• Removing excess water vapour from the stratosphere could help cool our planet

    A research team at the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration (NOAA) is exploring the possibility of removing excess water vapour from the Earth’s atmosphere to combat climate change. While human-caused CO2 emissions are by far the most important driver of climate change, water vapour is actually the most abundant greenhouse gas. It is responsible for about half of the Earth’s natural greenhouse effect that helps to keep our planet habitable. Scientists at NOAA’s Chemical Sciences Laboratory are now exploring whether, instead of removing excess heat-trapping CO2 from the atmosphere, we look to removing excess water vapour. They have called their concept intentional stratospheric dehydration (ISD). It involves dispersing small ice particles into high altitude regions of the atmosphere…

  • Systems Engineering at BAE Systems

    When you provide some of the world's most advanced, technology-led defence, aerospace and security solutions you need creative, innovative and diverse teams to deliver them. We employ a skilled workforce of 93,100 people in around 40 countries across the world. Working with customers and local partners, we develop, engineer, manufacture, and support products and systems to deliver military capability, protect national security and people, and keep critical information and infrastructure secure. We trust and empower our people to thrive, no matter what their background or experience. Our engineers are redefining global defence and as a systems engineer at BAE Systems, you’ll be part of a team integrating leading edge technologies to provide our military services with competitive advantage…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Robotic jellyfish to explore areas of the ocean where no human has gone before

    Researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have augmented jellyfish with cyborg technology to gather data about how our oceans are affected by climate change. An interesting fact about jellyfish is that they don’t have a brain. Another is that they have been roaming the ocean for at least 600 million years. It is this last fact that piqued the interest of researchers at Caltech. As jellyfish are able to journey to depths humans can’t, the researchers considered using them to collect information about the ocean’s temperature, salinity and oxygen levels – particularly how they are affected by climate change. Led by John Dabiri, centennial professor of aeronautics and mechanical engineering at Caltech, the research team created biohybrid robotic jellyfish. These ocean…

  • Narendra Modi lays foundation stone on India’s first spaceport in over 50 years

    India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the country’s second spaceport yesterday, as the country ramps up its space ambitions. The spaceport will be located at Kulasekharapatnam, a coastal village in Tamil Nadu’s Thoothukudi district, which has been designed to support smaller rocket launches. According to the Indian Space Research Organisation, the site was chosen because it offers “strategic advantages” for firms wanting to launch from the site, particularly through enhancing payload capability with its direct southward launch trajectory for small launch vehicles. While the spaceport is not yet ready for private launches, at the inauguration event, a Rohini Sounding Rocket ‘RH-200’ was launched from a mobile launchpad and reached a peak altitude of 75km that…

  • Zero-emission Energy Observer nears the end of its voyage after seven years

    Built as a floating laboratory for renewable energy technologies, the 100-foot Energy Observer has logged 63,040 nautical miles without burning any fossil fuels. The shipping industry is a major culprit when it comes to releasing carbon emissions into our atmosphere. According to the European Commission, in 2018 global shipping emissions represented 1,076m tonnes of CO2 and were responsible for around 2.9% of global emissions caused by human activities. In a bid to reduce the climate change impact of shipping activities, in 2013 French-based Energy Observer set itself a mission to create the first self-sufficient vessel capable of drawing energy only from zero-emission technologies. Four years later in 2017, the Energy Observer catamaran was launched. It set sail with an onboard energy…

  • Australia’s abandoned mines could solve renewable energy storage problem, study finds

    Researchers have identified 37 former mining sites in Australia that present the ideal conditions for installing pumped hydro facilities as a way to store renewable energy. Pumped-storage hydroelectricity is effectively a way of storing energy in the form of gravitational potential energy of water, pumped from a lower elevation reservoir to a higher elevation. Low-cost surplus off-peak electric power is typically used to run the pumps. During periods of high electrical demand, the stored water is released through turbines to produce electric power. Due to Australia’s sizeable mining industry, there are a significant number of mining pits that could be transformed into reservoirs to make mass energy storage a reality, according to a team of researchers from the Australian National University…

  • Spot the bot: social media users struggle to tell humans from bots

    A new study shows that people embroiled in political discussions on social media find it difficult to identify AI bots, increasing the risk of spreading misinformation. Social media platforms are increasingly used to engage in political discourse. However, with the rise in AI bots it is becoming increasingly difficult to decipher whether the user behind the account is human or not. AI bots are automated accounts programmed to interact in a very human-like manner. AI bots based on large language models (LLMs) – which enable them to understand language and generate text – were used by researchers at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, US, to engage with humans in a political discussion on the social networking platform Mastodon. These AI bots were customised with different personas…

  • Electric car carbon emissions more than twice those of train travel – Rail Delivery Group

    Rail travel is almost two-and-a-half times less carbon intensive per mile than using an electric car, new figures from the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) have shown. The body, which represents the rail industry, has been collecting detailed data on trains across the entire sector including engine type, fuel type, journey distance, occupancy and carriage layout. On average, across the top 100 business travel routes, taking the train for business travel produces nine times less carbon than going by diesel or petrol car, more than four times less carbon than using a plug-in hybrid electric car and almost two-and-a-half times less carbon than using a battery electric car. Some of the business travel journeys with the lowest carbon emissions per passenger (compared to one person travelling alone…

  • 3D-printed prosthetic eyes prove ‘life-changing’ for patients

    A research team in Germany has developed an AI-driven digital process for manufacturing ocular prostheses that yields higher-quality results more quickly than manual processes. Prosthetic eyes are used by patients who have suffered eye loss due to serious injuries or illness. According to Moorfields Eye Charity, in the UK 60,000 to 70,000 people and over eight million people worldwide wear a prosthetic eye. Ocular prostheses are not new. They date back to the 1950s when ocularists would custom-make them to match the patient’s eye socket shape. They would then painstakingly handpaint an iris to replicate the patient’s remaining eye. In 70 years these methods have not changed much. The process still requires highly skilled ocularists using manual processes. While digital design has somewhat…

  • Tata Group confirms £4bn gigafactory will be built in Somerset

    Tata Group has confirmed it will build a £4bn “gigafactory” that will produce batteries for electric vehicles (EV) in Somerset. Agratas, the subsidiary firm that will be overseeing the new project, said the factory will create up to 4,000 direct jobs and many more as part of the supply chain. MPs have previously called on the government to “urgently create” an attractive environment for EV battery production in the UK or risk falling behind competitors. A report from the cross-party Business and Trade Select Committee in November claimed that if the gap is not plugged, automotive production in the UK could decline, putting hundreds of thousands of jobs at risk. Currently, China accounts for 78% of the world’s cathode production, and its dominance over large parts of the battery supply…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Delays at Hinkley Point C could lead to blackouts in 2028, says new report

    Setbacks in bringing in new nuclear power means energy supply is not coming online fast enough, and could cause an energy security crunch point in 2028. According to a new independent report by Public First, Mind the gap: Exploring Britain’s energy crunch, commissioned by power generation business Drax Group, the next government will need to take action early on to ensure the nation’s lights remain on. The report predicts that the UK’s demand for power will exceed baseload capacity by 7.5GW at peak times by 2028 – a shortfall equivalent to the power used by more than seven million homes. A major factor is that Hinkley Point C is facing further delays. Originally set to open in 2023, the UK’s first new nuclear plant in a generation now has an estimated completion date of 2029. These…

  • Google to relaunch Gemini AI after coming under fire for ‘inaccuracies in historical’ depictions

    Google has put its AI tool on pause due to inaccuracies in images it was producing, with a relaunch due in the coming weeks. Generative AI has received its fair share of attention in recent times. It can create content – such as audio, images, text, simulations and videos – in a matter of seconds without any human input. Much has been made of the generative AI chatbot ChatGPT, launched by OpenAI in November 2022, and its ability to generate text. Powered by a large language model, ChatGPT generates content that looks as though a human has created it. The release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT triggered other tech companies to join the fray. For instance, Meta unveiled a new series of AI chatbots for its Messenger service in October 2023 and Amazon announced its new Amazon bot, named Q, in November…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Net zero economy boasts 9% growth in 2023, vastly outpacing UK economy

    The UK’s net zero economy grew 9% last year, a report commissioned by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) has found. The analysis suggests the sector is flourishing compared to the UK economy as a whole, which grew by just 0.1% in 2023. The ECIU, which is a non-profit group, commissioned CBI Economics and The Data City to draw up the new report. It found that the total gross value added (GVA) by businesses involved in the net zero economy now stands at £74bn. However, CBI Economics warned that without further investment and policy stability, growth in the sector could slow as the US and EU compete to attract and develop clean industries. The analysis found that jobs in the net zero economy are highly productive, generating £114,300 in economic activity – more than one and…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • BT shuts down its final 3G mobile site in the UK

    Mobile operator EE, which is owned by BT Group, has confirmed that it has switched off its final 3G mobile site as it shifts its network over to newer technology. The firm said it spent much of last year “phasing out” its customer’s reliance on 3G after completing a pilot switch-off in Warrington. Since then, it has been methodically retiring the technology across more than 18,000 mobile sites, with time dedicated to pauses in the switch-off so it could monitor the impact on customers. EE said the closure of its 3G network is an energy-saving measure that has already saved enough electricity to charge nearly one billion smartphones, and it will continue to monitor the performance of its 2G, 4G and 5G networks to ensure its customers continue to get a reliable connection. Rival networks…

  • UK poised to build ‘record’ number of new offshore wind farms, says RenewableUK

    A record 14 offshore wind projects are eligible for the upcoming contract for difference (CFD) auction, potentially adding nearly 10.3GW of new capacity to the UK’s energy grid. CFD auctions invite companies to bid to develop UK-based renewable energy projects. As part of the deal, they receive a guaranteed price from the UK government for the electricity they will generate. In its report EnergyPulse Insights: offshore wind October 2023, industry body RenewableUK said the upcoming auction this summer could set a new record for additional capacity. Last year’s auction was labelled a “disaster” after no new projects submitted bids as the price for energy generated was deemed too low. The rectify the situation, the UK raised the price it would pay for offshore wind energy by 66%, as well…

  • £4.7bn from HS2’s scrapped northern leg will be redirected to local transport projects

    Under pressure to address the lack of a northern leg and amid accusations of the HS2 project being “very poor value for money”, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has announced that £4.7bn from the HS2 pot will be redirected into improving local transport connections in the North of England and the Midlands. The Local Transport Fund will be used by local authorities in the North and Midlands to invest in transport projects that ‘will benefit more people, in more places, more quickly than HS2 ever would have done’. The promise of HS2, first envisaged by the Gordon Brown government in 2009, was to connect the North of England to London with a new zero-carbon high-speed railway. Fast forward 15 years and HS2 is nowhere near completion. Residents across Oxfordshire and Warwickshire have experienced…

  • Ofgem confirms price cap will fall to lowest level in two years

    Ofgem has confirmed that the energy price cap will fall to £1,690 – the lowest level in two years. In recent years, UK households have had to contend with record-high energy prices due to surging demand following the relaxation of Covid-19 lockdown rules, and then the war in Ukraine, which effectively took fossil fuels of Russian origin out of the market. Compared with other European countries, the UK has been particularly affected by high wholesale costs as the privatised energy sector left households open to the full brunt of high market prices coupled with very limited gas storage following the closure of several sites by the government. The price cap, as set out in law in 2018, reflects what it costs to supply energy to our homes by setting a maximum that suppliers can charge per…

  • Confidential comms from quantum satellites

    With its Micius satellite, China proved it possible to use individual photons sent from space to communicate in almost total secrecy. Now, other countries are playing catch-up. Time is running out for our encryption – although no one knows quite when that will be. This threat is posed by quantum computers, which are ideally suited to cracking classical encryption schemes like RSA through sheer brute force. Any data being sent place to place is vulnerable – from military secrets to the financial and medical records of private citizens. “If you’re interested in the long-term security of data that has been transmitted … you should probably be concerned about the future emergence of quantum computing technology, because of the ‘harvest now, decrypt later’ attack that could be present on any…

  • US-built spacecraft lands on the Moon for the first time in 50 years

    A spacecraft made by a US firm has landed on the surface of the Moon for the first time in over 50 years. Intuitive Machines, which is based in Texas, launched its robotic lunar lander last week atop a SpaceX rocket. The 1,908kg Nova-C lander – known as Odysseus or ‘Odie’ – comes equipped with a range of payloads from Nasa and commercial partners that are designed to carry out a diverse array of scientific tasks on the surface of the Moon. “After troubleshooting communications, flight controllers have confirmed Odysseus is upright and starting to send data,” Intuitive Machines said in an X (formerly Twitter) post early this morning. “Right now, we are working to downlink the first images from the lunar surface.” Over the last 24 hours, the firm issued a “lunar correction manoeuvre” to…

  • Nuclear fusion stabilised with AI controller

    A study from Princeton University and Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory researchers has described the use of AI to forecast and prevent instabilities in plasma, in what could be a significant step towards viable nuclear fusion power. Nuclear fusion is a reaction in which two or more nuclei are fused together – for low-mass nuclei, this usually results in the release of energy. Harvesting this energy to boil water and turn steam turbines could provide an almost unlimited source of green power, but nuclear fusion power remains unviable after decades of work. Nuclear fusion reactions have not been sustained for longer than seconds, with a new record being set earlier this year by researchers at the Joint European Torus in Oxfordshire, who sustained fusion for five seconds. Most nuclear…

  • E+T Deconstructed: Can the UK turn a non-existing satellite launch sector into a £40bn industry?

    The UK has come up with a plan to build seven domestic spaceports in a bid to make it one of Europe’s most enticing countries for the rapidly expanding satellite industry. But investing in space can be risky business – in the past even experienced players have had to contend with failed launches and expensive accidents. E+T asks whether the UK will be able to turn a non-existing satellite launch sector into a £40bn powerhouse.

  • China risks missing climate targets due to post-Covid energy demand boom

    China’s soaring carbon emissions are making it increasingly difficult to meet the government’s own ‘carbon intensity’ targets, an analysis has found. Using official data, the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) found that carbon dioxide emissions increased by 5.2% in 2023, which means a reduction of 4-6% is needed by 2025. Rapid growth in electricity demand and low rainfall – which affected hydropower output – boosted demand for coal power in 2023, while the economic rebound from zero-Covid policies increased oil usage. China’s CO2 emissions increased by 12% between 2020 and 2023, after a highly energy- and carbon-intensive response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The country is also at risk of missing all of its other key climate targets for 2025, including pledges to strictly…

  • Retired ESA satellite burns up over Pacific Ocean

    An uncontrolled satellite, ERS-2, has re-entered Earth’s atmosphere almost 30 years after its launch. ERS-2 underwent a ‘natural’ re-entry, meaning that it was not being controlled by humans – this made it impossible to pinpoint exactly when and where it would occur. However, the European Space Agency (ESA) was able to provide more precise estimates as it approached Earth, within a 4.5 hour window of uncertainty. ESA released images of the satellite falling towards the atmosphere earlier this week ahead of its re-entry. The photos were taken between 14 January and 3 February when ERS-2 was still at an altitude of above 300km. It has since been falling more than 10km every day, and accelerating rapidly. At around 80km, it was due to reach the ‘critical altitude’ at which atmospheric drag…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Labour urges end to ‘dither and delay’ over Newport Wafer Fab

    Jo Stevens, the shadow Welsh secretary, has called on the government to take action to protect jobs at the south Wales chipmaking plant. Newport Wafer Fab is the UK’s largest chipmaking plant and produces chips that can be found in everyday devices such as kettles, hairdryers, smartphone chargers and cars. Built in 1980, it has since passed through several owners. In 2021, it was sold for £63m to Nexperia, which is headquartered in the Netherlands and owned by partially state-owned Chinese company Wingtech Technology. This acquisition thrust Newport Wafer Fab into the ongoing ‘chip wars’. In November 2022, the government blocked the sale following a national security probe. Then business secretary Grant Shapps wrote on social media at the time: “I’ve issued a Final Order under the [National…

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