• Australia and US sign $8.5bn critical minerals deal to challenge China’s dominance

    Australia and the US have signed an $8.5bn deal that will see Australia supplying the US with critical minerals amid China’s clampdown on rare-earth exports. US President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese signed the critical minerals deal at the White House. The deal will see each country provide at least $1bn towards a $8.5bn pipeline of projects in both the US and Australia over the next six months. Australia has rich rare-earth resources critical to the AI and tech sectors, as well as the renewables and defence industries. China has long been the dominant player in the rare earths market, accounting for around 70% of global mining production and over 90% of global rare earths processing. While the critical elements can be found outside of China, decades…

  • Looming water scarcity could threaten the UK’s 2050 net zero ambitions

    The water needed for the UK’s decarbonisation infrastructure, including hydrogen and carbon capture, is likely to exceed the amount available, according to new research. The report, commissioned by national water retailer Wave in collaboration with Durham University, looked at decarbonisation activities across England’s five largest industrial clusters – Humberside, North West England, Tees Valley, the Solent and the Black Country. It then analysed the impact that these activities would have on water resources in those areas. It found that the high-water requirements for decarbonisation projects – such as blue and green hydrogen production and carbon capture – would mean that water scarcity is likely to pose a significant risk to both business growth and future decarbonisation efforts in…

  • Landmark UK fusion experiment uses 3D coils to tame unstable plasma

    The UK’s experimental fusion energy facility has deployed 3D magnetic coils that have been shown to stabilise the key reaction needed to make fusion power a commercial reality. Scientists at the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) conducted the experiment at the MAST Upgrade, located at the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy in Oxfordshire. In fusion energy research, plasma – superheated gas containing charged particles – needs to be controlled very precisely, as it can become unstable and escape the magnetic fields that contain it. The 3D magnetic coils help to keep the plasma stable in a way that traditional 2D magnetic fields cannot. The team believes that the innovation could make it easier to achieve sustained controlled nuclear fusion – a potential source of clean energy – and is a…

  • Mid-flight collision may mark the first time a plane has been hit by falling space junk

    A United Airlines flight has faced a mid-air collision with a falling object that is speculated to be a piece of space junk. While unconfirmed, the incident would be the first time that a piece of debris entering the Earth’s atmosphere from space has hit a plane mid-flight. No one aboard the 737 Max flight from Denver to Los Angeles faced any major injuries, although it was forced to reroute and landed safely at Salt Lake City International Airport. Unconfirmed pictures on X show a dent in the right front windscreen and some scorch marks on the pilot’s arm. On X, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said it had taken the windscreen for a laboratory analysis and was looking at the radar, weather and flight recorder data. Photo NOT confirmedHearing there were scorch-marks,…

  • Government announces V-levels to simplify vocational qualifications for 16-19-year-olds

    V-levels, a new vocational qualification, will be introduced by the Department for Education for 16-19-year-olds to simplify a “fragmented” post-GCSE education. The qualification, detailed in a new government white paper, will replace approximately 900 vocational-linked courses currently on offer, such as Level 3 BTECs and other post-16 technical qualifications. The large number of courses can be overwhelming for students, with many overlapping. The new V-levels aim to simplify options for students. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said the new courses would streamline a “fragmented” and “confusing” system for young people, while giving them a "vocational route into great careers”. According to the government, the reason for the introduction of V-levels is to help address a long…

  • Tiny electronic eye implant restores reading vision to blind eyes

    An electronic eye implant has restored central reading vision in patients with sight loss, according to a study. The retinal implant device PRIMA, developed by neural engineering firm Science Corporation, has been trialled by researchers at University College London (UCL) and Moorfields Eye Hospital. During the clinical trials, conducted in 17 hospital sites across five countries, 38 patients were implanted with the device. All these patients had lost the central sight of the eye being tested, leaving only limited peripheral vision. This was due to an untreatable progressive eye condition called geographic atrophy with dry age-related macular degeneration. The results showed 84% of participants implanted with the PRIMA device were able to read letters, numbers and words following the…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Amazon to build US nuclear reactor facility to power AI and data centre growth

    Tech giant Amazon has announced plans to build a small modular reactor (SMR) facility in Washington state to provide carbon-free energy for its expanding data centres and AI infrastructure. The Cascade Advanced Energy Facility will be built outside Richland, Washington. A collaboration between Amazon, Washington-based utility Energy Northwest and SMR developer X-energy, the facility will feature up to 12 SMRs. Amazon said that these SMRs will power its operations with clean energy and supply carbon-free electricity to the grid. Like other tech giants, including Meta and Microsoft, Amazon intends to harness nuclear energy to help power its AI efforts. The reason for this is reliability of energy supply and reduction in carbon emissions. Whereas nuclear plants typically take a decade…

  • Under development: Lithium extracted from water, nervous system for robots

    This issue, we look at the race to extract lithium and a robot with sensitivity to touch. Lab: US Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory What: Advanced membrane technology to extract lithium from water Stage: TRL-2 With lithium production concentrated in just a handful of countries, concerns about supply chain security abound. Scientists at the Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Chicago have developed a membrane technology that can efficiently extract lithium from salt water brines. The membrane is made from vermiculite, a naturally abundant clay, which consists of ultrathin layers stacked together. To prevent the clay layers falling apart in water, microscopic aluminium oxide pillars between each layer hold them in place. This architecture enables…

  • ‘Supercharged’ battery combines sodium and lithium to boost capacity and stability

    A breakthrough full-cell dual-cation battery combining lithium and sodium ions could transform future electric vehicles and port

  • The data revolution that made sport smarter – but less fun to watch

    Last April, Manchester City and Manchester United played out a turgid 0-0 draw in the Eng-lish Premier League (pictured). Former

  • Tiny brain implant targets multiple regions for precise drug delivery

    A new type of brain implant that can deliver drugs to multiple regions of the brain with high precision has been developed by re

  • The Eccentric Engineer: How the age of simple machines became the era of complexity

    From three to six to over 300, the journey of machines has been a bit more complex than Renaissance scientists could imagine... Anyone reading E+T today would probably agree that engineering is really very complex, but for Renaissance scientists it all came down to six simple machines – or ‘mechanical powers’ as they were called. These were the lever, the wheel and axle, the pulley, the inclined plane, the wedge and the screw, all quite closely related. I hardly need to tell engineers what each of these are, but as a quick recap: a lever consists of an arm that is free to turn about a fixed pivot point called the fulcrum. The wheel and axle is a circular (first class) lever whose fulcrum is the axle. A pulley is a grooved wheel that turns freely on an axle, and hence another circular lever…

  • Mini 3D printer builds biological tissue from inside the human body

    A tiny 3D printer capable of printing human tissue directly inside the body with micrometre accuracy is being developed.

  • Four technologies that can keep astronauts healthy on a trip to Mars

    Space is a tough environment for humans. Are technologies available to make that trip to Mars more manageable?

  • Apple to develop 650MW solar and wind farms across Europe

    The US tech giant has announced it is to build new solar and wind farms in Greece, Italy, Latvia, Poland and Romania. This is in

  • UK government greenlights major 50MW solar farm in Lincolnshire

    The Tillbridge Solar Farm in Lincolnshire has been granted development consent from the Department for Energy Security and Net Z

  • Biodegradable circuit boards look to meet specs for next-gen wireless electronics

    Biodegradable printed circuit boards are being tested for use in wireless communication technologies, through a collabora

  • Audit reveals a 98% failure rate for home insulation installed under government scheme

    An estimated 98% of homes that had external wall insulation installed under the UK government’s Energy Company Obligation scheme require work to correct major issues that will cause problems such as damp and mould, a report has found.

  • Satellite broadband services found leaking vast amounts of unencrypted user data

    A ‘shockingly large amount’ of sensitive data traffic is being broadcast unencrypted from satellite broadband services, researchers have found.

  • BAE Systems’ latest attack submarine completes major underwater test

    HMS Agamemnon, the UK's newest attack submarine, has completed its first underwater test at BAE Systems’ shipyard at Barrow-in-F

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Global warming passes ‘tipping point’ that will destroy coral reefs and put livelihoods at risk

    The world has now reached a climate change ‘tipping point’ that could see warm-water coral reefs face severe dieback, impacting the near billion people who rely on them.

  • £1.5bn wind turbine plant in Scotland planned as green groups warn of ‘scarring’ the landscape

    China’s Ming Yang Smart Energy has announced it is to invest £1.5bn in a new wind turbine plant in Scotland. The announcement co

  • Energy firms inject hydrogen into UK gas grid for first time

    Energy firms have injected hydrogen into the gas grid in order to power the Brigg Power Station in North Lincolnshire as part of trials aimed at decarbonising the UK’s electricity supply.

  • Blueprint set out for Europe’s first commercial fusion power plant

    Greentech firm Gauss Fusion has unveiled a detailed conceptual blueprint for developing Europe’s first fusion power plant.

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