Tomorrow Today: The Science Magazine
DW-TV’s science program TOMORROW TODAY focuses on current topics in research, and is aimed at anyone who is interested in ongoing projects in Germany and Europe. Our reports use terms and concepts that are easily understood, portrayed in interesting ways, and address the core issues ...
DW-TV’s science program TOMORROW TODAY focuses on current topics in research, and is aimed at anyone who is interested in ongoing projects in Germany and Europe. Our reports use terms and concepts that are easily understood, portrayed in interesting ways, and address the core issues at stake. The show presents a comprehensive overview of the latest trends in science and research. The exploration of the deep sea is one of the great scientific challenges of the future. This is a gigantic area. Covering two thirds of the earth’s surface, it is an unknown world with bizarre geological structures and exotic inhabitants. So far, only one percent of the deep ocean habitat has been explored. TOMORROW TODAY takes a fascinating look into the work of marine researchers – a five-part series in cooperation with the MARUM Research Center in Bremen. Heiko Sahling is a biologist and deep sea geoscientist at the MARUM Research Center. The area he studies is in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Pakistan. There, at depths down to 3,000 meters, something fascinating is happening. Natural gas is emerging from the sea bed, to produce a surreal world of millions of tiny bubbles, which has already spurred the fancy of science fiction authors. In these exotic surroundings, the scientist has discovered both new animal species and communities and new geological truths. But the main questions that drive him are concerned with the methane gas emitted here. How much is emitted, how does it affect the biological world of the deep sea, and how much reaches the surface to enter the atmosphere? That is also relevant to climate researchers, because methane is a major greenhouse gas that increases global warming. Heiko Sahling takes Tomorrow Today viewers on an expedition on the METEOR research vessel. He tells us about life on board, about burning ice and about organisms that no one has seen before.
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Climate change and food - wheat harvests at risk
Wheat would we do without wheat? An international research team ...
Wheat would we do without wheat? An international research team is warning that climate change will have a significant impact on the world’s grain harvests. The scientists have now been able to quantify the decrease in yield for the first time. A rise in temperature of a single degree Celsius would under current agricultural systems translate into a 6% drop in wheat generation - a loss of 42 million tons from the current annual output of 713 million tons. One way to prevent that kind of devastating development is to develop strains of wheat that are more resistant to heat and drought.
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Animal migration - the effects of climate change
Climate change is causing temperatures on Earth to rise, and ...
Climate change is causing temperatures on Earth to rise, and some animal species are already responding by migrating. IT experts and biologists have put together climate models with their knowledge of animals and their habitats to find out where species could be headed - and what other consequences climate change might have long-term. The result: some species are expanding their habitats, others are seeking new ones, while a number are already simply dying out. And there’s no question that higher temperatures will also spur evolution.
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Studio Guest: Improving the world’s health - but how?
We talk to Detlev Ganten, founding President of the World ...
We talk to Detlev Ganten, founding President of the World Health Summit, about what can and should be done when it comes to solving some of the world’s major health problems. DW: Climate change could have a serious impact on agriculture and food availability. What knock-on effects will that have for healthcare? Detlev Ganten: Nutrition is so important for health – for children especially, but also for people of all ages. Without proper nutrition there is no good health in the world, so it’s of the utmost importance. Very fundamental. We've seen a steady reduction in undernourishment over the last few decades all over the world. What do experts say has to happen to keep that positive trend going, even in the face of climate change? We need plants and ecoculture which are more resistant to heat than they are at the present time. We know from wheat and other crops that the yields are decreasing, so we’ll have to do something. We need other crops – wheat and maze and others – which are better adapted to dealing with drier conditions. Climate change and health is a big topic at this year's World Health Summit. Apart from food availability, what are some of the other aspects of climate change that could impact on health care? Changes on the weather, thunderstorms, floodings, vectors of infectious diseases which spread in other regions like malaria. More diseases are spreading across the globe, so it’s a plethora of various aspects which need to be considered. What about migration? All of those aspects are going to mean that migration among people happens more quickly. We see that now across Europe. One aspect is the political system, but the other is nutrition, is living conditions – and climate is a major factor. A new app developed in London enables patients to find and consult a doctor within minutes. Since its launch a few months ago it has attracted 100,000 users. You're a doctor as well. Would you allow a colleague to diagnose you like this -- via a screen? I think it’s a wonderful technology, and it needs to be exploited. Yes, I would do it, but I am critical and self-critical and educated in the field, so I would not be a slave of the system. But many people are not as privileged as I am, and are not able to judge either the symptoms they get from their monitoring system or the advice they get from the doctor. So I think these things need to be quality-controlled, and hopefully certified. So it all comes down to education. Education is the name of the game, and education is the best vaccination. The digital revolution and its impact on healthcare is also a topic at the World Health Summit. Technology like this could have a serious impact on the developing world as well, couldn't it? Yes, definitely. Smartphones are available in areas where there is no doctor. So there is a first possibility of getting advice from a doctor. But if a doctor cannot give the final recommendation, of course a doctor and the medical system have to be in the background. This still needs to be developed all over the world – universal health coverage. What are the drawbacks with this technology? Drawbacks are that there are so many different apps, and they are not all of the same quality. The drawback is the commercial value and impact on both sides – cost of the medical system and also earning money with these systems. (Interview: Derrick Williams)
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Digital doctor’s rounds - consultation via smartphone
From common colds to back ache and allergies - some ...
From common colds to back ache and allergies - some symptoms can now be treated via smartphone. Babylon Health is the name of an app that enables patients to find and consult a doctor within minutes about common nagging conditions, although a remote diagnosis is not possible with more serious conditions.The app was developed in London, and since its launch a few months ago has already attracted 100,000 users. We paid real-world visits to meet the creators, doctors and patients. Tomorrow Today wanted to know whether the app can also be deployed in countries lacking universal healthcare coverage.
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New antibiotics - blocking bacteria instead of extermination
Antibiotic resistance is growing worldwide. Drugs that have been successfully ...
Antibiotic resistance is growing worldwide. Drugs that have been successfully keeping bacteria in check for decades are losing their effectiveness. The microbes have adapted to them. Stephan Sieber from Munich Technical University is seeking not to exterminate the dangerous bacteria, but to render them harmless by blocking a protein in them that starts the production of dangerous toxins. Petri dish tests and mouse experiments show that the process works.
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International Health Master’s Degree - help for healthcare systems around the world
Healthcare experts from around the world are enrolling at Heidelberg ...
Healthcare experts from around the world are enrolling at Heidelberg University Hospital’s Institute for Public Health. Back home, their professions range from physicians and sociologists to business managers. The Master of Science in International Health program is aimed at improving the standard of care in the world’s poorer countries. Among the field research projects conducted by students is a study of medical provision for mothers-to-be and their babies in Kenya.
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Interview: Africa needs more science
For more on the future of research in Africa, we're ...
For more on the future of research in Africa, we're joined in the studio by Lara Petersen from the German-African Business Association. DW: There are excellent examples of how researchers are pursuing important work in Africa. But I think the general impression in Europe is that not much is happening there when it comes to research. Is that a fair assessment? Lara Petersen: There are quite a few projects like the one we've just seen. But, in general, the scientific output of Africa is only 2%, compared to the rest of the world - which is, if you look at the size of Africa, way too little. There aren´t that many groundbreaking results. Why aren't there more? It's a lack of financing, mostly, and of course that goes with it, a lack of scientists. The African Union decided to spend 1% of GDP on science and education, but most countries are actually quite far from that still. It's not actually very much money and even those obligations aren't being fulfilled. Many countries have fundamental problems then in Africa with education and with poverty. On our Facebook page, one viewer called poverty: 'a dream killer'. Are there maybe simple ways to promote grassroots research and education in these countries? There are a few projects that are working on solving African problems. For example, Makerere University in Kampala is working on applications for smartphones in agriculture and on solar panels. So there are different projects trying to promote grassroots development. But of course you also have to look at what the economy needs. And they don't necessarily need scientists, but rather mechanics. And people in the skilled trades, perhaps? Exactly. If you are a young African scientist or mathematician, where would you go in Africa? Up until now, many have left to go to the EU or to go to America. Where would you go if you wanted to focus on, maybe, fundamental research? There are quite a few research institutions in South Africa. More, of course, than in the north of Africa. And there's more and more coming up in Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana. So there are already a few hubs where scientific projects are connected. A major problem is the jobs market, isn't it. We're missing the industrial side of things. All of these educated young people are coming out of schools and universities and there's no jobs there. They're fleeing basically for economic reasons. Do we need to focus on the infrastructure and industry? Yes, definitely, that is a huge problem. If academics can't find a job, first of all they'll leave and then all of the money that was put into their education goes out the window. Quite a few are coming back now, so it's not completely wasted. What are the exciting areas in Africa where that kind of infrastructure building is going on? There are lots of investments, from China of course, but also from Germany. And our companies are always complaining that they can't find workers that are properly educated, engineers for example. Well, one of the areas would, for example, be infrastructure - or the energy sector, of course. That's a place where everybody's investing at the moment. Lara Petersen, thank you very much for the interview. (Interview: Derrick Williams)
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Fish App - Young African Mathematicians Help Senegal's Fishermen
In the future, Senegalese fishermen might be able to use ...
In the future, Senegalese fishermen might be able to use an app to calculate how much they can catch today without devastating the fish stocks of tomorrow. That's vital as stocks are shrinking along the country's Atlantic coast, while the population just keeps growing. The app is being tested and developed by researchers at the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) in Senegal. The institute is part of the Next Einstein Initiative, which promotes scientific and technical talent across Africa. It's supported by the Humboldt Foundation and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)
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Our studio guest: Can the battle against malaria be won?
We speak with Dr. Kai Matuschewski from the Max Planck ...
We speak with Dr. Kai Matuschewski from the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology in Berlin about malaria and the challenges of developing an effective vaccine. DW: Isn’t that really risky – to use a living malaria parasite for vaccination. Who would take the risk? Kai Matuschewski: Well, I would certainly take the risk, because I know about the impact of malaria. Every live vaccine is a risk, and we have to be prepared to take that risk. In Tübingen, you’re in very good hands. It’s a very good clinic. You’re supervised 24/7 throughout the clinical trial. So that will work. There is no risk for the volunteers of this vaccine trial. The approach, then, is actually not feasible for Africa? Not as it is now. To transfer this to Africa is a long way to go. You can not simply imagine to take this vaccine on a moped to a small village and start vaccinating young children. But this is a way forward to develop a whole attenuated parasite vaccine. What could you actually learn from a trial like this? What we still don’t understand is the signatures, as we call it, the science of protective immunity. What is it actually that we recognize in order to mount an immune response that we don’t see in the field? And so to disentangle these small antigens, the immune cells, that provide unprecedented level of protection is really what all the researchers would like to understand. So the advantages of using a whole parasite would be that there are lots of different approaches – the parasite, so to speak, shows lots of different faces to the immune system? Totally. Because we don’t know what the protective antigens are, we have to leave it to every individual to recognize what they have as a protective antigen. There is another vaccine called RTSS that has received the stamp of approval from Europe’s medicine watchdogs. What do you think of that? It’s a first step, and it’s a very important step – the first malaria vaccine ever. It does a fairly OK job in preventing clinical disease, so a third of the kids are having fewer episodes. But it doesn’t do well at all for the severe malaria, for the implications and the mortality of malaria. So we are no where near to having this as a tool to stop malaria mortality although it’s an important step forward. So as long as we don’t have any vaccinations of course, we need good medicine. Artemisinin is kind of getting weaker. Are there any new substances in the pipeline? Not really. They are very early in the pipeline. There are a couple of good candidates in the pipeline, people now engaged more to identify these new medicines and compounds. But we’ve sort of lost time. And now with the threat of tolerance against artemisinin, we really have to speed up to develop new anti-malarials. How important is that fight – to win that fight against malaria? It’s one of the challenges, the major challenges, in this century. It’s one of the top three killers, together with HIV and TB. And it’s something we have to address as a community. Interview: Ingolf Baur
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Brilliant minds: Elisabeth Green
Elizabeth Lauren came to Germany from the U.S. in 2012. ...
Elizabeth Lauren came to Germany from the U.S. in 2012. At just 30 years of age, she’s an experimental physicist at the Helmholtz Center in Dresden-Rossendorf. She studies the properties of materials in a variety of extreme conditions, and is fascinated by the idea that her discoveries may one day be put to purposes we can’t yet imagine. One of the things she appreciates Germany for is its work-life balance. And in her free time, she also takes existing materials and turns them into something new - but in this case, it’s by baking.
