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The software era has begun: will you turn left or right?

Comment: The deep software-driven transformation of the automotive industry should be a wake-up call for manufacturing. David Hughes, director of UKI Solutions Consulting at PTC, discusses why a new approach to product development is needed. Way back in 1965, MIT developed the Apollo Guidance Computer for Nasa’s Apollo program – the world’s first widely recognised embedded software system. Just six years later, in 1971, Intel released the first microprocessor, the 4004. This freed embedded software systems from hardware devices as independent computing units, and was a milestone in modern computer engineering. Fast forward to today, where software working on microprocessors is about to take over the world – or, at least, the role played by hardware in product development in the past century…

E+T Magazine in Research and Innovation
Breakthrough in medical imaging generates high-quality scans of blood vessels in real time

A new handheld scanner generates highly detailed photoacoustic tomography (PAT) imaging scans in real time, providing doctors with an accurate view of a patient’s blood vessels. Researchers involved in the study at University College London (UCL) say this medical imaging breakthrough could offer the potential for earlier diagnosis of diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease and arthritis. PAT imaging uses laser-generated ultrasound waves to visualise subtle changes (an early marker of disease) in veins less than 1mm in scale and arteries up to 15mm deep in human tissues. However, existing PAT scanners require the patient to be completely still for more than five minutes in order for the technology to generate a high enough quality 3D image of their blood vessels. In this study…

E+T Magazine
IET comment - Why only 20% of the British Public can Identify a Secure Password

Dr Junade Ali, IET fellow and cyber-security expert, reminds us that longer is better when it comes to securing our assets with uncrackable but memorable passwords. Every few days it seems there is yet another data breach of passwords online, and it gets ever harder for us to keep on top of our cyber security – even for those of us who do this for a living. But in an evolving online world, having strong passwords is more important than ever. When the first computer password emerged in 1961, it was never intended to secure our most valuable assets as society eventually moved online. However, over the following decades, more complex password rules were implemented to improve their security. Users were asked to remember complex passwords containing punctuation and numbers. This led to another…

E+T Magazine
UK government’s pylon roll-out plan receives backlash from local councils

Local councils have warned they will launch a High Court challenge to block the government’s plan to roll out electricity pylons across the UK. Essex, Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Suffolk county councils are concerned that the pylons will “wreck” local landscapes. As a result, all four councils have warned they will launch a High Court challenge to block the plans. The energy grid is formed from a complex web of pylons, cables, substations and transformers. But the current infrastructure is reaching capacity and cannot transport much more electricity. With the increase in electricity generated through renewables sources, particularly wind farms off the coast of Scotland, the energy grid needs to be expanded in order to transport electricity to homes and businesses across the country. …

E+T Magazine in Renewable Energy
Four firms shortlisted to build the UK’s next-generation nuclear power plants

The government has shortlisted four firms that could build a raft of new miniature nuclear power plants in the UK known as small modular reactors (SMR). British firm Rolls-Royce SMR, which has been exploring the technology for several years, is one of the contenders, alongside GE Hitachi, Holtec Britain and Westinghouse Electric Company. The tender to build the new SMRs was first announced by Great British Nuclear (GBN) last year, with six possible entrants including EDF, which ultimately failed to submit a bid by the deadline, and US firm NuScale Power, which was eliminated from the process earlier this week. A spokesperson for NuScale said it had been told it did not need additional support getting to market because it had already begun production of its reactor designs. The shortlist…

E+T Magazine in Nuclear Power
Is carbon capture the solution or a distraction from achieving net zero?

CCS is an industry buzz-acronym routinely deployed to refer to the removal of carbon dioxide from industrial processes in pursuit of climate change mitigation. But what is carbon capture and storage, and can it help us reach net zero and global temperature equilibrium? This will be neither the first nor the last time you’ll have read the following statement: “Stopping global warming requires net greenhouse gas emissions to fall to zero and remain at zero thereafter.” You can find variations on the theme in any media with even a passing interest in climate change – from the most trivial of online newsfeeds to industry white papers and peer-reviewed academic analyses. The words quoted above are taken from a paper published by the Global CCS Institute, Technology readiness and costs of CCS.…

E+T Magazine in Climate Change
Government urged to scrap £10.5bn in road projects to pay for rail upgrades

Campaigners have urged the government to cancel £10.5bn in road projects and use the money to fund new rail and public transport projects. In a letter to transport secretary Louise Haigh, the Campaign for Better Transport (CBT) said the £9bn Lower Thames Crossing (designs pictured) and the £1.5bn A66 Northern Trans-Pennine scheme were “large and unnecessary” road projects. The CBT argues that rather than basing the need for new road schemes on increasing capacity for heavy goods vehicles (HGVs), the government should instead invest in rail freight upgrades as an alternative to road building which would free up existing road space “for a fraction of the cost”. Haigh is expected to make a final decision next week on whether to grant a development consent order (DCO) for the Lower Thames…

E+T Magazine in Built Environment Technologies
Nasa teams up with Starfish Space on a mission to tackle orbital space junk

Nasa has awarded a $15m contract to Starfish Space for the agency’s first-ever commercial space debris inspection mission. The Small Spacecraft Propulsion and Inspection Capability mission – known as SSPICY – aims to conduct close inspection of defunct, or inoperable, US-owned satellites in low Earth orbit. Nasa has awarded the $15m SSPICY mission contract to Starfish Space, a space technology company based in Washington in the US, which will have three years to execute the mission. Nasa and Starfish Space took to X to make the announcement: The aim of the SSPICY mission is to help identify whether defunct satellites in low orbit could be repaired or whether they should be deorbited. The aim is to help pave the way for future satellite repair and disposal missions, with the ultimate…

E+T Magazine in Space
Carbon capture and storage needs major boost to reach 2°C climate target

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is not expanding fast enough to meet the 2°C climate target set out in the Paris Climate Agreement, a study has found. The study, led by researchers at Sweden’s Chalmers University of Technology and Norway’s University of Bergen, says that it’s unlikely that CCS will even expand fast enough to reach the 1.5°C target. CCS technology captures carbon dioxide and stores it deep underground. It is thought to play an important role in many climate mitigation strategies, including net zero targets. However, the study – Feasible deployment of carbon capture and storage and the requirements of climate targets – finds that despite all the talk about CCS, the current use of the technology remains negligible. Jessica Jewell, associate professor at Chalmers University…

E+T Magazine in Climate Change
Apple and Meta snub the EU’s voluntary pact on responsible use of AI

More than a hundred companies have signed the EU’s AI Pact pledging to use AI responsibly, but while Amazon, Google, Microsoft and OpenAI are among them, Apple and Meta have snubbed the initiative. Pact signatories agree on a set of voluntary commitments about how to use the burgeoning technology. This includes three ‘core actions’ they should adhere to, such as developing an AI governance strategy, identifying AI systems likely to be categorised as high-risk and promoting AI literacy and awareness among staff to ensure ethical and responsible development. The pact is a precursor of sorts to the EU’s AI Act that entered into force across all 27 EU member states on 1 August 2024, although enforcement actions for the majority of its provisions will not commence until August 2026. The AI…

E+T Magazine in Business Planning
Monitoring tech on the ISS to provide insights into climate change and natural disasters

With its unparalleled view of Earth, the International Space Station (ISS) is being installed with new environmental monitoring technology to improve the ability to observe and understand our planet. Through a commercial payload agreement with Airbus US Space & Defence, supported by the ISS National Laboratory, ISS plays host to a variety of payloads for cutting-edge research and product development. The Airbus payload hosting platform Bartolomeo is attached to the European Columbus Module of the ISS and can accommodate up to 12 different experiment modules, supplying them with power and providing data transmission to Earth. The Airbus team has since added the ArgUS multi-payload carrier – a payload accommodation plate that can host up to 10 smaller payloads within one standard payload…

E+T Magazine in Space
Gigafactory builder Northvolt cuts 1,600 jobs amid weak demand for EVs

Swedish battery developer Northvolt has announced it is cutting 1,600 jobs as it struggles with a tumultuous market for automotives. The firm, which specialises in building lithium-ion technology for electric vehicles (EVs), was founded in 2015 by former Tesla executives and is seen as one of Europe’s primary competitors to China in the battery manufacturing space. China currently dominates the rest of the world in the race for the most EV battery manufacturing, with nearly 66% of global capacity. Its Northvolt Ett factory, which is located in Skellefteå, northern Sweden, is Europe’s first homegrown gigafactory dedicated to producing lithium-ion batteries. But following a strategic review, the firm said it had “revised the scope” of its operations to focus on accelerating production of…

E+T Magazine in Business Planning
Global shipping off track to meet emissions target by 2030

The global shipping industry is off track to meet its target of zero-emission fuels accounting for 5% of all fuels by 2030, according to a new report. The report – Progress Towards Shipping’s 2030 Breakthrough – highlights that the next 12 months will prove critical to avoid shipping falling irreparably behind its climate goals. This third annual progress report has been published by the UCL Energy Institute at London’s Global University, UN Climate Change High-Level Champions, and the Getting to Zero Coalition (a Global Maritime Forum initiative). It warns that the majority of actors across the maritime ecosystem – which spans the five ‘system change levers’ of supply, demand, policy, finance and civil society – are moving too slowly to meet the internationally agreed target. Global…

E+T Magazine in Air Pollution
From additives to hands free farms: Can technology decarbonise UK agriculture?

Agriculture in the UK is becoming a climate change laggard, having made almost no reduction in emissions in nearly a decade. With government reluctant to incentivise dietary changes away from emissions-intensive foods, can technology make the difference? In 2022, then environment secretary George Eustice – responding to the Environmental Audit Committee over failures by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to progress its decarbonisation targets – sheepishly diverted to technology. He was “optimistic”, he said, about the role it would play in slashing agricultural emissions. Eustice’s uneasiness before the committee betrayed his predicament. Agriculture contributes less than 1% to the UK economy, but is responsible for around 11% of the country’s total greenhouse…

E+T Magazine in Management of Technology
VR tech helps pedestrians and cyclists navigate cities differently to swerve harmful pollutants

Virtual reality (VR) could be key to reducing the exposure of pedestrians and cyclists to harmful, non-exhaust vehicle emissions, according to a University of Birmingham study. Cyclists and pedestrians in city centres are exposed to numerous particle pollutants through the release of small particles from brakes, tyres and roads. These pollutants, which often cannot be seen by the naked eye, are harmful to human health, putting those in city centres at risk of serious diseases. In a study led by the University of Birmingham, researchers created detailed computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models to simulate the release and dispersion of these particles from vehicles. These models helped them identify the key moments in people’s daily journeys where exposure risk is highest. The CFD files…

E+T Magazine in Computing
Blue Origin completes crucial second-stage test of New Glenn rocket

Blue Origin has successfully completed testing on the second stage of its heavy-lift rocket New Glenn, ahead of a hoped-for launch later this year. Jeff Bezos’ space firm originally planned an inaugural flight for 2020. Now, after multiple delays, New Glenn is on the cusp of its first launch, with a mission to carry a prototype Blue Ring spacecraft. Its latest hotfire test marked “a milestone on our road to first flight”, Blue Origin said. The 15-second test marked the first time the vehicle was operated as an integrated system and validated interactions between the subsystems, two BE-3U engines and ground control systems. It also demonstrated the functionality of New Glenn’s three key systems: the tank pressurisation control system, which uses helium to pressurise the liquid hydrogen…

E+T Magazine in Space
Low gravity weakens heart tissue and poses astronaut health risks, space study shows

Low gravity causes the heart to weaken, a study has found, after bioengineered heart tissue was sent to the International Space Station (ISS). Scientists at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, US, wanted to find out what low gravity conditions in space do to the human heart. They placed 48 human bioengineered heart tissue samples on miniature chips, which would collect data about how the tissues beat. The samples were placed in a specifically designed chamber that simulated the environment of a human heart. The chamber was sent to the ISS onboard the SpaceX CRS-20 mission, which launched in March 2020. Upon reaching the ISS, the tissue samples spent 30 days under observation. Scientists received real-time data for 10 seconds every 30 minutes about the tissues’ strength of contraction…

E+T Magazine in Space
Ammonia-powered tugboat completes maiden voyage in carbon-free shipping initiative

An ammonia-powered tugboat named NH3 Kraken has completed its maiden voyage as part of a research project designed to reduce carbon emissions from shipping. Developed by Amogy, NH3 Kraken was originally constructed in 1957 and has been retrofitted with an ammonia-to-electrical power system. The test voyage took place on a tributary of the Hudson River, upstream from New York City. The huge container ships used to deliver cargo across oceans emit large quantities of air pollutants from their diesel engines, driving climate change and having human health impacts. It has been estimated that maritime shipping accounts for almost 3% of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and that the industry’s negative impacts on air quality cause about 100,000 premature deaths each year. Scientists are…

E+T Magazine in Research and Innovation
AI-driven underwater vehicle performs ‘world’s first’ autonomous inspection of a wind turbine

A remotely operated device (ROV) driven by AI has conducted a fully autonomous inspection of a wind turbine off the coast of Scotland. Beam, a UK provider of high-tech offshore wind services, used an ROV fitted with specialist technology to perform complex underwater surveys and asset inspections without any human intervention – “the world’s first”. Performing manual underwater inspections of offshore wind turbines is a challenging and labour-intensive process. Beam partnered with the energy company SSE Renewables to perform an inspection campaign on Seagreen, the world’s deepest fixed-bottom offshore wind farm, located off the coast of Scotland. During this campaign, Beam’s ROV was used to inspect the jacket foundations and cables of a wind turbine and stream data directly back to…

E+T Magazine in Renewable Energy
£3.5bn Mersey Tidal Power scheme reaches two planning milestones

Planning and public consultations for the Mersey Tidal Power scheme, a major new link between Wirral and Liverpool, are about to get under way. Liverpool City Region Combined Authority said that the £3.5bn Mersey Tidal Power scheme had entered the formal planning process, with the submission of a scoping report to the Planning Inspectorate. It also announced that a six-week public consultation on the scheme would begin on 1 October 2024, offering local people and organisations the opportunity to comment on initial proposals for the scheme. The 700MW Mersey Tidal Power scheme is a ‘first of a kind’ project in the UK, building a barrage across the River Mersey with turbines, sluices and marine navigation locks. The 28 turbines will generate power by turning with the tide. The barrage…

E+T Magazine in Renewable Energy
Graphene-enhanced asphalt trialled on British roads to boost durability and sustainability

A new type of asphalt that has been imbued with graphene to improve its resilience is being trialled on British roads by National Highways. The new surfacing material incorporates a graphene-enhanced polymeric additive called Gipave. Graphene is the strongest compound discovered (100-300 times stronger than steel) and acts as a reinforcement to the bitumen film surrounding aggregates in asphalt. The trial surfacing took place on the A12 between Hatfield Peverel and Witham and contained 40% reclaimed asphalt. Previous studies have shown Gipave has improved stiffness and resistance to deformation compared to conventional asphalt while improving its long-term endurance. National Highways plans to monitor the performance of the material on the A12 over several years before considering whether…

E+T Magazine in Electronic Materials
Engineering nature: How biotech innovations are reshaping the fight against climate change

From bioengineering large natural systems and tinkering with genes to redesign biology, to copying natural processes with an engineering twist – the world is finding new ways to cut emissions and clean up dirty industries. Can nature, enhanced by human ingenuity, save us from climate change? Bioscientists are scouring the living world for solutions to meet urgent climate goals. Natural carbon sinks already absorb about half the áá in the atmosphere. Estimates vary but by 2050, á agreed targets will depend on removing and storing around 10 gigatonnes of carbon every year. Marian Krueger heads a not-for-profit carbon removal accelerator, Remove. “The scale of the challenge is so vast there’s no single solution that will get us there” she says. “Our task is to use biology as efficiently as…

E+T Magazine in Biotechnology
Aviation can achieve net zero by 2050 if immediate action is taken, says report

Cambridge University has published a report outlining a five-year roadmap to help the aviation sector achieve net zero by 2050. Aviation, which accounts for approximately 3% of total CO2 emissions worldwide, is considered a hard-to-abate sector because of a lack of technologically mature alternatives to traditional jet-fuelled engines, as well as the low scale-up of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production. Despite industry pledges and government action, such as the UK government’s sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) mandate, the Aviation Impact Accelerator (AIA) argues that the aviation sector still remains significantly off-course in its efforts to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. The AIA, a project led by the University of Cambridge and hosted by the university’s Whittle Laboratory…

E+T Magazine in Aerospace
Autonomous robot inspects fusion facility, paving way for safer, cheaper maintenance

An autonomous robot has been used to inspect the inside of a fusion energy facility for the first time as part of efforts to make maintenance more cost-efficient and safer for humans. The 35-day trial took place at the UK Atomic Energy Authority’s Joint European Torus (JET) facility, which until its recent scientific operational shutdown was one of the largest and most powerful fusion research machines in the world. Researchers said the JET facility provided the ideal opportunity to test the ‘AutoInspect’ platform developed by the Oxford Robotics Institute. It used a robot developed by Boston Dynamics called ‘Spot’ to investigate an environment still hazardous after two high-powered deuterium-tritium experiments in the space of three years. The facility consists of a tokamak fusion system…

E+T Magazine in Nuclear Power

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