• Transport secretary says ‘reform is vital’ amid bid to avert rail strikes

    Transport secretary Mark Harper told MPs that he “will do everything I can to end these damaging and unnecessary strikes” ahead of planned meetings with trade union leaders. Speaking during Commons transport questions, Harper said: “I want a sustainable, thriving rail network, but with 20 per cent of passengers not having returned following the Covid pandemic, reform is vital. “I would urge all trade union leaders to get back around the table with employers to hammer out the detail of that reform. The government will work to facilitate this and to that end I will be meeting with trade union leaders in the coming days.” His comments came as Labour’s Sam Tarry (Ilford South) urged Harper to do more, saying: “It’s in his hands to end those strikes and to do so today.” Tarry said: “The…

  • Energy price cap increase will see government support rise to £5bn a month

    This will see the government spending up to £5bn a month on subsidies to billpayers from January as it is obliged to keep bills for the average household under £2,500, rising to £3,000 in April. The price cap sets a maximum that suppliers can charge per unit of energy to someone on a dual-fuel tariff for both gas and electricity prices. It was a measure introduced under Theresa May’s government, with the goal of preventing excess profiteering by the electricity companies, particularly in times of crisis. It used to be adjusted biannually to reflect movements in the wholesale price of energy and prevent energy companies from trading at a loss. Following a raft of energy firm collapses last year in the wake of soaring wholesale costs, Ofgem moved to quarterly updates of the cap. Cornwall…

  • European Parliament website hit by ‘sophisticated’ cyber attack

    The European Parliament's website was unavailable for several hours on Wednesday, 23 November, immediately following the controversial vote.  The attack is what's known as a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack, in which massive amounts of traffic are sent to servers in an attempt to block internet users from accessing websites, Marcel Kolaja, European Parliament member for the Czech Pirate party, confirmed.  A pro-Russian group called KILLNET appears to have claimed responsibility for the attack in a Telegram post.  The availability of @Europarl_EN website is currently impacted from outside due to high levels of external network traffic. This traffic is related to a DDOS attack (Distributed Denial of Service) event. EP teams are working to resolve this issue as quickly as…

  • UK’s biggest fraud sting takes down ispoof site linked to 200,000 victims

    Members of British law enforcement were part of a global operation to bring down ispoof.cc, a website described by police as an online fraud shop. They worked with Dutch law enforcement who managed to tap the website’s servers in the Netherlands to secretly listen to phone calls. At one point, as many as 20 people every minute were being targeted by callers using technology bought from the site. Criminals – who found out about the site from adverts posted on channels on encrypted messaging app Telegram – used the site to buy technology that allowed them to mask their phone number. This meant they could trick victims into thinking they were being contacted by their bank and persuade them to pass on personal details that allowed the fraudsters to steal cash. One victim alone lost £3m…

  • Rise in deadly electrical faults increasing risk of fires across UK

    Reports of broken PEN (protected earth and neutral) conductors increased from 57 in 2003 to 474 reports last year, according to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request. As incidents are often not reported, the real figure is likely to be much higher and each incident can affect 50 properties, meaning tens of thousands of properties are likely at risk in the UK. *not including Northern Ireland Image credit: The number of reported broken PEN incidents has increased by more than eight times since 2003 *not including Northern Ireland PEN conductors serve as both a protective earthing and neutral conductor and are used on the PME (TN-C-S) network, which was introduced as an alternative to TN-S and TT in the 1970s. The T stands for terra, Latin for earth. The PME (protective…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Exeter tops UK’s greenest city centre list; Glasgow bottom

    The study compared the greenness of tree cover, vegetation and the presence of parks – factors that have been linked with positive outcomes for health, the economy, education and crime. Researchers from Flinders University, University of Sheffield, University of Melbourne and Environmental Protection Authority Victoria evaluated urban centres with larger populations of more than 100,000 people to create a metric of urban ecosystems, vegetation and human health, social equity and biodiversity. Five cities in southern England were ranked highest: Exeter, Islington (in London), Bristol, Bournemouth and Cambridge. Five in the previously industrial north had the lowest: Leeds, Liverpool, Sheffield, Middlesbrough and Glasgow at the bottom.  “While previous studies have measured greenness in…

  • Decommissioning North Sea wells could cost £20bn

    The North Sea has witnessed an increase in decommissioning projects within the last year, a trend that is expected to significantly accelerate in the next decade, according to a new industry report.  Offshore Energies UK (OEUK)'s annual Decommissioning Insight report has found that a number of decommissioning projects in the North Sea have been brought forward in an upsurge in decommissioning activity that is expected to continue over the next three or four years. The report estimated that 2,100 North Sea wells will be decommissioned over the next decade – about 200 per year – at an average cost of £7.8m per well. This would bring the total cost to £20bn, an increase from last year's estimated £16.6bn. “The UK’s decommissioning sector is snowballing and will continue growing for years…

  • Engineers become Britain’s second most-trusted profession

    Out of a list of 30 different professions, engineers are the second most-trusted in Great Britain, rising up from sixth place (with a score of 84 per cent) in 2021. Engineers are also one of only three professions whose trust score has improved since 2021, according to the data.   The IET worked with the 2022 Ipsos Veracity Index – which has been tracking the latest movements in Britons’ trust in key professions since the 1980s – to include engineering for the fifth year running. The profession, which makes up 19 per cent of the UK workforce, is trusted to tell the truth by almost nine in 10 people (87 per cent of the population), coming in at second place closely behind nurses in the number one slot (89 per cent). Engineers have moved ahead of doctors, teachers and museum curators this…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Introducing Jac, the dog that sniffs out faults in energy networks

    Jac is able to smell oil and hydrocarbon gases through earth and tarmac, saving engineers from digging a number of holes as they try to find the source of the problem. While cables are typically buried at 40-80cm below ground, the springer spaniel has been known to discover a fault two metres deep and his sensitive nose can sniff out as little as a couple of drops of oil. He has been trained at a substation in the town of Renfrew near Glasgow, under Spen's supervision.  Overall, Jac has had a 100 per cent success rate in finding faults on 30 occasions, according to Scott Mathieson, planning and regulation director at Spen. When a fault is identified, Jac pinpoints its location by pointing with a front paw .  When a fault is identified, Jac pinpoints its location…

  • London council abandons plans to scrap traditional gas lamps for LED bulbs

    Following a wide consultation with heritage bodies, gas lamp enthusiasts and residents, Westminster City Council decided to halt the proposed conversion. The 174 gas lamps include 138 Grade II-listed gas lamps and 36 non-listed gas lamps in prominent positions across the city that will continue to light the streets of Westminster. In a change to its proposals, the council will now convert 94 non-listed gas lamps to LED. They will be fitted with the most recent LED lighting developed by specialist manufacturers which replicates the soft ‘honey’ lighting glow, as well as replica mantles, piping and clocks. In addition, the designs of the three replacement lantern styles will be enhanced to reflect more of the detail of the original lanterns, following consultation with Historic England…

  • UK to investigate Apple and Google ‘duopoly’

    The   UK competition watchdog's investigation conclusions could eventually force Apple and Google to loosen their grip on mobile systems.  The announcement follows the publication of the CMA's Mobile Ecosystem Market Study report, which found that Apple and Google have an effective duopoly on mobile ecosystems, which was harming UK-based web developers and cloud gaming service providers, holding back innovation and adding unnecessary costs.  The survey concluded that this market dominance allowed the two companies to "exercise a stranglehold over operating systems, app stores and web browsers on mobile devices". The CMA’s findings state that 97 per cent of all mobile web browsing in the UK in 2021 occurred on browsers powered by Apple’s Safari or Google’s Chrome, meaning any restrictions…

  • North Sea flaring and venting crackdown results in fresh probe

    Venting is the discharging of gases into the atmosphere. Flaring is burning the gases before they are discharged and mainly results in CO2 emissions. Flaring and venting of gases are periodically required for safety and operational reasons, but more can be done to reduce the amount. The probe by the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) could result in action being taken, including a fine for the as-yet unnamed company or the relevant licence being taken away. Monitoring flaring and venting and reducing emissions are vital parts of the NSTA’s work to help the UK government meet the net zero target. Flaring and venting also wastes gas that could otherwise be used to boost the UK’s energy security. Compliance with consents is both an indicator of good management of fields by licensees and…

  • Singapore researchers use waste paper to make greener battery anodes

    Through a process called carbonisation which converts paper into pure carbon, the researchers turned the paper’s fibres into a carbon foam that could be used for the electrodes used in the rechargeable batteries that power mobile phones, medical equipment, and electric vehicles. To produce the carbon anodes, the researchers joined and laser-cut several thin sheets of kraft paper to form different lattice geometries, both 3D open-cell honeycombs and closed-cell plate lattices, using a sheet lamination process. The paper was then heated to 1200°C in a furnace without the presence of oxygen, to convert it into carbon by pyrolisation. As carbonisation takes place in the absence of oxygen, negligible amounts of carbon dioxide are emitted, making the process a greener alternative to incineration…

  • Ericsson to open multi-million-pound UK research centre for 6G tech

    The Swedish telecommunications firm said it would invest “tens of millions of pounds” over the next decade in the new centre. The programme will employ 20 dedicated researchers with additional support for PhD students who will focus on research areas including network resilience and security, artificial intelligence, cognitive networks and energy efficiency. With 5G still in its relative infancy, 6G networks are not expected to be commercially deployed until 2030 at the earliest. Only around 50 per cent of the UK population currently has access to 5G where they live, with landmass coverage lower than 12 per cent. While finalisation of the standard is still some way off, researchers demonstrated possible 6G technologies last year with the transfer of an uncompressed, 8K ultra-high- definition…

  • View from India: Tap research for societal use

    The nation’s progress on the economic and social front depends on the quality of science and technology research in the country. Therefore, research in science and technology is important for a developing country that aspires to join the ranks of developed nations. Agreed. But research should come out of the lab and reach the masses; it is essential to broaden the footprint of research and ensure that it is oriented towards societal betterment. Research should look at problems that people face and try to solve them through tools or services; support and ideas could come in the form of industry collaborations. Within this, deep tech research calls for patient capital as it needs to be supported for approximately a five to 10-year period.  Research-based studies need support from the government…

  • Faster move to renewables would cut the emissions of building green infrastructure

    A study from Columbia Climate School calculated the fossil fuel usage of building renewable infrastructure and found that, if installed quickly, future expansion can be powered by lower-carbon forms of energy. The researchers looked the cost of the green transition in greenhouse gas emissions rather than monetary expenditure. “The message is that it is going to take energy to rebuild the global energy system, and we need to account for that,” said lead author Corey Lesk. “Any way you do it, it’s not negligible. But the more you can initially bring on renewables, the more you can power the transition with renewables.” The researchers calculated the possible emissions produced by energy use in mining, manufacturing, transport, construction and other activities needed to create massive farms…

  • Electrical pulses help keep sharks and stringrays away from fishing nets

    University of Exeter researchers and conservation engineers at Fishtek Marine developed the ‘SharkGuard’ device, which attaches to longline fishing rigs to scare off sharks and rays. It tested the device on French boats fishing for tuna and saw reductions in so-called bycatch (i.e. accidental catching) of blue sharks by 91 per cent and stingrays by 71 per cent. Powered by a small battery, the device works by targeting the area around a shark’s nose and mouth, which is packed with electrical sensors, called the ampullae of Lorenzini. These sensory organs get overstimulated by the electric field generated by the line’s pulse device, which makes the sharks swim away from the danger of the baited fishing hooks. Image credit: Fishtek Marine Catch of the target species…

  • Humans could be living on the Moon by 2030, Nasa says

    Following the successful launch of the first Artemis mission, Nasa officials have spoken about their ambitions for the agency's lunar programme, which could send astronauts to live on the Moon before the end of the decade.  Howard Hu, the Orion programme manager, said the Artemis launch was an “historic day for human space flight” and called it "the first step we’re taking to long-term deep space exploration".  “Certainly, in this decade, we are going to have people living for durations, depending on how long we will be on the surface. They will have habitats, they will have rovers on the ground,” he told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme. “We are going to be sending people down to the surface and they are going to be living on that surface and doing science,” he added…

  • COP27 closes with no action on fossil fuels

    The COP27 UN climate summit in Egypt closed with a historic deal, in which n egotiators from nearly 200 countries agreed to set up a “loss and damage” fund meant to help vulnerable countries cope with climate disasters and agreed the globe needs to cut greenhouse gas emissions nearly in half by 2030. The pledge would end almost 30 years of waiting by nations facing huge climate impacts, despite their much smaller contributions to global warming.  However, many have considered the conference a missed opportunity, as it failed to set a strategy for the phasing out of fossil fuels, allowing emissions-causing hydrocarbons to remain embedded in the global economy. “We joined with many parties to propose a number of measures that would have contributed to this emissions-peaking before 2025…

  • Lottie Tour helps children see themselves as engineers

    Women make up 51 per cent of the general population in England and Wales, but according to Engineering UK , they represent just 16.5 per cent of all engineers. While that’s a six percentage point increase since the last time the research was conducted in 2010, clearly there is still much progress to be made on improving gender diversity and representation. In November 2022, the Women’s Engineering Society (WES) held its seventh annual ‘Lottie Tour’. Coinciding with Tomorrow’s Engineers Week, it is a campaign that uses ‘Lottie’ dolls, complete with engineering PPE of their own, to capture the interest of a younger primary school-aged audience and highlight career opportunities in the sector. In previous years over 150 engineers were involved with the campaign, sharing pictures of Lottie at…

  • China still not at peak emissions despite recent declines, study finds

    The Helsinki-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) carried out a survey of 26 Chinese energy sector analysts and experts. It found that the country’s continued rise in energy consumption effectively cancelled out attempts to decarbonise its economy and energy infrastructure. Resolving this issue requires a combination of increased energy efficiency measures, a shift in the economic growth model, or an even larger scale of clean energy investment, CREA said. For non-CO2 greenhouse gases, there are no official quantitative targets or regular emissions reporting that would allow the assessment of trends or progress. Nevertheless, the assessment also found that China was on track in areas such as clean energy investments, electrification, building sector emissions, and…

  • Rights campaigner sues Meta over advertising practices

    Human rights campaigner Tanya O'Carroll has filed a lawsuit against Meta with the UK High Court, challenging Facebook's surveillance advertising practices.  O'Carroll, who is being represented by data rights agency AWO, reportedly sued the company after Facebook refused to respect her right to object to being profiled and her data being used for advertising purposes. “We shouldn’t have to give up every detail of our personal lives just to connect with friends and family online," O'Carroll said. "The law gives us the right to take back control over our personal data and stop Facebook surveilling and tracking us.” In her filing , the campaigner has asked the Court to enforce unqualified "rights to object" under GDPR, arguing that, under the data protection legislation currently in force…

  • Employee retention key to tackling tech’s diversity problem

    The research, published in talent and reskill training company Wiley Edge’s new ‘ Diversity in Tech 2022’ report , reveals that nearly two-thirds (64 per cent) of UK businesses admit to struggling to retain employees from underrepresented backgrounds. Although 65 per cent state that they work hard to foster an inclusive company culture, 18 per cent say that they have received complaints related to diversity and inclusion from current and former employees. The research also highlights a number of effective DE&I tactics that are being widely overlooked. Positively, more than half (55 per cent) of businesses have a mentorship programme for younger employees to support their professional and personal development. However, fewer (47 per cent) have a system in place to identify whether additional…

  • Recycling pledges from major firms have not reduced plastic use

    Plastic pollution has become a major ecological problem that overwhelms landfills, litters Earth’s coastlines, and affects the health of animals, including humans, while also contributing to environmental degradation and climate change. As public expectations for corporate responsibility grow, an increasing number of businesses have pledged to reduce their use of plastic. But researchers publishing in the journal One Earth detail how the focus on recycling rather than virgin plastic reduction for the world’s largest and most powerful companies is making their commitments less meaningful. The study focused on the top 300 Fortune 500 companies and found that 72 per cent had made a commitment to reducing plastic pollution. “Most of the commitments emphasise plastic recycling and commonly…

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