Digital Planet

There is little association between tech use and mental health problems in teenagers, according to a new study by the Oxford Internet Institute. Lead author Dr Matti Vuorre explains how they analysed data from 430,000 UK and US teenagers and found little or no associations between adolescents’ tech use and mental health problems. But he says the data they were using is limited. Ideally, he wants to use the data that big tech companies hold on our tech use. The findings are published in the journal Clinical Psychological Science.Africa Teen Geeks and Africa Tech Week Founder and CEO of Africa Teen Geeks, Lindiwe Matlali, discusses her work in technology education and improving access for African children. During the pandemic she set up online schooling for South Africa, reaching over 600,000 children, and is working with Unicef to improve access to coding and robotics education across the continent. She also runs the ‘Knit2Code’ scheme that teaches women python coding through knitting, empowering mothers and grandmothers to support their daughters’ technology education.AI colourisation of historical photos Gwen Katz, a historical novelist and games designer, explains the problems of colourising historical photos. To test the efficacy of colourisation AI she compared the artificial colourisation of black and white photos with their colour originals and found that the bright colours of the original images were lost when colourised by an algorithm. Marta Mrak from BBC R&D discusses how the problem of loss of colours is being solved, by providing the algorithms with reference images, as well as future challenges for designing neural networks to colourise film. Presenter: Gareth Mitchell With expert commentary from Ghislaine BoddingtonProducer: Ania Lichtarowicz(Photo: Two girls wearing face masks looking at their phone. Credit: Getty Images)

The latest wave of the Covid-19 pandemic affecting India has caused heart-breaking shortages of essential medical equipment across the country. As hospitals run out of beds and basic supplies like oxygen, citizens are turning to sites like Twitter and Instagram to source medicines, exchange knowledge and hold the government accountable. Ananya Bhattacharya from Quartz India explains how social media has influenced the response to the pandemic.Illegal Brick Kilns in Bangladesh In Bangladesh, the brick making industry provides thousands of jobs and supports the country’s rapid industrialisation – but the kilns used to make the bricks can be heavily polluting. Laws aim to mitigate the environmental and health impacts, but many brick factories have not implemented these changes. Dr Nina Brooks and her research team at Stanford University have developed an AI model that uses satellite imagery to identify which kilns are operating illegally, and hope that it can be used to encourage more factories to abide by the law.EU and AI regulation This week the EU Commission published proposals to ban “AI systems considered a clear threat to the safety, livelihoods, and rights of people” and to increase the legal regulations of biometric data, such as facial recognition software. Technology journalist and independent researcher Dr. Stephanie Hare joins the show live to explain the proposals and their likely impacts in Europe and across the world.(Image: Instagram)The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson. Studio Manager: Duncan Hannant Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

16% of mobile phones in emerging markets like Brazil Indonesia, South Africa and Thailand are infected with malware, compared to 2.6% globally, according to a new report by the mobile anti-fraud firm Upstream. The company looked at one billion mobile phone transactions in 23 emerging markets covering nearly 840 million users. One mobile device in Brazil tried to make almost 16000 purchases from an app in just one month. CEO of Upstream Dimitris Maniatis explains their findings.Tech under the ice sheet The cryoegg, is a small device that monitors the most extreme of environments, streams of ice-cold water flowing under glaciers. It's a rugged device that wirelessly transmits data back to the surface of a glacier from one and a half kilometres below the ice. Dr. Mike Prior-Jones and Dr. Liz Bagshaw from Cardiff University are using the device to monitor glaciers in Greenland.Indoor Solar Cells We live in a world with more and more smart devices in our homes and, of course, all of them need electricity. A potential way to supply that power is via the lights we use indoors. A recent paper shows that there are new, environmentally friendly, and safe materials that could help make this a reality. Digital Planet reporter Florian Bohr found out more.(Image: Getty Images)The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine BoddingtonStudio Managers: Bob Nettles and Giles Aspen Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

Internet shutdowns continue in Myanmar and now two new reports show the impact these have had. Top10VPN estimates these have cost the country’s economy more than $1bn, while cybersecurity firm Recorded Future Inc. has confirmed how people are still trying to connect with each other using Bluetooth and messaging apps like Bridgefy as well as accessing the dark web. Samuel Woodhams, Digital Rights Lead from Top10VPN, is on the show to tell us what they’ve observed.Vietnam water salinity app The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has launched an app in Vietnam to help rice farmers save their crops. High salt levels in the water channels between fields can now be monitored remotely and results sent to farmers’ mobile phones. High salt levels can destroy an entire annual rice crop so the app is significantly improving yields. Kisa Mfalila, Regional Climate and Environment Specialist for Asia and the Pacific region at IFAD, explains how the app works.Computer Modelling of the Canon of English Literature The Canon of English Literature – the books that are considered to be worthy of studying - are overwhelmingly written by white men, with books written by female novelists often considered less literary in comparison. Now, a new project “Novel Perceptions: Towards an Inclusive Canon” aims to use computer modelling to investigate the public’s reading preferences. It's led by Professor Sebastian Groes from the University of Wolverhampton, who has just launched a Reader Review survey asking for responses to 400 recent novels. The novels will also undergo computer analysis that will look at sentence length, vocabulary and grammar difficulty to see if an algorithm can identify a best seller.(Image: Getty Images) The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson. Studio Manager: Nigel Dix Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

Our smartphones are sharing data every four and a half minutes according to research from Trinity College Dublin. Telemetry, automated recording and transmission of data, from Apple and Android devices back to these company’s servers is going on even if the phone is only used to make calls. Professor Douglas Leith is on the programme and explains that even when a user has logged out of sending telemetry or they are not logged on, data is still being transmitted.R.U.R. versus Q.U.R. The 1921 play Rossum’s Universal Robots (R.U.R.) by Karel C̆apek gave rise to the term “robot,” but the 1941 short story Quinby’s Usuform Robots (Q.U.R.) by Anthony Boucher more accurately reflects today’s robots says Professor Robin Murphy from Texas A&M University. Robin, herself a disaster robotics specialist, is on the show to discuss how these two different ideas developed in very different social and political climates and what we can learn from both these Sci-fi stories.Virtual Stadium Noise If you've been watching sport in the last few months you may have noticed that stadiums are almost empty. But when you watch the game, it's very likely that you will hear a crowd cheering the players on. So what's going on? It looks like broadcasters are turning to video games, for the sound of the crowd. Our reporter Chris Berrow has been finding out. (Image credit: Getty Images) The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Angelica Mari.Studio Manager: Giles Aspen Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

The Chinese government’s highly restricted approach to online freedom of expression has intensified during the COVID pandemic – not surprising maybe, but the implication of this on Chinese citizens and countries across Asia is significant. That’s one of the findings of research published by Chatham House. Harriet Moynihan, from the International Law Programme at Chatham House, is one of the authors of the paper and joins us on the show.Cellulose Electronic Thread For electronic textiles to enter the market on a large scale they need to be sustainable. Now scientists at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have developed thread made from conductive cellulose, which can be threaded through a sewing machine. The sewn garments can even be washed in a machine. Sustainable wearable tech would massively reduce electronic waste and could also lead to better healthcare monitoring eg blood pressure or heart rate of the person wearing the smart clothes. Sozan Darabi explains how they developed the thread and how she had to use her sewing skills to create the outfits.Evil Corp – the board game of tech giants Fancy becoming a tech billionaire who can save the world? Well you can by playing a new board game called “Evil Corp”. The game allows you to play as one of 6 Evil CEO billionaires intent on accruing billions of dollars and start-ups. The aim is to “Save the World, No Matter the Cost”. The games’ inventor Alfie Dennon says he wants us to think about the power tech tycoons have over our everyday lives online, in how we shop, work and play. Image: Chinese flag displayed on laptop screen, plus smartphone with block symbol displayed Credit: Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesThe programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson. Studio Manager: Giles Aspen Producers: Emil Petrie and Ania Lichtarowicz

Court cases can collapse due to unreliable witness statements. These are often taken some time after the crime has happened – but what if it was possible to take a witness statement very quickly using AI chatbots? Dr Julia Shaw is on the programme discussing her latest research into using an AI chatbot in reporting harassment in the workplace. Not only are statements taken more quickly, they are done better by a machine than a person, as people can interrupt, misinterpret, judge or incorrectly record statements. The AI chatbot sticks to a script and allows the witness to do the same.Machine learning to understand Tinnitus AI is helping to advance research into tinnitus, a condition often described as a ringing, buzzing or hissing in the ears, which affects up to 1 in 5 adults. Clinicians currently have no objective means of diagnosing tinnitus and must rely on the accounts of people living with the condition. But machine learning algorithms, combined with brain imaging techniques, are allowing scientists to develop a clinical tool to measure tinnitus objectively. Anthea Lacchia reports.Women’s Engineering Society Prize Shrouk El-Attar describes herself as an Electronics Engineer, a bellydancer, an LGBTQ+ campaigner and refugee. She is the winner of the WES Prize IET Young Woman Engineer of the Year Award, to add to a multitude of prizes she has already received. She’s helped design a pelvic floor trainer - a treatment for incontinence - and is redesigning the breast pump to allow women to express their milk much more easily and quietly. Gareth finds out what inspires her and more about the tech she designs.The programme was presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington.Image: AI chatbot Credit: tadamichi/iStock Getty Images Studio Manager: Giles Aspen Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz and Emil Petrie

It seems that the price of Bitcoin cannot stop increasing, but how sustainable is Bitcoin itself? With such huge energy demands to keep Bitcoin mined, are some countries risking the stability of their electricity supplies to take advantage of the Bitcoin boom? Financial economist and founder of the blog “Digiconomist”, Alex de Vries is on the show to answer these questions. He says, in his paper published in the journal Joule, that the entire Bitcoin blockchain network consumes as much energy per year as all data centres across the world. Access to the internet – affordability and lack of infrastructure still a major barrier It’s the web’s 32nd birthday, yet its creator Sir Tim Berners-Lee has warned that too many young people cannot connect and that the digital gap has widened during the pandemic. His comments come just after the latest ITU/A4AI report into the affordability of the internet, which found that nearly half of people with 4G coverage are not online as it’s too expensive to connect. A4AI’s Executive Director Sonia Jorge returns to the show to discuss the latest figures. TBL also called for a global push to connect young people. The WebFoundation has announced a list of global web champions, and one of them, Ian Mangenga from South Africa, joins us on the show to talk about her project Digital Girl Africa.(Hi)Story of a Painting (Hi)Story of a Painting is a new animated VR series to be premiered at the SXSW Online festival. The five episodes take the viewer on a journey through iconic paintings and tell the stories behind them; the artist’s practice, struggles and successes. The series’ co-creator Gaëlle Mourre, is on the programme to discuss how she created this gaze tech-led immersive experience, and made it safe to view in our own homes during lockdown.Image: Mining rigs of super computer inside the bitcoin factory ‘Genesis Farming’ near Reykjavik, Iceland Credit: Photo by HALLDOR KOLBEINS/AFP via Getty ImagesThe programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Angelica Mari. Studio Manager: Giles Aspen Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

We’ve been discussing bias in AI on the programme for more than a year now but what is the actual cost of it? KPMG is publishing a report, commissioned by the fintech company Finastra, which examines the size of global consumer lending markets and the potential impact of algorithmic bias in money lending decisions. Amber Sappington, Head of Data & Analytics at Finastra, discusses the potential problems and why there’s an urgency for the industry to acknowledge the problem and act on it.Problematic Smartphone Use ‘Smartphone addiction’ has been in the news, following the publication of a new study by the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience Library at King’s in London. However, ‘Smartphone addiction’ is not a recognised medical condition. Gareth speaks with Dr Nicky Kalk, one of the authors of the study, about problematic smartphone use, and if it will be recognised as an illness. Virtually Shakespeare The Royal Shakespeare Company, the Philharmonia and Epic Games are amongst 15 organisations who are premiering a new live performance of “Dream” (which was inspired by A Midsummer Night’s Dream) using motion capture to tell the story of Puck. The aim is to create a shared live experience between a remote audience and a group of physical performers where the live audience can directly influence the world of the actors. Unlike a regular live stream, audiences will play an active role in world-building and the wider storytelling experience, as they would in any gaming environment. Reporter Hannah Fisher has more.The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary by Ghislaine Boddington.Studio Manager: John Boland Producers: Emil Petrie and Ania LichtarowiczImage: Young woman uses digital tablet on virtual visual screen at night Credit: dowell/Moment/Getty Images

Will there ever be equality in machine learning technology or will our cultural biases continue to be reflected in algorithms? Dr. Sandra Wachter from the Oxford Internet Institute argues in her latest research that data bias is unavoidable because of the current bias within western culture. How we now try and negate that bias in AI is critical if we are ever to ensure that this technology meets current legislation like EU non-discrimination law. She’s on the programme to discuss how we make real progress in AI equality.This research has come from the Oxford Internet Institute, whose Incoming Director is also on the show – Professor Victoria Nash tells us of her plans in the new role.EdTech in Malawi A programme which allows seven year olds to have three lessons a week on ipads in Malawi is narrowing the learning gap between girls and boys. With an average class size of around 60 pupils with one teacher, young girls are often left behind and drop out of formal education, but with this individual approach many more are staying on in school. The programme is so successful it is now being rolled out to hundreds of schools, with the hope of going nationwide. Director for Education, Youth and Sports Lucia Chidalengwa of Education, Youth and Sports in Malawi’s Ntcheu district explains why this approach is so successful.Online learning via your games console With COVID cases rising in many countries and some regions even facing a third wave of the pandemic, many children around the world will continue to learn remotely – but what if there is no computer or laptop for them to use at home? How about converting a games console into an online school workstation? Reporter Chris Berrow shows you how to do it by powering up his games console and getting online to learn.(Image: Getty images:) The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson. Studio Manager: Giles Aspen Producers: Emil Petrie and Ania Lichtarowicz

Tech giant Facebook blocked news content across its Australian platform last Thursday on account of a proposed law which would enforce some firms to pay news publishers for use and distribution of their information. Nearly a week later the government has agreed to amend the law and negotiate the value of this content. Tech reporter Angharad Yeo in Australia returns to the show to discuss the new law and how it could be seen as a test case for online regulation across the globe. Can AI be a playwright? To celebrate the 100th anniversary of Czech playwright Karel Čapek’s production R.U.R. in which the word ‘robot was first used, Prague's Švanda Theatre, working alongside theaitre.com, are set to present a play written entirely by AI, exploring the everyday life of a robot. Reporter Hannah Fisher speaks to Tomáš Studeník, Czech radical innovator, computational linguist Rudolf Rosa and drama expert David Košťák about their upcoming project set to air on 26th February. Robo Squid and Jellyfish Engineers have developed a robotic squid that propels itself with pulses of water at the natural resonance of the robot. By using the resonance frequency that the robot naturally has they increased its speed without increasing energy consumption – a trick used by a number of animals in nature. Dr. Nicole Xu, who is researching and creating robotic jellyfish, is on the programme to explain how this technique could allow for much better exploration and monitoring of our oceans.(Image credit: European Pressphoto Agency)The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington.Studio Manager: Giles Aspen Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

‘With every new view from the surface of Mars comes a reminder of just how fortunate we are to live on Earth.’ Acclaimed science writer and filmmaker Dr Chris Riley uses images from the landing sites on Mars to compare relative locations on Earth. Hear how you might be able to help.Old Tech Our Digital Planet social media community is a-buzz with stories of old technology, and the role you have had in technological history. Several listeners share their experiences with expert opinion from the curator of Technology and Engineering at the Science Museum Dr Rachel Boon. Wearable Thermoelectric Batteries Thermoelectric technologies are able to generate electricity by manipulating heat differences, but they are usually bulky and fragile. Dr Jianliang Xiao, and his team based in Colorado, discuss advancements in material composition that have led to the creation of a self-healing and recyclable battery with the potential to power wearable devices. (Image: NASA) The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson.Studio Manager: Giles Aspen Producers: Harrison Lewis and Hannah Fisher Editor: Deborah Cohen

Wikipedia introduces its first universal code of conduct in an attempt to combat aggressive behaviour towards marginalised and ethnic communities. Some editors believe this code will hinder the grassroots of the website. Dr. Jessica Wade of Imperial College London discusses her own experiences whilst attempting to promote awareness of women in science.Open Banking launches in Brazil Seven years into a recession, how will open banking in Brazil help to reboot the economy? This month changes in regulation will support open banking and encourage the growth of Fintech. We speak to Ricardo Taveira, CEO of Quanto, a platform that has received $15 million USD in funding to aid open banking and aims to connect digital and traditional banks by sharing user’s financial data. Cybersecurity and digital identity This week in our series on the cybersecurity threats of the future: digital identity. What does our digital identity consist of? How will our personal information be stored, protected and shared and why does it pose such a cybersecurity risk? Florian Bohr reports. (Image: Getty Images) The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Angelica Mari.Studio Manager: Giles Aspen Producers: Harrison Lewis and Deborah Cohen

Internet services are returning to normal in Myanmar following a partial shutdown after the military took power over the weekend following their accusations of election fraud. In India though, the internet remains down in New Delhi and some surrounding regions as farmer’s protests continue. Mishi Choudhary, founder of the Software Freedom Law Centre in New Delhi, updates us on the situation. Should Google pay for News content? Following the threat by Google Australia that it could pull out of the country if new conditions are imposed forcing it to pay for News published in Australia, we speak with Angharad Yeo, tech reporter and the voice behind the “Queens of the Drone Age” podcast on what the row is about, the latest developments and how it might impact users in Australia.Cybersecurity and Quantum Computing This week in our series on the cybersecurity threats of the future: Quantum Computing. These new types of computers use the laws of quantum physics and are fundamentally different from our current computers. They are powerful machines – perhaps too powerful for the way we currently protect our data. What can we do about it? Florian Bohr has been finding out more. (Image: A young woman reads her mobile phone in front of a poster proposing an access to Internet. Credit: Thierry Falise/LightRocket via Getty Images)The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson. Producers: Deborah Cohen and Ania Lichtarowicz

Loon Balloon internet deflated. Also Rabies vaccinations in Malawi – how tech is eliminating the disease in dogs and Cybersecurity and AI.Alphabet, Google’s parent company has announced it’s winding down Project Loon. Hundred’s of high altitude balloons carrying miniature mobile phone towers were to drift around the globe providing internet connectivity to very remote regions. Digital Planet has been following the project from its first trials in 2013 and even visited one of their base stations in Kenya. We discuss why it didn’t succeed.Rabies vaccinations in Malawi – how tech is eliminating the disease in dogs Vaccinating dogs is the best way of reducing human deaths from rabies, but getting a minimum of 70% of dogs vaccination in an area (the coverage needed to eliminate the disease in the dogs) is very time consuming and costly. Now a new app, along with detailed data-driven analysis, has led to halving the time it takes to vaccinate dogs as well as significantly reducing costs and the workload for vets. Dr. Stella Mazeri, from Edinburgh University, is on the show explaining how their data-based approach has been so successful in Malawi.Cybersecurity and AI In the second of his reports on cybersecurity threats of the future Florian Bohr looks at artificial intelligence. Apparently, hackers are starting to use machine learning to attack systems more effectively. On the flipside, cybersecurity professionals are depending on AI more and more to control and defend their systems but who will prevail? The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington. Studio Manager: Giles Aspen Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz(Image: A Google Project Loon internet balloon. Credit: Reuters/Stephen Lam)

Social media influence by governments and political parties is a growing threat to democracies according to the 2020 media manipulation survey from the Oxford Internet Institute. In the last year social media manipulation campaigns have been recorded in 81 countries, up from 70 countries in 2019 and most of the countries involved have deployed disinformation campaigns. The main author of the report, Dr. Samantha Bradshaw is on the show.GPS Grazing Collars How do you control where your animals graze if you can’t fit a fence to keep them contained to a certain area? Use a GPS grazing collar. This technology has been developed by Norwegian firm NoFence and uses GPS to track individual animals and stop them crossing boundaries that have been progammed using a mapping app on a smart phone. The collars emit a bleeping noise that gets louder as animals reach a virtual fence and will receive a small electric shock if they cross it (this is much smaller than one from an electric fence). Electric fences are expensive and difficult to fit in remote terrains and these GPS collars allow farmers to regularly change their grazing sites. We hear about the tech from UK manager of NoFence Synne Foss Budal and about the conservation benefits from Emma Wright from North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty who is trailing the collars in their upland pastures. Ubiquitous Connectivity and cybersecurity Late last year the World Economic Forum and the University of Oxford, released a report on the future of cybersecurity. They identified four emerging technology trends that could endanger security in the digital world within the next 5 to 10 years. In a series of reports Digital Planet’s Florian Bohr looks into each of these cybersecurity threats of the future. This week, we hear about how the sheer amount of digital connections between devices, services, and people is an inherent cybersecurity risk. (Image: Getty Images) The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Angelica MariStudio Manager: John Boland Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

Following the events at the US Capitol this week, photos have emerged on social media showing protestors in offices where what appear to be emails can be seen on screen. Also with access to these offices, could protestors have downloaded sensitive data or compromised the tech in some way? Some cybersecurity experts are even questioning if the whole IT system should be replaced. Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai from Vice Motherboard explains the possible risks.Internet shutdown costs in 2020 The website Top10VPN has released its annual report into the costs of internet shutdowns in 2020. They’ve found the economic cost of internet shutdowns in 2020 was $4.01bn, 50% lower than in 2019, however the total duration of disruptions around the world was up 49% from the previous year. One of the report’s authors, Samuel Woodhams, joins us live.The tech that helped bring back the first asteroid samples to Earth The first asteroid samples have reached Earth thanks to some amazing engineering and technology. Chris Edge, Digital Planet listener and IT and communications technician was one of the team that tracked the incoming capsule containing the samples from the asteroid Ryugu so that it could be recovered in the Australian desert. (Image: Pro-Trump rioters stormed the US Capitol. Credit: Probal Rashid via Getty Images)The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington.Studio Manager: Donald MacDonald. Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

Smartphone apps and other digital technologies have completely changed the lives of visually impaired and blind people around the world. This special programme on blindness and digital technology takes us through some of the tech responsible. Motivational speaker Fern Lulham narrates her trip to the shops with her guide-dog Nancy, talking us through the different apps that she uses to help her find her keys, navigate there, and even colour match her clothes. She joins us live. Presenter Gareth speaks with an Ophthalmologist in Delhi, India who is helping to train visually impaired people about how smartphone apps like ‘Be My Eyes’ can improve their independence and quality of life. We meet Brian Mwenda, the Kenyan inventor of the Fourth Eye and the Sixth Sense, two inexpensive, touch-based echo-location technologies that will help to give cheap and high-quality help with mobility for people with visual impairments around the world. (Image: Brian Mwiti Mwenda - Hope Tech Plus) Presenter: Gareth MitchellStudio Expert: Bill Thompson Producer: Rory Galloway

This week Digital Planet looks back on some of the stories we’ve covered in 2020; electricity from Lake Kivu on the Rwandan/DRC border, internet shutdowns across the world, contact tracing apps during the pandemic and how technology has changed digital death rituals and allowed us to grieve.The programme is presenter by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington, Angelica Mari and Bill Thompson.(Image credit: Getty Images)Studio Manager: Bob Nettles Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

A solar farm, set and run by women in the Abs district of Yemen is providing cleaner and cheaper electricity to families. Arvind Kumar is Project Manager in the Yemen Country Office of the United Nations Development Programme. He is overseeing the programme and joins us on the show.Tackling climate change with data A global initiative to satellite observations, sensors across land and sea, commercial data sets and even citizen observations from our mobile phones is gathering momentum. Now the UNEP is highlighting environmental data as essential combatting climate change. David Jensen, Head of Policy and Innovation, Crisis Management Branch, UN Environment explains their plans.Smelltech In the world of virtual reality, companies normally focus on images and sound to create the most immersive experience. But there is a new kid on the block: olfactory VR. Companies now seek to capture one of our more neglected senses and recreate smell in a virtual environment. Digital Planet reporter Florian Bohr has been finding out more.The programme is presenter by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson.(Image: Getty Images) Studio Manager: Matilda Macari Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

Thousands of people in the UK have now received the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine and vaccinations have just started in Canada, yet despite promotion from the government, a recent survey shows many people are reluctant to have it. Part of this hesitation is due to misinformation and vaccine myths on social media. Anna-Sophie Harling Managing Director for Europe at NewsGuard– the trust tool web extension provider – talks about their special report on top COVID-19 vaccine myths online. Many of these myths have been circulating online for months so how can governments dispel these falsehoods and convince their populations to be vaccinated? God of Mars PKGE: Production has just started on the world’s first feature-length film to be shot with video game technology. “Gods of Mars” uses something called “the Unreal Engine”, which is normally used to make games like Fortnite and Gears of War. But this time it’s creating all the film’s special effects and virtual environments… from rocket ships to robots! It’s hoped that this kind of technology could save film-makers huge amounts of money. Chris Berrow has been taking a look for us.Data Action In her new book, “Data Action,” Associate Professor Sarah Williams from MIT issues a call for thinking ethically about data today. She’s on the programme to warn of the possibilities of using data for bias and segregation and how we need to learn to see the value behind the numbers. The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington.(Image: Getty Images) Studio Manager: John Boland Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

Malaysia, Rwanda and Columbia are amongst the countries where it is cheapest to get online, according to the Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI) 2020 Affordability Report. A4AI Director Sonia Jorge explains how despite broadband prices having fallen by half in five years, the cost to connect remains one of the biggest barriers to internet access - over one billion people live in countries where data is still not affordable.India sharing economy during COVID Just before the spring global lockdown our reporter Snezana Curcic travelled around India using only sharing economy platforms, for her transport, accommodation and eating out as she wanted to experience India first-hand. Her report somewhat changed from the original idea. Snezana catches up with the people she met to find out how they’ve adapted their use of the sharing economy during the pandemic. Prayer app data danger Over the last few weeks dedicated religious apps have had serious data breaches or have sold the data of their subscribers to other parties who have then sold them onto third parties like the US military. How concerned should users be – is this just another data privacy issue for app users or could it have more significant and dangerous implications for those concerned? Stephanie Hare joins us on the programme to unravel the many issues concerning these apps.The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson.(Image: Getty Images)Studio Manager: Tim Heffer Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

The Digital Intelligence Index (DII) has calculated that almost two-thirds of the world’s population is now online. The newly published report analyses 12 years of data to map 90 economies and over 95% of the world’s population to report on countries’ progress advancing their digital economies. Bhaskar Chakravorti, the dean of global business at Fletcher, The Graduate School of Global Affairs at Tufts University, led the research and is on the show.VR/AR personal data safety and identification Do you like playing video games in VR or perhaps take part in AR arts shows? Well if you do you may want to ask what is happening with your personal data – not your name or your age but the way you move. Research from Stanford University shows that it’s possible to identify someone from the way they walk in VR in just minutes. Professor Jeremy Bailenson has also looked at identifying medical conditions from our behaviour in VR – is it now possible to be anonymous in these environments and also to keep our very personal data safe? Keeping an eye on your waste The way we sort our recycling could be about to change, and all thanks to a sensor that mimics the relationship between the human eye and brain. Engineers at UK start-up RecyclEye have combined low-cost camera technology with a machine learning system to give waste sorting an intelligence boost. Digital Planet reporter Jack Monaghan finds out how this new technology might make rubbish a thing of the past, with sound engineering by Robert Moutrey.The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington.(Image: Getty Images)Studio Manager: Duncan Hannant Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

New data shows an increase in stalkerware use. This is software that grants a remote user the ability to monitor the activity on another user’s device without their consent, and can be preloaded in technology given as gifts. It’s an increasing problem around the world according to the cybersecurity form Kaspersky. Tara Hairston from Kaspersky and Sachiko Hasumi, Manager of Information Security & Compliance at UN Women highlight the growing problem as part of the UN’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women this week. Robots are not immune to bias and injustice An editorial in Science Robotics is calling on roboticists and AI developers to consider racial biases and inequalities when developing new technology. Professor Ayanna Howard who co-leads the organisation “Black in Robotics” wants the robotics community to welcome and employ a more racially diverse workforce as current developers do not reflect the global population and both robotics and AI are therefore being developed without many people in mind.Military tech adapted to find the blue whales of South Georgia Scientists who have discovered the return of critically endangered Antarctic blue whales to the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia - 50 years after whaling all but wiped them out - used military sonobuoys to track the animals. This tech is usually deployed from aircraft into the sea to track submarines. The team looked at 30 years of data – reports of sightings, photographs and underwater sea recordings – to track the world’s largest mammal back to these waters. The new study follows recent research that humpback whales are also returning to the region. Lead author of the study, Susannah Calderan of the Scottish Association for Marine Science explains how they are using sonobuoys to track blue whales hundreds of miles away. The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson.(Image: Getty Images) Studio manager: John Boland Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

Playing video games is positively linked with wellbeing according research from the Oxford Internet Institute. The new study is the first of its kind as, instead of asking players how much they play, it uses industry data on actual play time for popular video games EA's Plants vs Zombies: Battle for Neighborville and Nintendo's Animal Crossing: New Horizons. The study suggests that experiences of competence and connecting with others through playing the games may contribute to people’s wellbeing – however if you already are in a bad mood, playing video games is not going to improve your mood! Professor Andrew Przybylski, Director of Research at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, explains the findings.Underwater navigation 'solved' GPS does not work underwater and powering location devices so they can emit sound with batteries is not practical in wet environments. This means that locating animals and robots underwater is not easy. Now though a team at MIT may have found a solution that uses sound for navigation and by reflecting signals from the underwater environment doesn't need batteries. Possible applications include marine conservation, climate data gathering and mapping the ocean itself.Brazilians on lower incomes are embracing digital services A new study by the Brazilian Network Information Center shows that Brazilians on lower incomes are turning to digital services - especially fintech - during the COVID19 pandemic. The unbanked population has fallen by about 70% in the country as more and more people use apps and computers to move money.The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Angelica Mari.(Main Image: Still from Animal Crossing game Copyright: Nintendo) Studio Manager: Donald MacDonald Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

Voyager 2 contacted for the first time since March - says “hello” We reported back in February how scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory were working flat out repairing Voyager 2. The only antenna that can command the 43 year old spacecraft has been offline since March undergoing repairs and upgrades – but now the Voyager team have called the craft and Voyager 2 returned a signal confirming it had received the "call" and executed the commands without issue. Voyager’s Project Manager Suzanne Dodds explains how they did this and what happens next.Danielle George MBE – the new president of the IET Getting more women and young people engaged in tech and engineering is top of Professor Danielle George’s list as she takes over as the president of The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET). She joins Gareth and Bill on the programme live to discuss digital poverty and what the IET is doing to reduce it Online recruitment scams during the pandemic What would you do if you realised the job you’d applied for online didn’t actually exist? You’d think it would be easy to tell if you were being scammed – but with the coronavirus pandemic forcing people out of jobs and to stay at home, police and cybercrime experts have been warning people how much easier it is to be lured in by recruitment fraud. Reporter Matt Murphy has been speaking to people who’ve been affected over the last few months.The programme is presenter by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson.(Image: Voyager 2. Credit: NASA) Studio Manager: Giles Aspen Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

A new study shows that twitter remains a platform with many conspiracy believers. The work also reveals that compared to the Dutch public, the British are not as good at judging false coronavirus stories to be untrue. The Covid-19 and the Rhetoric of Untruth project - an Anglo-Dutch research initiative – has focussed on the impact of fake news and conspiracy theories during the coronavirus pandemic. Professor Sebastian Groes from Wolverhampton University explains the findings so far. The Social Network of Game of Thrones What are the secrets behind the hugely successful fantasy series? New research into the George R.R. Martin book series “A Song of Fire and Ice” shows that very plausible and almost real life social network between characters is the key. Professor Colm Connaughton of the University of Warwick explains how physics, mathematics, psychology and computing, were all used to build a network map linking the two thousand characters and their thousands of interactions.AI that Can Identify Individual Birds Could machines be better ornithologists than humans? Deep learning systems are now able to distinguish between species of birds, but also individual animals. At the moment, the only way that conservationists can identify individual birds is by tagging them. That’s time consuming, costly and a bit of an inconvenience for the creatures themselves. Anthea Lacchia has been finding out more about how the algorithms are helping out. The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington.Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz(Image: Getty Images)

Despite a pandemic, nearly everyone voting in the upcoming US election will do so with a tick in a box on a piece of paper. They may post their ballot, or go in person to a voting station, but the process is still physical. Why? Presenter Gareth Mitchell will be asking election voting advisor Susan Greenhalgh. Despite the prevalence of paper, there are some voting machines in the USA, Beatrice Atobatele tells us why she bought one online and how hacking into it could help to make the coming US election more secure. Also on the programme, data is central to nearly everything in computing today. It presents issues, but imagine if you could train your machines on clean, orderly, high quality data? Well a new technique to generate clean data artificially has been released, open source, by MIT. We explore what this could mean with Nicolai Baldin, the CEO of the London company ‘Synthesized’. (Image: Getty Images) Presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert comment from Bill Thompson Produced by Rory Galloway Studio Manager: Giles Aspen

Go Viral! is a browser based game where you have a go at being a spreader of misinformation. Along the way, you learn the tactics of the trolls and you come out the other end, better able to differentiate the facts from the alternative facts online. Gareth discusses why these games can change peoples’ minds with one of the game’s co-developers, Jon Roozenbeek of the Department of Psychology at Cambridge University in England.Human rights lawyer Flynn Coleman has just published a book called A Human Algorithm – how artificial intelligence is redefining who we are. She explains to Gareth why she’s concerned about the small group of individuals who are in charge of the digital world and what should be done to change that. In the pandemic choreographer Alexander Whitley has had to postpone his live shows. Hannah Fisher reports on how he’s moved his dance project online and invited others to collaborate. The music is ‘Memory Arc’ by Rival Consoles.The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington(Image: Cambridge University) Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz Studio Producer: Deborah Cohen Studio Manager: Nigel Dix

Can political forecasting be quicker? That’s a question posed by Thomas Miller from Northwestern University, who has created a model that simulates a million hypothetical US presidential election results every hour. The model does not use traditional data sources like polling surveys but betting data. Recycling Solar lamps in Zambia We hear from SolarAid who have started a repair, refurbishment and recycling project for their solar lights in Zambia. Some electronics built to serve the world’s poorest, are also built to be incredibly challenging to repair, which adds to an increasing amount of e-waste generated - a record of 53.6 million metric tonnes of e-waste was generated worldwide in 2019. SolarAid have developed a manual, an app, are training technicians and opening workshops to encourage people to have their lamps repaired. The Rising Sea Symphony How do you create a new music masterpiece during a pandemic – using technology in ways not used before. A new BBC Radio 3 commission (due to be broadcast on Sunday 18th October), entitled The Rising Sea Symphony, by composer Kieran Brunt, has been recorded by BBC Philharmonic players in isolation, individually, and then “painfully” pasted together to create the full orchestral sound over the last few months. The piece is inspired by the increasing dangers of the climate change crisis and mixes orchestral parts, vocals, electronics, and spoken contributions from inhabitants of different parts of the world which are being affected by sea level rising. We speak to the composer and to Studio Manager Donald MacDonald who faced the challenge of mixing the piece.The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Angelica Mari. (Image: Getty Images) Studio Manager: Duncan Hannant Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

For at least two decades now police forces have been using crime data tech to analyse crime patterns and therefore reduce crime rates, but they have not been able to predict who may have carried out a crime. Now the Sheriff’s office in Pasco County, Florida is using what it calls ‘intelligence led policing’ to do just that. Could AI algorithms really identify offenders? Not according to Kathleen McGrory, Deputy Investigations Editor at the Tampa Bay Times who has been researching this mysterious tech that the local law enforcement agency has been using. Similar schemes have been scrapped in LA and Chicago but continue in Pasco County. We asked for an interview with the Pasco County Police Sheriff and one of the engineers behind the tech – but did not receive a response.The rise of the Honjok lifestyle in South Korea Honjok is the term used by those Koreans who decide to live, eat, drink, and undergo most activities on their own, and are happy when they are alone with themselves. This movement started in the first half of the 2010’s and has been growing in parallel with South Korea's rate of smartphone ownership and the emergence of on-demand shopping and social media. It would seem that tech adoption is one of the main factors that helped elevate Honjok into a national movement. Reporter Silvia Lazzaris has been delving into the online world of Honjok.Could data unions give you some control and gain from your personal data? Would you like to make money from your Google search history? A new platform to democratize our data by tech start up Streamr will allow individuals to take control of their personal data and even gain financially from it. Until now, most of the data we generate browsing the web and using smart devices is controlled by a few giant corporations. It’s also sold without us receiving any share of its value. The Streamr platform enables developers to create their own data unions (such as Swash, which has a growing user base, and allows people to earn money as they browse) to decentralize control of data away from big tech and back to the individual. These data unions can also significantly improve the quality and security of data sets. Shiv Malik, Head of Growth at Streamr, is on the programme to explain how data unions work.The programme was presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington.(Image: Getty Images)Studio Manager: Tim Heffer Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

Google maps has a new feature - COVID19 maps. You can now filter onto your chosen area the current Covid-19 case rates. Launched in more than 200 countries the mapping feature could help people decide if they feel it is safe to travel to new areas – but as is often the case with new tech when it is launched it is not as informative as you may have hoped…yet. Charlotte Jee, MIT Technology review reporter, gives us a rundown of what’s good and what’s not so good about the new feature.The ethics of digital communication Can you remember the early days of the internet – how it was going to improve freedom of expression because of this amazing fast connectivity that we had never had before? Well obviously things haven’t quite panned out that way, says Prof (Baroness) Onora O’Neill form Cambridge Uni. In fact it’s done the opp as well as damaged our right to privacy. She speaks to Gareth about what can be done to reverse some of this damage.Hack a Sat Florian Blor reports from the first ever satellite hacking competition at DEF CON - the world's largest, longest continuously run underground hacking conference. The idea was to hack into a satellite, change it’s orientation in orbit and point it at the moon and take a photo. It wasn’t a real satellite in space but an earthbound stand in and part of hackasat – a cybersecurity completion aimed at ultimately protecting satellites from a cyberattack. The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson.(Image: Getty images) Studio Manager: Sarah Hockley Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

The Internet Society has created a way of checking how new regulations could harm the structure of the internet. As the internet doesn’t respect borders, what happens in one country can impact the internet in another. The internet can sustain one or two attacks but many at the same time could even bring it down. Until now there has been no way of predicting how such changes could affect the internet’s architecture. The new toolkit also identifies the critical properties that must be protected to enable the Internet to reach its full potential. EEG that works with Black African American hair Measuring brain activity can be done using Electroencephalograms, or EEGs. These rely on a number of electrodes being attached to the scalp and the tests are used to diagnose diseases like epilepsy. However if the electrodes are not attached to the scalp properly then getting accurate readings is very hard. This is a problem for people with thick and very curly hair – with some patients having to shave their hair for the test. Now Arnelle Etienne, a student at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, has designed electrodes that suit her hair type – she is African American and hopes her design will significantly improve test results for patients like her.Buddy PKGE – tech to monitor animal vital signs Harrison Lewis reports on a device capable of measuring animal vital signs that is being adapted to save human lives. The non-invasive tech could help sniffer dogs find people following natural disasters, alerting the handler as soon as dog detects a human heartbeat.The programme is presenter by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington.(Image: Getty Images) Studio Manager: Sarah Hockley Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

The Mayflower Autonomous Ship (MAS) is due to set sail this week (scheduled for Wednesday) from Plymouth, England to Plymouth, Massachusetts with no crew on board. The AI captain will steer the trimaran across the Atlantic with the help of servers and cloud and edge computing, gathering data on global warming, micro-plastic pollution and marine mammal conservation. If successful, it will be one of the first self-navigating, full-sized vessels to cross the Atlantic Ocean and could herald a new era of autonomous research ships. Andy Stanford-Clark, Chief Technology Officer at IBM, tells Gareth about the tech on board.Farmbot - tech to ensure cattle have water Crop and livestock farming uses around 70 per cent of the world’s fresh water supply, and access to water is something every farmer in the world thinks about, every single day. Is there enough of it, is there too much or too little, and are there any problems that need fixing. Those problems get even bigger for farmers who don’t live on-site, or – as is the case in Australia – an issue with a water pipe or dam might be several hours’ drive away. Robotic devices are increasingly taking the strain, even now linking to satellites to help farmers keep their livestock healthy. Corinne Podger reports. Lie Machines Have you ever been lured to false political messaging online or been attracted to clickbait that has directed you to a conspiracy theories or false news? How and why this happens is the subject of a book “Lie Machines: How to Save Democracy from Troll Armies, Deceitful Robots, Junk News Operations, and Political Operatives”. Its author, Philip Howard, Director of the Oxford Internet Institute in the UK explains how to take these lie machines apart.The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson.(Image: The Mayflower Autonomous Ship. Credit: IBM) Studio Manager: Donald MacDonald Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Dis)honour amongst thieves Cyber criminals use online forums to sell stolen identity information and other illicit goods. Alex Kigerl, a criminologist at Washington State University explains how a recent leak from two such forums allowed him to identify different types of criminals, with implications for online policing. Migrant money The pandemic has made it harder for migrants to send money home, forcing some to use criminal networks to avoid expensive bank fees. But new digital platforms are creating safer and cheaper options - as Digital Planet reporters Benjamin Breitegger and Katharina Kropshofer find out.Frictech Imagine being able to pay with nothing more than a smile – frictionless technology (frictech) aims to make financial transactions as smooth and easy as that. Anders Hartington from Sao Paulo based firm Unike Technologies gives listeners a vision of the future from this fast developing technology.The programmes is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary by Angelica Mari.(Image: Cyber crime. Credit: Getty images) Studio Manager: Jackie Margerum Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

The UK government used a statistical algorithm to alter children’s grades for exams missed in lockdown. But critics have argued that this algorithm, which used old data on school performance, unfairly stigmatised pupils from poorer backgrounds. Stian Westlake from Britain’s Royal Statistical Society speaks to Gareth and Bill about the challenges of creating such an algorithm and where the government went wrong.The Language of Trolls What is it like to work as a Twitter troll? Researcher Sergei Monakhov, from the Friedrich Schiller University in Germany, used this question to discover how the language used by trolls is different from that used by regular users. He discusses how these patterns can be used to spot troll’s social media posts much more quickly.Saving lives with data in Africa A digital tool-kit has been designed to help governments and health organisations in Africa tackle the spread of Covid-19. Dr. Sema Sgaier, executive director of the Surgo Foundation describes the Africa Covid-19 Community Vulnerability Index, which maps regional data on health, economic, and social robustness to find where Covid might hit hardest.(Photo: Student protesters hold up banners. Credit: Andrew Milligan/PA) Producer: Julian Siddle

Jammu and Kashmir have faced an unprecedented communication blockade, with no or slow internet for 12 months. We hear voices from the region on what the impact has been on life there, with insight from technology lawyer and online freedoms activist Mishi Choudhary. Whiteness in AI Portrayals of artificial intelligence – from the faces of robots to the voices of virtual assistants – is overwhelmingly white and removes people of colour from the way humanity thinks about its technology-enhanced future. That’s according to a new paper by Dr. Kanta Dihal, researcher at the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence at the University of Cambridge, which suggests that current stereotypical representations of AI risk creating a “racially homogenous” tech workforce, building machines with bias baked into their algorithms. Hurricane Radio in the British Virgin Islands In 2017 Hurricane Irma caused catastrophic damage across the Caribbean. One of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes on record, 180mph winds battered the British Virgin Islands leaving a mammoth task for local search and rescue crews. Digital Planet reporter Jason Hosken investigates how, three years on, the territory now has emergency communication networks in place thanks to some pretty rudimentary broadcast technology.The programme is presenter by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary by Angelica Mari(Image: Getty Images)Producer: Jackie Margerum Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

India came last out of 42 countries in a recent study of remote-working readiness. Bhaskar Chakravorti, Dean of Global Business for The Fletcher School at Tufts University, explains what his research means for the 1.3 billion people living in India, and what the future holds for the second largest internet market in the world. Saving lives with a hologram heart A holographic visualisation has been proven to help heart-surgeons operating on children. Jennifer Silva, an associate professor of Paediatric Surgery, and her husband Jon Silva, an associate professor of biomedical engineering, used a Microsoft HoloLens headset to give surgeons real-time information about the electrical signals passing through a patient’s hearts during surgery.Mapping earthquakes with localised EDGE computing Observing natural phenomena like earthquakes and volcanoes relies on data from the earth’s satellite network. As the volume of this satellite data grows it becomes harder for scientists to get it back to Earth. EDGE computing offers a solution. The opposite of cloud computing, it keeps data near the source by processing it on-site and only sending back relevant or interesting information. Digital Planet reporter Hannah Fisher finds out more. (Image: Getty Images) The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson.Studio Manager: Tim Heffer Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

How can we distinguish the online posts written by real people from those coming out of professional bot-farms intent on influencing elections? New research from Princeton University in America uses machine learning to identify malicious online trolls, even before they’ve sent a single tweet. Lead author Meysam Alizadeh explains the power of this work to protect voters in future elections.Gesture-controlled robots Robots can now be controlled by a simple wave of your arm. Professor Daniela Rus from MIT explains how new research has simplified robot controls by using human movement rather than complicated systems of buttons and gear-sticks. The aim is to allow anyone to pilot a robot without requiring any training.Augmented surgery Digital Planet’s Florian Bohr reports from Augmented World Expo USA to discover how the new field of spatial computing can be used in medicine. From doctors with x-ray spectacles to virtual reality surgery training, new visual technologies are promising a big impact on healthcare. The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Angelica Mari.(Image:Getty Images) Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

Using machine learning, researchers analysed 30 million English language tweets from across the world to track the changing global sentiment as the Covid-19 pandemic spread. Lead author of the study, professor May Lwin at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore explains how machine learning found that sentiments of fear in the early months of the pandemic are now outnumbered by anger and hope.Researcher Aretha Mare, from The Next Einstein Forum in Rwanda says the pandemic has put a renewed focus on home grown African initiatives involving Artificial intelligence. Already some novel approaches to testing and tracing have been developed. These could have global impact. The pandemic has made weather forecasting less accurate. Aircraft help forecasters gather changes in data such as temperature, humidity and pressure during the course of a flight. Environmental researcher, Ying Chen explains how fewer commercial flights during the pandemic have affected the amount of data gathered by forecasters. (Image: Getty images) Producer: Julian Siddle

The internet shutdown in Ethiopia has been in place for 2 weeks now. The Ethiopian Government cut internet connectivity following protests over the killing of singer and activist Hachalu Hundessa. The civil society group NetBlocks monitors connectivity around the world. Their Executive Director Alp Toker explains how by controlling mobile telecoms Ethiopian authorities are able to keep a tight grip on internet access. Researchers at Queen Mary University looked at the network traffic data generated by internet-connected home security cameras. Their work flagged up that hackers can get information about your daily routine without looking at any video content from the cameras. Dr Gareth Tyson, lead author of the study, explains how the rate at which cameras upload internet data can predict whether a house is occupied or not.BBC series Springwatch has been using automated wildlife cameras to record animals in areas of interest, such as Woodpecker nests across the UK. They have been training machine learning systems to only recognise when an activity is happening with a particular animal. Gareth speaks to senior BBC Research engineer, Robert Dawes to find out more.(Image:Getty Images) Producer: Julian Siddle

What is Web Science, and why does it matter? The internet is the most complex machine built by humans but it so much more than just the engineering behind it. The internet moves the data around, but the web is the space in which we humans have experiences, think of the web as a sort of super app. We're interested in the underlying technology, in that it facilitates the movement of data that makes the web possible. But from the human side, we're interested in our interaction with each other as made possible by the web, so how do we understand it in its totality rather than thinking about it as a collection of websites? Did the inventors of the internet foresee how it could be used now – as a force of good and change but also as a way of spreading hate and misinformation? By studying Web Science could the internet be made better for humanity in the future? Joining us from the WebSci 2020 Conference are: “Father of the Internet” Vint Cerf, Executive Director, Web Science Institute Wendy Hall, Director of the Ada Lovelace Institute in Cambridge Carly Kind and JP Rangaswami former Chief Data Officer and Head of Innovation of Deutsche Bank Chief Scientist at BT.The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary by Bill Thompson.Studio Manager: Duncan Hannant Producer: Ania LichtarowiczMain image credit: Getty Images

This week Digital Planet explores digital death and how the COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to update our death rituals and move most of our grieving online. We hear from a listener whose mother passed away with her children by her side via Facetime and how they then moved their traditional American-Irish funeral practices online. In India people of all religions are facing huge disruptions to their traditional burials and are taking tech into their own hands to share their experiences. In some developed countries funeral businesses are using cutting edge tech including sophisticated recording set ups in places of worship to bring together mourners from across the world. People are moving more and more online not only with virtual memorials, RFID tags on gravestones and also ceremonies in gaming environments including Animal Crossing. And we find out more about the Reimagine Festival that’s about to start. The now virtual event explores death during COVID-19 and we see how people are determining their digital legacies after they die.Guests include Khyati Tripathi, a PhD student at the University of Delhi, who tells how the restrictions in the pandemic have changed funerals in the country, Candi Cann, Associate Professor of Religion at Baylor University, and co-creator of the Virtual Funeral Collective and Dr Stacey Pitsillides, a Senior Research Fellow at Northumbria University who is organising the virtual festival “Reimagine: Life, Loss, & Love”. The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with studio commentary from Ghislaine Boddington.(Image: Mourners live stream a funeral to family back in Nepal and to those waiting just outside. Credit: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds vis Getty Images) Studio Manager: Jackie Margerum Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

A major problem in laying internet cables in Nigeria is the phenomenal cost of right of way charges – these are local state imposed fees to broadband providers. Ekiti, one of Nigeria’s smallest states, has cut its right of way charges by 96%. It will now cost $374 to lay a kilometre of broadband cable down from $11,600. Tech reporter Yomi Kazeem joins us from Lagos and explains that Ekiti aims to have full broadband access by 2021.Superethics instead of superintelligence Artificial intelligence research is striving towards creating machines that could surpass the human mind, but shouldn’t we focus on technologies that make us wiser instead of smarter? This is the central question in philosopher Pim Haselager’s most recent paper. He explains how we might use technology as moral crutches for ethical behaviour.Solar Batteries storage Renewable technology accounted for a quarter of energy production globally in 2018. It’s expected to rise to 45% by 2040. At the end of last year, the Pavagada solar park, in Karnataka, India, became fully operational. Spanning 53 square kilometres, and with a capacity of over 2000 megawatts, this is the largest solar farm in the world. But basic limitations still exist - what can be done to supply electricity when there isn’t sufficient sunlight? Our reporter, Jason Hosken, has been finding out about some energy storage solutions. (Image: Nigeria network map. Credit: Getty Images) The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson. Studio Manager: Tim Heffer Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

Facial recognition – what’s the future for the tech with the big names pulling out? Most of the big tech companies have now declared they will not sell facial recognition tech to police, but will this mean that police forces will stop using this tech? There are many smaller companies that have so far not declared their intentions and others are clearly breaking the few regulations in place by using people’s images without consent. It’s widely known that facial recognition technology is racially and sexually biased, and there is little, if any, evidence that this tech does help to reduce crime levels. Dr.Stephanie Hare discusses what might now happen with this tech. Online gambling surge during COVID-19 Lockdowns are making many players and gamblers move to online gambling platforms, the big issue here is that they do not come under strict regulations like their real world counterparts. Silvia Lazzaris and Katie Kropshofer report on this growing problem. Can you protect a rising number of online gamblers, many of whom suffer from addiction and are bunkered in their homes, from targeted advertising and fraud? And how can regulation catch up with this sudden shift to the online world? Will gaze tech replace touch tech in times of the pandemic? As computer processing speeds continue to increase, so does the versatility and accuracy of gaze tech – using your eyes instead of a computer mouse or touchpad. Dr. David Souto, from the University of Leicester, explains that as our eye muscles do not tire this technology has untapped benefits. His work is part of the British Academy Virtual Summer Showcase which goes live online this week.The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington.(Image: Human face recognition scanning system illustration. Credit: Getty Images) Studio Manager: John Boland Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

Sophia Smith-Galer reports on algorithm activism – ways of boosting protests online. With many people forced to protest digitally because of the pandemic, digital protesting, especially by young people, is the most accessible form of demonstrating support and prompting change. Sophia looks at new ways this is being done during the Black Lives Matter protests around the world.The biggest robotics conference ever… …is now virtual, just like so many other events. But this has led to more people attending than ever before and from many more lower income countries too. We hear from one team in California who are using drones to take the bus when delivering packages.Fake news during Covid-19 Since the pandemic started, many of us have found ourselves interacting less with the outside world and spending more time online. A survey by British and Dutch researchers is now looking into whether this move online has caused us to be more susceptible to fake news and misinformation. What makes one person more likely to believe a conspiracy theory than another? Professor Bas Groes tells Gareth how they are trying to find out.The presenter is Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary by Bill Thompson.(Image: Social media apps on a mobile phone. Credit: Getty Images) Studio Manager: Matilda MacariProducer: Ania Lichtarowicz

The number of COVID-19 cases continues to increase in Brazil, but access to digital services is getting harder for many of the country’s poorest residents. Emergency aid and state health advice about the virus are only available online, leaving those without internet access with no help at all. Digital Planet’s Angelica Mari explains the situation in Brazil’s favelas and talks about a number of community projects trying to bridge the technology gap.Mixed reality in Covid-19 wards Over recent months, some hospitals in London have radically reduced the amount of healthcare workers coming into contact with Covid-19. Thanks to mixed reality headsets, only one doctor needs to be at the patient’s bedside while the rest of the medical team sees the same field of view from a different location. Gareth speaks to Dr. James Kinross and Dr. Guy Martin from Imperial College London about how this tech has helped improve working conditions.3D printing face masks Shortages of face masks are a common issue around the globe. Could 3D printing be the solution? A firm in Chile has developed an open source design using the natural antimicrobial properties of copper. Meanwhile, a shoe factory in the United States has switched to printing masks for healthcare workers. Digital Planet’s Jane Chambers reports. The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with studio commentary from Ghislaine Boddington. (Image credit: Getty Images) Studio Manager: John BolandProducer: Ania Lichtarowicz

Hacking internet-enabled cars About 40% of cars in the US are connected to the internet. While this enables many useful functions, it also makes them vulnerable to hacks. As all the electronics systems within the car are connected, hackers could take full control of the vehicle. Skanda Vivek tells Gareth how this is possible, and what would happen if a large number of cars were hacked at the same time.Covid-19 treatment trials in AI It is possible to do drug trials in vitro and in vivo – but what about simulating them? The Cambridge-based company AI VIVO uses machine learning and AI to model diseased cells and their potential treatments. For Covid-19, they screened 90,000 different compounds to find out which drugs could be effective against the virus. Could this be a new way to discover drug treatments? Gareth speaks to David Cleevely to find out how it works.Mobile phone rain forecast for farmers Farmers with small holdings in developing countries often do not benefit from new technologies, but a tech project in Pakistan has managed to help drastically reduce their water consumption. Farmers receive text messages about when it is going to rain and whether they should irrigate their crops, generating an average of 40% in water savings. Roland Pease has been finding out more. The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson.(Image: Traffic jam on multilane road. Credit: iStock / Getty Images Plus) Studio Manager: Duncan Hannant Producer: Alex Mansfield

Across the globe, learning has been transformed over the last few months, often with the help of specialised tech. More and more educational technology, or EdTech for short, is entering the market. But how do governments, schools, and teachers know which tools and platforms to use? And how do countries with limited resources choose the best tech for their needs? Gareth is joined by Joysy John from NESTA and Susan Nicolai, from the Edtech Hub, to find out.Bot or not? With so many of us socialising and working online it becomes more important than ever to know whether we are talking to a real person or a computer-generated bot. A study from Carnegie Mellon University showed that 45.5% of users tweeting about coronavirus have bot characteristics. A new Mozilla-funded project called “Bot or Not” invites visitors to take part in a modern-day Turing test. One of the creators, Agnes Cameron, tells us about the project, bots online, and how to spot them. Lockdown views As many people are forced to stay at home we look at how some are using tech to keep looking out on the world. Many are flocking to online webcams to observe serene nature scenes or unusually empty streets in the tourist hot spots of the world. Jacqui Kenny has long used Google Street View to visit foreign places due to her fear of open spaces. She talks about her new photobook and how machine learning may help her find new images to capture. The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with studio commentary by Ghislaine Boddington.(Image: Getty Images) Studio Manager: Donald McDonald Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

In Spain, there are a total of nine COVID-19 tracing apps, but is this too many? Which type is preferable and does there need to be a more coordinated technology across Europe to track COVID-19? Digital Planet reporter Jennifer O’Mahony ask these questions and more on the programme.Ovarian cancer and AI In the final of our reports from the Cambridge Science Festival, Gareth and Bill meet Dr. Mireia Crispin Ortuzar. She researches AI that analyses radiographic images to help choose and track treatment for ovarian cancer. In the long-term, this type of technology could lead to more personalised medicine in response to cancer and, perhaps, in other fields of medicine as well.Robotic Ventilators At MIT, a team of scientists and engineers have developed a low-cost, open-source robotic hand that can operate manual ventilators. It could help fill the shortage of mechanical ventilators for Covid-19 patients across the globe, particularly in developing countries. Professor Daniela Rus tells Gareth how this new tech works. The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson.Studio Manager: Jackie Margerum(Image: Covid-19 tracing. Credit: iStock / Getty Images Plus) Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz