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Digital Planet: Supercomputers seeking solutions for Covid-19

Factual: Science & Nature

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14/04/2020 GMT

Supercomputers seeking solutions for Covid-19

BBC World Service - Digital Planet, Supercomputers seeking solutions for Covid-19

The world’s most powerful supercomputers are seeking solutions for Covid-19

Supercomputers seeking solutions for Covid-19.  Also Hot and Cold Cognition in AI and Digital Radio Mondiale.

Supercomputing power for Covid-19 solutions
The world’s most powerful supercomputers are being used for urgent investigations into the Sars-Cov-2 virus. Professor Peter Coveney from the UCL Centre for Computational Science is part of this consortium of hundreds of scientists across the globe, and tells Gareth how this phenomenal amount of computer power is already trying to identify potential treatments and vaccine candidates for Covid-19. 

Hot and Cold Cognition
Gareth and Bill meet Professor Barbara Sahakian at Cambridge University to discuss her work on hot and cold cognition.  Cold cognition is the mechanics of AI. Hot cognition is what humans do so well – being able to empathise. So if we are to take AI to the next stage eg. interactive care robots, it is the hot cognition that needs to be developed – the social and emotional side of AI.


Digital Radio Mondiale
DRM is the sister standard to DAB. DAB has taken off in the UK and other developed countries, but it is DRM that is becoming more popular in the developing world – India, Pakistan, China are all using it. Recently Brazil added their support for DRM. The key with DRM is that it digitises everything so we don’t need a new infrastructure for it and it can even act as a backup in disasters when other forms of communication fail. 

Presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert comment from Bill Thompson.
Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: Supercomputer. Credit: Getty Images)

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