an expedition with languages, whales exciting, pardon underwater listening as you're getting your window into their, their life that you would never, you will never see your company, your research team to the pacific to the language of wales. 42 forth on d, w. both part human machine, high tech hybrids that have long captured our imagination and science fiction and film. but what about real life? all we on the coast of a brave new world where technology and human biology all that and more

coming up the welcome to tomorrow. you gave us the other day to be on perspective for now day whereas to ground and hold optics and even experience defense. they should have touch again. they true miracles of modern engineering and markets implanted under the skin can open doors and store past with these high tech advances are due to medical technology. but how far do we really want to go with the merging of human machine? i use a lot just asked of us nowadays educational and career development, lifelong learning. there's no end of knowledge that we have to create our brains.

wouldn't it be great if we could just transfer all those facts from a hard drive directly into our brain. just hook up the computer and upload reams of data directly into our memory. ah, it's the stuff of science fiction, but might one day become reality. ah, we decided to ask an expert on neuro technology, the brain machine interface thomas stieglitz, fryeburg university in southwestern, germany. ah, it sounds exciting and there's the video here has a realistic look to it. and of course it's standard. so some of the technology does seem quite realistic. thomas stieglitz is an electrical engineer for more than 20 years. he's been researching medical devices that can be implanted directly into the human body. things like heart pacemakers and cochlear implants,

they can help restore hearing. one of his projects is developing electrodes that can be connected to prosthetics and then provide sensory feedback to their wearer. in ordinary robotic prosthetic allows the wearer to grasp and manipulate objects, but they can't feel whether they're holding a tangerine or a solid piece of stone. in the fryeburg laboratory researchers connected sensors to the fingers, the sensors are designed to transmit electrical signals to peripheral nerves and then to the brain, but figuring out exactly which nor fiber in the arm is the one the sensor should connect to is harder than you might think. ready ah, the fibers basically all look the same, a single nerve and your arm has about $10000.00 fibers and they're responsible for all sorts for your fingers, hands for arms, for sensing pain and temperature,

just by looking at the fiber. you can't tell what it in code wasik with the oh, that's why the interface needed to have as many contact points to the nerve as possible. in this case a on each side. and then the ultra electrode was implanted directly into the nerves . in this case, to nerves in the upper arm with a bit of training, this man learned how to sense objects and tell whether he's holding something hard or something soft. so why can electronic components communicate with living nerve cells? it's feasible because many bodily processes are controlled by electrical signals, just like in a machine. these electrical impulses are generated by neurons,

say in our brain, and then conducted along the neural pathway. when the impulses reach their destination, save our hand, the commands they carry can make our muscles move. it also works in the other direction. everything we feel see or smell is coded into electrical impulses and center command central in our brain. when we attach electrodes to our scalp, this electrical activity in our brain can even be monitored outside our body in a procedure called an e g. o. but what if this technology was put to a different use, say by the military. what if combat helmets used by soldiers were equipped with sensors design not to measure brain activity, but to manipulate it. that's the premise behind a reason. germany t episode in which military researchers sought to develop helmets that could exploit subconscious powers,

shut down the perception of pain. and it's not just tv. the u. s. army began researching mines zapping military helmets back in 2010. as though it's a real program and it's not being carried out in secret english when it's been reported honestly. and researchers in the us have access to a huge budget in with our the whole thing does worry me when goodness through other scientists and entrepreneurs are getting on board. i will because my boss must, is also hoping to develop a brain computer interface. and in 2020, his company neural link unveiled a brain implants called the link said to contain more than 1000 electro channels. the design calls for smart robot to insert the device through an opening in the skull directly into the brain. in this pig, the implant tract activity in the part of the brain connected to the snout musket

believes it's the real deal. everything that's encoded in memory you could you could upload. you could basically store your memories as a backup and restore the memories. if you could potentially download them into a new body or into a robot body, the future is going to be where is this the wave of the future? will we one day be able to download a backup of our brain? many neurologist and researchers scoff at the idea. thomas stieglitz is also a skeptic. ah, the scope of downloading the entire contents of our brain onto a hard drive would mean that we need to attention electrodes to the entire brain on both sides. and they'd have to be capable of registering the interactions between a 1000000000 cells global. i don't believe that's feasible physically or technically me and of course,

ideas like this. also raise all sorts of ethical questions. everything about me would be accessible to anyone who had my data, everything from my bank account information to my most secret desires engine willie one day, have to choose whether to plug in or opt out of a brain computer interface, not anytime soon, but perhaps we should start thinking about what will happen if science fiction becomes scientific reality. scientists have also got these amazing creatures on their radar. that's one reason sounds. coby too may have originated in bath, but it probably wasn't transmitted directly to humans. the novel corona virus probably passed through pendulums or another intermediary host before infecting

humans. in the wake of the corona virus fears and midst about that have intensified some seem to think of them as flying monster. but scientists say we have a lot to learn from these amazing creatures. they glide silently through the night. they can live to an amazingly old age. and they remain unharmed by viruses, fatal to many other species that possess super palace we human can only dream of when one animal has found a secret to survival. it's the back. researches have long been trying to crack the science behind this secret. now they've made a big step for with that super palace are included in that genes pushed in for fun in norman by comparing bat genomes, we have made new findings about how that are ab with viruses or deadlock. are other

creatures the for the labor reason. totally send point does me that could help us to slow down human aging processes and alleviate illnesses. for long exam on conquer, this will get back still get a good wraps since long before the corona virus pandemic, they've been regarded as transmitters of dangerous viruses, including rabies, but is all fear justified. the atmosphere here in cape is relax. a group is getting ready to go on an excursion with the german environment organisation, not just the bat place nearby is said to be teeming with them. since it's exciting mans you never really see them apart from fluttering around it. because i think the dea, also their animals steep in myths and this and mucous all gloves and mysterious

from the high. and they only come out at night coming on. don't going to go on that makes it exciting. don't feel it's still far too light to see. bats so patron got has time to dispel a few prejudices about the mysterious animals. gans is an expert said that protection for now bu, in central gemini, and people often express their fear as to how does that kind of stuff like a lot of times, a lot of people really do believe that they might get infected with radio. when about flies passing, and the mucus cut we have a month. that is definitely not true. that is only possible if you get some people believe that when that's why overhead they lose saliva, and that the saliva might drop into their glass when they're sitting in the garden at night and give them rabies. some people have really deep seated fears in the teeth. all these fears justified. why a bats able with viruses that people find so terrifying at the max planck

institution, dressed in his hands together with international research groups, almost completely decoded. the genetic code of 6 that species, and found evidence of genetic adaptations. norma will examine the genomes for genes which they've acquired during the course of that evolution on him so becomes, and we found genes that have an anti viral functions. and these genes hinder the multiplication of viruses within cells, young indians, and that's not all. scientists have also discovered the genes that unleashed inflammatory responses in the body simply disappears. the researches suspect that these 2 genetic adaptations enabled the bat to control its immune system better. it makes the creature more resistant to pathogens, but that's not the only superpower. they can also become incredibly old. just

compare them with other mammals. usually it's the case that heavier animals live longer with a common dual mouse weighs about 35 grams and can live up to 6 years. an african elephant can weigh 6 tons and live to be 70 years old. and now the exception of brand spat weighing in at 10 grams condemned to be $41.00. that's quite a lifespan. the research is believed, the animal's longevity is linked to the fact that bats of the only mammals truly capable of flying fluke phase. call it the ability to fly means that they can escape from most predators. that cut mortality rate for little boys. on the other hand, often its ability to fly means its body weight is restricted us the scope of the machine is if we take the 2 things together, it makes sense from an machinery standpoint,

to take advantage of the longer lifespan, to produce more offspring dealing of a label on it, so loops and mail, not com and bad have to remain fit and healthy until an advanced age to do that. and for the last 2 bits and who are fit on because on site that it's usually only have one baby a year, but that adds up to quite a loss of offspring. over the course of a lifetime, the bat supporting expedition has reached its destination. and the location devices start to go off really kicking off here, right above that. i heard it. fascination and see a rough and closely intertwined bat. so the only mammals in germany that still might carry rabies, but how greater risk is that of getting infected? and if you would any miles on this, that would never attack a human that can bite when you touch them. but that is the only reason that they would do so because they aren't used to it. if you pick them up with a clause or

a glove, it's no problem. and so by that is this kind poking the danger of guessing maybe from a bass in germany, it's very no, that's not a virus fitting mumps does the animals that we could learn a lot from. michelle hiller and his colleagues are planning to unlock more back genomes. often does command if alternately, we hope that the findings can be made widely accessible. come up and help to alleviate illnesses like cancer and slowed down aging processes. i don't. what's us to follow up but that's a long way off yet. the bass isn't going to surrender the secret to the powers. last name is what is read. why do you have a science questions you'd like us to the send it in as a video, text or voice mail?

if we featured on the shows, you'll get a little surprise from us as a thank you. come on. just does the this week's vio. question comes from me by the way. brown in nigeria. why is that the days for longer and the night shorter summer autonomy rotates on it? it takes 24 hours one day for us to go full circle. when we were on the side of the comment. turning towards the sun, we experienced the dawning of the day. close to the 10th was the amount you might be received increases at the continues to soon, we begin to meet out of the sun again and in the darkness. the rotation of the earth on its own axis is what causes day and night but our planet doesn't merely

spend on its own access. like all the planets and also the system. it also all but surround the sun. takes a year to complete, this elliptical stuck. ah, as it revolves around the sun, the earth is tilted on its axis. that means that the northern and the southern hemisphere is ultimately lean towards the sun during the planet august around the sun. from september, the southern hemisphere tips towards the sun bearing springs. the days begin to grow longer. the closer to the place is to the south pole the shore for the night. in some regions be on top steps. the sun doesn't go down in the northern hemisphere, by contrast, the nights get longer because it's tilted away from the sun. but further north you are the last receive. in december, the sun doesn't rise

a tool in some arctic areas. mm. from march, the northern hemisphere stopped cleaning back towards the sun. the sun begins to climb higher and higher in the sky, and the days grow longer and longer until after that they start to get shorter again. and if i can start, i the changing of the seasons also affects whether wind rain, thunderstorms, almost all weather conditions occur within the lowest layer of the atmosphere. the troposphere, which urologist try to get accurate for cars so that we can back down the hatches when extreme weather is headed our way. but there's another type of weather space with it. we shouldn't take that to like the either the

polar lights, the more than a spectacular light show from the heavens. they're also indicated of space whether the more intense ne, the curtains of light shine and the further towards the equator, they reach. the greater the danger posed by space, whether to our infrastructure here on the polar nights that caused by clouds of electrically charged particles emitted by the sun. this particle stream can confuse gps navigation, disrupt airline communication, and even paralyzed parts of the power grid. it sounds like a catastrophe, straight out of a science fiction film. but so no storms are real. we've just been lucky. these past years. i have been woken up with a phone call from zurich control, and they called me at 7 o'clock in the morning asking me that there has been

a big solar event. do we have to have to shut down the traffic in europe? i had 10 minutes to respond to space, whether it's caused by the supplies us with warmth and sustain life. but sometimes there is flight effect the from our vantage point on us, the sun may seem the rain, the things start to look a lot different up close. the sun is a massive fusion reactor, fusing hydrogen into helium. this nuclear reaction transforms over 4000000 tons of mass into pure energy. every single 2nd around the clock fund is the source of space, whether you

pick her mom works at the european space operations center or east oak. in dumb stats germany, he manages the space whether or fast which keeps around the clock high on what's happening on the surface that this ah data about the sun rise here in real time through an online portal. the information is provided by hundreds of ground based telescopes such as this one on the island of 10. every important data also arrives here from about a dozen such tonight the beam, their information to us from space. but what causes space, whether and what effects can it have? let's take the, we'll put it here a bit closer to the sun during the reality so that the things are not in a, in

a perfect scale. but it's easy to see the sun, them, it's a constant stream of charged path. the solar, when the us is exposed to this bombardment of particles from space. fortunately for us, the earth is largely protected from the solar wind by its atmosphere, magnetic fields. but sometimes the solar wind can erupt into a storm. we would see a flash. that's what be the solar flask release of electromagnetic energy from the sun. the next thing that we would detect when we measure the environment and space base that we would have energetic particles coming from the sun to what's the and then finally there would be an injection of enormous pull out of class from the sun . that would be 1000000000 tons of the matter from the sun itself with the jack that in the space with the speeds which could exceed 3000 kilometers per 2nd.

initially, when that happens, the scientists rely on data from satellite. how big is the plasma cloud, and how fast is it traveling? and is the earth in its path to assess the danger, the scientists need one more crucial piece of information. ah. so this plasma cloud carries among the thick field of its own. and if this magnetic field in the plasma cloud is pointing to the opposite direction, down the money, the field of the us, then we would trigger a big a devastating dramatic storm that would impact all the infrastructure that we have . a high voltage power lines can act like giant antennas. when these high energy particles hit the atmosphere, the magnetic storms can be intense enough to d, stabilize the grid,

or even damage. transformers causing power outages. 1909, a g o magnetic storm triggered a major blackout in canada that left about 6000000 people without power to hours. the polar lights were visible from it's far away as the mediterranean decades later on, globally. net. what 12 is even more dependent on modern technology, navigation system, travel shipping and satellite communications dorm could harmonize these digital systems for hours or even day. and the impact would be dramatic. studies suggests that the global economy could suffer billions of euros in last is due to production and supply disruptions. that slide the space where the team is working to raise awareness of the danger. how

a grades and other critical infrastructure need to be tested and upgraded if necessary. and governments need to make sure that emergency plans are in place. we'll also need early warning that they can move to a protected location on the i s s. before the storm hit we are improving our badness. that's how i would put it. but the important thing is that things happen very fast. if we detect the big solar event, it indeed hit the earth within 15 to 17 hours. that's not the time to start to make planning. the plan must exist before that. to help us prepare here on the solar overs her and the path because solar probes plan to venture deeper into the some atmosphere than ever before. the information, the 2 probes that will help scientists gain a better understanding of the solar corona that might help distola whether team in

dom better predicted, dangerous solar, flat, and more time to prepare for a solar storm. here on the news, you can find more fascinating stories from the world of science and i went on with that tool for today will be back next week with another edition of tomorrow today. and then bye bye. ah, the news?

the news the h dream or a nightmare. 3 lanka is both the island located in the indian ocean, both of its natural while it's inhabitants suffer from exploitation, discrimination and the aftermath of a prolonged civil war. 3 like the dark side of paradise.

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have their hopes from 10 years after the arab spring. rebellion starts 7 o d w the the was who's this is b, w news, one from berlin. colds for sanctions against fellows. after a forces object to land and arrest and activists on board for him and practice, david was detained after his passenger slice was forced to make an emergency landing in minutes. the 26 year old was traveling to live with me from athens when the aircraft was intercepted by bella versus air force. also coming up,

14 people are dead after a cable car crash the italian alps. the tragedy happened close to the summit of the motor on a peak over him looking much.