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00:00Warning. What you're about to see could be disturbing to some viewers. Viewer discretion is advised.
00:13What happens when a town is faced with an actual whale of a problem?
00:19This thing is decomposing by the day, and it might fall apart if pushed or pulled.
00:26They want to pack this thing with so much dynamite that it will literally vaporize.
00:30You might be thinking, it's a bit excessive, isn't it?
00:33Or how does one deal with an island overrun by snakes?
00:38These animals are almost impossible to kill.
00:41So the plan is to bomb the jungle from helicopters with mice.
00:46Here's where it gets complicated.
00:48What about the astonishing way one man keeps his family warm?
00:52He needs to find something to burn to save his daughter's life.
00:56They're throwing stack after stack of money onto the fire, $10,000 at a time.
01:05These are the ideas so outlandish. They are truly unbelievable.
01:09It started as a calm day on the Oregon coast until a strange stench filled the air
01:27and set the stage for one of the most bizarre cleanup efforts in history.
01:32It's a lovely fall day in Oregon in 1970.
01:39People are taking November walks down the beach,
01:42and all of a sudden they see this massive whale washed up on the shore.
01:47This is a rotting sperm whale that's the size of a school bus.
01:55We're talking 45 feet long and eight tons.
02:00At first, the whale is kind of an attraction.
02:03People go to check it out.
02:05People are taking pictures.
02:06But pretty soon, things start to turn in a different direction.
02:12It starts to reek very badly.
02:15I mean, this is a massive, rotting mammal.
02:18You've probably had something go bad in the back of your refrigerator.
02:21Well, imagine eight tons of rotting leftovers.
02:26People can smell it a mile away.
02:28Back then, beach cleanup fell upon an unlikely source, the Oregon State Highway Division.
02:36The Highway Division considers their options.
02:39This thing is decomposing by the day, and it might fall apart if pushed or pulled,
02:46making an even bigger mess.
02:48They have to find a way to get rid of it without moving it.
02:52After consulting with the Navy, the State Highway Division comes up with an explosive plan.
02:57They want to bring in a half a ton of dynamite.
03:02Now, a thousand pounds of dynamite, you might be thinking,
03:04it's a bit excessive, isn't it?
03:05That's the plan, though.
03:07The plan is to pack this thing with so much dynamite that it will literally vaporize.
03:11They want to blow it to smithereens.
03:14The idea is, the bigger the explosive charge,
03:16the better the chances it will disintegrate the whale carcass.
03:19And whatever small pieces of the whale are left,
03:22well, those will get eaten by seagulls and other little scavengers like crabs.
03:26That morning, hundreds of people show up,
03:29and the local news even sends their best anchor to cover the story.
03:32If there's any large chunks left, possibly set another charge.
03:37They pack the whale full of dynamite, and they start the countdown,
03:40and everybody's getting excited, and they count it down with 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
03:46As the pink mist of blood and blubber spray the beach,
03:52it seems as though the idea is a success.
03:55And then people start running, because what goes up must come down.
04:01Even from 900 feet away, people are being pummeled with whale blubber and blood
04:07and everything that was rotting inside this giant carcass.
04:11People are desperately trying to avoid getting crushed by these 50-pound chunks of whale.
04:21While no onlookers suffer any major injuries,
04:24one spectator takes a different kind of hit.
04:27That day, Walter Ummenhofer drives to the beach
04:32in his beautiful, new 1969 Oldsmobile Regency.
04:39Walter is parked a full quarter mile from the explosion,
04:42but that doesn't stop a gigantic 5-foot-long slab of whale flesh
04:48from landing directly on top of his new car.
04:54But here's the best part.
04:56When Walter went to go buy this car,
04:57he bought it from the dealership that was holding a sale
05:00that was called Get a Whale of a Deal.
05:03Safe to say if another whale ever washes ashore in Lane County,
05:06the folks in charge will definitely think twice before lighting the fuse.
05:12Lesson learned.
05:13Now, 7,500 miles away,
05:16there's another mammal trying very hard to not get blown up.
05:22Cambodia is the site of a great deal of Cold War combat,
05:26stretching from the 1960s all the way through to the 1990s.
05:30During this time, combatant groups found landmines
05:33to be a very effective way of fighting the war.
05:37It's an extremely reliable weapon.
05:39You can put it somewhere, walk away, and forget about it.
05:42Long after the war ends,
05:46the forgotten landmines remain buried,
05:48turning ordinary fields into death traps.
05:51By 2016 in Cambodia,
05:53it is estimated there are close to 6 million active landmines
05:58and other undetonated explosives spread throughout the countryside.
06:02Now, you have to appreciate how incredibly scary this is.
06:06They have absolutely no record of where these mines and these bombs are.
06:12They could be anywhere.
06:14For years, the solution has been to send bomb experts in body armor
06:18using metal detectors and soil density detectors.
06:22But this is expensive.
06:23It's very, very slow.
06:25Also, it's incredibly dangerous.
06:26That's when a plan comes along
06:29to bring in an unusual squadron of bomb detectives
06:33to sniff out the problem.
06:35About 5,000 miles away, in the country of Tanzania,
06:40there is an organization called Apopo.
06:43Apopo are using giant African pouched rats
06:47to sniff out landmines in conflict areas around the globe.
06:52The giant African pouched rat
06:56is kind of the perfect bomb-sniffing animal.
06:58They actually have very bad eyesight,
07:01so they really rely on this incredibly fine-tuned sense of smell
07:06to do just about everything,
07:07to navigate, to find food, and so on.
07:10They call them hero rats,
07:12and their noses are even more sensitive
07:15than those found on dogs.
07:17There's also another crucial benefit
07:19that works in their favor.
07:21Most mines take approximately 11 pounds of pressure
07:26to set off the detonation switch.
07:28Well, the heaviest an African pouched rat can be
07:31is 2 to 2 1⁄2 pounds,
07:33so they can traverse the terrain incredibly well and safely.
07:39So how do you get a rat to sniff out a landmine?
07:43Mine-sniffing rats take about a year to train.
07:46At 10 weeks, the pups are weaned from their mothers
07:49and given basic clicker training,
07:52where they learn to associate the sound of a click
07:55with a tasty food reward.
07:57Then they're introduced to a small metal ball containing TNT.
08:03When they sniff it, they'd hear a click,
08:05and they'd get a little tasty reward, like a banana.
08:07From there, they're taken to the field,
08:11where they begin to train with real but deactivated landmines.
08:17By 2016, the Cambodian government is ready
08:20to put these African mine-sniffing rats to work.
08:23They're going to be targeting the Srei Nui area of Siem Reap,
08:27where it is known that the farmland
08:29is littered with anti-personnel mines.
08:31The rats are brought out to a field where they'll be working,
08:34and they're all hooked to a string that's about knee height.
08:38Picture a grid system in which each rat
08:41is hooked to a line via a short leash,
08:45and as they are sent out along this grid system,
08:48they trail behind them a measuring tape.
08:51So when the rat detects a mine,
08:54the handler can pinpoint its exact spot.
08:58Once a mine is detected, the rats signal to their handlers.
09:02The rats put their noses high up into the air
09:05and sniff while enthusiastically
09:07scratching at the ground in front of them.
09:12The hero rats are not only thorough,
09:14they're able to work incredibly efficiently.
09:17It could take a crew of human beings five days
09:20to clear an area the size of a tennis court.
09:23Hero rats could do that in 30 minutes.
09:26Since 2016, hero rats have found
09:29roughly 1,200 anti-personnel mines
09:31and more than 700 unexploded bombs in Cambodia.
09:36But one stands out from the pack,
09:39Magwa, the goat of hero rats.
09:42This little giant has sniffed out
09:45over 100 landmines and other explosives
09:48during five years of active duty in Cambodia.
09:53In 2020, Magwa is actually awarded
09:55a gold medal by a UK veterinary charity
09:58because of his life-saving devotion to duty.
10:04After retiring from service,
10:06the bomb sniffers get to live out their lives
10:08in the lap of luxury with other hero rats.
10:11Back home in Tanzania,
10:13not a bad way to spend your golden years.
10:18Today, modern dentistry has put a perfect smile
10:22within reach of anyone with enough cash.
10:24But there was a time when that pristine set of chompers
10:28required a much bigger sacrifice.
10:32In 1815 in London,
10:35dental care is nothing like it is today.
10:38You can't just pop down to the drugstore
10:40and buy toothpaste,
10:42and it'll be another 40 years
10:44before there's anything resembling trained dentists.
10:47Suffice to say,
10:49teeth are in pretty bad shape.
10:52If you are a rich Georgian
10:55living in London at this time,
10:57what you really, really want
10:58is a beautiful set of teeth.
11:01Which is easier said than done
11:03because the upper class has a bit of a sweet tooth.
11:07Sugar is a status symbol.
11:09The more confections that you have on your table,
11:12the greater your wealth is presented
11:14to your friends and your peers.
11:16There's cakes, there's candies,
11:18there's sweet treats and pastries.
11:20They have no idea
11:21that the sugar is actually rotting away their teeth.
11:24And any false teeth at the time,
11:26those are going to be made from ivory
11:27that is taken from animals like elephant.
11:30But they don't feel good,
11:32they wobble,
11:33and it makes it really hard to chew.
11:35And for some people,
11:35it even affects the way they speak.
11:38So what's the only surefire replacement
11:40for a human tooth?
11:42More human teeth.
11:44So there's an entire black market amongst the poor
11:47to sell their teeth to dentists,
11:50and they go straight into the mouths of the rich.
11:52The problem is that
11:54there aren't enough human teeth around
11:56for the supply to meet the demand.
11:59So, these experts turn to another source.
12:03Not the living,
12:04but the recently deceased.
12:07And just as the demand for dentures grows,
12:10fate delivers a grim solution.
12:13On June 18th, 1815,
12:17the Battle of Waterloo takes place.
12:20This is the final battle
12:21in Napoleon's 23-year quest
12:25to take over Europe.
12:2670,000 French forces
12:29take arms
12:30against over 113,000 British
12:34and their allies,
12:35and the French are defeated.
12:37In the course of battle,
12:3847,000 soldiers die.
12:41It doesn't take long
12:42for gruesome opportunists
12:43to turn the bloodshed
12:45into a business.
12:46These scavengers go around
12:49yanking out tooth after tooth after tooth.
12:54After they collect these,
12:55they sell them to dentists
12:57for sixpence a tooth.
12:59It's about seven bucks today.
13:01If that sounds like not very much,
13:02think about more than a million teeth.
13:04This is more than a $7 million deal,
13:06all told.
13:07And what makes these ones so great
13:09is that they're predominantly
13:11from people in their early 20s
13:13or even younger.
13:14So these are fit,
13:16healthy people,
13:17good teeth.
13:18Dentists across London
13:20begin filling orders
13:21for what will come to be known
13:22as Waterloo teeth.
13:25Of course, the dentists
13:27mark up that sixpence a tooth price
13:30when they're creating these dentures.
13:32But everyone wants to get
13:33a set of Waterloo teeth
13:34because that means
13:36you have the teeth
13:37of a young, healthy soldier.
13:39It even becomes
13:40something of a bragging statement
13:42for someone to say,
13:43hey, I've got a mouthful
13:45of Waterloo teeth.
13:47Thankfully, it doesn't become
13:49a permanent solution.
13:51By the middle of the 19th century,
13:53advances in technology
13:54like porcelain
13:55and vulcanized rubber
13:56render obsolete
13:57the practices of harvesting
13:59teeth from the deceased.
14:02Sure, money can buy
14:03a fancy new set
14:04of pearly whites,
14:05but it can't fix everything.
14:07Unless, of course,
14:08you're the most ruthless
14:09drug cartel kingpin
14:11in history.
14:12In the cocaine capital
14:13of South America,
14:15with bombings every night,
14:16Medellin begins to look
14:17like a city under siege.
14:19Pablo Escobar's easily
14:21the world's biggest
14:22drug trafficker
14:23in the 80s and the 90s.
14:25At his height,
14:27he is supplying
14:28the United States
14:29with about 80%
14:31of its cocaine.
14:32Western demand
14:33for the drug
14:34almost outstripped supplies.
14:36This makes him
14:37one of the richest people
14:38on planet Earth
14:39with roughly
14:40$30 billion
14:42to his name,
14:43about $75 billion
14:45in today's money.
14:47And Pablo Escobar
14:48has no problem
14:49showing off his wealth.
14:50He's got a private zoo,
14:52yachts,
14:53and mansions,
14:54and cars.
14:56He's also got no problem
14:57using his money
14:58to buy influence
14:59with politicians
15:00and, in some cases,
15:02using his money
15:02to pay for the murder
15:04of people
15:04that might get in his way.
15:06Eventually, by 1991,
15:08mounting pressure
15:09forces the Colombian government
15:10to act.
15:11Kind of.
15:12They put Escobar
15:13in a very low-security prison.
15:16So low, in fact,
15:17that they let him
15:18design it himself.
15:19And he puts in
15:20a sauna and a pool
15:21and a nightclub.
15:22Unfortunately,
15:25but not surprisingly,
15:26Pablo's actually still
15:27running his criminal enterprise
15:28from inside
15:29these prison walls.
15:31And when he commits
15:32a murder on prison grounds,
15:34the Colombian government
15:35has had enough.
15:36When prison officials
15:37attempt to transfer him
15:38to a higher security institution,
15:40Escobar flees.
15:43Escobar collects his wife,
15:45his young daughter,
15:46his son,
15:47and a few bodyguards,
15:48and they go into hiding,
15:49jumping from safe house
15:51to safe house.
15:52Escobar is hiding out
15:53in a safe house
15:54that is located
15:55very high up
15:56in the Andes Mountains.
15:57One night,
15:58his eight-year-old daughter,
15:59Manuela,
16:00complains about being cold.
16:02Escobar and his wife
16:03can see that
16:04she's shivering
16:04and turning blue,
16:06suffering from hypothermia.
16:08With Manuela's condition
16:09getting worse,
16:11Escobar realizes
16:11he needs to make a fire
16:13to warm his daughter up,
16:14but this is rocky terrain.
16:16There is no tree
16:17to cut down
16:17to build a fire,
16:18and he needs to find
16:19something to burn
16:20to save his daughter's life.
16:22Luckily,
16:23this is one problem
16:25he can still use
16:26his money for.
16:28Like a lot of drug dealers,
16:30a good amount of his fortune
16:31is in paper cash,
16:32which he's hidden
16:33in cellars
16:34and in walls
16:35in his hideaways.
16:37So his plan
16:38is to literally
16:39burn his money.
16:44The cash is collected,
16:46and then
16:46he sets it on fire.
16:48Now, we're not dealing
16:50with Colombian pesos.
16:52This is U.S. currency,
16:54and as the fire builds,
16:56they're throwing stack
16:57after stack of money
16:59onto the fire,
17:00$10,000 at a time.
17:04That night,
17:04Pablo Escobar
17:05burns $2 million
17:06to keep his daughter warm.
17:09It helps to stave off
17:10the hypothermia,
17:11and the Escobar family
17:12lives to run another day.
17:14But this doesn't last forever.
17:16On December 2nd, 1993,
17:19Pablo Escobar
17:20is shot in the head
17:21and killed
17:21during a shootout
17:22with authorities
17:23on a rooftop in Colombia.
17:28Technically,
17:29given Escobar's
17:30$30 billion fortune,
17:31he could have kept up
17:32his very expensive life hack
17:34every night
17:35for over 40 years.
17:39Controlling pests
17:40is as old and vexing
17:42as any problem
17:43in human history.
17:44But when a Micronesian island
17:46becomes overrun
17:47with unwanted vermin,
17:49their solution
17:50is a bit outside the box.
17:54The Pacific island of Guam
17:56is part of Micronesia,
17:57but it's a U.S. territory.
17:59It's beautiful island.
18:00It's got resorts
18:01and palm trees
18:02and beautiful beaches.
18:04But behind all that,
18:05you've got all of this jungle.
18:08And that jungle
18:08is just totally
18:10and completely littered
18:11with venomous snakes.
18:14They're known
18:15as brown tree snakes.
18:16These nocturnal predators
18:18can grow to be
18:18over six feet long.
18:21The brown tree snake
18:23is an invasive creature.
18:24They started showing up
18:25on the island
18:26shortly after World War II,
18:28hiding in Indonesian
18:30shipping vessels
18:31destined for the ports of Guam.
18:32When they were unloaded on Guam,
18:34the animals slithered off
18:36into the jungle
18:36and entered an environment
18:38where they face
18:39absolutely no predator
18:40at all.
18:43They're at the top
18:44of the food chain,
18:44so they can literally
18:45eat anything
18:46that they want to.
18:47They've eaten
18:47most of Guam's birds,
18:49and because of that,
18:50there are no birds
18:51that are seeding
18:52the ground anymore,
18:53which causes the thinning
18:54of the forest.
18:55They're eating power lines,
18:56biting villagers,
18:57and they're biting children.
18:59And so it's decided
19:00that these snakes
19:02have got to go.
19:04These animals
19:05are almost impossible to kill
19:07because they are nocturnal.
19:09Plus, they're arboreal,
19:10which means that
19:11they're pretty much
19:11out of reach
19:12at most points
19:13because they're way
19:14at the top of the canopy.
19:16Laying traps in the ground
19:17is virtually useless.
19:18They have to try
19:19to figure out
19:19how to get them
19:20where they feed,
19:21and that's in the trees.
19:23So the plan is to bomb
19:25the jungle
19:26from helicopters
19:27with mice.
19:29But not just
19:30any ordinary mice.
19:31These mice are packing
19:33a secret weapon.
19:35In 2000,
19:36the Department of Agriculture
19:38does a study.
19:39What can kill these snakes
19:40and their feeding
19:41them various poisons,
19:42but also some
19:43over-the-counter drugs?
19:45And what they discover
19:46is that
19:47these snakes
19:47are highly reactive
19:48to acetaminophen,
19:50the active ingredient
19:51in Tylenol.
19:54And with just
19:5480 milligrams
19:55of acetaminophen,
19:57there's a 100%
19:58kill rate
19:58among these snakes.
20:00So,
20:01they take
20:012,000
20:02frozen dead mice
20:04and just stuff them
20:05with Tylenol.
20:07Here's where
20:07it gets complicated.
20:08If you drop
20:09a frozen mouse
20:09from a helicopter,
20:10it's just going to
20:10go through the trees
20:11and hit the ground.
20:12But what we could do
20:13is glue the mouse
20:14to a piece of cardboard,
20:16and then attach
20:17some streamers
20:18in hopes that it
20:19will slow it down
20:19enough that it'll
20:20kind of catch
20:21in the trees
20:21and get stuck.
20:23Boom.
20:24Dead snake.
20:26But the choppers
20:27fired up its time
20:28for the first mission
20:28to bomb the hell
20:29out of some snakes.
20:31Just before sundown,
20:32the military helicopters
20:33fly in,
20:34and one by one,
20:35they drop their
20:35Tylenol mice bombs
20:36and watch them
20:37slowly descend
20:38into the jungle.
20:39And then they wait
20:40to see if the hungry
20:42snakes will take
20:42the bait.
20:45The next day,
20:46officials find
20:47dead snakes
20:47everywhere.
20:49They're on the ground,
20:51they're hanging
20:51from tree limbs,
20:52they're on fences.
20:54They estimate
20:54that in this area
20:56alone,
20:5680% of the snakes
20:57have been killed off.
20:59The U.S. government
21:00decides to run
21:01a few more
21:01mice bomb missions,
21:02but these missions
21:03are running up
21:04a pretty high tad.
21:05It turns out
21:07dropping a few
21:07thousand mice
21:08from helicopters
21:09costs nearly
21:10$8 million per mission.
21:12That's a whole lot
21:13of cheese.
21:14After a few years,
21:15they decide to
21:16move on to
21:17a cheaper,
21:18more toxic-based
21:19chemical that they
21:20can just automatically
21:21drop onto the trees.
21:23The snakes
21:24might have been
21:25a nuisance,
21:26but for one island,
21:27the location itself
21:28was the biggest
21:29headache of all.
21:32Sitting off the coast
21:33of Wisconsin's
21:34Lake Chippewa
21:35is what appears
21:36to be a pretty
21:36nice-sized island.
21:38You might expect
21:39to see some
21:39beautiful houses
21:40or a farmer's market
21:41on Sundays,
21:42but it's deserted.
21:43That's because
21:44this isn't technically
21:45an island.
21:46It's a giant,
21:47floating bog,
21:48and Lake Chippewa
21:49is loaded with them.
21:52Lake Chippewa
21:53is a man-made lake
21:54about 22 miles
21:55in diameter.
21:56When it was created
21:57in 1923,
21:58engineers basically
21:59just flooded
22:00an existing swampland,
22:01covering its peak bogs
22:02with about 90 feet
22:03of water.
22:04And when they let
22:05that water rush in,
22:08some of those bogs
22:09floated to the surface,
22:12held together
22:12by a network
22:13of roots and peat.
22:15Unlike an island,
22:16which is attached
22:17to the earth,
22:18these aren't anchored
22:19by anything.
22:21So when the winds
22:21are high,
22:22these tamarack trees,
22:24well, they act
22:24as a sail.
22:25The islands
22:27start moving
22:28all over the lake.
22:30One bog in particular
22:31is the most restless,
22:32known as the 40-acre bog.
22:36Beginning in the early 2000s,
22:38when the winds
22:38are just right,
22:39they blow this 200-ton,
22:4140-acre bog island
22:43across the lake
22:44and lodge it
22:45underneath a highway bridge.
22:47Whenever this happens,
22:48during a busy summer,
22:50fishing boats
22:50and pontoon boats
22:51can't cross to the other side,
22:53and the people
22:54on those boats
22:54are understandably
22:55ticked off about it.
22:57At first,
22:58some suggest
22:59blowing it up.
23:01The 40-acre bog
23:02has been on that lake
23:04for decades.
23:06There's different species
23:07of wildlife
23:08that live on it.
23:09Migratory birds use it.
23:11So now,
23:12it's about destroying
23:13a whole ecosystem
23:14and clearly,
23:14that's not something
23:15people want to do.
23:17That's when the community
23:18of Lake Chippewa
23:19comes together
23:20with a pretty outlandish idea.
23:22They ultimately decide
23:24to push the bog.
23:26You might imagine
23:28a complicated operation
23:29run by the Army Corps
23:30of Engineers
23:30involving barges
23:31and pulleys,
23:32but no,
23:33this is actually
23:33going to be carried out
23:34by 10 local fishing boats.
23:37They all line up
23:39and on the count of three,
23:41they all rev their engines.
23:47This thing is massive.
23:49It's 200 tons
23:51and at full throttle,
23:53they just barely
23:55get it to budge.
23:57They realize
23:58they're going to need
24:00more boats.
24:02Pretty soon,
24:04boats from all over the lake
24:05volunteer to join this cause.
24:07So now you have 50 boats
24:08working together
24:09to try and push this thing.
24:13Eventually,
24:14after several hours,
24:15the makeshift armada
24:16gets the 40-acre bog
24:17away from the bridge.
24:18Unfortunately,
24:20it's only a temporary solution.
24:23Every year,
24:24that bog
24:25still floats
24:26underneath the bridge
24:27and blocks the waterway.
24:28And every year,
24:29the people of Lake Chippewa
24:31push the bog out
24:32to where it can't be
24:33be a nuisance.
24:35But the residents
24:36of Lake Chippewa
24:37don't seem to mind.
24:38And at this point,
24:39it's become an annual tradition
24:41where they hold
24:42this kind of big,
24:43yearly,
24:44bog-moving boat party.
24:47At least they get
24:48a party out of it.
24:52Medicine is full
24:53of miracles
24:53and occasionally
24:55totally insane-sounding ideas
24:57that somehow work.
25:00Every year,
25:01approximately one-third
25:02of organ transplantations
25:04are rejected.
25:06And that is because
25:07their body says,
25:08yes,
25:09this is the right organ.
25:10But no,
25:11it did not come from me.
25:13And the body tries to kill it.
25:15And this amounts
25:15to thousands of lives
25:17lost per year.
25:17In 2017,
25:21scientists at the
25:22Salk Institute
25:23for Biological Sciences
25:24are trying to solve
25:26this problem
25:26in a very strange way.
25:29As crazy as it sounds,
25:31they are trying to grow
25:32human-compatible organs
25:33inside of pigs.
25:37We're talking about
25:38using the stem cells
25:40from the patient themselves
25:41that are then grown
25:43into real human organs
25:45using the pig body
25:47as a host.
25:49This way,
25:50the organs are
25:51fully developed,
25:52fully functioning,
25:52and guaranteed
25:53not to be rejected.
25:56Pigs are already
25:58the best candidates
25:59for organ donation
26:00to humans
26:01because the organs
26:02are anatomically
26:04and functionally
26:05very similar
26:06to the human organs.
26:08They call these pig
26:09human organs chimera,
26:11after the hybrid monster
26:13from Greek mythology.
26:15To pull off
26:15this experiment,
26:16scientists inject
26:18a small number
26:19of human stem cells
26:20into a pig embryo.
26:23The pig embryo
26:24with human cells inside
26:26is then implanted
26:28into the womb
26:29of a sow.
26:3028 days later,
26:31the chimera embryo
26:32is removed from the mother.
26:34It's just the size
26:35of a grain of rice.
26:37But inside
26:38is a small miracle.
26:39The researchers
26:40examine the chimera
26:43and they find
26:43functional human cells
26:46in the heart,
26:47in the brain,
26:48in the liver.
26:50Potentially,
26:51this means
26:51that if one of these chimera
26:54were allowed
26:55to fully develop,
26:56its organs
26:57could be transplanted
26:59into the human
27:00that donated
27:01the original stem cells
27:02and function fully
27:04as if it were their own.
27:07While this could solve
27:08the problem
27:09of organ rejection,
27:10it could present
27:11a whole new set
27:12of nightmares.
27:13The worry is that
27:14if pig and human DNA
27:16co-mingle,
27:17we might one day
27:18get a real human-pig hybrid
27:21living among us.
27:22For now,
27:23at least,
27:24the scientists
27:24are only allowed
27:26to let their chimera
27:27develop for 28 days.
27:30They have a lot more work
27:31to do
27:31before proving it's safe
27:33to allow one
27:34to mature.
27:35Thankfully,
27:36it doesn't look like
27:37we will be living
27:37on Planet of the Swine
27:38any time soon.
27:40Meanwhile,
27:41a beekeeper in Turkey
27:42is dealing with
27:43his own group
27:44of piggies.
27:48Ibrahim Sedef
27:49is an agricultural engineer
27:51who has a honey
27:52farm in the town
27:53of Trabzon
27:54along the Black Sea.
27:56This isn't any
27:57old honey he's making.
27:59This is top-shelf stuff
28:00that goes for as much
28:02as $40 a jar.
28:04This is a part
28:04of the world
28:05where they had been
28:06making honey
28:07for thousands of years.
28:09His stuff is
28:10like honey gold.
28:12The problem is
28:13someone's been
28:14helping themselves
28:15to Ibrahim's supply,
28:16so he sets up cameras.
28:19Every night,
28:21hungry brown bears
28:22break into his farm,
28:23sniff out hives,
28:24and steal his honey.
28:26Over the last three years,
28:28Ibrahim has lost
28:29$10,000
28:30to these brown bears.
28:33With the average pest,
28:34you could just go outside
28:36and chew them away,
28:37but these are
28:37eight-foot-tall bears.
28:41They will maul you.
28:42So night after night,
28:46he's watching on the camera.
28:48These bears come in
28:49and steal his honey.
28:51So his first thought is,
28:52I'll just hide the honey better.
28:55He puts the hives
28:56in harder-to-reach places,
28:58and the bears just
28:58climb up and find it.
29:00He even takes heavy rocks
29:01and puts them on the hives,
29:02and the bears
29:03just flick them away.
29:04He tries leaving
29:05other sweets
29:06and other foods behind,
29:08like apples
29:08and sourdough bread
29:10and even store-bought honey.
29:12But these bears
29:12are having none of it.
29:13They just walk right past it
29:15and go right for the good stuff.
29:17So he starts to get creative
29:18because he realizes
29:19this is really not a fight
29:21that he can win.
29:21So let's figure out
29:23how to turn this
29:23into something positive.
29:25That's when he comes up
29:26with a truly unbelievable idea.
29:29Since these giant bears
29:31are obviously connoisseurs of honey,
29:33he decides to put their
29:35expert palates to work for him,
29:37and he sets up a taste test
29:39to see which of his honeys
29:41they like best.
29:42If all goes to plan,
29:43he could actually charge
29:44more for his honey
29:45because it comes
29:46with the brown bear
29:48seal of approval.
29:50So he decides to set out
29:51a table with four
29:52different bowls on it.
29:53One has cherry jam,
29:55and the other three bowls
29:56all have different types
29:58of honey in it.
29:59There's flower honey,
30:01chestnut honey,
30:02and answer honey.
30:05Night falls.
30:06They show up.
30:07They see the cherry jam.
30:10They're, like,
30:10not interested in it at all.
30:13They sniff the two other honeys.
30:15They're like,
30:16hmm, whatever.
30:18Then they come to the
30:19answer honey,
30:20and they go crazy for it.
30:23Answer honey is the most
30:25expensive honey in the world.
30:27It's made from the nectar
30:28of 90 flowers.
30:30You're talking about
30:31$150 a pound.
30:33For Ibrahim,
30:35this is everything.
30:36This is video proof
30:37that brown bears prefer
30:39the answer honey.
30:41His answer honey.
30:43He's got bear-approved honey.
30:48Ibrahim says his bear-approved honey
30:51has become so popular,
30:52he no longer minds
30:53the regular donations
30:54to his taste testers.
30:56When a family in
31:00Northern California
31:00decides to spend
31:01their afternoon
31:02amidst the clouds,
31:04their trip goes
31:04from peaceful to chaotic
31:06in a matter of seconds.
31:07With their lives
31:08on the line,
31:09a brilliant,
31:10unexpected fix
31:11appears just
31:12in the nick of time.
31:1538-year-old
31:16Artem Kanonuk,
31:18along with his wife
31:19and their
31:19two-year-old child,
31:21are buzzing
31:21with excitement.
31:22Artem,
31:23who is an amateur pilot,
31:24has chartered a plane
31:25for the family
31:26to spend their
31:27spring afternoon
31:27flying above
31:28the Northern California scenery.
31:32After takeoff,
31:33the family and the plane
31:34are gliding south,
31:36observing the treetops
31:37as they head
31:38towards their family home
31:39in Santa Rosa.
31:42That's when the chug
31:43of the plane's engine
31:44stops.
31:46It's just lost all power,
31:482,600 feet
31:49above the trees.
31:52Artem is desperately
31:53trying to restart
31:54the aircraft,
31:55but he's running
31:55out of altitude
31:56very quickly.
31:58Artem's big challenge
31:59is that there's no field
32:00anywhere in sight.
32:02He's looking down
32:03on a vast expanse
32:05of forest
32:05with no place
32:06to put the aircraft down.
32:09It's quite possible
32:10that the terrain
32:12collision avoidance
32:13system called TCAS
32:14is screaming at them,
32:16terrain, terrain,
32:18pull up, pull up,
32:19and there's nothing
32:20that they can do
32:21because they have
32:22no power to that engine.
32:24His wife and child
32:25are beginning
32:26to freak out.
32:27He then tells them,
32:28brace for impact.
32:31That's when something
32:32unbelievable happens.
32:36They're suddenly a jolt
32:39and then calm.
32:43The plane feels like
32:44it's just floating.
32:47Are they being carted off
32:48to the pearly gates
32:49by angels?
32:50Not quite.
32:51Artem has just
32:53pulled the lever
32:53to deploy the Cirrus
32:55Airframe Parachute System,
32:57or CAPS.
32:58This is actually
33:00a parachute
33:00for an entire aircraft.
33:02This is a 2,400-square-foot
33:04parachute
33:04that deploys
33:06by virtue of a rocket
33:07that gets it open
33:08very quickly,
33:08and it has the effect
33:10of slowing the descent
33:11of the aircraft
33:12from dangerous
33:13and fatal speed
33:14to a survivable speed.
33:17Because it is
33:18at the weight center
33:19of the plane,
33:20it keeps the aircraft
33:21completely level.
33:23The airplane parachute
33:24is invented
33:25by Cirrus co-founder
33:27Alan Klapmeyer
33:28after he survives
33:30a mid-air collision
33:31in 1985.
33:32After that experience,
33:34he decides
33:34that he is going
33:35to put a life-saving parachute
33:36in every single
33:38Cirrus plane.
33:40Luckily for the
33:41Kanonuk family,
33:42by 1998,
33:44this becomes a reality.
33:47Miraculously,
33:48they are more or less
33:50unscathed.
33:51They have survived
33:52this horrible incident,
33:53and now they also
33:54have a great family story
33:55where they can talk
33:56about how one parachute
33:57saved three people.
34:01To date,
34:02this airplane parachute
34:03system has saved
34:04249 lives.
34:05Maybe one day
34:07they'll put one
34:07on the red eye
34:08out of Los Angeles,
34:09just in case.
34:11Next up,
34:12something unusual
34:13that protects
34:14against a different
34:15type of disaster.
34:19In China,
34:20in 2008 and 2010,
34:22there were two
34:22devastating earthquakes
34:23that hit in the middle
34:24of the night
34:25and ended up killing
34:26thousands of people,
34:28mostly because
34:28they were crushed
34:29by buildings
34:30that collapsed.
34:31this leads an ambitious
34:33inventor by the name
34:34of Wong Wenqi
34:35to come up with an idea
34:37that could save your life
34:38from the comfort
34:39of your own bed.
34:41In 2010,
34:42Wong secures the patent
34:44for his invention
34:45known as
34:46an earthquake bed.
34:48Say, for example,
34:49you're in bed
34:50with your wife
34:51or your husband
34:51and an earthquake happens.
34:55A series of sensors
34:56detect vibrations
34:57and within seconds,
35:00the mattress folds you
35:01and your loved one
35:02into a taco
35:03and draws you in
35:04into the reinforced
35:05steel frame
35:06beneath the bed.
35:08Once you and your partner
35:09have hit the bottom
35:09of the metal box,
35:10the steel bed frame slabs
35:12slide into place
35:13and provide a lid
35:14for you.
35:14So now you're enclosed
35:17in this giant metal box
35:18basically
35:19that's going to protect you
35:20from any sort
35:20of falling debris.
35:24It's said the earthquake bed
35:26can resist
35:276,000 pounds
35:29of vertical roof load
35:30so that even if
35:32the building you're in
35:33collapses,
35:34you won't be crushed
35:35by the debris.
35:36While you're waiting
35:37to be rescued,
35:38you still get to enjoy
35:39all the comforts of home.
35:41The earthquake bed
35:42is a little bit more
35:43than just a bed.
35:43It's almost like
35:45a studio apartment.
35:47It's got a ventilation system,
35:48it's got food,
35:49it's got water,
35:50it's got a gas mask.
35:51It's got a makeshift toilet
35:53which sounds gross
35:54but if you think about it
35:56it's super necessary
35:57and wait for it,
36:00there's Wi-Fi.
36:01Most importantly of all,
36:03there's a radio beacon
36:05so rescuers can pinpoint
36:06your exact location.
36:09The base model bed
36:10starts around $6,000
36:12but you can upgrade it
36:13from there
36:14if you want to put in
36:14say a TV,
36:15maybe a nice bar.
36:17A person or persons
36:19can survive for about
36:20a week in there
36:20before being rescued.
36:22That means you can
36:22just stay in there,
36:23you can binge watch
36:24your favorite shows,
36:25you can take calls,
36:26you can close important deals,
36:28you can do whatever you want.
36:30Guess it's time
36:31to ditch that
36:32I can't work today,
36:33I'm stuck in the rubble
36:34of an earthquake excuse.
36:38The early 1940s
36:40is the era of new ideas.
36:41Color television,
36:43the Polaroid camera,
36:44even the first jet aircraft
36:45take to the skies.
36:47And of course,
36:48a machine for babies
36:50too busy to make it to the gym.
36:51In 1940s England,
36:55parents are being told
36:56that their babies
36:57might not be exercising enough
36:59to be able to take
37:00their first steps.
37:01Fortunately for parents,
37:02there's a solution for this
37:04called the baby exercise machine.
37:08Not only does it give baby
37:09something to do
37:09when it's not eating
37:10or sleeping,
37:11but it also develops
37:12the leg muscles
37:13making every child
37:14a potential soccer international.
37:16The idea is that
37:17with each kick,
37:18the baby's leg muscles
37:20are getting stronger.
37:22And soon enough,
37:23your baby will be
37:24the first one
37:25to start walking,
37:26the first one
37:27to start running.
37:28This invention though
37:29does have
37:30a pretty good dual purpose.
37:32It's strengthening your baby,
37:34but it's also a great way
37:36to distract fussy babies
37:38and keep them occupied.
37:40The little basket
37:40even doubles as a bassinet,
37:42which might be
37:42the most useful feature of all.
37:44When Junior's all done kicking,
37:46he's tired
37:47and so he's going to sleep,
37:49which means
37:49maybe you can too.
37:53Keeping the family strong
37:55isn't just about working out.
37:57How do you make the most
37:58of precious time together?
38:00One inventor has a bizarre idea.
38:02We've discovered the answer
38:03to every motorist problem.
38:05Introducing Charlie Steinlow
38:06and his family.
38:07Charlie's family bicycle,
38:09which he showcases
38:10in an exhibition in Chicago
38:11in 1939,
38:13is this ginormous
38:14two-story bike
38:16that fits, well,
38:17the whole family.
38:19Charlie himself
38:19is on the second floor
38:21pedaling and steering
38:23the bike
38:23with a steering wheel.
38:25Below him
38:26is his son,
38:27Charlie Jr.,
38:28pedaling along with his dad.
38:29And at the front
38:30is his daughter, Maria,
38:32on the lookout
38:33for any potholes.
38:34And mom
38:35is in the middle
38:36operating
38:37a foot pedal sewing machine.
38:39As Mr. Steinlow wears out
38:40the seat of his pants,
38:41Mrs. Steinlow puts in
38:42a new seat.
38:43Because even on a bike ride
38:44in 1939,
38:46a mom's work
38:47is never done.
38:48Kind of a sign
38:49of the times, right?
38:50As the rest of her family
38:51gets to leisurely ride
38:52through the streets,
38:53she's just sewing away.
38:55So where did Charlie's
38:56outlandish idea come from?
38:58Charlie is an inventor,
39:00a creator,
39:01a tinkerer.
39:01He likes repairing things.
39:03And fittingly,
39:04his wife's sewing machine
39:05wasn't working,
39:06so she brought it
39:07to his workshop
39:07to repair.
39:09She didn't get it back
39:10for a while,
39:11and then when she went
39:11to look for it,
39:12it now had wheels on it
39:14and was part
39:15of a two-story bike.
39:16So the Steinlow family
39:17just keep rolling along.
39:20Sure, a bike
39:21that does everything
39:22might keep the family unit
39:23nice and tight
39:24on dry land,
39:25but it won't help you
39:26on open water.
39:29So in 1959,
39:31Canterbury Motors
39:32comes up with an idea.
39:34It's a motorcycle
39:35with a sidecar,
39:37but not just any sidecar.
39:39A young couple
39:40sets out for a day's run
39:41in a motorcycle combination.
39:43Nothing unusual about that,
39:44but in fact,
39:45it's unique.
39:46The sidecar
39:47is actually
39:48a seaworthy boat,
39:50the amphibious
39:51sidecar motorcycle.
39:54Once pulled aside
39:55your favorite body
39:55of water,
39:56just you and your wife
39:57can remove the boat,
39:59place it in the water,
40:00and you are off
40:01on a romantic boat ride
40:03for two.
40:03You actually start it
40:06much as you might
40:08a lawnmower,
40:09and it has an 80cc motor,
40:11so it's capable
40:12of speeds
40:13of about 13 miles per hour
40:15when you have
40:16two people
40:16aboard ship.
40:18The idea behind this boat
40:20is to really
40:20just spark the romance,
40:22but you're sitting
40:23front to back,
40:24so it would be
40:25really hard
40:26to whisper sweet nothings
40:27into your darling's ear.
40:30Plus,
40:30if you move
40:31too rapidly,
40:33you could tip over,
40:35both of you.
40:37Ultimately,
40:37it's too expensive
40:38for mass production.
40:41Just five are made,
40:43and sadly,
40:44the Canterbury bell
40:45is relegated
40:46to the garage of history.
40:48Whether you're
40:50blowing up
40:50beached whale carcasses,
40:52dropping mice bombs
40:53to kill snakes,
40:54or burning millions
40:54to make sure
40:55your daughter
40:56doesn't freeze,
40:57there's an idea
40:58to solve any problem.
40:59But it's only
41:00the most outlandish
41:01that are truly
41:02unbelievable.
41:04unbelievable.
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