A weekly radio show is called spectrum. If you would like any information on the coronavirus or any other science topic, you should really check out our podcast. So you can get your podcast. You can also find us at the science of the stress of the coronavirus pandemic is taking its toll on all of us. Theres the ever present fear that you or a loved one could catch the virus. On top of the strain of having to work from home with normal ways of relaxing and socializing on hold for now, scientists are starting to study the emotional impact the pandemic is having on people everywhere from the oldest to the youngest. There was 5 1 missing. Ringback children perhaps, can fully comprehend the unusual strain that this pandemic is placing upon them. Is not normal times for anyone and the impact is being felt strongly by those who would normally need the most help. The elderly are among the many thing you 3 friends have met up to play cards in lump to durham. Any they are between 70 and one over 90 years old. They all still live in their own homes. They regularly to exercise classes together and made up in a restaurant on sundays. So how do they feel about the contact restrictions . I dont want to take any risks. I prefer to follow the recommendations. I wont take any risks. And of course, this is stressful because you become really isolated and very alone. And you need a bit more at least i personally need a little bit more company. Just Nursing Homes have had restrictions for a long time. Visits are now limited to half an hour each day. One of this homes residence is lucy, a little. She is 99 years old, has 4 children, and shes a grand and great grandmother. They mention excel and really go to sleep. Humans are meant to be social. You can have a good life when you have closeness, when you can hug things that arent possible now. And how think you have to think in the end. I dont care to shake hands with the children. Thats not what youre supposed to do. And thats the hardest part. The man has experienced a lot in her life, escape from war illnesses and great upheaval. So you know, the lesson, all we can do is stay calm and accept whatever comes our way and the impact of wind through come back. The only thing we can influence that is by being considerate to each other. The impact of the coronavirus on the Mental Health of people of all ages is something thats being studied very closely. We can now speak to professor christoph corral from the sherry tate medical school here in berlin. Hes conducting a Major International survey called the collaborative outcomes study on health and functioning during infection times or co fit for short. And i think when youre short version of that, thank you very much for joining us, professor. I mean, whats the aim of your study . Yes, went to cool off it actually cool it hit the world as we were stunned by it myself. And marcus only did cool p. I, and we thought we need to do something to learn from it and feel fortified. So the idea is to state and be fit cool fits during the cool bit and then mc and up and mix trying to understand who are the people who are at highest risk of having poor outcomes from it. And one are coping strategies to actually do well during the pandemic, so that we could learn from and do from individuals for individuals, but also do Something Like that in space. Governance, thats politicians and society could learn from what kind of strategies to deal with pandemic health, both physical and Mental Wellbeing or actually make it worse. So what sort of thing is you asking people . So you are asking many things. Its a long survey thats a little bit of weakness about 30 minutes for of the adults and of lessons, and about 15 to 20 minutes for all children age 6 to 13. Were asking them obviously where they live, how they live, where they know someone who is infected or theyve been infected themselves if theyre in carmen right now or not. But also do they have a physical or Mental Illness already . And what is the help seeking behavior during the condemning out they getting the medication or they can have a need. And then we are asked symptoms, looking at not full validated scales, but we drew out single questions to b. S. Trans diagnostic as possible having as many mental domains and physical domains we want to cover. And then we already saw that having drawn out just a couple of questions, always on 0 to 10. 00, how much you feel it is true. Not that youre anxious, lonely, or stressed, angry. And how it was that the 2 weeks before the pandemic hit in order to see a change. And then we also ask about coping strategies, what works the best . And then we want to see people who do well, what kind of coping strategies they use versus those that dont. So that we can actually recommend certain strategies to people who may not use them appropriately. Theyre already send theories on the impacts that their pandemics been having on Mental Health, all the specific ideas that you are trying to either challenge all or prove with this. So i mean were looking both at not modifiable risk factors which are basically subgroup definitions. And modifiable risk factors, so can we do something that we want to change . So for example, how much people walk outside, how much they are in contact with other, is it just personal contact or what about also online contact that is already pretty good. What about telemedicine . That supplements for in person visits and can still maintain well being. So where were testing a couple of also resilience factors. It doesnt resilience change over time, or is it something that youre born with into the endemic . What about altruism and altruistic behavior change . And thereby also improve outcomes. These are all some of the questions were asking with in looking on the program and specifically the impacts for young people and older people. Are there specific groups that you are expecting to see the pandemic having a lot to impact on . Yes, all were looking at 1st of all, this is an anonymous for the general population, but were very interested in subgroups migrants, pregnant women, women in general, the young, the very old, the people who live alone from Plant Health Care workers. All of these will be examined. We cardiff, 110000, people across the world, 147 countries, 6 continents to participate. We need more people to understand it better. But what weve learned already is that women seem to be the brunt. They have more stress and more angry, and they also feel somewhat more lonely than males. And particularly it seems those that have to do triple time asking their home, running the household. But they have to do home schooling and maybe also do a home office kind of work and it seems that they are much more affected all they are more open and honest about it. Because also more women participated in the survey saw will be interesting to see which groups to turn out to be the greater effective professor christoph corral from the sheraton medical school and the co fit study. Thanks for joining us. Thanks for having me. And you can take part in the survey by visiting to fit dot com. They want people from all over the world and its available in lots of different languages. And you can help create a better understanding of the human impact of covered 90. Now is the part of the program where we put one of your questions submitted through how you cheat channel to our science correspondent, derrick williams. I would like to know why the Pfizer Vaccine needs to be kept. So very cold, especially since it presumably has to be warmed up prior to administrative. To answer this, i 1st have to go over a few basics of cell biology. The vaccine developed by biotech and pfizer is whats known as a messenger r. N. A. Or m r n a backseat l m r n a is a chain like molecule that fulfills a very important function and cells that it contains codes to make proteins and it acts as a messenger between the cells control center and its protein building machinery as hence the name. But the protein, this particular m r n a vaccine that codes for isnt a human one. Its a protein thats made by the corona virus. And when the m. R. N a is injected, it causes your cells to begin making that viral protein, and that provokes an immune response, just as if you caught coke at 19, sending in the Pretty Simple quick to produce more of a code molecules to make these, these complicated proteins and getting the body to do all of the work of producing them is business elegant solution to, to a complex problem. But of course, it cant be all easy. Weve been trying to produce these kinds of vaccines for decades now. And one of the major hurdles has been keeping the m. R. I. In a stable long enough for it to accomplish its task. After all, messenger r. N. A. Isnt built to last in the cell thats supposed to break down again after its proteins have been produced, not hang around because that would cause all kinds of problems. So lots of the research in the field involves keeping this pretty fragile molecule stable. And one way to do that is to code it in a, in a specially designed molecular envelope and then, and then freeze it at all to a low temperatures. When he thought back out again, the more n a begins to degrade, but not instantly. The best description ive heard of the process compared these vaccines to chocolate covered ice cream bars with, with the coating, hoping to retain the integrity of the ice cream to some extent, even as it slowly melts. Finds are, and by on tax a that there vaccine. If refrigerated remains stable for up to 2, about 5 days after thawing and maternal, which, which makes the other m. R. And a vaccine can do that, making headlines at the moment. It says that its those says have a refrigerated shelf life of, of, up to 30 days. Or is it as a comment on you ship channel . So for must stay healthy slow enough or so more energy to burkina faso this doesnt just mean transitioning to new energy here. It means having access to electricity. Currently, only about 5 percent of the population has this privilege. The government project is seeking to change that first place, spanx endless fronting the Unfinished Business model sled companies are sensing gold rush, limbaugh dangers in fuchsia markets with nonsense potential in Space Science fiction, it seems made in germany 16 on t. W. Were all set to go beyond the obvious things that will move as we take on the world place where its all about is the stories that matter to you are going to become something. Im going to encourage the book. What ever it takes, going to the running of the flick, strange looking, the fun, the t. W. Made for minds. Do you plan for the big new ideas are needed for equal funding, mobility in big cities everywhere. But of course in africa and europe and on the show today well be sharing some Exciting New Development in back sector and then work on geographic. I am now tie in nigeria and i am saundra tween of the oh, here in the capito or uganda company. Hi everybody. Welcome to the latest episode of africa. Yes, it is true. We have a lot of interesting stories for you. And a quick preview. We hope to begin a process to take a look on wrong to move on a production plant. We also visit a company in germany. The host created a way to recycle news going from the cars and tunings and also see how some people right here in company want to make transportation more eco friendly. Like many other west african countries look in a fossil has difficulty meeting its electricity needs. In the rural areas, less than 5 percent of the population is connected to the Great Schools on medical centers are especially hard to fit in 2017, iraq union police. A report highlighted this centralization and a more Sustainable Energy mix as possible solutions. And now things in booking a fossil seem to be moving in that direction. The solar kit on this roof is reliable and doesnt require much maintenance. Cost says the 2000 euro investment was money well spent for him and his family. He had to save up for a long time to be able to afford it installed the solar panels 7 years ago. Now we have lights, a television set, a fridge that we can drink, cold water. Its very useful. Since we never know if or when well be hooked up to the grid, we turn to solar for only 15 percent of the population and linked to the National Electricity grid and backing a fast say. So people buy solar kits instead, they can now be found at small local shops and street nights. All major roads are also solar powered nowadays. Here in one of the poorest countries in africa, a local business, the fast Energy Company has set up a plants to produce, sell the systems. Its the 1st in west africa. The factory opened a few weeks ago. The manufacturing equipment in components that the Solar Systems are imported from europe. The government waived import duties. Production equipment is the very latest. Its very complex and enables us to make high quality products. The panels we make are basically the same as models that have been certified in germany. Certain much of the manufacturing process is automated. But some steps, a done by hand. 170 people work at the plant. The huff of them are women. The solist cells have to be sold to the panels manually to create the modules. The entire system has to be robust enough to withstand high temperatures. It can be 45 degrees celsius in the shade. So this is where we test the panels. When a panel comes out of the machine, we check all the solders to see if there are any cracks anywhere. If everythings ok, we wire the strings of cells together. Finally, we attach a serial number to prevent counterfeiting, because of the company has stocked up on components in case supply chains are interrupted. Theres a lot of competition on the market for solar panels in west africa, especially from companies in asia. Fossil energy aims to serve not only the domestic market but neighboring countries to the production line ends here. This is where we store the finished products classed by output in cup which you could use. We produce 200 panels a day. The equivalent of 30 to 80 megawatts annually in the companys Main Customer is the government which aims to boost the share of renewables in the National Energy mix. It wants to reduce and actually city imports and cut down on the use of diesel generators to, to reduce costs and minimize pollution. So the Energy Ministry launched the backup solaire program and our agency is implementing it. It enables citizens, as well as small and Medium Enterprises to buy solar panels by providing them interest free loans. Since we started the program last year, more than 4000. 00 companies and people have benefited from it as it shifts from generating electricity with fossil fuels. The government is promoting solar with, we need to figure out its planning to build 16 large solar farms over the next 2 years to provide green energy to entire city neighborhoods. Every year the world generates tons of used on time or oil. The question of what to do with it. It comes from many sources including cars, trucks, and were going to be great if we could be recycled. Well, congress in germany has developed the technology to do just that oil is used for a 1000 different things. But when its old, it has to be discarded. Much of it is just burned or ends up in rivers, lakes, and oceans that poses a huge problem for the environment. What can be done about it . There might be a technical solution or a machine that recycles oil to put it simply, the oil vaporizes in just a few milliseconds. Its heated and the vapors are collected and processed into the oils basic constituents of these range from the base oil to a diesel component and a petroleum like component. These can be recycled onsite, in other words, made into new oil products and sold to a dealer. Kinds of or they can be turned straight into electricity and used to produce energy. Not so in the machine can process up to 2 tons of waste oil a day. 90 percent of it is turned into a usable oil. 10 percent ends up as residue that can be used in road construction. The machine is transportable and fits a standard cargo container and 350000. 00 euros. It doesnt come cheap. And how about you . If you are also doing your big, tell us about visit our website or send us a tweet hash tag doing your bit. We share your story. If you look at traffic jams in places like lagos, or in other big cities in the world, its clear that we must make changes to the ways we transport both people and goods. So its a good that Research Researchers around the world are working on alternatives that are environmentally friendly and sustainable to enhance the way we live. They are indeed, the result is not only about the way we policymakers like to stick hybrids in bio gus and so on. But also about the different kinds of a cause where the cars, buses, trains, let us visit some university germany, to see what they have dreamed up and ask them Technical University or r w t. 8. Scientists are working flat out they want to develop new kinds of environmentally friendly mobility for the future. Leading the charge there is a director, a man with big ideas. His dream was an electric car that everyone can afford even leave the car makers werent interested in 2017 shoe founded, the company goes and built his own factory. Overnight the scientist became a comic engineers dont have the privilege of conducting research, only with the aim of gaining new insights. And like other disciplines, were obliged to carry out research according to its relevance. We take that very seriously here at our and university. So whatever we dedicate our resources to researching it has to be of use to society. And you also have to be Strong Enough to fight for things that you think would be good for society. Even if the establishment doesnt want them. Going to shoot and ego change the German Automobile market. The trailblazer success is inspiring his colleagues at the university to realize their own ambition for them. Hes a pioneer that opens doors for others to go through. Thats what my grandmother, unfortunate people would always say. You researchers or academics, you all sit in ivory towers, you broke the stereotype, showed that universities can also bring new products to the market and successfully bring new products to the market. And we profit from that of course. For years ago, its showing the way for all of the issues surrounding mobility. We have very happy that he is here in arkansas and that he is helping, even if just subconsciously take us all to another level, in my opinion without going to shoe and ego. We would not have secured the funding for this project and over the team is developing an innovative project with its roots in outer space in order to connect the cabin of an electric bus to an overhead cable, a highly complex damping device was developed from Satellite Technology by passing traffic jams from above, thats the vision under the direction of professor. Theyve come up with a new concept that has really taken off for good. So what has become, im now the opinion that we have found the key to what mobility might look like in the future. Because weve solved so many problems by lifting transport of the ground, we freed up the space below and can return again to the people. Its hope the people mover will be at the center of the universitys cable bus project. The small electric bass is the latest innovation from going to shoot. When the us and university crews work on mobility ideas, they often examine how Autonomous Driving Technology can be integrated. For that reason, project leaders are meeting with colleagues from the institute for automotive engineering at aston university. Theyre at the forefront of research into autonomous driving we arent working on systems that need to be put in production tomorrow. But we can take our time to find something for the future. We did research in such testing. The concept in one of the most modern simulation is in the world. Here theyre looking into how the movements of the driverless impact the senses of its passengers. This prototype called speedy, has already passed through the simulation process, kitted out with the latest technology. It aims to provide a driving experience fit for the future. Its about improving mobility, not restricting us and making it environmentally friendly. My job is not only to make that happen, but to try it out and test it with my young team so that theyre excited about this journey and then want to pursue it their whole lives. Are you going . Because thats and an excitement that drives innovative ideas and that can change the way we travel in the city and beyond those i really interesting ideas and inventions. But what about here and now to graduates of that same university in germany have come up with a modest project that could make a really big difference in kampala. Its already helping quite a few people and could well help. Many more. Once a pandemic is over and the roads even be 0. 00. Francis is one of the few people in uganda, driving an electric motor bike. He sees a lot of advantages to it. And i wanted to silent now, but doesnt at all. Now about 3 claims february, okee has food deliveries being eagerly awaited play pregnant customer. Since he serves them, if you will, he can charge less than his competitors. Hes actually very cheap to buy them in the end. I think they go there that people are doubling their praise so literally to be inconvenient for me in kampala alone. There are about a 130000 motorcycles open borders. The masses of motor racing for a cause generate a huge amount of air pollution. That is why the United NationsEnvironment Program provides advice and Financial Support for electric mobility in eastern africa. We need the media response, you need intermediary interventions. And electric mobility is one of those because it is easier to requires me to infrastructure the meat they dont need. So you can have your computer and go on a Law Development past virt path requires pie