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00:01Around the world, the race to win wars and explore the universe
00:05has created some of the most incredible products ever designed.
00:08And we use them every day, unaware of their amazing origins.
00:13On incredible inventions.
00:15Fire-resistant clothing.
00:17If it weren't for NASA, today's firefighters may not be as safe.
00:24Camouflage.
00:25Hiding in plain sight that only saves lives on the battlefield,
00:28it's now a fashion statement.
00:31Rope.
00:32Just how has this basic piece of gear become a military essential?
00:37We reveal the amazing history and engineering behind these incredible inventions.
00:58It's one of the world's most dangerous jobs.
01:04Firefighters risk their lives every day.
01:07Brave.
01:08Yes.
01:09Extremely well-trained.
01:10Yes.
01:11Fireproof.
01:12Well, they have NASA to thank for that.
01:14It's through NASA's flame-resistant technology that allows them to maneuver through a blazing fire.
01:20On January 27, 1967, a flash fire erupts inside the Apollo 1 Command Module during a launch pad test, killing all three astronauts inside.
01:30In the aftermath of the tragedy, NASA is determined to minimize the chance of a similar accident happening again.
01:38After the fire in 1967, NASA redesigned the space capsule so that there was less flammable material.
01:45But where material couldn't be avoided that might be flammable, they encased it in polybenzimidazole, which was a polymer they used.
01:52And that was then later, the technology that they had developed for that was used by firefighters.
01:58And it became a part of the firefighting clothing in the US.
02:03Since then, it's moved on to further polymers like Kevlar, Nomex and Teflon.
02:09And that blend of polymers has also been used in spacecraft to coat wires and allow them to be less flammable in a very small confined space.
02:19Polybenzimidazole fibers, also known as PBI, are developed by the US Air Force in the 1950s.
02:26Later, NASA adapts this technology for use in their vessels and spacesuits.
02:31But what makes it such an important material?
02:33The reason that the polybenzimidazoles work so well is that when exposed to fire, one of the main things they didn't do is they didn't melt, and they didn't lose its strength.
02:42Because it's a very long chain molecule, and long chain molecules, rather than nature, entangle themselves a bit with each other.
02:48Which means it's actually quite hard for them to melt.
02:50So it basically didn't burn and change properties during the presence of fire, which means you could use it as clothing.
02:56Throughout the 1970s and 80s, PBI is vital to the US space program.
03:02And by 1977, the technology is incorporated into firefighting clothing, where it still remains an important fire-resistant material today.
03:14Since the 1960s, the private Danish company Viking produces a wide range of fire-resistant safety equipment used by emergency services across the world.
03:23First, the suit is designed using computer software.
03:27The design is then sent to an automatic cutting machine.
03:32Loaded up with multiple rolls of material, the cutting machine is ready to begin production.
03:37The Viking Fire Suit Guardian is a quite unique suit.
03:42The suit is designed in cooperation with Gothenburg Fire Brigade in Sweden.
03:47The suit itself protects, of course, against heat and flame, which is the main purpose of the suit.
03:53The design is that you actually can remove the outer shell while wearing the suit.
03:59This enables the firefighter to remove the outer shell when he finishes his task, and the outer shell is contaminated with particles.
04:08Then the outer shell can be removed while wearing the suit.
04:12It can be placed in a laundry bag.
04:15At the same time, we are not contaminating the trucks, the fire trucks, and the fire stations.
04:20Multiple layers of different materials are then stretched out, so the automated CNC machine can start laying markers for cutting.
04:29Once all the materials are layered, the cutting machine takes over.
04:32First, by making all the relevant holes, and then by cutting out the desired shapes of material.
04:38This includes all the pockets and any special features that have been sent to the machine by the suit's designers.
04:43The cuts are then gathered and packed, so they can be taken for sewing and seam sealing.
04:50The PBI fiber is used in an advanced layer and membrane combination, which protects the firefighter from a wide range of hazards and harmful chemicals.
05:00Even when the outer shell is removed, this advanced barrier still provides protection.
05:05Using a hot air welding machine, a worker fuses a continuous seam into the jacket.
05:10In addition to making the suit waterproof, this measure also protects against dangerous substances, such as chemicals, biological fluids, and petroleum products.
05:19To ensure the suit is waterproof, strips of the garment have to go through regular pressure testing.
05:25This uses a hydrostatic testing machine, where the membrane is exposed to a high-pressure column of water.
05:32If the garment remains waterproof under high pressure, the material passes this test and production can resume.
05:39Further testing is required for the main outer layer of the suit.
05:44The fabric is tested using a seam strength machine, requiring a tensile strength of 6,000 pounds force per square inch to meet international standards.
05:53Following the successful completion of these tests, the production of these suits can be completed.
05:58A key feature on the design is the removable outer layer to help with comfort and reduce the risk of contamination after exposure to hazardous environments.
06:08The company manufactures a variety of specialist designs for use on oil rigs out at sea, or for firefighters tackling blazes on our streets.
06:17It takes Viking up to eight hours to produce just one suit, making sure their product is as safe as possible.
06:23The fire protective garment actually gives a high level of protection.
06:28The suit itself is designed to protect a firefighter in extreme exposure, which means a full flashover.
06:35This means that the firefighter will be exposed completely to fires.
06:40Put into terms exactly, the suit protects you up to 1,000 degrees C for approximately eight seconds, where we assure that the firefighter will not get harmed.
06:53We also have tested the suit can withstand up to 250 degrees C for approximately five minutes, also without any harm for the firefighters.
07:05Made in Denmark and used all over the world in the most hazardous of environments, fire-resistant clothing is truly an incredible invention.
07:14From standing in flames of fire to hiding in plain sight, we look at camouflage next on Incredible Inventions.
07:23Originally, camouflage was nature's way to give protection to the hunted or allow a predator to stalk its prey.
07:42Now camouflage has many more uses, including fashion trends.
07:46This most recognizable pattern may have appeared via the armed forces, but it hasn't always been used by the military.
07:53If you look before the 20th century, military uniforms were incredibly bright.
07:57They were full of blue and gold and red and white.
08:00And that really represented that kind of visual theater aspect of the Napoleonic Wars.
08:07And when we think about the emergence of camouflage in the 20th century, it's quite a sobering reminder of the way in which warfare changed.
08:14So at this point, the men needed to be really well concealed.
08:19You think of trench warfare, you need to blend in and be as inconspicuous as possible.
08:24And that's where we see camouflage really coming into its own, these shades of khaki that were made to blend into the landscape.
08:32Introduced to the British Army in India in 1848, khaki is one of the earliest attempts at creating a standardized type of camouflage uniform.
08:41From the Urdu word for soil-covered, khaki dress is the first step towards developing effective camouflage for a specific environment.
08:49In Arctic conditions, you want something that is white, possibly greys, maybe a little bit of beige-y color in it, depending on the conditions.
08:59For night operations, in people wear balaclava helmets, they black themselves out.
09:05It breaks up the outline, and it doesn't necessarily make it impossible to see that the person is there.
09:13But it is preventing the enemy making a correct analysis of what you're doing or where you are or what you are.
09:21So you can start fooling the enemy by adopting the perfect clothing.
09:27In addition to adopting a color to help you blend into your surroundings, artists are called on to design patterns that could break up shapes and fool the observer.
09:36During World War I, the French named their military artisans, camouflage, which is believed to come from the Parisian slang term meaning to disguise, and gives the world a name for this military trickery, camouflage.
09:52It's not just soldiers' uniforms that undergo the camouflage treatment.
09:56If you have a battleship, or a tank, or otherwise, and the painted colors are different than the actual shape of the tank, so you don't paint the tank all in green.
10:06You paint it in a mixture of colors, of greens and browns and light browns, depending on the terrain that's going to be around.
10:12That fools the eye, which is who it's intended to fool, into thinking it's not quite the shape of a tank, or not quite the shape of the battleship, which might be in blues and grays, and depending on the weather it's going to be in maybe little darker colors.
10:25They're all designed to fool the eye and make it harder to target and harder to spot.
10:29While it's clear science exists behind the design of camouflage, there's also a fair degree of artistic license.
10:35This may explain the attempts to hide great warships by painting them with bold patterns.
10:40In the First World War, they had a thing called Dazzle for disguising ships, which was geometrical designs, very, very prominent, bright, black and white designs painted on a ship.
10:52And you'd have thought, well, that makes it absolutely obvious that it's a ship in the middle of the sea.
10:57But what it did was make it very, very difficult for a submarine, in the short period of time it had to use its periscope, to work out which way you were going.
11:09And I've seen an experiment done that convinced people that a boat was proceeding at right angles to its true course, simply because of the way in which these stripes work on the thing.
11:21So it's not necessarily a concealment, it is a trick.
11:25A fashion statement or a disguise essential to survival, camouflage has worked itself into all walks of society.
11:32And for that reason, it is truly an incredible invention.
11:37Coming up, we take a look at some optical illusions which confuse our intrepid tester.
11:44It's not just camouflage that can confuse your vision.
12:00Here are a few tests that can cheat your eyes and trick your brain.
12:04To make this work, you might need to move closer to your television.
12:08To begin, let's find your blind spot.
12:11On the screen, you can see a cross and a dot moving towards it.
12:15Close your right eye.
12:17With your left eye, look at the cross.
12:20You should see the red dot in your peripheral vision.
12:23Keep looking at the cross with your left eye.
12:26The red dot will move from left to right,
12:29and disappear and reappear as it moves into and out of your blind spot.
12:33Amazing, but how does it work?
12:36At the back of your eye lies the retina, which contains lots of photoreceptors that detect light
12:41and convert it into electrical impulses that are fed to your brain via the optic nerve.
12:46Your blind spot is the area on the retina where the optic nerve exits the eye.
12:51This area does not contain photoreceptors, so any light that hits this part cannot be detected.
12:57And so, the red dot disappears.
13:00Seeing is believing? Maybe not.
13:03What about the eye playing tricks on the brain?
13:06Look at these four colored boxes.
13:09Cover your right eye.
13:10And with the left, focus on the white dot in the middle for about 10 seconds.
13:15Now, shift your focus to the empty white space.
13:29Do you see an image?
13:30You should see the boxes again, but in different colors.
13:33This is because our retinas have three types of color receptor,
13:36which are most sensitive to either red, blue, or green.
13:40When you stare at a particular color for too long, these receptors get tired.
13:45When you then look at the white background, the receptors that are tired do not work as well.
13:50Therefore, the information from all the different color receptors is not in balance,
13:55and you see what is known as a color after image.
13:58So, there you go, Mr. Tester.
14:00Seeing is not always believing.
14:06From the trireme of ancient Greece, to the men of war of the Napoleonic era,
14:10through to the high-tech warships of today,
14:12there's been one key naval component used throughout the history of sea craft.
14:17Rope.
14:18So, the military have long made use of ropes.
14:20They're an extremely useful, hard-wearing tool.
14:23So, the military have used them to rig equipment,
14:27to use when they are navigating different terrains,
14:31so for climbing or abseiling.
14:33They use them as tow lines.
14:35And, obviously, one use that other people might know of today
14:39that aren't in the military is using ropes for military training,
14:42so constructing these very elaborate rope military obstacle courses.
14:47Though it may seem like a simple invention,
14:49rope's use is not confined to military applications
14:52and has been a vital part of civilization for thousands of years.
14:56Our first fossilized fragments of ropes have been found to date back about 17,000 years,
15:02which means that the usage of ropes and knotting
15:05predates even the use of the axe or the wheel, for example.
15:08Probably in sort of the prehistoric era,
15:11ropes were used for hunting already,
15:14for building shelters, sort of very early tent-like structures,
15:19used for rigging, pulling things, harnessing animals,
15:23tying up people for whatever purpose.
15:26So, there really was a huge amount of things that the ropes have been used for
15:30for a very, very long time.
15:32It's probably one of our most primitive tools.
15:34So, why is rope such a fantastic tool?
15:37Its greatest property is the large amount of tensile strength they can cope with.
15:43The reason for this is all down to the rope's construction.
15:46When a rope is built, you take a series of strands of cord or whatever fiber you have,
15:54and you start to intertwine with one another.
15:56This intertwining helps each of the rope's cords to pull against each other.
16:01And this pulling against each other strengthens the rope,
16:04because then you're not relying on one specific strand of cord to relieve all the tension.
16:10You can allow the tension to be distributed evenly amongst all the cords.
16:14For a lot of natural fibers, the twisting action of twisting the rope allows them to coil in a specific way.
16:20Hemp, for example, if it's twisted to the right, produces a much stronger material,
16:24because you're taking into account the natural molecular structure or fiber structure of hemp,
16:29and allowing it to interleave and be much closer, much more tightly packed.
16:33This again allows the rope to have much better strength.
16:37Lifting weights, suspending bridges, or rigging a warship, rope is truly an incredible invention.
16:43So, just how is rope made? We find out after the break.
17:00The town of Hailsham in the UK has had a long history of rope making, going back hundreds of years.
17:05Marlowe Rope has been established here since 1807, making all kinds of rope for the military, industrial, and marine sectors.
17:12One of the most popular ropes in the world is made with a fiber called Dyneema.
17:18Dyneema rope is much stronger and safer than the equivalent steel rope,
17:22and it is now the rope of choice among many industries.
17:25The manufacture of this amazing rope requires 17 rolls of Dyneema,
17:30which are placed onto a frame, with the ends of the yarn being run into a machine.
17:34It is twisted together to create a single larger yarn,
17:38which will be the right size for braiding the new core of the finished rope.
17:42The finished rolls of twisted yarns are then wound onto bobbins,
17:46which will be loaded into the braiding machine.
17:48This giant machine weaves a thread from 12 bobbins into a single core.
17:54The type of core is determined by a computer,
18:02which can be set to produce a multitude of different rope specifications depending on its task.
18:08The new braided core is then taken to the coating line,
18:11where it is pulled through a tank of polyurethane liquid,
18:14and then through a tight knot that removes any excess liquid.
18:17The polyurethane binds the fibers together, improves abrasion resistance, utility, and gives the rope a color.
18:29Once complete, the line is hung up to dry.
18:33Next is the strengthening process.
18:36At a controlled tension, this coated core will be heated in an oven and gently stretched,
18:41which will improve its strength and reduce stretch when in use.
18:49Here we can see two cores, which show a before and after,
18:53with the core on the right that has been heated and stretched.
18:57The fabrication of covering yarn is the next stage.
19:00This is done by using a ring twisting machine,
19:03where fabrics such as polyester and technora run from a creel and into the ring twister.
19:09This combines into a single yarn, which can be a multitude of different colors.
19:14This is moved onto a machine, which winds the cover yarn onto braiding bobbins,
19:19so it can move onto the final step.
19:21The braiding machine is loaded with up to 24 different bobbins of cover yarn.
19:26Each yarn has been placed and attached by hand, cutting away any excess.
19:31The core that was made earlier is fed through the machine,
19:34and the top threads of the cover yarn are attached.
19:37The core and the cover yarn are braided together, completing the manufacturing process.
19:42The finished rope can then be reeled and packaged, ready for dispatch or spliced into smaller lines and made into accessories.
19:52Samples of the finished product are then tested.
19:55Here we see a cut of rope that has been attached to a 33-ton tensile machine.
20:00The rope finally gives way at just over an impressive 14 tons.
20:07Dyneema rope is now found all over the world.
20:11But it doesn't end there.
20:12The rope is also being used on the NASA spacecraft Cassini,
20:15which is on its way to orbit the moons of Saturn over a billion miles away from Earth.
20:20Rope, truly an incredible invention.
20:23So there you have it.
20:25A glance through the hidden history and super science of some amazing products that you use every day.
20:30Fire resistant clothing, camouflage, and rope.
20:36They may seem common and ordinary.
20:38However, these products help change the world one incredible invention at a time.
20:43We will all tend to make your own claims more and more.