• Transparent wood could be a sustainable plastic replacement, scientists say

    The renewable and biodegradable properties of transparent wood could make the material a promising and environmentally friendly substitute for glass or plastic. In a study published  in the journal Science of The Total Environment, a team of researchers said transparent wood  generates approximately 24 per cent less global warming potential and about 15 per cent less terrestrial acidification than other petrol-based materials.  The research also showed producing transparent wood is five times more efficient than glass.  “Transparent wood as a material can replace the environmentally harmful petroleum-based plastics such as polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), acrylic, polyethylene etc,” said P rodyut Dhar , an author of the study and assistant professor at the  Indian Institute of…

  • Hydrogen-gas combustor could cut carbon emissions from gas-fired plants

    The Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM) has unveiled a hydrogen co-firing combustor for gas turbines used in power generation. Hydrogen is highly reactive fuel which increases the risk of high temperatures and flashback, which is where the flame propagates upstream against the gas stream. In order to prevent such risks, KIMM improved a fuel injection method which was then applied to heavy-duty gas turbine. It suppressed instability of the combustion to the same level of the original gas turbine while burning a mixture of 30 per cent hydrogen fuel. While developed in South Korea, the new combustor needed to be transferred to the German Aerospace Center in Cologne for testing. Hydrogen mixed fuel combustor prototype Image credit: Korea Institute of…

  • Software review: Brickit Lego modelling app

    Lego, and compatible building bricks, have caused controversy and consternation for years. Parents’ worst nightmare is stepping on them barefoot. Should you keep sets together or have tubs of different colours and/or sizes? Can you use ‘a Lego’ as a noun or is it ‘a Lego brick’? And if you’ve lost all the instructions, what should you build? As we know from 'The Lego Movie', there are purists who insist on following instructions robotically and then there are freewheeling, creative types. The Brickit app offers a third way. The free app is available on iOS or Android. There’s also a Pro premium option. At the time of writing, there was a free seven-day trial of Pro, after which it costs £3.58 a month or £42.99 a year. Once the app’s installed, spread out your bricks flat. Remove large…

  • Lack of digital skills could be costing the UK close to £13bn per year

    As a result of the digital skills gap, UK workers could be missing out on around £5.69bn in additional wages, according to a new study carried out by Virgin Media O2 and based on modelling from economic consultancy Cebr.  The study found that many people believe that a lack of knowledge on using the internet has held them back at work and also prevented them from shopping online for better deals on goods and services as the cost of living rises. The study concluded that this skills gap is costing the UK economy approximately £12.8bn every year. According to the survey, 34 per cent of those asked said they felt a lack of digital skills training had held back their earning potential, while 31 per cent believed they had been passed over for a promotion or pay rise. Amid ongoing concerns…

  • MPs' 10-point plan targets regulation of carbon markets

    In a new 10-point plan, the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for the Environment called for a tripling of the budget for the Energy Company Obligation, which mandates that energy suppliers must promote measures to improve the ability of low-income, fuel-poor and vulnerable households to heat their homes. This includes actions that result in heating savings, such as the installation of insulation or the upgrade of an inefficient heating system. The APPG wants £3bn to be spent on the initiative rather than the £1bn currently allocated for the next three years. This would allow another 2.1 million households to receive support with energy efficiency measures prior to a potentially dramatic rise in energy prices from next April following recent policy changes made by new chancellor Jeremy…

  • Noise-detecting traffic cameras to identify antisocial drivers

    The new programme, which is part of a trial from the Department for Transport (DfT) to clampdown on antisocial driving, should help to prevent antisocial drivers and reduce noise pollution. The technology uses a video camera in conjunction with a number of microphones to accurately pinpoint excessively noisy vehicles as they pass by. This means that if drivers break the law by revving their engines unnecessarily or using illegal exhausts, they will be automatically detected. The camera takes a picture of the vehicle and records the noise level to create a digital package of evidence, which can be used by local police to fine drivers. Vehicle exhausts and silencers are required to be properly maintained, and not altered to increase noise. Non-compliance can lead to a £50 on-the-spot fine…

  • Australia and Singapore sign ambitious green energy deal

    Australia touted a world-first project that could help make the country a "renewable energy superpower" by shifting huge volumes of solar electricity under the sea to Singapore. On Tuesday, S ingapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese met in Canberra to sign a sustainable commerce agreement to support trade, investment and climate change objectives.  The green trade deal will see the two countries jointly implementing 17 initiatives to promote green shipping, sustainable aviation, government purchases of goods and services from low-emissions sources, sustainable food systems and eco labelling and sustainable schemes, the Australian government said. Albanese said the pact showed a "collective resolve" to slash  greenhouse gas emissions through an…

  • Book review: ‘The Sounds of Life’ by Karen Bakker

    Humans are rather poor listeners, compared with our fellow Earth-dwellers. The world is alive with sound that we cannot hear, from the ultrasonic echolocation of bats to the infrasonic ‘drumming heartbeat’ of the Earth’s crust beneath the crashing of ocean waves. In ‘The Sounds of Life: How Digital Technology is Bringing us Closer to the Worlds of Animals and Plants’ (Princeton University Press, £25, ISBN 9780691206288), environmental researcher Professor Karen Bakker explains how the fields of bioacoustics and ecoacoustics – armed with relatively accessible digital technologies – are helping us comprehend and conserve this world we cannot hear. ‘The Sounds of Life’ is filled with stories about the discovery of non-human sounds and their meanings, reaching far beyond the usual suspects…

  • How preparing tech now can minimise impact of transport strikes

    Another set of rail strikes that took place on 1, 5 and 8 October impacted the UK economy, with many businesses facing financial consequences. And with further strikes on Avanti West Coast services already scheduled for late October and early November, an acceptable deal for both parties does not appear to be forthcoming. To minimise the impact of industrial action, businesses need to pinpoint vulnerable areas that strikes will uncover, acting swiftly to address these shortcomings. Those that plan thoroughly will reap the benefits, experiencing little to no downtime while at the same time keeping the door firmly shut against bad actors seeking to take advantage of the situation. Any immediate changes introduced to limit the immediate financial impact will also have a positive effect in…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • WW2 shipwrecks found to be leaking pollutants that impact marine environments

    The researchers from Ghent University found that the seabed of the North Sea is covered in thousands of ship and aircraft wrecks, warfare agents, and millions of tons of conventional munition such as shells and bombs. The wrecks typically contain hazardous substances that may harm the marine environment. Yet there is a lack of information about the location of the wrecks and the effect they might have on the environment. The hazardous chemicals emanating from one shipwreck on which the research team conducted their experiments were found to be influencing the marine microbiology around it and having a negative effect on the nearby environment. “The general public is often quite interested in shipwrecks because of their historical value, but the potential environmental impact of these…

  • India opens 75 digital banking units to increase financial inclusion

    India has launched 75 new digital banking units in villages and small towns across the country in a move that it said will help bring financial services and literacy to more citizens. The DBUs are equipped with tablets and internet services to help individuals and small businesses open savings accounts; check their balances; transfer funds; apply for loans, and pay bills and taxes. “Self-service mode will be available 24x7x365 days,” said Shaktikanta Das, governor of the Reserve Bank of India, in a virtual conference. “The banks are also free to engage the services of digital business facilities and correspondence to expand the footprint of DBUs.” Eleven public sector banks, 12 private sector banks and one small finance bank are participating in the endeavour, which aims to spread digital…

  • ‘The hell with it’: Musk’s Starlink continues providing internet access for Ukraine

    Elon Musk has announced his rocket firm SpaceX will continue funding its Starlink internet service in Ukraine, a day after he said it could no longer afford to do so. Over the weekend it was revealed that the billionaire had made a request in September to the US Defence Department to take over funding for his satellite network, which has provided crucial battlefield communications for Ukrainian military forces since the beginning of the war with Russia. Musk suggested that his company could no longer continue to fund the service "indefinitely", which he said costs $20m (£18m) per month to maintain. In addition to the terminals, he tweeted that the company has to create, launch, maintain and replenish satellites and ground stations, as well as defend against cyber attacks.  The news sparked…

  • New chancellor scales back help with household energy bills, promising ‘new approach’

    Hunt -  Kwasi Kwarteng's replacement as chancellor in the Liz Truss cabinet -  confirmed that he is ditching many of the measures announced in his predecessor's somewhat ill-judged mini-budget, including the planned cut to income tax. In an emergency statement, Hunt said: “We will reverse almost all the tax measures announced in the growth plan three weeks ago that have not started parliamentary legislation. “So whilst we will continue with the abolition of the health and social care levy and stamp duty changes, we will no longer be proceeding with the cuts to dividend tax rates, the reversal of off-payroll working reforms introduced in 2017 and 2021, the new VAT-free shopping scheme for non-UK visitors or the freeze on alcohol duty rates.” Hunt also dramatically scaled back planned support…

  • World's longest-serving weather satellite moved to the ‘graveyard orbit’

    The world’s longest-serving meteorological satellite in geostationary orbit has been lifted at least 247km above the geostationary orbit, as part of its end-of-life manoeuvres.   Launched on 28 August 2002, Meteosat-8 was the first of the Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) meteorological satellites, which marked a major technological advance in satellite meteorology. Now that its useful life has come to an end, Eumetsat scientists have finalised the process of moving the spacecraft to what is known as the 'graveyard orbit', in order to minimise the risk of collision with operational satellites.  “At the time Meteosat-8 was designed, guidelines did not exist for the safe disposal of satellites when their operational lifetime ended,” explained Eumetsat director-general Phil Evans. “Excellent…

  • 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…

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