This Week on Arizona illustrated an audio installation that captures the sounds of the monsoon.

Give these sounds to more musicians and create like a little mix tape with just a little bit of guidelines.

Robots created in Tucson designed for space.

Interesting area, of course, is our robots playing a key part in developing a lunar base, providing a space for birds in our urban environment.

Many birds around here are suffering from habitat destruction and mixed reality and simulation is in the sensor lab Hello and welcome to an all new episode of Arizona Illustrated.

I'm Tom McNamara and thanks for joining us from here.

in Madera Canyon, you know, this beautiful place feels like a whole different world, but really we're only about 25 miles south of Tucson and 11 miles east of Green Valley.

This canyon is on the west side of the Santa Rita Mountains and is part of the Coronado national forest.

There are extensive hiking trails to explore, including a hike to the top of Mount Wrightson which had over 9400 feet is one of the tallest peaks in southern Arizona.

This world renowned birding area is home to over 250 species including the elusive, elegant Trojan and 15 species of hummingbirds.

Right now, the canyon is green and full of life.

The streams are flowing due to our recent rains.

The monsoon officially comes to an end this year on September 30th, and while this year has been good, that may not always be the case.

What lies ahead for our summer rainy season is uncertain due to climate change.

Now to local artist Alex Jimenez, commissioned by Tucson Water to spend a year collecting field recordings during the summer monsoon of 2021.

She then teamed up with local artist and deejay Logan Phillips and several other musicians to create an immersive sound installation along the Santa Cruz River.

And this was done during DIA de San Juan, which is a local holiday celebrating the coming of the monsoon (Narrator) In 2022.

A report from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change shows that climate change is already causing more frequent and severe weather events.

Here in the Southwest.

We are experiencing the hottest seasons on record with unpredictable and extreme monsoon cycles.

Contributing to a warming climate is the heat island effect.

And with diminishing groundwater and the drying of the Colorado River, life in this region is becoming increasingly vulnerable.

Alex Jimenez is a Tucson native and an artist commissioned by Tucson Water to create works based on these issues to raise awareness.

(Alex) My great grandmother grew up right near railroad and the Santa Cruz River and Speedway, hearing stories about the Santa Cruz River and when it would flow seasonally and how family would interact with that always was in the back of my mind because I grew up with a dry river my whole life.

I was really excited to be working with water because it's such a huge issue here.

And so I began this project with Tucson Water, and part of what we identified was important was that we do some listening.

I put together quickly a call out asking people to record rain for 3 minutes and then submit audio to me.

I tried to make clear that this is an archive of 2021 monsoon season.

We just had so much rain and like an abundance of rain that by August I was like, I have enough rain and recorded so much rain.

[heavy rain] I really like the idea of trying to get a network of people out there listening at the same time.

And so I wanted to activate the Santa Cruz River with this audio archive.

And I knew right away that I was going to have to find someone who had the talent and the interest who would want to work with me on shaping this idea.

And I found that in Logan.

And it's been really exciting to like, bring our different creative ideas about how things look and sound.

Because I've been doing animations for the project and Logan got looped into animating with me.

[monsoon sounds over music bed] (Logan) My work has been over the past year kind of organizing and listening through what everyone submitted and then composing that into a soundscape.

[monsoon sounds over music bed] This is something I've dreamed of for a long time.

That array of ten speakers in total, each speaker will be playing a different sample.

[monsoon sounds over music bed] I'm very cognizant of the urban setting.

We hear the sirens of first responders, cars through the puddles, dogs barking, folks having parties.

That is also part of our sonic environment.

And so I've learned to think about distance a lot with sound.

And it's up to the user to walk through and feel the different blends of the different channels.

(Kevin) Sounds crazy.

(Alex) I had had this idea of what if we, like, give these sounds to more musicians and create like a little mixtape with just a little bit of guidelines.

And our guideline was use the samples and celebrate a monsoon.

[monsoon sounds over music bed] (Kevin) There is every kind of sound related to the monsoon.

So there was distant thunder, just the cicadas, pre-rains, the grasses blowing in the wind, the downpour, massive thunderstorms.

Animals like the crickets and the spade foot.

I was thinking it was like a tension and release, kind of like the heat build, the release of the rains coming.

And then that euphoric feeling was kind of what I was going for.

[electronic music] From the monsoon.

I mean it's the whole natural world comes out to party.

So.

(Alex) I knew that Dia de San Juan would be a really important event to bring together all that I'd been working on because it is a local celebration of the coming of the Monsoon Seasons.

I and other Tucsonans who've been here for generations, we can tell the difference.

Monsoons have changed a lot.

You could count on like clockwork in the afternoon the clouds would roll in.

You'd see them start building and then they'd roll over the city.

And some people will get rain and some people wouldn't.

So climate change has really messed with our monsoon cycle.

(Logan) I never want my children or my children's children's experience of rain only to be in an art installation.

And so I think there's a real time for action that something each of us can do in our own way .

And thinking about the fact that more water falls in rain on the Tucson metro area than we use as a municipality in a year.

And so thinking about how we can change our built environment is going to be something that is a necessity in the time to come.

[monsoon sounds from speakers] (Alex) Tucson water has given me so much freedom to do whatever idea I kind of came up with.

You're working with the government agency.

It can be a tense relationship, and so I didn't know what to expect, but they all really care about water.

(Kelly) I feel really fortunate that we were able to work with Alex specifically because she has a history here and she gets this community and we've had an opportunity here to maybe set a precedent that Tucson water and then as part of our like sort of peer family in the city can explore across the board.

There's a lot of goodwill and a desire to continue the conversation [cumbia music] (Alex) The Chubasco Channel and Mixtape will live on YouTube on Tucson Water's website to be listened to whenever you're missing the rain.

And my idea in the beginning was in times of drought, when you're yearning for that rain, you know, you can just listen to a collection of Tucson specific rain.

That in itself is also sad that maybe someday we might only be able to experience monsoons digitally, but at least we have that.

I'm spending a little time along a beautiful creek in Madera Canyon makes you realize just how beautiful our planet really is.

But other heavenly bodies have more of a stark beauty like the moon.

You know, it's now been 50 years since astronauts last set foot on the moon, but a return mission may be on the way.

A robotics lab at the University of Arizona is developing swarms of space robots capable of constructing bases and mining for resources on other celestial bodies.

I was pretty dead set and working in the space and space exploration area probably once I was about one or two.

That was the tail end of the Apollo program.

So that's when, you know, the first Star Wars movies came out.

That's when Battlestar Galactica came out.

And I have been, you know, latched on to that ever, ever since.

Really.

Our lab is called Space and Terrestrial Robotics Exploration Laboratory or Space Treks, and our efforts are to work on robotics for space and offworld environment, particularly focused on science exploration.

And in addition, taking some of those same advancements and being able to then apply this to its challenges here on Earth.

You guys have to go through a recalibration step.

We can.

Autonomous robotics has been a key theme in developing robotic systems for space.

These systems can communicate with each other.

They can network.

They can sort of reorganize in ways that we can't quite even imagine right now.

Another more interesting area, of course, is our robots playing a key part in developing a lunar base or preparing a base.

Where we envision and, you know, the next 20 to 50 years or so is that we'll be going through many phases in settling the moon and setting up permanent bases there.

And these early stages will be setting up semi-permanent structures.

So I can imagine a lunar base that is constructed entirely by a team of robots that, you know, makes it a lot easier to live and survive in otherwise a hardy environment on the lunar surface.

And they're exploring they're exploring at a different level now compared to the Apollo astronauts.

Looking deep, looking deep at what our resources available in their neighborhoods, looking to see if this resource is enough to, you know, mine at large scale.

And so that's been our work at space strikes, advancing new space technologies to really enable new ways of exploring low cost ways of exploring, exploring extreme environments and getting serious, particularly with , you know, the mining aspect and working with the mining engineering department on this.

Hi, guys.

Welcome to the ASX.

My.

I've been talking with my colleague John for some time, and what he was doing with regards to creating this swarm of robots especially appealed to me because we know kind of what what is present on the surface of the moon in terms of minerals.

But what's beneath the surface is still unknown.

And is this metallic metal chest of the chest?

It is metal, yeah.

I see a lot of parallel between space mining, gold mining and mining on the earth.

Inherently, it's a hazardous environment.

It's a lot safer to send robots than people.

And this is something we strive to do on the earth as well.

So here, agua, we have a student run mine.

It used to be an operating mine and it was donated to the university in 1950s.

It provides the opportunity to test a wide range of instruments and equipment in an environment that can easily resemble the surface of the moon or other planets.

We have many underground openings that we can test the rover.

It's hard to send a signal through rocks or send a signal around the corner.

So these rovers need to be able to make some decisions on their own, or if for whatever reason they get stuck, then it should be able to free itself.

Where my contribution is going to come in on two fronts.

One, to sense what's beneath the surface of the moon.

And to how to break the rock.

We're going to use an instrument called ground penetrating radar.

So we will mount the antennas for this instrument on the rovers, and we will collect data by thinking in the context of the moon.

What's been drilling uses a lot of water.

So we want to be able to develop a new technology that drills without water.

So I'm very hopeful and very excited that we can take this technology and the mounted on the on one of these robots with robotic arms and hopefully one day try it on the surface of the moon without using any water.

I am certain we're going to develop technologies, that it's going to benefit the society and human beings here on Earth.

So for me, I think that's the reason we want to colonize the moon.

By being able to build these bases our world, we can utilize resources after these resources can then be utilized to, in fact, enable and advance the next wave of space exploration.

And that's what's really exciting about looking at space strikes, because that's where we are trying to, you know, push these limits, push it to, you know, exploring areas we will not explore before working with planetary scientists and really being able to push space systems technology to enable them to ask the questions of the future.

My name is Lisa Langella.

I'm with Langell Photography, and I'm here in Madeira Canyon, and we're photographing hummingbirds I love that they come in.

That's great.

Madera Canyon is known for its hummingbirds.

Arizona is known for having the most diverse species.

I think they've seen almost 22 species here at one time or another.

And it's just a great place for birdwatching and photography.

I love that when they come in.

So one of the things that we do here is we focus on hummingbirds, where we freeze the action in the wings.

You can see all the little detail in the feathers that is really hard to do with a typical camera requires very special settings.

And we use very specific techniques to be able to freeze the action, bring out all the color, bring out those micro moments you can't even see with the naked eye.

And it really creates some special, special imagery.

And people come from around the country.

We have people from both coasts here and everywhere in between learning how to do these techniques.

It's just a really great spot where a lot of different things are consolidated into one area.

It's about 45 minutes from Tucson.

Really good place to come Real estate is at a premium right now, and not just for humans.

You know, there's plenty of room for birds here in Madera Canyon, but in Metropol Town, areas like Tucson, much of their natural habitat has been destroyed.

Now, placing a nest box in your yard can be a simple way to help cavity nesting birds like kestrels, screech owls and Lucy's warblers.

Find a home.

So our nest box is located right here in a mesquite tree.

Today we're in my backyard where we have a nest box for Lucy's Warblers.

and we have a camera that does a live feed of what's happening inside the nest box.

The nest box that we see today is a triangle design is what we call it.

We tested out different designs, but this is the one that they kept coming for.

We can help our local birds by creating a wildlife friendly yard.

The typical food, water but also safe places to nest.

So by installing a nest box you provide that vital part.

Around the Tucson Valley, we have saguaros and big mature trees that are the main providers of cavities and cavities are just holes that are created by the woodpeckers.

Those are the primary cavity nesters.

And you also have the secondary cavity nesters.

Those are the birds that nest in a hole in the cavity, but they can't excavate them themselves.

What we usually see in the Saguaro is just this opening and we have no idea how deep that actually gets.

But this is what is hidden from view is this really big cavity that is used by some of the larger species like kestrels and screech owls.

Many birds around here are suffering from habitat destruction, as our Tucson metropolitan area is increasing and urbanization is a phenomenon that's not going away.

There's just a lot of competition for this prime real estate for the birds.

So by putting up a nest box, you are decreasing the competition.

You're also providing a safe place to nest.

We try to make it really easy for our local residents here to find all the resources they may need if they're interested in installing a nest box.

We have them for sale at our nature shop on University Boulevard.

We also provide plans if you wanted to build one yourself.

[construciton sounds] Whether you're in the valley in Tucson or on top of Mount Lemmon, pretty much any place or on top of Mount Lemmon, pretty much any place has a cavity nester nearby that could use a nest box.

For example, if you have mesquite trees around, then a Lucy's Warbler nest box would be the right choice.

If you're more in like the desert area then a Screech Owl Box would be a good choice for you.

[Owls hooting] If you're in the grasslands, Kestrel box is a really good one to put up there.

[birds chirping] Many people come to Arizona from other states, they might not think of birdhouses as a suitable thing for Arizona heat.

But Tucson Audubon has done a lot of different studies, testing ways to responsibly install a nest box.

For example, we recommend that the nest box is installed in the shade of a tree or just shielded from the afternoon sun.

The western sun.

Something that we recently started doing is putting up web cameras inside the nest boxes.

and that really allowed us a glimpse into the secretive part of our cavity nesters lives.

Every spring, we make sure to stream the live cameras on our website and anyone interested in seeing this footage is able to go and see it.

Installing a nest box has many different benefits to the birds, but also the people.

Birding has a strong recreationa to being able to relax and watch the birds.

And who doesn't like baby birds, right?

So it's so much fun to host a family in your own backyard.

The University of Arizona Sensor Lab is a research incubator run by the Health Sciences Department.

It allows researchers to learn about a new sensor equipped for their projects.

Mixed reality apps and simulations allow these researchers to test their methods and theories in these controlled simulated settings.

At the SensorLab, we have projects funded from School of Music, from the School of Information, Computer Science, for Biomedical Engineering.

So that's a key component and also that brings a lot of innovation.

Although we are part of the health sciences, we are open to all departments, all of the University.

So we already have eight funded projects.

We have the SensorLab seed grants, we have the SensorLab faculty sabbatical, and we have the SensorLab student grants.

Those are mechanisms that help researchers and students to engage with the SensorLab.

But otherwise, anyone can interact with the SensorLab by checking out equipment, by consulting with us and even using our spaces.

We have different sensors that come in different shapes, sizes and applications.

So we have more, I would call research grade equipment.

That takes a lot of time to set up.

So you have to bring a person to a lab and put the sensors on them and prepare the users.

But also, we have sensors that are close to what you would wear in your everyday routine.

So like smartwatches.

And another project that we have also is using HoloLens.

That is a mixed reality headset.

That you can see not only in a virtual immersed environment, but you can see screens and you can see additional information while you're interacting with someone.

So if I'm talking to a patient, for instance, I can look at the patient and bring all this health data, for instance.

So I can see, like the vitals in real time.

So if you look down there's a patient right in front of you.

The student goes into a virtual hospital room, which could be anywhere, which could be in a lecture hall could be in their own bedroom.

They put on a headset, which we're using the Microsoft HoloLens two, and they'll be wearing one of these sensors, which measures your heart rate and electro dermal activity, which is related to stress a little.

And when they when they place their virtual patient, they'll interact with that avatar and go through all the protocols that nursing students go to.

And they'll eventually discover, hopefully, that something is not quite right.

And so they need to interact with the patient and the environment to correct those problems.

And that will indicate a successful completion of the exercise.

The point of our system is that we can train physicians how to do difficult airway management.

So whether that's physiologically difficult, meaning their oxygen is not good, their blood pressure is not good or anatomically difficult.

Yup, those are your vocal chords So whether they have trauma to their face, there's blood in their airway, they're vomiting, whether they have difficult anatomy because of their neck or mobility or things like that.

There's all these different patients we come across in the clinical realm that are a lot more difficult to intubate than the mannequin is in practice.

And so we wanted to create an environment where we could train physicians to do the procedure safely.

So there's no risk to patients because it's all in virtual reality.

But give them skills that would improve patient safety when they perform this procedure in the clinical world.

Thank you for joining us here on Arizon Illustrated.

I'm Tom McNamara.

We'll see you next week for an all new episode.