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193 episodes
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Digital Planet BBC World Service
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- Technology
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4.6 • 105 Ratings
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Technological and digital news from around the world.
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Tech Life
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Digital Planet says goodbye
On Digital Planet’s final ever show we discuss the legacy of Gordon Moore, the father of transistors and creator of Moore’s law.
Special guests this week are Angelica Mari and Ghislaine Boddington.
The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson.
Studio Manager: Bob Nettles
Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz -
3D printed food – what’s cooking?
Could 3D-printing be serving us up a tasty food revolution, or is it the ultimate in gimmicky processed foods taking us yet further away from natural eating? In the kitchen, a 3D-printer builds up customised tasty treats like exotic cheesecakes, layer by layer, using edible pastes, gels and liquids. The results look delicious, and delicate, and can be tweaked to suit the individual’s specific nutritional needs. The latest possibilities are one of the main courses in the latest issue of npj Science of Food. One of the article’s authors is Dr Jonathan Blutinger worked at the Creative Machines Lab at Columbia University in New York where the research was carried out.
Jimmy Wales on AI and its impact on Wikipedia
In our second interview with Wikipedia Founder Jimmy Wales, Gareth asks about the balkanisation of the internet and how ChatGPT and other AI tech could impact Wikipedia.
Bollywood and the multiverse
India is now officially the most populated country in the world and everything there is measured in huge numbers. Take film, for example. With nearly two thousand films made each year in over 20 regional languages, India produces the most films worldwide. And Bollywood is just a part of it. This year marks 110 years since the first Indian feature movie was made - ‘Raja Harishchandra’, a silent movie by legendary Dadasaheb Phalke. Since then Indian film has come a long way, winning an Oscar in two categories at the Academy Awards this year. Our reporter Snezana Curcic recently went to Mumbai, the city where it all started. She’s explored how digitalisation has disrupted and affected the industry and Indian film audiences in recent years.
Pod EXTRA:
A make-up applying app for the visually impaired
How would you feel about applying make-up for a date or an important meeting without the aid of a mirror? Well, if you're blind or visually impaired, that's effectively a situation you might find yourself in on a regular basis. But now it seems help could be at hand. A new app called the Voice Enabled Makeup Assistant has been developed by the International cosmetics company Estee Lauder. So will it help if you're a blind dater, or is it all just lip service. Our reporter, Fern Lulham takes up the story.
The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington.
Studio Manager: Giles Aspen
Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz
(Image: 3D-printed cheesecake using edible food inks, including peanut butter, Nutella, and strawberry. Credit: Jonathan Blutinger/Columbia Engineering) -
Jimmy Wales on bots and blockages
Digital Planet caught up with Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales. In the first of two interviews with Gareth, Jimmy explains why Wikipedia was restricted in Pakistan recently and how they overcame the block. And he gives his thoughts on Twitter’s plans to stop the bots and banish its free API.
6G – what we can expect
Professor Sana Salous, Chair of Communications Engineering at Durham University is about to submit her latest recommendations for the implementation of 6G connectivity to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). She’s on the show to explain how this will change the way we communicate and tells Gareth that we should be connected to 6G by 2030.
Computer labs for schoolchildren in rural Kenya
Nelly Cheboi’s nonprofit, TechLit Africa, has provided thousands of students across rural Kenya with access to donated, upcycled computers - and the chance for a brighter future. When she began working in the software industry, she realised that there are many computers that are thrown away as companies upgrade their technology infrastructure. So, together with a fellow software engineer they founded TechLit Africa. The students not only get upcycled computers but are also learning various skills such as coding. Wairimu Gitahi reports from Nairobi.
Podcast Extra
Following months of debate and discussion about what caused Gareth’s motorbike key fob to malfunction near a major TV transmitter, Imperial College and Durham University engineers have joined forces to establish what actually happened. Please do listen as we have a definitive answer.
The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Angelica Mari.
Studio Manager: Tim Heffer
Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz
(Image: Wikipedia logo seen on screen of laptop through magnifying glass.
Photo by Altan Gocher/DeFodi Images via Getty Images) -
Digital identity: Where are we now?
It may seem that in some countries surveillance cameras are everywhere – recording almost our every move. We are using fingerprints and facial recognition to get access to our banking, work emails and even our healthcare systems. Alongside this rise in use comes a rapid increase in biometric data gathering, spurred on by contact tracing apps during Covid-19. But where is this very personal data going, who is using it and how.
We bring together a panel of experts to discuss what’s happening now and what’s next for our biometric data – shouldn’t we be the ones in control of our own digital identity? Contributing expert Ghislaine Boddington will shed light on these questions and will be joined by Dr Stephanie Hare, author of Technology is Not Neutral: A Short Guide to Technology Ethics, Alice Thwaite, founder of the Hattusia consultancy and The Echo Chamber Club a philosophical research institute, and BBC China Editor Howard Zhang are all on the show.
The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington.
Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz
Sound: Andrew Garratt
(Illustration: A fingerprint scanner is integrated into a printed circuit. Credit: Surasak Suwanmake/Getty Images) -
Ukraine’s drone spotting app
As Ukraine enters the second year of the full-scale Russian invasion, we hear about an app through which citizens can help alert defence authorities of air attacks. To help prevent future attacks, the country’s Air Defence Forces want people to use their phones to report hostile airborne objects. Simply install an app, point your handset at the object, select the category – say a drone or a missile - and press the button. It means observers on the ground can pick up objects flying too low for radar detection. Gareth speaks to one of the app’s developers, Gennadiy Suldin of the tech start up NGO Technari.
Supercomputing predicting weather in Brazil – has it worked?
The clear up continues in Sao Paulo following last week’s devastating floods and landslides, which have claimed dozens of lives. But could these extreme weather events have been better predicted with supercomputers? Angelica Mari has been asking if Brazil’s supercomputers are super enough?
Spotting illegal farms in Taiwan with citizen tech
With 1500 hectares of farmland lost to illegal usage each year in Taiwan, an environmental advocacy group tried to find ways of bringing this attention to the wider public. Stuck for what to do and not wanting to use conventional means like petitions, they turned to Taiwan’s volunteer technology community for inspiration. Shiroma Silva went to find out more for Digital Planet.
The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Angelica Mari.
Studio Manager: Giles Aspen
Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz
(Image: A drone approaches for an attack in Kyiv on 17 October 2022. Credit: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images)
Customer Reviews
Digital Planet
Been a regular listener to this podcast for some time now. Well done program that explores multiple facets of technology with an emphasis on the internet. Enjoy the non US perspective that the BBC provides. I highly recommend this weekly technology program. Review provided by John T O’Farrell
Updated: The show had its last episode in April 2023. While this podcast still has the name Digital Planet, it is not. I listened to one episode of the ‘new show’ and found it a challenge to listen to whole thing. Won’t be coming back for more. BBC not sure what you were thinking here with your “digital plan” but you took your best technology show out. I suggest you bring the old show back. Updated Review provided by John T O’Farrell
Thank you for a wonderful podcast!
Will miss you immensely !
A Review of "Digital Planet"
I had found what I had believed to had been certain installments of what I had believed to had been this "Digital Planet" to had been informative, enjoyable, and pleasant (for example, no language I would describe as having had been vulgar or profane).