Ben Pilkington

Feature Writer

B.A. (Hons) English Language and Literature, M.St. English Language and Literature

Ben Pilkington is a freelance writer who is interested in society and technology. He enjoys learning how the latest scientific developments can affect us and imagining what will be possible in the future.

Since completing graduate studies at Oxford University in 2016, Ben has reported on developments in computer software, the UK technology industry, digital rights and privacy, industrial automation, IoT, AI, additive manufacturing, sustainability, and clean technology.

Ben is happiest on a bicycle, loves sleeping in a tent or under the stars, and can’t function properly without coffee.

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Articles from Ben

LaserBond: Advancing Materials Development with Laser Heat Treating Technology

Australian laser heat treating technology pioneer, LaserBond, has just announced a $1 million technology sale to Curtin University, Western Australia. Curtin University will use LaserBond’s innovative laser metal deposition (LMD) system to advance materials development with its capacity for cutting-edge 3D metal printing, laser additive manufacturing, laser welding, and other laser cladding solutions.

16 Sep 2021

A History of Electron Microscopy and the Future of the Industry

Electron microscopy uses a beam of electrons instead of light to illuminate subjects for magnification. The technique has been in use for almost 100 years and is likely to be used at the forefront of scientific research for many more to come.

29 Jul 2021

The Use of Imaging Spectroscopy for Earth Conservation Applications

Arizona State University researchers Megan Seeley and Gregory P. Asner have documented the many ways in which imaging spectroscopy has been used for earth conservation purposes – with emerging technology gathering key data that traditional approaches fail to spot.

28 Jul 2021

How Raman Microspectroscopy Offers Breakthrough Cement Opportunities

MIT researchers have developed a Raman microspectroscopy method for observing the chemistry of cement mixing with water in real-world conditions and in real-time. The breakthrough paves the way for improving the environmental impact of concrete, which leads to 8% of total anthropogenic CO2 emissions.

24 Jun 2021

3D Printing Miniature Lenses to Improve Imaging Performance

Researchers have demonstrated how advanced 3D printing can be used to produce high-performing, miniature lenses for micro-optic imaging applications.

21 Jun 2021

Miniaturized X-Ray Diffraction Instruments and their Influence on Mars Discoveries

A long-cycle, award-winning engineering project from NASA’s Ames Research Center placed x-ray diffraction (XRD) and x-ray fluorescence (XRF) instruments on the Curiosity rover to identify almost every mineral Curiosity encountered on Mars.

8 Jun 2021

X-Ray Laser Technology is Improving Spectroscopy Techniques for Materials Characterization

A description of a new approach to an important metrology technique was recently published by an international team of researchers. The new method uses X-ray laser light for transient grating spectroscopy for the first time.

28 May 2021

How Microscopes Can Reveal Face Mask Effectiveness

A team of scientists has used microscopy to assess the effectiveness of face masks in combating the spread of COVID-19.

27 May 2021

Can Light Microscopy be Used to Visualize Viruses?

Italian naturalist, Giambattista Odierna, provided the first detailed account of organic tissue in 1644 – enabled by studying organic matter under the lens of newly invented microscopes. Now, the latest optical microscope technology is capable of imaging viruses that live in organisms.

11 May 2021

What is Scanning Optical Microscopy?

Scanning optical microscopy is a microscopy technique that sits within the broader category of scanning probe microscopy. It was developed in the 1980s to enable the study of properties such as refractive index, chemical structure, and local mechanical and chemical stresses at the scale of nanometers.

10 May 2021