search efforts have gotten under way. ten ships are involved in that search. that's all for tonight. "techknow" starts now and you can always find us online at www.aljazeera.com. innovations that can save lives. we're going to celebrate the intersection of hardware and humanity and doing it in a unique way. this is a show about science by scientists. let's check out our team of hard core nerds. lindsay moran is a starting for every move captured by a camera tracking her from above. >> she's acting a little bit suspicion. >> see the crime fighting tech that's creating controversy. dr. crystal dilworth is a molecular neuro scientist.

why algae is making a come back after 30 years. kyle hill is a science writer. now the story behind the discovery in a hard of lab. are i'm phil torres, i'm an entomologist. that's our team, now let's do some science. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> hey guys, i'm phil torres. welcome to another week of "techknow." joining me is kyle hill, dr. crystal dilworth and lindsay moran, we're used to seeing security cameras maybe on a front door back alleyway but you realm.

>> that's right, phil, believe it or not pretty much we might all be surveilled from above. i went to a dean dayton lab. involving a fancy camera and an airplane. let's have a look. august 26th. just across the border in juarez mexico, an infamous criminal is planning a crime. from an eye in the sky above a high powered system of cameras is capturing it frame by frame. >> the red car here in the center is actually the car that we believe the murderer is in. the blue one here appears to be an accomplice who is paying for the murder. then you've got the two other cars here and they're going to

kill a person here in this alleyway. >> the initial police report didn't say much. body found in an alley, victim suffered gunshot wounds. but after scourin scouring hours of footage, analysts captured the whole thing. >> right there appears to be the shot. you'll watch the person run out here and get in the second car and drive off. the police report we got said no witnesses. well for no witnesses, we appear to have a whole lot of people there. and they actually run out towards the victim and then down the alleyway after the shooter. >> a system of cameras were attached to an airplane patrolling juarez hours before and hours after the murder. by identifying the shooters, fleeing the scene, they tracked the suspects to niche be safe houses.

they appear as dots. because the resolution isn't high enough, the person's body can't be seen but where they go afterwards can be. >> what happened after you analyzed that, did they raid the locations you discovered? >> this this case, they actually captured them and confessed as well and we were actually able to solve this crime with confessions. >> the first generation of this technology created by pss was initially used in both iraq and afghanistan by the u.s. military. >> what we were able to do is be able to watch a town the size of fallujah all the time to see the activities on the ground and figure out who was doing bad things. this generation of the system is actually designed solely for law enforcement purposes. >> 192 pixel camera system is mounted to an aircraft. the aircraft flies over a city, and shifts. the higher pixels allow the

camera lens to shoot a wider area. about 25 square miles at a time. an on-board computer program formats the image, then the photographs are transferred to a mobile site, where analysts study it. >> all right i'm heading out for a drive around dayton. as far as i know, i'm being surveilled from up above, but i don't see any airplanes up there. >> from persistent airplane systems in dayton, ohio i put the system's tracking abilities to a test in real time. >> we have lindsay, following her to her car what we'll do is then watch the car and see where she goes. here she turns left onto patterson boulevard. our assessment is that she's acting a little bit suspicious. she doesn't appear to know

exactly the area that well. she does a couple of loops around the blocks. the analysts just notice that and basically need that to an investigator, if this were an actual crime. >> in america, we're virtually surrounded by security cameras. it doesn't bother most of us that we're being surveilled and photographed all the time. the average american is caught on film 30 times a day. but what if you found out you could be monitored at any given time, without your consent, from above, by an eye in the sky? as ground zero for this technology, the dayton police department ran a ten-day test. even though dayton like most cities have thousands of image taking ground cameras, some ellis jacobs included, were so shocked they shot down for their testing. >> tell me what happened when

surveillance came to dayton. >> some didn't like the cost, they thought it was a waste of money. some thought it was the wrong kind of policing, they wanted community policing, that's how you provided security. and a lot of people were concerned about the privacy implication of this kind of surveillance. and many people were concerned that it could be used in a discriminatory fashion. >> when you look at the imagery you can't even tell what gender or race someone is. so where do the discrimination concerns come from? >> good question. in many cities, dayton, is unfortunately rather segregated. you will certainly find in those neighborhoods. >> dayton credit police chief richard

beale was definitely disappointed. >> in many cases, their whereabouts their goings and comings to and from a public space is already being plornted often by -- monitored by the public sector. healthy distrust of government because government has done some irresponsible things. >> but pss advocates are quick to point out that the eye in the sky could find survivors of natural disasters like hurricane sandy, or the boston marathon. >> the area is smaller than a five mile by five mile area.. the individual houses are within the coverage area, so we literally could have followed them from the crie home to the crime scene. >> they haven't given up on dayton either.

>> do you think you can get a second chance with the community? >> we are optimists, i guess. when the community understands both the capability of this technology and its limitations, and how it will be applied, in a very strategic thoughtful manner, lawful manner i think we can get reasonable people to agree that this is a technology we should continue to explore. >> lindsay, i mean it seems like the technology works, right? so what's it going to take for the public's perception to change on it? >> well, i think it's going to take exposure and understanding how this technology works and how it doesn't work. right now there's a lot of distrust of this kind of technology. but i think one thing that's important is that our privacy laws amount the debate that's -- and the debate that's going on in society have not kept up with the pace of technology. so we need to figure out as a society how much of this we're comfortable with. at the end of the day i think

people are going to see that it does help deter and solve crimes. >> did anyone you talked to seem confused about why the public perception was this way, when we have things like pinterest and facebook, that are posting what going? >> there is certainly a disconnect there. because the notion of privacy today is kind of preposterous. but there's something about law enforcement and government having access to that surveillance. that makes people uncomfortable. >> also think there's something about the choice. you know, people choose to post all their photos in all their locations, posting somebody else is kind of making that choice for them, big brother watching them, with the people not trusting the go government with all the nsa stuff going on. appreciate that lindsay. crystal, after the break you look at one of the world's

oldest organisms for very futuristic technology. >> i learned that one person's pond scum is another person's jet fuel. >> we'll see that next. >> join the conversation at >> every sunday night al jazeera america brings you controversial... >> both parties are owned by the corporations. >> ..entertaining >> it's fun to play with ideas. >> ...thought provoking >> get your damn education. >> ...surprising >> oh, absolutely! >> ...exclusive one-on-one interviews with the most interesting people of our time. >> you're listening because you want to see what's going to happen. >> i want to know what works what do you know works? >> conversations you won't find anywhere else. >> talk to al jazeera. >> only on al jazeera america. >> oh my!

>> ♪ ♪ >> hey guys welcome back to "techknow." now dr. crystal dilworth is here, you have quite athe story here. you are talking about how a 3 billion year old organism can help fly me around the world. >> we tend to think of biofuel, but interestingly i went to arizona to look at biofuel that knows it can be so much more. let's take a look. there's a bloom occurring deep in the arizona desert under the sun's piercing raise. this vast landscape is home to a new technology that is reinventing one of the world's oldest life forms. 3.5 billion years in the making algae is making a new name for

itself. >> people think of algae as pond scum, right? it's not pond scum to us, it's really gold. >> algae are able to take 100% of their energy and create defenseibilty, antioxidants and nutrients for themselves, if they can survive this many years it's probably got more capability than this, they might double and triple and quadruple in size over a 24-hour period. >> helae was born ton campus of arizona state university as an r&d company and one of algae entrepreneurs hoping to marry the technology with the technology of the valley of the sun. >> not just in the laboratory now. we have two acres of demonstration plant and 20 acres of commercial production out back. >> companies like

helae are solving the problem of how to harness and maximize the power of algae. but it takes this to turn it into profit. individual streams of algae growing in petrie ditches. optimized for concentration of purity and transferred into larger and larger vessels. eventually moving into greenhouse pools. >> this doesn't just mean large, it means what is commercially viable. >> you are not going to find helae products on the shelves soon. but what we are selling through consumers. >> finding the benefits of algae in products like nutritional supplements and even agribusiness. >> how does helae go from becoming a small provider in a

niche market to a global provider? >> all over the world people are looking for natural ingredients, sustainable ingredients that are good for the environment. we are taking what mother nature has put into algae and giving it a chance to grow at a very large scale. >> tens of thousands of strains produce a rainbow of algae. these strains produce a lot of beta carotene. these are producing a lot of oil that could be used for fuel or biofuel. >> there might be a potential customer comes the us i'd like this protein with this specification or i need this knew recent or antioxidant. >> when you are talking about products that are protein or antioxidant you are using these algae that are a little factory to produce that nutrient or antioxidant that you want. >> that's right.

each one of these is a biomanufacturing facility, you multiply that by trillions you have yourself some valuable product. >> while algae's evolution has taken billions of years, its greatest can has happened over the last 40. to replace oil as a sustainable fuel source. that research continues. but the truth is even at $40 a gallon, it's bette easier to drill into the earth than to make it on the desert. >> the characteristics of protein like we get out of the ground so you can make the biodiesel, gasoline, aviation fuel, plastics, the reality is we don't have large scale facilities to produce hundreds of thousands or millions of

gallons of fuel from the algae. >> then how and why did science move from viewing algae as a biofuel to this brave new world of algae based products? after nearly 20 years with bp oil, gary dirks helps solve sustainability and energy issues. >> there seems to be a renewed interest in algae. why now? >> we've seen a big influx of engineering into a field that has historically been more about biology. and as the engineers have gotten more interested and more involved they have identified ways you can simplify the process, really focus on those things that drive cost. >> that's really a combination of engineering pushing innovation forward and people in general being more receptive to the ideas. >> i think that's a great way to put it. this is perceived very much as a new era. >> is algae going to save the world? >> saving the world is a bit of

a tal order but i believe it -- tall order but i think it will have a part of well-being. >> it will help improve the world. having a natural supply stream doesn't hurt the world but benefits the varietal. that's what benefits all of us.. >> i don't think i'll ever look at a pond the same again. algae can do so much. >> i am having so much fund. i look thrulthrough all my -- through all my cosmetics seeing what ones have algae as an ingredient. as you can see they're kind of growing their own little factory there with pools of algae that they're using because this is how they're applying their specialty technology. growing it in ocean or in lakes really isn't advantageous for us to harness algae's power.

helae's technology is applied with specific forms of technology to get the most out of each strain. >> i think you saw some cool algae and this is not all green. >> this is my picture collection, these are algae, they are all shaking to get enough oxygen and they will grow up big and strong in those large pools that you saw. >> cute little baby algaes, i loaf it. if you guys would like to see more posts like this, be sure to follow us on instagram. kyle, what do you have next? >> the human heart of >> scared as hell... >> as american troops prepare to leave afghanistan get a first hand look at what life is really like under the

taliban. >> we're going to be taken to a place, where they're going to make plans for an attack. >> the only thing i know is, that they say they're not going to withdraw. >> then, immediately after, an america tonight special edition for more inside and analysis. >> why did you decide to go... >> it's extremly important for the western audience to know why these people keep on fighting... ...it's so seldom you get that access to the other side. >> faultlines: on the front lines with the taliban then an america tonight: special edition, only on al jazeera america

>> ♪ ♪ >> hey guys welcome back to "techknow." i'm phil torres. joined today by kyle, crystal and lindsay. kyle you took a look at the fountain of youth and you may have found it in an unusual place. >> medical technology is making us live longer and longer. heart failure is still a huge problem. i went to harvard and they found a protein circulating in the heart of mice that may one day help us. let's check it out. the human heart is a miraculous fist size feat of engineering. beating more than a thousand

time day, pumping five quarts of blood a minute or about 2,000 gallons every day. unfortunately -- the human heart is also a machine that's not built to last. [ buzz ] >> when you get these heart failure episodes what's it like? what does it feel like? >> it feels like you can't breathe and it feels like you're going to pass out. >> dr. richard lee is antoinette lee's heart specialist. >> her heart doesn't profuse properly. >> joined forces in their lab to tackle this problem. what they found was astonishing. >> so you found basically that when you joined an old and a

young mouse together, the sizes and the structure of the hearts changed. how dramatic was this change? >> it was amazing enough that even i could see it looking at the heart as a whole. and even more amazing when you started digging more deeply into the layers of how the individual cells changed, how the genes that the cells expressed changed as a result of this exposure to young blood in the old animal. >> that growth was gross differentiation factor 11, gh 11. that makes the mouse's heart young again in 11 weeks. here in harvard researchers like dr. lee and dr. waige wager are trying to solve a problem. >> we developed a hypothesis that there was something in the blood because the blood has access to all these different cells.

and might be able to communicate these signals. >> there must be thousands of items in the blood. how did you isolate this protein that you didn't even know you were looking for? >> we developed a relationship with somalogic in colorado. >> they helped identify the protein. >> it's kind of like having bar codes on thousands of post-it notes and by using those different colored post-it notes and finding the right things then they can pick out and check the bar codes and see what it was. >> all the researchers acknowledge that they still have their work cut out for them. >> i view the study as hopeful but i'm cautiously hopeful. i, for one, have not seen any study to date that shows these dramatic changes in the thickening of the heart, and the cells.

>> in the meantime, die , diastolic heart failure is still one of the leading causes of death in the u.s. >> when we're yungz children, the heart is a very compliant structure. it acts like a party balloon. it can handle the volume of air. as people enter the 70s and 80s the heart will work like a leather purse. to alter the progression of the disease process. >> what is the next step in look at how this protein that you isolated affects the heart or even the rest of the body? >> we do know that this protein as well as in the blood of humans and we know that it likely

has some relationship with disease. so the big thing in the heart is of themenof is: how quickly can we make the really supportive change this as humans is a good idea and that's going to take a lot of hard work that we'll do as fast as we can. >> there are thousands of proteins like this in a mouse or a human body. it's remarkable that they found it at all. >> just in the blood, it's a molecular needle in a haystack. they didn't even know what they were looking for. they just saw an effect. that's why they had to work with a chemical company to help them isolate this protein. they couldn't do it themselves. >> it is collaborative. >> like all science is, working together to solve a problem. >> from surveillance to algae to the potential fountain of youth. >> dive deep into these stories

and go behind the scenes a at aljazeera.com/techknow. >> you're watching "talk to al jazeera." our guest is world renown conductor zubin mehta. people who are unfamiliar with the music world, explain your role. >> well, a lot is communication. i have the good fortunate at this point in my life, to make music as with soloists that i know for years and years or