BBCNEWS — Tech Now
20260808 003000 UTC
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[00:00:26] you are. Business on BBC News. Make
[00:00:28] Make the connection. Now on BBC News
[00:00:40] News exploring the latest innovation innovation and technology shaping
[00:00:42] shaping our lives and with the inside inside track on global trends and
[00:00:46] and advancements in the tech space space today. From AI and robotics
[00:00:50] robotics to health, climate, transport
[00:00:52] transport and gaming tech. Now.
[00:01:12] We can actually fill this entire space up with qubits. That's
[00:01:16] That's how we get to a million in in the palm of your hand. It's
[00:01:24] Hand. It's quite heavy. It's heavier than you would think. When When everyone pushes you off from
[00:01:27] from the start line, what's going going to be going through your mind? mind? My mission is to reach the
[00:01:31] the finishing line, to be the first first to be the best. Once we get
[00:01:33] get into the vacuum of space, you you switch to nuclear and that will
[00:01:36] will give you an exhaust speed incomparable
[00:01:39] incomparable to fire, which means
[00:01:41] means half the time to Mars. It offers
[00:01:50] offers a giant leap forward from
[00:01:53] from today's computing, and it's
[00:01:56] it's driving one of the biggest technology technology races of our time. I'm
[00:02:00] I'm in Denmark taking a look at quantum.
[00:02:02] quantum. And here in Longview, just just outside the Danish capital,
[00:02:06] capital, I'm getting a rare look look inside Microsoft's largest quantum
[00:02:10] quantum lab. What has scientists scientists and engineers really excited
[00:02:14] excited about quantum computing is
[00:02:16] is that it has the potential to solve
[00:02:18] solve really big problems that would would take conventional computers
[00:02:21] computers hundreds, thousands and
[00:02:23] and even millions of years. That
[00:02:26] That could open up materials, research, research, drive drug discoveries
[00:02:29] discoveries and speed up code breaking.
[00:02:33] breaking. It's still an emerging emerging technology, but some are
[00:02:37] are optimistic that a quantum revolution revolution could lie just ahead.
[00:02:40] ahead. We believe it's years, not
[00:02:43] not decades. It's years. There's There's a great deal of new solutions
[00:02:46] solutions that will come out of this this work. Microsoft's approach to
[00:02:50] to quantum computing is fundamentally fundamentally different to the other
[00:02:53] other tech giants. So I've come here
[00:02:55] here to understand just how it works.
[00:02:59] works. So this is the materials lab. lab. It's developing what's known
[00:03:02] known as topological quantum computing. computing. There are several robots
[00:03:06] robots here. So so it's really this
[00:03:08] this UFO shaped systems. Here scientists
[00:03:11] scientists are fabricating the materials materials behind Microsoft's quantum
[00:03:15] quantum chips. And the use of AI
[00:03:17] AI has speeded up development. This
[00:03:19] This is really where we are growing
[00:03:21] growing our semiconductor and superconductor superconductor on our wafers. Those
[00:03:25] Those atoms that hit the wafer surface,
[00:03:27] surface, they create this perfectly
[00:03:30] perfectly crystalline material layer. layer. Our computers, tablets and
[00:03:33] and phones run on code made up of
[00:03:36] of bits. At its heart, a simple combinations
[00:03:39] combinations of the values 0 or 1.
[00:03:42] 1. But quantum computing works differently.
[00:03:45] differently. Its building blocks blocks are non-binary units called
[00:03:49] called qubits, formed from strings strings of one and zero. And everything
[00:03:53] everything in between all at the
[00:03:54] the same time, which in theory makes
[00:03:57] makes data processing much, much
[00:04:00] much faster. However, qubits are
[00:04:04] are notoriously unstable. Welcome Welcome to Microsoft's clean room.
[00:04:07] room. Making them reliable and durable
[00:04:10] durable enough to do useful computations computations that are error free
[00:04:14] free is a big challenge facing the
[00:04:16] the whole industry. We're doing several several rounds of lithography, and
[00:04:20] and we have several different material material layers that we are patterning.
[00:04:23] patterning. This quantum chip has
[00:04:26] has eight qubits. The qubits themselves themselves live right here in this
[00:04:29] this chip. One qubit is 1/100 of
[00:04:32] of a millimetre. We can actually actually fill this entire space up
[00:04:36] up with qubits. That's how we get get to a million in the palm of your
[00:04:39] your hand. Can I have a look at it? it? Absolutely. Please. OK. It's
[00:04:42] It's quite heavy. It's heavier than
[00:04:44] than you would think. This is. Majorana
[00:04:47] Majorana two. It's second generation generation chip. Majorana two has
[00:04:50] has just been revealed and has 12
[00:04:54] 12 qubits, which the firm says are
[00:04:55] are now longer lasting and more reliable.
[00:05:00] reliable. For their magic ingredient, ingredient, Microsoft claims it's
[00:05:04] it's hunted down an elusive subatomic
[00:05:07] subatomic particle called a Majorana.
[00:05:09] Majorana. Research that's taken it
[00:05:12] it two decades. Some physicists in
[00:05:15] in quantum computing experts have
[00:05:17] have argued, however, that the tech tech giant's conclusions are built
[00:05:20] built on unproven particles and flawed
[00:05:23] flawed data analysis. But Microsoft
[00:05:26] Microsoft stands by its results.
[00:05:29] results. The more qubits, the more more powerful the quantum computer.
[00:05:32] computer. And some rivals have already
[00:05:34] already surpassed thousands of them.
[00:05:37] them. However, Microsoft hopes its
[00:05:39] its technology can leapfrog other other systems. We believe that a
[00:05:43] a high scale quantum computer that that works well has to have a system
[00:05:46] system of qubits that are small, small, they're fast, and they're
[00:05:50] they're accurate. You must have all all three. There's other computer computer designs for those where
[00:05:53] where you'd actually need an entire
[00:05:55] entire football pitch to actually
[00:05:57] actually fit a million qubits. And
[00:06:00] And this is where those quantum chips
[00:06:02] chips are placed below this chandelier chandelier like cooling device. You
[00:06:06] You need to have qubits there. You You need to have the control electronics
[00:06:09] electronics there. Then you need
[00:06:11] need this system here. To function.
[00:06:13] function. Quantum machines need extreme
[00:06:15] extreme cold. It is colder than outer outer space. You can think of kind
[00:06:19] kind of a zero Kelvin is absolute
[00:06:21] absolute zero temperature. And we
[00:06:24] we are 16.4 million Centigrade above above that temperature. Newer versions
[00:06:28] versions of the chips are continuously continuously being tested, with the
[00:06:31] the aim of adding more qubits. You You need to have enough of those
[00:06:34] those that you can actually do meaningful meaningful calculations, but at the
[00:06:38] the same time you need to have low low error rates. Now we're really
[00:06:41] really kind of looking, how do we we scale that first to hundreds and
[00:06:45] and then thousands and beyond. That
[00:06:48] That could pave the way. The firm firm says, for a quantum computer
[00:06:52] computer that can solve commercially commercially useful problems within
[00:06:55] within the next three years. Creating Creating a new form of computation,
[00:06:59] computation, a new type of computer computer that just doesn't happen
[00:07:01] happen very often. Once in a generation. generation. And I'm convinced that
[00:07:05] that just like the transistor is is incredibly important today and
[00:07:07] and will be in the future, so will
[00:07:10] will quantum computers. We're not
[00:07:12] not there yet, but it could offer
[00:07:15] offer huge promise if the hope can
[00:07:17] can live up to the hype.
[00:07:32] Soapbox racing it's been around
[00:07:35] since the 1940s. Kids, homemade cars
[00:07:38] cars and a dream. All for the love love of going downhill faster than
[00:07:42] than the next racer. Fast forward
[00:07:49] forward to now. And this is the Red
[00:07:54] Red Bull Soapbox race. London. Over
[00:08:00] Over 50 teams 420m of downhill chaos
[00:08:04] chaos jumps, obstacles and builds
[00:08:06] builds that would blow the 1940s
[00:08:09] 1940s kids minds. But here's the
[00:08:13] the thing those old wooden crates, crates, they're long gone. What's
[00:08:17] What's replaced them is something something else entirely. The builds
[00:08:20] builds of today are in a completely completely different league. We're
[00:08:24] We're talking about powerful suspension, suspension, computer aided designs
[00:08:27] designs and some seriously smart
[00:08:28] smart steering systems. They have
[00:08:36] have to be under 80kg, be no longer
[00:08:39] longer than 3.5m and be powered by
[00:08:41] by nothing more than a push in gravity.
[00:08:44] gravity. So no engines, no batteries, batteries, just straight up physics.
[00:08:47] physics. And yes, this is a soapbox.
[00:08:51] soapbox. I told you. The teams are
[00:08:58] are judged on creativity, showmanship showmanship and speed. So not only
[00:09:01] only do they need to look good, they they need to put on a performance
[00:09:04] performance and finish the race quickly.
[00:09:11] quickly. Among the teams here today,
[00:09:13] today, one stood out. Brooke. Sixth
[00:09:16] Sixth form. How are we all doing?
[00:09:18] doing? How are we feeling. Today? Today? Honestly, I'm just buzzing
[00:09:22] buzzing like first time. We're the the youngest here as well so we're
[00:09:24] we're in it to win it. They've got
[00:09:26] got a metal worker, a driver, two
[00:09:30] two builders and a designer. It's It's recording guys. What was that?
[00:09:34] that? You're putting the cockpit cockpit in first. It's taken them
[00:09:37] them months to get to this stage
[00:09:38] stage and an after school club cutting,
[00:09:41] cutting, grinding, welding and riveting
[00:09:44] riveting in a workshop. We decided
[00:09:46] decided to base the car off a Ferrari
[00:09:49] Ferrari F1 1950. I designed a whole whole entire 3D model of the whole
[00:09:52] whole thing. What can you tell me me about this braking system? OK,
[00:09:56] OK, so it's salvaged from a bike bike handle, right? We connected connected a long cable to the back
[00:10:00] back of the axle as a brake disc disc in the back. Then we've got got the steering system. What we
[00:10:04] we decided to do, we just had two two steel rods connecting to the
[00:10:07] the wheel pivots. It's just very
[00:10:08] very easily turn it from here. The
[00:10:11] The suspension we put on the front front because the front's going to
[00:10:15] to be the first thing that hits the the ground once we get off the ramps ramps in the race, we don't want
[00:10:19] want it to break down midway. So So yeah, suspension should help out
[00:10:21] out a lot with that. So yeah, hopefully
[00:10:24] hopefully we win. What can I say? say? I was more of a hands on person
[00:10:28] person making sure all the metalwork metalwork pieces are fit together,
[00:10:31] together, measured and using tools tools and the angle grinder and a
[00:10:33] a workshop to actually cut things
[00:10:35] things up. When everyone pushes you
[00:10:39] you off from the start line, yes. yes. What's going to be going through
[00:10:42] through your mind? How to reach the
[00:10:44] the end line? Then? Because my mission
[00:10:47] mission is to reach the finishing finishing line to ensure we get the
[00:10:51] the best marks, to be the first,
[00:10:53] first, to be the best. Do you feel feel any pressure? Oh, no. I don't
[00:10:56] don't feel pressure. The pressure pressure is on the wheels. We are
[00:11:00] are the youngest competitors as you
[00:11:03] you know, feature engineers. Ultimately, Ultimately, we're here to win it. it. We're going to teach the old
[00:11:07] old folks how it's really done, you you know, because we're the next next generation. We're here to outclass
[00:11:11] outclass everyone. Guys. Confident Confident words. But first they've
[00:11:14] they've got to put a show on.
[00:11:32] Round a good score, but the performance was just the start. The
[00:11:35] The real test is about to begin.
[00:11:40] begin. The build looks solid so far. far. Suspension's doing its job and
[00:11:43] and everything's holding up. Then
[00:11:46] Then the track hits back with help
[00:11:49] help from the team. She was back
[00:11:51] back up and running until the next
[00:11:56] next crash but she never gave up.
[00:11:59] up. She's gonna stop me. No no. Lock
[00:12:03] Lock you. It's gonna stop me. Nobody.
[00:12:05] Nobody. It's gonna stop me. Nobody
[00:12:08] Nobody is gonna stop me. No! After
[00:12:14] After the race, we found the team team to get their take on how it
[00:12:18] it went. Getting ten points across across the board was one thing, but but to actually get to the finish
[00:12:22] finish line is actually another thing. thing. And getting to that final
[00:12:24] final push to the final point, even even though she crashed, getting getting to that last bit and never
[00:12:28] never giving up is just unbelievable, unbelievable, honestly. So any tweaks
[00:12:31] tweaks for next time. Making it a a little bit lighter for someone someone who's light like her to steer
[00:12:35] steer it properly is just an upgrade
[00:12:37] upgrade that I would do. Personally,
[00:12:39] Personally, I think we should level level the tires because I think the
[00:12:43] the tires are. A bit on uneven. I
[00:12:46] I think that impacted the steering steering wheel a bit. So next time
[00:12:50] time we shall make sure by the time time we come here we are prepared
[00:12:53] prepared properly and we are ready
[00:12:55] ready for anything. Out of 32 teams,
[00:13:01] teams, they placed 16th overall, overall, eight for creativity and
[00:13:04] and number one for the performance. performance. Not bad for this young
[00:13:07] young team. They built something something from scratch and went for
[00:13:11] for it and already talking about about next time. That's the engineering
[00:13:14] engineering mindset. They may not not have one but they've definitely
[00:13:18] definitely made their mark.
[00:14:27] To find out why. Join me Laura Bicker
[00:14:29] Bicker here on BBC News. MUSIC
[00:14:38] MUSIC
[00:14:47] The sport a little bit like this and it'll be like that on you.
[00:14:51] you. Brain training to boost performance. performance. Sleep optimisation.
[00:14:55] optimisation. Pushing down with your your feet and. Strength training
[00:14:59] training assessments. Everything Everything you got, everything you
[00:15:00] you got. Come on. These are just
[00:15:03] just some of the companies showcasing showcasing innovative lifestyle interventions.
[00:15:06] interventions. At the first Longevity Longevity Show in London, with the
[00:15:09] the aim to help us live healthier,
[00:15:11] healthier, longer lives. One of the
[00:15:19] the big areas in the field of longevity longevity is nutrition. And I've
[00:15:22] I've come to meet a company that that says it's taking that to the
[00:15:25] the next level. To find out if it's it's just hype or if there's really
[00:15:28] really something in it. The base base technology is around additive
[00:15:32] additive manufacturing or more commonly commonly called 3D printing. When
[00:15:35] When I started this project, I looked looked at all of the different manufacturing
[00:15:38] manufacturing technologies available available and I couldn't find any
[00:15:41] any that would be able to be flexible flexible and agile enough to do what
[00:15:44] what I wanted, which was to be able able to make a unique product for
[00:15:47] for each person. So I decided to to start taking 3D printers apart,
[00:15:50] apart, putting them back together,
[00:15:52] together, and built one myself. So So this is one printer in front of
[00:15:56] of us, but give me a sense of the the scale of your operations. How
[00:15:59] How many printers do you have and and what makes them special? This
[00:16:02] This is our printer. But in our facilities facilities in Birmingham we actually
[00:16:06] actually have a very large one of
[00:16:09] of these which has 352 depositing
[00:16:11] depositing nozzles and is able to
[00:16:13] to make over 500,007 layer personalised personalised gummies every single
[00:16:16] single day. So I think in total we we probably have close to 300 printers,
[00:16:20] printers, all of which are designed designed and built from scratch by
[00:16:23] by my own team. Can you just describe describe what it is I'm seeing here?
[00:16:27] here? I mean, there is a lovely green
[00:16:29] green looking substance being printed
[00:16:31] printed from a 3D printer. Absolutely.
[00:16:34] Absolutely. So inside that printer printer we have a preformulated set
[00:16:37] set of ingredients. This specific specific one is vitamin C and D3
[00:16:41] D3 from a vegan source. And the flavour flavour of this product is green
[00:16:45] green apple. What we do in the factory
[00:16:46] factory is we use that same technology
[00:16:49] technology to layer individual ingredient ingredient formulations one on top
[00:16:52] top of another, allowing us to create create a limitless number of combinations
[00:16:56] combinations that are uniquely suited
[00:16:57] suited to an individual. But do we
[00:17:00] we actually need supplements? The The answer is it depends. While some
[00:17:03] some of us may have deficiencies deficiencies without medical advice,
[00:17:06] advice, it can be hard to know what what to take. I think the number number one thing is thinking has
[00:17:10] has there been a clinical trial in in humans showing that whatever I'm
[00:17:14] I'm being sold can lead to a health
[00:17:16] health gain that I want? And if there there hasn't, I'd say probably not
[00:17:20] not worth spending your money, but but there's literally thousands of
[00:17:22] of different products and strategies strategies on the market. So my principle
[00:17:25] principle is very much like narrow narrow that choice down to something
[00:17:28] something that actually has got clinical clinical data behind it. Ask the
[00:17:32] the companies if they're selling selling you something. They should should be able to provide you the
[00:17:35] the clinical trial to show that health health benefit and make sure it's
[00:17:37] it's the exact formulation. And in in terms of knowing then what you
[00:17:41] you as an individual need. Is there there a risk that people are taking
[00:17:44] taking their health into their own own hands, rather than getting advice
[00:17:46] advice from, say, a doctor or medical medical professional? Yeah, look, look, that's a really good question.
[00:17:50] question. And I think it's so, so so important. And certainly whenever whenever someone sees me at the health
[00:17:54] health clinic, I always recommend, recommend, you know, if you're having having gut issues, go to your GP
[00:17:58] GP straight away. They'll check off off a few things because sadly, for
[00:18:02] for example, a lot of digestive issues,
[00:18:04] issues, it can mask other more sinister
[00:18:06] sinister conditions like bowel cancer, cancer, ovarian cancer or inflammatory
[00:18:10] inflammatory bowel disease. There's There's now an increasing awareness
[00:18:13] awareness that some supplements could could do more harm than good. There
[00:18:17] There are many ingredients which, which, if taken too much of, can
[00:18:19] can have hugely negative impacts
[00:18:21] impacts on day one in healthy humans, humans, when we're asking questions
[00:18:25] questions about things like are you you trying to conceive? Are you pregnant? pregnant? A bunch of ingredients
[00:18:28] ingredients will be removed from from the options so that the consumer
[00:18:31] consumer doesn't get something that that could potentially be damaging
[00:18:34] damaging or dangerous for them. But
[00:18:37] But as the longevity industry booms, booms, a challenge for consumers
[00:18:39] consumers is ensuring that products products like these are evidence-based
[00:18:43] evidence-based and that any supplement supplement should not be taken as
[00:18:45] as a substitute for a healthy, balanced
[00:18:47] balanced diet. With so much choice choice out there, it's important
[00:18:50] important to remember that to protect
[00:18:52] protect our health, we should still still prioritise eating well. Exercise
[00:18:56] Exercise and quality sleep. MUSIC
[00:19:10] It might seem like a sleepy
[00:19:12] industrial estate in southern England, England, but this place is all about
[00:19:16] about speed now. Not down here. Up
[00:19:20] Up there. This is sunbird. A new
[00:19:24] new type of rocket that could one one day move things around space
[00:19:27] space a whole lot quicker. And while while these are just a concept for
[00:19:31] for now, the tech needed to make
[00:19:32] make them a reality has had its first first successful test right here
[00:19:36] here back on earth. We want to be
[00:19:41] be able to lean into a propulsion propulsion system where once you're
[00:19:44] you're in space, the fuels are available.
[00:19:47] available. At the moment. Trips to to and around space, including the
[00:19:50] the recent Artemis mission to the the moon, involve burning big tanks
[00:19:54] tanks of fuel. But engineers here here at pulsar are testing something
[00:19:58] something different using nuclear
[00:20:00] nuclear fusion. The reason rockets
[00:20:02] rockets right now are so big is because because when they launch from the
[00:20:05] the ground, they have to carry all
[00:20:07] all the fuel with them. What we want
[00:20:10] want to achieve is a smaller rocket. rocket. So the smallest possible
[00:20:13] possible rocket can leave the ground
[00:20:15] ground using combustion fire, which which it will do always because it's
[00:20:19] it's the right propulsion system system in the atmosphere. But once
[00:20:22] once we get into the vacuum of space, space, you switch to nuclear and
[00:20:26] and that will give you an exhaust
[00:20:28] exhaust speed. Incomparable to, to
[00:20:31] to fire. So we're looking at a specific
[00:20:33] specific impulse of about 13,000
[00:20:36] 13,000 seconds, which means half
[00:20:38] half the time to Mars. Nuclear fusion fusion occurs when the middle bits
[00:20:42] bits of two atoms are forced together together to release extreme amounts
[00:20:45] amounts of energy. It's what
[00:20:51] Energy. It's what powers our sun. Scientists have been trying trying to recreate this process for
[00:20:54] for a long time, and there have been been some big steps forward. The The UK's Atomic Energy Authority
[00:20:57] Authority has even suggested it could could be on the nation's power grid
[00:21:00] grid by the 2040s. But fusion hasn't hasn't been used for interplanetary
[00:21:04] interplanetary travel, at least not not yet. Earlier this year, a key
[00:21:08] key part of it was shown it could
[00:21:10] could work right here in this room.
[00:21:13] room. Now we developed the first
[00:21:16] first exhaust infrastructure for
[00:21:17] for a fusion rocket ever, and we
[00:21:20] we achieved the first plasma inside inside it. Lots of pressure at that
[00:21:24] that moment. Huge pressure. But this
[00:21:27] this is what happened. Yeah. Shall Shall we play? Let's play it. And
[00:21:31] And here's first plasma. Wow. There's
[00:21:38] There's some complicated physics physics going on here, but essentially essentially special atoms stored
[00:21:42] stored in the engine are made so so hot they become no longer a solid
[00:21:46] solid liquid or gas. But the fourth fourth state of matter called plasma.
[00:21:50] plasma. This soup of highly charged charged ions and electrons is then
[00:21:53] then forced out through a narrow narrow exhaust, creating massive
[00:21:57] massive forward thrust. And to be be actually hold the plasma in the
[00:22:00] the structure of the exhaust where where it should be, was I mean, I
[00:22:04] I mean really we were very lucky lucky to have achieved it. This test
[00:22:07] test had to be done in space like
[00:22:09] like conditions here on earth. And
[00:22:11] And that's where this contraption
[00:22:14] contraption comes in. So you're creating
[00:22:18] creating a little pocket of space space here in your warehouse. Exactly
[00:22:20] Exactly right. Yeah. So we suck all all the air out of this using a bunch
[00:22:24] bunch of really interesting expensive expensive pumps. But the upshot is, is, yeah, you remove as much of the
[00:22:28] the air as you possibly can and that that mimics the vacuum of space.
[00:22:31] space. So this is an exhaust system system for sunbird. It's basically
[00:22:35] basically a large array of very powerful powerful electromagnets. And they're
[00:22:39] they're there to actually form the the plume of the rocket as it leaves
[00:22:42] leaves the engine. And so to drive drive those, you need some fancy
[00:22:45] fancy high power power supplies. supplies. You need some quite fancy
[00:22:48] fancy gas feeds to make sure that that propellant is fed through at
[00:22:52] at the right rate. And of course course you need the vacuum chamber.
[00:22:55] chamber. Otherwise none of it can can work. And of course it's quite
[00:22:58] quite echoey, as you can hear. And And that's because you have to make
[00:23:02] make sure there's nothing else in in here. Yeah, exactly. So its job
[00:23:04] job is to mimic empty space. So we we try to keep all other equipment
[00:23:08] equipment in the chamber to an absolute absolute minimum. Spotted something
[00:23:11] something in the corner there. Yeah. Yeah. Normally you don't want little little bits of plastic sitting around
[00:23:15] around the vacuum chamber, but filming filming songbird was not easy. And
[00:23:18] And we actually found one of the the best ways to get footage of it
[00:23:21] it was just to stick a GoPro to the the inside of the chamber. Oh, and
[00:23:25] and what's. Happened to that GoPro? GoPro? The GoPro is not very happy.
[00:23:28] happy. The memory card survived, survived, but the camera did not.
[00:23:32] not. The team here says this successful
[00:23:34] successful test is a major breakthrough, breakthrough, but there's still a
[00:23:37] a long way to go and a lot more tests tests needed. Something that will
[00:23:41] will keep scientists here in pulsars
[00:23:42] pulsars control room busy. Somebody
[00:23:45] Somebody says something can take take us to Mars, to the moon, and
[00:23:48] and then it's going to change the the industry very dramatically. What
[00:23:51] What do you want to be doing in the the future when it comes to this
[00:23:54] this space? So it's really good to to feel like we are working on something something which is going to have
[00:23:58] have a big impact, and I think I I will just stay in this industry industry and then I will see missions
[00:24:02] missions to Mars and then I will will see hopefully maybe one day
[00:24:04] day I will be there as well. It's
[00:24:07] It's not just happening here. Avalanche Avalanche energy is developing its
[00:24:10] its own version of a fusion powered powered spacecraft, while Princeton
[00:24:13] Princeton Satellite Systems in the the US is working on a deep space
[00:24:17] space propulsion technology called
[00:24:19] called Starfire. And with space agencies agencies and the space industry's
[00:24:22] industry's bigger and bolder plans plans for a base on the moon and
[00:24:25] and humans on the surface of Mars, Mars, humanity will need rockets
[00:24:28] rockets that keep up with its ambitions. ambitions. What the technology is
[00:24:32] is telling us that this is what we
[00:24:34] we do. We. We evolve and we. We build
[00:24:38] build these technologies which are are available to us and we leave
[00:24:42] leave our solar system. We do start
[00:24:45] start migrating into orbit. It seems seems very natural, strangely. I
[00:24:48] I mean, even though it may look unnatural, unnatural, all this metal and steel
[00:24:51] steel and plasma. But when you see
[00:24:53] see a plasma light up in a vacuum vacuum chamber, it's nature just
[00:24:57] just showing you that you're doing
[00:25:00] doing something right. MUSIC
[00:28:56] There is nothing like driving
[00:28:57] into a moving story and not knowing
[00:29:00] knowing what is going to happen when when we enter Damascus. It was full
[00:29:03] full of rebels shooting in the air air in celebration. You can hear.
[00:29:06] hear. The sound of celebratory gunfire. gunfire. And I live for those moments.
[00:29:09] moments. These troops are heading heading into the battle zone in Khartoum,
[00:29:12] Khartoum, says the army to carry carry out a special operation entering
[00:29:16] entering Khartoum was a seminal moment. moment. The level of destruction
[00:29:19] destruction was stunning. Sometimes Sometimes meeting someone on the the ground can change how you understand
[00:29:23] understand a story. Covering these
[00:29:28] these stories over the years has has impressed upon me how resilient
[00:29:31] resilient people are. And yes, many many of them are desperate, but many
[00:29:34] many of them are also steadfast. steadfast. They're gracious and they're
[00:29:38] they're generous. Journalism is about about telling people not only what
[00:29:41] what happened, but why it matters matters and what it means. History
[00:29:45] History happens in real time and
[00:29:46] and someone needs to be there to
[00:29:49] to witness it. MUSIC
[00:30:10] Live from Washington. This is
[00:30:12] BBC News. The US Senate passes a
[00:30:14] a sanctions package aimed at helping
[00:30:17] helping Ukraine by cutting off funds funds to Russia. It now faces a vote
[00:30:20] vote in the House of Representatives. Representatives. Thailand's Prime
[00:30:24] Prime Minister pledges new gun laws laws after a 14-year-old student
[00:30:27] student shoots dead. Six people at
[00:30:29] at a school after killing two of
[00:30:31] of his grandparents. A water crisis
[00:30:34] crisis leads to rationing in Puerto
[00:30:36] Puerto Rico as a severe drought grips
[00:30:38] grips the island. Helena Humphrey.
[00:30:48] Humphrey. Good to have you with
[00:30:54] Helena Humphrey. Good to have you with us. We begin with some breaking breaking news from Ukraine, where
[00:30:57] where the capital, Kyiv, is under under attack from ballistic missiles. missiles. According to the