found that the spyware was first observed in March 2022 and remains active, with new samples still publicly hosted. KoSpy can collect extensive data, such as SMS messages, call logs, location, files, audio and screenshots via dynamically loaded plug-ins on…

  • Radioactive coolant leak reported at Europe’s largest nuclear reactor

    Finnish nuclear power company TVO has reported a radioactive reactor coolant leak at Finland’s Olkiluoto 3 (OL3) nuclear power plant. In a statement posted on its website, the company said that about 100 cubic metres of radioactive reactor coolant had leaked into containment rooms at OL3 during the reactor’s annual outage for maintenance activities. The leaked reactor coolant flowed from the containment rooms into the floor drain system, which has been designed to collect and drain any reactor coolant leakages. TVO said this area is closed to the environment. The incident occurred as a result of a “human error through a hatch of the reactor pool that had not been closed properly”. The statement underlines that the incident did not pose any risk to personnel, the environment or nuclear…

  • Jaguar’s controversial Type 00 concept seen driving the streets of Paris

    A few months after its controversial launch, Jaguar has released a video showing the Type 00 concept car cruising the streets of Paris in a rather bright ‘French Ultramarine’. At the end of last year, British brand Jaguar unveiled an advertising campaign and images of its upcoming electric GT, dubbed the Type 00, showing it in shades of Miami Pink and London Blue. The reveal drew global attention, with some calling the concept a “design triumph”, while others were far less favourable in their views. While some car launches go unnoticed by the general public, this concept certainly garnered global attention. It has remained a talking point not only on the design of the concept but also on the company’s rebrand, which was launched around the same time. Arguably, this was a clever ploy…

  • MPs warn uneven EV charging roll-out is holding back adoption

    Electric vehicle (EV) drivers in the UK are still suffering from patchy availability of a reliable charging network, which is hampering adoption, MPs have said. A report from the Public Accounts Committee has found that the Department for Transport (DfT) has been slow to ensure available rapid charge points on motorways and that London has much more robust charging infrastructure than the rest of the country. The latest industry figures show that nearly 20% of all new UK cars registered throughout 2024 were EVs. However, despite steep discounts provided through the year, EV adoption among private buyers has been lower than anticipated – especially if the government wants to hit its goal of eliminating sales of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030. According to a survey of 2,700 motorists…

  • Green energy projects to be fast-tracked as part of overhaul to UK planning system

    The government is planning to revamp the UK’s energy planning system so that grid connections for “the most important projects” are prioritised over the current “first come, first served” process. In its manifesto, Labour set itself a lofty goal of entirely decarbonising the UK’s energy grid by 2030 – bringing forward the already-ambitious 2035 target. But for this to be achieved, green energy infrastructure needs to be installed at pace. The current infrastructure is reaching its capacity and is unable to transport much more electricity without reinforcement. In the last decade, investment in renewable energy generation has exceeded investment in transmission capacity, resulting in bottlenecks in the electricity network. A 2023 report from Centrica found that the queue for connecting…

  • New 'rotor-blown wing' drone shifts between helicopter and airplane modes

    Sikorsky has successfully flown its drone prototype that lifts off vertically like a helicopter but cruises like an airplane. The battery-powered, 52kg uncrewed aerial system (UAS) features what Sikorsky, an arm of defence firm Lockheed Martin, calls “rotor-blown wing” design. This design essentially directs the backwash from the twin propellers or rotors over the wing surfaces, reducing drag and enabling lift by increasing the velocity of the air. The vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) prototype, which features a 10.3ft (three metre) composite wingspan, has been put through a number of flight tests to assess its operational stability and manoeuvrability when transitioning between flight modes. In January 2025, it successfully completed more than 40 take-offs and landings. During…

  • Climate change is shrinking the thermosphere and crowding out satellites – MIT study

    Scientists have predicted a fall in the number of satellites that can sustainably operate in low-Earth orbit (LEO), because of the impact of climate change on the atmosphere. According to a new study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), greenhouse gas emissions are causing the upper atmosphere, known as the thermosphere, to shrink, which changes the way bodies orbit around the Earth. Satellites in LEO reduce the latency effect associated with those operating in a much higher orbit. This is particularly beneficial to the growing satellite constellations that aim to give total broadband internet coverage around the world, such as services from Starlink and Amazon’s Project Kuiper. There are already over 10,000 satellites operating in LEO. When the thermosphere contracts…

  • Only 17% of cities meet WHO air pollution guideline, report finds

    The recently published 2024 IQAir World air quality report has revealed some alarming trends of air pollution levels worldwide. In its 7th annual report, Swiss technology company IQAir significantly expanded the amount of monitoring stations from its previous year’s report. From 30,000 air quality monitoring stations in 2023, for this year’s report data was analysed from more than 40,000 air quality monitoring stations across 8,954 locations in 138 countries, territories and regions. This increase is attributed to the low-cost air quality monitors used by citizen scientists, researchers, community advocates and local organisations. These monitors have helped to provide a more accurate picture of air pollution levels worldwide. Of the 138 countries analysed, the report found that Chad…

  • Neom gigaproject reportedly turning into a financial disaster, with costs soaring to $8.8tn

    Currently under construction in the Saudi desert, the highly ambitious megacity Neom has become a financial disaster, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ). Neom was first announced in 2017 by the project’s mastermind Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia. Plans for the gigaproject included a 170km linear city called The Line, which will span three countries (Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan) across 26,500km2 of desert along the Red Sea. In October 2024, Saudi Arabia opened the first area of Neom, a luxury island known as Sindalah, and last month construction began on the Hidden Marina development, the first phase of The Line. According to a recent article in Arabian Gulf Business Insight, the Neom project is using one-fifth of the entire world’s available…

  • Africa experienced record internet shutdowns in 2024 as leaders sought to suppress dissent

    Africa saw more internet shutdowns in 2024 than ever before as autocratic leaders looked to disempower grassroots movements amid contentious elections. Internet rights group Access Now has issued a report showing how authorities imposed at least 296 internet shutdowns in 54 countries, causing chaos across borders and exacerbating trauma during conflict. The findings reveal that 21 shutdowns impacted 15 countries in Africa – the highest number of shutdowns ever recorded in a single year for the region. For the second year in a row, authorities and warring parties used internet shutdowns as a weapon of war and a tool for collective punishment. Access Now also said they were sometimes used to conceal human rights abuses. The countries identified that were most affected included: Burundi…

  • UK government to grant £250 a year off energy bills to those living near new pylons

    To prevent potential pylon backlash, the UK government has said that those living near new pylons could receive £250 a year off their energy bills. Households within half a kilometre of new or upgraded power infrastructure, including pylons and substations, could receive up to £2,500 over 10 years, The Guardian has reported. In September 2024, Labour set out its ambitious planning reforms, including the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which is due to be introduced this week. The bill aims to support the government’s commitment to building 1.5 million homes. It will help streamline the process for approving critical infrastructure and overhaul rules on the compulsory purchase of land. This critical infrastructure includes power infrastructure. The UK currently faces an urgent need…

  • Editor's comment: Let's get smart

    Clearly neither Los Angeles burning out west, nor the unusually cold weather in the east that drove the inauguration ceremonies indoors, could persuade incoming President Trump that pulling out of the Paris Agreement was anything but a good idea. He signed an executive order on inauguration day to initiate the withdrawal process. In the meantime, the US will start to ‘drill, baby, drill’ itself back to economic prosperity, or so Trump believes. In the absence of US leadership, however, there is another force for good that could yet save mankind – engineering. There is very little engineered today that doesn’t take sustainability into account. Even the most demonised of machines, the internal combustion engine (ICE) car, is squeezed for efficiency and cleanliness. But ICE vehicles remain…

  • Creating cooler clothes for a warming world

    Fabrics designed to keep city dwellers’ body temperatures down could ease the impact of climate change in urban heat islands. As both global temperatures and urban populations rise, more and more city dwellers are now sweltering under the very real ‘urban heat island’ effect. Data from UK engineering consultancy Arup indicates that temperatures in both London and New York can surge by 4.5ºC compared to the surrounding countryside, Mumbai has 7ºC hotspots and parts of Madrid reach an alarming 8.5ºC higher than greener, cooler sites. Figures also indicate that the number of cities exposed to extreme temperatures of 35°C or more could triple by 2050, so many more urbanites look set to face higher air-conditioning bills at best – and heat-related illness and death at worst. But while these…

  • Dangerous diving in the offshore oil and gas industry

    In our last issue, we looked at some of the most hazardous jobs in the engineering sector. But one stood out as being worthy of an article in its own right – saturation diving for the offshore oil and gas industry. As a light shines from the approaching remotely operated vehicle (ROV), his limbs twitch and his arms reach out weakly as if grasping for help. His gas has long gone. His pipe snapped more than half an hour earlier and no one was expecting to find him, let alone alive. But the wait is haunting. The only ship that can deliver a diver to rescue him in time is struggling to regain control in stormy seas above. In the meantime, the helpless and horrified crew can only watch. This was back in 2012, and saturation diver Chris Lemons has no recollection of the encounter, though he’s…

  • Smart and the city: now with added AI

    The ‘bold visions of future urban living’ are being given a reboot, with AI at the forefront. When computer-generated images of gleaming new smart cities started to appear back in the 2000s, they would typically be captioned as a ‘bold vision of the future of urban living’. It is a vision that has been blurred by a succession of unforeseen legislation and disruptors in the years that followed. New environmental governance rules, data privacy regulation and mandates over how resources such as water and energy must be managed have all sent pioneering smart city planners back to their digital drawing boards. Smart city projects have been further tested by the global crosscurrents of economic turbulence, pandemics, geopolitics and policy shifts. Antipathy towards Big Tech players linked to…

  • Can artificial intelligence replace teachers in schools?

    A London school is using AI to teach a class – but will this really help pupils to learn and engage, and lighten the workload of struggling human teachers? In September 2024, an independent school in London announced that an AI platform would teach a group of its GCSE students. The ‘teacherless classroom’ (which still has three teachers overseeing youngsters using the alternative job title ‘learning coach’) caused both outrage and excitement in equal measure. Had AI finally crashed the cosy little party of British education, so often immune to goings-on in the outside world? Or was it just another attempt by clever tech developers to outdo their equally clever competitors? Search the internet and you will find all sorts of ‘go-to AI solutions for next-gen education’. Forget all that sort…

  • SpaceX rocket explodes after launch for second time this year

    Elon Musk’s SpaceX has suffered its second rocket failure this year after one of its spacecraft exploded just minutes after taking off from a Texas launchpad. The firm was using last night’s Starship launch to place mock satellites in orbit as part of longer-term plans to make long-haul trips to Mars. The Starship rocket is SpaceX’s largest spacecraft and has been developed with the intention of lowering launch costs through economies of scale. The rocket lifted off around 18.00 ET (23.00 GMT) last night, and while its super heavy first stage returned to the launchpad as expected, visualisations showed the upper stage spinning in space before the firm lost contact with it altogether. Final contact with Starship came approximately nine minutes and 30 seconds after lift-off. While no injuries…

Community Rules & Guidelines