across the sporting world you'll never walk alone. you're watching the news before we go that you can always get over let's news and information around the web site that's. coming at the top of the now and i think that's what's. combating the corona pandemic. where does research stand. what are scientists learning. background information and. our daily corona update. that 19 special next on d w. how does a virus spread. and when will. you just through the topics and i read your show is called spectrum if you would like any

information on the clone of virus or any other science topic you should really check out our podcast you can get it wherever you get your podcast you can also find us at. science. quarantine isolation and distancing human beings are social creatures making life in the time of the pandemic a challenging and lonely it's just not how we're built but we are in it together and among us are people who learned to live in isolation long before the corona virus outbreak how did they prepare and what can we learn from the. high. and in today's covert 1000 special we'll be talking about how to get through

collective isolation and we've got some professional insights from some who know what it's like to be far away from everyone and everything but 1st to someone else and isolation at home our science correspondent derrick williams we've been receiving all your questions for him around coded 1000 all beat today we've picked the one we've all been asking ourselves have a listen. can life continue normally off to quarantine would not risk other outbreaks. and this is indeed the great danger and it's also the key question even if strict social distancing helps us that flatten the epidemiological curve by by suppressing the numbers of new infections won't the number of people getting it just skyrocket again once we end those measures are we just kicking the can down the road a lot of eyes are turning to china now as it cautiously begins to lift some of the

direct hooting restrictions that have been in place there for the last couple of months everyone is sort of waiting with bated breath to see whether the number of new cases there begins to rise again but there are an awful lot of experts now saying that until we come up with an effective vaccine the new coronavirus is here to stay at least in the near future to keep it from overwhelming health systems we'll all have to get used to social distancing as the new norm along with the isolation that that brings. now there is being stuck at home but arguably there are tougher places to be alone astronaut mathias mauer has been training for years for his future flight into space and isolation. ok this is my peers the missions i'm 1st and this is my last from this very to. cut off from the outside world with little equipment and even fewer comforts mathias morris spent 6 days in the

darkness of this cave in italy to help him prepare for the rigors of space he learned how to explore unknown surroundings and how to conduct scientific experiments underground. and joins us now. you're also having to stay home these days how is your astronaut training helped at all. your software quite prepared for you are salacious i mean i lift and i carry for several days i lived also on the water for 16 days in a very tiny confined environment with other people and we got pretty well along. well what would you say the hardest part was then that was it communication was it the cabin fever or in your case the cave fever or something else completely. well it's living together with other people's like in a confined environment for an extended period of time and for ash analogy it's even a little bit more complicated because once in space we were lifted up for 6 months

we all come from different countries different languages have a cultural background which is different and so communication is the key and we learned before the flight of space how to how to like adapt our way out to interact with other so we talked very openly on the problems that we need to like ok you have this and this which i don't really like and you're change this man a little bit and then once you talk openly then you feel well prepared and i think that the mission itself is then very easy. well what would you say helped you psychologically speaking while you were disconnected from everything. it's very important to have a regular schedule during the day so i plan my day and i plan to project i plan also positive parts of a half that you're into that day and then we also plan to have time to get up

together with my crew together with my team and it's lunch time it's even in dinner time it's very important to spend this time together we also include that there's bit of physical exercise despite being in a very confined environment but you still can do some exercises and this combination of having a schedule of having the project of having friends together with you that help you that cheer you up i think that was also very important and we had a successful mission. there you have it structure is key mathias nara he's an astronaut from the european space agency thank you so much for sharing your insight . my pleasure. now as we heard there not everyone is distancing a little and there are those who have to do it in groups being with the same set of people all the time can obviously be hard perhaps even impossible without a bit of fun but don't take our word for it the crew on the international space

station can tell you more she knows what it feels like to be up there alone u.s. astronaut christina cook repairing the outside of the international space station last year she set a record by spending 328 days in space in the i.s.a.'s you literally couldn't get any further from the coronavirus but the astronauts on board have a lot in common with the millions in isolation 400 kilometers away back on us constantly packed in together yet separated from any other life unable to visit family and friends for months that's why crew are trained to deal with the psychological impact of living in space keeping busy is the key but a working getting a haircut or of course having a restful night's sleep the i.s.o.'s crew like christina know all too well how to stay healthy and happy in isolation jax to star is an isolation researcher and

a cultural anthropologist specializing in the measurement and enhancement of human performance and extreme environments well it's a mouthful there you've done a lot of work with astronaut's you've been advising nasa for several decades what sort of advice have you given to astronaut giving up a way of life on earth to go to space seeing as that can be helpful now. well most astronauts. determined before their mission that getting along with their crew mates will be their highest objective. and they work toward that goal. ways to foster the group solidarity that's necessary when things become a problem or 2 or to a schedule as matthias had just said. but it is ok to sleep in not on the international space station but when you're can try and. in your homes sleep is good just make sure that you have

a schedule and that you. make a list of objectives and i think the key to surviving i'm in our 12th day of isolation now but the key is to view this as an opportunity rather than an obstacle an opportunity to. to finish projects that you had. let slide around the house or the opportunity to read a book that you'd always wanted to read an opportunity to call friends and family and talk for as long as you would like them to check in on their physical and behavioral help so i guess in some way it is a matter of restraining but there's a knowing you'd be isolated for a limited time like on a space mission versus now where nobody knows how long they'll have to stay home for how does one deal with the open ended ness perhaps of this isolation. yes that

is that is the difficult part this is imposed on us we didn't volunteer for this space mission but we are indeed passengers on a spacecraft passing through space and time together and some of the ways that we can make this work is to consciously attempt to be polite and respectful with those with whom we're confined. to avoid derisive humor the kind of humor that stablish is wedges between people humor is fine and as an excellent coping mechanism but avoid that the side the rights of humor that is so common especially among men. consider the possible consequences before you say or do anything consciously attempt to be cheerful and supportive of your housemates. or your crew mates and.

eat at least one meal together each day the importance of kindness and there again and the importance of avoiding derisive humor but speaking of social skills we all have to assume that the outbreak will one day the under control and we'll all be reconnecting based on what you know about astronaut's coming back how do you think we will have changed as a people after all of this. well astronauts spend a lot of time in the coop watching the beautiful earth pass beneath them and almost all of them report when they return that they have changed it that that experience has changed their perspective of like on earth there are no borders really visible from space and during the early days of the space of the ice i assess a station. there would be an american fighter pilot teamed with a so

a former soviet fighter pilot they had trained their entire careers to kill each other and yet they got along famously they lived in perfect harmony and working toward the same goals and i think that that's the kind of thing that we can derive from this experience we're all working towards the same goal is a reminder from jax to surface he's an isolation researcher and longtime advisor to nasa thank you very much. and that was id w. call the di $900.00 special from are do check out our social media channels imes in album island will leave you now with music from opera singer seeing together from grease let alone in their own homes thank you for watching and stay healthy everyone.

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beethoven is for us. is for. beethoven 2020 the 250th anniversary year on w. . welcome to tomorrow today the science program on t.w. . they stand silent and still only stirring occasionally in the breeze. to harvest their seeds and their fruits or use their leaves and roots woman to smell purposes. plants are not just useful they make life on earth possible.