• UK drivers set to save £1.5bn on public EV charge points that schedule off-peak charging

    With the rollout of Connected Kerb’s nationwide public smart EV charge points, drivers can schedule charging overnight, benefitting from off-peak tariffs of £0.45 per kWh. If the predicted 11 million EVs are set to be driving on UK roads by 2030, there needs to be a similar increase in charging infrastructure, particularly home charging. The benefits of home charging is that drivers can take advantage of cheaper electricity tariffs at off-peak times. Doing so not only saves them money but also helps reduce pressure on the grid. UK charge point operator, Connected Kerb, has set itself the ambitious goal of making smart charging publicly accessible through a nationwide rollout of charging points. The rollout, set to begin this month, will see the majority of Connected Kerb’s charge points…

  • Just 57 firms responsible for 80% of global carbon emissions, report finds

    A report has found that just 57 fossil fuel and cement producers have been linked to 80% of global fossil CO2 emissions since the Paris Agreement. According to InfluenceMap, which created the report using data from the Carbon Majors think tank, most of the companies analysed increased their output in the seven years after the Paris Agreement than in the seven years before the Agreement’s adoption. The report shows that the majority of global CO2 emissions produced since the Paris Agreement can be traced to a small group of high emitters that are failing to slow production. It found that nation-state producers account for 38% of emissions, while state-owned entities account for 37%, and investor-owned companies for 25%. Saudi Aramco, which is the largest oil firm globally, is owned by…

  • Airports given 2025 extension for installation of new security scanners

    The government is giving UK airports an extension on requirements to install next-generation security scanners that will end the 100ml liquid restrictions. The Department for Transport (DfT) said that due to issues, including the global supply chain’s continued recovery from the pandemic, some airports have been unable to upgrade their security checkpoints before the previously-announced deadline of 1 June 2024. It has now extended the deadline by a year on a case-by-case basis after airports including Heathrow and Gatwick already admitted they would not meet the deadline. Heathrow has already installed the scanners in Terminals 2, 3 and 5, with forthcoming additions to Terminal 4. As the largest airport in the UK, it had to upgrade 146 security lanes in total. The airport, which has…

  • World’s largest digital camera ready to uncover the universe’s secrets

    After 20 years, researchers have finally completed work on the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) Camera – one of the most advanced tools yet to search for life outside of the Solar System. Researchers at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory said the 3,200-megapixel camera will provide details on the observable universe in “unprecedented” detail and generate vast quantities of data on the southern night sky that can be mined for new insights. The team hopes the data will aid in the quest to understand dark energy, which is theorised to be driving the accelerating expansion of the universe, and the hunt for dark matter, which makes up around 85% of the matter in the universe. Once operational, the camera will map the positions and measure the brightness of a vast number of night…

  • E+T Off The Page: Is technology being used to destroy the democratic process?

    Special Guest: Coral James O'Connor, senior lecturer at City University London. Tanya Weaver Jack Loughran Tim Fryer

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • E+T Expert Engineering: Taj Mahal

    The Taj Mahal, India’s most recognisable landmark, was originally commissioned by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his beloved wife in 1632. E+T looks at the history behind its construction and addresses the popular myth that a black version of the building was originally going to be built on the opposite side of the river bank.

  • Underwater drone discovers and explores 100-year-old shipwreck

    An underwater drone known as Hydrus has been used to explore a shipwreck that has been at the bottom of the Indian Ocean for over 100 years. Developed by Advanced Navigation, Hydrus was sent to the Rottnest ship graveyard located in the Indian Ocean, just off the coast of Western Australia. After unloading its data, the team found that the drone had spotted a 64-metre shipwreck scattered across the seafloor. The Rottnest ship graveyard rests between 50 and 200 metres below sea level and has been used for the disposal of obsolete ships since 1910. After the Second World War, the graveyard was also used for the disposal of Lend-Lease vehicles and aircraft. The wrecks of historically significant vessels are known to have been sunk there, although the majority have yet to be discovered due…

  • British Steel wins contract to provide materials for Egypt’s Green Line

    British Steel has won a contract to supply around 9,500 tonnes of rail track for Egypt’s Green Line, which will be produced in Scunthorpe. Once complete, the Green Line will be the country’s first fully electrified mainline and freight network, stretching from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean. The network is 660km long and will carry trains – for both passengers and goods – up to a maximum speed of 250km/h (155mph), with British Steel among a number of key suppliers providing rail to the project. Rail supplied is 60E1 in grade R260, each at 18 metres in length. The multi-million-pound contract could provide a key lifeline for British Steel, which has been struggling to produce affordable steel in recent years due to strong competition from steelmakers in China and elsewhere. British…

  • Network Rail to spend £2.8bn to improve climate resilience on UK’s railways

    Network Rail has unveiled a £2.8bn plan to protect the UK’s rail infrastructure from extreme weather threats caused by climate change. The money will be invested in a variety of technologies to improve the reliability of Britain’s railways, alongside increases to maintenance funding. Around 600,000 metres of drains will be built, rebuilt, redesigned or see increased maintenance to enable the railway to cope with much heavier rainfall and reduce flooding. The programme will have 400 extra drainage engineers to oversee the efforts. ‘Smart’ movement sensors will be installed to help give early warning of any land changes in the hope that engineers will be able to react faster ahead of full landslips, which can damage infrastructure and lead to delays and cancellations. Other technologies…

  • Aviation sector must be held to account if it fails to cut emissions, MPs say

    The government must hold the aviation sector accountable for its proposed cuts to emissions, MPs on the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) have said. In the Jet Zero Strategy, which was published in 2022, the government proposed various technological measures, such as increasing fuel efficiency and the adoption of sustainable aviation fuels. The model assumes that fuel efficiencies will improve by 2% each year, in line with evidence from the aviation sector. But the EAC has urged the government to hold the aviation industry accountable for the reductions should they not be met. Last year, a survey of aviation experts found that the majority are not convinced that the sector will become carbon neutral by the stated 2050 goal. Aviation, which accounts for approximately 3% of total CO2…

  • NHS confirms plans to roll out ‘artificial pancreases’ to diabetes sufferers

    The NHS has confirmed plans to roll out “artificial pancreases” to patients living with type 1 diabetes across England. The device, also known as a hybrid closed-loop system, helps individuals with diabetes manage their blood sugar levels more effectively. It combines a continuous glucose monitoring system with an insulin pump and a control algorithm that automatically adjusts insulin delivery based on the individual’s glucose levels. Currently, most people with the condition are tasked with monitoring their own blood sugar levels and adjusting their insulin dosage accordingly. The technology about to be introduced can lead to fewer hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) and hyperglycemic (high blood sugar) episodes, as well as better overall diabetes management. Local NHS systems have been…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • US and UK sign ‘landmark’ agreement to improve safety of AI

    A landmark agreement on artificial intelligence (AI) between the US and the UK will see both countries align their approaches to tackling the new risks that the technology poses. Technology secretary Michelle Donelan and US commerce secretary Gina Raimondo said the partnership will see both countries develop ways to evaluate AI models, systems, and agents. A recent report warned that eight million UK jobs could be at risk from AI, while both the White House and the European Parliament have approved laws this year to reduce the risks of the technology and improve transparency. The UK and US AI safety institutes have laid out plans to build a common approach to AI safety testing and intend to perform at least one joint testing exercise on a publicly accessible model. The agreement also…

  • Size matters in wind farm development

    Financial pressures and the economics of expansion may mean it’s time to reconsider the assumptions that drive offshore wind designs. Just over 20 years ago, the UK saw its first commercial offshore wind farm go into service close to north Wales resort Rhyl. Thirty turbines with rotors 80m in diameter each fed a maximum of 2MW into the grid. These windmills are now minnows compared with the behemoths that suppliers such as Siemens Gamesa and China-based Goldwind are now planting on the beds of shallow waters in the North Sea or Taiwan Strait. The prototype of Siemens’ largest design installed in Denmark in late 2021 has a single rotor with a diameter of 222m. It can, at full pelt, generate 15MW of electricity: over seven times the power from each of the first crop of turbines off the north…

  • Amazon ramps up investment in ChatGPT rival; White House announces AI guardrails

    Amazon has announced an additional $2.75bn investment in AI start-up Anthropic as it looks to gain a foothold in the rapidly expanding industry. Anthropic was founded by former members of ChatGPT-creator OpenAI and has already developed its own large language model, known as Claude, with similar functionality. The firm has already been using Amazon Web Services (AWS) as its primary cloud provider for workloads including safety research and further developing its model. Amazon invested $1.25bn in Anthropic in September, which means their total funding has now reached $4bn with the new allocation. The firms plan to target organisations in highly regulated industries such as healthcare, the public sector, banking and insurance to adopt AI solutions in their workflows. “Generative AI…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Designing Tidal Turbines That Are Safe for Marine Life

    Brett Marmo, technical director of Xi Engineering, discusses using acoustics simulation to analyse the impact of tidal turbines on harbor seals. Creating clean energy alternatives for energy sources that generate greenhouse gas is crucial if we are to avoid excessive global heating and the rising climate crisis. A viable, renewable energy source are ocean tides, which, unlike solar and wind resources, are not weather dependent, making them predictable. Tidal energy can be harnessed by deploying tidal turbines into tidal streams. This process is the foundation of the MeyGen project, a massive renewable energy project that is planned to be the world’s largest tidal energy plant. Recently, an array of tidal turbines has been deployed at this project site, where tides flowing between the Atlantic…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Negative leap second could be delayed as climate change slows the Earth’s rotation

    Climate change is slowing the Earth’s rotation and the way in which we measure time may need to change, a study has found. Synchronised global timekeeping is crucial for maintaining the accuracy of various technologies, from smartphones to computer networks. Currently, leap seconds are added roughly every two to three years to help align atomic clocks with the Earth’s irregular rotation. In 1972, a day defined by the Earth’s rotation was 0.0025 seconds (2,500 microseconds) longer than the one defined by atomic clocks. Over the course of a year, the accumulated difference was almost a second, so a leap second was used to keep the difference from getting any larger. But in 2023, the two kinds of day differed by only 80 microseconds, so the difference in time over a year added up to only 0…

  • Flying taxi test flight in China cuts journey time by nearly 90%

    Chinese firm AutoFlight claims it completed “the world’s first inter-city electric air-taxi” flight last month between the southern Chinese cities of Shenzhen and Zhuhai. The five-seater Prosperity aircraft took around 20 minutes to complete the 50km route across the Pearl River Delta, which would take around three hours by car. It used one of 100 flightpaths that have been set out by the local government for electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. Prosperity’s vertical take-off capabilities eliminated the need for a runway although wings were utilised to preserve energy during cruising. While the demonstration was uncrewed and fully autonomous, the firm believes it will get certification for crewed passenger flights within the next couple of years. According to AutoFlight…

  • Sizewell C signs land deal with EDF to allow nuclear plant construction works to begin

    Sizewell C Ltd, the publicly owned firm behind the new nuclear plant, has signed a deal with EDF Energy to purchase the land needed to construct the project. The agreement marks a crucial step in its progress gaining eligibility from the Office for Nuclear Regulation to begin construction. Under the terms of the deal, the company will acquire the freehold of the land, essential for the construction and subsequent operation of the new power station. With the UK’s ageing fleet of eight nuclear power stations in need of replacement, and only EDF’s Hinkley Point C currently undergoing construction, Sizewell C will play an important role in backing up renewable energy in the switch away from fossil fuels. The project is expected to be finished by 2036 at the latest and will provide 7% of the…

  • Artificial intelligence puts 8 million UK jobs at risk, report finds

    An estimated 8 million jobs in the UK are at risk from artificial intelligence (AI) unless the government enacts proactive policies to prevent this, a report from a think tank has warned. The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has said that back-office, entry-level and part-time jobs in particular are heavily exposed to automation, and women are also “significantly” more affected. The report identifies two key stages of generative AI adoption: the first wave, which is already here, and a second wave, when companies will integrate existing AI technologies further and more deeply into their processes. The body analysed 22,000 tasks in the UK economy, covering every type of job, and found that while only 11% of tasks are thought to be exposed to existing generative AI, this could…

  • Sophisticated searching of deep space

    It’s the ultimate astronomers’ question: ‘Is there anybody out there?’ The quest to find out for sure is growing ever more sophisticated. It was the call he’d always hoped for. Astrophysicist Chris Lintott was contacted at his Oxford home by an excited journalist with a question: “Is it true? Have we really discovered aliens?” At that time, stargazers believed an oddly behaving star might be a sign of intelligent life. It transpired to be a false alarm – one of a few in living memory that have raised the hopes of scientists and space enthusiasts that we might not be alone in the universe (see False alarms and the unexplained, overleaf). But Lintott – presenter of The Sky at Night and a professor at the University of Oxford who looks for astronomical anomalies using machine learning –…

  • Trial begins for UK’s first long-distance coach route using EVs

    The UK’s first long-distance coach route using an electrically-powered vehicle is being trialled by FlixBus. The bus operator is trying the new vehicles out on a route between London, Bristol and Newport between March and June this year. It said the vehicle will save 352kg of carbon emissions per day driven on this route compared to the average diesel-fuelled coach. This equals a reduction of more than 21 tonnes of CO2 over the course of the pilot. The electric vehicle (EV) has a battery rating of 282kWh, and will be charged using “ultra-fast state-of-the-art chargers” at a Transport UK London Bus depot in Battersea in London and Newport Transport’s headquarters in South Wales. FlixBus UK managing director Andreas Schorling said: “This is a huge step forward for the UK coach sector, transforming…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • China accused of ‘unacceptable behaviour’ after Electoral Commission hack

    Chinese hackers have been blamed for two cyber attacks targeting UK politicians and the national election commission. APT31, a hacking group affiliated with the Chinese state, was found to be “almost certainly responsible” for targeting UK parliamentarians’ emails in 2021. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said the attacks were targeted at members who have been prominent in calling out malign activity originating in China. Separately, computer systems at the Electoral Commission were also found to be compromised between 2021 and 2022. The NCSC said it was “highly likely” that the attackers accessed email data as well as data from the electoral register during this time. It said the data would be used by Chinese intelligence services for large-scale espionage and repressing perceived…

  • Calls for blanket ban on deforestation-linked products rejected by government

    The government has rejected recommendations to ban UK businesses from trading in products linked to deforestation, regardless of whether their production was legal. The cross-party Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) had said UK businesses should be banned from trading in commodities linked to UN-defined deforestation in all cases, regardless of whether the deforestation was illegal or permitted by local laws. It previously found that the consumption of commodities such as soy, cocoa, palm oil, beef and leather by domestic consumers is unsustainable and leading to rampant deforestation across the globe. A zero-deforestation approach would encourage consistency in trading such commodities across UK and European markets. But in its response to the EAC’s report, the government said: “The…

  • Labour’s plan to decarbonise the grid by 2030 is ‘infeasible’, report finds

    Labour’s £116bn plan to decarbonise the power sector by 2030 is “infeasible in the timeframe”, the Policy Exchange think tank has said. The body commissioned Aurora Energy Research to conduct a rigorous analysis of different scenarios in which the UK could achieve a net zero power sector. If it wins the next election, the Labour Party has announced plans to accelerate the UK’s efforts to make its power grid net zero from 2035 to 2030. It said the plan would ultimately cut household energy bills by up to £1,400 a year and improve insulation for millions of homes. But the new report argues that decarbonising the grid by 2030 is a “fundamentally different proposition” to decarbonising the grid by 2035. The shorter timeframe does not allow additional generation from nuclear or bioenergy with…

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