RNZ: This Way Up

Bits+Bytes: Spotify, Sky slashes prices and Apple cable failures. Also we visit a school for teen parents.

"How far and how fast can humans go? What defines a person's limits?"...these are some of the questions athlete and sports journalist Alex Hutchinson tries to answer in his book 'Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance' (Harper Collins). Is it all down to the fuel you consume before and during exercise, or is it the oxygen levels in your blood, or the size of your muscles or maybe it's the way you train? Or is it all down to the way you think?

Bits and Bytes with Peter Griffin helping you navigate the world of technology and analysing the latest news from the digital world. This week Snapchat becomes a real threat to Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, so why have over a million users signed a petition unhappy about a design change to the app? Plus horror stories are emerging from people seeking a replacement battery for their throttled iPhones, and Emily Wang looks at cryptojacking at Tesla, so hackers using Tesla's cloud computing to mine cryptocurrencies. And a listener question, why can't cellphone records be used to locate missing airliners like Malaysian Airlines' MH370.

Digital ephemera fills our lives, and may appear to have little value... but not for everyone.

Digital noise or cultural heritage? Bits+Bytes covers Snapchat and the Tesla cryptocurrency hack. Finally Alex Hutchinson's book 'Endure' explores the outer limits of human performance.

From a few panels on your rooftop to the giant solar farms spreading around the globe, cheaper solar tech has been boosting demand for this type of renewable energy throughout the world. In the US a new 30 percent tariff on imported panels, imposed by the Trump administration last month, is focussing attention back on a decidedly analogue way to do more with less. The good old mirror- or 'booster reflector' to give it its technical name!- could be poised for a bit of a renaissance, according to Joshua Pearce, who is a Professor of Engineering at the Michigan Technological University.

Some people shun and avoid it at all costs but others love it, believing it's an integral and pleasurable part of any cheese-eating experience.

Why is Google blocking ads in it's popular web browser Chrome, and yet in gmail there are plans for more dynamic, interactive, dancing and singing ads that will blink and flash in your inbox? Plus questions from some of our leading scientists about NZ's involvement in building the world's largest telescope project. It's called the Square Kilometre Array, and once built could unravel the origins of the universe. And Emily Wang looks at emojis, the smiley faces used in digital communications and the latest emojis launched for 2018 and how you can make your own. Plus questions answered - this week how does the camera on your device know where a photo has been taken if it's not connected to the internet or the mobile phone network when the shot is taken?

The Canaria is a device that's worn behind the ear and can sense for vital signs and alert the wearer about their state of health. A trial of these devices is about to start in mines in Australia, where it will measure for signs of fatigue and send warnings when levels of tiredness reach unsafe levels. Its potential to measure astronauts' health in real time in space has also been recognised by NASA. We speak to Alex Moss, the CEO & head designer of Canaria.

Wearable tech, BITS+BYTES and the science of cheese rinds

Will hydrogen-powered cars drive us into the future? Electric cars like Nissan's Leaf and the Tesla are grabbing all the headlines, but big car makers like Toyota and Hyundai are pouring billions into hydrogen-powered technology too. Toyota, for example, expects 30 percent of all vehicles to be hydrogen powered by 2050. But hydrogen has a bit of a post-Hindenburg image problem, and who knows where you'll be able to fill up?! It's not just the giants of the automotive industry who are backing the technology either. A small hydrogen-fuelled car company called Riversimple calls itself the only independent hydrogen car startup in the world. It's about to start trials of its 2-seater car the Rasa in Wales. Its CEO Hugo Spowers is a former petrol head who's converted to hydrogen fuel cell technology.

Could a killer virus dormant for centuries under the ice come back to life? With climate change thawing the permafrost at the poles and revealing long-hidden animal carcasses and human remains, Michaeleen Doucleff of NPR has travelled to the ice to see if a 'zombie pathogen' like anthrax, smallpox or the Spanish flu could really emerge again to threaten humanity.

The latest tech news and your questions answered with Peter Griffin. This week, the latest in the Apple iPhone throttling saga: could it be about to offer refunds for repair costs to the millions of users affected by 'Batterygate'? The casino operator Sky City bets big on the esports video gaming sector, and awkward revelations from court hearings involving ride-hailing company Uber which faces allegations it stole trade secrets from rival Waymo. Emily Wang looks at the multi million dollar white hat hacker industry - where hackers make money from big tech companies who pay them to find exploits and weaknesses in their hardware and software. Google alone spent $3 million on so-called 'bug bounty' programs in 2017! Plus your questions answered - this week how to set up Netflix on older TVs, and will a new undersea broadband cable mean cheaper and faster internet for New Zealand?

Bits+Bytes: iPhone battery refund? Could 'zombie pathogens' threaten humanity? and the drive towards hydrogen fuelled cars.

The countdown is on for the launch, scheduled for Wednesday morning NZ time, of the world's most powerful rocket. SpaceX's giant Falcon Heavy, will lift off from Cape Canaveral in Florida with thrust at liftoff equal to 18 Jumbo Jets all firing up simultaneously. It can blast 57 tons into orbit, and according to Space X and its CEO Elon Musk it's a stepping stone on the quest to send humans to Mars. We speak to Sarah Lewin who is covering the launch for space.com.