• World’s densest air quality sensor network to be rolled out in Camden

    With installations taking place this summer by project leaders AirLabs, Camden Council hopes it will provide at least 100 times more data points and refresh 60 times more regularly than existing air quality reference stations. The network of AirNode sensors will be able to show a street by street picture of air quality in the area in real time. The data will contribute to local decision making in trying to improve air quality in the borough, particularly around schools, offices, hospitals, retail and hospitality businesses. In May, it emerged that some Camden residents were being exposed to illegal concentrations of toxic pollution. Council data revealed four places in the borough where concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) were above the legal limit in 2020 despite the sizeable…

  • Hands-on review: Trust Taxon webcam

    This affordable 2K webcam upgrade promises to improve the quality of your video calls and also offers you the option of a two-camera set-up. I opened the small box and did what everyone does: I plugged it into my computer’s USB port and disregarded the instructions. Would my Windows 10 PC automatically see it and set it up? That’s the smooth tech experience we all seek… and we all know that it doesn’t always work out. The Taxon is small and lightweight, with a 1.8m cable that’s far too long for most users. The majority of people will want to perch the cam on top of their laptop screen, so 60cm would be plenty. You’re left with a zigzag of excess cable. But set-up worked. I plugged it in and, before I had time to faff around with the camera positioning, ‘Setting up a device’ popped up…

  • Beyond Asimov’s three laws: the case for an International AI Agency

    Earlier this year, the European Union proposed a draft regulation to protect the fundamental rights of its citizens from certain applications of artificial intelligence. In the USA last month, the Biden administration launched a taskforce seeking to spur AI innovation. On the same day, China adopted its new Data Security Law, asserting a stronger role for the state in controlling the data that fuels AI. These three approaches - rights, markets, sovereignty - highlight the competing priorities as governments grapple with how to reap the benefits of AI while minimising harm. A cornucopia of proposals offers to fill the policy void. For the most part, however, the underlying problem is misconceived as being either too hard or too easy. Too hard, in that great effort has gone into generating…

  • Computational models challenge assumption about limits of carbon capture

    The researchers, who are based at Imperial College’s Department of Chemical Engineering and Centre for Environmental Policy, used computational models to demonstrate that post-combustion carbon capture using amine absorption could capture up to 99 per cent of carbon at the source while remaining cost effective. There has been a long-held assumption that 90 per cent carbon capture is the upper limit for carbon capture technologies, becoming ubiquitous across literature and leading to doubts around the feasibility of capturing more. “In recent years, this 90 per cent assumption is being challenged as we begin or transition towards net-zero emissions,” the researchers explained. “Our findings show that there are no technical or economic barriers in capturing 99 per cent of CO2 from both power…

  • Proper reuse and recycling of electronics could create half a million UK jobs

    Green Alliance urged the government to drive economic growth by expanding the circular economy which sees products and resources kept in use for as long as possible through reuse, recovery, remanufacturing and recycling. The UK’s current approach is unsustainable, the report found, with too many products and materials cast aside without a structure in place to reclaim them or prolong their use. Indeed, a study from last year found that Britons produce the second largest amount of e-waste per person in Europe, producing around 55kg of e-waste each. The report claims that a reused iPhone retains around 48 per cent of its original value compared to just 0.24 per cent when recycled. “Just a few new policies focused on improving the use of valuable resources, led by the Treasury, would help…

  • Stinkweed could make for greener renewable jet fuel

    Pennycress, often referred to as stinkweed, is a common weed throughout Eurasia and North America. In the past 20 years, there has been some interest in harnessing it as a potential renewable fuel crop rather than just treating it as a weed, as the high erucic acid content of its seeds could make it suitable as a jet fuel. “Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from air travel will mean not just incremental changes, but a fundamental change in how we have been producing fuel and where that fuel comes from,” said Professor Ajay Shah, senior author of the Ohio State University study. “And what we found is that pennycress might make a very good alternative fuel, especially when you consider the environmental costs of producing it.” Growing pennycress as a crop requires less fertiliser and fewer…

  • Starliner’s launch to the ISS called off due to last-minute glitch

    Mission teams are now examining the cause of indications on Starliner’s propulsion system of an “unexpected valve position”. The reusable crew capsule, in development for over a decade, has been designed to transport crew to the ISS and other low-Earth-orbit destinations. Alongside Nasa teams, Boeing worked through several steps to try and troubleshoot the problem, but was ultimately forced to call off the launch at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Engineering teams have already ruled out a number of potential causes, including software, but additional time is needed to complete the assessment, Nasa said. The teams plan to take whatever time is necessary to ensure Starliner is ready for its uncrewed flight test to the space station and will look for the next available…

  • Book review: ‘Ten Days in Physics That Shook the World’ by Brian Clegg

    To begin with, I’d like to take issue with the title of this book, nicely written and highly illuminating as it is. Brian Clegg’s pun on John Reed’s iconic chronicle of the 1917 Russian revolution, ‘Ten Days That Shook the World’, is misleading in that the title of Reed’s courageous and eye-opening reportage was tongue-in-cheek. His diary-style account of the revolution, with all its chaos, poverty, violence and corruption has a negative connotation. In Reed’s view, those ten days changed the world not for the better, but for the worse. If they shook the world, it was to a point at which it nearly collapsed – the direct opposite of what Clegg ascribes to what he considers the ten most important discoveries in the world of physics, all of which have contributed hugely to improving our lives…

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    IET EngX

  • View from India: Destination: Tamil Nadu

    The Stalin-led DMK government aims to make Tamil Nadu (TN) a preferred destination for investments in South Asia. A fully digitised single window 2.0 portal with over 100 services has been created to attract investors. The portal, as per media reports, will be equipped with features like parallel processing of clearances and   will also give scope for virtual meetings with departments. An artificial-intelligence-based chatbot facility and deemed approval for select clearances are expected to be its other highlights. Some updates:   The state aims to attract investments to the tune of Rs 17,141 crore through a suite of new partnerships and collaborations. Thirty-five new Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) have been signed which   are expected to generate employment for 55,000 individuals…

  • Machine-learning robot completes 5km run in record time

    'Cassie' achieved the feat in just over 53 minutes, which may be unimpressive in human terms - particularly during the Tokyo Olympics 2020 - but it is significantly faster than other ML bipedal robots. Cassie was developed under the direction of robotics professor Jonathan Hurst with a 16-month, $1m (£700K) grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). It was the first bipedal robot to use machine learning to control a running gait on outdoor terrain and completed the 5K run on Oregon State’s campus untethered and powered by a single battery charge. “The Dynamic Robotics Laboratory students in the OSU College of Engineering combined expertise from biomechanics and existing robot control approaches with new machine learning tools,” said Hurst. “This type of holistic…

  • Google’s first custom smartphone chip to debut in Pixel 6

    The new chips present another challenge to market dominators Qualcomm, whose chips power over 40 per cent of Android phones. Google said the processor, called Tensor, will help it to overcome issues around running competent AI on smartphones, a limitation that it has faced in the past. “We set about building a technology platform built for mobile that enabled us to bring our most innovative AI and machine learning (ML) to our Pixel users. We set out to make our own SoC to power Pixel 6. And now, years later, it’s almost here,” the search firm said in a blog post. “Tensor was built for how people use their phones today and how people will use them in the future. As more and more features are powered by AI and ML it’s not simply about adding more computing resources, it’s about using that…

  • Attempts to slow ‘pingdemic’ with app changes draw mixed response

    The Department urged the public to continue using the app, but said that changes made at the beginning of this week will result in fewer contacts being advised to self-isolate following a close contact with a positive case. Currently, for people who input a positive test but are asymptomatic, the app looks for close contacts five days prior to the positive test. This will be updated based on public health advice to look back at contacts two days prior to a positive test. The change will mean fewer contacts that took place when the positive case was unlikely to be at the peak of their infectiousness are advised to self-isolate, reducing the overall number of notifications sent by the app. The changes have not received a positive response from the opposition Labour party. In early July…

  • Chinese threat actors compromising telecoms, report warns

    Cybereason has revealed its discovery of several previously unidentified cyber-attack campaigns infiltrating major telecommunications providers across Southeast Asia. In the report, titled ' DeadRinger: Exposing Chinese Threat Actors Targeting Major Telcos ', multiple clusters of attack activity were identified and are assessed to be the work of several prominent 'Advanced Persistent Threat' (APT) groups aligned with the interests of the Chinese government. Similar to the recent 'SolarWinds' and 'Kaseya' attacks, the threat actors first compromised third-party service providers, but instead of using them to deliver malware through a supply chain attack, the intent was to leverage them to conduct surveillance of their customers' confidential communications. The report found that the attackers…

  • Royal Mail unveils Industrial Revolution stamp set

    The stamp collection will feature Watt’s rotative steam engine; the Penydarren locomotive; Spinning Jenny; Lombe’s silk mill, and Portland cement. Royal Mail is also releasing a miniature sheet of stamps that depict advances of the 'Electric Revolution' and the harnessing of electricity. Among them include the transatlantic cable and the Deptford power station. Image credit: Royal Mail/PA “The advances made in the Industrial and Electric Revolutions significantly transformed industrial practices across the globe,” said David Gold, director of external affairs and policy at Royal Mail. Gold added that the collection of stamps pay tribute to “some of the innovative and ground-breaking ideas and inventions that originated in Great Britain and changed the world”…

  • Smart necklace tracks detailed facial expressions

    NeckFace, one of the first necklace-type wearable sensing technologies, was developed by researchers at Cornell University. The team, led by Cheng Zhang, assistant professor of information science in the Cornell Bowers College of Computing and Information Science, said the technology can continuously track full facial expressions by using infrared cameras to capture images of the chin and face from beneath the neck. NeckFace is the next generation of Zhang’s previous work, which resulted in C-Face, a similar device but in a headset format. According to Zhang, NeckFace provides significant improvement in performance and privacy, and gives the wearer the option of a less-obtrusive neck-mounted device.  Besides potential emotion-tracking, Zhang sees many applications for this technology. These…

  • Book review: ‘A Biography of the Pixel’ by Alvy Ray Smith

    “We are now all aswim in an ocean of pixels,” says American computer scientist Alvy Ray Smith. “I carry billions of them on my person, and I suspect you do too.” Indeed, we have all been exposed to all kinds of digital imagery made up of pixels, from scrolling through social media platforms on our smartphones to the animated films we know and love. And this was sparked by the 'Great Digital Convergence' of 2000, whereby a single new digital medium replaced nearly all analogue media such as oil on canvas and ink on paper. ‘ A Biography of the Pixel ’ (MIT Press, £32, ISBN 9780262542456), written by Smith himself, points to that significant millennial event by celebrating ‘Digital Light’ – the vast realm that includes any pictures for any purpose, made from pixels. Smith is the ideal person…

  • Network Rail finds no trace of Covid-19 at four major stations

    Places which passengers touch regularly, such as escalator handrails, ticket machines and benches were swabbed, and hour-long air samples taken on station concourses at London Euston, Birmingham New Street, Liverpool Lime Street and Manchester Piccadilly stations in January and June of this year. Between the testing dates, passenger numbers across all four stations rose by 287 per cent, but all lab tests by Imperial College London (ICL) showed no Covid-19 contamination of any surface tested or any airborne particles of the virus in station or on trains. The conclusions from the independent report, which was commissioned by Network Rail, suggests that the enhanced cleaning methods across the rail industry and widespread wearing of face coverings by passengers are key reasons for the negative…

  • £5bn gigabit broadband boost for rural areas

    The plans fall under the government's 'Project Gigabit' fund, which aims to meet pledges originally announced in the 2019 Conservative manifesto to install 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, although MPs have questioned whether even this target is plausible considering the current speed of the rollout. The government hopes that the infrastructure upgrades in hard-to-reach areas will accelerate the country’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and potentially fire up the tech sector and creative industries. Up to 1,850,000 additional premises will be connected to the new infrastructure, which should provide speeds that would allow an HD film to be downloaded…

  • AI mammogram reader approved for use in Irish healthcare system

    The tool, which is called Mia (Mammography Intelligent Assessment), helps radiologists to read mammograms by acting as a 'second reader' that could pick up signs of cancer that would otherwise not be detected. The UK-based firm Kheiron Medical Technologies (KMT) developed the technology, which has now been made available across the whole of Ireland through medical supply company Hospital Services Limited (HSL). KMT said its system was the first of its kind to receive regulatory clearance in Europe after several clinical studies and testing showed that Mia has learnt to read mammograms to the same level of detail as a consulting radiologist. In double-reading mammography workflows where scans are reviewed by two radiologists, Mia can be deployed independently alongside a single human reader…

  • Plastic pollution creating ‘evolutionary trap’ for young sea turtles

    A research team led by the University of Exeter has found plastic inside small juvenile turtles along both the east (Pacific Ocean) and west (Indian Ocean) coasts of Australia. After hatching on beaches, the animals then travel on currents and spend their early years in the open ocean. However, these currents accumulate vast quantities of plastic and because the young turtles primarily feed near the surface, many inadvertently swallow plastic as a result. The research team also involved scientists from Murdoch University, the Department of Environment and Science (Queensland) and the Department of Biodiversity Conservation and Attractions (Western Australia). Dr Emily Duncan, of the Centre for Ecology and Conservation on Exeter’s Penryn Campus in Cornwall, said: “Juvenile turtles have…

  • Book review: ‘Railways - A history in drawings’ by Christopher Valkoinen

    Author Christopher Valkoinen, who works in the museum’s library and archives, has chosen over 130 drawings from the collection, along with a similar number of photographs, for ‘Railways: A History in Drawings’ (Thames & Hudson, £50, published August 26 2021), and provides a fascinating commentary explaining their significance. It's not a book to read from cover to cover, but dipping in at random throws up all kinds of interesting snippets of technical and social history and is rewarding enough to make you want to return again and again and to share your new discoveries with your family and friends. However, if you want to be more systematic, the material is organised by theme, beginning with the timeline of ‘Two centuries of locomotion’, from the horse dandy to the British Rail High Speed…

  • View from Washington: Biden begins building

    Context. It really can be an awkward so-and-so. Consider this. On one level, President Biden deserves praise for having finally squared the circle on a meaningful US infrastructure bill. Others have tried, others have failed (and, most recently, others have just talked bigly). Biden has – some upcoming congressional debate aside – secured bipartisan support for a programme worth $550bn over the next five years. However, it is only about a quarter of what Biden was originally seeking in his $2.25tr American Jobs Plan. Even allowing that the original proposal included some non-infrastructure elements (most notably around social care for the elderly), that’s quite a shortfall. The final number is also some way sort of the $2.6tr that will be needed over the next decade according to the most…

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    IET EngX

  • Spintronics research lays path for new type of memory

    With demands for ever more powerful computing devices, researchers are pushing at the limits of physics to explore alternatives to conventional computing, such as with photonics, quantum simulators, and spintronics. “Quantum materials hold great promise for improving the capacities of today’s computers,” said Professor Andrew Kent, a senior investigator. “The work draws upon their properties in establishing a new structure for computation.” Kent worked alongside collaborators from the University of California-San Diego and the University of Paris-Saclay on the project. Professor Ivan Schuller, a San Diego physicist, explained: “Since conventional computing has reached its limits, new computational methods and devices are being developed. These have the potential of revolutionising computing…

  • Wirelessly powered drone achieves flight with microwave beam

    Rockets typically use about 90 per cent of their fuel escaping the Earth’s atmosphere. Researchers at the University of Tsukuba in Japan believe this limitation could be overcome by wirelessly transmitting the necessary power to the rocket. Previous analyses of this kind were carried out decades ago and mostly considered microwaves of a frequency in the low gigahertz (GHz) range. Given that the power transmission efficiency increases as the operating frequency is raised, the team behind this latest research used microwaves with a relatively high frequency (28GHz). The team managed to get a drone weighing roughly 0.4kg to hover for 30 seconds at a height of 0.8m above the source of the microwave beam. “We used a sophisticated beam-tracking system to ensure that the drone received as much…

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    IET EngX

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