hello this is bbc news, the headlines. finland says russia has cut off supplies of natural gas — days after finland announced it was applying to join nato. meanwhile in ukraine, russia intensifies its attacks in the donbas region as its forces capture more territory in the south and east. opposition parties demand an explaination from the prime minister after he met with the senior civil servant, sue gray, ahead of the publication of her report into lockdown parties at downing street. joe biden is attending a dinner with south korea's president in seoul. he's there to discuss security and north korea's nuclear programme. as monkeypox spreads worldwide, uk doctors say it could have a "massive impact" on access to sexual health services.

polls close in parts of australia as two political veterans battle it out for the country's top job. now on bbc news click dives underwater to meet the robots designed to look after offshore windfarms, and explores the latest tech being used to protect marine life. this week, we're going to sea — to see what the seals can see. really?! yes. and what can they see? an enormous turbine. we're going to find out whether sea life and sea machines can happily coexist. this is a harbour seal, and this is what we're looking for in the data.

shiona takes control of this monster. paul gets up close to this beast. 0h. wrong room. and zoe gets attacked by a giant ironman. hello and welcome to another scenic glasgow location. mm—hm. behind us is a victorian ship. for a long time, we've known the power of wind at sea. but we're getting better than ever before at harnessing wind power. yeah. now, the year 2020 won't be fondly remembered for much, i'd say. but it was at least a very windy year. apparently in 2020 we produced 50% more wind power than 2019. and one of the best places to have a wind farm is at sea, where there's lots of wind and also lots of space. but how do you look after it? well, paul carter's taken the plunge to find out. paul: no, this isn't some kind of sea monster... ..but an autonomous machine which aims to perhaps make working at sea that little bit safer.

with an ever—growing demand for renewable and sustainable energy sources, the infrastructure that provides that energy is becoming increasingly critical. now, at present, those facilities are often maintained by human divers, working in challenging and hazardous conditions. but here at heriot—watt university, they're developing underwater robotic solutions to help take the strain. and they've come up with this — the orca autonomous drone. we've got our scanning sonar, our mechanical scanning sonar, and that can see all of the structures and items around the vehicle at a long distance. we've got an acoustic modem. this means that when we don't use the tether, we can communicate with the robot using sounds underwater. and how does it move around in the water? is it with these propellers that

i can see here on either side? yes, there's eight thrusters that are used, and it can move it in all six directions. you've got forward, backwards, left, right, up, down, and then you've got roll, pitch and turn. oh, wow. so, it's pretty manoeuvrable, then? yes. all of this technology allows the device to work autonomously, planning its own route to fully scan a structure with little human intervention. so, the system that we have will continuously explore the unknown areas and see what comes next on the structure. but we can also suggest positions to it. it takes the images from both cameras, so stereo cameras, much like how we perceive depth. and it can use this data to create a sd model of the structure under the water. these can be viewed by the engineers and by the surveyors to detect problems early, when they're able to be fixed easily and cost—effectively. currently, 80% of the cost of offshore wind is spent

on maintenance through manned ships and technicians to do inspection and repair. so, it's easy to see how this robot could cut costs. but robots may also solve a practical issue as wind power expands. so, in the future, we're going to have not hundreds but tens of thousands of offshore wind farms. if you've got 10,000 wind turbines to inspect, and if you have one person, one vehicle, you need 10,000 pilots. and you don't have them, they don't exist. we're going to need to replace or change the way we do things so that we can have several pilots monitoring tens or hundreds of those vehicles. so, we need small scale robotic fleets that are able to navigate these large farms and inspect and repair them remotely from shore. what's really fascinating is how autonomous robots like this could allow for further innovation,

solving problems like the expansion of wind farms held back by the sheer practicalities of people. it's easy to imagine how undersea cables, renewable structures, and even boats could be maintained remotely. so, the technology seems to be there — it's now over to the businesses to make sure it's viable. shiona: it's notjust under the water where there's innovation. this is a boat with no people on it. also known as an uncrewed surface vessel, which can take to the seas to inspect projects in far—flung locations which are difficult to get to.

autonomously operated vehicles like this are really important for the environment, because they reduce fuel consumption and they also mean less people need to go offshore to do the onsite inspection. this is the erov — it's the electrical remotely operated vehicle. what it's doing is it's launching into the water. it's filled with sensors and cameras, and it'll look at high definition images, feed all that stuff back via satellite to the guys in aberdeen. by deploying these types of vehicles, there's a potential to reduce fuel consumption by as much as 95% in comparison with conventional ones. autonomous vehicles are marine robots, really. so, all of our lives are going in towards digital and remote and autonomous. so, this is nothing different. this is just the transformation of the offshore marine industry into a fleet of robotic vessels that can go and collect some really cool, very significant data that we need. the firm collects and analyses geological data at land and at sea.

we're also looking to expand our fleet. this is obviously the fugro 0rca being the first of a fleet of three or four that we expect to have by the end of this year. and then we're looking to expand the fleet with larger vessels that are capable of conducting operations in the even more hazardous environments with greater weather endurance limits and also the capacity to be at sea for that much longer. all clear to move off? 0k. all good to move off. here in aberdeen, where the control centre is, the team on dry land connect with the technology which is out at sea. visual data from the cameras. so, if we're on a wind farm, as you see the wind farm i coming up from the sea, i it's actually a big structure underneath, and it goes - to the seabed and attached there.

so, we'll be looking - at fixings to the seabed, the metal structure itself. they're all connected with power cables. . so, we'll also inspect power cables, make sure they've not been - damaged by fishermen. the erov also has sensors that can make 3d models of the seabed. - so, we can also check around the base of the structures - and we can follow the pipelines of these as well. _ remote and autonomous technologies will play a vital role in the future of the maritime sector. this company hope to expand their fleet in the coming years to play a part in a safer and more sustainable future for essential work that needs to take place out at sea. that was paul and shiona all at sea. now, with more and more tech being used above and below the water, have you ever wondered how it affects the creatures that live in it? well, harriet bradshaw's been to see some technology that's trying to find out if new tidal turbines are harming sea life in their homes. harriet: the challenge ahead.

it's absolutely terrifying, yeah, because this things going to go down and it's going to get plugged in, and it's going to work or it's not going to work. this is about balancing technology with nature. in this particular area, we've lost about 85% of our harbour seals. so, how do we protect them whilst quenching our thirst for clean energy? tidal has a role. the wind doesn't always blow. tidal always keeps going. perhaps this monitor is the answer. we're at nigg, in the northeast of scotland. it's about the length of a bus. crikey. yeah. and the blades go round... all under water as well. all under water, so vessels pass over the top. we're eight metres underwater, the tip of the blade. this tidal turbine is being prepared to go in waters with some of the strongest currents in the world. let's have a little bit more of a look. and underwater, that power will push these blades around

to make renewable energy. but tidal power isn't yet as developed as wind power. are those barnacles on there? those are barnacles on there. barnacles on it! so this one's already been underwater. this has been in the water for about two years. this turbine does get barnacle growth on it, and then that becomes food for fish. ah—ha. during slack tide, there are fish around these turbines. which would attract these little mammals. which will attract predators. it's a little feeding ground. and the question is then as the flow increases and the turbine goes into production and the blades spin faster, do the fish remain? do the predators come back? do we have an impact on those predators, and is it a detrimental impact? and it's crucial to develop these kinds of turbines in a way that doesn't harm these creatures, which are already under threat from other factors. and in the past, sort of early 2000s, between orkney and the north coast here, we'd have had about 9,000 harbour seals. and unfortunately, over the last 10—15 years, we've lost about 85% of those animals.

oh, yeah. we have one on the end of the slip down here. yeah. so, some of the initial research was actually designed to look at how animals are actually using some of these habitats, how are they're using these highly tidal areas around the north coast of scotland. and we are certainly seeing that these areas do seem to be important for harbour seals around this area. and indeed, we do see animals coming relatively close to the turbines, but it's really that fine scale behaviour that we're really interested in. what do animals do when they really come close to the turbines? to answer this unknown, sinking a monitor next to a turbine might be key. so, douglas, this is going to be submerged underwater. can you take us through the technology here? that's right, of course. so, the two main sensor technologies we've got on it are the active sonars we're using for tracking seals, primarily, because they don't make much noise underwater. so, they send out a very, very high frequency ping,

which is too loud for the animals to hear and be disturbed by. then they listen for the echo, and they can build up an image of exactly where the animals are around the turbine. then the other sensor that we've got on it is underneath this protective housing here, which is the passive hydrophones, which are listening to the sounds that the animals make. and we can use those to pick up the sounds of porpoises and dolphins. i've also noticed this, douglas. yeah. then there is the great umbilical cable. so, the optical fibres that are bringing the data ashore are actually about as thick as a human hair. wow, 0k. but they're inside all of this, with a whole load of steel clamped in there too, just to make it heavy enough to lie on the seafloor. but no—one said this was going to be easy. the journey to the far north of scotland begins.

john 0'groats. it's here that the monitor will be sunk underwater and installed on the seabed next to the turbine. when it's connected, the signal will run through underwater cables to this substation here. this is a test deployment we did a couple of summers ago in another tidally energetic area on the west coast of scotland. you'll see that there's some moving targets down here. these are small fish that we see quite close to the sonar. and what we see here is this bright target coming in. this is a harbour seal, and this is what we're looking for in the data once we're deployed. but this was just a test. inside the substation, douglas and gordon are waiting to see if it's going to work more permanently. douglas, five years in the making, how are you feeling at this point? i'm a little bit nervous, as always. you know, we test and test and test.

this equipment�*s about to go down into one of the harshest marine environments in uk waters. we're hopeful that we'll be successful, but we'll go and see. it's 5am. the ship is out at sea. we're here on land waiting for the signal. and that's because there is only a certain number of opportunities for the equipment to be submerged underwater and onto the seabed, because of tidal conditions. but there's a delay. the turbine must be installed first, but a problem is holding things up. they haven't deployed our equipment yet, but it will happen today for sure. but as anyone who's worked at sea will know, nothing ever goes quite according to plan. but the moment finally arrives. remember that umbilical cord? the power cable that also sends data ashore. well, what we're watching here is it being plugged into a subsea hub. this will give the sea mammal monitor power —

and this is a crucial moment. is it going to connect? is it going to switch on? and, after years in the making, it's not good news. everything went together, but nothing came to life. but they've not given up. this is an easy little move to rectify this. thank you very much. months later, they sought out the power supply — and bingo. ah, what a day. it's been five, six long years of work. it's on the water, it's working. i could not be happier. so, we're all overjoyed, collecting data. and we hope to carry on collecting data for the next year — touch wood.

netflix has laid off staff whilst disney is increasing at subscribers. netflix are spending less and trying to get the subscribers than disney but it is proving to be very successful, going into about 53 different markets worldwide. researchers in new york and looking into how a massive robot can be used to make the construction industry more green. it has been used to 3d print construction material such as

concrete without costly and time intensive modes. and apple has announced a range of new accessibility features for its devices such as life captions that will transcribe calls and videos or even an person conversations, due to be introduced in the us later this year. none of this is real — the grass, the sky, the trees. it's all computer generated on this white light smartstage. see? here at portsmouth university's multimillion pound brand—new centre for making all things virtual reality. come with me. i'll give you a quick tour. the centre also has motion capture. but to show you that, i first need to get into one of these. there are 48 cameras in this room tracking my every move. this studio's already been used by the royal shakespeare company to create a digital production

of a midsummer night's dream. with traditional motion capture, you couldn't see what you were doing in real time, but now you can. this makes it easier for actors to assume the roles of their characters in videos, movies and computer games. they can see what they're doing. but this sort of kit requires time, space and expertise to operate. it's not generally easy for smaller businesses to access. vr can be a lot of fun. and it is. but there's also a serious reason to consider using it professionally. sustainability, for example. i was due to give a keynote address to the university of michigan. normally i would've flown over there, but now i'm doing it from our smartstage facility here. so, that's a significant carbon saving over flying just on that one flight alone. this is your baby, isn't it? absolutely. i have to admit, it's a little bit like a fourth child. the first time you put someone in a headset and you see that smile, it's just magical. but that magic can be hard to maintain when there's one

crucial element missing — your sense of touch. are you really fighting a fire if you can't feel the heat? this tesla suit, no relation to the car, aims to fix that with dozens of sensors that can be programmed to make your skin tingle — in every sense. there's one here in portsmouth, although it's not yet ready for me to try out. but if people are put off vr by the clunky headset hardware, are they going to want to stick on a body suit as well? ..master reality. and there's another challenge facing the extended reality market that this centre aims to directly address. some say there simply isn't enough good content to keep people interested. isn't that right, tuong? there's still limited amounts of content, right? in that sense, it's like subscribing to a cable tv service, and only having three channels available. and even if you're really excited about those three channels, those three channels have, you know, maybe three hours worth of programming per day. so, that's a challenge in terms

of getting people to adopt. we're rolling. meanwhile, in this studio, you can be videoed in 3d. it's called volumetric capture, and once you've been recorded, you can end up anywhere. 0h. wrong room. spencer: and apparently, zoe's still trying to find her way out. and that's the thing about this latest generation of immersive tech. it really is immersive, isn't it? yes. we've both got lost in a virtual world or two. yeah, and we're starting to see proper performances taking place in them, too. 0h, like the time you were in a vr midsummer night's dream? i only had a tiny part. the only thing is that these performances can be quite exclusive, because you've got to have the right equipment to be able to enjoy the experience. well, now a show that's trying to be accessible to anyone on anything. the national theatre in london has long been one of the city's best respected stage venues.

but now, here at its studio, it's also been working hard on its digital offerings. 0riginallyjust a virtual reality experience, all kinds of limbo is a celebration of multicultural society that had run alongside a stage show, but now it's opened up a whole new genre of entertainment — the idea that the same show can be watched at the same time anywhere in the world in a variety of formats, depending on what kit you have available to you. so, that could be in vr on a normal computer screen or in augmented reality via a phone or tablet. it's quite nice i can make it appear in the room, but i think i'd appreciate it a lot more if i was at home and it was appearing in my living room. i want to dance. it'll make the ipad move too much, though. that was really immersive, and it was lovely to be able to move around the performance, see it from all angles, make it bigger and smaller. it was a little bit heavy to hold this tablet,

because it's quite large. but of course, most people are probably going to be doing it on a smartphone, anyway, and you can rest it on a table and then just flip it a bit for the right angles. for me, it did feel more natural and engaging in its original vr format, though. i definitely feel more immersed here. we had nubiya, ouractress, in our volumetric capture studio. we recorded her performance with about 120 cameras all set around her. and we then processed that through some technology that allows us to create a three—dimensional hologram of her performance. and from that one asset, we then put that into vr, so you can experience that. it feels much like meeting somebody when you put on a vr headset. it feels like they're there, right in front of you. and then ar, it's a sort of portal onto that experience. it's not quite the same, it doesn't feel the same. and then the desktop experience,

which i think we can all see sort of plays, really, as a sort of enhanced screen. the idea here is about being able to democratise the ability to watch performance. so, if you don't have a vr headset, not many people do, or a great phone, but you do have a decent computer or laptop, then maybe you want to watch it on one of them, and you'll still have the ability to make it immersive, to be able to move around the space. # take a look at my spice rack. # i think what we're l exploring here is most definitelyfl new future. it's not the new future. we will never, ever replace live performance on stage. - however, with the technologies that are available and with _ the expectations of audiences . continuing to change over time, what is great is for us to be able to bring the national theatre . to new audiences in new ways. so, whilst the aim here is far from replacing theatre,

it mightjust add something extra, and an experience that can be enjoyed by many more. and that's it for this week's edition of lara dances in vr goggles. i'll do it off camera next week. would you mind? thank you very much. anyway, that is it from us for now. we will be back very soon. thanks for watching. bye— bye. hello. rather mixed fare being served up by our weather for this weekend. to the north and west of the uk there will be more cloud around with outbreaks of rain at times. the further south and east you are, the greater your chances of staying

dry and seeing some sunshine and that is because of the proximity to this area of high pressure across the continent. and the low pressure towards the north—west will feed in the thickening cloud and the rain through the afternoon for western scotland. sometimes across northern ireland, a few showers drifting east into scotland. the odd one i think for northern england and wales as well. southern counties of england and east anglia probably with the clearest skies will get the highest temperatures, up into the low 20s. through the evening and overnight, more persistent rain pushes into western scotland and by the end of the night extending up towards the northern isles. we will see some showery outbreaks heading into the east as well, perhaps some drizzly rain for northern ireland and northern england as well. a mild night, temperatures widely in double figures. and then for sunday daytime, this area of low pressure getting closer to the north of the uk. this high retreating further towards the continent

but still having an influence on the far south—east of the uk. east anglia and southern counties of england are looking at a dry day on sunday with some decent spells of sunshine and some warmth. elsewhere, more cloud around and still some rain, particularly targeting western scotland. temperatures widely across the northern half of uk, in the mid—teens, for east anglia and the south—east, 21, 22 or maybe even 23. for the south—east of england however, monday could bring the prospect of some heavy, even thundery showers as a low pressure gets close by from the continent. and for the north, we've got a weather front ready to drift south across the uk. so one way or another it looks like rain for the majority of the uk at some stage on monday. likely to be in showery outbreaks. there will be some brighter and sunnier intervals in between times but temperatures edging down somewhat, just 17 in the south—east. we never quite recover those highs of the weekend as we go into the early days of the week ahead. high teens at best, and our weather

picture stays pretty unsettled.

good afternoon. as russian troops intensify their attacks in the donbas region in eastern ukraine, the foreign secretary liz truss says she wants modern weapons to be sent to moldova to prevent it being attacked by russian forces. the country lies on the border with ukraine and there are concerns it could become russia's next target. this report from our correspondent richard galpin contans some flashing images.

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