• Evil Engineer: Could I turn the asteroid belt into a world of my own?

    This month, the Evil Engineer dispenses wisdom to a villain who longs to be king of the world – though another world would do. Dear Evil Engineer, When I was a child, I determined that my life’s ambition was to become king of the world. I have spent the decades since working my way up the social ladder, dispatching anyone who gets in my way, to make my dream my reality. Now, at the age of 57, I have reached the position of Deputy Leader of Leek Town Council. This does not fill me with confidence that I will be king of the world by retirement age. If I cannot become king of the world, perhaps I can still become king of ‘a’ world. The Outer Space Treaty prevents me claiming sovereignty over any celestial body, but I have thought of a possible loophole: how about if I constructed my own…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • UK navigates AI and defence ties with US as Trump reshapes global order

    Amid stormy clashes at presidential level, how is the technology landscape evolving through the melee? Since 2021, the UK has aligned and allied with the US on AI. But continuing to do so since Donald Trump replaced Joe Biden as president is making European allies nervous. AI is increasingly viewed in terms of national (and regional) security, and alarm has grown over Washington’s changed attitudes to the invasion of Ukraine and Nato. With Trump having suspended military aid to Kyiv, Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces a dilemma. There is the UK’s commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty but also its economic and military links to the US, links that have persisted until now, regardless of the colour of the presidency. At a late February press conference with Trump in Washington DC, Starmer unveiled…

  • E+T Podcast: Episode 11 | Forever Chemicals - Are they an environmental disaster in progress?

    Hosted by: Tim Fryer and Tanya Weaver Special Guest: Stephanie Metzger, Policy Advisor at the Royal Society of Chemistry. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances - better known as PFAS or Forever Chemicals, are incredibly useful. They are so good at repelling water, oil and heat that they are used in a multitude of everyday applications. However, there is evidence linking them to serious health issues including cancers and, as the name Forever Chemicals suggests, they are very difficult to get rid of. So how are we going to engineer our way out of this problem? Regulars Tim Fryer and Tanya Weaver are joined by guest Stephanie Metzger, Policy Advisor at the Royal Society of Chemistry.

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Nuclear power is 'stagnating' while renewable energy gains pace, study finds

    Renewable energy is outstripping nuclear power, as the number of nuclear reactors operating around the world continues to slide, a new report says. The study, Nuclear power’s global stagnation and decline’, is published by the EnergyScience Coalition, an independent non-governmental organisation. It is authored by academics from the University of Melbourne and the Nuclear Consulting Group (NCG). Its findings show that, despite claims to the contrary, the global nuclear power industry is “stagnating rather than growing”. The aim of the study is to show that Australia’s push towards nuclear power is not worth the investment, and it cannot be deployed in time to support Australia’s energy transition targets. Co-author Jim Green, a national nuclear campaigner and member of the NCG, told…

  • Second commercial spacecraft lands on the Moon with collection of Nasa payloads

    The second-ever landing on the Moon by a commercial craft was achieved this weekend by US firm Firefly Aerospace. The Blue Ghost lunar lander, which was carrying a number of payloads from Nasa, softly touched down on the Moon’s surface on Sunday morning UK time in an upright position on the company’s first attempt. Carrying 10 Nasa instruments, the precision landing saw Blue Ghost touch down within its 100-metre landing target next to Mons Latreille, a volcanic feature. The craft’s shock-absorbing legs stabilised the lander as it touched down, and it is now communicating with Firefly’s mission operations centre in Texas. Intuitive Machines landed the first privately built craft on the Moon last year, the first time such a feat was achieved by the US in over 50 years. However, the Odysseus…

  • Lego introduces sustainable tyres made from old fishing nets, ropes and engine oil

    Lego has introduced tyres made using over one-third recycled material into select Lego sets, with a full transition planned for later this year. Since 1963, Lego pieces have been manufactured from acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) plastic. This material offers many advantages in durability, safety, quality and consistency. However, it is not environmentally friendly. Lego has declared that by 2032 its ambition is to make its bricks from renewable or recycled materials. Having already made some steps on this journey, including the use of biopolyethylene for botanical elements and Minifigure accessories, the latest step is the introduction of a sustainable material for Lego tyres that does not rely on virgin fossil fuel-based ingredients. The material is created by combining discarded…

  • Adding solar panels to farmland can boost both energy and food security, finds study

    A study by the University of Sheffield has found that installing solar panels on farmers’ land would not result in a loss of agricultural activity. As part of its plan for the UK to reach net zero by 2050, the government aims to significantly ramp up the amount of solar power across the country. However, the prospect of swathes of ground-mounted solar panels has proven contentious with both farmers and the public. Chief among the criticisms is that high-quality agricultural land will have to give way to solar farms. Some also do not like the visual impact these farms have on the landscape. A study by researchers at the University of Sheffield focuses on the impact of agrivoltaics in Great Britain. Agrivoltaics is the dual use of land for solar energy production and agriculture. The…

  • MPs say HS2 is a cautionary tale of mismanagement and poor value for money

    MPs have issued a damning report about the failures of the HS2 rail programme, saying the Department for Transport (DfT) does not have “the right skills and capabilities” to effectively lead the project. HS2 has been beset by a string of failures and budget overruns over the last decade, including the cancellation of routes ending in Leeds and Manchester by the previous Conservative government. An HS2 board paper released in June 2024 anticipated that the project was now expected to cost between £54bn and £66bn in 2019 prices – a marked increase from estimates the previous November of £49bn to £57bn. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) published its report updating its long-running scrutiny of the project, following the cancellation of HS2’s Northern leg. It said the level of failure…

  • Government signals approval for Gatwick expansion but delays final decision

    The government has confirmed it will likely approve an expansion to Gatwick Airport, but it has delayed the final decision until October to seek views from all affected parties. The airport already has a Northern Runway that runs parallel to the main one, but they cannot be used at the same time as they are too close. Gatwick wants to shift the runway 12 metres further away to allow both to operate simultaneously. The move should open up Britain’s skies to an additional 100,000 flights per year while creating an estimated 14,000 jobs. Transport minister Heidi Alexander has said she is “minded to approve” the £2.2bn expansion, but has announced a nine-month extension to the final decision time frame. Assuming final consent is granted, Gatwick could start turning the Northern Runway into…

  • Industry insight: Claiming R&D tax relief – who owns your IP?

    Mohamed Dafea, co-founder of R&D tax funding firm Grantica, considers the likely impact of tax reforms on innovation in the engineering sector. UK engineering has long been a hotbed of innovation, with many businesses in the sector securing R&D tax relief for their ground-breaking research. But major reform of the UK’s R&D tax regime is likely to have a significant impact on engineering firms that outsource R&D tasks, with intellectual property (IP) becoming an increasingly important factor in claims. The SME and large company R&D schemes are being merged to create a single R&D regime. Under the new scheme, companies of all sizes can claim qualifying payments for contracted-out R&D, subject to certain conditions. Who can claim? The question of exactly who can make a claim has become…

  • Space scientist Simon Foster talks astronaut applications and space commercialisation

    Simon Foster on collaborating with his Imperial peers, inspiring the next generation of scientists and looking to the skies for what’s coming next. Dr Simon Foster is a space scientist and outreach specialist based in the department of physics at Imperial College London. He has conducted scientific research into the long-term (100-1,000 years) variations in the Sun’s energy output and how these variations impact the Earth’s climate. Foster has also worked on numerous shows for the BBC, Sky One, Channel 4, Science Channel and Discovery Channel, and once applied for the astronaut training programme. Q What inspired you to pursue a career in space science, and was there a defining moment when you knew this was your path? I have found space fascinating since I was a small child. One of…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • UK battery start-up Volklec to manufacture lithium-ion batteries by end of 2025

    Volklec will begin battery production from its base later this year, with plans to build a 10GWh £1bn gigafactory by the end of the decade. The Coventry-based battery manufacturing business officially launched in May 2024. It has now announced it has partnered with Asian battery supplier Far East Battery (FEB) to help it scale up production of its lithium-ion batteries. Production will start later this year at Coventry’s Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC), which provides customers with labs, production lines and cell assembly facilities. Specialists from FEB in China will work with Volvec to ensure its manufacturing line is ready for the start of production. Imran Khatri, Volklec founder, said: “Volklec has been established to help the UK’s decarbonisation drive. As a proud investment…

  • Avride’s autonomous robots begin restaurant deliveries in Tokyo

    Avride has announced that its automated pavement robots will begin delivering restaurant orders to customers in several neighbourhoods in Tokyo. The Texas-based firm has been operating a commercial delivery service using its robots since 2021 on the Ohio State University and the University of Arizona campuses, as well as some districts in Moscow, Russia. The Tokyo service represents a broader roll-out and the firm’s first deployment of its robots in Japan. It is being launched in partnership with Rakuten, one of Japan’s largest e-commerce and technology companies. It first trialled robotic delivery pilot programs in 2019. Starting today, the robots will be delivering a wide range of products from restaurants including a branch of Starbucks and groceries from various supermarkets. …

  • Search for flight MH370 resumes 11 years after disappearance

    A new search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 is now underway by Ocean Infinity more than a decade after the aircraft went missing. Malaysia Airlines MH370 disappeared in mysterious circumstances on 8 March 2014, after communications from the plane were cut during what was supposed to be a routine flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. There were 239 people onboard the Boeing 777 flight. In 2016 the Australian crash investigator overseeing the then ongoing search said in an interview that he believed the plane plunged into the sea at almost 400km/h. The dramatic descent suggested that no one was in control of the aircraft at the time of the crash. A 495-page report into its disappearance, published in July 2018, said the Boeing 777’s controls were likely deliberately manipulated to…

  • China puts new 400km/h bullet train through its paces on the track

    China's CR450 high-speed train prototype is currently undergoing rigorous testing and evaluation in Beijing. In December 2024, the CR450 prototype – the latest model in the Fuxing bullet train series – was officially unveiled after seven years of development. The prototype is now closer to commercial operation with its developers, CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles and CRRC Sifang Co, revealing that the model is now undergoing testing on the tracks. Its speed surpasses that of its predecessor, CR400 Fuxing, which currently operates at speeds of 350km/h. According to China State Railway Group, the CR450 will operate at speeds of 400km/h – however it is capable of running at 450km/h. As the new prototype is put through its paces at the Beijing test centre, engineers at the Locomotive and…

  • Electrification to drive 60% of UK’s carbon cuts by 2040, say climate advisors

    The government’s climate advisors have said that electrifying key parts of the UK economy will be responsible for an estimated 60% of the planned cuts to carbon emissions by 2040. The Climate Change Committee (CCC) has presented its recommendations on how to achieve this goal, which include broad uptake of electric vehicles (EVs) by consumers and business as well as the mass installation of heat pumps. It said that near-term investments in the low-carbon economy would yield savings later on, and that by 2050 household energy bills could be £700 cheaper than today, with household driving bills also predicted to be £700 cheaper. Energy price shocks have been responsible for over half of recessions since the 1970s, but it said a decarbonised electricity system would hedge against major spikes…

  • SpaceX identifies cause of Starship explosion and plans design changes

    SpaceX has identified why its Starship super heavy rocket exploded during a test flight last month. On 16 January, Starship lifted off from a launchpad in Texas and all 33 of its Raptor engines started up successfully. But after several minutes of flight time the upper stage dramatically broke up and disintegrated over Caribbean airspace, forcing several planned flights to alter their course to avoid falling debris. SpaceX said the “most probable root cause” for the failure was identified as a harmonic response several times stronger in flight than had been seen during testing, which led to increased stress on hardware in the propulsion system. “The subsequent propellant leaks exceeded the venting capability of the ship’s attic area and resulted in sustained fires,” it said in a blog…

  • Mercedes starts road testing its 620-mile range solid-state battery

    Mercedes’ EQS prototype electric vehicle (EV), equipped with a lithium-metal solid-state battery, has begun real-world testing. While car makers including Volkswagen, Toyota and Nissan have all announced plans to produce solid-state EVs, Mercedes-Benz claims it has launched the “world’s first solid-state battery vehicle from a global OEM”. To develop the solid-state battery, engineers came together from both the company’s passenger car and Formula 1 teams. These engineers also collaborated with Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains (HPP), a UK-based subsidiary specialising in F1 technologies, as well as the Mercedes-Benz Centre of Competence for Battery Systems in Stuttgart. A key partnership in the battery’s development was with US-based Factorial Energy, which provided the cells…

  • AI tool to help extend lifespan of railway bridges

    An AI tool designed to keep bridges in operation for longer has been developed by ETH Zurich researchers. The team developed a model for railway bridges made of reinforced concrete – which are particularly common in Switzerland – that provides an initial assessment of structural safety. They also developed an AI assistant that helps engineers to design new bridges. The average lifespan of a bridge is typically considered to be around 75-100 years depending on the materials used and the amount of traffic, although this can be extended through careful maintenance. “Switzerland is facing a situation in which a considerable proportion of its infrastructure is nearing the end of its planned service life and must be inspected and strengthened if necessary,” said doctoral researcher Sophia Kuhn…

  • Swarms of small underwater drones to attract marine life to artificial 3D-printed reefs

    A swarm of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) will be used to monitor artificial reefs off the coast of Cyprus. Equipped with sensors and high-definition cameras, the AUVs will feed data from the reefs to scientists in the EONIOS project. The project, launched in June 2024, brings together French AUV developer Arkeocean, the Cyprus Marine and Maritime Institute (CMMI), Cypriot tech firm SignalGeneriX and French consulting company Lanego. This R&D partnership aims to develop a micro-AUV swarm system with docking stations embedded into nature-based artificial reefs. The reefs have been designed and built by CMMI with 3D printing techniques using an eco cement mixture. The aim of the reefs is to help restore marine habitats because high sea surface temperatures have killed off many…

  • Interview: SkedGo CEO says ‘mobility as a service’ is evolving to put people first

    Mobility as a service (MaaS) apps are ‘changing the way the world moves’, says SkedGo CEO John Nuutinen. But if we are to achieve greater accessibility and travel equity, systems must evolve to become more tailored to individual and local needs. “We’re now in the second phase of MaaS,” says John Nuutinen. “The first was interesting because it bounced around ideas like how to make a profit. But one of the things we started to discover is that the value of MaaS can’t be assessed on profit alone.” The CEO of SkedGo, headquartered in Sydney, Australia, maintains that there’s now an increased recognition of the value of subsidised MaaS capabilities in terms of societal and environmental benefit. “And that’s a good thing,” he adds. “In the future we’ll see the commercialisation of these systems…

  • Laser-powered tool could help Mars rovers find signs of ancient life

    Scientists have developed a laser-based device that could be installed on a future Mars rover as a tool for finding signs of former life on the Red Planet. The University of Bern team has developed a miniature, laser-powered mass spectrometer that can analyse the chemical composition of a rock sample in detail as fine as a micrometre (one-thousandth of a millimetre). The tool has already been used to sample gypsum from a quarry in Algeria in an attempt to replicate the kind of materials and conditions that might be experienced on Mars. The team analysed the rock using the tool to understand its ability to distinguish between potential microbial fossils and natural rock formations. These include morphology – which is irregular, sinuous and potentially hollow – as well as the presence of…

  • 1.8GW LionLink interconnector project announces preferred UK landfall location

    LionLink, a subsea interconnector project between the UK and the Netherlands, has selected Walberswick, Suffolk, as its preferred landfall location. In November 2024, energy regulator Ofgem approved five major new undersea energy links, one of which is LionLink. The LionLink interconnector will deliver a new 1.8GW electricity link between the UK and the Netherlands. It is being developed by Dutch transmission system operator TenneT and its UK project partner National Grid Ventures, the investment arm of the National Grid. The project is referred to as a multi-purpose or hybrid interconnector because for the first time it will connect the Dutch and UK energy grids via a 2GW offshore wind farm in Dutch waters. An offshore converter platform at the wind farm will feed energy into the electricity…

  • Hackers steal $1.5bn in the ‘biggest cryptocurrency heist ever recorded’

    On 21 February 2025, hackers stole approximately $1.5bn in digital assets from Bybit’s Ethereum wallet. The Dubai-based cryptocurrency platform Bybit has called it the “biggest cryptocurrency heist ever recorded”. Bybit was founded in 2018 and has more than 60 million users worldwide. It offers access to various cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum. Ethereum is the second-biggest cryptocurrency by market value after Bitcoin. An Ethereum wallet is a software or hardware interface that allows users to store and manage their Ethereum-based tokens securely. However, a hacker managed to gain control of an Ethereum wallet and transfer the contents to an unknown address. According to Bybit, the hack occurred when the company was making a routine transfer of Ethereum from an offline “cold…

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