dr. crystal dilworth. now bigger and potentially more dangerous, that's the best way to describe what's happening the smoking alternative known as e-cigarettes, or vaping. >> it's an industry that seems to really be exploding i mean you're seeing it everywhere. and a part of me wonders if this might be because of some misinformation about vaping, that's my sense. >> and our dr. crystal dilworth, you have your phd in nicotine studies so we've asked you to keep a tab on this. there's a lot academic research that's being done on the safety of use of these devices, but it can't really keep up with a growing industry. >> i enjoy the taste of it and not get the harmful effects of what smoking does. >> call them vapers, or foggers or competitive cloud chasers... all are welcome at crystal vapor, one of thousands of vape shops across the country. since techknow first reported on the "vaping" phenomenon in 2013, the industry has taken off like wild fire. revenue is estimated to reach 3.5 billion dollars this year,

dr. crystal dilworth is a neuroscientist. fracking and waste water. >> it is money for some oily that'sity dirty. >> i'm phil torres, i'm an entomologist. dispatches from outer space. >> chocolate pudding cake. >> out of this world. my one 01. >> bigger ball of water. >> with the youtube astronauts. that's our team. let's do some science. >> so what is this? ♪ ♪ >> hey guys welcome to "techknow." i'm phil torres. joined by dr. crystal dilworth and marita davison. fraking. it's don -- fracking.doesn't come without controversy, potentially doesn't come without cost. >> yes, fracking is hugely controversial. humannics. >> s that range the gamut from environmental to health. and texas has been kind of at the center point of a lot of this issue. whether they're economic, environmental, political, texas is in the mix. >> when we think of texas we think big oil, not earthquakes like we're thinking of california. but they're experiencing seismic activity. >> so we got to see how one small town in texas is dealing with this big nation

dr. crystal dilworth and dr. shini somara.t's a debate that somehow is still raging on - is the climate changing, is man to blame and is there anything we can do to stop the disaster. most agree the answers is yes. that's most scientists, not all of them. shini, crystal, lindsay, you each had a piece of the story. >> at the c.i.a. i was trained to analyse complex and sometimes contradictory data. climate change fits into that model as well. washington d.c. - politics are part of the equation. no matter what the science is, there's going to be contentious debate. >> i had a different experience. i was dealing with the scientists and citizens who are not debating if climate change is happening, but they are living it now. >> i think it's interesting that both sides of the debate claim to be on the side of science, and use studies as ammunition. we wanted to know who is right. things got interesting. >> as scientists we are trained to look at the data and go from there. that's what we try to keep in mind as we delve into the deba

dr. crystal dilworth, dr. shini somara. now first up the water bottle, by some estimates here in the u.s. we use 50 billion of these every year and myth number one is that this is going to be recycled. >> correct, actually it's probably not going to be recycled. a lot of water bottles that we think are headed for recycling facilities end up in landfills and those landfills can have some really negative impacts on the surrounding communities. >> it's actually quite shocking that a material that is designed to be used over and over again actually only gets used once and what we've done is take a water bottle just like this and follow its journey after its been blue binned to see exactly what happens. >> the world is addicted to plastic. it was sold to us as the product of the future... >> plastic... plastic... plastic. >> this educational video from the 1940s celebrates the convenience of plastic. >> here they are in our homes, augmenting our comforts... >> back then it was a symbol of the modern times to come. 6-decades late