• UK government to crack down on deepfakes with ‘world-first’ detection framework

    The government has announced plans to collaborate with tech firms, including Microsoft, and other partners to develop tools to combat the unprecedented growth of deepfakes. The aim is to mitigate the proliferation of harmful AI-generated deepfake content, which the government says is now an “urgent national priority”. While deepfakes have existed for almost a decade, rapid advances in generative AI in recent years have driven their scale and sophistication across the internet. As its name suggests, AI technology is used to create images and videos that appear highly realistic but are in fact fake. The ability to create convincing deepfakes quickly and cheaply is available to almost anyone, with little to no technical expertise required. According to recent government figures, the rise…

  • Nvidia and Dassault Systèmes to pioneer AI-fuelled virtual twins

    Nvidia will partner up with Dassault Systèmes to combine their AI infrastructure and virtual twin technologies. The announcement was made during Dassault Systèmes’ flagship 3DExperience World conference currently taking place in Houston, US. Speaking at the event, Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang said: “We are partners in bringing this technology to the world. This is the start of a platform shift that is the largest integration of our technologies in history.” Joining him on stage, Pascal Daloz, CEO of Dassault Systèmes, added: “Together with Nvidia, we are building industry world models that unite virtual twins and accelerated computing to help industry design, simulate and operate complex systems in biology, materials science, engineering and manufacturing with confidence. “This partnership…

  • China to ban hidden electronic car door handles from 2027

    Chinese regulators have introduced safety rules banning electronically-operated concealed door handles, forcing car makers to adopt mechanical releases on vehicles sold in the country. The new rules will come into effect on 1 January 2027, following a series of incidents in which power failures in electric vehicles prevented the door handles from working, trapping occupants inside. The concealed door handle, popularised by Tesla, is featured on a number of Chinese car models. The handle sits flush with the car’s exterior and must be pressed down to release it. From the inside, an electronic button opens the door rather than a traditional lever. While aesthetically appealing, over the years the design has raised safety concerns as the doors rely on electrical power to open. This means…

  • Wood-based material stores heat to cut building energy demand

    A wood-based material that can store and release heat could help keep building temperatures comfortable without using electricity, according to a new study. Researchers from the University of Texas at Dallas have developed a type of phase-change material that acts as a thermal battery, absorbing and releasing heat. In 2020, about 10% of all energy used in the US went towards keeping buildings comfortable to live and work in. Integrated into building structures, such as drywall, flooring or roofing, the stored energy in phase-change materials could help reduce electricity demands for air conditioning and heating and improve overall energy efficiency. Shuang (Cynthia) Cui, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and corresponding author of the study, said: “During the summer, for…

  • Elon Musk merges SpaceX and xAI to push space-based AI data centres

    SpaceX and xAI have merged in a deal that could enable Elon Musk to pursue plans for a constellation of up to one million satellites intended to power AI data centres in orbit. The acquisition of xAI was announced in a statement on SpaceX’s website, bringing together Musk’s rocket-and-satellite company with his AI firm. According to Bloomberg, the deal reportedly values the combined companies at $1.25tn, with SpaceX at $1tn and xAI at $250bn. This move would create the world’s most valuable private company. Musk founded xAI in 2023 to compete with rivals such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini in a bid to provide “maximum truth-seeking AI”. Last year, xAI acquired one of Musk’s other ventures X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. In 2002 Musk founded private aerospace…

  • UK launches PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ plan as critics warn it lacks regulatory action

    The UK government has unveiled its ‘first-ever’ national strategy to tackle per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), but critics argue the plan falls short of meaningful regulatory commitments. The government says the new plan aims to coordinate action across government, industry and regulators to better understand where PFAS, often referred to as forever chemicals, are coming from, how they spread and how to reduce public and environmental exposure. First produced at the end of the Second World War, PFAS can now be found in everything from furniture and cosmetics to food packaging, non-stick pans and clothing. They represent a group of around 12,000 different chemicals and are known as ‘forever chemicals’ because of their unbreakable chemical structure. Due to their widespread use,…

  • E+T Podcast: Episode 19 | A year of voluntary change

    What difference can a President make in a year at the helm of the IET? How do individual agendas fit in with the overall strategy of the IET? And how do you measure success? These are some of the issues E+T's editor Tim Fryer put to the new President of the IET Dawn Ohlson. The conversation highlighted the importance to the IET of volunteering and why this is core to Dawn's objectives for the year. ( Continue reading on E+T Magazine ).

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • E+T Deconstructed: Inside A2RL - racing cars without racing drivers

    Sport will always be a human pursuit, but in the case of A2RL - The Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League - it is a perfect technology demonstrator. Motor racing at speeds of up to 250km an hour, without a driver in sight, but instead some AI developers pitting their skills against each other. Extreme skills and an extreme event. ( Continue reading on E+T Magazine ).

  • Sand-based heat storage could cut industrial energy costs by 70%

    Cleantech start-up TheStorage has installed a sand-based thermal storage pilot at a brewery in Finland to provide fossil-free industrial heat. The pilot system converts renewable electricity into heat, stores it in sand and delivers it for on-demand industrial heating. It aims to address the variable availability of renewable electricity by storing surplus energy when it’s abundant and releasing it as heat, helping to ensure a consistent supply of fossil-free energy. Having developed the idea in 2023, TheStorage has now installed its first industrial-scale pilot at Finland’s fifth-largest brewery, Nokian Brewery, for real-world industrial testing, where it will be used to produce fossil-free steam for the brewery’s production lines. TheStorage estimates that its heat storage solution…

  • Escalating space debris poses $42bn risk to space industry

    Failure to effectively address the current space debris challenge could cost the space industry up to $42.3bn over the next decade, according to a World Economic Forum (WEF) report. The report, a collaboration between WEF and the Saudi Arabia Centre for Space Futures, calls for coordinated global action to tackle space debris and keep Earth’s orbit safe and sustainable. Humanity is increasingly reliant on satellites to power GPS, weather forecasting and emergency communications. With more than 8,000 satellites already orbiting Earth and thousands more planned, the report warns that this critical orbital infrastructure is at growing risk of collision with space debris. Space debris is the result of the accumulation of defunct satellites, rocket parts and other human-made objects. It is…

  • UK’s first battery-only train enters passenger service

    Great Western Railway (GWR) has introduced the UK’s first battery-only-powered passenger train on a suburban rail link in west London. The GWR Class 230 battery train will carry passengers on the Greenford branch line, a five-mile return route from West Ealing to Greenford, replacing its diesel counterpart. The fast-charge technology used in the Class 230, a retro-fitted 1982 District Line train, has been undergoing trials for the past 22 months. In August 2025, it even set a new world record for a battery-electric train, travelling 200 miles on a single charge. During the trial, Network Rail worked with GWR to install the fast-charge battery banks and assisted with the safety reviews to ensure both the train and the recharging infrastructure were ready for the introduction of passenger…

  • Electric eels spark development of flexible, implantable batteries

    Flexible, non-toxic hydrogel batteries could power soft, wearable and implantable electronics, according to a study. Researchers at Pennsylvania State University have taken inspiration from the biology of electric fish, such as eels, to develop a hydrogel-based soft material capable of conducting electricity. Joseph Najem, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and corresponding author on the paper, said: “The electrocytes in electric eels are ultra-thin biological cells, capable of generating over 600 volts of electricity in a brief burst. These cells achieve very high-power densities, meaning they can produce a lot of power from small volumes.” The team’s approach involved layering multiple types of hydrogels – water-rich materials capable of conducting ions – in a specific pattern…

  • Waymo’s driverless robotaxis will hit London streets later this year

    Waymo, the self-driving taxi service owned by Google’s parent company Alphabet, aims to operate a driverless robotaxi service in London as early as September. The firm, which operates in a number of US cities, has long held plans to launch a fully autonomous service in London. However, this is dependent on a number of safety and regulatory approvals. The government has said it intends to update regulations under the Automated Vehicles Act in the second half of 2026. The Act provides the legal framework for fully self-driving vehicles, setting out how they’re approved, regulated and held accountable. The planned updates will allow driverless services to operate legally on public roads provided they meet strict safety standards. During a launch event at the London Transport Museum this…

  • Computer chip shrunk into hair-thin flexible fibre for intelligent wearables

    A flexible chip as thin as a human hair could pave the way for a new generation of electronic wearable clothing, according to a new study. Researchers at Fudan University in Shanghai, China, have built complex electronic circuits inside thin, flexible fibres. When woven into fabric, these ‘fibre chips’ could process information and handle data to enable clothing to work like a computer. As the fibre chips are closed loops – containing power, sensors and processors in one string – they are able to function as independent intelligent systems without any external hardware. This could lead to a new generation of even smarter wearables for use in a range of applications such as health monitoring and interactive clothing. At 50 micrometres in diameter (the average human hair is around 70…

  • Pornhub to restrict access to UK users because of ‘failed’ Online Safety Act

    Pornhub has said it will block access to all UK users that haven’t already generated an account on 2 February due to the “failed” Online Safety Act (OSA). Online platforms were given until July last year to adhere to new age verification rules under the OSA or face the prospect of fines. But while many larger porn sites quickly implemented the system to stay compliant, lesser-known sites chose to flout the rules in order to capture internet traffic from users that did not want to sign up for an account. After the implication of the new rules, use of VPNs (virtual private networks) surged in the UK as they allow users to access the sites from other countries with less stringent regulations. Aylo, Pornhub’s parent company that also owns sites including RedTube, Tube8 and YouPorn, said it…

  • HS2 begins tunnelling to Euston after fears line would stop at Old Oak Common

    The first of two tunnelling machines has begun excavation works between Old Oak Common and Euston Station as part of HS2’s final 4.5-mile stretch into central London. The works mark a major milestone for the project after rumours swirled in recent years that HS2 would only reach Old Oak Common in west London due to the high cost of building the remaining few miles to Euston. Some estimates suggested that by not extending into central London, the overall economic benefits of HS2 could be halved in the long run. The Department for Transport (DfT) said that taking HS2 all the way to Euston was “essential to unlocking the project’s full economic potential” and was part of wider progress on the project, which included 23 miles of tunnels, 19 bridges and two viaducts along the rail line’s route…

  • Doomsday Clock ticks closer to midnight amid rising global risks

    Humanity is closer to catastrophe than ever amid rising nuclear tensions, AI risks, biological security concerns and the worsening climate crisis, according to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has set the Doomsday Clock at 85 seconds to midnight, reflecting its assessment of how close humanity is to being annihilated by existential threats such as nuclear war, climate change, biotechnology risk, disruptive technologies such as AI and geopolitical conflicts. Midnight on the clock symbolises global human-made disaster if those threats aren’t addressed. As of January 2026, the clock is the closest it has ever been to the hour of doom. From the acceleration of a renewed nuclear arms race to the rise of nationalistic autocracies around the world, 2025…

  • AI-driven job losses hitting UK harder than other big economies

    The UK is losing more jobs to AI and at a faster rate than its international peers, according to research by Morgan Stanley. The US investment bank found that British companies have suffered net job losses of around 8% over the past year as a result of adopting AI. This is twice the international average and the highest rate among other leading economies including the US, Japan, Germany and Australia. The firms surveyed represent the five sectors thought to be most affected by AI adoption: consumer staples and retail, real estate, transport, healthcare equipment and automobiles. The UK firms reported that their AI investment has delivered productivity gains, with half of them seeing boosts of more than 11.5%. By contrast, despite US firms reporting similar productivity gains, AI adoption…

  • Nasa prepares for historic crewed Moon flyby ahead of February launch

    US space agency Nasa is preparing for its Artemis II mission, set to launch in early February 2026, which will carry four astronauts on a lunar flyby before returning to Earth. The Artemis II mission, which is expected to last about 10 days, will mark the first time humans have travelled beyond low-Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972. The Artemis programme was formally established in 2017 and launched its first uncrewed mission in November 2022 using the long-delayed super heavy-lift launch rocket Space Launch System (SLS). Artemis II, the programme’s first crewed flight, was originally planned to take place in 2024, followed by a crewed landing on the Moon for Artemis III in 2025. However, in December 2024 the agency confirmed that it would target April 2026 for Artemis II and mid-2027…

  • TikTok faces California investigation over claims of suppressing anti-Trump content

    The US version of TikTok has been accused of suppressing content critical of President Donald Trump by governor of California Gavin Newsom just days after being acquired by a conglomerate of US companies. Writing on X, Newsom said: “It’s time to investigate. I am launching a review into whether TikTok is violating state law by censoring Trump-critical content.” In December, TikTok’s parent company ByteDance finally agreed to sell most of its US business to a group of investors including Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX after originally being ordered to do so under a ruling from Joe Biden’s administration in 2024. The inclusion of Oracle in the deal has proven controversial given that the firm was founded by Larry Ellison, who has deep ties to the Trump administration. Trump has also praised…

  • UK and European ports team up to ship captured CO₂ to the North Sea

    Major UK and European ports will ship captured CO2 to permanent storage sites in the North Sea, helping to cut industrial emissions. New agreements will see LBC Tank Terminals, Associated British Ports (ABP), North Sea Port and Denmark’s Port of Esbjerg collaborate to develop carbon capture and storage (CCS) terminals and a shipping corridor linking north-western Europe with the UK. The aim is to provide scalable solutions that help decarbonise heavy industry. Shipping is emerging as a key element of CO2 transport. According to S&P Global, shipping volumes of CO2 could reach tens to hundreds of millions of tonnes a year by 2050. Captured carbon from industrial processes is transported to a port where it is liquefied and stored in dedicated handling terminals. It is then shipped over long…

  • Levels of PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ found to be declining in subarctic ocean

    North Atlantic pilot whales have been found to have 60% lower concentrations of PFAS (per- or polyfluoroalkyl substances) in their bodies following a phasing-out of some of the most commonly used chemicals. PFAS, often referred to as forever chemicals, were first produced at the end of World War II and can now be found in everything from furniture and cosmetics to food packaging, non-stick pans and clothing. But due to their widespread use, they can now be found in our water supplies, soil and food, making them a major concern for human and ecological health. Beginning in the early 2000s, some of the most common and well-studied PFAS were phased out through a combination of industry shifts and international regulations. Now, a new Harvard University study has found that since that phase…

  • New UK gigafactory roadmap sets out major recommendations to boost investment

    The UK Gigafactory Commission has published a report outlining recommendations to attract battery investment and strengthen domestic production, aiming to cut reliance on foreign supply chains. Currently, the UK only has one operational gigafactory – in Sunderland, run by Chinese-owned firm AESC since 2012 and supplying Nissan. Construction of a second gigafactory officially got under way in December 2024 and is located at the same site. The Agratas gigafactory in Somerset is also under development, with production expected by the end of the decade. There are proposals and planning for additional battery factories in the West Midlands, but none have yet begun formal construction. The Faraday Institution predicts the UK will need the equivalent of six gigafactories, each producing 20GWh…

  • Heathrow finally scraps 100ml liquid limit after £1bn scanner upgrade

    Heathrow has scrapped the 100ml limit for liquids in cabin bags after it completed upgrades to its security scanners. The airport has been trialling the technology since 2019 and said that at least 60% of bags rejected at security checkpoints were subjected to hand searches because passengers had failed to remove all liquids. It is now the world’s largest airport to fully roll out next-generation CT security scanners – a move that promises faster queues for the 84 million passengers that travel through it every year. The £1bn upgrade has seen passenger security lanes across all four of Heathrow’s terminals replaced with state-of-the-art CT scanners that can provide more detailed images of cabin baggage for security staff. All UK airports were originally required to install the new security…

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