The BEST episodes written by David De Vries

Life After People
star
8.00
27 votes

#1 - Life After People

History Channel Documentaries - Season 2008 - Episode 31

If humans were suddenly to disappear, what would happen to our planet--the structures we’ve built, the everyday items we take for granted, animals domesticated and wild, plants, trees? What would become of the things that define our species and leave our mark on this Earth? Visit the ghostly villages surrounding Chernobyl (abandoned by humans after the 1986 nuclear disaster), travel to remote islands off the coast of Maine to search for abandoned towns that have vanished from view in only a few decades, then head beneath the streets of New York to see how subway tunnels may become watery canals. THE HISTORY CHANNEL takes you on an amazing visual journey in LIFE AFTER PEOPLE, a thought-provoking adventure that combines movie-quality visual effects with insights from experts in the fields of engineering, botany, ecology, biology, geology, climatology, and archeology to demonstrate how the very landscape of our planet will change in our absence.

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Inviting Disaster: High Rise
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7.00
2 votes

#2 - Inviting Disaster: High Rise

Modern Marvels - Season 10 - Episode 68

Based on the popular book, this episode explores historical building collapses--from ancient pyramids to the Cathedral at Beauvais to Kansas City's Hyatt Regency--and demonstrates that clear warning signs often existed, but were ignored. We also examine the collapse of the Twin Towers in New York. Author Jim Chiles believes that designers and engineers must better prepare for all potential disasters--by understanding existing risks, they can prepare for the unknown, like terrorism.

Inviting Disaster: Space Shuttles
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6.67
3 votes

#3 - Inviting Disaster: Space Shuttles

Modern Marvels - Season 10 - Episode 67

No program better symbolizes human mastery of machines than does the space shuttle. But the breakups of Challenger and Columbia revealed the program is tragically flawed. Based on the James Chiles's book Inviting Disaster, we look at the 1930 crash of the R-101, a dirigible which, much like Challenger, was rushed into flight and met with disaster, and the Hindenburg, whose 1937 explosion ended dreams of commercial flights for an entire industry. Will the shuttle program go the way of the dirigible?

Inviting Disaster: The Kursk
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6.33
6 votes

#4 - Inviting Disaster: The Kursk

Modern Marvels - Season 10 - Episode 65

The amazing machines of human invention most often do our bidding with uncomplaining proficiency. But when they go wrong, they exact a terrible wage. In August 2000, the Russian submarine Kursk glided through the depths of the Arctic Sea. But the demands of the Cold War had planted the seeds of disaster in this great ship--118 men would pay with their lives. Their deaths would bring about an enormous step forward in Russia's evolving democracy. Based on James Chiles's book Inviting Disaster.

Stealth & Beyond: Sea Stealth
star
6.00
1 votes

#5 - Stealth & Beyond: Sea Stealth

Modern Marvels - Season 13 - Episode 46

It's one thing to make a 60-foot-long jet aircraft seem invisible, but quite another to hide a 400-foot-long warship from the prying eyes of an enemy. Explore the challenging world of stealth technology at sea and how modern engineering can make our largest warships appear to be tugboats or fishing vessels