these wheels. zero to 60 behind these wheels. zero to 60 in how much? — behind these wheels. zero to 60 in how much? spencer _ behind these wheels. zero to 60 in how much? spencer season i in how much? spencer season times a world record smashing electric car. times a world record smashing electric car-— electric car. and we talked of drafted bikes _ electric car. and we talked of drafted bikes with _ electric car. and we talked of drafted bikes with a - electric car. and we talked of drafted bikes with a former l drafted bikes with a former champion mountain biker. the main thing _ champion mountain biker. the main thing is _ champion mountain biker. the main thing is articulation. it isjust— main thing is articulation. it leiust by— main thing is articulation. it isjust by itself. -- it had —— it had just. welcome to lake cuomo. it's a beautiful part of italy in the town was the home of the 18th century physicist, who is crediting as being the inventor of the battery. i wonder if he ever imagined his invention powering what is seen on these italian waters.

there's a new race craft in town that's fast and designed town that's fast and designed to perfection. this is not racing on the road or in the air. although actually, they look more like sci—fi spacecraft and boats. this is the race where it's been created for the new ei racing series, aiming to prove the potential of electric power in the marine industry. we potential of electric power in the marine industry.- potential of electric power in the marine industry. we can use our platform _ the marine industry. we can use our platform to _ the marine industry. we can use our platform to validate - the marine industry. we can use our platform to validate the - our platform to validate the solution and then possibly change the way we navigate in the future for billions of people. the future for billions of eo - le. ., the future for billions of maple-— the future for billions of neale, ., y., ., the future for billions of --eole. ., ., . ., people. how you doing? nice to meet yom _ people. how you doing? nice to meet yom l _ people. how you doing? nice to meet you. i was _ people. how you doing? nice to meet you. i was out _ people. how you doing? nice to meet you. i was out there? - people. how you doing? nice to meet you. i was out there? it i meet you. i was out there? it was amazing. our team meet you. i was out there? it was amazing. ourteam has meet you. i was out there? it was amazing. our team has been working _ was amazing. our team has been working hard and we've been trying — working hard and we've been trying everything to be the fastest _ trying everything to be the fastest boat. this is electric

hydrofoil powerboat. there's nothing _ hydrofoil powerboat. there's nothing like it. this is the first— nothing like it. this is the first mission of its type that we're — first mission of its type that we're racing. it's pretty amazing to be ahead of a forefront be a part of that the very— forefront be a part of that the very beginning. will smith is here, — very beginning. will smith is here, who owns our team. we're looking _ here, who owns our team. we're looking to — here, who owns our team. we're looking to throw down. you here, who owns our team. we're looking to throw down.— looking to throw down. you did hear that right. _ looking to throw down. you did hear that right. will _ looking to throw down. you did hear that right. will smith - looking to throw down. you did hear that right. will smith on l hear that right. will smith on this team. he is the only celebrity backer —— owns this team. first some competition. in the red, hollywood legend will smith, and the orange, tennis champion rafael nadal. these books can reach 50 knots,

around 93 kph. how do they reach those speeds? the key is getting up on the thin bits of the foil and staying above the water to have the speed that's right? water to have the speed that's riuht? .. , water to have the speed that's riuht? , �*, water to have the speed that's riuht? �*, ,, ., right? exactly. it's less drag in the water. _ right? exactly. it's less drag in the water. you're - right? exactly. it's less drag in the water. you're getting | in the water. you're getting more kp h. there are techniques that come into play as we learn into these boats. the it's really tough to stay on the foil, but it's not easy. we're very busy in the cockpit. if the challenge being a pilot in the challenge being a pilot in the race. ., . i. ., the race. how much can you do to control _ the race. how much can you do to control it? _ the race. how much can you do to control it? we _ the race. how much can you do to control it? we control - the race. how much can you do to control it? we control the i to control it? we control the boat quite — to control it? we control the boat quite a _ to control it? we control the boat quite a bit. _ to control it? we control the boat quite a bit. we're - to control it? we control the boat quite a bit. we're veryl boat quite a bit. we're very busyin boat quite a bit. we're very busy in the cockpit with our paddle shifters, so our paddles control our trim and are left, so that's something we rely on the whole time. every second, we are pushing those pedals. might not is a question i'm

desperate —— and there's a question i am desperate to ask. it’s -- and there's a question i am desperate to ask.— desperate to ask. it's very tiuht. desperate to ask. it's very tiht. i desperate to ask. it's very tight. |think_ desperate to ask. it's very tight. | think will- desperate to ask. it's very tight. i think will smith i desperate to ask. it's very l tight. i think will smith had desperate to ask. it's very i tight. i think will smith had a bit of a hard time. can we fire it up? it bit of a hard time. can we fire it u - ? , ., ~ , bit of a hard time. can we fire itu.? , it up? it “ust takes a little while to — it up? itjust takes a little while to boost. _ it up? itjust takes a little while to boost. to - it up? itjust takes a little while to boost. to get - while to boost. to get that important _ while to boost. to get that important lift _ while to boost. to get that important lift with - while to boost. to get that important lift with the - while to boost. to get that - important lift with the speeds, did they have to press quite a lot of buttons?— did they have to press quite a lot of buttons? yeah, the most important _ lot of buttons? yeah, the most important is — lot of buttons? yeah, the most important is the _ lot of buttons? yeah, the most important is the boost - lot of buttons? yeah, the most important is the boost button, | important is the boost button, so it allows 20 seconds of boost, and then they have to have li0 seconds of rest. while they are lifted, while they're on the foils, we can play around with the lift on the left—hand side of the wheel and the screen. we just saw a few

points depending on wave commissions or whether going into the corner.— into the corner. this sport is still in the — into the corner. this sport is still in the very _ into the corner. this sport is still in the very early - into the corner. this sport is| still in the very early stages, the nine teams have the same boat. they are working out how to get ahead of the competition.- to get ahead of the competition. to get ahead of the com etition. ., , ., to get ahead of the cometition. ., , ., ., , competition. you try not to fly the boat out _ competition. you try not to fly the boat out of _ competition. you try not to fly the boat out of the _ competition. you try not to fly the boat out of the water - the boat out of the water because there's no grip whatsoever. it's high out of the water without the foils capitated, without air being produced around the foil. does the trick. its, produced around the foil. does the trick. �* ., ., , , the trick. a lot of this is secret- _ the trick. a lot of this is secret. it's _ the trick. a lot of this is secret. it's the - the trick. a lot of this is secret. it's the stuff - the trick. a lot of this is | secret. it's the stuff that teams are _ secret. it's the stuff that teams are working - secret. it's the stuff that teams are working on. i secret. it's the stuff that i teams are working on. it's something we're all doing. feeling the extra pressure. we thrive off of — feeling the extra pressure. we thrive off of that. we have the best _ thrive off of that. we have the best team in the best vibes and

it's almost— best team in the best vibes and it's almost like this crazy family— it's almost like this crazy family we've built so fast. super— family we've built so fast. super proud to be a part of this— super proud to be a part of this team. always pressure no matter— this team. always pressure no matter what. we want to win 'ust matter what. we want to win just about as he does. doing everything means working late into the night to make sure the boats are in the best conditions for tomorrow's races. now to a new competitive sport. and technical skills to build

the sleekest and fastest race car that they can, and i mean fast. spencerjoined them as they prepared for the world's biggest electric car engineering competition. spencer: this is formula students, a world series of events that took place this summer, featuring electric cars built by teams of students from 100 universities across the globe. 0n tracks throughout europe, the cars competed in disciplines including autocross — racing through formula one—like twists and turns as fast as possible, an endurance trial through more than 20km of track to push the limits of battery management. a test of grip and downforce by basically going round in

a circle as fast as possible. and then there's acceleration as a drag race, basically. and it's this last challenge that one team, ams racing, absolutely blasted last year, going from zero to 100km an hour in. -- amz —— amz racing. to 100km an hour in... well, i'll let you know a bit later. am includes students from lucerne university amz includes students from lucerne university of applied sciences and arts and eth zurich, and i dropped in on the team's swiss hq. and up here is the electronics department at amz racing. we're going to meet luara. not that laura. for one car to excel at all of these events, it not only has to have a powerful motor, but also, computers have

to control the traction and fine tune the speed of each wheel individually, and somehow it has to stick to the ground to give the tyres more grip. amz achieved this with powerful fans that actually sucked the ultralight vehicle to the tarmac. are you building on the last year's design or have you completely reinvented anything? every year, we design a completely new race car. i mean, of course, we orient ourselves on the design from last year, as you might have seen on the car, the downforce with the fans we had, we improved. not the same concept, but kind of is based on the same on the same physics behind it. is this something you want to do in the future? do you want to work on, like, racing cars? i mean, it definitely be fun and really interesting, but i'm not sure yet. we'll see. it depends how it goes this year, right? yeah. and yeah, the point of this competition is less about the winning and more about the learning. getting to work on such a project during your studies is an incredible knowledge gain. i mean, if i compare myself

three years ago before ijoined the association, i know very little about engineering compared to what i do now. there are some things that might get adopted in industry. however, i think the main thing isjust to really get those engineers already to have some practical experience during their studies. 50, about that acceleration challenge. now, after last year's formula student competition, the team decided to specifically re—engineer the car to try and break the world acceleration record and go from zero to 100km an hour in the shortest time for an electric car. this was the vehicle and the target time. well, that was already astonishing. so, in 2016, eth held the record zero to 100km hour in 1.513 seconds.

0k,1.5 seconds. 1.5 seconds. 0k. and then in 2022, stuttgart came along and did it in 1.46. 50, about five hundredths of seconds. and then last year, you came along and did to 100km an hour in... how much? a bit less than a second. 0.956. zero to 60in less than a second. what does that feel like? it feels insane. so you just feel this... ..this push, and you can't even blink. it's already over. do you have time to do any steering, or do you have to hope it's pointing in the right direction? you have to hope that it points into the right direction. but we control before every start. and there is maybe a little bit of steering, but it's just intuitive.

now, when i visited amc a few weeks before this now, when i visited amz a few weeks before this summer's competition, i got to witness the very first day of testing this year's brand new car. expectations were high. all our cameras were set to catch the high—speed action. and... it was that close to the world record? i'm not an expert, but... 0k, look, this was actually just a test to see if all the computers and sensors were talking to each other. the fact that the car moved at all was considered a success. but come the formula student tournament itself, amz did brilliantly, winning events in switzerland, hungary and the biggest one in germany.

and, equally importantly, the next generation of engineers has done its qualifying lap. time for a look at this week's tech news. japanese car makers honda and nissan are understood to have held exploratory merger talks. the two firms agreed to cooperate on ev projects back in march, as a response to the twin threats of a booming chinese car market and slower than expected demand for battery powered vehicles. honda and nissan sold over seven million vehicles between them last year, but they're losing market share in china, which is the biggest global ev market. a woman from alabama has become the third person in the world to receive a genetically—engineered a genetically engineered pig's kidney. kidney has ten gene edits, which are designed

to reduce the risk of organ rejection. a doctor who co—led the procedure said that the woman is doing well and has passed the two—week honeymoon period after the transplant, but is now in the time where the risk of organ organ rejection peaks. and finally, a spacecraft backed by us start up firefly aerospace is due to head to the moon next year. the blue ghost lunar lander is about the size of a garden shed, and will take 45 days to reach the moon after launch. it will then remain operationalfor 11i days. one of its final tasks will be to record high definition video of a lunar sunset. this is competitive mountain bike racing, a sport where riders hurl themselves off massive jumps, careen through narrow, tree lined trails and fly downhill at eye—watering speeds. so, i started competing when i

was like 12, 11 years old. i used to ride downhill. this is gustavo 0rtiz, a competitive mountain biker and the two—time national champion of his native chile. i was pan—american champion. national champion multiple times, and ifinished 20th in a world cup that. it was my best result. but while training in 2017, he had a tragic accident. i crashed in whistler and ifinished, paralysed from my chest down. did you think you would be able to cycle again? no. it never came to my mind. although mountain biking will be an official sport at this year's olympic games, it's not yet been made an official sport in the paralympic games. that's partially because the bikes needed to race simply haven't existed. many traditional hand cycles are built to be ridden on the road and feature wide wheel bases. occasionally, they even place riders kneeling forward. this position puts their centre

of gravity higher, something that would make sharp turns difficult on a loose—dirt mountain bike trail. but a canadian company think they've developed a solution. i broke my back in 1996 snowboarding, and prior to that i loved mountain biking. i love snowboarding and climbing. i was like a kid who loved the outdoors in canada, and very early on in my injury, i recognised that i was going to be100% reliant on technology. so, a machinist by trade, kristian began building experimental adaptive mountain bikes at home. the problem was always that i would tip, i would tip over, or i would go fast down a hill and corner and, you know, tip to the outside of the corner. for years and years he tinkered with different designs, but nothing worked. so he focussed his energy

instead on a custom cross—country ski chair that could shift and pivot over undulating snow. it was while skiing that a light bulb went off. if he just flipped the ski setup over, he'd have a system that would allow the wheels to articulate and absorb shocks independently. the main, main thing is the articulation. so, with that, you can like go through skinny sections, you can crawl into rocks. and then if another rock comes you just move it and it adjusts by itself. the frame can also absorb big drops, allowing riders to maintain speed through technical sections the same way they would on a standard mountain bike. aside from its articulating frame, these bikes have a few other unique features that make them especially useful for mountain bikers. unlike most handcycles, these bikes operate with two wheels in the front and one in the back, combined with an upright seating position closer to the ground. riders here can easily shift and pitch their weight to avoid

tipping over on sharp turns. the handcycles also come with pedal assist motors and they are even fully motorised models as well. currently, each bike is custom built for the rider and ranges in price anywhere from 13 to $20,000. 0ed says their bikes are already in 30 countries, and more bikes and more places could help the sport offer meaningful competition and worldwide reach. and worldwide reach — two requirements to become an official paralympic game. even still, christian says these bikes are helping bring a new—found acceptance for adaptive mountain bike riders. we're a part of cycling now, which is huge for us internally for us internally, but it's way bigger for our customer. like, our acceptance is their acceptance. while it has helped with his racing, gustavo says this technology has helped him get back and enjoy riding his bike again.

i feel that i'm discovering another kind of riding because i was like so used to just racing, like racing, racing, racing. i'm preparing for racing. but now i am like just enjoying the process of riding and going for long rides. and yeah, like learning how to enjoy being in those places. they mightjust be kicking up a cloud of dust in los angeles in 2028. lara: now let's head back to italy, to lake cuomo, to the e1 world electric powerboat series. spencer: now, can | anyone spot alastair? there he is. right now we're on the gentle, tranquil waters of lake cuomo. but all of that is about to be disturbed cos it's race day.

and who better to explain to us how this competition works than some of the drivers themselves? iwan is a brand—new racing concept. it's foiling boats with an electric motor in a format that's never been done before. the course here is basically a big figure of eight, but it's a little bit more complicated with the long lap and the stars and things like that. so, you'll see a series - of single—point turns and then turns that have larger apexes. we're racing in some really spectacular locations on the sea and lakes, and we're really trying to push the foiling technology to the max. so, every team has a male and a female pilot, and it's up to the team to decide which pilot will go first. after the first race, they'll alternate from there. qualifying start in. a single boat format. so we're all about _ maximising our one lap time, and then we go into _ the semi—finals and the finals, which is head—to—head racing. this stage has been set.

five teams are in the final, but who will win? there's only one way to find out. definitely in e1, the most challenging part is the start. getting those right can really affect the race. you want to get in the clean water at the front because as soon as you're behind, you're in the wake of the other boats, and those waves can really interrupt how the foil performs. so when you're having a really good lap, because the race word has this kind of hum to it, when you're really cooking and flying and it's really unlike anything, it's unlike any boat, anyiet _ ski, any watercraft. the course is a very simple loop, but those green buoys mark an extra special part of the track, and the teams have to choose very wisely when to take that turn. you have to take the long lap, one lap during the race. you can win or lose i races with long laps. if you're at the back,

you can do it early. and then try to catch the gap back when you've got some i cleaner water in front. if you're at the front, you want to do it last so that you can try to build the gap to the others. - so, it's a big - tactical strategy. if you nail the timing, depending on where you're at in the pack, you can either pass other pilots or you can stay out in front. so a lot of it has to do with team strategy. the team and the tower is watching where the other boats are at, and they'll help you with your timing. it's very much a tactical team thing that we make up as we go. at the end of the day, the teams really have to work together. both pilots have to be consistent. 0ne pilot can be really fast. if the other one is slower, then it may come down to the wire. so having two very consistent pilots that can work together is how you're really going to win. let's pop that champagne! this is a competition that has

attracted some big name attracted some big—name investors despite only being in its first year. but there are challenges ahead. can it keep those celebrity hackers and can it build a big audience for this high—tech racing? i think the groundwork for this championship's amazing. you know, the names behind it now are incredible. i've heard some good rumours of teams coming in for next year as well, so i think the format is really exciting. i think a lot of people are really interested and excited about the new technology and also the sustainability message behind the championship, so i hope it continues for many years to come. that's all for this week from the waters of lake cuomo. nice work if you can get it. thanks for watching and we'll see you next time.

hello there. well, it's a very windy weekend in store and it's a big one for travel too with the run—up to christmas, so watch out for some travel disruption caused by the strength of the wind, particularly for the western half of the uk. also, maybe some icy surfaces on some of the roads on saturday night into sunday as the air turns colder and there will be some wintry showers pushing down from the north west. here's our area of low pressure. it's been approaching from the north west, this huge mass of cloud. the winds really picking up very brisk westerlies out towards exposed coastal areas of northwest scotland. there could even be some gusts of wind of up to 80mph through the day on saturday, but widely gusts of 50—60mph an hour across northern ireland and into northwest england, too. now, there's an area of cloud and rain gradually pushing further southwards and eastwards across england and wales as we head through the second half of the day. sunny spells but also blustery showers digging in behind. the winds are pretty brisk towards the south as well,

although lighter than further north and west, and this is how we'll end the afternoon. still, that mild air hanging on towards the southern half of the uk, 12 or 13 celsius, but it will soon be replaced on saturday night into sunday by these much colder—feeling conditions. low pressure pushing eastwards towards the north of the uk, so the winds come down from the north west and there's a tight squeeze on the isobars, so it remains very blustery out towards the northwest, with some of the strongest of the winds transferring a little further southwards as the as the night wears on, wintry showers watch out for those icy surfaces. it could be very tricky for travelling with those strong gusty winds. and this is how we'll start off the day on sunday, on a much colder—feeling note. now, this is the area of most concern on sunday. this is where we'll see the strongest winds of up to 50—60mph. so, that now includes much of wales and down through south west england. and there will be some more showers around again, likely to be wintry over the higher ground, particularly across the hills of scotland, although it will turn quite quickly back to rain,

i think, as we head through the afternoon with some slightly milder—feeling air. but elsewhere it is set to be really quite chilly through the day. a lot of added wind chill and temperatures won't make it much past 6—7 celsius. there will be some weak winter sunshine, but it won't do much for the temperatures — milder feeling conditions, though. by the time we get to monday into christmas eve and christmas day, it looks a lot quieter, largely dry and mild too. bye.

live from washington, this is bbc news. a car has driven into a crowd at a christmas market in germany. authorities say it's an attack that's killed at least two people. house lawmakers here in washington approve a spending bill to avert a looming government shutdown. and an expedition in peru discovers 27 new species. hello. i'm carl nasman. we're watching two major stories at this hour. here in washington, the us government looks set to avoid a shutdown — just before a looming deadline — after the house passed the latest version of

a spending bill. you can see live pictures there from the floor of the us senate — where senators are preparing to take their own vote on the bill. the bill will need to pass in the senate and be signed by presidentjoe biden before midnight tonight to avoid a shutdown. we'll have more on that later. but first, our other top story. in germany, authorities are investigating a deadly incident at a christmas market. that's where a car ploughed through crowds at a christmas market, leaving at least two people dead — including a small child — and injuring more than 60. this is the scene live there now. emergency services and police are still in the area and hospitals are preparing for a mass casualty event. the suspect is said to be a 50—year—old doctor who's a saudi national and who has been in germany since 2006. saudi arabia's government has just come out with a strong statement condemning the attack and expressing solidarity with germany. the incident took place in a market in the centre of the city of magdeburg in east germany. with more here's frances read.