i'm phil torres and i'm here with kosta and shini.u recently went to a very interesting farm in the middle of an airport. >> yes, something called tower garden. check it out. this is going to allow a lot of people a different life, to grow produce anywhere. let's take a deeper look. ♪ ♪ >> for over 8,000 years, we've been plowing dirt to grow our food. in fact, we've go gotten so goot it that over 80% of the world's farmable land is already in use. by 2050 we can expect another 3 billion people on planet earth to join us for dinner. another china and india. on average, food travels 1500 miles from farm to table. how can we continue to grow food to feed the hungry masses? one answer is strert cal farming farming. smerl, california known for its eclectic shops and restaurants has another new feature, a vertical farm. >> i'm alex thomson , montecito farms. >> seedlings to harvested vegetables. his farm produces are fresh vegetables to seven restaurants every day. >> this is a tower garden. can you tell us how it works? >> it is a vertica

. >> i'm phil torres, an entomologist. tonight i meet the indiana jones of space technology, and discover -- >> we're the same people who. >> kosta grammatis. and lindsay moran. a former cia agent. that's our team. now let's do some science. ♪ >> hey guys, i'm phil torres. welcome to "techknow" i'm joined by are crystal dilworth, and kosta grammatis. and linda moran. - lindsay moran. >> let's take a look at the safety of e-cigarettes in general. >>> they're fruity flavorful fun and more popular than ever. the explosion in advertising dollars and sales of strong cigarettes are in the billions as the devices are being touted as a safer alternative to smoking tobacco cigarettes. >> i think it's the best thing smoke. >> i wake up in the morning and my lurchtion hurt really bad. i started vaping and it started getting better and better. >> are the claims really true or are they a smoke screen? the health rirvetion associated with the use of electronic cigarettes associate with the liquids themselves. the research at u.c. rivers

stint she introductions us to a scientist out to change the i'm phil torres. i'm an entomologist. . that's the team, let's do some science. bsh [ ♪ music ] >>> hey, any, welcome to "techknow", i'm phil torres, joined by crystal dilworth, and shini somara. you are about to take us on a journey, an experimental matthews. >> this is an emotional piece. we followed the retrieval of grace's umbilical cord blues cell, and we had access to where they condition those cells for treatment in the hope of saving her life. let's take a look. >> reporter: it was just after 8:30 by the time sara matthews, her mum and baby grace stepped out of the pick-up truck. and into the north carolina night. this isn't the first time they have come to the ronald mcdonald house mere duke university, and it will not be the last. they are here for little grace. >> when did you find out that grace had the condition? >> it was a 20 week ultrasound, went to find out if it was a boy or girl. waited for the doctor to get us. she came and told us that she had bad news. >> reporter: grace had brain. >> me and my husband

i'm phil torres, here with kyle, marita and crystal.t 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 198 0s, 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 hopi

i'm phil torres, with marr itema and costa.nd i had the opportunity to get up and personal with a creature that most people don't want to be up close and personnel with - sharks. both of us walked away from the experience with a love for the beasts. that's one of the reasons why this next story just off the coast of california is some good news. . >> reporter: return of the great white shark. no, it's not a b movie title, no conservationist can take credit for the script allowing it to happen. according to an international study led by the florida programme for shark research, the white shark population off the coast of california is much health year than previously thought. reachers statement more than 2,000 whites call the waters off the golden state home. a previous study conducted by stanford university in 2011 estimated 300 or so white sharks were in the same area. as for the why? the buffet line re opened. scientist involved in the study credit the resurgent to decades of state and protection for the fish and marine mamma

i'm phil torres, joined by shini somara, marita davison, and cara santa maria.e are in for a treat. shini - you just got back from on amazing journey to one of the most spectacular places in the world. please tell us about it. >> well, it was an absolute dream come true mission that i was on. i went to greenland and i was mapping glaziers with n.a.s.a. on a peace-free aircraft. the views were stunning. let's take a look. i travelled half a world away to get to a case some call the canary in the coal mine when it comes to climate change. greenland. i was here to observe an n.a.s.a. mission called operation icebridge. since 2009 n.a.s.a. has been flying airborne missions out of kangaloosa, a former u.s. airbase. the goal is to measure changes to the arctic sea ice and the ice sheet over greenland. we are just on our way to the air base and i am feeling kind of a bit nervous. i'm not the most relaxed of flyers. so let's see what happens. >> it was 6am, and about 10 degrees farenheit. >> so it's usually about a quarter of a mile walk to the plain. whatever condition

i am phil torres. for most of us, communicating with the human voice is something we kind of take for granted but not so with some of meet. >> yeah. i was able to meet three patients that all have als. it's a devastating condition that degenrates the muscles in the body including those in the vocal cords. so they lose their ability to speak. but using technology, they were able to communicate with me in a really remarkable way, such as these stories we are working. take a look. >> on a snowy day in the of seasons, the training camp for the baltimore ravens football team seems deserted but a j.b. rigans, the senior advisor to player development is at his desk as he is every day. >> you come here to work several times a week, and one wouldn't blame you if you wanted to stay at home. what keeps you coming here? >> sure, i could have stayed home and gone into seclusion after my als diagnosis. but coming to work is about refusing to give up. if we are isolated from human interaction, our spirits will wither

i'm phil torres, an endometeorologist. tonight spiders and goats - and how we may hannes spider -- harness spider silk. that's the team, let's do some science. ♪ music ] >>> hey guys, welcome to "techknow." what does the bulletproof vest have to do with goat's milk. the answer lies in spider silk - of all things. i got a chance to look at the future of fabrics. it is fascinating. let's take a look. >> reporter: they are nature's masterful architects, genius at structural design. their silk - though just a fraction of the size of a human hair, is stronger than steel and more powerful than tevlar. you have called spider silk the ancient biomaterial for the future. what do you mean by that? >> spiders have been around for roughly 600 billion years. it has properties that no manmade properties have. >> what can you use it for? >> medical products, car tyres, bike tyres - looking at it for air bags. >> how do you get from a single strand of spider silk to a group. a good place to start at at the spider lab at the university of

i'm phil torres, here with kyle, marita and crystal. 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 198 0s, 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 t

dilworth, a molecular scientist and i am phil torres. i am an entomologist. >> that's our team. let's do some noedz /* [ music ] >> guys, welcome to "techknow." joining me are car a santa maria, shini somara and krista dilworth. i am excited for today's episode because it involves one of the best animals out there, man's best friend, the dog. and cara, you got to play with a bunch of dogs. we know dogs make us happy but they can also potentially make ? >> yeah. so there is evidence to show that dogs can actually detect cancer. and i got to visit the laboratory, some training facilities and even meet a woman whose dog detected her breast cancer. let's check it out. -year-old who grand chap pin rain dance or just plain troy as his family calls him is a pure-bread show dog but to his distinction. >> definitely credit him with saving my life. there is no question about it >> diane's family has a history of breast cancer. so she has been diligent about getting mammograms. in fact, she had been given a clean bill of health a few months before when troy, then a puppy started acting str

i'm phil torres here to talk about innovations that can change lives.ardware and humanity and we're doing it in a unique way. a show of science by scientists. dr. shini somara shini somara is a mechanical engineer. as scientists test new building tines can they survive the most powerful twisters on the planets? kosta grammatis, feeding a

phil torres >> this is "techknow," a show of invo vasions that can save lives, we'll explore the intersectionrt ware and huge -- hardware and humanity. let's check out the team. marita davison is specialising in ecology. tonight, what are the scientists at monsanta up to. we go into their lab. are they moving away from

phil torres >> this is "techknow," a show of invo vasions that can save lives, we'll explore the intersectionf hart ware and huge -- hardware and humanity. let's check out the team. marita davison is specialising in ecology. tonight, what are the scientists at monsanta up to. we go into their lab. are they moving away from

i'm phil torres here to talk about innovations that can change lives. hardware and humanity and we're doing it in a unique way. a show of science by scientists. dr. shini somara shini somara is a mechanical engineer. as scientists test new building tines can they survive the most powerful twisters on the planets? kosta grammatis, feeding a hungry planet.

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