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  • Critical infrastructure too reliant on ‘increasingly fragile’ copper network, BT warns

    Critical infrastructure too reliant on ‘increasingly fragile’ copper network, BT warns

    BT has said that the UK’s ageing copper landline network is increasingly prone to faults and has urged the UK’s Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) providers to move to new technology. The copper network has been active since 1876 and has been predominantly used for telephone communications and, more recently, providing internet services to people across the nation. But new data showed that 60% of CNI customers in the UK currently have no plan to migrate away from the legacy analogue network despite the fact it is becoming increasingly unstable with age. CNI designations are applied to assets considered vital to the functioning of the nation, such as energy grids, water systems, transportation networks and, most recently, data centres. This status affords them extra protections to…

  • Honeybees sporting QR backpacks reveal the secrets of their foraging missions

    Honeybees sporting QR backpacks reveal the secrets of their foraging missions

    Honeybees fitted with tiny QR codes are helping researchers track how long they spend foraging outside their hives. Entomologists and electrical engineers at Penn State University in the US are collaborating to track the foraging habits of thousands of bees. The aim is to discover exactly how far bees will travel from their hives to collect pollen and nectar. All worker honeybees are female. Each bee involved in the study had a QR code, or fiduciary tag, glued to her back. These codes are tiny as they only carry the smallest amount of identification information, and do not impede movement or cause harm. The team tagged over 32,000 bees across six hives in six different apiaries in rural New York and Pennsylvania. The researchers fitted out each of these hives with a customised entrance…

  • London cabbies’ route-planning abilities could help inform future AI navigation tech

    London cabbies’ route-planning abilities could help inform future AI navigation tech

    The highly efficient way London taxi drivers plan destinations off the top of their heads has been used as part of a study into the future of AI route-mapping. London taxi drivers are famous for their knowledge of more than 26,000 streets across the city. Studies actually show that their brains are different to the average person. They have a larger posterior hippocampus region, which is the part of the brain linked to spatial memory and learning. This ‘larger’ brain enables them to make sense of a highly complex city such as London and memorise hundreds of journeys and street names to navigate the city. How exactly a London taxi driver reaches a destination was the subject of a recent study by researchers at the University of York, in collaboration with University College London and…

  • Rolls-Royce signs £9bn deal to build nuclear reactors for UK submarines

    Rolls-Royce signs £9bn deal to build nuclear reactors for UK submarines

    Rolls-Royce has signed a £9bn deal with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to build nuclear reactors for the UK’s submarine fleet. The firm said the contract, which has been dubbed Unity, was the largest it had ever signed with the MoD. The Unity contract stretches over eight years and brings together all elements of research and technology, design, manufacture and in-service support of the nuclear reactors that power the Royal Navy’s submarines. The MoD said it would create more than 1,000 jobs while safeguarding a further 4,000 roles and “signposts the UK’s commitment to the continuous at sea nuclear deterrent”. Defence secretary John Healey MP announced the deal today on a visit to Rolls-Royce’s nuclear reactor production facility in Derby. “This investment in Britain’s defence will deliver…

  • Customers of Three network unable to call 999 as Storm Éowyn threatens further disruption

    Customers of Three network unable to call 999 as Storm Éowyn threatens further disruption

    Thousands of Three network customers have been unable to make or receive phone calls for more than 17 hours because of a network failure. The incident, which also impacted customers on virtual networks such as Smarty and ID Mobile, even prevented some 999 calls. More than 10,000 people told outage tracker Downdetector of problems across the Three network on Thursday (23 January). Writing on X (formerly Twitter) this morning, Three said: “Following an issue affecting voice calls yesterday, services have almost returned to normal overnight. Our monitoring has picked up an issue with calls connected via WiFi which we’re investigating urgently.” It added that although the bulk of the technical issues have been fixed, it foresees customers facing additional problems over the coming day due…

  • Elon Musk openly criticises Trump’s $500bn Stargate AI initiative

    Elon Musk openly criticises Trump’s $500bn Stargate AI initiative

    Elon Musk has cast doubt on the first major tech investment announcement made by Trump. During a White House press conference US President Donald Trump announced the $500bn Stargate AI infrastructure project. Stargate is a joint venture between major tech companies OpenAI, SoftBank and Oracle to create the infrastructure and computing capacity needed to power AI projects over the next four years. The CEOs of the three companies stood alongside Trump as he made the announcement. Trump called it the “largest AI infrastructure project in history” and a “resounding declaration of confidence in America’s potential under a new president”. One of the executive orders targeted by Trump on his first day in office was to revoke a 2023 executive order signed by Joe Biden designed to reduce the potential…

  • Rapid adoption of EVs risks UK grid instability by 2030, analysts warn

    Rapid adoption of EVs risks UK grid instability by 2030, analysts warn

    Electric vehicles (EV) could be responsible for as much as 5% of total power demand by 2030, but analysts have expressed concern that the demand could eclipse the capacity of the UK grid. Current targets call for EV sales to represent 80% of all new car purchases by the end of the decade. If the sales target is achieved, the National Grid Electricity System Operator (NESO) forecasts a significant surge in electricity demand, with cars alone accounting for a 143% rise in annual electricity consumption by 2029. The total increase in demand from EVs could add 17.12TWh to the grid – up from just 7.05TWh in 2025. But energy analysts at Montel have said “there are concerns” about whether capacity buildout will be adequate by that time. The UK is building huge amounts of new renewable energy…

  • E+T scoops gold and silver at annual International Content Marketing Awards 2024

    E+T scoops gold and silver at annual International Content Marketing Awards 2024

    E+T has received gold in the Best Membership category and silver in the Designer of the Year category at the International Content Marketing Awards 2024. The International Content Marketing Awards, organised by the Content Marketing Association (CMA), are an annual awards celebrating the best content marketing campaigns, strategies, teams and individuals working in the content industry. These highly competitive and prestigious awards attract a wide range of entries from content creators across the globe. Multimedia agency Redactive works in partnership with the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) to produce content for the E+T media brand portfolio. At the awards ceremony, Redactive and the IET received gold in the Best Membership category for the E+T media brand. This…

    E+T Magazine
  • Under development: Artificial photosynthesis to next-gen neural implants

    Under development: Artificial photosynthesis to next-gen neural implants

    From replicating photosynthesis to implanting neural semiconductors, we track the progress of ground-breaking engineering research. Lab: Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST) What: Bio-inspired hydrogels capable of harnessing sunlight for hydrogen production Stage: TRL-1 Scientists have for a long time been trying to replicate the natural process of photosynthesis, which enables plants to absorb sunlight, water and carbon dioxide and convert it into oxygen and energy in the form of sugar. It is thought that synthetic or artificial photosynthesis systems have huge potential in generating clean, renewable energy. Researchers from JAIST and the University of Tokyo have been working on a new type of bio-inspired hydrogel that mimics this process and uses sunlight…

  • China sets fusion energy milestone with over 1,000 seconds of high-confinement plasma

    China sets fusion energy milestone with over 1,000 seconds of high-confinement plasma

    China’s Hefei Institutes of Physical Science (HIPS) has said it has achieved “a significant scientific milestone” in the development of fusion energy after maintaining a steady-state high-confinement plasma operation for 1,066 seconds. The feat took place at the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), which is often referred to as China’s ‘artificial Sun’. “A fusion device must achieve stable operation at high efficiency for thousands of seconds to enable the self-sustaining circulation of plasma, which is essential for the continuous power generation of future fusion plants,” said Yuntao Song, the director of the Institute of Plasma Physics at HIPS. The breakthrough significantly surpasses the previous world record of 403 seconds, which was also established by EAST in 2023…

  • Solar-powered data centre heading for the lunar surface to launch next month

    Solar-powered data centre heading for the lunar surface to launch next month

    In February 2025 Lonestar Data Holdings will launch its small, fully operational data centre heading for the Moon. Florida-based start-up Lonestar Data Holdings has had its eye on the Moon for a number of years. The mission is to be the first company to put physical data centres on and around the Moon. While small, these lunar data centres will be used for data storage and edge processing, and will have the capability to restore digital information. In February 2024, Lonestar revealed it had successfully completed its first data transmission test of its secure data storage concept using an Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lander. The company claimed that this test of its space-based edge computing concept, which is entirely solar-powered and carbon neutral, proves the viability of software…

  • UK to launch unified rail ticketing site as part of Great British Railways roll-out

    UK to launch unified rail ticketing site as part of Great British Railways roll-out

    The UK’s rail ticketing system will be unified in a single website, simplifying the current system where operators have their own sales portals, the government has announced. In its manifesto, the Labour Party committed to the creation of Great British Railways (GBR) – an effective gradual renationalisation of the UK’s rail system. The creation of the new website is part of that process, and will be necessary once operators transfer to public ownership. But the site will not launch until GBR starts operating, which is expected to be in late 2026 at the earliest. The Department for Transport (DfT) said: “Exact plans for Great British Railways online retail and ensuring a fair and competitive market will now be developed over time in close partnership with industry and the private sector…

  • Digital passports and driving licences among IDs to be stored in new UK government phone app

    Digital passports and driving licences among IDs to be stored in new UK government phone app

    The UK government will launch two new apps – gov.uk App and gov.uk Wallet – enabling UK citizens to store ID and interact with services from their smartphones. The gov.uk App will launch in summer 2025 and will allow users to avoid navigating the gov.uk website to find information and complete tasks. Later in the year, the gov.uk Wallet will launch. This is a filing system similar to the Wallet app on an Apple or Google phone where digital versions of documents are stored and easily accessible. The first government-issued document available in the gov.uk Wallet will be a digital version of a user’s driving licence, which will allow people to prove their age, and a veteran card. Other digital documents to be available in the Wallet will include disclosure requirement certificates, such…

  • Ground-penetrating radar reveals 15th-century secret passageways under Milan's Sforza Castle

    Ground-penetrating radar reveals 15th-century secret passageways under Milan's Sforza Castle

    Numerous secret passages have been discovered under Milan’s Sforza Castle, some of which were immortalised in drawings by Leonardo da Vinci. Built in the 15th century, Sforza Castle has been extensively renovated and rebuilt over the centuries, earning it the title of one of the largest citadels in Europe. Today it houses several of the city’s museums and art collections. Suspicions about secret passageways date as far back as the 1490s when it was thought that the Duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza – or il Moro – had a tunnel built to reach the nearby Basilica di Santa Maria delle Grazie, where his wife Beatrice d’Este was buried following her death in childbirth. Leonardo da Vinci, who was employed by the duke to decorate some of the castle’s rooms, had created drawings of this passageway…

    E+T Magazine
  • Trump’s day one executive orders target the Paris Agreement, EVs and AI

    Trump’s day one executive orders target the Paris Agreement, EVs and AI

    President Donald Trump has signed an executive order pulling the US out of the Paris Agreement just hours after taking office. The historic Agreement was originally signed in 2015 under the Obama administration and saw 189 countries make promises to reduce their carbon emissions in order to stave off the worst impacts of climate change. Withdrawing from the Agreement a second time via an executive order, Trump described the Agreement as a “rip-off”. “The United States will not sabotage our own industries while China pollutes with impunity,” he added. The withdrawal places the US alongside Iran, Libya and Yemen as the only countries in the world that are not signed up. The Paris Agreement has become an ideological sticking point for both the Republican and Democrat parties. The Democrats…

  • Sweden to construct test reactor on its path to building ‘Europe’s first advanced SMR’

    Sweden to construct test reactor on its path to building ‘Europe’s first advanced SMR’

    Uniper SE, a German energy supply company, and Blykalla AB, a Swedish producer of advanced small modular reactor (SMR) technology, have signed a deal to start work on building a test reactor near the coastal town of Oskarshamn, Sweden. Founded in 2013 as a spin-out of the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Blykalla is developing and building SMR technology. Its SMR prototype SEALER-E features an electric lead-cooled reactor together with a combination of proven technology and proprietary materials. The hope is that once built, this SMR will support Sweden’s efforts to produce clean and reliable baseload energy for a fossil fuel-free future. In October 2024, Blykalla announced it had signed a deal with global engineering company ABB on the development of its SMR technology. This…

  • Unlocking Earth's hidden treasures: Satellites and AI lead the future of mineral exploration

    Unlocking Earth's hidden treasures: Satellites and AI lead the future of mineral exploration

    Researchers are combining satellites, advances in hyperspectral imaging and computer processing to uncover much-needed mineral deposits in far-flung places – without ever going there. Reaching global net zero ambitions is contingent on discovering and developing new deposits of rare earth and other critical minerals. To be more precise, more than three billion tons of minerals and metals will be needed to deploy wind, solar and geothermal power and energy storage to achieve the Paris Agreement climate goal, according to estimates by the World Bank. Yet finding new ore bodies is becoming more challenging because of increasing costs, geopolitical tensions and the fact that much of the low-hanging fruit has already been exploited. As such, it’s expected that much of the untapped mineral wealth…

  • Wildfires and fossil fuel burning caused record surge in atmospheric CO2 levels in 2024

    Wildfires and fossil fuel burning caused record surge in atmospheric CO2 levels in 2024

    The biggest-ever annual rise in atmospheric CO2 levels has been recorded by a Hawaii-based atmospheric monitoring station. The Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii has been recording atmospheric CO2 levels since 1958. Based on continuous measurements taken at the observatory, a graph is produced, known as the Keeling Curve. It depicts the annual variation and overall accumulation of CO2 in the atmosphere. Last year, the Keeling Curve revealed that the level of CO2 in the atmosphere increased by 3.58 parts per million (ppm) to 427ppm – the biggest leap since records began there almost 70 years ago. This exceeded the Met Office’s prediction of 2.84±0.54 ppm. This predictive overshooting is concerning: the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) calculates that if global warming is to…

  • UK loses out on 29 years of modernisation due to government’s approach to tech procurement

    UK loses out on 29 years of modernisation due to government’s approach to tech procurement

    The UK government should improve the way it works with technology suppliers to prevent further missed opportunities to modernise, says the National Audit Office (NOA). A new NOA report – Government’s approach to technology suppliers: addressing the challenges – scrutinises government’s approach to large-scale digital procurement. Effective use of technology is seen as essential to enable the government to improve and digitally transform its services and operations. However, the report states that “repeated delays and cost overruns in digital delivery undermine government’s ability to achieve its policy objectives”. The NOA estimates the UK public sector spends a minimum of £14bn on digital procurement annually. This digital spend covers a vast and diverse range of projects, from the Universal…

  • Local council to rely solely on AI to find potholes needing repair

    Local council to rely solely on AI to find potholes needing repair

    AI is going to be deployed by Surrey County Council to help it detect potholes so they can be swiftly repaired. The council is to fit its highway vehicles with cameras that can automatically spot and photograph potholes, which will then be recorded for repair. Future enhancements will see other defects such as missing signs and foliage overgrowth also programmed for repair. In December, the government promised to fix the UK’s tattered roads and fill in potholes with an extra £1.6bn investment that will be distributed to local councils. Recent figures from the RAC revealed that pothole-related breakdowns jumped by a fifth (17%) in the final three months of 2024 compared with the previous quarter. The body also predicted that the number of pothole breakdowns could increase even more in…

  • TikTok banned in the US for less than a day after Trump intervention

    TikTok banned in the US for less than a day after Trump intervention

    Popular short-form video app TikTok was temporarily banned for US users yesterday following the culmination of its owner’s legal challenge to the Supreme Court. But over the weekend, Donald Trump, who is due to be sworn in as the new President today, said he would institute an executive order giving the firm an additional 90 days to comply with the court’s ruling. The ban was signed into law in April 2024, but TikTok owner ByteDance appealed to the Supreme Court. Earlier this month, the court upheld the law. It said that the app could not operate in the US unless it was sold to a US company because of concerns that ByteDance had links with the Chinese government. Then Trump intervened. “The 90-day extension is something that will be most likely done, because it’s appropriate. You know…

  • Sweden breaks ground on repository to bury radioactive waste from nuclear power plants

    Sweden breaks ground on repository to bury radioactive waste from nuclear power plants

    Sweden has begun constructing a repository to bury radioactive waste 500 metres underground. When complete, the storage facility will hold 12,000 tonnes of spent nuclear fuel. With all the permits in place and the conditions for the construction of the facility established, the final repository should be ready for waste disposal in the 2030s. Thousands of tons of radioactive waste will be encapsulated in around 6,000 copper canisters and disposed of in tunnels extending more than 60km underground in 1.9-billion-year-old solid bedrock. A layer of bentonite will be packed around the canisters, to act as a buffer and protect against minor movements in the rock. In January 2022, the Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company (SKB), which is owned by the Swedish nuclear power plants…

  • UK government urged to tap into solar carport potential as Sunshine Bill returns to parliament

    UK government urged to tap into solar carport potential as Sunshine Bill returns to parliament

    Renewable energy company RenEnergy is urging the government to tap into the potential of installing solar PV panels on the roofs of commercial carports across the UK. The Sunshine Bill, formally known as the ‘New Homes (Solar Generation) Bill’, has had its first debate in parliament. The Bill is calling for all new homes built in the UK to be installed with solar panels as standard. For this Bill to be successful and progress to the next stage, at least 100 MPs in favour of the Bill needed to be present at the debate. Charities such as CPRE and locals councils such as Warwick District Council have been urging residents to write to their MPs urging them to attend the debate so as to enable its passage through parliament. Councillor Ian Davison, leader of Warwick District Council, said…

  • Millions in Arctic regions face infrastructure risks from thawing permafrost, study finds

    Millions in Arctic regions face infrastructure risks from thawing permafrost, study finds

    Up to three million people living in Arctic regions are at risk from thawing permafrost due to climate change, a study led by Umeå University has found. Permafrost underlies about 15% of the northern hemisphere’s land area but has been rapidly degrading in recent decades. Thawing permafrost not only poses a global threat through the release of greenhouse gases, but is also expected to have far-reaching implications for the livelihoods, infrastructure and environment of local inhabitants. For example, roads built on sensitive permafrost terrains are particularly prone to ground surface deformations and could become unusable with enough melting. Faced with limited budgets and numerous challenges, local stakeholders are concerned about the costs of repeated maintenance, and the difficulty…