• Why engineers have to be more proactive about engaging with the laws of war

    The war in Ukraine has put allegations of war crimes and the possibility of prosecutions at the International Criminal Court in the headlines. Apart from feelings of horror, this prospect may seem irrelevant to most engineers and computer scientists. It isn’t – the technology sector has lessons to learn especially now that drones are playing a prominent war-changing role. Warfare is governed by International Humanitarian Law (IHL), also known as the Law of Armed Conflict (LOAC), through treaties and international protocols negotiated at the United Nations. IHL has the premise that wars will happen, but lethal actions can only be taken by identifiable individuals who have authority to act within the law. Consequently, responsibility and hence liability for harm to people or property must always…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Hands-on review: Tronsmart Onyx Ace Pro and Ugreen HiTune T3 earbuds

    We've listened to a lot of headphones and earbuds; it's one of the most active consumer technology spaces, with new products – and new companies – popping up constantly. Mostly, we've lent our collective ear to the higher end of the market; those premium three-figure products collectively snapping at Apple's AirPods heel. This time, though, we're intrigued to hear what's happening further down the scale. Are there bargains to be had at the cheap and cheerful end of the market? Much like a shark, technology keeps moving forwards. The chips and features that were top-of-the-line five years ago are often now merely standard, with prices tumbling accordingly. Undoubtedly, there are some fine products that belie their modest price tag. Some of us might want a second pair of buds for the office…

  • View from India: Women’s representation in research needs to be scaled up

    Improve gender quotient for better outcomes As a researcher, Aarathi Parameswaran is of the view that research should not be limited in nature. Budget should also not be deterrent. This conviction stems from her exposure to research at the Azim Premji University, where she pursued an honour’s thesis on investigating Taylor-Couette flow experimentally with a Taylor-Couette reactor and analytically using computational fluid dynamics. “I was given the freedom to do what I wanted to do and that’s important for a better understanding of research. India is a great place to pursue science and research, but there could be challenges,” said Aarathi, who is an incoming Physics Master's student at University of Bonn, Germany. Keen to explore beyond the frontiers of science, Aarathi plans to explore new…

  • Modified trains could harvest CO2 directly from the air

    The Sheffield team has been working with US-based start-up CO2Rail to design direct air capture (DAC) equipment that can be placed within special rail cars on already running trains to absorb carbon from the atmosphere, helping to mitigate the impact of climate change. The DAC rail cars work by using large intakes of air that extend up into the slipstream of the moving train to move ambient air into the large cylindrical CO2 collection chamber and eliminate the need for energy-intensive fan systems that are necessary with stationary DAC operations. The air then moves through a chemical process that separates the CO2, allowing the rest of it to travel out of the back or underside of the car and return to the atmosphere. After a sufficient amount has been captured, the chamber is closed…

  • Water, CO2 and sunlight used to make carbon-neutral aviation fuel

    The researchers have implemented their system in the field and say the design could help the aviation industry become carbon neutral. “We are the first to demonstrate the entire thermochemical process chain from water and CO2 to kerosene in a fully-integrated solar tower system,” said Aldo Steinfeld, a professor from ETH Zurich. Previous attempts to produce aviation fuels through the use of solar energy have mostly been performed in the laboratory. The aviation sector is responsible for about 5 per cent of global anthropogenic emissions causing climate change. It relies heavily on kerosene, or jet fuel, which is a liquid hydrocarbon fuel typically derived from crude oil. Currently, no clean alternative is available to power long-haul commercial flights at the global scale. …

  • Government to reform wind sector in net-zero push

    The wide-ranging reforms of the wind sector included in the Energy Bill feature a push to reduce the approval times for marine turbine projects from four years down to only one.  Parliament has debated the bill for the first time in the House of Lords, against a backdrop of record-breaking temperatures and spiralling energy bills fuelling a cost-of-living crisis. “This bill is an ambitious piece of legislation and allows the necessary reform of our energy system," Lord Callanan said. “We are charged with a great responsibility to ensure the security, the affordability and the decarbonisation of our energy supply for many generations to come." The government has said the legislation aims to increase the resilience and reliability of energy systems across the UK, support the delivery…

  • Space-based solar power and weather monitoring sensors get £3m funding boost

    According to the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, the new space technologies could help to cut carbon emissions, improve energy security and enhance the UK’s reputation as a science superpower. It has the potential to boost energy security by providing reliable, affordable alternatives to expensive and volatile fossil fuels, while reducing the UK’s contributions to climate change. Grant funding will also be made available for cutting-edge weather monitoring sensors to aid more accurate weather forecasts. The sensors will be put into orbit for the first time, thanks to a partnership with data and analytics company Spire Global. The Hyperspectral Microwave Sounder (HYMS) will help meteorological agencies and businesses around the world involved with planning, shipping…

  • UK heatwave leaves behind trail of fire amid calls for climate change action

    Calls for action on climate change have intensified as a result of the heatwave and predictions from experts that extreme weather events such as this one will only become more frequent over the coming decades,  fuelled by climate change. "We need to be ready," said Transport Secretary Grant Shapps as passengers faced more disruption in the record-breaking heat. Shapps conceded the UK’s transport network cannot cope with the intense heat, saying that the Victorian-era infrastructure “just wasn’t built to withstand this type of temperature” and stressed that Britain must “keep ramping up the specification” of its railways to cope with extreme temperatures, although upgrading existing lines would likely "take decades".   he scene after a blaze in the village of Wennington…

  • Sponsored: How to choose the best MEMS sensor for a wireless CbM system

    Learn in this paper how to choose the best MEMS sensor by considering different factors such as noise, bandwidth, g range, power and turn-on time. The article will also introduce the Voyager platform, a robust vibration monitoring platform enabling designers to rapidly deploy a wireless solution to a machine or test setup. Key Learning Points: What are the differences between competing wireless sensor networks in the CbM market? Why are MEMS sensors replacing piezoelectric vibration sensors? How to choose the best MEMS sensor for wireless CbM applications in harsh RF environments? Download free whitepaper

  • Network Rail launches resilience taskforce following heatwave

    The review will consider four key areas, each led by an independent expert in their field. Three of these areas will be focused on gathering insights from other countries and making comparisons with international rail networks that are more used to dealing with extreme heat and fluctuations in temperature. Andrew Haines, chief executive of Network Rail, said: “The weather we’ve experienced this week has put a huge amount of pressure on our infrastructure, our staff and our passengers, and with extreme weather events becoming more frequent as our climate continues to change, we’ve got to pull out all the stops to make our railway as resilient as possible. “That’s why I’ve decided to commission this taskforce, spearheaded by leading global experts, whose considerable experience in their fields…

  • Taxpayer on the line for £2.7bn of unusable PPE, MPs warn

    The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) was found to have a stockpile of almost 4 billion items that are not needed, many of which will be burned, which has raised environmental concerns . The Department remains in dispute with many suppliers it entered into contract with over the quality of the PPE provided, but it accepts that some surplus stock will end up being incinerated. In its report published today, the PAC found there was little sign of the government taking action against potentially fraudulent suppliers despite DHSC’s estimate that as much as 5 per cent of PPE expenditure may have involved fraud. Following the start of the pandemic, some £3.5bn of Covid contracts were awarded without tender to companies with links to the Conservative Party. Last year, Labour accused…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Robot arm to help retrieve Martian samples

    The robot, known as the Sample Transfer Arm (STA), is part of a wider joint endeavour between Nasa and ESA called the Mars Sample Return mission, already under way. As of late, Nasa’s rover has drilled eight of an eventual 38 samples of Martian rock and soil. ESA is currently developing another small rover to retrieve these samples and place them in an ascent vehicle that will carry them into orbit for retrieval and shipping back to Earth via the ESA Earth Return Orbiter. But ESA’s small rover, the Sample Fetch Rover, needs a sensitive and articulated robotic arm with which to grasp, collect, and transfer the Mars samples once on Mars. This is where the STA comes in. Image credit: Leonardo/Maxon/GMV/ OHB Italia/ SAB Aerospace s.r.o “Handling the precious martian…

  • Albanian government services suffer ‘massive' cyber attack

    Albanians were unable to use scores of government services on Monday as a cyber attack caused the main servers of the National Agency for Information Society to go down only  a few months after shifting most public sector services to an online portal. “Albania is under a massive cybernetic attack that has never happened before. This criminal cyber-attack was synchronised… from outside Albania,” the Council of Ministers said in a press release. The "wide and complex" attack began on Friday and targeted government infrastructure and other public online services and rendered them functionless, the government added.  ️ Confirmed: #Albania 's National Agency for Information Society (AKSHI) network has been temporarily shut down to counter a major cyberattack; real-time network data show…

  • Chip democratisation leads to open-source choices

    Some 30 years ago the gate array was flying high, enthusiastically supported by vendors such as LSI Logic and VLSI Technology, but at the same time at increasing risk of becoming an endangered species. A decade later it was practically over. Structured gate arrays persisted for a while but unless you could afford the mask costs for a standard-cell ASIC, you were no longer in the business of buying custom chips. The FPGA was now your main option. At the leading edge the economics have certainly not improved for anyone who cannot command high volumes or operating margins. Design costs have spiralled up as well for chips at these advanced nodes, though primarily in verification, validation, and software development. The idea of democratising design with these trends in the background seems counter…

  • Scotland weapons hub will develop high-energy anti-drone lasers

    The defence and intelligence technology firm Raytheon UK has revealed its plans to build an "advanced laser integration centre” in Livingston, some 15 miles from Edinburgh. The centre will focus on the testing, fielding and maintenance of defensive high-energy laser (HEL) weapons, that will counter the threat posed by drones, which has been highlighted by the use of this technology during combat in Ukraine.  The firm’s president of electronic warfare systems, Annabel Flores, told the BBC that “demand is spiking for cost-effective lasers” able to defeat “asymmetric” threats from drones, rockets and mortars. Last year, Britain’s armed forces began trials using laser weapons designed by the company, which were small enough to be installed on UK Wolfhound land vehicles. The invasion of…

  • Heat-related deaths could triple without action on homes, scientists warn

    Temperatures in the UK reached an historic high of 40°C today - a record that is expected to soon be surpassed. Without a major overhaul of the country's infrastructure, these extreme conditions could lead to soaring numbers of heat-related deaths.   Much of England and Wales are currently under a ‘red’ extreme heat warning, with daily record-breaking high temperatures causing disruption on transport networks and posing a serious risk to the health of the population. With the possibility of this heat becoming a ‘new normal’ for large parts of the country, government climate change advisors have highlighted the need to address the problem of overheating in UK homes - or face deadly consequences.  The UK has little regulation to prevent overheating in new buildings, despite the fact that…

  • High Court rules Net Zero Strategy breaches UK’s climate obligations

    The legal challenge was brought by environmental campaigners Friends of the Earth, ClientEarth, Good Law Project and private individual Jo Wheatley. In its judgment, the court found that the Net Zero Strategy, which sets out plans to decarbonise the economy, doesn’t meet the government’s obligations under the Climate Change Act to produce detailed climate policies that show how the UK’s legally binding carbon budgets will be met. It also found that parliament and the public were effectively kept in the dark about a shortfall in meeting a key target to cut emissions. The ruling states that Greg Hands, the minister for business, energy and industrial strategy, who was responsible for signing off the Net Zero Strategy, didn’t have the legally required information on how carbon budgets would…

  • Exercise plan for astronauts developed to minimise muscular atrophy

    Among the many functions performed by skeletal muscles, maintaining posture is one essential facet that allows us to move against the force of gravity. But when these muscles do not experience gravity for extended periods of time, such as during space travel - an effect known as 'gravitational unloading' - they can start to atrophy leading to changes to their structure and properties. Gravitational unloading causes deterioration of motor control, and walking difficulty has been observed in crews after spaceflight, even those who have exercised regularly during missions on the International Space Station (ISS). Astronauts aboard the ISS are required to use treadmills, bicycle ergometers and resistance training equipment to counter the effect of reduced gravity on the neuromuscular system…

  • Why diverse recruitment is the key to closing the cyber-security skills gap

    Against today’s socio-political landscape, the cyber threat faced by businesses is evolving every day. However, positive strides are being made to mitigate this. ClubCISO’s ninth annual Information Security Maturity Report found that 46 per cent of chief information security officers have extended their influence in their respective organisations since the pandemic, and 75 per cent report either positive or no material change in the attitudes to security from increased remote working. To be able to compound this, it is important that businesses have the resources they need. A recent report by McKinsey found that there were an estimated 3.12 million unfilled cyber-security jobs in 2021. In order to maintain and further the positive progress made so far, businesses must look at sourcing talent…

  • Top scientists protest ‘reckless’ opening of Cumbria coal mine

    In an open letter to the Prime Minister and all MPs, the scientific community has condemned the proposed project to open a new coal mine in Cumbria, hoping that the current political upheaval in Westminster might sway the government to change its decision.  “To open a new coal mine in the face of the climate crisis sends out the worst possible message to the rest of the world,” the letter reads.   In January 2021, the government   decided not to intervene   over a decision to allow the construction of the UK’s first deep coal mine in 30 years, for use in steel production. However, following strong backlash from environmental campaigners, a   public enquiry into the £165m West Cumbria Mining plan was opened later that year. The final decision on whether to approve the opening of the mine…

  • Effectiveness of carbon capture facilities routinely overestimated, say researchers

    Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a worldwide initiative to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere by capturing the greenhouse gas at its source and storing it underground. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has said that CCS is key to reaching the goal of net-zero emissions by mid-century to mitigate climate change. The researchers compared estimations of stored carbon with official reports, and found that the reports lead to overestimates of actual carbon stored by 19-30 per cent. They calculated 197 million tonnes of carbon were captured and stored between 1996 and 2020, but a lack of consistent reporting frameworks means the current rates of carbon capture are overestimated. The report suggests this disempowers climate mitigation strategies…

  • UK's ‘next-generation’ combat air demonstrator to reach the skies in 2035

    By 2035, a new flying combat air demonstrator is expected to take off.  Designed by the  Ministry of Defence, alongside a team from BAE Systems, the demonstrator is expected to play a critical role in proving the technology and design principles needed to deliver the UK’s Future Combat Air System, according to the Secretary of State for Defence, Ben Wallace.  "The design and development of the demonstrator aircraft represent an important milestone, showcasing the success and talent of our engineers, programmers and software developers," Wallace said. "This programme will go on to attract opportunities for many more great minds and talent from across the UK." The flagship project is part of a suite of novel technologies designed to demonstrate and test the next-generation combat air skills…

  • Europe’s largest floating solar panel facility built on top of hydro-electric dam

    Construction work on the facility started seven months ago, and it will occupy around 4 hectares, equivalent to around 0.016 per cent of the total area of the Alqueva reservoir on which it is built. The new platform has an installed power of 5 MW and the capacity to produce around 7.5 GWh per year, which means that it can supply more than 30 per cent of households in the south Portugal region. The hybrid project will also include hydroelectric energy generated from the Alqueva dam, which the floating solar panels sit on top of. Plans are afoot to install a battery system with a nominal power of 1 MW and a storage capacity of around 2MWh. All these technologies will be using one single connection point to the existing grid. Image credit: edp EDP, the energy firm…

  • Industries disrupted as UK reaches record-breaking temperatures

    The UK has declared a national emergency as a result of record-breaking high temperatures, resulting in disruptions to travel, school and health services.   The country's capital is set to be one of the hottest places in the world on Monday, with temperatures soaring above those of Western Sahara and the Caribbean, and expected to beat the 38.7ºC (101.7ºF) seen in Cambridge in 2019, the highest temperature recorded to date in the UK.  The rise in temperatures has led transportation providers to reduce railway and Tube services and slow down trains' running speeds amid fears of rails buckling in the heat. The public has been advised to only travel if necessary on Monday and Tuesday. Network Rail has confirmed it will restrict train speeds on key routes in Scotland between 1pm and 8pm on…

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