The Engineer articles from March 2004

The Engineer archives from March 2004

Shuttle holds back ISS.(This Week)
March 5, 2004... THE INTERNATIONAL Space Station is unlikely ever to be completed unless radical decisions are made and NASA's space shuttle programme is abandoned long before 2010. The shuttle fleet is due to be retired in 2010, after the Columbia...

Toyota aims for teens, Volvo has women in mind.(This Week)
March 5, 2004... TOYOTA hopes to reflect the interests of today's teenagers in its latest concept car unveiled at this week's Geneva motor show. According to Toyota sport, fashion and video games were the guiding design themes for its Motor Triathlon racer,...

3D image ads another dimension.(This Week)
March 5, 2004... ADVERTISEMENTS that literally jump out at you are the aim of two companies that plan to develop displays capable of producing 3D images that appear to be suspended in mid-air. Dynamic Screen Entertainment has signed Global Display Solutions...

Human eye lens a little inspiration.(This Week)
March 5, 2004... TAKING their inspiration from the human eye, engineers at Philips Research in Germany have developed a variable-focus lens system, called FluidFocus, that has no mechanical moving parts. It is due to be launched at next month's CeBIT...

UAVs put paid to Comanche raids.(This Week)
March 5, 2004... THE US MILITARY'S desire for UAVs to carry out reconnaissance-and-attack roles in the future is thought to have contributed to last week's cancellation of the Comanche helicopter programme. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The stealth...

Not-so Super Tuesday for US elections.(This Week)
March 5, 2004... ELECTRONIC voting machines underwent their biggest test so far this week when US voters across 10 states went to the Super Tuesday polls to choose a Democrat presidential candidate. Millions of registered voters in California, Maryland and...

Rosetta finally gets off the ground.(This Week)
March 5, 2004... EUROPE'S ROSETTA probe finally started its 10-year, five billion km mission to chase and land on a comet this week. Following last week's two abortive attempts the probe was launched aboard an Ariane V rocket from Kourou in French Guiana....

IBM sends tonnage to Catalonia.(This Week)
March 5, 2004... SPAIN is to build the world's second most powerful computer which will be used for medical, climate change and materials research. The 40-teraflop machine, capable of performing 40 trillion floating-point operations per second, will be...

Good week.(This Week)
March 5, 2004... * FLYING: Carbon fibre wings worn on the back of an Austrian skydiver who 'flew' across the English Channel are to be considered by the US army. It wants to create a special unit that could soundlessly cross behind enemy lines. * CHOPPERS:...

Bad week.(This Week)
March 5, 2004... * COMMUTERS: The one good thing about London's Underground--that mobile phones don't work down there--could come to an end if the Tube's managers have their way. * COMPUTERS: A University of Florida study found that cell phones and...

Rail research hits red light; Network Rail accused of blocking hi-tech advances by failing to share risks of research.(News)
March 5, 2004... ACADEMIC RESEARCH body Rail Research UK is to hold talks with Network Rail amid fears that an overly risk-averse culture in the industry is preventing new technology from being introduced on to the network. One researcher working on a...

Hybrid highlight: Geneva Motor Show sees compact supercar which points to environmentally friendly future.(News)
March 5, 2004... AN EXOTIC three-seat supercar with hybrid power and no gearbox was among the highlights of this week's Geneva Motor Show. The Toyota Alessandro Volta, a collaboration between Italdesign-Guigiaro and Toyota, is powered by a modified...

Mercedes coating comes up to scratch.(News)
March 5, 2004... THE NEW MERCEDES CLS Coupe, launched this week at the Geneva Motor Show, will come with scratch-resistant, nanotechnology-based paint as standard. The new clear lacquer top coat, which provides gloss and weatherproofing properties, is the...

Stripping the wires: Smiths' 'central nervous system' replaces tangles of cables on 7E7 Dreamliner.(News)
March 5, 2004... A SPAGHETTI JUNCTION of wires and connections will vanish from Boeing's next generation of passenger airliners thanks to technology developed by UK engineer Smiths Group. The company's Smiths Aerospace division will supply the common core...

Electromagnetics finds the last drop ...: device detects and measures deep-sea oil and gas fields without need for expensive drilling.(News)
March 5, 2004... AN ELECTROMAGNETIC device capable of monitoring the volume of oil and gas remaining in offshore fields is being developed in the UK, and could help the industry avoid expensive drilling operations. Carrying out traditional surveys involves...

... as mine-sweeping method makes seabed transparent.(News)
March 5, 2004... A NEW TECHNIQUE for undersea sonar mine detection will make the seabed 'transparent' and eradicate the danger of buried mines, US researchers claim. The method, invented by Dr David Pierson from North Carolina State University with funding...

X-rays go for safer image: UK project to develop advanced imaging sensors could pave way to more sensitive medical checks.(News)
March 5, 2004... MAMMOGRAMS and other X-rays could be made much safer thanks to a UK project to develop advanced imaging sensors for medical and scientific devices. The project, led by Sheffield University, will investigate the use of active pixel sensors,...

Ford transmission system has a brain of its own.(News)
March 5, 2004... FORD HAS developed an automatic four-speed transmission system for its Fiesta and Fusion models, which constantly adapts to provide optimum performance for various driving conditions such as towing, climbing or descending hills and heavy...

Surf and ye shall find: new language is the key to more accurate information retrieval on internet.(News)
March 5, 2004... A TECHNOLOGY promising a more effective version of the internet, with significantly improved search engines, has moved a step closer to introduction with the approval of an important new language. The semantic web will allow more...

Nudging atoms into shape with lasers.(News)
March 5, 2004... A EUROPEAN consortium has developed a technique to manipulate atoms using optical devices, with the UK playing a leading role. The ATOM3D project is one of a number of 'visionary' sciences that the EU is funding under its New and Emerging...

GKN shifts operations to low-cost economies: UK giant aims to save [pounds sterling]40m a year by moving 20 per cent of car-part production arm out of Western Europe.(Business)
March 5, 2004... GKN HAS UNVEILED plans to shift more of its automotive parts operations to low-cost economies. The UK engineering giant will move an additional 20 per cent of the production capacity of its constant velocity joint (CVJ) business to...

Surface Transforms: the big time beckons for the UK firm thanks to deals to develop braking materials for Dunlop and the US Air Force.(Company Profile)
March 5, 2004... AFTER SEVERAL YEARS of stop-start progress, 2004 could be the year Surface Transforms gets its big break in the brake big league. The UK materials technology group, which is developing applications for new ceramic materials in braking...

Overseas growth drives Ricardo: UK automotive specialist scrapes a profit in tough market.(Business)
March 5, 2004... ENGINEERING consultant Ricardo had a torrid time in the UK last year. Project cancellations and a shortage of new orders added up to a miserable end to 2003 for the highly-rated automotive technology specialist, pushing its domestic...

The week in business.(Business)
March 5, 2004... * BAE seeks better MoD relationship and US growth as profits dip Announcing its financial results for 2003, which saw pre-tax profits fall [pounds sterling]36m to [pounds sterling]760m. UK aerospace and defence giant, BAE Systems said it...

Brown is the only one in the cabinet with the slightest clue about science; this week the chancellor announced yet another science strategy aimed at making the UK more competitive in an increasingly hi-tech world. Fiona Harvey reports.(Comment)
March 5, 2004... THIS WEEK the chancellor launched a fresh science initiative to make the UK more competitive in an increasingly high-tech world. But is it already too late? Brown's enthusiasm for science is well known. He has taken a personal interest in...

Ant behaviour ...(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
March 5, 2004... Raising the speed limit on the UK's motorways to 80mph (Leader, 20 February) is justified by the enhanced safety and performance of today's cars. However, it is most unlikely to increase road capacity and may well reduce it due to...

... could solve flow.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
March 5, 2004... Your item on traffic control (Leader, 20 February) was very interesting. However I cannot see how you can apply such a regulated control of traffic using the parameter assumptions made: set acceleration, set braking, equal performance,...

The right altitude.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
March 5, 2004... I disagree with David Windle (Comment, 20 February) that airships ever disappeared. He may be right about their potential, but one problem is that most of them were at the mercy of the wind. This, however, may not be all bad--after all...

Does NASA know?(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
March 5, 2004... In Good Week Bad Week (This Week, 20 February) you published a picture of some UFOs (pictured) that appeared in a NASA press release about president Bush's new space plans. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] On page 31 of the same issue were the...

Questionable act.(Talking Point)
March 5, 2004... The penultimate paragraph of your report Jam Warfare (News, 20 February) states that a Predator UAV (Pictured) is said to have killed suspected al-Qaeda operatives in the Yemen in November 2002. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] This raises a...

Fast track to change: UK transport needs radical reform--now. The Engineer sets out a four-point plan centred on the one route to efficient travel: high-speed trains. George Coupe and Helen Knight report.(UK Rail Network)(Cover Story)
March 5, 2004... COMMENTATORS are predicting an imminent and major crisis on the UK's transport network. Unfortunately they are all wrong--the crisis is not imminent, it has already arrived. Crucial sections of the motorway network, including most of the...

Robo doc: the developer of Honda's cute android, Asimo, insists that the robot is here to take the drudge out of our lives--not to take over. Jon Excell reports.(Interview)
March 5, 2004... FOR THE PAST YEAR Asimo, Honda's walking robot, has been on a whirlwind tour of Europe, wowing crowds at technology shows and corporate events with its stair-climbing capabilities and dance moves. It is tempting to view the robot simply as...

Buoyant future: plans in the west country to install an electrical hub on the seabed could provide a much-needed boost for the burgeoning wave power industry. Jon Excell reports.(Wave Power)
March 5, 2004... WAVE POWER machines connected to an underwater electrical socket could be providing power to the national grid by 2006 according to proposals laid down by the south west's Regional Development Agency. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] It has...

Bearings get an airing: Brunel University spin-out develops a compressor technology that is lubricated by thin air instead of oil, and could squeeze the last few drops from dwindling natural gas resources. Jon Excell reports.(Fluid Power)
March 5, 2004... UK COMPANY Corac has developed an oil-free, high-speed compressor technology that could not only change the face of industrial compression but also squeeze the last few drops from dwindling natural gas natural resource. Corac's technology...

All together now ...: in the first of a series of columns by engineers involved in collaborative ventures, Keith Herman explains the advantages and pitfalls of an international team effort to develop an autonomous welding robot.(Collaboration)
March 5, 2004... INITIATED in response to a worrying shortage of trained welders, the EU-funded Nomad project (Brave new weld, Design Engineering, December 2003) aims to develop an automated fabrication system that's capable of welding small batches of products...

Cool customer: a liquid-cooled electric motor offers a neat opportunity for automotive designers to increase the power and cut the size of motors while avoiding the problems of overheating. Jon Excell reports.(Electric Motors)
March 5, 2004... TO SAY THAT WATER and electricity don't mix well is something of an under-statement, yet more and more engineers are exploiting the cooling properties of water in an ever-increasing variety of electrical applications. [ILLUSTRATION...

Solid modelling.(Preview)
March 5, 2004... Last year's devastating fire at the National Motorcycle Museum, its traditional home for many years, has forced Solid Modelling 2004 to relocate just down the road to the Pavilion Hall of the NEC. Running over two days (31 March and 1...

Model solution: with the launch of Solid Edge V15 Charles Clarke explains how it will add another dimension to design.(Preview)
March 5, 2004... WITH SOLID EDGE Version 15 EDS PLM Solutions is out to attract new customers and exploit new sectors of the mid-range modelling market. Solid Edge has been a pioneer in many areas but after a relatively chequered history it has often been...

Brain teaser.(Problem Page)
March 5, 2004... In the Forest of Reason live the Lion and the Unicorn. The Lion lies on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday but tells the truth the other days, whereas the Unicorn lies only on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. One day the Lion said: 'Yesterday was one...

Get a buzz from this electrifying experience.(Problem Page)
March 5, 2004... Next issue's published Brain Teaser wins a family ticket (admitting up to four) to Thinktank, Birmingham's museum of science and discovery. A special attraction is the Electrifying Science show, being held every weekend (1pm and 3pm) until...

Controlling atomic spin.(Tech Need Challenge)
March 5, 2004... A method of creating a powerful solid state magnet by controlling the spin of the atoms and domains of atoms is sought by a north American firm. The magnet should require minimal control energy and it is hoped that it would make a motor run...

Class sealing.(Tech Need Challenge)
March 5, 2004... This company is looking for any non-contact type oil seal for use in a screw compressor. The seal must have an internal diameter of 40mm, an outside diameter of 55mm and a width of 20mm. www.yet2.com/demag/206

Anti condensation film.(Tech Need Challenge)
March 5, 2004... This need is for coated films for the outside of glass walls, doors or windows. The technology, which it is hoped will eliminate the problem of condensation caused by air conditioning, must be easily mountable, last for at least five years, be...

New waste line.(Tech Need Challenge)
March 5, 2004... Help and guidance is needed in the development of technology for both a waste water treatment plant and a solid waste disposal plant. Both types of waste will contain nitrates and TNT. The company previously used incinerators, which have now...

Helium sensor.(Tech Need Challenge)
March 5, 2004... A north American firm is looking for a small, low-mass helium gas sensor with sensitivity in the 100ppm range. The sensor would be used to detect gas leaks from hermetically sealed enclosures containing nitrogen/helium mixtures ranging from...

Brains thrust.(Patent of the Week)
March 5, 2004... The military gets all the best toys: for example vertical-take-off and landing, for fixed-wing aircraft is currently the goal of engineers working on the V22 Osprey and the Joint Strike Fighter. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Both planes will...

Darpa's tour de farce.(ThisWeek)
March 19, 2004... THE DARPA GRAND CHALLENGE was supposed to offer a first glimpse of the robots that will transform the battlefields of the future. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] With $1m as a carrot, the US top-secret defence agency asked the cream of the...

Would you Adam and Eve it....(ThisWeek)
March 19, 2004... NASA RESEARCHERS are developing a system to computerise 'silent speech' using nerve signals in the throat. Small sensors placed under the chin and on either side of the Adam's apple could be used to gather the nerve signals that the brain sends...

Darpa's debacle in the desert.(ThisWeek)
March 19, 2004... A US MILITARY-SPONSORED robot vehicle challenge turned into a debacle in the desert when every entrant crashed or broke down. Defence research agency Darpa offered $1m ([pounds sterling]0.55m) to the developer of any unmanned vehicle that could...

HMS Illustrious fit for action.(ThisWeek)
March 19, 2004... HMS ILLUSTRIOUS has been refloated after a multimillion-pound refit. Many of the weapons and sensor systems have been upgraded and there are three new satellite communications suites. Other improvements include flat panel colour displays fitted...

TFL learns lessons from Madrid outrage.(ThisWeek)
March 19, 2004... FOLLOWING Transport for London's widely reported intention to enable the use of mobile phones on the underground sections of London's tube network, a TFL spokesperson told The Engineer this week that there are no plans to introduce the...

Bending it in Baltimore.(ThisWeek)
March 19, 2004... A TEAM FROM Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore has developed a method of building electrical circuitry that can bend and stretch like rubber. The team has developed a technique in which an electric current is passed along several parallel...

You've got to hand it to 'em.(ThisWeek)
March 19, 2004... VISITORS TO this week's CeBIT fair in Hanover were invited to play a computer game in which pieces of a puzzle are moved around a screen using nothing more than simple hand gestures. Developed at Germany's Fraunhofer Institute, the...

A code named quantum.(ThisWeek)
March 19, 2004... SWISS COMPANY Id Quantique this week demonstrated the world's first commercial system to use quantum cryptography. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Showcased at CeBit, the system allows a cryptographic key--a mathematical value used in an...

Perfect parking: Qinetiq builds low-cost spacial sensing system for mass-market vehicles.(News)
March 19, 2004... A LOW-COST 3D camera adapted from military range-finding technology is the key to a spacial sensing system that could enable all cars to park themselves in the future. The camera, which was demonstrated for the first time at the Society of...

Toyota develops stop-go cruise control system.(News)
March 19, 2004... Toyota has this week announced the development of a radar-based cruise control system that can be used in slow-moving traffic to make life easier for drivers, writes Jon Excell. The system is essentially an improvement on technology...

Circuit board sense: UK leads field in efficient, affordable automotive sensors.(News)
March 19, 2004... UK-DEVELOPED sensor technology is set to enter new vehicle programmes around the world after being snapped up by a major supplier to the automotive industry. TT Electronics, which supplies systems to car giants such as BMW, VW and...

Sounding out danger in aircraft ... UK develops ultrasound technology to detect cracks in metal and composite plane components.(News)
March 19, 2004... POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS cracks in composite and metal aircraft components, including wheels and turbine blades, could be quickly detected using an ultrasound device being developed in the UK. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The technology, which...

... and on the rails: device for finding difficult-to-spot defects deep within welds undergoes trials on selected UK railway sites.(News)
March 19, 2004... AN ULTRASOUND device capable of detecting cracks in rail welds is undergoing trials at various sites on the UK railways. The inspection tool, being developed by Imperial College spin-out Guided Ultrasonics using technology from the Research...

Health checks at Rolls-Royce: system offers engine performance analysis in real-time.(News)
March 19, 2004... ROLLS-ROYCE is developing a continuous health and performance monitoring system for its Trent 900 engine, to be fitted to the Airbus A380. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] For four years the company has been working with monitoring specialist...

War on error: tagging device to go on test that will allow US military to distinguish friend from foe.(News)
March 19, 2004... A LOW-COST, lightweight radar tagging system designed to protect troops from friendly fire incidents is to be tested by the US Army later this year. The radar tag sensor, developed at Sandia National Laboratories, can be mounted on...

Apple project bears fruit: research points the way to mass-producing lightweight car components from composites.(News)
March 19, 2004... LIGHTWEIGHT structural automotive components could be volume-produced from thermoplastic composites following the success of a Warwick University project. Components made using the technique could also be easily recycled (see Comment, page...

Report backs our 'nuclear is cheaper' research.(News)
March 19, 2004... ELECTRICITY FROM offshore windfarms will cost at least twice as much as power from conventional sources including nuclear, according to a report published this week by the Royal Academy of Engineering. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The...

Softly softly approach: next beagle mission to Mars will use improved technologies in attempt at successful landing.(News)
March 19, 2004... THE NEXT Beagle mission will use more parachutes and a different airbag system in an attempt to land successfully on Mars, it has emerged. Details of the proposed second mission, which would be launched in October 2007 and arrive on Mars...

Nuclear spacecraft construction will be out of this world.(News)
March 19, 2004... A SPACECRAFT powered by nuclear engines, which will be constructed more than 250,000km from Earth, is being proposed by Boeing for a future manned mission to Mars. Under the proposals, astronauts would take the trip to the red planet using...

Cold tap: US project aims to develop technologies to unlock natural gas reserves in frozen regions.(News)
March 19, 2004... US RESEARCHERS are developing technologies to tap potentially huge reserves of natural gas locked underground in frozen inhospitable permafrost regions. According to the US Department of Energy, global volumes of methane hydrate--a compound of...

Microwaves join fight for cancer detection.(News)
March 19, 2004... A LOW-POWER microwave device for both medical and security applications is being developed at Northumbria University. The system can penetrate clothes and the skin and take images of hidden weapons and cancerous cells. The reflected...

Security technology a priority for Smiths: as the world goes on terror alert UK group puts detection systems top of development list.(Business)
March 19, 2004... IN THE WAKE OF the Madrid bombings, Smiths Group looks well placed to benefit from demand for ever more advanced security technologies in an increasingly anxious world. The UK engineering group has made security detection systems for...

Alphamosaic: VideoCore technology looks set to revolutionise the use of multimedia features on mobile phones.(Company Profile)
March 19, 2004... AS MANY a frustrated gadget fan will testify, those exciting new multimedia features on the latest mobile phones will drain their batteries in the blink of an eye. Alphamosaic has developed technology to solve this problem, and claimed it...

IMI's restructure bears fruit: group plans further acquisitions and expansion to the East.(Business)
March 19, 2004... BIRMINGHAM ENGINEERING group IMI wants to further boost its presence in the fast-growing industrial economies of China and Eastern Europe. The UK group, whose activities span pneumatics, severe service valves and merchandising systems,...

Alvis gives General Dynamics' takeover bid the go-ahead.(The Week in Business)
March 19, 2004... US defence group General Dynamics is bidding to take over Alvis, the UK company that makes the Challenger tank. The [pounds sterling]309m bid has been accepted by the management of Alvis, which this week announced a 40 per cent leap in pre-tax...

IP21PO invests in new speech recognition technology at King's.(The Week in Business)
March 19, 2004... IP21PO, the company set up to commercialise universities' intellectual property, has put the money where its mouth is by taking a large stake in speech recognition technology developed at King's College London. Phonologica, a King's spin-out,...

Filtronic bags 3G network supply contract.(The Week in Business)
March 19, 2004... Microwave electronics specialist Filtronic has secured an order to supply components for 3G mobile base stations. The contract with an unnamed manufacturer is for radio frequency head units incorporating Filtronic's high-power compound...

Financial boost for NanoMagnetics data storage development.(The Week in Business)
March 19, 2004... NanoMagnetics, a company developing nano-scale magnetic materials for applications such as data storage and medical imaging, has raised [pounds sterling]360,000 of funding from investment group Prelude Ventures. It will be used to further...

Psion sells Symbian stake to Nokia despite shareholder opposition.(The Week in Business)
March 19, 2004... Psion survived a rebellion by about one third of its shareholders to secure agreement for the sale of its stake in the Symbian mobile phone operating system. The UK electronics group will get [pounds sterling]136m from Nokia for its 31 per cent...

More plastic must be salvaged from cars to hit recycling targets; It's crunch time for the scrap industry: the UK needs a whole new infrastructure to achieve recycling recovery rates set for 2007. Max Glaskin reports.(Comment)
March 19, 2004... STEPTOE AND SON had it easy. The rag-and-bone men of the TV sitcom simply collected the rubbish they were given, leaving them plenty of time to bicker. But the modern recycling industry has no time to waste arguing if it's going to comply with...

High-speed rail points.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
March 19, 2004... I enjoyed George Coupe and Helen Knight's excellent article setting out why the UK needs high-speed rail links (Feature, 5 March). There are, however, two points in the proposal which, when they are taken in isolation, are a potential...

Forth dimension.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
March 19, 2004... I appreciate the advantages of a high-speed rail system as proposed in your article, (Feature, 5 March), particularly if it connects to my home city of Edinburgh. But it would noticeably increase the system's usefulness if we didn't have...

Too much whine.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
March 19, 2004... In common with your other correspondents who remember the National Engineering Laboratory's Triumph Herald fitted with an infinitely variable hydrostatic transmission (Letters, 6 February) I was also on placement there from Brunel University in...

Intelligence test.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
March 19, 2004... Bill Church's ideas on traffic control using emergent behaviour (Letters, 5 March) make interesting reading. But I can't help wondering how his automated system would cope with cars not fitted with onboard intelligence, such as a 1965 Ford...

Nothing but hot air.(Talking Point)
March 19, 2004... With reference to David Windle's article on the rise and rise of the blimp (Comment, 20 February), I have flown airships for over 30 years acquiring 15,000 hours in all types and while, I agree with his piece in principle, I feel he is missing...

American dream? The top carmakers are all launching diesel models into the US. But what technologies can help diesel to shed its image there as the noisy, slow, smoky option? David Fowler reports.(Diesel in the US)(Cover Story)
March 19, 2004... LOOK BACK 10 or 20 years, and the only reason for buying a diesel car was fuel economy. A diesel would cost less to run than a petrol-engined car, if you could put up with it being noisy, smoky and slow. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In the...

Job for life: Diana Hodgins is not interested in designing mobile phones or faster cars. What fascinates the head of ETB is medical devices that mean the world to those who need them. Andrew Lee reports.(Interview)
March 19, 2004... DR DIANA HODGINS seems amused, bemused, exasperated and delighted in equal measure by the clamour for her time. European Technology for Business (ETB), the microsystems design company of which she is founder and managing director, is leading a...

Collaborative Engineering 04.(Preview)
March 19, 2004... IN TODAY'S world most engineering projects are to some degree collaborative efforts. These days collaboration takes place at any stage in the research, development or production process. Sharing costs, information and facilities happens on a...