Now on bbc news, click. This week using search to search for covid. Tiktok, tiktok, time for school. Breaking new ground with the last of us part ii. And its time for us all to hitrecord. Screaming, acoustic heavy metal chords. Welcome, welcome, welcome to click. Come on in, everyone. I hope youre well, and ladies and gentlemen, here comes lara lewington. Hello spencer, and hello everyone. There have been rumours that over the past few weeks, some of our viewers have followed in love with two things. Im its not you and me. But it is the picture on your wall and your cushions, and i believe that those cushions took on a whole life of their own last week. Yeah, all right, 0k, so here is what happened. I dont know why, but i asked for suggestions on social media for a different arrangement than the usual rainbow that we have here, and there was one suggestion i got that i just thought was genius and i could not resist. So well done if you worked out what was going on. This was the progress of the cushions moving about throughout the programme, and this was the homage that we were paying. All i can say is, im sorry. Clearly lockdown has been long. It certainly has. Now, listen. You know how it is a question pops into your head, and for most of us, what we do is go online and type that question into a Search Engine. More often than not these days, that Search Engine is google. In fact, google is so massive and can see so much that it can provide anyone with a good idea of what is trending right now. And scientists are now investigating whether searches for particular medical problems could be used to predict a second spike in cases of covid i9. In the uk, searches for loss of taste and smell were peaking before the lockdown, and long before those symptoms were announced as being linked to the disease. So our models that we have developed using Online Search data were peaking about 17 days before confirmed cases of covid i9 were peaking in eight countries that we have analysed. And therefore, based on this observation, we thought that if this is to happen again, we may get an Early Warning based on Online Searches. But trying to unlock what search tells us about the progress of a disease is much more complex than just finding out what the most popular search terms are. For example, there was a second peak of searches for loss of taste and smell, but that was after they were announced as official symptoms. Dr lampos analysed thousands of search terms and found that its notjust the obvious ones that can be used to spot outbreaks, and its not even the most obvious people who are able to spot them. Patrick berlinquette is not a researcher, hes a marketeer. And he doesnt use the google trends tool. He uses something thats even more powerful google ads. So in the last 7 14 days, theres been an increase in positive case rates in the sunbelt states in the united states. Arizona, ive seen a 400 increase in anosmia search terms. South carolina im seeing a 300 increase. 0n the other hand, theres been a drop in the last 7 14 days in michigan. The correlation is exact between the increases and the decreases that have happened. So right now, what is your research telling you about where we might see an increase in cases next . So one area that stands out is definitely houston, where im seeing a 3x increase in search volume for anosmia starting ijune. Is there a strong chance people are just searching for those symptoms because theyve heard about in the news, rather than theyve got it themselves . So i can see the word for word searches that do correlate with the keyword. People are literally entering terms like, i cant smell since tuesday, what do i do . , i lost my sense of taste and smell, what does that mean . You know, i see those kinds of searches. I dont see anything that would tell me that these searchers know what anosmia is, theyve heard in the news. And there are some parts of the world where theres very little official health data available, where search data is flagging up some interesting anomalies. Tanzania, where john magufuli, the president , is one of the few leaders around the world who is still denying the seriousness of covid. By analysing searches for loss of smell symptoms, were able to form a strong hypothesis that actually there are many more cases of covid in tanzania than the official statistics from John Magufulis government are suggesting. And, in fact, Search Engine analysis has even suggested which government measures may have had the greatest impact on the outbreak. We see that, for example, the social distancing measures, as well as the lockdowns that followed them in most countries, were effective. And in some countries, we also see that social distancing measures alone would have been effective. So we see that there was that the trend was in decline a little bit before, like one or two days before, the application of lockdowns. So one would argue that maybe severe lockdowns were not necessarily the best course of action. But, again, we cannot be sure about that. Public Health England now includes ucls findings in their response to covid i9. It is important to remember, though, that this is relatively research, with the potential to get it wrong. But, when its used with more conventional methods, its looking like it can be a powerful tool. Wow, that was really incredible stuff. Now, spencer, ive got an important question for you. Tiktok huge platform, hundreds of millions of users making short form, quirky videos. Have you ever made one . No. Laughs. I have been watching it with interest, though. But i dont know about you, but the problem for me is that, just when i start understanding a new social media platform, you know, start understanding the language and getting followers, along comes another social platform. And its almost like there is a new platform for each new generation. Parents, thats why your kids arent on facebook because you are. True, and thats probably why, when i made this video for tiktok last year, i realised i wasnt really in the right place. Slam it to the left, if youre having a good time. Shake it to the right, if you know that you feel fine. Chicas to the front, go round. It was a true work of art, it has to be said. Whats funny, though, is even that song and that dress are completely culturally irrelevant to anyone whos under the age of 20. Laughs. Absolutely. I did feel at the time i had to be totally and utterly shameless, though. But things could be changing, as tiktok may be becoming a little more serious. Browsing can admittedly be quite compelling, but making content left me wanting to hide under the table. Tiktoks popularity has rocketed once again in lockdown, but its not just about the fun. Now the platforms got a really captive audience, its time for them to learn. Whilst its emphasis on fun and entertainment over news or politics had made it a welcome distraction during the pandemic, this week, tiktok is announcing a new strategic direction, with the education focussed feature learn 0n tiktok. Going forward, learn 0n tiktok is going to be a Long Term Programme which is about us investing in partners and content creators from across the breadth of professional content creators, educational institutions like English Heritage and Cambridge University, all the way through to the breadth of creators who exist on tiktok. Were working with some kind of more educationally focused partners, so Cambridge University is one of those. So there are some, you know, for either school age or university or postgraduate age, but a lot of the content will be much more focused. It will be focused on life skills, and things that are interesting for people. And how are you going to deliver that education . Because presumably its going to be in short, bite size chunks, in the same way that any tiktok video is presented. We think this is about applying the power of tiktok to learning. And what i mean by that is its about effects, its about audio, its about engaging transitions, using all the tools that make tiktok videos so engaging and fun. Amongst tiktoks partners is English Heritage, a charity that manages hundreds of Historic Sites in the uk, and can see the importance of reaching a younger audience through social media. We think that tiktoks a really safe place to explore some of the stories that perhaps matter most to young people. So things like black history, for example, lgbtq stories from some of our sites, womens history as well. It feels like a very safe, welcoming environment to explore those stories. This is reminding me of youtubes journey. Both platforms started off being all about viral video, all about the fun. And gradually, as time went by, a lot of youtubes content became more structured, more produced. And could it be that tiktok is going to start to push that sort of content, too . Until then, im sure we can all learn something useful or not. Hello and welcome to the week in tech. It was the week that india launched a new website to track healthcare supplies in real time for the covid i9 pandemic, and facebook announced plans to allow its american users to turn off political adverts in the run up to the 2020 us election. It was also the week that kuwait and bahrains Contact Tracing apps came under scrutiny from the Human Rights GroupAmnesty International after users that their location and near location data was being traced. Norway has also had to halt its track and trace app over Data Protection concerns, deleting all gathered data so far and suspending further use. Apple revealed that 500 billion was traded in the App Store Economy throughout 2019. The company said they did not take any commission from more than 85 of those transactions. Children in the us can now play video games with a prescription. Us food and drug regulators approved the first medically prescribed videogame for kids between the age of eight and 12 who have inattentive or combined type adhd. And finally, if youre returning to the zoo this week, make sure you keep your eyes out for any robotic creatures. The slothbot is a robot designed by engineers at the Georgia Institute of technology that takes its inspiration from the low Energy Lifestyle of real sloths. Powered by solar energy, the bot will monitor animals and enclosure conditions over longer periods of time. If you fancy a spot of escapism right now, then the chances are its not by playing a videogame set in the midst of a global pandemic. And its for that reason that the launch of part ii of the last of us, the massively successful, genre defining game, was delayed. But then a spoiler was released online and that meant, pandemic or no pandemic, it needed to be released. Its received critical acclaim, but does it live up to the hype . Marc cieslak has been finding out. 25 years after a devastating global pandemic, nature reclaims the earth. Buildings lie empty. The wreckage of the world before surrounds you. Inside every derelict shop, every creepy basement, danger lurks, either from other survivors, or from humans afflicted with a fungal inflection that reduces them to flesh eating monsters. The world of the last of us part ii is not a happy place. In creating a sequel to one of the most critically acclaimed games of all time, its developers, naughty dog, have crafted a grim and sometimes unsettling game, one which often challenges the player to think about violence and its corrosive effect. I think the last of us, the original game, is so well regarded because it did something new. It was really defining what a ps3 game at the time looked like in terms of visual definition, in terms of fidelity, in terms of realism. But then on top of that, it layered on this human story of parenthood, of discovering what is love again, and to be protected. The player controlsjoel in the vast majority of the first game. This time around, ellie takes centre stage. Where the last game was essentially an epic road trip which becomes an examination of paternal love, and the lengths one will go to to preserve it, the sequel is concerned with revenge, and the unhealthy effect it has on everything it touches. The games narrative lead, halley grosss, background is in film and tv, notably writing for hbos westworld. And i remember when i sat down with Neil Druckmann four years ago, and he pitched me what the story would be, it was trying to make a conversation about empathy, make a conversation about tribalism, and how we can really change our perspective when were walking in somebody elses shoes. This time round, ellies quest takes her to a ruined seattle, a city divided by human factions, as well as the infected. Scavenging for supplies and equipment as well as crafting improvised weapons is crucial to survival. The player is always outnumbered or outgunned, so listening out for enemies, a cunning use of distraction, and a stealthy approach to combat are key. This game really is very violent indeed, so its no surprise it carries a. Voicover pegi18. But all that violence and gore does serve a purpose. It helps reinforce some of the games themes, pushing the player to think about their actions while theyre playing the game. Its the kind of thing you would see in a Fairly Extreme horror movie or an extreme thriller. And the thing that makes the last of us quite interesting is that it interrogates that violence a lot. It interrogates the motivation behind that violence a lot. And that makes it quite uncomfortable to play, it makes it a challenging experience to play, because youre not always having fun. We also want to make you understand that every choice in this world, sort of like every choice in life, has a cost. So, if we made that violence feel quote unquote fun, youre losing the cumulative impact on all of our characters as they exist in this world. I think they should be terrified of me. With an ethnically diverse cast, a trans character, and a gay relationship between ellie and new character dina, this title also reflects a more diverse world than videogames usually present. So we absolutely did want to represent the culture we see around us right now. We see lgbtq culture in our everyday life. That was important to us, you know. Game had already had its launch delayed by the real world covid i9 pandemic when a spoiler filled leak appeared online. Which included gameplay footage, key plot points, and potentially the games ending. There had been some speculation that it was some disgruntled developer at naughty dog themself, or even that it was some kind of publicity stunt, but that wasnt the case at all. I dont think takes away from the experience at all. And in fact, you know, a lot of people have said its as much as they think they know whats happening in the game, they really dont. Sony is now saying that none of the developers at naughty dog or any of its own staff were responsible for the leak. The first time around, the last of us changed what a lot of people thought was possible as far as storytelling in games is concerned. The last of us part ii continues to push that envelope, but dont expect the experience to be a cheery one. Youre the worst. That was marc. Now, the videogames industry is obviously doing a lot better than the movie industry at the moment, which has been massively disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic. Hardly anything is being filmed, and cinemas have been closed too. You know what you need to do. Films like wonder woman 1984, black widow and no time to die have all had their release dates pushed back to later in the year. James bond. So youre not dead. Hello, q, ive missed you. And its estimated that the global Film Industry has already lost over us10 billion. But its notjust the big screen thats been affected. Recently i spoke to inception and Dark Knight Rises star Joseph Gordon levitt, who was just three weeks into filming a new tv show when it was shut down due to the coronavirus. It was frustrating to have to stop that. But of course, my frustration very soon turned to, 0h, i have nothing to complain about. Theres really a lot of struggle going on right now, and im one of the very, very lucky ones in this situation. with hollywood on pause, he turned his attention online. A long time ago i started a Community Online with my brother called hitrecord, which has evolved into this big, collaborative environment. The whole premise of hitrecord is about people making things together. So people start projects and they find collaborators and they finish those projects together. And, you know, it could be hundreds of people working on a project together, or it could be just a few. And forjoseph, its taken on an even greater meaning, in a world where weve all been forced apart. I think a lot of us are turning online, looking for human connection. But oftentimes the interactions you get online are sort of quick, scatterbrained, disposable. You know, social media can be that way, and when youre making something together with someone else. Screaming, acoustic heavy metal strumming. The interaction you get tends to be more nuanced, more profound, more long lasting. You have a common purpose. Youre, like, lets figure this out together. Lets make a thing together. And so hitrecord has really provided something that i think a lot of us have needed, me included. Youd be special forces. Yes, sir. Why do you want to join the cia . Id like to help my country make a difference in the world. In 2016, joseph took on the role of famed nsa whistleblower edward snowden. It was an experience that left a lasting impression. The Deputy Director of the nsa offered me a new position. Can you tell me anything about it . You know i cant. The kind of democratisation that social media gives us, the fact that now, you know, people are able to get their ideas, their Creative Ideas out there, do you think that people are tending towards those likes and those clicks and those follows . Is that kind of focusing in the wrong way the type of content that people are putting out there . I think the biggest problem is actually the way that some of these Companies Make money with the technology, the business model, as they say. That they offer a service for free in exchange for the right to kind of spy on people, collect massive amounts of data. I do think there is something kind of poisonous about that to creativity, when right at the seed of your creation, youre like, well, how many followers is that going to get me . Is that going to do well on twitter . Is that going to get a lot of likes . Like, these arent the questions you ideally want to be asking yourself in the thick of your self expression. But, with covid 19 still dominating our lives, and social distancing becoming part of the new normal, just how difficult will it be for hollywood to restart tv and Film Production . Theres so many question marks, its really hard to say. One way that movies are moving towards is shooting with more kind of virtual sets, whether thats on green screen, or thats shooting in front of these massive led walls, and motion capture. All these new technologies, ways to make movies, that are different than the conventional way, where you go to a location and you shoot in a location. This will probably push that forward, i would guess. And yeah, we will all still find ways to shoot in the Old Fashioned way, as well. And will there be less stuff being made . I dont know. Everyones pretty keen to keep making stuff. Certainly theres youre going to see some kind of dip reflected by the fact that we all had to stop for the last couple of months. Joe, thanks so much for your time. Really appreciate it, its been fascinating. Thank you, great to be here. It was fascinating to chat to joe. And if you go to our youtube channel, you can see a longer cut of our chat, where he talks about what it was like to meet edward snowden, and how russian bots tried to take down star wars. I kid you not. Its well worth checking out. That is it for this week, though. Yes, as ever, you can find the team on social media, on youtube, instagram, facebook and twitter bbcclick. Thanks for watching, and well see you soon. Bye bye. Theme music hello there, im sure its not going to be to everyones liking, but this week, it is going to be turning hotter and more humid across many parts of the country. And for the first time this year, the temperature is likely to reach 30 degrees plus. Now on monday, the highest temperature was at Heathrow Airport and in cambridgeshire with temperatures of 2a degrees. And that was with a south westerly wind with lower pressure and weather fronts bringing some rain towards the north west. Higher pressure bringing the sunshine towards the south east of the uk. Now, as the position of the High Pressure changes and as it moves northwards into scandinavia, so will change the wind direction and we are going to draw in all the heat and humidity from continental europe. Temperatures rising by day and perhaps by night as well. Quite warm first thing actually on tuesday morning. A little bit cooler perhaps towards the far south east of england and across the highlands in scotland. But tomorrow looks like being quite cloudy again across scotland and Northern Ireland. Theres still some more rain to come, although it wont be as windy, it will be drier and brighter in eastern scotland too. Some early cloud for wales and the north west of england but more in the way of sunshine here, lots of sunshine for england and wales, those temperatures continuing to rise. 27 28 Degrees South east england, the midlands, east anglia, and lincolnshire. That High Pressure is going to be more dominant around the middle part of the week. Building across this weather front, it tends to weaken it all the while. So, on wednesday, there may well still be some cloud and some outbreaks of rain left for scotland and Northern Ireland but it should tend to peter out. The cloud thins and breaks and we should get more sunshine. The sunnier skies continue for england and wales where the winds are still light, and those temperatures are continuing to rise. Perhaps making the low 20s in the south east of scotland, 30 31 degrees is likely through the midlands and the south east of england by this stage. And another hot day to come on thursday with light wind. Watch out for a few showers, it could be heavy and thundery towards the north west of the uk. Otherwise, its going to be dry with light winds again and it is warming up. We are missing the extreme heat in Northern Ireland, mid 20s through the central belt of scotland. 31 or 32 in the south east of england. Thats 90 fahrenheit. Its an uncertain breakdown towards the end of the week. Were likely to find some heavy thundery showers coming in from the west on friday before were into atlantic air on saturday, and it will feel cooler and fresher again. Welcome to bbc news im mike embley. Our top stories the city that never sleeps is starting to wake up. New york, once the Global Centre of the pandemic, begins reopening. South korean officals confirm a second wave of infections, even though numbers are relatively low. 0n the 72nd anniversary of the arrival of the windrush generation, more people are urged to claim the compensation theyre owed. Facebook and instagram are facing a growing boycott by advertisers over their failure to address hate speech. And archaeologists have discovered a major prehistoric monument just a short distance from stonehenge