• Exposed: The national wiring scandal putting lives at risk

    Gareth Bourhill, who has worked in the electrical contracting industry for 40 years, says it is well-known in the industry that the public’s safety is being jeopardised in search of profit. “People know it’s a huge problem but it’s all down to money. That is because your normal householder, or unscrupulous letting agents and landlords, are simply driven by costs,” he says.   A new law first introduced in 2020 means that landlords must have an inspection – known as an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) – carried out on their properties every five years, but E&T has found that many electricians are carrying out inadequate tests. In some cases, contractors are incorrectly passing unsafe properties while others are mis-selling unnecessary upgrades. E&T has also heard evidence of…

  • Sustainable air travel institution launched in bid to cut aviation emissions

    Its researchers plan to look at all elements of air transport, from fuel and aircraft design to airport infrastructure, air traffic control and aviation policy. It comes a week after the government announced its ‘Flightpath to the future’ plan which is designed to help the sector recover from the disastrous impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. It details how aircraft emissions can be cut, including shorter-term plans to blend 10 per cent sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) into the UK fuel mix by 2030. The research institute has been back by a £25m donation from Brahmal Vasudevan, CEO of private equity firm Creador, and his wife Shanthi Kandiah, founder of legal firm SK Chambers. Professor Alice Gast, ICL president said: “The Brahmal Vasudevan Institute for Sustainable Aviation will focus Imperial…

  • Book review: ‘Machines Behaving Badly’

    Books about the societal impacts of artificial intelligence and the ethical questions it raises are a dime a dozen, so it is always worth asking: does this book do anything differently? In the case of ‘Machines Behaving Badly: The Morality of AI’ (The History Press, £20, ISBN 9780750999366), the answer is yes, thanks to the author’s decades entrenched in the community from which AI has sprung. The first third or so of ‘Machines Behaving Badly’ examines the people and companies developing AI technologies. This is packed with nuggets of little-known information. It is not much known, for instance, just how small the group of people building AI is (“There may never have been a planet-wide revolution before which was driven by such a small pool of people”). Walsh paints this community with…

  • Six million UK homes could face power cuts this winter, as energy crisis worsens

    The UK is preparing for a harsh winter, as the war in Ukraine drags on and energy prices continue to soar. In order to prepare for a “reasonable” worst-case scenario, Whitehall officials have drawn up a plan for the winter that could lead to the rationing of electricity for up to six million homes at the start of 2023, should Russia cut off all gas supplies to the EU. Earlier this month, Ofgem warned of a likely   energy price cap increase “in the region of £2,800”. The curbs could be imposed on industrial use of gas, including on gas-fired power stations, and may last for more than a month, mostly at peaks in the morning and evening. A Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy spokesperson told the PA news agency the UK "has no issues with either gas or electricity supply…

  • Researchers develop hydrogen battery from bacteria

    What if bacteria could be used to create hydrogen biobatteries? A paper published in Joule shows that these types of batteries could perhaps be used to store and release hydrogen.  Green hydrogen, which is produced from water with the help of renewable energies, is one of the carbon-neutral energy sources that could become an effective alternative to fossil fuels. However, transporting and storing this highly explosive gas is difficult, and researchers worldwide are looking for chemical and biological solutions. A team of microbiologists from Goethe University Frankfurt has found an enzyme in bacteria that live in the absence of air and bind hydrogen directly to CO2, producing formic acid in the process. The process is completely reversible – a basic requirement for hydrogen storage.…

  • Internet infrastructure in developing countries highly vulnerable to attack

    A sweeping, large-scale study was conducted by computer scientists at the University of California San Diego, who surveyed 75 countries. “We wanted to study the topology of the Internet to find weak links that, if compromised, would expose an entire nation’s traffic,” said Alexander Gamero-Garrido, the paper’s first author. The study finds that a wider array of internet providers reduces the risk that any one attack would have a significantly disruptive impact upon a country’s internet infrastructure. It cites the US as an example where a large number of firms compete to provide services for a large number of users. These networks are directly connected to one another and exchange content in a process known as direct peering. All the providers can also plug directly into the world’s internet…

  • The deep uncertainties that are stalling energy transition

    Climate change is one of the planet’s most pressing issues. Whether its impact is on the places we inhabit, the air we breathe or civilisation itself, it is clear that climate change is having a disastrous effect on the world in which we live. Something must be done to reverse its detrimental effects, and there are a number of industries in particular where change could drastically improve the environment. The energy sector is one, contributing to much of the carbon dioxide emissions that are affecting the planet. That is why the global energy sector must transition to clean energy - a fossil-based carbon-zero structure. In principle, this switch sounds relatively simple, given we have the fossil-based fuels to make this transition. But not only is substantial investment needed to do so…

  • Musk sued for ‘manipulating’ Twitter takeover bid

    More unknowns continue to circle Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter. A lawsuit filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California claims the Tesla CEO has attempted to drive down Twitter's stock price by expressing doubts over his decision to buy the company. The shareholders claim Musk wants to pressure Twitter to negotiate a substantially lower purchase price. The   lawsuit seeks class-action status as well as compensation for damages. This is only the latest row in Musk’s journey to buy Twitter. The billionaire made an offer last month to purchase the company for $ 44bn (£35bn). However, he later backed down from the deal, stating that the acquisition could not go forward until the company provided information about how many accounts on the platform are spam or bots…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Rapidly rising electric vehicle charging costs outpaced by petrol prices

    According to RAC analysis, the average price of charging an electric car on a pay-as-you go, publicly accessible rapid charger in Great Britain has increased by 21 per cent to 44.55p per kilowatt-hour (kWh) since September. The 7.81p per kWh increase, from 36.74p at the end of last summer, means that the average cost to complete an 80 per cent rapid charge of a typical family-sized electric car with a 64kWh battery has increased by £4 over this period, from £18.81 to £22.81. However, the cost of filling a 55-litre family car from empty to 80 per cent has increased even more over the same timespan by £14.54 since last September, from £59.67 to £74.21. The analysis finds that the cost of topping up electrically-powered vehicles is still nearly half the cost per mile compared to filling…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Robot artist paints portrait of the Queen

    After seven decades on the throne, Queen Elizabeth might have thought she had seen it all – until a robot offered to paint her portrait.  Ai-Da Robot is an artificial intelligence robot that creates drawings, paintings and sculptures. Through cameras and computer memory, she is able to leverage a variety of unique algorithms to make an artistic representation of abstract images. Then, Ai-Da's robotic arm turns its digital formations into physical drawings and paintings. The robot's portrait, Algorithmic Queen, was designed to reflect the different aspects of technological change that have taken place during Queen Elizabeth's 70-year reign. Robot artist reveals portrait of the Queen / Aidan Meller Image credit: Aidan Meller Ai-Da has the appearance of a woman

  • Sponsored: Succeeding at connected operations with edge computing

    The white paper from IDC highlights the power of edge computing in enabling the shift to a digital-first world.  It provides insights about the factors driving edge investments, the challenges firms faced while deploying to the edge, obstacles to continued investment, and strategic recommendations to future-proof edge capabilities. The infusion of digital technologies into all aspects of society and business is a permanent shift. Using cloud and edge infrastructure, all industries are harnessing the power of data and digital tools to improve efficiency, sustainability, and safety and security. Embracing this shift and developing a strategy to navigate the digital-first world are choices that differentiate business leaders and set the foundation for rapid innovation and improvement. Many industries…

  • AI determines coral reef health by listening to its ‘song’

    Coral reefs have a complex soundscape that requires painstaking analysis to get enough data to measure their health based on sound recordings. In the new study, a computer algorithm was trained using multiple recordings of healthy and degraded reefs, allowing the machine to learn the difference. It then analysed a host of new recordings, and successfully identified reef health 92 per cent of the time. The team used this to track the progress of reef restoration projects. “Coral reefs are facing multiple threats including climate change, so monitoring their health and the success of conservation projects is vital,” said lead author Ben Williams. “One major difficulty is that visual and acoustic surveys of reefs usually rely on labour-intensive methods. “Visual surveys are also limited…

  • AI image analysis helps track biodiversity by railway lines

    Monitoring flora and fauna by railway tracks in order to support better management of lineside habitats is extremely difficult due to safety concerns, the size of Britain’s 20,000-mile rail network and the number of expert surveyors required. The UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) and technology firm Keen AI have been working with Network Rail to develop innovative solutions to remotely monitor biodiversity. They have demonstrated that AI can identify invasive species by the track, as well as native trees that are potentially at threat due to disease such as ash dieback. This information would enable railway workers to carry out appropriate action to better manage lineside vegetation, as part of Network Rail’s commitment to achieve biodiversity net gain on its land by 2035. Since…

  • Soft drinks industry faces a recycled plastic shortage, says Ribena maker

    European manufacturers are increasingly committing themselves to becoming more sustainable. In the soft drinks industry, this looks like companies making a switch to 100 per cent recycled bottles. However, in order to do so, Europe might have to drastically increase its production of recycled plastic.  Suntory Beverage and Food GB&I, the company behind soft drinks such as Lucozade and Ribena, has pledged to ensure that all its on-the-go 500ml bottles – excluding the cap and label – are made from 100 per cent recycled plastic by the end of the year. The move includes Lucozade Sport, Lucozade Energy, Orangina and Ribena. “It’s the result of years of hard work, and whilst reaching this milestone is a cause for celebration, much still needs to be done in terms of recycling infrastructure,”…

  • Local fabs for local people

    Spain is not exactly famous for its presence in the chipmaking business. But it wants to be, declaring at the WEF’s Davos conflab that the government has set aside out of an electronics-focused budget of €12bn some €9bn to help get local fabs built and, in principle, reduce both the country’s and Europe’s dependence on Far Eastern and US suppliers. According to news agency CE Noticias Financieras, economy minister Nadia Calviño, who was standing in for Pedro Sanchez at home while the Spanish prime minister was in the Swiss resort, claimed the Spanish government has made "preliminary contacts" with operators in different sectors. There is one obvious issue, if the Spanish government wants at least one 5nm-capable fab €9bn does not go very far. It would give the country the ability, should…

  • Wireless pacemaker attaches to sensor network that dissolves in the body

    The sensors communicate with each other to continuously monitor the body’s various physiological functions, including body temperature, oxygen levels, respiration, muscle tone, physical activity and the heart’s electrical activity. The system then uses algorithms to analyse this combined activity in order to autonomously detect abnormal cardiac rhythms and decide when to pace the heart and at what rate. All this information is streamed to a smartphone or tablet, so physicians can remotely monitor their patients. The new transient pacemaker and sensor/control network can be used in patients who need temporary pacing after cardiac surgery or are waiting for a permanent pacemaker. The pacemaker wirelessly harvests energy from a node within the network - a small wireless device that adheres…

  • Book review: ‘The Digital Republic’ by Jamie Susskind

    By now, we are familiar with the weekly news stories about tech companies messing up; from algorithms that amplify hate speech to unscrupulous data-harvesting companies which seem impossible to halt. According to Jamie Susskind, these problems are the result of a systemic failure of governance. In his first book, ‘Future Politics’, Susskind examined how political debate is being reshaped by the powerful digital systems that increasingly control our lives. With ‘The Digital Republic: On Freedom and Democracy in the 21st Century’ (Bloomsbury, ISBN 9781526625489, £25), he proposes a framework for governance better equipped for holding these powerful actors to account. To do so, Susskind draws on the concept of republicanism – not as it is commonly discussed in the UK or the US, but in the…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Walmart planning drone delivery of packages to millions of customers

    Walmart is planning the largest-scale rollout of drone delivery services so far. The company’s drones are expected to reach four million people by the end of 2022. Through an expansion of the partnership with drone manufacturer DroneUp, Walmart will be able to send packages to clients via drones, lowering the items to customers homes using a cable. The delivery service costs $3.99 (£3.17) for a package of up to 10 pounds and takes 30 minutes or less to arrive. The deliveries will be fulfilled from a total of 37 stores, reaching households in Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Texas, Utah and Virginia. The company originally launched the programme in November 2021 but until now the retailer had only offered its drone delivery services from a few stores near its headquarters in northwest Arkansas…

  • Sunak announces £15bn emergency package to mitigate cost of living crisis

    The Chancellor was forced to unveil emergency measures as part of a £15bn package to tackle the impact of soaring inflation, which has reached a 40-year high. As well as the universal payment, there was targeted support for the poorest, the elderly and the disabled. The Chancellor acknowledged that high inflation is causing “acute distress” for people in the country, telling MPs: “I know they are worried, I know people are struggling.” Sunak said the government “will not sit idly by while there is a risk that some in our country might be set so far back they might never recover”. The £400 in universal support from October replaces the initial plan for a £200 loan, with Sunak also scrapping the requirement to repay the money. The measures announced by the Chancellor include a one-off…

  • UK’s aviation plan notes swift emission cuts necessary to meet climate targets

    Passenger numbers fell drastically during the height of the pandemic, leading to layoffs and grounded aircraft. In response, the government has unveiled its 'Flightpath to the future', a strategic framework outlining how it plans to aid the sector in recovery. It details how aircraft emissions can be cut, including shorter-term plans to blend 10 per cent sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) into the UK fuel mix by 2030. Estimates suggest a UK SAF industry could generate between £700m and £1.6bn in gross value added (GVA) per year, creating between 5,000 and 11,000 green jobs. In the longer term, the “ultimate goal” is to have “nothing less than guilt-free, zero-emission flying” the strategy states. Achieving this goal will include more use of aircraft such as drones and electrical vertical…

  • Sponsored: Scalable power transceiver solution for critical comms

    This article discusses multiple options of the power and performance trade-offs offered by Analog Devices’ newest generation software-defined radio (SDR) transceiver, the ADRV9001. The new transceiver solution has been designed to provide scalable power and performance for many satellite, military, land mobile, utility infrastructure, and cellular mission critical communications. The article showcases the power saving for each option and explains the associated performance cost. Thoroughly understanding the trade-offs empowers engineers to design the best system power saving strategy to achieve both the optimal power consumption and a satisfactory system performance. Key Learning Points: Understanding the power saving options offered by Analog Devices´ newest SDR transceiver. Understanding…

  • Scientists 3D print concrete to decarbonise construction

    Concrete is the most widely used building material in the world. It has many uses, can be produced locally and is very durable. Its environmental performance, on the other hand, has long been debated , as the production of the integral concrete component cement emits high quantities of CO 2 . “If we want to make building with concrete more sustainable and climate-friendly, we have to work on new concrete formulations and at the same time use concrete in a more targeted and smarter way,” said Andreas Trummer. Trummer is one of the researchers working on lightweight concrete construction methods at the Institute of Structural Design at TU Graz. Originally, the civil engineer focused on timber construction, but he soon turned to mineral building materials in order to participate in the decarbonisation…

  • Why manufacturing’s move to the cloud will be irreversible

    The forced march to the cloud triggered by Covid-19 and remote working has given way to an enthusiastic scramble among manufacturing organisations keen to build on the advantages they have found there. Many made their start on this journey during the pandemic, when staff shortages, factory closures and remote-working orders obliged them to fast-track their digital transformation plans. Excited by the new opportunities for efficiency and agility that they’ve uncovered, they’re now voting with their wallets. It’s a trend that is seen across all industries, of course, as companies respond to a new business and social dynamic. In 2022, traditional on-premises offerings will still constitute around 59 per cent of addressable revenue for technology companies, according to market research company…

  • UK orders security review into Chinese takeover of Welsh chip fab

    Last year, it emerged that Nexperia – a Dutch chip firm wholly owned by Shanghai-based Wingtech – had confirmed plans to acquire the UK’s largest chip producer, Newport Wafer Fab, in a deal valued at £63m. But in April, MPs expressed concern that a security review into the purchase of the plant had still not been carried out despite possible links between Nexperia and the Chinese state government. The government has powers under the National Security and Investment Act 2021 to scrutinise and intervene in acquisitions such as these on national security grounds. “We welcome overseas investment, but it must not threaten Britain’s national security,” Kwarteng said on Twitter. The Newport site produces over 35,000 200mm wafer starts per month, covering a wide range of semiconductor technologies…

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