and that's why i'm joined by "techknow's" ex-cia operative, lindsay moran, and cara santa maria who canxplain it from a neuroscience perspective. now, i've seen "molly" as a club drug but as a therapeutic drug? >> the military once used this as what they imagined could be a truth serum and now there's evidence that suggests that it could help ptsd sufferers. >> yeah and you know, scientists have long been intrigued by the sort of empathic benefits of mdma but now for the first time, there's an fda backed study so that they can see if these results are scientifically quantifiable. >> this serene treatment room nestled in the woods of south carolina... couldn't be further than the pulsing lights and booming music at this electronic music festival. at festivals and nightclubs the illegal drug "molly" or "ecstasy" is part of the culture. called "molly" or "x" on the street, mdma is really methylenedioxy-methamphetamine. it's a psychoactive drug first developed as a blood-clotting agent - later patented as a diet drug. when taken, mdma acts on the brain by causing the neurons to release more

. >> cara santa maria is a neuroscientist. >> imagine that you are one of the first to take a trip to mars. this is the definition of pioneering. >> that's what makes it exciting. >> that's our team, now let's do some science. >> hey! i got some! >> hey guys and welcome to techknow i'm phil torres joined by doctor shini somara and cara santa maria. now guys i'm not going to lie, one of my favorite things is shrimp sizzling away on a hot grill. but i also have a fair amount of hesitation when it comes to actually knowing where that shrimp comes from. >> yeah and you may not realize it but shrimp raised overseas can have high levels of antibiotics and other additives that don't always pass american safety standards. >> and america imports a lot of shrimp over a billion pounds worth. so we asked the food and drug administration, the agency responsible for policing u.s. ports, if we could follow them while they test for unsafe shipments. >> america has a jumbo appetite for shrimp. >> it's a little piece of flesh that they can eat easy; it's kinda like popcorn of the sea. >> americans eat

crystal dilworth and cara santa maria. now today we're going to start out talking about science and religion. now to be blunt, these aren't two things that often see eye to eye. >> true on the surface they very much seem opposed to each other and i was a scientist trained to take nothing on faith and to only look at the data. >> and that's what's so cool about this study. crystal and i had the chance to go to university of utah where researchers are trying to determine whether feeling the spirit can be measured scientifically. >> we even got the chance to participate in the study and the results were interesting. let's take a look. >> i baptize you in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit. >> religious faith... of the seven billion people on the planet, it's estimated that 84-percent are members of one of hundreds of religions. despite the different gods, philosophies and rituals, most religions share a promise for a physical sense of spirituality. >> in our faith we do believe that you have the spir