• Eccentric engineer: How one man's LSD vision transformed DNA research

    How psychedelic substances helped Kary Mullis with the greatest discovery in modern genetic engineering – PCR. Kary Mullis was an unusual scientist. His interest in chemistry grew from a childhood love of making rockets, his first published paper was on astrophysics and his PhD on bacterial biology. He was also a firm believer in astrology, didn’t believe in climate change and disputed the link between HIV and Aids despite having done no research on the subject. But he did change the world. In 1983, Mullis was working for one of the US’s first biotech companies, Cetus Corporation, where he was employed to synthesise oligonucleotides, or primers – short, single-stranded nucleic acid used by all living organisms in the initiation of DNA synthesis. The corporation had a project to analyse…

  • Microplastics evade wastewater treatment, raising health and environmental concerns

    Harmful microplastics are slipping through wastewater treatment plants, posing potential risks to health and the environment, researchers have said. A team from the University of Texas at Arlington found that while most wastewater treatment facilities were able to “significantly reduce” microplastics loads, complete removal remains unattainable with current technologies. Large amounts of plastic can be found circulating in all of Earth’s oceans. Rather than biodegrade, they simply break down into tinier and tinier pieces, producing microplastics, which measure less than 5mm long depending on the definition. According to US environmental advocacy group Ocean Conservancy, 11 million metric tons of plastics enter our oceans every year. This is in addition to the estimated 200 million metric…

  • Nasa’s Curiosity rover uncovers evidence of Martian carbon cycle

    Nasa’s Curiosity rover has uncovered evidence that ancient Mars had a carbon cycle, which increases the likelihood that the planet once harboured life. Scientists have long presumed that Mars featured an active water cycle in the past, as the landscape shows clear signs that liquid water once flowed across its surface. This would have required a much warmer climate than the planet has today and a thicker atmosphere with higher carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations. While previous analyses of Martian rock have detected the presence of carbonates, the quantities found were lower than expected from geochemical models. But according to a recently published paper, data from three of Curiosity’s drill sites showed the samples contained siderite, an iron carbonate material. The discovery of carbonate…

  • Mentor: Leading an engineering company

    Does an engineering company manager need to be an engineer? Definitely not, says Claire Davies. Engineering companies, particularly SMEs, often end up being run by the engineers who founded them. But are engineering skills really the most appropriate for leading engineering companies? We asked Claire Davies, managing director at Egis UK – originally a civil engineering company that she describes as a collective of architects, scientists, economists, consultants, engineers and operational experts. With a degree in chemistry and a PhD in geochemistry, Davies says that a background in engineering isn’t necessary to lead an engineering company. Q Claire, you don’t have an engineering background. Does a skill-set in leadership apply to any organisation? I want to provide the best environment…

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    E+T Magazine

  • NHS approved to use robotic surgery systems to improve recovery times

    The NHS has been approved to use 11 cutting-edge robotic surgery systems that could transform operations for thousands of NHS patients. The technology, which is capable of movements more precise than the human hand, has been given the green light by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice), which provides evidence-based recommendations to the NHS. So far, five systems for soft tissue procedures have been approved – such as hernia repair, removal of tumours and gallbladder removal – and six for orthopaedic surgery, such as full and partial knee replacement procedures and hip replacements. The body’s independent committee made the decision after being presented with evidence that the use of robots in surgery enables faster recovery times, shorter hospital stays and a…

  • Industry insight: Autonomous vehicles are finally on the road to commercial reality

    This article is provided by Joseph Salem, partner at Arthur D. Little. The mass rollout of autonomous vehicles (AVs) has been mooted for years, but a range of challenges have raised serious doubts over whether this potentially transformative technology will ever move from the drawing board to the driving seat. However, numerous recent developments and new data suggest not just that it can, but that it may do so imminently, thanks to advances in technology, evolving regulatory support, and realignment in investment dynamics. This means the one critical advance needed to make AVs a reality — crossing the bridge to commercial viability — may be within sight. Continuous expansion of AV testing to build trust The AV industry faces psychological, as well financial, barriers to commercial…

  • Electrifying rail lines slashes toxic air pollution and cancer risk, study finds

    Rail commuters experience dramatically improved air quality on board trains and at stations following rail line electrification, a study has found. Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, analysed the air quality aboard the San Francisco Bay Area’s Caltrain commuter rail line, which was recently electrified. They installed black carbon detectors at a number of stations and carried air-quality detectors aboard the trains. For four weeks, they tracked the rapid improvements in air quality as old diesel locomotives were replaced by new electric trains. In total, the team measured an 89% drop in carcinogenic black carbon exposure on the trains themselves and a significant reduction within and around the station monitored. Caltrain operates the busiest commuter rail system…

  • ‘Cosmic radio’ detector could uncover dark matter within 15 years, scientists say

    A ‘cosmic radio’ detector that could potentially discover dark matter in 15 years has been developed by a team of researchers. Dark matter is widely accepted to be a real phenomenon due to gravitational effects on galaxies and galaxy clusters that provide strong evidence for its presence. It is thought that it could account for around 85% of mass in the universe. However, it has never been directly detected before because it does not interact with electromagnetic radiation, meaning it neither absorbs, reflects nor emits light, making it invisible. Scientists at King’s College London, Harvard University, the University of California, Berkeley and others have shared the foundation of what they believe will be the most accurate dark matter detector to date. Axions are one of the leading…

  • Evil Engineer: Can I flatten my former friend’s house with an asteroid?

    This month, the Evil Engineer suggests the best way to weaponise an asteroid and get back at a faithless friend. Dear Evil Engineer, Five years ago, I founded a spyware start-up with a close friend of mine – since our undergraduate days we had shared a dream of empowering people all over the world to run their own mass surveillance programmes. We agreed that he would serve as CEO, with me as CTO. However, six months before the date of our IPO, he shut me out of the company and diluted my stake in it. I have seen the company I co-founded in our student flat secure multiple contracts worth hundreds of billions of dollars, and enjoyed none of it. It’s time for revenge. Can you advise me how to send an asteroid crashing down on his house? Yours, A sidelined villain Dear villain, …

  • Sewage spills surge across UK as water firms fail to meet pollution targets

    The UK’s water industry oversaw a 30% increase in pollution spillages in 2024 – despite trying to reduce incidents by 40% over that period. Surfers Against Sewage said there were almost 600,000 confirmed sewage discharges last year, although it suggests the true figure could be closer to a million. The charity’s latest water quality report tracked sewage spills via discharge and sickness data and personal reports filed by citizens through its app. While the water sector was privatised in England and Wales in 1989, it has remained in public ownership in Northern Ireland and Scotland. Data acquired through freedom of information requests saw repeated failings across all countries in the UK, although water firms in England particularly have racked up significant debts despite frequent…

  • China to keep building coal-fired power plants through to 2027

    China’s state planner and energy regulator has said new coal-fired power plants are necessary during the transition away from fossil fuels to meet peak power demand and stabilise the grid. China is the world’s largest energy consumer and is heavily reliant on coal. In 2023, the country’s global operating coal capacity grew by 2% to 2,130GW. But coal power permits fell 83% in the first half of 2024, suggesting the world’s second-largest economy might be weaning itself off the fossil fuel. However, according to new government guidelines, the country plans to keep building coal-fired power plants through 2027, as reported by Reuters. The state planner and energy regulator said these plants were necessary in regions where they were needed to meet peak power demand or stabilise the grid…

  • Climate change to cost UK households an average of £3,000 in 2025, report claims

    Households in the UK are facing an average bill of £3,000 this year due to the impact of climate change, research by Global Witness has found. The NGO calculated that rising global temperatures will cause an estimated £1.1tn worth of damage to the UK’s economy over the next decade, amounting to roughly £38,000 over the period. In 2025 alone, it estimates households face a bundle of costs amounting to roughly £3,000. The UK’s climate damages bill includes the economic costs of flooding, crop losses, sea level rise, droughts, storms, disruption to overseas trade and harmful impacts on public health that result from global heating. A major direct increase in cost comes from higher food prices caused by inclement climates that lower crop yields. In 2023, the effects of extreme weather alone…

  • Google sets sights on geothermal energy with new deal in Asia

    Google has signed a “first-ever” corporate agreement for geothermal energy in Taiwan with Baseload Capital. Tech giant Google has pledged to reach net zero emissions by 2030 – but, by its own admission, this is an “extremely ambitious goal”. Last year, its annual environmental report revealed that the company has fallen short of its climate goals, with its emissions in 2023 having risen 13% on the previous year, reaching 14.3 million metric tons. A lot of this is due to energy-hungry data centres. In July 2024, Google reported that its reliance on data centres to power its new AI products caused its carbon emissions to soar by nearly 50% in five years. To reduce the environmental impact of its operations, Google has signed various deals globally to meet its electricity demands with…

  • British Steel blast furnaces to remain open as emergency supplies secured

    The government has secured enough raw materials to keep British Steel’s blast furnaces operating in the short term while a steady pipeline is being arranged. The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) confirmed that coking coal and iron ore from the US are being imported and transported to the Scunthorpe site after it was forced to scramble for supplies following the rapid transfer of ownership from Chinese owners Jingye last week. Founded in 2016 from the ashes of Tata Steel, British Steel has had a challenging decade because of reduced demand for the metal and tough competition from Chinese manufacturers. It is estimated that the plant was losing around £700,000 a day, making production economically unfeasible. However, there are concerns that without domestic steel production capacity…

  • Proposed grid reforms to axe ‘zombie’ projects and fast-track renewable power

    Energy regulator Ofgem has approved proposed reforms from the National Energy System Operator (NESO) to transform the grid connection process that will see clean energy projects prioritised. In its manifesto, Labour set itself the lofty goal of entirely decarbonising the UK’s energy grid by 2030. To achieve this, renewable energy projects need to be connected to the grid at pace. However, the issue is that the queue for connecting new projects to the grid is massively oversubscribed, with some green energy projects taking up to a decade before they can be connected. According to NESO, the connections queue currently holds over 750GW of projects – four times what is needed for 2030 and twice what is needed for 2050. But the queue is being held up by zombie or phantom projects, which…

  • Blue Origin sends first all-female crew to space including Katy Perry and Jeff Bezos’ fiancée

    Blue Origin has landed its 11th human spaceflight carrying an all-female crew including pop star Katy Perry and Jeff Bezos’ fiancée Lauren Sánchez. The suborbital flight marked the first time an all-female space crew had been to space since the Vostok 6 solo mission of Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova in 1963. It reached heights of around 100km and passed through the Kármán line – broadly recognised as the boundary between the Earth’s atmosphere and space. The crew experienced around four minutes of weightlessness before descending back to Earth. Other passengers included Aisha Bowe, CEO of tech firm STEMBoard, Amanda Nguyen, who has fought for women’s rights, CBS News host Gayle King and American film producer Kerianne Flynn. The flight, which was taken as part of Blue Origin…

  • Uncovering the mysteries of fired brick production in Germany’s ancient 'second Rome'

    An interdisciplinary team is to delve into the under-researched Roman brickwork of the German city of Trier. Located on the Moselle river in western Germany near the border with Luxembourg, Trier is considered Germany’s oldest city, founded by the Romans in the first century BC. Trier was one of the four capitals of the Roman empire during the Tetrarchy period in the late third and early fourth centuries and was known as the ‘second Rome’. Much construction took place in the city for which fired, stamped bricks of various formats were used for walls, roofs and heating systems. These clay bricks would have been hardened in a kiln and then imprinted with a stamp. They are still evident in the city’s well-preserved Roman ruins, for instance at the Porta Nigra city gates, imperial baths…

  • UK government bets on quantum technology’s potential with £121m investment boost

    The UK government has announced a £121m investment boost into quantum technology to help tackle fraud and money laundering, which cost the economy £2.6bn a year. Today is World Quantum Day, an annual celebration promoting public awareness and understanding of quantum science and technology around the world. If quantum physics is the study of matter and energy at the most fundamental level, then quantum technologies exploit the properties identified by quantum physics to provide new capabilities in computing, communications and sensing. While the field of quantum computing technology is still in its infancy, scientists believe that with its ability to work out problems that are unsolvable on classic computers, the technology could help power innovation in a range of fields, from drug discovery…

  • Millimetre-sized brain sensor could transform brain-computer communications

    Researchers have developed a micro-brain sensor that can be placed between hair follicles on the scalp to capture high-fidelity signals. A brain-computer interface (BCI) is a direct communication link between the brain’s electrical activity and external devices, such as computers, robotic limbs and other brain-monitoring devices. Most commonly, BCIs consist of electrodes mounted on the surface of the scalp to capture brain signals with conductive electrode gel enabling optimum impedance and data quality. However, rigid sensors and bulky electronics mean these BCIs face significant limitations in terms of continuous use and portability. Researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, US, have overcome these limitations by developing a wearable microneedle BCI wireless…

  • Trump pauses electronics tariffs but warns tech sector levies are coming soon

    US President Donald Trump has postponed levies on smartphones, laptops and other electronic products following last week’s stringent tariffs imposed on China, but has said the exemptions will be short-lived. The administration said that while tariffs would be suspended for now, the exemption would only last until a sector specific regime is introduced. China is the largest electronics manufacturer by country, accounting for an estimated 36% of all global production. “Those products are going to be part of the semiconductor sectoral tariffs, which are coming … we need to have these things made in America,” said Howard Lutnick, secretary of commerce. He added that the sector specific tariffs would probably be introduced “in a month or two”. The escalating tariff war between the US and China…

  • Can AI take smart factories to the next level?

    It has been talked about for decades, but can smart decision-making, aided by AI, boost productivity, accuracy and automation in factories? Automation and robotics are well-established tools in many factories. But could these so-called smart factories be made even smarter by introducing AI? The answer is a resounding yes. It is already happening across many sectors to enhance and refine existing processes and make accurate predictions as regards inventory, maintenance and other future needs. In short, AI could potentially be a game changer in the factory going forward, providing productivity gains and cost efficiencies and upping overall revenue. Daniel Küpper, global co-lead of manufacturing and supply chain at BCG, says: “AI and GenAI, in particular, offer complementary use cases in…

  • Hydrogen-powered cruise ship set to take to the seas in 2026

    The “world’s first” cruise ship to be powered entirely by hydrogen is currently under construction in Italy, with delivery scheduled for late 2026. Italian shipbuilding company Fincantieri and Swiss travel company Viking have struck a deal to build the “world’s first” hydrogen cruise ship. The hydrogen stored onboard will power both propulsion and onboard electricity generation. The Viking Libra is currently under construction at the Fincantieri Ancona shipyard in northern Italy. Delivery is scheduled for late 2026. Weighing approximately 54,300 tons and at 239 metres in length, the cruise ship will navigate and operate with zero emissions, according to Fincantieri. Pierroberto Folgiero, CEO and managing director of Fincantieri, said: “With the Viking Libra, we are not only delivering…

  • Gas boilers overtake transport as biggest source of air pollution in central London

    Gas boilers are now thought to be the primary source of nitrogen oxide pollution in central London as sources such as vehicles decline. The combustion of natural gas in boilers accounted for 72% of nitrogen oxide emissions within a few kilometres radius of London’s BT Tower between 2021 and 2023. The study was led by researchers at the National Centre for Atmospheric Science and the University of York. The findings also highlight the success of efforts to reduce the impact of transport such as the London Low Emission Zone and the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions from vehicles. Those emissions in central London are estimated to have fallen by about 73% between 2016 and 2025. In addition, the increasing prevalence of Euro 6 vehicles and electric cars has contributed…

  • China’s GPMI cable could replace HDMI and USB with faster data and higher power

    A new cable designed to replace HDMI and USB by offering more data bandwidth and power availability has been unveiled by a consortium of Chinese tech firms. The General Purpose Media Interface (GPMI) integrates functions such as video, data, network connection and power supply into one cable – all currently possible with standard USB cables, but offering a higher throughput for all elements. The Shenzhen 8K UHD Video Industry Cooperation Alliance, which is a consortium of over 50 tech companies, said the most powerful version of the standard offers a sizeable 192Gbps bandwidth – more than double the 80Gbps that USB4 V2 currently supports – and up to 480W of power, which is nearly five times the 100W that today’s USB4 and Thunderbolt cables are currently able to deliver. While USB4 is…

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    E+T Magazine

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