• London Underground adds two new stations as part of £1.1bn extension

    Major construction on the 3km twin-tunnel railway between Kennington and Battersea Power Station, via Nine Elms, began in 2015. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, the construction project has stayed on track for an autumn opening. There is an initial peak-time service of six trains per hour on the extension, which runs from Kennington station on the Charing Cross branch, increasing to 12 trains per hour by mid-2022. There will be five trains per hour during off-peak times, doubling to 10 trains per hour next year. TfL said it managed to deliver the Northern Line Extension £160m under budget, bringing its estimated final total cost to £1.1bn. This is a far cry from the Crossrail project, which has repeatedly exceeded its budget with recent warnings that it does not have enough funds…

  • The eccentric engineer: the ups and downs of military aerial reconnaissance

    ‘When the balloon goes up’ has become a stock phrase for the beginning of a war. This got me wondering who first decided to make use of balloons in a conflict. Ballooning had begun with the Montgolfier brothers in 1783 but their interest in floating through the air was entirely peaceful. However, it did not take long for the military to realise that this engineering marvel might have other uses. In 1792, the leaders of Revolutionary France were having difficulty getting on with their neighbouring monarchs and this animosity soon erupted into all-out war. Flash forward two years and, in June 1794, the 70,000-strong French army of the Sambre-Meuse under the command of Jean-Baptiste Jourdan had just taken the surrender of the garrison at Charleroi, much to the annoyance of Prince Frederick Josias…

  • How will artificial intelligence power the cities of tomorrow?

    Artificial intelligence is taking the stage as smart cities become not just an idea for the future, but a present reality. Advanced technologies are at the forefront of this change, driving valuable strategies and optimising the industry across all operations. These technologies are quickly becoming the solution for fulfilling smart city and clean city initiatives, as well as net-zero commitments. AI is becoming well integrated with the development of smart cities. A 2018 Gartner report https://www.gartner.com/en/documents/3870008/three-rules-when-using-ai-to-add-value-to-your-iot-smart0 forecast that AI would become a critical feature of 30 per cent of smart city applications by 2020, up from just 5 per cent a few years previously. Implementation of AI is rapidly being recognised as the…

  • The measure of: +Pool

    The +Pool project (pronounced ‘pluspool’), will see a public swimming pool feature on a floating island in the East River, New York. Layers of filtration membranes will make the water safe for swimming while simultaneously cleaning the surrounding river, according to project organisers, who say the pool will clean 600,000 US gallons (2,300m3) of river water every day. The pool will be shaped like a plus sign, where its four arms will serve different purposes: a children’s pool, a sports pool, a lap pool, and a lounge pool. It will accommodate up to 300 people at a time, with a proposed daily capacity of 1,800 visitors, its developers have said. Image credit: . Birthed in 2010, the project is a collaboration between design firm PlayLab and the co-founders of the…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Mars: the story so far

    “I don’t gloss over the controversies and don’t pretend that we know more than we do about Mars,” says Simon Morden. “But we know enough to tell a story about how Mars started and how it may well end.” In between these bookends of geological time, he says, “the most intriguing thing is that the planet we all thought we knew as a dead, cold, dry place is only like that sometimes”. By which he means that because of Mars’s orbital eccentricities, today “we could simply be looking at Mars while it is asleep. And the chances that it will wake up are genuinely high.” He says the fact that we’re not recording active volcanoes or seeing vast expanses of water on the surface is a function of the era we live in and the moment at which we’re observing it. Morden’s latest book – ‘The Red Planet:…

  • Teardown: OnePlus Watch

    OnePlus has built a reputation by matching good smartphone performance with sleek industrial design at an affordable price. But its most recent launch, the OnePlus Watch, has received mixed and even dismissive reviews since its launch. By mid-August, OnePlus itself was no longer hosting press releases or photography on its website and the wearable was described as ‘coming soon’. However, that last message may refer to a cobalt-case premium version set to launch alongside the standard stainless-steel model. Orders for the standard model are being taken by the company and vendors on Amazon’s UK site. It is all a little confusing, particularly given that marketing has historically been one of OnePlus’s strengths. So, is this a cautionary tale or have we all just got our wires crossed? Certainly…

  • Cheap, efficient electrocatalyst a ‘gamechanger’ for green hydrogen

    Hydrogen has the potential to be a zero-carbon fuel source which produces just heat and water when burned or used in fuel cells. This makes it a highly attractive alternative to fossil fuels in heating and transport. A pillar of the UK government’s decarbonisation plan is a huge expansion of hydrogen to 5GW capacity by 2030. As hydrogen is currently much more expensive to produce than the fuels it could replace, the government is considering providing subsidies to bridge the gap, controversially supporting both green and blue hydrogen (the latter of which can be more polluting than coal ). While blue hydrogen is produced from natural gas, green hydrogen is produced by splitting water via electrolysis into hydrogen and oxygen. While green hydrogen is the preferred option given its potential…

  • Home computing pioneer Sir Clive Sinclair dies, aged 81

    He later moved into computing, and in 1980 launched the UK’s first mass-market home computer for less than £100, the Sinclair ZX80. This was about one fifth the cost of other home computers at the time and sold around 50,000 units. This was later succeeded by the Sinclair Research, the ZX81 and ZX Spectrum. He was awarded a knighthood in 1983. Sinclair's company became the first in the world to sell more than a million computers, making the entrepreneur a household name. His computers were also used for early computer games which came on audio tape and later, 3” floppy disks. On Twitter, Tesla founder Elon Musk called Sinclair the father of the ZX Spectrum: “RIP, Sir Sinclair. I loved that computer,” he added. Despite his penchant for invention, Sinclair never made use of his own gadgets…

  • Back story: Jenna Tiwana, ‘We need to change the pigeonholes’

    Shini Somara: With all your studies in aerospace engineering, did you ever want to be an astronaut? Jenna Tiwana: I’ve always been curious about it, but I’m also pulled by the desire to have a family. And this is one subject that is not talked about enough – namely, especially for women, that if you do want to become an astronaut, what are the potential trade-offs you need to think about? I’ve always thought about being an astronaut, although engineering and pushing the space industry forward from Earth has always been at the forefront for me. But even now, I’m just not clear on what that means, in terms of what I can and cannot do that are important to me in my life. I’m 27 years old and I’ve thought about it for most of my life and it’s still not clear how I tackle this. SS: What has…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • UK firm wins contract for communications satellite that covers far side of the Moon

    The Lunar Pathfinder satellite is set to launch in 2024 with a particular emphasis on covering the far side of the Moon. For prospecting, exploring, and ultimately using the far side of the Moon, Lunar Pathfinder’s communications relay service will provide a vital communications bridge between Earth and the lunar surface. Exploring the far side of the Moon, particularly the South Pole Aitkin Basin, is a key area for future robotic and human exploration due to its chemical and mineral composition. The far side and polar regions of the Moon are a particular area of interest to space agencies as a potential source of resources for water, fuel and oxygen. The stable elliptical orbit of Lunar Pathfinder will allow for long duration visibility of the Southern Lunar Hemisphere each day, with…

  • Prince William unveils 15 Earthshot Prize finalists

    The Earthshot Prize is a £50m effort to fund solutions for managing environmental challenges. £1m prizes will go to green projects each year for the next decade in five categories: protecting and restoring nature, tackling air pollution, reviving oceans, reducing waste, and managing climate change. In its first year, 750 nominations were submitted and narrowed down to 15 by an expert panel. Speaking in a video message revealing the projects, William said: “Over half a century ago, President Kennedy’s Moonshot programme united millions of people around the goal of reaching the Moon. Inspired by this, the Earthshot Prize aims to mobilise collective action around our unique ability to innovate, problem solve, and repair our planet.” He commented on the need for optimism in climate action…

  • Silver-infused bacteria boost efficiency of fuel cells

    Microbial fuel cells directly convert chemical energy stored in organic matter, such as that found in wastewater, into electrical energy. They are of interest for both wastewater treatment and power generation applications. “Living energy-recovery systems utilising bacteria found in wastewater offer a one-two punch for environmental sustainability efforts,” said Professor Yu Huang, a UCLA engineer. “The natural populations of bacteria can help decontaminate groundwater by breaking down harmful chemical compounds.” “Now, our research also shows a practical way to harness renewable energy from this process.” The UCLA researchers focused on the genus of bacteria Shewanella, which have attracted considerable attention due to their energy-generation capabilities and their astonishing hardiness…

  • Air pollution levels on diesel trains worse than Central London roads, research finds

    Research funded by the DfT and conducted by the independent Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) found that on-train concentrations of nitrogen dioxide can reach up to 13 times higher than those next to major central London roads, with peaks occurring most frequently when trains are in tunnels or idling in stations. While it also concluded that the air quality remains within legal workplace limits, work is under way to understand the issue and identify short-term and long-term solutions, the DfT said. After publishing its findings, the RSSB has been commissioned to carry out a review of the regulations and standards that currently control air pollution in the rail sector. This work will include measuring air quality levels inside a further eight train classes in service across the country…

  • Electrifying the North Sea: a gamechanger for wind power production?

    Offshore wind turbines are the sails in Europe’s energy transition ambitions. The European Commission has plans for the continent to increase its current level of capacity from 12GW to at least 60GW by 2030 and to 300GW by 2050, while the UK is targeting 40GW by 2030. The resource is proven turbine technology, which, apart from the floating kind, is mature, costs are competitive, and as the UK’s recent offshore wind leasing round shows, major players are clamouring to invest. Yet, the wider picture of achieving these targets is more complex. Studies have determined that when offshore wind power assets are built at the scale planned, single, point-to-point connections from wind farms to the onshore grid using traditional high-voltage three-phase alternating current (HVAC) technology, as…

  • Optical processors light the path to warp factor computing

    Data has been sent across wide-area networks as light pulses for decades, but optical (or photonic) computing has been slow to meet the challenges of moving data in the form of light at the processor level: photons have proved profoundly trickier to traffic than electrons. And while conventional data processing continued to get faster year-after-year, there seemed scant incentive for technologists to crack the optical conundrum. Nowadays, however, it’s roundly acknowledged that compute performance gains with conventional processor architectures have arrived at an impasse. Worse, physical limits on the number of cores that can be crammed onto a conventional IC are being reached just as advanced applications in AI and quantum need more – much more – compute power for them to pay their way.…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • ‘We must redefine defence’s future,’ says Defence Secretary

    The Conservative MP spent the day at the Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) trade exhibition at ExCel London, speaking to innovative companies in the business. During his visit, he warned the UK “can’t afford to stand still in defence”, especially in an age of increasing global competition. Wallace said: “Our adversaries have studied our strengths and weaknesses. And, over the past few decades, they’ve been progressively whittling down our western edge. Today they are not only challenging us in the traditional domains. They are becoming masters of the sub-threshold. “No longer limited by geography or lines on the map, they are using bots to disseminate misinformation, hackers to break into global systems and UAVs to target their deep artillery fire. The threat has moved…

  • ‘We have to boost the pace of discovery’: Ed Pyzer-Knapp, AI lead at IBM

    “To deal with the challenges our world is facing, we have to boost the pace of discovery,” says Dr Edward O Pyzer-Knapp, worldwide research lead for AI enriched modelling and simulation at multinational technology corporation IBM. A man on a mission, if you take only one thing away from meeting the 33-year-old British scientist, it will be that there is an imperative firmly placed on the shoulders of the STEM community to do things better and quicker. “The need for science has never been more urgent,” says Pyzer-Knapp, and the way to get that message across is to talk about it in simple terms. A passionate advocate for the public understanding of science, he talks continually about “real-​world applications”. You get the feeling that he’d be happier with a slightly less intimidating job title…

  • View from Washington: Aukus looms over AI and quantum

    Most of the talk has been about submarines, but another important aspect of the new Aukus alliance between Australia, the UK and the US is that it defines emerging technologies – particularly artificial intelligence and quantum computing – as first-order national security issues. As Tom Tugendhat, chair of the Commons’ Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a Twitter thread : “Bringing together the military industrial complex of these three allies together is a step change in the relationship. We’ve always been interoperable, but this aims at much more. From artificial intelligence to advanced technology the US, UK and Australia will now be able to cost save by increasing platform sharing and innovation costs. Particularly for the smaller two, that’s game-changing.” Tugendhat is right. The…

  • Securing your network when the prevention gap is too wide to fill

    Organisations aren’t short of technologies they can deploy to protect their digital assets. From old-school firewalls to SIEM (security information and event management), endpoint detection and response (EDR), network analysis, and continuous vulnerability scanning, tools exist to cover virtually the whole potential attack surface of a company’s IT infrastructure. Yet attacks continue to happen and cyber crime is at an all-time high. In 2020, ransomware attacks increased by 62 per cent compared with the previous year, to a total of 304 million. This means either that cyber criminals are doing something right, or that organisations are doing something wrong. Yes, attackers have upgraded their playbooks and technology arsenals, but we shouldn’t give cyber criminals more credit than they deserve…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • National map of buried pipes and cables draws nearer with contract awards

    Following earlier pilot projects , the government’s Geospatial Commission has appointed Atkins to deliver the Build Phase of NUAR, initially providing what is described as “a production minimal viable product” for the North East of England, Wales and London before the scheme is rolled out more widely. It will cover gas, water, electricity and telecommunications. It’s estimated that accidental strikes on underground pipes and cables cost the economy around £2.4bn a year, inaccurate location information being a common cause. Once operational, NUAR is expected to deliver around £350m per year in benefits by avoiding accidental asset strikes, improving the safety and efficiency of works and better data sharing. Atkins will be supported by 1Spatial, a Cambridge-based specialist in managing location…

  • Latest figures show the UK rail sector was booming before pandemic losses

    According to researchers Oxford Economics, UK rail was helping to drive growth, investment and jobs right across the UK in 2019, the last year for which full data is available. With the Government now looking for sectors that can help the country economically recover from the pandemic, the report argues that the rail sector could be one of the leaders of this effort. Oxford Economics found that in 2019, the rail industry supported £43bn in economic growth compared to £36.4bn in 2016; it employed 710,000 people, compared to 600,000 in 2016; it raised £14bn in tax revenue annually, compared to £11bn in 2016; and for every £1 spent in rail, £2.50 of income was generated in the wider economy, compared to £2.20 in 2016. But while the report demonstrates a booming rail sector based on 2019…

  • Engineering places: Victoria Falls Bridge

    Victoria Falls Bridge was the brainchild of British administrator and financier Cecil Rhodes, who envisioned a railway scheme the length of the African continent, from Cape Town, South Africa, to Cairo, Egypt. The former governor of Rhodesia (today Zambia and Zimbabwe) reputedly instructed the bridge’s engineers to “build the bridge across the Zambezi where the trains as they pass will catch the spray from the Falls”. Sadly, he never even got to visit the Falls and died before construction of the bridge began. Set in a remote section of the African rainforest, the Victoria Falls span nearly a mile (1,708m) across the Zambezi River, which forms the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia, before dropping over 100 metres into a deep gorge. The bridge, built just downstream from the falls and supported…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Mars germs versus Earth germs: engineering a mission to Mars

    There is a lot that Nasa’s Perseverance rover has on its to-do list. Flying helicopters is only a small part of it. The rover, fitted with seven cutting-edge instruments for analysing rocks, the atmosphere and weather, is ultimately searching for signs of past and present life on Mars. But it will not do it on its own. The Perseverance mission is only the first step in a much greater project. Using its small drill, Perseverance will excavate promising pieces of Martian soil and store them in small tubes on the planet’s surface for another rover to retrieve at the end of this decade. When the capsule carrying the coveted Mars samples eventually hits the ground somewhere in the US in the early 2030s, it will be the beginning of an operation that has not been seen since the return of the earliest…

  • Fire at French interconnector sends electricity prices soaring

    The IFA Interconnector that meets the UK in Sellindge can carry about 2GW between the two countries but the National Grid said a fire has forced a complete evacuation of the site. Following the incident, it was forced to notify the wholesale electricity market that 1000MW would be unavailable until 27 March 2022 as a result. This is in addition to another planned 1000MW outage until 25 September that has caused electricity prices to soar. The IFA connector was the first cross-Channel link, completed in 1961 with an initial 160MW capacity. This was eventually decommissioned in 1984 and replaced by a second link capable of carrying 2GW in 1986. Another cable linking the two electricity systems, IFA-2, was also completed earlier this year, although yesterday’s incident will not have any…

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