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Digital Planet: India’s cyber scam scourge

Factual: Science & Nature

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23/08/2022 GMT

India’s cyber scam scourge

BBC World Service - Digital Planet, India’s cyber scam scourge

A third of Indians have lost money through digital fraud. How are so many being scammed?

70% of Indians targeted by digital scams, the ultrasound sticker that monitors your heart, and finally getting a slot on the JWST.

Nearly a third of people in India lost money through online fraud in 2020 alone. Of them, it is thought that only 17% saw any returns through redressal mechanisms. Despite this prevalence of scams, reports have shown that the Indian population have got more trusting of unsolicited messages from companies online over the last five years. New Delhi based journalist Mimansa Verma from Quartz has been exploring this problem and joins the programme to discuss.
 
Ultrasound sticker that monitors your heart
A postage stamp size sticker could give doctors a more detailed picture of our health. Ultrasounds are one of the most common medical diagnostic tools in the world, but they only measure a snapshot in time and rely on the skill of the sonographer. A newly proposed ultrasound patch could record our heart changing shape during exercise, the impact of eating or drinking on our digestive system, and even the flow of blood through veins and arteries. Ghislaine Boddington checks out the tech and how this, and other devices, are giving doctors a much more complete picture of how our bodies work.

Finally getting your slot on the JWST
More than twenty years ago, Professor Mark McCaughrean submitted a proposal for observations to be made on a new space telescope. At midnight on August 29th he will finally see the results of his first observations from the James Webb Space Telescope. In the convening years, Prof. McCaughrean has become a scientific advisor for the European Space Agency and a collaborator on the JWST project. He joins the programme to talk about his hopes for observing star and planet formation with the JWST, as well as the tech that underpins the telescope.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington

Studio Manager:  Duncan Hannant
Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: An Indian man counts Indian rupee currency. Credit: Getty Images)

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