Tech Life

How do we cope when the tech we rely on stops working? This week we look at different types of blackouts . We explore the Bangladesh internet shutdown, which affected up to 170 million people for 10 days. We turn to South Africa, which experienced 15 years of daily power outages until very recently. Then to a country which still experiences blackouts now - Cuba. We meet the game developers who work even when the electricity cuts off.

Presenter: Zoe Kleinman

(Photo: A red road sign saying "404". Credit: Getty Images)

Alasdair Keane is at the season finale of the Formula E, taking a look at how the tech has advanced over 10 years. We hear from the co-founder of the fully electric car racing event and ask where it goes next. What do the drivers think? And how does the event meet its sustainability goals? Plus, we go behind the scenes of a world-record-breaking AI event.

Presented and produced by Alasdair Keane.

Image: An orange Formula E car on the racetrack in London. Credit: Getty Images.

Ahead of the Olympics in Paris, we look at tech in sport. How is it used by athletes to improve their performance? And how is it used to deliver the spectacle to viewers at home? We also follow the quest to bring mountain biking to the Paralympics and how technology advancements are helping this become a reality. Plus, the potential for AI growth in Africa and how it might change the continent.

Presented by Zoe Kleinman

(Image: A male swimmer wearing goggles and a black swimming cap emerges out of the water. Credit: Getty Images)

As Japan axes the use of floppy discs for official government business, presenter Chris Vallance looks at other old tech that's still in use. From magnetic tape to a clockwork interplanetary rover, he discovers some vintage tech with a future. Also in this edition of Tech Life, we test an app that uses artificial intelligence to identify objects and tells us how to recycle them. And we speak to an expert conserving rhinos in South Africa with the help of nuclear technology.

Presenter: Chris Vallance

(Photo: A hand loads a floppy disc into a disc drive. Credit: Stockbyte/Getty Images)

We hear from Peter Gabriel, who is endorsing a competition to find a way of decoding animal communications using AI and then talk back to them. We get more details of the challenge from the chair of the prize, Prof Yossi Yovel.

Microplastics in our seas and drinking water is a real problem. Two teenage students from Texas have found an innovative way to get rid of the stuff using ultrasound. If you have not heard about the Global Digital Compact, we speak to someone who says you need to know about it.

And a traditional Indian instrument gets an electronic makeover.

Presenter: Chris Vallance

(Photo: Musician Peter Gabriel performing in New York. Credit: Theo Wargo/Getty Images)

Experts develop a new blood test that could change the way suspected cases of bowel cancer are managed. At the heart of it is A.I. analysis to calculate a patient's cancer risk. We speak to the team behind the PinPoint Test. Also on Tech Life this week, period trackers and your personal data - find out how one app is promising to keep your information safe. Drones are being used to make childbirth safer in Rwanda. And listen to the aerospace students who have developed a new way to move satellites around in space.

Presenter: Shiona McCallum

(Image: A photo of a lab technician holding a blood sample. Credit: Jacob Wackerhausen/Getty Images)

Presenter Shiona McCallum is joined by technology reporter Paul Carter to look at some of the latest developments in artificial limb tech. Paul talks about his own personal experiences of trying out different prosthetics. Shiona interviews the youngest boy in the world to be fitted with a bionic arm, and his mum. Sierra Leone benefits from a prosthetics project. And would you want an extra robotic thumb ?

Presenters: Shiona McCallum with Paul Carter

(Image: A photo of presenter Shiona McCallum in the Tech Life studio with technology reporter Paul Carter. Credit: BBC)

Lab testing of animals is often used to study diseases, or assess the safety of new drugs or substances before they are trialled on humans. Could A.I. provide a solution ? Also in this edition of Tech Life, woof woof! Can artificial intelligence help us interpret the meaning of dog barks ? And Michael Kaloki reports from Kenya on tech being used by dairy farmers to help them look after their herds.

Presenter: Shiona McCallum

(Image: Portrait photo of a beagle dog. Credit: Getty Images)

What is it like to have an AI boyfriend? We hear about women in China who prefer to date a chatbot over a real person. How can tech be used to unlock the potential of crops - and help with food shortages? And we meet the fashion designer who hopes to fool facial recognition technology with her clothes.

Presenter: Shiona McCallum

(Image: A woman looking at her phone which has hearts coming out of it. Credit: Getty Images)

There are words of warning about facial recognition, biometrics and artificial intelligence - technologies increasingly being adopted by law enforcement worldwide. Also on Tech Life this week, we learn about an African company offering a local alternative to the big electric vehicle manufacturers. Basketball gets into tech. And why we need tech to identify and map where our rubbish goes.

Presenter: Shiona McCallum

(Photo: An illustration of facial recognition on the face of a woman. Credit: Francesco Carta fotografo/Getty Images)