- 31 minutes ago
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00Warning. What you're about to see could be disturbing to some viewers. Viewer discretion is advised.
00:13Imagine a device so powerful it could shake buildings and your insides.
00:20He's feeling better than he has in years.
00:23Suddenly he hops off the platform and makes a mad dash for the bathroom.
00:27But unfortunately, nature is a bit faster than he is.
00:32How about a breakthrough appliance that runs on pure dog determination?
00:37Someone figures, why not train a dog to run a spit?
00:41It becomes an indispensable kitchen device, but it is a terrible job.
00:48Kerning for hours and hours.
00:50Or a mouse trap so deadly, you need a permit to own it.
00:54When the rodent eats the cheese, it trips the spring and then the gun shoots the mouse.
01:02But the inventor is thinking a little bit further.
01:07These are the machines. So strange, they are truly unbelievable.
01:24The light bulb, the phonograph, the film camera, just a few iconic inventions attributed to Thomas Edison.
01:31But his most unbelievable creation is a strange machine you've probably never heard of.
01:39It's 1920. It's a cold winter's night and a group of men are in a darkened lab testing a machine.
01:46When Edison calls out, somebody in the room flips a switch.
01:49On the other side of the room, we have this photoelectric cell,
01:53which is going to generate a little bit of electricity as soon as it's hit by this beam of light.
01:57Now, if this electricity ever stops, they would know that something had broken that beam of light.
02:05The men in the room start calling out people's names, asking them to walk through the light.
02:11And the people that they're calling, they're all dead.
02:15And this machine is meant to detect ghosts.
02:20Speaking to the dead might seem strange today, but in the early 1900s, it was all the rage among society's
02:27elite.
02:27Towards the late 19th century, early 20th century, spiritualism really rises with popularity,
02:33and it becomes very accepted, especially in well-to-do society.
02:37It almost becomes like a symbol of your status if you're having seance parties,
02:41if you're inviting people over to commune with the dead.
02:43Especially after World War I, when over 16 million people perished,
02:48people really turned to spirituality in the hopes of reconnecting with departed loved ones.
02:54While others reach for crystal balls, Edison grabs his toolkit.
02:59Thomas Edison believes things like our personality are left behind when we die.
03:04And he believes that these bits of energy of us are almost like a physical thing that he calls entities.
03:09The thing is, Edison doesn't believe that some medium or some really dramatic psychic
03:14who claims to be able to write what's being said on the other side or Ouija boards,
03:20he doesn't believe in any of that theatricality.
03:21He wants to find scientific proof of the afterlife.
03:27So he designs a machine that can detect the presence of these entities using a beam of light.
03:34Detection is only the beginning.
03:36Edison believes his unusual invention can do more.
03:39The machine might even be able to amplify these personalities the same way that a phonograph can amplify a person's
03:48voice.
03:48We might even be able to use this to communicate with the deceased.
03:53It kind of makes sense that he would go down this path because his whole life and what he's invented
03:58has been built around the idea of communication.
04:02And true to form, Edison doesn't keep quiet about it for long.
04:06By 1920, he's ready to pull back the curtain.
04:09In an interview with American Magazine, Edison reveals that he's been working on this device for some time and that
04:17it's almost ready.
04:18This causes an enormous firestorm in the press.
04:22People are eager to see and to see the results of what they are dubbing Edison's spirit phone.
04:31So what exactly becomes of the spirit phone?
04:34Edison's tests ultimately never reveal any true scientific proof of any spirit entities.
04:41With no evidence, no empirical data to back it up, Edison stopped sinking money into it.
04:47He tries to bury the fact that he built this machine, but it is mentioned in his diaries.
04:52Unfortunately, nobody can ever find the plans or schematics.
04:56Edison dies in 1931, and with him dies the spirit phone.
05:01It maybe lights out for the ghost phone, but not the idea behind it.
05:07These days, there are machines that measure electromagnetic frequencies, which are used to detect spirits and whether or not they
05:16exist.
05:17This modern technology is really another iteration of the same thing that Edison was trying to do.
05:23As someone familiar with ghost detecting devices, I will attest those things can be pretty glitchy.
05:29You could say the same about an unusual machine invented by Edison's legendary rival, Nikola Tesla.
05:34A volatile gadget that has an unexpected function.
05:40In the 1890s, genius inventor Nikola Tesla is working on new, more efficient ways of generating electricity.
05:52The rotating electrical generator he finds is not very efficient.
05:58So he decides to invent a new version.
06:01Something oscillating goes up and down.
06:03So basically it works with an air or steam powered piston driving a coil back and forth through a magnetic
06:09field.
06:10This happens at an incredible frequency.
06:13This device does create a lot of electricity very efficiently, but it also produces an enormous amount of vibration.
06:27The amount of vibration is so immense, not only does it shake his building, it shakes the neighboring buildings.
06:33So much so they think they're experiencing an earthquake.
06:36It soon gets the nickname Tesla's earthquake machine.
06:39As scary as this is at first, there seems to be at least one upside.
06:46Tesla's team realizes that if they stand on a platform above the machine, the vibrations get sent throughout your whole
06:54body.
06:54These vibrations feel really good.
06:58Like they feel extra good.
07:00People who experience this or have like laughing bits, their mood changes, and some people say it actually improved their
07:07health.
07:09Tesla, ever the inventor, thinks, hey, maybe this machine might have applications in medicine.
07:15Maybe it could destroy cancer cells or eliminate tuberculosis.
07:21It may even be able to help one of Tesla's famous friends, who's suffering from something much different.
07:28In the 1890s, Tesla becomes a good friend with no other than Mark Twain.
07:34When Tesla and Twain meet at a dinner party, a bromance quickly ensues.
07:41As they get closer, Twain reveals the fact that he's suffering from a really embarrassing problem.
07:47He has insufferable constipation.
07:52Tesla tells Mark, I think I might have something for you.
07:55Go stand on that platform.
07:57We're going to let those vibrations course through your body, and we're going to see if we can shake something
08:02loose.
08:05But Tesla gives Twain a very frank warning.
08:09When I say get off the machine, you get off the machine.
08:13So Twain agrees to all this. He's like, yeah, no problem. I got you.
08:17Tesla fires up the vibrations.
08:20And it gets to going.
08:24Twain loves it. He's eating it up. He's euphoric.
08:27He's feeling better than he has in years.
08:31But sure enough, eventually Tesla's like, yo, time. You got to get off now.
08:36And Twain is like, you're tripping, dude.
08:38Tesla starts getting stern. He's like, hey, come on. I said it's time to get off.
08:43You need to get off of this thing.
08:44Twain says, no way. I'm not stopping this.
08:47Suddenly Twain feels a gurgling in his intestines, and he hops off the platform and makes a mad dash for
08:55the bathroom.
08:55But unfortunately, nature is a bit faster than he is.
09:02On the upside, Tesla did prove his theory.
09:07Today, vibration therapy is proven in alleviating constipation.
09:13So much so that in 2023, University of Georgia invented a vibrating pill to help disrupt constipation.
09:21The incident may have ruined Twain's famous white suit, but not his legendary friendship with Tesla.
09:3015 years before the Imperial Walkers of Star Wars graced movie screens, their strange real-life inspiration gets its start
09:39in a government lab.
09:42In the mid-1960s, the U.S. military is looking at tons of potential conflicts.
09:48The jungles of Vietnam, deserts in the Middle East, maybe even the moon.
09:54And they need vehicles that can really work in any type of terrain.
09:59For an outside-the-box idea, the military turns to a mechanical engineer from GE named Ralph Mosher.
10:07Mosher's work centered on building robots that humans could operate from the inside.
10:12So they amplified the human strength while still being able to perform fine motor movements.
10:19Mosher is a pioneer in hydraulic technology.
10:22He develops these things that give the human operator an extension of their own body.
10:29In the late 1950s, Mosher has built a number of robotic arms.
10:33Like, there's one that can help a woman put her coat on, which you can see in this unsettling photo.
10:39Working with the Department of Defense, Mosher begins applying his concepts to create his most ambitious project yet.
10:47So he builds something called the CAM, the Cybernetic Anthropomorphous Machine.
10:53And everybody else calls this 11-foot behemoth the walking truck.
10:59In the field of robotics, this is one of the earliest legitimate attempts to mimic the walking motions of a
11:07four-legged animal.
11:09Mosher's idea was to more seamlessly connect the operator with the machines they were driving.
11:14So the robot and the driver were really linked together physically in the cockpit.
11:20So not only does it have the ability to carry a ton of cargo or troops, it also has this
11:27sort of feeling of like a super soldier.
11:30It can deadlift 500 pounds, it can flip a car over, it can carry around, knock down tree trunks like
11:37they're matchsticks.
11:38So it's capable of lifting and moving in ways that the human body just is not.
11:44Unfortunately, the walking truck can't seem to walk out of the lab.
11:49It's designed to go as fast as 35 miles an hour, but it can only get up to about five.
11:55And it is a resource hog.
11:57It guzzles 50 gallons of hydraulic fluid every minute.
12:02You would almost have to design a whole other vehicle that just carries its needs alongside it.
12:07While the walking truck is officially shelved, its menacing spirit lives on in a galaxy far, far away.
12:16In the late 1970s, the production team working on the Star Wars sequel, Empire Strikes Back,
12:23want some sort of imperial super vehicle that can attack the rebel stronghold on the ice planet Hoth.
12:30They turn to conventional tanks that are being used at the time, but they just don't seem right.
12:35They're a little bit dull, drab and mundane.
12:38And then they come across an artist's rendering of this four legged walking truck.
12:43And they decide that a similar robot monster would be a lot cooler.
12:47It's arguably the coolest scene in Star Wars history.
12:51And really, that imperial walker is essentially what the walking truck started out as.
12:59A giant walking truck that stomps over anything in its way? Impressive.
13:05But what if you need to cross rugged terrain without leaving destruction in your wake?
13:10Well, engineers have that covered too.
13:15This engineer named William Albee is lying face down on the ground in the sand.
13:20And here comes this 10,000 pound truck headed right for him.
13:25William Albee doesn't move. And before you know it, it drives right over him.
13:35After he's had five tons on his back, he just gets up smiling.
13:40It may look like some kind of crazy carnival trick, but Albee is actually demonstrating his strange new machine.
13:46The Rollagon.
13:48He has outfitted this truck with these massive low pressure tires that he has invented himself.
13:54And they make it possible for the vehicle to roll over almost anything without hurting it.
14:00Surprisingly, the idea for these innovative tires takes shape during Albee's honeymoon.
14:0523 years earlier.
14:09It's 1930 and he has just married his wife, Ruth, and he decides that what they're going to do is
14:15take this 2200 mile hike across the very harsh Alaskan tundra.
14:21As Albee and Ruth make their way across the rugged landscape, they spot something that catches their attention.
14:27William actually sees a group of Inuit fishermen in a boat that is packed with tons of fish.
14:33And instead of stopping at the shore and unloading the boat, they do something he doesn't expect.
14:39They actually take out these bladders, sort of balloons made of seal hide, and they start attaching them to the
14:47underside of the boat.
14:48And once they have them all attached, they just pull the boat and it kind of glides across the snow.
14:54He's watching them move with no machinery, what weighs over a ton, over rough terrain, using these bladders.
15:03And he is hit with inspiration.
15:07The Albee's eventually return to California.
15:10And it takes William another two decades to perfect his radical concept and build a prototype.
15:16Finally, he comes up with the design.
15:18It's a low-pressure bladder, similar to what the Inuit were using, but instead of making it out of seal
15:25skin, it's made out of rubber and fabric.
15:28He decides that the move is going to be to create one huge tire that actually would span the whole
15:35width of the vehicle rather than one at each corner.
15:37I mean, you can almost think of it like a big, soft steamroller.
15:42So he finds a fabricator to help him create this gigantic tire, and he mounts all of these to a
15:48Dodge Power Wagon, and thus the Rollagon is born.
15:53The Rollagon turns heads everywhere it goes, even catching the eye of the U.S. Army.
16:00William demos this thing for the Army, and they pretty quickly realize that it can go on any type of
16:06terrain.
16:06This thing can even climb walls.
16:09The key to the technology is these large, low-pressure wheels.
16:13They're filled to only about five pounds per square inch.
16:17Compare that to the tires on your car.
16:19They're typically 30 to 40 pounds per square inch.
16:22Because the tires are so big and so low-pressure, they really just adjust to the contour of whatever the
16:28surface is that it's driving on,
16:30which also means it's less likely to be punctured because the air pressure is so low.
16:36It looks like the Rollagon could be a game changer, until a few major flaws bring it to a screeching
16:42halt.
16:43The tires are very expensive to produce.
16:46In addition to that, because of the size of those tires, the vehicle moves slowly.
16:50It can achieve a maximum speed of only 10 miles per hour, and that's what kills it as a military
16:56vehicle.
16:58While the Rollagon didn't revolutionize military vehicles, it did find a second life.
17:03Today, it's still used in oil and gas exploration, able to roll over fragile tundra terrain, and the occasional crew
17:11member on a dare.
17:14Ralph Waldo Emerson famously wrote,
17:16Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door.
17:20One man creates a version that instead has everyone running for cover.
17:26It's August 1882, and a very interesting patent hits the desk of a Washington, D.C. patent clerk.
17:33It's from a James A. Williams of Fredonia, Texas.
17:38It's billed as certain new and useful improvements in pest control.
17:43The new and unusual improvements?
17:46A powerful Smith & Wesson pistol, cocked and ready to blast its unsuspecting victim.
17:53There's an elaborate explanation of this trap in the patent application, which has a spring that's baited, set against a
18:03gun's trigger.
18:06So when the rodent eats the cheese, it trips the spring, which triggers the gun, and then the gun shoots
18:15the mouse.
18:18You might think it's overkill, but the inventor is thinking a little bit further.
18:24He also notes that you can apply it to a door or a window.
18:29So this could trigger an automatic firing device that might get a raccoon, a bear, or perhaps a nosy person.
18:38Burglar alarms at the time are just designed to trigger a noise whenever somebody trips it.
18:44Williams points out that he's the only inventor that has invented both a mousetrap and a security system that involves
18:52a gun.
18:54The U.S. Patent Office agrees that Williams' design is in fact unique and approves his strange mousetrap later that
19:01year, just one day after Christmas.
19:05There's no record of this device actually being produced or marketed.
19:09However, this does actually beg the question, does his design actually work?
19:17Flash forward 140 years and YouTuber Sean Woods decides to remake Williams' 1882 mousetrap.
19:26Here I have my Smith & Wesson .22 six-shooter.
19:28So I'm going to use a blank cartridge.
19:30They're designed for driving nails into concrete, so they provide quite a shock blast.
19:34To avoid a gruesome demonstration, Williams sets his sights on an orange, not a rodent, and the results are impressive.
19:44And look at right there. That's going to do more than enough damage to kill a rodent.
19:48I'm sure there's some landlords in New York City that want to give this method a try.
19:52But for now, I think just stick with the bodega cats.
20:00Clearly, defending one's home against pests can drive us to extreme measures.
20:04But defending one's homeland against an invading force can inspire even more unbelievable creations.
20:14It's the fall of 1916. World War I has been raging for two years.
20:19But now, they are dealing with a new type of warfare, where bombs are dropped on you from above.
20:26Not just by airplanes, but by another terrifying new aircraft, Zeppelins.
20:31And they're a big problem for British Colonel Alfred Rawlinson.
20:36Rawlinson commands an anti-aircraft unit that's based on the coast.
20:40And the men under his command, they live under constant fear that German Zeppelin bombers can appear at any time.
20:48Keep in mind that this is long before radar was invented.
20:52You can be surprised by anything that you can't pick up with your eyes or your ears.
20:58The problem with the Zeppelin bombers is that they are stealthy.
21:01The small motors that propel them don't create a lot of noise.
21:05They also blend into the natural environment.
21:08They can disappear into the haze.
21:09And then if they pass over your position at night, by the time you hear them, it's too late to
21:14fire on them.
21:18To combat this terrifying new threat, Rawlinson draws inspiration from another relatively new invention.
21:28The phonographer record player, or the gramophone at the time, was really starting to take off.
21:34And sound is projected through the old phonograph with physical amplification using a flared horn.
21:41The form of that horn does indeed have the effect of amplifying sound.
21:46Not only does it amplify sound coming out, it can also amplify sound going in.
21:52He comes up with the idea of taking two gramophone horns and mounting those to poles.
21:58It kind of makes them look like a really bizarre Mickey Mouse.
22:02But the hope is you're going to amplify the sound so you can pick up the approach of these Zeppelins
22:08miles further than you normally could.
22:11The system looks absolutely ridiculous.
22:14But guess what? It works.
22:17Soon, the idea catches on around the globe, as each nation creates its own version.
22:23The Czechs develop a semi-mobile, a one-man unit that uses two large bowls attached to two tubes for
22:30sound.
22:31But it's still not agile or practical.
22:34Japanese and German soldiers add a handy twist to their bionic ears.
22:39They're these giant ear tubas, and they're connected to a set of goggles.
22:43The idea is that you'll turn your head toward the sound, and you'll not only be able to hear, but
22:49see the oncoming threat.
22:50The prize for the largest portable system goes to the Dutch, who developed these massive earphones that attach to the
22:58head of the operator.
22:59To us today, it looks completely absurd and ridiculous, but to people at the time, it's the cutting edge of
23:06technology.
23:07No matter how big the ear tubas are, there's still one key issue in all of them.
23:12They depend on the soldiers' hearing.
23:15That's when Rawlinson has an unexpected idea.
23:18Rawlinson puts in a rather unusual request in the military.
23:22He says, can you find me some blind men?
23:26Rawlinson explains that he wants to put them on listening stations,
23:30and he wants to cash in on the keen sense of hearing that most blind people will eventually develop.
23:38But Rawlinson's request is even more specific.
23:41He wants men that have been blind since birth,
23:44because he believes that this will have heightened their listening abilities even further.
23:49Rawlinson's request is approved by his superiors.
23:52And it's kind of ironic that they're utilizing blind people to spot the enemy.
24:00The results are mediocre at best, but nevertheless,
24:03blind people became an important military asset toward the end of the First World War.
24:08All this is essentially put aside in the late 1930s with the invention of radar,
24:13which makes this whole operation moot.
24:15But of course, it does leave us with some fantastic photographs.
24:21The war tuba may hold the record for the largest hearing aid ever made,
24:25but it's still not the strangest machine out there.
24:31These days, the strength of our machines is often measured in horsepower.
24:35Back in 16th century England, it was all about pup power.
24:42England, during the 1500s, people really loved their roasts.
24:46And of course, true Brits want their meat cooked on an open flame on a spit,
24:51which rotates the meat so that it's cooked evenly.
24:54But someone has to do the turning.
24:58It's mostly been young boys assigned to the task,
25:01as they sweat profusely and try not to overheat, turning for hours and hours.
25:07It sounds like a terrible job.
25:10It is a terrible job.
25:12So they search for a new solution.
25:15While the job proves to be too grueling for people,
25:18kitchen workers think it may not be for a certain four-legged companion.
25:24There are dogs who are bred to do a ton of different tasks,
25:28whether it's herding sheep or tracking game or warming up your lap.
25:32So someone figures, why not train a dog to run a spit?
25:36They develop an apparatus.
25:38It's a wheel next to the spit that turns it via a chain pulley,
25:44and the dog runs or walks in the wheel.
25:47It's a hamster wheel for a dog to make sure that your meat is cooked.
25:53Eventually, a special type of canine is bred specifically for the job.
25:56It's called the turn spit dog.
25:59It's a long dog with short stubby legs and a cropped tail
26:03so the tail won't get stuck in the wheel.
26:06But the breed's most important traits are great endurance and extreme obedience.
26:11As the turn spit dog tradition develops throughout the 1500s,
26:16it becomes an indispensable kitchen device.
26:19They're called the kitchen dog, the cooking dog, or the verna peter cur,
26:24Latin for the dog that turns the wheel.
26:26For centuries, turn spit dogs are a fixture in kitchens across Britain
26:32until a new technology puts these pups out of work.
26:35By the 1850s, fancy automatic spit crankers become a new status symbol for those who can afford it.
26:43Soon, having a turn spit dog is seen as a sign of being lower class.
26:49Eventually, the turn spit dog breed becomes extinct,
26:51and the last turn spit dog named Whiskey was stuffed and put on display in a museum in Wales.
26:58It's not just dogs that should watch their backs.
27:01Law enforcement should also take note.
27:04Strange machines may be coming for their jobs.
27:11It's 2024, and the police in Lubbock are looking for a man that's out on parole.
27:17They find out he's staying at a motel.
27:19So they send officers there, but upon arrival to the door, a gunshot rings out.
27:26They decide to retreat, call in a SWAT team, SWAT team arrives, more shots break out.
27:32They don't want to just go through the door of the hotel room
27:35because of the high likelihood of drawing fire from the fugitive that's inside.
27:40So they deploy a different kind of cop, the Lubbock Regional Bomb Squad robot.
27:47Now, most people are used to seeing a bomb disarming machine,
27:51but the Lubbock robot can do a lot more than that.
27:55The robot confronts the suspect, who immediately decides to throw a sheet from the motel over the robot,
28:02and then he takes a shot at it.
28:05But the robot is undeterred.
28:07It just removes the sheet and then deploys tear gas.
28:11When the victim comes out coughing and hacking up his lungs,
28:14the robot pins the suspect down until he can be subdued by the robot's human partners.
28:19This type of encounter is just the beginning.
28:22While it may seem like something out of a dystopian sci-fi movie,
28:26real-life Robocops are starting to take the streets all over the world.
28:32So in Dubai, they actually have a five-foot-tall humanoid Robocop
28:37that can actually, like, look for suspects using facial recognition.
28:41It can observe a crime taking place, and then it can actually call in for backup.
28:47The robot's also capable of assessing an individual's emotional state based on facial expressions.
28:53So the robot can look at you and see your angry, confused, or frantic face and respond accordingly.
29:00Ideally, these robots would be able to respond to situations without the emotional impact that police officers may have.
29:09They're not fearing for their lives. So this is a safer way of policing.
29:14Now, Dubai actually wants to roll out a lot more of these.
29:18They're hoping that by 2030, 25% of their police force would be Robocops.
29:25Dubai authorities are quick to point out that their future Robocops will be friendly and will patrol unarmed,
29:33which takes away the whole glamour and grittiness of the actual Robocop movies.
29:40They might be unarmed, polite, even helpful.
29:43But good luck, sweet-talking a robot cop out of a speeding ticket.
29:49James Bond's cars are legendary, from deflecting bullets to firing cannons and even driving underwater.
29:57But could any of these movie-worthy machines ever hit the road for real?
30:03In 1977, the James Bond film, The Spy Who Loved Me, is a huge hit.
30:08And one of the reasons is because of the submarine car in the movie, the Lotus Esprit S1.
30:15But that's all movie magic, because no one actually had a car that could drive on land and then become
30:20a submarine.
30:20That unforgettable car may have been a special effect, but for Swiss engineer Frank Rindernecht, it was something more.
30:28Frank starts his company, Rinspeed, two years after the movie in 1979.
30:33He spends the next few decades building concept cars, but he just can't get his mind off of this submarine
30:40car that he saw in the Bond movie.
30:42By the 2000s, Frank's company is quite successful, and he feels he has both the money and the proper expertise
30:49to finally tackle and build the submarine car.
30:54If you think about how a car operates on the road, it would be totally opposite of that in the
30:59water.
31:00You can't have a normal engine that has an air intake because then you'd get water in the engine and
31:04the engine would stop working.
31:06So, he switches to an electric motor. Therefore, he can encase it in a waterproof housing, and the electric motor
31:14can power the two propellers and the jets needed to maneuver the car underwater.
31:19But generating power underwater isn't Frank's only challenge.
31:23The Bond car is portrayed as a closed vehicle, which takes a lot of weight and a lot of strength
31:29to make to keep the water out.
31:31So, to circumvent these problems, Frank decides that his car has to be a convertible.
31:38Now, you would think a convertible and a submarine would be a terrible idea together, but Frank thought of that.
31:43That's why it's got a scuba mask and an oxygen tank to keep your breathing.
31:48Finally, in 2008, 30 years and 1.5 million in development expenses later, Frank is able to unveil his masterpiece,
31:57the Scuba.
31:59The Scuba, when finished, can go 75 miles an hour on land, and yes, you can drive it right into
32:08the water.
32:09When he introduces the Scuba, he's got rich people all around the world clamoring, saying, I want one.
32:15But scaling up production for a vehicle that cost him $1.5 million to make just one is a massive
32:23financial undertaking that he's just not ready for.
32:26In the end, his company gets a lot more notoriety because the Scuba car, there's only the one.
32:35A slow-moving underwater convertible may have its functions, but winning a war isn't one of them.
32:40For that, you need something a little more nimble, like this lethal bit of Soviet tech used to ice out
32:47the enemy.
32:50When the Nazis invade Russia in June of 1941, what becomes known as Operation Barbarossa, they're not expecting to be
32:58there for a long time.
32:59But famously, they get bogged down in the Russian winter, and they're not prepared.
33:04The Germans lack the supplies, they lack the extreme cold weather gear that they need to fight a winter war
33:11in the Soviet Union.
33:12Then the Soviets launch a counteroffensive against them.
33:16And famously, they end up losing this war of attrition.
33:19Near 27,000 Nazi soldiers died.
33:22That victory is not just thanks to the home field advantage, but to a strange machine from the innovative mind
33:28of Igor Sikorsky.
33:30Many know Igor Sikorsky as the Ukrainian-born inventor of the helicopter.
33:35But back in 1909, Sikorsky is a young 20-year-old kid basically tinkering with toys in his garage.
33:42He's fascinated by the propeller.
33:45The motors butter and catch, weights drop.
33:48Which was developed by the Wright brothers only a few years earlier.
33:51The Wright brothers won immortality.
33:54He starts thinking about what other kinds of vehicles he can strap these propellers to.
33:59In no time, Sikorsky's terrorizing pedestrians on the snowy streets of his hometown, Kyiv, in the world's first motorized sleigh.
34:08It works really well, but motorized sleighs aren't really a necessity in World War I, considering that the majority of
34:14the war is trench warfare.
34:15However, as we get into the 1930s, the Soviets realize we could have use of this tech.
34:22Inspired by years of frozen combat, the Soviets create the NKL-26, better known as the combat sleigh.
34:32This thing is covered in a 10-millimeter armor plating.
34:36Not to mention, it's got an airplane engine attached to the back of it.
34:39It can travel at 45 miles an hour across the snow.
34:44Compare that to a typical German tank that would have plodded through the snow at about 15 miles an hour.
34:50That is a massive advantage in a mobile war.
34:53And it's also muscular because it has that rotating turret on top of it.
34:57And inside the rotating turret, you have a 7.62 by 54-millimeter rimmed automatic weapon capable of putting down
35:04very effective machine gun fire.
35:07When the Nazis invade the Soviet Union in 1941, the Red Army brass commissioned the building of 4,000 of
35:14the NKL-26 units.
35:15And they're trying to just deliver them as fast as possible, so much so that they're even putting children in
35:20factories to manufacture these sleighs at breakneck speed.
35:24The NKL-26 may be built by kids and look funny, but the Nazis aren't laughing.
35:29Their forces are repeatedly hit with surprise attacks by the Santa sleighs from hell.
35:35The combat sleigh really proves its effectiveness in the Battle of Moscow, where everything is mired in the wintery conditions.
35:43The key with the combat sleigh is that it doesn't require roads.
35:47So the Soviets can now swarm their victims coming in from all different directions.
35:52It is a nightmare for the Germans.
35:56The Soviets just dominate and decimate.
36:00It's got to be a bizarre scene to be sitting there and watch these things come in from all directions.
36:06And not just the sleighs, but their towing ski-borne commandos, who then break off and assault your positions.
36:14I think it's safe to say that these Nazis probably hoped that they never ever saw another combat sleigh for
36:21the rest of their life.
36:24The combat sleighs live on in a much less terrifying way.
36:28They're used in Siberia, not to deliver lead, but to deliver mail.
36:35Most inventors who've gotten rich creating new machines follow a basic principle.
36:40Identify a consumer need and fill it.
36:42Now what about the brave vanguards who ignored that advice and dared to invent machines nobody ever asked for?
36:51Running a marathon is one of the most grueling things you can do because marathoners are facing extreme fatigue, dehydration,
37:00muscle cramp, injury across a 26.2 mile race course.
37:05Over the course of a marathon, a runner can burn as much as 4,000 calories.
37:10That's why you often see runners eating those energy gels, those goos, or something like a banana or an orange
37:16on the course.
37:20Yet in 2015, a Japanese company invents a bizarre machine to supply a different kind of fruit on the run.
37:28Tomaton is a robotic running apparatus created by Japanese fruit and vegetable company Kagome.
37:35The goal of this machine is as the marathon runner is running their race, it will feed them tomatoes.
37:40The machine holds six fresh tomatoes in its magazine, and with the push of a button, delivers the tomato straight
37:50into the runner's eating position.
37:52The question is, why tomatoes?
37:56Kagome is Japan's largest supplier of tomato products, tomato juice and ketchup, and they attest that the tomato is a
38:07really efficient way to provide energy for runners.
38:11So are tomatoes actually a superfood? Maybe more so than you think.
38:15They do have vitamin K, they have potassium, which will help with muscle fatigue.
38:20They also give an amazing hydration boost.
38:24So maybe the Tomaton is on to something.
38:27It's an opportunity for marathon runners to consume a superfood, keeping them energized while having it fed to them by
38:35robot.
38:35But here's the problem. Tomaton weighs 18 pounds.
38:40I know a lot of runners who will go for anything to shave an ounce off of weight with carbon
38:46fiber shoes, so I highly doubt an 18 pound tomato feeding robot is going to be in their running regimen.
38:54Is this the most efficient way to eat a tomato on the go? No.
38:58However, until somebody comes up with a more efficient, smaller robot that can feed you bananas while on the go,
39:04the Tomaton has no competition.
39:08If running's not your thing, why not try a ride where your feet don't even have to touch the ground?
39:15It's 1960 in London at the Cycle and Motorcycle Show.
39:20And as trade shows go, this one's kind of a dud until the Americans show up.
39:26This American company, Rhodes Incorporated, is showing off this new space age looking vehicle.
39:33It has a bicycle seat and it has handlebars.
39:36But other than that, it doesn't look cycling at all.
39:39They started up and things get even weirder.
39:44To the amazement of the crowd, the bizarre contraption is able to float several inches off the ground.
39:50It's called the hover scooter.
39:55Rhodes builds it as a hybrid of a scooter and a hovercraft.
40:00And he builds it just a few years after the very first hovercraft was demonstrated in England.
40:07But they're big military vehicles.
40:10This is a small vehicle that you can have at home.
40:14It's a cool idea.
40:16It's got a motorcycle engine that actually turns the fan that fills up the airbag.
40:22And then it's basically riding on this cushion of air.
40:26But unfortunately, the overwhelming impression of everybody there is that this thing is just loud as hell.
40:33It takes so much power to achieve that air cushion that the noise level basically rivals an airplane engine or
40:41a helicopter.
40:42Now, there's no way that anyone would miss you riding this, especially when you hit the water, because the noise
40:48that this thing makes would scare every fish to death.
40:51The hover scooter is at one time slated to be manufactured by a UK company, but that deal falls apart.
40:58And sadly, we never get the chance to see a bunch of Brits terrorizing people in their local parks on
41:04the hover scooter.
41:07Whether it's an earthquake machine that caused a tremor in Mark Twain's trousers, a six-shooter mousetrap that said, make
41:14my day, or a Soviet death slay, these are the machines so strange they are truly unbelievable.
41:20below
Comments