you. take it personally you went with a little wonderful people once to make the game so special. for all true for. my dad. more than for. mine. you're. welcome to tomorrow today the science show on t w coming up. the high tech weed killer how robots could get rid of unwanted growth without chemicals. bare bones what a prehistoric skeleton reveals about early farming societies. and we need biologists working to save europe spiers salamanders whose numbers have plummeted.

agriculture in many parts of the world has already entered the digital age with self driving machinery on the fields and artificial intelligence controlling every case. now scientists are looking into high tech solutions to replace harmful pesticides and herbicides all over the world toxic chemicals are used to protect crops with large quantities sprayed over fields so could a robot do the same job without the harmful side effects. those little plants don't stand a chance they're being examined by a laser burned and killed roots and all. robot weed killers like this prototype may stalk the fields of the future. it's being developed by scientists at the university of bonn in germany. devices like this. could transform the entire

business of we control and crop care. day and night robots could check for disease watch out for infestations like insects or fungus and kill the weeds among the crops stomping is an alternative method to zapping. there's a lot of artificial intelligence behind these little models if they do their job well the use of herbicides could be slashed. in a national id as we've reached the point where we can sharply reduce the use of chemicals and that's what i'm confident it will indeed happen in the field of weed control this is just as he ended. the smart robots need to distinguish between weed and crop and between healthy and diseased plants and rarely if ever get it wrong. the ai learns from comparing a huge number of photos computer vision algorithms detect and classify the plants.

robots on the ground will also team up with ones in the air drones equipped with cameras surveying the land and passing the images on to farmers all the little helpers in real time. the idea is to identify problems far more swiftly and efficiently. here plants that are subject to stress or colored red sources of stress include disease pests and lack of water. when a drone tells a robot that something is not right it will set down to take a look and solve the problem perhaps all by itself. for now the prototype needs a lot of help for example finding its way to a field. that still operated by remote control and sometimes needs a helping hand. eventually

it will find its own way and know what needs to be done unto it 0 in on a wheat or a sickly plant. finds a target it was up with its laser. the robot still needs more refinement. to weed control we need 2 or 3 more years until it works really well and the technology can be put to practical use another aspect will be to help farmers integrate these systems into their operations team and in between. will require them to learn more about robotics. people farmers will need to get up to speed with respect to digitalisation and technology and mass they'll need to develop their skill set we are trying to promote that it's going to mean quite a big change. a revolution is in the making although experts say it could well

be a decade before we see cultural robots roaming the world on their own. unfortunately small scale farmers are unlikely to benefit from that revolution even though all together they work more than half of the world's agricultural land their individual farms aren't big enough to warrant buying a robot. not an exciting discovery in germany that's telling us more about early farming traditions we did back to the neolithic age when humans began to give up their nomadic lifestyle to plant the land. this is how it might have looked back then a small lake where you can catch fish on the shore a few carefully constructed huts inhabited by people who form co-operative communities the nearly think age is one of the most interesting epochs in human development. the period in which hunter gatherers became farmers. the remains of

one of our early ancestors is currently being analyzed by cheating in university in southern germany it's the skeleton of a woman who died in 5300 b.c. the discovery is getting archaeologists insights into an era that leads directly to the present day. she doesn't have any obvious signs of disease but we can see that she has worn down teeth because she a grain the grain was ground with millstones which left behind grid and highly interesting we have evidence of tartar and to think a new disease that emerged at the time when you eat grain sugars are formed that attacked the tooth enamel and so for the 1st time in these burial remains we see all these diseases of modern life emerging that are still with us today. the woman was buried in typical fashion for the turning on her side with her legs drawn up to her chest. graves was found in. close to tubing and it was

one of the 1st settlements in southern germany where archaeologists have found ceramics the remains of burned down houses and scorched grain it's one of the most significant neolithic excavation sites. but we're excavating a village inhabited by the earliest farmers in this area. it's something special we're talking about some time around $5500.00 b.c. and i use that sort of fundamental change in lifestyle. that people switched away from a nomadic hunter gatherer lifestyle and began producing their own food with livestock and farming. they started to build homes and put down roots. the woman who skeleton was excavated was one of these early farmers she lived 2 and a. between 30 and 40 what makes this discovery so special other things buried with

her 16 fine limestone archeologists believe that she was wearing them on a leather strap around her neck the discovery was an absolute stroke of luck up to now such strings of beads have only been unearthed in the balkan region and the carpathian basin in hungary. be found helen the form of these speeds is really unique in our area in central europe as a whole the next we 1st thought that it was a more recent find but carbon dating has shown that this grave is from the same era as the settlement. mine cop site and so we have a series of fines that are unique up to now so that we will now analyze in more depth. to analyse and build. genetic analysis indicates that the 1st farmers arrived in central europe from south eastern europe bringing that investigated animals and cultivated plants the beach woman of annabelle as she has

been dubbed is now providing new insights into this migration movement the newcomers not only brought a completely new way of life they probably still retained cultural contacts with their roots to the midges of the individual in this grave comes from this generation of migrants and businesses that doesn't necessarily mean that this woman came directly from the carpet in basin but her forebears did her direct ancestors. let's say her grandparents came from the western carpathian basin to central europe interestingly we also have this string of beads this jewelry which shows us this link for the 1st time this is the 1st time we've seen this jewelry here. these lines to be fashioned very painstakingly they look like marble and show the fine crossman ship that people were capable of in the neolithic age for the woman who died some 7300 years ago in this small settlement in what is now southern germany

they were probably her most treasured possession. the fact that she was buried with her beats also reveals a lot about this village community about solidarity and i think. this grave of a 30 to 40 year old woman who was buried with a jury almost gives us a sense of what life in the village was like. when you can almost imagine how this woman with the jewelry lived in the village and then was also buried there. of course it's those kind of moments that move us to be. the woman buried in rubble in southern germany was one of the 1st farmers in central europe in one of the most exciting periods in the history of humanity neolithic people set up the 1st villages forming tightly knit social units and began to shape the world in their image. so the 1st diseases of modern life were

already evident in the stone age. today is a much more widespread result of our modern lifestyle. that we still have the bodies of hunter gatherers which need to move around and not sit down all day. sports can help to compensate for our inactive lifestyle we were curious and asked you what you do to stay active and what you like best about your chosen sport. she likes badminton best especially when he can play long rallies. elisia writes that she loves swimming and she's lucky enough to live by the sea. sergio has played rugby for over 20 years he believes the world could benefit more from his favorite sport thanks for your comments do keep exercising. but

take care to protect your heads rugby like american football is a tough contact sport head injuries can be a huge problem. studies in the us have shown that american football can cause serious damage to the brain. research is now also being conducted into the effects of head injuries among supper players. in contact sports like. soccer collisions and blows to the body and head are negligible and as the pace and dynamism of the game increase so does the risk of serious injury. or in shock and cope on impact to the head can result in a traumatic brain injury with damage not only to the outer skull but also to the brain and. head trauma has traditionally been underestimated with players injured on the pitch typically playing on. after

a heavy blow to the head during the 2014 world cup final germany's christopher camara was allowed to play on for a full 15 minutes before he was finally substituted completely disoriented he didn't fact suffered concussion the sports authorities later introduced the 3 minute rule he's the door to door the team doctor can now tell the referee that a plan has a head injury he is then given 3 minutes to make a diagnosis i mean would not stick and hole to mentally the don't it is science whether the game has to be interrupted a month. in some countries the authorities have gone a step further all players in germany's 1st and 2nd divisions had to undergo an examination ahead of the current season what's called a baseline test we. all hope this will insist it is important test isn't something you're worried about us such you just want to see how our joy in your mind is how quickly you can take things then also compared to

other players. and if you do get injured it's important for the doctor to have some benchmarks. and i'm listening. the test covers a number of factors the aim is to assess a player's memory capacity and concentration as well as their balance coordination and orientation the test scores provide a vital reference should the player suffer a head injury the results are crucial for comparison with post injury test scores. this kind of the also going home offs the test can be of immediate help when a diagnosis is required on the pitch and. it will probably have a more significant in fact when decisions have to be made about a player returning to training after several days of recuperation and straining dementia. doctors now have more insight into acute concussion from sports injuries but there's been little research on other issues soccer for example the potential

consequences for the brain of hitting the ball regularly players might then develop chronic traumatic encephalopathy or c.t.e. which has been linked to depression and dementia. doesn't vice what we do know is that the brain can change its structure and organization as a result of having the ball but we need more information on the pathological impact where is the dividing line between what we would call a pathological under normal change to conquer all of us it's not possible for give evil neurologist close heinsberg or has conducted a long term study to look at the effects of heading the ball during training and actual games over a period of 18 months he and his team recorded every single header by the youth team of hamburg soccer club the number of headers the speed and travel of the ball the impact area on the head and other parameters the results are due for

publication in the summer. this does. just the latest but i'm not. the problem. with soccer is that when we compare it with other sports with frequent collisions we see a lower rate of concussion about it does so feeling mentioned but the sheer number of people playing the game around the world means that we have a very large number of soccer related concussions. and that alone justifies more research. is often the from metaphor for life to. banning headers says with the cited for under $11000.00 u.s. soccer is hardly a feasible solution but growing awareness of the dangers means that the beautiful game is already benefiting. but while it's important to be sensible about avoiding injury the benefits of sports undisputed experiments with mice have shown that exercise even leads to the

development of new nerve cells. and speaking of cells a very intense anea sent us this question. why don't our body's cells live forever. well they're actually preprogramed to expire after a certain time take red blood cells for example they have a life span of about 4 months. and it's time for the cells to perish the dramatic sounding event is called our part ptosis and serves the greater good us. it applies to other organisms too of course in the case of frogs tadpoles the juvenile form have a tail. as they mature it gradually disappears thanks to our pop toasters. by the time their adult frogs the cells that once constituted the tail have died and been result worked. with humans cell death begins before we are even born

during early fetal development our toes and fingers are aware that membrane then disappears as our digits become separate and distinct up toso us also prevents genetically abnormal cells from surviving and passing on their d.n.a. which might cause disease. the process is triggered outside the cell or inside holes then form in the membrane of the mitochondria enabling certain proteins to enter the cytoplasm. resulting in cell death. without up optos or some elderly persons intestine would be 16 kilometers long unchecked growth and cell numbers would also lead to bone marrow weighing 2 tons there systematic demise frees up space for a new young cells generated through cell division up to a certain point that it was. the process of cell division comes to an end when

we get old genes have a kind of aging clock called telomeres but why now that's another question. why. do you have a science question that you've always wanted answered it we're happy to help out send it to us as a video text ovoid smell if we answer it on the show will send you a little surprise as a thank you can i just ask. if you can find us at d w dot com slash science or on twitter or facebook. before we go we have one more story for you and 50 is other cigarettes that reproduce in water almost environments frogs needs and geckos for example all of

them 50 and. they have one big problem 40 percent of all species worldwide are endangered mainly by devastating fungal diseases in europe one fungus has decimated salamanders is there hope for them. every evening a group of biologists from like the hewn every city comes to this forest in western germany to look for fire salamanders they've been doing this for 3 months now and most of the specimens they find are dead killed by a fungus as. for how many this location is kind of a problem child we found a lot of infected animals recently so we want to see if we can find any today. the light will be gone soon and the 1st salamander should be emerging from their hideouts the day was warm and dry something the don't like they take refuge where it's cool. says there's nothing to be seen here for the biologists

1st came here last year to look for salamanders back then there were many but this year a deadly fungus has taken hold. the researchers know that it thrives at temperatures around $21.00 degrees celsius is highly contagious and kills the animals within a few weeks. now they want to find out more about how quickly the salamanders become infected and how the fungus spreads. and found that. the salamander isn't shy although it suddenly and bright light doesn't run away. ok let's take a look can we see anything on the skin. that's eisner's yes here we can see lesions these black rings. we call them skin lesions it's a symptom of the bees all fungus. parents. and

the pathogen called the cell is a tiny fungus that eats the salamander skin because they breathe and regulate moisture through their skin infected animals die painfully. the skin swab will show how badly the salamander has been infected even though it looks healthy and its skin seems intact it may already be ill. reports from scientists and then the other ones have shown how rapidly the fungus can wipe out a salamander population. was discovered there in 20083 years later studies at 3 different locations showed that 96 percent of fire salamanders had been killed in 2013 the pathogen appeared in belgium decimating the salamander population within months. scientists were worried that the fungus would move to germany and in 2015 it happened.

researchers spotted it near the belgian border and since 2017 it's been found here in the valley. in the stomach. 2 years ago if you came to sample a population like this you'd have had 60 animals around you you had to watch out where you were stepping and now you can't find a single animal it's a very sound. b. cell is thought to have originated in asia and spread to europe by way of salamanders imported as pat's european varieties. they are unfamiliar with the fungus and their immune systems can't fight it. this salamander skin is already badly damaged the fungus has spread everywhere. and. it's helpless and it will probably die within a couple of hours. in germany the fungus is also being spread by hikers

forster's and anglers. long lived spores it's possible that the fungus was transported from the border region to here near essen infected soil on people's shoes. sure that they don't transmit the lethal disease the biologists disinfect the rubber boots after every trip to the woods. in the lab vanessa studies the samples she's taken from the salamanders in the woods. compared to last year the results this time are shocking. and last year we didn't find any infected animals that they spot and now half of them are affected by. the deadly fungus is also being seen in captive salamanders 'd but in contrast to salamanders in the wild these can be treated with heat. if the animal can survive

10 days at $25.00 degrees celsius the fungus can be eliminated and the skin recovers. still it's an unpleasant process for animals that prefer a cool and moist. heat treatment is an extreme process for the animals to go through but when you see after a few days that they're becoming healthy again it's a great feeling that you were able to help somehow to have. the fire salamanders could survive if they become immune to the fungus. that kills them in a matter of weeks there's no time to build up resistance. still hoping to find a salamander that has survived the fungus in the wild. it's like looking for a needle in a haystack but we won't stop looking out there will do our best. if they could find a salamander that's immune they could cross breed it with others and perhaps breed

salamanders that are resistant enough to survive this killer fungus. next new revelations about the effect of computer games on our brains join us for that next week on tomorrow or today until then by.

it's winter in cologne but look i stink it isn't going to sit around or dong anyone planning a sightseeing tour in cologne should pace themselves very well. you have to be in a party mood to make the most of the city's attract. winds of blues don't stand a chance or below you are sure to have fried. chicken. coming on t w. i told from america. the

fast industry goes slow. commuters opt for a trendsetter at night. the roaring twenty's about reloading. this is fashion 2020 style. 21. and 30 minutes on w. indeed of climate change. history books of. people. what ideas do they have of their future.

g.w. dot com african american cities the melting it just seems clear cut or. welcome to the euro max new to channel. close to a good line of stewards. with exclusive insights. and a must see concerning part time culture in your a. place to be for curious minds. do it yourself networkers. so subscribe it and don't miss out. have fun in pyongyang. the capital city of north korea is reinventing itself. but only if you can enjoy the benefits of those the regime allows. kim jong un has introduced and insidious reward system to coerce

allegiance to the regime of. those who don't make it into the fun metropolis are often full and tom brady. have fun in pyongyang starts feb 28th on w. this is the doubly news and the top stories. a top u.n. official has told leaders at the munich security conference that. libya is not being enforced the ceasefire agreement struck last month in the name has been repeatedly violated.