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Pi-powered Teddy Bear

A teddy bear driven by a Raspberry Pi and flies to 39 km above an English village; A disease outbreak is spotted, and tracked via Facebook; Riding a bus in NZ gets smoother

A teddy bear driven by a Raspberry Pi and flies to 39 km above an English village before returning to earth by parachute. Babbage the Bear carried cameras recording the leap, flew higher (just) than Felix Baumgartner鈥檚 famous leap last year, and was done and back home for around 拢300. Gareth meets mission designer, hobbyist Dave Akerman, at ground control.

(Photo credit: Babbage the Bear 漏 Dave Akerman)

Facebook Alerts Researchers to Disease Outbreak
Gareth also speaks to researcher Sarah Kemble who was able to rapidly track the passage of an outbreak of food-borne disease in a school in Minnesota thanks to the eagle-eyes of a parent, who spotted the pattern amongst the community whilst looking at Facebook.

Bus Drivers Can Drive More Smoothly
How bumpy is your bus ride? Some drivers are better than others, but they may not know. Simon Morton reports from New Zealand on a new way of monitoring - known as telematics 鈥 that is alerting bus drivers to the smoothness of their driving.

Available now

18 minutes

Last on

Wed 28 Aug 2013 08:32GMT

Chapters

  • The Bear Who Fell to Earth

    Teddy bear jumps from 39000 metres, guided by Raspberry Pi Computer.

    Duration: 04:26

  • Facebook Alerts Researchers to Disease Outbreak

    Researcher Sarah Kemble describes the epidemiological potential of social networks.

    Duration: 04:27

  • Bus Drivers Can Drive Smoother

    Simon Morton reports from the buses in New Zealand being fitted with 鈥渢elematic鈥 sensors.

    Duration: 04:27

Broadcasts

  • Tue 27 Aug 2013 18:32GMT
  • Wed 28 Aug 2013 01:32GMT
  • Wed 28 Aug 2013 08:32GMT

Podcast