• Biden signs order to implement EU-US data transfer framework

    The Privacy Shield is a European Union-United States data transfer framework that aims to ease European concerns regarding US surveillance practices.  The framework is expected to end the limbo in which thousands of companies found themselves after the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) struck down the two previous pacts over doubts regarding the safety of EU citizens' data that tech companies store in the US. The agreement is set to soften  the friction between the European Union's stringent data privacy rules and the comparatively lax regime in the US, which lacks a federal privacy law. The White House said "transatlantic data flows are critical to enabling the $7.1tn (£6.4tn) EU-US economic relationship" and the framework "will restore an important legal basis for transatlantic…

  • After All: Crashing out on the island of happy shipwrecks

    I am often asked what my favourite place in the world is; not an easy question for someone who has travelled in over 70 countries. The fact is that I have not one but a handful of favourite destinations, from Alaska and the Falklands to Tasmania and Montreuil-sur-Mer, a beautiful old town in the north of France. I am happy to say the recent expedition to the Scottish islands on MV Greg Mortimer - some aspects of which I have described in recent columns - added one more place to my favourites list: Fair Isle (population 60), situated roughly halfway between Shetland and the Orkneys. Nicknamed ‘the jewel in the ocean’, it is officially Britain’s most isolated island. One of the aims of my MV Greg Mortimer voyage was gathering material for my next book on Britain’s utopian (meaning ‘ideal…

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    E+T Magazine

  • Energy blackouts this winter ‘extremely unlikely’, says Zahawi

    Speaking to Sky News yesterday, former chancellor of the exchequor Nadhim Zahawi said that while it is “only right that we plan for every scenario”, he did not expect the emergency plans to be put in motion. Last week, the National Grid ESO admitted that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will likely see the UK facing a “challenging winter” with regards to its energy supplies. It raised the possibility of planned three-hour electricity blackouts that would see supplies cut off at peak times in order to ensure the grid does not collapse. These would be the UK’s first planned blackouts since the 1970s, when such emergency measures were instituted in response to the miners’ strikes of 1972 and 1974 and the OPEC oil crisis of 1973. Despite plans to close all of the UK’s unabated coal power by…

  • Global aviation industry sets 2050 net zero target

    Members of the United Nations' aviation agency have reached a "historic agreement" on a collective long-term aspirational goal of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.   Although not legally binding, the move brings countries into line with the goals of the aviation industry in making air travel more sustainable and reaching net zero by the middle of the century. “States’ adoption of this new long-term goal for decarbonised air transport, following the similar commitments from industry groups, will contribute importantly to the green innovation and implementation momentum, which must be accelerated over the coming decades to ultimately achieve emissions-free powered flight,” said Salvatore Sciacchitano, president of the ICAO Council.  UK Transport Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan…

  • View from India: Logistics carriers are economic lifeline of the country

    Developed by the Commerce and Industry Ministry, the goal of the National Logistics Policy (NLP) is to make the country a logistics powerhouse. The policy has four features: Integration of Digital System (IDS); Unified Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP); Ease of Logistics (ELOG); and System Improvement Group (SIG). IDS aims to integrate 30 different systems of seven departments. This includes data from the road transport, railways, customs, aviation and commerce departments. ULIP is expected to bring all digital services related to the transportation sector into a single portal. When it happens, it may free exporters from a host of cumbersome processes. Likewise, Ease of Logistics (ELOG) Services has been initiated for industry associations to resolve issues by reaching out to the government…

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    E+T Magazine

  • Diesel engines retrofitted to run on 90 per cent hydrogen

    Engineers from UNSW Sydney have successfully converted a diesel engine to run as a hydrogen-diesel hybrid engine, reducing the CO2 emissions by more than 85 per cent in the process. The team, led by Professor Shawn Kook from the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, spent around 18 months developing its 'Hydrogen-Diesel Direct Injection Dual-Fuel System' that means existing diesel engines could run using 90 per cent hydrogen as fuel. The researchers said that any diesel engine used in trucks and power equipment in the transport, agriculture and mining industries could ultimately be retrofitted to use the new hybrid system in just a couple of months. Green hydrogen, which is produced using clean renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, is much more environmentally…

  • View from Brussels: Privacy for privacy’s sake

    US President Joe Biden’s decision to sign an executive order on transatlantic data flows marked a significant leap forward in what has been a very complex and divisive issue for Brussels and Washington. In 2015, the Safe Harbor Privacy Principles were declared invalid by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in a case involving Facebook data. Its successor, the Privacy Shield, was set up in 2016 but was again struck down by the court in 2020. Earlier this year, the EU and Biden’s administration agreed to work together on the Trans-Atlantic Data Privacy Framework. The president’s executive order makes good on a number of the promises made under the initial agreement. For example, it creates a data protection review court within the Department of Justice. This will enable EU citizens to file…

  • Economic growth must not come at cost to the environment, National Trust says

    In the mini-budget announced in September, the government announced the creation of investment zones -  areas identified in England where planning rules will be loosened in order to release more land for commercial and housing developments. Other plans include a review of farming subsidies designed to encouraged better environmental practices from the sector. The National Trust said that many of the new proposals would get rid of “critical” nature protections that are “too easily dismissed as ‘red tape’”. It added that long-term economic growth should be rooted in green jobs, sustainable food production, clean energy and protected nature, heritage, and outdoor space. It said that while simplifying regulations was welcome, there is a difference between ‘red tape’ and crucial protections…

  • Sponsored: Using cloud-based power and building management to save time and costs

    The digitalisation of electrical distribution  and HVAC infrastructures has given facility teams the data, insights, and control needed to achieve these outcomes. But you may not have the budget needed for the required energy and power management  (EPMS) and building management (BMS) software and computing hardware, or the people and expertise to take full advantage of them. This can be especially difficult if your team is managing a large portfolio of buildings. Fortunately, a new breed of cloud-based EPMS and BMS applications can help you meet this challenge. Digitalise your buildings EPMS and BMS apps turn ‘big data’ from networked IoT-enabled devices into actionable insights for better-informed decisions, more responsive facility teams, and more effective automated actions. These apps…

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    E+T Magazine

  • UK research at ‘significant risk’ from Brexit brain drain, scientists warn

    At least 22 UK-based scientists have decided to leave the United Kingdom, fearing that they would lose European funding amid stalling Brexit negotiations.  Scientists and engineers told Sky News the UK's position as a world leader in research is at risk from "significant brain drain", as top academics are giving up hope of the government negotiating membership of the Horizon Europe programme  and are preparing to leave the country. After three months without a Minister for Science, Liz Truss has now appointed Nusrat Ghani to the position. However, senior scientists and vice chancellors are warning that the government is no longer committed to a deal on associate membership of the EU research association. "Nobody told me I have to leave, but it wasn't a welcoming environment," said Moritz…

  • Bizarre Tech: Y-Brush, BeautyMix and Livall smart helmet

    See my video from IFA 2022 here Y-Brush Get in my mouth! I saw this on a stand at the Showstoppers event at IFA, and thought it was some sort of smart denture cleaner. But alas, I was mistaken. Now, I love me some dental hygiene: I have a sonic toothbrush, a water flosser, and mouthwash. But good lord, it can be tedious. According to the makers of the Y-Brush, 90 per cent of case studies show that teeth brushing is not done correctly, and that your gnashers should be brushed for two to three minutes twice a day – that’s four seconds a tooth. With the Y-Brush, it reduces time spent brushing – you literally don’t need to do it. Just bite down on it and it gets to work obliterating the plaque and nasties in your mouth. I didn’t test it when they handed it to me. Obviously, it wasn’t…

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    E+T Magazine

  • Book review: ‘Positive People Leadership’ by Nigel Rowe

    Not many of us will have sufficient spirit of inquiry to work out how many bosses we’ve reported to in our careers. But Nigel Rowe has, and as his debut book ‘Positive People Leadership’ (The Book Guild, £9.99, ISBN 9781914471704) posits, there’s a lot to be learned from such data. During his three-decade (and counting) career, that has seen him progress from graduate software engineer to board director, Rowe has ‘worked for about thirty different bosses’, who in turn have served in the management food chain under their bosses, and so on. With this much leadership expertise influencing the way things are done, there must be high quality findings to be extrapolated, suggests Rowe. With ‘Positive People Leadership’ we have exactly that. Not only has Rowe learned from every manager he’s reported…

  • The bigger picture: Czinger 21C hypercar

    To build the car, which has 1250 horsepower (1350 with an upgrade) and a top speed of 253mph in optional low-drag V Max configuration, Czinger used its in-house 'Human-AI' production system and 3D-printing technology. Each component is manufactured using this technology and is computationally engineered using AI, optimised for weight and performance, and carefully finished by hand. The system can even switch from creating a rear frame to a full chassis with only a software change. Image credit: Cover Images Although it will only have an initial production run of 80, Czinger chiefs hope the 21C will be the first in a series of exclusive performance vehicles. With 1250hp and a dry weight under 1240kg, the 21C claims a true 1:1 power-to-weight ratio. It also features…

  • Reclaiming reality in the digital age

    “We live at a time when the pursuit of authenticity is more important to us than ever before,” says Alice Sherwood. It doesn’t matter what example you give, she adds, whether it be the trend for artisan food or the fight against the dissemination of disinformation, “it matters to us”. You can punch in an n-gram for authenticity on Google and discover that searches for the term are “going through the roof. And yet we seem to have created a world that is less authentic.” It’s a paradox that intrigues Sherwood, one that lies at the root of why she wrote her new book ‘Authenticity’ and subtitled it ‘Reclaiming reality in a counterfeit culture’. The word culture is important because, while her forensic dissection of swindles and skullduggery is built on the foundation of science, statistics and…

  • Disposable electronic components could be printed on paper

    A team at the State University of New York has devised a way of minimising e-waste, by developing disposable electronic components that can be printed on a sheet of paper.   They designed a paper-based amplifier-type circuit that incorporates resistors, capacitors and a transistor, which would be both easy to carry and to recycle.  The team first used wax to print channels onto a sheet of paper in a simple pattern. After melting the wax so that it soaked into the paper, the researchers printed semiconductive and conductive inks, which soaked into the areas not blocked by wax. Then, they screen-printed additional conductive metal components and cast a gel-based electrolyte onto the sheet. The final circuit was very flexible and thin, just like paper, even after adding the components. To…

  • Back Story: Abigail and Donna Otchere, ‘STEM careers allow you to make a substantial, positive impact.’

    Shini Somara: What has it been like being women of colour in STEM? Donna Otchere: There are very few of us in engineering. I was one of two girls in my physics class and perhaps five people in my undergraduate degree who were from BAME backgrounds. I have always been driven by my love of maths and creativity, and engineering has always really interested me, so it was an obvious choice of career for me. Not relating to others, however, has made things harder, but if I don’t speak up for minorities in STEM this problem continues. I also witness so many misconceptions in engineering about who and what engineers are, and that must change too! Engineers are problem-solvers and that can be anyone. Abigail Otchere: I see more women than men in my field of biomedical science, but there are certainly…

  • UK government offers North Sea oil and gas licences despite climate concerns

    UK regulators on Friday began the 33rd round of offshore licences to enable companies to explore for oil and gas, prioritising four areas in the southern part of the North Sea, where gas has already been discovered. The process, which will run until the end of June, is the first since 2019-2020, when the government promised to design a “climate compatibility check” to ensure that the award of new permits was “consistent with the UK’s wider climate objectives”. At the time, the check was criticised because it is only advisory and does not restrict authorities from granting a licence, as they have now announced.  In a policy U-turn, the NSTA has confirmed nearly 900 locations are being offered for exploration, with as many as 100 licences set to be awarded in the most recent round, with…

  • Safety concerns as unqualified electricians found to be installing EV charge points

    The report, from the consultancy Pye Tait on behalf of the Electrotechnical Skills Partnership (TESP), said there was a concern that that “not all installers are sufficiently competent or qualified to undertake the job”. It states that many of those attending upskilling courses on how to safely install electric vehicle charge points ( EVCPs) are not fully qualified electricians, instead switching from other lower-skilled sub-sectors such as smart meter installations. These courses are designed only for fully qualified electricians as a bolt-on qualification, according to the report, and “this raises immediate concern around the safety and quality of EV charge points installed by these individuals, as well as broader concern about the potential “de-skilling” of the sector. The report appears…

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    E+T Magazine

  • Interview: Dr Zara Nanu, CEO, Gapsquare

    When the World Economic Forum announced in 2015 that “we are 217 years away from closing the gender pay gap”, Dr Zara Nanu decided that something needed to be done about it. At the same conference, she heard that by 2030 most of us will be in self-driving cars. “I also heard that Nasa was saying we’ll be waving people off to Mars.” The CEO of Gapsquare says it was hard to listen to these short-range technology predictions while realising “we’re still two centuries away from pay parity”. Gapsquare develops AI-based software that crunches employment data to address issues such as gender pay inequality, with Nanu seeing it as her mission “to help organisations put a stop to biases and prejudicial practices preventing equality”. In recognition of her achievements, Nanu received an MBE in the…

  • Human rights lawyer calls for ‘total rewrite’ of Online Safety Bill

    Dr Susie Alegre has written a legal opinion piece warning that the UK government's proposed nternet safety laws fail to address the root causes of online harm, while also damaging free speech.  The article was commissioned by the consumer campaign group SumOfUs.  “The Online Safety Bill is a mess and needs a total rewrite. As it stands, it offers the worst of both worlds,” Alegre said. “It not only threatens free speech, freedom of expression and privacy, but fails to do enough to tackle the real drivers of online harm, such as social media companies actively recommending posts about self-harm, which contributed to the tragic suicide of teenager Molly Russell.” The Online Safety Bill has been presented by the government as a ground-breaking law that will protect the privacy and safety…

  • Letters to the editor: volume 17, issue 10

    Water, water everywhere... The BBC’s ‘Countryfile’ programme recently covered the Archimedean screw hydro-​turbine set into the weir on the River Thames at Windsor, which supplies the Castle. The question this raises is why every weir on all our rivers isn’t being equipped with this ancient piece of technology, coupled with more modern generating equipment. There are dozens of disused mills all over the country with the basics still in place – a wheel housing and wheel house, the infamous mill pond, usually the size of a small reservoir and with close access to the local electrical infrastructure. The obsession with planting thousands of acres of high-​quality farmland with solar PV cells that by their very nature have short life spans and are high maintenance – they need cleaning at least…

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    E+T Magazine

  • Gadgets: Osprey Transporter Duffel, Yamaha SR C30A soundbar, Superstrata Ion e-bike and more

    Osprey Transporter Waterproof Duffel Truly waterproof luggage, this has welded seams, waterproof zips and is IPX7 rated (submersible 1m deep for 30 minutes) so you can literally take it for a swim or tie it to your canoe. Carry like a duffel or wear like a rucksack: the removable top handle doubles as a padded harness. From £220 ospreyeurope.com Read Caramel’s full hands-on review. Yamaha SR-C30A This new compact soundbar and wireless subwoofer, from the company that pioneered virtual surround-sound soundbars, could be the one to beat. It offers clear dialogue and sound projection, with Dolby Digital and Virtual Surround. All despite its 60cm width and 6.4cm height, small enough to sit under any screen. £299 uk.yamaha.com Renpho True View Eye

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    E+T Magazine

  • The bigger picture: Selfie Giant

    The attraction, called The Giant, was installed at ExCeL London for IAAPA Expo Europe – the biggest event for theme parks and visitor attractions in Europe. Created by The Giant Company, based in Dublin, The Giant is intended to be one of a series to be installed around the world as visitor attractions. Its arms and head can move, and its patented skin – a matrix of millions of LED pixels – can take on the appearance of any person, including historical figures and current stars. Image credit: Cover Images Visitors had their image scanned and uploaded onto the statue, resulting in a massive selfie. They could also climb up to ‘stand on the shoulders of a giant’. Alongside the statue, The Giant Experience offered ‘an immersive journey’ into the world of giants…

  • Money & Markets: The UK’s financial woes were down to the US Federal Reserve

    Engineers will be very familiar with chaotic processes. In some special types of configurations, tiny differences in starting points can lead to wildly different outcomes. Small inputs can lead to giant unpredictable results. Poincaré predicted planet trajectories and won a prize, only to find a mistake in his work and realise he had actually proved it was nigh on impossible to predict them through what was to become the foundation of Chaos Theory. It turns out that economics is one such system of moving bodies and while you might have a theory that works for now or perhaps one that fits the soon to change cyclical observations, things will decouple and land everyone in a fundamentally changed economic system. The old joke goes, ‘If a butterfly in the Sahara can cause a hurricane in the…

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    E+T Magazine

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