this is bbc news, we will have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. this week, spencer's at the zurich sports competition that's pushing innovation in assistive tech. these pilots have to do distinct things with their brain patterns to also turn left and right. we're in the arctic circle looking at ways to prevent avalanches. and as the latest formula e season gets under way, paul's finding out about the championships all—electric cars.

ah, this is where the magic happens. i'm sammy kunz. i'm from switzerland, from frauenfeld, and i'm a quadriplegic. i had my accident ten years ago when i fell into a river headfirst. in the beginning, it was really hard for me, actually, to not give up. i had bad thoughts, but i needed time, i needed friends. i read more, istudy more, and i try to, yeah, use my brain more because my body is not available to me any more. one of the things that sammy really needs, along with the 15% of the world's population living with a disability, is better and more affordable assistive technology that makes everyday life easier. and what better way to advance those areas of research

than a full—on cyborg olympics? welcome to cybathlon 202a. this is the crowd, this is the arena. and this is what it's all about. 67 teams from 2a countries are competing across eight disciplines. each is an obstacle course full of everyday tasks that disabled people have to deal with. amongst others, there are races for robotic legs, motorised wheelchairs, and full—on exoskeletons. sammy's competing in the robotic assistance race. now let's meet a couple of other pilots from the other disciplines. my name is salome and i am going to compete in the vision race. i'm owen collumb. i'm competing in the brain computer interface - as their pilot. what's interesting here

is different teams have designed very different kit for each course. for example, while most of sammy's opponents will be using robot arms attached to their wheelchairs, he's turned up with two faithful friends called dingo and donkey. as i can't use my hands, i need assistance from other people. and in this race, we actually have tasks to solve with the robot. we developed a robot dog with a gripper on top, and with myjoystick i navigate through this course and try to solve those problems as well as possible. the dogs are manually controlled by sucking and blowing into something called a quad stick, which was originally designed as a gaming joystick. now, controlling two robots does seem much more versatile, but also way more complicated than a simpler single robot arm. and talking of mental

agility, for owen, it's all about his brain. his event requires him to control virtual objects just by thinking. it's not all about aggression and power. it's about having a calm demeanour at the right times. be focused, get your brain levels down to where they should be at. so we're measuring eeg or electroencephalogram. commonly known as brainwaves. this measures tiny electrical impulses in the brain. and so what we're trying to do is ask owen to regulate that brain activity by imagining movement. so you might imagine right arm movement for one command and left arm movement for another. however, we have a more complex controller where we can select up to six commands just by two imagined movements. we can translate that into a movement of a cursor or a bar. what we're trying to achieve is kind of perfect control. but that's easier

said than done. i have eight minutes to perform ten challenges with the help - of a device that was created by the team _ that device consists of a camera to detect salome�*s environment and a moving handle that guides her towards objects and around obstacles. the trickiest one is the one i where i have to walk on a path and my foot cannot leave the path, even if it's- only icm or 2cm. the teams are getting ready for the main events. but regardless of how they perform here, the hope is that cybathlon will encourage researchers and disabled people to continue collaborating long after the competition has finished. i love this device. i really hope that i after the cybathlon, the team is going to continue working on it _ because it is great. i would love to have one of these robots at home,

actually, because when i need it, it would do something for me, like giving me something to eat, to drink, pick something up from the floor. and if i had this robot, it would give me more independence. now it's time to concentrate on the present. will the tech work? will the pilots cope with the pressure? not intimidated by the atmosphere at all. it's actually hugely helpful to have those guys supporting us. and we're hoping to be there in the final. and we will find out how salome, sammy and owen get on later in the programme. deep inside the arctic, for much of the year, svalbard is a white wonderland. but with heavy snowfall, there also comes the risk of avalanches.

and that can endanger the communities that live here. as you can see, longyearbyen sits at the bottom of two steep—sided mountains, and increasingly it's come under the threat of avalanches. around the world, these hazards occur in mountainous regions when a mass of snow builds up on an incline then suddenly flows downhill. in 2015, a devastating avalanche swept into town causing the loss of two lives. two years later, an avalanche struck again, severely damaging homes here. it has been dangerous. we had two big avalanches going straight into town and of course people died, so it was quite serious. above longyearbyen, physical barriers have been erected to hold back the snow and a huge protective wall has been built. and they've also

turned to tech. so here we can see one of our stations. an early warning system that uses snow sensors and mobile technology has been piloted here by telecom firm telenor and the university of svalbard. obviously, there was little of the white stuff around when we visited, but this device helps measure the changing snow depth more accurately. several of these stations have been placed around the valley to collect real—time data. we have an ultrasonic transducer that emits a sound signal at a very high frequency. that travels from the transducer down to the ground. then it comes back up to the transducer again, and then we measure the time of the sound back and forth. it's a simple, low cost solution and the long—lasting battery keeps it working year—round, even in extreme cold — whereas previous equipment was expensive and used up lots of power sending the data.

this particular sensor, it can last for more than ten years on one battery change. we are also optimising the whole system for using as little power as possible. all that data is recorded and transmitted every ten minutes using a narrow bandwidth over the ag network. what do you do with that bundle of data that you gather? the data is sent by the wireless network where we have software services running. so we get a lot of raw data that we normalise into something that can be used for further analysis. and then we hand the data over to the avalanche forecasters. based on several indicators, they can look at how much avalanche danger will we have tomorrow and the next, for instance, three days. combined with weather reports and know—how about the snow and terrain, it's helped emergency teams quickly understand the risks. it helps us to know when to evacuate and to do it in time.

and that's been the opinion in town, that we would like to evacuate earlier than too late. we have had many evacuations here for the last few years. we haven't had any accidents since 2017. but with climate change, the risk is only getting worse. svalbard is warming six times faster than the global average, and those living here are facing a new reality. but landslides are also increasing so you have it more all—year round. it used to be a winter thing, but now it's increasingly an all—year thing. it's the climate changes that is driving the change. the change is mainly because of rain and snow. telenor has also developed other applications for the same technology, such as measuring water volume more accurately to help fine—tune hydroelectric power production. they can just drop these tiny infrastructure pieces out there and start to gather data,

and thereby predicting pretty accurate, how much water do we have and where will it come and when will it come? because they know exactly where the water comes and when it comes, it gives us the opportunity to reduce the consequences of floodings. and this type of early warning system could help protect other communities living with the threat of avalanches. time for a look at this week's tech news. telegram has announced it will not work with the incident watch foundation to stop the thread —— the threat of file transsexual abuse on his platform. until now, the platform had refused to engage with it or any similar scheme. the incident watch punish and describe the

decision as transformational and warned it was a first step in a much longerjourney. a lifestyle content creator has one tiktok creator of the year for the uk and ireland. the award took place in ireland for the very first time. 72 piece you were shortlisted in 12 categories. you were shortlisted in 12 categories-_ you were shortlisted in 12 cateuories. ~ , ., categories. when you started in march do you — categories. when you started in march do you think _ categories. when you started in march do you think you - categories. when you started in march do you think you would i categories. when you started in | march do you think you would be here? i march do you think you would be here? ., ., ., , .,, here? i do not imagine people would want — here? i do not imagine people would want to _ here? i do not imagine people would want to watch _ here? i do not imagine people would want to watch her - here? i do not imagine people| would want to watch her follow me let — would want to watch her follow me let alone when it tiktok award _ me let alone when it tiktok award. ~ , ., me let alone when it tiktok award. , me let alone when it tiktok award. ~ , ., , ., me let alone when it tiktok award. ~ , .,, ., award. why do people love your content so _ award. why do people love your content so much? _ award. why do people love your content so much? they - award. why do people love your content so much? they know i award. why do people love your| content so much? they know me and resented _ content so much? they know me and resented us _ content so much? they know me and resented us resonate - content so much? they know me and resented us resonate with i and resented us resonate with me _ and resented us resonate with me. �* . , and resented us resonate with me. ~ ., , ., , _ and resented us resonate with me. ._ , me. and finally, happy birthday to the playstation, _ me. and finally, happy birthday to the playstation, it _ me. and finally, happy birthday to the playstation, it is - me. and finally, happy birthday to the playstation, it is 13 - to the playstation, it is 13 years old this week. it's coal ceo has been talking about the use of ai in game development, saying that artificial intelligence has the potential to revolutionise gaming, but he believes it will never replace the human touch of games created by people.

formula e is the world's first fully electric racing championship, with 16 races being held around the world. ahead of the first race of the formula e season in brazil, jaguar tcs's preparations are well under way and have not been without their challenges. our very special championship winning team photograph. i met with team principal james barclay for a look around and to find out more. but to start, i asked him to explainjust what formula e is. formula e, incredible start—up series still. it's actually now ten years old, about to start its 11th season and it's the pinnacle of electric racing. it's also the world's first and only all—electric world championship. so it's the formula 1 for electric cars, is the best way, simplest way to describe it. it came about in 2014 at a perfect time when the future of electric cars was starting

to become clear. and as motor racing has always played a key role in the automotive industry, having a world championship for electric cars is a great way to not only pioneer the technology, demonstrate the benefits of zero emission mobility, but also create a phenomenal sport that has a really relevant technology for a lot of audiences and customers that will drive electric vehicles in the future. jaguar tcs is currently riding the crest of a wave, with last season's victories in both the teams and manufacturers championships, marking a return to motorsport form for the uk—based racers. a very special place for us as a team. you know, motivational corner of the team base as well, right, to come and reflect and see, you know, the great successes we've had as a team. at the time of our visit, the team had been preparing for the final testing weekend ahead of the new season in valencia. however, devastating and tragic flooding had hit southern

spain, meaning the event had to be switched to madrid. this meant the drivers were in the simulator learning the new track, meaning it was off limits to our cameras. the remote operations room is exactly what it says on the tin. it's a remote team room. wherever we're racing in the world, we operate a group of people in this room whenever we're competing. so running the car in a virtual world in our driving loop simulator. 0h, cool. it looks really realistic, doesn't it? well, obviously you can't see it, but i can. wow. but obviously, the real star of the show in any racing team is the car itself. so come on in. this is our race and test facility now. ah, this is where the magic happens. firstly, body work. as you can see it's what we call a single seater car. so you have a place for one driver to sit in the middle. some racing cars have space for two drivers, or by the regulations, so defined as a single seater. that also means

we have open wheels. aerodynamically, the car is not focused on high downforce, it's focused on more efficiency through the air. so we don't have big wings like you see on formula 1 cars. we have much lower level wings in terms of the amount of downforce they produce, so the aim is to minimise drag, let the cars run through the air a bit easier and really the focus is on driving efficiency. you talked about aerodynamics and stuff there. i mean, i imagine in terms of weight because of the batteries and things, that these perhaps are heavier than perhaps, say, a traditional formula 1 car, for example. so it's a really great question actually, because this formula e car, this gen3 formula e car, is actually around 100kg lighter than a formula 1 car full of fuel. really? so, yeah. from our point of view, a really, really great example of battery technology reducing in weight. we actually for this generation, we've gone to a much smaller battery. so in the past we had a battery that lasted for, it gave us a full 45 minute race. now the regulations have driven the battery size to provide 60% of the energy we need

for the race. so, phenomenal technology means the car's lighter than a formula 1 car. that's really interesting. yeah, but we do up to 180mph and we accelerate 0—60mph in, last season, just over two seconds. our new car that we're racing this season is 0—60 in 1.8 seconds. wow. so, incredibly fast now. pulling some gs. absolutely. formula e cars are semi—standardized and all teams' cars use the same chassis, battery and tyres. so where does this leave the next target in technological innovation? software is a massive game in our sport. in formula e, we talk about software in the same way that formula 1 talks about aerodynamics. so rather than making a little wing change here and there, we're making code changes. and what's very exciting but challenging is we can update the code for our racing car week in, week out. so what i mean by that is

every time we turn up at the race, the next race, we have an ability to put a new code in. and that speed of development on the software side, it's a bit like downloading a new update on your phone. the phone has more functionality, more features. the same on the racing car. and honestly, our sport is always evolving. technology like ai, machine learning, these are as important as material science as well. but all this isn't just about racing. the technologies being developed in formula e are already being used to improve the efficiency, speed, and consumer appeal of electric road cars. what happens on the track will ultimately change the way we drive on the road. welcome back to cybathlon, one of the most inspiring tech competitions i get to go to. earlier, we met sammy, owen and salome, who are competing in three of the eight categories...

they've all made it to the finals, so now it's crunch time. and first up, sammy. go! while the other pilots in the race are using wheelchairs with robot arms, sammy has to control his chair plus the two hounds using just his mouth and his breath. after an early drop on the first task, sammy and the dogs complete the next few challenges admirably, and they really do test his precision controls. applause and cheering. well, the run itself went really well, actually. the first task i messed up. unfortunately, the package fell on the floor, but the rest went really, really well. it was a good competition. a good race, actually. from france, team ai

and salome nashed. i from france, team a eye and salome nashed. - everyone goes wild for the teams. but then something very odd happens. cheering quietens down. it's the vision assistance race, and it happens in complete silence. whispers: forthis part you have to... ..read the name of the object, find it on the floor amongst all the others, pick it up and put it in the bowl. although salome and the other pilots are using many different types of tech, including 3d cameras, phones on sticks and hand—held forced feedback kit to complete a wide variety of tasks, most of the devices also talk their pilots through the course. on the second run, i was more confident. but something very

stupid happened. it happened that the bluetooth of the audio cask was disconnected. i feel very thankful towards the team members. they supported me all along. now to brain computer interface. go! here, paralysed pilots are controlling virtual objects on a screen — with their minds! this is notjust about going forwards or stopping. these pilots have to do distinct things with their brain patterns to also turn left and right. honestly, i have no idea how that's achieved. but they're doing it. owen's through. this is real precision control now.

moving the cup so it's perfectly under the ice dispenser. applause. amazing. but there is one team that's approached this event differently, and it really shows. while the other pilots are wearing caps which detect brainwaves through the skull, phil, competing remotely from the us, has four electrode arrays implanted in his brain. and the difference? well, it's enormous. came close, but close is never good enough. philip from the states, that's just amazing technology. so that's a clear difference between having implants and having external sensors. that's the difference between chess and draughts. right. it's a different world. would you say that is the future? nobody�*s queuing up for implants. so, this set—up is the future, non—invasive technology that you can pop on your head

and work with the world around you, manipulate your environment. so, owen was fourth, sammy picked up bronze for the robotic assistance race, and salome finished the vision assistance final in second place, taking home the silver. my hope is that people are going to be more aware of disability, but also aware that even when we are disabled we can do many, many things. you can basically operate any bluetooth device at the moment with your brainwaves, turn on tvs, possibly drive a wheelchair. that's the future of our technology, which i think is huge. i want to encourage everyone in a similar situation to not. give up, to take step by step, and sometimes it goes- backwards as well. that's part of life. i really hope that it's going to change the point of view of people about

disability in general. what an absolutely mind—blowing, inspiring event the cybathlon is, and whether these teams have come first, second, third, fourth, whatever, it kind of doesn't matter as much as the fact that all of these designs could feed into a new generation of assistive technology — and that's what this is really about, after all. thank you so much forjoining us. thanks for watching, and we'll see you soon. hello. the weather conditions continue to deteriorate across many parts of the uk, but especially out towards the west as storm darragh begins

to batter the uk and ireland. the red warning of wind from the met office has been issued for parts of wales and also parts of southwestern england, and is valid from 3am on saturday to 11am on saturday. that's when the peak of the winds will occur — danger to life, travel disruption, power cuts, and ferocious conditions out to sea — winds could be gusting to around 90 miles an hour. now, rest of the day, a much wider amber warning will also be in force across many western parts of the uk, with winds up to about 80 miles an hour, also bringing damage and disruption and nasty conditions around coastal areas as well. on top of that, heavy rain is expected across southern parts of wales. throughout this period here, the amber warning is in force and we could see as much as 90mm of rain. so let's have a look at the weather map, then. here's that circular storm with the pressure lines, storm darragh, as it barrels across the uk. in the centre of the storm,

it's calm, so there will be a period of calm, for example, across northern england and eastern england before the winds start picking up as we head towards lunchtime. now, the peak of the winds will start to ease out towards the west, but they will be picking up across central and eastern parts of the country, so 50, 60 mile an hour gusts are certainly possible, bringing disruption and also the potentialfor damage — again, some trees down, perhaps damage to buildings as well. and then we have to wait until early sunday before the winds really start to die down. so storm daragh will move into the near continent, still a big pressure gradient here, you can see these isobars are tightly packed, so gale force winds will be certainly around coasts with some rain showers. but out towards the west, the sun should come out, the winds will ease and it'll actually be, relatively speaking, a pleasant end to sunday — temperatures will be around single figures on sunday.

and then eventually sunday into monday, a high pressure topples over the uk, nasty conditions in the mediterranean, but we've got that high pressure, and that means some sunshine and much calmer weather. do take care wherever you are.

live from washington, this is bbc news. south korea's president is expected to address the nation shortly ahead of an impeachment vote over his failed attempt to impose martial law. meanwhile, protests have continued outside parliament in seoul, this is the scene there live. and a month on from the election, the shape of donald trump's top team is becoming clear. hello, i'm carl nasman, welcome to bbc news. south korea's embattled president yoon suk yeol is set to address the nation in what is his first public appearance since rescinding martial law. his speech comes ahead of an impeachment vote set for saturday evening.