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View from India: Technology ties to bind US partnership

Technology could well play a defining role in deepening the India-US partnership. A number of collaborations support this view. A beginning may be the 'Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology' (iCET) that happened in January 2023. The strategic technology partnership involves both governments, businesses and academic institutions to realise their shared vision to take the alliance forward. To that effect, policies and regulations could be adapted to facilitate technology sharing, co-development and co-production opportunities. Then, in June 2023, the 'Strategic Trade Dialogue' was flagged with the intent of enabling greater technology transfer between both nations. This was one of the many outcomes of Modi’s recent visit to the US at Biden's invitation. Both leaders have issued joint…

E+T Magazine in Semiconductor Technology
Q&A with Simpson & Partners on the future of EV charging

Mandy and David Simpson are co-directors of family-run Simpson & Partners, which makes designer EV chargers in the Cotswolds. He is a former bank IT professional who heads the engineering side while she, as a former fashion designer previously working at DKNY in New York, takes care of the design, look and feel. I met up with them at their factory in the Cotswolds. E&T: How did you get started with this venture? Mandy Simpson: We started Andersen in 2016, making electric car chargers, based in London. It was David's idea on his way into work. He worked at Lloyds IT. And I was having a career in fashion at the time. And he said, oh, let's get into the EV business, because it's booming. So we started Andersen from scratch, he led our design team technical team and I did all the brand. And…

E+T Magazine in Automotive Engineering
Competition watchdog concerned about £16bn Adobe takeover

The regulator said today (Friday 30 June) that the deal could potentially mean “less choice for designers”, as the two businesses would stop competing with each other. Sorcha O’Carroll, senior mergers director at the CMA, said: “We’re worried this deal could stifle innovation and lead to higher costs for companies that rely on Figma and Adobe’s digital tools, as they cease to compete to provide customers with new and better products.” The watchdog has asked Adobe to come up with solutions that can allay its concerns about the deal. If Adobe's response proves unsatisfactory, the CMA will launch a deeper investigation into the deal and could ultimately block it, if such action is deemed necessary. The proposed deal was originally announced in September last year. Adobe said: “The combination…

E+T Magazine in Business Planning
Antarctic sea ice at record low for end of June, says Met Office

The ice is 501,930 sq miles (1.3 million sq km) below the previous low record for this time of year – an amount that is more than five times the surface area of the UK. Dr Ed Blockley, who leads the Met Office’s Polar Climate Group, said: “Antarctic sea ice extent reaches a maximum around the end of September and a minimum around the end of February. “At the end of June, the extent of sea ice should be building to a mid-point between the maximum and the minimum. “However, this year the ice is expanding very slowly with the consequence that the extent is way below the long-term (1981-2010) average. “The annual minimum extent in February 2023 was the lowest since satellite records began in 1979, just over one million sq km (386,102 sq miles) below the long-term average. “The current…

E+T Magazine in Climate Change
BattleBots challenges Musk and Zuckerberg to bot-on-bot fight

Las Vegas-based BattleBots - one of the best-known event organisers in the fast-growing sport of robot fighting, with a hit US television series - has invited Tesla founder Elon Musk and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to face off in a ferocious robot-on-robot fighting competition for the title of the most powerful tech CEO in the world. The invitation follows the reported cancellation of a cage fight between the two tech giants after Musk’s mother, Maye, shared her opposition to the match online, tweeting that she “cancelled the fight.” The two global tech moguls and their respective companies are invited to each design and build a formidable robot to fight in the 'BattleBox', a huge purpose-built robot combat arena in the centre of Las Vegas. “This would unleash an epic battle of innovation…

E+T Magazine in Robotics
Hands-on review: Switchbot wireless hygrometer thermometer

If there's one universal topic of conversation for every corner of the world, it's the weather. The climatic conditions. It's too hot, it's too cold, what's the humidity like? The more informed we are, the happier and more comfortable we can be. Knowledge is power. Of course, there are also specific situations where monitoring and maintaining a controlled temperature is critical, from keeping tropical pets and hothousing exotic plants to optimally storing cigars in humidors and precious vintage guitars in their cases. For all these uses and more, the Switchbot wireless hygrometer thermometer could be your well-informed temperature-monitoring friend. Image credit: Switchbot Designed for both indoor and outdoor use, and with an IP65 rating to enable it to withstand…

E+T Magazine in Electromagnetic Devices
Why faster adoption of robotics is key to industrial growth

Digital innovation has accelerated significantly in the past few decades, with emerging technologies such as robotics, generative AI and intelligent automation creating new opportunities for driving efficiencies and innovation. The manufacturing industry has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of these technological advancements. Robotics-oriented production processes are most obvious in factories and manufacturing facilities. In fact, approximately 90 per cent of all robots in operation today can be found in such facilities. Apart from improving productivity and efficiency, robotics offers greater precision and safety, resulting in improved product quality and faster service delivery. Despite its many benefits, the UK manufacturing sector is not making the most of this technology. According…

E+T Magazine in Control and Automation
Euclid telescope on a mission to uncover dark mysteries of the universe

The two-tonne probe, named after the ancient Greek mathematician Euclid, will be heading towards an area in space known as the second Lagrange point, where the gravitational forces of Earth and the Sun are roughly equal, creating a stable location for the spacecraft. The UK has contributed £37m towards the £850m mission, with scientists playing key roles in designing and building the probe and leading on one of the two scientific instruments on board. The aim of the mission is to shed light on two of the universe’s greatest mysteries: dark energy and dark matter. Professor Tom Kitching, of UCL’s Mullard Space Science Laboratory – one of four science co-ordinators for Euclid - said: “The puzzles we hope to address are fundamental. “Are our models of the universe correct? What is dark…

E+T Magazine in Space
Air taxis ready for take off in Canada with public support, survey says

A nationwide study by Horizon Aircraft, a Canadian-based company specialising in hybrid electric Vertical Take-off and Landing (eVTOL) aerial vehicles found that 73 per cent of Canadians support the development of the air taxi and eVTOL industry. Nearly four out of five (78 per cent) would be happy to fly in them once they are commercially operational. Just 7 per cent said they would never use an eVTOL, while 15 per cent are currently undecided. A major reason driving support for the industry is the potential to create jobs and boost the Canadian economy, whilst also helping cut greenhouse gas emissions by reducing traffic congestion. Industry data shows the global air taxi and urban air mobility industry is forecast to see revenues grow from $2.3bn in 2021 to as much as $30.7bn by 2031…

E+T Magazine in Road transport systems
Sponsored: Where Electronics, IoT Connectivity and Embedded Systems Converge

There will be an audience of over 2000 people at the event - comprised of engineers, business leaders, technology journalists, industry analysts and investors. 75 influential companies and organisations will be exhibiting, and there will be a series of informative presentations, valuable networking sessions and lively panel discussions too. Among the numerous companies participating in the exhibition will be semiconductor vendors like Onsemi, NXP, STMicroelectronics, Nordic Semiconductor, Analog Devices and Sony Semiconductor, plus wireless module manufacturers such as Quectel, Telit Cinterion, and RAKwireless. IoT connectivity providers like Kigen, 1NCE and Wireless Logic will also be involved. Massimo Banzi, the visionary Co-founder and CTO of Arduino, will be among the speakers taking…

E+T Magazine in Internet of Things
UK must invest in green steel and protect its industry, ministers warned

Labour MP Stephen Kinnock urged ministers to follow EU proposals designed to protect the steel industry within the trade bloc, or face a “flood” of foreign steel into the UK. The Aberavon MP, whose constituency covers the Port Talbot steelworks, was speaking in the House of Commons a day after steelworkers from across the UK demonstrated in Parliament Square. They were calling for a “proper industrial strategy” for the sector, as new figures show almost 150,000 jobs have been lost in the industry over the past 40 years. The GMB union said its research suggests that between 1981 and 2021 almost 80 per cent of jobs in the entire steel sector have gone. Kinnock told the Commons: “Hundreds of steel workers gathered in Westminster yesterday to make it absolutely clear they feel that the government…

E+T Magazine in Sustainable Development
Hands-on review: Majority Quadriga Internet Radio Music System

The Quadriga connected music system, from Cambridge-based brand Majority, is the bigger brother of the similarly spec'ed Bard but with the addition of a CD player and heftier speakers. Depending on your aural predilections - and possibly your age - the need for a CD player would probably be what sways your choice between the two models, as they are essentially the same otherwise. Sure, the Quadriga goes louder, but the Bard still has the potential to bother the neighbours when cranked. We've had the Quadriga on test, mostly because we have hundreds of CDs that have been sitting in a cupboard for far too long, their only compatible player in these modern times now being the car stereo. Delving back into the collection in a domestic situation has been quietly thrilling - and the Quadriga…

E+T Magazine in Signal Processing
Book review: ‘The Chemical Code’, by Fiona Erskine

There can’t be many characters in fiction who couldn’t care less about inheriting a goldmine. But Maria Jaqueline Ribeiro da Silva, protagonist of ‘The Chemical Code’ (Point Blank, £9.99, ISBN 9780861542031) has more important things on her mind. So pressing that they scarcely fade into the background even while being attacked and drugged by three goons in an agrochemical plant in São Paulo, Brazil. The henchmen unambiguously want to kill Jaq Silver, but she’s too smart for that. Recalling Shakespeare’s Hermia, though Jaq “be but little she is fierce”. And clever. Too clever for these bruisers, as she employs her senses to outsmart them, navigating her way out of trouble by using the laws of physics, her encyclopaedic knowledge of the smells of improvised anaesthetics and processed sugar…

E+T Magazine
‘Walking’ through lost neighbourhoods possible with 3D digital maps

By turning old maps into 3D digital models of lost neighbourhoods, the researchers aim to drive forward urban research and provide users with a view of the cities of the past. The programme would allow people to use a virtual reality headset to “walk” through long-gone neighbourhoods – seeing the streets and buildings as they appeared decades ago, before they were lost to urban development projects or natural disasters. But the digital models will be more than just a novelty – they will give researchers a resource to conduct studies that would have been nearly impossible before, such as estimating the economic loss caused by the demolition of historic neighbourhoods. “The story here is we now have the ability to unlock the wealth of data that is embedded in these Sanborn fire atlases…

E+T Magazine in Research and Innovation
Final safety inspection begins at Fukushima before treated wastewater is released

The inspection at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant began today (Wednesday), one day after the plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (Tepco) had installed the last piece of equipment needed for the release – namely, the outlet of the undersea tunnel dug to discharge the wastewater one kilometre offshore. Tepco said the Nuclear Regulation Authority inspectors were to examine the equipment related to the treated water transfer and its safety systems as part of their three-day inspection from today until Friday. The permit for releasing the water could be issued around one week later, allowing Tepco to start discharging the water soon after, although an exact date has not yet been decided. The plan has faced fierce protests from local fishing groups concerned about safety…

E+T Magazine in Nuclear Power
Labour will take difficult choices on home-building, shadow housing secretary says

Nandy used a speech in Manchester to criticise the Conservatives for being “too cowardly to take on a land market that inflates prices” and argued that the current system is “rigged against first-time buyers”. She vowed to “tilt the balance of power back” in favour of those looking to get on the housing ladder, pledging to use central government support to “help them make the leap into home ownership”. In an address to the Housing 2023 conference, the shadow minister said that Labour will deliver a “refreshed model of housebuilding” that will “put social and genuinely affordable housing at the very heart of our plans to jump-start the housebuilding industry”. She also told developers they can expect “transparent, long-term planning frameworks, quicker decisions and a more stable political…

E+T Magazine
Steelworkers stage protest outside Parliament

The GMB union said its research suggests that between 1981 and 2021 almost 80 per cent of jobs in the entire steel sector have gone. Workers from across the country marched from Trafalgar Square to Parliament Square calling for a “proper industrial strategy” and relief from the energy costs unions say are crippling the steel sector. Charlotte Childs, GMB national officer, said: “Under this government’s watch, the UK’s proud steel industry is being allowed to wither and die. Almost 150,000 jobs have gone – close to 80 per cent of the entire steel workforce. “A lack of industrial strategy and no support for crippling energy costs have left the industry at risk of ‘steel dumping’ from overseas. We need action now or the industry as we know it will cease to exist.” Image…

E+T Magazine in Manufacturing
Book review: ‘Age of the City’ by Ian Goldin and Tom Lee-Devlin

There are just two points I’d like to take issue with the authors and editors of this topical and otherwise beautifully written book about. Both relate to the front cover and are therefore hard to ignore – the title and the subtitle, both of which strike me as vague and potentially misleading. Let me explain. ‘Age’ is a polysemantic word that can mean, among other things, an epoch or era as well as duration or length of life. ‘Age of the City’, therefore, constitutes a classic, if unintended, double entendre – not a welcome thing on a book’s front cover. The authors must have had the former meaning (‘era’) in mind, but the title can be easily misconstrued as referring solely to the cities’ history. And whereas ‘Age of the City’ (Bloomsbury Continuum, £20, ISBN 9781399406147) does offer a…

E+T Magazine
Hands-on review: VKTRY Gold Insoles

Athletes and sportspeople, both amateur and professional, will do a lot to boost their performance. You can spend many hours training to shave off milliseconds or add millimetres. And while you can’t buy elite performance... $200 is not much if it truly gives you an edge. These carbon-fibre sports insoles replace the factory-fitted insoles in your trainers. They’re designed to return the energy an athlete generates as explosive power, speed and agility. They also give more support, stability and shock absorption than the stock insoles found in most trainers, reducing sports injuries. The baseplate is 100 per cent aerospace-grade carbon fibre, with flexibility customised based on age, gender, body weight and sport. The top is also customised (3, 5 or 7mm thick) to suit the sport and shoe…

E+T Magazine
AI models could improve lung cancer diagnosis, research finds

AI algorithms could greatly improve the diagnostic accuracy in detecting lung cancers on chest X-rays and increased human acceptance of AI suggestions, according to a new study. In order to analyse this performance, the Seoul National University team asked a group of radiologists to analyse X-rays with and without the help of an AI model. The group of doctors consisted of 30 readers, including 20 thoracic radiologists with five to 18 years of experience and 10 radiology residents with only two to three years of experience. Of the 120 chest radiographs assessed, 60 were from lung cancer patients (32 males) and 60 were controls (36 males). Patients had a median age of 67 years. The results showed that the use of high-accuracy AI improved readers’ detection performance to a greater extent…

E+T Magazine in Biotechnology
Harrison Ford ‘Dials’ down on use of creative AI in film industry

However, the Hollywood actor said the AI techniques used to de-age him in the latest instalment of the franchise had not been at the expense of live-action filming. Ford has returned this summer for the final time as the whip-cracking, globe-trotting archaeologist in ‘Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny’, alongside Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Mads Mikkelsen and Toby Jones. Although most of the film is shot in a modern setting, it also contains flashbacks to 1944, when Indy was in his Nazi-fighting prime. You can catch Ford on his final swashbuckling adventure in ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ in UK cinemas on 28 June Image credit: Landmark Media When asked about the use of de-ageing techniques at the film’s London premiere on Monday (26 June) this week…

E+T Magazine
Italy rolls out ‘tribrid’ battery trains in a first for Europe

The completion of these trains - branded as ‘Blues’ by their operator, Trenitalia - concludes the first tranche of an order that sits within a €1.23bn framework agreement between Hitachi Rail and Trenitalia for up to 135 Masaccio trains that will run across Sicily, Sardinia, Calabria, Tuscany, Lazio and Friuli Venezia Giulia. The Masaccio’s cutting-edge hybrid technology allows the train to seamlessly draw from battery, electric and diesel power. While Hitachi Rail already uses diesel-electric hybrid technology – pioneered on the UK’s Intercity Express fleets – this is the first time batteries have been deployed as a major power source on a train fleet for commercial use anywhere in Europe. The ability to recharge while in service using the pantograph or traction motors means it can deliver…

E+T Magazine in Power Conversion
UK faces being ‘starved’ of North Sea power, energy boss warns

Last week, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the party would grant no licences to explore fresh fields in the North Sea if elected, calling a wait until UK oil and gas runs outs a “historic mistake”. But Gilad Myerson, executive chairman of Ithaca Energy, which has the bulk of its investment in the North Sea, has warned that such a ban and existing taxation policy were putting off investors and threatening energy security. Myerson said: “By a new government imagining they’ll be able to stop licences and oil development in the UK, ultimately what that means is that they’ll be starving the UK of energy, and it will become very dependent on energy from abroad. “Politicians keep making statements which spook investors. You have to make sure that the environment is stable because this is…

E+T Magazine in Security in the Modern World
Lithium-ion battery inventor John B Goodenough dies, aged 100

Goodenough is remembered as a dedicated public servant, a sought-after mentor and a brilliant yet humble inventor. His discovery led to the wireless revolution and put electronic devices in the hands of people worldwide. In 2019, Goodenough made national and international headlines after being awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry for his battery work, an award many of his fans considered a long time coming, especially as he became the oldest person to receive a Nobel Prize. “John’s legacy as a brilliant scientist is immeasurable – his discoveries improved the lives of billions of people around the world,” said Jay Hartzell, president of UT Austin. “He was a leader at the cutting edge of scientific research throughout the many decades of his career and he never ceased searching for innovative…

E+T Magazine in Power Conversion

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