:00:17. > :00:21.We send out correspondents to bring you
:00:22. > :00:25.the best stories from across the globe.
:00:26. > :00:28.This week, China's abandoned children.
:00:29. > :00:32.We meet the young children left behind at home by their parents
:00:33. > :00:41.Some 16 million children are affected
:00:42. > :00:51.nationwide, left behind in villages like this one.
:00:52. > :00:53.Pallab Ghosh investigates an ambitious new
:00:54. > :00:56.project to send a spacecraft to another solar system trillions of
:00:57. > :00:58.miles away, backed by Stephen Hawking.
:00:59. > :01:09.we must travel the breadth of the stars.
:01:10. > :01:11.And capturing the cool of Miles Davis.
:01:12. > :01:14.We catch up with Hollywood actor Don Cheadle as he
:01:15. > :01:16.takes up the trumpet to play the jazz genius.
:01:17. > :01:19.Miles is funk and hip-hop and be-bop and rock and swing
:01:20. > :01:39.They are known as China's left behind children.
:01:40. > :01:42.Young people abandoned by their parents so they
:01:43. > :01:45.can go in search of work in the cities.
:01:46. > :01:47.It is thought tens of millions of children are involved.
:01:48. > :01:50.Sometimes left in the care of relatives, often unsupervised.
:01:51. > :01:53.China's residency laws means that migrant workers of banned from
:01:54. > :01:58.The authorities have lodged a national
:01:59. > :02:01.census to try to provide an accurate measure
:02:02. > :02:06.John Southworth has been to two of the worst affected provinces
:02:07. > :02:17.and reports now on one of China's most pressing social challenges.
:02:18. > :02:23.14-year-old Tao Lan is helping her younger brother with his homework.
:02:24. > :02:36.In their remote village, they grow their own
:02:37. > :02:45.Their parents work more than 1000 miles away and come back to visit
:02:46. > :02:55.When you are sad or upset about something at school,
:02:56. > :02:59.it must be very hard not being able to talk to your mummy or your daddy
:03:00. > :03:12.Mum and dad lead a hard life outside.
:03:13. > :03:23.I don't want them to worry about me. Alongside the responsibilities of an
:03:24. > :03:32.adult, she carries the vulnerability of a child. In some schools, up to
:03:33. > :03:37.80% of the pupils are growing up without their mums or dads. China's
:03:38. > :03:43.modern economy may have been built on the hard graft of its internal
:03:44. > :03:48.migrants but it has taken a heavy toll on their children, too. The
:03:49. > :03:52.numbers involved are staggering. Some 16 million children are
:03:53. > :03:58.affected nationwide, left behind in villages like this one while their
:03:59. > :04:01.parents work elsewhere. It is arguably one of the most pressing
:04:02. > :04:07.social issues of our time and despite much hand-wringing, it is an
:04:08. > :04:15.issued the Communist Party have so far done very little about. Most
:04:16. > :04:24.left behind children are not alone but kept under the watchful eye of a
:04:25. > :04:31.grandparent. Many still struggle, like this 11-year-old. TRANSLATION:
:04:32. > :04:40.I know it is hard for mum and dad to earn money but I missed them so
:04:41. > :04:44.much. It is very painful. The Chinese government admixed the
:04:45. > :04:49.problem is urgent. But until their parents are given full citizenship
:04:50. > :04:56.rights, the true cost of every made in China product will be made --
:04:57. > :05:03.measured not just in price but in the terrible burden it places on
:05:04. > :05:08.these children. Now for something completely
:05:09. > :05:13.different. Plans by leading scientists, including Stephen
:05:14. > :05:16.Hawking, to send a spacecraft to another solar system, and it is as
:05:17. > :05:22.ambitious as it sounds. The ship would need to travel to trillions of
:05:23. > :05:27.kilometres much further than ever craft ever before and the plan is to
:05:28. > :05:36.develop a craft about the size of the micro-chipped that could travel
:05:37. > :05:44.at exceptional speed. For thousands of years, people have dreamt of one
:05:45. > :05:48.day travelling to distant stars, the world's most famous scientist
:05:49. > :05:53.Stephen Hawking, things that they will come very soon. Astronomers
:05:54. > :06:01.believe there is a reasonable chance of an earth like planet in the Alpha
:06:02. > :06:05.Centauri system. There are no greater heights than to aspire to
:06:06. > :06:11.them that stars. Technological development in the last two decades
:06:12. > :06:17.mean it could be possible within a generation. What sort of distances
:06:18. > :06:22.are we talking about written mark already, probe has been said to
:06:23. > :06:27.Pluto, that is seven and a half billion mars away. And for your jaw
:06:28. > :06:33.one has reached the edge of our solar system, that is 18 billion
:06:34. > :06:39.miles away. The plan is to send spacecraft to a star in another
:06:40. > :06:45.solar system. That is a staggering 25 trillion miles from Earth. Using
:06:46. > :06:50.current technology, it will take a spacecraft 30,000 years to get to
:06:51. > :06:56.our closest star, but by making its smaller, it could take just dirty.
:06:57. > :07:04.The size of spacecraft have shrunk dramatically. This was used for
:07:05. > :07:08.Earth observation. In the 1990s, this none supplied was launched for
:07:09. > :07:12.communications. The ultimate aim of the new research programme is to
:07:13. > :07:18.make them even smaller, to cram all the cameras and instruments we have
:07:19. > :07:22.in these onto a single chip. The idea is to launch these mini
:07:23. > :07:27.spacecraft into the earth's orbit. Each would have a solar sail. A
:07:28. > :07:36.giant laser on earth would give each one a powerful push, sending them on
:07:37. > :07:43.their way. Life on Earth faces dangers from astronomical offence
:07:44. > :07:48.but not dangers from ourselves. If we are to survive as a species, we
:07:49. > :07:52.must ultimately spread to the stars. There is still a lot of work needed
:07:53. > :07:55.to develop the technology. Scientists believe that although it
:07:56. > :08:07.will be difficult, it won't be impossible. The distant dream could
:08:08. > :08:13.very soon become reality. He was a musical innovator who revolutionised
:08:14. > :08:17.the world of jazz. Now, the life and career of Miles Davis is being
:08:18. > :08:21.celebrated in a new film directed by and starring Don Cheadle. Mark
:08:22. > :08:23.Savage took the Hollywood actor to a record shop in London to find out
:08:24. > :08:40.how Davis is created Jesus inspired. The film is for me something that
:08:41. > :08:48.felt like you are walking around inside Miles is brain. I wanted to
:08:49. > :08:53.use do something that was innovative and impressionistic. If you want to
:08:54. > :09:07.tell us I'm here to did your comeback story.
:09:08. > :09:11.It is not a very sympathetic portrait of him. Did the family
:09:12. > :09:18.object? They must've wanted a family that showcased his genius. That is
:09:19. > :09:24.the genius of Miles, that he always persevered, and that he was
:09:25. > :09:30.constantly creative. That is not a good place to start for a beginning.
:09:31. > :09:35.There are people that I have met who never heard of Miles Davis because
:09:36. > :09:42.their entry point to Miles was rock. It depends on what you want to hear.
:09:43. > :09:54.He was funk, he was hip-hop, bebop, swing, jazz, soul, R, he touched
:09:55. > :10:00.it all. That last scene of the film you are on stage with Herbie
:10:01. > :10:05.Hancock, Howard Dalton was that? It was really fun. Musicians of that
:10:06. > :10:09.calibre, they pull you in. We hung around backstage for an hour
:10:10. > :10:14.afterwards, saying, how can we do this again, can we tour this bad
:10:15. > :10:18.question mark I said, please! Those guys are way too busy. The idea
:10:19. > :10:23.behind making the movie, in part, was to be a part of something that
:10:24. > :10:31.is going on, not just have the movie be some is finite thing, to really
:10:32. > :10:42.bring miles back. Hold it, buddy. Do you have a ticket? You are looked --
:10:43. > :10:47.you are looking at it. Don't quote jazz, it is a social word. That is
:10:48. > :10:50.it from us. Goodbye for now.