Digital Planet

On Digital Planet’s final ever show we discuss the legacy of Gordon Moore, the father of transistors and creator of Moore’s law.

Special guests this week are Angelica Mari and Ghislaine Boddington.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson.

Studio Manager: Bob Nettles Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

Could 3D-printing be serving us up a tasty food revolution, or is it the ultimate in gimmicky processed foods taking us yet further away from natural eating? In the kitchen, a 3D-printer builds up customised tasty treats like exotic cheesecakes, layer by layer, using edible pastes, gels and liquids. The results look delicious, and delicate, and can be tweaked to suit the individual’s specific nutritional needs. The latest possibilities are one of the main courses in the latest issue of npj Science of Food. One of the article’s authors is Dr Jonathan Blutinger worked at the Creative Machines Lab at Columbia University in New York where the research was carried out.

Jimmy Wales on AI and its impact on Wikipedia In our second interview with Wikipedia Founder Jimmy Wales, Gareth asks about the balkanisation of the internet and how ChatGPT and other AI tech could impact Wikipedia.

Bollywood and the multiverse India is now officially the most populated country in the world and everything there is measured in huge numbers. Take film, for example. With nearly two thousand films made each year in over 20 regional languages, India produces the most films worldwide. And Bollywood is just a part of it. This year marks 110 years since the first Indian feature movie was made - ‘Raja Harishchandra’, a silent movie by legendary Dadasaheb Phalke. Since then Indian film has come a long way, winning an Oscar in two categories at the Academy Awards this year. Our reporter Snezana Curcic recently went to Mumbai, the city where it all started. She’s explored how digitalisation has disrupted and affected the industry and Indian film audiences in recent years.

Pod EXTRA: A make-up applying app for the visually impaired How would you feel about applying make-up for a date or an important meeting without the aid of a mirror? Well, if you're blind or visually impaired, that's effectively a situation you might find yourself in on a regular basis. But now it seems help could be at hand. A new app called the Voice Enabled Makeup Assistant has been developed by the International cosmetics company Estee Lauder. So will it help if you're a blind dater, or is it all just lip service. Our reporter, Fern Lulham takes up the story.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington.

Studio Manager: Giles Aspen Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: 3D-printed cheesecake using edible food inks, including peanut butter, Nutella, and strawberry. Credit: Jonathan Blutinger/Columbia Engineering)

Digital Planet caught up with Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales. In the first of two interviews with Gareth, Jimmy explains why Wikipedia was restricted in Pakistan recently and how they overcame the block. And he gives his thoughts on Twitter’s plans to stop the bots and banish its free API.

6G – what we can expect Professor Sana Salous, Chair of Communications Engineering at Durham University is about to submit her latest recommendations for the implementation of 6G connectivity to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). She’s on the show to explain how this will change the way we communicate and tells Gareth that we should be connected to 6G by 2030.

Computer labs for schoolchildren in rural Kenya Nelly Cheboi’s nonprofit, TechLit Africa, has provided thousands of students across rural Kenya with access to donated, upcycled computers - and the chance for a brighter future. When she began working in the software industry, she realised that there are many computers that are thrown away as companies upgrade their technology infrastructure. So, together with a fellow software engineer they founded TechLit Africa. The students not only get upcycled computers but are also learning various skills such as coding. Wairimu Gitahi reports from Nairobi.

Podcast Extra Following months of debate and discussion about what caused Gareth’s motorbike key fob to malfunction near a major TV transmitter, Imperial College and Durham University engineers have joined forces to establish what actually happened. Please do listen as we have a definitive answer.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Angelica Mari.

Studio Manager: Tim Heffer Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: Wikipedia logo seen on screen of laptop through magnifying glass. Photo by Altan Gocher/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)

It may seem that in some countries surveillance cameras are everywhere – recording almost our every move. We are using fingerprints and facial recognition to get access to our banking, work emails and even our healthcare systems. Alongside this rise in use comes a rapid increase in biometric data gathering, spurred on by contact tracing apps during Covid-19. But where is this very personal data going, who is using it and how.

We bring together a panel of experts to discuss what’s happening now and what’s next for our biometric data – shouldn’t we be the ones in control of our own digital identity? Contributing expert Ghislaine Boddington will shed light on these questions and will be joined by Dr Stephanie Hare, author of Technology is Not Neutral: A Short Guide to Technology Ethics, Alice Thwaite, founder of the Hattusia consultancy and The Echo Chamber Club a philosophical research institute, and BBC China Editor Howard Zhang are all on the show.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington.

Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz Sound: Andrew Garratt

(Illustration: A fingerprint scanner is integrated into a printed circuit. Credit: Surasak Suwanmake/Getty Images)

As Ukraine enters the second year of the full-scale Russian invasion, we hear about an app through which citizens can help alert defence authorities of air attacks. To help prevent future attacks, the country’s Air Defence Forces want people to use their phones to report hostile airborne objects. Simply install an app, point your handset at the object, select the category – say a drone or a missile - and press the button. It means observers on the ground can pick up objects flying too low for radar detection. Gareth speaks to one of the app’s developers, Gennadiy Suldin of the tech start up NGO Technari.

Supercomputing predicting weather in Brazil – has it worked? The clear up continues in Sao Paulo following last week’s devastating floods and landslides, which have claimed dozens of lives. But could these extreme weather events have been better predicted with supercomputers? Angelica Mari has been asking if Brazil’s supercomputers are super enough?

Spotting illegal farms in Taiwan with citizen tech With 1500 hectares of farmland lost to illegal usage each year in Taiwan, an environmental advocacy group tried to find ways of bringing this attention to the wider public. Stuck for what to do and not wanting to use conventional means like petitions, they turned to Taiwan’s volunteer technology community for inspiration. Shiroma Silva went to find out more for Digital Planet.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Angelica Mari. Studio Manager: Giles Aspen Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: A drone approaches for an attack in Kyiv on 17 October 2022. Credit: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images)

After the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Northern Syria, how do you collate data to aid those coordinating the disaster response? Cecilia Utas from DEEP (Data Entry and Exploration Platform) explains how important data is in disaster relief and crisis management. And Aziz Şasa from the Turkish Amateur Radio Association also explains the vital role of amateur radio as a key communication method in the region after the earthquake.

High altitude communication platforms After multiple objects have been shot down in US airspace, Professor David Grace from the University of York is on the show to talk Gareth through these high-altitude communication and surveillance platforms. The devices serve many purposes and take many different forms, from balloons to airships.

Electricity from human waste In the village of Lelo in South Western Kenya, 21 year old Vincent Odero is harnessing electricity from a surprising source – human waste. Using the warmth from human waste in a pit, he is making enough electricity to power his home. Wairimu Gitahi went to meet Vincent and to see his invention in action.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington. Studio Manager: Andrew Garratt Producer: Hannah Fisher

Image: Digital earthquake wave with circle vibration illustration Credit: Varunya/Getty Images

Within hours of the magnitude 7.8 earthquake across Turkey and northern Syria, the internet in Turkey was partially shutdown. And it wasn’t just because of damage to network infrastructure from the quake itself, but Twitter was blocked, as the authorities raised concerns over misinformation online.

Internet shutdowns are used by governments around the world to control people’s access to information, for example during protests, but also somewhat surprisingly to prevent cheating during public examinations.

Shutting down the internet costs individuals and countries huge amounts of money. The TopTenVPN annual report which analysed every major intentional internet shutdown in 2022 has revealed that they cost a world economy, already reeling from a number of shocks, a further $24 billion.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson. Studio Manager: Michael Millham Producer: Alun Beach

(Image: Keyboard lit up in red in the dark. Credit: Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

What is happening with API’s, more commonly known as bots, on Twitter? The platform is set to eliminate free access to its APIs this Thursday, although there appears to have been some backtracking following announcements that bots providing “good content” will have access to the Twitter API for free. Tech writer, broadcaster and bot user and creator Kate Bevan will be on the show with the latest. The right to disconnect Kenya is the latest country to propose a new law that will block employers from interrupting their staff during their time off. The Employment Amendment Bill aims to give Kenyans “the right to disconnect in the digital age” and protect them from working out of hours, at weekends and public holidays – often for no additional pay. Nairobi based tech reporter Wairimu Gitahi is on the show.

Tech that tells you when fruit is ripe Harvesting a crop at the correct time is vital to ensure higher profits for the farmer and also to reduce food waste. Reporter Rani Singh has met two entrepreneurs in India who have developed a device that checks 19 vegetable and fruits for ripeness, texture and taste – just by scanning their skin. The handheld device checks the chemical composition e.g. sugar levels of fruits and veg and can tell if there has been damage from insects or disease.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson. Studio Manager: Michael Millham Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: Twitter headquarters in San Francisco, California Credit: David Odisho/Stringer/Getty Images)

One of the main causes of maternal mortality during childbirth is that the baby cannot be delivered vaginally, most likely because it is not positioned correctly in the womb. Without a plethora of medical equipment and training to check the baby’s position, midwives and doctors in developing countries struggle to reposition the baby safely. Scientists at UCL have developed a smart glove that links to an app, which in lab tests appears to be able to correctly identify the position of a baby’s head and how much pressure is being applied to it. The glove costs $1, making it an affordable solution in developing countries. Dr Shireen Jaufuraully and Carmen Salvadores Fernandez of University College London, lead authors on the study, explain their work so far.

Photometric-stereo 3D imaging reveals secrets of the past At the Bodleian Library in Oxford, England, a series of previously little studied copper plates is now, finally, giving up its secrets after three hundred years. The shallow engravings on the copper have become worn and difficult to read after more than three centuries. So, researchers are picking out relief on the metals surface by moving a light around, to draw out the shadows and give contrast. Except, this is a moveable virtual lamp, thanks to some clever 3D imaging. Hannah Fisher has been to the library to find out more about the ARCHiOx project.

Wi-fi seeing through walls Scientists at Carnegie Mellon University are able to detect the 3D shape and movements of human bodies in a room, using only WiFi routers. The WiFi method overcomes problems with cameras e.g. poor light. The tech could be used to monitor elderly people at home or check on intruders. Professor Fernando De La Torre Frade and Dr Dong Huang from Carnegie Mellon University tell Gareth more.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson. Studio Manager: Tim Heffer Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Photo: Smart glove embedded with a sensor on the fingertip of the index finger. Credit: Wellcome/EPSRC Centre for Interventional and Surgical Sciences)

In the summer of 2021 Kazakhstan was the second biggest producer of Bitcoin in the world, but what has happened since the crypto currency crash? Tech reporter Peter Guest is on the show to tell us about his trip to the country and how mega warehouses that once contained the computing power to make crypto millions now stand empty in the country’s rust belt. He tells us the story of the rise and fall of the bitcoin miners in this remote part of the world.

Wearable tech, AI and potential new treatments for rare diseases Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and Friedreich's ataxia (FA) are very rare genetic diseases neither of which has a cure. Now scientists and engineers in the UK have used motion sensors to capture the way patients move. They processed this data through new AI medical technology that they say can predict disease progression and significantly increase the efficiency of clinical trials in these conditions. Treatments are desperately needed as both diseases can lead to paralysis and currently there are often not enough patients for clinical trials. Dr. Valeria Ricotti, honorary clinical lecturer at the UCL GOS ICH and lead author of the studies is on the show to tell us more.

Sony’s new game controller for disabled gamers Our gaming correspondent Chris Berrow reports on Sony’s new “Project Leonardo”, its PlayStation 5 controller for disabled gamers. The company teamed up with accessibility experts and charities to design the modular controller which can be adapted in many different ways to allow as many people as possible to use it. Launched at CES it still doesn’t have a release date or price though.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington. Studio Manager: Duncan Hannant Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: Huge transformers and high tension cable to power bitcoin mines in Kazakhstan. Credit: peterguest.co)

MIT researchers have concluded in a new study that computers that power self-driving cars could generate as many greenhouse gas emissions as the total of the world’s data centres do today. We’ve reported many times on the huge carbon footprint of data centres as well as the massive amounts of electricity needed to run them. They currently account for 0.3% of global greenhouse gas emissions – a similar level to Argentina - according to the International Energy Agency. The models created show that 1 billion autonomous vehicles, driving for one hour a day each, need a computer consuming 840 watts. These would consume enough energy to generate similar emissions as data centres currently do. Lead author Soumya Sudhakar joins us on the show to explain how hardware efficiency will need to advance rapidly to avoid these high levels of emissions.

Brazil’s antisocial media Following last week’s events in Brasilia we look at the role social media played in the violence by far-right protestors. Angelica Mari, and activist and researcher Bruna Martins dos Santos who specialises in the Politics of Digitalization discuss if President Lula’s new government can reclaim the social media space and curb the spread of far right disinformation.

Getting South Africa connected – a new initiative Last week we heard from one of our listeners about how he tries to stay online during power shortages in Ukraine following Russian air strikes. Another country that is significantly affected by energy shortages is South Africa. In addition, getting a reliable internet connection is also very hard. The government has announced that it’s going to spend over 160 million dollars over the next three years creating 33,000 community Wi-Fi hotspots as well as investing in improving IT skills across the population. Our reporter Rani Singh has been looking at how this might be achieved…

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Angelica Mari. Studio Manager: Michael Millham Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: Stylised car icon. Credit: Smartboy10/Getty Images)

One of our listeners in Ukraine contacted us to tell us how he stays online during power outages following bombing in Ukraine. Volodymyr Bielikov is on the show to explain the issues he’s regularly facing with internet connectivity.

AI avatars undressed and virtual employees Ghislaine Boddington looks at the alarming story of how a young female reporter created avatars in the AI avatar app Lensa and was shocked to find that out of 100 avatars, 16 were topless and another 14 wore very skimpy clothing and were in provocative poses. Why has this app created astronauts and warrior avatars for her male colleagues and is undressing her avatars? Ghislaine also looks at the rising employment of virtual staff. The tech company Baidu says the number of virtual people projects its working on has doubled in the last year with prices of a virtual employee starting at just under $3k. Why are they becoming popular and what jobs are they being used for? Evelyn Cheng, senior correspondent from cnbc.com in Beijing, has been investigating the story.

An AI age verification system Age verification has long been a topic of discussion, particularly in the online space with regards to young people who often don’t have verifiable ID such as a driver’s licence. Now a promising AI powered age estimation system, called YOTI, which analyses a person’s face is gaining popularity. Shiroma Silva has been testing it out on her colleagues – including Gareth – and reports how some major platforms are using it to keep younger users safe online.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington. Studio Manager: Tim Heffer Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: Power outage, blackout in Ukraine. Credit: Anton Petrus/Getty Images)

This week and to start the New Year we take a look at the use of technology in agriculture around the world. Agriculture as an industry is keen to clean up its act on emissions, so what could be better than an electric tractor. But will it be able to manage all that farming throws at it? Gareth puts the questions to Praveen Penmetsa who is co-founder and CEO of Monarch Tractors which recently launched a ‘Smart Tractor’.

It’s no use having a tractor smart or not, if your crop has been devastated by insects. Pests destroy up to 40 percent of global crops and cost 220 billion US dollars of losses worldwide annually, according to The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the FAO. Matej Stefancic the Chief Executive Officer of Trapview a Slovenian company, has developed intelligent insect traps. He explains to Gareth how they monitor bugs in the field, in an effort to cut the need for indiscriminate use of insecticides.

And once you’ve grown your crop you need to harvest it, and in the case of soft fruit it needs careful picking and packing for the market. With a shortage of skilled labour around the world a robot picker capable of matching a human would be ideal. Well, one developed in Britain is currently doing just that on a farm in Portugal, and fruit picked by it could be on sale in supermarkets very soon. The academic founder and Chief Science Officer of Fieldwork Robotics Martin Stoelen is the brains behind this robot and he explains to Gareth the challenges involved in developing it.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson.

Studio Manager: Steve Greenwood Producers: Ania Lichtarowicz and Alun Beach

(Image: Smart Farming graphic Credit: Jackie Niam/Getty Images)

We’re looking back on the technology year that was 2022. We go firstly to Ukraine to look at the booming tech industry before the war and discuss how that is doing now. Also how the cybersecurity declaration signed in Africa is already leading to the beginnings of a legal and regulatory framework across the continent. There was trouble for visually impaired patients using an implant to improve their sight – with some of the hardware becoming obsolete and finally the amazing popularity of flight tracking apps.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington, Angelica Mari and Bill Thompson. Studio Manager: Donald MacDonald Producers: Ania Lichtarowicz and Alun Beach

(Image: Getty Images)

More than 8 million unregistered SIM cards have been blocked in Ghana. The Ministry of Communications and Digitisation set a final deadline for mobile phone users to link their SIM card to their identification cards and now those who have not been able to register cannot use their SIMS. Opposition parties and civil liberties groups are protesting as the SIM needs to be registered with the biometric Ghana Card. The scheme has been full of delays, but it looks as though the government is standing firm this time. BBC reporter in Accra Thomas Naadi is on the show.

Heart attack on a chip Researchers at the University of Southern California have developed a “heart attack on a chip” to ultimately test new drugs and even personalise medicines. Prof Megan McCain and Dr Megan Rexius-Hall speak to Gareth about how the chip can monitor oxygen imbalances that happen in the heart during an attack. The heart muscle doesn’t regenerate as well as other tissue in the body, meaning patients are often tired and do not recover to the previous levels of fitness. The chip will allow researchers to watch a ‘heart attack’ as it happens, which isn’t possible in animals, and see how damage is being done. They hope to be able to monitor and see how the cells on the chip respond to different concentrations of oxygen as this too cannot be studied in animals or humans.

The end of hard copy games? Nowadays, video games are getting so big, that you can't even fit them onto a CD anymore! In fact physical copies of the latest Call of Duty Game - Modern Warfare II, were essentially links to download the game, which is a massive 130 gigabytes! Our gaming reporter Chris Berrow has been finding out if it really is the end of physical games.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson.

Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz Studio Manager: Michael Millham

(Photo: SIM cards. Credit: Getty Images)

One of the biggest platforms in South East Asia, which is as popular as Google, YouTube and Facebook, has stopped bank transfer payments. Users have reported money missing from their accounts – the transactions should have been secured with a one-time passcode but according to social media they we processed without permission. Shopee have now stopped customers from linking their accounts to the platform directly. The company also denies they were hacked and that they had taken the decision to stop bank transfers last month. It also says that the customers were probably victims of phishing scams. The BBC’s Tossapol Chaisamritpol has been covering the story and joins us from the Bangkok Bureau.

Facial recognition plans dropped in Sao Paulo – for now Plans for the controversial facial recognition surveillance system in Sao Paulo have been scrapped – at least for now. Twenty thousand cameras, half of which had facial recognition capabilities, were to be erected across the city – making it one of the largest facial recognition rollouts in the world. Much opposition from civil liberty groups – who claim that the system would allow the city authorities to track people’s activities on social media with the data they gathered through the cameras – has forced this announcement. However, many people fear this may just be a postponement. Angelica Mari explains more.

3D printed violins Imagine printing a violin in library for just $7US? That’s what Dr. Mary-Elizabeth Brown, the Director of Montreal-based AVIVA Young Artists Program, has managed to do. The instrument at this cost is suitable for a young child to play, and full size instruments can be 3D printed but with industrial printers, not ones we have at home or in local libraries. Dr. Brown is on the show to explain the technology behind the printing and why she is determined to make learning musical instruments much more accessible.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Angelica Mari.

Studio Manager: Bob Nettles Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: Getty Images)

Due to climate change cyclones are increasing in frequency and intensity. Data available to study these weather phenomena though is quite scare, so a new project at Imperial College in London, hopes to harness the computing power of people’s mobile phones to create a virtual supercomputer and create a massive public database of simulated cyclone models to help predict future events. Professor Ralf Toumi, Co-Director of Grantham Institute, is leading the project and is on the show. Listeners are being invited to take part by downloading the Dreamlab app to help process the billions of calculations needed for the project.

What is the Fediverse? If you’re on twitter then you’ve probably heard of Mastodon, you may even have moved onto it. It’s the largest service on what is known as the Fediverse. We speak with Cindy Cohn, the Executive Director of the Electronic Freedom Foundation to find out what the Fediverse is and why we should be part of its growth. It’s not a single social media platform like Twitter or Facebook. It’s an growing network of entwinned social media sites and services that you can interact with even if you don’t have an account for each one. The big difference here is that the Fediverse isn’t owned by big tech giants or multibillionaires – Cindy Cohn argues “You don’t fix a dictatorship by getting a better dictator. You have to get rid of the dictator. This moment offers the promise of moving to a better and more democratic social media landscape.”

An app that helps you buy medicines if you’re blind The tiny print on medicine packet instructions is hard to read for many people, and for those people with low literacy skills, learning disabilities like dyslexia, impaired sight or who are blind it can be impossible. Now the Seeing AI app – a joint project between Haleon and Microsoft- has been upgraded to be able to read out loud the detailed information on more than 1500 products across the UK and US. Our reporter Fern Lulham has been testing out the new functionality of the app.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson.

Studio Manager: Tim Heffer Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: Getty Images)

Researchers at MIT have made significant steps toward creating robots that could practically and economically assemble nearly anything, including things much larger than themselves, from vehicles to buildings to larger robots. Many objects could be built from tiny identical lightweight pieces e.g. an airplane wing or a racing car, and this latest work is a big step towards a fully autonomous self-replicating robot assembly system. Two of the authors are Professor Neil Gershenfeld, Director of the Centre for Bits and Atoms, and doctoral student Amira Abdel-Rahman, they explain how these robots self-assemble.

War of words on Wikipedia.

We’ve reported on the disinformation on the War in Ukraine on Twitter and Facebook, now reporter Shiroma Silva looks at what’s happening on Wikipedia. From paid editing, harassment of editors and using multiple online identities to push certain messages, Wikipedia entries are being pushed towards a pro-Kremlin stance. It’s not the first time that these coordinated activities have happened. Last year the Wikimedia Foundation banned seven editors linked to a mainland China group for editing articles with the objective of promoting “the aims of China”, potentially threatening the very foundations of Wikipedia.

Can AI predict suicide risk?

Predicting if someone is at risk of suicide is incredibly difficult and increasingly researchers are attempting to train AI to be able to do this. However with data bias and complex medical histories of patients the AI being developed are not yet reliable. Even if accurate machine learning can be created, will there be services in place for those patients identified as being at high risk of suicide? Much needs to be considered before this type of diagnosis is used in patient care. Joseph Early from Southampton University and Karen Kusuma from the Black Dog Institute at the University of South Wales in Australia explain more.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington.

Image: MIT - Swarm Robot Courtesy of the researchers at MIT

Studio Manager: Bob Nettles Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

What is happening with Twitter and what can we expect? Bill Thompson give us his assessment while Angelica Mari discusses the how the new direction of the platform

Pix payments two years on PIX payments have revolutionised how people in Brazil use money – especially the 40 million of the population who are unbanked. We discuss with Fintech expert David Birch why Pix has been so successful and where does it go from here.

What’s new in WhatsApp Angelica Mari brings us up to date with WhatsApp’s latest plans for one of its biggest markets. It aims to bring "everything that matters to business and consumers" into its app. WhatsApp is central to people's lives in places like India and Brazil, and the company want to monetise that by taking people of browsers and allowing them to complete transactions from start to finish on the app. Could this signal the end of some apps e.g. food delivery apps?

Can video games improve your memory? Parents often worry about the harmful impacts of video games on their children, whether it's staying indoors too much, or the impact of the online world on their mental health. But a large new study in America indicates that there may also be benefits associated with the gaming – although the work does pose many more questions than it answers. Our gaming reporter Chris Berrow has been finding out more.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Angelica Mari.

Image: Twitter logo displayed on a phone screen. Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Studio Manager: Bob Nettles Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

We hear about a new plan to drive economies and improve lives across Africa – the Open Internet project between the continent and the EU. A report “The Open Internet as Cornerstone of Digitalisation” is funded by the EU and points out in detail what needs to done to secure easy, reliable and cheap online access without which development will simply stall. We speak to two of the report’s authors – one from the EU and the other from Africa.

Monitoring Mangroves in the Pakistan Indus Delta Mangrove forests are hugely impacted by climate change and monitoring them from space with satellites doesn’t deliver enough data to know fully how they are being impacted by rising temperatures and sea levels. Now a pilot project in the Indus River Delta, just south of Karachi in Pakistan, has used drones to image the mangroves allowing the researchers to study one of the world’s largest forests. The project’s director Obaid Rehman is on the show to tell us about their work and also how these mangrove forests can be used for carbon capture. He says their work should lead to more plantations of the forest too.

The talk at Web Summit 2022 Technology gatherings are back in full swing and Web Summit in Portugal is one of the biggest. This year’s conference was at full capacity and tech reporter Jane Wakefield joined the queues to see what was preoccupying the tech industry as 2022 draws to an end – and the big thing appears to be the Metaverse.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington.

Studio Manager: Tim Heffer Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: Getty Images)

A new report shows how the authorities in Iran can track and control protestors phones. An investigation by The Intercept news organisation has found that mobile phone coverage is being switched from a healthy 5G or 4G network to slow and clunky 2G coverage when protestors gather. This means they no longer can communicate using encrypted messages or calls on their smartphones and instead have to rely up traditional phone calls or SMS messages which can be intercepted and understood easily. This, according to the report is being done by a web programme. One of reports authors Sam Biddle, a journalist specialising in the misuse of power in technology, is on the programme.

Policing the metaverse Imagine being attacked in virtual reality – will the experience be as traumatic as in real life? Perhaps not yet but in the near future if we are living as least part of our live in the Metaverse, crime will also be part of the virtual life. But currently there is little if no protection if a crime committed against our virtual selves. Now Europol – the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation – has published a report into Policing the Metaverse. Journalist Emma Woollacott has been reading the report and she explains the many perils that we could face and also how we need to act now to manage these crimes in the Metaverse.

Hollyplus -a digital twin AI that sings anything you want to (even if you can’t!) Imagine being able to sing any song you like – and in any language you choose – even in musical styles that you have never studied? That’s now possible thanks to artist, musician and composer Holly Herndon. She has trained a computer algorithm to sing like her – the cloned voice can sing in any language or style she chooses – even extending her own vocal range. The project is called Hollyplus and the digital twin has just released its version of Dolly Parton’s song Jolene. The real Holly explains how she’s done this.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson.

Studio Manager: Sue Maillot Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: Protest in Iran. Credit: Getty Images)

Elon Musk completed on a 44-billion-dollar takeover of Twitter last week. He’s expressed the want to restructure the platform and create a digital ‘town square’, a potential space for free speech, growth and learning. But defining freedom of speech is a minefield, and some parties are afraid that Elon’s vision could provide opportunity for greater disinformation and misinformation. Gareth and Becky Hogge speculate as to whether Twitter can ever fulfil the digital idealism that many first dreamt of at the conception of the internet.

As social media platforms have become ever more adept at seeking out and closing bots, a thriving underground ecosystem has grown up where people make a living from setting up multiple fake accounts. Clients buy their services through so called ‘click farms’ that sell packages of likes and shares. For a few dollars a celeb, a business or a politician can simply buy a big following, and influence. A new report highlights the stories of the largely exploited gig economy workers behind the clicks. One of the authors is Rafael Grohmann of University of Toronto, Canada.

At the Digital Doorstep is a recent report that shines the spotlight on the manner in which novel doorbell cameras alter the behaviour and management of delivery drivers. Harrison Lewis speaks to the authors, Eve Zelickson and Aiha Nguyen from Data and Society, to find out how some of our doorsteps have become a social enigma; where does surveillance belong on private property when that same space also acts as a work place for others?

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington.

Studio Manager: Bob Nettles Producer: Harrison Lewis

(Image: Elon Musk 'Chief Twit' Photo Illustration. Credit: Getty Images)

The Biden administration announced a monumental policy shift earlier this month, set to limit and control the exportation of artificial intelligence and semiconductor technologies to China. The restrictions will block leading U.S. chip designers from accessing the Chinese market; selling goods that form the backbone of AI and supercomputing. Gregory Allen from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies explains how these actions could potentially ‘strangle’ large segments of the Chinese technology industry.

Whilst access to the World Wide Web becomes ever more integral to modern day life, the digital divide is growing. Those residing in Africa and the Americas appear to have the least affordable, least reliable and slowest internet. Elena Babarskaite at Surfshark, a VPN service company located in the Netherlands, unpicks their latest investigation into our Digital Quality of Life.

In one Ghana household, an AI powered chatbot tutor called Rori, developed by Rising Academies, helps its student stay up to date with his favourite subject, maths. Lucinda Rouse hears how this smart teacher, available through Whatsapp, could soon reach 200,000 children across West Africa, bypassing expensive tuition fees.

(Image: Semiconductor and circuit board. Credit: Getty Images)

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson

Studio Manager: Giles Aspen Producer: Harrison Lewis

The WEEE forum estimates that of the 16 billion mobile phones in the world about 5.3bn will no longer be in use this year. Despite being packed with precious metals like gold, silver and palladium and other recyclable parts most will not be disposed of properly. This mountain of e-waste (that if piled on top of each other would reach 120 times higher than the International Space Station) is only part of e-waste problem with other small consumer electronics e.g. remotes, headphones, clocks, irons etc., being hoarded in even greater numbers than mobiles. Magdalena Charytanowicz from the WEEE forum is on the show and explains the magnitude of the problem and how it needs to be tackled.

100 years of the BBC As the BBC starts its 100th anniversary celebrations, we have a report from BBC Northampton’s Martin Heath, who is spending the day at the site of the Daventry transmitting station at Borough Hill. Martin tells us about the history of the station (it was initially was used for long wave, and short wave broadcasting and closed in 1992) and we also speak to one of the engineers who worked there about the technology used.

The biggest radio telescope in the Northern Hemisphere The NOEMA radio telescope is now the most powerful radio telescope in the northern hemisphere. Twelve antennas in the French Alps will simultaneously detect and measure a large number of signatures of molecules and atoms. More than 5000 scientists from across the world will now be able to observe stars being born, comets, black holes and light from cosmic objects that has been travelling to Earth for more than 13 billion years. We find out about the tech that is making this possible.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Angelica Mari.

Studio Manager: Gayl Gordon Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Ukraine has faced internet outages since missile attacks restarted on Monday -a drop of more than 20% was recorded yesterday by The Internet Observatory Netblocks. This loss of connectivity is not thought to be due to cyber attacks but more about physical attacks on power infrastructure. Director of Netblocks, Alp Toker, is on the show to explain what’s happened.

The boom in mobile money in Somalia Despite the worst drought in 40 years, Somalians are embracing mobile money to the point that it’s replacing formal currency. Without a central bank following the collapse of the government, the country was flooded with counterfeit money, this led to mobile money becoming popular. Two thirds of payments now being made via mobiles with 73% of the population over the age of 16 using mobile money services. Aid agencies are using the services to get money to remote rural populations in al-Shabab controlled areas impacted by the drought. We speak to Quartz East Africa Correspondent Tom Collins and Dean of Economics at SIMAD University in Mogadishu, Abdinur Ali Mohamed.

Pass me that lobster: Conjuring up the metaverse On Tuesday Meta announce their metaverse plans. The sheer volume of images needed to fill the metaverse for it to be a success cannot be left to big tech if the metaverse is going to be a success. The metaverse will also have to rely on the next generation image making tools to fill the space for everyone who wants to use it in the way they want to use it . Bill Thompson explains how we will be able to take a lobster out of our backpack in the VR future.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson.

Studio Manager: Michael Millham Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image credit: Getty Images)

In 2020 more than 40% of the world’s population was not using the internet, with many more women being unable to get online. Now a new global study into digital access in 90 countries shows that although women were disproportionately impacted by the Covid pandemic, it seems to have got more of them online in South East Asia and Africa. In these two parts of the world, the study shows progress in terms of bridging the gap between men and women and access to tech and the internet. While, historically, 90% of transactions in India were done by cash, the researchers say the pandemic forced more people to turn to digital payments for everyday items including food and other goods. In many parts of South East Asia, including India, many women are doing most of the shopping. The combination paved the way for progress and highlights a unique instance where the pandemic benefited women in these regions. Additionally, now equipped with their own digital wallets, women are afforded more agency over their finances. The progress in gender parity was seen in sub-Saharan Africa (8% improvement from 2019-2021), the Middle East and North Africa (6%), and South Asia (3%). We speak to Tufts University researchers who carried out the work, the dean of Global Business, Bhaskar Chakravorti, and research manager Christina Filipovic.

War Games: Real Conflicts/Virtual Worlds/Extreme Environments Gareth and Ghislaine visit the Imperial War Museum in London to see the UK’s first-ever exhibition to explore video games and what they can tell us about conflict. Developing technology has introduced new ways of telling and experiencing war stories; toy soldiers and board games, cinema screenings of World War One, radio broadcasts from the frontlines of WWII, and TV images of the Cold War have given way to first-person shooter games on iconic consoles like the Atari 2600 and the Super Nintendo to internet driven team battles with the latest graphics and audio immersion. But is gaming tech the right place to explore conflict and how much is this entertainment industry driving tech development elsewhere?

Presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Photo: Rural woman talking on a mobile phone and using a laptop, India. Credit: Exotica.im/Universal Images Group/Getty Images)

Microrobots have been created and used to treat the most common form of pneumonia that infects patients in ICU. In experiments, currently carried out in mice at the University of California San Diego, the tiny robots swam around the lungs and delivered antibiotics that killed the disease-causing bacteria. The amount of antibiotics needed is a tiny fraction of the amount currently used to treat this infection intravenously. The robots are made from algae cells (this allows them to move) covered in antibiotic-filled nanoparticles. These nanoparticles are made with tiny spheres that are coated with the cell membranes of neutrophils – a type of white blood cell that fights infection and inflammation - making the microrobots more effective at fighting the lung infection. We hear from lead author Professor Joseph Wang about the tech that’s allowed the team of nanoengineers to create these microrobots.

Internet shutdowns in India – on what grounds are they allowed? Since 2012 there have been 683 full internet blackouts in India according to the internet shutdown tracker run by the Software Freedom Law Centre (SLFC). Many of these are done without following government rules. Now India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has only a week left to reveal the grounds on which it approves or imposes internet shutdowns in the country. The SFLC filed a lawsuit against the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and West Bengal, after internet shutdowns were ordered to prevent cheating during state exams. This is a common occurrence around the time of public exams across the country as stolen exam papers often appear on the internet. Now the Supreme Court has ruled that the protocols on which these decisions are made need to be made public. Tech reporter Emma Woollacott explains the massive impact of these shutdowns and lawyer Mishi Choudhary founder of the SFLC explains why they bought about the lawsuit.

National Robotarium opens in Edinburgh Digital Planet’s Hannah Fisher has been given access to the UK’s first robotarium and reports on the eve of its opening for the programme. A big aim of the national robotarium at Heriot Watt University is to change public opinion about what robots actually are and how we can use them.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington.

Studio Manager: Andrew Garratt Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: Illustration of microrobots entering the lungs to treat pneumonia. Credit: Wang lab/UC San Diego:)

Do you track your physical activity on your phone, count your daily steps, or how many calories you’ve burnt? Perhaps you are learning a new language using an app or have performance-related leaderboards at work? All these things are part of gamification – making everyday tasks more fun. But is all this gameplay good for us and is there actually any evidence that it works? Digital Planet this week explores the phenomenon of gamification with guests Adrian Hon, the CEO and founder of the games developer Six to Start and co-creator of one of the world’s most popular gamified apps, Zombies, Run! and Gabe Zichermann founder of six high-tech companies and author of three books on Gamification, including “Gamification by Design”.

The programme is presented by Bill Thompson with expert commentary from Angelica Mari.

Studio Manager: Tim Heffer Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: Gamification. Credit: Getty Images)

The Digital Divide in Tribal Communities Across the North American continent, there is a stark difference in the availability of the internet to different communities. Tribal lands are typically remote, rural, and rugged landscapes, and often have very patchy, or non-existent internet connectivity. Dr. Traci Morris explains why such a digital divide exists and how tribes are working together, both within their communities and with each other, to create and gain access to communications networks.

Digital Deras connecting farmers in rural Pakistan In rural Punjab in Pakistan, farmers and villagers gather in places called ‘Deras’ to socialise, drink tea and coffee and discuss their farms. But one project has created a community network to transform one of these Deras to have digital facilities – a ‘Digital Dera’. Farmers use this Digital Dera to access crucial weather forecasts and other information to help them manage their farms more efficiently. It also helps them battle the impact of climate change, as the crop cycles change due to shifting weather patterns. Founders of the project Fouad Bajwa and Aamer Hayat speak to Gareth about the impact of the Digital Dera project on the farming community.

Offline interview in Cuba Cuba is one of the least digitally connected countries in the Western hemisphere. This is due to the US trade embargo but also poor internet infrastructure and tight control of its own government on the flow of information. Although accessing digital technologies is getting better, for ordinary Cubans going online is still a challenge. The internet connection is slow, unreliable, and prohibitively expensive. To combat this, they have created an offline underground internet called ‘El Paquete Semanal’ or ‘Weekly Package’ – it is a one-terabyte collection of eclectic material of movies, tv-series, sports, and music while turning a blind eye to copyright. Reporter Snezana Curcic visited to learn more about this Cuban alternative to broadband internet.

This programme was first transmitted on Tuesday 7th June 2022.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson.

Studio Manager: Jackie Margerum Producer: Hannah Fisher

(Photo: 5G data stream running through a rural village Credit: Huber & Starke/Digital Vision/Getty Images)

In this special 21st birthday show we’re bringing our Digital Planet community together for the first time since 2019. The team has been asking World Service listeners about their favourite bit of tech – we hear from around the world about the software and hardware that our listeners can’t live without. We will also be having not one but two special appearances – holograms from Canada and France – using the technology that President Zelensky used to beam himself to UN and London Tech week. We’ll be hearing from the listener who set up our Digital Planet Facebook group back in 2007 and we’ll also have a multimedia premier of Wiki-Piano that has been collaboratively composed by our listeners.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Angelica Mair, Bill Thompson and Ghislaine Boddington.

Studio Managers: Andrew Garrett

Radio Theatre Manager: Mark Diamond Sound Balance: Guy Worth Stage Engineer: Alexander Russell Screen Visuals: Brendan Gormley PA Sound: Clive Painter Lighting: Marc Willcox Stage Hand: Alan Bissenden

Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

Inoculation against misinformation Could people be inoculated and protected against misinformation online? A new study published in Science Advances shows that short animated videos could protect people from harmful content. Controlled experiments where people were shown how misinformation is spread e.g. using emotional language or scapegoating, appeared highly effective in helping people judge what might be fact or fiction on the web. Psychologists worked with Google Jigsaw and tested their experiments in real life by placing them in the ads section on YouTube videos. They saw a 5% impact in being able to spot misinformation and they also reduced sharing frequency.

This “pre-bunking” strategy exposes people to tropes and explains how malicious propaganda is spread, so they can better identify online falsehoods. Researchers behind the Inoculation Science project compare it to a vaccine: by giving people a “micro-dose” of misinformation in advance, it helps prevent them falling for it in future – an idea based on what social psychologist’s call “inoculation theory”. Lead author Dr. Jon Roozenbeek is live on the programme to explain why this works and Beth Goldberg from Google talks about their new project to reduce misinformation spread about refugees in central Europe.

Indonesian data breaches There have been five major data breaches in Indonesia this month, three alone in the last fortnight; the personal data of more than 26 million users of state-owned telecommunication provider PT Telkom was allegedly leaked – but the company denied this. Last week, foreign companies, including Microsoft and PwC, were also reportedly hit by a data breach. Astudestra Ajengrastri, Deputy Editor in the BBC Jakarta office, is on the show to explain why this is such a huge problem, how little is being done about it and why so many Indonesians seem indifferent to the breaches.

Robotic Dogs Have you seen the video of a robotic dog firing a sub-machine gun? It’s had well over 4 million views. It comes swiftly after reports of robotic dogs being used to patrol the US-Mexican border. But can robotic dogs become our virtual best friend despite them being used by the military and security services? Reporter Dominic Watters looks at the tech and what these robots are truly capable of (walking on uneven surfaces still needs to be mastered) and could actually be used for the benefit of humankind – using their sensory systems to navigate dangerous terrains after natural disasters for instance?

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Angelica Mari.

Studio Manager: Steve Greenwood Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image credit: Screenshot of a video collaboration between Cambridge University, the University of Bristol, and Google Jigsaw)

Nearly a third of people in India lost money through online fraud in 2020 alone. Of them, it is thought that only 17% saw any returns through redressal mechanisms. Despite this prevalence of scams, reports have shown that the Indian population have got more trusting of unsolicited messages from companies online over the last five years. New Delhi based journalist Mimansa Verma from Quartz has been exploring this problem and joins the programme to discuss. Ultrasound sticker that monitors your heart A postage stamp size sticker could give doctors a more detailed picture of our health. Ultrasounds are one of the most common medical diagnostic tools in the world, but they only measure a snapshot in time and rely on the skill of the sonographer. A newly proposed ultrasound patch could record our heart changing shape during exercise, the impact of eating or drinking on our digestive system, and even the flow of blood through veins and arteries. Ghislaine Boddington checks out the tech and how this, and other devices, are giving doctors a much more complete picture of how our bodies work.

Finally getting your slot on the JWST More than twenty years ago, Professor Mark McCaughrean submitted a proposal for observations to be made on a new space telescope. At midnight on August 29th he will finally see the results of his first observations from the James Webb Space Telescope. In the convening years, Prof. McCaughrean has become a scientific advisor for the European Space Agency and a collaborator on the JWST project. He joins the programme to talk about his hopes for observing star and planet formation with the JWST, as well as the tech that underpins the telescope.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington

Studio Manager: Duncan Hannant Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: An Indian man counts Indian rupee currency. Credit: Getty Images)

With the US midterm elections only a few months away Twitter has announced how it plans to “enable healthy civic conversation” on its platform i.e. how they plan to control political disinformation. Journalist Emma Woollacott who has written about the new measures for Forbes is on the show, as is New York Times Reporter Tiffany Tsu to tell us about political misinformation on TikTok.

Facebook evidence – should they have handed over private messages? Should Facebook have handed over private messages between a mother and her teenage daughter about procuring abortion pills? The two are facing criminal charges. Bill Thompson examines why this happened – Facebook messenger data, unlike many other messaging apps, is not end-to-end encrypted. Should the company be able to hold onto so much data and what can our listeners do to ensure their conversations on messenger apps remain private.

Satellite pollution In this week’s Discovery reporter Jane Chambers looks at the unexpected impact of satellites. There are currently around 7000 active satellites orbiting space and there are plans for many more to be launched in the next decade by internet companies and countries around the world. They are revolutionizing our lives but having some unintended consequences from disrupting million dollar astronomical research to the real danger of satellite collisions in space as orbits become increasingly crowded. She tells us what the satellite companies are doing to minimize the impact.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson.

Studio Manager: Giles Aspen Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: Hash tag over US election badges credit: Getty Images)

Were you one of the 2.92million people who was watching Nancy Pelosi fly into Taiwan on FlightRadar24 bypassing Chinese bases in the South China Sea as it approached Taipei? It’s one of the most popular flight tracking sites in the world and uses open standard surveillance technology which allows planes to transmit their location data to anyone with a receiver. As the receivers are fairly inexpensive it now has a network of more than 30,000 and collects data from other sources too like satellites. These data sources aren’t blocked which is why so many flights can be tracked (although they are not always named). It’s often used by fans to track celebrities, especially sports stars, it also shares information with air crash investigators. Ian Petchenik from FlightRadar24 is on the show to explain more.

New push to get women into fintech in Ethiopia Digital payments in Ethiopia are just part of a much wider push by the government to get the country financially online. Currently most payments – including fuel bills - are paid by cash. Wairimu Gitahi, Global Communications & Knowledge Management Analyst at the United Nations Capital Development fund tells us about a new project the “Women’s Digital Inclusion Advocacy Hub.” The project is aimed at women, so they don’t get left behind in Ethiopia’s fintech revolution.

Wikipiano – a call to compose our Radio Theatre performance piece Digital Planet is celebrating its 21st birthday this September and we’re recording a special show in the Radio Theatre (you’re all invited). To help us party we’re asking our listeners to compose a special multimedia performance of Wikipiano that will be premiered on the night in the Radio Theatre. You don’t have to be musical – just log onto Wikipiano.net and add text, video, images, compose new music (if you can), add actions for cyber soloist Zubin Kanga to perform on the night. Zubin helps Gareth add to the score and invites all our listeners to have a go themselves. The piece was composed by Alexander Schubert.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington.

Studio Manager: Bob Nettles Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: FlightRadar24. Credit: https://www.flightradar24.com/)

Why does tech not understand my speech? Physicist Dr Claire Malone is facing a problem: no speech-to-text software understands her. She is living with cerebral palsy, a condition that affects her movement and muscle coordination, including her speech. Claire shares how much of a difference this tech could make in her life, and Gareth speaks to Sara Smolley, the co-founder of Voiceitt, one of the leading companies in the area, about how close we are to having software that can understand people like Claire.

Listening glasses Many people have reading glasses, but what about glasses that can hear? A new pair of augmented reality glasses can hear what other people say, transcribe it, and then displays the text on your glasses like real-life subtitles. How could this type of tech help people with hearing impairment? Gareth speaks to XRAI CEO Dan Scarfe, as well as Josh Feldman, who was born hard of hearing and usually relies on lip reading. Will the listening glasses work live on the show?

Who gets to use assistive tech? Technological solutions for people with disabilities are hugely beneficial, but as a new report from WHO and UNICEF shows, many people in need never get to access them. Chapal Khasnabis, head of the Access to Assistive Technology and Medical Devices unit at WHO, tells Gareth just how big the global inequity of assistive tech, and what we can do to fix it.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson.

Studio Manager: Bob Nettles Producer: Florian Bohr

(Image: Wheelchair user using assistive technology credit: Getty Images)

Open source investigators We live in an age where there is data on almost everything, and a large chunk of it is publicly available. You only need to know where to look. There are many investigators on the internet that are gathering Open Source Intelligence, or OSINT for short, and conduct research and verification, much of it focussed on war zones. The most prominent collective in this field is the NGO Bellingcat, but there is a whole ecosystem of amateur sleuths online. Gareth speaks to Charlotte Godart who leads the volunteer programme at Bellingcat, on how they effectively crowdsource part of their investigations, and we hear from several hobbyists who rose to prominence on Twitter about why they spent much of their free time on this type of research.

Data tackling gun violence Brazil has a gun violence issue, and a public data issue. In the Rio de Janeiro metropolitan area, there were, on average, 13 shootings every single day last year, and the only reason we know this is because of open data platform Fogo Cruzado. They collect data in real-time on shootings happening in Rio and other cities across Brazil via their app, social media, and public police reports, and they make that data publicly available for ordinary citizens, organisations, and journalists to use. The founder of Fogo Cruzado, Cecília Olliveira, explains how it all works, and how having data can help set the public agenda.

The blue map: environmentalist action in China Only 10 years ago, Beijing was a city covered in smog with many residents opting to wear pollution masks. Now, the situation has, remarkably, improved, with blue skies being a normal sight. One possible reason for this drastic change is environmentalist Ma Jun, who, in 2006, started the blue map database aggregating government data and making it more easily accessible to the public. Since then, the blue map project has grown into an app that lets users check many types of environmental data and even contribute to the database themselves by simply taking a picture of a dirty river, a cloud of smog, or a factory that isn’t following environmental guidelines. Gareth speaks to Ma Jun, founding director of China’s Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs and founder of the Blue Map, about how this crowdsourcing approach works, and how environmental activism in China differs from Western countries.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Angelica Mari.

Studio Manager: Michael Millham Producer: Florian Bohr

(Image: Crowd and data credit: Getty Images)

A recent amendment to a regulation by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) will extend automated driving technology to 130 km/h. The regulation, which will come into effect in January 2023, will set the standard for car manufacturers to develop so-called "level 3" autonomous vehicle. Gareth speaks to Francois Guichard, who is leading UN regulations on vehicle automation, about what "level 3" really means, and when we will see these types of cars on the road. Also, Prof Jack Stilgoe tells us about the potential issues and implications of self-driving technology.

Robbed of mobile innovation In many cities globally, urban robberies have become a familiar occurrence, so much so that many people have started to develop their own strategies to mitigate losing their mobile phone. In São Paulo, some leave their phones at home or take a second throw-away phone that they can give away instead, but there are more technological solutions as well. Expert contributor Angelica Mari tells us more, and shares why this is affecting the adoption of mobile phone innovation, in particular fintech.

Crypto adoption during Argentina's inflation crisis In Argentina, rising inflation has become a growing issue. Economy minister Martin Guzman resigned earlier this month, and annual inflation is set to hit above 70%. In light of the peso's instability, some Argentines are deciding to invest in cryptocurrencies instead. Is this a safer bet? Could crypto adoption affect Argentina's economy? Our reporter Lucía Cholakian has been finding out more.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Angelica Mari.

Studio Manager: Duncan Hannant Producer: Florian Bohr

(Image: Auto driving system and technology. Credit: show999 / iStock / Getty Images Plus)

Internet shutdowns have been a global issue for many years, and Digital Planet has reported on many of them, from Cuba and Myanmar to Iran. A new United Nations Human Rights Office (OHCHR) report now warns of the dramatic real-life effects. Gareth speaks to Peggy Hicks, one of the authors of the report, about how internet shutdowns impact the lives of millions worldwide. In addition, Rest of World journalist Peter Guest, and #KeepItOn campaign manager at AccessNow, Felicia Anthonio, join live in the studio to discuss why internet shutdowns occur, and whether they have changed over time.

Quantum-safe algorithms The encryption methods we currently use to keep our data safe and secure could be a thing of the past soon. Experts expect quantum computers to be able to crack these encryption codes quite easily in the future, which could have devastating consequences. After a six year selection process, the National Institute of Standards and Technology in the United States has chosen four initial algorithms for their quantum-safe cryptography standards. Gareth speaks to Anne Dames, an engineer at IBM, where three of the final four were developed.

Mobile app for tinnitus Hearing a ringing or buzzing in your ear can be very difficult to deal with. A number of mobile tinnitus apps are now promising help. One of them, called TinniBot, even includes an AI chatbot that provides support whenever it is needed. Our reporter Fern Lulham has been finding out more.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson

Producer: Florian Bohr Studio manager: Duncan Hannant

(Image: Abstract Digital Pixel Noise Credit: The7Dew/iStock/Getty Images Plus)

On June 24th, the mayor of Berlin thought she was on a video call with the mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko. The call, however, was fake. The head of the Deutsche Welle’s fact-checking team Joscha Weber tells Gareth what happened, how the mayors of Vienna and Madrid were deceived by similar fake calls, and how a Russian comedy duo claims to be behind it all. The video call was initially thought to be a deepfake, but a later analysis by German media suggests that it may have been a shallowfake instead. What do these two terms mean, and what is the difference between them? We have deepfake experts Hany Farid and Hao Li in the studio to answer this question, explain how deepfakes are created, and discuss the wider issues that they pose. India’s great VPN exit In late April, the Indian government decided to enact new cybersecurity rules that include forcing virtual private network (VPN) providers to keep users’ data such as names, contact numbers, and IP addresses for a period of five years. VPN companies in India have sharply criticised the ruling, and some have already exited and pulled their servers out of the country. India has now given VPN providers another three months to comply with the new rules. Expert contributor Bill Thompson tells Gareth what VPNs are, why these new rules conflict with their premise, and what this could mean for privacy and the tech sector in India. Can AI solve prostate cancer? In a recent machine learning competition, developers used a new prostate biopsy dataset to train artificial intelligence algorithms to diagnose and grade tumours. Gareth speaks to Ph.D. student Nita Mulliqi about the difficulties of using AI in prostate cancer grading and how a dataset from diverse clinical settings is needed to create effective algorithms. We also hear from a consultant for the WHO, Rohit Malpani, about the limitations of applying machine learning applications in healthcare in low- and middle-income countries.

Studio manager: Michael Millham Producer: Florian Bohr

(Image: Vitali Klitschko. Credit: Getty Images)

So what is the metaverse really? Following a montage of BBC World Service listeners’ responses and opinions, contributing expert Ghislaine Boddington will shed light on this question. As it turns out, while there are current examples of virtual worlds, the metaverse is still being formed. Predicting exactly what it will be like is harder than one might think.

An afternoon in Altspace What does it feel like to be in the metaverse? Reporter Chris Berrow strapped on his VR headset and spent some time in AltspaceVR to find out. From holding a virtual cat to doing yoga class, his experience turned out to be stranger than he had anticipated.

Future implications If the metaverse becomes as popular as some predict, where are we headed? In a live discussion with tech futurist and metaverse expert Cathy Hackl, video game writer Colin Harvey, and our very own Ghislaine Boddington, we discuss the big issues on the horizon. Who will be creating it and who will have access? Could this lead to harvesting of biometric data? Will all of us actually use the metaverse?

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington.

Studio Manager: Sue Maillot Producer: Florian Bohr

(Image: Looking through virtual reality glasses into the metaverse world. Credit: Cemile Bingo l/ Getty Images)

Increased punishment for online insults in Japan Japan has taken the first steps to make online insults punishable by up to one year in prison. This new legislation comes two years after the suicide of Japanese reality TV star and professional wrestler Hana Kimura. BBC reporter Mariko Oi tells us how this new legislation came to be and what it means, and legal expert Dr. Sanae Fujita and cyberpsychologist Dr. Nicola Fox Hamilton talk to Gareth about why online abuse occurs so frequently, what ways we can tackle it, and whether this new law is fit for purpose.

27 years of Internet Explorer After almost three decades, Microsoft has decided to retire the Internet Explorer (sort of). Contributing expert Bill Thompson takes us on a journey to the early days and back again. What has changed since the once-popular browser’s inception?

Smart lipstick Brazilian cosmetics company Grupo Boticario and centre for innovation CESAR are developing 'O Batom Inteligente' – 'the smart lipstick'. The device will use artificial intelligence to apply lipstick automatically. Reporter Fern Lulham spoke to the creators of the device, and explains to Gareth how applying lipstick is a much harder feat to accomplish than one might think, and what it could mean for people with disabilities.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson.

Studio Manager: Steve Greenwood Producer: Florian Bohr

‘Project Silica’ uses ultrafast laser optics and machine learning to utilise glass as a storage device. The fused silica glass is fully resilient to electromagnetic pulses (EMP) and to the most challenging environmental conditions, ensuring the data written into it is not degraded. In this proof of concept for the Global Music Vault in Svalbard, this glass platter will have a selection of some of the most important music data and files on it. Gareth talks to Ant Rowstron, who has been working on the technology at Microsoft, and Beatie Wolfe, a musician whose music has been included in the data storage proof of concept.

Data-driven city planning Barcelona is developing a digital twin of its city to aid with city management decisions. The city is currently at the initial stage of the project, designed to produce simulations of different planning scenarios to create more data-driven decisions. Gareth chats to Deputy Mayor of Barcelona Laia Bonet and Patricio Reyes, a researcher at the Barcelona Supercomputing Centre, about the potential uses of simulations and how digital twins could improve city planning in the future.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington.

Studio Manager: Steve Greenwood Producer: Hannah Fisher

Photo: Music stored in fused silica glass Credit: Global Music Vault

Across the North American continent, there is a stark difference in the availability of internet to different communities. Tribal lands are typically remote, rural and rugged landscapes, and often have very patchy, or non-existent internet connectivity. Dr Traci Morris explains why such a digital divide exists and how tribes are working together, both within their communities and with each other, to create and gain access to communications networks.

Digital Deras connecting farmers in rural Pakistan In rural Punjab in Pakistan, farmers and villagers gather in places called ‘deras’ to socialise, drink tea and coffee and discuss their farms. But one project has created a community network to transform one of these deras to have digital facilities – a ‘digital dera’. Farmers use this digital dera to access crucial weather forecasts and other information to help them manage their farms more efficiently. It also helps them battle the impact of climate change, as the crop cycles change due to shifting weather patterns. Founders of the project Fouad Bajwa and Aamer Hayat speak to Gareth about the impact of the digital dera project on the farming community.

Offline internet in Cuba Cuba is one of the least digitally connected countries in the Western hemisphere. This is due to the US trade embargo but also poor internet infrastructure and a tight control of its own government on flow of information. Although accessing digital technologies is getting better, for ordinary Cubans going online is still a challenge. The internet connection is slow, unreliable and prohibitively expensive. To combat this, they have created an offline underground internet called ‘El Paquete Semanal’ or ‘Weekly Package’ – it is a one terabyte collection of eclectic material of movies, tv series, sport and music, while turning a blind eye to copyright. Reporter Snezana Curcic visited to learn more about this Cuban alternative to broadband internet.

Presenter: Gareth Mitchell With expert commentary from Bill Thompson

Producer: Hannah Fisher Studio Manager: Jackie Margerum

(Photo: 5G data stream running through a rural village. Credit: Huber & Starke/Digital Vision/Getty Images)

Data-Driven football With the end of this year’s Premier League season and the Champion’s League final in the last two weekends, viewers around the world were cheering on their favourite teams. While the rules of football may not have changed much in recent years, there is one thing that has: the amount of data. Coaches and teams can now examine player performance and statistics in great detail. Has this transformed the way the game is played? Gareth chats to Ruben Saavedra, CEO of Metrica Sports, which uses software to analyse videos of football games, and we hear from John Muller, a sports journalist at The Athletic, and Jordi Mompart, Director of Research and Analytics at FC Barcelona.

The tech behind the ABBAtars ABBA's show opened this week in London, using digitally created avatars of their younger selves. Ghislaine tells Gareth about the cutting-edge tech that makes this performance possible and where else it might be used in the future.

Cultural representation in video games Video games are a booming industry that is making its way across the globe. But are different cultures and places actually represented in mainstream games? BBC Arabic reporter Hossam Fazulla chats to Gareth about Jordanian games company Tamatem, which localises games for Arab audiences. And we speak to game developer Dimas Novan from Mojiken Productions in Indonesia, about their upcoming title 'A Space for the Unbound' and making content rooted in local culture.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington.

Studio Manager: Giles Aspen Producer: Florian Bohr and Hannah Fisher

(Photo: Futuristic silver soccer ball exploding into pixels Credit: Colin Anderson Productions pty Ltd/Getty Images)

Scientists at the National Physical Laboratory have released research that utilises existing subsea telecommunications cables as environmental sensors, for example to detect earthquakes. These cables exist in many parts of the world already, so this finding has the potential to revolutionise seafloor earthquake monitoring. Research scientist Giuseppe Marra explains how it all works and Laura Kong, the director of the International Tsunami Information Centre, tells Gareth how this could improve tsunami warning systems.

Healthcare delivery drones in India India’s first organised medical drone programme was recently completed in the state of Telangana. Over the course of the 45-day trial, drones delivered different medical supplies including vaccines. What are the takeaways from this trial? Could this technology be used in other parts of the world? Gareth speaks to Rama Devi Lanka, Director of Emerging Technologies of Telangana government, and India lead for aerospace and drones at the World Economic Forum, Vignesh Santhaman.

AI translating African Bantu languages The African continent has over a thousand languages and many of these are spoken by small populations. Abantu AI is a startup in Nairobi aiming to broaden the access to translation services by training AI on datasets of Bantu languages. Founder James Mwaniki tells Gareth how translation into these smaller African languages might be used in the future.

Presenter: Gareth Mitchell With expert commentary from Bill Thompson

Producer: Florian Bohr

(Photo: Underwater fibre-optic cable on ocean floor. Credit: imaginima/Getty Images)

A Nigerian project called Looty is seeking to take back African art in digital form. Members go into museums, take LiDAR scans using their phones, and recreate these African artworks as non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The first piece is one of the Benin Bronzes from the British Museum. Different artistic reimaginations of this ancient artwork are now being sold as NFTs, with parts of the proceeds going to emerging Nigerian artists. Gareth speaks to Looty’s founder Chidi about the idea, and blockchain expert Anne Kaluvu comments on the project.

The innovative vision of Amazonia 4.0 The Amazon rainforest is being destroyed at an alarming rate. Could there be another way? The project Amazonia 4.0 is envisioning harnessing the rainforest’s inherent biodiversity through a sustainable bioeconomy. Professor Carlos Nobre explains how, with the help of drones, fibre optic cables and other technologies, this vision may become a reality.

The common fruit fly’s digital twin One of the most ubiquitously used and best understood organisms in science is the common fruit fly. Many important developments in medicine and biology stem from research on this tiny insect. Now Professor Pavan Ramdya and his team have developed a complete simulated model of the fruit fly, a so-called digital twin. This model can be used by researchers to conduct experiments digitally, which may help speed up research and solve unanswered questions.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Angelica Mari.

Studio Manager: Duncan Hannant Producers: Hannah Fisher and Florian Bohr

(Photo: A man uses Sony's 3D Creator scanning to create a three-dimensional image Credit: PAU BARRENA/AFP via Getty Images)

North Korea is known as one of the most isolated countries in the world. Yet, there are North Koreans who have access to some of the same kind of technologies that are available to the rest of the world, albeit with severe restrictions. A new report suggests that some even hack their smartphones to get around the stringent digital controls. The authors of the report looked at North Korean phones and spoke to two escapees, a former computer programmer for the North Korean government and a former computer science student. One of the authors Martyn Williams as well as North Korea expert and co-host of the BBC podcast The Lazarus Heist Jean H. Lee join us on the programme.

Clean Drinking water at the push of a button Researchers at MIT have created a portable device that can clean and desalinate seawater. It works by creating an electrical field that pulls salt and suspended solids out of the water. Unlike other methods, this requires little electricity and no filters. Research scientist Junghyo Yoon is hoping to improve and commercialise the technology in the next couple of years.

Military virtual and augmented reality Microsoft has recently been contracted to construct more than 120,000 augmented reality headsets for the U.S. Army. How is virtual and augmented reality used in the military? Will it be used on the battlefield? Gareth speaks to journalist and VR training expert Andy Fawkes.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington.

Studio Manager: Steve Greenwood Producer: Florian Bohr

(Image: Woman browsing on tablet in the dark Credit: Christina Reichl Photography/Getty Images)

This week you can listen again to our electric vehicle Jersey road trip. Gareth and Bill are on the small English speaking island off the coast of France investigating the tech scene. We’re travelling around in an on-demand electric vehicle – all booked, paid for and locked and unlocked with an app from our smart phones. We’re finding out about agricultural tech on a dairy farm – how the famous Jersey Cows that produce premium milk are being managed by the latest innovations, and we’re also out in the fields where a host of sensors and data analytics are helping with the Jersey potato harvest. And we visit the remote control tower at St. Helier airport and see how remote airfields around the world are beginning to embrace this technology, pioneered on Jersey, to make flying to seldom used airports safer.

Guests include: Gavin Breeze, Director of Evie, Air traffic controllers Marc Hill and Richard Mayne, Jersey Cow Girl Becky Houzé and Mike Renouard Business Unit Director at the Jersey Royal Company.

The programme was presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson. It was first broadcast on 14th September 2021.

Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: Bill Thompson has a pre-interview chat with guest on Digital Planet. Credit: Ania Lichtarowicz / BBC)

What’s in store for twitter, now that Elon Musk’s offer has been accepted by the Twitter board? Bill and Gareth discuss.

Is video chat tech still listening when you’re muted? Video conferencing technology might still be listening to your voice even when you are on mute. A new study shows that a number of video meeting apps were recording audio even when the user had switched off their microphone. The researchers analysed the code behind the apps and found that all of the apps in the test were gathering raw audio when they were on mute – and that one of them was sending that information over the internet at the same rate, whether the user was muted or not. They even identified what someone was doing 82% of the time e.g cooking, typing. Professor Kassem Fawaz, one of the authors of the study, explains more.

World first – swarming molecular robots working together Scientists from Hokkaido University in Japan have for the first time shown that molecular robots are five times more effective at transporting cargo when working as a swarm compared to working alone. Inspired by insects, like ants, honey bees and even fish and birds, they have created microscopic molecular robots that use microtubules propelled by proteins and DNA. Dr Mousumi Akter explains how they work together so successfully and the possible applications which include intensive drug delivery to a specific location or collection of micro-contaminants in the environment.

How to encourage more women into game design Many women enjoy playing video games – but why are so few of them involved in designing them? Our gaming correspondent Leigh Milner has been meeting those at the top of the business, who are doing something to widen access to its creative side.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson.

Studio Manager: Giles Aspen Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Photo: Woman having a video meeting on her laptop. Credit: Witthaya Prasongsin/Getty Images)

Could audio files be the new digital drugs? New research shows that binaural beats - illusionary tones created by the brain when the brain hears two different tones in each ear – can change someone’s emotional state. The work, published in Drug and Alcohol Review, shows for the first time that people use binaural beats to relax, fall asleep and even to try to get a psychedelic drug high. BBC’s R&D Audio team have created a binaural beat soundscape especially for Digital Planet and we speak to Dr Alexia Maddox, a tech sociologist, one of the researchers behind the study.

Publishing via What’s App – getting female authors recognised in Zimbabwe Getting a book deal may seem like an impossible dream for many budding authors, but in Zimbabwe, for many female writers, this is a reality. Linda Mujuru, a senior reporter for Global Press Journal, tells us how most publishers are struggling in Zimbabwe due to the dire economic situation over the last twenty years and why so many authors have turned to social media as their only way of telling their stories. Samantha Rumbidzai Vazhure set up her own publishing house in the UK as she could not get her work printed. She reads one of her poems in Shona, a native Zimbabwean language, and explains how she now looks for fellow female authors online and publishes their work too.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Angelica Mari.

Studio Manager: Giles Aspen Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: Music in the mind concept. Credit: Getty Images)

As African connectivity improves, so does the spread of cybercrime across the continent. The first ever African cybersecurity conference was held in Togo recently and resulted in twenty nine nations signing the Lomé declaration, a policy that commits to establish a legal and regulatory framework across Africa to improve cybersecurity. Sasha Gankin was at the conference and has sent us a report which highlights the different types of cybercrime that are the biggest threat to businesses, governments and individuals in Africa today and how countries are trying to protect themselves. We discuss if this declaration will really make the online environment safer.

Alexa vs Alexa Cybersecurity researchers have been able to get Alexa to hack itself. They managed to do this in a number of ways, half of which have already been patched by Amazon, but the ability to connect to someone’s device via Bluetooth to issue malicious commands, e.g. setting off alarms in the middle of the night or cancelling appointments in calendars, still exists. Sergio Esposito from Royal Holloway, University of London, explains why they exposed these vulnerabilities and we discuss what can be done to protect your devices.

New Notre-Dame AR experience Three years after the devastating Notre-Dame fire the cathedral remains shut but now a new AR experience has been launched to allow the public to explore the cathedrals’ 850 year history. Visitors can watch a reconstruction of the coronation of Napoleon in 1804 or stand alongside the Paris fire brigade as they tried to get the Great Fire under control. Hannah Fisher has been to the exhibition in Paris and armed with a HistoPad has experienced the 360° 3D reconstructions of parts of the cathedral that no longer exist. The exhibition is due to visit 12 capital cities around the world by 2024.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Angelica Mari.

Studio Manager: Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: Cyber security in Africa map. Credit: Getty Images)

A robot boat is to gather data following Hunga-Tonga Hunga-Ha'apai’s eruption to try and help scientists what may have caused one of the fiercest volcanic eruptions in more than a century. The 12m long robot boat, called Maxlimer, will map the new volcano’s shape as well as collect readings on environmental conditions like the oxygen content of the surrounding seawater, which impacts marine life. Ashley Skett, operations director at Sea-Kit International, the company that created the robot boat, is on the show.

e-Mongolia – making life easier for those with internet access Back in 2020, Mongolia launched a digital initiative to allow government services from land access rights to social security payments, to be accessed online and the project appears to be a success, at least for those who have online access. That’s currently around 63% of the population – so what happens to everyone else? Global Press Journal’s Khorloo Khukhnokhoi explains the positives and negatives of the scheme.

Haptic robotic finger Two weeks ago we reported on a biodegradable and edible robotic finger, this week we hear from Professor Katherine Kuchenbecker from the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, who is one of the team behind the design of a haptic robotic finger. Giving a robotic finger a sense of touch (that is similar to our own) allows it to “know” how much pressure it is applying and therefore adapt its movements – this is key if robots are to be used in medical or care settings ensuring they do not injure the patient.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington.

Studio Manager: Giles Aspen Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: Maxliner at sea. Credit: Sea-Kit International)

It’s been reported that Ukraine is receiving help to identify Russian infiltrators or ID dead soldiers. A facial recognition company called Clearview AI is offering access to its database of billions of facial images. We’ve reported on Clearview before as it has been accused of overstating its algorithms’ effectiveness as well as being fined by data regulators. Rhiannon Williams of MIT Download is on the programme and has been following the story.

How Ukraine isn’t winning the Information War The assumption in the West is that Ukraine and President Zelensky are dominating the narrative online, but according to a new analysis that’s only the way it seems in the western social media bubble. 23 million tweets which included hashtags like #IstandwithPutin and #IstandwithRussia were monitored to see how and where they were sent. The White paper just published by CASM Technology shows that Russia is targeting BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) and more generally Africa and Asia. Carl Miller from CASM explains what they’ve found and why we can’t assume that everyone around the world is getting the same online messages.

Okta data breach – who, what, where, why, when and how Okta is probably one of the biggest tech companies in the world you’ve never heard of until now. Its customers use its software to allow employees to work remotely by accessing their systems from outside the office. However, they had a data breach back in January and now the hacking group Lapsus$ is claiming it may have accessed more data than Okta is willing to admit. Protocol’s Sarah Roach explains what’s happened and why possibly millions of logins from around the world could be impacted.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson.

Studio Manager: Duncan Hannant Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: Facial Recognition Concept. Credit:Getty Images)

The shifting geopolitical economics following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to the reappearance of the word “Splinternet”. In recent years some countries have created the physical infrastructure to potentially run many internet services outside of the reach of the global network of networks most people know as the internet. As sanctions are imposed, popular websites and social networks blocked, and economic lines are drawn, could some countries like Russia and China withdraw completely, developing different protocols of connection within their borders – and maybe beyond - that might become incompatible with those of the current internet? Emma Taylor, CEO of Oxford Information Labs, drops into Digital Planet to discuss the fears.

When scientists analyze fallen meteorites they provide invaluable clues about the history of our solar system. Antarctica is a good place to look as they are seldom disturbed, and arguably easier to spot. Yet It is a vast and hard to access area. Could big data and AI provide a guide to help researchers know where to look? Veronica Tollenaar and colleagues at the Glaciology Laboratory at the Université libre de Bruxelles, in Belgium think so. In a recent paper in the journal Science Advances, Veronica and her colleagues have described their algorithm for constructing a “where to go” list, rather like a treasure map, to rank the locations most likely to bear the rocky treasure.

Whilst most games are obviously played for fun, many of them sure can feel like unrelenting hard work. Hours spent to “win” trophies or “earn” credits, are increasingly “sold” or transferred between players within these games. Could NFTs transform these sorts of activities into new economic structures? BBC’s Chris Berrow reports.

Presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington.

Technical Production by Giles Aspen Produced by Alex Mansfield

A number of Brazilian civil rights organisations have filed a civil lawsuit against a company operating the São Paulo metro and their use of facial recognition technology. They are calling for an immediate suspension of the technology as well as compensation for moral damages to the rights of passengers, however the company denies they are using the technology for facial recognition.

How to spot disinformation in wartime Have you seen the video on TikTok of a Russian paratrooper recording himself while jumping out of a plane as part of the invasion of Ukraine? Well it is not that at all – it is actually from 2015. But how can you check images and videos that pop up in your social media feeds? Reverse image search it on Google to see where else it has been posted, says Dr Shelby Grossman from the Stanford Internet Institute. She tells Gareth a whole host of tips to help tell the difference between what is fake and what is real online about the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Biodegradable soft robotics Soft robots are seen by many scientists as the future of human-robot interaction, but one setback is that the more malleable material needs replacing as it wears out quicker than rigid material more often associated with robots. Now a team of scientists has developed a translucent soft and tactile robotic finger, and it’s biodegradable. Looking for inspiration in the kitchen the team developed this biogel from gelatine by modifying a 3D printer. The material is in fact edible – which will make future soft robotics safe for young children. One of the authors, Professor Martin Kaltenbrunner from the Institute of Experiment Physics at Linz University, tells Gareth why the team was keen to make machines out of biodegradable material.

Presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Angelica Mari.

Studio Manager: Giles Aspen Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Photo: People moving and traveling inside of the Metro subway system in Sao Paulo Brazil. Credit: Adam Hester/Getty Images)

NewsGuard – tracking Russian disinformation and propaganda sites False claims and misinformation about Ukraine and its allies have been rife online for months. Now a new tracking centre, which monitors Russian-Ukraine disinformation, has been set up and has published its first report. 120 websites are currently being monitored, recorded and the misinformation debunked by NewsGuard. Steven Brill, Co-CEO of NewsGuard is live on the show to give us the latest.

Archiving the information war in Ukraine For many years Russian misinformation online has simply been removed, but now that Russia has invaded Ukraine, should this be archived and secured as it is evidence of the information war? Protocol’s chief correspondent Issie Lapowsky is on the show to explain why keeping a record of this is so important.

Wikipedia’s Ukraine pages The Wikimedia Foundation has received a Russian government demand to remove content from its Russian site. They have said they have never backed down in the face of government threats to deny people their fundamental human right to access free, open, and verifiable information. We hear from Dr Jess Wade, a Wikipedia Editor known for thousands of entries about women, how the collaboratively authored online encyclopaedia is ensuring their content is accurate.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson.

Studio Manager: Donald MacDonald Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: Russian fake news button, key on keyboard. 3D rendering. Getty Images)

Did you know that the tech behind your door bell was likely to have been designed in the Ukraine? Or that Grammarly’s founders are Ukrainian. It’s probably easier to list the tech that we all use that has Ukrainian roots: What’s App, Paypal, CleanMyMac, Revolut App and the masking tech in Snapchat to name but a few. We spoke to Mike Sapiton, Forbes Ukraine Technology Editor, about the massive influence of Ukrainian developers on our everyday lives.

Detecting COVID from your mobile As people begin to return to work in some countries, COVID cases continue to rise in others. Testing is still key to monitoring the spread of the virus and detecting any mutations. A Chilean start-up company called Diagnosis Biotech have developed an accurate, non-invasive and low-cost method of testing for COVID 19 called Phone Screen Testing – also known as POST. Our reporter Jane Chambers went to find out more.

How to access blocked online content Internet content is blocked by many governments around the world, Russia’s current block is again highlighted in the press, yet President Putin’s regime isn’t able to control their information agenda as it did before. So how are people accessing what the authorities may not want them to see? We speak to Abdallah al-Salmi, Strategy Analyst, Systems Integration at the BBC World Service who tells us how the BBC is ensuring it’s content remains accessible including how they’ve made a copy of all the BBC News websites on the dark web that can be accesses via the TOR browser.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson.

Studio Manager: Sue Maillot Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

Picture credit: Getty Images

Imagine receiving the latest medical implant that can partially restore your vision, now imagine the technology behind your implant no longer being produced or supported. That’s what happened to about 350 patients around the world, as the medical start-up company behind a particular implant called Second Sight medical products has hit financial difficulties. Eliza Strickland and Mark Harris from IEEE Spectrum first reported on the story and tell us what happened.

iPhone 13 Pro Max – the latest in ophthalmic medicine? As recently as February 2021, medical journal "The Lancet" reported that "Almost everyone will experience impaired vision or an eye condition during their lifetime and require eye care services". Chances are then, that at some point, you'll be visiting an eye doctor. But what sort of equipment would you expect them to use to examine your eyes? Well, you might be surprised, as our reporter Fern Lulham found out. This is the final in Fern’s series on blind tech.

What might happen with our COVID data? Since the pandemic started, an unprecedented amount of data about our health and our whereabouts has been collected by governments and private companies – but what will happen to this data and do we have any control over it? Dr. Stephanie Hare, is about to publish her new book “Technology Is Not Neutral: A Short Guide to Technology Ethics” where she discusses this problem.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington.

Studio Manager: Bob Nettles Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: Getty Images)

India has announced a digital budget with plans to create its own cryptocurrency – the digital rupee. It also plans a 30% digital asset tax. Bhaskar Chakravorti, Dean at the Fletcher School at Tufts University explains the implications.

Mars landing on Earth Long-time Digital Planet listener Gowri Abhiram has visited the landing site of NASA’s Perseverance Rover in India. The trip was part of Chris Riley’s project comparing the landing sites of Mars to their corresponding locations on Earth, which we reported on last year. We hear about her journey a year after the successful Martian landing.

Robot-assisted navigation – the augmented white cane As we've heard before on Digital Planet, tech can be a real game-changer for blind and visually impaired people in helping them to live their lives independently.. However, even now in 2022, one of the most common mobility aids - the white cane - is pretty much as low tech as it gets! But is that too about to get the tech treatment? Our reporter, Fern Lulham tells us more.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Angelica Mari.

Studio Manager: Giles Aspen Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz and Rami Tzabar

(Image: Indian Currency virtual world with connection network. Credit: Global data information and technology exchange. stock photo)

Télécoms Sans Frontières has sent satellite kits to Tonga to improve connectivity on the islands following the volcanic eruption. Before the pandemic TSF would have immediately deployed to Tonga after it went dark, but strict quarantine rules limit what they can do. As their engineers can’t go out, they’ve had to adapt the equipment they send so that it can be set up on the island. Their kit is now out of quarantine and should be deployed imminently and will eventually bring internet connectivity to the smaller islands where people are still completely cut off. TSF Regional Manager Sebastien Latouille also tells us in the podcast about their latest deployment to Madagascar following Cyclone Batsirai.

Could NFT protect our health data? If you think NFT’s (non-fungible tokens) are just the new way to buy art then think again as they could be the way to secure our medical data. Once our medical information is digitised into an electronic health record we have no control over what is done with it. Writing in the journal Science, Prof Kristin Konstick-Quenet, suggests that NFTs could provide a way to secure ownership over the management of digital information using blockchain technology. However, will the companies who currently monetise our medical records be willing to give up access to it? Legislation will be necessary if we are to have any control over our own health data.

Enhanced Audio Description Reporter Fern Lulham begins her first in a series of reports into the latest disability tech looking at audio descriptions of films and TV shows. There's plenty of evidence to show that despite the draw of social media and endless other activities, watching telly or going to the cinema remain extremely popular. In the UK for example, figures tell us that even before the pandemic, people spent an average of just over three hours a day watching TV, And since the mid -80s, visits to the cinema had risen quite dramatically to well over 150 million a year before Covid19 restrictions kicked in. But how accessible are these media if you're blind or visually impaired?

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington.

Studio Manager: Bob Nettles Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: Aftermath of volcanic eruption and Tsunami in Tonga. Credit: Malau Media/via Reuters)

The first-ever robotic surgery without a human surgeon guiding it has been successfully performed at Johns Hopkins University. The Smart Tissues Autonomous Robot (STAR) completed a keyhole procedure called intestinal anastomosis – the sewing together of two sections of soft bowel - on pigs. More than a million of these surgeries are performed each year in the US alone and they need to be carried out very precisely and accurately to avoid potentially fatal complications. Professor Axel Krieger, the mechanical engineer on the team, tells Gareth how this is a major advancement in robotic surgery.

Singapore Surveillance Singapore often introduces innovative tech to its citizens, but there is a lack of transparency about the way the data is collected and used. As public tech becomes more affordable it is becoming increasingly available. While the hope is it will solve complex social problems there is no transparency over the algorithms used. This means we don’t know the kind of prejudices, privileges, and assumptions being built in. Without intervention, societal prejudices will continue to be perpetuated. Peter Guest from the Rest of World website has been looking into the dangers of public tech in Singapore and beyond. He tells us why tech companies need to be more transparent.

unReal City Backstage at the Brighton Dome looks more like the technical suite of a TV studio than a theatre, as technicians watch multiple screens showing the audience and actors in different rooms - and showing a variety of feeds from their VR headsets - because this piece of immersive theatre, unReal City, takes place in both physical and virtual reality. Reporter Claire Jordan has been meeting with the Director of dreamthinkspeak and disabled artists from Access All Areas – the two companies behind the production - which explores if it’s easier or better to connect in the flesh or as an avatar and if links are stronger in reality or could the Metaverse allow us to re-invent ourselves.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson.

Studio Manager: Giles Aspen Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

Photo: The smart tissue autonomous robot performing laparoscopic anastomosis. Credit to Jiawei Ge//Johns Hopkins University

Connectivity to Tonga partially restored but undersea cable repair could take weeks. The underwater volcanic eruption severed the country’s only underwater network cable and ash clouds have made satellite connectivity impossible. Professor Nicole Starosielski from NYU, an expert in underwater connectivity and author of “The undersea network”, joins us on the show. An underwater cable is severed every three days somewhere in the world, yet the network has the capacity to usually cope with this disruption. Many developing countries do not have this extra capacity as they cannot afford it. Professor Starosielski argues that richer nations should step up and fund this lack of spare connectivity.

Virtual IT brain drain in Argentina IT workers in Argentina are being enticed by US and European tech companies to work remotely for them, by offering very attractive salaries and remote working contracts. Local IT businesses are struggling to retain workers as they leave for salaries in US$ or Euros that can be four times what they are currently earning. And this is what is different about this type of employment, unlike outsourced IT workers in India or Africa, the employees are not working on local conditions. As reporter Lucila Pelletieri from Global Press Journal tells Gareth, the loss of local talent will impact not only the country’s IT companies but potentially the economy as well.

Robot training made easy We hear about machine learning all the time, but how does a machine actually learn? Say it’s a robot that you need to teach to perform a task in a factory, or even in your home. Well, it’s ok if you happen to be an ace programmer and are happy to dash off a load of computer code. But at the Robot Learning Lab at Imperial College London, they want to make it easier for us to train the machines - as easy as grabbing the robot’s arm and moving it through the task, so that next time, the bot does the movement itself. The Lab presented its latest work at a robot learning conference just before Christmas. The lab’s director is Dr. Edward Johns and Gareth has been to pay him – and his robot – a visit.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington.

Studio Manager: Giles Aspen Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: Underwater fiber-optic cable on ocean floor. Credit: Getty Images)

After 222 days the social media platform is back up and running in Nigeria. The country suspended Twitter after it deleted a tweet by President Buhari and Nigerians have been accessing the platform via VPN, but now Twitter has agreed to the government's demands which include opening a local office, paying taxes, and being respectful of Nigerian laws. Abubakar Idris, the reporter for tech site Rest of World, joins us on the show. We are waiting on a response from Twitter.

100 years of the BBC The BBC Historian Robert Seatter joins us live to talk about some of the tech innovations that the BBC developed over the last 100 years. He’s behind these amazing websites - Objects of the BBC - BBC 100 www.bbc.co.uk/100 and even more will be revealed throughout the year. He will be discussing the first OB in 1924 (The Cello and the Nightingale), the development of the first ribbon microphone by BBC engineers (as the BBC could not afford those designed in Hollywood), the fully digitised audio archive, and many other marvels of tech innovation.

Ban on online education classes in China A few months ago, we reported on the Chinese government’s ban on online video gaming in children, where it restricted it to three hours a week. That was followed by a new set of regulations on private tutoring that has hit some of the biggest tech companies in China. While the new rules will certainly give young people more leisure, there’s a lot more to it than children’s well-being. On the show today we have science and technology journalist Yuan Ren to explain one of the biggest shakeups in Chinese education.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson.

Studio Manager: John Boland Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: Pius Utomi Ekpei /AFP via Getty Images)

Huge robots, including a seven-metre two-tonne vessel named Ran, are on their way to the Thwaites Glacier to learn more about the retreating ice and its impact on Climate Change. But this won’t be the only tech that’s being deployed on the 65-day mission; British Antarctic Survey’s Boaty McBoatface and the Autosub Long Range vehicle operated by the National Oceanography Centre in the UK, will travel under the ice shelf along with Ran. Professor Anna Wåhlin from the University of Gothenburg tells us more about her robot Ran and about the data she’ll be collecting.

Tiny light engines We’re talking to Ed Tang, the CEO of Avegant. They’re the company behind the world’s smallest light engines for augmented reality. Developing projectors thinner than the width of a pencil means we’re on the brink of AR glasses that will barely look different from standard glasses. Alongside talking about how this technology works, Ed also spoke to us about what this means for the future of AR.

James Webb telescope tech Space journalist Kate Arkless-Gray is live on the show to tell us about the tech that got the James Webb Telescope into space and how vital it is that none of the tech deployed goes wrong - unlike the Hubble space telescope, repair missions to James Webb are impossible.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington.

Studio Manager: Nigel Dix Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: Ran navigates its way under the ice front of Thwaites Glacier. Photo credit: Filip Stedt)

This week we have a special programme on Afrofuturism and tech innovation. It’s a subject often covered in science fiction, but what makes Afrofuturism different from standard science fiction is that ancient African traditions and black identity is steeped throughout the story. A text that has a black character in a futuristic world is not enough. But Afrofuturism is more than just Sci-fi. It’s the reimagining of a future filled with arts, science and technology seen through the perspective of black people. We will be exploring Afrofuturism and technology with India Gary-Martin, formerly JPMorgan’s MD and COO for investment banking tech and operations, Dr. Mave Houston, Head of UXR Disney+ and Nana Baffour, a Ghanaian born venture capitalist and investor who is now CEO of one of Brazil’s largest tech companies join us on the programme. In addition, we have an extract of Afrofuturism Sci-Fi, Ale Santos’s new book “The Last Ancestral” and his view on Afrofuturism and its role in the development of technology. The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Angelica Mari.

Studio Manager: Bob Nettles Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: Getty Images)

We look back on some of the stories we covered in 2021 – from age appropriate design to protect children, through internet shutdowns, a remote air traffic control tower and a WhatsApp school in Zimbabwe to a virtual reality opera.

The podcast has even more stories: comparing Mars locations to Earth locations, a smart phone test to detect malaria, how technology can help prep for a date at home if you’re blind and controlling our devices with a muscle in our ear! Available on BBC Sounds.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Angelica Mari, Bill Thompson and Ghislaine Boddington.

Image: Man using mobile phone Credit: Chaiwat Chaythawin/EyeEm/Getty Images

Studio Manager: Donald MacDonald Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

Twenty-five years ago the world wide web was 2.5 terabytes and you needed to dial-up via your phone line to get onto it, so Brewster Kahle decided to set up a project to archive what was out there already. Now the Internet Archive consists of more than 588 billion web pages, as well as 28 million books and texts, 14 million audio items, and 580,000 software titles, making it one of the world’s largest digital libraries. Brewster tells Gareth how they’ve done this – especially making content that runs on old and absolute technologies accessible today.

The Future of Text Why is our tech for text so simple and boring – in effect it’s little more than an electronic copy of a paper page? But this changes with new technology bringing books and documents to life with interaction and metadata tags that allow you to search, source and organise text as never before. Father of the internet, Vint Cerf and Frode Hegland, Founder of the Augmented Text Company, are on the show to tell us why we’re now able to move on from using the click of a mouse to manage our text.

Moonshot – tech used to learn more about neglected diseases is fighting COVID The COVID Moonshot project began as a virtual collaboration during UK 2020 lockdown. Scientists, academics, researchers & students started a twitter-fuelled race against the clock to identify new molecules that could block SARS-CoV-2 and develop treatments that would be globally affordable and easily manufactured for most vulnerable communities. Coordinating this effort is the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative, using the AI tools and computer crowdsourcing tech they’ve adopted for neglected diseases as well as the use of the Diamond Light Source technology. All of this tech allows the scientists to build up a huge catalogue of the structures of disease-causing parasites and then model potential treatments to see if they might work. Dr. Nathalie Strub-Wourgaft, Director of Neglected Tropical Diseases, DNDi joins us.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson.

Studio Manager: Bill Nettles Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image credit: Internet Archive)

Ministry of Health websites in Brazil are still down following a number of cyber-attacks. Millions of people now do not have access to their Covid-19 vaccination data (including certificates). It is estimated that 50TB of data has been removed by Lapsus$ Group, which is claiming responsibility for the ransomware attack. Dr Patricia Peck, who is on the board of the National Data Protection Authority is on the programme with the latest on the attacks.

First-ever delivery of medicines by drone in Sierra Leone The first-ever delivery of medicines by drone in Sierra Leone has been a success. The drones are not the typical helicopter drones, but small plane types with propellers that have a number of advantages. The fixed-winged drones can carry much heavier payloads over much further distances. We hear from Daniel Ronen from the UK drone specialist, UAVaid, who is behind the project.

Reimagining the new Spider-Man trailer through animation Fans prepared to dedicate hundreds of hours looking for the perfect clips have been making their own trailers that reimagine popular content. One such creation from the YouTube channel 100Bombs Studio has recreated the latest Spider-Man trailer using clips from the original animated series. Filmmaker and critic Maxim Thompson has been talking to us about these projects and how they allow people to engage with films.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington

Studio Manager: Giles Aspen Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: Hacker with computers in a dark room. Credit: Getty Images)

New research shows that mobile phones may not be as beneficial to displaced people as previously thought. Using video diaries, where displaced people in Somalia recorded their mobile phone use, researchers found that women, in particular, are being exploited by employers who fail to pay them using mobile money. Professor Jutta Bakonyi from Durham University is on the show and her colleague Dr. Peter Chonka joins us in the podcast.

Slaughterbots – autonomous lethal weapons Slaughterbots - if human: kill(), is a short film that warns of humanity's accelerating path towards the widespread use of slaughterbots – autonomous weapons that use artificial intelligence (AI) to identify, select, and kill people without human intervention. It’s produced by The Future of Life Institute and its lead on autonomous weapons Dr. Emilia Javorsky explains how the UN is currently looking at banning this type of tech.

WikiAfrica A growing movement to create and edit Wikipedia articles in official African languages is proving successful following a series of Afrocurations, organised by the Moleskine Foundation, where young people from South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Morocco are learning how to tell the stories of their lives, culture, and history through Wikipedia. We hear from one of these students and also Lwando Xaso, a South African lawyer, writer and activist, who helped set up the events.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson.

Studio Manager: John Boland Producers: Alex Mansfield and Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: Getty Images)

PIX instant payment limits to reduce kidnappings Last year the PIX instant payment system was introduced in Brazil. It currently has 112 million registered users – that’s 62% of the population. It’s proving incredibly popular and is allowing the 40 million unbanked people in the country access to electronic payments. Unfortunately its popularity has also led to significant issues – namely ransom demands by kidnappers that can be paid immediately. By lowering the payment limit and stopping night payments, it’s hoped this will curb the problem. Silvia Bassi, who runs the tech website The Shift in Brazil, is on the show.

Bitcoin mining in Navajo Nation – crypto-colonialism In the past traditional mining often took advantage of local people living near the mine, now something similar may be happening with cryptocurrencies. A bitcoin mine in the Four Corners region of New Mexico which belongs to the Navajo nation is causing controversy. It consumes enough to power 19,600 homes, yet many local residents lack water and electricity. The scheme was originally set up with the Navajo’s support but there is opposition from some local people. Mining companies argue though that investing in their schemes will ultimately reap financial rewards for the local people. Reporter Luke Ottenhof is on the show to discuss this story and the rise of crypto-colonialism globally.

AI training for top flight football Our gaming correspondent Chris Berrow reports on the latest tech to train footballers. Norwich City are the first UK Premiership club to use the Soccerbot360 simulator which claims to replicate real-life match scenarios - enabling players to work on their decision-making. We will soon see if it improves the Canaries’ game.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Angelica Mari.

Studio Manager: Bob Nettles Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: Pix logo on smartphone with Brazilian currency Credit: Cris Faga/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

IoT devices like smart speakers and networked heating controls are increasingly being used by perpetrators of domestic violence – for instance by changing the temperature the heating is set to or the music that the victim listens too, remotely. Julia Slupska from the Oxford Internet Institute will be discussing these new findings at the Shameless! Festival of Activism Against Sexual Violence in London. She joins us on the show.

A possible alternative to GPS? We have relied on GPS for location services for almost 30 years, but it’s vulnerable to inaccuracy and attack. Professor Zak Kassas from the University of California, Irvine, explains his proposal for its replacement, harnessing the power of increasingly abundant low earth orbit communication satellites like SpaceX’s Starlink.

Mapping sea cucumbers using drones Sea cucumbers aren't the flashiest creatures on Australia’s great barrier reef, and they have long been understudied and poorly understood. But Dr Karen Joyce, co-founder of GeoNadir wants your drone footage to help learn more to help map the animals and their habitats.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson.

Studio Manager: Bob Nettles Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: Man setting home gadgets via smartphone. Credit: ismagilov/Getty Images)

TikTok School challenge It’s November so school children in the US are being encouraged to “Kiss your friend’s girlfriend at school”. In September the TikTok school challenge suggested they “Vandalize the restroom”. These are just two of the examples that schools in the US have been dealing with following a call on TikTok to pupils. Now in the UK teachers are facing an onslaught of online abuse via TikTok too. Headteacher Sarah Raffray, who is also the Chair of the Society of Heads in the UK, is live on the show. The fake account created at her school has been removed by TikTok as have hundreds of others, but is the social media platform doing enough to control this libellous behaviour?

Disinformation campaign in Kenya The Pandora papers revealed that Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta and his family have offshore accounts containing $30m. Following the release of this information a collaborative disinformation campaign manipulating Twitter’s algorithms was launched attempting to exonerate the President. Odanga Madung is a Mozilla fellow and is on the programme to discuss a report he’s co-authored “How to Manipulate Twitter and Influence People: Propaganda and the Pandora Papers in Kenya”. So far 400 accounts have been deleted, but with elections next year this campaign could already be influencing the outcome.

AI (lack of) diversity in the workforce Research from the Digital Planet team at Tuft’s University has examined the world's top AI hubs and ranked them in terms of diversity. Bhaskar Chakravorti, who led the team behind the work, tells us that San Francisco has the lowest proportion of black AI talent in the US. When it comes to the proportion of women in the field, AI is much less diverse than the industry overall. 17 percent of the AI talent pool in the 50 hotspots in the world is female as compared to 27 percent in STEM overall. Tel Aviv comes out on top globally for employing women in AI. We discuss how this imbalance is impacting AI development.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington.

Studio Manager: John Boland Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: TikTok logo displayed on a smart phone. Credit: Illustration by Nikolas Joao Kokovlis/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

We’ve reported before on the programme about the massive energy consumption of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, which is based on blockchain technology. Now we’ll be looking at some of the other environmental impacts of blockchain. Professor Cathy Mulligan, Blockchain Expert and Member of the Institution of Engineering & Technology’s Digital Panel, joins us live to discuss the massive e-waste problem of mining cryptocurrencies and how miners change their electronic kit every six months to keep up with the ever increasing processing capacity they need to make money. This issue is not only linked to blockchain tech, it’s also seen in the mobile phone industry.

AR reducing single plastic use - 100 Days to #BeatPlasticPollution Six out of the top 20 marine litter polluters are in Southeast Asia, so where better to launch a social media campaign to reduce single use plastic. The MeshMinds Foundation and the UNEP is behind the Instagram campaign to raise public awareness “100 Days to #BeatPlasticPollution” and we speak to Kay Vasey from MeshMinds as to how they hope AR will change habits and reduce single use plastic. We also have a campaigner from the Philippines whose own efforts to reduce plastic use are about to be showcased online.

More than a million years of data in the ice – an immersive exhibition at COP26 A new immersive exhibition, Polar Zero, is on at the Glasgow Science Centre. The idea behind the show is to pause and reflect on humanity’s impact on our past, present and future climate. The centrepieces of the exhibition are a cylindrical glass sculpture encasing Antarctic air from the year 1765 – the date that scientists say predates the Industrial Revolution – and an Antarctic ice core containing trapped air bubbles that reveal a unique record of our past climate. With more than a million years of data stored in the ice and computer modelling vital to creating the exhibits, reporter Hannah Fisher finds out how climate data is being presented to allow us to understand the science better.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson.

Studio Manager: Nigel Dix Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: Bitcoin crypto coin mining hardware. Credit: Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Digital Planet is looking at green tech during COP26. Firstly, we discover the green credentials of your favourite websites with the Green Web Foundation. Can we really make the internet more environmentally friendly? Also we’ll be hearing about the homes in Sweden’s Stockholm that are heated using waste heat from local data centres. And how a company in Wyoming in the US is using technology to change the way data centres are cooled, using liquid and not air, and then using this excess heat for agriculture.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington

Studio Manager: Nigel Dix Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: A processing facility at the Riken Center for Computational Science in Japan) Credit: STR/JIJI PRESS/AFP via Getty Images)

This week former Facebook employee and whistleblower, Frances Haugen, was speaking to the committee that’s discussing the UK’s draft online safety bill, legislation that will tackle harmful content online. Canada is working on similar legislation. But there are questions over policing the new laws and over freedom of speech. Gareth Mitchell discusses these issues with Professor Lee Edwards of the Department of Media and Communications at LSE in London who has been involved in a submission to the Online Safety Bill Committee.

Venezuela is rapidly turning its back on cash. An ongoing economic crisis and an inflation rate of 2,500% are driving Venezuelans toward digital payments. Leo Schwartz of the technology news website restofworld.org explains more.

And Thom Hoffman reports on a project in India to put solar panels over canals. Not only do you get renewable energy, but the shade from the panels stops so much of the valuable water underneath from evaporating.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Angelica Mari.

Studio Manager: Sue Maillot Producer: Deborah Cohen

(Image: Frances Haugen. Credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

False information online has left one in five girls feeling physically unsafe, according to The Truth Gap, a new report by Plan International.

One in three say false information is affecting their mental health, leaving them feeling stressed, worried and anxious. Others reported concerns about bogus events advertised on social media placing them at physical risk, or unreliable medical advice that could harm their health.

Girls and young women from low and middle-income countries were more likely to be affected by unreliable or false information online, and twice as likely to have questioned whether to get the vaccine than those in high income countries.

The researchers are calling on governments to educate children and young people in digital literacy.

Related to this, BBC Misinformation reporter Marianna Spring, who has also been subjected to misogynistic online, abuse set out to understand how why such content seems to be promoted on some social media platforms. We examine her findings.

There is more from Marianna’s investigation in Panorama ‘ Online abuse :why do you hate me?’

And Emily Bird reports on robots used to study glaciers in situations which would be far too dangerous for human researchers.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington

Studio Manager: Duncan Hannant Producer: Julian Siddle

(Image: ‘Barry’ CGI image from Panorama ‘ Online abuse :why do you hate me?. Credit: thispersondoesnotexist.com)

Research by the World Wide Web Foundation has found that the gender gap for internet accessibility has cost countries billions of USD in lost GDP. In the 32 countries studied a third of women were connected to the internet compared to almost half of men. This digital gender gap, their report says, has cost low and lower middle income countries USD $1 trillion over a decade. Director of Research, Catherine Adeya, joins us live from Nairobi and we also hear from Ian Mangenga who set up the Digital Girl Africa project to get more women online.

Counting people with WiFi Researchers have developed a method of counting crowds that doesn’t require complex AI or expensive camera surveillance but rather simple WiFi signals. Yasamin Mostofi from the University of California Santa Barbara tells us more about how this method measures fidgeting behaviours to figure out the size of a crowd and how it could be put to use.

The BFI London Film Festival Expanded The BFI London Film Festival is going immersive. Reporter Hannah Fisher has had a preview of this year’s hybrid programme which is full of tech - interactive VR, 360 films, augmented reality, mixed reality and live immersive performance.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson.

Studio Manager: Nigel Dix Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: Majority World / Getty Images)

This decade’s Indian national census will be the first to be carried out digitally. However, COVID-related delays have slowed progress and there are growing concerns about its accuracy. Dean of the Fletcher School at Tufts University, Bhaskar Chakravorti explains how data will be collected and why the census is likely to miss essential parts of the population.

Getting mums coding and encouraging girls into tech in Nigeria June Angelides set up the UK’s first child-friendly coding school for mums, Mums in Tech, while on maternity leave. She’s now asking children to take part in the Institution of Engineering and Technology’s “Super Realoes” competition to design a superhero gadget that can make a positive impact in the world around them or a piece of assistive tech to help improve someone’s life.

Unfinished symphony finished by AI Beethoven’s 10th unfinished symphony has now been completed by AI and will be performed for audiences in Bonn later this week. Dr. Ahmed Elgammal, Professor at Rutgers University and Director of the Art and AI Lab who developed Beethoven’s AI, tells us more about the process. Credit for music: Deutsche Telekom.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington.

Studio Manager: Nigel Dix Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: Getty Images)

Spyware threatening independent media Samuel Woodhams, the author of a report entitled “Spyware: An unregulated and escalating threat to independent media”, is live on the show. His research shows that the current unchecked growth of the commercial spyware industry is allowing repressive governments to monitor, harass and attack independent journalists and their sources as part of the battle against the free flow of information. We ask about the tech that is involved and if it’s possible to control it.

Eating out with an app So COVID has brought about significant changes in how we order our food – not only have takeaway apps increased significantly in popularity but food ordering in restaurants in a number of countries was only possible thanks to our smart phones. As restrictions in some parts of the world ease, many restaurants are reluctant to go back to the traditional way of running their businesses. Gareth and Bill meet Dominic Jones, CEO of JPRestaurants in Jersey, who explains how ordering on an app has streamlined his business, allowed them to open earlier than they thought they could during the pandemic and how customers have taken to it. Gareth and Bill even sneak into the kitchens to see how the tech allows the food to be prepared incredibly quickly.

TikTok promotes COVID vaccine misinformation within minutes of signing up Newsguard, who provides a browser extension that flags up untrustworthy information, has found that the incredibly popular app TikTok (which has a huge following amongst under 18’s) posts COVID vaccine misinformation videos to children within minutes of them signing up to the service. Alex Cadier, Managing Director of NewsGuard in the UK, is on the show to explain how they discovered that children were being targeted.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson.

Studio Manager: Giles Aspen Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: Unidentifiable hacker cracking a computer code in the dark Credit: PeopleImages/Getty Images)

Arctic AI Have you checked the ice-cap forecast? Melting sea ice might be a well-known symptom of global warming, but how do scientists predict how quickly ice will recede? A new Artificial Intelligence tool does a better job than traditional prediction methods to forecast whether sea ice in the arctic will be present two months in advance. We hear from Tom Andresson, Data Scientist at the BAS AI Lab, who developed the algorithm.

VR Cystoscopy Cystoscopy is vital for managing bladder cancer and something that those affected will need to undergo regularly for the rest of their life when their cancer has gone into remission. However the process can be very unpleasant which means some people choose not to keep up with their life saving visits. Dr Wojciech Krajewski has been studying how using VR goggles to create a more relaxed environment can help patients manage the pain cystoscopy causes. Immersing patients in an Icelandic waterfall meant patients reported lower pain scores and they tolerated the procedure better.

5G festival Working remotely has been a difficulty for many of us over the past year - but musicians have found it particularly hard, as slow connections make playing together almost impossible. Over the past two years Digital Catapult have been developing a way of using 5G networks to solve this problem. They will be running a virtual festival next year to highlight the technology. Claire Jordan visited the trials and reports for Digital Planet.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington.

Studio Manager: Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image credit: British Antarctic Survey)

Digital Planet is back in Jersey, the small English speaking island off the coast of France. We’re travelling around in an on-demand electric vehicle – all booked, paid for and locked and unlocked with an app from our smart phones. We’re finding out about agricultural tech on a dairy farm – how the famous Jersey Cows, that produce premium milk - are being managed by the latest innovations and we’re also out in the fields where a host of sensors and data analytics are helping with the Jersey potato harvest. And if that is not enough we visit the remote control tower at St. Helier airport and see how remote airfields around the world are beginning to embrace this technology, pioneered on Jersey, to make flying to seldom used airports safer. Guests include: Gavin Breeze, Director of Evie, Air traffic controllers Marc Hill and Richard Mayne, Jersey Cow Girl Becky Houzé and Mike Renouard, Business Unit Director at the Jersey Royal Company.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson.

Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: Bill Thompson has a pre-interview chat with guest on Digital Planet. Credit: Ania Lichtarowicz / BBC)

The so-called Children’s Code has just come into force in the UK. The Age-appropriate design code aims to protect children online by making digital services accessed by children comply with standards that safeguard children from being tracked and profiled. This includes toys, games and edtech but also social media and video sharing platforms. Changes have already been made by the likes of FB, TikTok and Instagram that will be implemented worldwide. Professor Sonia Livingstone from the LSE, a specialist in children’s digital rights, is on live.

The rise of telemedicine in China China adopted a digital health code earlier this year and has seen a massive increase in the use of tech for healthcare since the start of the COVID pandemic. Reporter Yuan Ren explains how this rise is taking the pressure off the heavily burdened public healthcare system, despite higher costs to the patient but it’s also driving a demand for online doctors and changing the way the Chinese look after their health.

China’s online gaming limits Our games correspondent Chris Berrow reports on the highly restrictive online gaming clampdown on teenagers announced by the Chinese authorities and how it could bring bigger problems for young people in the future.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington.

Studio Manager: Duncan Hannant Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image credit: Getty Images)

This week’s Digital Planet is something of a celebration, it's 20 years since the BBC World Service launched the programme. Originally entitled ‘Go Digital’, the programme has always been innovative. It was the first radio programme to generate digital video, and also launched podcasting. We look back over two decades at how technological innovation has changed global society. The programme began in an era where smartphones didn’t exist and the social media we know today had yet to be invented.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Tracey Logan, Alfred Hermida, Ghislaine Boddington, and the programme’s longest-serving contributor Bill Thompson.

Producer: Julian Siddle

(Image: Bill and Gareth meet bloggers in Delhi. Credit: Julian Siddle/BBC)

While the stereotype of the Afghan Taliban is that they lack sophistication, that certainly isn’t true for their online presence, which is geared to influence across many languages within Afghanistan and around the world. Adam Rutland co-founder of the Centre for Information Resilience looks at the effectiveness of their campaign and how they have learnt from both ISIS and Hamas.

We also look at computer guided initiatives for understanding the working of the human brain. Alex Frangi and Ali Sarrami Foroushani from Leeds University have a model which can be used to do research which would be dangerous in real people.

And Fern Luham reports on the technology she and other blind people can use around the home from practical devices to those that help with her social life.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington

Studio Manager: Nigel Dix Producer: Julian Siddle

(Image: Getty Images)

Uganda introduced an extensive CCTV network ostensibly to cut down on crime. Now there are plans to place trackers on every vehicle for similar reasons. However, critics see both measures as ineffective and open to abuse. They are particularly concerned over the use of such surveillance to spy on opponents of the government says Dorothy Mukasa from Unwanted Witness.

And schoolchildren in Uganda have been enrolled to pilot a new device for rapid Malaria testing. Developed with local partners and the University of Glasgow it uses locally made 3d printed test materials married to a mobile phone both to power the test and collect the results. There’s potential for its use in detecting and analysing many diseases say Jonathan Cooper and Julien Reboud.

And can’t get to school? No problem you can now take your lessons and exams via WhatsApp. That is if you’re enrolled in Zimbabwe’s Dr. Maxx WhatsApp school - run with considerable success by Maxwell Chimedza

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson Studio Manager: Giles Aspen Producer: Julian Siddle

(Image credit: Julian Siddle/BBC)

Brazil’s Data Protection Law Brazil has started to enforce its data protection law with companies facing fines of up to $10m USD if they fail to comply. We’re speaking to the Director of the recently formed National Data Protection Authority, Miriam Wimmer, about how the legislation will protect the data of individuals and the impact on companies in Brazil.

Twitter Disaster Bot As the clean-up operation following the floods in Henan province in central China continues Yuan Ren reports on the tech that has or hasn’t worked in preventing and managing these floods. We also hear about a disaster alerting twitter bot that’s been developed in Indonesia. Jakarta produces 2% of all tweets globally, it is also hit by a huge number of disasters, from flooding to earthquakes. The information people are tweeting about these disasters can now be collected into a real time map, PetaBencana or Disaster Map, with the help of a twitter bot. This bot recognises certain words associated with disasters, such as “flood”, and will respond to the sender to ask if they’d like to add the info onto the map. This real time map can help local residents and emergency services know what is happening on the ground. Director Nashin Mahtani told us more.

Bitclout Harrison Lewis reports on a brand new form of social media. Bitclout is not a company, but a proof of work blockchain designed for running social media. A platform where you can speculate, buy and sell creator coins associated with the social media user, this could be a friend, influencer or high profile celeb like Elon Musk. To do so, you need to hold a token for the website, this is called Bitclout and can be bought with Bitcoin. In itself Bitclout is a native cryptocurrency. Even if you do make money though, you can’t retrieve it.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Angelica Mari.

(Image: A hand holding a padlock in front of html code to illustrate online data protection Credit: Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Studio Manager: Nigel Dix Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

This week we’re reporting from Jersey, somewhere that’s at the forefront of development for digital technology. Known for its financial tech it’s also leading the way in ecological and medical technology too. This digital innovation is supported by a commitment to connectivity on the Island. Every home and almost every commercial property in Jersey has had fibre broadband installed, and its internet speeds are some of the highest in the world. On top of this it has total 4G LTE coverage, and it was the first nation globally to achieve this . We’re joined by Tony Moretta, CEO of Digital Jersey, which is dedicated to growing the digital sector in Jersey. Nick Ogden, founder of Worldpay, who is currently developing frictionless atomic settlements which can move trillions of dollars around the world in milliseconds and Rebecca Curtis, Monitoring and Impact Officer for Jersey Overseas Aid, who are using technology to enable effective aid projects including major conservation work in southern Rwanda.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson.

Studio Manager: Giles Aspen Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: Digital Planet/BBC)

After a fleet driver was kidnapped whilst driving in Mexico, the technology he had in his car alerted emergency services. Artificial vision and in-cabin video were used to flag the event in real-time. Combining Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things technology sent the driver's location and video to the company's control centre who alerted law enforcement, allowing them to track him down and return him safely the same day. To find out more we spoke to Romil Bahl CEO of KORE Wireless the company behind the technology and Niv Yarimi CEO of KABAT, the fleet company whose driver was kidnapped.

Protecting the Amazon from deforestation with tech Providing indigenous communities in the Amazon with technology, including satellite images, maps, smart phones and GPS, can reduce deforestation. Data delivered to remote communities on USB by couriers navigating the Amazon river enabled communities to monitor for forest loss. Connecting deforestation alerts with indigenous communities means local patrols can guide themselves to areas thought to be undergoing unauthorised deforestation. In turn this allows communities to defend their land from deforestation. Jessica Webb from Global Forest Watch tells us more.

Neurorights in Chile Brain altering technology is becoming more sophisticated. Mostly developed to try and treat conditions including Parkinson's and epilepsy, there are concerns however about what might be created in the future. Could future smart devices in our homes read our thoughts? Chile hopes to protect neurorights through modification of their constitution. Jane Chambers reports.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Angelica Mari.

Studio Manager: Giles Aspen Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: Concept of technology of the future in safe driving by car. Credit: Igor Borisenko / Getty Images)

As protests continue in Cuba, so do its internet shutdowns. Anti-government protesters are demonstrating against food shortages, power cuts and coronavirus restrictions. In response Cuban authorities have been shutting down internet connections in an attempt to stop protests. Meanwhile Venezuela is becoming known for its frequent online restrictions. David Aragort from Latin American tech rights NGO RedesAyuda updates us on what has been going on. The world’s first 3D printed smart bridge The world's first 3D-printed steel bridge has been unveiled in Amsterdam. Pedestrians can now use it to cross over the Oudezijds Achterburgwal canal. Sensors will continuously monitor how the bridge is used and its ongoing safety. This data will influence how other 3D-printed structures could be built in the future. Professor Leroy Gardner and Dr. Craig Buchanan from Imperial College’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering tell us more.

Ecosystem soundscape monitoring with AI One way to monitor the health of an ecosystem is through sound. Anthea Lacchia reports on how scientists are using machine learning to monitor these ecosystem sounds. From Okinawa to Borneo, they can listen to the sounds of the forest without having to be physically present.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson

Studio Manager: Nigel Dix Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: Getty Images)

US President Joe Biden has signed an executive order asking the Federal Trade Commission to “limit powerful equipment manufacturers from restricting people’s ability to use independent repair shops or do DIY repairs”. This could mean manufacturers can no longer require repairs only be offered by themselves or through authorised retailers. Gay Gordon-Byrne, CEO of The Repair Association in the US, has been speaking about the impact this could have.

Are public-funded cultural institutions falling behind in creating digital content and in danger of becoming irrelevant? A new report from the Serpentine Galleries, “Future Art Ecosystems: Art x Metaverse”, suggests that might be the case. While the Games Industry is ploughing huge amounts of money into developing the spatial decentralised web (web 3.0), cultural institutions are lagging behind. Kay Watson, Head of the Arts Technologies team at the Serpentine Galleries, tells us more about the tech they are using to be part of this new metaverse.

It’s the 30th anniversary of the first public website. Composer Kieran Brunt is back to tell us about his latest creation. This new work explores how the internet has dramatically reshaped our lives over the past 30 years. Woven around personal stories Kieran Brunt features electronic and vocal elements that explore the impact the internet has had on all our lives. The full Virtual Symphony can be heard on BBC Radio 3 on Sunday 18th July 2021.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington

Studio Manager: Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: Getty Images)

Four of the world’s biggest tech platforms are adopting a new set of commitments to tackle online abuse and improve women’s safety online. This is the first time there has been cross-industry collaboration on ways companies can address the issue. Web Foundation Senior Policy manager Azmina Dhrodia is on the show to explain how, while Azerbaijani journalist Arzu Geybulla tells us about some of the abuse she has received online.

Wireless pacemaker that dissolves in the body A wireless pacemaker that can dissolve in the body has been created for patients who need only temporary help to regulate their heartbeat. Pacemakers can be used for short periods, especially after open heart surgery, but are associated with quite a few issues such as infection from leads or the dislodging of the power supply and damaging heart tissue on removal. Professor John Rogers from Northwestern University, Illinois in the US, has developed a battery-free pacemaker that can be implanted directly onto the surface of the heart and it can then be absorbed by the body when no longer needed. He’s on the programme to discuss the tech that made the invention possible.

Reducing car pollution from tyres Future car pollution will mainly come from tyres, not the exhaust. Even now tyre and road wear pollution is one of the leading causes of microplastics in the air. Our reporter Jason Hosken has been investigating how technology can be used to reduce the harmful impacts of tiny tyre particles, that are released from vehicles as they drive along.

(Image: Internet troll sending comment to picture on imaginary social media website with smartphone Credit: Tero Vesalainen/Getty Images)

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson.

Studio Manager: John Boland Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

Why did YouTube take down video testimonies from family members of people imprisoned in China’s internment camps? To ensure the credibility of these videos, people show proof of identity. Now, YouTube says it has concerns that these people may be harassed. Eileen Guo, who reported the story for MIT Tech Review is on the show.

Matter connecting our devices With so many smart devices in the home its incredibly frustrating that setting them up and connecting them to your house is so complicated. Now a new standard has been agreed. It’s called ‘Matter’ and the first Matter certified products are to be released at the end of this year. Tech journalist and IoT expert Stacey Higginbotham explains why this new standard will make smart devices much easier to use and much more secure.

Sonic the Hedgehog is 30! The cute blue spikey hedgehog Sonic has been on our screens for 30 years. Digital Planet’s gaming reporter Chris Berrow has been finding out about the tech that made his design possible. The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson

Studio Manager: Giles Aspen Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: Getty Images)

Our own bias is becoming engrained in computer code. There is a huge amount of evidence showing that human bias and ignorance is encoded into our digitally driven world. The impact of this is unsurprisingly impacting the most vulnerable communities the hardest – decisions on health care, employment and even police surveillance are now being made very often by machines. But can anything be done to stop this bias from getting any worse and can the current bias be removed? As part the WebSci 2021 conference Digital Planet looks at what can be done by public bodies and the private sector to improve AI ethics.

Joining us are Professor Lucy Hooberman, Professor Ricardo Baeza-Yates, Dr. Rumman Chowdhury and Dr. Margaret Mitchell.

(Image: Getty Images)

The programme is presenter by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson.

Studio Manager: Bill Thompson Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

El Salvador has voted to recognise bitcoin as legal tender, and there is a great deal of interest globally in digital currencies that provide an alternative to cash. However mining bitcoin, the intensive computation needed to claim ownership of new Bitcoins, uses vast amounts of electricity – more than many countries produce. Currently most of this energy is supplied from traditional fossil fuel sources rather than renewables. Larisa Yarovaya from Southampton Business school discusses whether Bitcoin is really worth the environmental cost.

Drones for surveying disaster areas with cameras have been around for a while , but now researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Communication, Information Processing, and Ergonomics have revealed a drone based system that can listen to the environment and pinpoint people who may be in distress following floods or earthquakes. Researcher Macarena Varela describes the drone and its microphone array.

And lidar, the survey method which used lasers to reveal topographic detail is now finding a use in mapping Rio De Janero’s Favelas. These areas of informal housing developed in largely unplanned ways, but a wider understanding of their geography might help those who live there access essential services. The lidar survey has the advantage of being conducted without revealing the inhabitants personal information say MIT researchers Arianna Salazar Miranda and Claire Gorman.

(Image: Getty Images)

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Angelica Mari

Studio Manager: Sue Maillot Producer: Julian Siddle

‘Non-fungible tokens’ are a kind of digital asset that can be bought and sold. They have captured the imagination of many artists. Art pieces can be given a digital identity as an NFT. However, they have also been used to successfully sell viral videos. Musician Imogen Heap has released a number of works to be auctioned as NFTs Tim Shaw from Endlesss is working with artists who see NFTs as a useful way to market their work.

And hyper-reality meets traditional art in the form of opera. A new immersive experience has been pioneered by London’s Royal Opera House, placing the audience firmly in the centre of the production as our reporter Hannah Fisher discovered.

Which web browser do you use? Does it matter? Most browsers now rely on the same underlying technology, but Firefox is different. It's one of the favourites of computer engineers but has been losing market share. There are concerns that the growing sameness of browser technology could have a negative impact on the web. As Firefox relaunches we speak to their Senior Vice President Selena Deckelmann,

(Image: First NFT. Credit ImogenHeapxEndlesss)

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson.

Studio Manager: Producer: Julian Siddle

India has brought in stringent new laws that WhatsApp says will force it to break its end-to-end encryption. In a social media chat that’s been forwarded by multiple users, the new rules require the person who originated and shared that message, to be traced. And that’s a big problem for WhatsApp, a service that’s built itself around privacy. Gareth talks to Mishi Choudhary of the Software Freedom Law Centre about the regulations and the potential impact beyond India.

After the new zombie heist film, Army of the Dead, had wrapped, the lead actor, Chris D’Elia, who played the part of an all-action helicopter pilot, was digitally removed from the movie, after he found himself the subject of serious allegations, which he denies. Edited in was Tig Notaro, another actor. Maxim Thompson explains how this remarkable cut and paste job was done.

There’s a new way of driving a games controller, answering a phone or reading a text, using the inside of your ear. It works because many of us, without even realising it, can control a tiny muscle in our ear called the tensor timpani. Roland Pease has been trying out this prototype technology with Nick Gompertz, director of Earswitch

(Image: An advertisement from WhatsApp seen in a newspaper at a stall in New Delhi. Credit: Sajjad Hussain /AFP via Getty Images)

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington.

Studio Manager: Nigel Dix Producer: Deborah Cohen

Speech smart assistants currently do not support any African language, but now Mozilla’s Common Voice project is building a dataset for Kiswahili which is spoken by more than a 100 million people in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, and South Sudan. They have just been awarded almost $5m for the project. Remy the community lead at Common Voice Kinyarwanda and Chenai chair special adviser for Africa Innovation at the Mozilla Foundation tells us more about the work.

Federated Learning As more of our data is processed through machine learning systems, Dr Nic Lane, of the Cambridge Computer Laboratory, explains a new way of processing and using our data without the need to send it through data centres. One solution to reduce the impact is federated learning – where data is processed on the edge, on your device, rather than being centralised. Not only does this reduce the environmental impact of computing, but it also has benefits for privacy and opens up opportunities for data sharing between companies.

Electronic VR socks Reporter Claire Jordan has been investigating a novel approach to “walking” in a virtual reality. Existing ways are expensive and need considerable space to function, as well as having a less than satisfactory user experience. A new technology being developed by Professor Yusuke Matsuda of Toyohashi University of Technology in Japan could expand the reach of immersive VR movement to a much wider audience and deliver a better user experience than current solutions. The user wears electronic socks that create the feeling of walking in VR even though the user is sitting down. This could allow users to spend much longer in VR and also allow people with mobility issues to move around more freely, and possibly feel as though they are moving, in VR.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson. Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: Mozilla’s Common Voice project. Credit: Mozilla) (Image: Mozilla’s Common Voice project. Credit: Mozilla)

More than 100 million people worldwide have interacted with Covid-19 misinformation since the beginning of the pandemic, according to a new study in PLOS One. We speak to Professor David Nemer, from the University of Virginia, to explain the impact of social media misinformation in Brazil – What’s App’s number one market. As he tells Gareth Mitchell, Covid myths and untruths are spread easily with no consequences to those behind the lies.

Tracking your face online Dr Stephanie Hare joins live to discuss the implications of AI facial recognition site, PimEyes, affecting privacy and safety. The current lack of regulation allows such software to be used by anyone – and means we are likely to see more services like this emerge in the near future – but are there steps individuals can take to stop AIs recognising their face?

Why PS5 is still out of stock The pandemic has had wide reaching impacts on the manufacture of computer chips, leading to a shortage of the component used in many devices. This means that 6 months since the release of the PS5 many consumers are still waiting for a device – but that is just one product – cars, mobile devices, and even the 5G roll out are also impacted, with their production delayed.

(Image: Getty Images)

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington

Studio Manager: Nigel Dix Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

Pascal Leroy, Director General of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Forum joins us live to discuss their report on a proposed recycling framework for critical raw materials – CEWASTE – and why recycling critical raw materials from circuit boards, neodymium magnets, fluorescent lights and batteries is essential for the long-term sustainability of electronic manufacture.

Geek TV Stephen Cass, senior editor of IEEE spectrum, explains how he has repurposed an old CRT TV to display his favourite web pages using a Raspberry Pi and a bit of python code. We also discuss the importance of the maker movement and the right to repair laws coming into force later this summer.

Apple vs. Epic Our Games Correspondent Chris Berrow, delves into the detail of the Apple vs Epic lawsuit, with Epic asking if Apple's control over the App Store is anti-competitive, by only allowing in-app purchases through the store and taking a 30% cut of the sales? If Epic wins, this could have huge implications for the games industry, and potentially make in-app purchases considerably cheaper.

(Image: Electronic waste. Credit: Getty Images)

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Angelica Mari

Studio Managers: John Boland and Bob Nettles Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz