• AR system shows nuclear reactor damage in real time

    The system uses microscopy data to detect and quantify radiation-induced problems such as defects and swelling. The researchers hope the system could speed up the development of components for advanced nuclear reactors, which may play a critical role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. “We believe we are the first research team to ever demonstrate real-time image-based detection and quantification of radiation damage on the nanometre length scale in the world,” said Professor Kevin Field, a Michigan nuclear engineer and VP of machine vision start-up Theia Scientific. The new technology was tested at the Michigan Ion Beam Laboratory. By directing beams of ions at material samples, the lab can quickly emulate the damage sustained after years or decades of use in a nuclear reactor. The team…

  • Solid-state battery promises high energy density

    The team said that initial tests have demonstrated that the battery is safe and long lasting and believe it holds promise for applications such as grid storage or electric vehicles. Silicon anodes typically have an energy density around 10 times greater than the graphite anodes most often used in lithium ion batteries. But the anodes also expand and contract as the battery charges and discharges and degrade quickly with liquid electrolytes. Until now, these factors have kept all-silicon anodes out of commercial lithium ion batteries despite their tantalising energy density. “With this battery configuration, we are opening a new territory for solid-state batteries using alloy anodes such as silicon,” said Darren HS Tan, the lead author on the paper. Next-generation solid-state batteries…

  • Engineers make Martian fuel using CO2 reactor

    Professor Jingjie Wu and his students used a carbon catalyst in a reactor to convert carbon dioxide into methane. This process, the Sabatier reaction, is used on the International Space Station to 'scrub' CO2 from the air its inhabitants breathe and generate rocket fuel to keep the station in stable orbit. Wu, who began by studying fuel cells for electric vehicles, started looking at CO2 conversion in his lab 10 years ago. “I realised that greenhouse gases were going to be a big issue in society,” he said. “A lot of countries realised that carbon dioxide is a big issue for the sustainable development of our society. That’s why I think we need to achieve carbon neutrality. [US decarbonisation targets] mean we’ll have to recycle carbon dioxide.” Wu and his students experimented with catalysts…

  • View from Brussels: Horizon Europe’s expansion begins

    Horizon Europe’s €95bn six-year run of funding research, innovation and development kicked off in 2021 and will last until 2027. Fully open to researchers within the EU, the programme also accepts applications from third-party countries. On Friday, the European Commission announced that negotiations had wrapped up with Iceland and Norway, meaning they can be granted associated country status under the same conditions enjoyed by the EU’s 27 member states. It makes the two Nordic countries the first non-EU states to get the full Horizon Europe privileges and means that researchers can start applying for funding. Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s tech tsar, said that “by joining forces with Iceland and Norway, we will pursue a series of actions in support of the green, digital and public health…

  • Preserve the past: locating and protecting historic sites

    A shackled male skeleton discovered in June this year by house builders in a garden in Rutland suggested a gruesome history – rare evidence of slavery in Roman Britain nearly 2,500 years ago. With feet bound by iron fetters, the body seemed to have been thrown in a ditch. When builders dig, the past pops up - as the hundreds of archaeologists working on the new high-speed rail link HS2 know only too well. The archaeological sector is bolstered by money from road and rail builders obliged to investigate the history of the land they build upon. As HS2 progresses, the body count is mounting: tens of thousands of bodies famously were disinterred from a burial ground beside London’s Euston Station in 2018 to make way for construction. In 2019, a 19th-century burial ground at HS2’s rail station…

  • AI helps to detect and count puffins

    The project, which is supported by Microsoft, Avanade and nature reserve NatureScot, could transform the way animal colonies are counted when companies such as those building developments want to understand the impact on local wildlife, the operator said. The trials are taking place on the Isle of May off the coast of Scotland. In order to count puffins, traditionally rangers would lie on the ground and put their hand into burrows to feel for a pair of puffins and their egg. But very often, the birds would give these rangers a bite or a scratch. The rangers would check tens of thousands in an area. While they are not at imminent risk of extinction, puffins are on the Birds of Conservation Concern 4 Red List, meaning that there are serious concerns over numbers in the wild. One reason for…

  • View from India: Entrepreneurship and collaborations in the biotech industry

    What the pandemic has also done is to try and break the boundaries between academia and startups. “These broken silos are enablers. They can help academia-startups-industry to work together. The industry and apex bodies may well collaborate to create the necessary infrastructure for the country to move forward and position itself as a biotech destination,” said Dr Renu Swarup, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, addressing the online audience at the CII Life Sciences Conclave 2021. Biotech startups need an impetus. “India is home to 5,000 startups, so we could probably look at expanding their tribe. Wishfully, some of these startups become unicorns and make it to the global list. All this may perhaps pave the way for biotechnology to grow into a $100bn…

  • WHO tightens air pollution guidelines in bid to reduce early deaths

    The WHO said the new guidelines reflect the damage that air pollution can inflict on human health at even lower concentrations than previously thought. It recommends reducing levels of key air pollutants, some of which also contribute to climate change. The WHO last updated its air quality guidelines in 2005, but there has been a marked increase of evidence that shows how air pollution affects different aspects of health since then. After reviewing the latest evidence, it adjusted almost all of its maximum recommended airborne pollutant levels downwards, suggesting that if properly adhered to, they could save millions of lives. Every year, exposure to air pollution is estimated to cause seven million premature deaths and results in the loss of millions more healthy years of life. In children…

  • Climate change tipping points revealed using AI insights

    Some tipping points that are often associated with runaway climate change include melting Arctic permafrost, which could release mass amounts of methane and spur further rapid heating; breakdown of oceanic current systems, which could lead to almost immediate changes in weather patterns; or ice sheet disintegration, which could lead to rapid sea-level change. The innovative approach with the AI, according to the research team from the University of Waterloo, Canada, is that it was programmed to learn about not just one type of tipping point but the characteristics of tipping points generally. The researchers are looking at thresholds beyond which rapid or irreversible change happens in a system. Chris Bauch, a professor of applied mathematics at the University of Waterloo and co-author…

  • AI-generated drug regime for deadly childhood cancer in trials

    Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) is a rare, aggressive type of brain tumour which affects children. It occurs in a part of the brainstem which controls many of the body’s most critical functions. DIPG is difficult to treat with surgery because the cancer is diffuse; there is no well-defined border suitable for operation. A quarter of children with DIPG have a mutation in a gene known as ACVR1; there are no approved treatments to target this mutation. Scientists at the Institute of Cancer Research and the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust have used AI to identify a potential treatment for the cancer. They found that combining the drug everolimus with another called vandetanib could enhance the latter’s capacity to pass through the blood-brain barrier in order to treat the cancer…

  • Drax could delay closure of coal-fired generators as energy crisis looms

    Last year, Drax announced plans to drop its remaining coal-fired generators in 2021 after 50 years in operation as part of efforts to lower its carbon emissions. It originally planned to replace them with gas-fired generators but ultimately dropped that plan, too, following backlash from environmental campaigners. It then delayed the closures to September 2022, with plans to convert the generators to biomass instead. Speaking to the FT , the company’s chief executive Will Gardiner said that the ongoing energy crisis places the UK in a tough position going into the winter, but that his firm’s coal plant could help to fill some of the gap before it finally closes. Gas prices have recently reached record highs due to a number of factors including rising global demand as economies start opening…

  • Sperm-inspired swimming robots ride ultrasonic waves through body

    Professor Mingming Wu and her lab have, for more than a decade, investigated how microorganisms – from bacteria to cancer cells – migrate and communicate with their environment. The researchers aim to create a remotely controlled microrobot that can navigate in the human body. Initially, they tried designing a 3D-printed microrobot that mimicked how bacteria use their hair-like flagellum to propel themselves; these early robots were cumbersome and the effort collapsed. Wu and her colleagues took an alternative, less literal approach to microrobot design. The primary hurdle was how to power the device to swim through the human body. “Bacteria and sperm basically consume organic material in the surrounding fluid and that is sufficient to power them,” Wu explained. “But for engineered robots…

  • Nasa splits human spaceflight department in two ahead of Moon mission

    Nasa Administrator Bill Nelson said the changes were being made because of increasing space operations in low-Earth orbit and development programs that are well underway for deep space exploration, including Artemis missions . “Nasa has long set the vision for space exploration, not only for our nation, but also for the world,” he said. “This reorganisation positions Nasa and the United States for success as we venture farther out into the cosmos than ever before, all while supporting the continued commercialisation of space and research on the ISS. This also will allow the United States to maintain its leadership in space for decades to come.” The new Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate (ESDMD) directorate will manage programs critical to the Artemis mission as well as…

  • Flying microchips the size of a sand grain used to monitor air quality

    Developed by engineers at Northwestern University, the chips do not have a motor or engine and instead catch flight on the wind. In a similar way to maple tree seeds, the chips use the wind to spin like a helicopter through the air toward the ground. By studying maple trees and other types of wind-dispersed seeds, the engineers optimised the microflier’s aerodynamics to ensure that it falls at a slow velocity in a controlled manner when dropped at high velocity. This behaviour stabilises its flight to ensure dispersal over a broad area and increasing the amount of time it interacts with the air, making it ideal for monitoring air pollution and airborne disease. A 3D microflier sits next to a common ant to show scale The engineers believe they are the smallest…

  • China commits to ending foreign coal projects

    As the world’s largest carbon emitter, China has been under considerable diplomatic pressure to end its sustained expansion of coal projects . In the first half of 2021, the country committed to a series of carbon-intensive steel and coal project s – 18 new blast furnaces and 43 new coal plant units – which could collectively emit carbon emissions equivalent to the total emissions of the Netherlands. Now, Xi has promised an end to foreign coal-fired projects, following similar moves by South Korea and Japan earlier this year. China has been under pressure by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and US climate envoy John Kerry to follow with its own commitment. The three countries collectively account for more than 95 per cent of all foreign financing for coal-fired plants. As an end to…

  • Fresh water divined in Easter Island seas using drones

    Although surrounded by the vast Pacific ocean, fresh water is a scarce commodity on Rapa Nui, as the island is known to its inhabitants. No rivers or streams cross its surface and there are only three small crater lakes, which regularly dry up during periodic droughts. However, as first reported by European explorers in the late 1700s, the people of Easter Island appeared to drink directly from the sea. Today, animals - most famously horses - can be observed doing the same thing. Due to a quirk of geology, rainwater immediately sinks down through the porous bedrock, where it feeds an underground aquifer. That freshwater emerges at spots on the coastline known as coastal seeps. Robert DiNapoli, a postdoctoral research associate in environmental studies and anthropology at Binghamton University…

  • UK risks biodiversity loss without urgent action, report warns

    The joint report was signed by the five UK statutory nature agencies: Natural England (NE); Natural Resources Wales (NRW); NatureScot; Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA), and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC). The report states that more efforts to maintain biodiversity would deliver “huge benefits” to human health, well-being and the UK economy, but will require significant societal changes. It suggests nine priority actions that should to be taken by 2030 to help reverse the biodiversity decline trend. These include better conservation of wildlife habitats outside protected areas; investing in habitat restoration; tackling pollution; developing the market for green finance, and deploying nature-based solutions to help mitigate climate change. The report suggests…

  • Ofgem threatens to scrap licence for five energy suppliers

    Suppliers are obliged to fund the Feed In Tariff (FIT) scheme, which is administered by Ofgem, but Colorado Energy, Igloo Energy Supply, Neon Reef, Whoop Energy and Symbio Energy have so far failed to do so for this year. They owe a collective £765,000 to the scheme, with Igloo alone responsible for nearly half of the total. The FIT scheme was first introduced in 2010 as a way to encourage property managers and organisations to generate their own renewable electricity using technology such as solar panels or wind turbines, and feeds any surplus back to the grid. The Government has estimated that FITs support small-scale low-carbon generation that would cost £8.6bn up to 2030 and produce monetised carbon savings worth £0.42bn. The scheme was closed to new entrants in 2019, but those…

  • UK Export Finance signs up to net-zero 2050 target

    The pledge to reach carbon neutrality is the centrepiece of its 2021-24 climate change strategy, launched today (22 September) just weeks ahead of the UK’s presidency at Cop26, to be held in Glasgow. It coincides with a speech made by the Prime Minister Boris Johnson to the UN General Assembly, putting forward the case that climate mitigation and economic growth are not mutually exclusive but vital for each other’s success. UKEF has a capacity of £50bn to support UK exports through loans, insurance and guarantees; last year, it issued £12.3bn to businesses in financial support. In line with its new target, its capacity must reach carbon neutrality by 2050. Its climate change strategy has five elements: it aims to increase support for green exports; reduce greenhouse gas emissions from its…

  • Entirely new materials unearthed with AI tool

    The new tool has already led to the discovery of four new materials including a new family of solid state materials that conduct lithium. Such solid electrolytes will be key to the development of solid state batteries offering longer range and increased safety for electric vehicles. Further promising materials are in development. The University of Liverpool research team created a collaborative AI tool designed to reduce the time and effort required to discover truly new materials. The tool brings together artificial intelligence with human knowledge to prioritise those parts of unexplored chemical space where new functional materials are most likely to be found. Discovering new functional materials is a high-risk, complex and often long journey as there is an infinite space of possible…

  • Nasa astronauts to take cues from AR goggles

    Communications delays between International Space Station (ISS) crews and the ground are nearly unnoticeable, thanks to being routed between tracking and data relay satellites to reach the spacecraft just 250 miles above Earth’s surface. However, as Nasa prepares for a return to the Moon (240,000 miles from Earth) and eventually Mars (250 million miles), it will face ever longer communications delays. The space agency is thus considering tools to increase astronaut autonomy for operating spacecraft and systems. The T2AR project demonstrates how station crew can inspect and maintain scientific and exercise equipment on board without assistance from ground teams. Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Soichi Noguchi kicked off T2AR activities on the ISS, using the tool to perform maintenance…

  • Addison Lee pledges to go all-electric from 2023

    Addison Lee said it is investing £160m in switching its 4,000 cars to EVs. This will require rolling out an average of 200 Volkswagen ID.4s – the company having already partnered with the German automaker – every month from this coming November. The commitment marks the single largest order of EVs in the UK’s private hire industry, the company said. At present, it has 650 zero-emission taxis in its fleet, having purchased ComCab earlier this year. Today, we’re announcing that our passenger car fleet will become fully electric by 2023 with a total investment of £160 million. We begin that journey with a partnership with @Volkswagen and the roll out of their ID.4s To find out more, visit https://t.co/Ra1L6mvg4m pic.twitter.com/aURth1v75v — Addison Lee (@AddisonLeeCabs) September 21, 2021…

  • Surging gas prices force Government to quell fears over energy price cap rises

    In a joint statement, energy regulator Ofgem and Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng admitted the high gas prices are “a cause of concern” for consumers. But they added that supply wasn’t the issue, merely the high cost of gas in the current wholesale market. Gas prices have reached record highs due to a number of factors. Global demand has risen significantly as economies open up due to the ease in Covid-19 restrictions and a cold winter last year, means the gas market is facing reduced capacity. This, in combination with lower than usual gas supply from Russia and the rescheduling of maintenance projects from 2020 to this year have caused wholesale gas prices to shoot up by 250 per cent since January, according to industry group Oil & Gas UK. “This morning [Monday 20 September] we hosted…

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    E+T Magazine

  • Over half of UK households now have access to gigabit broadband

    The 2019 Conservative manifesto promised the installation of full-fibre, gigabit-capable broadband in every home and business across the UK by 2025. This pledge was later downgraded to just 85 per cent of premises in the UK, with MPs questioning whether even this target was achievable considering the current speed of the rollout. Thinkbroadband said the country reached the 50.23 per cent milestone on the morning of 17 September following the switch on of the Virgin Media O2 Gig1 option in Blaydon and Dundee. In the few days since, various other full fibre roll-outs are being tracked by the firm including those from Openreach, Swish Fibre, Netomnia, CityFibre, Hyperoptic, Community Fibre, toob, FWNetworks and others. The gigabit infrastructure boost marks a significant increase from just…

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    E+T Magazine

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