Friday May 29 2015  Laura Onita, online news reporter Snoopers’ charter is here to stay after Queen’s Speech When Teresa May announced the draft communications data bill in 2012, labelled as a snoopers’ charter, it was subjected to widespread criticism and then blocked by the Liberal Democrats. The Conservatives resurrected the snoopers’ charter in the Queen’s Speech this week and with a majority in parliament the bill will pass with flying colours despite mounting criticism. We’re yet to find out the detailed plans for the new laws, but internet providers and mobile operators will be expected to log more data … Continue reading E&T news weekly #52 – we choose our favourite engineering and technology news stories from the week

Friday May 22 2015  Rebecca Northfield, assistant features editor Human attention span lags behind that of goldfish Are you reading this, humans? Are you? Hello? Are you paying attention to me? I guessed not. If only the goldfish could read… Our attention span has decreased by four seconds in the last 15 years to only eight seconds, meaning a goldfish beats us by managing nine seconds. We have three types of human attention which are sustained, selective and alternating. And we are failing at all of them. This is because of modern technology. By adapting to it, our focus is … Continue reading E&T news weekly #51 – we choose our favourite engineering and technology news stories from the week

The new issue of E&T magazine is now available online: the Jurassic World issue. Inspired by the science of the movies – the Jurassic Park franchise, X-Men, Terminator and Fantastic Voyage – we check out bio-tech dinosaurs injecting medical nanobots; computer-brain interfaces; swarms of miniature robots that can cooperate; sci-fi inspired Raspberry Pi projects; spy gadgets and much more. Refreshments are available in the lobby. Continue reading New issue of E&T magazine now online – the #JurassicWorld issue

Friday May 15 2015  Jonathan Wilson, online managing editor Dangerous drone flyers should face jail, survey suggests Lock ’em all up! Yes, the British public has spoken and according to a survey by the British Airline Pilots’ Association, cavalier operators of drones who play fast and loose with the concept of airspace safety, putting passenger jets at risk, should be jailed. Fair enough, really. Given how cheaply drones can be picked up and the big-boys toys fun to be had with flying one, if you’re that way inclined, making a nuisance of yourself with your snazzy new radio-controlled UFO, the … Continue reading E&T news weekly #50 – we choose our favourite engineering and technology news stories from the week

Friday May 8 2015  Dominic Lenton, managing editor QWERTY soft keyboard miniaturised for wearable devices Having just moved from an ageing BlackBerry handset to a smartphone with touchscreen, the single thing I miss is the BB’s chunky keypad and the ability to hammer out emails at a decent pace using both thumbs. In fact I’m getting used to being a lot more brief in my communications on the move. Reassuring news then that when I bow to the inevitable and embrace the brave new world of wearable technology there will be decent keyboards usable even on devices a couple of … Continue reading E&T news weekly #49 – we choose our favourite engineering and technology news stories from the week

Join E&T editor-in-chief Dickon Ross at Digital Shoreditch in London next week. E&T magazine goes live next week in London, when Dickon hosts two sessions at this year’s Digital Shoreditch Festival. The first is about wearable technology on Monday, with the second about the Internet of Things on Wednesday. Dickon will be presenting the wearables session together with a former editor of Esquire magazine, discussing whether wearables need to be better designed to reach their potential with consumers or whether functionality is enough to trump style. How can engineers work with fashion designers to produce cool, irresistible products? In the … Continue reading E&T editor @DickonRoss to present #wearabletechnology and #IoT sessions at #DigitalShoreditch