The BEST episodes of Modern Marvels season 14

#1 - Acid

Season 14 - Episode 34 - Aired 10/1/2007

It is the most widely produced chemical in the world and possibly the most dangerous. Take a look at the many uses of acid. See how the military harnesses acid to make the explosive “Comp B-4.” Visit a sulfuric acid plant to see how acid can take the stain out of stainless steel and learn how it can be mixed to dissolve precious metal. At the Heinz vinegar plant discover why acid’s sour taste is sweet. Finally, learn how acid loving bacteria in Yellowstone National Park may hold the key to a biological industrial revolution and meet a mad scientist who will demonstrate how acid can hollow out a penny and turn a hot dog to sludge!

#2 - Deep Freeze

Season 14 - Episode 33 - Aired 9/25/2007

Modern Marvels: Deep Freeze takes the technology of cold to the extreme: A 12-story ice box filled with 135 million pounds of ice cream, arctic vaults that store billions of seeds and learn how scientists have mastered temperatures of minus 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

#3 - Cheese

Season 14 - Episode 22 - Aired 6/27/2007

From the giant cheese factories of Wisconsin to the goat farms of Northern California,

#4 - Saws

Season 14 - Episode 23 - Aired 7/18/2007

They brought down the forests and built up the pyramids. They're a cut above for construction, salvage, demolition - and they even make music and some have used them to torture.

#5 - Aluminum

Season 14 - Episode 24 - Aired 7/25/2007

This useful metal was once considered more valuable than gold. Watch as aluminum is stretched, pounded, melted and turned into foam. Did you know that aluminum is made out of a powder? Visit the widest rolling mill in the world where skins for the largest jets are made, then it’s off to NASA to observe how aluminum is used to make reflective mirrors for telescopes. Discover the process of making aluminum foil and learn why aluminum baseball bats are better than wood.

#6 - Sticky Stuff

Season 14 - Episode 25 - Aired 7/30/2007

A look at everyday stuff that is sticky including VHB tape, velcro, stealth rubber, cling wrap, and asphalt.

#7 - Chocolate

Season 14 - Episode 26 - Aired 8/6/2007

It's America's favorite flavor. We eat over three and a half billion pounds of it each year.

#8 - Bedroom Tech

Season 14 - Episode 27 - Aired 8/13/2007

We spend 1/3 of our lives in the bedroom, explore the technologies that help to ensure we wake up on the right side of the bed.

#9 - Vacuums

Season 14 - Episode 28 - Aired 8/23/2007

On this episode of Modern Marvels we'll see giant-sized vacuums that clean up after disasters like Hurricane Katrina and 9-11. Beneath the sea we'll meet The Super Sucker, an underwater vacuum that saves coral reefs by suctioning up invasive alien algae.

#10 - Traps

Season 14 - Episode 29 - Aired 8/27/2007

They're designed to capture and often kill, but they don't always harm their prey. Traps are devices as old as humanity itself. We'll trap 400 punds Black Bears with West Virginia Division of Natural Resources biologists.

#11 - Star Wars Tech

Season 14 - Episode 30 - Aired 9/3/2007

#12 - Extreme Aircraft 2

Season 14 - Episode 32 - Aired 9/20/2007

Take a supersonic flight through a world of flying machines that are redefining our skies. Pull serious G’s in the U.S. military’s latest fighter jet: the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Riding shotgun in the lethal B-1B Lancer, and look close or you’ll miss the swarm of MAV’s (Micro Air Vehicles)–so small they are launched out of a backpack. The “vertical takeoff and landing” capable PAV’s (Personal Aerial Vehicles) may be the answer to the commuting needs of tired travelers. Then, discover how a commercial jetliner has been retrofitted into the biggest flying fire truck the world has ever seen.

#13 - Fertilizer

Season 14 - Episode 21 - Aired 6/20/2007

Without it one third of us would starve. Modern Marvels: Fertilizer tours the places that harness the vital nutrients that enrich the soil...that grow the crops...that feed us.

#14 - Early machine guns

Season 14 - Episode 35 - Aired 10/1/2007

Evolution of rapid-fire guns. Included: use of machine guns in the American Civil War.

#15 - World's Sharpest

Season 14 - Episode 36 - Aired 10/11/2007

The Katana blade of the Samurai is the world's sharpest sword. We'll craft one from scratch to reveal the secret of its legendary cutting ability. We'll also visit Cutco Cutlery, where the sharpest for chopping food in your kitchen are made.

#16 - Environmental Tech 2

Season 14 - Episode 38 - Aired 11/12/2007

Take a look at the innovations designed to hold off a global warming meltdown.

#17 - Corn

Season 14 - Episode 39 - Aired 11/19/2007

Corn has found its way into over 3,000 different items. Discover how tons of sweet corn make it from the field to a sealed can within mere hours at Lakeside Foods in Wisconsin and how corn is transformed into clear plastic packaging at NatureWorks in Nebraska.

#18 - The Pig

Season 14 - Episode 40 - Aired 11/27/2007

A pig is as smart as a three-year-old human. The pancreas, heart valve and intestines of the pig have been transplanted into human bodies. But the primary use of the pig is for food. Watch the transformation into bacon, ham, ribs and sausage.

#19 - Rocks

Season 14 - Episode 41 - Aired 12/3/2007

From the Stone Age, to the Space Age, we've built our world from rocks. With moon rocks located at NASA's Johnson Space Center.

#20 - Most Shocking

Season 14 - Episode 42 - Aired 12/10/2007

The dangers associated with Electric Shock are real. It kills and injures thousands each year. In the last 100 years we've corralled its power to create marvelous devices. We'll explore the stunning ways that electric shocks occur - from lethal prison fences to the slippery shock of an Electric Eel.

#21 - Cold Cuts

Season 14 - Episode 43 - Aired 12/17/2007

They're the meat in our sandwiches. We will take you behind the deli counter to reveal the secret ingredients in boloney. Watch a master sausage maker craft salami, and pile it on at Carnegie Deli with their famous mile-high pastrami sandwich.

#22 - Fast Food Tech

Season 14 - Episode 44 - Aired 12/26/2007

Carl's Jr., Jack in the Box, Wendy's, BurgerKing or McDonald's. Fast food joints dominate the American landscape to the tune of $150 billion dollars in annual sales.

#23 - Engineering Disasters 21

Season 14 - Episode 37 - Aired 10/25/2007

A steam pipe explosion rocks New Yorkers on a summer day in Midtown Manhattan. Boston's Big Dig highway project suffers a major setback when sections of a tunnel ceiling fall onto the roadway. Rush hour in Minnesota turns deadly, as a bridge plunges into the Mississippi River.

#24 - Dams

Season 14 - Episode 10 - Aired 3/28/2007

Dams - one of man's greatest accomplishments are explored. The history of dams from construction to demolition and their impact on the environment. Beavers and their dams and construction of embankment dams and larger Hydroelectric dams such as Three Gorges, Hoover, and Grand Coulee are explored.

#25 - Canning

Season 14 - Episode 3 - Aired 1/31/2007

Canning is the method of a preserving and packaging food, without which civilization would never have ventured beyond the local food supply.