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Editor's Letter: farewell and a look back at some highlights

This month's issue looks into how technology is improving or replicating the human senses. Is engineering any closer to a $6m man - or $6bn post-human? What can animals sense that we can't but technology might? But this is also a welcome to my last issue of E&T magazine. A lot has changed since I joined IEE Review, as it was then, over 20 years ago. And some things haven’t changed much at all. Our first issue of E&T, combining a suite of bimonthlies into a fortnightly magazine, was in 2008. Issues we were covering then just never seem to go away, even if they’ve evolved. Letters about the status of engineers still fill our mailbag. The industry’s skills shortages haven’t got much better and, if anything, have got worse. First issue

E+T Magazine
Bizarre Tech: Amagami Ham Ham, Respiray Wear A+, and Loona Smart Robot

Amagami Ham Ham Ya want a little nibble? Japan’s Yukai Engineering has come up with something else questionable, following on from the ‘popular’ Qoobo, the cushion with a wagging tail. This cute, kawaii robot has a special ability: to nibble on your finger. They justify it like this: “Replicating the cute habits of babies, kittens, and puppies, it nibbles on your finger. While you stopped that behaviour in the past – as sharp little teeth can hurt – this adorable robot lets you enjoy the same comfort.” Comfort? Eh? With Amagami Ham Ham, you can keep “this sweet, gentle biting sensation nearby at all times”. Apparently, being gnawed on is a stress reliever, and it’s suggested you use it at work. By hiding Amagami Ham Ham in your desk drawer, you can whap it out when you’ve had a barney…

E+T Magazine in Robotics
China preparing new rocket for 2030 crewed Moon landing

The project will see two rockets launching towards the Moon's orbit. One of the rockets will carry the spacecraft that will land on the surface of the Moon, while the other will transport the astronauts. Once the docking has been made successfully, the astronauts will enter the lunar lander to descend onto the Moon's surface, where they will collect samples and complete a series of scientific tests. After the tasks are completed, the lander will transport the astronauts back to the orbiting spacecraft, on which they will return to Earth, said Zhang Hailian, deputy chief engineer at China Manned Space, at a summit in the central Chinese city of Wuhan. The goal of the mission is to overcome China's longstanding technological hurdle of developing a heavy-duty rocket powerful enough to…

E+T Magazine in Space
Green retrofit: a tour of BGEN's HQ office

Most companies don't have the luxury of building a brand new, carbon-neutral or net zero office building - and that may not necessarily be the best thing for the environment anyway. They have to make the best of what they've got. In Warrington, engineering solutions business BGEN is on that journey. E&T started a tour of their offices and the measures they've taken so far by asking what net zero means to them. Net zero v carbon-neutral “What a lot of organisations have done, and you'll see this a lot, is they will declare carbon-neutral. Now, that doesn't mean a lot, it means they bought trees, that's what carbon-neutral means," explains chief digital officer Simon Clarkson. "And they’ve not necessarily made any effort whatsoever to reduce the carbon footprint of their business, all…

E+T Magazine in Sustainable Development
UK regulator changes course on Microsoft’s £55bn Activision takeover

Microsoft is a step closer to finalising its acquisition of video game-maker Activision Blizzard, following developments in its legal battles in the US and UK. In Britain, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has agreed to pause its legal battle with Microsoft and begin negotiations that would address the regulator's competition concerns regarding the cloud gaming market. “We stand ready to consider any proposals from Microsoft to restructure the transaction in a way that would address the concerns set out in our final report," a CMA spokesperson said. “In order to be able to prioritise work on these proposals, Microsoft and Activision have agreed with the CMA that a stay of litigation in the UK would be in the public interest and all parties have made a joint submission to the…

E+T Magazine
Portable dementia test could help diagnose disease five years earlier

The ‘Fastball’ test measures patients’ brain waves whilst they watch a series of flashing images displayed on a screen. Developed by researchers from the universities of Bath and Bristol, the technology requires users to wear an electroencephalogram (EEG) headset, which is linked to a computer for analysis. Previous research has shown Fastball to be highly effective at picking up subtle changes in brain waves which occur when a person remembers an image. They have demonstrated that this response changes as a person develops dementia, offering hope as a breakthrough for early diagnosis. Dementia is typically diagnosed too late, at a point at which the disease has damaged the brain beyond repair. This can be up to 20 years after the disease first started to develop. Current diagnosis…

E+T Magazine in Research and Innovation
Ofcom faces £169m bill to implement online safety rules

The Online Safety Bill is intended to make tech firms accountable for harmful third-party content hosted on their platforms, ranging from illegal content such as terrorist propaganda to abusive content that falls below the threshold of criminality, such as bullying of minors. It will be enforced by the communications regulator, Ofcom, which could block access to their sites, fine them either up to 10 per cent of annual turnover or £18m (whichever is higher), and hold senior managers criminally liable for failures of duty of care. The regulator said it has made a good start in its preparations for implementing the new regime. But according to a report by the National Audit Office (NAO) it must now “manage risks” around monitoring, scope and financing. The report looked at whether the preparations…

E+T Magazine in Ethical Aspects
Book interview: Fusion’s Promise

Matthew Moynihan is nothing if not a realist. He knows that the technology he champions suffers from what public relations people call reputational issues. And that’s because for several decades nuclear fusion has at best been saddled with the qualifying term ‘tomorrow’s’, while at worst, it’s a fringe distraction often written about in green ink and block capitals. Even Moynihan’s co-author on ‘Fusion’s Promise’ had his doubts. Alfred B Bortz in his early meetings with Moynihan wondered: “Aren’t fusioneers chasing steadily moving goalposts?” In the preface to their book – wonderfully subtitled ‘How Technology Breakthroughs in Nuclear Fusion Can Conquer Climate Change on Earth (And Carry Humans to Mars, Too)’ – we’re told that Moynihan answered Bortz’s question in the negative, insisting…

E+T Magazine in Nuclear Power
Polluters to face unlimited fines for environmental offences

Organisations that break environmental laws could face unlimited fines, according to the new legislation presented by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). Following a consultation that demonstrated “widespread public support” for the measures, Defra has revealed it will scrap the current £250,000 limit on civil penalties resulting from environmental offences. This will allow the Environment Agency (EA) and Natural England to impose large penalties without having to go through lengthy criminal prosecutions. Defra said the size of the penalties will be subject to sentencing guidelines and will take into account the extent of the pollution and degree of responsibility and harm, as well as the polluting company’s size and ability to pay. In addition, these higher…

E+T Magazine in Air Pollution
Teardown: Nokia G22 smartphone

The Nokia G22 is the latest smartphone that aims to promote self-repair. The long-established brand’s current owner, HMD Global (aka Nokia Mobile), has partnered with repair specialist iFixit to offer parts, tools and full DIY guides at launch that cover four frequently damaged or exhausted units: the screen, the battery, the back cover and the charging port. Both the phone and the repair kits are reasonably priced. The G22 costs £169 and the kits range from £22.99 to £49.99 (parts can also be bought more cheaply if you already have the tools). The OEM guides, marketed under the QuickFix programme, are available free of charge both online and as downloadable PDFs at iFixit’s site. All the tools are standard (eg tweezers, picks, standard Phillips and Torx bits). Those prices are some way…

E+T Magazine in Telecommunications
Hands-on review: Joby Wavo Pod ‘streamer kit’ mic and boom

As a main gig, a potentially lucrative side hustle or simply as a personal forum through which to get a few things off your chest, streaming, vlogging and podcasting could be the way to go, as many an enterprising soul has already demonstrated. With your voice as the primary vessel through which your message will be delivered unto the world, it makes sense to have a decent microphone picking up your pearls of wisdom. If that mic could also be neatly paired with a professional, adjustable boom arm – personal radio station-stylee (hey, there's another potentially money-spinning idea) – you'd have all the makings of a future streaming star. Joby's Wavo Pod streamer kit bundles together two essential tools of the streaming trade, with the Wavo Pod microphone and the Wavo Boom Arm. Decked out…

E+T Magazine in Signal Processing
Scientists measure the impact of climate change on urban infrastructures

The team at Northwestern University was reportedly the first to measure the effects of subsurface climate change on civil infrastructure, which they call a "silent hazard". As the ground heats up, it also deforms. This phenomenon causes building foundations and the surrounding ground to expand and contract, which could lead to cracks and undermine the longevity of urban structures. The researchers also reported that past building damage may have been caused by such rising temperatures and expect these issues to continue for years to come. “Underground climate change is a silent hazard,” said Alessandro Rotta Loria , who led the study. “The ground is deforming as a result of temperature variations, and no existing civil structure or infrastructure is designed to withstand these variations…

E+T Magazine in Climate Change
Book review: ‘On Disinformation’ by Lee McIntyre

A few years ago, the US Army Cyber Institute stated that one of the biggest security threats came in the form of disinformation. So keen were they to press their point, they commissioned a graphic novel to outline the scenarios in which military capability and communication could be degraded by enemy disinformation. The idea was that everyone – particularly soldiers – would read a comic, while the serious messages on topics such as ‘microtargeting’ and ‘post truth’ were tucked away as articles between the pictures. That’s how seriously Uncle Sam takes the Putin-approved troll farms pushing out disinformation about Western vaccines, social unrest and even elections, says Lee McIntyre in his latest extended essay on the topic. This propaganda is distributed to the more excitable of the American…

E+T Magazine
Can tech help end sexual violence?

If you’re a man and you can’t quite believe the statistics about sexual violence, then go back to the women in your life and ask them. Is it because it hasn’t happened, or they just haven’t told you, says Lucrezia Spagnolo, founder of VESTA, a platform to help survivors of sexual assault. “Don’t take my word for it – speak to them.” This, say activists, is the nub of the problem. Most victim-survivors don’t report to the police. Stigma, fear and shame hold them back – would they be believed in a ‘she said, he said’ situation? Across the world, rape and sexual violence are notoriously under-reported and the rate of conviction is dismal – in England and Wales more than 99 per cent of rapes reported to the police don’t end in a conviction. By 2024, the government aims to double the number of…

E+T Magazine in Computing
Europe approves new EU-US data-sharing agreement

The EU-US Data Privacy Framework has an adequate level of protection for personal data, the EU’s executive commission said. "Today we take an important step to provide trust to [EU] citizens that their data is safe, to deepen our economic ties between the EU and the US, and at the same time to reaffirm our shared values," Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said. EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders added: “Personal data can now flow freely and safely from the European Economic Area to the United States without any further conditions or authorisations.” The agreement was made possible by the Biden administration, which issued an executive order in 2022 that incorporated "safeguards" into the US intelligence agencies' rules regarding the transfer of European citizens' data, limiting…

E+T Magazine in Computing
Foxconn pulls out from $19.5bn India chip factory project

The news has been announced less than a year after the two companies announced the project, and it constitutes a significant blow to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitions to transform India into a tech manufacturing powerhouse. "There was recognition from both sides that the project was not moving fast enough," Foxconn said in a statement . "There were challenging gaps we were not able to smoothly overcome, as well as external issues unrelated to the project." #MakeInIndia #semiconductors @HonHai_Foxconn pic.twitter.com/MGcf2eG02a — Foxconn News & Policy (@FoxconnNews) July 11, 2023 The company also criticised media reports that portrayed the decision as "a negative example of the Group's investment integrity" and stressed that "that is not the case". In response, Vedanta…

E+T Magazine in Manufacturing
Interview: Athene Donald, Master of Churchill College, University of Cambridge

As the electric minicab makes its way to the railway station, its driver turns to me and, in the spirit of polite conversation, asks what brought me to the University of Cambridge today. As we thread past the famous skyline of King’s College, I reply that I’ve been for a meeting with a distinguished scientist, the Master of Churchill College. “Has he invented any cool stuff?” the cabbie enquires, and I reply that the master is a woman, and yes, Dame Athene Donald is one of the ‘coolest’ British physicists of the 20th century and beyond. Although seemingly innocuous, this exchange highlights what Professor Donald calls the ‘bias’ in attitudes that surround women in the STEM fields. The well-intentioned minicab driver, who was genuinely interested in the science and technology that went into…

E+T Magazine in STEM Education and Skills
3D bioprinting technology could improve effectiveness of cancer treatment

Through joint research with the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM) and the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB), under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Science and ICT, a 3D bioprinting technology has been developed using natural killer cells ('NK cells') as a new method of immunotherapy for treating cancer. An NK cell is a leukocyte that responds to the formation of viruses and tumour cells and selectively kills cells that are harmful to the human body. NK cells remove distressed cells that have been infected internally, rather than viruses that have intruded from the outside. Allowing the 3D-printed hydrogels to encapsulate NK cells helps to prevent the loss of NK cells and enables a majority of those cells to home in on the tumour cells.…

E+T Magazine in Biotechnology
Hands-on review: Viofo WM1 ‘stealth’ dash cam

The WM1 is a diminutive single-lens 2K dash cam, intended to be installed unobtrusively behind the rear-view mirror in a vehicle, keeping as low a profile as possible. To call it basic, or bare bones, would do it a serious disservice. Rather, the WM1 is Viofo's dash cam offering for the driver who isn't bothered about full-colour screen, app-driven, multi-cam 4K setups with in-cabin wiring up the wazoo, and is instead perfectly happy with a near-invisible, front-facing, simple one-cam system that just gets on with monitoring and recording all the erratic drivers and cavalier wildlife that crosses their motoring path. Viofo's pitch for the WM1 is "Smaller, simpler, stealthier". Yep, nailed it. End of review! Image credit: Viofo Yet as we said above, the WM1…

E+T Magazine
Monitor developed to detect Covid-19 infections in a room within minutes

The team at Washington University in St. Louis combined recent advances in aerosol sampling technology and an ultrasensitive biosensing technique to develop this new device, which is able to detect any of the SARS-CoV-2 virus variants in a room in around five minutes. The device is cheap to produce and can monitor the presence of a virus in a room in real-time. In addition to Covid-19, it could also be used to prevent the spread of other respiratory virus aerosols, such as influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). “There is nothing at the moment that tells us how safe a room is,” said Professor John Cirrito , one of the study's authors. “If you are in a room with 100 people, you don’t want to find out five days later whether you could be sick or not. The idea with this device is…

E+T Magazine in Medical Diagnostics
Book review: ‘Confessions of an AI Brain’

There are two major problems confronting any author wishing to write a manual on artificial intelligence. The first is that by the time you’ve written it, the glacial pace of the book publishing world has effectively rendered your work obsolete before the ink has dried. Second, there are simply so many books produced on the subject that it’s virtually impossible to find a differentiating niche. ‘Confessions of an AI Brain’ (Springer, £25.00, ISBN 9783031259340) overcomes the first issue paradoxically by not attempting to say anything new, while the second is countered by the clever literary construction of telling the story from the first-person viewpoint of the AI ‘brain’ itself. Miranda – as authors Elena Fersman, Paul Pettersson and Athanasios Karapantelakis have called their AI brain…

E+T Magazine
Robots deny they would rebel against humans in UN news conference

Over the weekend, the United Nations (UN) organised an AI summit to discuss the future of artificial intelligence (AI) how robotics could help governments and organisations meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). The Geneva summit included what was described as the world's first robot-human press conference, where journalists were invited to ask the robots questions about their expanding abilities. The conference included Sophia, the first robot innovation ambassador for the UN Development Program (UNDP); healthcare roboy Grace; Ai-Da, a humanoid robot artist, and Desdemona, a rock-star robot . “We have to engage and ensure a responsible future with AI,” explained ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin, who took pictures with Sophia. Built by Hanson Robotics, Sophia has…

E+T Magazine in Ethical Aspects
The six-billion-dollar post-human

“Steve Austin. Astronaut. A man barely alive. Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to make the world’s first bionic man. Steve Austin will be that man. Better than he was before. Better, stronger, faster.” If you were a kid during the 1970s, ‘The Six Million Dollar Man’ was peak TV and, arguably, James Bond’s closest cultural competitor. Virtually everyone could recite its opening narration. But while 007’s main physiological attribute was an indestructible liver, Steve Austin was cybernetically enhanced with two superstrength legs and an arm, and a computerised eye. His creators were inspired by work being done even then towards increasingly capable prostheses for severely wounded veterans and other amputees (the fictional Austin was a horrifically…

E+T Magazine in Functional Safety
The rising and controversial trend of catching killers using genetic genealogy

Visit any police website across the UK and you will be met with rows of faces – each one belonging to the victim of a crime that has yet to be solved. As of March 2022, the last full year for which we have statistics, only 5.6 per cent of crimes in the UK secured a conviction. At the same time, Home Office figures show sex offences hit a record high, homicides were up 25 per cent, and 2.4 million cases were closed due to “evidential difficulties”, without police ever identifying a suspect. There is a relatively nascent technology that has potential to reverse such trends, called forensic or investigative genetic genealogy (IGG). It’s been both lauded a success and had its legality called into question, and as officials decide its fate, we look at where the battle lines have been drawn. …

E+T Magazine

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