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UN partners with Uber to deliver food and aid in Ukraine

A “private label” version of the Uber app is being used by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to track and coordinate a fleet of smaller vehicles delivering relief items to people in need in areas of Ukraine affected by the Russian invasion. Through this platform, WFP can get its food closer to those people needing its support, dispatching deliveries in various sizes of vehicle, tracking each trip in real time until it reaches its destination, and confirming deliveries have been made safely. The service has already been used to deliver food in the central city of Dnipro, with the hope of extending it to four other cities: Lviv, Vinnytsia, Kyiv and Chernivtsi. “WFP is playing a critical role in providing food and cash assistance to those most affected by the war in Ukraine,” said…

E+T Magazine in Engineering with a Disability
AI courses face negative perception from UK students, study suggests

Despite analyst predictions that the AI industry will be worth approximately £49bn globally in 2022, a new in-depth study by BT has uncovered a lack of awareness among UK students about the opportunity to pursue qualifications in AI-related courses. The findings are revealed in BT’s report, 'AI skills: Motivation & AI careers myths debunked', which was commissioned in partnership with Yonder Consultancy, to understand how to grow and retain AI talent in the UK. Where almost three in five (59 per cent) of higher education students said they were unaware of AI courses at the time of choosing their course, over half (51 per cent) revealed that they would consider studies centred around AI in the future, once they had understood and received more information about what the courses entail. …

E+T Magazine in STEM Education and Skills
View from India: Plastic waste collection, an incremental income

The informal sector, comprising waste pickers, scrap dealers, aggregators and recyclers, are key people in the chain of the circular economy. “It is necessary to build bridges and give the informal workers their due recognition. This could facilitate seamless processing of waste management for end-to-end efficiency. It can also reduce gaps in the integrated value chain and make it sustainable,” said Prashant Singh, member of the CII Task Force on Waste to Worth, at the CII Webinar on Waste Management Through Social Inclusion. Looking back, the Plastic Waste (Management and Handling) Rules 2011, notified in 2011, included plastic waste management. In 2016, the government notified the Plastic Waste Management Rules, which was amended in 2018 and later in 2021. “What is required is the recognition…

E+T Magazine in Waste Management
Transparent film made from cellulose could help cut plastic waste

Developed by researchers at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, the regenerated or recrystallised cellulose has been designed to replace plastic films, which are typically difficult to recycle and often end up in the wrong places after use. “We can produce transparent and flexible cellulose film. The consumer cannot distinguish between the crystal-clear material and traditional oil-based plastic. Cellulose film can resist dampness, but in nature it disappears as completely as a sheet of paper does. The product is biobased and biodegradable,” said VTT research professor Ali Harlin. In addition to their protective properties, transparent plastics allow consumers to see the product itself without exposing it to the air, which can lead to faster degradation. Image…

E+T Magazine in Waste Management
EU agrees to impose common USB-C charger

In order to reduce e-waste and ease user experiences, all phones and electronic devices sold in the European Union from Autumn 2024, no matter what brand, will have a common USB-C charger, EU lawmakers have decided. The deadline will apply to smartphones, as well as tablets, digital cameras, headphones, handheld video game consoles and e-readers. However, laptops will have 40 extra months to comply with the new rule, as they tend to require more power and use a wider variety of chargers. The legislation has been under development for more than a decade , but an agreement on its scope was only reached on Tuesday, following negotiations between different EU bodies. The legislation also includes provisions designed to address wireless chargers in the future, as well as harmonising fast-charging…

E+T Magazine
Efforts to decarbonise UK fishing sector hampered by restrictive licencing

Alongside a broader UK target of net zero by 2050, the post-Brexit UK Fisheries Act was introduced in 2020 which set out a clear objective to address the climate impact of fisheries. A new report from the University of Hull - 'Electrifying the Fleet' - has found that although technology exists for fishers to switch to a more efficient and sustainable system, current licensing systems which encourage the use of short, wide, fuel-inefficient boats are preventing the sector from using greener vessels. Dr Magnus Johnson, senior lecturer at the University of Hull and lead author of the report, said: “Every sector has a role to play in transitioning to net zero, including the UK’s fishing fleet. Powering the UK's fishing fleet currently relies heavily on fossil fuel. Our report presents new findings…

E+T Magazine in Ethical Aspects
Researchers create ‘time machine’ simulations of ancestor galaxy cities

Cosmological simulations are crucial to studying how the universe came to be, but many do not typically match what astronomers observe through telescopes. Instead, they are often designed to mirror the real universe in a statistical sense. Constrained cosmological simulations, on the other hand, are designed to directly reproduce the structures we actually observe in the universe. However, most existing simulations of this kind have only been applied to our local universe, until now. A team of researchers from the Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe have developed a simulation that allows them to study the life cycle of ancestor galaxy cities, known as 'COSTCO' (COnstrained Simulations of The COsmos Field). The tool's findings have been published in Nature Astronomy…

E+T Magazine in Space
Nano-sensors detect pesticides on fruit

The technique uses flame-sprayed nanoparticles made from silver to increase the signal of chemicals. “Reports show that up to half of all fruits sold in the EU contain pesticide residues that in larger quantities have been linked to human health problems,” said Georgios Sotiriou, the study’s corresponding author. “However, current techniques for detecting pesticides on single products before consumption are restricted in practice by the high cost and cumbersome manufacturing of its sensors. To overcome this, we developed inexpensive and reproducible nano-sensors that could be used to monitor traces of fruit pesticides at, for example, the store.” The new nano-sensors employ a 1970s discovery known as surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), a powerful sensing technique that can increase…

E+T Magazine in Research and Innovation
Apple presents new MacBook Air powered by M2 chip, plus iOS updates and more

The new MacBook Air features a strikingly thin design - its all-aluminium unibody enclosure is a mere 11.3mm in thickness - and is powered by Apple's own next-generation M2 chip. The consumer-oriented laptop now has a larger 13.6-inch Liquid Retina display, a 1080p FaceTime HD camera, a four-speaker sound system and claims to have up to 18 hours of battery life. The MagSafe power cable connection also returns to the Air. Four different colours for the Air will be available, including two new options in Midnight and Starlight. Its more professional-oriented sibling, the MacBook Pro 13”, previously announced by Apple, has also now been upgraded to the new M2 chip and retains its Retina display, FaceTime HD camera, "studio-quality mics" and up to 20 hours of battery life. With the latest upgrades…

E+T Magazine in Computing
Biden takes emergency route to boost US solar energy production

The United States is committed to becoming a solar energy superpower as its president, Joe Biden, looks at ways to jumpstart progress toward his climate change-fighting goals. In order to boost the country's renewable energy production, Biden has announced his intention to use his executive powers to accelerate the domestic manufacturing of solar panels and issue a 24-month tariff exemption on imports of the products from several Asian countries. Advancements in the manufacturing of this technology froze last March, after the Commerce Department launched an inquiry into possible trade violations involving Chinese products. The investigation halted the flow of solar panels that make up more than half of US supplies and 80 per cent of imports. The Commerce Department is still scrutinising…

E+T Magazine in Renewable Energy
Beam-steering antenna enables 6G speeds on 5G equipment

Experimental results show the device can provide continuous ‘wide-angle’ beam steering, allowing it to track a moving mobile phone user in the same way that a satellite dish turns to track a moving object, but with significantly enhanced speeds. Devised by University of Birmingham researchers, the technology has demonstrated vast improvements in data transmission efficiency at frequencies ranging across the millimetre wave spectrum, specifically those identified for 5G (mmWave) and 6G, where high efficiency is currently only achievable using slow, mechanically steered antenna solutions. For 5G mmWave applications, prototypes of the beam-steering antenna at 26GHz are said to have shown unprecedented data transmission efficiency. The device is fully compatible with existing 5G specifications…

E+T Magazine in Research and Innovation
Autonomous Mayflower robot boat reaches North America

In 1620, a ship known as the Mayflower carried a group of English families from England to Plymouth, Massachusetts, leading to the establishment of the first permanent New England colony and the beginning of the history of colonial America. Four centuries later, an autonomous robotic boat has replicated the journey. The sleek autonomous trimaran docked in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on Sunday, after more than five weeks crossing the Atlantic. The 50-feet Mayflower Autonomous Ship was built by ocean research non-profit ProMare and IBM and did not carry any humans on board. Instead, the ship was piloted by an innovative artificial intelligence technology. Autonomous Mayflower robot boat reaches North America/ ProMare and IBM Image credit: IBM “The technology that makes…

E+T Magazine in Research and Innovation
Nuclear waste energy could power the US for a century, scientist says

Scientists have long known the potential of nuclear fast reactors, which turn nuclear waste into energy. However, although the technology was proven in a US government pilot that took place between the 1960s and 1990s, it was never deemed profitable enough to be commercialised, until now. According to Jess C. Gehin - an associate laboratory director at Idaho National Laboratory, one of the government’s premier energy research labs - current levels of nuclear waste in the US could produce enough energy to power the entire country for 100 years. The technology would not only help alleviate the current energy crisis , but also solve the difficult challenge of managing nuclear waste. The 2015 Paris Agreement, coupled with the recent rapid rise in energy costs, are driving the development of…

E+T Magazine in Nuclear Power
Modular construction technique slashes carbon emissions from new buildings

The system was developed by academics from the University of Cambridge and Edinburgh Napier University. It has been used in a study for two developments delivered by Tide Construction, with the modular system used to construct a total of 879 homes. The study calculated that around 28,000 tonnes of embodied carbon emissions were saved from construction across both schemes combined – well ahead of the industry’s current targets. The researchers believe their approach has the potential to radically reduce the carbon footprint of the construction sector and could aid the government’s ambition to build 300,000 better-quality homes. Embodied carbon - the CO2 produced during the design, construction and decommissioning phases of a development - is dramatically lower when modular systems are…

E+T Magazine in Research and Innovation
Woman receives ‘revolutionary’ transplant of 3D-printed ear

A 20-year-old woman has become the first-ever recipient of an ear created using 3D-printing technology. Alexa was born with a congenital disorder called microtia, which caused her to have a small and misshapen right ear. In order to provide her with a new ear, Dr Arturo Bonilla, a paediatric ear reconstructive surgeon in San Antonio removed half a gram of cartilage from the patient’s ear remnant and sent it to a laboratory along with a 3D scan of her healthy ear. The result was a brand new ear created from the patient’s cells. The printing process took less than 10 minutes. Cornell-founded start-up 3DBio Therapeutics was the New York-based company behind the “revolutionary” transplant. I ndependent experts said that the procedure, which was part of the first clinical trial of a successful…

E+T Magazine in Research and Innovation
Clothes sanitisation technology could cut waste from fashion industry

In trials conducted by the University team, it has been demonstrated that a state-of the-art ‘sanitisation chamber’ effectively kills a vast range of germs and viruses, such as E. coli, S. aureus and coronavirus, which can otherwise linger on clothing and fashion accessories. The sanitisation chamber is now being trialled on PPE, making it safe to reuse, which could significantly reduce environmental waste from PPE products. Researcher Dr Mohammed Yaseen said: “This revolutionary technology has real potential to disrupt the fashion and textile industry and offers huge environmental benefits, which could see a significant reduction in landfill waste from clothing.” Currently, about 40 per cent of clothing purchased online is returned, with less than half of it being resold and the remainder…

E+T Magazine in Research and Innovation
View from Brussels: Lithuania, hero of the European Union

The EU has grappled with the issue of curbing Russian energy purchases in recent weeks, as leaders try to find a way to stop funding the Kremlin’s war against Ukraine that does not hammer their voters with unaffordable utility bills. Last week, prime ministers and presidents met in Brussels to try and broker an agreement on another round of Russia sanctions, most notably an oil embargo. But it did not all go to plan. Hungary vetoed any chance of a full ban on imports, so pipeline oil will remain available for purchase. It means that the EU will cut around 90 per cent of trade instead of the full embargo that most leaders were seeking. This fudge took weeks to cook up and makes the prospect of a gas ban even more implausible. Big players like Germany and Italy will not take that hit and…

E+T Magazine
Cutting air pollution will improve yields of common crops, study finds

The analysis used satellite images to reveal for the first time how nitrogen oxides affect crop productivity. The researchers believe the findings have important implications for increasing agricultural output and analysing climate change mitigation costs and benefits around the world. “Nitrogen oxides are invisible to humans, but new satellites have been able to map them with incredibly high precision. Since we can also measure crop production from space, this opened up the chance to rapidly improve our knowledge of how these gases affect agriculture in different regions,” said study lead author David Lobell. Nitrogen oxides, or NOx, are among the most widely emitted pollutants in the world. These gases can directly damage crop cells and indirectly affect them through their role as precursors…

E+T Magazine in Research and Innovation
Doctors successfully transplant liver that spent three days outside a body

Cooled livers can usually only stay alive 12 hours after being removed from a human body. However, a team of Zurich scientists have been able to successfully transplant a liver that lived three days inside a machine. The machine allowed scientists to stretch the viability of the organ for three days and it may even be able to expand it for as long as 10 days, the Swiss team told the journal Nature Biotechnology . The feat involved a collaboration between the University Hospital Zurich (UHZ), ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich. “Our therapy shows that by treating livers in the perfusion machine, it is possible to alleviate the lack of functioning human organs and save lives,” said Professor Pierre-Alain Clavien from the UHZ. The team was able to transform a liver that was originally…

E+T Magazine in Research and Innovation
Tech firms must protect women better online, Ofcom demands

The head of media regulator Ofcom says tech firms must do more to protect women online, after a report revealed that women are more affected by discriminatory, hateful or trolling content than men. The findings were part of Ofcom’s 'Online Nation' report, which looked into the online lives of people in the UK. Only 42 per cent of the women that participated in its survey said they felt comfortable about speaking freely online. The report found women are more likely than men to face online abuse or see harmful content and are also more likely to be distressed by it. Distressful content often related to negative body image, excessive dieting or eating disorders, as well as misogynistic content and content relating to self-harm or suicide. In general, women were less likely to agree that…

E+T Magazine in Security in the Modern World
HS2 begins constructing the UK’s longest railway bridge

The Colne Valley Viaduct, which is part of the HS2 project, is being built with the help of an enormous 700-tonne bridge-building machine. Known as a ‘launching girder’, the 160m long bridge-building machine is the only one of its kind in the UK and will be used to lift the giant concrete deck segments that form the viaduct’s arches into position. Once each section is complete, the machine will inch itself forward into position to build the next stage. A total of one thousand deck segments will be needed, with each one weighing up to 140 tonnes. To allow for the gentle curves of the viaduct as it crosses the valley, all the segments are slightly different shapes and made on site at a purpose-built temporary factory. Image credit: pa HS2 minister Andrew Stephenson…

E+T Magazine in Railways
Global chip shortage will ‘run deep into 2023’, say US officials

The global semiconductor shortage shows no signs of slowing down soon, according to US officials. The chip shortage caused by Covid-related supply chain disruptions; the increase in demand that followed the move to remote working, and the ongoing trade war between the US and China is currently affecting many industries that rely on the technology. "I do not, unfortunately, see the chip shortage abating in any meaningful way any time in the next year," said Raimondo. The US Commerce Secretary has recently been on a trip to South Korea, where she convened a dozen CEOs, including leaders of chipmakers. The country is one of the leading producers of semiconductors. Although Taiwan, home to chip manufacturing giant TSMC, accounted for over 60 per cent of global foundry revenues in 2020, South…

E+T Magazine in Semiconductor Technology
Improve lorry drivers’ conditions or slap new tax on sector, say MPs

The group of MPs said the sector needed to deliver sufficient drivers, workers and facilities, including high-quality services and welfare. While there is a shortage of lorry drivers across Europe, Brexit has considerably worsened the problem in the UK as many come from other parts of the EU. This was coupled with the Covid-19 pandemic which saw many UK-based foreign lorry drivers return to their home countries, with few of them coming back to the UK since. There have also been tax changes making it more expensive for drivers from elsewhere in Europe to work or be employed in the UK. If the sector does not improve within two years, MPs on the Commons Transport Select Committee said the government should implement a 'Supply Chain Levy' to assist in building facilities and training new…

E+T Magazine
Money &Markets: Just In Time is failing because of supply chain issues

JIT (just in time) has become NIT (not in time), and supply chains are having a hard time resetting to the silken smoothness of the past. On the face of it, JIT is a brave strategy because it relies on the business world spinning in a super-efficient way with everyone not only competent but also cooperative and collegiate. A nervous type could easily see that for a manufacturer to push the responsibility of having a stock of parts onto their suppliers, it could easily become a recipe for disaster, because if an enterprise gives itself over to the care of its suppliers and if those parties fail, everything will grind to a halt for that trusting customer. A warehouse of stock is insurance against just that kind of expected outcome. JIT means, by definition, there is little to no slack in the…

E+T Magazine in Manufacturing

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