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Transport

Dr Bonnefon says that governments and regulators, rather than engineers, should make the moral decisions surrounding self-driving cars. Image Credit - JF Bonnefon
interview | transport
02 April 2019

‘Trusting self-driving cars is going to be a big step for people’

Self-driving cars are set to bring one of the biggest changes to our global transportation system in decades, but their potential to increase road safety should not be over-emphasised if we want to increase people’s trust in automated vehicles, says Dr Jean-François Bonnefon from the Toulouse School of Economics, France, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US. He is a behavioural scientist who studies the ethics of self-driving cars and is speaking at the European Conference on Connected and Automated Driving (EUCAD) in Brussels, Belgium, which runs from 2-3 April 2019.

Automated, networked truck convoys could save fuel and cut down on driving time. Image credit - MAN Truck & Bus
transport
28 March 2019

A ‘cookbook’ for vehicle manufacturers: Getting automated parts to talk to each other

Semi-autonomous cars are expected to hit the roads in Europe next year with truck convoys following a few years later. But before different brands can share the roads, vehicle manufacturers need to agree on standards for automated functions.

Road layouts, signs and signals need to be adjusted so that automated robotic drivers can properly navigate bottlenecks and roadworks. Image credit - Pixabay/0532-2008, licensed under pixabay license
transport
07 March 2019

Road upgrades to help humans drive alongside automated cars

As new self-driving vehicles appear on the streets, the traffic clogging our cities and highways could get a lot worse unless the roads themselves become smarter.

Many drivers are unfit to drive from the beginning of their journey, say researchers. Image Credit - Takahiro Taguchi/Unsplash
transport
28 February 2019

Fit to drive? The car will judge

When you’re sleepy, stressed or have had a few drinks, you’re not in the best position to drive – or even make that decision. But automated cars could soon make that call for you.

Snow and ice can dramatically change the driving conditions of a road. Image credit - picture is in the public domain
industry | transport
30 January 2019

Under-road heating system to keep Europe’s highways ice-free

Under-road heating that melts ice and snow within 15 minutes and real-time information about icy road conditions could help prevent wintertime accidents.

Researchers plan to use drones to monitor bridges and tunnels during intense weather events. Image credit - FADA CATEC
security | environment | transport
17 January 2019

Preparing for extreme weather

From high winds and heavy rainfall to droughts and plummeting temperatures, people in Europe have already begun to feel the effects of extreme weather. As we get used to this new reality, scientists are investigating how it will affect how we get around and whether our infrastructure can cope.

A lot of people are unaware that drones need to stay at least 1km away from an airport, says Dan Hermansen. Image credit - MyDefense
interview | security | transport
11 January 2019

Drone jamming system to protect European airports, public spaces

Airports could be equipped with technology capable of detecting and bringing down drones that stray into their air space, according to Dan Hermansen, chief technology officer of Danish anti-drone firm MyDefence.The company has developed a drone alarm and protection system that is being installed at a number of prominent sites around Europe, including an airport. It has the potential to prevent the kind of costly disruption that hit London’s Gatwick and Heathrow airports recently.

Increased maritime traffic raises the risks of oil spills in the Arctic. Image Credit - CC0 Public Domain
environment | transport
17 December 2018

How to protect the Arctic as melting ice opens new shipping routes

Early this year, the Eduard Toll set a record: laden with liquefied natural gas, the tanker was the first commercial vessel to cross the Arctic in winter without an icebreaker.

Big companies from around the world have already shown interest in Prof. Lee Cronin's energy-dense liquid battery. Image credit - University of Glasgow
interview | transport | frontier research
17 September 2018

Tenfold improvement in liquid batteries mean electric car refuelling could take minutes

One of the biggest drawbacks of electric vehicles – that they require hours and hours to charge – could be obliterated by a new type of liquid battery that is roughly ten times more energy-dense than existing models, according to Professor Lee Cronin, the Regius Chair of Chemistry at the University of Glasgow, UK.

Jérôme Delafosse hopes that hydrogen will replace many of the fossil fuels we use today. Image credit - Energy Observer
interview | transport | energy
24 July 2018

Hydrogen-powered boat plots course for the future of ocean travel

The first day that Jérôme Delafosse stepped aboard the Energy Observer, an experimental catamaran run on hydrogen, he knew the plan of sailing around the world on clean energy was a realistic one, he says. Now, the explorer and documentary maker is one year into a six-year odyssey around the globe with his friend Victorien Erussard, an ocean racer and former cruise ship officer, to prove that the technology can be used for pollution-free ocean travel in the future. 

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