Use BBC.com or the new BBC App to listen to BBC podcasts, Radio 4 and the World Service outside the UK.

Find out how to listen to other BBC stations

Episode details

World Service,02 Oct 2018,26 mins

Could Tech Warn of Future Tsunami?

Digital Planet

Available for over a year

Could a complex prototype system of sensors and cables on the sea floor in Indonesia warn scientists of future tsunamis? Professor Louise Comfort from the University of Pittsburgh explains how this might work. What could be the consequences of hidden messages encoded into audio that voice recognition systems can hear, but we can’t? Professor Dorothea Kolossa from the University of Bochum has been hacking into these systems to find out. Is the age of tech fibre really upon us? Professor Yoel Fink from MIT says his team is on the verge of developing true tech clothes that will be able to warn us that a car is approaching. The power and the value of water is explored in a new art installation in Liverpool in the UK. Housed in the Toxteth Reservoir – a huge and empty space which was at the cutting edge of design and engineering in Victorian times – the exhibition uses sensors and hydrophones to track visitors and enhance their experience. (Photo credit: A bridge sits destroyed after being hit by an earthquake and tsunami – credit: Getty Images) Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

Programme Website
More episodes