Month: April 2016

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Big Ben falls silent – Great Clock undergoing repairs – an annotated infographic

E&T magazine

The famous chimes of Big Ben are to fall silent after 157 years of nearly unbroken service. The Great Clock of the Palace of Westminster in London needs urgent repairs as part of a £30m project to prevent its mechanism from failing. The tower will be partially covered in scaffolding for three years from 2017, although engineers plan to keep at least one of the four clock faces always visible. The bells will fall silent for several months, chiming only for important events, a House of Commons statement said. Click on the graphic for an expanded view. Continue reading Big Ben falls silent – Great Clock undergoing repairs – an annotated infographic

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E&T news weekly #92 – we choose our favourite engineering and technology news stories from the week

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Friday 29 April 2016  Jack Loughran, news reporter Driverless vehicles worry Brits as UK automotive sector soars This poll showing that most Briton’s are concerned about driverless vehicles shows why you should never let the public make decisions about subjects they don’t fully understand (*cough* EU referendum *cough*). According to the poll of 1000 British motorists, 65 per cent are unsure about the new technology, probably for no reason other than being scared of new, unfamiliar things, like foreign countries and their inhabitants for example. Driverless vehicles are shown to be safer than human drivers for a number of reasons. … Continue reading E&T news weekly #92 – we choose our favourite engineering and technology news stories from the week

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Transit of Mercury – tiny planet to cross the face of the Sun on 9 May – an annotated infographic

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Something yonder this way comes – the planet Mercury. The tiniest and innermostiest planet in our solar system (the one closest to the Sun and the one probably exclaiming every day, “Coo, it’s a bit hot again today, eh?”) will pass between Earth and the Sun on 9 May 2016. Eagle-eyed skywatchers can catch sight of our perspiring planetary friend by viewing it through a telescope. Mercury will appear as a tiny black dot moving across the face of the Sun. Click on the graphic for an expanded view. Continue reading Transit of Mercury – tiny planet to cross the face of the Sun on 9 May – an annotated infographic

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E&T news weekly #91 – we choose our favourite engineering and technology news stories from the week

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Friday 22 April 2016  Jonathan Wilson, online managing editor Everlasting battery breakthrough with nanowire material Chance discovery could lead to better, cheaper batteries Electric car batteries could help power railways It’s been a big week for battery news – again. Given the ever-increasing role of rechargeable devices in our lives – be they phones or cars – it should hardly come as a surprise that a phenomenal amount of focused research into new energy storage solutions is ongoing and being conducted in the laboratories of the world. As the fossil fuel resources of the Earth dwindle, just as energy demands … Continue reading E&T news weekly #91 – we choose our favourite engineering and technology news stories from the week

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New Safe Containment steel dome to seal off radiation @Chernobyl – an annotated infographic

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The Chernobyl reactor – scene of the world’s worst nuclear disaster in 1986, 30 years ago – is now being entombed in a giant steel shelter. The $2.2 billion New Safe Confinement project is due for completion in 2017, replacing the crumbling concrete sarcophagus erected after the accident. E&T news covered this Chernobyl containment story in full yesterday. Click on the graphic for an expanded view. Continue reading New Safe Containment steel dome to seal off radiation @Chernobyl – an annotated infographic

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One in the eye for Islamic State as Syria’s Palmyra Arch is recreated using 3D technology – an annotated infographic

E&T magazine

A replica of the 2,000-year-old Arch of Triumph in Palmyra, pointlessly destroyed in 2015 by Islamic State fighters in Syria, has been erected in London’s Trafalgar Square. The scale model was constructed from Egyptian marble using 3D technology. It may not be the original antiquity, but at least its artistic and cultural heritage has not been lost forever, now that its essential form has been captured and preserved for the ages. Click on the graphic for an expanded view. Continue reading One in the eye for Islamic State as Syria’s Palmyra Arch is recreated using 3D technology – an annotated infographic

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New issue of E&T magazine now online – the #Brexit issue – who’s in, who’s out, what do those @TheIET think?

E&T magazine

For our readers who don’t live in the UK, or for those who have managed to miss it by living as hermits on a remote island with no power and a sign reading ‘no junk mail – beware of the lion’ on the door, there will be a UK referendum on its membership of the European Union in a couple of months’ time. “It’s a big decision,” starts the government leaflet sent out last week, “one that will affect you, your family and your children for decades to come.” It’s complex too; there are so many factors for everyone to … Continue reading New issue of E&T magazine now online – the #Brexit issue – who’s in, who’s out, what do those @TheIET think?

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E&T news weekly #90 – we choose our favourite engineering and technology news stories from the week

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Friday 15 April 2016  Vitali Vitaliev, features editor Netherlands home to world’s most sustainable office building It doesn’t surprise me that the Netherlands is home to the world’s most sustainable building. I’ve always admired this small and densely populated European country, almost all of which is below sea level, for the care it takes of its natural environment. Dutch windmill-and-wind-turbine-dotted countryside is a trademark in its own right and is immediately recognisable by its cleanliness and neatness. The same can be said about Holland’s towns and cities. I have just returned from an assignment in Amsterdam (which IS, incidentally the … Continue reading E&T news weekly #90 – we choose our favourite engineering and technology news stories from the week

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E&T news weekly #89 – we choose our favourite engineering and technology news stories from the week

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Friday 8 April 2016  Jonathan Wilson, online managing editor Barclays finally adopts Apple Pay; huge rise in contactless payments As anyone who has used Apple Pay knows, it’s like a little slice of the future every time you casually bip your iPhone or Watch over the merchant’s contactless payment reader. No fishing around in your purse, no ungainly arrhythmic slapping of pockets to locate your wallet, no tiresome tapping of numbers or fumbly insertion of card in the PoS machine. You simply bip and go, all the while smiling beatifically at the shoppie as you casually swank about how technologically … Continue reading E&T news weekly #89 – we choose our favourite engineering and technology news stories from the week

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High fives all round @TeslaMotors as company secures 325,000 orders for new @TeslaModel3 – an annotated infographic

E&T magazine

Tesla Motors, the upstart electric car maker sending shivers of apprehension through the traditional automotive industry, has unveiled its first venture into the mass market with its prototype new Model 3. Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s home town press conference was interrupted by the now traditional whooping and hollering of approval from the assembled employees and early adopters of its electric cars. Musk announced more than 100,000 Model 3 orders with $1,000 deposits had been made, zooming to 276,000 after the press conference. This is unprecedented for a car which hadn’t been seen before and won’t appear in showrooms in any … Continue reading High fives all round @TeslaMotors as company secures 325,000 orders for new @TeslaModel3 – an annotated infographic