A virus spread. Why do we panic and when will all this. Just 3 of the topics covered in the weekly radio show is called spectrum if you would like any information on the krona lyras or any other science topic you should really check out our podcast you can get it wherever you get your podcast you can also find us at twitter dot com ford slash science. Ed traffic over sydney coming to a nice standstill. Busy city street so low the world deserted. A breath of fresh air thanks to mass lockdowns. The coronavirus is changing how we travel. Public transport is a no go for many theyre afraid of catching the virus. Some are turning to motor bikes and bicycles. These shops are cashing in. 25 years. By now looking to commute to work instead of catching public transport so its kind of very nice. Dublin is clearing car parks and lanes to make way for by parts when a series is widening walkways to allow for social distancing. The crisis is changing mobility for good for better or worse critics say clearing lanes will create bigger traffic jams more pollution more noise or could more people ditch cars altogether a lot of cities taking steps european and american capitals are rolling out thousands of kilometers of bikeways and many are offering free bike sharing Global Centers are automating crossing signals you dont have to press a potentially contaminated button anymore or spread your germs to a bus driver you dont need a ticket in dozens of cities during the crisis. But back to the renaissance of the bike is used lisa lewis back. In times of covert 19 matter is all the more happy she bought an ebook like a few months back even better her hometown for tunis who bought 3 kilometers outside of paris picked up over half the bill as part of a program to promote cycling to everybody i meet you there are back now used to take public transport to paris but have now decided to always cycle downtown im too worried to take the metro its impossible to keep a safe distance from other passengers but i feel much more secure on my bike you already know and cycling is getting easier here paris is carving out 50 kilometers of new temporary bike paths and banning cars from certain streets and cities and regions across france are doing the same setting aside fountains of kilometers for to be traffic. If you keep it in these new lanes are really well done and id like them to become permanent its so good not to depend on the timetables of public transport and youre not being held up by the frequent delays on the metro the only tories whats more the Central Government is putting 20000000 euros on the table to subsidize bike repairs by as much as 50 years. Its effort is bearing fruit this bike repairman says hes never hot so many requests. And 2nd receive about 50 calls a day and as many emails there are a lot of people especially elderly ones who now get their bike out of the basement and want to get back in the saddle there are a few but not everybody is happy about the pro bike policy drivers groups complain there is now less space for cars. With the air conditioning switched on and the windows closed you have practically no chance of catching the virus in groups now you can feel safe and for people like me who live 100 kilometers away from paris because its the only alternative to public trust. Plus its great to psycho violent sonny but in November December people will want to use their bike anymore. But now he hopes parisians new found love for cycling is more than a temporary fling. Just to look really all the up if you know i hope that people will have enjoyed the quiet during the lockdown we could hear the birds chirp again people should realize how noisy cars are taking the bike is good for you and once you start you get hooked you do as you see leveled a new level going is what. She intends to keep on cycling and hopes the government will declare even more streets car phrasings. Federal velo is director of integrated transport and Innovation Mobility Program in the u. S. Well looking at the biggest chance in our lifetimes to change something do you think the world will rethink mobility. Well i think we are thinking mobility were thinking about it and the urgency of the crisis right now you see cities like berlin paris london old colons minneapolis austin and the United States changing over and socalled we say opening up streets to people and closing them to cars you see wanda and. Reinvestigating its low emission congestion charge zone so were seeing a lot of change right now i think we will probably see a continuation of that because more and more people are out walking and biking they also need those spaces the one thing is public transport on the other hand is providing more of a Crucial Service with fewer riders say was 60 not to 90 percent fewer riders right now but we that would be probably a question of what we see as we emerge out of this process whether Decision Makers will also make similar moves to prioritize public transport been a lot of things are going to return to normal at some stage what makes you think they wont return to normal as far as mobility goes. Well i think they will return to normal to a certain extent now to what extent they diverged from this pathway i think is up to a Decision Makers and what they do in the policy decisions in how we prioritize public space and street space in cities after previous recessions or downturns we have had after a big drop in vehicle traffic a return in vehicle traffic i suspect well see largely the same now will this affect peoples sort of mindset of i dont want to go into shared spaces such as public transport will i want to walk or bike to work well i just want to continue working from home we dont know exactly what those trends are but i think we are seeing at least right now this surge in cycling in and walking and some cities indicating now that they want to publish prioritize more public transport movements if you are in charge what would your vision be well if i were in charge before this crisis i would say we have issues that are going on like air quality of some 3500000. 00 people dying per year physical inactivity over 3000000 deaths per year we have 1300000. 00 deaths per year in road fatalities and so. Let alone the emissions that come from the transport sector some 14 percent of global emissions and so i would say lets move to sustainable mobility lets move through public transport which is more efficient say lets move through safe walking and biking and do you prioritize the movement of the car now i dont see anything changing after this crisis of of what i would where i would go in terms of those same types of decisions. Can public transport be sustainable environmentally friendly economical and crisis proof all at once. I think that is a good question i dont think we have the answer to that right now for example in the us the federal government stepped in and provided 25000000000 to the public transport industry to survive during this time theres also talk that thats not enough similar things are going on in other countries so governments are going to have to come in in some places like africa and america you do not have a government subsidy to support public transport to this extent so there is a huge question so were going to have to figure out how to financially sustain public transport in this short term now in the longer term however i dont i do not see. Much changing say from from a planting point of view but again i think this depends on how Decision Makers want to invest in resources do they want to make car oriented cities or do they want to make places that are sort of what we call multimodal where people can get around from any variety of ways. Thank you very much for being on the show coming to us from washington thank you thank thank you so much. Time for your questions on the coronavirus a science course one of their aquariums has been busy researching the different aspects you keep on cover for us. Does the virus have psychological effects on some individuals. Yes covert 19 can impact on Mental Health in different ways 1st like other respiratory infections it can affect behavior causing a kind of grab bag of symptoms known as as impaired consciousness a study from china showed that around one in 3 patients experienced neurological changes that could affect mental awareness and cognition causing symptoms like confusion dizziness and erratic behavior then there are of course the effects that having the disease can have on long term Mental Health particularly in those who experienced severe cases and also of course those who lost loved ones to the virus and dont forget those Health Care Workers on the front lines that theyre going to feel the effects too so for many many people the psychological trauma caused by 19 has has become a heavy burden to bear. People in sweden arent subject to lockdown restrictions and dont wear masks why is whats happening in other countries not happening there from the start sweden has taken its own unique approach to the pandemic it didnt force businesses or schools to close and society has remained largely open the government has only issued recommendations to the populace and says it relies on swedes to take responsibility for their actions the National Strategy was supposed to be aimed at protecting people at the greatest risk like like the countrys elderly but they have been hit. By private 19 their Swedish Health authorities think their response is more sustainable when confronting a disease that looks to be with us for for a long time compared to with scandinavia and neighbors which imposed much tighter restrictions deaths per 1000000 in sweden are currently significantly higher but they are lower than they are in some other European Countries so in a nutshell with its response sweetness taking a gamble and nobody knows yet whether that gamble is going to pay off. So you questions to derek on our you tube channel and well check in with him tomorrow finally they could have celebrated online but that didnt sound right to the comic can extend electricians leaving school behind in building this lithuania the students lined up in their cars to perceive that i was in a drive through ceremony by big thank you to the teachers then they put their best driving skills to use. Champagne found when you can cruise and let loose through fountains like these. Ive been this will. See you next hour. This woman is defying the regime. To a must move has been searching for her husband and son for years both might be victims of syrias secret service now there is a ray of hope. Suspected henchman of us on our own trial in germany. Some concern for the. Next. Environmentally conscious living. With maximum comfort. Her. From tanzania is helping make it possible he started with sustainable ideas in his own home. Town hes inspiring others to innovate at his invention school and for. In 60 minutes on d w. What do they dream of at night. As cleaners they see the face of horror. Their job censoring for the social media industry. In manila there are thousands of socalled content monitors to go until they scrub the terrifying images from online platforms. Kahrizak job for starvation wage the strain it is enormous. The cleaners the social medias shadow industry starts june 8th on g. W. Hello and welcome to focus on your all on liz show the corona crisis has been dominating headlines for months so much so that it has overshadowed all other topics like the ongoing war