This . Kyle hill is an engineer and im phil torres. Ill im an entomologist. Spiders, one builds its own decoy, another one spins its own web. Thats our team, lets do some science. Sneets hi guys, welcome to techknow. Im phil torres and im here with kyle, marita and crystal. I love a big challenge in the field. There is a mystery that i went to the per yo youuvian amazon. One of the best thing about working in the amazon rain forest is the road along the way. Join me on the expedition thats about to get wet, wild and a little bit muddy. The peruvian amazon, a Huge Population of endemic plant and animal species, meaning they are found nowhere else on the earth. This makes it one of the most beautiful and pristine places around. About six months ago the researcher here at the tamba pata Research Center took a picture and posted it on the internet. Little did he know the huge amount of attention it would get as a group of amateurs and experts tried to figure out what it was. Were trying to figure out whats making it. All right, we are reaching the island where this thing was just found a few months ago and we just found 20 of it. What is the action . Catching a human in the action of making it. This thing has really confused me bececse i keep going between it being possibly a spider or maybe some weird spider might that nobodys ever found before. Everything weve seen is so little. What do you think so far . I dont think its a spider at work. Our nighttime several yielded no new information, as the mystery continued to confound us. We turntio turned our attentiono another one of our intriguing discoveries. A spider that creates a fake spider within its web. Whats the idea . We are going otry ofind as many fake spiders as we can. For each one well flag them with this stuff, flag them with as many as we can and every 12 hours well take a photograph and hopefully get an understanding of how they are building these structure and especially considering how much rain were getting. We can determine rate of growth. Exactly. Right now, we dont know how fast they can build those fake spiders. Exactly. Its kind of like were watching little architects in action. Exactly. Lets get going. I. T. Mrs. Seems like its undergone the most growth sings weve been watching. You can imagine once it develops a little bit more, its a little spiderlike and that should help avoid it getting eaten. Lets take a look. Thats basically eight centimeters, which is huge when you compare it to the length of the actual spider which is three, four meters. Actually, that is like a shed skin. Im curious if hes going to put that into the decoy. In his decoy, basically you shed your skin and make it part of your house. Thats awesome. Youre definitely right to also make note of all the rain weve been getting these last few days. We have a record of why this one is kind of messed up dpaird to last time. Compared to last time. The great thing about stirring what is unknown is every tiny bit of information we get on it is like a mountain more than we had before. Exactly. Thats amazing prospect this one is spider number 5 . Yeah. Aside from man, the decoy spider is the only known species to construct a diversion as a means of survival. We have returned to our lab to determine the answers we still lack for the purpose of our structure. I cant determine the purpose to have a tall tower in the center of the fence. Really really confusing. One of more confusing things are these mites that we keep seeing in there. I cant see them being responsible for it but we do keep seeing them in just about every structure weve looked at. One of the really bizarre things is how many of these structures we have seen but we dont see building of them. We really have no idea. We need to find whoever is responsible is making these in the act of making them. Some of the experts we asked about this, some of the largest spider scientists, they really are very unsure which is why its so exciting to be here right now because we may be able to solve this mystery. Perplexed but hopeful for a break through we turn to a different kind of thrill for our next quest. One of the most fascinating species found in the amazon is the tran chuisthe tarantula. What were going to do ask coordinate between the two of us to see if we can find the tarantula. Wow, it is a tarantula. I felt that through the chord i felt it through, through the screen. Still striking us. I just have this vision of him coming out and like really fast and me screaming flailing backwards knock you over and the spider on my hand. There are a lot of spiders here in the amazon. Why do you think theres so much left to be discovered . Niferlfirst of all, the sciee community hasnt agai given aras enough attention. And this area hasnt received the attention needed to adequately survey the extent of spider diversity. On our last day in the amazon our investigative pins pai perse paid off. This was indeed an egg sack. This is a radical departure of what we know about spiders, one of the many discoveries of the secrets hidden in the jungle. I think spider eggs first you can be quite skeptical what we found. We were there, we saw the things that hatched out of it. We did as well as we could to isolate these things. Its going to be a great one to follow up on. How long did it take to you find the region where these structures were discovered . You know to get to that island it takes four flights a bus ride and two canoe rides. It is quite a journey getting out there, part of the fun but when we got out there we couldnt believe we found one let alone 45 of these things. We had very little to go on, we just knew there were two on this island and we had to find more. Congratulations. Marita, you have something very different coming up. I hear it is edible, maybe. I do. A break through in faux meats. We took a journey into barbecue. Well tell you about it. More to come on techknow. Each month . Have you thought about how Climate Change can effect your grocery bill . Could Rare Minerals in china effect your cell phone bill . Or, how a hospital in texas could drive up your health care premium. Ill make the connections from the news to your money real. Every sunday night Aljazeera America presents gripping films from the worlds top documetary directors. Everybodys different here. For students at the esteemed International High school at lafayette everyday is a fight to suceeed it was my dream to get a High School Diploma but a failing grade can mean loosing it all. I dont know how my life would look, if i would get deported. Will they make it in america . I have a chance. I learn america i welcome back to techknow im phil torres here with kyle, marita and crystal. Marita what you got for us. So imagine the day when you go to the supermarket and instead of going to the meat section you go to the produce section. You have a whole lot of products to choose from. I got to check out their products and put it to the test in a barbecue. Lets check it out. Grilled, sauteed, processed or packaged. Americas obsession with meat is ferocious. Four pounds is even better. And bigger is better when it comes to our april tide as evidenced from this wendys ad from the 80s which epitomizes americas obsession with meat. Wheres the beef . We school 250 pounds per year. Experts predict we wont be able to sustain it. I would say we are already not doing it sustainably. We already are applying on the planets resources more than we should be. Meat consumption will rise near 75 by 2050. The rising trend has risen a nut meat alternative. Here in el seegundo california, it is the headquarters of a startup with ambitions that are anything bit small. They had sort of a calling internally to do something about, welfare component to the Climate Change went to to three, human health. Ethan brown is the ceo of beyond meat. Meat out of plant matter. We are taking protein through plants, instead of running it through the industrial livestock situation, we are running it through a process that is truly reminiscent to meat. Im not saying what area, maybe 80 of the way there but were definitely not going to stop until you order chicken breast and our product and say, i cant tell the different difference. Targeted consumers as an alternative. But none has seemed to satisfy their carnivore cravings. How do you produce an alternative protein that may in fact deliver more protein per unit while also trying to meet some of the cultural traditions of pro taken . We are in the beyond meat tasting kitchen. Here is where we do product development, we do recipe development. So now were going to make fajitas. Here we go. Thats good. Its hard to tell the difference. Even before i became involved as the entrepreneur, professionals at the university of missouri who are working on this, two brilliant guys, doing trial and error, simply of these through the heating and cooling process, about ten years later they got it. All production for beyond meat happens under one roof right here in the plant in columbia, missouri, its beyond freezing so lets go inside. Were standing in the manufacturing space. What were going to do right now is go through the various processing steps through to packaging. Okay, lets check it out. So this is our first time pe we see the product, we take our dry material, we take our wet ingredients, we mix them together, form aslurry and this is what it comes out to be like. Its definitely chickenlike. We take the strands and send them through the stringer that gives the chickenless strips. How am i doing, baby . Youre doing good. We put in fluids, spices and flavorings. We take it to the groil give it balance grill to give it presentation. Production takes weeks. To produce just one pound of chicken it takes about 468 gallons of water, 2 pounds of grain or feed, and eight times the amount of fossil fuels that is used to grow plants. Its one thing to say your product looks and tastes the most like chicken. But its another to put it to the test in an authentic texas barbecue. Get ready for a throwdown freedom, you ready to smoke up some chicken . Absolutely, lets do it. Lets go. This is whats going to be compared to the real chicken . Compared to this, yes. What do you think you can do with it . The only thing i would do with it is go for a pulled chicken add a little bit of chipotle bash coo sauce. So mike, if you would stherve do you think your average customer would tell difference . My average customer, they are very knowledgeable on food. Can we ask your average customer . Absolutely. Lets do it. Whats your favorite thing to order here . Ribs. Brisket, we have two orders of it. We uld pulled up a pulled chicken switch that doesnt have any chicken in it. What do you think . It actually does taste like chicken. Im a big meat eater so i dont know if i would choose it over real but if there was a Health Benefit i could do it. Theres something about eating that juicy piece of meet, do you meat, do you think it would be a challenge for the meat eater to switch . Thats the Million Dollar question. Do you think would you give up your brisket sandwich for a dish like this . Honestly not yet but well see. Lets see how it tastes. You can see the layering and it really is trying to mimic animal tissue. Its closer to actual chicken than i expected. Its actually good for faux meat i think. Yeah. Its hard to tell the difference. The appearance is alike. If it were brown or green you probably wouldnt to make a substitute for meat but make faux meat, it has to look the part. So whats the benefit for me to choose this faux meat product over an actual chicken in the Grocery Store then . According to them theres two of them, two main ones. One is the Health Benefit in that it doesnt have all those saturated fats. Delicious saturated fat. And the second is the environmental benefit in that traditional meat production has a pretty hefty environmental footprint. Theyre taking the animal out of equation and providing the protein directly to you. To fake meat to a type of fake cigarette, crystal what do you have . Were talking about vaping. From Electronic Cigarettes. Well see that after the break. Relies on education. We are creating a class of adults exposed to mediocre education. Stealing education, part of our week long, in depth series. America tonight only on Al Jazeera AmericaAl Jazeera America. We open up your world. Here on america tonight, an opportunity for all of america to be heard. Our shows explore the issues that shape our lives. New questions are raised about the american intervention. From unexpected viewpoints to live changing innovations, dollars and cents to powerful storytelling. We are at a Tipping Point in americas history Al Jazeera America. Theres more to it. The stream is uniquely the stream is uniquely hi guys, welcome back. Crystal, what technology are you bringing us this week . Were talking about vaping, the use much Electronic Cigarettes. We went to a convention in anaheim to look at this increasing subculture. All right, lets check it out. Everywhere you look these days people are puffing on a new alternative to conventional tobacco cigarettes. Theyre called Electronic Cigarettes and theyve become hugely popular. Thanks in part to a slew of glitzy Television Ads featuring celebrities touting their virtues. Im Jenny Mccarthy and i love Electronic Cigarettes. Were at the first ecc, Electronic Cigarette convention. Ecigs sales are estimated to hit 1. 7 billion this year. Lets go in and see what the fuss is all about. Cigarettes arent cool anymore, believe it or not. After losing his father to lung cancer, a chinese pharmacy named hon lik invented e cigarettes. With e cigs theres no combustion to produce, this mixture turns into vapor which the user inhails. The habit is called vapping and those who do it are called vapers. I just got progressively better and better and better. But not everyone sticks with ecigs. For one ecigs dont have the heat of conventional cigarettes. But those who have converted say the Health Benefits are worth it including the potential to wean yourself out of nicotine. Customizing, mods are not only refillable but often feature variable voltage batteries. I can customize the amount of draw, if the colder hit, if its a warmer hit, as well as thats just one piece of the puzzle. Theres like hundreds and hundreds of variations that you can make. The liquid in th in the ecie canister can go in zero to 26 milligrams. And theres fruity flavors. Here is where the controversy lies, critics are concerned that these attractive fruity flavors can help young people who start using eccigs. This is yoga land of ecigs. It actually smells like pizza. I would eat this. For me because of my background thats one of my main concerns right now is there a top limit to the concentration of nicotine that you can put in . Right now, theres not. We have a choice of mixing your own line, mixing your own is juice. We tend to regulate this in this country. We dont like people making their own moon shine in their bathtubs. This is something the fda is going to stip in. Were prepared for that. But so far the fda has not set forth any regulations for the manufacture, sale or marketing of ecigarettes. In the meantime, there is a wild west vibe to the industry and a growing movement of passionate vapers. Like karen lee. Im never going back to regular cigarettes. I smoked for 55 years. What do you think about the proposed regulations that are coming out . I think they stink. Why . Because theyre going to condemn people back to cigarettes that are already evaporating. But healther doesnt necessarily mean healthy. Investigating the Health Implication of ecigarettes. I dont want people to assume, before they know its Health Effects and potential Health Effects. About to embark on an fda funded study on how segregates. What blow out will be what the person who is smoking it is inhails. This is a laser foe tom ter. It is a instrument i use to measure the mass of particles that are in the air. So were at 4 micrograms per cubic meter now. And the moment i start flowing that across the inlet to the particle 400, wow now were actually spiking because this thing wont read over 100 milligrams. So we shifted from micrograms to over 100 milligrams. Its a lot of particles. The reason i care about particles is that breathing particles causes cardiovascular disease. Causes people to die of heart tacks. Plain and simple. Theres the potential side effect of secondhand vapping or third hand vaping. It reacts to normal gases in the air to form carcinogens. As grets grow in popular, there should be as ah segregates grow in popularity, you could see the. How did you feel surrounded by that many people vapping. Those symptoms i think about when im studying nicotine exposure. My heart was racing just being in the room. From spiders to faux meat to segregates. Its been quite an interesting week in science. Well catch you next week in are techknow. Go behind the scenes at aljazeera. Com technicalknow. Check check welcome to Al Jazeera America. Im Jonathan Betz in new york. I believe strongly that iran needs to be a part of the solution to the syrian crisis. Less than two hours after the u. N. Unvit iran to peace talks syrias main Opposition Group threatens to back out. United states pushes for peace in ukraine, bloody battles. Tens of thousands defying a government ban on protests growing security concerns at the sochi winter olympics. Video threats appear on the internet. And trying to convince people in West Virginia the water is