the easterly wind particularly strong as we head into monday as well, and those showers streaming further westwards. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines... the oxford—astrazeneca vaccine

offers limited protection against mild disease caused by the south african variant of covid—19. but scientists say it will still help to beat the pandemic. we may not be reducing the total number of cases, but there is still protection in that case against deaths, hospitalisations and severe disease. the uk government has no plans to introduce �*vaccine passports�* — according to the vaccines minister — who says the focus should remain on the inoculation programme itself of course, you have the evidence that you have been vaccinated, held by your gp, and if other countries will require you to show proof of that evidence then that is obviously up to those countries. doctors in england are to be paid an additional £10 for each house—bound patient they vaccinate against coronavirus. heavy snow could bring significant disruption to the south east of england in the coming hours with weather warnings issued by the met office

for large parts of britain. now on bbc news — click is looking at bioprinting — literally printing replacement parts of the body to help treat disease and illness. this week, bioprinting cells, talking to strangers, and perfecting your posture. welcome to click — hope you are doing 0k. you probably don't want to hear this, but we are now almost coming welcome to click — hope you are doing 0k. you probably don't want to hear

this, but we are now almost coming up on a year of video calls, zoom meetings, and teams chats. in that respect, at least, i think the world has adapted quite well. unsurprisingly, a lot of innovators have lept to the chance to invent a whole range of video call accessories. and my good friend lara lewington is wearing one now. can you spot it? what could possibly be? these are the periphery smart earrings. not only do they help you get your top half dressed up for a video call, but they also provide sound directly into your ear from behind the earring, and there is a microphone just here, as well. it means you can make phone calls or video calls and communicate through these. i'm no expert — i would say they are a little on the big side, but they do match your frock. almost, and they come in different designs.

but, as you say, they are chunky and could do with being made smaller. but the idea is not bad. and talking about not—bad ideas, how about this? what's that? this went viral a month or two ago. it turns out one of the most awkward parts of a video meeting is trying to leave it. i don't know if you have been there, but everybody waves, and with their other hand they hit the leave meeting button, then it turns out that you haven't left the meeting, and then you need to click to confirm that you want to leave. this inspired one creative technologist to create the zoomout. to leave a meeting, i pull this... he's gone. you know when you're talking to somebody and you say goodbye in person, and then you end up walking in the same direction? i hate that. exactly. it's like that, but every hour, when you're doing calls all day. you are trying to leave

and you say goodbye, and you're fumbling for the leave button. this is brian moore, who created the zoomout. of course we had to make our own. so stephen beckett downloaded the plans that brian put on github, got handy with the printer, and here is the result. here you go. a pull cord connected to a circuit board that sends a message to your computer to end the call. simple and effective. it's a race. one, two, three, go. you don'tjust have to make these things for yourself, you can share them with the world on the internet so you can go viral with these things. i feel really good comedians, they make a joke about something that everybody thinks is just something that they experience, but then because they love it because, well, ——laugh

at it because, well, everybody experiences it. the same thing goes with this. i didn't think that many people would — this is certainly something that i experience. it turns out that millions of people who watched this felt the same way. i never know — i'll make something and put it out in the world, and one person will see it, and then sometimes, i will make it, and put it on the web, see what happens, and suddenly blows up and i'm like "wow, i can't believe it." it just struck a chord, no pun intended. what are some of the other crazy things that you have built? i have built a scooter that is powered by screaming. it's powered by anger. it was for angry birds. it's a scooter with a microphone on it. it didn't work unless you screamed. the lourder you screamed, the faster it went. something i am working on that i have not mentioned is this polaroid. when you take a photo of somebody,

it actually prints out a reverse image recognition photo of them off the internet, which is terrifying. it's a really scary thing. i tried taking a photo of my wife and i printed out a photo i had taken of her seven years ago, because it was on the internet somewhere. brian, can you keep these dumb projects coming, please? they are brilliant. i can try. with covid, all i'm doing is sitting at home and making these things. good, you're back. i am. now we're going to talk about stem cells. stem cells grow from one type of cell into any type of cell in the human body. for researchers, controlling that process is proving difficult. but now one company in cambridge claims to be able to reprogram stem cells to produce any other type of human cell in large quantities. it is part of a growing trend to bioprint elements of the body. the ability to repair damaged cells and tissue in the body

is the focus of the field of regenerative medicine. over the years, we have seen bioink to print tissue, and bones being grown from a person's own stem cells. innovations around stem cells, the building blocks of our bodies, offer exciting potential. typically, these cells are extracted from a blood or skin sample in small amounts, but one company is working on producing any type of human cell in industrial quantities. hello, how are you? thank you for having us in your lab. this is one of our molecular biology labs, and here we create what is called gene cassettes, and we create — engineer cells, essentially. here at bit.bio an interdisciplinary

team has created a new technology. it enables the precise reprogramming of entire cultures of stem cells into any cell type on a vast scale. founder and neurosurgeon mark kotter is combining coding and biology to create a new understanding of the genetic engineering a result. to create a deeper understanding of the genetic engineering a result. we have taken a slightly different angle on biology. when we look back over the last 30 years, it seems like you can look at biology a little like a software. and that means that there is a possibility to, you know, reprogram, reboot a cell with a new programme. and our technology allows us to do this extremely efficiently. and that has really opened a completely new way of thinking about manufacturing and precision engineering of cells.

we keep them in incubators here, as all other cells that are grown outside the body. they need certain oxygen level, carbon dioxide, and temperature. and when — once we make the — design the cell type, we can actually freeze them in small test tubes, in tubes, and you can send them to the customer in a frozen format. these cells could then be used for patient therapies, but also to study rare diseases or discover new medicines. the golden standard in the field is to use primary cells, which are isolated from human organs — but, as you can imagine, the difficulty there is that the donors are very scarce, so it is very difficult to get

these primary cell types. bit.bio aims to bring a new gold standard to the field. we can create more true cell types that behave like primary human cells that you would find in the body. using these mature cell types for drug testing could yield much better results and eliminate the need to test on animals. every disease, every condition, it starts with a problem at the cell level. it is the cells that actually go wrong. if you want to create medication, drugs, then you need to understand what is happening in order to be able to design the right drugs. and i willjust pull out an example. for example, alzheimer's disease, you know, there has been a lot of effort to create drugs. unfortunately, so far, they haven't been very successful. traditional drug discovery, we would use animal models and cells to model, you know,

a condition like alzheimer's. but the problem is that mice don't get alzheimer's, so you have to do something to the mice so that they then present with something that looks like alzheimer's. then you create a drug to treat the thing that you have created. and so this is where we bring a unique solution. we can create human brain cells that actually are affected by alzheimer's. what this allows you to do is then use, you know, target your research and drug discovery against the actual condition. having access to millions of high—quality human cells could help advance other technologies. a team in south korea have developed this bioprinter that could help heal diabetic foot ulcers. a photo of the ulcer is uploaded to the machine which matches the size

of the ulcer with biomaterials. this helps with the healing of ulcers and wound closure which could lead to amputation if untreated. this could be aided with the manufacture of human cells on an industrial scale and could maximise the capabilities of regenerative medicine. hello and welcome to the week in tech. it was the week amazon founder jeff bezos announced he was stepping down as chief executive. he will become executive chairman, and will be replaced by new ceo andy jassy. and the latest rocket prototype from elon musk�*s spacex had an explosive landing. engineers said the test flight provided valuable data. and call of duty: warzone has banned more than 60,000 accounts in one day for cheating. publisher activision says it is improving its own anti—cheat software.

and ai—powered traffic cameras in australia could soon get an upgrade. existing cameras detect offences like mobile phone use. now, instead of being hit with a fine, drivers will be warned by a roadside display. continuing the road theme, swiss developers have developed a vision system to allow motorcyclists to take bends more safely. using cameras and a display, it calculates the optimal trajectory and speed through a curve. and finally, everybody�*s favourite horrifying robot dog now has an arm. and finally, everybody�*s favourite or terrifying robot dog now has an arm. spot, developed by boston dynamics, can now perform tasks like tidying up, opening doors, and writing massive messages in chalk. it can now also be operated remotely. good boy. i've been working from home now for almost a year, and i've done a lot of slouching.

and i started getting worried i might be doing myself some harm. i've also been bombarded with instagram ads for this gadget that makes you sit up straight, so i thought i'd give it a go. this is the upright go 2, and you wear it at the top of your back. it comes with sticky pads so that you can stick it to your skin, or you can wear it on a neckband. i prefer the glue. once it's in place, you tap the button twice to calibrate. then, if you lean forward, it will vibrate, reminding you to sit up straight. that's all there is to it. the app records how long you've been slouching, and how long you have been upright. in my first experiment, i turned it the vibration off so it would just record. that was hard to do, because once you're conscious you're wearing it, you tend to sit more upright, anyway. but, in my first two—hour stint, i was uprightjust 5% of the time. for the other days, when i was sat at my desk working, i had the vibration switched on.

as you would expect, if i leaned forward, it would buzz. there were times where this got a bit annoying, because there are lots of times where you lean forward, even if you're resting on your elbows with a straight back, or you get up to make a coffee, and you're leaning over the kettle. at those times, it would be vibrating, telling you you are slouching. for that reason, i did not wear it all day every day. but if i knew i was going to do an hour or two stint at my desk — perhaps editing a video — i would put it on. i did get used to it, and there were times where i completely forgot i was wearing it. at least once i showered with it on. thankfully, it still works. after using it a few times, those stints where i was wearing it, i was managing to get 80—90% of the time upright. i'm lucky i have never had serious neck or back pain, but i wonder if there are health benefits to this. the company makes no health claims on its ads on instagram, but it does make health related comments on its website.

so, i spoke to ashleyjames from the uk's charter society of physiotherapy to ask if there is anything wrong with slouching. absolutely not. there is nothing wrong with slouching in moderation, just as the same there is nothing wrong with sitting up perfectly straight. what we know is there is no right or wrong position to sit in. there are only positions that are held for too long. i've seen those posts on social media that see if you use your phone too much or use it badly in a chair, you are permanently changing the shape of your necks and spine, is that true? yeah, no, there is no good evidence that sitting in any one position will permanently change the position of your spine. the key thing is movement and not to be sucked in any one to be sat in any one position for too long. what i am hearing is it is fine for me to work in bed all day? in moderation, i wouldn't suggest it, not because it is inherently bad, but because it would reduce our

ability to move regularly, and that might lead to some pain and discomfort stopping the company and that might lead to some pain and discomfort. ——the company told me it doesn't make health claims for its products but its research shows that people do sit up more when they use it. no surprise there because it buzzes every time you slouched. one thing i notice is it doesn't because if you lean backwards. position like this are not ok but you can sit really badly back in a chair and it will never vibrate. from my point of view i have enjoyed wearing this, i see in the shops with the mirrors, i see myself stepping over. but now, when the pandemic is over and i get to go to a positive event, i might wear this to remind myself to sit up straight and keep my shoulders back. that was chris. and this is chris.

watching it made me want to sit up straight. it does seem it is more about movement than posture? that was certainly the view from the physiotherapist. as long as you're not spending all day sitting in one position and moving around a bit more, then that may be comfortable for you. that makes sense to be over never been someone who suffers back pain but the time i have had a sore back, a sore coccyx has been when i have been on a flight, and haven't realised they had been sitting in the one position. it makes me want to carry on moving. i think that is good advice? maybe do some desk yoga, some dance routines. one tip is rather than spending maybe £100 on a posture trainer like this, if you are ready have a smartwatch or fitness tracker, they usually tell you about how you can set its above to get up and move around. i feel that is the same thing. to stand up every hourfor a number of minutes stopping another good thing to do as well,

it you moving. chris, thank you for sitting up and paying attention. now, one of the things we missed in lockdown, some of us probably missing more than others is meeting new people. now, i don't mean dating, ijust mean for a chat with somebody different, because many of us have been speaking to the same person or people for the last year. i am saying nothing. well, i've tried platforms that aim to change the conversation. meet marguerite, who lives in surrey. i have six grown—up children and 18 grandchildren and 15 great—grandchildren. some of them live far away, others are working old day and they cannot always come and visit me. but life can be isolating, especially in these days of lockdown or restrictions. so, one of marguerite�*s daughters went looking for a professional companion for harris. now, meet sue, a freelance script writer who lives

close to marguerite. it was marguerite�*s name that kind of caught my attention. i asked her about her name and she started telling me her history and mentioned that she had once upon a time been a professional ballroom dancer. yeah, i was very interested in her life and she was interested in what i was saying to her. the application was originally launched to provide face—to—face short spells of company from pre—vetted companions for an agreed fee. it may have been the start of a beautifulfriendship, though? during lockdown times, many like sue and marguerite have chosen to switch to the app was mcelnay meeting space.'s ——online meeting space. one of my hobbies is writing. so, hearing stories is fascinating for me. i love it. and one thing i like about the whole sort of companions app is the structure. if you go around to help somebody,

and then they say could you just, and can you just, with the app, you are able to have boundaries, i think, and that's quite important. sometimes you can open up to people and not tell your family certain things, which i think is very enlightening. with the lockdown, life is very boring and there are lots of people here where i live, they are very lonely, lots of them. it has given me a lift in life. which i was stagnating a bit, ithink. the matching up process sounds like online dating? yeah, yeah! it is all about. lisa, who used to be an advertising exec for amazon uk thought up the idea after a skiing accident. we wanted to create something that is going to be for. that is going to be for us.

we need this, we need to look after our parents when we are older. we started to break it down, what technology do we need? what do they have, what don't they have? how do we make it a seamless journey for everybody? companions is not the only platform that can help you meet people for a bit of conversation at the moment. quarantine chat launched last year and the idea is that it randomly puts two people together from anywhere in the world for a 1—to—1 phone chat. we are about to connect to someone else, somewhere in the world? hello? hi. how's it going? i am doing pretty well. there was a big film festival two weeks ago, and a lot of my friends went... now restaurants, can be at 25% capacity. . i'm craving wide space at the moment, so, big mountains, and so on...

i found somebody was at the party who had just tested positive... putting it to the test, a few of the the calls i signed up for did not happen, but i did manage to make a friend in japan. what has been the greatest high for you? mostlyjust reading books. and i'm interested in people. the app matches you with someone who speaks the same language and who is awake at the time, operating via another app called dial up, no personal information is shared and calls are made using data. it has 10,000 users globally, and although they are not pre—vetted, there is a feedback system to report anything untoward. the idea for the app had come from one of its co—creators' own experience of being quarantined. there is a lot of benefit to just getting out of your own head and listening to somebody else�*s stories, and having

someone listen to you. it is just the two of you on the phone, not a group chat room or anything, it is just the two of you and you both want to talk and you are listening to each other, there is very comforting. it helps you feel very connected. meanwhile, our original pairing, sue and marguerite are looking ever stronger. so many more stories that i would love to hear, we might even write a book together. i think we are planning on meeting up soon again, are we, marguerite? we sure are. we can talk about the weather. how interesting. i've always felt awkward talking to strangers, but how was it for you? it was funny. of all the things i have missed over the past year, it had never occurred to me that i would miss meeting people from different laces. it was pressing.

awkward to start with but then you settle into the chart. something new for every one to try. looks like we have all tried something new this week's topic that is it from us for now. and as ever, you can keep up with the team on social media, find us on youtube, instagram, facebook and twitter on @bbcclick. see you soon! bye—bye! bye— bye. hello. we've a particularly cold week ahead across the uk as we are set to sit in arctic air with biting easterly winds, particularly for today and tomorrow. there is also the threat of some heavy snowfall to contend with, potentially causing

disruption for some. where is the very cold air coming from? all the way from the arctic via the baltic and then fpeeding on across the uk on a strong easterly wind. for the south—east of the uk today we have the tail end of storm darcy. darcy herself is off into the continent but this lingering weather front could produce heavy snow across some counties of eastern england. the met office has marked out an area in amber with a warning for the risk of disruption. we did start out with a mixture of rain and sleet in the south—east but as the cold air drives its way further south this afternoon it is likely to bring more persistent snow as the day draws to a close. it will perhaps retreat a little bit further eastwards through the afternoon, the snowfall. strong to gale force gusts of wind as well, blizzards and drifting could be an issue. the wind also driving shows across northern england, scotland, perhaps a few even for northern ireland and the welsh mountains,

cold across the board and if you factor in the wind it will feel —3 or “4 quite typically. through the evening and overnight, as darcy pulls away we pick up a more direct, perhaps easterly air stream across to the south of the uk and that is able to send the showers further west across the midlands into wales, perhaps towards the movers of the south west so further snow for central and eastern england over night for scotland and northern england as well. but perhaps the showers a little fewer and farther between here. overnight, monday, some more persistent will be setting up across scotland are streaming into northern england. not all areas will see the showers, there are gaps between those bands and there will be some sunshine but if you are stuck underneath one of the bands of showers the snow could pile up quite significantly or blow around with the strength of the easterly wind which again on monday keeps things filling raw. nothing changes very dramatically through the week ahead. we still sit on this cold arctic air.

the isobars, though, do as you can see, reorientate themselves slightly tuesday into wednesday. what that will mean, hopefully, is that the wind will ease back somewhat.

good afternoon. the scientists behind the oxford astrazeneca coronavirus vaccine say it should still prevent people needing hospital treatment or dying, despite the emerging south african variant. research has found that the jab offers only limited protection against mild cases of that variant, although that study hasn't yet been checked by other experts. the government says it is looking at ways to deal with covid variants in the long term. our health correspondent, jim reed reports. surge testing in the midlands to try and stamp out the latest variant

of coronavirus.