Wed, Jan 18, 2006
Modern Marvels: Cotton takes us on a journey from the California cotton fields to the textile mills of North Carolina, the cotton oil mills of Arkansas, and back to the garment factories of Los Angeles. The show focuses on the great technological developments in cotton's history, including: the cotton gin, spindle picker, cotton module builder, power loom, the evolution of yarn spinning technology... and of course the ingenious method that finally licked the boll weevil. Along the way, we'll survey cotton's remarkable knack for weaving itself into history... including the Industrial Revolution and the Civil War.
Wed, Feb 8, 2006
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.
Tue, May 2, 2006
Germany is portrayed as a nation leading the world in science and technology prior to World War Two. But it squandered this wealth of knowledge, which should have enabled it to win the war, because the high command was selective about those advances they would favor. Examples are provided of technologies that languished under Nazism but exploded into new industries when they reached other countries after the war.
Wed, Jul 26, 2006
The world's largest engineering feats are explored. Included: NASA's wind tunnel and flight simulator at the Ames Research Center in California; a continuous mining machine in Pennsylvania; the London Eye observation wheel in England. Also: the Claas Cougar lawn mower; and IMAX technology.
Wed, Sep 13, 2006
The history and the many uses of copper including how it helped create the Bronze Age and how it's mined. Among the many uses for the red metal explored are its corrosion resistant properties on sea going vessels, it's decorative appeal, and it's antimicrobial properties. Also featured are copper bells, roofs, electronics, pipes, and wires.
Wed, Sep 20, 2006
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.
Tue, Nov 28, 2006
Wether it's bacon, eggs, and toast, oatmeal, a breakfast sandwich or cold cereal; it's the most important meal of the day. Sit back with glass of orange juice and see how your breakfast is made. Also, see how sailors aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. John C. Stennis have breakfast in the middle of the ocean.
Wed, Nov 29, 2006
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.
Wed, Dec 13, 2006
An hour steeped in the history of tea includes a visit to the Lipton Tea plant in Suffolk, Va., the Charleston Tea Plantation in South Carolina and the Celestial Seasonings plant in Boulder, Colo.; a chronicle of the events that led to the Boston Tea Party; and a segment on gourmet teas.