• 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…

    E+T Magazine
    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…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • View from India: Biotechnology’s potential unleashed by pandemic demand

    Prior to the pandemic, innovation in biotechnology was somewhat limited. The pandemic has extended the frontiers of innovation in relatively new areas such as gene therapy and vaccine therapy. The vaccine industry has been scaled up to cater to the Indian population. “Now the time has come to build on the vaccine production. The vaccine industry may have to prepare for forthcoming requirements like reuse-ables. It’s time to look at the entire chain including the various components, re-agents and enzymes that go into the making of diagnostics,” said Dr Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, executive chairperson and founder, Biocon, speaking at the CII Life Sciences Conclave 2021. Such aspects probably need to be indigenised in order to maintain the flow of the supply chain. Pre-pandemic, the thrust was towards…

  • How Covid-19 has sown the seeds of change for a post-pandemic world

    The Covid-19 pandemic rooted itself as a tripartite of economic, societal and - fundamentally - human challenges. Its lasting effects are still unknown, but amongst all the grief and despair beams of optimism have emerged. Governments have played their part, stepping up to protect economies and businesses, with digital innovation supporting businesses and keeping vital services running. Most notably, people have looked after each other - and the planet - in many different ways. The past 18 months have been challenging, but there’s cause for optimism as we continue to navigate the post-Covid world. There are three positive trends that I believe are already taking shape. Working from home will be a catalyst for community spirit and technological innovation It’s no secret that Covid-19 rapidly…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • AR spiders cut the creeps for arachnophobes

    Arachnophobia is among the most common phobias and can have upsetting consequences, from panic attacks to arachnophobes avoiding everyday occasions due to fear of encountering a spider. A well-established treatment for arachnophobia and similar phobias is exposure therapy, in which patients are guided by a therapist through more and more stimulating or realistic exposures to their fear. For instance, the patient may begin by looking at a cartoon spider and progress to handling a tarantula. Arachnophobes can be reluctant to partake in exposure therapy, however, due to fear of exposing themselves to real spiders towards the end of treatment. Hoping to reassure arachnophobes, the Basel team developed an AR app, Phobys, based on established principles of exposure therapy: “It’s easier for people…

  • F-18 fighter planes made quieter with new nozzle design

    The nozzles, which have been shown to work on 1/28 th -scale jet engines, feature triangular fins like rows of shark teeth which significantly reduced jet engine noise in lab tests. “They’re simple attachments that change the behaviour of the flow coming out of the engine with minimal effect on its performance,” said professor Ephraim Gutmark, a researcher on the project. UC’s lab tests showed the new nozzle could reduce engine noise by five to eight decibels, a significant decrease considering decibels are measured logarithmically. “Typically, engine companies are happy even getting a half-decibel improvement,” Gutmark said. Hearing loss and tinnitus are the leading causes of military disability claims in the US, affecting more than 2.6 million former service members, according to…

  • Shell sets sights on two million tonnes of SAF by 2025

    Aviation, which accounts for 3 per cent of CO 2 emissions, is considered a hard-to-abate sector due to a lack of technologically mature alternatives to jet-fuelled engines. With electric and hydrogen aircraft still relatively limited, short- and medium-term decarbonisation efforts are focused on efficiency measures and lowering the carbon emissions of jet fuel by mixing conventional fuel with SAF. A 50:50 mix can generally be used without changing aircraft engines. Shell plans to produce SAF at scale by 2025, in order to give airlines an opportunity to reduce their CO 2 emissions this decade. It hopes to boost global output of SAF tenfold to reach two million tonnes by 2025. Shell does not yet supply its own SAF, sourcing it from others such as Finland-based refiner Neste. Shell said…

  • Remotely controlled robot used to assess patients living with Alzheimer’s

    The new project from Heriot-Watt University is designed to reduce the cost of diagnosis as well as allow for more regular monitoring and health assessments. It is thought it could be particularly useful for those living with conditions like Alzheimer’s disease and other cognitive impairments. The technology has been developed at the University’s National Robotarium, a research facility that has been supported by £21m from the UK government. Dr Mauro Dragone from the National Robotarium: “With gaps between assessments lengthening, the care and support that is being prescribed to assist vulnerable people may become unsuitable as an individual’s physical and cognitive abilities change over time. “Our prototype makes use of machine learning and artificial-intelligence techniques to monitor…

  • Sponsored: Step outside with the ABS601 reliable power supply series

    The rise in outdoor signage is just one example of the increased use of outdoor power supplies. Today, digital signage is used in transport hubs, bus, train and tram stops for passenger information; information points in the same transport hubs; in municipal areas or areas of interest to provide information; and there are increasing levels of interactive digital advertising displays in the high street and on main traffic routes. Another driver is the use of 5G services which brings faster, richer mobile networks with low latency, higher capacity and faster upload and download speeds to deliver connectivity for smart cities and smart buildings as well as telecommunications, security, satellite and radio services. These applications rely on reliable power supplies which are able to withstand…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Royal Mail trials ‘micro’ EVs for letters and small parcels

    The vehicles are approximately the size of a quad bike or golf buggy and have been specially designed for routine deliveries of letters and small parcels. Despite their size, the vehicles can easily accommodate an average daily round’s worth of letters and smaller packages. The EVs are charged using a standard three-pin plug. Micro in size, big on delivery! Delivering small parcels, letters, and zero CO2 emissions, twelve fully electric ‘micro’ vehicles join our fleet on a six-month trial as we continue to further reduce our emissions and deliver a cleaner future. pic.twitter.com/QTHzIuo8zy — Royal Mail (@RoyalMail) September 20, 2021 They will be trialled in residential areas as a potential low-carbon alternative to larger vans. The EVs will be seen operating in Edinburgh, Crewe…

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