i'm not laughing at the germans but sometimes i am but most are laughing with. the deep into the german culture. you don't seem to take them as grandma you just it's all about who you know i'm rachel join me for me to everybody of course. future into tomorrow today the science show on d w coming up. could this tower be a solution to the problem of renewable energy storage. we meet a scientist who is searching for new antibiotics from microorganisms. and poor pluto our faraway solar system neighbor was a planet and then it wasn't what happened. but

1st let's take a look at our planet's sun wind and water are almost inexhaustible sources of energy here on earth and we have the technology to tap into them we're moving away from fossil fuels to renewable energies that much is clear but what's unclear is how to reliably store all of that energy. it's a problem that we need solving as more and more of our electricity in the future will come from renewable sources. this was engineer has come up with an interesting concept. andrea petrecki has a vision he wants to build a gravity assisted battery to compensate for the fluctuating nature of solar and wind energy if it works it'll be able to store millions of times more energy than a conventional household that are e the. vision is

a system for storing large amounts of energy so we can increase the sheriff of nubile energy is in the grid. right now it's about 30 to 35 percent that's the limit because the sun doesn't shine constantly what we need is a more economical and efficient storage system that and this is what his batteries will look like towers 60 to 120 meters high made of hundreds of cement blocks built around the 6 armed crane when there's excess energy in the grid it will power electric motors which move the crane arms to lift and stack the 35 ton blocks. now the battery is charged. when electricity is needed the blocks are let down again generators in the crane arms turn the potential energy of the stat blocks into electrical energy which is returned to the grid this leaves the tower discharged. to try

to cement blocks essentially function the way the water in a pumped storage hydroelectric plant but with the advantage according to the inventors that the towers can be built on any terrain and are cheaper. we can store the energy very cheaply because we use existing technology like motors and generators mechanical systems that have been around for a. 100 years. this seemingly simple idea has garnered quite a lot of attention after the steam presented the concept at an energy storage developers conference in the us microsoft founder bill gates mentioned the company to his millions of followers he wrote wind and solar won't reach their potential until we vastly improve energy storage there are some exciting companies working in this space like bill gross and then energy vault.

tweet from bill gates made is known around the world but that wasn't the only factor but after the official presentation there was a lot of interest on the part of many different investors. bill gates tweet helped of course. here in southern switzerland the vision is actually taking shape start up as well financed thanks to a generous investment from japan soft bank and tata power india's biggest electricity provider has ordered the tower. the one hears a prototype and has yet to prove that the idea really works. because although the concept sounds simple it's quite complicated to put into practice. it is the intelligence software that controls the brain autonomously it has to grasp the concrete blocks and reposition them without vibration and without any

human involvement. once completed this small scale prototype will have the chance to prove itself as a future technology for energy storage. making the switch to renewables is a project that will be with us for years to come. but at the moment most headlines are about the new coronavirus in late 2019 a hitherto unknown corona virus strain appeared in the city of wool hand in china it soon spread to other countries again and again virus outbreaks threaten the health of communities and pressure researchers to develop vaccines. that's the case with many pathogens. here's a little a.b.c. about viruses. some $3.00 to $5000.00 species of viruses have been classified worldwide scientists believe that millions more have yet to be identified. viruses

are often transmitted by droplet infection they're microscopic parasites that are neither really dead nor align. they are not made of cells don't carry out metabolic processes and can't replicate outside of the host when viruses enter the body meaning when we become infected they insert their genetic material into the host cells the virus hijacks the cells in order to reproduce. when the host cell dies thousands of new viruses are released and the process starts all over again. in contrast to viruses bacteria don't need a has to be a pretty is and they perform generally beneficial functions and now bodies are infected with pathogenic bacteria we can beat them with antibiotics. well not

necessarily the problem is that bacteria are increasingly developing resistance to antibiotics. bacteria reproduce by cell division every so often there's a replication error such random mutations can drive evolution via natural selection usually in there of little consequence the mutated bacterial form eventually dies out in some cases however a mutation can result in resistance to antibiotics and when antibiotics are used to bacteria with the mutation proliferate. the antibiotic kills most of the bacteria but the mutated bacteria are unaffected. the resistant bacteria survive and multiply. the use of antibiotics leads to a population of resistant bacteria. in hospitals antibiotics are prescribed to many patients that increases the chances that

a resistant strain of bacteria with a merge and patients sometimes bring antibiotic resistant bacteria with them when they're hospitalized those super bugs are often washed into the waste water system and then into the environment they end up on crops in domesticated and wild animals and eventually enough's it's a vicious cycle. antibiotics are also used in large quantities in livestock farming that also promotes the rise of resistant bacteria which end up in the environment. new bacterial strains can spread around the world quickly even within days to combat. the rise of superbugs we need to understand how they spread and we need to develop new drugs to combat them. anti-microbial substances. where every bacterial colonies are trying to survive and thrive like. ordinary

clump of soil brimming with bacteria and. they compete with their neighbors for resources and space. microbes have a secret weapon in their arsenal they produce chemical substances. the competition . microbial compounds or antibiotics are of great interest to researchers they isolate the microorganisms grow them in the lab and extract the antibiotics they produce. in a screening process disease causing bacteria. then samples of the soil antimicrobials are added to the culture. the bacteria grow on the plate except where they encounter an anti microbial agent that they're vulnerable to. that's evidence that the substance is preventing bacterial growth in the zone. it could be the basis for

a new drug. effects of drugs could come from a case like this and that. mangrove considered to be one of the most productive habitats on the planet protecting coastal areas from erosion and providing. including the diversity of microorganisms. there the object of study by young scientists from indonesia. she's currently working at a. development of new. antibiotics is a race against time most antibiotics were derived from substances produced by soil dwelling microorganisms at the helm of the center for infection research in germany 70 octave yana is studying sediment from mangrove swamps to isolate bacteria that produce antibiotic substances the samples come from

a nature conservation area in indonesia. the microorganisms in this habitat have adapted to their tidal environment to thrive in the sediment and brackish water they've evolved to produce a variety of novel unto microbial compounds could this be a new source for the drugs that are also urgently needed. but then we all know the world needs new antibiotics that. a growing number of pathogens are developing resistance to the antibiotics used in medicine today. well that's because so many antibiotics are being overused and misused. both this. but the biologists have been trying to find as many microorganisms as possible that produce antibiotic substances and no work is paid off she's already isolated 28

previously unknown species mostly mix of bacteria. and a mix of bacteria produce a large variety of antibiotic substances. some of them can even produce compounds that are effective against malaria or viruses. and. the mixo bacteria found among grove ecosystems have also attracted the attention of biologists you are human think. he believes that indonesia which is home to about one 5th of the world's mangrove ecosystems could be a rich source of useful microbes. the research is still in its infancy but semi auto younus project is a promising start then you has done a very interesting work with this looks a bit to realize that this is a special group of bacteria we are. working on and she has isolated

a number of novel specious and characterized them and is now on to states that she can look for bioactive compounds which are used by since the unique are by crawling missiles indonesia is having a huge and wide biodiversity and especially in the field of microland isms this biodiversity is not investigated. 70 octavian as initial findings showed that the mix of bacteria among groups once include many recipe she's. the bio octave compounds they produce will be screened to see if they have hunted microbial properties which could help stem the rise of super books that have become a global health crisis. yes their breath that. they were very surprised to find that nearly every species we identified was a rare one. had. really we only read about them in books or online

but here we've been able to work with them directly but i'm very proud that indonesia has so much potential. 70 october yana will soon complete her project at the helm center then she plans to return home to indonesia where she'll continue her work on mixer bacteria and the mission to find new antibiotics. our next report is about a far away planets or non planet. pluto was discovered 90 years ago a sensational find the same year disney named a cartoon dog after the 9th planet in the solar system. recently nasa sent a mission past few so which took some spectacular pictures that's futile is dulled by controversy a view in tanzania sent in a question about that. why

is pluto no longer a planet. for 76 years pluto was known as the 9th planet in the solar system far out in space orbited our central star the sun pluto was the tiniest of the planets until 2006. then the international astronomical union the i you held is general assembly in prague and demoted pluto to dwarf planet it was a controversial decision which angered many astronomers the american astronomer clyde tombaugh discovered pluto in 930 and it was famed as the 1st planetary discovery in the u.s. . in 2015 many spikes enthuses hope that masses new horizons programme might restore pluto status as a planet the spacecraft flew past it and took sensational photos. that revealed

a complex and dynamic landscape with 3000 meter high mountains of frozen water junes of frozen methane and possibly even volcanoes spewing ice and it has an atmosphere and it's still not a planet even though it all gets the sun just like the remaining 8 planets know because the new definition of a planet includes a criterion that pluto does not fulfill. the i use as a planet has to quote clear the neighborhood around its orbit that means it's sweet sour other material in the vicinity to become the dominant object and it's all the tools on. the earth has done that as have the others. 7 planets in our solar system but pluto failed to make a great. white out there in the region of its orbit there are many other minor planets known as the transnet to me and objects some of them quite similar to pluto

like the even more massive eris it was discovered in 2005 and ultimately led to pluto's downfall. pluto dance to feel the other 2 criteria for planet showed. that it all gets a star and has enough mass to take on a nearly round shape that at least makes it a dwarf planet oh well it remains an absolutely fascinating world the far reaches of the song a system. on the internet you'll find plenty of cool to be returned to the pantheon of planets. we've picked out too particularly interesting views in support. of. rock

legends brian many who has a doctorate in astrophysics is strongly pro peter. this list still object was discovered and named to planets before he was born. and at the time he says planets with thought to be roughly spherical objects that orbited the sun that make spears so a classical planet for him end of story. nasa administrator jim dryden stein agrees the way should define a planet is based on its intrinsic values not the values the cost of a change like orbital dynamics just so when i think about pluto and what we got dr miller rising fears will we not just pluto has an ocean under its surface and pluto has. complex organic compounds on a surface pluto has a multilayer atmosphere and pluto has its own moves i'm here to tell you as the

nasa administrator. i believe pluto is a planet. if our love is right why are very glad you made it so you questions aren't easy to answer but that shouldn't stop you asking them send us your science question as a video text or voicemail if we enter it on the show we'll send you a little surprise as a thank you come on just ask. you'll find more science stories on our website and to get in touch on twitter and facebook. our planet has a problem with garbage we asked you on facebook what's the situation like in your country do you separate your garbage do you recycle. rajan writes that there are a lot of initiatives on garbage processing in india many municipalities now separate their garbage including the one where he lives.

andrea says that households in rumania usually don't recycle you can take the garbage to recycling bins yourself but they're usually not close by. the noto posts that imperiled why they are flooded with garbage that's not recycled he sees that as one reason for widespread dengue fever. writes that the university of the south pacific and lao cholera fiji has been specifically for plastic bottles where they go after that is not clear maybe they're really used in the factories that produce them. and in a post from nigeria brown said. it's garbage isn't recycled there but burnt which is very hazardous for the environment and people who live in the rivers tend to discharge their waste into the water. thanks for your comments.

clearly the problem of waste is huge and it could get bigger a study by the world bank forecasts that the amount of garbage will increase by 70 percent by the year 2050 that would be an incredible 3400000000 tonnes. figures like that show that we have to take action right where we live our next report takes us to the brazilian capital where garbage is the subject of a university course back to basics. this patch of land near the capital brasilia used to be the biggest landfill site in latin america in 2018 but dump was closed and the 60 meter high mountain of garbage was covered with. construction waste is still being dumped there although that's illegal. the national waste policy aims to eradicate landfills and promote

recycling. but there are still 2 and a half 1000 open landfill sites across the country. lucy often and it worked here as a waste picker for 20 years she supported her 4 children by selling anything of value she found the family lived in a shanty town right next door at 1st she was very much against the closure of the dump she had little faith in the city authorities pledged to provide jobs for some 750 trash because in new recycling facilities but now that's where she works and she's changed her mind. you know. i never thought i might one day have a real job me a simple waste picker with no right. and no social insurance obviously. and now i work here i even have an office. if only i paid a little better it would be perfect as you know my eyes she and her colleagues now

belong to a co-operative that operates one of the recycling facilities what they are depends on how much trash they sought lucy often and is a supervisor she makes sure the work is done properly. and that at the bottom of it how many. half a nice day to come there aren't enough people working on the conveyor belt a lot of recyclable material gets through and we have to check it to make sure things don't end up in residual waste that don't belong there if i see that happening i put more people on at the end of the belt that the process is set to become more efficient with the help of some students from the university of brasilia until recently that professor apollo says so does race gomes was deputy director of the municipal sanitation authority he helped restructure brazilians waste management systems. kind of like everybody is collecting something different she sorting out glass bottles she's sorting out the plastic

bottles further along somebody is pulling out the cardboard i'm afraid it's possible the process could be made more efficient if the positions were switched around that's something we need to test this value. but not all the trash delivered here to be sorted can be recycled much of it has to be disposed of. the aim of the program is to increase the proportion of waste that can be recycled. everything that can be stored and soldiers returned to the production chain to the recycling at district if it doesn't end up being dumped so we're saving the cost of taking it to the landfill extending the lifespan of that site and reducing emissions. professor apollo's race has organized across the. plenary seminar at the university . students from various fields are working on developing sustainable waste management solutions. the senate one approach is to make waste sorting more

efficient another is to focus on technology trucks sensors logistics others aim to raise environmental awareness how can the public be involved more closely in the waste recycling process than use the program bring students together with representatives of the municipal sanitation authority the recycling cooperatives and also commercial enterprises. the university of brasilia setting up a post-graduate program in waste management. among brazil cities the capital has taken the lead into validating a sustainable waste management strategy. sorting out election have just been expanded across the city to see if a non there is optimistic about her future they'll now be more waste to live it to her co-operative to sort and that means she and her colleagues will soon be earning more. that's it for today on the next program

a research project in morocco is studying insect pollinators like bees why are they in danger and how can they be risky and join us for more on smart today next week see you then by. little. blue.

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this is d.w. news live from berlin spain prepares to go on lockdown after a large spike in the number of corona virus infections streets are empty and shops are closed as the government is poised to order standards across the country to stay home unless it's essential. meanwhile china's quarantine appears to have paid off the country begins to come out of hibernation as the number of new coronavirus cases drops to a handful. and hoped for 2000 unaccompanied.