• Kenya suspends Worldcoin over privacy concerns

    Kenya has become the first country to fully suspend Worldcoin, the new cryptocurrency project launched by OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman.  Worldcoin is based on the creation of a World ID, which the company describes as a “digital passport” to prove that its holder is a real human. To get a World ID, a customer signs up for an in-person eye scan using Worldcoin's “orb”, which is intended to check that the user is not a bot.  This technology has raised privacy concerns among several public administrations, but Kenya has been the first country to take action on the matter.   Kithure Kindiki, the Kenyan interior minister, said the government was troubled by the company’s collection of private data. Kenya has therefore decided to suspend the company's activities until it can be investigated by f…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Product safety law overhaul to protect smart device users

    According to the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), the plans will also cut business costs and reduce “unnecessary red tape” to spur investment. A consultation will assess how the UK can better regulate modern innovations such as internet-connected devices, including smart watches and speakers, as well as AI. The DBT also said that an e-labelling scheme will help businesses to save time and money by allowing product information to be easily and regularly updated. Further reforms related to furniture and fire safety regulations have been designed to protect consumers, which include a reduction in the use of harmful chemicals. Some of the UK’s product safety laws are more than 30 years old and underpinned by rules originally created by the EU. Nevertheless, the government announced…

  • Nasa hears Voyager 2 ‘heartbeat’ after accidentally severing contact

    Nasa’s Deep Space Network (DSN) has detected a carrier signal from Voyager 2, confirming that the spacecraft has not been lost in space and remains operational.  The space agency had lost all communications with Voyager 2 after accidentally sending a wrong command on July 21, which caused the spacecraft’s antenna to point two degrees away from Earth and lose contact with mission control.  The spacecraft’s antenna is expected to point towards Earth in mid-October, when communications with mission control will be able to resume. Until then, Nasa will attempt to send a command to Voyager 2 to correct the position of its antenna.  You might have heard... Voyager 2 is taking a break from sending data until October. In the meantime, I'm out here, almost 15 billion miles (24 billion km)…

  • Scientists look for micrometeorites on cathedral roofs

    University of Kent scientists a re roaming the roofs of cathedrals spread across the UK in search of dust particles that might have accumulated over the centuries.  Dr Penny Wozniakiewicz and Dr Matthias van Ginneken are hoping to find cosmic dust on the buildings and use it to understand how much material from space reaches Earth and becomes part of the planet or its atmosphere. Cosmic dust includes interplanetary dust particles (IDP) – particles from comets, asteroids and other bodies generally smaller than 0.1mm in diameter. IDPs are small and decelerate quickly enough when falling into Earth’s atmosphere. However, due to their inaccessibility, cathedral roofs might have held on to some of these particles.  “You want the site as undisturbed as possible,” said Wozniakiewicz told The…

  • Asteroid-hunting algorithm uncovers its first ‘potentially hazardous’ space rock

    Developed by a team at the University of Washington, the algorithm is designed to analyse data taken from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory (pictured), which is still under construction in Chile. The observatory is set to undertake a 10-year survey of the night sky, during which the algorithm will be used extensively. Its first discovery is a roughly 180m-long asteroid, designated 2022 SF289, which was revealed during a test drive of the algorithm with the ATLAS survey in Hawaii. Finding 2022 SF289, which poses no risk to Earth for the foreseeable future, confirms that the next-generation algorithm, known as HelioLinc3D, can identify near-Earth asteroids with fewer and more dispersed observations than current methods require. “By demonstrating the real-world effectiveness of the software…

  • UK considers £160m fund to boost 5G and broadband coverage using satellites

    The plan would see £100m in grant funding for the UK’s space sector with an additional £60m from the European Space Agency’s (ESA) UK-backed Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems (ARTES) programme. In particular, the funds are being targeted at improving connectivity in remote and rural parts of the UK, which typically face considerably worse speeds than their urban counterparts. Low Earth Orbit (LEO) space is filling up with satellite constellations from the likes of Starlink and OneWeb that aim, when complete, to give total broadband internet coverage around the world. These constellations – which are more resilient and harder to disable than ground-based infrastructure – have already ensured reliable connectivity for Ukraine following the attempted invasion from Russia. …

  • Government taskforce aims to bridge nuclear skills gap

    The government is reacting to warnings that the UK lacks the skilled workers needed to deliver on the country’s target of building 24GW of new nuclear power-generating capacity by 2050. The new Nuclear Skills Taskforce will focus on developing a skills strategy to support the expansion expected in various roles within the nuclear industry. It will be chaired by Sir Simon Bollom, former CEO of Defence Equipment and Support. The jobs required to drive the nuclear sector range from technical scientific and engineering roles through to logistics, project management, commercial and finance – with a variety of apprentice and graduate opportunities, the government said.  “By developing nuclear skills, we are not just investing in the UK economy but our national security, ” said James Cartlidge…

  • Sponsored: Engineering Canada

    For the last decade or so there have been reports indicating that many engineers in Canada will be retiring in the early 2020’s, and there is a shortage of engineers with specialised experience. These are ideal conditions when deciding whether or not to move to another country for work. Engineers that are willing to move where the work is will find that there are many prospects available to them. Travelling with an eTA Canada offers many different types of valid work permits and has concise information on their main government page informing immigrants how they can become citizens. This is especially true of specialised and highly skilled workers. There are multiple ways in Canada to become a citizen or a resident, and from the beginning you can be easily informed on what kinds of visas or…

    E+T Magazine
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  • Royal Mail launches drone delivery service for remote Orkney residents

    Skyports Drone Services has been selected to operate the service with Brazilian drone manufacturer Speedbird Aero. The electric multirotor DLV-2 drone, which has a payload capacity of 6kg and a range of up to 16km, was selected as vehicle of choice for the Orkney I-Port project due to its large payload volume, which makes it well suited to carrying cargo such as Royal Mail parcels. The aircraft is also equipped with a parachute. The first drone deliveries were completed in July this year and will continue until at least October. The mail is first transported from Royal Mail’s Kirkwall delivery office to Stromness which are both on the Orkney Mainland. Once at Stromness, the drones are used to complete the final step of the journey to transport items over to delivery staff on the islands…

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  • Solar ‘umbrella’ could help slow down global warming

    István Szapudi, an astronomer at the University of Hawaiʻi Institute for Astronomy , has proposed building a solar “umbrella” that would shield the Earth from a fraction of the Sun’s light.  This is not the first time that scientists have proposed a “ solar shield ” approach to preventing climate change. However, the majority of proposals to date have been rejected due to the large amount of weight needed to make a shield large enough to balance gravitational forces and prevent solar radiation pressure from blowing it away.  Szapudi seems to have addressed this challenge by reducing the mass of the shield, while also using a captured asteroid as the counterweight. This would avoid the need to launch most of the device’s mass from Earth. “In Hawaiʻi, many use an umbrella to block the sunlight…

  • Machine learning algorithm trained in outer space

    Satellite data is increasingly useful for scientists, enabling aerial mapping and weather prediction, and monitoring deforestation. However, at present, most satellites can only collect this data passively, and transmit it to Earth for analysis.  But what if machine learning tools could work in outer space?  To overcome these restrictions, a group of researchers led by Vít Růžička, a PhD student at the University of Oxford, took on the challenge of training the first machine learning program in outer space . The team was able to partner with the Dashing Through The Stars mission, which had issued an open call for project proposals to be carried out on board the ION SCV004 satellite, launched in January 2022. During the autumn of that year, the team uplinked the code for the program to…

  • Supercapacitor made of concrete could provide renewable energy storage

    The inconsistency of renewable energy production is one reason why power grids are still reliant on fossil fuels. For example, solar panels cannot generate energy at night and wind turbines do not work when the air is still. But MIT researchers believe their energy storage device, which is a supercapacitor rather than a battery, could provide cheap storage of electrical energy that could help even out the ebb and flow of renewable energy generation. The technology could even be incorporated into the concrete foundation of a house, where it could store a full day’s worth of energy while adding little cost to the construction of the foundations while still providing the structural strength required. The researchers also envision a concrete roadway that could provide contactless recharging…

  • Lack of stock and species diversity hampering mass tree planting efforts

    The REPLANT Act, which was introduced in July 2020, provides money for the US Forest Service to plant more than a billion trees in the next nine years. The World Economic Forum also aims to help plant a trillion trees around the world by 2030 in an effort to soak up some of the excess carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere. But a University of Vermont (UVM) study has found that US tree nurseries don’t grow nearly enough trees or have the species diversity needed to meet the ambitious plans. “Trees are this amazing natural solution to a lot of our challenges, including climate change. We urgently need to plant many millions of them,” said UVM scientist Tony D’Amato, who co-led the new research. “But what this paper points out is that we are woefully underserved by any kind of regional…

  • ‘Urgent need’ for long-term nuclear energy plan, MPs say

    In a new report, the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee (SITC) said that current efforts are more of a “wish list” than the comprehensive strategy that is required to ensure such capacity is built. The government’s plan to install 24GW of nuclear capacity is almost double the highest installed capacity the UK has ever achieved. Efforts to meet it could involve new gigawatt-scale nuclear power, small modular reactors (SMRs) and advanced modular reactors (AMRs), alongside further development of nuclear fusion, the committee said. But it would require “substantial” progress on technologies, financing, skills, regulation, decommissioning and waste management, it added. Nuclear industry witnesses who were interviewed for the report called for a clearer strategic plan than currently…

  • A third of US working hours could be automated by 2030, report finds

    Women are 50 per cent more likely to change jobs by the end of the decade, the  study found after analysing the impact of automation and artificial intelligence (AI) tools on the US workforce.  The report, published by the McKinsey Global Institute, found that around a third of the country’s working hours could be automated by 2030. The shift is expected to mostly affect people in low-wage positions and workers in food services, customer services and sales, of which women make up a majority.  Black and Hispanic workers, workers without college degrees, and the youngest and oldest workers also are more likely to have to find new jobs by 2030, the study says. “Workers in lower-wage jobs are up to 14 times more likely to need to change occupations than those in highest-wage positions, and…

  • British-built satellite Aeolus successfully crashed into the Atlantic

    The British-built satellite Aeolus has reached its final resting place: the Atlantic Ocean.  The re-entry of the weather satellite was guided by mission controllers at the European Space Agency (ESA), using what little fuel remained onboard. It has been hailed as the first time a defunct satellite has undergone such a controlled re-entry on Earth.  Aeolus has been one of ESA’s most successful Earth observation missions. The 1,360kg satellite was built by Airbus Defence and Space in Stevenage, and it became the first satellite mission to acquire profiles of Earth’s wind on a global scale. The satellite was originally due to end its life after three years in orbit, but its mission was extended by almost two additional years, coming to an end on 28 July 2023. Aeolus…

  • New North Sea oil licences send ‘wrecking ball’ through UK climate policy

    In order for the new licences not to compromise the UK’s net zero plans, the government also confirmed a raft of new carbon capture and storage (CCS) facilities designed to negate the emissions created by the extracted fossil fuels. This includes projects in Acorn in north-east Scotland and Viking in the Humber that have been chosen as the third and fourth CCS clusters in the UK. These projects follow pre-existing plans to deploy CCS in two industrial clusters by the mid-2020s – the HyNet cluster in north-west England and north Wales, and the East Coast cluster on Teesside and the Humber. But CCS technology has attracted criticism from climate campaigners who believe it is being used by high-carbon industries to ‘greenwash’ their operations . According to a coalition of human rights and…

  • Researchers simulate the sound of twinkling stars

    The Northwestern University-led team has developed the first 3D simulations of energy rippling from a massive star’s core to its outer surface. Using these new models, the researchers determined, for the first time, how much stars should innately twinkle. The team then converted these gas waves  into sound waves, enabling listeners to hear both what the insides of stars and the “twinkling” should sound like .  “Motions in the cores of stars launch waves like those on the ocean,” said Evan Anders,  who led the study. “When the waves arrive at the star’s surface, they make it twinkle in a way that astronomers may be able to observe. “F or the first time, we have developed computer models that allow us to determine how much a star should twinkle as a result of these waves. This work allows…

  • Changes in social media algorithms did not reduce political polarisation, study finds

    The results of the research found that tweaking the platform’s features had an impact on the content users were shown on their feeds, but it did not alter their political ideology or opinions of the candidates. This was one of the conclusions found in the first four papers published as part of the   US 2020 Facebook and Instagram Election Study,  a partnership between Meta researchers and independent external academics that was prompted by accusations that Facebook and Instagram algorithms amplified misinformation and political polarisation. In order to shed light on the topic, the researchers analysed data from millions of Facebook and Instagram users and experimented with the algorithms of those who agreed to take part in the project. The team’s conclusions pointed out the existence…

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    E+T Magazine

  • Greater public trust in AI would help NHS detect cancers early, experts say

    A collection of studies has been released by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) identifying 10 “promising AI interventions” that would help to address specific healthcare challenges. These include early detection of heart disease and lung cancer, predicting the progression of disease, personalising treatments to the patient, and reducing pressures on A&E departments. Dr Jemma Kwint, NIHR senior research fellow and author of the report, said: “We all need to be able to trust AI and ensure that it does not increase inequalities in care. The high-quality studies are useful examples of the evidence we need to build trust in this advancing technology. “Further research is needed to deepen our understanding of how these tools could work in routine clinical practice,…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • ‘Time-travelling’ pathogens could cause major environmental damage

    Using computer simulations, scientists have predicted that the release of only 1 per cent of dormant pathogens could cause major global environmental damage.  These pathogens have been frozen in ice and permafrost for millennia. However, rising global temperatures could cause these materials to melt, releasing the microbes.  To better understand this hypothetical scenario, researchers have simulated experiments where digital pathogens from the past invade communities of bacteria-like hosts. They then compared the effects of the invading pathogens on the diversity of host bacteria to those in communities where no invasions occurred. The results of the study showed that the ancient invading pathogens could often survive and evolve in the modern world, with about 3 per cent becoming dominant…

  • Connected vehicles could detect road dangers before accidents happen

    Connected vehicles can collect data including road and traffic conditions, emergency alerts and the behaviour of other drivers. They can also generate data about extreme manoeuvres from drivers – such as harsh braking – that is accurately geolocated to particular points on the road network. Once acquired, this data can give highway engineers insights into which locations need to be looked at, such as those where there are repeated indications of emergency manoeuvres. This can also help identify the causes of these manoeuvres such as a hidden junction, regularly queueing traffic or even a damaged road surface. Efforts can then be made to maintain the road or change its layout before a serious crash takes place. The RAC Foundation also suggested that the data could be used to dynamically…

  • Europe to cover its highways with EV chargers from 2025

    The new law is expected to ensure that electric vehicle (EV) owners can travel across the continent with complete coverage, as well as reduce the bloc’s carbon emissions. Under the new requirements, governments will be expected to install  charging stations offering at least 150kW of power to be installed along the EU’s Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) system of highways, the bloc’s main transport corridor.  The same distance requirements for heavy goods vehicles will need to be met by 2030, while airports and ports will need to provide electricity for passenger vessels and aircraft from 2025. “The new law is a milestone,” said Raquel Sánchez Jiménez, Spain’s Minister of Transport. “We are optimistic that in the near future citizens will be able to charge their electric cars as…

  • Tiny surgical robot can travel deep into lungs to detect early cancer signs

    The tentacle-like device, which measures just 2mm in diameter and is controlled by magnets, paves the way for a more accurate and less invasive approach to treatment. It can reach some of the smallest bronchial tubes and could transform the treatment of lung cancer, the team said. The researchers tested the robot on the lungs of a cadaver and found that it can travel 37 per cent deeper than the standard equipment and leads to less tissue damage. Research supervisor Professor Pietro Valdastri said: “This is a really exciting development. This new approach has the advantage of being specific to the anatomy, softer than the anatomy and fully-shape controllable via magnetics. These three main features have the potential to revolutionise navigation inside the body.” Lung cancer has the highest…

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