Volumes & issues:
Volume 16, Issue 2
1 March 2021
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- Author(s): D. Ross
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 16, Issue 2, page: 4 –4
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2021.0213
- Type: Article
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Which of these has the greatest carbon footprint: bananas, asparagus or cheese? Eating right is not that easy. - Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 16, Issue 2, p. 6 –7
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2021.0214
- Type: Article
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News from around the world. - Author(s): J. Wilson
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 16, Issue 2, page: 8 –8
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2021.0215
- Type: Article
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Hyundai Motor Group, Coventry City Council and the UK government will partner with Urban-Air Port to launch the world's first site later this year to demonstrate the potential of urban air mobility. - Author(s): T. Fryer
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 16, Issue 2, page: 10 –10
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2021.0216
- Type: Article
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Looking for some hands-on family activities you can do at home? E&T's Lockdown Challenges offer fun ideas with an engineering angle. - Author(s): B. Heubl
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 16, Issue 2, page: 12 –12
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2021.0217
- Type: Article
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Dangerous migration routes across the Mediterranean Sea are getting busier again. The EU wants to use drone technology to monitor them better. Will it work? - Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 16, Issue 2, page: 13 –13
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2021.0218
- Type: Article
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The amount of electricity generated by coal-fired power plants has fallen during the Covid-19 pandemic, but researchers from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) believe the trend could continue long after the virus is under control. - Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 16, Issue 2, p. 14 –15
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2021.0219
- Type: Article
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A San Francisco agritech start-up has created a vertical farm that is run by AI and robots. - Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 16, Issue 2, p. 16 –17
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2021.0220
- Type: Article
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Send your letters to The Editor, E&T, Michael Faraday House, Six Hills Way, Stevenage, Herts SG1 2AY, UK, or to [email protected]. We reserve the right to edit letters and to use submissions in any other format. - Author(s): D. Tribe
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 16, Issue 2, page: 19 –19
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2021.0200
- Type: Article
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THE NEWS IN January that Honda's Swindon plant had been forced to pause production for a third time, due to a shortage of semiconductor chips, is an ominous sign of the global supply chain disruption that could hit the sector in 2021. How will the major OEMs deal with the bottleneck? Honda is by no means the only car maker to be affected by the current shortage. Audi, part of the VW Group, has been forced to slow production at its plants in Germany, and in fact VW Group has confirmed plans to make fewer cars across its production facilities. Japanese makers, including Toyota and Nissan, have also been affected. The problem lies in a global shortage of semiconductors. In car production, they are used in everything from high-performance satnav systems to advanced driver assistance and infotainment systems, helping to ensure safety and provide an enhanced motoring experience. Growing use of onboard sensors and telemetry means that demand for semiconductors is likely to continue to increase. A primary reason for the shortage is a rapid increase in global demand. The latest data from the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics reveals that the market grew by 5.1 per cent in 2020, reaching a value of $433bn, and further growth of 8.4 per cent is forecast in 2021. In particular, the pandemic has led to a spike in demand for all forms of consumer tech, including tablets and smartphones. By contrast, automotive demand fluctuated over the past year, and when car sales began to recover more quickly than expected, it became apparent that semiconductor manufacturers were experiencing capacity and production constraints. They responded to the uptick in demand by adding capacity where possible and moving to round-theclock shift patterns, but this hasn't been sufficient to meet global automotive needs. - Author(s): C. Hayes
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 16, Issue 2, p. 22 –25
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2021.0201
- Type: Article
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Uncertainty around the brexit trade negotiations shone a spotlight on where the food we eat comes from. People began to think about what would be on our tables if some food products were no longer available or affordable. Fortunately, the deal that was reached means that, on the whole, there are no tariffs for food imports or exports between the UK and the EU. The scrutiny of the origin of some food and the environmental cost of bringing it to our shores has shifted the consumer's focus to the environmental cost of the year-round availability of certain foods. Around half of the food we eat in the UK is produced here. Eating UK-grown fruit and vegetables when in season means that less CO2 is emitted through transportation. - Author(s): S. Griffiths
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 16, Issue 2, p. 26 –27
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2021.0202
- Type: Article
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With the global population set to top nine billion by 2050, it's estimated that food production needs to increase by around 70 per cent to meet demand, and do so sustainably. Some 820 million people go hungry globally, yet a third of all food produced is wasted, which equates to 1.3 billion tonnes of biomass waste across the food value chain, and an economic loss of around $1tn (£734bn) each year. A lot of that waste ends up rotting in landfill, leading to 4.4 gigatonnes CO2equivalent in greenhouse gas emissions, which is similar to that of a large country. Incredibly, part of the solution to this massive problem may lie with small grubs. A Cambridge-based university spin-out is growing a network of decentralised AI-powered insect mini-farms that can be attached to animal-rearing farms, to reduce waste and increase food production at the same time. - Author(s): L. Murray
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 16, Issue 2, p. 28 –31
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2021.0203
- Type: Article
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Driven by a shortage of skilled workers and increasing wages worldwide, robotics researchers and horticultural growers are partnering to develop robots that enhance the productivity of the human workforce. Robots that can mass-harvest horticultural crops may be at least five years away - but prototypes are already working in fields, glasshouses and poly tunnels to plant cuttings, control disease, pick berries and assist in the breeding process. - Author(s): T. Pultarova
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 16, Issue 2, p. 32 –33
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2021.0204
- Type: Article
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American commercial space services company Nanoracks has ambitious plans to operate orbital greenhouses where it would create mutant crops that could save the Earth from famine amid progressing climate change. The plan seems to have some backing in science. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, breeders have been using extreme physical stressors such as ionising radiation to create new heritable mutations in the DNA of plants for more than 70 years. Gamma rays, X-rays, fast neutrons and UV light have all been successfully tested on seeds, seedlings or pollen to create more resilient crops resistant to pests and extreme weather and capable of producing higher yields. - Author(s): L. Murray
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 16, Issue 2, p. 34 –36
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2021.0205
- Type: Article
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3D printing of food takes the form of extruding purees through nozzles that consider the viscosity of the original feedstock, and printing it in additive layers, the end result is often dried or baked into a biscuit form. The article takes a look at how this technology is being applied in different fields, space exploration, food production industry and the restaurant industry. The following topics are dealt with: food technology, food products, three-dimensional printing, printers, space research, catering industry and tissue engineering. - Author(s): A. Saint
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 16, Issue 2, p. 37 –39
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2021.0206
- Type: Article
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Several companies that aspire to make the world a more sustainable place have shown that mushrooms are more than just fungi and food. The article takes a look at how these companies are using mushroom technology to develop sustainable packaging biomaterials, water capture and irrigation systems, textile biomaterials and meat alternatives. The following topics are dealt with: bio-inspired materials, food products, crops, biodegradable materials, plastic pollution, biotechnology, biomimetics, irrigation, water conservation, textiles, renewable materials, and packaging. - Author(s): C. Hayes
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 16, Issue 2, p. 40 –41
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2021.0207
- Type: Article
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Fresh, frozen and dried ingredients have a largely automated journey to being served up at our dining tables. The article looks at the systems and techniques used in the manufacturing of distinct types of food products, such as readymade meals, canned foods and fish dishes. The following topics are dealt with: food manufacturing, food technology, food processing industry, canning, production equipment, food products, SCADA systems, warehouse automation and freezing. - Author(s): R. Northfield
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 16, Issue 2, p. 42 –46
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2021.0208
- Type: Article
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The fast-food sector has been an industry staple for 100 years and is the leader in the restaurant industry when it comes to convenience and customer engagement. In the wake of Covid-19, many quick service restaurants have had no choice but to change tactics to cope with minimal-contact demand for food. Expanding drive-throughs and staff numbers, digitisation transformation and streamlining menus are just some of the methods fast-food giants are bringing to the table. The article considers technology that is set to change the face of fast-food business forever. - Author(s): H. Pozniak
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 16, Issue 2, p. 48 –49
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2021.0209
- Type: Article
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Discusses new non-invasive methods for doctors to monitor skin conditions and tumours, the full extent of which are often hidden beneath the skin. This requires the use of terahertz (THz) radiation or T-rays, which form an exploited part of the electromagnetic spectrum. With frequencies of 0.3-3.0 THz and wavelengths of 100 micrometres to one millimetre, they sit in between microwaves and infrared light. - Author(s): M. Benson
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 16, Issue 2, p. 50 –53
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2021.0210
- Type: Article
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Virtual representations of people, products or buildings could bring a wide range of benefits to the healthcare industry. Digital twin technology has the potential to transform healthcare in a variety of ways - improving the diagnosis and treatment of patients, streamlining preventative care and facilitating new approaches for hospital planning. In the future, a digital twin of our genetic profile could be created for every one of us at birth. If we get ill, this `virtual self' could be computationally treated with hundreds of thousands of drugs to ensure the most effective medication is chosen. It could also be used to discover which medical conditions we may or not be predisposed to, enabling us to prevent major diseases before they take effect. - Author(s): B. Heubl
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 16, Issue 2, p. 54 –57
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2021.0211
- Type: Article
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Zhang was the founding father of the captive coal plant model, or `Weiqiao model', in which the company powers its own production plants with its own coal plants. Before transforming the aluminium industry, Zhang became known as the `textile king' when he plugged a coal plant into one of his textile factories in 1999. It's now widely used across Chinese industry but it's concentrated in the highly energy-intensive primary aluminium production, where owning a coal plant is a competitive advantage because it avoids costly electricity bills. With cheaper energy, his textile company grew into one of the largest denim and cotton-yarn businesses, and the company's aluminium segment competed against Chinese state-owned enterprises and other international giants. Zhang became the `aluminium king'. Other Chinese aluminium firms copied his model, especially in Shandong province, and also thrived. But Zhang built his own electricity grid. Hongqiao always seemed to be a step ahead. - Author(s): J. Pollard
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 16, Issue 2, p. 58 –59
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2021.0221
- Type: Article
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In celebration of IET@150 we look at feats of engineering from around the world. - Author(s): D. Birkett
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 16, Issue 2, p. 60 –63
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2021.0212
- Type: Article
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This article discusses emotional intelligence in robots built for the purpose of human-robot interaction and companionship. Emotion AI (artificial intelligence) techniques such as facial expression classification through machine learning, computer vision and deep learning, acoustic prosodic feature analysis in speech, and sensor-based emotion recognition are reviewed alongside current robots exhibiting these capabilities. Human feelings for robots are also touched on along with examples of some robot pets. Some worries regarding the future of these robots is expressed, but with the inabilities of the current robots to differentiate between different reasons for the same facial expression or voice feature, and the incorporation of an off switch for emotion AI models, these issues in most part can be mitigated. - Author(s): N. Smith
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 16, Issue 2, p. 64 –67
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2021.0222
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Theoretical physicist, author, broadcaster and judge on this year's Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, Jim Al-Khalili discusses why innovation in technology is more important today than ever. - Author(s): C. Quin
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 16, Issue 2, p. 68 –69
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2021.0223
- Type: Article
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Make smoothies wirelessly, Zoom in peace while a robot does the vacuuming, store your secrets in a biometric box and use tech to track everything from your run to your kids. - Author(s): P. Dempsey
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 16, Issue 2, p. 70 –71
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2021.0224
- Type: Article
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Has Google got good value for its $2.1bn acquisition? - Author(s): N. Smith
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 16, Issue 2, p. 72 –73
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2021.0225
- Type: Article
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It brought us untold freedoms and opportunities for communication, but the social media ecosystem is also having a negative effect on civil society and human wellbeing, argues Ronald Deibert in his new book 'Reset'. - Author(s): A. Locker
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 16, Issue 2, page: 74 –74
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2021.0226
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Caroline Haslett (1895- 1957), the first Secretary of the Women's Engineering Society, was also the first woman to advise the UK government on electricity supply. - Author(s): J. Pollard
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 16, Issue 2, page: 75 –75
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2021.0227
- Type: Article
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The cautionary tale of the Vajont dam in Italy, and how efforts to tame the wilderness had disastrous consequences. - Author(s): S. Doyle
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 16, Issue 2, p. 76 –77
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2021.0228
- Type: Article
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A San Diego-based motoring start-up has created a solar electric three-wheeled car that doesn't require any charging. - Author(s): H. Lamb
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 16, Issue 2, page: 78 –78
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2021.0229
- Type: Article
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The Evil Engineer helps out an overworked villain and single parent in need of an extra pair of limbs. - Author(s): R. Northfield
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 16, Issue 2, page: 79 –79
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2021.0230
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Let's have a look at some of the weirdest gadgets to come out of this year's CES. There are plenty of products from the event for me to lightly poke fun at, so watch this space! - Author(s): S. Somara
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 16, Issue 2, page: 80 –80
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2021.0231
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TV presenter Dr Shini Somara talks to Helena Dodd, PhD candidate in biomaterials engineering and chemical biology at Imperial College London. - Author(s): V. Vitaliev
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 16, Issue 2, page: 82 –82
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2021.0232
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To quench the pandemic-inspired hunger for travels, our columnist invites readers to visit some of the world's quirkiest places, made special by technology.
Opinion - Editorial. Editor's Letter
News - Briefing: World News
News - Briefing: Electric 'Urban air port' gets UK Government Backing
News - Briefing: Online - Something for the kids? How about a Lockdown Challenge!
News - Briefing. The Graphic: Migration monitoring
News - Briefing. Power - Electricity generated by coal 'may never reach 2018 peak again'
Technology - Agriculture. The Bigger Picture: AI vertical farm
Opinion - Feedback. Your Letters
Flexibility can help car makers cope with chip supply challenge
A varied diet need not cost the earth [Food - Environment]
Grub's up for chickens! [A good protein source]
Handle with care [robots in horticulture]
How to grow crops in space [space agriculture]
Your dinner is printed [Food - 3D Printing]
The Magic of Mushrooms for Sustainability [sustainability innovation]
Food for thought- Navigating the nation's appetites [how it works- food processing]
The future of fast food [technology]
T-Ray Imaging Gets Under the Skin [medical imaging]
Digital twins will revolutionise healthcare
Can China Clean Up After the Aluminium King? [Fossil Fuels]
Engineering - Research. Engineering Places - Los Alamos.
Could you love one of these? [human-robot interaction]
Interview: Jim Al-Khalili
Reviews - Consumer Technology. Gadgets: Cuisinart Cordless; Proscenic 850T; Avantree Aria Me; Trova; Vodafone Disney Neo; Attis StrideSense
Reviews - Consumer Technology. The Teardown - Fitbit Sense smartwatch
Reviews - Book Interview. Reclaim the Internet
Regulars - History. From the IET Archive - The electrifying life of Dame Caroline Haslett
Regulars - Columnist: The Eccentric Engineer. Engineering - The catastrophic outcome of trying to re-engineer a mountain
News - Briefing. The Measure of: Aptera Motors' sEV
Regulars - Columnist. Dear Evil Engineer: Question: Pandemic held - Is there any way I could acquire excess arms?
Technology - Blog. Bizarre Tech: Toto Wellness Toilet; Ninu perfume; ColdSnap
Regulars - Columnist. BackStory: We can learn from each other as people as well as researchers'
Regulars - Columnist. After All: Travel - From my collection of techno oddities you never knew existed
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