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Imperial engineers and a team of global experts have reviewed technological options, innovation and opportunities in the hybrid solar energy industry. They anticipate that hybrid PV-thermal technologies could produce a further drop in global emissions of about three per cent (around 600 Mega-tonnes of CO2) by 2030 if the systems mentioned in this study are installed as proposed.

Unparalleled speed, capacity and reliability of new fibre broadband technology, invented by UCL researchers, could provide connectivity needed for applications of the future such as driverless cars and drone fleets. The study, published in Nature Electronics , describes how the new telecommunications technology, called frequency referenced multiplexing, could provide more than 20 times the capacity of the best full fibre broadband networks available and 65 times the speed of typical current UK home broadband, along with a near-guaranteed connection and low latency 1 .

New research suggests a new solar energy design, inspired by nature, may pave the way for future renewable energy technologies. Photovoltaic solar energy is obtained by converting sunshine into electricity - and researchers from Imperial have developed a new leaf-like design with increased efficiency.

Researchers are developing a way to incorporate one of the most human of characteristics - uncertainty - into machine learning systems. Uncertainty is central in how humans reason about the world but many AI models fail to take this into account Katherine Collins Human error and uncertainty are concepts that many artificial intelligence systems fail to grasp, particularly in systems where a human provides feedback to a machine learning model.

Researchers have found that robots can have a -U-shaped- effect on profits: causing profit margins to fall at first, before eventually rising again. It's important that companies develop new processes at the same time as they are incorporating robots, otherwise they will reach this same pinch point Chander Velu The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, studied industry data from the UK and 24 other European countries between 1995 and 2017, and found that at low levels of adoption, robots have a negative effect on profit margins.

New research from UCL has found that humans were only able to detect artificially generated speech 73% of the time, with the same accuracy in both English and Mandarin. The study, published today in PLOS ONE , is the first to assess human ability to detect artificially generated speech in a language other than English.

Fast data transmission could be delivered in homes and offices through light emitting diode (LED) bulbs, complementing existing communication technologies and networks. New internet technologies are being rapidly refined, and LED-based communication links are expected to be used in services and scenarios including Light-fidelity (Li-Fi), underwater communications, moderateto high-speed photonic connections and various -Internet of Things- (IoT) devices.

MIOIR researchers led a study funded by the Manchester Law and Technology Initiative into "Attitudes Towards LegalTech Adoption in the UK" with UCL and The Law Society. MIOIR researchers led a study funded by the Manchester Law and Technology Initiative into "Attitudes Towards LegalTech Adoption in the UK" with UCL and The Law Society.

Several glass structures of molecules are suspended in the air: the molecules have a central atom, with four connected ones radiating outwards. Image credit: Shutterstock. For the first time, Oxford chemists have generated fluorochemicals - critical for many industries - without the use of hazardous hydrogen fluoride gas.

Cambridge researchers, working in partnership with industry, have helped develop the first 3D-printed piece of concrete infrastructure to be used on a National Highways project. Making the wall digital means it can speak for itself, and we can use our sensors to understand these 3D-printed structures better and accelerate their acceptance in industry Abir Al-Tabbaa The 3D-printed structure - a type of retaining wall known as a headwall - has been installed on the A30 in Cornwall , where it is providing real-time information thanks to Cambridge-designed sensors embedded in its structure.

The use of visual technology and video footage to inform perceptions and the actions of police will form the basis of new research from Cardiff University. Academics will investigate how various sources of video footage are influencing the outcome of complaints and criticism of the police, comparing this with how these new technologies are shaping the training of new recruits and serving officers.

Researchers have identified a strategy that can offset the random and unpredictable nature of weather conditions that threaten carbon emission reduction efforts in the shipping sector. Erratic weather is a major source of concern for ship owners installing modern sails to reduce carbon emissions. However, new research from The University of Manchester highlights operational strategies that can reduce shipping emissions by up to a quarter, strengthening confidence in sails as a decarbonisation tool.

Researchers have developed a new design for computer memory that could both greatly improve performance and reduce the energy demands of internet and communications technologies, which are predicted to consume nearly a third of global electricity within the next ten years. These materials can work like a synapse in the brain: they can store and process information in the same place, like our brains can Markus Hellenbrand The researchers, led by the University of Cambridge, developed a device that processes data in a similar way as the synapses in the human brain.

Scientists have made a significant advancement with quantum technologies that could transform complex systems modelling with an accurate and effective approach that requires significantly reduced memory. Complex systems play a vital role in our daily lives, whether that be predicting traffic patterns, weather forecasts, or understanding financial markets.

For the first time in the UK, scientists have been able to recover commercial grade lithium carbonate and graphite from black mass; a solid black powder containing a complex mixture of metals and impurities recovered from recycling end-of-life lithium-ion batteries. The UK-first is a major step forward for sustainability in battery technology.

A new method of controlling the shape of tiny particles about one tenth of the width of human hair could make the technology that powers our daily lives more stable and more efficient, scientists claim. The process, which transforms the structure of microscopic semiconductor materials known as quantum dots, provides industry with opportunities to optimise optoelectronics, energy harvesting, photonics, and biomedical imaging technologies, according to the Cardiff University-led team.

Video-calling tech could help lonely parrots flock together A new study which helped pet parrots make video calls to each other suggests that the birds may have benefited from making new feathered friends over the internet. Animal-computer interaction specialists at universities in Scotland and America are behind the research, which is set to be presented as a paper at the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems in Germany on Monday April 24.

Scientists at skincare brand No7 and The University of Manchester, have announced the creation of a new 'super peptide' blend proven to bio-hack the skin's natural repair process, signalling renewal of over 50 key proteins including collagen and fibrillin in skin cells. The matrix-derived super peptide blend - which represents the biggest cosmetic science innovation in No7's history - contains two brand-new chemical entities, a patent-pending world-first technology that cannot be found in any other product.

A new study exploring how mobile devices can be controlled solely by the movements of users' eyes could offers a peek into the future of gaze-based interactions with smartphones, researchers say. Human-computer interaction specialists from universities in Scotland, Germany and Portugal have taken a closer look at how eyes can be used to control mobile devices and made a series of recommendations on how to integrate gaze-interaction into future generations of tech.

A linguistic bias in the English language leads us to 'improve' things by adding to them, a new study reveals. A linguistic bias in the English language that leads us to 'improve' things by adding to them, rather than taking away, is so common that it is even ingrained in AI chatbots, a new study reveals.