Transcripts For DW Tomorrow Today 20240713

Biologists working to save europes fire salamanders whose numbers have plummeted. Agriculture in many parts of the world has already entered the digital age with self driving machinery on the fields and Artificial Intelligence controlling irrigation. Now scientists are looking into High Tech Solutions to replace harmful pesticides and herbicides all over the world toxic chemicals are used to protect crops with large quantities sprayed over theel. But could a robot do the same job without the harmful side effects. Little plants dont stand a chance theyre being examined by a laser burns in clear old roots and all. Weed killers like this prototype may stir. The fields of the future. Its being developed by scientists at the university of bonn in germany. Devices like this could transform the entire business of we control and crop care. Day and night robots could check for disease watch out for infestations like insects or fungus and kill the weeds among the crops stomping is an alternative method to zapping. Theres a lot of Artificial Intelligence behind these little models if they do their job well the use of herbicides could be slashed. In a national id as weve reached the point where we can sharply reduce the use of chemicals and im confident it will indeed happen in the field of weed control this is just that. The smart robots need to distinguish between weed and crop and between healthy and diseased plants and rarely if ever get it wrong. The ai learns from comparing a huge number of photos Computer Vision algorithms detect and classify the plants. Robots on the ground will also team up with ones in the air drones equipped with cameras surveying the land and passing the images on to farmers all the little helpers in real time. The idea is to identify problems far more swiftly and efficiently. Here plants that are subject to stress colored red sources of stress include disease pests and lack of water. When a drone tells a robot that something is not right it will set down to take a look and solve the problem perhaps all by itself. For now the prototype needs a lot of help for example finding its why. To a field. If its still operated by Remote Control and sometimes needs a helping hand. Eventually it will find its own way and know what these to be done unto it zeroing in on a wheat or a sickly plant. Finds a target it will stop it with its laser. And the robot still needs more refinement. To weed control we need 2 or 3 more years until it works really well and the technology can be put to practical use another aspect will be to help farmers integrate these systems into their Operations Team and in between particular unvetted will require them to learn more about robotics. People farmers will need to get up to speed with respect to digitalisation and technology and mass theyll need to develop their skill set we are trying to promote that its going to mean quite a big change. A revolution is in the making although experts say could well be a decade before we see cultural robots roaming the world on their own. Unfortunately a small scale fan is unlikely to benefit from that revolution even though all together they work more than half of the worlds Agricultural Land their individual funds arent big enough to warrant buying a robot. Not an exciting discovery in germany thats telling us more about early funding traditions we did back to the neolithic age when humans began to give up a nomadic lifestyle to plant the land. This is how it might have looked back then a small lake where you can catch fish on the shore if you can. Carefully constructed huts inhabited by people who form cooperative communities the neolithic age is one of the most interesting epochs in Human Development the period in which hunter gatherers became farmers. The remains of one of our early ancestors is currently being analyzed by cheating in university in southern germany its the skeleton of a woman who died in 5300. 00 b. C. The discovery is giving archaeologists insights into an era that leads directly to the present day your kind offer additional she doesnt have any obvious signs of disease but we can see that she has worn down teeth because she grain the grain was ground with millstones which left behind grid and highly interesting we have evidence of tartar and tooth decay a new disease that emerged at the time when you eat grain sugars are formed that attacked the tooth enamel and so for the 1st time in these burial remains we see all these diseases of modern life emerging that are still with us today. The woman was buried in typical fashion for the time on her side with her legs drawn up to her chest. Graves was found in. Close to tubing and it was one of the 1st settlements in southern germany where archaeologists have found ceramics the remains of burned down houses and scorched grain its one of the most significant neolithic excavation sites. But were excavating a village inhabited by the earliest farmers in this area. Something special were talking about some time around 5500. 00 b. C. An age that saw a fundamental change in lifestyle. The people switched away from a nomadic hunter gatherer lifestyle and began producing their own food with livestock and farming. But they started to build homes and put down roots. The woman whose skeleton was excavated was one of these early farmers she lived to an age between 30 and 40 what makes this discovery so special other things buried with their 16 fine limestone beads archeologists believe that she was wearing them on a leather strap around her neck the discovery was an absolute stroke of luck up to now such strings of beads have only been unearthed in the balkan region and the cup in basin in hungary. The font is so helen the form of these speeds is really unique in our area in Central Europe as a whole we 1st thought that it was a more recent find but carbon dating has shown that this grave is from the same era as the settlement. And so we have a series of fines that are unique up to now so that we will now analyze in more depth. Than analyse and will. Genetic analysis indicates that the 1st farm is a arrived in Central Europe from South Eastern Europe bringing that domesticated animals and cultivated plants the beach woman of annabelle as she has been dubbed is now providing new insights into this Migration Movement the newcomers not only brought a completely new way of life they probably still retained cultural contacts with their roots to the homages of the individual in this grave comes from this generation of migrants just message that doesnt necessarily mean that this woman came directly from the car paid in basin but her forebears did her direct ancestors. Lets say her grandparents came from the western carpathian basin to Central Europe interestingly we also have the string of beads this jewelry which shows us this link for the 1st time this is the 1st time weve seen this jewelry here. These lines to be fashioned very painstakingly they look like marble and show the fine crossman ship that people were capable of in the neolithic age for the woman who died some 7300 years ago in this small settlement in what is now southern germany they were probably her most treasured possession the fact that she was buried with her beats also reveals a lot about this Village Community about solidarity and. But in copies of this grave of a 30 to 40 year old woman who was buried with jewelry almost gives us a sense of what life in the village was like. You can almost imagine how this woman with the jewelry lived in the village and then was also buried there. Of course its those kind of moments that move us. The woman buried in rubble in southern germany was one of the 1st farm is in Central Europe in one of the most exciting periods in the history of humanity neolithic people set up the 1st villages forming tightly knit social units and began to shape the world in their image. So the 1st diseases of modern life were already evident in the stone age. Today is a much more widespread result of our modern lifestyle. That we still have the bodies of hunter gatherers which need to move around and not sit down all day. Sports can help to compensate for our inactive lifestyle we were curious and asked you what you do to stay active and what you like best about your chosen sport. Badminton best especially when he can play long rallies. Elisia writes that she loves swimming and shes lucky enough to live by the sea. Sergio has played rugby for over 20 years he believes the world could benefit from his favorite sport thanks for your comments do keep exercising. But take care to protect your head rugby like american football is a tough contact sport head injuries can be a huge problem. Studies in the us have shown that american football can cause serious damage to the brain. Research is now also being conducted into the effects of head injuries among soccer players. In Contact Sports like soccer. Her collisions and blows to the body and head are negligible and as the pace and dynamism of the game increase so does the risk of serious injury. But in shock an impact to the head can result in a traumatic brain injury with damage not only to the outer skull but also to the brain as. Head trauma has traditionally been underestimated with players injured on the pitch typically playing on. After a heavy blow to the head during the 2014 World Cup Final germanys Christopher Camara was allowed to play on for a full 15 minutes before he was finally substituted completely disoriented he didnt fact suffered concussion the sports authorities later introduced the 3 minute rule hes the door to the team doctor can now tell the referee that a plan has a head injury he is then given 3 minutes to make a diagnosis i mean would not stick and alternately the dont it is science whether the game has to be interrupted. In some countries the authorities have gone a step further all players in germanys 1st and 2nd divisions had to undergo an examination ahead of the current season whats called a baseline test we. Will stop the show insist it is important test isnt something youre worried about us such you just want to see how our joy in your mind is how quickly you can take things then also compared to other players on this one if you do get injured its important for the doctor to have some benchmarks. And im listening. The test covers a number of factors the aim is to assess a players memory capacity and concentration as well as their balance coordination and orientation the test scores provide a vital reference should the player suffer a head injury the results are crucial for comparison with post injury test scores. This kind of also going home offs the test can be of immediate help when a diagnosis is required on the pitch. It will probably have a more significant in fact when decisions have to be made about a player returning to training after several days of recuperation and straining dementia. Doctors now have more insight into acute concussion from sports injuries but theres been Little Research on other issues soccer for example the potential consequences for the brain of hitting the ball regularly players might then develop chronic traumatic encephalopathy or c. T. E. Which has been linked to depression and dementia. Doesnt vice what we do know is that the brain can change its structure and organization as a result of having the ball but we need more information on the pathological impact where is the dividing line between what we would call a pathological under normal change to conquer all of us its not possible for give evil neurologist close heinsberg or has conducted a long term study to look at the effects of heading the ball during training and actual games over a period of 18 months he and his team recorded every single header by the youth team of hamburg soccer club the number of headers the speed and travel of the ball the impact area on the head and other parameters the results are due for publication in the summer. This does. Just the latest but im not. The problem. Soccer is that when we compare it with other sports with frequent collisions we see a lower rate of concussion. So feeling mentioned but the sheer number of people playing the game around the world means that we have a very large number of soccer related concussions. And that alone justifies more research. Before. Banning headers says with the cited for under elevens in the u. S. Soccer is hardly a feasible solution but growing awareness of the dangers means that the beautiful game is already benefiting. But while its important to be sensible about avoiding injury the benefits of sports undisputed experiments with mice have shown that exercise even leads to the development of new nerve cells. And speaking of cells a very intense anea sent us this question. Why dont our bodys cells live forever. While theyre actually preprogramed to expire after a certain time take red blood cells for example they have a life span of about 4 months. And its time for the cells to perish the dramatic sounding event is called a pop ptosis and serves the greater good us. It applies to other organisms too of course in the case of frogs tadpoles the juvenile form have a tail. As they mature it gradually disappears thanks to optos us. By the time they were adult frogs the cells that once constituted the tail have died and been result worked. With humans cell death begins before we are even born during early Fetal Development our toes and fingers are aware that membrane then disappears as are digits by. Come separate and distinct. Also prevents genetically abnormal cells from surviving and passing on their d. N. A. Which might cause disease. The process is triggered outside the cell or inside holes then form in the membrane of the mitochondria enabling certain proteins to enter the cytoplasm resulting in cell death. Without up optos elderly persons intestine would be 16 kilometers long unchecked growth and cell numbers would also lead to bone marrow when 2 tons theres systematic demise frees up space for new young cells generated through Cell Division but to a certain points that is. The process of Cell Division comes to an end when we get old genes have a kind of aging clock called telomeres but why now thats another question. If you are right latin. Do you have a science question that youve always wanted answered were happy to help out send it to us as a video text ovoid smell we also it on the show will send you a little surprise as a thank you can i just ask. If you can find us at d. F. W. Dot com slash science or on twitter on facebook. Before we go we have one more story for you and for me as others have brits that reproduce in was almost environments frogs needs and geckos for example all of them 50 and. They have one big problem 40 percent of all species worldwide are endangered mainly by devastating fungal diseases in europe one fungus has debt. Is there hope for them. Every evening a group of biologists from Leipsic University comes to this forest in western germany to look for fire salamanders and theyve been doing this for 3 months now and most of the specimens they find are dead killed by a fungus or how many this location is kind of a problem child we found a lot of infected animals recently so we want to see if we can find any today. The light will be gone soon and the 1st salamander should be emerging from their hideouts the day was warm and dry something the invariants dont like they take refuge where its more east and cool. So theres nothing to be seen here. The biologists 1st came here last year to look for salamanders back then there were many but this year a deadly fungus has taken hold. The researchers know that it thrives at temperatures around 21. 00 degrees celsius is highly contagious and kills the animals within a few weeks. Now they want to find out more about how quickly the salamanders become infected and how the fungus spreads. The salamander isnt shy although it suddenly in bright light doesnt run away. Ok lets take a look can we see anything on the skin. Yes here we can see lesions these black rings. We call them skin lesions its a symptom of the bees all fungus. And the pathogen called the cell is a tiny fungus that eats the salamander skin because they breathe and regulate moisture through their skin infected animals die painfully. The skin swab will show how badly the salamander has been infected even though it looks healthy and its skin seems intact it may already be. Reports from scientists and then the other ones have shown how rapidly the fungus can wipe out a salamander population. Discovered there in 20083 years later studies at 3 different locations showed that 96 percent of fire salamanders had been killed in 2013 the pathogen appeared in belgium decimating the salamander population within months. Scientists were worried that the fungus would move to germany and in 2015 it happened. Researchers spotted it near the belgian border and since 2017 its been found here in the valley. In my. 2 years ago if you came to sample a population like this youd have had 60 animals around you had to watch out where you were stepping and now you cant find a single animal its very sound. To be cell is thought to have originated in asia and spread to europe by way of salamanders imported as pats. European variety. Are unfamiliar with a fungus and their immune systems cant fight it. Skin is already badly damaged the fungus has spread everywhere. And. Its helpless and it will probably die within a couple of hours. In germany the fungus is also being spread by hikers foresters and anglers b. Cell forms long lived spores its possible that the fungus was transported from the border region to here or near essen infected soil on peoples shoes. Sure that they dont transmit the lethal disease the biologists disinfect the rubber boots after every trip to the woods. In the lab vanessa studies the samples shes taken from the salamanders in the woods. Compared to last year the results this time are shocking. And last year we didnt find any infected animals that they spot and now half of them are affected. The deadly fungus is d also being seen in captive salamanders but in contrast to salamanders in the wild these can be treated with heat. If the animal can survive 10 days at 25. 00 degrees celsius the fungus can be eliminated and the skin recovers. Still its an unpleasant process for animals that prefer a cool and moist. Heat treatment is an extreme process for the animals to go through but when you see after a few days that theyre becoming healthy again its a great feeling that you were able to help somehow have. The fire salamanders could survive if they become immune to the fungus but since it kills them in a matter of weeks theres no time to build up resistance but still hoping to find a salamander that has survived the fungus in the wild. The city not its not looking for a needle in a haystack but we wont stop looking out there will do our best. If they could find a salamander thats immune they could cross breed it with others and perhaps breed salamanders that are resistant enough to survive this killer fungus. Next show new revelations about the effect of Computer Games on our brains join us for that next week on tomorrow today until then. The firestorms long shot. 75 years ago dresden Historical Center was decimated in a single night by the allied forces 3 months before the end of world war 2. Historians are still debating how the baroque city came to be bombed to. Analyzing the past the dresden legend. 15 minutes on t. W. Earth. Home to millions of species a home worth saving. On those are big changes and most start with small steps global ideas tell stories of creative people and innovative projects around the world like to use the term good Climate Change to Green Energy Solutions and reinforce. They create interactive content teaching the next generation about Environmental Protection and were determined to build something here for the next Generation Global ideas the multimedia environment series on t w. They were forced into a nameless mass. Their bodies near tools. The history of the slave trade is africas history books describes how the greed for power and for profit plummeted and entire continent into chaos and violence the slaves system created the greatest planned accumulation of wealth the world had ever seen up to that moment to. From its very beginnings until this very day Human Trafficking has shaped the way. This is the journey back into the history of slavery i think will truly be making progress when we all accept the history of slavery as all of our history. Our documentary series slavery routes starts march 9th on d w. This is a news line from berlin is the west winning or some weaker well depends on who you ask at the Munich Security Conference happy to report that the death of the transit. Is grossly over exaggerated. When i look at the world as its being shaped in maps the theme of your conference this year there is indeed a weakening of the west u. S. Secretary of state like tom pale and french president Emmanuel Mccall very different pictures of the western Alliance France announces the