This week, preparing for a long flight. This plane can stay up in the air almost indefinitely. How . , in the air almost indefinitely. How . Why . In the air almost indefinitely. How . Why . In the air almost indefinitely. How . , wh . ~. , how . Sunshine. Why . Wait and see. How . Sunshine. Why . Wait and see tracking how . Sunshine. Why . Wait and see. Tracking the how . Sunshine. Why . Wait and see. Tracking the wildlife see. Tracking the wildlife beside the see. Tracking the wildlife beside the tracks, see. Tracking the wildlife beside the tracks, but. See. Tracking the wildlife beside the tracks, but pauls got distracted. I beside the tracks, but pauls got distracted. Beside the tracks, but pauls got distracted. I love a train. Understatement got distracted. I love a train. Understatement of got distracted. I love a train. Understatement of the got distracted. I love a train. L understatement of the century there understatement of the century there. Also, how to keep connected Up A Mountain when things connected Up A Mountain when things go connected Up A Mountain when things go downhill. And connected Up A Mountain when things go downhill. Things go downhill. And the tech thats things go downhill. And the tech thats Keeping Things go downhill. And the tech thats keeping the things go downhill. And the tech thats keeping the refl things go downhill. And the | tech thats keeping the ref in check. ,. ,. , check. Having this Technology Means i can check. Having this Technology Means i can say, check. Having this Technology Means i can say, look, check. Having this Technology Means i can say, look, right. Means i can say, look, right there thats what im talking about. Let me take you up. Up into the air. Up above the clouds, above the weather, above all the aircraft. This is the stratosphere a place yet to be conquered by humankind. Up here, the air is thin and calm. And it is here that youll find the zephyr. This is a strange beast and the fact that it flies this high is the least strange thing about it. See, it only travels at aomph, it only weighs 75kg. Its launched by hand, its completely solar powered and in theory, it may be able to stay up here for months. I was last at zephyr� s base in farnborough in the uk in 2018, when it had just stayed aloft for very nearly 26 days. Since then, its done 64. So, this is how it works. During the day, the sun hits the solar panels, which charge the batteries and power the propellers, and the plane climbs to 75,000 feet. When the sun goes down, the batteries completely take over. The propellers do slow down and the plane does lose altitude. The trick, though, is to make sure youre still above 60,000 feet by the time the sun comes up the next morning and the process can start again. So, will the entire wing be covered with solar cells, every single square centimetre, as much as you can in solar . Actually, the solar array that we use now typically is so efficient that we dont tend to need to do complete coverage. Really . Yeah, we can actually recharge the batteries most normal days by lunchtime. Wow in theory, is it possible to stay up forever in this . Well, i think eventually, well get as close as we can to that. At the moment, our limitation is the number of cycles the batteries can cope with. So, a cycle is a day so a full charge, and then a full discharge, thats one cycle. And were targeting six months in the stratosphere at a time, and thats in line with the Battery Performance that we see coming through. Everything about zephyr has been fine tuned. Every gram counts. Every unit of battery density. The precise curve of those wings. So, look, i get it. I get that this plane can stay up in the air almost indefinitely. You only have to look at it to understand that its something pretty special. The main question i have is why . Why would you want this kind of craft . Who would want this kind of craft . In the 20 years since the idea was first conceived, its almost like this has been a solution looking for a problem. Would it carry cameras . Could it be military . Reconnaissance . Since airbus spun off the new Start Up Company alto in 2023, its now been pitched for Earth Observation and as a flying base station for Mobile Phones. From the stratosphere, at 60 70,000 feet, we can talk directly to a standard mobile phone, so the aircraft will function exactly like the cell tower that you have today, but its high up. And, because its so much higher up than the regular cell tower, it can cover the equivalent of about 200 Base Stations on the ground. So, of course, that replaces notjust the, you know, the equipment on the tower, but it replaces the whole tower. Thats the steel. Thats the backhaul, the fibre, the microwave, very importantly, the power microwave, very importantly, the power the electricity or the power the electricity or the diesel that runs the tower. And in the diesel that runs the tower. And in many cases in the remote and rural and in many cases in the remote and rural areas, thats the most and rural areas, thats the most expensive part of running a terrestrial tower. An Uplink Antenna would connect the mobile network to zephyr, and then zephyr could serve an area of 7,500 square kilometres, in theory, for months at a time. This is a real proposition. Or in the event of, say, a natural disaster, a plane could be flown to an area that had suddenly become cut off from the grid. Mobile operators have something called Cell On Wheels Cow Which is usually a truck that has some equipment. We have a cell on wings, a flying cow, which is flying cell on wings. These cows er, planes will fly autonomously. There are no joysticks involved. The pilots send the planes coordinates and flight plans but theyre mainly interested in how much energy its using, and making adjustments to keep its batteries fully charged. So this is the ground, and this is 80,000 feet. And all this colourful stuff, thats wind you dont want to be in that but if you can keep the zephyr above it, from about 60,000 feet and up, its pretty plain sailing. The problem is, youve got to get to 60,000 feet in the first place something that can take ten hours from that weird hand launched take off. Trying to get it up into the air is probably the trickiest point. Theres a lot more weather down on the surface than there is up in the stratosphere, sojust than there is up in the stratosphere, so just trying to get the right relations to get through that weather, thats probably the hardest part. Weve spent a lot of time and effort studying meteorology in the tropopause, so that we can understand how to transit through it as safely as possible with this aircraft. And weve now done a global study of where all the weather is, and all the different Weather Conditions around the world, and weve found some of the best locations in the world to start launching and landing these from regularly. So, where the air is nice and clear, all the way up. All the way through, yeah, and once were in the stratosphere, were away. In fact, zephyr� s Parent Company has Just Announced kenya as the location of its first planned permanent launch site. But we have seen these kind of ventures before. For example, googles loon project was also based in kenya, and its balloon based Mobile Cell Tower Project failed to stay afloat. And what about satellites . These days, very small cubesats can be put into orbit at much lower cost than their bigger siblings and they stay up automatically, no power involved. Although, unlike zephyr, you cant bring them down and swap out their payloads. With satellite, if you want to talk to a handset, its very difficult. And if you manage with low earth orbit satellites, you can talk to a handset, but it would be very limited. You know, its sms, maybe a few kilobits per second, you cannot do full 56. Youre not mimicking what a terrestrial station does. And if you have satellites that are really big enough that can do Something Like this, the economics are so expensive and then, youre spreading them across the whole planet, youre not getting the efficiencies, you cannot scale. So thats on the connectivity side. 0n the Earth Observation side, satellites are great because they can view anywhere on the planet, but not persistently. Because they take an image, come back after a period of time. With High AltitudePlatform Stations, you can do that persistently, so you can see the change over time. And there is competition in the stratosphere itself. Similar aircraft are being developed by several Companies Including this one by bae systems. Whatever the final use for these so called High AltitudePlatform Stations haps there does seem to be both the appetite and now the technology to fly high and stay high. Birdsong. Zephyr can stay above the weather. But if youre going rock climbing, the conditions need to be good. Rock climbing, the conditions need to be good. Sudden changes in the weather need to be good. Sudden changes in the weather can need to be good. Sudden changes in the weather can create in the weather can create Serious Problems for climbers and when things do wrong on the hillside, rescue teams are called and they often need expensive Helicopter Operations and combined Emergency Services. And combined Emergency Services and combined Emergency Services. , , services. One company is using 56 and drones services. One company is using 56 and drones to services. One company is using 56 and drones to take services. One company is using 56 and drones to take search. Services. One company is using| 56 and drones to take search to another level, though, as laura good win has been finding out. For most people, paper maps are a thing of the past and instead our Mobile Phones have become our Mobile Phones have become our pocket navigators, where data and google maps get us from a to b. But hiking is so much more thanjust from a to b. But hiking is so much more than just putting from a to b. But hiking is so much more thanjust putting one footin much more thanjust putting one foot in front of the other and travelling across remote routes can make the job travelling across remote routes can make thejob of Mountain Rescue Teams extremely difficult. A sunny day in scotlands hills can be a glorious thing, the chance to get away from everything. But when things go wrong, a lack of connectivity can become a real problem. Ill can become a real problem. Ill take can become a real problem. I� ll take control. Can become a real problem. L� ll take control. We have located the casualty. Stand by for grid. L the casualty. Stand by for rid. , the casualty. Stand by for i rid. , the casualty. Stand by for rid. ,. , grid. I can see the grid as well. Instead of wen. Instead of sending a team into potentially dangerous situations, these drones can be deployed across remote areas. Using a pop up sg deployed across remote areas. Using a pop up 56 network, the drone can send back crucial information to base. We are here on a information to base. We are here on a very information to base. We are here on a very blustery information to base. We are i here on a very blustery angus hill. This is an area that doesnt have great connectivity, but have you a 56 Network Operating from this desk. Its got an entire Mobile Phone Network in a box. Thats connected to the antenna and forecasting sg connected to the antenna and forecasting 56 across the field. The 56 antenna goes back to a base states. Weve got a control room here. Each of these boxes can talk to other mobile phone Base Stations so we can move around and create a pp� up we can move around and create a Pop Up Network in no time. What popup network in no time. What are the challenges popup network in no time. What are the challenges around are the challenges around connectivity when youre sending up teams or drones. fist sending up teams or drones. Git the moment, they can find people but havent got the data back at their control room. One of the things you find with a limited amount of signal is thats all the network can cope with at that point. Its enabled phones and First Responders to have Access Straightaway to connectivity. Youve got your phone on a network. I have no signal. Loads of 56. Its brilliant. The 56 boxes can be mounted onto the drones, which can act like a flying sg onto the drones, which can act like a flying 56 network. It can even drop off a 56 box to an injured mountaineer or send their location back to base. Within mountain rescue, drones are getting used more than they were before. Times past, we would have had to send a team into the gully to search for t it could be dangerous. We are in a large area of search. We can search a large area relatively quickly. We can give them more information as a search towards progressing. Mountain rescue millions are not the only scenario with this type of technology where this kind of technology can popup. This kind of technology can ou. , popup. Looking at Disaster Relief and popup. Looking at Disaster Relief and humanitarian relief and humanitarian efforts, there are challenges around pop up connectivity. Its where local networks are not fit for purpose once you have the efforts going on or massive movements of people. 0ther massive movements of people. Other things weve been seeing also around sometimes when theres a hurricane or disaster and fixed fibre and those instances are down, we can provide connectivity in those spaces. With 56 opening up new opportunities to achieve better connectivity, bad signal has the potential to be a thing of the potential to be a thing of the past. The potential to be a thing of the ast. ,. ,. , the past. Time for a look at this weeks the past. Time for a look at this weeks tech the past. Time for a look at this weeks tech news. The past. Time for a look at this weeks tech news. At l the past. Time for a look at this weeks tech news. At a live launch demonstration, 0penai has unveiled the latest version of the tech which underpins its ai chatbot, chatgpt, along with key changes to its user interface. The new version can read and discuss images, translate languages and identify emotions with visual expressions. Its faster than earlier models and has been programmed to sound more chatty, perhaps even flirty. Tourist body visit wales has created an immersive virtual experience with the aim of showcasing some of waless best attractions. Visitors can take part in quests and build a virtual interactive itinerary for when they visit wales in person. Organisers say for when they visit wales in person. 0rganisers say they believe wales is the first european nation to use this approach to market itself as a tourist destination. A robot designed to mimic the motion of a snail has been developed by researchers at the university of bristol. The team fitted the robot with a sliding Suction Mechanism enabling the device to slide on water, a substitute for a snail� s mucous, which also acts as an adhesive. The Discovery Acts as the potential for robots to climb difficult surfaces such as the blades of Wind Turbines or the hulls of a ship. This is touch. Its a bit like rugby but instead of a tackle, players are touched to get control of the ball. If the defenders have not intersected the ball after six touches, they get to be the attackers. Its fast and the ref has to be, well, everywhere at once and deal with things like this. Yes, yes hes had a decision against him which results in a penalty and the player continues the conversation with the referee, resulting in another penalty. The referee, i think, would look back on this and not be particularly happy with the interaction with the player. Referees on Development Courses at edinburghs Napier University can look back at decisions thanks to some familiar looking tech that has been repurposed. Lts familiarlooking tech that has been repurposed. Been repurposed. Its a standard been repurposed. Its a standard 360 been repurposed. Its a standard 360 camera. | been repurposed. Its a| standard 360 camera. It been repurposed. Its a standard 360 camera. It sits on top of the head, straps around the back and then a step underneath. A 360 camera works by using two or more lenses to capture a 360 degree view of everything around it. It will then stitch the shots together to make one spherical image. When displayed in 2d, the viewer can move around all of the space thats been captured. 0nce weve got the footage back, what it gives us is how our decisions are landing, how our interactions are landing with the players. We can see whats going on behind us, perhaps with missed decisions. And you can go right around so youre getting a more immersive experience and learning things about the game as the referee you may not have seenin as the referee you may not have seen in real time. Exactly. So most of our assessments to develop as a referee are taken from people on the sidelines but the referee sees it very differently and we know that looking at things in different angles produces different decisions. When the referees sit down with their coaches after a training session, the tech takes the post match analysis to a new lev