Features for E&T

Cancer Treatment: proton beam therapy coming to UK

by Sharon Ann Holgate
E&T 
April 18 2016 online, and in the May 2016 print edition 

Hidden behind hoarding on Grafton Way, near Tottenham Court Road in London, a building is taking shape that will house a revolution in patient care in the UK – a high-energy proton beam therapy centre.

New technologies in medicine

by Sharon Ann Holgate
E&T 
November 8 2010 online, and in the Nov 2010 print edition

If we’re honest, going to the doctor is up there with having teeth filled, completing our tax return, and other tasks that we know we must do, but would rather not. So it will probably be a relief to learn that emerging technologies could spell an end to at least some hospital and GP appointments, of which there are about 300 million in the UK each year (and 40 per cent of those, according to some sources, are unnecessary) while at the same time potentially cutting waiting lists and saving healthcare services money.

Home help

by Sharon Ann Holgate
E&T 
5 October 2009
online and in the vol 4 issue 17 print edition

No one likes to think too deeply about ageing, or about the disabilities we might have in the future. But whether we like it or not, by the time most of us reach old age we will be having difficulties carrying out tasks we used to take for granted, and technology might provide the only solution to some of the care we need.


Include or Lose: Design for the whole market

by Sharon Ann Holgate
E&T
March 14 2016 online, and in the April 2016 print edition

Ever had trouble shaking ketchup out of a glass bottle? Now imagine struggling to unscrew the lid of a marmalade jar every breakfast time because you don’t have the strength to grip it firmly enough.

All aboard Tornado

by Sharon Ann Holgate
E&T
March 6 2010

Amongst 2009’s gloomy stories about the state of the economy, one piece of news could raise a smile. On 7 February, Tornado—the world’s newest and most advanced steam engine—was treated to a rousing welcome as thousands crammed into London’s King’s Cross station to witness its arrival in the capital. This was just the start of a year that saw the Peppercorn class A1 Pacific draw large crowds around the country. 

Towards a less claustrophobic scanner

by Sharon Ann Holgate
E&T
5 October 2009 online and in the vol 4 issue 17 print edition

It is unlikely anyone undergoing a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan would describe the experience as pleasant. Having to lie very still in a narrow tube for anything up to an hour, while the machine loudly bangs its way through the scanning procedure, is hardly fun. In fact, some patients find it so traumatic they have to be sedated – at times, put under general anaesthetic – before being scanned. That is if they can fit inside it at all.

Dawn of the New P2 Age

by Sharon Ann Holgate
E&T
Nov 9 2015 online, and in the December 2015 print edition   

In early June 1934, Cock o’ the North, a huge new locomotive with eight 6ft 2in driving wheels, went on display at Ilford, Aberdeen then Edinburgh after its launch at King’s Cross. Crowds flocked to see the London and North Eastern Railway’s (LNER) No 2001, the first locomotive of the innovative ‘P2’ class designed by LNER chief engineer Sir Nigel Gresley to haul long passenger trains on the steep Edinburgh to Aberdeen route.

Tornado steam locomotive embraces microelectronics

by Sharon Ann Holgate
E&T
March 1 2010

Think of the technology involved in a steam locomotive, and you’re not likely to count a mobile phone charger, radio communication system, LED lighting or electronic safety equipment among your first thoughts. But the recently completed Peppercorn class A1 Pacific locomotive Tornado contains all of these – and they’re all directly steam-powered.