>> fault lines. al jazeera america's hard hitting, >> they're blocking the door... >> groundbreaking, >> we have to get out of here... >> truth seeking, award winning, investigative documentary series the coverage gap only on al jazeera america hello and welcome. i'm phil torres here to talk about innovations that can change lives. we are going to explore the intersection of hardware and humanity and we are doing it in a unique way. this is a show about scientists by scientists. let's check out our team of hard wore curves. brad davi [s] is a bioing gift. a breakthrough that can feed the planet. a meat substitute. >> do they taste like chicken. >> we tut-tut it to the test.

dr crystal dilworth is a molecular neuroscientist. tonight, inside the world of e-cigarettes. >> i'm never going back to cigarettes. >> what is the real science. kyle hill is an engineer, and i'm phil torres, i'm an entomoll gift. tonight spiders - one builds a deoi an amazing trip to peru. that's the team, now let's do some science. appear [ ♪ music ] hi guys, welcome to "techknow", i'm here with kyle,

marita and crystal. as an entomologist, i love a good challenge in the field, there's a scientific mystery that i went to the peruvian to try to solve. look at this weird circular structure. we went down with little information except for the fact that this thing was found on an island twice. take a look. >> reporter: onest best things about working in the rainforest is the adventure. join me on an expedition that's sure to get wet, whid and muddy. the peruvian youngle is a last wilderness with a huge population of endemic plant and animal species. they are found nowhere else on earth. >> why here? it's a unique place in the amazon completely undisturbed by human pressures like hunting and deforestation.

it makes it a beautiful, pristine place. six months ago a researcher here at the research center found a weird circular web structure, took a picture and posted it on the internet. little did he know the huge amount of attention it would get as people tried to figure out what it was. we are here with a team of scientists with a mission, to figure out what is making it. >> we arrested the island where it was first found. we found 20 days ago. what is the goal. >> catch an adult in the act. >> we'll try to get one in the act of making a structure. now it's hard to tell what is making it. >> this thing has confused me. i keep going between it being a spider or a spiter mite that no one has found. everything we have seen looks so little. what do you think it is? >> i don't think it's either. i have no idea. i don't think it's a spider or a

mite. >> our search yielded no answers as the mystery structure dumbfounded us. exhausted, discouraged and stumped we turned our attention to an intriguing scientific discovery, a spider that creates a fake spider within its web. >> what is the plan? >> the first thing we'll do is find as many spiders as possible. for each one we'll flag them with this stuff. we'll go through, flag as many as we can and every 12 hours or so we'll take photos and we'll get a good upping how we are k understanding of how we are building the structures. >> using a ruler we can tell the rate of growth. we don't have an idea of how fast they can build the fake spiders. >> it's like we are watching little architects in action. >> what is interesting though is like being small, it seems like

it's undergone the most growth since we've been watching. >> if you can imagine once this develops a little more, it will be spider like and that should help it. let's take a look with the camera. >> i mean, that's 8 centimetres, which is huge, when you compare it to the size of a spider which is less than 3-4mm. >> exactly. >> looks like he did. that looks like he shed skin. i'm curious if he'll put that into the - into his decoy. >> basically you shed the skin and make it part of your health. >> awesome. >> definitely write this down and make note of the rain that we've been getting so we have a record of why this is messed up. >> the great thing about studying something unknown is that every tiny bit of information we get on it is like a mountain more than we have to.

>> it's amazing. this was spider number five? >> yes. >> aside from man the decoy spider is the only known species to construct a version as a means of survival. happy with the answers found with the decoy spider we returned to the lab to look for the answers we lappcked. >> i can't see the purpose of the tall tower. >> and these things we see in there, the mites. >> we see them on just about every structure we look at. >> a bizarre thing is how many of these structures we have seen, but we is haven't seen anything build it. we have no idea. >> right now we need to look or

find whatever is responsible in the act of making it. >> what is amazing how many experts, top spider scientists charmed in and can guess to a family level, they really are very unsure, which is why i'm excited to be here. we may be able to solve the mystery. >> perplexed but hopeful we turp to a different -- turn to a different thrill for the next quest. one of the most fascinating species found is the tarrantuala. we decided to take a peak in the habitat. we found what we think is a tarrant ua girl. we'll try to accord nate between the two of us to look and see if we can find the tarrantuala and what else is in there. ready to give it a shot? >> let's do it. wow, he's right there. it is a tar anduala.

i saw fangs. >> i think it struck at the camera, which is amazing. he did. >> i felt that through the cord. >> i felt it too. the between - whoa. >> it's striking us. i have this vision of him coming out and, like, really fast and me screaming, flailing backwards knocking you over and the spider on my hand or space. >> there's a lot of spiders in the amazon, why do you think there is so much left to be discovered? >> the scientific community has and given arak noids as much attention as it has to insects. here in the amazon, diversity is high. compared to temperate regions, this area has not received the attention needed to adequately survey the extent. >> on the last day in the amazon, the investigator

persistence paid off. we are amazed to witness the emerge of a spider link in the pole structure which was an egg sack. this is a radical departure from what we know about spider reproductive strategy where eggs are laid and protected by the mother. i think spider experts will be skeptical of what we found. we were there, saw the things that hatched out of it. we did as well as we could to isolate these things. it will be a great one to follow up on. >> how long did it take you to find the region where the structures were discovered? >> it takes four flights, a bus ride and two canoe rides, it's quite a journey getting out there, which is part of the fun. when we got there we couldn't believe the fact that we found one, let alone 45 of these

things. we found a bump on the island. >> congratulations. marita, you have something different coming up. i hear it is edible, maybe. >> it is. we have what might be a break through in faux meats. we took it to the test in an old-fashioned barbecue and we'll tell you about it we'll check it out next. >> we want to hear what you think about these stories. in the conversation. me... 15 stories, 1 incredible journey >> edge of eighteen coming september only on al jazeera america

♪ ♪ [ ♪ music ] hi, welcome back to techknow. i'm phil torres, here with kyle, marita and crystal. what do you have for u marita. >> imagine the day when you go

to the supermarket. instead of going to meat you go to protein - you have chicken, beef, pork and an array of plant protein. there's a company trying to make it a reality. i got to check out their products, do a taste test and put it to the test in a barbecue. let's check it out. >> reporter: grilled, sauteed, opera housed or packaged. america's obsession with meat is ferocious. and bigger is better when it comes to our appetite as evident in an iconic fast food wendy's add from the 1980s, which epitomised our fascination with beex. we consume over 270 pounds per person per year. now the demand is spreading to global heights and experts predict we will not be able to sustain it.

>> i would say we are already not doing it sustainably. we are drawing on the planets resources more than we should be. >> reporter: the united nations statements meat consumption will rise 25% by 2050. it has triggered a crop of meat alternatives hoping to ease your reliance. here and california we have a small town with a cosy feel. but it's also the headquarters of a start-up with ambitions that are anything but small. >> they had a sort of a calling internally to do something about animal ware fair to health. >> ethan brown is the c.e.o. of beyond malt. >> we looked at the technology of enjoying meat made from plant matter. we taking and creating a fibre

structure reminiscent of meat. >> reporter: what makes your product unique? >> it's the beauty of the fibre structure distinguished from meat. we are 70 to 80% there. we will not stop until you look at chicken breast and our product and you say "i can't tell the dips" for decades tofu and mock meat products targeted consumers. none satisfied the carnivore cravings. >> one of the challenges that alternative meat companies need to address is how to deliver the protein, and trying to meet some of the cultural values and traditions connected to it. >> we are at a beyond meat-tasting kitchen. here is where we do development, recipe development. now we are going to make fa

heatas. here we go. >> that's good. >> before i became involved as the entrepreneur, professors were working on this. two truly brilliant guys doing trial and error with the assembly of proteins through heating, cooling and pressure. 10 years later, they got it. >> reporter: production for beyond meat happens in columbia, missouri, under the one roof. >> we are standing in the manufacturing space. what we'll do now is go through the processing steps through to packing. >> reporter: let's check it out. >> so this is the first time we see the product. we take the dry material, wet ingredients, mix them, form a slurry, and this is what it look like. >> it looks chicken like. >> we take the strands and send it through a chopper giving it to the chickenless strips.

>> there you go. >> how am i doing? >> you're doing good. >> we put in fluids, spices and flavourings. we go to the grill where we seer the service and give it a balance and presentation. >> the whole process takes 1.5 hours. compare it to real chicken, where production takes weeks. to produce one pound of chicken, it takes about 468 gallons of water. two pounds of graper feed, and -- grainer feed and eight times the amount of fossil fuels used to grow plants. it's one thing to say your product looks and tastes like chicken. it's another to put it to the test in an authentic texas barbecue. get ready. you ready to smoke up some chicken. >> absolutely, let's do it. >> reporter: this will be compared to the real chicken.

>> to this. >> reporter: what do you think you can do with this? >> we do a chicken sandwich. add barbecue sauce. >> reporter: so, mike, if you served this sandwich, do you think your average crust mer would be able to tell the difference? >> unfortunately i would say yes. my barbecue customers that come here are knowledgeable on food. >> reporter: can i ask the customers to try this? >> absolutely. >> reporter: let's do it. what is your favourite thing to order? >> ribs for me. >> brisbane ket. >> reporter: we kicked up a faux chicken sandwich with no chicken in it, do you guys want to give it a shot? >> it definitely tastes like chicken. >> the sauce is good. >> if the meat is not the star of your meal it's okay.

>> if there was a health benefit i'd do it. >> reporter: there's something about eating a juicy piece of meat. do you think a meateater would switch? >> that's the question. >> reporter: any of you ready to give up the beef brisbane ket for a chicken sandwich like this. >> honestly, not yet. how does it taste? >> it looks like chicken. you can see the layering and it's trying to mimic the animal tissue. it's closer to chicken than i expected. it's good for faux meat. >> it's almost hard to tell the difference. >> even the appearance makes a difference. >> if it was group or green you wouldn't say it tastes much like chicken. >> there's a lot of research on colour, that's why it's important not to make a substitute, but a look over faux

meat. >> what is the benefit? >> there's to main ones - one is the health benefit. it doesn't have saturated fats, they can isolate. >> delicious saturated fat. >> the second is environmental. traditional meat production has a hefty environmental footprint. they are taking the han mall out of the e -- animal out of the eiation and providing the product to you. from fake meet to a fake cigarette. what do you have next. >> we are talking about vaping. vapour administration of nicotine through an electronic cigarette. >> all right. we'll see that after the break.

ray suarez hosts inside story weekdays at 5 eastern only on al jazeera america break.

>> hi guys, welcome back. crystal, what technology are you [ ♪ music ] hi, guys. welcome back. crystal, what technology are you bringing to us? >> we are talking about vaping used in electronic cigarettes. we went to a conference to look at the subculture. let's check it out. >> reporter: everywhere you look people are puffing on an alternative to conventional tobacco cigarettes. they are called electronic cigarettes and are hugely popular, thanks in part to a slew of ads featuring celebrities promoting their virtuous. >> jenny mccarthy, and i finally found an alternative to grts. >> reporter: i was intryinged. we are at the southern california electronic cigarette convention. e-cigarettes were founded in china and exploded in the united states, sales estimated to hit $1.7 billion this year.

let's see what the fuss is all about. >> cigarettesn't cool any more, believe it or not. >> after losing his father to lung cancer, a chinese pharmacist invented the first electronic cigarette in 2003 as a safer alternative to cigarettes. with e-cigarettes there's no combustion to produce the carcinogens found. instead there's a battery powered atomizer heating up the mixture inside. it turns into vapour. the habit is called vaping, and those that do it call themselves scrapers. >> i used to smoke cigarettes, i'd wake up in the morning, my longs were bad. i started vaping. it got better. >> there are major differences

in the experiences. e-cigarettes don't have the heat of conventional cigarettes. those that converted to e-cigarettes say the health benefits are worth it, including the potential to wean off nicotine. customizing the amount is easy, with reusable esticks. they are reusable and feature various batteries. >> i can customize the amount of draw. if it's a colder or warmer hit. and that's just one piece of the puzzle. there's hundreds and hundreds of variations that you can make. >> in the e-cigarette cannister it can contain concentrations of nicotine from 0 to 25 or 26 milligrams, and juices giving it fruity flavour. here is where the controversy lies. critics are concerned that the attractive fruity flavours can

help young people transition into conventional cigarettes. >> there's over 100 flavours, and we are the yoga land of e-cigarettes. >> reporter: it smells like pizza. i would ate this. for me, because of my background that's a concern. now is there a top limit, the concentration that you can put in in? >> now, there's not. you have the choice to buy nicotine online and mix your own. >> reporter: we tend to regulate that. we don't like people making moon shine. >> correct. >> reporter: this is something that the f.d.a. is going to step in. >> they'll regulate. and we are prepared for that. >> reporter: but to far the f.d.a. has not set forth any regulations for the manufacture, sail or marketing of egrets. in the -- e-cigarettes. in the meantime there's a wild

wees vibe and the -- west vibe and a move. >> i'm never going back to cigarettes. >> how do you feel about the proposed f.d.a. regulations that will be coming out? >> i think they stink. >> why? >> because they are going to condemn people to death and drive people back to cigarettes. >> healthier doesn't necessarily mean healthy. researchers are starting to investigate the health implications of egrets. i don't want to -- e-cigarettes. i don't want people to gallop to assume this is the solution to the problem for smoking, before knowing its public health effects. >> this professor is a researcher who is about to embark on an f.d.a.-funded study op how e-cigarettes effect the cardiovascular system. >> i'll model smoking and what i blow out is what a person

smoking it inhales. this is an instrument i use to measure the mass of particles in the air. so we are at four micrograms per cubic meter. the moment i flow that across the inelement. >> reporter: 1200. >> now her spiking. it went read over 100 milligrams, so we shifted from micrograms to over 100 milligrams. it's a lot of particles. the reason i care about particles is breathing particles causes cardiovascular disease. >> there's the impact of second-hand vaping and something you could call third-hand vaping. >> i know when you release nicotine into the room and it settles on a surface, it reacts with normal gases in the air to form carcinogens. >> reporter: as e-cigarettes grow, there should be alarm

bells ringing, warning us to look deeper and beyond - you could say - the vape and mirrors how did you feel being surrounded by that many people vaping? >> i felt the exposure to nicotine. all the symptoms i think about, nicotine exposure, my heart rate accelerated, i was feeling the effect being in the room. from siders to faux meet and e-cigarettes, it's been a fun and interesting week of signs. dive deep into these stories and go behind the scenes at al jazeera/techno. follow our stories on facebook, google+ and more. >> the brain is re-learning how it sees again >> after decades in the dark, >> i couldn't get around on my own >> a miraculous bionic eye... >> i'm seeing flashes

>> great >> tech know, every saturday go where science meets humanity. >> this is some of the best driving i've every done, even though i can't see. >> tech know. >> we're here in the vortex. only on al jazeera america. this is al jazeera america, i'm thomas drayton in new york. let's get you caught up on the top stories of this hour. >> it's not human, you know. who takes somebody who is badly beaten straight back to gaol the same day an american teen badly beaten allegedly by israeli police. the shadowy figures behind the violence in iraq and syria makes a grapey