• Hands-on review: Renpho Eye Massager With Heat and Music

    With so many of us now staring at a screen of one size or another pretty much all day - starting with the 9-5 work laptop before moving to a personal smartphone and tablet until bedtime - our eyes are doing a lot of heavy lifting. The eye has six muscles and all this screentime is giving them a real workout. Not to mention the wide-ranging environmental conditions in which our eyes have to exist, as well as a lack of sleep and other physical or medical ailments. No wonder they can feel fatigued. Looking into the solutions to help with tired eyes, we discovered a rich niche market exists to help with the problem. This Renpho model - Eye Massager With Heat and Bluetooth Music (to give its full title) - is in fact just one of half a dozen or so variations on the theme from the California/Shenzen…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Brazil probes company that sold NFTs of Amazon rainforest land

    Brazil's Nemus has been given 15 days to provide proof of ownership of the land to which the NFTs are linked. The land is located in the Pauini, in the southern region of the rainforest, an area  which is the size of Belgium.   Federal prosecutors have accused the company – which claims to encourage eco-conscious customers to help preserve rainforest land − of pushing indigenous people in the region to endorse documents they could not understand.  The sale of the NFTs was reported to authorities by leaders of the Apurinã people, who traditionally occupy the claimed indigenous territory of Baixo Seruini/Baixo Tumiã, in the Amazon, as stated by a press release published by the prosecutor's office. The indigenous leaders claimed that Nemus' activities directly violated their rights, as stated…

  • Uncontrolled debris from Chinese rocket hits Earth

    China's space agency has said that most remains of the Long March 5 burnt in the atmosphere, identifying the Sulu Sea in the Pacific as the re-entry location.  The announcement did not detail whether the remains of the rocket fell on land or sea but it identified the “landing area” as 119 degrees east longitude and 9.1 degrees north latitude, which equates to waters south-east of the Philippine city of Puerto Princesa, on the island of Palawan. The Long March 5B rocket was launched on Sunday, carrying Wentian ( ‘ Quest for the Heavens’) , the second of three modules that will make up China's new Tiangong space station, where   three astronauts are currently living. The 23-tonne lab module will be used for scientific experiments and it is the heaviest   single-module spacecraft currently…

  • UK cuts to fuel duty are less than most of Europe, RAC finds

    Prices at the pump have rocketed since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but UK drivers are currently paying as much as 20p more per litre of petrol than drivers in France. Out of 13 EU countries that have cut petrol taxes, only Luxembourg has done less than the UK government, with a duty cut in April worth the equivalent of 4.52p compared to the 5p duty cut announced at the UK Budget in March. It’s a similar picture for diesel, with only Croatia doing less for its drivers than the UK, with a cut worth 4.5p. Germany, which sits at the top of the table, has taken the equivalent of 25p a litre in tax off per litre of petrol on 1 June, with Italy close behind with a 21p cut and Portugal with a 16p cut. As an alternative to cutting fuel duty, governments of other countries in the EU have introduced…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Graphene foam imbues robots with human sense of touch

    The introduction of more accurate pressure sensors, which provide haptic feedback and distributed touch, will help robots to improve their dexterity and motor skills. “Over recent years the advancements in the robotics industry have been remarkable. However, due to a lack of sensory capabilities, robotic systems often fail to execute certain tasks easily. For robots to reach their full potential, accurate pressure sensors, capable of providing greater tactile ability, are required,” said professor Des Gibson, project principal investigator. Made from 3D graphene foam, which offers unique capabilities when put under mechanical stress, the sensors use a piezoresistive approach, meaning when the material is put under pressure it dynamically changes its electric resistance, easily detecting…

  • Nuclear fusion instabilities detected with simulation code

    The simulation code is able to calculate and predict changes in TAE instability to increase fast ion confinement and ensure the success of fusion reactions.  The TAE instability occurs in the course of interactions between fast ions and the perturbed magnetic fields surrounding them. As a result, fast ions disengage from the plasma core, hindering ion trapping.  In plasma particles, fast ions are much higher in kinetic energy than general ions and increase the temperature and performance of plasma necessary for nuclear fusion. Therefore, stable fast ion trapping is essential in maintaining a nuclear fusion reaction. The team at the Korea Institute of Fusion Energy (KFE) was able to develop the code by using and improving upon the  Gyro Kinetic Plasma Simulation Program (gKPSP) nuclear…

  • View from India: Reverence takes on a green hue

    The Government of Karnataka (GoK) has allocated 25 crore towards waste management initiatives in the temples, which are places of worship for Hindus. It’s a circular economy approach. Karnataka, as recent media reports indicate, will be the first state to roll out the concept on a mega scale. In Karnataka, 34,000 temples come under Muzrai (Endowment) department. They have been categorized as grade A, B and C, based on their revenue generation. The A-grade temples have an annual income exceeding 25 lakh. The B category is represented by temples earning between 5 lakh and 25 lakh, while C category has temples with an annual income of less than 5 lakh. The initiative comes under the Swachh Mandira Abhiyana gamut. Waste-processing plants will be set up inside temple premises to convert 'nairmalya…

  • Severe disruption to rail services as drivers continue strike action

    The Rail Delivery Group said the industrial action has been timed to coincide with the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and the start of the new season for most English football league clubs. There will be disruption to parts of the rail network on Saturday and into the morning of Sunday. The strike is hitting Arriva Rail London, Greater Anglia, Great Western, Hull Trains, LNER, Southeastern and West Midlands Trains. Steve Montgomery, chairman of the Rail Delivery Group, said: “We’re really disappointed that the Aslef leadership has decided to impose yet more uncertainty and disruption for passengers and businesses in a week which has already seen a strike by the RMT. “Millions of passengers will have their weekend plans disrupted, particularly those who are working, or going to the Commonwealth…

  • The road to smart homes starts with smart EV charging

    It is no longer enough to simply have an electric vehicle (EV) charger installed on your home – it must be smart. New government legislation  states that new EV charging points in all UK domestic and work properties must have smart functionality to reduce pressure on the grid and use renewable sources where possible. Add this to every new build needing a charging point included as standard, and that’s hundreds of thousands of smart charging stations on the horizon. With transport responsible for the largest percentage of emissions in the UK . and homes due to overtake this in the next 10 years, revolutionising sectoral relationships with energy is both the greatest challenge and opportunity in the journey to net zero. To meet sustainability targets, homes of the future are needed now, and…

  • £3m tree-planting package for London announced to combat climate change

    Khan’s announcement comes after a huge number of fires raged across the capital last week caused by the record high temperatures, prompting London Fire Brigade (LFB) to declare a major incident. “The extreme temperatures and fires that raged across the capital last week laid bare how vulnerable London is to the effects of climate change, which is why today I’ve pledged a further £3.1m for a mass tree-planting package to help limit the affects of the climate emergency and the ecological crisis,” Khan said. He added: “These additional street trees and improvements to green spaces are targeted in areas where they’re most needed and will improve resilience of neighbourhoods in our city.” London remains at immediate risk of wildfires because of tinder dry grass, with the LFB warning that any…

  • UK households facing ‘most expensive winter in history’

    The £400 payment, which is part of a package announced in May this year, will come in the form of a monthly deduction from bills over six months for approximately 29 million households. Customers will see £66 taken off their energy bills in October and November and £67 each month from December to March, the Government said. However, one energy company boss has said that households could burn through that money in just a few days. The news marks the first detail of how the Government will pay out the £400 support for all households, which the then chancellor Rishi Sunak first announced in May. Sunak also promised extra help for the poorest households.   That support came in response to predictions that energy bills will rise to £2,800 for the average household in October. Since May, however…

  • Nasa to switch rovers for helicopters in Mars sample recovery mission

    The Mars Sample Return Program is a proposed mission to collect rock and dust samples on Mars and return them to Earth. Such a mission, which includes contributions from the European Space Agency (ESA), would allow more extensive analysis than that allowed by onboard sensors. While initially planning to use rovers to collect the sample, which are more comprehensively tested, the Ingenuity helicopters were tested extensively on Mars last year as part of the Perseverance mission. As of 11 June 2022, Ingenuity has made 29 successful flights, repeatedly setting new records for highest speed and distance travelled during a single flight. “The conceptual design phase is when every facet of a mission plan gets put under a microscope,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for science…

  • Jurassic marine world fossils unearthed in farmer’s field

    Discovered beneath a field grazed by an ancient breed of English Longhorn cattle, the roughly 183-million-year-old fossils are stunningly well preserved, as if they were frozen in time. Contained within three-dimensionally preserved limestone concretions, the remains of fish, ancient marine reptiles, squids, rare insects and more have been revealed for the first time by a team of palaeontologists.   The fossils come from an inland rock layer that was last exposed in the UK more than 100 years ago and represented a unique opportunity to collect fossils from a time when this part of the country was deep underwater. The newly found site is at Court Farm, Kings Stanley near Stroud, Gloucestershire, and was discovered by Sally and Neville Hollingworth, avid fossil collectors who recently uncovered…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Inefficient building electrification risks prolonging fossil fuel use, study finds

    Direct fossil fuel consumption by buildings, burned in water heaters, furnaces (boilers), and other heating sources, accounts for nearly 10 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions in the US. Switching to an electric system that powers heating through renewable energy sources, rather than coal, oil, and natural gas – the process known as building electrification or building decarbonisation – is a crucial step towards achieving global net-zero climate goals. However, most building decarbonisation models have not accounted for seasonal fluctuations in energy demand for heating or cooling. This makes it a challenge to predict what an eventual switch to cleaner, all-electric heating in buildings could mean for the nation’s electrical grid, especially during peaks in energy use. A new study by…

  • Stamp-sized ultrasound stickers can see inside the body

    Currently, ultrasound imaging requires bulky equipment available only in hospitals and doctor’s offices. The new devices stick to the skin and can provide continuous ultrasound imaging of internal organs for 48 hours. The researchers, who believe their devices could eventually be cheaply available in pharmacies, applied the stickers to volunteers and showed the devices produced live, high-resolution images of major blood vessels and deeper organs such as the heart, lungs and stomach. The stickers maintained a strong adhesion and captured changes in underlying organs as volunteers performed various activities, including sitting, standing, jogging and biking. The current design requires connecting the stickers to instruments that translate the reflected sound waves into images. The researchers…

  • Paper battery could power disposable electronics

    The researchers at Swiss materials science institute Empa said the battery also had minimal environmental impact due to the materials used. It is made of at least one cell measuring one centimetre squared and consisting of three inks printed onto a rectangular strip of paper. Sodium chloride (salt) is dispersed throughout the strip of paper and one of its shorter ends has been dipped in wax. An ink containing graphite flakes, which acts as the positive end of the battery (cathode), is printed onto one of the flat sides of the paper while an ink containing zinc powder, which acts as the negative end of the battery (anode), is printed onto the reverse side of the paper. Additionally, an ink containing graphite flakes and carbon black is printed on both sides of the paper, on top of the…

  • Scientists warn against using drone footage for environment monitoring

    Relying on drone imagery to measure surface movement over time could result in significant deformation of maps used for environmental research, a study has found.  Natural heritage studies often leverage drone imagery and photogrammetric techniques in order to map and monitor geomorphological objects. Some of the characteristics that make this technology so popular are the affordability of the drones, as well as the ease with which these images can be used to generate 3D models of large areas of terrain.  However, scientists from the Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), in Spain have found that variations in the lens profiles of images taken by low-cost drones could have a significant influence on the deformations quantified, thereby affecting analyses of…

  • Why every engineer should be a mentor

    One of the greatest issues facing women who have the talent, ambition and skills to be top engineers is that they simply don’t believe they can be.  According to EngineeringUK , only 60 per cent of girls aged between 11 and 14 think they could become an engineer if they wanted to, compared to 72 per cent of boys. This drops to 53 per cent in the 16-19 age range, where only a quarter of girls say they would ever consider a career in engineering. There are similar issues for all under-represented groups in the sector. If people don’t have the advice, support and role models they need to encourage them into engineering, they are less likely to consider it a viable option. And while these are in part societal issues, there is more the sector can do to make itself accessible to all. Mentoring…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Letters to the editor: volume 17, issue 8

    Power disruption ‘is the result of self-inflicted policies’ I am amazed at the lack of concern over the future of UK electricity supply following the reality check caused by the Ukraine conflict. The hike in electricity prices was predictable, as with gas having a regional market the only alternative option for the UK would have been coal for generating electricity. Not only did the UK retire its coal portfolio prematurely, unlike Germany, but the state also failed to increase its gas storage and deliberately prevented the hydraulic fracturing of indigenous gas through regulation. Political ineptitude is not new – the mid-1970s shutdown of a nuclear option prevented any future indigenous capability. Only after 2008 was this intent reversed with a devastating failure to promote an intended…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • UK faces ‘tight’ energy supplies this winter, grid operator warns

    In a report forecasting electricity availability this winter, the body said it expects system margins to be broadly in line with recent winters and there will be sufficient available capacity to meet demand. But it added: “Our operational modelling indicates that there could be some tight periods this winter, which are most likely to occur in the first half of December.” There are various uncertainties this winter as a direct result of possible shortfalls in Europe’s gas supply – partly driven by the turmoil around securing energy supplies from Russia. Earlier this week, the Russian state-run energy firm Gazprom reduced flows through the key Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline to around 20 per cent of its capacity leading to concerns about energy security on the continent as demand rises heading…

  • Covid-19 vaccine patch more effective against Omicron than injection

    The team tested a high-density microarray patch developed by biotechnology company Vaxxas and found that - when tested in mice - it was more effective at neutralising Covid-19 variants than injections. “The high-density microarray patch is a vaccine delivery platform that precisely delivers the vaccine into the layers of the skin which are rich in immune cells,” said UQ’s Dr Christopher McMillan. “We found that vaccination via a patch was approximately 11 times more effective at combatting the Omicron variant when compared with the same vaccine administered via a needle. “So far, every vaccine type we have tested through the patch, including subunit, DNA, inactivated virus and conjugate produces superior immune responses compared to traditional needle vaccination methods.” Currently…

  • Sponsored: Making critical power distribution safer, more reliable and more sustainable

    Yet, most organisations are still not taking advantage of these latest advances in power distribution connectivity and intelligence, some of which may already be in place in their facilities. Without this crucial last step, facility teams are working blind, unaware of many hidden risks and opportunities. You will learn: The importance of digitalising the electrical power distribution infrastructure through an easily understood comparison The different devices, communications, and architectures that make a digitalised power distribution system possible About specific applications that can provide valuable outcomes like enhanced electrical safety, improved power availability and reliability, optimised efficiency, and simplified compliance Download free whitepaper

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • South Australia battery to deliver world-first inertia services

    The Hornsdale Power Reserve big battery developed by Neoen Australia is expected to become the first big battery in the world to deliver grid-scale inertia services, using Tesla’s Virtual Machine Mode technology. The 150MW/193.5MWh facility has recently received the go-ahead from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), allowing it to provide this innovative service to the National Electricity Market (NEM) in South Australia. System inertia is a form of energy stored in e lectricity-producing generators comprised of spinning parts, which rotate at the right frequency to balance supply and demand, spinning faster or slower as needed.  Although system inertia is key to the stability of grids, as it caters for these supply and demand imbalances, in recent years it has become increasingly…

  • Linux malware rapidly rising as hackers target enterprise

    Until recently, cyber criminals have largely ignored Linux compared to other more popular operating systems. However, the most recent data shows that cyber attack trends are shifting. According to the data presented by the Atlas VPN team, based on AV-ATLAS.org statistics, the numbers of new Linux malware reached record highs in the first half of 2022, with nearly 1.7 million samples discovered. Compared to the same period in 2021, new Linux malware numbers have soared by an astonishing 650 per cent. The cumulative number of new Linux malware samples in H1 2022 alone was 31 per cent higher than the number of such samples in the whole year of 2021. The first half of 2022 saw more new Linux malware samples than any other year since 2008.   Image credit: Atlas VPN …

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