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. but tonight, i've got the story that will have you shaking your heads. why bugs should be a part of your next meal. that's the story, now let's do some science. are ♪ ♪ ♪ >> welcome to "techknow". i'm phil torres and today i'm here with kyle, lindsay and rachelle. we're going to start with a story of how we can use our dna in medicine . rachelle, what do you have? >> i submitted my dna for a company called 23andme. let's find out. >> simple test, nothing complicated. the first thing i have to do is take the tune and i get to fill it with slief hav splie saliva. you can watch me spit. that's done. i joined 23 million people who sent their saliva to 23andme. to conduct a personal dna test. they begin with our 46 chromosomes, 23 from each parent, filled with you're dna. dna is a double helix with base pairs of nucleotides. as paired with cs. >> katy: , g s.over and over. so that a sequencing machine has enough material to determine the exact order of those as ts gs and cs. >> that's the

. >> 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

>> and i'm phil torres, i'm an entomologist. i visit a shrimp farm in the middle of indiana... yes, indiana... that could revolutionize the industry. >> wow, this is like a little laboratory here. >> yes it is. >> and a shrimp farm. >> 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 fo

"techknow"'s phil torres recently joined them. >> it's summer high up in the arctic circle and this is what you expect to see. ice as far as the horizon. the only way through it is on this ship. the coast guard cutter healy. it is only one of two ice breakers in the united states built to handle polar ice. the ride can get a little rough. that noise there, that's the sound of being in the bow of an ice breaker. but there's trouble in this frozen paradise. the arctic is warming twice as fast as the rest of the globe and that's causing a sea change in this frontier. summer sea ice has receded close to 25% since 1980. on land we saw it. birch trees are sprouting on the tundra and melting per ma frost is causing land and structures to sink . captain jason hamilton is the healy's commanding officers. he's also a veteran of both poles. >> ten years ago when i first was operating this was complete ice. whereas now we have some open water. >> andy mahoney is a geophysicist, he has been studying polar sea ice for the last 15 years. >> this part of the arctic, the alaska arctic if you like has s

. >> i'm phil torres, i'm an entymologist. i do much of my research in this jungle i'll share my findings with marita davision, an environmental biologist, and dr. crystal dilworth, a molecular neuroscientist. that's our team, now let's do some science. >> it's all worth it. >> hey guys, welcome to techknow. i'm phil torres, joined by dr. crystal dilworth and marita davison. so guys, picture this, you are deep in the rain forests of peru when suddenly a flock of red and blue magnificent creatures takes off in front of you. they are beautiful, but let me tell you, they don't start out so pretty. >> you have to be talking about macaws. i'm a bird biologist so in my day i've seen a lot of baby birds and i have to admit they are bald and can be pretty ugly but i mean its almost so ugly that they're cute. >> macaws are so associated with the rain forrest its almost like their mascot, but they're not so ubiquitous anymore, they're an endangered species and they're at risk because of habitat loss. >> absolutely, because when the habi

and i'm phil torres, i'm an entomologist. so how did katrina change the resident's attitude toward nature? now, techknow in new orleans: katrina, 10 years after. i'm here at jefferson parish at the exact spot that was submerged back in august 2005 and i'm 6 foot 2 and if i stretch my hand up to this height... triple that. that's how high some of the flood waters were in some neighborhoods here in this area. now while the waters are long gone, the issues are not. techknow's marita davison has spent a week here in new orleans - now marita, you've been piecing together what went wrong from a science and engineering perspective. >> and phil you said it, this community was devastated when hurricane katrina hit, now in the 10 years since, scientists have made significant improvements to the system, these are coming together to form multiple lines of defense that reduce the risks from another katrina-like storm. let's take a look. >> this area has been vulnerable to storms like katrina since 1200 years ago. >> katrina was really a w

. >> 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 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 repor

. >> that's phil torres reporting from the arctic. >>> republican governor scott walker lays out his version of an immigration reform plan and says building a border may be a good idea, but it's not where you think. >>> an academic article by an assistant professor at west point stirs controversy calling critics of the war on terrorism traitors. >>> welcome back to al jazeera america. it's 7:46 eastern time. taking a look at today's top stories. >>> officials at san quentin state prison in california are on high alert this morning. six inmates have been diagnosed with legionairre's disease. the disease is linked to bacteria that grows in water. >>> a federal appeals court in california will hear arguments today over whether the death penalty violates the eighth amendment. the judges will consider if years of delays from conviction to execution inflict cruel and unusual punishment. more than 900 california inmates have been sentenced to death since 1978. only 13 have been executed. >>> milwaukee's mayor wants all officers to wear body cameras by the end of next year. the proposal for

i'm phil torres. guys, let's jump right into it. gmos just three letters but they hold a lot of debate. we're talking about genetically modified organisms. anything from bacteria, fish and giant trees. this debate targets science and scientists. >> it's true. the anti-gmo movement, it's got a lot of street credit. it's popular but it's anti---i don't know another way to put it, it's anti-science. >> i covered the march against monsato an o and i was hurt. >> as scientists we're trained to look at the data. that's what we try to keep in mind as we investigate genetically modified foods. >> genetically modified foods, a suspect that inspires controversy and fear. but one scientist is fighting back, trying to debunk one myth at a time. even if it means getting hate mail on a regular basis. >> i should have bunched you in the blank face when i had the chance. i come to florida. i'll make you and your family drink round up. stay out of florida. i hope you and your family get brain cancer so you can see what it's like. >> where does all o

. >> i'm phil torres, i'm an entymologist. i do much of my researn

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 joins us, mr. go was originally built to increase, we just heard a moment ago but never really lived up to those expectations of commercial shipping. why is that? what happened here? >> yeah, you know this thing was originally designed to be a shortcut. but in the end, mississippi river had been used for centuries already, infrastructure was there, massachusettmississippi river wd and no mr. go. pretty big waste of money. >> and it destroyed miles of wetlands, right? >> yes, it put a price tag on it. but we're talking about 27,000 acres of wetlands destroyed, hundreds of thousands of miles of coast land were affected too. and this isn't just plain nature we're talking about. these wetlands actually served as a buffer to protect new orleans from storm surge. that destruction made the effects of katrina much worse. >> deauthorizing mr. go, restoration is desperately needed right now. what's the holdup? >> absolutely, everybody agrees it needs to be done. but they've already spent $14.5 billion upgrad

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

. >> welcome to techknow im phil torres joined by marita davison and dr. shini somara. guys there are outlaws out there working in the shadows committing horrible acts against defenseless yet majestic animals. we're talking about the ivory poachers who have decimated the populations in africa. >> it's really alarming because ivory goes for about a thousand dollars a pound, that's more valuable than illegal drugs. >> and you know what that means is that the damage has been devestating over a hundred thousand elephants have been killed in just the last three years and the question is what can we do about it? we found a team of scientists who are using some unexpected weapons- dna and radiocarbon dating- let's check it out. >> april 18th, 2015. thai customs intercepts 4 tons of ivory smuggled in bean sacks from the democratic republic of congo. it is the largest seizure in this country's history. the ivory, on the way to laos, seized in bangkok after a tip. the seizure makes headlines >> thai customs displayed over 3 tons of confiscated african ivory worth 6 million dollar