• UK squandering potential as ‘science and tech superpower’, Lords say

    The Science and Technology Committee said the next administration “must maintain the commitment to R&D funding” with a focus on science and technology in order to drive a high-tech, high-growth economy. In a new report, 'Science and technology superpower: more than a slogan?', the committee found that the UK’s science policy had been let down by short-termism and a proliferation of disparate strategies without an overarching vision. “There are a large number of government bodies with unclear remits and interactions, which means that it is often unclear who owns a specific policy. At the time of writing, there was no science minister, which further blurs lines of accountability,” the report said. The current target is to boost spending on R&D to 2.4 per cent of GDP (the 2017 average for…

  • Energy price cap to be updated quarterly to tackle market volatility

    The regulator said the change would provide more stability in the energy markets and reduce the risk of further large-scale supplier failures, the likes of which cost energy customers roughly £164 each last year . Although Britain only imports a small amount of Russian gas, Russia’s actions have created extreme volatility in the global energy market leading to unprecedented highs in the cost of oil and gas and therefore electricity. The price cap, as set out in law in 2018, reflects what it costs to supply energy to our homes by setting a maximum suppliers can charge per unit of energy, and caps the level of profits an energy supplier can make to 1.9 per cent. As a result of the market conditions, the price cap will have to increase to reflect increased costs, Ofgem said ahead of plans…

  • Government, defence and aerospace facing barriers to digital advantage, says BAE

    Achieving a digital advantage is more important than ever, with such factors as climate change, the Covid-19 crisis and Brexit all accelerating digital strategies. This is one of the findings in a new report, published today, by BAE Systems Digital Intelligence, which has found that digital advantage is critical to protecting UK society and maintaining the public’s trust. The report – ' Unlocking Digital Advantage in High Trust Sectors ' – looked at the challenges faced by over 120 senior IT and business decision-makers within the UK’s aerospace, government and defence organisations when it comes to using technology to gain an advantage. For high-trust organisations, having a digital advantage is seen as mission critical to protecting UK society and maintaining the public’s trust in today…

  • Money & Markets: We are at the crest of the inflation mountain

    Engineers and technologists are not immune from the difficulties that inflation brings. Inflation is a hard-to-predict volatility and shaking is no good for anyone’s processes, let alone ones that rely on fine tuning, like JIT and Lean. To top that, most people in the West are simply too young to have practical experience of managing fast-escalating prices and all their consequences. How is this novel inflationary period going to unfold? To paraphrase, it’s easy to make predictions about the past. It remains quite easy to do that in writing because by the time many people read the prediction, the event and the prediction itself are in the past, and it then takes a lot of effort to tell the difference between a statement made before or after the event. However, I will stake – granted within…

  • Drive like you’re being filmed, dash cam experts warn

    With many people now sending footage of motoring offences to the police every day, the chances of being reported for an offence captured on a dash cam are higher than ever. The warning comes from dash cam video analysis experts at the not-for-profit organisation Road Safety Support, which regularly examines video footage for police forces for use in legal proceedings. It is timed to coincide with National Dash Cam Day, launched last year by dash cam manufacturer Nextbase, which takes place on Friday 5 August 2022. Dash cam footage can be used to prosecute motorists for a range of offences, including speeding, dangerous or careless driving and driving while using a mobile phone. Dash cam footage has even been used as evidence in murder cases. Steve Callaghan, technical expert at Road Safety…

  • UK-based specialist firm to deliver on-street EV chargers in NYC

    The project is intended to demonstrate how public access to EV charging can drive up EV ownership amongst the 50 per cent of New York City (NYC) residents who park their cars on the street. It forms part of the DOT Studio - a collaboration between the New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) and Newlab, focused on applying emerging technologies to advance planning, policy, operations and real-time management of transportation across New York City in line with the city’s Vision Zero and sustainability goals. The findings from the pilot will inform wider EV charging rollouts across New York City, helping to realise its goal of installing 10,000 kerbside chargers by 2030 and electrifying 20 per cent of municipal parking bays by 2025. Connected Kerb was selected for the project…

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  • View from India: 5G for smart healthcare

    The 5G Innovation Lab is situated in the John F Welch Technology Centre (JFWTC), Bangalore, which is GE Healthcare’s largest R&D Centre outside the USA. The lab will serve as a conduit for technologies such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, machine learning, big data, edge computing and cyber security. Equipped with a private 5G network for testing and development, it will be a test-bed to develop future-ready products and solutions – this vision can be executed through collaborations with academia, industry and startups to co-create future-ready solutions. As reported in the media, the 5G Innovation Lab has been initiated to transform remote healthcare. It will be a platform for the company’s lead scientists and technologists to research and develop solutions for healthcare…

  • Quantum dots offer efficient, colour accurate alternative to LEDs

    Developed by University of Cambridge researchers, the quantum dots are formed from tiny semiconductors just a few billionths of a metre in size and were created using a combination of nanotechnology, colour science, advanced computational methods, electronics and a unique fabrication process. The team found that by using more than the three primary lighting colours, the system used in typical LEDs, they were able to reproduce daylight more accurately. Early tests of the new design showed excellent colour rendering, a wider operating range than current smart lighting technology, and wider spectrum of white light customisation. With the amount of ambient light often connected with wellbeing, the widespread availability of smart lighting systems can have a positive effect on human health…

  • Falling wholesale petrol prices not reflected at the pump, RAC finds

    The average price of petrol fell in July by nearly 9p (8.74p) to 182.69p a litre and diesel coming down by almost 7p (6.69p) a litre from 199.07p at the start of the month to 192.38p by the close.  But while these are the third and fourth biggest monthly reductions respectively in the last 20 years, the RAC says they still don’t fairly reflect the fall in the wholesale price of fuel, meaning major retailers should be cutting pump prices much further. The wholesale cost of petrol delivered to forecourts has fallen for eight consecutive weeks by a significant 20p from 151.93p at the start of June to 131.75p a litre in the last week of July. The last time unleaded was this price on the wholesale market was in early May, which a week later led to a UK average pump price of just 167p a litre…

  • TfL warns RMT that Tube strike ‘increases risk to financial recovery’

    Transport for London (TfL) has written to the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) urging it to call off a planned strike on 19 August over issues including jobs and pensions, which will cause travel chaos in the capital.  Fiona Brunskill, TfL’s director of people and cultural change, pointed to the challenges the organisation is facing as it continues to wait for a long-term funding deal with the government. Brunskill said in a letter: “Having already taken a number of days of industrial action, your members continue to lose pay and our customers face disruption to their journeys, without achieving any resolution to the issues at dispute. “The calling of further industrial action risks further damage to our customers’ confidence in TfL and London Underground whilst also increasing…

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  • Home test for Covid-19 boasts PCR accuracy using saliva sample

    At-home tests have become an easy way to self-diagnose Covid-19, but tests such as the commonly used lateral flow have drawbacks, such as the length of time it takes to get an answer, or how accurately the test can identify a positive case. Most of them also require the uncomfortable procedure of sticking a swab up one’s nose. Though PCR tests are known as the “gold-standard” because of their high sensitivity and specificity for Covid-19, it requires the sample to be sent away to a lab and be analysed by specialised personnel. The analysis itself can take up to an hour, but the total time from swab to answer can take days. Image credit: Weihua Guan The prototype device combines speed with PCR levels of sensitivity while only requiring a saliva sample, a palm…

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  • Sluggish productivity and inequalities slowing UK economic growth, warns OECD

    The UK economy has recovered to pre-pandemic levels, but high energy prices and the rising cost of living are slowing growth, the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) said. The UK faces a combination of rocketing energy costs, increasing global prices of goods and services, and economic uncertainty fuelled by the war in Ukraine. Furthermore, the UK’s gross domestic product (GDP) will reach a standstill with completely flat growth in 2023, according to the latest forecast. Improving “sluggish” productivity and reducing regional and gender disparities can help keep the economy’s recovery on track, the international organisation said. Mathias Cormann, the OECD’s secretary-general, said: “Like other economies around the world, the UK economy faces a number of headwinds…

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  • Conservative Party delays voting for next PM over cyber security warnings

    According to The Daily Telegraph, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), which is part of the GCHQ, warned the party that the process was at risk and that ballots could be changed without better security. Former chancellor Rishi Sunak and foreign secretary Liz Truss are competing in the leadership contest to succeed Boris Johnson as the next prime minister. Some 160,000 ballots were due to be sent out on Monday to Conservative Party members, but they are now not expected to arrive until as late as 11 August. The NCSC said it believed there was no specific threat from a hostile state and its concerns focused around the vulnerability of the voting process. A Conservative spokesman said: “We have consulted with the NCSC throughout this process and have decided to enhance security around…

  • Jaguar Land Rover opens test centre for electromagnetic compatibility

    Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has created the Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) laboratory at Gaydon in Warwickshire to help ensure future vehicles satisfy legislation and meet quality standards for connectivity and electronics. A critical aspect of vehicle performance, EMC is the ability of electrical equipment and systems to function correctly in their electromagnetic environment. It works by limiting the unintentional generation, propagation and reception of electromagnetic energy to reduce the risk of unwanted effects such as electromagnetic interference. JLR’s new vehicle laboratory features two anechoic chambers: an electrically ‘quiet’ rolling road that enables engineers to test vehicles at speed, as well as equipment to assess the performance of individual components, such as batteries…

  • Toyota unit reveals it faked emissions data for 20 years

    The internal probe into a major affiliate of Japan's Toyota Motor Corp revealed Hino faked emissions data for ten years longer than previously indicated.  The investigative committee – composed of lawyers and a corporate adviser – blamed the scandal on an environment where engineers did not feel able to challenge superiors.  The lack of "psychological safety" and fear that they would not be able to meet strict targets led engine-developing teams to feel so pressured they falsified test results, the investigation's report revealed. This led to further deception, as workers covered up their wrongdoing, stretching over a 20-year-period. "The magnitude of their past successes has made them unable to change or look at themselves objectively, and they have been unaware of changes in the external…

  • Virtual reality helps separate conjoined twins with fused brains

    Three-year-olds Bernardo and Arthur Lima have been separated after undergoing seven surgical procedures over 27 hours of operating time, involving over 100 medical staff.  To achieve this feat, surgeons in London and Rio de Janeiro leveraged virtual reality (VR) projections of the twins based on CT and MRI scans. The procedures then took place in Brazil, with the direction of Great Ormond Street Hospital paediatric surgeon Noor ul Owase Jeelani, who participated in the surgery from the UK via virtual reality. The separation was "one of the most complex separation processes ever completed", according to the charity Jeelani founded in 2018, Gemini Untwined, which funded the procedure. He described the use of VR as “space-age stuff”.  Noor ul Owase Jeelani with Bernardo…

  • Morrisons launches carbon-neutral eggs laid by chickens fed on insects

    The supermarket said the insects were in turn fed on food waste from its bakery, fruit and vegetable sites, creating a ‘circular waste’ feeding scheme. A report by the University of Cambridge found that the eggs were carbon-neutral after analysing the emissions created in the eggs’ production and those which are offset on Morrisons' first carbon-neutral egg farm. The egg farm where the first stock of Planet Friendly Eggs will originate also has a large wind turbine, 50kWh solar panels, and a carbon sequestration programme to offset any remaining emissions on the farm - with 20 per cent of its land planted with trees. The report considered the entire production process including the insect growing unit and food waste transport, the sourcing of locally grown grain and the hen housing and…

  • Sponsored: Space-Comm Expo sets to revolutionise the commercial space sector

    The next generation of the commercial space industry Space-Comm Expo will demonstrate the technologies, partners and policy required and showcase the manufacturing supply chain for products, services and solutions available to support commercial enterprises and developments in space. Positioned at the forefront of the space industry, Space-Comm Expo is supported by ADS, KTN, UK Space Agency, ESA and UK Space. The event brings professionals and experts across the aerospace industry and wider ecosystem, such as agriculture, defence, fintech, mining and telecommunications, together to build long-lasting commercial and intellectual partnerships. Discussing the need for Space-Comm Expo, Nik Smith, Regional Director UK & Europe at Lockheed Martin said: “Having Space-Comm Expo now, at this time…

  • Surgery robot heading to ISS to test operations in space

    The tiny surgical robot is known as MIRA, short for ‘Miniaturised In vivo Robotic Assistant.” Its developers at Virtual Incision are currently configuring MIRA to fit inside a space station experiment locker, as well as exhaustively testing it to make sure it’s robust enough to survive a space launch and that its systems will continue to perform as anticipated in space. Once this has been completed, they will have to wait a year or so for the robot to get its turn aboard the station. In the future, Nasa hopes to launch a manned trip to Mars which will take about seven months to complete the 480-million  kilometre journey. Over that period, it is possible that astronauts could succumb to many debilitating health problems, especially considering the harsh space environment. Virtual Incision…

  • Catastrophic effects of climate change ‘dangerously underexplored’

    The authors of the study said the potential for climate change to lead to worldwide societal collapse or even human extinction is a “dangerously underexplored topic”. According to the authors, although the catastrophe has a small chance of occurring, given the uncertainties in future emissions and the climate system, we should not rule out cataclysmic scenarios. “Facing a future of accelerating climate change while blind to worst-case scenarios is naïve risk management and fatally foolish at worst,” the scientists said, adding that there were “ample reasons” to suspect global heating could cause an apocalyptic disaster. The international team of experts argues the world needs to prepare for the possibility of a “ climate endgame ”. “Analysing the mechanisms for these extreme consequences…

  • Public sector buildings to access £635m green energy fund

    From September, hundreds of public buildings across England will be able to join the £635m Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme recently presented by the government.  The funds will be used to install low-carbon heating such as heat pumps and energy efficiency measures including double glazing and loft insulation, which will aim to decrease soaring energy bills and improve the buildings' climate resilience amid more and more frequent extreme weather events, such as the heatwave that hit the UK earlier this summer.  The energy efficiency upgrades are expected to help public organisations and taxpayers save an average £650m a year on energy bills over the next 15 years, according to the Business Department (BEIS).  It is the second part of more than £1.4bn due to be allocated through the…

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  • 50 per cent cut in freshwater methane emissions possible, say researchers

    Lakes and other freshwater systems emit large quantities of methane, the second-most important greenhouse gas worldwide after CO2. Dredging and the use of Phoslock (a phosphate-binding clay particle) could reduce these lake emissions by over 50 per cent, according to a study by Radboud University researchers, published today in Science of The Total Environment. Methane largely originates in natural systems, with 49 per cent of all emissions coming from freshwater systems. Worldwide methane emissions also continue to increase as a result of global warming and eutrophication (an excess of nutrients in water). Radboud University researchers investigated whether reducing this eutrophication could help curb methane emissions. The study used a system of 16 testing ponds: some of the ponds were…

  • West London homebuilding on pause as electricity grid hits capacity

    Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, said he was “very concerned” and had written to the government weeks ago requesting a meeting to discuss the issue. The government declined to meet with him. Khan said that electricity capacity constraints in the London boroughs of Hillingdon, Ealing and Hounslow were “creating a significant challenge for developers securing timely connections to the electricity network, which could affect the delivery of thousands of much-needed homes”. The Energy Networks Association (ENA), which represents UK Distribution Network Operators (DNOs), said the increased demand for electricity capacity in the area was largely due to a rapid influx of batteries and data centres. These uses often place huge demands on the electricity supply compared to housing developments.…

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  • Smartphones could improve memory skills, study finds

    The research showed that digital devices help people to store and remember important information which frees up their memory to recall additional, less important things. Neuroscientists have previously expressed concerns that the overuse of technology could result in the breakdown of cognitive abilities and cause “digital dementia”. However, the findings show that using a digital device as external memory not only helps people to remember the information saved within the device, but it also helps them to remember unsaved information, too. To demonstrate this, researchers developed a memory task to be played on a touchscreen digital tablet or computer. The test was undertaken by 158 volunteers aged between 18 and 71. Participants were shown up to 12 numbered circles on the screen and…

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