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The textile industry is one of the biggest global polluters, consuming high levels of water, fuel, and chemicals for washing, bleaching and dyeing fabrics. The industry expels untreated effluents into water systems, toxic gasses into our skies and discards textile and yarn scraps and one-use plastic packaging. As consumers, we demand sustainability in many aspects of our lives, and this…

Growing old happens to us all, and with this, the possibility of requiring an operation to alleviate pain, restore health, and extend life increases. This month close family members of two of the VenCat team required urgent medical procedures, both were carried out using robots. My father was one of these patients, and when I first heard that he would…

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is making a difference to most industries and human beings around the world. AI automates systems and processes, enabling performance with little or no human involvement. With its use, it can reduce time and increase safety by removing the potential of human error. AI use within the traffic management sector is now streamlining systems and potentially saving…

Plastic waste is a growing, worldwide problem. Part of the problem is that people perceive plastic as a valueless disposable product. Use it once, and then chuck it away! However, it can be a valuable raw material. One Startup that has realised the value in plastic waste and is tackling this waste problem in our waterways is Plastic Whale. In…

As governments across Europe shut down old coal plants and scrap plans for new nuclear power stations, electricity generation is falling. This is happening just as our electricity demand could skyrocket as we move to electric-powered and green hydrogen-powered transportation. The race is on to find alternative, cheap, and environmentally sustainable power sources. Three promising alternatives could be High-altitude Wind…

Aviation accounts for over 12% of all emissions within the transportation sector, and it may double by 2050. Aircraft release their emissions at high altitudes which give them up to 4 times the impact of emissions released at ground level. Without a replacement solution to the fuel-powered jet engine, the aviation market appears to be heading into a sustainability crisis.

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) defines a drone as "an aircraft without a human pilot on board, whose flight is controlled either autonomously or under the remote control of a pilot on the ground or in another vehicle." EASA, 2015 According to SESAR, the projected sales of drones in Europe are 200k units in 2025 and 395k units in…

Europe is currently experiencing a rapid increase in demand for domestic batteries. Driven by the industrial transition towards electrification, including electrification of vehicles. Uptake of these electric vehicles has been slow as the batteries they use are expensive, bulky, with limited ability to charge up, hold charge, and last longer. So it's not a surprise that we all haven't started…

A new year but nothing new here... The Covid-19 epidemic is continuing and for many, especially for us in the UK, we are hitting the worst of it right now.... well hopefully it doesn't get any worse! Photo by CDC from Pexels It has been just over a year now since the virus appeared, and during this time business's have…