• US and UK sign ‘landmark’ agreement to improve safety of AI

    A landmark agreement on artificial intelligence (AI) between the US and the UK will see both countries align their approaches to tackling the new risks that the technology poses. Technology secretary Michelle Donelan and US commerce secretary Gina Raimondo said the partnership will see both countries develop ways to evaluate AI models, systems, and agents. A recent report warned that eight million UK jobs could be at risk from AI, while both the White House and the European Parliament have approved laws this year to reduce the risks of the technology and improve transparency. The UK and US AI safety institutes have laid out plans to build a common approach to AI safety testing and intend to perform at least one joint testing exercise on a publicly accessible model. The agreement also…

  • Size matters in wind farm development

    Financial pressures and the economics of expansion may mean it’s time to reconsider the assumptions that drive offshore wind designs. Just over 20 years ago, the UK saw its first commercial offshore wind farm go into service close to north Wales resort Rhyl. Thirty turbines with rotors 80m in diameter each fed a maximum of 2MW into the grid. These windmills are now minnows compared with the behemoths that suppliers such as Siemens Gamesa and China-based Goldwind are now planting on the beds of shallow waters in the North Sea or Taiwan Strait. The prototype of Siemens’ largest design installed in Denmark in late 2021 has a single rotor with a diameter of 222m. It can, at full pelt, generate 15MW of electricity: over seven times the power from each of the first crop of turbines off the north…

  • Amazon ramps up investment in ChatGPT rival; White House announces AI guardrails

    Amazon has announced an additional $2.75bn investment in AI start-up Anthropic as it looks to gain a foothold in the rapidly expanding industry. Anthropic was founded by former members of ChatGPT-creator OpenAI and has already developed its own large language model, known as Claude, with similar functionality. The firm has already been using Amazon Web Services (AWS) as its primary cloud provider for workloads including safety research and further developing its model. Amazon invested $1.25bn in Anthropic in September, which means their total funding has now reached $4bn with the new allocation. The firms plan to target organisations in highly regulated industries such as healthcare, the public sector, banking and insurance to adopt AI solutions in their workflows. “Generative AI…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Designing Tidal Turbines That Are Safe for Marine Life

    Brett Marmo, technical director of Xi Engineering, discusses using acoustics simulation to analyse the impact of tidal turbines on harbor seals. Creating clean energy alternatives for energy sources that generate greenhouse gas is crucial if we are to avoid excessive global heating and the rising climate crisis. A viable, renewable energy source are ocean tides, which, unlike solar and wind resources, are not weather dependent, making them predictable. Tidal energy can be harnessed by deploying tidal turbines into tidal streams. This process is the foundation of the MeyGen project, a massive renewable energy project that is planned to be the world’s largest tidal energy plant. Recently, an array of tidal turbines has been deployed at this project site, where tides flowing between the Atlantic…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Negative leap second could be delayed as climate change slows the Earth’s rotation

    Climate change is slowing the Earth’s rotation and the way in which we measure time may need to change, a study has found. Synchronised global timekeeping is crucial for maintaining the accuracy of various technologies, from smartphones to computer networks. Currently, leap seconds are added roughly every two to three years to help align atomic clocks with the Earth’s irregular rotation. In 1972, a day defined by the Earth’s rotation was 0.0025 seconds (2,500 microseconds) longer than the one defined by atomic clocks. Over the course of a year, the accumulated difference was almost a second, so a leap second was used to keep the difference from getting any larger. But in 2023, the two kinds of day differed by only 80 microseconds, so the difference in time over a year added up to only 0…

  • Flying taxi test flight in China cuts journey time by nearly 90%

    Chinese firm AutoFlight claims it completed “the world’s first inter-city electric air-taxi” flight last month between the southern Chinese cities of Shenzhen and Zhuhai. The five-seater Prosperity aircraft took around 20 minutes to complete the 50km route across the Pearl River Delta, which would take around three hours by car. It used one of 100 flightpaths that have been set out by the local government for electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. Prosperity’s vertical take-off capabilities eliminated the need for a runway although wings were utilised to preserve energy during cruising. While the demonstration was uncrewed and fully autonomous, the firm believes it will get certification for crewed passenger flights within the next couple of years. According to AutoFlight…

  • Sizewell C signs land deal with EDF to allow nuclear plant construction works to begin

    Sizewell C Ltd, the publicly owned firm behind the new nuclear plant, has signed a deal with EDF Energy to purchase the land needed to construct the project. The agreement marks a crucial step in its progress gaining eligibility from the Office for Nuclear Regulation to begin construction. Under the terms of the deal, the company will acquire the freehold of the land, essential for the construction and subsequent operation of the new power station. With the UK’s ageing fleet of eight nuclear power stations in need of replacement, and only EDF’s Hinkley Point C currently undergoing construction, Sizewell C will play an important role in backing up renewable energy in the switch away from fossil fuels. The project is expected to be finished by 2036 at the latest and will provide 7% of the…

  • Artificial intelligence puts 8 million UK jobs at risk, report finds

    An estimated 8 million jobs in the UK are at risk from artificial intelligence (AI) unless the government enacts proactive policies to prevent this, a report from a think tank has warned. The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has said that back-office, entry-level and part-time jobs in particular are heavily exposed to automation, and women are also “significantly” more affected. The report identifies two key stages of generative AI adoption: the first wave, which is already here, and a second wave, when companies will integrate existing AI technologies further and more deeply into their processes. The body analysed 22,000 tasks in the UK economy, covering every type of job, and found that while only 11% of tasks are thought to be exposed to existing generative AI, this could…

  • Sophisticated searching of deep space

    It’s the ultimate astronomers’ question: ‘Is there anybody out there?’ The quest to find out for sure is growing ever more sophisticated. It was the call he’d always hoped for. Astrophysicist Chris Lintott was contacted at his Oxford home by an excited journalist with a question: “Is it true? Have we really discovered aliens?” At that time, stargazers believed an oddly behaving star might be a sign of intelligent life. It transpired to be a false alarm – one of a few in living memory that have raised the hopes of scientists and space enthusiasts that we might not be alone in the universe (see False alarms and the unexplained, overleaf). But Lintott – presenter of The Sky at Night and a professor at the University of Oxford who looks for astronomical anomalies using machine learning –…

  • Trial begins for UK’s first long-distance coach route using EVs

    The UK’s first long-distance coach route using an electrically-powered vehicle is being trialled by FlixBus. The bus operator is trying the new vehicles out on a route between London, Bristol and Newport between March and June this year. It said the vehicle will save 352kg of carbon emissions per day driven on this route compared to the average diesel-fuelled coach. This equals a reduction of more than 21 tonnes of CO2 over the course of the pilot. The electric vehicle (EV) has a battery rating of 282kWh, and will be charged using “ultra-fast state-of-the-art chargers” at a Transport UK London Bus depot in Battersea in London and Newport Transport’s headquarters in South Wales. FlixBus UK managing director Andreas Schorling said: “This is a huge step forward for the UK coach sector, transforming…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • China accused of ‘unacceptable behaviour’ after Electoral Commission hack

    Chinese hackers have been blamed for two cyber attacks targeting UK politicians and the national election commission. APT31, a hacking group affiliated with the Chinese state, was found to be “almost certainly responsible” for targeting UK parliamentarians’ emails in 2021. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said the attacks were targeted at members who have been prominent in calling out malign activity originating in China. Separately, computer systems at the Electoral Commission were also found to be compromised between 2021 and 2022. The NCSC said it was “highly likely” that the attackers accessed email data as well as data from the electoral register during this time. It said the data would be used by Chinese intelligence services for large-scale espionage and repressing perceived…

  • Calls for blanket ban on deforestation-linked products rejected by government

    The government has rejected recommendations to ban UK businesses from trading in products linked to deforestation, regardless of whether their production was legal. The cross-party Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) had said UK businesses should be banned from trading in commodities linked to UN-defined deforestation in all cases, regardless of whether the deforestation was illegal or permitted by local laws. It previously found that the consumption of commodities such as soy, cocoa, palm oil, beef and leather by domestic consumers is unsustainable and leading to rampant deforestation across the globe. A zero-deforestation approach would encourage consistency in trading such commodities across UK and European markets. But in its response to the EAC’s report, the government said: “The…

  • Labour’s plan to decarbonise the grid by 2030 is ‘infeasible’, report finds

    Labour’s £116bn plan to decarbonise the power sector by 2030 is “infeasible in the timeframe”, the Policy Exchange think tank has said. The body commissioned Aurora Energy Research to conduct a rigorous analysis of different scenarios in which the UK could achieve a net zero power sector. If it wins the next election, the Labour Party has announced plans to accelerate the UK’s efforts to make its power grid net zero from 2035 to 2030. It said the plan would ultimately cut household energy bills by up to £1,400 a year and improve insulation for millions of homes. But the new report argues that decarbonising the grid by 2030 is a “fundamentally different proposition” to decarbonising the grid by 2035. The shorter timeframe does not allow additional generation from nuclear or bioenergy with…

  • Where in the world is Maglev

    Maglev technology has been under development all around the world for decades. So why is it confined to east Asia today? Maglev brings to mind The Future. Arguably, it has been doing so for more than a century – the concept dates back to the early 1900s, when German engineer Alfred Zehden was awarded a patent for a system that would propel a train using magnetism. In basic terms, maglev is a form of high-speed transportation in which a train is held above its tracks with magnetic levitation (from which the word maglev is derived). There is variation between designs: they can be monorail or dual rail; use conventional or supercooled, superconducting electromagnets; or even be slotted inside gigantic vacuum tubes to minimise drag. What these models all have in common, and what distinguishes…

  • Researchers create a plant-based plastic that biodegrades in less than seven months

    In a new study, scientists at the University of California San Diego show that their plant-based polymer could offer a viable alternative to traditional petroleum-based plastics. We know all too well that we have a problem with plastics entering our soils and ocean. According to US environmental advocacy group Ocean Conservancy, 11 million metric tons of plastics enter our oceans every year. This is in addition to the estimated 200 million metric tons that are already there. This petroleum-based plastic comes from a whole variety of sources including drinks bottles, other types of plastic packaging and resin pellets used in manufacturing. Much of this plastic will bob on the surface of the ocean for years, such as in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It has an estimated surface area of…

  • UK government invests a further £143m to roll out almost a thousand new electric buses

    Rural areas will be prioritised to receive new electric buses as part of a funding scheme that aims to introduce the zero-emission vehicles across the country. Since the scrapping of HS2’s northern leg, the UK government has made it clear that it plans to reallocate funds to improve local transport, including the bus network. In its most recent announcement, the government says that an additional 955 electric buses will soon take to our roads as part of a funding scheme that will see 25 councils receive funding to decarbonise their bus fleets. This Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) scheme has already enabled many local transport authorities to introduce zero-emission buses. According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, zero-emission buses accounted for almost half…

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    E+T Magazine

  • Competition investigation launched into proposed Vodafone/Three merger

    An investigation into the proposed merger between network operators Vodafone and Three is being planned by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) over concerns that it could lead to higher prices for consumers. Last year, both businesses announced a joint agreement, which would bring their 27 million customers under a single network provider. There are only four major operators in the UK, and this would unify half the market under one banner. The regulator already carried out a Phase 1 investigation in January to identify whether the deal may lead to a “substantial lessening of competition”. The Phase 2 investigation will now allow an independent panel of experts to probe in more depth the initial concerns identified at Phase 1. The proposed deal has already sparked security concerns…

  • Government bill could put citizens’ privacy, security and safety at risk, warns TechUK

    Trade body TechUK and a broad range of stakeholders have issued a joint statement expressing concerns over the Investigatory Powers (Amendment) Bill. In November 2023, parliament debated the Investigatory Powers (Amendment) Bill (IP(A) Bill). In the briefing the Home Office stated that the number one priority of any government is to keep its citizens and country safe, and this bill seeks to make a set of targeted amendments to the Investigatory Powers Act 2016. The aim, according to the Home Office, of wanting to amend the law is to “keep pace with a range of evolving threats against a backdrop of accelerating technological advancements”. Ahead of the IP(A) Bill being debated again in parliament on 25 March, non-profit trade body TechUK has released a joint statement expressing concerns…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Forest fires could be tackled by swarms of drones

    Swarms of drones could be used to tackle natural disasters such as forest fires, researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have said. Climate change is leading to a global increase in the number of forest fires that occur. The researchers have developed an algorithm that allows swarms of drones to communicate with each other and make independent decisions. When an alarm is raised about a potential fire, the swarms of drones can be sent in. Each is equipped with cameras, thermal and infrared sensors, and temperature detectors to spot the fires. Once the fire is discovered, the drone closest to it becomes the centre of the swarm and attracts others towards it. Each drone also has the autonomy to calculate the fire’s size and potential spread, and decide how many drones are needed…

  • Is disinformation distorting democracy?

    Around half the world’s population have the chance to vote in elections this year – the UK included – so it’s little surprise that we’re already being bombarded with disinformation designed to influence our voting choices. In January, research was published revealing that over 100 deepfake video ads impersonating Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had reached 400,000 people on Facebook as part of a concerted smear campaign. According to research from communications company Fenimore Harper, a spoof BBC News story claiming Sunak has taken part in a billion-dollar scam with Elon Musk had been promoted by anonymous sources in 23 countries. Labour leader Keir Starmer received similar treatment on the opening day of last October’s Labour Party conference, when a fake audio clip of Starmer swearing…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • SpaceX to scale astronaut launch capabilities with a second launch pad in Florida

    SpaceX is in the final stages of certifying a second pad for astronaut launches, which will enable the company to reach its ambition of sending more astronauts into space. To date, SpaceX has performed 13 crewed missions. All of these have been launched from Launch Complex 39A at Nasa’s Kennedy Space Centre. The Kennedy Space Centre, which opened on 1 July 1962, is a multiuser spaceport with more than 90 private-sector partners and nearly 250 partnership agreements. It’s the only pad currently certified for human spaceflight. With SpaceX keen to expand its crew launch capacity, it has long intended to upgrade a second pad – SLC-40 – at the neighbouring Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and certify it for human spaceflight. The upgrade of this second pad is going to plan, with SpaceX…

  • UK rail operator faces immediate removal over ‘unacceptable’ performance

    Avanti West Coast (AWC) should have its licence to operate the West Coast Main Line route removed “at the earliest possible opportunity,” Transport for the North (TfN) has said. The group, which represents leaders from transport, business and politics across the north of England, said that passengers have endured months of poor performance from the operator. “A continuation of the current situation is unacceptable to the north,” a report to the TfN board stated. It considered two options including setting a target for improvement by June or immediately terminating the contract for poor performance. It opted for the latter after hearing from Avanti’s managing director Steve Montgomery. TfN plans to write to transport secretary Mark Harper calling for the AWC contract to be terminated…

  • Global e-waste quantities rising five times faster than recycling efforts

    Global quantities of e-waste are rising around five times faster than efforts to recycle e-waste, figures from the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) show. A record 62 million tonnes (Mt) of e-waste was produced in 2022, up 82% from 2010. This is forecast to rise another 32%, to 82Mt, by 2030. With even low-cost electricals containing precious materials such as gold, aluminium and lithium, billions of dollars of valuable resources are squandered by the failure to properly collect and process e-waste. Less than one quarter (22.3%) of the year’s e-waste mass was documented as having been properly collected and recycled in 2022, leaving $62bn of recoverable natural resources unaccounted for and increasing pollution risks to communities worldwide. The move towards…

  • Decisive policy is a must if shipping is to hit net zero by 2050, argues new report

    It is possible for sustainable shipping fuels to reach cost parity with fossil fuels by 2035, but only with the help of decisive emissions policy, according to a new report from technology company Wärtsilä. Shipping is responsible for transporting 80% of world trade. While it is the most efficient and environmental means of transporting goods, it emits 2% of global emissions. The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has set a target to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, but without action emissions could reach more than 45% by 2050. Wärtsilä’s report Sustainable fuels for shipping by 2050 – the 3 key elements of success finds that while existing decarbonisation solutions, such as fuel efficiency measures, could cut up to 27% of emissions, sustainable fuels will be a critical step…

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