• Access to digital tech is ‘a basic human right’ for 19 million UK adults living in digital poverty

    While our society becomes increasingly reliant on digital technologies for essential services, education and employment, more than 19 million adults and one in five children are living in digital poverty, according to the Digital Poverty Alliance (DPA). Today (12 September) marks the second annual End Digital Poverty Day, an initiative launched by the DPA, an independent charity of which the IET is a founder partner. This campaign raises awareness of the millions of adults and children across the UK lacking access to digital technologies such as laptops, which is contributing to a widening digital divide in underserved communities. Elizabeth Anderson, chief executive of the DPA, said: “With so much of our lives continuing to revolve around digital, it is imperative that digital access…

  • UK elevates data centres to critical infrastructure status for stronger cyber defences

    The government has begun classing data centres as critical infrastructure – which gives them greater protection – because of their importance to the UK’s cyber security and economy. The critical national infrastructure (CNI) designation is given to systems considered necessary for a country to function and upon which daily life depends. The list was last updated in 2015 when the space and defence sectors were classed as CNI. Other key assets include energy and water supply, transportation, health and telecommunications. Technology secretary Peter Kyle said that giving data centres the same protections should make them less likely to be compromised during outages, cyber attacks, and adverse weather events. This also puts them on an equal footing with other key utilities. The impact of…

  • Nasa engineers fix a clogged thruster issue onboard the 47-year-old Voyager 1 spacecraft

    Voyager 1 uses its thrusters to stay pointed at Earth so that it can receive commands and send back science data, but after 47 years in space some of the fuel tubes had become clogged. The Voyager 1 probe was first launched by Nasa in 1977 on a path that eventually led both it and its sister spacecraft, Voyager 2, outside the solar system altogether. Each are on their own journey into the cosmos, with Voyager 1 travelling more than 24 billion kilometres from Earth, and Voyager 2 more than 19 billion kilometres. Both have flown past Jupiter and Saturn, while Voyager 2 also flew past Uranus and Neptune. Being Nasa’s longest-running spacecraft, they have both faced problems due to longevity. In October 2023, Voyager 1’s onboard computer was sending back garbled status reports and so Nasa…

  • 2,500 job losses at Port Talbot steelworks confirmed amid government negotiations

    Port Talbot steelworks is facing 2,500 job cuts, the government has confirmed. Tata Steel announced it was closing the plant in January as it struggled to compete with cheaper steel from China and Europe. This was just months after the government struck a deal with Tata to invest £500m in the plant to help it transition over to electric arc furnaces (EAFs) so it could produce low-carbon steel. The Department for Business and Trade estimates that efforts to switch over to EAF technology will reduce the UK’s overall CO2 emissions by around 1.5%. Talks have been ongoing between the government, Tata and trade unions to improve the redundancy package for workers. There will now be a minimum voluntary redundancy pay-out of £15,000 for full-time employees plus a £5,000 ‘retention’ payment, as…

  • Hinkley Point B reaches defuelling milestone with removal of nuclear fuel from its first reactor

    The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) has overseen the completion of defuelling Reactor 4 at Hinkley Point B power station. EDF, which operates the site, has also announced that alternative saltmarsh locations are now being sought for Hinkley Point C following a public consultation earlier this year. Hinkley Point B power station, situated near Bridgwater, Somerset, generated electricity from 1976 until 2022. The process of defuelling the power station is currently under way. A key milestone in this process has now been reached with Reactor 4’s defuelling. This ONR will also oversee similar work about to begin on defuelling Reactor 3. “Defuelling is the process of safely removing the spent nuclear fuel from the reactors, which removes the vast majority of the radioactive hazard,”…

  • Amazon Web Services to spend £8bn to build UK data centres

    Amazon Web Services (AWS) has said it will spend £8bn in building data centres across the UK, creating an expected 14,000 jobs in the process. Chancellor Rachel Reeves welcomed the investment from the online retail giant’s cloud computing arm and said she personally met with the firm last week to secure the five-year investment. AWS said the 14,000 jobs would be needed for the firm’s data centre supply chain such as construction, facility maintenance, engineering and telecommunications, as well as other jobs within the broader local economy. According to Amazon, the investments will contribute an estimated £14bn to the UK’s total GDP from 2024 to 2028. With news this morning that the economy unexpectedly flatlined in July with regards to GDP growth, Reeves said that overcoming “14 years…

  • Robot starts two-week mission to extract melted debris from Fukushima nuclear plant

    A crucial operation to remove a small amount of radioactive debris from Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant is underway by plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco). In 2011, a massive earthquake and resulting tsunami wrecked the Fukushima nuclear power plant beyond repair. The Fukushima meltdown was considered the worst nuclear disaster since that at Chernobyl, Ukraine, in April 1986 and prompted the declaration of a 30km evacuation zone around the Japanese plant. Seven years after the disaster, a Greenpeace report found that radiation levels in the area continued to be up to 100 times higher than normal. Tepco is currently engaged in a decades-long effort to decommission the plant. This includes dealing with large amounts of highly radioactive melted fuel inside three reactors…

  • Schneider Electric to invest £42m in Yorkshire manufacturing facility

    Schneider Electric plans to build a £42m facility in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, that will build equipment aimed at supporting the UK’s transition to cleaner energy systems. The firm said the new facility will be nearly three times the size of its existing Scarborough site and create an additional 200 jobs. It aims to make the plant net zero by early next year with a focus on sustainable manufacturing. Approximately 30% of the facility’s energy needs will be met by a state-of-the-art solar energy system, with solar panels covering half of the roof. Any additional energy drawn from the national grid will be “renewable certified”. The facility will employ Schneider’s EcoStruxure platform for intelligent energy management, including light sensors and automated heating and cooling systems…

  • First hyperloop test capsule hurtles its way through 420-metre tube at European test centre

    Hardt Hyperloop has successfully tested its hyperloop vehicle at the European Hyperloop Center (EHC) in Veendam, Netherlands. Hyperloop is a form of high-speed mass transit in which capsules travel on magnetic rails. During a showcase event on Monday, a hyperloop test vehicle levitated and zipped through a tube at the testing facility. The ECH’s 420-metre tube is made up of 34 separate sections measuring 2.5 metres in diameter. A vacuum pump sucks out the air to reduce the internal pressure. That reduces drag and allows capsules to travel at high speeds. During the test, Hardt’s vehicle demonstrated its hyperloop traction technologies, which include the magnetic levitation, guidance and propulsion systems. It also demonstrated its speed: the vehicle moved smoothly through the first…

  • iPhone 16 reveal: Apple banks on AI to revive sluggish sales

    Apple has announced the iPhone 16 with a strong focus on AI integration in a bid to get customers to upgrade amid sluggish sales. Earlier this year, the firm said it was making its own AI platform, known as ‘Apple Intelligence’, that integrates ChatGPT into its mobile and desktop operating systems, as well as its Siri personal assistant. The platform will give its devices new abilities, such as being able to understand and create language and images, take action across apps and draw from personal context to simplify and accelerate everyday tasks. Apple has faced slowing sales on recent models – sales of the iPhone 15 were around 10% down year-on-year in Q1 2024. Consumers are holding onto their phones for longer as annual upgrades are increasingly iterative, offering only minor upgrades…

  • BMW and Toyota to develop hydrogen fuel cell tech for next-gen zero emissions vehicles

    BMW and Toyota will work together to develop hydrogen fuel cells and improve infrastructure for hydrogen-powered vehicles. With both companies seeking to advance the hydrogen economy, BMW and Toyota have announced they will work together to “accelerate technological innovation in fuel cell systems” for passenger vehicles. These systems will be installed in both companies’ fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) in the coming years. While this collaboration focuses on the fuel cell powertrain technology, the exterior of the FCEV models will remain distinctive to the individual BMW and Toyota brands. BMW has already announced it plans to launch its first mass-produced FCEV – the iX5 Hydrogen – in 2028. First unveiled as a concept in 2019 and then officially unveiled as a production vehicle…

  • New study reveals what happens to the 52 million tonnes of plastic pollution every year

    Uncollected waste and open burning are leading causes of the plastic pollution crisis. That's the conclusion of research at the University of Leeds based on a new global plastics pollution inventory. Each year, more than 400 million tonnes of plastic are produced. Many of these products are single-use and hard to recycle, and can stay in the environment for decades or centuries, often being fragmented into microplastics. Once these single-use plastics have been used, what happens to them? To find out, researchers at the University of Leeds used AI to model waste management in more than 50,000 municipalities around the world. The results reveal that 52 million tonnes of plastic products entered the environment in 2020. Two-thirds of this plastic pollution comes from uncollected rubbish…

  • Boeing’s Starliner returns empty after ISS mission failures, casting doubt on future viability

    Boeing’s Starliner capsule has returned from the International Space Station (ISS) after three months – but without returning the two astronauts it was meant to bring back to Earth. The long-delayed Starliner achieved its first crewed launch in June after years of delays. It successfully docked with the ISS, with Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams to undertake an eight-day mission before heading back to Earth. But the plans went awry when, during the docking procedure, Starliner suffered various thruster failures and helium leaks. This forced the astronauts to remain stranded aboard the ISS while Nasa considered whether to use Starliner or opt for an alternative return journey using a SpaceX Dragon capsule. Nasa ultimately opted for the latter, and over the weekend it brought Starliner…

  • From the archives - Faraday's electromagnetic induction and the Panama canal

    Tanya Weaver looks back at the creation of the first electric transformer, the birth of the internet and a vital link between oceans. 193 years ago Bright spark On 29 August 1831, Michael Faraday discovered electromagnetic induction, the principles of which are used in many applications today, from inductive chargers and transformers to electric motors and generators. Born in 1791 in Southwark, Faraday received very little schooling but made up for it with hands-on tinkering and experimentation. Most of this took place in the basement laboratory of the Royal Institution where he was a laboratory assistant. Having already conducted a series of experiments that built on the discovery of electromagnetism by Danish chemist Hans Christian Ørsted, Faraday carried out one further test that…

  • Final section of Britain’s longest rail bridge lowered into place as part of HS2

    The final section of Britain’s longest rail bridge has been lowered into place near London as part of the HS2 project. The 3.4km-long deck of Colne Valley Viaduct, on which work started in May 2022, just beats the 3.3km Tay Bridge linking Fife and Dundee, which had held the crown of Britain’s longest rail bridge since 1887. HS2 built 1,000 pre-cast segments at a purpose-built factory on-site. The gently-curved structure stretches across the Colne Valley near the M25 motorway and the village of Denham. It will carry high-speed trains running to and from the capital at speeds of up to 320km/h. Once the main civil engineering phase of construction ends, the factory and surrounding buildings will be removed, and the whole area between the viaduct and HS2’s 10-mile tunnel beneath the Chiltern…

  • Norway’s long-range underwater drone reaches next fully-autonomous milestone

    Norway-based Kongsberg Discovery has announced its long-range autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) HUGIN Endurance has completed a multi-week fully-autonomous mission reaching depths of 3,400m. Kongsberg Discovery, which supplies high-technology systems and solutions for the ocean space environment, first launched its HUGIN Endurance AUV in 2021. The largest in its AUV range, the 8 tonne, 40ft HUGIN Endurance has been designed to enable autonomous operations directly from shore. With its onboard batteries, the drone can remain in the sea for 15 days, traveling up to 2,200km. It comes equipped with a wide range of sensors to collect data such as conductivity, temperature, sound speed, methane and CO2 and O2 concentration. Sea trials for the first production unit of the HUGIN Endurance…

  • UK signs first international legally binding treaty governing safe use of artificial intelligence

    Human rights and democracy will be further protected from threats posed by AI under a new international agreement signed by the countries that negotiated it, including European Union members, the US and the UK. The Council of Europe Framework Convention on AI and Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law was opened for signature today during a conference of Council of Europe ministers of justice in Lithuania’s capital Vilnius. The convention was signed by Andorra, Georgia, Iceland, Norway, Moldova, San Marino and the UK as well as Israel, the US and the European Union. Adopted in May 2024 after discussions between 57 countries, the AI convention provides a legal framework covering the entire life cycle of AI systems. It promotes AI progress and innovation, while managing the risks it…

  • Major English cities must rapidly expand zero-emission bus fleets to meet net zero targets

    England’s major cities must rapidly increase their adoption of zero-emission buses (ZEBs) if ambitious net zero targets are going to be met, Urban Transport Group (UTG) has said. The body, which represents local transport authorities, believes that around 15,000 buses will need to become zero emissions – which include electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles – by 2036. According to government statistics, there were 16,500 buses operating in London and the metropolitan areas at the end of March 2023, but just 1,200 (7%) of these are ZEBs, with the vast majority (1,000) in the capital. Just 100 ZEBs were found to be operating elsewhere in England. The manufacturers of the buses were interviewed for a new report in an effort to understand how the government can help boost their production…

  • High electricity costs leave UK steel industry struggling to compete with Europe

    The UK’s steel industry is struggling to compete with European competitors because of the high cost of domestic electricity, a trade body has warned. The sector’s energy use is already equivalent to around 800,000 homes, but decarbonisation efforts will lead many producers to switch away from blast furnaces to using electric arc furnaces instead. Just a single electric arc furnace uses about 0.5MWh of electricity per tonne of steel – mass roll-out of the technology is therefore expected to double the sector’s electricity usage. According to UK Steel, domestic steel producers pay as much as 50% more than competitors in France and Germany, accounting for an additional £37m in electricity costs. The average price faced by domestic steelmakers for 2024/25 is £66/MWh compared to the German…

  • BMW trials ’motionless’ wind energy system on top of its Mini plant in Oxford

    On the roof of BMW Group’s Oxford plant is a prototype bladeless wind energy solution that is harnessing wind power to produce clean energy. This pilot unit has been developed by US start-up Aeromine Technologies, which was founded in 2021 with the aim of bringing the wind energy to the rooftop power generation market. The noiseless and vibration-free units have been designed to sit on the edge of flat roofs, where they are orientated towards the prevailing wind. The technology leverages aerodynamics similar to airfoils on a race car in that the unit’s wing-like vertical airfoils create a vacuum effect, drawing air behind an internal propeller to generate clean electricity. Aeromine claims that if its system – which consists of 20 to 40 units and is typically 50kW or larger – is installed…

  • UKAEA unveils the technical progress being made on nation’s first prototype fusion plant

    The UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) provides a complete snapshot of the UK’s first-of-a-kind fusion powerplant prototype through 15 peer-reviewed papers in a publication produced by the Royal Society. The UK’s first prototype fusion energy power plant, the Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP), is currently under development by the UKAEA at a site in north Nottinghamshire, where characterisation works surveying ground and environment are well under way. The aim is for the plant to be operational by 2040. STEP was first announced in 2019 when the UK government revealed it was committing £220m to its design. The reason for this substantial investment is that fusion is a potential source of almost limitless clean energy, which is vital amid rising energy prices and the climate…

  • UK government sets in motion rail reform with launch of ‘shadow’ body to overhaul railways

    The UK government announces the launch of Shadow Great British Railways as the Public Ownership Bill progresses through parliament. In the Labour manifesto, one of the party’s standout commitments was the creation of Great British Railways (GBR) – an effective renationalisation of the UK’s rail system that will happen gradually as existing private contracts elapse. In its manifesto, Labour said GBR will deliver a “unified system that focuses on reliable, affordable, high-quality, and efficient services; along with ensuring safety and accessibility”. Transport secretary Louise Haigh has a major role in overseeing the government’s plan to bring the UK’s railways back into public ownership. When Labour came into power in July 2024 she pledged that the government will “deliver value for…

  • Eccentric Engineer - Swing into Spring

    One of the simplest machines in engineering has to be the pendulum, a device known to anyone who has ever tied anything to a bit of string. But it has a strange and misunderstood history. You might imagine that the history of the pendulum is as old as history itself, but it is only really during the Renaissance that people started to wonder about them as timekeepers. The first clock with a pendulum appears, perhaps not surprisingly, in a drawing by Leonardo da Vinci from 1494 but, as with so many of his devices, he never built one, so we can’t be sure it would have worked any better than his helicopter. The list of illustrious scientists and pendulum myths grows from there. A story tells how Galileo Galilei was standing in Pisa Cathedral in 1581 when a breeze set the lamps of the building…

  • Volvo claims its electric semitruck can drive up to 600km on one charge

    Volvo’s electric semitruck can drive up to 600km on a single charge, representing a “breakthrough” for long-distance cargo transport, the Swedish car firm has said. Commercial vehicles responsible for transporting goods have to be capable of travelling long distances while carrying significant weight. To achieve this, they require heavy, expensive batteries, and range anxiety becomes more of an issue for long-haul journeys – factors that have caused issues for electrifying semitrucks in the past. But Volvo says its FH Electric truck, to be launched next year, has enough range to allow transport companies to operate on regional and long-distance routes, with drivers being able to work a full day without having to recharge. “Our new electric flagship will be a great complement to our wide…

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