KATIA MOSKVITCH
sci & tech journalist
A SELECTION OF MY TV REPORTS AND WEB VIDEOS
How 'smart helmets' help pilots in the cockpit
3 Sept 2012
Produced by Katia Moskvitch and Dougal Shaw
So-called 'smart helmets' are transforming the view that fighter pilots can get from the cockpit.
The BBC's Katia Moskvitch tried out BAE Systems' Striker helmet model on a simulator, at the company's Rochester plant.
The technology is known as an Integrated Helmet Mounted Display System (HMDS), and allows enhanced information - which is projected onto the visor - to be conveyed to the pilot.
Cameras mounted around the plane allow the pilot to see things that are physically obscured from his view, for example.
The Integrated Helmet Mounted Display System (HMDS) has been used on the Eurofighter Typhoon and SAAB Gripen and the Helmet Mounted Cueing System (HMCS) has been used on Harrier and Tornado jets.
WATCH video here
READ related text story: BAE's Striker helmet gives fighter pilots 'X-ray vision'
Laser Guide Star upgraded to shine more light on stars
11 June 2012
Filmed and edited by Katia Moskvitch
There is a certain "star" that does not twinkle.
It appears suddenly over the southern hemisphere, a new neighbour in the crowded black sky, but it is not a natural star.
Created by a powerful laser beam, it can be made to shine to order by the astronomers at the Paranal Observatory in Chile's Atacama Desert.
It is called a Laser Guide Star, or LGS - a device that helps scientists to get a better picture of real stars or other objects in the sky.
WATCH video here
READ related text story: Laser Guide Star at VLT to shine brighter light on stars
Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array (Alma) is a giant radio telescope currently being built at Chajnantor plateau, the highest site in the Chilean Andes, at more than 5,000m above sea level.
The construction began in early 2011 and is now almost halfway complete.
BBC technology reporter Katia Moskvitch visited the site and spoke to Brian Hoff, one of the engineers, about the potentially catastrophic consequences of an Alma transporter dropping a giant antenna.
WATCH video here
READ related text story: Alma telescope in Chile battles extreme weather
Red-hot Chile peepers: secrets of the Very Large Telescope
30 March 2012
For BBC World News, TV. Filmed and edited by Katia Moskvitch
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) at Paranal Observatory in northern Chile is the world's biggest optical telescope.
Run by the European Southern Observatory (ESO), it became fully operational in 2000 and is packed with cutting-edge instruments.
The BBC Technology reporter Katia Moskvitch went to Paranal to see how the VLT actually works.
WATCH BBC World News TV report here
READ related text story: Red-hot Chile peepers: How to make a very large telescope
War for water in Chile's Atacama Desert
23 March 2012
For BBC World News, TV. Filmed and edited by Katia Moskvitch
Chile's Copiapo Valley should be a picturesque grape-growing region. Instead, there is mile after mile of rows of withered vines along this stretch of the Atacama Desert.
Not so long ago these vineyards in northern Chile were green, supplied with water from an underground reservoir.
But water is a rarity here, in the driest desert of the world. Not least because agriculture is not the only industry competing for it.
Chile is known for its copper exports, but mining companies also need water - so they buy water rights from local farmers.
WATCH TV report here
READ related text story: War for water in Chile's Atacama Desert: Vines or mines?
Chile is the world's biggest copper producer, and it is now turning to bacteria to reduce production costs and boost its copper recovery rates.
The BBC's Katia Moskvitch visited Biosigma, a company on the outskirts of Santiago, that uses bacteria to extract copper from ores.
Industrial scientist Roberto Bobadilla explains how bioleaching of copper is actually done.
WATCH video here
READ related text story: Biomining: How microbes help to mine copper
Gesture-controlled touchless devices put to the test
19 Dec 2011
Produced by Katia Moskvitch and Dougal Shaw
Dor Givon, founder and chief technical officer of XTR3D, has demonstrated his company's software, which can turn standard 2D web cameras into a gesture control interface, to the BBC's Katia Moskvitch.
The software can make any device equipped with a camera, like smartphones or televisions, suitable for gesture control.
Based in Tel Aviv, XTR3D is one of the developers working in the field of motion capture technology, and it has just received $8m (£5m) investment bound to give "touchless" tech another push.
The firm believes it can bring the first motion control smartphone into the market as early as 2012.
WATCH video here
READ related text story: Touchless smartphones and TVs could be on sale in 2012
Technology of Business: How Israel became a hi-tech hub
22 Nov 2011
Report produced by Katia Moskvitch. Filmed by Dougal Shaw
Israel currently has almost 4,000 active technology start-ups - more than any other country outside the United States, according to Israel Venture Capital Research Centre.
The non-stop flow of venture capital amounted to $884m (£558m) in 2010 alone.
Katia Moskvitch went to Tel Aviv to find out how Israel became such a hotbed of entrepreneurship and hi-tech start-up companies.
WATCH TV report here
READ related text story: How Israel turned itself into a high-tech hub