• UK risks losing economic benefits of engineering biology boom, Lords committee warns

    Urgent action in the engineering biology sector is needed or the “UK is at risk once again of seeing the economic benefits of science and technology developed here but exploited overseas”. The House of Lords Science and Technology Committee’s report, Don’t Fail to Scale: Seizing the Opportunities of Engineering Biology, calls for a radical overhaul of investment strategies, regulatory frameworks and talent pipelines. Engineering biology is a fast-developing and evolving field. While synthetic biology is the design and fabrication of biological components, systems and materials from biological elements, engineering biology is the process of taking those synthetic biology concepts and translating them into solutions. There are vast applications for engineering biology across many sectors…

  • Nuclear power meets its AI reckoning

    Why nuclear could be the answer to energy-guzzling AI data centres. It sounds like the plot of a sci-fi film – a massive corporation looks to restart an ageing nuclear reactor in order to feed the massive power requirements of its new AI platform. But that’s exactly what Microsoft is trying to do on Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island, the very site of an infamous meltdown in 1979 that some credit with pushing back America’s nuclear power ambitions by decades. What many readers might not know is that while the plant’s second unit suffered a catastrophic meltdown – abruptly bringing its working life to an end – the first unit continued generating energy until 2019. Now Microsoft is negotiating with owner Constellation Energy to recommission the unit once more, with plans to restart the reactor…

  • Nasa exploring nuclear-powered propulsion as a way to shorten trips to Mars

    Nasa is to consider deploying nuclear-powered electric propulsion as a way to speed up a future voyage to Mars. A round trip to the Red Planet is expected to take up to two years to complete, a long time for any astronaut even aside from concerns that exposure to chronic, low-dose radiation in space could cause neural and behavioural impairments over time. But Nasa is hoping to shorten this timeframe by exploring the potential of nuclear electric propulsion, which employs a nuclear reactor to generate electricity that ionises, or positively charges, and electrically accelerates gaseous propellants to provide thrust to a spacecraft. Researchers at Nasa’s Langley Research Center are working on a project dubbed Modular Assembled Radiators for Nuclear Electric Propulsion Vehicles, or MARVL…

  • Industry reacts to the government’s AI action plan to ramp up AI adoption across the UK

    The tech and engineering industry has reacted – mostly positively – to the announcement of the UK’s AI action plan, although many have drawn attention to the challenges and risks associated with the initiative. Yesterday (13 January) the UK government unveiled details of a wide-ranging AI opportunities action plan to boost the country’s role in developing and deploying AI. The aim is to use AI tools to boost economic growth and deliver public services more efficiently. Peter Kyle, science, innovation and technology secretary, said: “This government is determined that the UK is not left behind in the global race for AI, that’s why the actions we commit to will ensure that the benefits are spread throughout the UK so all citizens will reap the rewards of the bet we make today.” Industry…

  • Drones must be prevented from delivering contraband to prisons – chief inspector

    “Urgent action” is needed to stop drones being used to bring drugs and weapons into prisons, chief inspector of prisons Charlie Taylor has warned. Recent inspections of HMP Manchester and HMP Long Lartin revealed major concerns regarding the safety and security of the sites including “thriving” economies of drugs, mobile phones and weapons. Mandatory drug tests revealed that 39% of prisoners in Manchester had tested positive, whereas 50% of inmates at Long Lartin who responded to a survey said it was easy to get drugs and alcohol. The report found that drones could carry payloads of up to 1.3kg of contraband into prisons, often under cover of night. At Long Lartin, drones regularly delivered contraband to gangs in black plastic bags, while in Manchester the prison had failed to replace…

  • Boeing production in 2024 expected to be less than half of rival Airbus

    Airbus delivered 766 commercial aircraft in 2024, while analysts expect rival Boeing to have delivered half that amount. Earlier this month, Airbus announced 2024 production statistics for its commercial aircraft business. Across the year it delivered 766 aircraft to 86 customers. The year also saw 878 gross new orders registered, putting its 2024 year-end backlog at 8,658 aircraft. Christian Scherer, CEO commercial aircraft at Airbus, said, “Given the complex and fast-changing environment we continue to operate in, we consider 2024 a good year.” In contrast, its rival Boeing is expected to have delivered far fewer aircraft. Indeed, according to Flight Plan, which publishes research, analysis and forecasts on the aerospace and defence market, the company is expected to report that it…

  • China-based WeRide to start a driverless shuttle service at Zurich Airport

    China-based autonomous driving start-up WeRide is to follow a dedicated route transporting employees to various areas of Zurich Airport starting in early 2025. The commercial autonomous shuttle service has announced its self-driving shuttle bus – Robobus – will be deployed at the airport. This pilot project is a collaboration between Flughafen Zürich AG and Swiss Transit Lab (STL), a competence network for developing and testing intelligent mobility solutions in Switzerland. Following a tender process, WeRide was selected as the technology provider for the robotaxi pilot project. The WeRide Robobus pilot project will operate as a supplementary transport service to the existing airside shuttle for employees working at the airport. Transporting nine passengers at a time, the Robobus will…

  • IET comment: Why the UK must lead the green gigafactory revolution

    John Patsavellas, senior lecturer in manufacturing management at Cranfield University and a member of the IET’s Sustainability and Net Zero Policy Centre. The UK stands at the threshold of a green industrial revolution, which involves world-class gigafactories that power the future of electric mobility. From Spitfires to satellites, we have built a world-class manufacturing legacy. Why shouldn’t the UK also be home to world-leading electric vehicle battery production? With operational expertise honed over decades and a deep-seated industrial heritage, the UK has everything needed to excel in battery production. But ambition alone won’t build a gigafactory; it requires billions in capital, strategic partnership and bold action. Gigafactories are no small venture. Each one costs £2bn-4bn…

  • Keir Starmer reveals action plan to ‘mainline AI into the veins of this enterprising nation’

    The UK’s Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, has unveiled details of the government’s AI opportunities action plan, with initiatives to boost economic growth and deliver public services more efficiently. AI will be deployed to diagnose breast cancer more quickly, speed up planning consultations in the built environment, help teachers with admin tasks and improve roads through AI-driven pothole-spotting cameras. The AI action plan is backed by three major tech companies – Vantage Data Centres, Nscale and Kyndryl – which have committed to invest £14bn in building AI infrastructure, including data centres. The government says this will help create 13,250 jobs across the UK. Starmer said: “Our plan will make Britain the world leader. It will give the industry the foundation it needs and will turbocharge…

  • Data centres face increasing risks from climate change, new report from techUK says

    techUK has warned that data centres, now classed as critical national infrastructure, must increase resilience to climate change risks including heatwaves, flooding and power outages. In September 2024, the UK government announced that data centres would be designated critical national infrastructure (CNI). This means that data centres, due to the role they play in national economic prosperity, security and resilience, will be given protections to make them harder to compromise during outages, cyber attacks and adverse weather events. However, with climate change causing more frequent and extreme weather conditions, trade body techUK has published a new report, Future-Proofing Digital Infrastructure: Climate Resilience in the Data Centre Sector. The report explores the many climate risks…

  • How Britain is building its battery future

    The UK has strategic ambitions to build several battery factories in the coming years. We find out how the sector is getting along. I am peering through the window of a chamber containing what looks like a gigantic roll of kitchen foil. Inside the room, workers in coveralls and face masks monitor screens. Any fibres, hairs or dust could damage the sensitive chemical processes they’re working on, so the space needs to be kept spotlessly clean, with several changes of filtered air each hour. This is the coating room on a production line at the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC), set inside a vast hangar on the outskirts of Coventry in the UK’s West Midlands. I’m being given a tour of the facility to see how batteries are made. Stretching 80 metres along one side of the hanger are…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Engineering the solution to the forever chemicals problem

    A family of toxic, indestructible chemicals have contaminated the planet over the past 80 years, risking people’s health. Engineers are now racing to find ways to scrub those chemicals from our environment. They are estimated to be present in the blood of 99% of humans in the world but our bodies cannot get rid of them. Since their invention in the 1940s, they have spread worldwide and have been found in places as unexpected as the Antarctic ice sheet and the blood of Siberian seals. They are poly- and perfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS), also known as ‘forever chemicals’ due to their unbreakable chemical structure. However, engineers at London-based start-up Puraffinity think they are on the verge of being able to eliminate them from our drinking water. Puraffinity’s quest started with…

  • The race to make RFID tags cheaper than barcodes

    The RFID dream is for everything to get a tag. But can we ever get to the point where they will be cheap enough to be more attractive than a barcode? On a damp, cold day in March 2024, the Princess Royal from the UK royal family arrived at the site of a former plastic pipe factory south of Durham in north-east England to cut the ribbon for its tech sector replacement. Pragmatic Semiconductor’s new facility represents the first 300mm chipmaking plant to be built in the UK. But it’s a very different proposition to the 300mm chips Intel, TSMC and other fabs are building: the Durham plant does not handle silicon wafers. Pragmatic wants to take advantage of the economies of scale that come with the way silicon production works – but using a technology that, in principle, is inherently cheaper…

  • Smartphone wildfire evacuation alert sent in error to nearly 10 million LA residents

    A wildfire evacuation alert was mistakenly sent to the smartphone of every resident in Los Angeles County, a region with more than 9 million people. Wildfires are currently ripping across parts of Los Angeles. What started as a bush fire in Pacific Palisades – a neighbourhood east of Malibu – on Tuesday morning is now an out-of-control wildfire that continues to rage more than three days later. There have been 10 deaths confirmed, with the fire causing hundreds of buildings to burn down and entire neighbourhoods to be razed to the ground. Evacuation orders by the Los Angeles Fire Department have been issued to nearly 180,000 residents across the county for safety reasons. A further 200,000 are under evacuation warning. With anxiety levels among LA residents at an all-time high, on Thursday…

  • Trump II – This Time It’s Personal

    What happens in the US affects the world, so Donald Trump’s election victory has implications for everyone, including in the tech sector. Most of Silicon Valley’s leadership is still trying to digest the implications of Donald Trump’s return to the White House, although the mood there seems to have been more open to that result than might have been predicted. The three California election counties that cover the Valley all saw roughly 5% swings to Trump in the vote and a decline in core registered Democratic Party turnout for Kamala Harris. That was broadly consistent with what happened across the US. If there is confusion, much of it comes down to Trump’s initial steps as president-elect. He does not formally take office until January 20. Some policies are being taken as given. A much…

  • Are insect brains the secret to energy efficient AI?

    From algorithms that mimic honeybee navigation to spiking neural nets and tiny drones running on neuromorphic chips, efforts to copy the functions of insect and animal brains have major implications for AI and robotics. Artficial intelligence (AI) has the potential to solve some of the world’s biggest challenges, from climate modelling to healthcare breakthroughs, but the associated computational power could come at a heavy environmental cost. Sophisticated deep learning and neural networks, developed by the likes of ChatGPT creator OpenAI, Google and Microsoft, run on networks of servers in data centres and require huge amounts of energy to power and water to remain cool. The International Energy Agency has estimated that total electricity consumption in data centres could double from…

  • MPs urge the Ministry of Defence to embrace AI on the battlefield

    MPs have urged the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to consider using AI on the battlefield after seeing effective use of the technology in Ukraine. Kyiv has used AI to analyse intelligence and assess combat scenarios with Russian forces. Ukrainian developers are also working on drones using AI throughout their flight and at the final targeting stage. But the Commons’ Defence Committee, which includes MPs from the three major parties, said the UK risked its military capabilities “falling behind” if it did not make greater use of AI. “The use of AI in Ukraine shows that it offers serious military advantage on the battlefield, and as AI becomes more widespread and sophisticated, it will change the way defence works, from the back office to the frontline,” said Emma Lewell-Buck, chair of the sub…

  • Editor's comment: New ways of thinking (artificially)...

    These are interesting times for artificial intelligence (AI). Unquestionably the technology of our day, it seems to have the weight of our expectations across the technology sector on its shoulders. AI, it seems, is the answer to everything – it can be sprinkled like fairy dust on to a problem and a solution will emerge. Last month we ran a feature suggesting that, while the hype may be continuing unabated, there are issues with the prevalent large language models (LLMs) that may mean AI’s exponential growth may be blunted. This issue we have a couple of articles that point to a rethinking, and broadening, of the AI offering. LLMs were the methodology that became the road ahead for AI, but there were other technologies that were pushed onto the hard shoulder – and these technologies may…

  • Industry insight: AI meets sustainability – the data centre challenge

    Article contributed by Simon Yeoman, CEO at internet service provider company Fasthosts.AI-era-ready data centres and the integral role sustainable practices play in creating them. Underneath the bonnet of our digital lives hums an unseen engine: data centres. They collect and process the lifeblood of our online world, from the social connections we foster and financial transactions that power our economies to the music and films we stream. However, this persistently humming mechanism carries a significant price tag. As we venture deeper into the AI age, the role of data centres becomes even more vital. The rapid growth of this technology demands ever-increasing storage capabilities and computational power with generative AI potentially requiring up to 33 times more energy than conventional…

  • Tesla has received almost £200m in UK government grants since 2016, analysis finds

    Recent analysis from Tussell into UK public procurement has found that Tesla has been a beneficiary of the UK government since 2016 having received almost £200m in grants. Elon Musk’s electric vehicle (EV) company has found itself in the news rather a lot recently. Last week, for instance, China’s car maker BYD reported it sold more pure electric cars than Tesla in the fourth quarter of 2024. Globally, Tesla has dominated the EV market. Its domination in the UK can in some way be attributed to the UK government grants the automaker has received. According to Tussell, which analyses data on UK government contracts and spending, it has received £191m in government grants since 2016. An article in The Guardian reports that the bulk of these funds came from the Department for Transport (DfT…

  • Solution to UK’s e-waste tsunami lies in ‘reuse, repair and refurbishment of electronics’

    With the UK recycling only 30% of the 1.652 billion kg of e-waste generated, tech products must be designed to ensure components can be recovered and reused at end of life. E-waste – which is any discarded product with a plug or battery – is a health and environmental hazard. These electronics often contain toxic additives or hazardous substances such as mercury, which can be detrimental to human health. Data from the UN’s Global e-waste monitor (GEM) report published last year found that the world’s generation of e-waste is rising five times faster than documented e-waste recycling. A record 62 billion kg of e-waste was generated globally in 2022 – up 82% from 2010, and on track to rise a further 32% (to 82 billion kg) in 2030. Of the 62 billion kg of e-waste generated, less than a quarter…

  • Mars Sample Return decision delayed to 2026 as Nasa evaluates strategies

    Nasa will delay work on its Mars Sample Return (MSR) plan while it assesses two possible approaches on how to successfully fulfil the tricky mission. In recent years the agency has been focused on trying to determine the early history of Mars and how it can help us understand the formation and evolution of habitable worlds, including Earth. As part of that effort, the MSR programme has been a long-term goal for the past two decades. Nasa’s Perseverance rover has been collecting samples to return to Earth since it landed on Mars in 2021. Nasa had planned to launch its Sample Retrieval Lander in 2028 to return the samples to Earth. This would have been the first to bring along a rocket and two helicopters designed to send the samples into Mars’ orbit to meet the Earth return orbiter, which…

  • Donald Trump partners with Emirati tycoon on $20bn US data centre expansion

    President-elect Donald Trump has agreed a $20bn deal with the head of an Emirati property conglomerate to build a swathe of data centres across the US. Hussain Sajwani, who heads DAMAC Properties, said subsidiary firm EDGNEX will deliver “state-of-the-art” data centres with the initial $20bn funding round, although this could be doubled in time “on the basis of future demand, market opportunity and scalability”. The firm will initially focus on building infrastructure in sunbelt states including Texas, Arizona, Oklahoma and Louisiana, and Midwest states such as Ohio, Illinois, Michigan and Indiana. Sajwani has long been a close associate of Trump. DAMAC contributed between $1m and $5m to Trump’s first campaign. The first phase of the data centre proposal includes capacity build-up through…

  • Cash usage rises in the UK for third consecutive year amid cost-of-living pressures

    Cash usage in the UK has unexpectedly risen for the third year in a row despite concerns after the pandemic that it would all but die out. According to building society Nationwide, nearly 33 million withdrawals were made from its ATMs last year – a 10% increase on 2023. A 2021 study suggested that the UK could become an entirely cashless society by 2026 if trends of declining usage continued. That same year, the number of payments made with cash plummeted by around 50% as consumers were encouraged to use contactless in the wake of the pandemic. But cash remains vital for many people, particularly vulnerable groups including the elderly and domestic abuse victims, who may not have access to other payment methods. Nationwide said the recent surge in cash usage could be due to recent surges…

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