Issue 7: 17 July 2012
Artist's impression of the Olympic Park

London Olympics sets the blueprint for the sustainable future of the games

When London won the rights to stage the 2012 Olympics it based its presentation on the sustainable legacy.

Team GB athletes

There is more to sports clothing than a winning look as Tony James discovers with Team GB's Olympic sportswear.

Bolt celebrates a win

The challenge for the broadcast industry this summer is to televise the Olympics to four billion viewers around the world.

A crowd all using their mobile phones

Social media has introduced a whole new dimension of engagement between all parties involved in the Games, from spectators and sponsors to athletes and their supporters.

The Olympics issue
E&T cover image 1207

E&T limbers up for a sensational summer sporting spectacular with its Olympics special: the engineering legacy; keeping the Olympics moving; how Heathrow airport plans to cope with Olympic traffic; the role social media will play in the Games; a look inside the Olympic Torch; the sustainable future after the Games; how technology is engineering athletes; Stella McCartney's Adidas collection for Team GB; the broadcast challenge of bringing the Games to everyone's front room; and much more besides.

The E&T podcast: download episode 19

In this edition of the E&T podcast, we talk to LOCOG chief executive about the main press centre in the Olympic Park; to Bullfinch Gas, about the design and manufacture of the burner used in the torch; to Professor Steven Yearley about genetically modified athletes; to Dermot Turing and Google’s Peter Baron about the London Science Museum’s new exhibition, Alan Turing's Life & Legacy'; to Dan Lewis about the likelihood of establishing a UK spaceport; and to Jonathon Rossiter and  Peter Walters at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory about their soft robotics projects.

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Also in this issue
Man working on server array, with power cables

Efficiency drive forces change in computing power buses  ET arr

The drive for energy efficiency in servers is leading to an overhaul in the way that electrical power is distributed through them. The new power-delivery architecture is conceptually simpler, but relies on not just incorporating more complex voltage converters but integrating them into microprocessors and other high-power logic chips.

CCTV at the 2012 Olympics

CCTV at the 2012 Olympics: the great zoom boom  ET arr

The London Olympics authorities have rerouted existing CCTV services in a bid to boost security at the Games, but not everyone is happy about it.

Man working at a PC

Turing Test 2012: friend or faux  ET arr

What relevance does Alan Turing's controversial proposed method for testing a computer system's ability to behave 'intelligently' have in a world of ever-smarter interactive applications, robotic companions and artificial intelligence?

IPv6 superhero

IPv6: a hero to save the Internet?  ET arr

No one likes change, but there are compelling reasons why Internet market leaders are leading the migration to the latest iteration of the 'great enabler'Internet Protocol.

Telstar-1

Telstar-1 at 50  ET arr

In the summer of 1962 Telstar-1 helped ignite the white heat of technology that burned throughout the rest of the decade. Fifty years on, how well deserved is its reputation as a global comms game changer?

Access hole for power cables

Powering the games  ET arr

The first work at the Olympic site was developing the power infrastructure, and as the games approach we look back at the projects involved.

Jonathan Edwards holding the 2012 Olympic Torch

Feel the burn: designing the London 2012 Olympic Torch  ET arr

As a symbol of sporting excellence the Olympic Torch has few equals, but what lies behind the design and operation of its most recent incarnation?

Tube map

Olympics logistics  ET arr

Logistics may not grab all the Olympic headlines but without this most prosaic of disciplines the Games would grind to a halt.

Cyclist in Velodrome

Olympic velodrome one of the most energy efficient buildings  ET arr

Thanks to its unique shape and beautifully architected curves, the Velodrome has become a favourite in the Olympic village. We investigate the challenges overcome in building one of the most efficient buildings in the history of the games.

Tesla's Roadster and Model S Alpha

Motor control: the real source of energy efficiency  ET arr

Better control over component-level electric motors could yield massive energy savings, and a two-pronged attack is yielding results across a range of products.

Andrew Blum

In search of the internet: Travelling on the tubes  ET arr

During the Olympics we'll be relying on the Internet more than ever. But most of us don't really understand its physical reality.

Upcycling the bicycle cartoon

The Inventors' Inbox  ET arr

Our resident inventors discuss what innovations they might foist upon the world of cycling.

Runner on blocks

Sports technology aids athletes quest for gold medals  ET arr

Athletes chasing gold medals are turning to sports technology to give them an advantage.

Atomic blast

The end of the world as we know it?  ET arr

Thanks to our dependency on interconnected complex systems the world we live in is teetering on the brink of catastrophe. Nick Smith talks to author John Casti, whose new book analyses our technology-dependent 'house of cards'.

Blade mould

Photo Essay: Making the world’s largest turbine blades  ET arr

Building ever more powerful wind turbines creates severe engineering challenges as Anne Harris discovers with the world's largest turbine blades.

Long queues at check-in

Terminal Velocity  ET arr

With 140,000 extra travellers expected to be passing through its gates during the Olympics, Heathrow Airport turns to technology to give its increasingly overburdened infrastructure a sporting chance.

Michael Phelps

How realistic are genetically modified athletes?  ET arr

Will genetically enhanced athletes be competing in the Olympics of the future?

Debate

For and Against: will London 2012 leave a lasting engineering legacy?

For

London 2012 will leave a lasting engineering legacy for the UK

Chairman

Profile: Sir John Armitt

IET Honorary Fellow Sir John Armitt is chairman of the Olympic Delivery Authority. He was previously chief executive of Network Rail and chief executive of Railtrack

ET Vs

Against

London 2012 will not leave a lasting engineering legacy for the UK

Radio presenter and lecturer

Profile: Gareth Mitchell

Gareth Mitchell is the presenter of the science and technology radio programme ‘Click’ on BBC World Service. He is also a lecturer in science communication at Imperial College, London. 

London 2012 will leave a lasting engineering legacy for the UK

Please log in to contribute to this debate.

Agree 64%
Disagree 36%
 
 
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A panoramic photograph taken by Nasa's Mars Rover on its 3,000th Martian Day and assembled from 817 component images.
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Past issues
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Engineering and Technology: issue 2 2013

Issue: 2

12 February 2013

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Engineering and Technology: issue 1 2013

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23 January 2013

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