• View from India: Cloud is a strategic business imperative

    Digital transformation is the key reason for cloud integration into various sectors and companies. It is not just something fanciful for a handful of elite companies to latch on to. At a recent NASSCOM-EY webinar, Nitin Sawant, India cloud leader at EY, said that a survey conducted earlier in the year had revealed that companies rely on cloud for business transformation, rather than it being a cost reduction initiative. “Big organisations are joined by mid-size companies and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) which are also into cloud-based applications for collaboration, enterprise resource management (ERM), customer relationship management (CRM) and security,” he said. Cloud adoption is cutting across sectors. IT-ITes are joined by banking, financial services and insurance (BSFI) and…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Soft robots autonomously navigate mazes using ambient heat energy

    “These soft robots demonstrate a concept called ‘physical intelligence,’ meaning that structural design and smart materials are what allow the soft robot to navigate various situations, as opposed to computational intelligence,” said corresponding author of the study, Jie Yin. The soft robots are made of liquid crystal elastomers in the shape of a twisted ribbon, resembling translucent rotini. When the ribbon is placed on a surface that is at least 55°C, which is hotter than the ambient air, the portion of the ribbon touching the surface contracts, while the portion of the ribbon exposed to the air does not. This induces a rolling motion in the ribbon: the warmer the surface, the faster it rolls. “This has been done before with smooth-sided rods, but that shape has a drawback…

  • Drone transitions from air to water in less than a second

    A new drone design could pave the way for ultrafast transitions between air and water.  The robot, designed by scientists from Beihang University, Imperial College London and Empa, is capable of switching from an underwater drone to an aerial vehicle in less than one second. This capability could allow it to make great advances in biological and environmental monitoring in marine ecosystems, such as surveying ocean pollution in the open sea. The drone's suction disc was inspired by the remora fish – a family of species known for their adhesive discs, which help them catch a ride on marine creatures including whales and sharks. This enables the drone to hitchhike on wet or dry moving objects to significantly reduce its power consumption, the scientists have explained in a new study published…

  • Net-zero investments could ‘level up’ underperforming parts of the UK

    The Climate Change Committee has forecast that net-zero investment will need to rise from £13.5bn this year to £50bn by 2030 and that around 85 per cent of decarbonisation between 2020 and 2035 will involve low-carbon technologies, either alone or with behavioural change. While the UK is not yet a “green tech superpower”, the report states, it does have a comparative advantage over other advanced economies in several key technologies such as tidal power, offshore wind, and carbon capture and storage. The report finds that areas outside London and the South East also have the greatest potential for a green expansion of the economy, with the areas with the highest share of green patents being the Tees Valley and Durham, and Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. These areas underperform, productivity…

  • Neural network estimates forest height using satellite imagery

    A neural network could size up trees from satellite images, according to new research.  From environmental scientists to civil engineers and wood industry workers, there are many people who require accurate estimates of forest tree size. This information is vital for understanding how much atmospheric carbon dioxide the trees are capturing, whether there’s risk of them damaging power lines, and how much timber is available for logging. Currently, these estimates are obtained from satellite images as well as multiple cameras spanning several bands of infrared radiation, as drone technology is ineffective in large and hard to reach regions. However, this multispectral data is scarce and expensive to acquire. Researchers from Moscow-based research institute Skoltech may have found the perfect…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Clearview AI fined £7.5m for illegally collecting UK citizen's data

    Controversial facial-recognition firm Clearview AI received a multimillion-pound fine for building a database of more than 20 billion images without informing people or gaining their consent. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) found the company did not have a lawful reason for collecting people’s information and failed to adequately inform UK residents over the use of their personal data. As a result, Clearview AI has been fined £7,552,800 and ordered to delete all data gathered from people in the UK. Clearview AI first came under fire in 2020 after its database - built from scraping billions of publicly available images from social media - suffered a security breach. However, privacy advocates have long condemned the company's business model , based on allowing its clients to…

  • Sponsored: Transforming existing hotels to net zero carbon

    This white paper, produced in collaboration with Arup, Gleeds and IHG, tackles the operational net-zero carbon challenge for existing hotels using a real-life case study to demonstrate the impact of each stage in the journey. It sets out a high-level framework, prioritising different interventions throughout the lifecycle with the goal of achieving net-zero carbon in an existing hotel by 2050 in order to meet new regulatory requirements. The study focuses on reducing operational energy to achieve net-zero carbon; also considered is the embodied carbon impact of interventions, and how that compares to building new. Key Learning Points: Reduce operational energy to achieve net-zero carbon Consider the embodied carbon impact of interventions Transform existing buildings to net zero,…

  • Autonomous underwater drones used to maintain offshore wind turbines

    With the amount of UK offshore infrastructure increasing due to the expansion of wind turbines and oil and gas facilities, the need for frequent inspection and maintenance is greater than ever. Conventionally, such tasks are performed by remotely operated vehicles (ROV), which are expensive and require support vessels and skilled crew. The new drone system, developed by researchers from Edinburgh and Heriot-Watt Universities, can perform much of the prior manual work autonomously. It has been tested out on three turbines owned by EDF at the Blyth wind farm off Northumberland. The system can generate data about the facilities including correct scale detailed 3D models that can be analysed to determine what maintenance work may be needed. While some personnel are still required for more…

  • Organic crystals might serve as smart engineering materials

    Organic crystals might be the key to meeting the energy conversion needs of advanced technologies.  While these dynamic materials were previously thought to be fragile, a team of researchers at the NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) Smart Materials Lab have discovered that some organic crystals are mechanically very robust, and able to serve as efficient and sustainable energy conversion materials for robotics and electronics. In the article published by the journal Nature Communications , the team led by NYUAD Professor of Chemistry Panče Naumov explains the process of developing a record-breaking material, which can change shape without losing its ordered structure. This new organic crystalline material can expand and contract over half of its length (51 per cent) repeatedly, over thousands of cycles…

  • High-street retailers paying 755 per cent more in rates than online rivals

    Last Friday (20 May), the UK government closed a consultation into the possible introduction of a tax on ecommerce as a potential measure to fund a reduction in business rates, the property tax that shops, pubs and restaurants are obliged to pay. Bosses at Sainsbury’s urged the government to launch the new online sales tax, accusing the current business rates system of “destroying high streets up and down the country”. However, retail rival Marks & Spencer said an additional tax on retailers would mean they will “cut their cloth accordingly.” New analysis by real-estate advisory firm Altus Group shows that for every £100 earned by large retailers in Great Britain, excluding non-store sales and fuel, £2.91 is owed to local councils in business rates. However, for large online-only retailers…

  • Underwater telecoms cable repurposed as earthquake sensor with new technique

    Today, seas and oceans remain mostly unmonitored with only a handful of permanent ocean-floor sensors existing globally. This is due to the difficulty in installing and maintaining them, which can be prohibitively expensive. But it leaves a huge gap in geophysical data, limiting understanding of the Earth’s structure and its dynamic behaviour – datasets that can be used to predict earthquakes and monitor the impact of climate change among other phenomena. A new method has been developed that can be used to convert these cables into an array of sensors. It has already been tested on a 5,860 km-long intercontinental submarine optical-fibre link between the UK and Canada. The cable, provided by EXA Infrastructure, is the largest dedicated digital infrastructure platform connecting Europe and…

  • Mathematical model can help paramedics treat injuries on-site

    Coventry University has developed a model to help paramedics save lives. A team of researchers has created a detailed database of pedestrian injuries which, used alongside a new mathematical model, can produce first-hand virtual CT scans from simple photographs of a patient’s injuries and the vehicle involved. The resulting data could provide paramedics with crucial and potentially life-saving assistance when treating pedestrians hurt in road accidents.  Virtual CT scans of the body can inform paramedics, in seconds, about the victim’s potential internal injuries, enabling the correct treatment at the scene. The information could also be sent to a hospital, speeding up triage and improving treatment on arrival at accident and emergency units.  “The mathematical model, with the help of…

  • The eccentric engineer: Iceland’s journey to the centre of the Earth

    When the first Viking settlers of Iceland arrived over 1,100 years ago they found a land in some ways very familiar, but also rather odd. The icy mountains, fjords and glaciers were all reminders of their Scandinavian home, but some parts of the country were surprisingly warm. As they sailed towards what would one day become their capital, they noticed steam rising from the ground and named the place ‘Smoky Bay’ – or Reykjavík in Old Norse. They didn’t know then that this ‘smoke’ would one day make this the most energy self-sufficient country on Earth. Initially the geysers, hot springs and regular volcanic eruptions weren’t exactly welcomed by the settlers, whose hay crops were often ruined by the sudden emergence of hot springs on their land, but that didn’t prevent them finding a way to…

  • Hands-on gadget review: Miele Boost CX1

    German high-end electrical brand Miele has long made highly respected vacuum cleaners but it only boarded the bagless bandwagon six years ago with the Blizzard CX1. We tested it when it launched. It was high-tech but heavier than its bagged predecessors, thanks to its mono-cyclone tech and 1200W power. This new bagless model is Miele’s smallest-ever vacuum cleaner. Again it’s corded, but with a 1m shorter power cable (6.5m), resulting in a slightly shorter operating radius of 10m from a power socket. This is still long enough for any non-palatial home. The 890W motor produces a vortex with air speeds of up to 80kph. The smaller capacity of the dust container (it’s halved from 2 litres to 1 litre) is more of a pain: you’ll need to empty it twice as often. Specs had to be shaved because the…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • UK faces energy generation crisis from 2028; Hinkley Point C delayed again

    In 2020, nuclear power accounted for 16 per cent of UK electricity generation, but the timetable for the closure of the EDF-owned facilities by 2028 will result in a significant reduction in the UK’s generating capacity. While the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (DBEIS) has acknowledged there will be a gap in generating capacity, it said it was “not concerned with there being a shortage owing to its confidence that electricity capacity could be bought from other sources ahead of time.” Nevertheless, the PAC recommends that DBEIS and EDF should “double-check whether it would be technically feasible, safe and cost-effective to extend the lives of any of the remaining operating stations”. The Committee, which is formed from a cross-party group of MPs, also said that…

  • US pledges £2.9bn to advance carbon removal initiatives

    Carbon removal initiatives are intended to reverse the effects of climate change. The nascent technology's capability to remove carbon dioxide has been hailed by the Biden administration as being vital to ensure that the country meets the goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. In pursuit of this commitment, the US Energy Department has launched a $3.5bn (£2.9bn) programme to fund four large-scale carbon removal projects.  The pledge is part of the 202 1 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and it will oversee the creation of four regional direct air capture hubs to spur the widespread deployment of the technology and carbon dioxide transport and storage infrastructure. “The UN's latest climate report made clear that removing legacy carbon pollution from the air through direct air capture…

  • Agricultural sector at risk of cyber attacks, study warns

    Since the industrial revolution, technological development has been linked to an improvement of agricultural techniques, resulting in an increase in the global food supply. Now, the idea of farms being run by robots and smart machinery is closer than ever. However, that progress could be hampered by the actions of hackers. A new risk analysis done by the University of Cambridge, published in Nature Machine Intelligence , warns that the future use of artificial intelligence in agriculture comes with substantial potential risks for farms, farmers and food security that are at present poorly understood and underappreciated. “The idea of intelligent machines running farms is not science fiction,” said Dr Asaf Tzachor, a researcher behind the study, “but so far no one seems to have asked the…

  • Maverick v machine: are AI drones ready to replace real-life pilots?

    Is there still a place in the skies for Maverick? That was the call sign for Lt Pete Mitchell, played by Tom Cruise in the ‘Top Gun’ movie, released over 35 years ago way back in 1986 – and now returning in the long-time-coming sequel out this month. In ‘Top Gun: Maverick’, Lt Mitchell has grown up and is now a test pilot avoiding the desk jobs that would ground him. But when he finds himself training new Top Gun graduates for a special assignment, he himself could end up on a mission that will demand the ‘ultimate sacrifice’, according to the pre-release publicity. And he’s again flying alongside Iceman, played by Val Kilmer. Sounds exciting, huh?       While this kind of danger makes for an exciting movie, it’s better avoided in real life. The military would prefer their expensive plane…

  • Carving out a new plastics economy

    The world’s plastic waste problem has reached a crescendo. The estimates are stark: over the next 20 years production is expected to double, creating the risk that, if nothing is done, the roughly 14 million tonnes leaking into the ocean each year will grow twofold. These stark statistics were surely at the forefront of the minds of the 173 country reps as they came together to pledge to develop a historic and legally binding global treaty addressing the full lifecycle of plastics. The resolution, agreed at the UN environment assembly in Nairobi, Kenya, in February, will see a plan hashed out over two years to end plastic pollution, including provisions for financial and technical support. “It’s impossible to overstate the importance of this treaty,” says Yoni Shiran, partner at SYSTEMIQ…

  • Transport for London proposes expanding ULEZ to entire city

    The zone was first introduced in April 2019 and charges non-compliant vehicles – mostly diesel cars that are more than six years old and petrol cars that are more than 15 years old – £12.50 for each day they are in the zone. TfL said that more than four in five vehicles in outer London, which would be affected by the expanded zone, already meet ULEZ standards. The newly proposed boundary would cover almost all (96 per cent) of Greater London and is designed to make sure there are opportunities for vehicles to turn around should they not wish to enter the Zone. Six months after the rules were originally introduced, roadside nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollution was shown to have fallen by 36 per cent when compared to February 2017. The ULEZ was already expanded significantly in October last…

  • Back Story: Kate Todd-Davis, ‘Digital solutions will be pivotal in progressing manufacturing’

    Shini Somara: What do you do? Kate Todd-Davis: I’m a manufacturing engineering degree apprentice, creating and updating processes for the manufacture of critical aerospace components. SS: What are the benefits of doing an apprenticeship? KT-D: Engineering as a profession has always been the right fit for me. Despite being a good student in school, I always had in the back of my mind that work experience was more important for my future career than anything else. Attending a Russell Group university was my Plan B. Before completing my A Levels, I did some work experience at a nuclear power station in Hartlepool. This two-month experience was organised through a mentoring scheme and confirmed to me that there was no point in going back to the intensely academic environment of university for…

  • Canada to ban Huawei and ZTE from 5G network

    Canada is following in the footsteps of the so-called Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network, as the country decides to exclude Huawei and ZTE from its 5G networks, claiming national security risks. The decision has been delayed for almost four years amid diplomatic tensions with China. The rest of the Five Eyes network – the USA, UK, Australia and New Zealand – has already banned the equipment, claiming links between the company and the Chinese state. Countries including  Germany and Spain have also begun to take similar steps. Huawei has always maintained it is an independent company and rejected these allegations.  "We intend to exclude Huawei and ZTE from our 5G networks," said Canada's Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne. "Providers who already have this equipment installed…

  • How structural engineers are playing their part in tackling the climate emergency

    The construction industry faces its own unique challenges when it comes to decarbonising. The nature of its work, and the materials that are at the core of its operations, means it needs to work harder than other industries to keep up with the green transition. According to Built Environment Declares - a global petition that serves as a public commitment to take positive action in response to climate breakdown and biodiversity collapse - the sector desperately needs a paradigm shift. It states: “If we’re to reduce and eventually reverse the environmental damage we’re causing, we will need to re-imagine our buildings, cities and infrastructures as indivisible components of a larger, constantly regenerating and self-sustaining system”. Structural engineers at COWI became signatories to the…

  • Hands-on review: Tronsmart Bang Party Bluetooth speaker

    The Bluetooth speaker market is, much like the Bluetooth headphone and earbuds market, a very overcrowded space. There are myriad options to choose from, from the well-established, mega-budget, big-brand names (JBL, Sony, Beoplay in the speaker space, for example) to a roiling sea of hundreds, if not thousands, of cheaply cheerful wannabe, me-too new Chinese brands. Tronsmart, for our money, has been quietly establishing a niche for itself somewhere between the two. Still far from being a household name, at least by doubling down on the twin pillars of quality products at a reasonable price, their hardware rarely disappoints. We previously tested, and also enjoyed (true to this day), Tronsmart's Studio 30W , a sleek and inconspicuous black belter of a portable speaker, ideal for home…

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