oh my god, we won't be able to get home. but luckily we kept checking the white fair to chicken, the whites that has got here and everything was fine. so we were really grateful for that. in spain, you don't have to be traveling far to face disruptions to everyday life. just stepping outside your front door now means having to wear a mask. the prime minister announced the decision after 2 consecutive records in daily cases. it's come as an unwelcome surprise to many wears when the more when we got off the train and i saw every one wearing their mask. i remembered that it was the 1st day of the mandates and i thought what a drag again with the mask. it's a bit suffocating, a bit claustrophobic. i'm not very happy where we go? no, nothing. we're going to linda. glen nova. though it may not be the coven free christmas that so many had hoped for people a doing their best to make sure some of the festive spirit remains as get more from

peter in hong. he's a professor of medicine at the university of california in san francisco. professor, welcome back to d. w. nice to say, ami kron is turning out to be far more infectious. what is the knock on effect in terms of the sheer scale? can we expect that everyone across the world perhaps is going to come in contact and not just come in contact, but actually contract this maurice in the coming weeks and months? well, that's what some people are thinking, rebecca, that it's so transmissible up to 4 times as much as shelter that it would be hard to escape. but nevertheless, i think we could try to mitigate damage. i'm. we're most worried about unvaccinated folks. and folks with co morbid conditions, it's still going to result in a lot of hospitalizations, even though it's probably less you know, severe to the general person as delta was. you mentioned vaccinate vaccine, there been studies just released in the last few days show that back seems to be

much less efficient than previous variance with one relatively large study in the u . k. suggesting even with a boost day, you're only really protected for around 2 months. what do you say that, what does that mean for people? well, it all depends where i'll go. push is if your goal post is prevention of infection, then sure you can look at the vaccines and say, to do, says, you know, 2030 percent a booster or probably doesn't give you much more, but a not for that long. but if you look at the outcome of serious disease, hospitalization, and death are the vaccines are really spectacular that and as an infectious disease doctor, if you told me at a choice between just preventing infection or serious disease, i'll choose serious disease at any time. absolutely. does that mean that we're going to be having those to shots every couple of months?

well, again, it comes back to what our goal in society is. so i can give you all the science and tell you that this vaccine or a booster might only last 10 weeks before it wins and in efficacy against infection . but if we reevaluate and think that we were thinking mainly of hospital capacity and the ability of hospitals to, you know, take care of sick people, then maybe after, at some point we'd be able to accept that, you know, with 3 doses, maybe i will be good enough with prevention of people going to the ice, you are dying and we will accept the sentiment of disease in the in society. i'm sure everyone certainly hope so. professor peter chang hung in san francisco. thanks very much for your time. merry christmas. merry christmas. your record, thank you. scientists say there's never been anything like it. a revolutionary new telescope is set to blast off into space in just

a few hours. the james web telescope named offer a form ahead of nasa is expected to bane back new clues about the origins of the universe. mm. the new i in the sky is the successor to the legendary hubble space telescope. it's 6 and a half meter mirror makes the hubble look tiny by comparison. the james webb, the biggest telescope ever sent into space, is made up of 18 segments plated with a raise, a thin gold coating. the instrument has to be folded up to fit into the rockets nose cone. the telescope will scam the heavens using long wave infra red light. ah, astronomers will be able to look back towards that big bang,

nearly 14000000000 years ago. back to the origins of the universe and the formation of the 1st stars and galaxies. the new telescope could also prove decisive in the search for extraterrestrial life. 2, it can prob, so called exit planets. nearly 5000 have already been discovered orbiting distance sons. the james web will monitor how exxon planets move in conjunction with the stars. transits like this mean, it can take a virtual fingerprint of the atmosphere of these remote worlds and assess for the 1st time whether they hold the building blocks of life. before the research can begin, there will be a delicate 2 week operation in which the telescope has to unfold itself. never before has a satellite being launched with so many moving parts and nothing can be allowed to

go wrong. it will be 6 months after the launch before the telescope is ready to gather it's 1st scientific data. antony marston is where the european space agency and archive scientists for the james web space telescope. he joins me from address anthony, welcome to date. abilene, thanks for joining us on what it must be a huge day for you, and the many scientists involved in this launch excitement. this is nerves. how do you feel? well, yeah, i mean, is this, these are big moments in the, in science. we have a launch, it, it can go wrong, but very,

very rarely. we do not expect anything to go wrong here, but still mean, so you have a little bit of nervousness and date and lots of excitement. i mean it's, it's being doub hobbled to point, talk us through the upgrades there. is it like going from black and white to color? what will james webb be able to do that hobble? couldn't there are several things here. we're talking about telescope that's using technology. this 30 is an a bomb to what you have with them. looking at a much larger diameter power telescope comes from its ability to collect the light from the universe. in this case, we're talking about infrared, like the fact that we're using it for red light is another advantage for many of the things that we want to study. for instance, plants around of the sauce and made in for red light preferentially. so there are

many advantages to the change. what from my understanding, we're talking essentially about going back in time. and as we just had met, pe said that the james webb will be able to take a fingerprint, if you will, all of the universe. what does, what does that mean? well, we can go back in time to see in the sense that we can pick up things that are very far away. i mean, we're going to get to the very edges of the observable universe as far as 13 and a half 1000000000 light years away. and anything that's making a radiation at that distance from us. we should be able to pick up that we can detect a b signature on the moon. so we can pick up things that are really very faint sitting at the edge of the universe. the fingerprints come from the fact that we

can take what's called spectroscopy where we can spread the light out into the different colors like the rainbow colors, but you extend that to the infrared and in you'll see the signatures of different elements, different molecules that make up the objects we're looking at. so for instance, if we have an atmosphere around the planet, we can work out the least some of what is a very exciting day for science anthony mountain from the european space agency. good luck. thank you so much for your time and merry christmas. no problem. merry christmas to you to francis has celebrated the annual christmas eve massett saint pate as the silica despite shop rise and covet cases. the traditional midnight mass was held at the earlier time of $730.00 pay and focused on the plight of workers and the world's pole. oh, the quiet echoes over

a reduced crowd to the 2nd deer in a room. an estimated 2000 people attended the pope's traditional christmas eve mass compared to him, the 200 last year. the 85 year old pontiff focused his message on addressing global policy, saying that people who are indifferent to the world's poor offend god include saying that in the sine a child a baby lying in the dia, poverty of a manger hewn and had just a poor child wrapped in swaddling clothes with shepherds are standing by monday by 30. i thought that his way god is in the little nosey. ah, francis also used his 9th address to remind people that serving others is more important than spending a lifetime in pursuit of success. but the corona virus pandemic

still cast a shadow over the service. ah, just minutes before the mass began in italy announced another reco daily tally of new cove at 19 infections. because despite the shop rise in cases, the faithful outside would just happy to be celebrating. again, this is the 1st time in the last 2 years that we've been able to gather both as a family and to attend mass. because of that when that makes so we are very excited and grateful. unlike last year, the pope will once again deliver his traditional irby at all the message from the balcony of saint peter's basilica on christmas day. ah. and that's all for me here on w news. next i said we'll bring you the headlines next hour, but we'll leave you now with some images from christmas decorations and celebrations from around the world. i'm rebecca versus thanks very much watching. ah

ah ah ah ah, how long does a moment a year and eternity

time it can be measured precisely. indeed, every one experiences it differently as if there are different forms of time. time . ah, with a dimension, if we know we won't live forever. an illusion. about time presenting future's past starts december 31st on d. w. getting stronger and smarter through technology. this cipher dream is quickly becoming reality. researches and developers are driving forth a digital optimization of humans with mind blowing results will be all soon become cyborgs. today's topic onset, ah,

the cybernetic organism, or cyber for short, has played a major role in pop culture. for example, in the movie robo cup, a police officer with potentially fatal injury becomes a super cup with his high tech in town. tony star from the marvel universe can fly in his armor and superman's colleagues. highball updates his hardware to get new powers and skills these days, even real up humans and how their bodies with artificial components they call themselves cyborgs or bio hackers. harvison from britain is one of them. he is colorblind and has an antenna that converts carlos into sounds. and i like the human eye, his intent, i can even detect infrared and violet. he has a chip implanted in his head to make this work. pretty intense. but actually, there are lots of scientists and companies working on brain computer interfaces. they allow direct communication between brain and computer. so you can control

device with your mind. and it's not just a gimmick. it can fundamentally improve the lives of people with spinal injuries on your logical disorders. u. s. tech tight and eli mosque is developing a brain computer interface at his startup neurologic team implanted ships in both brain hemispheres of a mac cock pager. they then taught him to play a game with a joystick, and it's not signals which was submitted to a computer by a bluetooth pager was fed bananas movie through a tube as a reward. when the research as the activated the joystick page controlled the game with this pause alone, the computer had learned to interpret the brain activity about the devices that humans can control the mind even without brain chip like by jani prosthesis, that replace missing body parts. british gamma daniel melville even uses one when he plays video games. but prostheses can also give people a brand new powers. how would you like a 3rd thump?

ah, this prosthetic fell, makes it possible to do things that usually require 2 hands. the prosthesis is connected to a wristband with a motor, which drives the thumb receive signals via bluetooth from pressure sensors attached to the shoes. the user can control the prosthesis by moving their big toe ah, zealand born scientists. danny clo, developed a 3rd film in london. she wants to show that prosthetic don't always have to replace what's missing. they can also provide an ad on an upgrade. ah, what's fascinating is after just 5 days of training with the 3rd thump you assign them, says had formed in the test, subject sprains, and the way they used their normal fingers had changed. there are other developments like this that blur the line between schumann and machine,

sometimes on the skin, sometimes under the skin. it might look like a temporary tattoo, but this is actually a communication interface made from gold leaf. do oh, skin was invented by the massachusetts institute of technology. one version works like a touchpad, while another uses near field communication for nf c technology to communicate with other interfaces. in the future when you walk into a tattoo, pollard, you would come out with a tattoo like this. they will not only be very sophisticated technically, but they will become an extension of yourself. often get your keys. erick frisk can open his door in sweden with a micro chip implanted under his skin. if the size of a grain of rice and works like a room card in a hotel, it's estimated that $50000.00 people around the world already where one of these implants, they can even be ordered online. the interesting thing is when the chips start

getting smarter and start having, you know, sensors and things like that. so, and instead of just opening a door, maybe i can have continuously record my, my body temperature, my blood sugar levels in are, et cetera, et cetera. and, and actually give me useful information about my body. but technology that literally gets under your skin isn't for every one. implants are just one way to become a sidewalk. now, also, robotic suits, called exoskeletons. they promised more strength and better agility, heavy lifting, uncomfortable work exoskeletons could some day help people reduce the strain on their backs. originally developed for medical and military use, they're now increasingly deployed in the automotive industry and logistics. many see it as when, when employee stayed healthier,

and companies profit from the increased efficiency and production with robotic technology that makes work more airgun. nomic is under intensive development, predominantly in the u. s. in germany, but also in china and japan mclean. one of our article on a story asking not a toyota, we want to create devices that help people in their workplace the for that. and to make these tools more accessible and easy to use from wells fargo. i don't think humans will ever become dispensable. and there are, there are only a few companies that are designing completely automated systems because they require considerate investment and other themes. so i think will always have human workers saw with him on the particular domain. the exoskeleton created by japanese company at own has been in use for years in production, the care sector, and in japan's the biggest airports. the 4 and a half kilogram suit is worn like

a rucksack and it has a sensor that detects the where's movements. so when lifting 2 motors in the suit automatically support the users movement, the motors deactivate when the user is walking with countries like japan are increasingly relying on robotics because with an aging population, workforces are becoming depleted. oh awesome, right now we mainly make support devices, but in the future we want to create products that enhance people's abilities and ad physical functions like a 3rd arm see we want to cater to a society in which people of all ages can work without physical limits and it could get much more spectacular than that. the developers that are to own have been working for more than 10 years on this mega x o suit called neo, i was even allowed to try it out. during my visit to japan, i felt like lieutenant ripley and the sy fi classic alias with supernatural powers

. the developers claim that one, i'm alone can lift up to 50 kilograms. it's hold that neil will soon a of the construction industry or in disaster management exoskeletons have a growing role in the medical sick. those, well, what special about this model from japan is that is controlled by nerve impulses. how is its name that stands for hybrid assistive lim as an ultimate goal. even paraplegics could train with how and learn to walk again. my colleague, cassandra ball went to test the exoskeleton at the company, cyber dime in japan. so these electrodes here will detect my brain signals and san to this machine so that it will move for me. so now i'm going to try to flex and move my arm through the text pretty well. and now i'm going to try to lock my arm in place,

and it will still move for me to see that was pretty cool. but i do wonder of, does this kind of is this said does is go out of control. sometimes no awesome electrodes translate cassandra's brain signals into a command for the exoskeleton. her brain sends the command move to the muscles via the spine. the signal is detected by house built in sensors. the motor receives the signal and power starts moving. this is more difficult for patients with paraplegia because the nerve connections are disrupted. but if there are any remaining impulses, how could provide beneficial treatment time for a little test walk? cassandra is allowed to wear the exoskeleton herself. it's attached to a bracket,

since it's designed for people with impaired mobility. it's a very intimate, a setting is actually really late. starting training right now. i feel a little bit mechanic with my movement. but i think it is just getting used to the machine because now i feel a little more comfortable in it. so now he's increasing the speed the monitor displays cassandra and her nerve signals as a way how works together with other ai systems to analyze the signals and evaluate user data. so how do paralyzed people actually learn to walk again with hell? the activation of muscle impulses create a feedback effect that enables the brain to learn how to make the body walk again

from scratch. it's called neural feedback training. it only works for about 20 to 30 percent of paraplegic patients, but the results are still impressive. so with other exoskeletons, the movements are pre programmed, so patients wearing the suit will have to rely on it permanently. however, with hell, it teaches you how to walk again, basically making the connections from your brain to your broken synopsis. so basically these patients, they go through the, these trainings and at the end of the training, they're able to walk again without the technology without the suit. how was developed by japanese robot assist yoshi, yuki sancho, keys the founder and see all cyber dine and a professor at the university of to cooper. she believes these by jani gays and cyber technologies are a step into a new age technology. so mean it's gets either because we're constantly wearing

technology or a strongly connected to it in that sense. we're born cyborgs, don't you think that took a little thing? one, older unity as technology becomes more accessible, we'll be able to use it without even being aware of that. the, this phenomenon is diffusion of humans and technology, and the symbiotic relationship will continue to develop. are we all becoming cyborgs or are we already? and if the technology becomes available soon, won't people get left behind who don't want to be enhanced or who can't afford it. what are your views on cyber technology? is this the chance for us all to upgrade or are you skeptical? let us know, for example, on youtube there, you'll also find more videos about isla masks normally project, and the paralyzed man who controls in exoskeleton with his mind. take care bye. ah, ah,

ah, with so many great options. it's hard to choose. bavaria, berlin, saxony, ireland, where should you go? there something special to discover in each of germany's 16 states. we'll show you the countries by most popular travel destinations. check in with d. w. oh. sheesh. ah listen carefully.

don't know how with to the goal. ah, feel the magic discover the world around you subscribe to d w documentary on youtube with ah, ah, ah ah.