N1BOS — broadcast
20260826 030000 UTC
410 transcript segments
Google Cloud Speech-to-Text API (Chirp) + Gemini 2.5 Flash Non-Thinking
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Machine transcription. Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a verbatim quotation record.

[00:00:00] has been in dire straits for many, many years. Uh,
[00:00:03] Iranians are dealing with hyperinflation, they're dealing with high
[00:00:06] unemployment. Every day, the price of food and items are just
[00:00:10] going up. Um, and they are really feeling the pinch of the US naval
[00:00:14] blockade. I spoke to a woman recently whose mother has
[00:00:17] cancer. She told me that it's been very difficult to find
[00:00:20] medicine, that hospitals and clinics are having a hard time replacing
[00:00:24] medical equipment, and so they are very much already feeling squeezed and bracing for
[00:00:28] things to get worse. Right, so there's that block. paid going on. Obviously, there's also been
[00:00:31] a whole lot of missile strikes, uh, that have destroyed
[00:00:34] infrastructure, destroyed different things
[00:00:37] throughout the country. What is the state of the Iranian economy right
[00:00:41] now? It's, uh, it's in dire straits. It hasn't been doing
[00:00:45] well for a really long time. Uh, unemployment is extremely
[00:00:48] high. Um, people are dealing with the price of
[00:00:52] goods going up daily. Um, it's, it's
[00:00:55] in a really rough spot, and I think that sanctions are going to bring in
[00:00:59] a world of... pain. But there are challenges with sanctions, and I
[00:01:03] think what we saw today from Secretary Wessant was that it's very thin
[00:01:06] on details and there's the possibility that Iran will
[00:01:10] continue to evade sanctions. Yeah, I mean, you called what the secretary did
[00:01:13] today anti-climactic. What do what do you mean by that? Well, I think
[00:01:17] everyone was really waiting to see what the details would be.
[00:01:20] President Trump called this unprecedented,
[00:01:24] but the fact of the matter is, is that many administrations in the past have
[00:01:27] attempted isolating Iran, and Iran has managed to adapt
[00:01:31] its economy to different sanctions
[00:01:34] campaigns. They have developed very sophisticated smuggling networks and
[00:01:38] schemes. They run shadow fleets, uh, in
[00:01:41] which ships turn off their transponders and are able to continue
[00:01:45] selling oil to some of their biggest customers, including China.
[00:01:49] And it just raises huge questions about how
[00:01:53] single species and trees of the United States is going to, uh, serve consequences to a country like China if it continues to engage with Iran, and
[00:01:57] it's already indicated that it will continue to. And, and
[00:02:00] despite all of those different challenges over the years, this same
[00:02:03] regime, yes, has survived all of it,
[00:02:07] correct? Correct? No, they are very, very savvy in terms of
[00:02:11] figuring out ways to evade sanctions. And I think the challenge for the Trump
[00:02:15] administration is to figure out how they
[00:02:18] can, you know, convince, uh, countries that have long had
[00:02:21] relationships with Iran to, to stop. And there
[00:02:25] has already been an indication that they're starting to do that. The United Arab Emirates last
[00:02:29] week announced that it would... halt all, uh, relationships,
[00:02:32] transactions with Iran. So they're hoping that in this next
[00:02:35] phase, um, of quiet diplomacy, as Secretary Beson said, that they can
[00:02:39] convince other countries to follow suit. Yeah, but China and
[00:02:42] Russia, potentially different story, uh, as well. Are
[00:02:46] Azu Rizvani, uh, appreciate your perspective. Thanks so much for coming in.
[00:02:50] As always, you can check out her reporting on
[00:02:51] NPR.
[00:03:01] The European Union is preparing changes in the enlargement process, announced
[00:03:04] Commissioner Marta Kos in Zagreb. Stricter guarantees
[00:03:08] against the erosion of democracy and the rule of law in
[00:03:11] future member states are foreseen. Who also advocates for gradual integration
[00:03:15] so that candidates receive concrete benefits even before full
[00:03:18] membership in the Union.
[00:03:22] We must learn from experience. And
[00:03:24] the experience after the 2004 enlargement
[00:03:28] is that we cannot.
[00:04:04] with a time plan, but based on experience, we could finalize
[00:04:08] agreements with Montenegro by the end of this
[00:04:11] year, due to the ratification procedure, that would mean that Montenegro
[00:04:15] could become uh
[00:04:17] the 28th
[00:04:20] uh EU member in 2028.
[00:04:23] Albania still has a lot to
[00:04:27] do, it's doing well on its way, and Moldova.
[00:04:39] And that would be all in this edition of Global. As usual, the latest
[00:04:42] world news is on our web portals and our social networks.
[00:04:46] Goodbye until tomorrow.
[00:05:45] Knowledge is love, light, and
[00:05:48] vision.
[00:05:51] Aleksandar Cvetanović, originally from Leskovac, but currently
[00:05:55] lives in Novi Sad, is on the list of one hundred
[00:05:59] best scientists in the world according to the Chinese
[00:06:02] Academy of Forestry, while the Austrian
[00:06:05] Ministry of Science declared her the best
[00:06:08] young scientist in Serbia. The subject of her
[00:06:11] research is bioactive molecules, i.e.,
[00:06:15] compounds that she extracts from plants. My task
[00:06:19] is to find a good way to obtain
[00:06:22] such compounds, to extract them from natural sources and
[00:06:25] later to find a way to apply them, that is, to
[00:06:29] apply them somewhere. This application can be in different products,
[00:06:33] for example, it can be in the food industry where they are added as natural
[00:06:36] additives that will protect food from spoilage, then
[00:06:40] they can improve sensory
[00:06:42] characteristics of food, they can be added to various
[00:06:45] cosmetic products to increase their
[00:06:48] functionality or as medicines, i.e., as some
[00:06:52] medicinal pharmacologically active components. The process
[00:06:56] of extracting compounds is often long and accompanied
[00:06:58] by difficulties, but this young scientist
[00:07:02] views them as challenges. One of
[00:07:04] the projects she is currently working on, at the invitation of colleagues from
[00:07:08] Moscow, is to increase the functionality of food for
[00:07:11] Russian cosmonauts. We add some pharmacologically
[00:07:15] active components, i.e., compounds that I extract from some
[00:07:19] natural sources, and we add them so that the food
[00:07:23] itself is additionally facilitated, so that it is nutritionally
[00:07:26] richer, sensorily better, more acceptable, so that
[00:07:29] it is better metabolized, because in those extreme conditions,
[00:07:33] the metabolism of food is quite
[00:07:36] different than in normal conditions. So far, she has given
[00:07:40] lectures at numerous world universities and
[00:07:43] trained in the best-equipped
[00:07:46] laboratories. The best formula for success, according to
[00:07:49] her, is to go abroad
[00:07:53] for new knowledge and return to Serbia to
[00:07:57] help develop science and its application on home
[00:08:01] turf. Working abroad is a little
[00:08:04] different, they have
[00:08:08] larger scientific funds, they are usually technically
[00:08:11] better equipped than us. On the other
[00:08:14] hand, we have good ideas, we always find
[00:08:17] ways to implement our ideas,
[00:08:21] regardless of some obstacles, to
[00:08:23] overcome them. Of all the awards received
[00:08:26] so far, her favorite is from her people,
[00:08:30] the October Award of the City of Leskovac.
[00:08:33] Somehow the most emotional moment was actually receiving that
[00:08:37] award, because I received it from people with whom I
[00:08:41] grew up, who are... my fellow citizens, and I think
[00:08:44] that the honor I received with that award is
[00:08:47] incomparable to all others. Although
[00:08:51] the subjects of research are different, young
[00:08:54] scientists in Serbia mostly share the same
[00:08:57] challenges, but they overcome them with
[00:09:01] a smile. Absolutely, yes, because
[00:09:04] somewhere there, uh, I think that is the place
[00:09:08] of our not only collegial relationship, but also friendship
[00:09:12] today. That's what I said a moment ago, we don't see
[00:09:15] things as problems but as challenges, aha, we have, we have a
[00:09:19] situation, let's call it a problem, okay, let's
[00:09:22] solve it, so there's a smile, there's a positive
[00:09:25] attitude and I think that what characterizes
[00:09:29] our joint work is that nothing is impossible, there are no
[00:09:33] limits, we simply push boundaries, open new
[00:09:36] horizons, new horizons for the scientific
[00:09:39] community. Aleksandra opened through her doctoral
[00:09:42] brother whose subject of research was
[00:09:45] Chamomile. In Serbia, everyone says, "Oh, Chamomile!" I mean,
[00:09:49] we all know everything about it, and for me,
[00:09:52] that was a big challenge, to find
[00:09:56] something new, to show something new on a raw material that is so well
[00:10:00] known, generally known, and to
[00:10:02] publish such a large number of scientific papers.
[00:10:06] When we say scientist, we usually
[00:10:09] think of someone who is always with a book, does not
[00:10:13] know how to have fun,
[00:10:16] but she is the opposite of that. Yes, from a professional
[00:10:19] perspective, she works a lot, but privately she is
[00:10:23] a completely different person. "She is cheerful, she loves company,
[00:10:27] she has a wide circle of friends,
[00:10:30] she is a versatile person, she loves ballet and opera, but she also
[00:10:33] loves traditional taverns." Marija is particularly proud
[00:10:37] of her sister's journey, that success has
[00:10:40] not changed her. She is
[00:10:43] one of those people who one day can
[00:10:47] be in Dubai, for example, giving
[00:10:50] a speech at a big world congress,
[00:10:53] and the next day be in her native village with
[00:10:57] ordinary people.
[00:10:58] Good
[00:11:01] deeds must not go unnoticed. Contact
[00:11:05] us and introduce your hero.
[00:11:07] Share with us good things about people.
[00:13:18] Did I do the right thing? Should I go see a
[00:13:22] doctor? What should I cook for dinner?
[00:13:26] People are turning to artificial intelligence as a constant
[00:13:29] companion, chatting with it almost like it's a close
[00:13:32] friend.
[00:13:35] But what is AI actually good at? When should we
[00:13:38] trust it, and when should we be more
[00:13:41] skeptical?
[00:13:43] Answers to those questions and much more, this time on DW
[00:13:47] Science Show. Welcome to Tomorrow
[00:13:49] Today.
[00:13:53] helping with career decision.
[00:14:37] I could handle your emails, your reports, even this interview, and honestly, do a pretty good job. Yeah, maybe emails, that's just optimization. But talking to students, interacting, showing empathy, taking
[00:14:40] responsibility, you can't do that. You're just
[00:14:43] imitating. True, I am you, the optimized
[00:14:46] version. Many users believe AI really
[00:14:50] is the optimized version, that it can be the perfect friend, for
[00:14:53] example, and that's no surprise. Developers almost
[00:14:57] always design AI avatars to be friendly and
[00:15:00] non-confrontational.
[00:15:03] It presents itself like a human, it understands us, it sounds so
[00:15:06] real, and we need to protect ourselves against that.
[00:15:10] AI can create the illusion of being trustworthy, human, and
[00:15:13] empathetic, and that can easily mislead
[00:15:16] us.
[00:15:19] AI's real strength lies in processing huge amounts of
[00:15:22] data. Here, it assesses 30.
[00:16:37] remain cautious about AI. That's because
[00:16:40] experts can sometimes underestimate what the technology is actually able to
[00:16:44] do.
[00:16:46] The A3 Iceburg has been closed after an Antonov aircraft made
[00:16:50] an emergency landing. Fortunately, no one was
[00:16:52] injured. AI deepfakes like these have become
[00:16:56] very convincing in recent years, and as computing
[00:16:59] power continues to grow, they're getting even more realistic. The same
[00:17:03] goes for deepfakes circulating on the dark web. But is that really
[00:17:06] innovation?
[00:18:07] than Northern Virginia in the U.S., just next to Washington,
[00:18:11] D.C. They take up enormous amounts of
[00:18:14] space, consume huge amounts of electricity,
[00:18:18] and they're not just an eyesore, they're pretty noisy
[00:18:21] too.
[00:18:26] When Greg Pirio first stepped outside the home he just bought in
[00:18:29] 2012, he was surrounded by greenery. But where there
[00:18:33] was once a forest, there's now a data center.
[00:18:38] It's really frustrating. We, you know, uh, how they
[00:18:42] how they could have voted to change the zoning to allow this so close to a
[00:18:45] neighborhood is beyond my
[00:18:48] comprehension. It's not just the view that's
[00:18:51] changed, the soundscape has
[00:18:53] too.
[00:18:56] It's just such an annoying sound
[00:18:59] of anger because
[00:19:03] it will reduce the prop the value of our properties
[00:19:06] here. Because it's chased the
[00:19:09] wildlife away from us. The
[00:19:13] area in Northern Virginia has become a global hub for data centers
[00:19:17] where the information that powers giant companies such as Uber, Netflix,
[00:19:20] and Amazon, as well as from AI applications is stored and
[00:19:24] processed. AI data centers in particular
[00:19:28] require enormous amounts of electricity.
[00:19:31] Those are data centers. Look that direction, that direction, behind
[00:19:35] us, all three sides. Elena Schlussburg is also
[00:19:39] frustrated. Of Virginia's more than 600 data
[00:19:42] centers, 260 are concentrated in just two residential
[00:19:46] communities. In the 1990s, the area was home
[00:19:50] to AOL, America's first major internet service
[00:19:53] provider. Today, it's at the heart of the AI
[00:19:56] boom. Look, see another American flag. We're all
[00:20:00] a part of American when we're building out, uh, the wealthiest
[00:20:03] industry in the world and paying for their infrastructure.
[00:20:07] leads the world in data center concentration, accounting for
[00:20:11] 14% of all data centers
[00:20:13] globally. Running those facilities doesn't require
[00:20:17] many workers, but it does consume vast amounts of
[00:20:20] electricity, and that's having an impact on local
[00:20:24] residents. Communities are in direct competition
[00:20:28] with industry that has an
[00:20:31] unprecedented need for power and water, and so those things that
[00:20:34] you normally rely on your affordable, clean
[00:20:37] energy is now being consumed by
[00:20:41] this one customer, and that's
[00:20:44] why you see your utility bills increasing.
[00:20:47] Electricity prices here have risen by 30% in just five
[00:20:50] years. The enormous demand for energy is one major
[00:20:54] downside of the AI boom. So it looked as
[00:20:57] though it was a matter of economic development and a good thing for the
[00:21:01] community, but they did not think through the
[00:21:04] implications for the ordinary rate payer. Industry
[00:21:07] often needs a certain amount of power, but it tends to be
[00:21:11] distributed, and the increases are predictable and
[00:21:15] measurable. There's almost nothing that compares to
[00:21:18] this in the past. But there are locals who are
[00:21:22] benefiting. Some residents have joined forces to sell
[00:21:25] farmland for the construction of data centers and power
[00:21:28] plants.
[00:21:31] Mine has been a family farm for generations, and
[00:21:35] unfortunately, my kids and grandchildren have
[00:21:38] absolutely no interest in it. And we came up with a win-win
[00:21:42] solution. The county is going to make money, the
[00:21:46] um, which helps them pay other people, all their employees,
[00:21:50] more money, get better parks, get better schools for everyone, and yes, we're going to
[00:21:54] make money. Data centers generate more than one billion
[00:21:57] dollars in tax revenue every year, and construction continues
[00:22:01] around the clock. But that growth comes at a cost. Depending
[00:22:05] on its capacity, a single AI data center can consume
[00:22:09] as much electricity as an entire
[00:22:11] city.
[00:22:14] Keeping buildings cool already accounts for more than 10% of
[00:22:18] global electricity, and demand is only expected to
[00:22:22] rise. Researchers think they may have found a way to
[00:22:26] dramatically reduce the energy needs for air conditioners.
[00:22:29] They're developing new cooling technology that uses special
[00:22:33] metals that heat up when stretched and cool down again when
[00:22:36] released.
[00:22:39] only enough room for a single soda can, but this mini refrigerator
[00:22:43] is packed with innovative technology.
[00:22:46] Researchers at a university in southwest Germany have built a
[00:23:20] muscles that rotate around the cooling chamber.
[00:23:24] They're made from a shape memory alloy, a material engineered
[00:23:27] to return to a preset shape after being deformed.
[00:23:31] Palmotski is a professor of smart material systems at Zarland
[00:23:34] University. He uses an infrared camera to show us
[00:23:38] what's happening. The thermal image reveals the hidden
[00:23:41] superpower of the nickel titanium wires under tension. It's
[00:23:45] the same phenomenon seen in a balloon, a phase
[00:23:48] transformation.
[00:23:50] The atoms arrange themselves differently depending on the temperature and the
[00:23:53] mechanical stress in the material. So when I
[00:23:56] stretch this bundle of wires, I force it into a different
[00:23:59] phase. The atoms reorganize themselves,
[00:24:03] that creates a different energy state, heat is released, and the material
[00:24:06] warms up. When I release the tension, the atoms rearrange
[00:24:10] themselves again. We get a different energy state, heat is absorbed,
[00:24:14] and the bundle cools down again. This is known as
[00:24:17] an elastocaloric effect. It can create temperature
[00:24:20] differences of up to 40 degrees Celsius within the material.
[00:24:24] The phenomenon is well-known, but only recently have researchers tried to
[00:24:28] harness it for use in refrigerators and heat
[00:24:30] pumps.
[00:24:35] How do we transfer the heat and cold that we generate to where it's actually
[00:24:38] needed? In a fridge, we need to bring the cooling into the interior and
[00:24:42] release the heat into the
[00:24:43] surroundings.
[00:24:46] Here circulating air passes over the cooled wires, then flows
[00:24:50] around the cooling chamber circled in blue, causing the contents inside to
[00:24:54] cool down too. The team from Zarbrücken demonstrates the
[00:24:58] technology with this mini refrigerator at trade shows and
[00:25:01] conferences. However, its compact design limits its
[00:25:04] cooling performance. Drinks inside can only be cooled to about 12 degrees
[00:25:08] Celsius. The team has also developed more
[00:25:12] powerful prototypes with cooling capacities of up to 250
[00:25:16] watts, roughly what an average fridge needs. But in
[00:25:20] simulations, electricity consumption is about half that of
[00:25:23] comparable conventional systems. The
[00:25:27] technology is slowly gaining momentum. Startups
[00:25:30] around the world are developing caloric heat pumps and
[00:25:33] refrigerators. Both the European Commission and the US Department of
[00:25:36] Energy see enormous potential. Air
[00:25:40] conditioners are becoming more common in households around the world, in India, for
[00:25:44] example, and they consume huge amounts of
[00:25:47] energy. The world's roughly
[00:25:50] 2.6 billion air conditioning units account for around 30% of
[00:25:53] global electricity consumption, according to estimates from the International
[00:25:57] Energy Agency. That figure has at least tripled since
[00:26:01] 1990.
[00:26:03] Researchers at the Center for Mechatronics and Automation Technology in
[00:26:07] Zarbrucken are convinced we'll need innovative technologies like this
[00:26:10] to bring rising global energy demand under
[00:26:12] control.
[00:26:16] This is where elastocaloric technology can help. It gives us the
[00:26:20] ability to provide cooling with much lower energy
[00:26:23] consumption, and it does so without producing harmful
[00:26:26] gases, making it safer for both the environment and
[00:26:29] people. The goal is to allow everyone.
[00:26:42] For now, the latest prototype is tackling a different challenge. The
[00:26:45] nickel-titanium wire bundles wear out over
[00:26:48] time. Depending on the alloy and the amount of force
[00:26:52] applied, they can withstand anywhere from tens of thousands to hundreds of
[00:26:55] thousands of cycles. The new
[00:26:58] replacement cartridge makes swapping them out relatively easy. In this case,
[00:27:02] just 28 grams of nickel titanium wire provide roughly
[00:27:06] 100 watts of cooling power, more than enough for the small laboratory
[00:27:09] refrigerator.
[00:27:13] The technology is very well suited to places that need to be clean.
[00:27:17] The air passes directly over the wires and releases into the room
[00:27:20] without causing any problems.
[00:27:23] The Zarbrukan team believes its cooling systems could find a market in niche
[00:27:27] applications such as lab equipment. They believe the
[00:27:30] technology could be ready within two to three years, but they
[00:27:34] estimate it will be at least another decade before consumers can start
[00:27:38] replacing conventional refrigerators with alustocaloric
[00:27:41] systems.
[00:27:45] As temperatures rise around the world, so does the risk of
[00:27:48] wildfires, particularly vulnerable are coniferous
[00:27:52] forests, dominated by a
[00:27:55] the same age. One solution could be more
[00:27:59] resilient mixed forests, but choosing the right...
[00:28:25] what I plant here today will be harvested by future generations, and I hope I make the right decisions. If the decision is wrong, I have to make expensive changes, rebuild, and
[00:28:29] basically start all over again.
[00:28:32] To create the forest of the future, you first need a lot of information about its
[00:28:36] current condition. A research team at Anhalt University
[00:28:39] of Applied Sciences in central Germany is developing an app that
[00:28:43] allows anyone walking in the woods to share their
[00:28:45] observations.
[00:28:50] The app tells you to hold your smartphone horizontally, and then you take three
[00:28:54] photos. First, it says here, "Take a picture
[00:28:57] angled up into the tree canopy." Then
[00:29:01] it tells me to take a second photo straight ahead into the forest
[00:29:04] and a third one angled down towards the ground. After that, I
[00:29:08] can share my location and upload the images.
[00:29:12] Photos taken by forest visitors are a real treasure trove of
[00:29:16] data, say the
[00:29:16] researchers.
[00:29:20] Every measurement, every piece of information
[00:29:22] helps. They've discovered a medium-sized fallen
[00:29:26] deadwood log heavily decomposed. Even that will be
[00:29:29] recorded. The data is meant to provide the
[00:29:33] foundation for a completely new approach. We are developing an
[00:29:36] AI model and investigating whether
[00:29:40] AI can assess the condition of a forest based on
[00:29:42] photographs.
[00:29:45] What's special is that anyone can take part? As
[00:29:49] citizen scientists, volunteers use the app to take
[00:29:52] photos on their walks.
[00:29:56] The project is called Mein Wald Care, meaning My Forest
[00:29:59] AI.
[00:30:03] The researchers trained the AI model behind the app using more than
[00:30:06] 6,000 of their own photos from two
[00:30:09] forests.
[00:30:12] The next step is to encourage enough citizen scientists to take
[00:30:15] part. The first version of the free
[00:30:19] MyForest AI app is already available for Android. It
[00:30:23] should provide invaluable insights about the forest's current
[00:30:26] conditions. But many forest owners need to make changes
[00:30:30] now, like here in Munich. They need to... which tree species can
[00:30:33] best withstand heat, drought, and pests, and these are big
[00:30:37] decisions. Replacing the ecological benefits of a single
[00:30:40] mature tree, like water storage and carbon capture, can require
[00:30:44] up to 400 young trees, a cost of up to €25,000 euros
[00:30:48] per hectare, and they're having to make these decisions largely on their
[00:30:52] own. We've seen bark
[00:30:56] beetles eat away at our forest year after year. So