• Personal chips get under your skin

    In most respects it’s an everyday picture. A waiter stands by a young couple in a coffee bar with a handheld terminal, ready to take a routine digital payment. The man raises his wrist to the machine. But he’s not wearing a smartwatch or offering a contactless card. He’s completing the transaction using a microchip that sits permanently beneath the skin on his hand. “I believe that one day implants will be as popular as payment cards,” says Wojciech Paprota, founder of London-based tech start-up Walletmor, who claims to have created the world’s first microchip implant for contactless payments. For the man buying the coffee, the benefits of such technology are seemingly limitless. “Unlike a standard payment card,” says Paprota, “it cannot end up in the wrong hands. It will not fall out of…

  • Aircraft noise pollution could be dampened with design based on owl wings

    'Trailing-edge noise' is the dominant source of sound from aeronautical and turbine engines like those in aeroplanes, drones, and wind turbines. Researchers from Xi’an Jiaotong University in China used the characteristics of owl wings to inform aerofoil designs that help to significantly reduce the trailing-edge noise. “Nocturnal owls produce about 18 decibels less noise than other birds at similar flight speeds due to their unique wing configuration,” said study author Xiaomin Liu. “Moreover, when the owl catches prey, the shape of the wings is also constantly changing, so the study of the wing edge configuration during owl flight is of great significance.” Trailing-edge noise is generated when airflow passes along the back of an aerofoil. The flow forms a turbulent layer of air along…

  • Gallery: the £80,000 electric Mini

    Simon Benton, from Suffolk, has spent tens of thousands of pounds to renovate his late mother’s classic Austin 850, adding a twist by fitting an electric 300hp Tesla engine to return it to pristine condition. Image credit: , The car – nicknamed ‘Obi’ by the family – failed an MOT test in the 1990s and was put away at the back of the garage, until Benton found it years later. Image credit: , Experts at Bridge Classic Cars, near Woodbridge in Suffolk, worked on the vehicle, before it went to Wales for its electric conversion. ...

  • Number of UK households in fuel poverty expected to triple in April

    Gas prices surged in September due to a number of factors including high global demand, a cold winter last year and tighter gas supplies from Russia. The new report finds that the number of families who are expected to have to spend at least 10 per cent of their family budgets on energy bills will treble overnight to 6.3 million households when the new cap is introduced on 1 April. The proportion of English households defined as living in ‘fuel stress’ is currently 9 per cent but this could leap to 27 per cent when the price cap rises by more than 50 per cent this April to around £2,000 per year. The energy regulator, Ofgem, will announce the new price cap level on 7 February. The think tank estimates that the government will need to spend more than £7bn in 2022 to offset the effect of…

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    E+T Magazine

  • View from Brussels: Satellite cherry-pickers

    Brexit meant an end to the UK’s involvement in several of the EU’s flagship programmes, including the world-leading Galileo network and the Erasmus+ student exchange scheme, while its participation in the Horizon Europe research programme is still in doubt. The UK’s initial deal with the EU included membership of schemes like Horizon and the Earth-observing Copernicus network, but an impasse over implementing the terms of the Northern Ireland Protocol means there is now a major delay. During those seemingly never-ending Brexit negotiations that followed the 2016 Brexit vote and which lasted almost all the way up to the 2020 deadline, membership of many of those programmes was on the table, should the UK have agreed to certain criteria. Full participation in Galileo, however, was never…

  • Scotland announces 17 offshore wind projects with 25GW generating capacity

    Out of a total 74 applications, Crown Estate Scotland chose the best 17, which have been offered the option of developing wind facilities on specific areas of the seabed. First minister Nicola Sturgeon said she welcomed the “truly historic” opportunity for Scotland’s net zero economy, which is expected to secure at least £1bn in supply chain investment for every 1GW of capacity proposed. They will also generate around £700m in revenue for the Scottish Government and represent the world’s first commercial- scale opportunity for floating offshore wind. The area of seabed covered by the 17 projects is just over 7,000km 2 , with the largest project from Scottish Power Renewables generating 3,000MW followed closely by BP’s Alternative Energy Investments, which will generate just under that…

  • Power dressing: exoskeletons on the job

    More than 50 years ago, General Electric engineer and robotics pioneer Ralph Mosher presented a ground-breaking technical paper at the 1967 Automotive Engineering Congress in Detroit, USA, outlining his vision for the use and development of exoskeletons. “Man and machine can be combined into an intimate, symbiotic unit that will perform essentially as one wedded system,” he wrote. “The adaptive, reflex control of man can be transmitted directly to a mechanism so that the mechanism responds as though it were a natural extension of the man. ...Moreover, environments that are normally hostile to a human do not affect the machine.” Back then, this was a lofty vision, but one that Mosher worked hard at realising. “Mosher was one of the earliest pioneers of exoskeletons, working alongside the…

  • Trains given ability to detect leaves on the line and other ‘hazards’

    Low adhesion is caused by the contamination of railways lines by biological, chemical and physical factors, some of which cannot be easily monitored or controlled. The estimated overall cost of low adhesion to the UK railway industry is estimated at £350m each year, according to the Rail Safety and Standards Board. A minimum level of adhesion is essential for reliable braking and traction performance, especially for maintaining safety and limiting delays. Changes in adhesion can be very localised, unpredictable and transient. Poor adhesion experienced by one train may not affect following trains at the same location. The newly developed system will detect low adhesion hot spots in real-time and create an up-to-date map of the UK’s network which shows where any hazards might be. The hope…

  • Is hyperautomation worth the hype?

    Over the course of the last few years, automation has played an increasing role in business. Overall spending on the technology has already quadrupled since 2018, according to KPMG, and is expected to reach $232bn by 2025, compared to an estimated $41.3bn today. It’s easy to see why. KPMG says organisations that can power up their automation efforts can radically improve operations, transform their business models, and become long-term winners. In fact, an overwhelming majority (92 per cent) of business leaders agree that process automation is key for them to survive and flourish – and say it is vital for a modern workplace. “Traditional automation technologies have helped industrial companies achieve huge progress in becoming safer and more efficient,” says Dan Farrell, who heads Accenture…

  • FAA clears 45 per cent of commercial plane fleet after 5G deployment

    Last week, the FAA disclosed a list of 50 US airports that will have buffer zones when wireless carriers turn on the new 5G services on January 19 2022, having previously warned that potential interference could affect sensitive aircraft instruments such as altimeters - which provide pilots with an accurate reading of the plane's proximity to the ground, helping to minimise the risk of accidents or collisions - and thus having significant impact on flights in low-visibility atmospheric conditions. The FAA has now approved two radio altimeter models used in many Boeing and Airbus planes, including some Boeing 737, 747, 757, 767, MD-10/-11 and Airbus A310, A319, A320, A321, A330 and A350 models. However, the Boeing 787 has not yet received FAA approval. The agency said it expects to issue more…

  • Discovering the dawn of 3D photography

    The problem with stereoscopic photography is that it’s just not taken seriously enough. This is the view of two of the world’s leading experts on the subject who, sensing an injustice on an immeasurable scale, have teamed up to produce the first exhaustive history of the early decades of the phenomenon. The combined work of French photo-historian Denis Pellerin and Brian May, proprietor of the London Stereoscopic Company fine art publishing house, ‘Stereoscopy: The Dawn of 3-D’ is gloriously unconventional – almost as much as the characters that forged stereoscopic technology in the furnaces of the Industrial Revolution. Unconventional because not many books these days come with an accompanying optical instrument. There’s a good reason to have one here because, no matter how compelling the…

  • The bigger picture: Wall-climbing robot

    The device, which is now on the market, is designed to help reduce the need for working at height, which is a common cause of workplace accidents. HausBots’ agenda is to use technology to protect and maintain the built environment. The innovative robot can climb vertical surfaces and be used for tasks such as building and infrastructure inspection, cleaning, and maintenance. Image credit: , The robot has had extensive electro-magnetic compatibility testing to make sure its fans, which essentially attach it to the surface and prevent it from falling, are functioning correctly. Dr David Norman, from the WMG SME group at the University of Warwick, says WMG’s facilities and expertise helped HausBots develop a market-ready product that has already executed many jobs…

  • North Korean hackers ramped up crypto attacks in 2021

    A report from Chainanalysis found the attacks targeted primarily investment firms and centralised exchanges, and made use of phishing lures, code exploits, malware, and advanced social engineering to siphon funds. Once North Korea gained custody of the funds, the hackers began a careful laundering process to cover up and cash out. Last year, experts at the United Nations said that North Korea was using the crypto funds to help finance its domestic nuclear weapons programme . In 2019, the renegade state was found to have launched 35 cyber attacks on 17 countries with that express purpose. It was also blamed for the WannaCry virus which took down NHS computer systems in 2017. Chainanalysis said the complex tactics employed by the North Korean hackers have led many security researchers to…

  • Hands-on gadget review: Coros Vertix 2

    This outdoorsy watch talks to all five major satellite systems (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS and Beidou) at the same time with dual frequencies. This makes for the most precise positioning data and best signal, whether you’re scaling a rock wall, travelling deep in a forest or just running in the ‘concrete canyon’ of a city centre. Unboxing is impressive, with a rugged waterproof case… that you might never use again if the watch stays on your wrist at all times. The watch is chunky. Its 280x280 pixel sapphire glass screen is large and it’s deep (15.7mm). The watch is heavy – and yet, once you put it on, it’s OK. The design is impressively wearable – you don’t notice the weight when it’s on. Charge the watch for the first time and a QR code appears on the screen for easy setup. You first…

  • Balancing the benefits of automation

    From building luxury cars to making cricket balls, from running postal services to producing factory equipment, automation is the order of the day – but the solution has to be tailored to the business. Automation and the human touch: Lexus Volume car makers are highly automated, but even luxury marques whose value depends on manual build and hand-crafted interiors rely on automated processes for their vehicles’ development, manufacture, and drive controls. The distinguishing features and customised finish that make a car individual, however, are still rendered by the hands of super-experienced craftspeople with skills unmatched by machines. Lexus runs some of the most advanced vehicle manufacturing in the automotive sector, but in many areas of its design and finishing the human touch prevails…

  • Union calls on government to detail impact of £2bn cut to train and rail funding

    Writing to transport secretary Grant Shapps, the head of the Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA), Manuel Cortes, asked whether the Department for Transport (DfT) was still planning on cutting £2bn from railways as announced last year. He also wanted answers about what level of service passengers can expect from this April and wanted a commitment that any cost cutting measures would not lead to compulsory job losses. The DfT already announced in December that ticket prices will rise by 3.8 per cent from 1 March 2022, the largest hike in nearly a decade. The unusually large increase reflects the UK’s Retail Prices Index from last July but is still lower than the 7.1 per cent inflation rate at the time of the announcement. The UK’s railways have come under significant financial…

  • Crown Estate to begin electric truck trials for Regent Street retailers

    The Crown Estate hopes that the effort will help to decarbonise logistics for Regent Street retailers. It is partnering with Volta Trucks, which is planning to start producing 16-tonne, full-electric trucks later this year. The purpose-built Volta Zero has been designed “to be as safe as possible”, the Crown Estate said, with a glasshouse-style cab that maximises driver visibility. Its large 8.6-tonne payload also removes several smaller 3.5-tonne vans from the streets, which helps reduce traffic congestion. The use of electric vans could also help to cut costs in the long term as they are cheaper to fuel and maintain and are also exempt from paying both the Congestion Charge and London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ). In October, the ULEZ was expanded to cover an area 18 times larger…

  • ‘Significant improvements’ to be made to proposed online safety laws, MPs told

    The Draft Online Safety Bill was finally published in May 2021 , proposing significant fines for companies which fail to deal with online abuse. Under the legislation, senior executives could also face criminal prosecution and some websites could be blocked. In December, the Joint Committee responsible for reviewing the Draft Bill concluded that serious changes were needed to “call time on the Wild West online”. Notably, the peers and MPs wrote in their report on the draft bill that it must be clearer about what content is illegal online. Speaking in the House of Commons yesterday evening (13 January), culture minister Chris Philp told MPs that there are a “number of areas” where the Online Safety Bill can be “improved substantially”, with a revised piece of legislation expected in the…

  • View from India: Economy to plug into data-driven future

    The pandemic has heralded a new digital era. Companies that were not so digitally savvy and preferred manual operations, have been shaken out of their comfort zone; with little or no choice they have undergone a makeover and 'online' has become the catchword for many of their processes. Then, those companies that are already digitally on-track, have taken their digital outlook to a new level. In the midst of all this, there’s more and more of these digital applications in almost every segment of the organisation, thereby making them data rich. A data-rich environment may lead to new beginnings; in-house teams could develop a data strategy and make sense of the data. This is an exercise in itself, and chat-bots, voice assistants and robots are likely to spring up from it. The data could probably…

  • Gadgets: Coros Vertix 2, Ketoscan Lite, Julbo Evad-1 and more

    Coros Vertix 2 A watch that talks to all five major satellite systems (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS and Beidou) at the same time with dual frequencies. Get the most precise positioning data whether you’re scaling a rock wall, travelling deep in a forest or just running in the ‘concrete canyon’ of a city centre. £599.99 coros.com Read Caramel’s hands-on review https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2022/01/hands-on-gadget-review-coros-vertix-2/. Beurer MG 180 Professional athletes use massage guns to aid recovery, fighting DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness), the achy day-after-exercise feeling. This rechargeable gun’s six attachments work at four intensity levels, up to 3,200 impulses per minute. Run time is three hours. £199.99 beurer...

  • Next-gen lithium-ion batteries could use rubber for enhanced performance

    The research team found that when formulated into a 3D structure, elastomers (synthetic rubbers) acted as a “superhighway” for fast lithium-ion transport with superior mechanical toughness over traditional materials, resulting in longer-charging batteries with extended performance longevity.  In conventional lithium-ion batteries, ions are moved by a liquid electrolyte. However, the battery is inherently unstable: even the slightest damage can cause a leak into the electrolyte, leading to explosion or fire. The safety issues have forced the industry to look at solid-state batteries, which can be made using inorganic ceramic material or organic polymers. “Most of the industry is focusing on building inorganic solid-state electrolytes, but they are hard to make, expensive and are not environmentally…

  • Record levels of child abuse online recorded in 2021

    The organisation, which finds and helps remove abuse content from the internet, has called for more support for parents and guardians to help spot the danger signs. It investigated 361,000 reports of suspected criminal material in 2021. This is more than it dealt with in its entire first 15 years of existence between 1996 and 2011. According to the research, lockdowns impacted the figures, with more people – particularly schoolchildren – spending more time online and as a result may have been more vulnerable to cyber criminals. In its research, the online safety group said it had seen a “three-fold” increase in self-generated imagery showing seven to 10-year-olds as they were increasingly targeted and groomed by internet predators “on an industrial scale”. The IWF report also stated…

  • Britain’s gas grid preparing to accept 20 per cent hydrogen mix by 2023

    The Energy Networks Association (ENA) has published a plan which sets out how all five of Britain’s gas grid companies will meet the government’s target. It will also mean that domestic gas-fired power plants will be able to use blended hydrogen to generate cleaner electricity. The companies are also calling for the government to double its domestic 2030 hydrogen production target from 5GW to 10GW, to ensure that as much hydrogen as possible is produced from sources here in the UK. This could also help to avoid future spikes in gas prices the likes of which have caused a multitude of energy firms to collapse over the last few months. The ENA said that blending 20 per cent hydrogen into the gas grid will reduce carbon emissions by the equivalent of 2.5 million cars a year without any changes…

  • UK rivers being polluted by ‘cocktail’ of sewage, putting public health at risk

    In a new report, the Environmental Audit Committee said only 14 per cent of English rivers meet good ecological status because of chronic under-investment. It also uncovered “multiple failures in the monitoring, governance and enforcement on water quality”, with committee chairman Philip Dunne stressing that the government, regulators, and the water industry have allowed a “Victorian sewerage system to buckle under increasing pressure”. High levels of toxins such as phosphorus and nitrogen, from sewage and animal waste, are “choking rivers” and “suffocating fish and plants”. Members of the committee, including Dunne, have now called for more enforcement against polluters and a public awareness campaign. “Monitoring regimes need to be reviewed, enforcement needs to be ramped up and public…

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