United Kingdom: BBC News London — Tech Now

20260808 00:30 UTC · 00:30:59 · 453 transcript segments · GDELT Visual Explorer · plain-text transcript · Event Map

Adrienne Murray has rare access to Microsoft's Quantum Lab in Denmark. Ammie Sekhon checks out the action and innovation at this year's Red Bull Soapbox Race.

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Transcript

Original Broadcaster Captioning (Enhanced). Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a quotation record.

00:00:26you are. Business on BBC News. Make
00:00:28Make the connection. Now on BBC News
00:00:40News exploring the latest innovation innovation and technology shaping
00:00:42shaping our lives and with the inside inside track on global trends and
00:00:46and advancements in the tech space space today. From AI and robotics
00:00:50robotics to health, climate, transport
00:00:52transport and gaming tech. Now.
00:01:12We can actually fill this entire space up with qubits. That's
00:01:16That's how we get to a million in in the palm of your hand. It's
00:01:24Hand. It's quite heavy. It's heavier than you would think. When When everyone pushes you off from
00:01:27from the start line, what's going going to be going through your mind? mind? My mission is to reach the
00:01:31the finishing line, to be the first first to be the best. Once we get
00:01:33get into the vacuum of space, you you switch to nuclear and that will
00:01:36will give you an exhaust speed incomparable
00:01:39incomparable to fire, which means
00:01:41means half the time to Mars. It offers
00:01:50offers a giant leap forward from
00:01:53from today's computing, and it's
00:01:56it's driving one of the biggest technology technology races of our time. I'm
00:02:00I'm in Denmark taking a look at quantum.
00:02:02quantum. And here in Longview, just just outside the Danish capital,
00:02:06capital, I'm getting a rare look look inside Microsoft's largest quantum
00:02:10quantum lab. What has scientists scientists and engineers really excited
00:02:14excited about quantum computing is
00:02:16is that it has the potential to solve
00:02:18solve really big problems that would would take conventional computers
00:02:21computers hundreds, thousands and
00:02:23and even millions of years. That
00:02:26That could open up materials, research, research, drive drug discoveries
00:02:29discoveries and speed up code breaking.
00:02:33breaking. It's still an emerging emerging technology, but some are
00:02:37are optimistic that a quantum revolution revolution could lie just ahead.
00:02:40ahead. We believe it's years, not
00:02:43not decades. It's years. There's There's a great deal of new solutions
00:02:46solutions that will come out of this this work. Microsoft's approach to
00:02:50to quantum computing is fundamentally fundamentally different to the other
00:02:53other tech giants. So I've come here
00:02:55here to understand just how it works.
00:02:59works. So this is the materials lab. lab. It's developing what's known
00:03:02known as topological quantum computing. computing. There are several robots
00:03:06robots here. So so it's really this
00:03:08this UFO shaped systems. Here scientists
00:03:11scientists are fabricating the materials materials behind Microsoft's quantum
00:03:15quantum chips. And the use of AI
00:03:17AI has speeded up development. This
00:03:19This is really where we are growing
00:03:21growing our semiconductor and superconductor superconductor on our wafers. Those
00:03:25Those atoms that hit the wafer surface,
00:03:27surface, they create this perfectly
00:03:30perfectly crystalline material layer. layer. Our computers, tablets and
00:03:33and phones run on code made up of
00:03:36of bits. At its heart, a simple combinations
00:03:39combinations of the values 0 or 1.
00:03:421. But quantum computing works differently.
00:03:45differently. Its building blocks blocks are non-binary units called
00:03:49called qubits, formed from strings strings of one and zero. And everything
00:03:53everything in between all at the
00:03:54the same time, which in theory makes
00:03:57makes data processing much, much
00:04:00much faster. However, qubits are
00:04:04are notoriously unstable. Welcome Welcome to Microsoft's clean room.
00:04:07room. Making them reliable and durable
00:04:10durable enough to do useful computations computations that are error free
00:04:14free is a big challenge facing the
00:04:16the whole industry. We're doing several several rounds of lithography, and
00:04:20and we have several different material material layers that we are patterning.
00:04:23patterning. This quantum chip has
00:04:26has eight qubits. The qubits themselves themselves live right here in this
00:04:29this chip. One qubit is 1/100 of
00:04:32of a millimetre. We can actually actually fill this entire space up
00:04:36up with qubits. That's how we get get to a million in the palm of your
00:04:39your hand. Can I have a look at it? it? Absolutely. Please. OK. It's
00:04:42It's quite heavy. It's heavier than
00:04:44than you would think. This is. Majorana
00:04:47Majorana two. It's second generation generation chip. Majorana two has
00:04:50has just been revealed and has 12
00:04:5412 qubits, which the firm says are
00:04:55are now longer lasting and more reliable.
00:05:00reliable. For their magic ingredient, ingredient, Microsoft claims it's
00:05:04it's hunted down an elusive subatomic
00:05:07subatomic particle called a Majorana.
00:05:09Majorana. Research that's taken it
00:05:12it two decades. Some physicists in
00:05:15in quantum computing experts have
00:05:17have argued, however, that the tech tech giant's conclusions are built
00:05:20built on unproven particles and flawed
00:05:23flawed data analysis. But Microsoft
00:05:26Microsoft stands by its results.
00:05:29results. The more qubits, the more more powerful the quantum computer.
00:05:32computer. And some rivals have already
00:05:34already surpassed thousands of them.
00:05:37them. However, Microsoft hopes its
00:05:39its technology can leapfrog other other systems. We believe that a
00:05:43a high scale quantum computer that that works well has to have a system
00:05:46system of qubits that are small, small, they're fast, and they're
00:05:50they're accurate. You must have all all three. There's other computer computer designs for those where
00:05:53where you'd actually need an entire
00:05:55entire football pitch to actually
00:05:57actually fit a million qubits. And
00:06:00And this is where those quantum chips
00:06:02chips are placed below this chandelier chandelier like cooling device. You
00:06:06You need to have qubits there. You You need to have the control electronics
00:06:09electronics there. Then you need
00:06:11need this system here. To function.
00:06:13function. Quantum machines need extreme
00:06:15extreme cold. It is colder than outer outer space. You can think of kind
00:06:19kind of a zero Kelvin is absolute
00:06:21absolute zero temperature. And we
00:06:24we are 16.4 million Centigrade above above that temperature. Newer versions
00:06:28versions of the chips are continuously continuously being tested, with the
00:06:31the aim of adding more qubits. You You need to have enough of those
00:06:34those that you can actually do meaningful meaningful calculations, but at the
00:06:38the same time you need to have low low error rates. Now we're really
00:06:41really kind of looking, how do we we scale that first to hundreds and
00:06:45and then thousands and beyond. That
00:06:48That could pave the way. The firm firm says, for a quantum computer
00:06:52computer that can solve commercially commercially useful problems within
00:06:55within the next three years. Creating Creating a new form of computation,
00:06:59computation, a new type of computer computer that just doesn't happen
00:07:01happen very often. Once in a generation. generation. And I'm convinced that
00:07:05that just like the transistor is is incredibly important today and
00:07:07and will be in the future, so will
00:07:10will quantum computers. We're not
00:07:12not there yet, but it could offer
00:07:15offer huge promise if the hope can
00:07:17can live up to the hype.
00:07:32Soapbox racing it's been around
00:07:35since the 1940s. Kids, homemade cars
00:07:38cars and a dream. All for the love love of going downhill faster than
00:07:42than the next racer. Fast forward
00:07:49forward to now. And this is the Red
00:07:54Red Bull Soapbox race. London. Over
00:08:00Over 50 teams 420m of downhill chaos
00:08:04chaos jumps, obstacles and builds
00:08:06builds that would blow the 1940s
00:08:091940s kids minds. But here's the
00:08:13the thing those old wooden crates, crates, they're long gone. What's
00:08:17What's replaced them is something something else entirely. The builds
00:08:20builds of today are in a completely completely different league. We're
00:08:24We're talking about powerful suspension, suspension, computer aided designs
00:08:27designs and some seriously smart
00:08:28smart steering systems. They have
00:08:36have to be under 80kg, be no longer
00:08:39longer than 3.5m and be powered by
00:08:41by nothing more than a push in gravity.
00:08:44gravity. So no engines, no batteries, batteries, just straight up physics.
00:08:47physics. And yes, this is a soapbox.
00:08:51soapbox. I told you. The teams are
00:08:58are judged on creativity, showmanship showmanship and speed. So not only
00:09:01only do they need to look good, they they need to put on a performance
00:09:04performance and finish the race quickly.
00:09:11quickly. Among the teams here today,
00:09:13today, one stood out. Brooke. Sixth
00:09:16Sixth form. How are we all doing?
00:09:18doing? How are we feeling. Today? Today? Honestly, I'm just buzzing
00:09:22buzzing like first time. We're the the youngest here as well so we're
00:09:24we're in it to win it. They've got
00:09:26got a metal worker, a driver, two
00:09:30two builders and a designer. It's It's recording guys. What was that?
00:09:34that? You're putting the cockpit cockpit in first. It's taken them
00:09:37them months to get to this stage
00:09:38stage and an after school club cutting,
00:09:41cutting, grinding, welding and riveting
00:09:44riveting in a workshop. We decided
00:09:46decided to base the car off a Ferrari
00:09:49Ferrari F1 1950. I designed a whole whole entire 3D model of the whole
00:09:52whole thing. What can you tell me me about this braking system? OK,
00:09:56OK, so it's salvaged from a bike bike handle, right? We connected connected a long cable to the back
00:10:00back of the axle as a brake disc disc in the back. Then we've got got the steering system. What we
00:10:04we decided to do, we just had two two steel rods connecting to the
00:10:07the wheel pivots. It's just very
00:10:08very easily turn it from here. The
00:10:11The suspension we put on the front front because the front's going to
00:10:15to be the first thing that hits the the ground once we get off the ramps ramps in the race, we don't want
00:10:19want it to break down midway. So So yeah, suspension should help out
00:10:21out a lot with that. So yeah, hopefully
00:10:24hopefully we win. What can I say? say? I was more of a hands on person
00:10:28person making sure all the metalwork metalwork pieces are fit together,
00:10:31together, measured and using tools tools and the angle grinder and a
00:10:33a workshop to actually cut things
00:10:35things up. When everyone pushes you
00:10:39you off from the start line, yes. yes. What's going to be going through
00:10:42through your mind? How to reach the
00:10:44the end line? Then? Because my mission
00:10:47mission is to reach the finishing finishing line to ensure we get the
00:10:51the best marks, to be the first,
00:10:53first, to be the best. Do you feel feel any pressure? Oh, no. I don't
00:10:56don't feel pressure. The pressure pressure is on the wheels. We are
00:11:00are the youngest competitors as you
00:11:03you know, feature engineers. Ultimately, Ultimately, we're here to win it. it. We're going to teach the old
00:11:07old folks how it's really done, you you know, because we're the next next generation. We're here to outclass
00:11:11outclass everyone. Guys. Confident Confident words. But first they've
00:11:14they've got to put a show on.
00:11:32Round a good score, but the performance was just the start. The
00:11:35The real test is about to begin.
00:11:40begin. The build looks solid so far. far. Suspension's doing its job and
00:11:43and everything's holding up. Then
00:11:46Then the track hits back with help
00:11:49help from the team. She was back
00:11:51back up and running until the next
00:11:56next crash but she never gave up.
00:11:59up. She's gonna stop me. No no. Lock
00:12:03Lock you. It's gonna stop me. Nobody.
00:12:05Nobody. It's gonna stop me. Nobody
00:12:08Nobody is gonna stop me. No! After
00:12:14After the race, we found the team team to get their take on how it
00:12:18it went. Getting ten points across across the board was one thing, but but to actually get to the finish
00:12:22finish line is actually another thing. thing. And getting to that final
00:12:24final push to the final point, even even though she crashed, getting getting to that last bit and never
00:12:28never giving up is just unbelievable, unbelievable, honestly. So any tweaks
00:12:31tweaks for next time. Making it a a little bit lighter for someone someone who's light like her to steer
00:12:35steer it properly is just an upgrade
00:12:37upgrade that I would do. Personally,
00:12:39Personally, I think we should level level the tires because I think the
00:12:43the tires are. A bit on uneven. I
00:12:46I think that impacted the steering steering wheel a bit. So next time
00:12:50time we shall make sure by the time time we come here we are prepared
00:12:53prepared properly and we are ready
00:12:55ready for anything. Out of 32 teams,
00:13:01teams, they placed 16th overall, overall, eight for creativity and
00:13:04and number one for the performance. performance. Not bad for this young
00:13:07young team. They built something something from scratch and went for
00:13:11for it and already talking about about next time. That's the engineering
00:13:14engineering mindset. They may not not have one but they've definitely
00:13:18definitely made their mark.
00:14:27To find out why. Join me Laura Bicker
00:14:29Bicker here on BBC News. MUSIC
00:14:38MUSIC
00:14:47The sport a little bit like this and it'll be like that on you.
00:14:51you. Brain training to boost performance. performance. Sleep optimisation.
00:14:55optimisation. Pushing down with your your feet and. Strength training
00:14:59training assessments. Everything Everything you got, everything you
00:15:00you got. Come on. These are just
00:15:03just some of the companies showcasing showcasing innovative lifestyle interventions.
00:15:06interventions. At the first Longevity Longevity Show in London, with the
00:15:09the aim to help us live healthier,
00:15:11healthier, longer lives. One of the
00:15:19the big areas in the field of longevity longevity is nutrition. And I've
00:15:22I've come to meet a company that that says it's taking that to the
00:15:25the next level. To find out if it's it's just hype or if there's really
00:15:28really something in it. The base base technology is around additive
00:15:32additive manufacturing or more commonly commonly called 3D printing. When
00:15:35When I started this project, I looked looked at all of the different manufacturing
00:15:38manufacturing technologies available available and I couldn't find any
00:15:41any that would be able to be flexible flexible and agile enough to do what
00:15:44what I wanted, which was to be able able to make a unique product for
00:15:47for each person. So I decided to to start taking 3D printers apart,
00:15:50apart, putting them back together,
00:15:52together, and built one myself. So So this is one printer in front of
00:15:56of us, but give me a sense of the the scale of your operations. How
00:15:59How many printers do you have and and what makes them special? This
00:16:02This is our printer. But in our facilities facilities in Birmingham we actually
00:16:06actually have a very large one of
00:16:09of these which has 352 depositing
00:16:11depositing nozzles and is able to
00:16:13to make over 500,007 layer personalised personalised gummies every single
00:16:16single day. So I think in total we we probably have close to 300 printers,
00:16:20printers, all of which are designed designed and built from scratch by
00:16:23by my own team. Can you just describe describe what it is I'm seeing here?
00:16:27here? I mean, there is a lovely green
00:16:29green looking substance being printed
00:16:31printed from a 3D printer. Absolutely.
00:16:34Absolutely. So inside that printer printer we have a preformulated set
00:16:37set of ingredients. This specific specific one is vitamin C and D3
00:16:41D3 from a vegan source. And the flavour flavour of this product is green
00:16:45green apple. What we do in the factory
00:16:46factory is we use that same technology
00:16:49technology to layer individual ingredient ingredient formulations one on top
00:16:52top of another, allowing us to create create a limitless number of combinations
00:16:56combinations that are uniquely suited
00:16:57suited to an individual. But do we
00:17:00we actually need supplements? The The answer is it depends. While some
00:17:03some of us may have deficiencies deficiencies without medical advice,
00:17:06advice, it can be hard to know what what to take. I think the number number one thing is thinking has
00:17:10has there been a clinical trial in in humans showing that whatever I'm
00:17:14I'm being sold can lead to a health
00:17:16health gain that I want? And if there there hasn't, I'd say probably not
00:17:20not worth spending your money, but but there's literally thousands of
00:17:22of different products and strategies strategies on the market. So my principle
00:17:25principle is very much like narrow narrow that choice down to something
00:17:28something that actually has got clinical clinical data behind it. Ask the
00:17:32the companies if they're selling selling you something. They should should be able to provide you the
00:17:35the clinical trial to show that health health benefit and make sure it's
00:17:37it's the exact formulation. And in in terms of knowing then what you
00:17:41you as an individual need. Is there there a risk that people are taking
00:17:44taking their health into their own own hands, rather than getting advice
00:17:46advice from, say, a doctor or medical medical professional? Yeah, look, look, that's a really good question.
00:17:50question. And I think it's so, so so important. And certainly whenever whenever someone sees me at the health
00:17:54health clinic, I always recommend, recommend, you know, if you're having having gut issues, go to your GP
00:17:58GP straight away. They'll check off off a few things because sadly, for
00:18:02for example, a lot of digestive issues,
00:18:04issues, it can mask other more sinister
00:18:06sinister conditions like bowel cancer, cancer, ovarian cancer or inflammatory
00:18:10inflammatory bowel disease. There's There's now an increasing awareness
00:18:13awareness that some supplements could could do more harm than good. There
00:18:17There are many ingredients which, which, if taken too much of, can
00:18:19can have hugely negative impacts
00:18:21impacts on day one in healthy humans, humans, when we're asking questions
00:18:25questions about things like are you you trying to conceive? Are you pregnant? pregnant? A bunch of ingredients
00:18:28ingredients will be removed from from the options so that the consumer
00:18:31consumer doesn't get something that that could potentially be damaging
00:18:34damaging or dangerous for them. But
00:18:37But as the longevity industry booms, booms, a challenge for consumers
00:18:39consumers is ensuring that products products like these are evidence-based
00:18:43evidence-based and that any supplement supplement should not be taken as
00:18:45as a substitute for a healthy, balanced
00:18:47balanced diet. With so much choice choice out there, it's important
00:18:50important to remember that to protect
00:18:52protect our health, we should still still prioritise eating well. Exercise
00:18:56Exercise and quality sleep. MUSIC
00:19:10It might seem like a sleepy
00:19:12industrial estate in southern England, England, but this place is all about
00:19:16about speed now. Not down here. Up
00:19:20Up there. This is sunbird. A new
00:19:24new type of rocket that could one one day move things around space
00:19:27space a whole lot quicker. And while while these are just a concept for
00:19:31for now, the tech needed to make
00:19:32make them a reality has had its first first successful test right here
00:19:36here back on earth. We want to be
00:19:41be able to lean into a propulsion propulsion system where once you're
00:19:44you're in space, the fuels are available.
00:19:47available. At the moment. Trips to to and around space, including the
00:19:50the recent Artemis mission to the the moon, involve burning big tanks
00:19:54tanks of fuel. But engineers here here at pulsar are testing something
00:19:58something different using nuclear
00:20:00nuclear fusion. The reason rockets
00:20:02rockets right now are so big is because because when they launch from the
00:20:05the ground, they have to carry all
00:20:07all the fuel with them. What we want
00:20:10want to achieve is a smaller rocket. rocket. So the smallest possible
00:20:13possible rocket can leave the ground
00:20:15ground using combustion fire, which which it will do always because it's
00:20:19it's the right propulsion system system in the atmosphere. But once
00:20:22once we get into the vacuum of space, space, you switch to nuclear and
00:20:26and that will give you an exhaust
00:20:28exhaust speed. Incomparable to, to
00:20:31to fire. So we're looking at a specific
00:20:33specific impulse of about 13,000
00:20:3613,000 seconds, which means half
00:20:38half the time to Mars. Nuclear fusion fusion occurs when the middle bits
00:20:42bits of two atoms are forced together together to release extreme amounts
00:20:45amounts of energy. It's what
00:20:51Energy. It's what powers our sun. Scientists have been trying trying to recreate this process for
00:20:54for a long time, and there have been been some big steps forward. The The UK's Atomic Energy Authority
00:20:57Authority has even suggested it could could be on the nation's power grid
00:21:00grid by the 2040s. But fusion hasn't hasn't been used for interplanetary
00:21:04interplanetary travel, at least not not yet. Earlier this year, a key
00:21:08key part of it was shown it could
00:21:10could work right here in this room.
00:21:13room. Now we developed the first
00:21:16first exhaust infrastructure for
00:21:17for a fusion rocket ever, and we
00:21:20we achieved the first plasma inside inside it. Lots of pressure at that
00:21:24that moment. Huge pressure. But this
00:21:27this is what happened. Yeah. Shall Shall we play? Let's play it. And
00:21:31And here's first plasma. Wow. There's
00:21:38There's some complicated physics physics going on here, but essentially essentially special atoms stored
00:21:42stored in the engine are made so so hot they become no longer a solid
00:21:46solid liquid or gas. But the fourth fourth state of matter called plasma.
00:21:50plasma. This soup of highly charged charged ions and electrons is then
00:21:53then forced out through a narrow narrow exhaust, creating massive
00:21:57massive forward thrust. And to be be actually hold the plasma in the
00:22:00the structure of the exhaust where where it should be, was I mean, I
00:22:04I mean really we were very lucky lucky to have achieved it. This test
00:22:07test had to be done in space like
00:22:09like conditions here on earth. And
00:22:11And that's where this contraption
00:22:14contraption comes in. So you're creating
00:22:18creating a little pocket of space space here in your warehouse. Exactly
00:22:20Exactly right. Yeah. So we suck all all the air out of this using a bunch
00:22:24bunch of really interesting expensive expensive pumps. But the upshot is, is, yeah, you remove as much of the
00:22:28the air as you possibly can and that that mimics the vacuum of space.
00:22:31space. So this is an exhaust system system for sunbird. It's basically
00:22:35basically a large array of very powerful powerful electromagnets. And they're
00:22:39they're there to actually form the the plume of the rocket as it leaves
00:22:42leaves the engine. And so to drive drive those, you need some fancy
00:22:45fancy high power power supplies. supplies. You need some quite fancy
00:22:48fancy gas feeds to make sure that that propellant is fed through at
00:22:52at the right rate. And of course course you need the vacuum chamber.
00:22:55chamber. Otherwise none of it can can work. And of course it's quite
00:22:58quite echoey, as you can hear. And And that's because you have to make
00:23:02make sure there's nothing else in in here. Yeah, exactly. So its job
00:23:04job is to mimic empty space. So we we try to keep all other equipment
00:23:08equipment in the chamber to an absolute absolute minimum. Spotted something
00:23:11something in the corner there. Yeah. Yeah. Normally you don't want little little bits of plastic sitting around
00:23:15around the vacuum chamber, but filming filming songbird was not easy. And
00:23:18And we actually found one of the the best ways to get footage of it
00:23:21it was just to stick a GoPro to the the inside of the chamber. Oh, and
00:23:25and what's. Happened to that GoPro? GoPro? The GoPro is not very happy.
00:23:28happy. The memory card survived, survived, but the camera did not.
00:23:32not. The team here says this successful
00:23:34successful test is a major breakthrough, breakthrough, but there's still a
00:23:37a long way to go and a lot more tests tests needed. Something that will
00:23:41will keep scientists here in pulsars
00:23:42pulsars control room busy. Somebody
00:23:45Somebody says something can take take us to Mars, to the moon, and
00:23:48and then it's going to change the the industry very dramatically. What
00:23:51What do you want to be doing in the the future when it comes to this
00:23:54this space? So it's really good to to feel like we are working on something something which is going to have
00:23:58have a big impact, and I think I I will just stay in this industry industry and then I will see missions
00:24:02missions to Mars and then I will will see hopefully maybe one day
00:24:04day I will be there as well. It's
00:24:07It's not just happening here. Avalanche Avalanche energy is developing its
00:24:10its own version of a fusion powered powered spacecraft, while Princeton
00:24:13Princeton Satellite Systems in the the US is working on a deep space
00:24:17space propulsion technology called
00:24:19called Starfire. And with space agencies agencies and the space industry's
00:24:22industry's bigger and bolder plans plans for a base on the moon and
00:24:25and humans on the surface of Mars, Mars, humanity will need rockets
00:24:28rockets that keep up with its ambitions. ambitions. What the technology is
00:24:32is telling us that this is what we
00:24:34we do. We. We evolve and we. We build
00:24:38build these technologies which are are available to us and we leave
00:24:42leave our solar system. We do start
00:24:45start migrating into orbit. It seems seems very natural, strangely. I
00:24:48I mean, even though it may look unnatural, unnatural, all this metal and steel
00:24:51steel and plasma. But when you see
00:24:53see a plasma light up in a vacuum vacuum chamber, it's nature just
00:24:57just showing you that you're doing
00:25:00doing something right. MUSIC
00:28:56There is nothing like driving
00:28:57into a moving story and not knowing
00:29:00knowing what is going to happen when when we enter Damascus. It was full
00:29:03full of rebels shooting in the air air in celebration. You can hear.
00:29:06hear. The sound of celebratory gunfire. gunfire. And I live for those moments.
00:29:09moments. These troops are heading heading into the battle zone in Khartoum,
00:29:12Khartoum, says the army to carry carry out a special operation entering
00:29:16entering Khartoum was a seminal moment. moment. The level of destruction
00:29:19destruction was stunning. Sometimes Sometimes meeting someone on the the ground can change how you understand
00:29:23understand a story. Covering these
00:29:28these stories over the years has has impressed upon me how resilient
00:29:31resilient people are. And yes, many many of them are desperate, but many
00:29:34many of them are also steadfast. steadfast. They're gracious and they're
00:29:38they're generous. Journalism is about about telling people not only what
00:29:41what happened, but why it matters matters and what it means. History
00:29:45History happens in real time and
00:29:46and someone needs to be there to
00:29:49to witness it. MUSIC
00:30:10Live from Washington. This is
00:30:12BBC News. The US Senate passes a
00:30:14a sanctions package aimed at helping
00:30:17helping Ukraine by cutting off funds funds to Russia. It now faces a vote
00:30:20vote in the House of Representatives. Representatives. Thailand's Prime
00:30:24Prime Minister pledges new gun laws laws after a 14-year-old student
00:30:27student shoots dead. Six people at
00:30:29at a school after killing two of
00:30:31of his grandparents. A water crisis
00:30:34crisis leads to rationing in Puerto
00:30:36Puerto Rico as a severe drought grips
00:30:38grips the island. Helena Humphrey.
00:30:48Humphrey. Good to have you with
00:30:54Helena Humphrey. Good to have you with us. We begin with some breaking breaking news from Ukraine, where
00:30:57where the capital, Kyiv, is under under attack from ballistic missiles. missiles. According to the
Data courtesy of The GDELT Project (gdeltproject.org), from the Internet Archive TV News Archive. Film strip and transcript are GDELT's, rehosted here under their terms of use, which permit it with this citation.