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Telecoms and automotive industries seek solutions amidst cost of living crisis

The UK’s biggest broadband and mobile companies have agreed to improve low-cost offers to help customers stay connected as the cost of living soars. The bosses of BT Group, Openreach, Virgin Media O2, Vodafone, Three, TalkTalk and Sky made a number of commitments to support vulnerable customers during a Government-led summit at Downing Street yesterday (Monday 27 June). The measures include allowing people struggling with their bills to switch to cheaper packages or agreeing manageable payment plans, exploring tariffs, improving existing deals and better promoting these more affordable options. Telecoms providers, with the help of government, will also raise awareness of low-cost products to people on Universal Credit. While social tariffs, or discounted deals, are already available…

E+T Magazine in Telecommunications
Over a million trees to be planted as part of River Thames road tunnel project

A community woodland and two public parks are among the 400 hectares (1,000 acres) of “landscape scale” forest creation that the government has planned to offset the environmental impact of a new road tunnel scheme under the River Thames. The proposed plans for the Lower Thames Crossing are expected to almost double road capacity across the Thames east of London and ease congestion on the Dartford Crossing, with the aim of connecting residents to jobs, boosting the economy and creating new public parks and woodland habitats, according to National Highways. National Highways said the Lower Thames Crossing aims to be "the greenest road ever built in the UK", as the project plans include the planting of over one million extra trees in Kent and in Thurrock, Havering and Brentwood in Essex…

E+T Magazine in Road transport systems
Exoplanets could provide habitable conditions for billions of years, study suggests

Researchers from the University of Zurich, Switzerland, have suggested that large rocky exoplanets at some distance from their star could retain their hydrogen and helium-dominated atmospheres. The study suggests that these planets can sustain temperate conditions and liquid water on their surface for long periods of time. As hydrogen and helium gases were readily available in the planet-forming materials around young stars, all planets built up atmospheres that were dominated by these two elements. In our own Solar System, rocky planets lost this atmosphere in favour of heavier elements, such as oxygen and nitrogen on Earth. Marit Mol Lous and colleagues from the University of Zurich investigated the evolution of such planets. They modelled the duration that hydrogen and helium-rich…

E+T Magazine in Space
Why using up-to-date clean air technology is a win-win solution

The importance of clean air to the UK is finally being recognised. A new clean air law is starting its passage through Parliament as a tribute to nine-year-old Ella Kissi-Debrah, who died from asthma induced by air pollution. The bill would establish a right to clean air, and set up a commission to oversee government actions and progress – but could more be done? Poor air quality causes heart and lung diseases, is linked to low birth weight and children’s lung development, and may even contribute to mental health issues. The way the clean air problem can be tackled is clear: improving both outdoor and indoor air quality through a number of means. It might be surprising to know that we spend 90 per cent of our time in buildings. So, when much of the conversation focuses on improving outdoor…

E+T Magazine in Air Pollution
UK to investigate the safety and potential of self-driving cars

The UK Transport Select Committee has opened an investigation into the potential of autonomous cars. The committee will look into the research and trials that have been done into autonomous and connected vehicles so far, with the goal of better understanding the technology's potential uses for private motoring, public transport and commercial driving. To do so, it will assess possible safety issues and the perception of safety, as well as consider the relationship with other road users such as pedestrians, cyclists and users of conventional vehicles. Once the investigation is completed, the committee might also request changes to be made to the current regulations regarding this technology, to introduce changes such as the vehicles’ legal status as well as create standard insurance and…

E+T Magazine in Control and Automation
Hydrogen trains to replace diesel units in Berlin region

This is the train-builder’s first order for a hydrogen fleet. The Mireo Plus H trains will be equipped with fuel-cell drive systems and lithium-ion batteries. Siemens will also be responsible for service, maintenance and spare parts, with provision for “continuous further development and adaptation.” The order was placed by regional transport company Niederbarnimer Eisenbahn (NEB) for the Heidekrautbahn network (RB27) and the trains are due for delivery in autumn 2024 ready to enter service by the end of the year. The use of hydrogen-powered trains on the Heidekrautbahn is part of a pilot project funded by the federal government and the states of Berlin and Brandenburg. The project is focused on setting up a regional, sustainable hydrogen infrastructure that also includes a hybrid power…

E+T Magazine in Renewable Energy
Online Safety Bill could hinder free speech, research warns

The UK is facing calls to “slim down” its Online Safety Bill amid concerns over its impact on people’s freedoms and privacy. The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) has published a briefing paper in which think tanks warn about the risk that the bill could hand the Secretary of State and Ofcom “unprecedented powers to define and limit speech, with limited parliamentary or judicial oversight”. The authors of the research have also expressed their fears that the piece of legislation will lead digital platforms to use automated tools in a “cautious and censorious” manner against content that is “only reasonably considered to be illegal”. The Online Safety Bill has been presented by the government as a ground-breaking law that will protect the privacy and safety of children in the digital…

E+T Magazine in Ethical Aspects
Compostable crop sensors aiming to keep fields green

The £1.8m CHIST-ERA project - dubbed 'Transient Electronics for Sustainable ICT in Digital Agriculture' - is led by researchers from the University of Glasgow and supported by colleagues in Canada, Finland, Poland and Switzerland. CHIST-ERA is the coordination and co-operation activity of national and regional research funding organisations, supported by the EU's Horizon 2020 Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) programme. Over the next three years, the partners will work together to develop a new type of environmentally friendly modular sensor system. Their intention is to find ways to create devices built from sustainable and degradable materials, with the aim of cutting down on the growing problem of electronic waste. The devices in development will have two parts: a solar-powered…

E+T Magazine in Waste Management
US researchers look to 3D-print organic electronics

A Texas research team has identified the possibility of utilising micro-scale organic electronics in the development of flexible electronics and bioelectronics, via multiphoton 3D-printers. The team, led by Mohammad Reza Abidian, introduced a new photosensitive resin doped with an organic semiconductor material (OS) to fabricate "highly conductive 3D microstructures with high-quality structural features via MPL [multiphoton lithography] process". To demonstrate the potential electronic applications based on the OS composite resin, the team fabricated various microelectronic devices, including a micro-printed circuit board and an array of microcapacitors. Their findings have been published online in the journal Advanced Materials. The experiment demonstrated that the fabrication process…

E+T Magazine in Biotechnology
View from India: Use digital tools to improve animal health

Ancovax, India’s first Covid vaccine for animals, has been developed by Haryana-based Indian Council for Agricultural Analysis (ICAR)-National Research Centre on Equines (NRC). It is awaiting approval. This is an inactivated SARS-CoV-2 delta vaccine for animals. Its immunity neutralises both the delta and omicron variants of the coronavirus. The vaccine may possibly be used for animals in zoos and national parks. That could be because predators such as lions, leopards and tigers have been infected with SARS-CoV-2. A few such incidents have been reported during the pandemic. A Covid-19 vaccine for animals may be necessary because large carnivores or minks could get affected. Broadly speaking, animal-to-animal Covid transmission is as likely as animal-to-human transmission. Whether the virus…

E+T Magazine
Cities of the future could be built with algae-grown limestone

Global cement production accounts for approximately 7 per cent of annual greenhouse gas emissions, in large part through the burning of quarried limestone, and concrete is one of the most ubiquitous materials on the planet, a staple of construction around the world. It starts as a mixture of water and portland cement, which forms a paste to which materials such as sand, gravel or crushed stone are added. The paste binds the aggregates together and the mixture hardens into concrete. To make portland cement, the most common type of cement, limestone is extracted from large quarries and burned at high temperatures, releasing huge amounts of carbon dioxide. The research team found that replacing quarried limestone with biologically grown limestone, a natural process that some species of calcareous…

E+T Magazine in Research and Innovation
Self-build homes scheme in England opening for applications

The 'Help to Build' scheme will enable people to overcome prohibitive mortgage costs and build their own home, with just a 5 per cent deposit towards land and building costs, according to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. Backed by £150m of Government funding, the scheme could help people with specific living requirements, creating homes that are more tailored to their needs, including those with disabilities or those who live with large families or elderly relatives. Many people have previously been priced out of the self-build option because it typically requires huge sums up-front. The scheme will allow applicants to borrow between 5 per cent and 20 per cent of their costs across England and up to 40 per cent in London. Total build costs cannot be over £600…

E+T Magazine in Engineering with a Disability
Time to connect smart manufacturing innovation with Nexus

The world of manufacturing is fluid and ever-changing – and when technologists and engineers alike need to innovate to keep up with such changes within this sector, collaboration is key. So what if you could bring innovative minds together in one place? That is the goal of Hexagon’s new open platform for smart manufacturing, Nexus . The platform, announced at Hexagon’s HxGN Live Global 2022 conference in Las Vegas this week, will allow for the sharing of real-time data across different design, simulation, and production applications. It will also connect different applications to form workflows and combine technologies to develop unique solutions to engineering and manufacturing problems, from concept to delivery. Hexagon stressed Nexus will empower cross-functional teams to leverage fragmented…

E+T Magazine in Research and Innovation
Modern space race needs to be built on sustainability, study says

Based on leading research and expertise on innovative and emerging technologies, experts are calling for sustainability to be at the forefront of humanity’s next phase of space exploration. In On Space , a new publication from the University of Manchester, experts ask policymakers to consider space debris, satellite orbits and the investment needed to roll-out sustainable space technology on Earth. Many technologies used to counter climate change, including solar panels, started out as space-age innovations. Future innovations in space technology could be used to further reduce carbon emissions here on Earth, the authors write. Dr Aled Roberts explained that one of the biggest challenges for off-world habitat construction is the transportation of building materials, which can cost upwards…

E+T Magazine in Space
Manifesto for a fully decarbonised power system by 2035 published by RenewableUK

' Roadmap to net zero: a manifesto for a fully decarbonised power system by 2035 ' urges the government to accelerate the pace and scale of decarbonisation dramatically, to reduce the UK’s vulnerability to the surging cost of gas by maximising the benefits of our cheapest sources of renewable power, and to rapidly develop a new green hydrogen industry. The wide-ranging recommendations include reforming 'Contracts for Difference' (CfD) to attract more investment, particularly in supply chains. The report notes that although the CfD mechanism has successfully delivered new renewable capacity, the current market set-up may not be enough to deliver the volume of projects needed to fully decarbonise by 2035, as surging global demand for offshore wind is increasing competition for investment and…

E+T Magazine in Renewable Energy
Digital rail signalling tested for hyperloop

HyperloopTT and Hitachi Rail say they have achieved an important milestone towards the commercial running of the innovative system, which will be able to run at speeds of up to 1,200km/h, with the completion of proof of concept for a cloud-based ERTMS signalling system for HyperloopTT’s capsules. Hyperloops are intended to move passengers and cargo at high speed in vehicle ‘pods’ or capsules travelling through partially evacuated tubes. ERTMS, the European Rail Traffic Management System, is a set of standards originally designed to let trains run anywhere in the European Union, but it is now being deployed in many other parts of the world too. Working from Hitachi Rail’s site in Naples, Italy, the partnership has created a digital simulator that allows for the integrated testing of the…

E+T Magazine in standards
Sponsored: A design guide for the future

Some of the most popular shows on television these days are around home improvement. But before any attempt to build or rebuild takes place you need the right tools and a blueprint. The same is true in data centres. Whether starting from scratch or upgrading and retrofitting, proper planning and design will safeguard speed, efficiency, flexibility and scale in your new data centre. Our practical guide to Data Centre planning and design has everything you need-from methodologies to at-a-glance calculators. Now is the time to tap into our design guide and ensure your data centre is ready for what’s next. It is becoming more critical all the time and trends such as the explosion of big data are only adding to the requirements that IT groups must meet. To keep up, companies often need to…

E+T Magazine
Microsoft 365 users may be overestimating platform’s security, survey warns

While some users tend to overestimate the levels of protection provided by Microsoft’s flagship productivity platform, others are concerned about activating too many in-built features in case it results in a complex security management overhead that they don’t have the resources to maintain, leading to misconfiguration vulnerabilities. A global survey of more than 800 IT professionals by email cloud security and backup provider Hornetsecurity , launched this week at Infosecurity Europe 2022, also found that approximately 63 per cent of respondents indicated that the main roadblock to implementing security features within their organisation is not enough time or resources. “There could be multiple issues at play in the survey results,” said Andy Syrewicze, technical evangelist at Hornetsecurity…

E+T Magazine in Computing
How streaming services are building resilience for the future

Over the last decade, subscription-based business models became ubiquitous across all types of media companies. Their potential was quickly noticeable as revenue for advertising was diverting elsewhere and media consumption patterns were shifting. However, the latest industry news paints a different picture. During the first earnings call of the year, in April, Netflix announced that it had lost 200,000 paying customers, its first subscriber loss in over ten years. The information about the undisputed king of streaming services worldwide sent Wall Street into a downward spiral that resulted in its stock dropping over 20 per cent on the day of the announcement. Similarly, CNN+ – CNN’s streaming service – shut down less than a month after launching due partly to poor subscription numbers…

E+T Magazine
‘Stronger front door’ required to rebuff cyber HEAT attacks

Speaking at Infosecurity Europe 2022 this week, Mark Guntrip, senior director of security strategy at Menlo Security, said that so-called 'HEAT' (Highly Evasive Adaptive Threats) attacks require a renewal of the ‘strong front door’ model of threat blocking, as standard detect-and-respond techniques are proving unequal to their defensive role. HEAT attacks are a class of cyber threat that target web browsers as the primary attack vector. They go on to employ techniques to evade multiple layers of protection such as firewalls, secure web gateways, sandbox analysis, URL reputation and phishing detection. “HEAT attacks are used as the initial access point to deliver malware or to compromise credentials,” said Guntrip. “They allow cyber threats to deliver malicious content like ransomware to…

E+T Magazine in Computing
AI-based waste-sorting system wins Young Inventors prize

Imperial College London graduates Peter Hedley (27 years old) and Victor Dewulf (25) won the Young Inventors prize 2022 for their efficient AI-based waste-sorting system. The European Patent Office honoured the British-Belgian duo for their computer vision system that is trained to recognise waste items on a conveyor belt, equipped with a robotic arm to pick out valuable material. The invention increases the speed, accuracy and purity of waste-sorting. Their system has already been rolled out to recycling facilities in the UK and Europe through the inventor duo’s London-based start-up Recycleye, increasing the volume of recycled waste and making recycling more financially attractive. Image credit: European Patent Office / Joseph Thompson Dewulf and Hedley’s system…

E+T Magazine in Recycling
Electric ferry claims record for longest journey on a single battery charge

The vessel, Ellen, normally runs between the islands of Aero and Als, sailing 22NM (40km) from harbour to harbour before recharging. It made its record-breaking run on 9 June while returning from the International Energy Agency’s 7th Global Conference on Energy Efficiency, which was held in Sønderborg, Denmark. Henrik Hagbarth Mikkelsen, a senior lecturer at Marstal Naval Academy, who helped specify the technical solutions for the ferry during its design phase, was on board for the voyage. He explained: “The 92-kilometre trip on a single battery charge is the longest planned distance for an electric ferry capable of carrying both passengers and vehicles to date anywhere on the globe. We are talking about a clear record.” Ellen was developed under the EU-backed E-Ferry project, costing …

E+T Magazine in Power Conversion
Organisations ‘wait for attack before defending themselves’, says security report

A survey, conducted by digital security provider Tanium, of UK IT decision makers who had recently experienced a cyber attack found that 86 per cent think that senior leadership is ‘only likely to invest in cyber security after suffering a damaging attack’. Of those polled, 75 per cent of respondents in Tanium’s ‘ Cybersecurity: Prevention Is Better than the Cure ’ report stated that ‘some cyber-security incidents needed to happen’ in order to get increased tech investment from their leaderships. “Net new funding is weighted more towards the remediation of breaches once they’ve happened,” said Oliver Cronk, chief IT architect EMEA at Tanium. “The situation is the equivalent of a business leaving the front door and windows of its offices open and only locking them after a burglary has taken…

E+T Magazine in Computing
Book review: ‘The Chemical Cocktail’ by Fiona Erskine

It’s been a little over three years since we first met Jaq Silver, the central character in Fiona Erskine’s all-action debut novel ‘The Chemical Detective’. With a typewriter that clacks along at a similar pace to her plotlines, Erskine has delivered the third instalment of her series. And what a difference that short space of time has made. While here at E&T we’ve been devoted Erskine fans since day one, it’s hard to disguise the fact that her novels get better and better every time she goes to press. While we enjoyed book one and were impressed by the second, the third – ‘The Chemical Cocktail’ (Point Blank, £8.99, ISBN 9780861540334) – moves Erskine out of the ‘emerging’ category of thriller writer, beyond the velvet-covered ropes, and into the area reserved for those who have arrived. It…

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