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The AI pilot: can we remove Maverick from his cockpit?

Towards the end of the 20-minute drive from central Belgrade to Nikola Tesla airport, travellers with time to spare can explore the inside of a huge steel and glass doughnut. A curious piece of architecture, the Aeronautical Museum Belgrade appears to have split: as you pass by, you are separated from the museum by fences and then an aeroplane graveyard – a jumble of planes and helicopters that track the history of Serbia’s (and the former Yugoslavia’s) – air force all the way back to the Second World War. Perhaps the museum was once going to be bigger. Perhaps it’s a marketing ploy: ‘if this is what we leave outside, just imagine the stuff we keep out of the alternating summer rainstorms and new year’s blizzards.’ Inside the museum are further examples of aircraft from Serbia’s somewhat…

E+T Magazine in Aerospace
Panama waves magic Wanda to catch floating garbage

The Juan Díaz is one of the most polluted rivers in Panama. From cans and discarded plastics to bags full of organic garbage, the waste the river carries has darkened its waters. Now, instead of letting the waste build-up, the city’s authorities have devised a plan to catch and recycle it. Wanda - an acronym for 'Wheel and Action' - is the first sustainable wheel in Latin America able to capture floating garbage. “The ultimate goal is to recover what can be recovered to give it a second life, and what is not will be disposed of in the right way,” Sandy Watemberg, executive director of the Panamanian NGO Marea Verde, told Efe. The Juan Díaz River is one of the main tributaries that flow into the Panama Bay, surrounded by a protected area of mangroves that are home to numerous types of…

E+T Magazine in Water Supply
Ofgem considering quarterly energy price cap updates due to market volatility

Unprecedented rises in gas prices were already occurring during 2021, even before the conflict in Ukraine began (in 2022) causing Europe-wide disruption to energy supplies. The UK's energy price cap was increased last month, but the previous change came in August 2021 and therefore did not reflect the historic rises in wholesale prices for energy firms. This caused a multitude of energy firms to collapse within a short time period as they were forced to sell energy at a lower cost to their customers. Ofgem said that a more frequent price cap would reflect the most up-to-date and accurate energy prices and should mean that when prices fall from the current record highs, customers would see the benefit much sooner. This change would also help energy suppliers to more accurately predict…

E+T Magazine in Engineering with a Disability
UK signs £30m maintenance contract for Queen Elizabeth aircraft carriers

The 10-year agreement will ensure that the two warships – HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales – are able to undergo dry dockings for planned maintenance and repair at Babcock’s Rosyth facilities. The Ministry of Defence said the work will help to sustain 300 jobs across the facility and the wider supply chain. The 65,000-tonne carriers cost taxpayers £3bn each and are used to launch the F35 Joint Strike Fighter fast jets across the globe. The lead ship, HMS Queen Elizabeth, was commissioned in December 2017, followed by the HMS Prince of Wales in December 2019. The construction of the two carriers involved more than 10,000 people from 90 companies, 7,000 of them in the six shipyards building the sections of the ships. Defence procurement minister Jeremy Quin said: “The Queen…

E+T Magazine in Aerospace
Sponsored: E&T webinar - Modelling Capacitive Sensors in COMSOL®︎

A sensor electrode might be 1 millimetre in size, but the electronics ground plane could couple to objects 100 millimetres in size. There can also be extreme aspect ratios, e.g. a sensor with submillimetre gaps between printed circuit board (PCB) layers that extend for 10s of millimetres. If a straightforward finite element method approach is taken for a 3D model, this can result in a large model that is slow to solve. Furthermore, the geometry is likely to have at least one moving part, and running the model over a range of positions can take an inordinate amount of time. Register for this webinar to learn about: FEM and BEM methods for capacitive modelling with COMSOL Multiphysics Multi-scale simulation using equivalent circuit models Combining resistance and capacitance predictions…

E+T Magazine in Electromagnetic Devices
EU toughens cyber-security rules across the continent

The European Union (EU) is doubling down in its fight against cyber crime. On Friday (May 13), EU countries and lawmakers agreed to impose tougher cyber-security rules for large energy, transport and financial firms, as well as digital providers and medical device makers, amid concerns about cyber attacks by state actors and other malicious players. The decision was taken as a response to the rise in online threats brought about by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The new policy builds on existing rules proposed by the European Commission in 2020, known as the NIS 2 Directive , which, in turn, expands on the scope of the current NIS Directive. The new rules cover all medium and large companies in essential sectors: energy; transport; banking; financial market infrastructure; health; vaccines…

E+T Magazine in Cybersecurity
View from India: Security is of paramount importance in 5G

The pandemic has compelled industries to rely on remote work and minimise human interaction in their operations. As a result, automation has gained precedence. Now industries and manufacturing units are moving to the next frontier for scaling up levels of efficiency. The convergence of information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) as well as a shift from industrial automation to industrial autonomy (IA2IA) could enable better efficiency and connected ecosystems. 5G could be a choice for reliable connectivity. Characterised by ultra-low latency and high speed, 5G will connect billions of wireless devices, including Internet of Things (IoT) devices. This will give a new dimension to smart cities, transportation, warehousing and healthcare among others. What was unthinkable will…

E+T Magazine in Internet of Things
Interview: Beth Holmes, principal knowledge engineer, Amazon Alexa

In Recent years, voice activation has become ubiquitous, with Amazon’s cloud-based voice service Alexa a main player featuring on more than 100 million devices worldwide. Beth Holmes, who is principal knowledge engineer on Amazon Alexa, says there are billions of interactions with these devices per week. Holmes has been with the product since November 2014, when “a small multidisciplinary team launched Amazon Echo, with the aspiration of revolutionising daily convenience using artificial intelligence”. Before that, she was part of the technology team at start-up Evi Technologies, whose acquisition by Amazon meant its natural language AI program became a key component underpinning Alexa. The statistics are mind-boggling. Holmes provides a screed of numbers. There are more than 200 million…

E+T Magazine
Net-zero flight to take to the skies in 2023

Grant Shapps has announced his plans for a competition to encourage the aviation industry to deliver the world’s first transatlantic flight fuelled purely by environmentally friendly aviation fuel by the end of next year. The announcement was made during a speech to industry leaders in the US, in which the transport secretary challenged the sector to deliver the net-zero emissions flight between the UK and America. The flight will be supported by up to £1 million of competition funding made available from 2022 to 2023 to support the testing, research and personnel costs of the flight, which will use 100 per cent sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The competition is open to airlines, fuel producers, aircraft or engine manufacturers and fuel suppliers. “This trailblazing net-zero emissions…

E+T Magazine in Aerospace
Book review: ‘Europe by Rail: The Definitive Guide’

Unlike other literary genres - fiction, fantasy, creative non-fiction etc – guide books as a rule enjoy a much shorter lifespan, with some already getting out of date by the time of their publication. The notable exception here are the classic ‘handbooks’ - Baedekers, Murrays, Blue Guides, Warlocks, and others - whose readability and informative value, curiously enough, tend to increase with time, alongside their retail prices. Some rare vintage Baedekers, for example, will easily set you back several thousand pounds. And, believe me, they are well worth the price; there’s no greater delight for a knowledge-hungry traveller than to criss-cross the globe with a hundred-year-old Baedeker or Murray which provide the wanderer with a truly unique perspective not only in space, but also in time.…

E+T Magazine in Railways
US and UK partner for future commercial spaceflight missions

The United Kingdom and the United States have signed a collaboration agreement to boost the countries' respective space industries. The agreement will allow firms from both countries to operate from spaceports in either location. Britain said the partnership, signed by transport minister Grant Shapps and his US counterpart, Pete Buttigieg, in Washington this week, would make spaceflight “easier and cheaper”. The move is also expected to “cut down red tape” and reduce the regulatory burden to operators, in order to achieve greater efficiencies and a reduction in costs, resources and duplication while maintaining stringent safety standards. The partnership will also see the two countries collaborate on the licensing of commercial space launches, and provide benefits including critical defence…

E+T Magazine in Space
Gadgets: Miele Boost CX1, Ikea Starkvind table, bamboo electric toothbrush and more

Miele Boost CX1 Miele’s smallest ever vacuum cleaner, corded and bagless, ideal for homes with scant storage space. It’s small but mighty, with a footprint smaller than an open magazine but powerful suction and filtration and a 10m reach from the socket. The Cat & Dog and Parquet models add a HEPA filter. From £269 miele.co.uk Humax Wi-Fi Smart Plug This cheap-as-chips gizmo gives any mains-powered device smart app control, including Alexa and Google voice commands, timers and IFTTT home automation. It also monitors energy use, so you can spot ‘vampire’ devices wasting electricity while they’re on standby. £14.95 humaxdirect.co.uk Bambooi Bio Max ...

E+T Magazine
Letters to the editor: volume 17, issue 5

Let’s learn more from the planet’s best computer I would like to fully agree (well almost) with David Zilli’s suggestion that artificial intelligence needs to work smarter, not harder ( Comment, April 2022 ). The most successful project on the planet must be the six-million-year-old development of a carbon-based computer, the human brain. In all projects, there is normally a lessons-learnt phase. Artificial neural networks stem from a concept formed over 60 years ago. Only recently, in around the past 15 years, has computing technology been able to make good use of the AI concept. Feeding a neural network lots more training data does not necessarily make it smarter. It will start to identify coincidences and draw parallels that are incorrect, or, worse, solutions will be misleading. Isn…

E+T Magazine
How smartphones and computer vision can take security to a new level

Holography has helped to bring smartphone digital interaction closer in the brand protection and authentication space as security technology discovers new outlets and applications. In turn, this is driving continued expansion, with an increasing number of organisations accepting the advantages holograms offer and investing in digital-based interactive solutions to protect their products against global brand piracy and counterfeiters. In particular, myriad opportunities are emerging for brand protection and anti-counterfeiting through hologram validation using computer vision on smartphones. The use of smartphones with integrated cameras has been transformative, and image and video content captured on these devices dominates so much of contemporary life through social media, entertainment…

E+T Magazine in Vision and Imaging
Solar power imports from Morocco could ‘cut energy bills’, says developer

Octopus Energy Group yesterday announced a financial and strategic partnership with developer Xlinks, which plans to lay four 3,800km-long subsea cables to connect a huge solar farm in the Moroccan desert with Devon in Southwest England. Neither company has disclosed the financial details of the deal, but they say the plan will supply 3.6GW of reliable, clean power to the UK for an average of 20 hours a day, enough green energy to power about seven million heat pumps all year round. Simon Morrish, chief executive of Xlinks, said the partnership presented “an enormous opportunity to bring down energy bills significantly and help the UK achieve net zero”. However, it will be a number of years before impacts will be seen. The project is still in the development phase, with Xlinks currently…

E+T Magazine in Renewable Energy
Musk’s Twitter deal ‘temporarily on hold’

Musk, Tesla's billionaire owner, agreed a £34.5bn deal in principle to take over the social media giant last month, pledging to improve what he considers to be limitations around free speech on the site and also to remove fake accounts. In a pre-dawn tweet today (Friday 13 May, a date perhaps not entirely coincidental), Musk said the deal is now on hold “pending details supporting calculation that spam/fake accounts do indeed represent less than 5 per cent of users”. His tweet linked to a report published earlier this month which said Twitter estimates spam and fake accounts comprise less than 5 per cent of its daily users. It is unclear why Musk now considers this detail a potential dealbreaker. It is known that the terms of the deal include a $1bn termination fee that Musk would be…

E+T Magazine
Big Tech companies should store evidence of Russian war crimes, US lawmakers say

Ukraine and the West have accused Russian troops of committing war crimes in its 11-week invasion of its neighbour, in which thousands of civilians have been killed. Russia has denied the allegations. However, social media posts could potentially be used as proof. In a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the leaders of the House Oversight and Foreign Affairs committees, Carolyn Maloney and Gregory Meeks, as well as two subcommittee chairmen, William Keating and Stephen Lynch, encouraged the company to preserve content posted on its sites that was related to the conflict. That content "could potentially be used as evidence as the US government and international human rights and accountability monitors investigate Russian war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other atrocities in Ukraine…

E+T Magazine in Engineering with a Disability
Could an algorithm detect unhappiness in social media posts?

We spend a substantial amount of our time sharing images, videos, or thoughts on social networks. Now, researchers at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) in Barcelona have developed an algorithm that aims to help psychologists diagnose possible mental health problems through the content people post on these platforms. According to William Glasser's Choice Theory, there are five basic needs that are central to all human behaviour: Survival, Power, Freedom, Belonging and Fun. These needs even have an influence on the images we choose to upload to our Instagram page, the team said. “How we present ourselves on social media can provide useful information about behaviours, personalities, perspectives, motives and needs,” explained Mohammad Mahdi Dehshibi, a researcher at the AI for Human…

E+T Magazine in Computing
MPs launch security inquiry into connected devices

Connected devices such as smart speakers and virtual assistants such as Alexa and Siri, as well as wearable tech, have become hugely popular in recent years, reshaping life in homes and workplaces. Such devices are marketed as smart assistants able to help users multi-task more easily and better organise their lives, as well as stay informed, improve accessibility and aid connectivity. Moreover, connected devices present in peoples' homes increasingly include the ability to use a voice-activated virtual assistant. However, there have been concerns raised in the past about user privacy and data collection. In addition, the Committee said it also wanted to look into security concerns and the possible hacking of such gadgets, in light of the recent rise in the number of detected cyber attacks…

E+T Magazine in Engineering with a Disability
View from Brussels: Road closed for EU petrolheads

‘Technological neutrality’ should be spray painted in 50-foot-high letters on the side of the European Commission building in Brussels, given how often its officials use it to describe the EU executive branch’s policies and rules. According to one old chestnut that is trotted out at most public events on mobility, ‘the EU would allow coal-powered cars if BMW or Volkswagen could engineer them not to emit any pollution.’ That is why a plan that is currently making its way through the labyrinth of the EU decision-making process aims to slash emissions from passenger cars by 100 per cent by 2035, but does not explicitly call it a ban on petrol or diesel. In practice, it will be just that though, as a 100 per cent emissions cut will likely only be achievable through using battery-powered electric…

E+T Magazine in Climate Change
Scientists grow plants in lunar soil for the first time

In the new study, researchers from the University of Florida showed the arabidopsis plant – thale cress – can successfully sprout and grow in soil that was collected from the Apollo 11, 12, and 17 missions. The study also investigated how plants respond biologically to the Moon’s soil, also known as lunar regolith , which is very different from soil found on Earth. “Showing that plants will grow in the lunar soil is actually a huge step in that direction of being able to establish ourselves in lunar colonies,” said Rob Ferl, a professor of horticultural sciences at the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS). Ferl stressed it was important to show both that lunar soils were not harmful to terrestrial life and that terrestrial life could establish itself. The researchers…

E+T Magazine in Space
Milky Way’s supermassive black hole seen in new image

According to Einstein, all galaxies have a giant black hole at their centre, including ours. However, the nature of black holes themselves - places where light and matter cannot escape - makes them extremely difficult to photograph. Therefore, it has not been until this week that scientists have been able to confirm the existence of a supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way, and take a picture of it. The team of astronomers, which was part of the global Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration, used observations from a worldwide network of eight radio telescopes on our planet – collectively forming a single, Earth-sized virtual telescope – to take the stunning image. Until now, scientists strongly suspected the existence of this black hole, as they observed stars orbiting…

E+T Magazine in Space
Microprocessor powered for six months with algae battery

The University of Cambridge researchers behind the project believe their invention could be used as a reliable and renewable way to power small devices in the future. The whole system is comparable in size to an AA battery and contains a type of non-toxic algae called Synechocystis that naturally harvests energy from the sun through photosynthesis. The tiny electrical current this generates then interacts with an aluminium electrode and is used to power a microprocessor. The system is made of common, inexpensive and largely recyclable materials, meaning it could easily be replicated hundreds of thousands of times to power large numbers of small devices as part of the Internet of Things (IoT). The researchers believe it is likely to be most useful in off-grid situations or remote locations…

E+T Magazine in Power Conversion
Many assisted driving systems fail AAA collision tests

The AAA, a US consumer and travel services organisation, said current assisted driving and automated braking systems fall short of true autonomous driving, and require drivers to stay in control of vehicles. The organisation has backed these claims by the performance of assisted driving systems installed in Tesla, Hyundai Motor and Subaru cars in recent tests, in which all vehicles failed to avoid head-on collisions. Tesla's Autopilot system, however, did slow the vehicle to a walking speed before striking an oncoming foam car model. A fast-growing number of new vehicles are equipped with Automated Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), which serves to partially automate functions such as steering, staying in a lane and braking. Tesla's Autopilot is one of the best-known such systems, but…

E+T Magazine in Electric Vehicles

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