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Spain tops list of EU countries for number of GDPR fines issued

The study, published by Proxyrack, looked at all the fines issued under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) since the laws were first established in the European Union in 2018. Based on this data, it has revealed the countries issuing the most GDPR fines; the countries handing out the largest average fines; the company’s that have been hit with the heaviest fines to date, and the most common types of GDPR breaches. In the past four years, EU governments have handed out fines totaling over £2.5bn, with the largest-ever individual fine being the one imposed by Ireland's Data Protection Commission (DPC) on Meta last May regarding the way the company transferred data between country borders. The fine was £1.04bn. Countries that have issued the most GDPR fines…

E+T Magazine in Ethical Aspects
Simon Johnson on ‘Power and Progress’ and ‘the thousand-year backstory for ChatGPT’

While it’s tempting to think that leading economists, senior academics and best-selling authors are not prone to sweeping elevator pitches, Simon Johnson – who is all three – is keen to describe his latest book as “the thousand-year backstory for ChatGPT”. Johnson is one half of the authorship duo (his co-author is the equally well-credentialled Daron Acemoglu) that has just delivered ‘Power and Progress’. He says that the “slightly longer” version of the one-line summary relates to how forms of automation and machines that have been with us for more than a thousand years have been used “to replace labour and make humans essentially more productive”. The subtitle of ‘Power and Progress’ reveals how Johnson and Acemoglu’s analysis of automation has historically brought with it a “struggle…

E+T Magazine in History of Engineering
Vodafone/Three merger proposal sparks national security concerns

Vodafone will own the majority of the business with 51 per cent, while CK Hutchison will own 49 per cent. The firms first announced they were in talks last October, but the finalised merger agreement will now trigger a lengthy review process by UK regulatory boards. In 2021, the Competition and Markets Authority approved the proposed merger between Virgin Media and O2. But a previous attempt by Three to buy O2 in 2016 was blocked by the European Commission over concerns that it would reduce competition for UK consumers. The new deal will help the two firms compete with others in the sector to continue the rollout of their 5G network, which will be able to reach 99 per cent of the population once the deal is confirmed. Aiming to complete the deal by 2024, Margherita Della Valle, chief…

E+T Magazine in Telecommunications
Shell abandons target to cut oil production while raising shareholder dividends

The fossil fuel giant has instead said it will aim to keep the amount of oil the company extracts at today's level until the end of the decade. The news was announced as part of a strategic shift presented by Shell's new chief executive Wael Sawan in New York, that aims to “simplify” the energy major’s business and increase investor confidence. Since taking the job in January, Sawan has been looking at ways of increasing performance in an attempt to close the valuation gap that separates the company from its US rivals. As part of this effort, Shell said it would reduce capital spending in 2024 and 2025 to $22-$25bn (£17-20bn) a year, down from a planned $23bn-$27bn (£18-21bn) in 2023. To achieve this, the company plans to cut group-wide annual operating costs by $2bn-$3bn (£1.5-£2…

E+T Magazine in Business Planning
Starting anew: the refugee engineers

Immigration is a highly controversial topic. As we mark World Refugee Day on 20 June, the latest UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) statistics paint a harrowing picture. In the first half of 2022, 103 million people were forcibly displaced globally, a huge leap from the period before (89.3 million), linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The figure for the first six months of 2023 is forecast to be higher still, with the UNHCR predicting more than 800,000 people will flee from Sudan alone. But wherever these people end up, all they want is to carry on with their lives, by getting an education, providing for their families and continuing their careers. And, as Mark Davies, head of communications and campaigns at the Refugee Council, highlights: “They show tremendous resilience and determination…

E+T Magazine
AI brainstorms weather prediction

For as long as humans have wanted to know what the weather was going to do next, we’ve looked to technology to help us work out which atmospheric dynamics are portents of changing conditions. From the 17th-century invention of the barometer to 21st-century Earth observation satellite radar, forecasting the weather has developed broadly apace with advances in engineering and science. Generations of supercomputers have for decades been crunching through the massive datasets needed to inform weather forecasts, typically using Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) models – objective calculations of changes to the mapped weather founded on physics-based mathematical equations. However, even the most advanced petaflop-powered compute platforms have limitations and are not necessarily the best way…

E+T Magazine in Computing
How protected is London from flooding?

“People have this idea about the River Thames, the sheer beauty of it, the sparkling sunshine on the water. But the river can turn nasty,” says Professor Hannah Cloke from the University of Reading. On a freezing January morning 70 years ago, residents of Canvey Island in the Thames Estuary woke to gale-force winds and the terrifying spectacle of water overcoming the sea wall. There had been no warning, it was bitterly cold, the wind howled and the waters rose so quickly that residents who could not escape fast enough, had to cling on to their rooftops. Those that could not hold on slipped into the icy waters and were carried away. The North Sea Flood of 1953 took the lives of 58 people on Canvey Island, while the entire population of the island – about 13,000 – had to be evacuated. In…

E+T Magazine
Humans can inhale a credit card’s worth of microplastic weekly, study finds

According to a team comprised of researchers from a variety of universities, humans might inhale about 16.2 bits of microplastic every hour which usually contain toxic pollutants and chemicals. Understanding how they travel in the respiratory system is essential for the prevention and treatment of respiratory diseases, the team said. They developed a computational fluid dynamics model to analyse microplastic transport and deposition in the upper airway. “Millions of tonnes of these microplastic particles have been found in water, air and soil. Global microplastic production is surging, and the density of microplastics in the air is increasing significantly,” said author Mohammad S Islam. “For the first time, in 2022, studies found microplastics deep in human airways, which raises the concern…

E+T Magazine in Research and Innovation
UKRI pledges £50m for ‘trustworthy’ AI projects

During this year’s London Tech Week, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has announced it will provide £50m in funding to develop trustworthy and secure AI tools. The announcement follows the Prime Minister's keynote speech at the conference, where Rishi Sunak pitched London as a tech hub to industry leaders and stressed his goal of making the UK "the best place in the world for tech AI". As part of this effort, the UKRI's funding pledge will aim to bring experts across different fields together in order to drive forward AI research in the country. Over half of the funding – £31m – will go to Responsible AI UK, a consortium led by the University of Southampton that aims to foster the safe and accountable use of AI, UKRI revealed. The consortium's goal is to help people understand what…

E+T Magazine in Research and Innovation
Smart meter rollout remains a challenge for government

According to the latest figures, 57 per cent of all meters in Great Britain are now smart, although around 9 per cent – approximately three million – were not working as intended as of March this year, the NAO said. In February, the government launched a consultation on plans to have smart meters installed in 80 per cent of homes and 73 per cent of small businesses by the end of 2025 to help achieve net-zero targets and save money. The NAO said the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) had made recent progress with the rollout, but faced challenges in meeting its latest targets. The government had worked with industry to develop new smart meter technology that worked in more homes, but there remained a shortage of installation engineers and disagreements with suppliers,…

E+T Magazine in Power Equipment
The bigger picture: Multi-decker caravan

Berlin-based Ulises Design Studio has used AI to re-imagine the classic caravan as a futuristic multi-level living space. Created using AI tool Midjourney, the ‘Kinetic Kingdoms’ vehicles are said to unite nomadic lifestyles with modern amenities “in a charming retro-futuristic style”. Studio founder Ricardo Orts explains: “By embracing a more nomadic lifestyle, we can explore new ways of living that are both exciting and sustainable, all while fostering a sense of community and connection with the world around us.” Image credit: Cover Images

E+T Magazine
Handheld device could 3D-print tissues and organs in-situ

A research team from University of Victoria, Canada, has been able to overcome some of the challenges of bioprinting as a field and developed a device that could be used to 3D-print organs outside of hospitals and research labs. If successful, the device could pave the way for a wide variety of applications in regenerative medicine, drug development and testing, and custom orthotics and prosthetics. The device allows for the 3D-printing of biocompatible structures and tissues directly within the body. In contrast to previous devices of its type, the new bioprinter has the ability to p rint multiple materials and control the physicochemical properties of printed tissues, which would make it more compatible with the human body. These printed tissues could substantially improve the lives…

E+T Magazine in Research and Innovation
James May: ‘Our attitude to engineering is a very British disease’

James May just likes talking about and getting stuck in with vehicles. When he’s not on our small screens presenting (in the past) ‘Top Gear’ or (currently) ‘The Grand Tour’, he’s tinkering about in workshops, creating videos of his adventures in making motorbikes out of Meccano, building model planes that can fly across the Channel, or his attempts to build a ‘Swiss Army Bike’. A man it seems obsessed with the machines that get us from A to B, his current focus has turned away from propelling them by burning fossils or charging batteries, and towards those “marvellous vehicles” that only require the application of human muscle. ‘Marvellous Vehicles’ also happens to be the title of his new kids’ book that’s just about to be published. So what vehicles are marvellous and why? “Human-powered…

E+T Magazine in Power Conversion
US sues Microsoft to block takeover of Activision

The regulator said the deal, which could close within the next few days, could "substantially lessen competition" in the video games industry. Microsoft first announced its multi-billion deal to buy Activision in January 2022, which would see the company acquire hit titles such as Call of Duty and Candy Crush. The deal has been hailed as the “biggest takeover in tech history” and is already the largest acquisition in the history of the video game industry, at least in theory at this stage. The news follows moves from the UK's competition authority, which blocked the sale in April, as it would “alter the future of the fast-growing cloud gaming market”, fearing Microsoft would make the Activision games exclusive to its existing cloud gaming platform, Xbox Game Pass, cutting off distribution…

E+T Magazine
Electric ridesharing fleets worsened local air quality, study finds

Uber has announced plans to transition hundreds of thousands of its drivers to electric vehicles by 2025, with 50 per cent of kilometres in EVs in key European cities by then. By 2030 it claims all its vehicles will be zero emissions in the US, Canada and Europe. But a team funded by Carnegie Mellon University has conducted life-cycle comparisons of battery-powered electric vehicle fleets to a gas-powered one, using real-world rideshare data. They found up to a 45 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from full electrification but warned that traffic problems and air pollution could increase. The cars and SUVs used in ridesharing scenarios typically drive more miles each year than a personal vehicle, contributing a higher proportion of greenhouse gases to the environment, the…

E+T Magazine in Air Pollution
Rethinking human evolution through technology

“Ours, it turns out, is a repeated history of migrations and mixing,” says Cosimo Posth, a junior professor of archaeo- and palaeogenetics at the University of Tübingen in Germany. “Much of what we thought we knew about human history – that populations lived for centuries mostly without mixing – was overturned thanks to modern-day genomics.” In March 2023, Posth and his colleagues analysed the largest ever ancient genetic data set (356 – including 116 from new-found remains in 14 countries) of prehistoric hunter-gatherers, from which they derived new insights about the groups’ migration and survival. A mere decade or so earlier and their work wouldn’t have been possible. Breakthroughs in collecting and deciphering ancient human DNA during this time have rapidly accelerated discoveries about…

E+T Magazine
Biodiversity emerges from environmental jungle

The UN’s Cop15 Biodiversity Summit in Montreal last December has been hailed as a turning point in the global approach to loss of biological diversity, marking a critical moment for addressing what many see as a long neglected issue. After two weeks of intense negotiations, world leaders pledged to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 by protecting at least 30 per cent of terrestrial and marine areas. Currently just 17 per cent and 10 per cent of the world’s land and oceans are protected. The agreement follows another significant pledge made at the COP26 UN climate conference in 2021, where leaders and key forest nations pledged to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030. G20 leaders also made a pledge in 2021 to plant one trillion trees worldwide by 2030 to mitigate…

E+T Magazine in Sustainable Development
Largest 3D map of the universe created

Scientists at Durham University have observed two million distant galaxies, quasars and stars for the first time as part of an effort to create a detailed map of the universe. The study used robotics to take thousands of pictures of the night sky, with the aim of advancing our understanding of the universe and our galaxy, the Milky Way. The team used the observed data taken from DESI to analyse extragalactic objects and how their light decomposed into different colours or wavelengths. These analyses could reveal the rate at which the universe is expanding, as well as the physical properties of the galaxies and quasars. Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument sits atop the Mayall 4-Meter Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona, USA/ Marilyn Sargent/Berkeley…

E+T Magazine in Space
Discovering the sunken city of Dvaraka

In 2001, during routine pollution studies in the Gulf of Khambhat (formerly Cambay), on the north-west coast of India, sonar equipment on National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) survey boats detected regular, geometric shapes. Divers investigated and found large, rectangular blocks embedded 30-40m below water. The manmade blocks, possibly foundation stones of buildings, reignited curiosity about an ancient city that had flourished centuries before Egyptian and Chinese civilisations, and which was devoured by the sea. The area where the sonar images were taken was around 8km x 1.6km – about the size of the city of Manhattan or 150 times larger than the early known settlement of Jericho in today’s West Bank. On the other side of the bay today stands the city of Dwarka. Its name means…

E+T Magazine
Lidar and thermal imaging fitted to Northern trains to detect track problems

The trains, which would still operate public services, will travel the network and feed information about the track and surrounding infrastructure to Network Rail. Horizon-scanning lidar cameras, thermal-imaging software and HD CCTV footage will be used to record infrastructure defects, environmental factors and maintenance issues. Once the train is stationary overnight, it will perform a ‘digital handshake’ so the information captured can be downloaded and analysed. The trains have been fitted with a 180 degree camera Image credit: Northern The scheme is part of Northern’s 'Intelligent Trains' programme, which was first announced in 2022 and is a collaboration with Network Rail designed to help make journeys by rail safer, more reliable and efficient. Rob…

E+T Magazine in Railways
Book review: ‘When the Heavens Went on Sale’ by Ashlee Vance

In 2008, SpaceX became the first private company to build an inexpensive rocket capable of reaching orbit. The years since have seen a transformation in who gets to play in space. National space agencies are still ambling along with their Moon and Mars missions, but headlines are mostly made by private companies with their cheap, frequent rocket launches and audacious plans for space colonisation. No longer can Tim Curry’s meme-making Premier Cherdenko of Red Alert 3 escape to space as “the one place that hasn’t been corrupted by capitalism”. In ‘When the Heavens Went on Sale: The Misfits and Geniuses Racing to Put Space Within Reach’ (WH Allen, £22, ISBN 9780753557754) Ashlee Vance, a technology writer best known for his bestselling Elon Musk biography, tells the story of four of these companies…

E+T Magazine in Space
HSE refuses to act over dangerous electricity network fault

Responding on behalf of the government to a question from Labour Lord Brooker, Viscount Younger of Leckie said HSE officials had been advised that “neutral current diversions [NCD] are a known phenomenon and can occur for a number of reasons”. Younger added that the HSE had “monitored developments carefully and continues to do so”. However, he said officials “were of the view that no additional action is required by the regulator to manage this risk of neutral current diversion at the present time”. Experts have said the response is disappointing and have called for more transparency. In February, several electrical experts told E&T that there was a real risk of deadly gas explosions and fires in the UK due to NCD. They argued that the HSE needed to acknowledge the risks of NCD so that…

E+T Magazine
View from India: India is world’s diabetes capital

As reported by the media last week, at least 136 million people or 15.3 per cent of the population have pre-diabetes. A pre-diabetic is a person who has higher-than-normal blood sugar level but not high enough to fall into the category of type 2 diabetes. Pre-diabetic individuals need not become diabetic, provided they follow a healthy diet and exercise routine. Hypertension, high cholesterol levels and obesity are other determining factors that could lead to cardiac arrest, stroke and kidney disease. The survey indicates that at least 35.5 per cent of the population has hypertension and 81.2 per cent have abnormal levels of cholesterol or dyslipidemia. Around 28.6 per cent have generalised obesity and 39.5 per cent were found to have abdominal obesity. In normal situations, the blood glucose…

E+T Magazine
Corporate net-zero pledges shown to have doubled over last 30 months

The number of companies on the Forbes Global 2000 list that have made climate pledges has increased from 417 in 2020 to 909 in 2023, according to the latest Net Zero Tracker report. In the UK alone, the number of net-zero targets set has jumped by 60 per cent, from 37 in December 2020 to 61 firms this year. The tracker is run by researchers associated with the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit and the University of Oxford, among other organisations, and it was created to monitor the decarbonisation progress of companies, cities and countries around the world. The team has warned that, while the number of targets set has soared, credibility gaps remain that could undermine progress towards net zero. For example, only 4 per cent of the companies’ net-zero commitments globally meet…

E+T Magazine in Climate Change

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