Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:01Around the world, the race to win wars and explore the universe
00:05has created some of the most incredible products ever designed.
00:08We use them every day, unaware of their amazing origins.
00:13On incredible inventions,
00:15tracked vehicles, how the tank track revolutionized both war and agriculture.
00:24The microwave, how a technology developed during World War II led to this kitchen wonder.
00:30Anesthetic machines.
00:32How does this modern equipment become the culmination of the quest to find pain relief?
00:37We reveal the amazing history and engineering behind these incredible inventions.
01:00The tank, it's no secret that it revolutionized warfare in the 20th century.
01:06Mobile, rugged and possessing immense firepower,
01:09the secret to the tank's effectiveness is the tracks on which they run.
01:13While the inventor of this ingenious continuous track system has been hotly debated,
01:17one of the first truly successful examples actually started life in the more sedate world of agriculture.
01:23In Grantham, in the early 20th century, a firm called Hornsby invented the caterpillar track to make a track vehicle.
01:34In effect, what you have is a vehicle that runs on wheels, and you wrap the road around the wheels.
01:42So as the vehicle proceeds, it puts down its own road, goes across it, picks it up, and goes on laying it down in front.
01:53This caterpillar track can adapt to a wide variety of terrain surfaces and obstacles,
01:58with the tread providing grip while the load of the vehicle is spread across a large area, preventing it from getting bogged down.
02:05During the First World War, machine gun fire and boggy terrain prevents effective troop movement.
02:12So it is no wonder the British view a track vehicle as an answer to breaking the stalemate of the war to end all wars.
02:19A man called Ernest Swinton proposed that an armored vehicle should be made with appropriate caterpillar tracks to get across the countryside.
02:32And the man who really took it up was Winston Churchill.
02:36He established a committee to examine the idea.
02:39And the first of the prototypes was built in Lincoln.
02:44It was called Little Willie.
02:46And you had this thumping great engine, this great big tin box.
02:51No one could really see out of it.
02:53You were looking out of a little slot, trying to work out where you were.
02:56The guns were mounted on the side of it because the track went clean around the outside of the vehicle and you had nowhere to put a gun.
03:06Oh, it was a miserable thing.
03:08But it was very effective.
03:12From these humble beginnings, tanks go on to dominate the battlefields of the 20th century.
03:17And the effectiveness of tracks has found its way into use with civilian vehicles.
03:24From farm to war, tank to tractor, continuous tracks are truly an incredible invention.
03:32The tracked vehicle has come a long way since their invention at the turn of the 20th century.
03:37An AGCO's Challenger MT-765E is the latest type of tracked agricultural vehicle.
03:43When it entered production in 1986, the Challenger was the world's first rubber tracked agricultural tractor
03:49and is now manufactured at AGCO's Jackson, Minnesota facility.
03:54Building the Challenger requires multiple tasks and parts being assembled simultaneously
04:00and then brought together on the final assembly line to create a finished vehicle.
04:05This process can be broken down into three main assembly lines.
04:09The MTS or mobile track system, the cab and then the main line where the parts are built off the powertrain
04:15and then the MTS and cab are added when complete.
04:19The main assembly line starts with the transmission being sent onto an assembly cart
04:24that will help move the tractor through the assembly process.
04:27The Challenger transmission must be extremely robust and has 16 forward gears for greater power control.
04:34The transmission is now attached to a sub-assembled frame.
04:38On this frame, a variety of hydraulic hoses and tubes are installed in preparation for the engine to be married or joined to the unit.
04:45Each tractor requires up to 40 such hoses for its cooling and fuel systems, with the bulk of them added at this vital stage.
04:56Next comes a key component of the tractor, the installation of a gigantic 16.8-liter V12 engine.
05:05Once the engine is installed, it is then time for the first quality check.
05:09There are five quality gates where the partially assembled tractor is checked, tested and approved.
05:15At gate one, the rear fenders are added together with the cooling package, which is then connected to the engine.
05:25The fill and filtration unit will be added with the oil filtered throughout the hydraulic and transmission circuits.
05:31Basic engine functionality is then tested with checks on ignition and the various hydraulic systems.
05:38At the end of this process, the engine is cooled and then drained of its fluid.
05:50The unit then goes on to be prepped for painting.
05:53This involves the tractor being washed with water that's been purified using reverse osmosis,
05:58a process that removes many types of molecules and ions from the water, including bacteria.
06:04Key components and the essential systems are protected from water damage with cap plugs and plastic bags.
06:12The tractor is then painted with a high solid single coat of paint.
06:16Once the fuel tank, radiators and air intake systems have been installed, the cab is set onto the chassis.
06:24The cab is built separately and has already undergone electrical and heating system checks.
06:32Diesel, eddy freeze, engine and hydraulic fluids are added to the tractor,
06:37which is then put through its paces with a thousand different tests conducted to check the functionality of the different systems on board.
06:49Once the final quality inspection is passed, the hood is installed and then the mobile track system is connected.
06:56Following the installation and alignment of the tracks, the tractor has to pass the jounce or shake test.
07:02The tractor is shaken in order to simulate road and field operations.
07:09This test will reveal any leaks or other potential problems at the factory,
07:13meaning that any issues can be resolved well before the finished tractor is delivered to the customer.
07:18It's the very last step in the production of a Challenger tractor.
07:22And once passed, the tractor is ready to be put to work.
07:29From tank tracks to magnetrots, we look at the secrets behind the microwave next.
07:34Throughout the world, the microwave is a common everyday feature in most people's kitchens.
07:51With its ability to rapidly heat food, it is everyone's choice for cooking up quick snacks,
07:56reheating leftovers or warming up a speedy bowl of oatmeal in the morning.
07:59But did you know this fantastic culinary marvel was born out of World War II radar technology?
08:07During World War II, the Allies perfect a piece of equipment called a cavity magnetron.
08:12This is a device that generates high-powered microwaves, enabling the reduction of radar antenna size
08:17while also allowing for the detection of smaller objects.
08:23At the end of the war, a team led by self-taught engineer Percy Spencer
08:27begins experimenting with this wartime radar technology
08:30to understand what domestic and industrial applications it could be used for.
08:34By chance, they stumble upon an interesting characteristic of the electromagnetic waves produced by the magnetron.
08:41There were some engineers working for a Raytheon company on a piece of radar equipment.
08:46And one of the leading scientists suddenly noticed the chocolate bar in his pocket was melting,
08:52and he couldn't quite understand it.
08:54And then he did further experiments and realized it was the microwave from the radar set,
08:59which he was working on, which was then causing this to melt.
09:03And he then set up some further experiments just on this.
09:07And very quickly, people realized that it was a very, very efficient way of heating food of almost any description.
09:14Spencer's employers, Raytheon, quickly realized microwave's potential and unleashed the first oven onto an unsuspecting world in 1947.
09:24Standing at nearly six feet high, weighing a hefty 750 pounds, and retailing at an eye-watering $20,000 in today's money,
09:33it was aimed squarely at the catering industry.
09:35Smaller, less expensive microwave ovens appear in domestic homes in the 1960s.
09:41And by 1975, they were out selling their gas-powered cousins.
09:46So how do these awesome ovens actually work?
09:49A microwave works by producing radio waves in small environments in order to heat your food.
09:55We think of radio waves as what you hear on the radio itself,
09:58but what a radio wave is actually is a form of energy that is transmitted.
10:01So in a microwave, you have a coiled wire that is heated.
10:05Electrons are stripped off that and then spun around in the presence of a magnet.
10:09In doing so, you produce radio waves.
10:11And what we do is we produce radio waves at a very specific frequency, and that's the one that heats water.
10:17As most food contains a large amount of water, these radio waves go into the food, heat up the water molecules,
10:24and in doing so, that transmits the heat to the rest of the food.
10:27What's special about radio waves is that metal will essentially stop them.
10:32So your microwave is actually contained in a container of metal, and that reflects the radio waves back to the food.
10:40Microwaves are not just used for heating food.
10:44Your cell phone communicates with transmission towers using low-intensity microwaves.
10:48Low enough to be perfectly safe, so don't worry about being cooked by them.
10:51And microwaves are still used in modern radar systems.
10:56We are exposed to a full range of radars, including police speed control, weather and air traffic control radars,
11:02that have little impact on the human body.
11:04But one type of military radar reminds us of the dangerous power that radio waves can produce.
11:09Radar and the radar emissions at particular frequencies, certainly close up, are very, very dangerous.
11:16One specific type of radar is called a fire control radar, to target a ship or an aircraft.
11:24And these are very, very powerful.
11:26Instead of a beam which is quite all-round, to give an overall picture, they're very localised, almost like a pencil beam, to lock up an aircraft.
11:35Clearly the power which goes through them and with the frequency means they are pretty dangerous.
11:41Certainly I know of one episode when a quick trial was taken with a particularly high-power fire control radar,
11:49when somebody actually had a loaf of bread and dropped above the radar and just dropped it down.
11:56So the time it took to go through the beam, by the time it came, it landed, it was toast.
12:01It was just burnt. It was that strong.
12:03A fantastic kitchen convenience, but developed from war-winning radar.
12:08The microwave oven is truly an incredible invention.
12:12Coming up, grab your shades, cause we're creating a piece of the sun in a microwave.
12:17In an experiment that you really mustn't try at home, our tester will show you how you can use a microwave oven to create a small piece of the sun using just a grape.
12:40What you will need, some grapes, a knife, some kitchen towels, and our trusty microwave oven.
12:50To begin, take a grape and carefully cut it in half, leaving a small piece of skin that connects the two halves.
12:56Next, get rid of excess moisture on the grape halves by patting the fruit with a kitchen towel. We'll explain why later.
13:04Now, place the grape into the center of your microwave and shut the door.
13:11As we are dealing with awesomely fantastic cosmic forces, please be advised to shield your eyes, and please do not try this at home.
13:19Our intrepid tester turns the microwave on to full power for 10 to 15 seconds, and behold, the sun appearing inside the oven.
13:30Did you see that flaming cloud erupt from the grape?
13:33This is a material called plasma, and is known as the fourth state of matter, following on from the other states, which are solid, liquid, and gas.
13:41So, what is it? Well, plasma is a cloud of energized protons, neutrons, and electrons that, due to the added energy, have come loose from their respective molecules and atoms.
13:54Plasma is used to illuminate neon signs or to cut metal with plasma torches.
14:00But, the greatest and most colossal example of plasma in our solar system is the sun, whose heat strips electrons from helium and hydrogen, creating massive amounts of plasma.
14:10But, how does it work? When you cut a grape in half, but leave a flap of skin connecting the two halves, the result is more or less the right length for it to act as an antenna,
14:20which concentrates the full power of the electric fields inside your microwave.
14:24These are electromagnetic waves that cause electric current to move back and forth between the two halves of the grape.
14:31This current is concentrated in the piece of skin between the two, which heats up to the point where it bursts into flame,
14:36and has absorbed enough energy to briefly turn into a plasma cloud before it dies.
14:42And the grape drying? The water in the superheated grape turns to steam that can hinder the creation of the flame.
14:48So, patting the fruit with a towel minimizes the amount of steam present in the reaction.
14:53So, there you have it. A little piece of sun created inside a microwave oven.
14:57Alleviating the pain of wounded soldiers has gone hand in hand with easing the experience of a civilian undergoing surgery.
15:05Until the 19th century, the best a patient or wounded man could hope for was for their pain to be eased by drinking alcohol,
15:12a solution that was not in the best interest of them or their surgeon.
15:15So, as you can imagine in the early days of anaesthetics, it was quite traumatic for the patient to have to see them actually have, for instance, their leg being amputated.
15:27Also, for the surgeon, it would be a problem because not only would the patient be moving and struggling,
15:32but also they would have to perform the operation quite quickly, perhaps without not much technique just to try and get the procedure done in a timely manner.
15:45This could lead to a lot of blood loss and perhaps a sub-optimum procedure being done.
15:51Although herbal sedatives based on plants like the opium poppy had been used by the ancient Chinese and Mesopotamians for thousands of years,
15:57in 19th century Europe and America, other potential anaesthetics such as ether and chloroform undergo experimental trials.
16:05With the first successful public demonstration of ether as an anaesthetic in 1846, these substances seem to offer the answer to pain-free surgery.
16:14But using them has its risks, with a chance for long-term illnesses and even death from the incorrect administration of the doses required.
16:22With the things like ether and chloroform, it was quite hard to get the doses right for each individual patient.
16:30Everybody is very different in their size and also their body mass, and that may be a difference between muscle and fat distribution,
16:40which will distribute drugs differently within the body.
16:44So chloroform was invented later to ether, and it was a more potent agent, and so it was very effective.
16:50However, it did have some major side effects.
16:53Especially in the anxious person, it could lead to sudden death.
16:57And later on, if not using the correct doses, it could lead to liver damage.
17:02During the turn of the 20th century, anaesthetics and procedures are greatly improved,
17:07resulting in the vastly advanced pain relief we have today.
17:10Quite a step from a few shots of brandy to dull the pain of an amputation.
17:13How has technology impacted on pain relief? We find out on Incredible Inventions.
17:19In the modern operating room, anaesthetic machines are used to help sedate patients, and Penlon, based in Oxfordshire in the UK, are one of the leading manufacturers of this medical technology.
17:42As with all such devices, modern anaesthetic machines begin with research and development, where a team of designers, engineers, and programmers hone the designs and ensure compliance with international standards for safety, accuracy, and ease of use.
17:57More than 850 individual components are used to create an anaesthetic machine.
18:04Some of these are made on site, while others are commissioned from specialist component manufacturers.
18:09These are the needle valves and filler blocks, which are important parts of the vaporizer.
18:13The main assembly is where the machine starts to take shape, starting with the trolley that will house the equipment.
18:22Wheels, legs, and drawers are attached to the frame.
18:26The gas blocks, pipeline assembly, back bar, and electrical panel are attached before the unit is piped up and tested.
18:35With such a crucial medical device, there are many rounds of testing.
18:39The flow meter is fitted and checked, and the operative checks the gas blocks for possible leaks.
18:46While the trolleys are being constructed, another line assembles the ventilator.
18:51The control and regulatory blocks, along with the ventilator screen, are assembled and the units are enclosed.
18:58Another line builds the vaporizers, which are one of the key parts of the anaesthetic machine.
19:02They convert the liquid anaesthetic to a gas state, and add controlled amounts of the anaesthetic to the oxygen that is flowing through the machine.
19:12Because the gas's properties vary at different temperatures, it is vital for the temperature to remain constant.
19:19So compensators are fitted that regulate the temperature of the gases.
19:22Now the valve block is assembled.
19:28As the vaporizing unit is prepared for calibration, and the precise pieces are fitted together, the machine approaches a completed state.
19:38The calibration and dial assembly are vitally important, ensuring that only the precise level of the anaesthetic required is administered.
19:45These components go through rigorous quality control checks, with gases being passed through the devices and the results being thoroughly scrutinized.
19:55After testing, the vaporizers are drained and dried, so no residual liquids are left inside.
20:01Then the filler block is assembled.
20:06Another important element of the anaesthetic machine is the absorber, which removes the carbon dioxide from the system.
20:13The absorber is assembled with heaters, and the electrical boxes are added and then also tested.
20:20The absorber and ventilator are checked, with all the displays and monitors added before further examination.
20:30When all the extensive checks have been completed, the anaesthetic machines are shipped out to hospitals in more than 100 countries across the world,
20:37enabling doctors to perform life-saving and life-changing surgery.
20:40Anesthetic machines are truly an incredible invention.
20:47So there you have it, a glance through the hidden history and super-science of some amazing products that you use every day.
20:53The tracked vehicle, the microwave oven, and anaesthetic machines.
20:59They may seem common and ordinary, however, these products help change the world, one incredible invention at a time.
21:06Alright, thanks for checking out, so ____.
21:07Enjoy.
21:08Next time, I'm going to check out VGT 1000.
21:09Thanks for listening.
21:10Thanks for listening.
21:11Thanks for listening to our channel.
21:12Welcome to our channel.
21:13Now, it's brought to you to my channel to learn a new area of the MDC90s,
21:14Google Playb Image and Smart News.
21:15Now, your channel is brought to you to the�ım.
21:16One great day with your channel is brought to you to the H1B210,
21:17Google Playbush.
21:18It's brought to you to the H1B112 channel, where you may have your channel.
21:19It's brought to you to the H1B710U.
21:20And it's brought to you to the H2B112 channel.
21:21And it's brought to you to the H1B410U.