Believe it or not, this place was once a small fishing village. Yeah. Not any more. Now, its a mega city of nearly 20 million people. Its most famous for creating consumer electronics, often imitations of premium brands. But as china has opened its doors to International Trade in the last decade, it has undergone a transformation, making strides toward becoming a global power and moving away from that image of being a simple manufacturer of goods, fake or otherwise, to one of innovation, especially of tech. Made in china is fast becoming designed in china. Next week, well visit some of the companies that call shenzhen home, but this week, we are meeting this guy. This is little cloud, and recently, hes gone where no turtle has gone before. Hes just completed a test flight of a journey that one day might take humans to near space. This is kuang chis traveller project. We have seen this kind of stratospheric helium project before. We visited worldview in the us back in february to see their enormous inflatable. I think you have the worlds biggest table. And a spanish outfit, zero to infinity, is also trying something similar. So why does the traveller projects director feel he can beat them to it . We want to be the first one. We need to try hard to become the first one. Because, in shenzhen, the environment is very good, and a lot of people want to do big things. And the Government Supports us. So, i think that shenzhen gives us a very Good Environment to accelerate the progress. The secret, though, is also in the science. Now, the balloon material looks quite ordinary, but of course, its not. It is a special kind of polyethylene which has to resist the low, low temperatures of the stratosphere, and the damaging effects of ultraviolet and ozone. And tt also needs to be able to stop the really, really tiny molecules of helium from escaping. This kind of Space Tourism is billed as being cheaper, easier and safer than the rocket based alternatives being trialled by Virgin Galactic and spacex. Normal people, even the older ones, can do this. You dont need a strong body. If you want to become an astronaut, you must be very strong and train for many days and years. However, this does not need that. Why did you choose a turtle . Ah, thats a good question. Because the turtle has a long life. Sometimes it can be living for more than 100 years the turtle can live in water, it can survive in an low oxygen environment. Is it cruel to send a turtle up there . Hmm. What can i say . Ijust say we need to do this kind of experiment before human beings in the near space. We need to pick up a kind of animal. Hmm. Well, as usual, not a great life being an animal involved in human exploration. While these guys are busy trying to win a race to space, others are racing to put a rover on the moon. And, fortunately, this time, its not a real dog. Now, you may remember earlier in the year we visited the indian space start up, team indus, in their bangalore warehouse. They are one of five teams competing for a 20 million prize if they are the First Company to land and drive a robot on the moon. And one thing we learned while we were there is that to save costs, theyre sharing their rocket space with a japanese competitor, ispace. Well, now were paying them a visit to find out how they think theyre going to win. This is the space suit. And this is a hammer to break something. 0k. Well, with the important stuff out of the way, time to talk space. What inspired you to enter this challenge . I have always been interested in space. I worked for a firm that one weekend asked me, why dont you help in the lunar race . It may be a small operation, but what they lack in size they certainly make up for in style. It is notjust the skyhigh rents of tokyo responsible for the diminished dimensions of the office, it is also because their plan to hitch a ride on the Team Indus Lander means ispace only have to build the rover, ideally one that is faster than team indus. A depth camera is being designed to recognise unexpected rocks and stop the rover before it collides with anything. And because of a communications delay ofjust over a second, the rover will be steered and moved one step at a time to give everyone time to think as it gradually moves across the surface. Mind you, you still need the very best pilots and technicians in the business to command and strive this thing. Looks like im going to scrape that rock. Seriously . Oh, man this isjust a demo unit for numpties like me to use, but the real prototype is being developed just across the office in the clean room. And the one they build next will be the one that actually goes to the moon, well, if nothing goes wrong, say, by letting me touch it. Its so light. Just four kilograms. Remarkable. My name isjohn walker, the chief engineer. The worst thing that can happen is we go to the moon and for whatever reason we dont get any function. We are trying to win, but at the end of the day, we want to keep going back to the moon again and again. So we need that starting point, we need data. We need to verify all the simulations that went into making this rover. That is why a huge part of the missions costs goes towards testing, and that means rigorous checks on the bespoke wheels, control systems, electronics, and perhaps most crucially of all, the communication system. Of course, it is notjust team indus and hakuto in the competition, there is americas moon express, israels space il, and synergy moon, made up of six continents. They all have contracts, but when they take off is anyones guess. It is very secretive, isnt it . What happens if you find out they launch in november . You cant bring your launch forward. It is possible. However, it is very difficult to launch without any notification beforehand. So, im still very. I am sometimes nervous when they will make an announcement. Yeah. Just like the other teams, ispace is about more than just one mission to the moon. They are hoping that the data they gather and the skills they learn could have much more profound implications after the mission, whether they win or not. We recognise this race isjust the start of everything in the future. And we think that the moon is the best place to mine resources and then supply resources such as fuel into space. This is the first step for this establishment. There is certainly a loss that could go wrong. Besides the perils of space, they still need to waste a huge deal of cashier on terra firma before anything can take off. One thing is for sure, though. We are so excited about this race to the moon. But what has become apparent is it is notjust about getting there first, it is notjust about the prize money, it is just as important to get data back and build up this knowledge to be able to go there again and again and again in the future. And when these guys launch, we are going to bring that to you. This week in the tech world, a british inventor set the first this week in the tech world, a british inventor set the first world speed record for flying a body controlled jet engine power suit. Richard browning flew across a lake in reading, reaching speeds of 32 miles per hour. Snapchat finally admitted those specs were a mistake after selling over 150,000 of them and losing over £30 million. And weimo have admitted they are getting rid of the human safety drivers who usually sit in the front in case cars malfunction. There will however be a human sitting in the back of the car for the time being at least. An Autonomous Vehicle in las vegas crashed last week on its first day. It recognised the vehicle in front of it and stopped, as it is programmed to do, but the human driver of the truck did not, hitting the shuttle. Silly humans. And a robot has been designed that can summon and operate lifts to access floors in a building. It has been described as a good robot by its makers. They want its skills to be used for search and rescue missions in the future. It is not 2017 without a robot that can call a lift. And in true 2017 fashion, nasa and uber announced they have joined forces to build autonomous flying taxis. The taxi firm says they will be completely electric and will be used at the 2028 olympics in los angeles. Well see. Mmm, thats pretty good. But this week, i have been taking a look at some technology that aims to question your perception of taste. Here at the university of sussex, levitating food is being served up. Yes, thats right, liquids and solids can float in thin air before being directly fed into your mouth. It works through High Frequency sound from ultrasonic speakers creating a trap for food in midair. The idea being that the heat generated by the sound waves could make flavour more intense. I put it to the test trying identical samples of each taste from a pipette, and then the device. It tastes sweet. Sorry, there is no delicate way of doing this. Did you get it . Yes, and i would say that that was more intense. Wow. This time, weve got cereal and milk. Breakfast time. Did you get it . Yes, and it tasted very sweet. Yes, i think its sweetened cereal. But considering how small the pieces were that i ate, i did get a lot of flavour from them. But, there is the fact i was concentrating more than i normally would when eating cereal. It is an interesting case experience in the lab. I know you want it in the real world to make it possible for a chef to make something and then directly transfer it into somebodys mouth. That is the inspiration. We are trying to figure out how to do that. We call it the transportation unit. This mimics the presentation. When the chef is finished cooking, he puts it in one side and he can control it. It makes it a desirable experience. If you feel a desperate need to amaze your guests with a spot of techy gastronomy, you might be interested in this what we have here is a 3 d liquid printer. As you can see, its a lot smaller than most of the 3 d printers weve shown you on the programme, and itll create a substance that looks Something Like this. A small, edible bite of caviar like consistency. This one is made from passionfruit, but you can use any sort of Natural Ingredient to create intense flavours, and the app will guide you through what flavours might go together. Inside the machine right now are some concentrated passionfruit. For the sake of demonstration i am going to try to create something that looks like a berry but tastes like passionfruit. Maybe ill impress some guests with it. Lets give it a go. I create the shape that i want here on the app. The phone is connected via bluetooth to the device, so to get it going, ijust press the play button. That took under five minutes to come together. Quite fascinating to watch. As the pieces went in i wasnt convinced they were going to stick together. The structure isnt perfect, i will admit, but the big question is, how does it taste . It is just made from passionfruit, so it should taste of passionfruit. Which it does, but rather than tasting of concentrated passionfruit, i would actually say that actually tastes a bit diluted. Thats probably because some of the water is still in with it. Howeverflavoursome, or not, the devices creations may have been, in their current form they dont muster up a great deal of food, so i did finish filming rather looking forward to lunch. Welcome to the seg electronics megamarket in shenzhen. Its one of many in asia, and its here that you come to buy anything and everything electronic. This is also where you can bulk buy new components for manufacturing a new device. This is we get lithium ion batteries for your laptops, smartphones anything, really. But what if you didnt need these at all . We created the first battery free phone, which harvests enough power from ambient light and ambient rf signals so that we can completely power the whole phone byjust Ambient Rf Energy and elemental batteries you can make a phone call to another cell phone or another landline. By stripping back components to the bare minimum, vamsi and his team have successfully made calls over skype. They take advantage of something called analogue backscatter, which reflects pre existing waves found all around us to communicate a message. Right now this only works in the lab, but the team are working on improving its range beyond ten metres. For the moment, batteries do thejob, but we all wish we could charge that little bit faster and last longer. Especially when it comes to electric vehicles, which takes several hours to charge. And the race is most definitely on. Japanese giant toshiba has just unveiled a prototype of its next generation supercharged ion battery made of a unique material. The Company Claims its new mix of titanium oxide will charge injust six minutes, and deliver a range of over 200 miles on a single charge. But it will be a couple of years yet until we see real results. And in the event of a natural disaster, being cut off from the grid is something that can be life threatening. Post puerto rico disaster, tesla boss elon musk has stepped in, offering a free battery grid for a hospital on the weatherbeaten island. Hes also almost halfway through his 100 day challenge to install the worlds biggest battery grid in australia. Tesla says so far, so good. But its not all rosy for musk. Recent production of his model 3 car has stalled due to battery installation issues. Only 222 vehicles were built in this years third quarter, way below the 1,500 targets, leading to lawsuits and drops in share value. But how about this . A battery made of air. Yes, air. Deep in the swiss alps there is a solution which could be about to be rolled out to the masses. Nick kwek has taken a deeper look. Im on my way to this guys batcave. No, hes isnt the swiss bruce wayne, hes got a cave that acts like a giant battery. This is the mountain where our plant is. Wow. Yes, quite enormous. Im being given a private tour of his prototype power plant, which harnesses the power of compressed air. Welcome to our tunnel. Oh, my goodness. Yeah. We drive now 700 metres and thats where the plant begins. So were not actually going deeper underground . Werejust going further into the mountainside . Exactly. The further you get into the mountain, the more rock and mountain is above you, so we can hold the pressure that youre building in the plant. Lights up, lets go. The system works by pumping air into the side of a mountain and storing it tightly until there is a demand for electricity. Like a battery, it springs into action when you need power, releasing the air rapidly through turbines which generate the electricity. Here we basically already have the hard, compressed air, flowing through these pipes. As you can see, thats quite insulated. We have the valves to control the flow, and on the other side you can see that plug, closing the plant. Soaring energy harvested from renewable sources to use later means we can have electricity when the sun is down or there is no wind. This is where the magic happens . Yeah. This is the first plug, 100 metres, 120 metres down the line, we have the exact same plug to seal off the two ends of the chamber. Its 6. 8 tons i think. 0h, pretty easy to move then. That puts your strength to the test. Lets get it running. What . My goodness. Thats crazy. Do not wanna be in here when its filled up with all that air. There are already two functioning power plants that utilise existing compression tech, one in germany, and one in the us, but this system has improved efficiency by over 30 , and the secret behind it is this giant concrete block and whats inside it. So all that hot hair thats piped in comes here to the thermal chamber thats chock a block full of 75 tons of gravel. As the air comes in, it cools down as it transfers that air to the gravel inside. The cold air comes out of this hole in the ground, which fills up this massive, 120 metres long tunnel. Its stored here until there is a need for power, at which point a valve is opened and the air rushes back through the gravel, reheating and expanding in the process, so its warm enough to safely turn the turbines. Thats the kicker. We can increase the efficiency of the system from the 40 of the existing plants to above 70 in our case. This prototype only generates 1 megawatt of energy, which is a tiny fraction of the several hundreds found in regular sized power plants. And you need a mountain with a ready made cave drilled into its side to work. This current prototype could potentially power 100 homes for one hour with 1k of discharge. But its scalable, which means that if you scale that 100 times, it could power the nearby city of lugano for half a day. We are hoping to commercialise it. It can absolutely be a component of the National Grid or even the european grid. This technology is not limited to switzerland. It will be applied in other places around the world, where it is necessary to dispatch the production and consumption of renewable energy. That was nick. We will have more from shenzhen in next weeks programme. Now, heres a thing, if youve ever wanted to meet us and see us perform live, youre in luck. Make a note of this address. This is where you go to get tickets for the forthcoming click live show, which is happening very soon. Youll be able to say hi to us, and you can also experience some of the things youve seen on the programme live. Tickets are running out, so thats where you go. Do it now. We look forward to seeing you there. Thanks for watching and well see you soon. Hi there. For many of us it is going to be another pretty cloudy start to the day on thursday, but there will be some significant weather changes, because this cold front is going to be sliding its way southwards as we go on through the day and behind that were going to see the skies turning much brighter with much more in the way of sunshine. Before we get there, though, for the early rises, weve got a few fog patches knocking around, across south east england, this morning. A lot of cloud too. Theres the band of rain affecting Northern Ireland and Scotland First thing. This band of rain, remember, will clear southward and then its going to brighten up with sunshine. So lets see how things progress through the morning. That band of rain will be moving away from Northern Ireland, but heading in across wales, where it will turn wet through thursday morning. There will be some brighter spells, perhaps across south west england, maybe across the midlands as well. But for east anglia and south east england, probably quite a grey start to the day, either with low cloud or with fog first thing in the morning. The rain across Northern England could be quite heavy for a time during the morning. Behind that, the skies brighten up significantly but its not completely dry in scotland. Here there will be a number of showers, particularly across North Western areas of the country, blustery winds setting in here as well. Through the rest of thursday, our band of rain pushes southwards. Now there could be a few breaks in the clouds ahead of that band of rain. And in any case, as the rain band works towards south east england, probably arriving in the london area around four oclock in the afternoon, you can see theres barely any rain left on it. To the north, as the sunshine comes out, down go the temperatures. 6 9 degree celsius in those sunnier moment in the north of the uk. During thursday evening, the band of rain finally clears away from south east england. With clear skies, its going to be a cold night. Towns and cities temperatures getting down to three degrees or so, in london. 0ut into the countryside, the lowest temperatures could get down to 5, in the very coldest spots. I think there will be a fairly widespread frost in the country, perhaps not so in scotland because here theres going to be fairly brisk winds. And those winds will be with us on into friday as well. Bringing plenty of blustery showers across northern and Western Areas. But for most of us, friday is a decent end to the week, really, with plenty of sunshine around. Temperatures a little below par for the time of the year. Were looking at highs between 7 10 celsius. The weekend weather prospects not looking too bad. Most of us will see some sunshine but, again, there will be some showers knocking around, particularly across northern and Western Areas and quite a chilly wind to boot on saturday and maybe some rain arriving late in the day on sunday in the west. Saturday then a reasonable start to the weekend, temperatures 6 10 degrees celsius. Sunny spells and just a few showers pushing southward during the day. Thats your latest weather. Bye for now
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