• Matter standard gives home appliances a common language

    In the smart home that was promised, domestic appliances – thermostats, smart fridges, smart locks, smart lights – work together to manage our households with minimal interference. The reality is a muddle of systems that refuse to communicate: a patched-together collection of digital domestic servants shouting at one another in mutually unintelligible languages to little effect. Lack of interoperability is among the most serious obstacles to expansion of the ‘internet of things’, and has long been recognised as such. A 2014 UK government report warned that competing IoT standards are a major block to growth in the sector: “Left unchecked, this carries a risk of restrictive standards being set and enforced by monopolistic providers, and of fragmentation inhibiting the interoperability of devices…

  • UK universities join mission to discover the origin of the universe

    Six UK universities will help to deliver a major upgrade to the cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiment known as Simons Observatory (SO). The SO is located in the high Atacama Desert in Northern Chile inside the Chajnator Science Preserve, at an altitude of 5,200 meters. The facility, alongside the Atacama Cosmology Telescope and the Simons Array have goals to study how the universe began, what it is made of, and how it evolved to its current state. The CMB is the trail of heat left by the Big Bang, and studying its tiny fluctuations help scientists to understand how the universe was formed and how matter was distributed shortly after the event. Prior to the new UK contribution, SO was comprised of a single large aperture telescope and 3 small aperture telescopes. Observations…

  • New online service will boost employer support for disabled workers

    An early test version of the Support with Employee Health and Disability service is already running, offering information and advice about supporting and managing employees with disabilities. The DWP said that any employer can access the service, although it is primarily aimed at smaller businesses, many of which do not have in-house HR support or access to an occupational health service. The new service also covers potential changes an employer could make to help staff return to and stay in work. Claire Coutinho, minister for disabled people, health and work, said: “Since 2017 we have seen one million more disabled people in work, beating our target by five years. Now we want to go even further by giving more employers the tools and information they need to ensure disabled people and…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • View from India: Quantum computing’s amazing potential

    An image of the penicillin molecule may be difficult to analyse, let alone molecules with over 100 components. This is where quantum computing fits in. It has a unique ability to calculate structures at atomic and subatomic scales and does so with precision. That’s just one of its attributes. No surprise that the technology could find applications in communication satellites that can be beamed to receivers on Earth. This may be used for scientific studies. That’s not all. Quantum computing may be used in healthcare, communication and large-scale optimisation like traffic flow, goods delivery and task simulation. It could probably help to sift through large chunks of data related to climate or population. Given this diversity, the government and private companies are investing in this technology…

  • Walking robot design could enable large-scale construction projects in space

    Researchers from the University of Lincoln have tested the feasibility of the robot for the in-space assembly of a 25m 'Large Aperture Space Telescope' (LAST), while a scaled-down prototype also showed promise for large construction applications on Earth. Maintenance and servicing of large constructions is difficult in space because the conditions are extreme and human technology has a short lifespan. Due to the high risk factor, total reliance on human builders is not enough and current technologies are becoming outdated. “We need to introduce sustainable, futuristic technology to support the current and growing orbital ecosystem,” said Manu Nair, a PhD candidate at the University of Lincoln and corresponding author of the study. “As the scale of space missions grows, there is a need…

  • When the chips are down: how to ride out the supply storms

    It hit the car manufacturers first and hard but then spread to other parts of industry during the worldwide pandemic. The shortages became so sharp that manufacturers were taking them out of other products for their own. I’m talking, of course, about semiconductors and the supply chain problems of the last few years.       Chips are now a commodity, to be found in the humblest of items we use every day. That we take them for granted became clear only when we missed them. Now the shortages have eased, but what will the supply chain disruption mean for the electronics industry in the future? In our cover story , Chris Edwards looks at what happened, why, whether it could have been avoided, and what’s happening now. Is it the end of offshoring?. Where there’s a shortage of almost anything…

  • AI language tools discriminate against disabled people, study suggests

    Artificially intelligent hiring tools could be offensive or prejudiced toward individuals with disabilities , according to researchers at the Penn State  College of Information Sciences and Technology  (IST). AI models have been increasingly used for natural-language processing (NLP) applications, such as smart assistants or email autocorrect and spam filters . In the past, some of these tools have been found to have biases based on gender and race. However, until now similar biases against people with disabilities have not been widely explored. Researchers at Penn State analysed 13 different AI models commonly used for NLP applications to measure attitudes towards people with and without disabilities. “The 13 models we explored are highly used and are public in nature,” said Pranav Venkit…

  • Underwater robots deployed to study Nord Stream gas leaks

    The Nord Stream pipelines were commissioned in 2011 to move natural gas from Russian fields into Western Europe. But on 26 September 2022, both pipelines experienced multiple large pressure drops to almost zero, attributed to three unexplained underwater explosions that caused the gas inside to leak into the sea. The study from a team at the University of Gothenburg is being conducted to follow how chemistry and life in the sea changes over time due to the large release of methane gas. Three remote-controlled robots, which will be managed by the Voice of the Ocean Foundation (VOTO), will move around the sea and record water data continuously for the next 15 weeks. “They are called gliders and are provided by VOTO, who also manages their operation. The robots can give us measurements…

  • Labour pledges to ban fracking ‘once and for all’

    Labour has pledged to ban fracking “once and for all”, calling it “an unjust charter for earthquakes”, and is reportedly working to try to force the government to change its policies.  Ed Miliband, the shadow climate secretary, is scheduled to visit Bassetlaw, Nottinghamshire, on Friday to meet the party's candidate Jo White and residents to listen to concerns about the possibility of fracking in their area. "Labour will stand with communities in opposing the Conservatives' dodgy plans to impose expensive, dirty, and dangerous fracking on the British people," he said. “Fracking would make no difference to energy prices, and could risk the health of local communities, nature, and water supplies.” Fracking is the process of hydraulic fracturing, which uses high-pressure liquid to release…

  • UK extends deadline to remove Huawei equipment from 5G network

    UK telecom operators will have until the end of 2023 to remove all Huawei equipment from their network ‘cores’, where some of the most sensitive data is processed, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has announced.  The original deadline for the removal was set to January 2023. The extension was granted in order to avoid possible “network outages and disruption for customers, due to delays caused by the pandemic and global supply chain issues” for a small number of operators, the DCMS said, adding that companies should strive to meet the original targets wherever possible. The news follows calls from the telecommunications industry, which stated that the supply chain delays caused by the Covid-19 pandemic would make it difficult for operators to replace the equipment…

  • 5.3bn mobiles to be junked this year as experts call for higher recycling targets

    The WEEE Forum, which organises today’s International E-Waste Day, has conducted a survey of 8,775 European households across Portugal, Netherlands, Italy, Romania, Slovenia, and the UK. It found that the average household contains 74 e-products such as phones, tablets, laptops, electric tools, hair dryers, toasters and other appliances (excluding lamps). But despite the valuable resources held in the electronics, including gold, copper, silver, palladium and other recyclable components, experts expect a majority will disappear into drawers or cupboards or be tossed into waste bins bound for landfills. Pascal Leroy, director general of the WEEE Forum, said: “We focused this year on small e-waste items because it is very easy for them to accumulate unused and unnoticed in households, or…

  • Dear Evil Engineer: Could a cold bomb become the next hot trend in defence?

    Dear Evil Engineer, In May, I dropped out of my first year of business school. I don’t want to waste three of the best years of my life being lectured by fusty old academics who have never run real businesses of their own, especially when I can stream TED Talks and access Elon Musk’s Twitter feed without paying a penny. No, instead I’m going to buy a black polo neck; launch a start-up of my own; disrupt an industry or two; take it public, and retire as a billionaire by 30. I have spent the past few months thinking of ideas for my big product and I think I’ve got it at last. A bomb, except instead of blasting everything to pieces on detonation, it freezes everything in place – much less messy. I have already filed a trade mark application for its name (the ‘Carnot’) and tagline (‘Bombs…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Can England’s new ‘biodiversity net gain’ law reverse declines in nature?

    “We had a vision to create the most sustainable, carbon-efficient building that we could develop, and also to deliver as much net gain in biodiversity as well,” says Emma Payne, project manager at Eden, an office block in Salford which is set to complete next year. If the architect’s renderings are anything to go by, it will make a distinct departure from more traditional glass and steel office blocks. Instead, Eden will be draped head to toe in what will be Europe’s largest living wall. Payne says some 350,000 plants will attach to the building on grids (the plants are currently sprouting in a nursery in Chichester). There will also be numerous bird boxes and insect hotels. Thanks to this profusion of plant life, Muse Developments, the firm behind the design, claims it will increase biodiversity…

  • Electrical wiring fires increase across UK

    The findings have led to calls for a higher level of competency within the electrotechnical sector and raised questions about the government’s move to expand the current regulations. Electrical distribution fires occur within the fixed electrical parts of a home such as wiring and fuse boards. There were 3953 of these in 2021 across the UK, in comparison to the 3000 recorded in 2005 when the government introduced Part P of the Building Regulations in England and Wales. Electrical distribution fires have increased over the last thirty years Image credit: Electrical distribution fires. E&T The regulations state that anyone carrying out electrical installation work in a home must make sure that the work is designed and installed to protect people from fire and electric…

  • The eccentric engineer: Norbert Rillieux and the Sugar Revolution

    It’s fair to say that people of colour in Louisiana don’t have a great deal of reason to be thankful for the sugar plantations that helped make the state wealthy, and yet it was one of their own who transformed the sugar industry the world over, improving both the product and the lot of the enslaved people forced to produce it. Sugar cane growers in the early 19th century had a problem. The raw cane juice was turned into sugar in a process known as the ‘Jamaican Train’. Initially, juice was boiled in a large kettle until most of the water had evaporated. The resulting syrup was then ladled by hand into a series of ever smaller copper evaporating pans until just the crystalised sugar was left. At least that was the theory, but there were numerous problems. The dangerous job of ladling hot…

  • Hands-on review: Honor smartwatch GS 3

    Honor’s GS 3 is a fine-looking watch with plenty of nice functions, but it nearly didn’t get up and running in this review. The problem was the app. Typical of gadgets these days, there is next to no information in the box, save a quick-start guide with a QR code in it. The QR code points to an app used across multiple Honor devices, but not the Honor GS 3 smartwatch. The watch needs the (Android) phone to set up, so with no app there is effectively no watch. Endless attempts at pairing the device to the phone were in vain. Finally, a search for another app resulted in finding the compatible ‘Honor Health’. A few hours late, but the review had started. Even when the right app had been identified, sign-up wasn’t swift and the amount of information and access required felt unnecessary. Given…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • The digital skills gap is an issue for the whole tech community

    In July, bosses from hundreds of the biggest tech companies in the US signed an open letter  urging governors and education leaders to introduce computer science to be taught to kids from as young as five years old. The signatories included Google, Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft, as well as universities and non-profits in that sector. The letter argued computer science should be considered “a core subject, just like basic biology or algebra” and emphasised how important it is for children to learn digital skills from a young age, as well as build an understanding into how the technology they use every day works and is built. The sentiment of this letter rings true for the UK, too. The British economy is estimated to be losing an astonishing £6.3bn in GDP per year, largely due to a widespread…

  • Met Police to use behavioural data to prevent crimes against women

    The Metropolitan Police is set to use data analytics to help  stop offenders before they commit an additional or worse crime. Met commissioner Sir Mark Rowley told the international ‘Exceptional Policing’ conference that the new data-led approach to policing will enable the force to "understand the likelihoods" of who will commit a violent crime in the City of London. “The Met is working to build a city-wide data picture of men who we know prey on and commit abhorrent crimes against women and girls across London, which is more sophisticated than ever before," he said.  “Sadly, we know it is many tens of thousands of men. “I want us to go further, to see if we can build a clearer picture of future risk, forecasting and interdicting men who will commit violent crimes again women or girls…

  • Further delays to Real Madrid stadium renovation

    Real Madrid CF is arguably the most famous football club in the world. Los Blancos, as the team is colloquially known, has won more Spanish league titles and European Cups/Champions Leagues than any other football club, and has more fans than any other club, worldwide. However, anyone who has been watching Real on TV recently might have noticed that the iconic Santiago Bernabeu stadium has been well below its 80,000 capacity, with only 50,000 spaces available for fans during the 2021-22 season. That’s because the Bernabeu renovation project, which began in 2019, is still nowhere near completion. Planned upgrades include a retractable roof and pitch, a new outer shell, and the engineering of more space inside the stadium. The original date for the project’s completion was put back to…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • The Gallery: RECON electric VTOL craft takes to the sky

    Ryse Aero Technologies’ testing of flight-control systems saw the RECON complete a seamless take-off, controlled hover, forward flight, pivot turn manoeuvres and a smooth landing. Erik Stephansen, the company’s director of regulatory affairs and pilot for the test, described the RECON as “effortless and very enjoyable” to fly. “I was thrilled at how I could literally hover, take my hands off the controls and the RECON sat there stable and safe,” he says. With the RECON distinguishing itself from similar aircraft by not requiring a pilot’s licence to operate, the inaugural flight marked a significant milestone in the company’s goal of expanding aerial mobility to people living in rural areas and on large private lands. Ryse says the plane is as easy to operate as an ATV (all-terrain vehicle…

  • Aspirations for green flight need to become firm goals

    At last week’s International Civil Aviation Organisation Assembly, ICAO member states adopted a collective global ‘long-term aspirational goal’ of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 . The agreement marks a turning point on the journey to sustainable air transport and now provides an international policy framework for the global aviation community to adhere to. While many countries, including the UK and EU, had set a net-zero 2050 target for aviation emissions, a common international framework has, until now, been a major missing piece of the puzzle. There is now considerably less risk of global regulatory distortions that could slow progress. Furthermore, the goal aligns international aviation with the Paris Agreement and follows a commitment by the industry itself last year. All countries…

  • Nasa technology could be used to charge EVs in under five minutes

    Researchers found that technology developed by Nasa and Purdue University for use on the International Space Station (ISS) could also be used to charge electric vehicles at a much faster rate than that which is currently possible. The novel technique, known as "subcooled flow boiling", could boost the amount of electrical current from EV chargers by roughly 1,400 amps - nearly five times the rate of up to 520 amps currently supplied to EVs, Nasa said. The higher the electrical current, the more heat it generates. With this technology, Nasa could open the door to a faster flow of electricity without the risk of components overheating.  Originally, subcooled flow boiling was developed to ensure that complex systems maintain specific temperatures in space. Space missions are expected to…

  • Register allows digging with confidence

    If you fire up Google Maps on your computer or phone, in seconds you can go from a view of the entire Earth, to an ultra-zoomed in, street-level view of almost every major city. Individual buildings, paths and even traffic lights are sometimes visible, giving you full mastery of the built environment. However, as detailed as the map is above, the earth below the ground is shrouded in mystery. Water pipes, electricity conduits, gas mains and telecoms cables form a tangled web of utilities and other services beneath our feet. And when the road needs to be dug up, it can be a nightmare. According to one industry estimate, there are around 60,000 accidental utility strikes in the UK every year, caused when, for example, the broadband company bursts open a water pipe while digging. These far…

  • Inside Sandvik’s test mine in Finland

    Mining companies rely on continuous innovation to be able to to deliver the productivity increases that drive economics in this highly cyclical sector. Electrification, automation, digitisation and data analytics are all key current trends. E&T was given a rare opportunity to visit global engineering group Sandvik’s experimental test mine in Tampere, Finland, to view the latest in technical developments and concept vehicle testing in hard rock underground mining. “If you can drill here you can drill anywhere,” says Jani Vilenius, director of technology development and engineering services at Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions, referring to the granite rock at the mine. “It’s one of the ten hardest rocks in the world, making it an ideal test environment.” Image credit…

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