Whether tapping a contactless card to take the subway, buying a gift for a loved one or using a smartphone to find the way home, your everyday actions leave behind breadcrumbs of digital information. When these traces are collected and analysed en masse, they can help urban planners to pick up on the daily rhythms of the life of a city and uncover trends about the people who live there. In a recent study, we developed a new mathematical framework which extracts various spending habits ...

The joke It is a standard April Fools' Day joke that will get dredged up once every few years, and goes something like this: Ireland is considering amending all of its roads from left-hand drive to right-hand drive so it can be more in line with European standards. However, it will be done on a phased basis where only heavy goods vehicles will drive on the right for the first six weeks, after which all vehicles drive on the right. However, more than 50 years ago, in 1967, Sweden ...

In the unabridged version of John Moran’s speech to Engineers Ireland’s annual conference in Limerick last April, he argues here, in Part II, that If Ireland wants to remain competitive on the global stage, it needs to develop and implement modern spatial strategies and related planning rules quickly – even if it does not suit all of the interests vested in a continuation of the status quo. (Part I can be read here.) Putting the east on a diet Firstly, anybody who sits in Dublin ...

In the unabridged version of John Moran's speech to Engineers Ireland's annual conference in Limerick last April, he argues here, in Part I, that we must design and build a better and fairer future for our citizens but, in order to do so, it will require re-engineering our built and planned environment. (Part II can be read here.) I attended my godson’s confirmation this morning and, watching over 100 kids who were just a little more than 10 years of age, made me think, what will the ...

[caption id="attachment_44712" align="alignright" width="200"] Sculpture of Harry Ferguson at Dromara, Co Down, by John Sherlock[/caption] In the small village of Dromara, Co Down, stands a sculpture that digs into the collective memory of those of us that grew up in the Irish countryside. The scene it sets is that of a farmer looking out into a field over a gate lost in his own thoughts. It evokes the memory of the ordinary farmer laying his protective eyes over his crops or animals. No ...

The Le Mans 24-hour race is a high endurance, day-long race that puts the world's best race cars to the test. In 2017, jaws dropped when an LMP2 car was placed second and third overall. But, why was this a poignant moment for this engine type and why is this significant to the design and development of these race car engines? And how does miniature bearing specialist SMB Bearings fit in to this? Certain design criteria must be fulfilled A Le Mans Prototype (LMP) is the type of sports ...