• Summer STEM Challenge: The Bernoulli Magic Roundabout

    STEM Challenge #54: How blowing can suck, Bernoulli Roundabouts and Hoversuckocraft on your ceiling “P + ½ ρ.v 2 is a constant” – Daniel Bernoulli You’ll find this little equation inside things all over the place. And one of the far-from-obvious results is that blowing can suck.  You might have seen a little hovercraft created from a balloon and a CD. They’re simple enough to make: you take a CD, stick a stub of a plastic tube on it, on the side with the ridge for the balloon. Inflate a balloon and hold the neck while you attach it to the CD. Let go of the balloon neck, and air will whoosh out from the middle and it’ll hover and glide beautifully across a smooth table. But now try this. Check your ceiling is smooth, then try your little hovercraft upside down on the ceiling. That’s nuts…

    IET EngX
    IET EngX

  • Defibrillators delivered by nimble drones could help cut heart attack deaths

    “Drones delivered an automated external defibrillator (AED) just outside the door of residential homes, where most cardiac arrests occur, as well during the first minutes of a cardiac arrest,” said study author Dr Sofia Schierbeck of Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden. “When a drone arrived before the ambulance it was nearly two minutes quicker. As drone technology improves it should be possible to increase the number of patients and the time benefits.” Cardiac arrest is a life-threatening condition and is often fatal without resuscitation and an electric shock from an AED. Each minute without treatment decreases the chance of survival and it is estimated that cardiac arrest causes one in five deaths in industrialised countries. Survival has not increased in recent years…

  • Human tissues to be grown in microgravity conditions aboard the ISS

    Researchers at Airbus and the University of Zurich (UZH) plan to send materials up with the next supply flight for the ISS that will enable astronauts to grow three-dimensional organ-like tissues called organoids. The organoids, which will be grown from human adult stem cells, cannot be produced on Earth because they require supporting skeletons due to the effect of gravity. 3D organoids are of great interest to pharmaceutical companies because they could allow drugs to be tested directly on human tissue which could produce more reliable results and eliminate the need for animal models. Organoids grown from patient stem cells could also be used in the future as building blocks for tissue replacement therapy for damaged organs. Globally, the number of donated organs…

  • Car production plummets in UK amid pingdemic and chip shortage

    Production is 18.3 per cent higher than it was in the heights of the pandemic, but is 28.7 per cent below 2019’s pre-pandemic manufacturing levels. Notably, production plummeted last month, which saw the production of 53,500 cars: a fall of 37.6 per cent on the same month last year. The industry group said that this is the worst July performance since 1956 when 51,472 cars were produced. Summer factory shutdowns also impacted production, which fell by 38 per cent for the UK market (8,233) while manufacturing for export fell 37.2 per cent (45,205). Exports accounted for more than eight in 10 vehicles built in July. The SMMT cited staff shortages due to the high volume of people requested to go into self-isolation (being 'pinged'), which has forced some factories to shift their summer shutdown…

  • Sponsored: Delivering innovation through collaboration

    Just to the west of London, on the site of the old EMI vinyl record factory, lies a unique facility that is bringing the spirit of innovation to life.  The Central Research Laboratory (CRL) in Hayes is the UK’s first purpose-built hardware accelerator and coworking space – where the brightest startups come together under one roof to design, build, collaborate and create. While EMI’s scientists and engineers at the location once helped develop audio systems such as stereo sound, the CRL cohort focuses on a remarkably diverse range of technologies – from next-generation agricultural field robots to new sustainable building materials made from potato waste. For each of these early-stage companies, acceptance on to CRL’s accelerator means they benefit from an intensive, six-month programme…

    IET EngX
    IET EngX

  • UK plans to revamp post-Brexit data rules with ‘lighter touch’ approach to privacy

    According to The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), it is estimated that there is as much as £11bn worth of trade that goes unrealised around the world due to barriers associated with data transfers. A new set of data rules would see the UK diverge from some parts of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which came into effect three years ago. Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said the UK wanted to shape data laws that were based on “common sense, not box-ticking”. The Government will prioritise striking ‘data adequacy’ partnerships with the US, Australia, the South Korea, Singapore, Dubai and Colombia and also confirmed that future partnerships with India, Brazil, Kenya and Indonesia are being prioritised. It said it would ensure that “high data protection…

  • IT firm in High Court battle over police surveillance contract

    The Police Digital Service, formerly the Police ICT Company, is responsible for delivering the National Policing Digital Strategy. It aims to protect people from harm not only by using technology but by developing its own capabilities and new ways of working. It describes itself as a body that “harnesses the power of digital, data, and technology” to assist law enforcement. Now, IT firm Excession has sued the Police Digital Service, alleging that its decision to grant a contract to Airbox Systems, which provides digital solutions to various law enforcement and military bodies to assist practical operations, broke defence and security public contracts regulations regarding the awarding of public contracts. According to a report from The Register, the contract was worth up to £18m and involved…

    IET EngX
    IET EngX

  • Public EV charging for social housing to be trialled in London borough

    While EV ownership is skyrocketing across the UK – with new registrations up 117 per cent this year, compared to 2020 – people living in urban centres, high-rise flats and council estates are significantly less likely to have access to a private driveway, making it difficult to install home-charging solutions. Lambeth is collaborating with charging firm Connected Kerb to build 22 on-street EV chargers across 11 council estates in the borough to provide easy access to public charging, even for those without off-street parking. It forms part of the council’s wider strategy to install more than 200 charge points by 2022 with the aim of ensuring every household with no access to off-street parking is within a five-minute walk of their nearest charge point. Households which have access to…

  • Independent robots trained to cooperate with each other using AI technique

    The team trained a model that would allow any number of robots to work together to move a long rod around two obstacles and through a narrow door in computer simulations. “We made it a little more difficult on ourselves. We want to accomplish the task with as little communication as possible among the robots,” lead author Andrew Barth said. Neither robot directed the other and they did not share their strategy in advance to complete the task. They used an AI technique called genetic fuzzy logic: an intelligent control technique that mimics human reasoning by replacing a simple binary classification (yes, no) with degrees of right or wrong. These genetic algorithms modify individual solutions to learn from past results to optimise performance over time. “Ultimately, we want to expand…

  • Obstacles prevent homes going green, consumer groups warn

    An important part of the UK’s effort to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 will be adapting its 29 million homes to be more energy efficient and to use alternatives to natural gas for heating, such as electricity and green hydrogen. Citizens Advice, Which?, Aldersgate Group and the Federation of Master Builders are urging the government to work with them to address obstacles currently faced by consumers and learn from previous lessons or else risk undermining efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions. They warn that installing low-carbon heating, upgrading insulation or installing smart home technologies such as smart meters can be time consuming, stressful, and confusing. For instance, researching and choosing the right product, finding a reputable installer, and having the work completed…

  • Yorkshire Water provides insight into future reservoir supplies

    Yorkshire Water has produced a video and images that visualise how some of its reservoirs could look in the next 50 years if we were to take no action to conserve water. The Bradford-based company predicts that it will have 100 million litres less in its daily supply by 2045. A recent survey of people in the region has found that while 50 per cent were concerned about shortages, one in 10 did not believe they would affect Yorkshire for another 100 years, the utility firm said. Artistic impression of how Langsett Reservoir in the Peak District could look in 2071. Image credit: Yorkshire Water/PA “We can already see and feel the impacts of climate change all around us,” said Suzanne Dunn, water resources strategy manager at Yorkshire Water. “Seeing what our reservoirs…

  • BP Doctor Pro smartwatch with a blood pressure monitor - hands-on review

    Before going further, it’s worth pointing out that this is undoubtedly a niche product and won’t be unseating the Apple Watch or the Galaxy Watch anytime soon. But for those with specific health issues, it could be a life saver. At first glance, the BP Doctor Pro is not the sleekest of smartwatches, with a long, rounded frame and chunky midriff. It includes a square screen housed within its oval body that sits uncomfortably and gives way to a massive, ugly bezel. The charging port uses contact pins rather than a proper wireless charging solution like the commonly-used Qi standard. This makes its dock rather chunky and fiddly as the user needs to apply some force to clamp the watch into place so that the pins line up correctly. Image credit: Jack Loughran …

  • Changes within IEC 61439-1 & 2 - 3rd Edition

    These are the standards that most industrial/commercial switchboards and motor control centers are required to conform to. The new editions include many changes, some significant and one fundamental change. Key Learning Points: Learn the significant changes within IEC 61439-1 & 2 Ed 3 Discover the one fundamental change Explore the opportunities and the care needed to ensure it is used correctly Download Here

  • ‘Science and technology is becoming more central to efficient and effective policing’

    “For some time now,” says Professor Paul Taylor, “there’s been an emerging recognition that science and technology is becoming more central to efficient and effective policing. We also live in a world in which technology such as cyber and the Internet of Things, along with data and behavioural science are all part of the footplate of policing that contributes to a picture that’s very different to traditional policing of the past.” Taylor is speaking as the UK’s first Chief Scientific Adviser (CSA) in the policing domain. The newly created post at the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) – Taylor took up the position back in May 2021 – is funded by the Home Office, a UK government ministerial department, and was, according to Taylor, “warmly welcomed by the chiefs” who had been keen on the…

  • Drones could inspect rural roads for potholes

    The Digital Intelligence Brokerage (DIB) – which had been tasked with collecting potential solutions on behalf of Wiltshire council – said that a consortium of a small and medium-sized enterprises could use this “cutting edge approach” to check the condition of highways in rural and urban areas where infrastructure is sparse. It acknowledged that consideration must be given to the risks of using automated equipment on or above live highway networks. The DIB also recommended using video streams to inspect the quality of work carried out on highways, and making the shape of pothole repairs circular rather than square to avoid weak points in corners. The DIB has previously proposed graphite nanoparticles in asphalt to reduce cracking, the use of bio-bitumen materials to create environmentally…

  • ‘Reassess’ Cambo oil field licence, says Scotland’s Sturgeon

    The Oil and Gas Authority and Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning are weighing up the proposed oil field, which is owned by Shell and private equity firm Siccar Point Energy. Licensing for exploration at the oil field was initially approved in 2001. If the Cambo project goes ahead, a further 150-170 million barrels of oil may be extracted from the site, which is expected to be in operation from 2022 until 2050. The Cabinet is now under pressure to intervene, although Boris Johnson, the UK Prime Minister, and other ministers have insisted that the matter is entirely in the hands of regulators. While the government recently introduced a climate compatibility test for new oil and gas developments, the test will not be applied to fields such as Cambo which have already…

  • Starliner space capsule faces delays as rocket separation deemed necessary

    The troubled project has faced extensive delays and technical issues throughout its decade-long development, including a last-minute glitch in a test launch earlier this month that forced Boeing to abandon attempts to send it to the International Space Station (ISS). Since then, its engineers have been trying to tackle an issue causing 13 of Starliner’s valves not to open that was only discovered while it was siting on the launchpad ready to blast off. Boeing said that it has now got nine of the valves to function normally and is still working to address the other four. The test flight was supposed to see Starliner carry supplies and test equipment to the ISS in order to demonstrate its capabilities in launching, docking, and then re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere while performing a safe…

  • Human jetsuits ‘could help police fight crime’

    A human jet suit system, developed by the company Gravity Industries, was showcased at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) based at Porton Down near Salisbury in front of senior police and government officials on Thursday (12 August). Test pilot Richard Browning presented the system’s capabilities as part of a demonstration of emerging science and technology that could help fight crime and terrorism. In a fictional scenario, Browning flew rapidly through the air and tracked down a would-be assailant. While it is not thought there are any immediate plans to buy and use the kit, chairperson of the National Police Chiefs’ Council Martin Hewitt – who was among those in attendance alongside Home Office officials – said the event presented some “important and exciting opportunities…

  • ‘Blue hydrogen’ more carbon-intensive than gas and coal

    Hydrogen is a potentially zero-carbon fuel source, producing just heat and water when burned or used in fuel cells and making it an attractive alternative to fossil fuels in transport, heating and industry. For instance, part of the UK government’s decarbonisation plan is a significant expansion in hydrogen to 5GW of capacity by 2030 . There are two approaches to producing hydrogen: blue hydrogen (produced by splitting natural gas into hydrogen and carbon dioxide) and green hydrogen (produced by splitting water via electrolysis into hydrogen and oxygen). While green hydrogen requires a large energy input, blue hydrogen cannot be described as a zero-emission fuel source, though it may be described as net-zero when used in conjunction with efficient carbon capture. Climate think tanks and campaigners…

  • China commits to raft of carbon-intensive coal and steel projects in 2021

    In an analysis, the Helsinki-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) said that China’s newly approved steel and coal power facilities will collectively emit CO 2 equivalent to the Netherlands' total emissions. This includes a total of 18 new blast furnaces with a total capacity of 35 million tonnes of steel per year and 43 new coal-fired power plant units. If approved and built, they will emit an estimated 150 million tonnes of CO 2 a year, the report estimates. State-owned power and steel firms have continued to build and announce new coal-based projects, even as China’s leadership has pledged to aim for carbon neutrality by 2060 . A landmark report from the UN earlier this week issued a stark warning that anthropogenic climate change is already having a devastating…

  • Cyclists could get the ‘green wave’ at traffic signals with mobile app

    The latest report to come out of this multi-project research effort, led by Dr Stephen Fickas of the University of Oregon (UO), introduces machine-learning algorithms to work with their mobile app FastTrack.  Developed and tested in earlier phases of the project, the app allowed cyclists in Eugene, Oregon, to communicate with traffic signals along a busy bike corridor. The researchers hope to make their app available in other cities. “Our overall goal is to give cyclists a safer and more efficient use of a city’s signalled intersections,” Fickas explained. “The current project attempts to use two deep-learning algorithms, LSTM and 1D CNN, to tackle time-series forecasting. The goal is to predict the next phase of an upcoming, actuated traffic signal given a history of its prior phases in…

  • Summer STEM Challenge: Water Battles

    STEM Challenge #52: Bike Pump Water Pistons, Super Squirters, and the Single Helix Pump A mini bike pump can be good at squirting, but some work is needed. You can’t easily fill a bike pump with water. Bike pumps use an O-ring seal or conical seal which moves and lets air in when you pull back. So when you put the pump into the water and pull back to fill, it does... nothing. You can fix this by substituting the O-ring with a fatter one, or by putting hot-melt glue inside the large end of a conical seal, thus sealing the piston in both directions. Axial outlet pumps work as they are, but it’s better to saw off the end of right-angle-ended pumps. What about a Super Squirter, again a cylinder and piston, but made from polypropylene 40/32mm plastic plumbing pipe? Wrap tape over an elastic band…

    IET EngX
    IET EngX

  • Why the way you measure emissions may not reduce them

    As international efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions continue in light of growing acceptance that climate change is real, man-made and looming, increasing numbers of businesses are striving to measure, report and reduce their carbon footprints. Many seek the confidence, authority and reputation enhancement that comes from using a recognised methodology and quantification to apply certified standards to their carbon assessments. There is no doubt about the recognised benefits of this approach, but inevitably the structure of assessments is driven by the structure of the required reporting. For example, where a quantification methodology requires reporting of direct and indirect emissions - also known as scope 1 and scope 2 emissions - data collation is organised to match that requirement…

  • UN human rights experts call for spyware crackdown

    The comments came following reports of the use of military-grade Pegasus spyware from Israel-based NSO Group. The spyware can be covertly installed on phones running most versions of iOS and Android OS, after which vast amounts of information can be harvested from the device including private messages. Alarmingly, it can also be used to activate and record using a device’s microphone and camera. In August 2020, Israeli media reported that the software had been sold for hundreds of millions of dollars to the UAE and other Gulf States for surveillance of critical politicians, journalists, and activists. Last month, it was revealed that Pegasus is still being used widely to monitor and intimidate human rights supporters and political dissidents. International human rights law requires countries…

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