Issues

Issue 92

September 2022

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A digital rendering of a bridge at a railway station, surrounded by passengers.
  • Civil & structural
  • Transport
  • Issue 92

The ‘flat-pack’ footbridge for train stations

If you thought flat-pack was just for furniture, think again! Find out how this new concept can make building a humble railway bridge take less time, money and carbon.
An array of toilet rolls on a pink surface.
  • Materials
  • Design & manufacturing
  • Issue 92

From tree to toilet: engineering loo roll

It takes complex technology to turn trees into toilet rolls. Dr Anna Ploszajski unravels the engineering behind and production of one of life’s essentials.

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A cartoon of a woman with a smartphone next to her showing it has recognised her face.
  • Technology & robotics
  • Software & computer science
  • Sports & leisure
  • How does that work?
  • Issue 92

Face filters

It started with face swaps, flower crowns and appended dog ears. Now, all manner of transformative sorcery is just a tap away.

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A soundsystem made from wood, painted red and green with "Hertz So Good" on the side.
  • Arts & culture
  • Sports & leisure
  • How I got here
  • Issue 92

Q&A: Stan Jones

An opportune moment led to a career designing adventure playgrounds (and a soundsystem for Shambala Festival on the side) for Stan Jones.

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  • Environment & sustainability
  • Materials
  • Innovation Watch
  • Issue 92

Imaging the plastic recycling process

Chemical engineer Dr Kit Windows-Yule is using an innovative imaging technique to improve the chemical process of breaking plastics down into oil.

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A street in a UK village that has been flooded, with floodwaters rising over a metre from the ground.
  • Environment & sustainability
  • Civil & structural
  • Opinion
  • Issue 92

How do we make the UK more resilient to flooding?

Extreme flooding is becoming a regular occurrence across the UK, with flash floods causing significant damage to homes and businesses.
A black and white photograph of a young man sitting in a helicopter.
  • Aerospace
  • Mechanical
  • Profiles
  • Issue 92

The helicopter flight fixer

When Philip Dunford FREng started his career, flight test engineers flew alongside pilots. As his career progressed, flying time gave way to developing new aircraft.

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The Charon Zoetrope is pictured against a red sky, with all of its skeletons around the edge visible in silhouette form.
  • Arts & culture
  • Mechanical
  • Issue 92

Reimagining the zoetrope

An installation from the 2022 Greenwich+Docklands International Festival is a life-sized, vertical zoetrope that uses time-honoured engineering principles to display a stunning three-dimensional short animation.
Two artists, one on a ladder and one crouching, who are working on a replica of a Raphael painting next to a table of art supplies.
  • Design & manufacturing
  • Arts & culture
  • Technology & robotics
  • Issue 92

The technologies that recreate historic artworks

Did you know Churchill's wife once set a portrait of him on fire because he hated it so much? Factum Arte used modern technology to recreate it, so it lives to see another day – sorry Clementine.

To represent the importance of time to the economy, a hand holding a coin with a clock face is moving to insert it into a slot.
  • Aerospace
  • Electricals & electronics
  • Technology & robotics
  • Issue 92

Why microseconds matter

Time’s time to shine: why is ultra-precise time so important for everything from bank transactions to public transport? The NPL’s Dr Leon Lobo explains all.