Going way beyond the driver's seat of the average automobile.
Taking a deep dive into one of the oldest means of locomotion.
Examining the military's deadliest and most sophisticated choppers, homemade helicopters and million-dollar models customized with everything from bars and entertainment systems.
Examining 8,000 horsepower dragsters and hydroplanes with top speeds of 200 miles per hour and a cargo ship propelled by one of the most powerful diesel engines on Earth.
From Bolivia's Death Road to California's fog-smothered Highway 99 to dodging IEDs on the road to Baghdad Airport, "Modern Marvels" experiences the harrowing journey down some of the world's scariest roads.
Two million people wash their car every single day; taking a look at all the technology used to keep those beloved vehicles sparkling clean.
Climbing aboard the complex rail network that snakes through valleys, over rivers and across prairies to get America's goods from the factory to front doors.
Taking a ride on the fastest and most powerful locomotives from around the globe including France's 300 MPH speed train, future trains that glide on cushions of air and mining locomotives that traverse tunnels 700 feet underground.
A fascinating journey from farm to table; the dizzying heights of California's date palm trees; the soggy Wisconsin cranberry marshes; the cavernous labyrinths of Pennsylvania's mushroom farms; picking through the most unique forms of harvesting.
Entering the mad world of Nikola Tesla's remarkable inventions; Tesla's 187-foot-high wireless network tower and lifelong rivalry with Thomas Edison; his disturbing death ray and earthquake machines.
Rediscovering some of the most beloved retro devices that built the tech-driven world of today; diving into some blasts from technology's past.
Changing the way people think about coin-operated machines; exploring the ways people spend their quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies every day.
From aerobatic boats to battle-ready robots to homemade fire tornados, the crew travels the country to uncover the most mind-blowing creations ever developed.
"Modern Marvels" cuts into the 100 billion dollar a year yard-tech industry; checking out high-tech gadgets and gizmos promising to keep grass beautiful and green.
Adam Richman visits the factory where the board game "Monopoly" is made; how "Masters of the Universe" action figures are making a comeback in a big way; how Mattel is using the latest technology to make new models of "Hot Wheels" come to life.
Adrenaline runs high when Adam Richman visits the factory where Yamaha makes ATVs, WaveRunners and more; an inside look at a company built to get people sky-high in paramotors; amusement park Diggerland USA; mech-suits; submarine built for two.
To see how people, products, and more move around America, Adam Richman explores how a legendary long-hauler meticulously custom-builds each truck at Daimler.
Adam Richman visits power tool manufacturing mecca Dewalt, where he discovers how they're using cutting-edge technology to make cutting-edge tools.
Adam Richman visits baking behemoth Entenmann's to see how they keep up with America's insatiable demand for delicious and dunkable chocolate chip cookies; Otis Spunkmeyer creates the cookies found at some of the biggest restaurant chains in America.
Adam Richman visits a central Pennsylvanian cheese maker with an award-winning mozzarella; inside grocery giant Kroger as they slice, shred and package over 2.5-million lbs. of cheese per week.
Adam Richman visits the legendary Turkey Hill Dairy to see how they make their famous frosty treat for the masses; sneak a peek into Dreyer's flavor development process.
Adam Richman visits America's oldest candy store to see how it crafts decadent chocolate treats; how Theo Chocolate produces up to 2.5-million pounds of chocolate per year.
Adam Richman gets to see how Wise produces over 50 million bags of sweet and salty snacks per month; how Jack Links is changing the jerky game.
Adam Richman travels through time; with special security clearance to a U.S. Army lab, Adam gets a glimpse into the cutting-edge food research that's taking a quantum leap into the future.
A behind--the-scenes look at how Jelly Belly creates delicious jellybeans in every flavor; then Adam Richman explores kitchen innovator Blue Apron's 495,000 square foot facility.
Racing the top 10 fastest marvels featured.
Top ten machines are counted down.
Top 10 amazing weapons.
Counting down the top ten machines that lift, pull, hold and haul.
A countdown of the ten most fascinating occupations, from the daffy to the dangerous to the downright creepy.
A gooey slime that could be a terrorist's worst nightmare; an exacting art form requiring the help of millions of ravenous beetles; a devise so strange and destructive that its inventor allegedly destroyed it to avert a catastrophe.
A countdown of the top gizmos and gadgets featured on "Modern Marvels," from golden oldies to newfangled thingamabobs, including an electronic doodad that was once considered a threat to national security.
A Michigan company designs water bottles; the makers of bubble wrap share their secrets; workers conquer the challenge of packaging the world's largest crane; America's military goods and supplies are packaged.
High-flying workers who depend on rope to do their jobs safely; how window washers, rock climbers and bungee jumpers safely use ropes; dockworkers who rely on ropes around the clock; industrial chain links.
Brad Paisley and his crew of truckers on the road between Little Rock and Tulsa; the Ford F-150 tackles a devilish test course; the world's most nimble tow truck extracts a car from the tightest parking spot imaginable; Mack truck fanatic.
A computer-managed home in Colorado showcases the high tech gadgetry destined to inhabit every wall in the future; a network of walls with cutouts and Plexiglas windows reveal how pests and creepy crawlies of all kinds can congregate.
A pilot who builds his own jet-powered glider; canoe makers in Montana; a knife maker in Washington; craftsmen keep alive the ancient art of weapon making; Skulls International in Oklahoma City; handmade special effects.
The assembly and surprising history behind the airboat; a wild ride on a big-tired swamp buggy; local delicacies that bring new meaning to acquired taste; a massive engineering project to divert the mighty Mississippi River; pythons and alligators.
Items carried in people's pockets.
Mobile eateries with surprising innovations.
Some machines built for sheer spectacle.
Chocolate-covered bacon; red and white Starlight Mints; the key ingredient that gives Lemonheads their sour punch; the surprising substance that puts the polish on Mike and Ikes; the amount of sugar in cotton candy.
Challenges faced by modern U.S. soldiers.
People have spent centuries battling foul odors, including those that arise from cesspools, rotting meat, landfills, stink bombs, cow farms, and bad breath.
Hundreds of years before steel and plastic, wood was the building block of America.
The science of convenience stores gets customers in and out quickly by design.
Small weapons can have a big impact on the battlefield.
Pressure in every aspect of life.
The humble beginnings of shoes. From leather moccasins to footwear that can withstand all the elements.
From brutal winters to bug-infested summers, survival in the unforgiving landscape of Alaska requires an array of technological innovations and creative solutions.
Thousands of tons of dirt transform a stadium into a Supercross course in Las Vegas; special mud helps pros grip baseballs; mud wrestling in Hawaii; adobe and rammed-earth homes; potting soil facility in California.
Each year in the U.S., 280 million hens lay 80 billion eggs, one of the world's most affordable sources of protein; charting an egg's journey from the henhouse to the breakfast table; how powdered eggs are manufactured.
The versatile and nutritious potato; the potato's mysterious origins in South America's Andes; potato knishes in New York City; farming exotic potatoes in Maine; large-scale potato production in Iowa and Pennsylvania.
The story of tuna, the most popular fish in the American diet; fishing and canning operations; a single tuna can net as much as $100,000 in the world's largest fish market in Tokyo; efforts to save the giant bluefin tuna tuna from overfishing.
The technology behind the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games, including the bobsled run, ski jump and speedskating.
Chrome hot rod; the Chrome Shop Mafia adds "bling" to truckers' big rigs in Missouri; Illinois' Arlington Plating Co. adds luster to auto parts; how Harley-Davidson puts chrome to work as both a decorative and protective feature of motorcycles.
Beans; converting soybeans into vegetable oils, flour and soy meal; Nebraska's Kelley Bean Co. cleans 80,000 pounds of dry beans daily; New England baked beans made by B&M; Italian chef Cesare Casella uses heirloom beans; hummus.
Hot and spicy items; Tabasco sauce made by McIlhenny Co. in Louisiana; McCormick & Co. spices from Baltimore; chili cook-off; capsaicin gives peppers tongue-burning heat; Michael Jordan's SolToro Tequila Grill in Connecticut.
The complex logistics behind creating feasts for huge crowds; dining aboard a U.S. Navy sub packed with enough food for a 120-day mission; cooks prepare a "Victory Meal" for 1,000 Marines; feeding 69,000 NFL fans during a Philadelphia Eagles game.
Fairgrounds fried classics such as funnel cakes and churros; frog legs; Twinkies and Coke; forging a cast iron frying pan; Kentucky's World Chicken Festival.
The history of soft drinks; the production process at Dr. Pepper, the world's third-largest soft-drink supplier; the Gatorade sports drink; energy drinks; the roots of ginger ale and root beer.
Delivering everything from pizza to packages; how UPS transported China's ancient terra cotta warriors to a museum in Los Angeles; a submersible carrier ship delivers yachts; racehorses ride a special jet; New York City bicycle messengers.
The largest, strongest and most unique ships; an oceanography research vessel that can flip a full 90 degrees; one of the world's largest cruise ships; the U.S. Navy's newest and most advanced transport ship; green tugboat; fastest car ferry.
Testing the breaking points of vehicles and crash test dummies; firing rounds at bulletproof glass; breaching a safe; the breaking points of steel and concrete.
How padlocks and combination locks are made; biometric locks; cracking open a bank vault; how the government plans to keep people away from a nuclear waste site for the next 10,000 years.
Steam power; Jay Leno fires up two steam cars and an 11-ton steam tractor built in 1860; coal-burning boiler; century-old steam locomotive; paddlewheel steamboat.
Entries and exits; world's tallest doors at the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center; a company that makes blast doors and bulletproof doors; fabricating doors for homes.
Visiting the U.S. Library of Congress to explore the contents of secret vaults and see how the staff of 4,000 catalogs and preserves treasures.
The top 10 technological innovations of the last generation.
Supersized stores try to meet their challenge, keeping up with demand on a massive scale.
The biggest stacked burger in the world at almost 250 pounds; a plus-sized Sicilian pizza that feeds almost 75 people; a 72-ounce steak that no real cowboy can resist; the seven-pound hot dog that's too big for a bun; a giant cupcake.
The historic one-armed bandits; cutting edge, computerized slot machines; some of the wackiest vending machines; binoculars at popular tourist sites; a unique company that collects and cleans the coins thrown into fountains.
Dogs are fearless, faithful, determined, and swift, serving as hunters, soldiers, rescuers, and protectors; they are perfectly engineered marvels, combining natural instincts with complex training.
A look under the feet of Americans, from secret military installations and experimental farms to tunnel networks and neutron lasers.
Behind the wheel of some of the largest, fastest and most powerful machines on the planet.
Find out everything there is to know about growing, harvesting and milling rice.
Around the world, people consume billions of gallons of milk every day; a cow-milking parlor; pasteurization; a three-story milk evaporator; milking a yak; the world's largest butter churn; yogurt.
All life-forms and modern technology are built on a foundation of carbon; the steel industry; coal-fired power plants; graphite pencils; a charcoal water filter; diamonds.
Technologies of the 1990s: the information superhighway; DVDs; TiVo; GPS; Google; Amazon distribution center; virtual pets; George Foreman's grill.
How superhighways move millions of people every year; 20-lane project in Houston; China's 28,000-mile National Trunk Highway System; High-Five interchange in Dallas; the anatomy of a traffic jam.
Mechanical feats of strength by the world's most-powerful elevators, a monster mine machine, the world's strongest mountain bike, a space vehicle transporter and an unbeatable blender.
Ice traps a treasure of energy on the ocean floor and confounds scientists still trying to solve why it's so slippery.
A large factory-fishing boat hunts down, catches and processes 300 tons of Alaskan pollock each day in the Bering Sea; the crew reveals the inner workings of one of the most sophisticated and complex vessels afloat.
Tours of some of the world's finest whiskey distilleries demonstrate how different countries put their unique stamps on an ancient drink called the "water of life"; Jack Daniels; Jim Beam; Canadian Club; Jameson's; Glenlivet.
Different cultures' history, production and consumption of bread reveal its variety of forms, ranging from baguettes to pita, corn bread, and flour tortillas.
The evolution of gadgets; the latest trends for the future.
Rats are some of the most dangerous, destructive and useful animals on the planet; an exterminator comes face to face with the rodents; hundreds of thousands of rats are bred and raised in a a high-tech facility.
Each flip of an electric-light switch attests to the genius of Nikola Tesla, creator of the alternating current (AC) system; the Tesla coil; energy-efficient bulbs.
The history and technology behind the ax as a weapon and tool; lumberjack competition; battle-axes; Indian tomahawks; factory; collector.
The most dangerous snakes, sports, weather events; America's most dangerous volcano; tornado hazards; base jumping.
Pyroman the life-size mannequin is exposed to more than 1,000 degrees F; steel workers suit up to beat refinery heat; coffee makers and hair dryers malfunction at Underwriters Laboratories; a friction lab tests aircraft and race-car brakes.
The human body is host to a multitude of hidden secrets even after death; coroner; funeral home director; forensic anthropologist; engineers.
The history of ice cream ranging from the gelato of Italy and a 19th-century French process to today's frozen desserts; visiting Dreyer's, TCBY and Joy Cone Co. factories; Ben & Jerry's flavor innovations.
Bathroom technology; Kohler makes a digitally controlled shower complete with steam, music and LED chromatherapy; manufacturing sinks; "uncloggable" toilet; the engineering behind low-flow showers and toilets.
World-shaking crashes; efforts to make auto racing safer; the latest in motorcycle crash survival equipment; a sky diver survives falling 11,000 feet without a parachute; NASA's asteroid-tracking team; colliding subatomic particles.
Brief history of undergarments; the evolution from itchy woolen union suits to comfortable briefs and boxers; socks with special threads to prevent odor; fire retardant underwear; the bra industry.
Americans insert more than 3.5 million coins into vending machines every 15 minutes; how vending machines work; visiting a factory that produces high-tech vending machines; giant gumball machine.
The secrets of oil and the many products it has spawned; oil refinery in California; chemical weapons suits; making asphalt; blending jet fuel; Vaseline.
How wheat feeds the world; wheat becomes everything from bread to beer; a custom harvester follows ripening wheat fields from Texas to North Dakota; exporting wheat; grinding grain into flour; Widmer Brothers Brewery; Wheatware.
Traveling some of the world's most dangerous roads, including Bolivia's "Death Road," California's fog-shrouded Highway 99, the road to Baghdad's airport and Colorado's Million Dollar Highway; highway safety; off-road drivers.
Learning about various fungal organisms that live in the human body, grow from the ground, float in the air, and help create some foods and beverages; professional remediators battle millions of green invaders in a moldy home.
Mankind makes use of lead, a versatile but toxic metal, for 6,000 years; mining; car battery factory; specialists remove harmful lead objects from homes and businesses; lead makes crystal sparkle.
America's aging infrastructure is in danger of collapse due to corrosion, according to engineers; technology for battling corrosion; harnessing the destructive power of decomposition.
Examining how frequently experts in various disciplines can hit their targets, including archers, sharpshooters and even a billiards player; the ancient world's ballista and trebuchet weapons; knife thrower; Cirque du Soleil's daring artists.
The celebration of Halloween has become a $6 billion economic powerhouse; the annual Halloween Haunt at Knott's Berry Farm; the production of monster makeup, masks and costumes; carving pumpkins; making fake blood; haunted house.
A celebration of the horse, the animal that helped mankind change the world; the thoroughbred racing industry in Kentucky; how a Minnesota logging company uses real horsepower; a Colorado program pairs horses and prison inmates.
The turkey is the centerpiece of Thanksgiving dinners and one of the dumbest birds in the animal kingdom, but it has managed to survive since the dinosaurs; Butterball factory; turkey hunting; dining on turkey testicles and eggs.
Salt is a versatile substance with 14,000 known uses; visiting a salt mine under Lake Erie; an evaporation facility harvests ocean salt near San Francisco; a Florida restaurant offers 40 varieties of salt.
Americans visit car washes 2 million times per day at an annual cost of $25 billion; how car washes are built to clean, ranging from tunnel systems to in-bay automatics; visiting the biggest car wash facility in the United States.
The evolution of technology; how things now considered obsolete worked such as the typewriter, VCR, analog TV, vinyl record, film camera and brick-sized mobile phone, as well as products that superseded them.
Whether humans have the ability to possess superpowers; a man can strap on an exoskeleton and lift hundreds of pounds with little effort; Mr. Cyborg can control machines with his thoughts; flying like Superman.
How distance, time, speed, weight and temperature are measured; weighing a whale; how a speedometer works; the National Institute of Standards and Technology; measuring tapes made by Stanley Tools.
Some activities occur only when the world is dark; fishermen use lights to lure squid to their nets; finding night crawlers in Toronto; military night-vision gear; police helicopter's Spectrolab spotlight; baseball stadium.
The Wilson Sporting Goods football factory; Rawlings' Costa Rica baseball factory; the National Soccer Hall of Fame; the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
New technologies such as carbon sequestration and bioremediation combat environmental crises.
Packing and preserving food.
Nuclear bombs and microscopic anthrax spores can be weapons of mass destruction.
The forts, weapons and technology of barbarians.
Hoover Dam; Utah State University Water Research Laboratory hydraulics lab in Logan, Utah.
CV-22 Osprey; Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopter; the U.S. Military Sealift Command's large, medium-speed, roll-on/roll-off ship, or LMSR.
The U.S. Navy's diving and salvage programs; the USS Salvor's underwater remote-operated robots; bomb-locating minisub Alvin.
The history of welding and its modern applications.
Space travel technologies.
The sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald; the Buffalo Creek Dam disaster; the explosion of a supertanker in Los Angeles Harbor.
PONG; microprocessors; Texas Instruments; Mr. Coffee; the microwave oven; Polaroid.
Exploring the world's largest truck stops.
Using fertilizer to make crops and grass grow.
The ancient techniques, cutting-edge technologies and history of cheese.
The history and evolution of the saw.
A visit to a rolling mill where aluminum skins for jets are made; aluminum is used to make reflective mirrors for telescopes at NASA; the process of making aluminum foil; why aluminum baseball bats are better than wood.
Duct tape; transparent tape; flypaper; denture adhesive.
The chocolate making process.
Technology that offers sleepers a good night's sleep.
Giant-sized vacuums used in the Sept. 11th and Hurricane Katrina cleanup.
Trapping black bears with West Virginia Division of Natural Resources biologists; trapping and releasing feral cats left stranded in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
How batteries are made, what they power and what uses they may have in the future.
U.S. military fighter jets.
Freezer unit filled with 135 million pounds of ice cream; Alcor, where researchers keep cadavers on ice in hopes of future revival.
A look at the many uses of acid; the military harnesses acid to make explosives; at a sulfuric acid plant, acid takes the stain out of stainless steel and dissolves precious metals; the Heinz vinegar plant; acid-loving bacteria.
Tools and weapons that cut; razors; swords; lasers; plasma.
Inventions for holding off a global warming meltdown include giant solar energy towers, a rooftop wind turbine, a car that runs on air and a kite that tows a cargo ship.
Corn is the largest agricultural crop in the world, and it is used in more than 3,000 diverse items, ranging from food to the plastic wrap for packaging it.
Some say pigs are as smart as 3-year-old humans; turning pigs into bacon, ham, ribs and sausage; boar semen collection; the use of pig organs in medicine.
Geological history from the Stone Age to the Space Age; moon rocks provide clues to how planets were formed; quarrying marble and granite; blasting at a sand-and-gravel pit.
The electric shock comes in many forms, including lightning, stun guns, eels and the electric chair.
The history and production of cold cuts.
Cotton caused a civil war and jump-started the Industrial Revolution while becoming the world's most ubiquitous fabric; a chronicle of cotton's journey from dirt to shirt.
Debris causes workers to plunge 200 feet; Salton Sea; China's Sunjiawan coal mine.
Boxed chocolates as See's Candy; Schimpff's Confectionery; Jelly Belly; salt-water taffy pullers.
The past, present and future of insulation technology.
New and exciting gadgets of the 1980s.
The inventions of Ben Franklin.
Copper, uranium, chromium, lead, nickel and zinc.
The improvement of technology and how it has made engines more efficient.
Famous barbecue cook-offs; long-established barbecue restaurants.
Wind tunnel; flight simulators; mining machine; IMAX technology.
The agri-tech and genetic engineering behind nuts.
The Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway stretches from Boston to Florida.
The transfer, consumption and search for water.
The history and uses of copper.
Renewable energy sources.
The history and development of freight trains.
The evolution of the assembly line, which has produced billions of products, from toys to Boeing 747s, cheaply and quickly; Americans overcome prejudices toward blacks and women in factories during World War II; a family of auto assembly workers.
The history and uses of ink.
The Christian Brothers distillery; working moonshine still; Jade absinthe distillery.
The Foss Maritime tugboat; Spectra rope; diamond; polycarbonate plastic.
The F-14 Tomcat Sunset; host Terry Deitz.
The harvesting and cultivation of tobacco.
The supermarket has become one of the great success stories of modern retailing; bar coding and other technological advancements; the psychology of the supermarket, including the store layout, lighting, music and aromas.
Making breakfast on the USS John C. Stennis.
France's Moet vineyards and La Tour d'Argent.
High-tech harvesting.
BP's Texas City oil refinery's 2005 explosion; the 2001 crash of American Airlines flight 587; NASA's Skylab.
The benefits and perils of snow.
The Lipton tea plant; the 127-acre Charleston Tea Plantation in South Carolina; the history of tea.
Tree preparation at Rockefeller Center; holiday window decorations at Macy's and Herald Square; Yule Tree Farms.
The arch is one of the strongest and most versatile structures made by humans.
Giant, flame-breathing robots; floating fortress; diesel engine with 108,000 horsepower.
Butchers take carcasses of unsavory flesh and carve them into mouth-watering cuts.
Visionary George Washington Carver shares his knowledge with the world.
Hydroelectric power, refrigeration and air-conditioning technologies make life in desert communities comfortable.
Gladius; siegecraft; artillery; crossbows; gunpowder; firearms; cannons; poison gas; shrapnel shells; machine guns; firebombs; nuclear and hydrogen bombs; ICBMs; vehicles of transportation; biological and chemical agents; dirty bombs.
Edwards Air Force Base in California becomes the world's foremost center for aviation research.
Subterranean rooms help human beings to live comfortably.
Paint has quietly been one of humankind's most ingenious methods of defeating the elements.
Glues keep the material world together.
Civil War technology revolutionizes the way war is waged.
The World War II Allies produced an astonishing array of specialized equipment to stage the 1944 D-Day landings in France.
The construction and maintenance of the 17.4-mile Cape Cod Canal, which is navigated by an average of 20,000 vessels per year.
Thomas Alva Edison successfully files more than 1,000 patents.
Dredgers clear and deepen ports for vessels that carry megacontainers.
Technicians risk their lives in order to provide electric power and 21st-century communications.
The beverage coffee originates in Ethiopia more than 1,000 years ago.
The history of sugar; a sugar plantation on Maui; the technology used to create the sweetener.
The earliest known traces of brewing; brewers attempt to concoct a beer based on DNA found in a 2,700-year-old drinking vessel.
The inventions of Leonardo da Vinci.
Coca-Cola; Cadbury Schweppes; Krispy Kreme plant; the production of jerky and pork rinds at Oberto and Rudolph Foods.
Behind the scenes at the Magic Kingdom; its original designs; what makes each park function.
The Pacific Coast Highway winds from exclusive retreats in Malibu, Calif., to the wilds of Washington state.
Risk takers fight fire with fire.
Centcom in Doha, Qatar, represents everything a modern military command post can be.
Beavers, honeybees, birds, termites and spiders build their homes.
The use of technology is ever-present in the Bible.
The history of bathing and showering; how modern plumbing systems work; history of oral hygiene.
The transmission of forces from point to point through fluid opens the door for the Industrial Revolution.
Plane crashes plague the aviation industry and terrorize the public.
The Allies devise scientific and mechanical breakthroughs to thwart Hitler's Atlantic Wall and to make the D-Day invasion successful.
Rubber shapes modern industrial society.
Public water-supply systems supply 99 percent of the U.S. population.
Nuclear technology has uses in medicine, food preparation and radiation detection.
The 1969 flight of Apollo 11, which landed two American astronauts on the Moon, as seen through the eyes of the astronauts, mission controllers, engineers, and designers who made it happen.
World War I is the first lethal combination of Industrial Age technology and war on a large scale.
Oil tankers are the largest moving objects built by humans.
An underground subway system transforms the bustling metropolis of Athens, Greece, alleviating chronic traffic problems, meeting the needs of the 2004 Olympics and uncovering thousands of invaluable artifacts.
The X-1 jet breaks the sound barrier; the X-43 Scramjet flies at Mach 7; U-2 and SR-71 Cold War spy planes; flying Wing bombers; the new F/A Raptor.
Technology gives law enforcement the upper hand in modern pursuits.
Custom machines harvest each type of crop.
Data lines; power; plumbing; photovoltaics; conserving energy; painting; carpeting; moving furniture; lights.
Hydrogen use may one day replace the use of fossil fuels.
The Akashi Kaikyo Bridge's main span is 50 percent longer than that of the Golden Gate.
Big Brother tracks every aspect of our lives.
A toxic waste dump at Love Canal in Niagara Falls, N.Y.; software flaws render Patriot Missiles inaccurate; the collapse of 7 World Trade Center; the Cocoanut Grove nightclub fire in Boston.
Engineers learn from disaster to make modifications to increase the chances of survival aboard submarines.
Chicago flood; Alpine tunnel fires; riverboat boiler explosion; building collapse; plane crash.
Potato chips; candy bars; Twinkies; chocolates; pretzels; lollipops; cupcakes.
Transporting dynamite; movement and destruction of illegal drugs; transport of powerful fuel.
Old fishing community; monstrous factory trawler; deep-sea fish farms.
Potential for accidental nuclear-weapons launch; global warming; futuristic threats.
Asteroids; bioterrorism; cyberterrorist attacks; genetic engineering.
Medieval castles withstand both bloody assaults and the test of time.
The Trans-Siberian railroad provokes a war, crosses treacherous terrain, and encounters huge obstacles.
Booby traps continue to worry law enforcement.
One of the longest suspension bridges in the world connects the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan.
Trains capable of speeds of up to 190 miles per hour can be found throughout the world.
Congressional mandate creates the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to respond to the nation's engineering needs.
Watertight compartments and a steel-plated hull convince all that HMS Titanic would be unsinkable, but a collision with an iceberg proves the belief wrong.
A survey of torture devices employed throughout history, ranging from the ancient Greeks' Brazen Bull to the Spanish Inquisition's elaborate mechanisms.
Termites, mosquitos, rats, mice, ants and cockroaches have spread damage, disease and death for millions of years.
Hazardous-material shipment; trucks carrying classified government materials; Con-Air flight moves dangerous felons.
The controversial logging industry topples 4 billion trees annually in a world striving to protect nature while devouring it.
The development of jet technology and rocket fuel during World War II culminates in test pilot Chuck Yeager breaking the sound barrier on Oct. 10, 1947.
Technological advancements may eliminate the need for human drivers, possibly reducing the frequency of car accidents.
New technology is in the works to foil terrorism, including portable polygraph machines for airlines and ultrasensitive chemical and biological detectors.
Military planners move millions of soldiers and tons of cargo halfway around the world and into the thick of action.
Examining new technology conceived to counter terrorism and past attempts to thwart agents of destruction, including airport x-ray machines and World War I gas masks.
Targeting the historical trajectory of bullets, ranging from their origins in the 1300s as stones and lead balls to the "safe" and "smart" bullets of today.
Metal has helped shape human progress since man first thrust copper into a fire and forged a tool.
The history of the Columbia, the first space shuttle to fly outer space, ranging from its inception to its deadly destruction in January 2003.
The Overseas Highway contains 51 bridges, linking mainland Florida with the Florida Keys.
Perched on a ridge in the Peruvian Andes is the engineering marvel Machu Picchu, originally built by the Incas.
Precision-guided weapons become a flashpoint for war critics.
Two ribbons of concrete span the largest inland body of water in Louisiana, forming the world's longest automobile bridge.
Shipyards are waterside construction sites where some of the largest tools ever built help create the biggest machines on earth.
Jet truck; mobile command truck; building specialty trucks.
Football fans arrive early to participate in pre-game revelry.
Dreamers and schemers try an odd assortment of flawed ideas for inventions.
More than 100 pyramids built as tombs for pharaohs still stand in Egypt, but many things about the ancient monuments remain obscure.
Communists erect a 103-mile-long wall through and around Berlin in order to stop the flow of refugees to the West.
Super Soaker water gun; Lionel electric train; Erector Set; cap gun; Lincoln Logs; Matchbox Cars; G.I. Joe; LEGO bricks.
Secret Agent 007 has outrageous and creative gadgets.
Luxury toys function as status symbols.
Experts design materials that can catch gunfire.
Siege machines convert energy into mechanical force to breach barriers.
One man's trash can become another man's treasure.
The invention of the wheel impacts science, society, technology and commerce.
A visit to Russia's formerly secret training center for cosmonauts and what it's like to prepare for a space flight.
Technology for keeping cool lags far behind that of keeping warm.
During the 1960s and 1970s, auto-manufacturers compete to create high-performance cars.
While blade implements have been in use since the Paleolithic Age, the discovery of metallurgy allows people to forge stronger, more versatile blade implements, including axes, swords and knives; an axe-throwing contest in Wisconsin; a sword fighter.
Excavators; machines lug NASA rockets to the launch pad; cruise ship; machine to create a fusion reaction.
Dragsters hit top speeds above 330 mph racing down straightaways.
Los Alamos scientists and engineers build the ultimate weapon of war in the interest of peace.
Hunting technology evolves from the primitive to the digital.
Physical-fitness programs affect the health of the society.
Sun-screens; surfboards; the boardwalk; coolers; hibachis; dune buggies; wave runners.
Without gasoline, modern life would grind to a halt.
Tugboats; roller-coasters; funicular railroads; flat-bed truck; 747.
The art deco Chrysler Building stands out in the New York skyline.
Aphrodisiacs; cybersex; contraception devices; erotic devices.
The best in James Bond-style gadgetry.
To many, motorcycles symbolize freedom.
Limousines have been stretched to greater and greater lengths.
The convertible transforms the driving experience.
DVD; CD; PDA; HDTV; PVR.
The world of 1950s concept cars.
Airport runways play a vital role as the backbone of aviation.
From outhouse to smart house, life improves drastically in the last 150 years.
After an oxygen tank explodes, scientists and engineers race against time to save the crew of crippled spacecraft Apollo 13; the mission, which nearly ended in tragedy, becomes a resounding success and exemplifies NASA's finest hour.
Humans adapt to potentially deadly environmental conditions.
The Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel stretch 17 miles.
Monster trucks entertain using brute force.
The Pharos of Alexandria was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
The Pentagon is the largest office-building in the world.
From colossal devices designed to save the world to mind-expanding, world-shrinking machines, tracing the evolution of mice and menus; learning about the world's most powerful computer that operates at 12-trillion calculations a second.
The leaning Tower of Pisa; nuclear accident in 1961 Idaho; Soyuz 11; the Air Force's Texas Tower Radar Station; Mars Climate Orbiter and Mars Polar Lander.
The history and technology of chemical and biological weapons.
A daring band of infantry soldiers uncovers secret enemy arms and intelligence caches.
Saloons; speakeasies; modern bars.
Earthmoving equipment; dredging equipment; space equipment.
The self-propelled Crusader launches artillery shells farther than 33 miles.
Some nuclear submarines carry more firepower than all of the bombs dropped in history.
The U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., trains students in the art of war.
Without rock, modern society wouldn't exist.
Miners dig for rough diamonds half a mile deep.
In the constant struggle to hold off ever more potent forms of attack, bunkers function in a variety of forms.
A history of car-culture commerce.
Stories of those who believed in dreams and defied the commonplace with their extraordinary creations; covering some of the world's architectural and engineering structures, scientific inventions, and social wonders.
Engineers and astronauts overcome monumental obstacles to allow humans to live in space.
Bridges play a key role in the human quest to connect and unify.
The philosophy, architecture of today's U.S. prisons emerge from those of history.
Technology transforms many aspects of police work.
A review of fast, high-octane vehicles shows the evolution of the sports car.
An abundance of vehicles must be managed and regulated.
Mined from the earth and panned from streams, gold serves as a symbol of power, wealth and love.
For centuries, banks enable the creation of wealth; a chronicle of banking, from its early European origins to e-banking; modern technology revolutionizes the way banks do business.
Trucks transport a staggering 70 percent of all the nation's goods; looking at the amazingly diverse world of American trucks and the colorful men and women who drive them.
Egypt harnesses the Nile.
When finally completed, China's Three Gorges Dam will tower 607 feet in the air and weigh more than forty Great Pyramids; along with China's Great Wall, it will constitute of the two man-made objects visible from the moon.
France builds a defensive string of forts between itself and Germany.
Video games are one of today's dominant entertainment media.
A 2000 Ford Taurus gets dissected to demonstrate the evolution of the automobile's major systems.
The Isthmus of Suez is the gateway to trade between East and West.
The world's first underground railway holds London together.
Today's warriors train for the battlefields of tomorrow.
Everyday items directly descend from wartime innovations.
Parks play an important role in city life.
Espionage technology of the Cold War.
Medics, nurses struggle to keep pace with the advances of war.
Advancements in rescue technology, including the Jaws of Life and a Searchcam system that locates buried victims.
Development of jet-powered aircraft.
The Harley-Davidson motor company rebounds from the brink of bankruptcy.
Most life depends upon salt.
Exploring the ocean floor using old and new technology and examining revolutionary biological and geological discoveries.
Dynamite blasts out the natural resources that have built our modern world.
Engineers learn how to locate and extract oil and gas while faced with high winds and mountainous waves.
A 700-foot high dam was Herbert Hoover's solution to the unemployment resulting from the Great Depression.
Ballpark designs have mirrored the times during which they were built.
Bridges reveal much about the history of New York City.
Product testers improve product safety and performance.
Parachutes have influenced warfare and leisure.
Power tools become quieter, lighter and more powerful.
Emergency room medicine has been a recognized specialty since 1989.
Primitive humans make tools; computer-designed, high-tech hand tools.
Attempts to create modern marvels collapse.
The gaming industry evolves into a high-tech, multi-billion-dollar industry.
For 50 years, Las Vegas has boasted some of the largest and most outrageous hotels in the world.
From ancient solutions to the development of modern water and sewer services, plumbing helped to make civilization possible.
Helicopters, first theorized by Leonardo da Vinci and Thomas Edison, have proven their worth in a wide array of uses.
Scientists fear that evolving strains of bacteria will end the miracle of antibiotics.
Technological advances in athletic equipment.
Advances in prosthetics improve quality of life.
Meteorology; early observations; thermometers; barometers; Doppler radar; satellite imaging.
Capturing and transmitting music; Edison phonograph; digital sound.
History of postal service.
Visionaries enlarge, reinforce and motorize balloons and blimps, giving birth to the airship; 161 rigid airships are built before spectacular crashes, including the Hindenburg disaster, put an end to the era.
Skyscrapers; Empire State Building; Sears Tower; World Trade Center.
Examines what happens when engineers get their calculations wrong.
Documentary traces the technological race to build satellites.
Larry King and Casey Kasem explore the history of radio.
Constructing the Seattle Space Needle, the Canadian CN Tower and the Stratosphere in Las Vegas.
Labor-saving inventions and the kitchen of tomorrow.
Development of radar and World War II; stealth technology; Doppler imaging and meteorology.
The history of crime detection, from the Sherlock Holmes-style examination of physical evidence to today's DNA testing.
Jonas Salk is catapulted to fame after discovering the vaccine to prevent poliomyelitis, a disease that had disabled and killed thousands.
The Alaska pipeline carries crude oil 800 miles across the state.
For over a century, the U.S. steel industry is a powerful symbol of the nation's industrial might; steel transforms a country of farmers and merchants into a nation of builders, then U.S. domination of the market meets new challenges in the 1970s.
The intrigue, politics, financial disaster, heartbreak and hope that went into the construction of the Statue of Liberty, France's gift to the United States.
Often taken for granted, the story of the space shuttle is one of builders and pilots overcoming constant challenges.
A glittering desert oasis, Las Vegas is a mecca for dreamers.
The Tennessee Valley Authority harnessed the power of the Tennessee River.
The Comstock Lode ensures statehood for Nevada.
Built in 1931 on the Columbia River, the Grand Coulee Dam is one of the world's largest hydroelectric plants.
An unstable shoreline and wild San Francisco Bay challenge the engineers of the Golden Gate Bridge.
The oil industry in the United States begins in 1853 Pennsylvania.
During the 19th century, transcontinental railroads link California to the East.
In one of the greatest building achievements in American history, East and West were joined by railroads.
Under the supervision of sculptor Gutzon Borglum, miners and quarrymen carve the faces of four U.S. presidents into the Black Hills of South Dakota, paying tribute to the first 150 years of American history.
Luxurious ocean liners rival world-class land resorts.
The Panama Canal, the world's largest and costliest engineering feat, opened up trade and changed the world.
The story of our executive mansion begins with its construction, and continues as the White House is burned by the British, and renovated by various First Families. Find out which president installed the famous balcony, and which one put in the swimming pool.
Gothic cathedrals; Notre Dame; Chartres; National Cathedral in Washington.
Gustave Eiffel designs a tower for the 1887 Paris World's Fair.
During the Depression the Empire State Building is completed four months ahead of schedule.
From igloos to African mud huts, the sports stadium continues an ancient tradition of domed shelters.
Tunnels, whether underwater, blasted through solid rock or negotiating the shifting strata of the Earth's unstable crust, represent a remarkable feat of engineering.
American roads: from pre-World War II highways to the interstate system.
Built with the pioneering use of steel-wire support cables, the Brooklyn Bridge became an instant symbol of American pride.
The history of one of Thomas Edison's first inventions, the phonograph; rare photographs and recordings document Edison's race against Alexander Graham Bell.
Thomas Edison announces plans for the central lighting of New York before an electrical system exists or electric light is invented.
Rare film from the Edison Studios marks the invention of the motion picture.
Alexander Graham Bell races Elisha Gray to patent the telephone.
In our century, the computer has evolved from a crude punch-card tabulating machine into a lightning-fast worldwide information grid.
Photographic pioneers; Joseph Niepce; Louis Daguerre; William Talbot; George Eastman.
After more than two millennia, the pyramids continue to inspire architects.
Advances in technology allow designers of roller coasters to test the limits of the human body.
Film footage and accounts from experts help describe some of astronomy's most astounding discoveries.
Historians, engineers and military experts examine the Great Wall of China.