Modern Marvels - Season 13

Episodes

Engineering Disasters (18)

Engineering disasters highlighted include a coal mine in China, a crane collapse in Milwaukee, ground water contaminated with gasoline additives, and the hazards of radiation. Also profiled are the environmental disasters that plagued the Salton Sea in California and the Aral Sea in Asia.

Feb 8, 2006

Season 13Episode 560 min

Candy

This program explains how some of the more popular candies are made starting with the raw ingredients through the production process. It all starts with chocolate then move on to red hots, jelly beans, salt water taffy licorice and some special candies just for adults.

Feb 14, 2006

Season 13Episode 660 min

Weird Weapons: The Axis

Examining unusual World War II weapons that were in the planning or testing stages for use by the Axis powers. Included: an assault rifle that could shoot around corners; a death ray capable of boiling people; and an army in space.

Feb 21, 2006

Season 13Episode 760 min

Nature Tech: Avalanches

Examining unusual World War II weapons that were in the planning or testing stages for use by the Allies. Included: floating tanks; pigeon-guided missiles.

Feb 24, 2006

Season 13Episode 860 min

Engineering Disasters: New Orleans

Modern Marvels examines the destruction Hurricane Katrina caused in New Orleans.

Feb 28, 2006

Season 13Episode 960 min

Leather

Made by the tanning of animal hides, leather has proven to be a versatile and important material. Without it, the Pilgrims may not have survived the winters in Plymouth, and the Romans may not have been able to march to the Tigris.

Mar 8, 2006

Season 13Episode 1060 min

Engineering Disasters (19)

The background into the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald, two Boeing 737 crashes, a nuclear disaster near Los Angeles, and an oil storage facility.

Mar 22, 2006

Season 13Episode 1160 min

Insulation

Although quite simple in nature, insulation is a very important component in keeping our homes a comfortable temperature. In this episode, we'll find out the history of insulation and then visit manufacturing plants to find out how insulation is being made today.

Apr 26, 2006

Season 13Episode 1260 min

Hi-Tech Hitler

This is the true story of the scientific feats and failures of Hitler's Nazi Germany.

May 2, 2006

Season 13Episode 1360 min

Shovels

Man has always had a need to move large amounts of earth. In this episode, we profile the technological advances which have allowed shovels to become absolutely enormous, capable of carrying 200 tons of earth in one load today.

May 3, 2006

Season 13Episode 1660 min

Drilling

May 10, 2006

Season 13Episode 1760 min

'80's Tech

Technology from the 1980s is remembered, including early cell phones and CD players; the Sony Walkman; and personal computers. Also: comments by Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak; and a tour of the Computer History Museum in California.

May 24, 2006

Season 13Episode 1860 min

Ben Franklin Tech

May 25, 2006

Season 13Episode 1960 min

Copper Kings

Jun 12, 2006

Season 13Episode 2060 min

Heavy Metals: Copper, Uranium, Chromium, Lead, Nickel And Zinc

Jun 14, 2006

Season 13Episode 2160 min

Money

Jun 19, 2006

Season 13Episode 2360 min

BBQ Tech

Jun 28, 2006

Season 13Episode 2460 min

High Explosives

Jul 3, 2006

Season 13Episode 2560 min

Pirate Tech

Jul 12, 2006

Season 13Episode 2660 min

Boneyard: Where Machines End Their Lives

Jul 26, 2006

Season 13Episode 2760 min

World's Biggest Machines (5)

Jul 26, 2006

Season 13Episode 2860 min

Super Tools: Skyscraper

Jul 28, 2006

Season 13Episode 3160 min

Mummy Tech

Aug 23, 2006

Season 13Episode 3260 min

Batteries

Mixtures of metals and caustic chemicals that make our tech, tools and toys surge with energy.

Aug 3, 2006

Season 13Episode 3360 min

Water

Sep 6, 2006

Season 13Episode 3460 min

Levees

From collapsing floodwalls in New Orleans to high-tech mechanical storm surge barriers in Europe, we'll explore the 2,500-year history of keeping rivers and tides at bay by erecting levees.

Aug 30, 2006

Season 13Episode 3560 min

Copper

Sep 13, 2006

Season 13Episode 3660 min

Cola Wars

Coke vs Pepsi for world supremacy. Each year, Americans consume more soft drinks than tap water. Available in nearly 200 countries, Coca-Cola alone sells one-billion bottles, cans, and glasses of pop daily, with archenemy Pepsi-Cola a close second. We look at the legendary rivalry between these giants in a $100-billion industry built on little more than sugar and water as they battle not just to quench consumer thirst, but for their hearts and minds as well.

Sep 7, 2006

Season 13Episode 3760 min

Building In The Name Of God

Sep 18, 2006

Season 13Episode 3860 min

Shotguns

The first specialized gun, the British upper-class used it to shoot birds and small game for sport. The shotgun took on a variety of roles, used by hunter and warrior alike.

Sep 17, 2006

Season 13Episode 3960 min

Renewable Energy

Global problems require global solutions. Modern Marvels: Renewable Energy, a one-hour History Channel documentary, shows how the combined forces of wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, wave and tidal power are ready to move the world beyond oil, coal and other 19th Century technologies.

Sep 20, 2006

Season 13Episode 4060 min

Horsepower

Buckle up for a rip-roaring ride through the world of extreme horsepower. Experience the fastest accelerating cars on earth. Find out how horsepower was first coined as a marketing tool for the steam engine in the early 1800s and meet the horsepower police--the Society of Automotive Engineers who test today's most powerful car engines. Feel the amazing power of Unlimited Hydroplane racing as 3-ton boat-beasts careen across water at speeds of over 200 miles per hour. Journey to the bowels of an enormous container ship where the world's most powerful diesel engine provides over 100,000 horsepower. At the Hoover Dam, watch as it harnesses the enormous power of water. Explore the 80,000 horsepower pumping units at the Edmonston Pumping Plant that delivers 2-billion gallons of water a day to thirsty Californians. And sit behind the steering wheel of a new generation of hybrid cars that boast 400-horsepower yet get 42 miles per gallon of gas.

Jun 21, 2006

Season 13Episode 4160 min

Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway

Sep 26, 2006

Season 13Episode 4260 min

Stealth & Beyond: Air Stealth

Sep 27, 2006

Season 13Episode 4360 min

Cities Of The Underworld

Teamed with leading archeologists and experts, peel back the layers of the past--to reveal a hidden history that hasn't seen the light of day for ages.

Sep 21, 2006

Season 13Episode 4460 min

Ink

Oct 4, 2006

Season 13Episode 4560 min

Distilleries (2)

Oct 11, 2006

Season 13Episode 4660 min

Stealth & Beyond: Sea Stealth

It's one thing to make a 60-foot-long jet aircraft seem invisible, but quite another to hide a 400-foot-long warship from the prying eyes of an enemy. Explore the challenging world of stealth technology at sea and how modern engineering can make our largest warships appear to be tugboats or fishing vessels.

Sep 27, 2006

Season 13Episode 4760 min

Tomcat Sunset

Nov 1, 2006

Season 13Episode 4860 min

Tobacco

Nov 8, 2006

Season 13Episode 4960 min

World's Strongest (1)

Strength...a powerful word, but what does it mean? How is it measured? Why are some things simply stronger than others. How strong is a rope, a tractor, a diamond, a tugboat or even plastic. How and why strength matter to us every day.

Oct 18, 2006

Season 13Episode 5060 min

Breakfast Tech

Nov 28, 2006

Season 13Episode 5160 min

Wine

Nov 29, 2006

Season 13Episode 5260 min

Supermarket

Our basic need and desire for food has made the supermarket one of the great success stories of modern retailing. Making customers' visits to the market as efficient as possible has led to bar coding and a scale that recognizes the type of produce placed on it. Explore the psychology of the supermarket including store layout, lighting, music and aromas that trigger the appetite. With a growing percentage of the public interested in eating healthier foods, organic grocers are carving out an increasingly large niche.

Nov 15, 2006

Season 13Episode 5360 min

The AK-47

Jul 28, 2006

Season 13Episode 5460 min

Snow

Dec 10, 2006

Season 13Episode 5560 min

Harvesting (2)

In America's orchards and farm fields, the constant struggle between hand labor and mechanization has produced dozens of efficient and sometimes bizarre harvesting methods. Learn the secrets of the orchard manager and his ladder crew as they check fruit pressures and barometric readings. Visit California's largest fruit packing house and try to keep up with 10-fruit-per-second conveyors. Then off to the corn fields of Nebraska and the cranberry marshes of central Wisconsin. Finally go underground to the world's largest mushroom farm where the harvest takes place in limestone caverns that run some 150 miles. From fruit tree picking platforms to cranberry beaters and corn pickers, farmers constantly strive to speed the harvest.

Nov 29, 2006

Season 13Episode 5660 min

Engineering Disasters (20)

The story behind BP's Texas City oil refinery explosion in 2005, the 2001 crash of an American Airlines flight, and the Skylab space station.

Dec 6, 2006

Season 13Episode 5760 min

Nuts

Aug 2, 2006

Season 13Episode 5860 min

Tea

After water, tea is the second most popular drink in the world. It has been around as a drink for 5000 years, and 6 billion pounds of tea are harvested annually.

Dec 13, 2006

Season 13Episode 5960 min

Christmas Tech

Christmas is observed by many people around the world, for both religious reasons and more secular purposes. Trees, lights, ornaments, and window displays are a big part of the celebration. Thanks to technological advancements they are cheaper, safer and more spectacular than ever before.

Dec 20, 2006

Season 13Episode 6060 min

Wind

Jan 1, 2006

Season 13Episode 36060 min

Freight Trains

Season 12 Episode 36
They are the life blood of the American Economy, transporting 1.8 billion tons of freight each year, carrying everything from crops, to consumer electronics, cars to chemicals, not to mention coal and just about any other item that you can think of. This program will take you to what is considered the greatest freight transportation system in the world, the Union Pacific's Bailey yard–a pit stop for much of the nation's freight on its journey across the continent. We'll also explore the history of freight transportation from its humble beginnings as tramways in mines to complex system of rails that stretches to every corner of the nation.