Top Stories of the Week: January 3-7

                                      A roundup of this week's top stories:

• Anything could become a robot with this new Hyundai tech

  Chairs for the elderly or vulnerable, storage units or even wardrobes could be on the move in the future with the new plug & drive (PnD) system unveiled by South Korean automaker Hyundai and Boston Dynamics at the CES 2022 event in Las Vegas...

• 2022 – the year of the smart grid

  2022 is the year we act on our net-zero pledges from 2021, and no action is more vital than completing the energy transition. We have eight years to cut global emissions in half. So, in the interest of time, let’s get straight to the point: without..

• Global food prices at highest point in a decade - UN

  The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has revealed that 2021 saw food prices spike far higher than in 2020 to their highest point since 2011, increasing by around 28% on the year prior...

• Johnson Matthey unveils CO2 to SAF technology

  British chemicals firm Johnson Matthey has unveiled a new technology that allows for the conversion of captured carbon dioxide and green hydrogen into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in collaboration with energy company bp...

• Biotech robot could speed up diagnosis of Covid-19

  A new robotic system designed by the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences, alongside Mitsubishi Electric, Labomatica and Perlan Technologies claims to be able to speed up the diagnosis of Covid-19...

• What are the UK's most desired second-hand cars?

  Buying a car second-hand is sometimes a pragmatic choice, if a little risky, as it can significantly reduce the upfront investment. But understanding what to look for, what is in demand, and what to look out for is another problem entirely...

• Air travel optimism as flights predicted to return to near 2019 levels

  Two years after Covid-19 first struck, the pan-European aviation organisation Eurocontrol has begun 2022 with a note of cautious optimism for the sector and a prediction that air traffic is on track to recover to 70-90% of 2019...