Original version

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

Click

Digital Planet

Magazines & Reviews

Factual: Science & Nature: Science & Technology

Technological and digital news from around the world.

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service East Asia

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

Digital Planet: Return to the Moon

Factual: Science & Nature

cropped_Apollo-17-image.jpg

12/12/2017 GMT

Return to the Moon

BBC World Service - Digital Planet, Return to the Moon

Plans for a private mission to the Moon; Blockchain to help deliver aid to refugees; VR to explore anxiety in tall buildings; An Uber-like service for ambulances in Nairobi

Forty five years on from Apollo 17’s mission to the Moon, PTScientists aim to be the first private mission to land there, targeting the Taurus-Littrow Valley.  They have joined forces with the citizen-led initiative ‘For All Moonkind’ to ensure proper legal protection of these important sites.  Click talks to Michelle Hanlon, from For All Moonkind. 

The World Food Programme (WFP) is conducting a trial with blockchain technology to try to more efficiently deliver aid. Since May, WFP has transferred $1.4 million in food vouchers to 10,500 Syrian refugees in Jordan. Click talks to the WFP’s Director of Innovation, Robert Opp. 

Researchers at the University of Waterloo in Canada are using virtual reality to explore whether tall, oppressive buildings are contributing to a rise in mental health problems among city dwellers.  Click talks to the researcher, Robin Mazumder. 

In Kenya, it’s possible to have a pizza delivered in minutes but in the event of an accident, you might wait for hours for an ambulance.  To address this huge problem in Nairobi, the company Flare conducted a trial with an Uber-like model for ambulance services.  Click talks to Flare’s Maria Rabinovich about plans to unroll the platform for other emergency services. 


(Photo caption: Apollo 17 mission commander Eugene Cernan drives the lunar roving vehicle during the early part of the first moonwalk at the Taurus-Littrow landing site. The Lunar Module is in the background – credit:  Nasa/Harrison Schmitt)


Producer: Colin Grant

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Digital Planet

Return to the Moon

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

About BBC World Service