• How trusted digital twins can unlock the UK’s sustainability efforts

    Sustainability has been on the public agenda for years with comparatively little progress being made given the risks. The COP26 conference that took place towards the end of last year, and the introduction of sustainability goals by the UK government to be met by 2030, though, have pushed the topic to the top of the corporate and government agenda. Despite increased effort and interest in sustainability, with solutions such as alternative energy and the restoration of peatlands in agriculture having seen increased investment, experts are still warning that the UK’s current plans may fall short of reaching key climate goals. While there is no silver bullet to the sustainability issues we’re currently facing, technology - particularly digital twin - has already played a vital role in helping…

  • £3.5bn fine for Google from EU over Android's anti-competition activities

    The European Court of Justice’s General Court mostly confirmed a European Commission decision to slap Google with a fine of more than four billion euros for stifling competition through the dominance of Android. The court said it was appropriate to impose a fine of €4.125bn (£3.5 billion) on Google, slightly lower than the original €4.34bn penalty. In addition, the court said its reasoning for the decision differed “in certain respects” from the Commission’s. The fine is one of three anti-competition penalties totalling more than €8bn (£6.9bn) that the European Commission imposed on Google between 2017 and 2019. In its original decision, the Commission said Google’s practices restrict competition and reduce choices for consumers. It determined that Google broke EU rules by requiring…

  • Can the road network cope with self-driving vehicles?

    As the Boris Johnson administration drew to a close, one government department that didn’t get the memo to down tools was the Department for Transport. In August, the DfT announced a £100m funding boost for what it called a “self-driving revolution”, setting Britain on a course towards a future where autonomous cars, coaches and lorries could be running on our roads from as early as 2025. It’s simultaneously a bold new step and utterly uncontroversial, as whoever is living in Downing Street is going to have to deal with the reality that autonomous vehicles (AVs) are coming. However, what’s important about AVs is not just what Tesla, Google, and maybe even Apple are up to. What’s going to be just as critical is the road network on which the ‘revolution’ takes place. So just how are AVs going…

  • The bigger picture: Kinetic glasshouse

    Designed by Heatherwick Studios in collaboration with the Woolbeding Charity and the National Trust, the conical structure at the Trust’s Woolbeding Gardens in West Sussex can unfold like the flowers inside it, letting in sunlight and fresh air. Ten steel ‘sepals’ with glass and aluminium façades take four minutes to open using a hydraulic mechanism, creating an immense 141-square-metre space in the shape of a crown. Image credit: Cover Images As well as protecting the plants inside it, the kinetic glasshouse offers a decorative element to the Silk Route Garden around it, representing a landscape influenced by the ancient trading route between Asia and Europe. A winding path takes visitors through 300 species and 12 distinct regions, from Mediterranean evergreens…

  • Blockchain could help drive ethical EVs

    Electric vehicles (EVs) are hailed as the greenest cars available, and by 2030 they will account for around 32 per cent of the total market share for new car sales, according to one report. Deloitte forecasts their numbers will grow from 2.5 million in 2020 to 11.2 million in 2025 to 31.1 million by 2030. However, due to their reliance on batteries, the increasing popularity of EVs means more minerals are needed to create them. Without knowing the provenance of goods or minerals, it is difficult for carmakers to ensure that materials used in the manufacturing process comply with social and environmental standards, which are increasingly important to a growing number of eco-conscious consumers. To provide transparency across its supply chains, a British start-up called Circulor is using…

  • Book review: ‘She’s In CTRL’ by Anne-Marie Imafidon

    It is clear that technology is no natural force advancing in whichever direction it pleases, but that it is driven by the very people who create it: overwhelmingly men in the Global North. It is unsurprising, then, that technology tends to reflect their experiences and serve their interests. The efforts of women from within and beyond the sector have drawn attention to this problem: Timnit Gebru, Joy Buolamwini, Caroline Criado Perez, Ellen Pao. Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon certainly ranks among them. A computer scientist and former child prodigy, she founded Stemettes in 2013: a social enterprise supporting under-represented groups in STEM, especially young women. In ‘She’s in CTRL’ (Bantam Press, £16.99, ISBN: 9781787635029), Imafidon makes the case that the tech world should not be considered…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Scientists design a novel way to extract silver from solar panels

    The process discovered is able to recover metals from end-of-life solar panels using cheap, environmentally friendly solvents (substances used to dissolve, extract, or suspend other substances). Silver is an essential metal for  the functioning of solar panels. However, the amount of naturally occurring silver found in ores is decreasing, making supply a concern for the future. This not only affects the production of photovoltaic (PV) cells – aka solar cells – but other essentials such as LED chips, nuclear reactors and equipment for the medical industry. For this reason, the University of Leicester team set out to find a way to recover the silver used in discarded panels.  “These new ‘unusual’ brines offer new possibilities for the processing of metals," said Dr Guillaume Zante, from…

  • Could EVs overload the power grid?

    An £11.4m programme of funding by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is getting off the ground to make it easier for an electric vehicle (EV) to return electricity to the network during times of peak loading. Since June, all new private chargepoints must be smart enough to adjust their rate of charge in response to external signals, in order to ease demand on the network at times like the evening peak. There are clear reasons as to why the British government, among others, is keen to have EVs react to the needs of the grid. Without that ability, the risk is that if too many drivers in the same area demand their cars be ready to drive in the next hour it will lead to sudden blackouts. There are distinct differences of opinion on how disruptive EV charging will be…

  • UN begins nuclear safety consultations with Russia and Ukraine

    Rafael Grossi, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said on Monday that he has started consultations with both Ukraine and Russia to protect the area around Europe's largest nuclear power plant, despite the conflict between the two nations.  The head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency  made his proposal last week after leading a team of inspectors to the nuclear plant - Europe’s biggest, having six reactors - but gave few details at the time. “What we need here really is Ukraine and Russia to agree on a very simple principle of not attacking, or not shelling, at the plant,” Grossi told reporters at the agency’s Vienna headquarters. Last week, the plant was   knocked off Ukraine’s electricity grid after a fire caused by Russian shelling brought down its…

  • Ocean cooling debunked as hurricane prevention idea

    The study led by scientists at the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric and Earth Science showed that the amount of energy that would be needed to weaken a hurricane before landfall would make ocean cooling an inefficient solution to mitigate natural disasters. “The main result from our study is that massive amounts of artificially cooled water would be needed for only a modest weakening in hurricane intensity before landfall,” said the study’s lead author James Hlywiak, a graduate of the UM Rosenstiel School. “Plus, weakening the intensity by marginal amounts doesn’t necessarily mean that the likelihood for inland damages and safety risks would decrease as well." Hurricanes feed off warm waters and they weaken once they hit land or cooler parts of the ocean…

  • Blue Origin’s New Shephard rocket suffers first launch failure

    Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket was less than a minute into the flight when bright yellow flames shot out from around the single engine at the bottom. Immediately, the capsule’s emergency launch abort system kicked in, lifting the craft off the top. Several minutes later, the capsule parachuted onto the remote desert floor and crashed back into West Texas with no injuries or damage reported, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).  The rocket did not carry any human passengers, only science experiments. However, this same model of rocket is also used to launch people on 10-minute rides to the edge of space. "It appears that we've experienced an anomaly with today's flight," said Dr Erika Wagner, a senior director at Blue Origin, while doing the in-flight webcast commentary…

  • Book interview: ‘Playing to Win’ and the rules of gamification

    “I don’t think that anyone is going to be surprised by the fact that companies are trying to maximise profit,” says Adrian Hon. Neither does he think that people will be shocked to hear that authoritarian governments are “interested in controlling and manipulating citizens”. None of this is new, says the author of ‘You’ve Been Played’, “and it certainly existed long before the arrival of gamification”. What’s interesting, he says, is that gamification – the application of game-design elements and principles in non-game contexts – is becoming a new tool to achieve these pre-existing aims. The difference is that the incentives for modifying user behaviour are “styled deliberately to look like video games, with missions and quests, using interface symbols and elements that people are familiar…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • USA imposes sanctions on Iran over Albania cyber attack

    The United States has imposed sanctions on Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and its minister, accusing them of engaging in other cyber activities against the United States and its allies. The move comes after Albania severed diplomatic relations with Iran on Wednesday over the alleged hacking of government digital services and websites in July and again in early September. Albania ordered all  Iranian diplomats and embassy staff to leave within 24 hours. The US Treasury Department said in a statement that Iran's Ministry of Intelligence directs several networks of cyber-threat actors, including those involved in cyber espionage and ransomware attacks in support of the Iranian government. “Iran’s cyber attack against Albania disregards norms of responsible peacetime State behaviour in cyberspace…

  • E&T Innovation Awards: Choose your young pioneer

    There is much talk of the skills shortage and the pipeline that is failing to rejuvenate the ageing stock of engineers. Nevertheless, there are clearly some brilliant young minds that are already making their mark in the engineering profession. The Young Pioneers category at the E&T Innovation Awards recognises such rising talent. A panel of expert judges has whittled the entrants down to just three finalists. The winner will be announced along with the rest of the E&T Innovation Awards at the gala presentation night taking place in London on 10 November 2022. More details about the event and how to be part of it are available online . The E&T Innovation Awards attract hundreds of entries: inspiring solutions to some of the world’s greatest challenges including sustainability, mobility…

  • UK drivers could be ‘priced out of the electric revolution,’ study warns

    A report by consumer website Electrifying.com has found that there are only seven new electric car models on sale in the UK for under £30,000, compared to  107 available models of petrol or diesel cars in the same price bracket. This lack of affordable options, added to the rise in electricity costs, has led to a decrease in the amount of money users can save by running an electric car instead of a petrol model, the company concluded.  Electrifying.com founder and chief executive Ginny Buckley said electric cars are “firmly embedded in the UK’s car-buying habits” but warned that drivers are “paying more” to make the switch from petrol and diesel. “The choice of affordable cars is dwindling and, unless you’re charging on a cheap night-time tariff, you’ll now barely notice the savings,…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • 43 per cent greenhouse gas target now law in Australia

    The Senate passed legislation supporting the target in a vote of 37 to 30, despite several senators who supported it wanting a more ambitious 2030 target.   The centre-left Labour Party government officially committed Australia to the 43 per cent target after it came to power for the first time in nine years at elections in May. Entrenching this goal in law has made it more difficult for any future government to reduce the target. Climate change and energy minister Chris Bowen said the Senate vote provided certainty to clean energy investors while strengthening transparency and accountability in Australia’s carbon reduction processes. “The message to investors is that Australia is open for business,” Bowen told parliament. The conservative opposition party voted against the Bill.…

  • Interview: Dr Andy Levers, Executive Director, IDEAS

    We’re sitting in a conference room in the recently inaugurated Digital Innovation Facility (DIF), a £12.7m centre of excellence for emerging engineering technologies. Headed by Dr Andy Levers, DIF is a purpose-built environment to support collaborations and partnerships between academia and industry in the areas of computer and data science, robotics and engineering. Levers’ full title is executive director of the Institute of Digital Engineering and Autonomous Systems (IDEAS), which sits above DIF and the Virtual Engineering Centre in the organisational food chain. He says that DIF was set up to bring together a multi-disciplinary team of engineers, scientists and technologists who will use their expertise to “maximise the possibilities and impact of these emerging technologies”. Based at…

  • View from India: Elephants are essential for ecological balance

    Uttarakhand, located at the foothills of the Himalayas, has been in the news recently for its elephant corridor. The Uttarakhand High Court has directed the Central Government to consider giving the corridor the status of an eco-sensitive zone, under the Environment Protection Act. This corridor is in the Jim Corbett National Park, so it’s only befitting for the court to state that construction of hotels, resorts or restaurants should not be permitted in the vicinity. Any form of encroachment or obstruction would probably force the animals to scout for other passages that lead to the nearby Kosi River. Both central and state governments have been directed to take conservation efforts towards elephant corridors as well as monitor the traffic at night. The state of Uttarakhand is no exception;…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Campaigners call on police to end use of face recognition technology

    On his first day on the job, 14 campaign groups have written to Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley requesting an end to the use of facial recognition technologies by police forces. They called the technology   “privacy-eroding, inaccurate and wasteful”. Big Brother Watch, Liberty and Black Lives Matter UK were among the organisations that signed the letter. Facial recognition technologies have increasingly been used by police authorities around the world to fight against crime. The Metropolitan Police and the South Wales Police are some of the forces that  have been known  to use these technologies. However, this use of facial-recognition technologies has led to civil rights challenges and condemnation from human rights groups, who argue that the technology is often mistaken…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Dear Evil Engineer: Could I live in a lair on the ocean floor?

    Dear Evil Engineer, I am a reclusive billionaire, seeking peace in retirement after a long and tyrannical career. Being even more misanthropic than the typical villain, I would like to live as far from human civilisation as possible: the bottom of the ocean. Could you advise me how to build a lair on the ocean floor? Yours, An aquatic villain Dear villain, The bottom of the ocean is a prime piece of real estate for a villain who values solitude and aesthetic considerations: there is nothing quite like a goblin shark or a giant isopod floating past your toilet window to reassure you that you have (at last) found Hell on Earth. I’m pleased to say that an underwater lair is possible, from an engineering perspective, and – as a billionaire – you may even have the means to make it a…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Industry pays tribute to Queen Elizabeth II

    The world is mourning the death of Britain's longest-reigning monarch, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, a sad and historic event which brings to a close the second Elizabethan era. From the first computers to global connectivity, via hybrid cars and the biodiesel-powered Royal train, the Queen was a fundamental and consistent presence in the UK's transition to the digital era. Her Majesty always embraced change and was an unwavering advocate of engineering and technology, no less so than in her patronage of the IET, which now honours her memory following her death. “On behalf of everyone at the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) and our global engineering community, we are saddened to learn of the death of HM The Queen, Patron of the IET," said current President Sir Julian…

  • Hands-on review: Proscenic i10 cordless vacuum cleaner

    We previously looked at another cordless vacuum cleaner in Proscenic's burgeoning range, the P11 , back in April this year. That model is still doing the vacuuming business for us, turning in a performance every bit as easy-breezy and satisfying today as it was back then. Now there's a new model: the i10. It looks very similar to the P11 – and to many other similar vacuums, both in Proscenic's own range as well as those from its competitors – but this appears to be the ubiquitous style and silhouette of upright vacuum cleaners today. The most obvious difference between the two machines is cosmetic: the i10 comes in an attractive metallic blue finish, whereas the P11 was various shades of classy grey with red accents. Sometimes, it's these little things that can make all the difference…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Scientists warn against over-relying on carbon removal to achieve net-zero

    An international team of researchers has highlighted the risk of relying too much on carbon removal technologies to limit climate change in a new study published in  Nature . Carbon removal technologies are often seen as a great solution to the challenge of limiting global warming to  within 2°C above pre-industrial levels. However, the detrimental effects of climate change on crop yields could reduce the capacity of large-scale bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) and threaten food security, creating an unrecognised positive feedback loop on global warming, the study says.  The team behind the research comprises scientists from the Vienna-based International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Fudan University in Shanghai, China, and several other institutions…

  • Truss freezes energy bills in new plan to tackle the cost-of-living crisis

    Newly appointed UK prime minister Liz Truss has finally set out her plan to shield households and firms from the energy crisis by freezing energy bills, as had been expected, but also by removing the ban on fracking.  Under the government's proposed plans, energy bills will be frozen at £2,500 and businesses will be spared crippling increases until the next general election, scheduled to be held in two years' time. The measure will replace the existing energy price cap set by regulator Ofgem, which was set to increase to £3,549 come October.  Downing Street has refused to put a cost on the programme, but experts have estimated its cost at around £150bn which will have to be funded through increased borrowing, with the economic specifics of this to be unveiled during Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng…

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