i'm phil torres. i'm an entomologist. that's our team, now let's do some science. >>> hey, guys, welcome to techknow, i'm phil torres, joined by marita davison, and crystal dilworth. as you think of a farm in the midwest you think of corn and wheat fields, it's not the case these days. >> as research is scarce, farmers find innovative solutions to problems. farmers are turned on its head, including going away from the field, and taking it indoors. going indoors, stacking plants and growing problems in the absence of sunlight. it sounds like a science fair experiment. it's a viable business. >> reporter: sometimes mother enemy. >> if we don't get rain in a 30 day window we'll be in strife. >> in california, 400,000 acres are unplanted at a cost of $800 million in loft revenue because of the drought. >> in bosnia, the worst floods swamped 172,000 acres of crops in may. devastating the country's agricultural industry. last wint inside polar vortex took a toll as the impact made big news on the vineyard. >> a crisis on the la

. >> i'm phil torres. 'm an entomologist. sleep. >> it will track my sleeve. marita, costa and i see if the devices work. that's the team. let's do some science. [ ♪ music ] >>> hi, guys i'm phil torres, and welcome to "techknow". i'm with costa and marita davison. instead of science, let's talk football. now, i'm a broncos fan. when i saw what the 49ers did with their new stadium, i'll feel bad every time the broncos beat the niners. >> if their game is half as good trouble. >> when you think n.f.l., small does not come to mind. it's full of big excitement and business. don't think of it in terms of being a big player. the stadium may be poised to change that. i got to check out environmental advances. >> reporter: it's game day at levi stadium, home of the san francisco 49ers, at first glance the scene in the parking lot it classical football - tailgating, team revalry. san francisco football is changing the playbook. >> we pushed architects and engineers to think about everything that could be green. >> reporter: in trying to win the green game. this is the

i'm phil torres joined by lindsay moran, dr. shay somora and dr. dilworth. i just got back with an exciting week of my life, and it was all for science. with you jump on an one-ton tiger shark? well, that's the opportunity i got to do with these researchers based out of university of miami. we went on a boat in the bahama bahamas bahamas, in the name of sharks. let's take a look. >> shark on! >> shark. the very name inspires wonder and fear, vilified as the world's ultimate killing machine, but their bad-boy image is all wrong, according to these guys. >> i haven't had a single bad day with sharks in 35 years of doing business. >> if there is a shark around, you're likely to find jim in the water with the camera. >> we have 400 billion years of sharks shaping our ocean's health. and in the last 50 years on my watch we've literally destroyed it. >> one in six of all sharks that have been threatened with extinction . >> the university of miami, one of his primary missions is to study sharks in the wild so policymakers can make good policies based on science. >

i'm phil torres joined by lindsay moran, dr. shay somora and dr. dilworth. i just got back with an exciting week of my life, and it was all for science. with you jump on an one-ton tiger shark? well, that's the opportunity i got to do with these researchers based out of university of miami. we went on a boat in the bahama bahamas bahamas, in the name of sharks. let's take a look. >> shark on! >> shark. the very name inspires wonder and fear, vilified as the world's ultimate killing machine, but their bad-boy image is all wrong, according to these guys. >> i haven't had a single bad day with sharks in 35 years of doing business. >> if there is a shark around, you're likely to find jim in the water with the camera. >> we have 400 billion years of sharks shaping our ocean's health. and in the last 50 years on my watch we've literally destroyed it. >> one in six of all sharks that have been threatened with extinction. >> the university of miami, one of his primary missions is to study sharks in the wild so policymakers can make good policies based on science. >>

. >> 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 cot 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 national issue. let's check it out. >> we were sitting in the living room one night watching tv and there was a tremendous explo

i'm phil torres joined by davison.know the internet at all you've probably seen the face of commander chris hadfield. i got a chance to interview him. >> making space travel and this whole idea so cool again. it's fantastic. >> give us a with it into his world and a way for those of us that aren't living on the international space station to kind of have an understanding of what that experience is like and maybe imagine ourselves in space one day. >> and i had a chance to talk to him about all those amazing things. let's take a look. >> five four three two one and liftoff. tom and ivan and chris making their way to the international space station. >> international space station has long been a paragon of mystery, that is until one man brought it back down to earth. >> chocolate pudding cake, looks like it too. not bad. it is going to be hard to eat. going to be messy. >> chris hadfield the former commander of the international space station spent 166 days in space. but he didn't spend his time just doing experiments. i

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

. >>> hey, guys, welcome to "techknow", i'm phil torres, joined by marita davison, and kosta grammatis. marita, you met a man who spent years as a crime scene investigators for human victims. now he and his lad is taking on the fourth largest industry in the world, it's a tragic. >> yes, we think of forensics dealing with human victims, we don't think of it as a bird. it's a wildlife services add, taking on the illegal trade in endangered species, problem. >> some lines are extinct. how big is the industry. >> in terms of economic value, a $19 billion industry. techknow had an inside look at the c.s.i. forensic lab. >> reporter: the world's animal kingdom is under siege. since 1970 animal populations declined on average by half, according to estimates by the world wildlife fund. a big driver is wildlife trafficking. illegal trade in wildlife is a big global business, worth at least $19 billion a year. that makes it the fourth largest criminal industry in the world. right behind drugs, counterfeiting and human trafficking. it's been connected to organised qaeda. >> the rhinoceros, one o

eastern here at al jazeera america, phil torres is the host of the show, he joins us from washington, d.c. phil good to see you. >> good to see you antonio. >> what's making this possible are led lights. >> absolutely. led lights are the most incredible innovations we have. actually the inventers of it twonl nobel prizwonthe nobel pr. additionally they don't heat up. you can touch these thing, so none of the energy is going towards heat. so really efficient. which means their energy bill can be pretty low on this. >> they can puts this very close to the plants too, whichen then also requires less space. they can have vertical farming, they can have ten levels of plants in one of these indoor farms. >> it's amazing. they are stacking plants on plants. they have plans to go even higher. you can build an entire tower out of these things. there is no limit. they can put those lights right up next to them. they can pack these things right in tight, take advantage of the space they have which isn't necessarily the case when you look outside at farm fields. >> what you were saying earlier, i

paz z phil torres >> this is "techknow," a show of invo vasions that can save lives, we'll explore the intersection of 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.

i'm phil torres. tonight sharks. both people avoid sharks. we're out to meet them. tag them. learn all about this pep. >> sharks don't eat people. >> five days and nights at sea on our especially rigged shark laboratory. exhort research is next. lindsay moran is an ex-c.i.a. operative, and dr. shay is an

phil torres >> this is "techknow," a show of invo vasions that can save lives, we'll explore the intersection of 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