Sat, Nov 8, 1997
With a question about the old myth of cats and their nine lives, scientist Beakman and his trusty team have a ball, untangling the facts about felines. Contrary to popular belief, cats only have one life. However, they have an amazing ability to escape serious injury or death, because of their keen instinct to land on all fours. Beakman demonstrates these safe landings with a cat in the studio, and its easy to see how the grace of cats can add a couple of years to their lives. In Beakmania, Beakman answers questions from viewers who want to know if animals ever get sunburned (yes, pigs do) and if Eskimos have refrigerators (yes, to keep things from freezing). He also discovers that the dung beetle is the world's champion eater. Nurse Phoebe gives us some helpful hints on getting rid of lice and preventing future outbreaks. The next dynamo question about dynamite, gives Beakman a chance to explain the wonders of explosive substances. Explosions happen when substances go from a small size to a much larger size in a short amount of time. Beakman demonstrates how we can create our very own "kaboom" with household products--baking soda, vinegar and a plastic bag.
Sat, Sep 20, 1997
The science crew cleans up the smoke surrounding catalytic converters. Catalysts help the world breathe just a bit easier by changing harmful, polluting toxins into less polluting gasses by speeding up a chemical reaction within vehicles. Beakman demonstrates how this breath of fresh air works with a wooden model and a bubbly chemical reaction. But catalysts aren't only roaring in engines, they are also fast at work in our bodies to speed up the absorption of chemicals. In the Beakmania portion of the show, Phoebe holds her breath to find the answer to a question about how much air is in our lungs. (An adults' lungs can hold almost a gallon of air.) Then Beakman sucks the life out of science with a sticky viewer questions about the biggest leech in the world. (The Amazonian leech of South America; it's over a foot long.) Then, Beakmom plugs into a "Beakmom Challenge." A blind-folded Beakman tries to find his mother by the sound of her voice to test the deception of binaural hearing. The pressure is turned on when Beakman nearly explodes trying to answer a question about aerosol cans. With the use of compressed gas, aerosol cans release tiny particles suspended in a gas.
Sat, Nov 29, 1997
With a viewer question about where camels store water, Beakman and his trusty team discover some thirst quenching facts about the remarkable camel. Known as the "ship of the desert," camels can travel great distances across hot, dry sands with little food or water. These seemingly magical feats are accomplished through the unique make-up of the hump. The fat inside the hump provides stored energy for those long stretches of sand. But the most amazing characteristic about the hump is the hydrogen contained within the that can be combined with oxygen atoms from the air to make H-2-0, water. In Beakmania, the science wizard reveals how much crying the average baby accomplishes (2 hours and 13 minutes a day) and how much of the earth's surface is covered by water (71%). Finally, he chops away at a question about how karate experts break boards without breaking a nail. The next light weight question comes from a viewer who wants to know how much air weighs. Beakman floats to the bottom of this question by demonstrating how CO2 emitted from mixing baking soda and vinegar into a tank full of water, can reveal some heavy duty facts about weight and density.
Sat, Jan 18, 1997
Beakman and the crew return with another high flying question about boomerangs and how their ability to come back to their senders. Beakman travels "down under" to Australia where boomerangs were born. They were originally used to hunt animals and then transformed into the toy version most of us are familiar with. The secret of their U-turn abilities lies in its shape--the edges of each arm are curved like the wing of an airplane. The rotations of the boomerang in flight follows a spinning motion around an imaginary axis that guides the Australian wonder-toy back to its owner. Turning to Beakmania, Beakman gets down and dirty with a question about soil and bacteria (there are more than 5,000 different kinds of bacteria in a pinch of soil) and leaps at the chance to give some soaring facts about frogs and their ability to jump. Finally, Beakman unplugs his nosy fact finding abilities to answer a question about the smell of natural gas (it has no odor.) The Beakman crew explores the disgusting world of dung beetles on "Those Disgusting Animals." The wacky science team clowns around answering questions about the circus. Beginning with an inquiry about the highest number of somersaults a trapeze artist can do, to why tight rope walkers hold long poles, Beakman rolls over the Big Top with some amazing answers.
Sat, Sep 27, 1997
Prompted by a viewer who wants to know the difference between pigs and hogs, Beakman and his trusty lab assistants explore the wonders of the other white meat. Beakman discovers that there is no difference between the two and uncovers some interesting facts about pigs. He reveals why they are among the smartest animals in the world, why they roll around in mud and what their signature snouts are good for. In Beakmania, the humorous scientist tells us why we blink (to wash your eyes out) and stretches his science knowledge to discover the stretchiest element (gold). Beakman enters the "Scratchy Challenge" and gets all tied up to demonstrate the workings of a lariat. Beakman warms up his musical talents to investigate the workings of a harmonica. To answer this question, Beakman explores the science of sound waves, frequency and vibrations.
Sat, Jan 11, 1997
The science crew dives into a jewel of a question about sunken treasure. Beakman explores the job of underwater archaeologists or "marine archaeologists" to see how treasures in the deep blue are found and what they can tell us about the past. Through uses of sonars, mini submarines and radars, Beakman unveils the mystery behind lost treasures. Turning to Beakmania, Beakman answers a timely question about how much energy a quartz watch uses (very little). Then he gets tongue tied trying to untangle the hardest tongue twister, "the sixth sick sheik's sixth shee'ps sick." Beakman reveals how much of Alaska is covered with snow, and Chef Art Burn makes delicious science by giving away a family recipe for Punch ala Art, complete with dancing raisins. While Lester guesses the Archimdedian Screw is the latest dance craze, Beakman screws on his thinking cap to tell us how a simple tool can be considered a machine. A machine is anything that helps use energy to do work, by using the properties of mechanical advantage, pulleys and levers a simple tool can be used as a more complicated machine. Beakman shows how a screw like the Archimedian Screw which pumps water out of the bottom of a boat, can function as an important machine.
Sat, Jan 18, 1997
Beakman makes a big splash with a whale of a question about why these large mammals are so special. Beakman swims away with facts about cetaceans, especially blue whales, the largest animals that have ever lived and special characteristics about whales. With the alarming rate at which whales are being killed, saving whales has become a top priority to many environmentalists. Turning to Beakmania, Beakman fishes for answers to a question about how long people have been fishing (for over 10,000 years). The next juicy question comes from a viewer who wants to know how spiders eat their victims (spiders don't eat their victims, they pump digestive juices into them to dissolve their insides, then they suck them up like a slurpee). Finally, on, "What's For Lunch?" contestants find out how the elaphe guttata guttata, a corn snake, eats its victims by literally squeezing the life out of them. Beakman proves that seeing is not always believing when he uncovers the optical illusion behind 3-D pictures. The crew focuses on a blurry subject that can only be explained through the science of the inner eye.
Sat, Oct 25, 1997
Beakman travels at lightning speed to find out why the "boom" behind sound barriers makes so much noise. Beakman gives an earful of knowledge about the concentration and placement of sound waves and the speed of sound, all of which create the sonic boom. Turning to Beakmania, the scientist sheds some light on why plants glow in the dark (some fungi emit enough light to read by) and flexes his science muscles to find out which muscle humans use the most (eye muscles). Then Beakman buzzes about how many insects there are in the world (there are more insects in one square mile of rural land than there are human beings on Earth). Lester walks on air after Nurse Phoebe gives some healthy advice about curing foot blisters. After many inquiries about staying healthy, Beakman and the science crew investigate the road to healthy living. Beakman shows how balanced nutrition, exercise and hygiene can give a spring to your step and a boost to your day.
Sat, Oct 4, 1997
Prompted by a viewer who wants to know why scientists visit the North and South Poles, Beakman melts away some chilling rumors about the desolation of these seemingly barren environments. But the poles can reveal dirty secrets about pollution in the cities and are ideal spots for star gazing, not to mention the unique kinds of animals that live and migrate to the poles. The peaceful poles are also one of the only regions on earth where scientists from all over the world can come to share information, and armies are only allowed to travel across the poles with science expeditions. In Beakmania, Beakman reveals that marine flatworms have as many as one hundred eyes and he races to the next question about the slowest mammal on earth (the sloth). On "Those Disgusting Animals," the crew discovers an animal that is more horrifying than Lester -- the lamprey, which has an appetite for blood and bodily fluids. Beakman spins out facts about circular motion to answer a question from a viewer who wants to know how ice skaters spin around so fast. Beakman circles the facts of rotational inertia to discover why rotating objects will stay rotating.
Sat, Jan 11, 1997
Sparked by a viewer's question about dogs, Beakman and his hard working science team investigate man's best friend. Beakman barks up the tree of science to find out some facts about dogs and their closest relatives, the wolf, fox, jackal and coyote. Beakman sniffs around to discover how dogs were domesticated, why they have such remarkable eye sight and senses of smell, and how they are used by humans for extraordinary tasks such as transportation and rescue missions. In Beakmania, Beakman counts down with a viewer who asks "How many times does the letter 'A' appear from zero to 999 when written out?" (none). Then Beakman spins off answers about how fast the earth rotates (more than 1,000 miles an hour at the equator). "The Beakman Challenge" confronts Lester with a seemingly impossible task, putting his hand in a jar of water without getting it wet. Beakman answers a monster of a question from a viewer who wants to know if scientists can build people from spare parts like Frankenstein. Although we can give a hand to the creativity of Frankenstein, only part of the legend can be translated into reality. Beakman becomes the mad scientist to discover how people can have parts replaced through the wonders of bio-medical engineering. Every day, doctors replace thousands of knees, hips, heart valves and even parts of the human eye with bio-medically engineered body parts.
Sat, Nov 15, 1997
Prompted by a viewer who wants to know how humans grow, Beakman stretches his science knowledge to sprout some facts about the human body. Beakman taps into some growing pains to discover the different stages in humans from the fertilized egg to adolescence to adulthood. Turning to Beakmania, a viewer hungers for the answer to the question, "What's the largest food dish that people eat?" (roasted camel.) Then Beakman investigates an ice breaker of a question about how large icebergs can become (an iceberg the size of Maryland was found in 1956.) On the "Wide Beakworld of Sports," Beakman spans the globe to sport answers to the question, "What is the toughest thing to do in sports?" Beakman hits a home run to discover that baseball players have the toughest job. Beakman shakes up the laboratory to answer a question from a viewer who wants to know, "How come you can see through oil and vinegar, but when you shake them up it gets all cloudy?" The crew clears up some facts about chemical reactions and the science of solutions and suspensions. Beakman creates his own solutions and suspensions with ordinary household items to show how the breakdown of molecules can cloud anyone's understanding of chemical reactions.
Sat, Nov 22, 1997
Beakman toys around with Newton's third law of motion to make his own Beak-mobile toy car. The third law of motion states that for every action there's an equal and opposite reaction. To prove just how speedy the law of action and reaction really is, Beakman builds his own toy car out of a balloon, straw, some masking tape and a little bit of lung power. Turning to Beakmania, Beakman travels the globe to find out how far it is around the earth (2490.55 miles) and cracks open a question about how many mammals lay eggs (two-the platypus and the spiny anteater.) Then, Beakman visits the moon to see if any man-made structure can be seen from the starry skies (no.) Finally, Nurse Phoebe gives some cool relief to Lester's wounds with nature's healer...ice. Finally, Beakman flies in with a few words about birds to discover how parrots talk. Parrots don't acutally talk, they merely repeat what they've heard. Beakman and the quacky science crew find out about different species of gabbing birds and what it takes to make one of these chatting birds happy.
Sat, Mar 1, 1997
Wacky scientist Beakman discovers a zoo of animals in a single drop of pond water. Amoebas are protozoans, or one celled animals which live, breathe, eat and reproduce in water and soil. There are 30 thousand different kinds of protozoans and they have unique ways of eating and reproducing. In Beakmania, Beakman discovers some facts about amazing fathers (sea horses are the only species of animals in which the males give birth,) then in a blink of an eye, Beakman gives some facts about how often humans blink, (once every two to ten seconds.) Beakman flexes his science muscles to discover that there are more than six hundred muscles in the human body and the Beakman crew reveals how warm vomit hits the spot for baby birds in "What's for Lunch," Finally, the flips sets for some Hollywood action as they find out the secrets to some amazing film stunts. With the use of some tricky camera angles, false perceptions and state of the art technology, movie makers give audiences a hair-raising experience.
Sat, Nov 1, 1997
Beakman horses around with some facts about horses. Horses were tamed and ridden more than 5,000 years ago and used for sports, in war, and as transporters. There are over 150 different kinds of horses and these handsome creatures and still one of the most valuable and beloved animals. Then the gang discovers a surprising species of disgusting animals in "Those Disgusting Animals" Beakman tries to convince his skeptical crew that people should be considered for this category, considering humans feed themselves poison (by smoking) and live in their own waste products caused by exhaust emitted from cars and factories.
Sat, Mar 15, 1997
Beakman investigates a question about how detectives find fingerprints. Fingerprints are made up of unique patterns that combine in different ways--so no two fingerprints are exactly alike. By using special chemicals that react with sweat and oil on potentially felonious fingers. Beakman shows his curious science investgating crew how to make their own fingerprint kits with a piece of charcoal, a table knife, a small paint brush, tape and an ink pad. In this week's Beakmania, Beakman swallows a taste of his own science when answering a viewer who wants to know how to take the "yuck" out of medicine (suck on an ice cube to numb taste buds.) Then Beakman finds out some noisy facts about roadrunners. Finally, Beakman as Chef Art Burn, makes a recipe for crystalline formations crystal clear. With a spoon, a glass jar, some bowls and sugar--science never tasted so sweet. Beakman holds his breath while waiting to find out some answers to a subject in Lester's field of expertise--flatulence. The science crew discovers what all the noise behind farting really is. Gas is passed when it accumulates in the stomach or intestines. In acutality, people pass the gas of bacteria eating leftovers in the colon--these tiny critters chow down and give off waste products like carbon dioxide, hydrogen and methane. The crew signs off with an original tune about flatulence, "the man-made turbulence."