This week, preserving people during life and after death. The digital legacy that you leave behind. And lots of reasons. Freezers. Ah, the streets of San Francisco mecca for Technology Innovators and officially on are those. A destination where the cult of geek reigns supreme. Everyones got that billion dollar idea here and eve ryo ne billion dollar idea here and Everyone Wants to save the world. The ethos of nothings impossible iu ns the ethos of nothings impossible runs in the veins and twitter feeds of every twentysomething zuckerberg wannabe. Now Silicon Valley is taking on lifes biggest challenge, death. Dave lee has been looking at how Silicon Valley is trying to help us all live longer. This will be my last meal for 36 hours. Like a growing number of people in Silicon Valley, im about to try fasting, something some here believe could contribute to extending our lifespan. My advice to you is sleep in really late so you dont have to deal with it Christian Brown is a biotechnology journalist. She tells me living longer is becoming something of an obsession for many tech people. We tend to see people notjust being in the body as a machine but talking about it metaphorically as a machine. Is it making any progress . Its growing so quickly right now, we understand so much more this year than we did last year even but the other thing about science is the more questions you and so, the more questions there are. The following morning my first stop after a skipped breakfast was jeffrey woo. He is chief executive of a firm called human. He says fasting can improve productivity and increase oui improve productivity and increase our lifespan. Jeffrey promotes the 36 hour faster that im our lifespan. Jeffrey promotes the 36 hourfaster that im on and his Company Sells products they claim will boost your bodys reaction to fasting. So when youre extending beyond a 24 hour fast youre dipping into a metabolic state called key ptosis, which stores your body fat into an efficient source of energy. As one gets better at being in key ptosis, cognitive clarity ends up being a productivity boost. To test it we measured the key to level in my it we measured the key to level in d it we measured the key to level in my body with a simple blood test. My ketone levels were low, has to be expected, but next i drank one of their ketone producing products. You can expect to within 15 minutes are equivalent to five to seven days worth of fasting in your system. The Science Behind what benefits can be had isnt exactly watertight. One Study Suggests one of humans other products may not have any greater effect than a cup of coffee. The moment of truth for me came around 30 minutes later. Wow. 2. 2. 0k. Eventually equivalent to having fasted for three or four days in 30 minutes. Theeb session with reduced the nation and longevity here has even been satirised on hbos Silicon Valley. Its my transfusion associate. Like all great comedy, its funny because its true. One incredible idea being tested here can be traced back to this man, paul burt. In the mid 1800 he claimed if you took an old mouse and literally stitched it together with a young mouse, the young mouse would become more agile, have a better memory and heal more quickly once it had the young blood flowing through its brains. Of course we cant start stitching humans together but there isa stitching humans together but there is a start up that thinks it can do than expected thing. This is a california based start up that believes weekly injections of blood plasma from young people can help fight of our signers. We treated these patients once a week forfour treated these patients once a week for four weeks with one unit of plasma and we found the treatment was safe and very importantly, although it was a short study to see learning and memory improvements, but it was good enough to see some near term improvements. The team said it found those treated we re the team said it found those treated were more capable of basic daily tasks and more aware of their surroundings. Encouraging but far from conclusive. So far its only been proven that this technique works with mice, but its hoped that extensive human studies might help this team unlock the secret to easily rejuvenate in humans. Ultimately we might be able to identify agents that can be administered orally. To gather this data base administered orally. To gather this database set up a partnership to get the blood plasma from great falls, a major pharmaceutical firm from great falls, a major pharmaceuticalfirm based in spain. People are being paid to give up their young blood. Well, thats a fascinating ethical question. I actually think that there is a large pool of donors currently which is increasing and i think theres an increasing and i think theres an increasing recognition of how valuable plasma proteins are. To get some answers on whether or not fantastical ideas could actually work, i went to visit one of the worlds foremost experts on ageing. Fasting elicits a response in your body that triggers a protection against many diseases associated with age. So growing realisation that multiple forms of fasting might be beneficial in the long term. That multiple forms of fasting might be beneficial in the longterm. One of them or perhaps outrageous ideas is that you can transfer young blood into an older person and that will rejuvenate and slow the ageing process , rejuvenate and slow the ageing process, is that true . First lets talk about the science in mice. It is actually amazing work. The science is really strong. Now, taking this and bringing it to humans is a completely different story, so the idea for example that one would take human plasma or human plasma product and give it to humans to prevent ageing is, in my opinion, lunacy. Finally, my 36 hours were up. Im not sure its worth it, the lows i had last night and this morning were awful and to do that regularly i think might lead to a longer life but it certainly wouldnt be a happier one. What could be really interesting, though, is if these companies can recreate the positive effects of fasting without the hard work of having to go without food for such a long period of time. But for such a long period of time. But for now, i think im going to choose brea kfast. That was dave lee. And while the quest for a longer life might take a little while longer, technology has been looking at other ways to help us been looking at other ways to help us live on through avatars. The university of salford california has been creating virtual versions of Holocaust Survivors for the last few yea rs, Holocaust Survivors for the last few years, preserving their memories and experiences for future generations. Survivors are interviewed at length inside a special light stage used by hollywood to capture them in 360 degrees. Using Voice Recognition and machine learning, anyone can interact with these digital holograms at special exhibit sites. One end, that was my dads aston martin survived, so from the immediate extended family there were three of us that survived. I went along for a scan myself. Now the rig admittedly looks rather make sure with lots of low cost cameras capturing me from different angles. By capturing me from different angles. By scanning some extreme facial expressions, most mouse movements and emotions can also be simulated by merging between them. Right now we can capture ourselves as we are today, perhaps our people, our lives are going to get older and the next generation would see them any more. Cani generation would see them any more. Can i capture grandma and grandpa . Can i capture grandma and grandpa . Cani can i capture grandma and grandpa . Can i capture grandma and grandpa . Can i capture enough of how theyve moved, what they think to a certain extent, we combine that with Artificial Intelligence where it would be possible to have an interaction with a person who is not alive any more. Here in the uk the four of the project is also working on a similar idea at the National Holocaust centre and museum, virtually preserving survivor experiences. Ba rd et preserving survivor experiences. Bardet digital legacy isntjust for people like these. Most of us will leave a will regarding our possessions or instructions for our funeral arrangements but now emphasis is also being placed on our digital footprint too. Emphasis is also being placed on our digitalfootprint too. I emphasis is also being placed on our digital footprint too. I spoke to facebooks head of Global Policy about our postmortem account options. This is such an incredibly sensitive subject that for facebook i would imagine is an Impossible Task to get right. Its certainly a very difficult area for us. Losing people is so hard and at facebook we wa nt to people is so hard and at facebook we want to make sure that we are respecting that persons life and respecting that persons life and respecting the choices that person made, but we also want to make sure were making this process as easy as possible for the family members that are going through it and actually its sometimes hard for us to satisfy both of those. So id imaginea lot satisfy both of those. So id imagine a lot of people do not tell you, facebook, what they want to happen to their accounts after their death, so how do you know what to do . Thats right, a lot of people dont. I want to be clear that there isa dont. I want to be clear that there is a way to tell facebook what you would like to happen to your account after you pass away, we call it our legacy contact. You can actually designate someone who can look after your account after youre gone. Basically this gives the person, you can choose what authority you want the person to have, but this gives the person to have, but this gives the person to have, but this gives the person the choice to, say, change your Profile Photo or add friends or put a post at the top of your profile. They do not become you, they cannot control every feature of the account, they can ta ke feature of the account, they can take some actions, they can choose to delete the account, but they do not have the ultimate control to look at your private messages. Family and friends have particular feelings about what happens to someones memories when theyre gone, they dont always agree. How do you even begin to settle those disputes . We will delete the profile if one person asks for it. Now, having gone through this myself, i lost my husband a little more than a year ago, and my experience was that it was very powerful for me and very comforting for me to be able to look at things that he had written, to see photos that he had posted. It made me feel like i could still connect with him and that he still was a very active presence in my life. I wonder whether you had any advice to people watching this on how to go forward if they experience something similar . I think the important thing is have the conversations now and talk about how you would want to treat your digital legacy, including what do you want to happen to your online presence, your facebook account, your other accounts, and what is your plan for making sure that your estate, all the practical things that we dont like to think about very much in our daily lives are taken care of so your loved ones dont have to go through that. Welcome to the week in tech. It was the week that the head of microsoft said the world is running out of computing capacity and that quantum is the only way forward. A new degree in flying car engineering was announced at an e Learning School in Silicon Valley. And facebook invented a new unit of time called a flick. Its designed to help video editors and people working in visual effects. The new unit lasts longer than a nanosecond but is shorter than a microsecond. And sky decided to take on the likes of amazon and netflix, launching its new now tv stick. Its also announced its goodbye to the old Sky Satellite dishes as all its services go online from 2019. Also this week General Motors became the first of driving car manufacturer to be sued over an accident. Its chevrolet bolted a motorcyclist back in december. Meanwhile tesla had its own autopilot problems when a model esque ploughed into a fire truck. The race to put the first privately funded spacecraft on the moon is over and not with a rocket launch but a tweet and a statement. The google lunar x prize offered a 200 million prize fund for the first tea m million prize fund for the first team to land on the moon by march. Finally, a robot working in a supermarket has been fired byjust one week for scaring customers await. Fabio was an experian to see if robots would interact well with shoppers but it turns out its instructions such as the beer is in the alcohol aisle infuriated people rather than helping them. Thejob market is tough out there unexpected item in bagging area. A familiar phrase, but as weve seen this week one that we may not need to hear much longer. Amazon gos seattle store finally launched on monday. You can check in with your phone, cameras and sensors will log what you pick up and you will be insta ntly you pick up and you will be instantly charged. They arent the only companies trying to crack the only companies trying to crack the cashier was supermarket model. Its time for a rather unconventional shopping experience. The first thing im going to do is get out my bag. I visited this north london convenience store, where ibm have been putting their prototype insta nt have been putting their prototype instant check out to the test. Because when it comes to actually checking out, the id cards that sit on all of the products will be insta ntly on all of the products will be instantly scanned in one go, so you can put everything on here straightaway, although it does sort of feel wrong. And something sweet. Soi of feel wrong. And something sweet. So i have everything they need in my shopping bag, but so i have everything they need in my shopping bag, but i cant leavejust yet. In fact, this is the fun bit. Its time for the instant check out. I put down my bag full of items and immediately whats on at that sea mlessly immediately whats on at that seamlessly comes up on the screen. If your cons you are concerned this could make things too easy for shoplifters, because obviously it looks like youve legitimately paid, then fear not. There is something to ove rco m e then fear not. There is something to overcome that. Readers can be placed right by the doors, so if anybody does try to leave with something that hasnt been scanned, the alarm will go. For customers who are happy to share their habits and behaviour, Artificial Intelligence will come into play to combine that information with data on their surroundings. Convenience store like this will drastically change what people will come in and buy, how many people come in and when. It able to use all of those mass volumes of data, with predictability, all of that means we will be able to tell the retailer what to keep in stock and when. And thats a real driver behind all of this. To understand our Shopping Habits from the moment we enter a shop until we leave. This mill and store, dubbed the supermarket of the future, features a lot of screens. Milan store. There are cameras collecting data on customers movements and interactions with products. The designers of the space of that as well as providing an insight into the retailer the Data Collection will better the overall shopping experience. A lot of Information Available regarding food does not appear anywhere when you get into the supermarket, so all of this Data Availability doesnt show up, so we need to give that kind of information back to the customer. But while most of us are still actually engaging with humans, it seems that the cashier less shop could be coming to a place near you fairly soon. Now, weve been looking at various ways to try and extend human life, possibly indefinitely, but researchers cant do it yet and so on till they can there are those who are offering to put your life on pause. Marc cieslak has been the arizona to meet the self preservation society. Debt and taxes, as the saying goes, are the two things none of us can avoid. What about if there was a workaround for death, some way of extending our physical existence on this planet . This was founded in 1972 in order to preserve people at the point of death, freeze them and then when technology is sufficiently advanced revive them in the future. A process it calls cryonics. This is an interesting graphic on the history of cryonics, which goes back to 1773, when Benjamin Franklin fought about the future of america. What goes on in this space . I am seeing this simulates what you would normally perform when somebody dies. Exactly. We have to wait for the legal death to be declared. Remove the patience to the ice bath, we cover them ice, and it the same time we will restart all kinds of things. We will use a respirator to recover breathing, we will use this mechanical cbi device and we are doing that because we want to administer a series of different medications to protect their cells. It is even though the patient is dead . If i when you donate an organ, even though the person has been declared dead that doesnt mean all of the cells are suddenly dead. Patients are effectively pumped full of a ntifreeze patients are effectively pumped full of antifreeze to protect their tissue from freezing the process which comes later. It costs up to 200,000 to preserve a full body and 60,000 if somebodyjust 200,000 to preserve a full body and 60,000 if Somebody Just wants 200,000 to preserve a full body and 60,000 if somebodyjust wants their head preserved. This is the operating room. We put the patient on the special operating table. This is designed to shape the patient for long term storage. We dont want someone at a low b with their arm sticking out. With their arms sticking out. With their arms sticking out. With their arms sticking out. Usually when we do a separation, we do it if you vertebrae down, and then place the brain plus the skull upside down. Essentially it is the same process, we re m ove essentially it is the same process, we remove the blood and fluids from the brain and protect them against ice formation. Why would people want their head separated from their body . My separated from their body . My view is that unless i die early in an accident, my body will be in lousy shape anyway and the whole thing will have to be regenerated. Why go to the extra cost of storing my whole body, which is ten times the volume ofjust my head . The corridors here are aligned with photos of people who are already frozen in alcors storage facility. This is where we store all of our patients, we have 152. These are all of your patience . Yes. All of our patients here. About two thirds of them are in europe. Are in a different section. They are just heads . Yes. Half of the members are full body. This contains four full body patience. Doesnt have any legal obligation to the people stored here, as they technically donated their bodies to science. What happens if you have a power cut . We dont need electricity for this. These are passive vessels, very expensive firma flasks. We just use the liquid nitrogen to maintain a temperature. Alcor says its a Non Profit Organisation and it has 1150 people signed up for its services, including Silicon Valley billionaire peter teele. But what makes ordinary people shall upto 200,000 for cryogenic preservation . Act in the uk, this man has not himself and his family up forjust that via a different outfit called the cryonics institute. Imagine being on your deathbed, dying, and then immediately waking up straightaway because the passage of time would mean anything, because i will be dead. So ill wake up immediately and hopefully i will be able to remember things. Have my memory intact, hopefully. Your whole family is going to be preserved as well . Yeah. Luckily my wife and daughter are for the idea and are signed up members of the institute. But it is all too good to be true . We spoke to a neuroscientist who have serious misgivings about the basic foundations of cryonics. You really cant afford to freeze biological tissue until it has been appropriately protected, but unless you take it down to those low temperatures for protection quite quickly, it will continue to decompose. My problem with the cryonics dream, the Wishful Thinking contracts that are sold, if they havent resolved that conflict. There is no evidence that they can get the antifreeze into all those micro nooks and crannies in the brain and satisfactorily protected. We put this to alcor, who provided a detailed response said is this the ultimate insurance policy then . Yeah, it doesnt cost us policy then . Yeah, it doesnt cost us anything. A bit of money. That was marc cieslak and thats it from San Francisco the now. Dont forget, theres loads of extra stuff from us on twitter and on facebook. Thanks for watching and see you soon. Well, the weekend is not looking too great for most of us. Its not going to be that bad, but there will be a lot of cloud around. It is going to be mild, though. This is what is heading our way. It looks like a lot of cloud streaming in our direction. Well be stuck under this during the course of saturday. Its already coming in, bringing some rainfall to western parts of the country. Ahead of it, you can see its still dry even through early saturday morning. So here we would have had a touch of frost around. I think by around 6am, the temperatures are above freezing already. But touching freezing early in the night. This is what happens through the course of the morning. So the weather front moves to the east, west to east, so you can see the back edge and rain getting into the Western Isles and northern ireland. So through the morning, in belfast, for example, the weather will actually be improving, after a damp end to the night. It is raining at this stage, so nine oclock across the north west in england, lancashire, wales, into the south west, but across the heart, the east midlands, east anglia, down to the south east, it is actually bright. I wouldnt be surprised even by some blue sky for a time. But not for very long, because by the latter part of the morning, that weather front moves in and its overcast across many parts of the country, at least in central and southern areas. In scotland, bright and windy, very windy in the Western Isles and the far north of scotland. Gale force winds, and at 70 miles an hour. Compared to the rest of europe on saturday, london will be about 10 degrees, paris at eight. Madrid nine degrees. Pretty much the same across many parts of western and south western parts of europe. Rome will be about 15. Back home, heres the low pressure late on saturday into sunday. That will bring severe gales to scotland. Blustery conditions throughout the pennines as well. But the isobars are coming from the south west, meaning that the south westerly winds will continue into sunday. In this sort of weather situation, we have a lot of cloud. It is mild. Temperatures might even touch about 1a or 15 degrees, which is mild for this time of year. With that, rain around, particularly across northern and North Western areas of the uk. But double figures, i think, for most of us. Still staying mild in the south westerly winds. A bit of rain around in this on monday. That will move southwards, but a shift in the wind direction here in the north means that it will turn a little bit colder. So i think single figures, even about five degrees, there. No more than that in aberdeen. Have a good weekend. Welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. Im duncan golestani. Our top stories President Trump stands by his America First policies for trade, but insists when america grows, so does the world. The entire board of us gymnastics is to resign in the wake of the scandal surrounding the sexual abuse of Young Athletes by larry nassar. Police in canada say a billionaire and his wife were murdered in a targeted killing. And paris braces itself for more flooding as water levels set to peak this weekend