• Hands-on review: Chefree AFW20 Air Fryer

    The post-pandemic parallel stresses of a cost-of-living crisis compounded by soaring energy bills has been a positive boon for the air fryer industry. People have still got to eat, so the idea of being able to prepare hot meals in half the time has proved a deliciously attractive proposition. The Chefree AFW20 air fryer is the latest iteration on the air fryer concept, building on the well-established form and function, yet still managing to add a few new appealing features. Image credit: Chefree Promising to empower the user to save up to 80 per cent on their energy bill, via the "cook faster, save energy" model, the Chefree has two large 4L cooking drawers (the company's tagline for this is, "Double taste, double enjoyment"), each with a visible window and internal…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Building 300,000 homes per year is ‘impossible’, MPs told

    While the government is on track to deliver one million new homes throughout the current Parliament, it is not forecast to deliver 300,000 net new homes per year by the mid-2020s, MPs have been told. The findings are part of a new report published by the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee.  In December 2022, Rishi Sunak's government ensured that the new legislation aimed at boosting housing and infrastructure would make clear that the promise to build 300,000 homes every year by the mid-2020s was only a “starting point” and would be “advisory”. However, the Committee said its inquiry into the policy change had seen it told that the six-figure target would be “impossible to achieve”. The 44-page report states that the government has not provided sufficient evidence to demonstrate…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Back Story: ‘No one truly knows what diversity or inclusion looks or feels like’

    Shini Somara: Why did you choose geotechnical engineering? Vanessa Burton: I always loved infrastructure and was good at maths, art and physics. During college summer holidays I undertook a work experience, ‘Urban Pioneers: Between the Bridges’, with the Architecture Foundation. It was fantastic and it helped me understand where I wanted to be. I didn’t know much about the civil engineering industry beforehand, especially geotechnical engineering.   SS: Were there many people that looked like you on your engineering course? VB: Coming from South London to attend University of Surrey was a shock. Nobody on my civil engineering course looked like me; the colloquialisms, humour was all different. By getting involved in various societies and during my course I made some great friends. I was…

  • Unnecessary bureaucracy burdening UK space sector, MPs warn

    A report from the Commons Science, Innovation and Technology Committee claims that bolstering domestic launch capabilities would also help to strengthen Britain’s position in the design and manufacture of small satellites. However, the first attempt at a rocket launch from British soil by Virgin Orbit in January this year failed catastrophically, with the firm discovering that a dislodged fuel filter caused an engine to overheat . Virgin Orbit, which has since been shuttered in the wake of the disastrous launch, were highly critical of the UK regulatory process which preceded the attempt. This process was led by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), who were accused by Virgin Orbit of operating a process that was slow, excessively bureaucratic, and risk averse. The CAA defended the licencing…

  • After All: Speeding when stationary, with lost GPS signal

    Halfway into our coast-to-coast drive across France, our camper van’s deranged satnav, whom we had nicknamed George, came up with a new crackling statement. “GPS signal lost!” he (it) was announcing triumphantly every five minutes. It was a significant addition to his usual mantra, “You are over the speed limit!”, which he particularly enjoyed repeating when we were stuck in a long motorway queue. I first introduced George – or the SatNag, as we had monikered him – to E&T readers in 2021. We inherited him as part of an outdated sound system, firmly embedded into the dashboard of our Toyota Alphard campervan, aka Alphie. George was irritating, but also irrepressible: three years on, despite using a Google Maps satnav from my wife’s smartphone, we were still unable to silence our ‘SatNag’!…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Hands-on review: Majority Audio Everest 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound System

    Music, film, TV and gaming. As often as not, all four will be consumed and enjoyed in most homes via the same device: the big-screen television. However, the speakers and overall sound quality of many televisions - even new models in 2023 - can be somewhat lacklustre, with manufacturers (understandably enough) reasoning that those who crave better, clearer, more dimensional, more enveloping, and just plain louder audio will go ahead and spend their own money upgrading their overall home sonic experience. This is where soundbars step in. Naturally, there are approximately a million soundbars to choose from these days, ranging from basic stereo systems, to 2.1 systems that add a subwoofer (for the boom that shakes the room), up to full-on 5.1 surround-sound setups, like this Everest system…

  • Futuristic concrete made from fungi allows for eco-friendly construction

    Using the knitted moulds as a flexible framework or ‘formwork’, the scientists created a composite called ‘mycocrete’ which is stronger and more versatile in terms of shape and form, allowing the scientists to grow lightweight and relatively eco-friendly construction materials. “Our ambition is to transform the look, feel and wellbeing of architectural spaces using mycelium in combination with biobased materials such as wool, sawdust and cellulose,” said Dr Jane Scott of Newcastle University. To make composites using mycelium, scientists mix spores with grains they can feed on and material that they can grow on. This mixture is packed into a mould and placed in a dark, humid, and warm environment so that the mycelium can grow, binding the substrate tightly together. Once it’s reached…

  • Secrets of Egyptian paintings uncovered by chemical imaging

    The two paintings were placed in funerary chapels in Theban Necropolis near the River Nile. They date to the Ramesside Period, approximately 1,400 and 1,200 BCE, respectively.  The technology allowed researchers to undertake the experiments on-site, being able to analyse the paint composition and layering and identify alterations made to the artworks without having to remove them from their location. The results of the experiments revealed that the headdress, necklace, and sceptre in the image of Ramesses II were substantially reworked. In addition, in a scene of adoration depicted in Menna’s tomb, the position and colour of an arm were modified. Moreover, t he pigments used to represent skin colour differ from those first applied, resulting in subtle changes whose purpose still remains…

  • Government email accounts breached in Microsoft hack

    Microsoft has identified 'Storm-0558' as responsible for the hacking of email accounts, including some linked to US and Western Europe government agencies.  Email accounts belonging to US State Department and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo were reportedly affected , The Washington Post has reported, citing official sources. "The threat actor Microsoft links to this incident is an adversary based in China that Microsoft calls Storm-0558," the company said in a blog post late Tuesday, July 12th. "Storm-0558 primarily targets government agencies in Western Europe and focuses on espionage, data theft and credential access." Microsoft’s executive vice president of security, Charlie Bell, said the hacking group is focused on " espionage" and implied that the goal of the attack could have…

  • Computing courses attract record numbers of applications to universities

    Computing has become the seventh most popular course to study at university after the number of applications from Year 13 graduates rises by 9.5 per cent, compared to 2022 figures.  In 2023, there were 94,870 applications to computing from 18-year-olds in the UK, up from 86,630 last year and 71,150 in 2021, Ucas revealed. The reason for the course's increase in popularity could be the effect of the rise of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT,  a large-language model chatbot which can answer questions in a seemingly natural way and is trained on a massive data set. “We know that changes in the world around us translate into increased demand for certain courses, as we saw for economics post-2008, and for medicine and nursing during the Covid-19 pandemic," said…

  • Dear Evil Engineer: Could I smuggle military secrets in my DNA?

    Dear Evil Engineer, I’m a double agent operating on behalf of [redacted]. After 15 years operating in a hostile state’s defence technology facility, I have finally been taken into enough confidence to seize a quantity of sensitive data, which I’ve copied to a 32GB thumb drive to return to my home country of [redacted]. However, I’ve been informed that counter-intelligence has been alerted to my activities and I’m not sure how best to bring this data back over the border – surely all my electronics will be searched. I’ve heard that data can be stored in other forms, including in DNA. Could I store these defence secrets in my own DNA and thus carry them across the border undetected? Yours, A spy Dear villain, Thank you for your revealing letter. It is not for me to alert any authorities…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • The measure of: The Icon luxury mini yacht

    The sustainable luxury mini yacht called The Icon gives users a small taste of what it’s like to be a part of the global elite, according to its developers, BMW and boat maker Tyde. BMW designers came up with the idea and developed the concept for this collaborative endeavour. The electric drive system on the craft sources its energy from high-voltage batteries supplied by BMWi. The boat uses hydrofoils traditionally used in racing yachts to help reduce the energy requirement by up to 80 per cent compared with a conventional hull, its developer said, adding that the foiling technology – whereby the craft rides on wing structures below the water level, while the hull floats above the surface of the water – provides a higher level of travelling comfort and higher speeds. …

  • James Webb Telescope reveals closest star-forming region in unprecedented detail

    The picture features the nearest star-forming region to us, approximately 390 light years away. The satellite is a joint effort with Nasa, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency. It is designed to explore every phase of cosmic history, from within our solar system to the most distant observable galaxies in the early universe. The $10bn telescope was finished years late at a cost far higher than planned, but was finally launched on Christmas Day 2021 with a minimum ten-year plan to study the cosmos. “In just one year, the James Webb Space Telescope has transformed humanity’s view of the cosmos, peering into dust clouds and seeing light from faraway corners of the universe for the very first time. Every new image is a new discovery, empowering scientists around the…

  • Earth House

    The house at the centre of the island will be a 597-square-metre home called Earth House, consisting of nine connected buildings surrounding a central courtyard. The living block will be made entirely from thatch, while its four bedrooms will be fire-retardant hempcrete. A boathouse will be insulated with seaweed and a star-gazing room will be built from polished concrete. Also connected to the home will be a greenhouse made entirely of glass brick and used to grow food for the island’s residents, as well as a Japanese-style bathhouse containing tubs cut from the island’s bedrock. In addition to the main residence, an eight-metre-high, triangular two-bedroom guest house on the eastern shore, called Wood House, will be built from wood from the island. The houses will be powered by a combination…

  • Hands-on review: Lenco LBT-225WA Bluetooth turntable with glass platter

    If you've harboured any nagging doubts about the authenticity or otherwise of the vinyl revival, consider this stat: last year, pop lady of the moment Taylor Swift sold 575,000 vinyl copies of her Midnights album in the first week of release alone. Over half a million copies. On vinyl. In one week. Make no mistake: vinyl is back, back, back, baby. Accordingly, so are record players. Where 20 years ago you could barely find a new turntable on the high street, now it seems you can't move for them. Even supermarkets are selling record players. As with every other type of consumer technology audio gadget, the archetypal three-tier system is in play here, too. There's the feeding-frenzy, mass-market low end, where you mostly get what you pay for, with the occasional diamond in the rough to be…

  • Editor's Letter: farewell and a look back at some highlights

    This month's issue looks into how technology is improving or replicating the human senses. Is engineering any closer to a $6m man - or $6bn post-human? What can animals sense that we can't but technology might? But this is also a welcome to my last issue of E&T magazine. A lot has changed since I joined IEE Review, as it was then, over 20 years ago. And some things haven’t changed much at all.                                    Our first issue of E&T, combining a suite of bimonthlies into a fortnightly magazine, was in 2008. Issues we were covering then just never seem to go away, even if they’ve evolved. Letters about the status of engineers still fill our mailbag. The industry’s skills shortages haven’t got much better and, if anything, have got worse. First issue

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Bizarre Tech: Amagami Ham Ham, Respiray Wear A+, and Loona Smart Robot

    Amagami Ham Ham Ya want a little nibble? Japan’s Yukai Engineering has come up with something else questionable, following on from the ‘popular’ Qoobo, the cushion with a wagging tail. This cute, kawaii robot has a special ability: to nibble on your finger. They justify it like this: “Replicating the cute habits of babies, kittens, and puppies, it nibbles on your finger. While you stopped that behaviour in the past – as sharp little teeth can hurt – this adorable robot lets you enjoy the same comfort.” Comfort? Eh? With Amagami Ham Ham, you can keep “this sweet, gentle biting sensation nearby at all times”. Apparently, being gnawed on is a stress reliever, and it’s suggested you use it at work. By hiding Amagami Ham Ham in your desk drawer, you can whap it out when you’ve had a barney…

  • China preparing new rocket for 2030 crewed Moon landing

    The project will see two rockets launching towards the Moon's orbit. One of the rockets will carry the spacecraft that will land on the surface of the Moon, while the other will transport the astronauts.  Once the docking has been made successfully,  the astronauts will enter the lunar lander to descend onto the Moon's surface, where they will collect samples and complete a series of scientific tests.  After the tasks are completed, the lander will transport the astronauts back to the orbiting spacecraft, on which they will return to Earth, said Zhang Hailian, deputy chief engineer at China Manned Space, at a summit in the central Chinese city of Wuhan. The goal of the mission is to  overcome China's longstanding technological hurdle of developing a heavy-duty rocket powerful enough to…

  • Green retrofit: a tour of BGEN's HQ office

    Most companies don't have the luxury of building a brand new, carbon-neutral or net zero office building - and that may not necessarily be the best thing for the environment anyway. They have to make the best of what they've got.   In Warrington, engineering solutions business BGEN is on that journey. E&T started a tour of their offices and the measures they've taken so far by asking what net zero means to them. Net zero v carbon-neutral “What a lot of organisations have done, and you'll see this a lot, is they will declare carbon-neutral. Now, that doesn't mean a lot, it means they bought trees, that's what carbon-neutral means," explains chief digital officer Simon Clarkson. "And they’ve not necessarily made any effort whatsoever to reduce the carbon footprint of their business, all…

  • UK regulator changes course on Microsoft’s £55bn Activision takeover

    Microsoft is a step closer to finalising its acquisition of video game-maker Activision Blizzard, following developments in its legal battles in the US and UK. In Britain, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has agreed to pause its legal battle with Microsoft and begin negotiations that would address the regulator's competition concerns regarding the cloud gaming market.  “We stand ready to consider any proposals from Microsoft to restructure the transaction in a way that would address the concerns set out in our final report," a CMA spokesperson said. “In order to be able to prioritise work on these proposals, Microsoft and Activision have agreed with the CMA that a stay of litigation in the UK would be in the public interest and all parties have made a joint submission to the…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Portable dementia test could help diagnose disease five years earlier

    The ‘Fastball’ test measures patients’ brain waves whilst they watch a series of flashing images displayed on a screen. Developed by researchers from the universities of Bath and Bristol, the technology requires users to wear an electroencephalogram (EEG) headset, which is linked to a computer for analysis. Previous research has shown Fastball to be highly effective at picking up subtle changes in brain waves which occur when a person remembers an image. They have demonstrated that this response changes as a person develops dementia, offering hope as a breakthrough for early diagnosis. Dementia is typically diagnosed too late, at a point at which the disease has damaged the brain beyond repair. This can be up to 20 years after the disease first started to develop. Current diagnosis…

  • Ofcom faces £169m bill to implement online safety rules

    The Online Safety Bill is intended to make tech firms accountable for harmful third-party content hosted on their platforms, ranging from illegal content such as terrorist propaganda to abusive content that falls below the threshold of criminality, such as bullying of minors. It will be enforced by the communications regulator, Ofcom, which could block access to their sites, fine them either up to 10 per cent of annual turnover or £18m (whichever is higher), and hold senior managers criminally liable for failures of duty of care. The regulator said it has made a good start in its preparations for implementing the new regime. But according to a report by the National Audit Office (NAO) it must now “manage risks” around monitoring, scope and financing. The report looked at whether the preparations…

  • Book interview: Fusion’s Promise

    Matthew Moynihan is nothing if not a realist. He knows that the technology he champions suffers from what public relations people call reputational issues. And that’s because for several decades nuclear fusion has at best been saddled with the qualifying term ‘tomorrow’s’, while at worst, it’s a fringe distraction often written about in green ink and block capitals. Even Moynihan’s co-author on ‘Fusion’s Promise’ had his doubts. Alfred B Bortz in his early meetings with Moynihan wondered: “Aren’t fusioneers chasing steadily moving goalposts?” In the preface to their book – wonderfully subtitled ‘How Technology Breakthroughs in Nuclear Fusion Can Conquer Climate Change on Earth (And Carry Humans to Mars, Too)’ – we’re told that Moynihan answered Bortz’s question in the negative, insisting…

  • Polluters to face unlimited fines for environmental offences

    Organisations that break environmental laws could face unlimited fines, according to the new legislation presented by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). Following a consultation that demonstrated “widespread public support” for the measures, Defra has revealed it will scrap the current £250,000 limit on civil penalties resulting from environmental offences. This will allow the Environment Agency (EA) and Natural England to impose large penalties without having to go through lengthy criminal prosecutions. Defra said the size of the penalties will be subject to sentencing guidelines and will take into account the extent of the pollution and degree of responsibility and harm, as well as the polluting company’s size and ability to pay. In addition, these higher…

Community Rules & Guidelines