• Climate change is shrinking the thermosphere and crowding out satellites – MIT study

    Scientists have predicted a fall in the number of satellites that can sustainably operate in low-Earth orbit (LEO), because of the impact of climate change on the atmosphere. According to a new study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), greenhouse gas emissions are causing the upper atmosphere, known as the thermosphere, to shrink, which changes the way bodies orbit around the Earth. Satellites in LEO reduce the latency effect associated with those operating in a much higher orbit. This is particularly beneficial to the growing satellite constellations that aim to give total broadband internet coverage around the world, such as services from Starlink and Amazon’s Project Kuiper. There are already over 10,000 satellites operating in LEO. When the thermosphere contracts…

  • Only 17% of cities meet WHO air pollution guideline, report finds

    The recently published 2024 IQAir World air quality report has revealed some alarming trends of air pollution levels worldwide. In its 7th annual report, Swiss technology company IQAir significantly expanded the amount of monitoring stations from its previous year’s report. From 30,000 air quality monitoring stations in 2023, for this year’s report data was analysed from more than 40,000 air quality monitoring stations across 8,954 locations in 138 countries, territories and regions. This increase is attributed to the low-cost air quality monitors used by citizen scientists, researchers, community advocates and local organisations. These monitors have helped to provide a more accurate picture of air pollution levels worldwide. Of the 138 countries analysed, the report found that Chad…

  • Neom gigaproject reportedly turning into a financial disaster, with costs soaring to $8.8tn

    Currently under construction in the Saudi desert, the highly ambitious megacity Neom has become a financial disaster, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ). Neom was first announced in 2017 by the project’s mastermind Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia. Plans for the gigaproject included a 170km linear city called The Line, which will span three countries (Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan) across 26,500km2 of desert along the Red Sea. In October 2024, Saudi Arabia opened the first area of Neom, a luxury island known as Sindalah, and last month construction began on the Hidden Marina development, the first phase of The Line. According to a recent article in Arabian Gulf Business Insight, the Neom project is using one-fifth of the entire world’s available…

  • Africa experienced record internet shutdowns in 2024 as leaders sought to suppress dissent

    Africa saw more internet shutdowns in 2024 than ever before as autocratic leaders looked to disempower grassroots movements amid contentious elections. Internet rights group Access Now has issued a report showing how authorities imposed at least 296 internet shutdowns in 54 countries, causing chaos across borders and exacerbating trauma during conflict. The findings reveal that 21 shutdowns impacted 15 countries in Africa – the highest number of shutdowns ever recorded in a single year for the region. For the second year in a row, authorities and warring parties used internet shutdowns as a weapon of war and a tool for collective punishment. Access Now also said they were sometimes used to conceal human rights abuses. The countries identified that were most affected included: Burundi…

  • UK government to grant £250 a year off energy bills to those living near new pylons

    To prevent potential pylon backlash, the UK government has said that those living near new pylons could receive £250 a year off their energy bills. Households within half a kilometre of new or upgraded power infrastructure, including pylons and substations, could receive up to £2,500 over 10 years, The Guardian has reported. In September 2024, Labour set out its ambitious planning reforms, including the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which is due to be introduced this week. The bill aims to support the government’s commitment to building 1.5 million homes. It will help streamline the process for approving critical infrastructure and overhaul rules on the compulsory purchase of land. This critical infrastructure includes power infrastructure. The UK currently faces an urgent need…

  • Editor's comment: Let's get smart

    Clearly neither Los Angeles burning out west, nor the unusually cold weather in the east that drove the inauguration ceremonies indoors, could persuade incoming President Trump that pulling out of the Paris Agreement was anything but a good idea. He signed an executive order on inauguration day to initiate the withdrawal process. In the meantime, the US will start to ‘drill, baby, drill’ itself back to economic prosperity, or so Trump believes. In the absence of US leadership, however, there is another force for good that could yet save mankind – engineering. There is very little engineered today that doesn’t take sustainability into account. Even the most demonised of machines, the internal combustion engine (ICE) car, is squeezed for efficiency and cleanliness. But ICE vehicles remain…

  • Creating cooler clothes for a warming world

    Fabrics designed to keep city dwellers’ body temperatures down could ease the impact of climate change in urban heat islands. As both global temperatures and urban populations rise, more and more city dwellers are now sweltering under the very real ‘urban heat island’ effect. Data from UK engineering consultancy Arup indicates that temperatures in both London and New York can surge by 4.5ºC compared to the surrounding countryside, Mumbai has 7ºC hotspots and parts of Madrid reach an alarming 8.5ºC higher than greener, cooler sites. Figures also indicate that the number of cities exposed to extreme temperatures of 35°C or more could triple by 2050, so many more urbanites look set to face higher air-conditioning bills at best – and heat-related illness and death at worst. But while these…

  • Dangerous diving in the offshore oil and gas industry

    In our last issue, we looked at some of the most hazardous jobs in the engineering sector. But one stood out as being worthy of an article in its own right – saturation diving for the offshore oil and gas industry. As a light shines from the approaching remotely operated vehicle (ROV), his limbs twitch and his arms reach out weakly as if grasping for help. His gas has long gone. His pipe snapped more than half an hour earlier and no one was expecting to find him, let alone alive. But the wait is haunting. The only ship that can deliver a diver to rescue him in time is struggling to regain control in stormy seas above. In the meantime, the helpless and horrified crew can only watch. This was back in 2012, and saturation diver Chris Lemons has no recollection of the encounter, though he’s…

  • Smart and the city: now with added AI

    The ‘bold visions of future urban living’ are being given a reboot, with AI at the forefront. When computer-generated images of gleaming new smart cities started to appear back in the 2000s, they would typically be captioned as a ‘bold vision of the future of urban living’. It is a vision that has been blurred by a succession of unforeseen legislation and disruptors in the years that followed. New environmental governance rules, data privacy regulation and mandates over how resources such as water and energy must be managed have all sent pioneering smart city planners back to their digital drawing boards. Smart city projects have been further tested by the global crosscurrents of economic turbulence, pandemics, geopolitics and policy shifts. Antipathy towards Big Tech players linked to…

  • Can artificial intelligence replace teachers in schools?

    A London school is using AI to teach a class – but will this really help pupils to learn and engage, and lighten the workload of struggling human teachers? In September 2024, an independent school in London announced that an AI platform would teach a group of its GCSE students. The ‘teacherless classroom’ (which still has three teachers overseeing youngsters using the alternative job title ‘learning coach’) caused both outrage and excitement in equal measure. Had AI finally crashed the cosy little party of British education, so often immune to goings-on in the outside world? Or was it just another attempt by clever tech developers to outdo their equally clever competitors? Search the internet and you will find all sorts of ‘go-to AI solutions for next-gen education’. Forget all that sort…

  • SpaceX rocket explodes after launch for second time this year

    Elon Musk’s SpaceX has suffered its second rocket failure this year after one of its spacecraft exploded just minutes after taking off from a Texas launchpad. The firm was using last night’s Starship launch to place mock satellites in orbit as part of longer-term plans to make long-haul trips to Mars. The Starship rocket is SpaceX’s largest spacecraft and has been developed with the intention of lowering launch costs through economies of scale. The rocket lifted off around 18.00 ET (23.00 GMT) last night, and while its super heavy first stage returned to the launchpad as expected, visualisations showed the upper stage spinning in space before the firm lost contact with it altogether. Final contact with Starship came approximately nine minutes and 30 seconds after lift-off. While no injuries…

  • Europe’s largest battery site, located in Scotland, goes live to balance the energy grid

    Zenobē, the UK grid-scale battery storage firm, has announced that its energy storage system in Blackhillock, Scotland, has begun commercial operations. The project will launch in two phases. The first phase, which has just gone live, comprises 200MW/400MWh. The second phase will follow in 2026 with a further 100MW, a total of 300MW/600MWh. According to Zenobē, this is the equivalent of powering over three million homes, substantially more than all the households in Scotland, for one hour. Promoted by the National Grid Electricity System Operator (NESO) in Scotland to improve the long-term stability of the electricity system, the project has been deliberately located between Inverness and Aberdeen to address grid congestion from Viking (443MW), Moray East (950MW) and Beatrice (588MW)…

  • VW seeks mass market success with reveal of €20,000 EV

    Volkswagen (VW) has unveiled the first shots of its upcoming affordable electric vehicle (EV), which is expected to go on sale in Europe for €20,000. The awkwardly named ‘ID. EVERY1’ has a new electric front-wheel drive system that supposedly optimises the space available in the vehicle while maximising efficiency. The concept vehicle is able to reach a top speed of 130 km/h and is powered by a newly developed electric drive motor that has a range of “at least” 250km. The production version will use a new software architecture allowing VW to provide it with additional functions through software updates over its lifespan. That software will be developed by EV maker Rivian after it signed a $5.8bn deal with VW last year to develop for both its own vehicles and the German car maker. The…

  • Government to keep North Sea drilling ban as it shifts focus to renewables

    The government has confirmed it will maintain the ban on new drilling licences for the North Sea as it looks to shift production over to other offshore industries such as hydrogen, carbon capture and wind power. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) said it would end the “windfall” tax on oil firms in 2030, but was looking at other regimes that could be activated in the event of future shocks in oil and gas prices. The windfall tax was first introduced in 2022 to help support households struggling with spiking energy prices in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Last month, climate researchers urged Prime Minister Keir Starmer not to approve a major new oil field in the North Sea, which the Treasury was rumoured to be considering as part of its efforts to boost economic…

  • Canada plans to phase out 'forever chemicals', starting with firefighting foams

    Canada’s federal government has announced it will phase out ‘forever chemicals’, with the first phase tackling firefighting foams, followed by cosmetics, food packaging and textiles. Since their invention in the 1940s, poly- and perfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) have spread worldwide. They represent a group of around 12,000 different chemicals and are known as ‘forever chemicals’ because of their unbreakable chemical structure. They consist of chains of carbon atoms of varying lengths surrounded by atoms of fluorine. These carbon-fluorine bonds repel both oil and water, which make them indispensable in a whole range of industries. They appear everywhere from non-stick cookware to waterproof cosmetics and clothing. They are also present in our general environment and in our bodies.…

  • Antarctic ozone layer is healing thanks to global CFC ban, MIT study finds

    The ozone layer above the Antarctic is healing thanks to global efforts to reduce ozone-depleting substances such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), an MIT study has found. Lying in the stratosphere, the ozone layer absorbs a portion of the radiation from the sun, preventing it from reaching the planet’s surface. That radiation can cause skin cancer, cataracts and damage to plants and marine life if it reaches the Earth’s surface unimpeded. In 1986, scientists led expeditions to the Antarctic, where they gathered evidence that a growing hole in the ozone layer was caused directly by broad use of CFCs – chemicals that were then deployed in refrigeration, air conditioning, insulation and aerosol propellants. The following year, those revelations led to the drafting of the Montreal Protocol…

  • Industry insight: Automation and digitisation key to closing the industrial skills gap

    Like many sectors, the industrial sector faces challenges in attracting and retaining talent. Aurelien Le Sant, CTO for industrial automation at Schneider Electric, looks at how increased automation and digitisation are key to solving these challenges. In 2024, Schneider Electric – in partnership with global technology research firm Omdia – published The future of work in industry report. In the report more than half of industrial companies (52%) surveyed considered talent acquisition and retention to be a top challenge, with many companies experiencing a talent drought of skilled manufacturing and industry professionals. A significant challenge is an ageing workforce, particularly in regions such as Japan, Europe and the US. Employees aged 55 and over now make up 25-40% of their respective…

  • Apple challenges UK government over demands to weaken iCloud encryption

    Apple has launched a legal challenge against the UK government over its demands for a “back door” into its cloud storage systems. A report from The Financial Times claims that the firm received a technical capability notice (TCN) in January that obliged it to give public bodies access beyond a layer of encryption that sits atop Apple’s iCloud system. The firm has appealed to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, an independent body that hears complaints about surveillance by public bodies, in a bid to reverse the decision. The case could be heard as early as this month, although it is unlikely that details will be made public over national security concerns. Apple has long taken a strong stance advocating for enhanced privacy and encryption protocols as part of its business model, which…

  • Finland launches Europe’s first 50-qubit superconducting quantum computer

    In the culmination of a four-year joint-development project, Finland has launched Europe’s first 50-qubit quantum computer. Finnish company IQM Quantum Computers partnered with VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland to develop the superconducting quantum computer. Located at VTT’s Micronova premises in the city of Espoo, the computer can now be used by companies and researchers who want to make use of its computing capabilities. While the field of quantum computing technology is still in its infancy, scientists believe that with its ability to solve problems that are unsolvable on classic computers, the technology could help power innovation in a range of fields, from drug discovery and smarter encryption software to manufacturing and AI. Erja Turunen, executive vice-president at…

  • Researchers explore sustainable ways to mine copper without destroying the planet

    Researchers at the Rio Tinto Centre for Future Materials in London are searching for ways to meet the global demand for copper while minimising environmental harm. Copper is an invaluable metal for global infrastructure, used in electrical wiring, plumbing and industrial machinery. It also plays a role in our move towards net zero as part of electrical vehicle production and solar panels, for instance. A study published last year found that renewable energy’s copper needs would outstrip what copper mines can produce at the current rate. Between 2018 and 2050, the world will need to mine 115% more copper than has been mined in all of human history just to meet current copper needs, even without considering the green energy transition. But copper mining has a huge environmental impact…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • TSMC to invest $100bn in US chipmaking plants as Trump pushes tariffs on imports

    TSMC has said it will invest an additional $100bn (£79bn) to build chipmaking facilities in the US as Donald Trump ramps up tariffs on foreign imports. The Taiwanese giant is renowned for its cutting-edge semiconductor manufacturing capabilities that are capable of producing some of the most advanced chips available, including those used in Apple’s iPhone and top-tier Android devices. The firm already pledged a $65bn investment in 2022 under former US President Joe Biden to build a chipmaking plant in Arizona (pictured), although that project faced delays due to a shortage of skilled workers. The additional $100bn pledged includes plans for three new fabrication plants, two advanced packaging facilities and an R&D team centre. TSMC said its expanded investment would support 40,000 construction…

  • EU makes progress towards 2030 zero-pollution targets but stronger action required, reports say

    Pollution levels remain too high in Europe, with the European Environment Agency (EEA) calling for Europeans to “consume better, differently and less”. The European Commission and the EEA have published two pollution-related reports. The first is the Zero pollution monitoring and outlook report, which provides an overview of the EU’s work to meet the 2030 zero-pollution targets. The second is the fourth Clean air outlook report, which analyses the prospects for reducing air pollution in the EU by 2030 and beyond. The reports reveal that while EU policies have contributed to certain improvements such as reducing air pollution, pesticide use, antimicrobials and ocean microplastics, urgent action is needed in other areas. These include noise pollution, microplastic pollution in the environment…

  • Evil Engineer: Could I turn the asteroid belt into a world of my own?

    This month, the Evil Engineer dispenses wisdom to a villain who longs to be king of the world – though another world would do. Dear Evil Engineer, When I was a child, I determined that my life’s ambition was to become king of the world. I have spent the decades since working my way up the social ladder, dispatching anyone who gets in my way, to make my dream my reality. Now, at the age of 57, I have reached the position of Deputy Leader of Leek Town Council. This does not fill me with confidence that I will be king of the world by retirement age. If I cannot become king of the world, perhaps I can still become king of ‘a’ world. The Outer Space Treaty prevents me claiming sovereignty over any celestial body, but I have thought of a possible loophole: how about if I constructed my own…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • UK navigates AI and defence ties with US as Trump reshapes global order

    Amid stormy clashes at presidential level, how is the technology landscape evolving through the melee? Since 2021, the UK has aligned and allied with the US on AI. But continuing to do so since Donald Trump replaced Joe Biden as president is making European allies nervous. AI is increasingly viewed in terms of national (and regional) security, and alarm has grown over Washington’s changed attitudes to the invasion of Ukraine and Nato. With Trump having suspended military aid to Kyiv, Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces a dilemma. There is the UK’s commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty but also its economic and military links to the US, links that have persisted until now, regardless of the colour of the presidency. At a late February press conference with Trump in Washington DC, Starmer unveiled…

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