flows faster every morning but. the lack of water is an equally dangerous. deja get his sleep will move south so they can plant crops and find food stamps. floods and droughts climate change become the main driver of mass migration you can write any apocalyptic scenarios you want and probably more federal come to. the carnage exodus starts in full thirty years on t w. hello and welcome to tomorrow today the science show on d w coming up on this edition. learning from nature's example how wild plants and insects can boost agriculture. the science behind medicinal plants researchers are

unlucky leonsis. but first spiders and their potential role in medicine bend so could save lives. mother nature is a master of invention science can learn a lot from the incredible materials around us like bamboo it's light flexible and still extremely steady because of the knots along the stem. and caterpillars silk is another it warms up in the cold and cools down in the heat nature spins out all kinds of fascinates materials some could even be used to heal us. every year nearly three hundred thousand people have a heart attack in germany alone many of those who survived face dealing with a weakened heart for the rest of their life. that's because the heart muscle tissue

damaged in an attack can't regenerate scar tissue forms which affects the heart's ability to pump. but this might be about to change thanks to spiders they could help millions of people regain a strong and healthy heart wins in their past deciders are simply amazing when it comes to producing materials they are masters at manufacturing remarkable fibers. it's the spider silk that has scientists excited it's made up mainly of proteins and it's a biological model a strand maybe only two thousands of a millimeter wide yet it's tougher and stronger than any other known fiber. it's possible to milk spiders to yield up the silk the material is being used more and more in the field of medicine for example as a room dressing. be used inside our bodies.

the most exciting aspect of these fibers is that they are invisible to the body so they can be used as a bio shield in stealth mode anything you wrap and so is no longer regarded as a foreign substance by the body this is a great achievement we can avoid triggering any reaction on the part of the body to the surface of so. as a scaffolding material for growing. at the university and allen and. natural spiders to grow heart muscle cells. on the microscope you can see individual cells contracting rhythmically like. there is a downside natural. in sufficient quantity. the problem was we couldn't produce cells of the same quality or in sufficient

quantities so we abandon the project because we thought we could never implemented in humans. but in the meantime. over in byelaw it was working on a possible solution to the problem artificial spider silk. that bank was we had wanted vantage before us twenty years of research had failed so we knew what not to do. after many years of work. or way to engineer spider silk protein. good help. to achieve this he for. first had to decipher the d.n.a. of the spider that any identified the blueprint of a certain silk protein and translated it into the language of the bacteria and then planted bees genes into the genome of the bacteria which could then produce the valuable silk protein. that was the plan and it worked.

that now large amounts of the spider silk protein can be produced in so-called for mentors. after several rounds of purification and processing the protein is reduced to a white powder this powder convention be processed as needed in huge quantities. we produce tons of silk protein in one hundred twenty thousand leader bioreactors it is in fiction anymore it's already reality and. the protein is being tested as a coating on breast implants to improve bio compatibility and decrease the chance of an adverse response. it's probably also well seated as a coating for artificial heart valves. sprayed on as a fin film the silk protein would make the foreign parts almost invisible to the

body. and the synthetic protein looks like a fantastic resource for felix engle in his quest to grow new heart muscle cells as a gel it can be used in three d. printing. three d. technology is available we all know we can print non-living matter but now we're seeing it's possible to print a living matter as well. perhaps one day we might be able to print heart muscle blood vessel and connective tissue cells in just the right combination . for now initial experiments show that heart muscle cells produced in this way can form a structure and beat synchronously for several weeks. in the future it might be possible to apply such engineer tissue to damaged areas of the heart and give it new strength. but the prospect of replacing i'm renewing

heart muscle in humans are still quite distant the individual components of the printed heart tissue would have to grow together and form a single well formed unit implanted to she would have to be able to beat in sync with the recipient's heart nevertheless there is growing confidence that this goal will eventually be achieved with the help of high tech spider silk. it seems there's no end to nature's curative powers have you ever thought of nettles as medicine. how about ginger as a natural antibiotic. all safe to treat a sore throat. they say is the medicinal treasure trove. and there's still so much left to discover.

it's knowledge dating back thousands of years the healing affects of plants and her . knowledge that was of great importance in the middle ages and then to some extent forgotten. but many scientists are now developing a curiosity for these plants and medical practitioners are rediscovering their healing powers. remedies are often underestimated they supplement conventional medicine sometimes they're the first choice. where in town or snare frankfurt with is from put karma she's looking for hopes for medicinal teas today she mostly wants young nettles and birch and black berry leaves. some of the planet's. nettles and birch leaves because they flush out the urinary system. blackberry leaves have an anti inflammatory effect in the mouth want to use all three to make an herbal blend. it's like a home remedy. holds up he can sort of. as

a her box but at frankfurt's paghman gotten botanical gardens she knows the potential of plants to protect themselves against pests and pathogens they often contain oils bitter substances and acids that kill germs. like willows along with many other active ingredients that contain salicylic acid compounds at the end of the nineteenth century chemists developed these substances in two thousand of the most popular fever and pain relief medications. aspirin. there are more than seven hundred plants in germany known to have medicinal effect a new ones are discovered around the world all the time. research and has had so is trying to unlock more secrets from the plant world he's investigating marshmallow root and cats whiskas which contain substances that could help relieve coughs and urine every tract infections. the research is job is to develop new drugs and

improve the ones that are already available. is the future the problem is the sheer multitude of substances in these magician plants often we know the plant has an effect but many times we don't know which of the countless substances is responsible that's what our research is about cracking less code so we can develop more effective medications we're. going to come and we're going to put. red sage is also an intriguing plant it's annoying to have a wound healing effect but there are over fifty tensional active ingredients so which one is responsible for healing wounds researches are trying to find using human skin cell cultures they treat them each with just one isolated substance from the sage plant. the question is. just the substance promotes cell growth. because for a wing to heal new skin cells have to grow in the tarea. the

samples are tested a few days later it's a painstaking test but the results could be huge. for which we have decided it would be such a great breakthrough to identify which substances have the most positive effect on mood healing especially for bedridden patients with wounds that are hard to treat hopefully our research will help us to develop new drugs. scientists haven't tested all the substances yet but they hope to find the active ingredient within a year or two am to develop a drug from it. the research is further along for other medicinal plants. is from the estimates of clinic in western germany he treats patients every day with highly effective herbal drugs the clinic is one of six acute care clinics across the country that focus on

complementary and alternative medicine half of all patients at the clinic receive it usually alongside conventional medicine. for a severe cough for example but also to fight urinary tract infections and chronic gastrointestinal diseases or to lower cholesterol levels. the clinic uses more than fifty plant based medicines in the internal medicine department alone and has done so for fifteen years. supplementing conventional medicine with herbal remedies can often big results. like for nonspecific back pain and i all meant many people suffer from. its usual unspecific back pain can be greatly helped by using herbal medicine because it's the biggest advantage of these herbal drugs is that they often cause fewer side effects. significantly fewer herbal medicine also plays a major role in treating respiratory diseases it can alleviate the symptoms which

means less coughing less pain in the limbs and faster healing and there is no conventional alternative to this herbal remedy that's on a par in terms of side effects. of you. want to be fancy. of course it's always important to speak to a doctor about the cause of an illness and the treatment plant. self medicating with herbal remedies alone can be life threatening. it's a danger that it was found put karma is aware of. even though the hope she collects it considers completely safe she's very careful and she knows when to seek medical attention. in this market doesn't she. if i notice a slight infection in my bladder or kidneys i use these plans. dunwoody but i monitor myself carefully. if after two or three days there's no improvement i

would definitely go to a doctor and have it checked out. disperse some of the but pre-made she's collected straight away so that the active ingredients can infuse best. she tries the rest to make tea plans for later a medicine cabinet scavenged from nature. even pesky when it's can help to heal us. we asked on facebook if there are any natural remedy use you swear by. a nokia as a pun tang is a fan of metal because they can defend themselves and defend us. burke levere carnegie thinks and ophira is probably the best skin remedy he knows it has a powerful effect on the skin especially when it's combined with lemon juice and

other natural products. and stim answers philip roth is says ginger is the first thing he takes when he's. under it's even better with a bit of honey and lemon. than for your comments. a seat becomes a seedling it grows its first leaves. and then flowers and eventually the fruit that feeds of its own and so the cycle begins again but plants change constantly depending on the time of day. joshua quaid from ghana sent in this photo with a question for us. why do flowers close at night and how do they do it. the flowers don't only move when the wind blows.

or when you give them to your sweetheart. it all happens so slowly that the movement is best captured with time lapse photography. a rose bursts into bloom. plants open and close their blossoms every day not all at night but at different times depending on their needs why is that they only pollinators to carry their pollen to other flowers around fertilize them. but their flowers all opened at the same time the competition for the beans or balancer of birds would be very great. crocus as do close their flowers at night the theory is that they do so to protect their problem from the damp and the cold but how. how do they do it. sporty it's easy to see how it works that young people use their muscles and joints to make their dance moves.

but flowers all don't have to do is stand there to attract pollinators with their beautiful colors nectar and fragrance. but they do also have joints of a sword where the petals grow out of the stone. when the water pressure inside increases the bloom opens. when the pressure subsides the flower closes and takes a rest. the problem is red right i agree but. do you have a science question that you've always wanted oncet we're happy to help them out send it to us as a video text ovoid smell if we answer it on the show we'll send you a little surprise as a thank you. come on you just asked. you'll

find us at d w dot com slash science on twitter d w underscore site tech and on facebook d w dot science. flatow is open up to lure in the insect visitors like bees bees live in communities sophisticated systems with a clear division of labor nurse bees look after the larvae worker bees build the honeycomb from where else and they fly out to collect next to it to make honey as a small room these can do things they'd never be able to do on their own and. that's what our web video is all about this week. how do bees defy the wind. once a year honeybees head out to form a new colony. to rest during their search they gather under branches to huddle together. that scientists wanted to know how the

honeybees swarm holds together in the wind. so in the lab they built these movable platforms to simulate winds. when the storm is shaken the bees are exposed to extreme loads especially those directly on the board. these responded by spreading out. the classic cone makes a small more stable. research has tracked the movements of individual beanies and found that they crawl in the direction of the higher load. when all the bees follow that rule the cone becomes flatter. then the colony becomes more stable and can withstand the wind smallman teligent makes for

a stronger colony. butterflies and other insects need large meadows and grasslands to thrive. but industrial monoculture is harming that biodiversity that's bad for the bugs especially the pollinators we rely on scientists are looking for a solution. researchers at the university of bonn research these fields regularly to count the insects this is a research facility of the agriculture department across the rhine in any of their aims to make farms and farming more insect from. the fields here a bordered by hedge rows and wild flowers all. thomas deering says they attract all kinds of insects.

more than fifty species of ground beetle spend the winter in these hedges when spring comes they get to work. around beetles eat parasites there are lots and lots of these beetles here in the field so they consume lots and lots of pests. with the hedges flowers and grasses the agricultural ecologists have created a habitat for beneficial insects that eco pests reducing or eliminating the need for pesticides. here's a ladybird love it feeds on aphids fun. you know. this theme. by promoting beneficial bugs we can substantially reduce the pest population reduce not eliminate some always remain as you can see here on these

means. but we can succeed in stabilizing the system. alongside the hedges the flowers around the field don't all bloom at the same time . but in sequence so the insects never run out of food. many different species of insect make use of the flowers. this part of the field is known as the head land or turn row where the tractors turn or. because of the heavy traffic the soil tends to be rather compacted. so the yield here isn't so great. when it comes to crops the area may not be so attractive in economic terms. but we can use it to house

insects. it's not just the edges of the field that look different the field itself has to. know weed killers are used here so insects find food throughout the fields seeds pollen nectar from poppies and cameo. the downside is that the wild flowers compete with the crops for nutrients in the soil . you have to accept some degree of we cover gannett farming you can never keep all weeds that day that's not the aim anyway. it's good overall organic farming yields about twenty percent less than conventional farming. on the other hand by deploying beneficial bugs and a range of other measures we can ensure that eels are relatively stable. drilling

and his colleagues use mechanical methods to deal with weeds not chemicals. the equipment can only be used between the rows of crops any weeds right up against the wheat remain. the crop rotation is carefully planned six different crops over a six year cycle and then it starts all over again. each crop takes a different mix of nutrients from the soil depletion is slower and more balanced. the insects thrive in the good soil. there's no need for synthetic nitrogen fertilizer its job is done by the legumes such as clover and greens that make up part of the rotation cycle their roots bind nitrogen from the air and make it available to the soil. crop rotation is

a key part of organic farming with it you can kill two birds with one stone well not just two but ten the soil here is nothing like what you have with say a maze monoculture the soil structure is much much better. than nice and crumbly it is. this has to do with lots of beneficial insects. well that's a disease prevention i hope. and better way to control it's all in talk i. know taishan has lots of advantages that all come together. biodiversity here is thirty percent greater than in conventionally farm fields and when it comes to pollinators it's fifty percent greater blossoming hedge rows and borders no pesticides less fertilizer less crop rotation this winning combination

is bearing fruit and the and here's the well being. was hooked on so many species. meeting new meaning. that's all for now and next time we'll be lifting off with storks sun our base of the novice my flying skills determine how well the group coordinates its migration patterns and which birds will make the longest journey join us for that she is saying goodbye.

what keeps us in shape what makes us sick and hauser. my name is dr carson the contacts i talk to medical experts. watch them at work. and then discuss what you can do to improve your health. stay choose and let's all

try to stay. good shooting than thirty minutes. during the civil chain reaction of arrests. began around six hundred years ago. in the renaissance of the revolution unfortunately this many people became aware of their abilities and strengths in a new way there was an outpouring of self-confidence and mentioned it's the first. scientists. are. trying to control the darkest of germs into a. d.-w.

. it's time to take to. the benefits some. time ago just such the a no. and the fight for the troops. took over. drugs and cut the budget it's time for. indeed every news coming up ahead. minds on what's the connection between bread but home and the european union dinos guild motto d.w. correspondent at the bakery john stretch this second line with the words such by. gene. scott's. being recipes for success

the strategies that make a difference. baking bread on the d.w. . plate the but . this is the dow the news coming to you live from berlin big thing is the rooftop a giant sites known to have high winds and heavy rain have destroyed homes and forced thousands inland seeking shelter cycle candidates comes just six weeks after psycho diebold death and devastation to the country also coming up soon.