1
00:00:02,200 --> 00:00:03,090
Did you know that

2
00:00:03,090 --> 00:00:04,630
a surprising number of objects

3
00:00:04,630 --> 00:00:06,200
you use every day

4
00:00:06,200 --> 00:00:08,290
are thanks to accidents?

5
00:00:09,520 --> 00:00:10,920
Let me show you what I mean.

6
00:00:13,070 --> 00:00:13,900
On this episode,

7
00:00:13,900 --> 00:00:15,710
we discover how a drooling dog

8
00:00:15,710 --> 00:00:17,690
got us addicted to our phones.

9
00:00:17,690 --> 00:00:19,290
Ooh, Craig's lunch looks good.

10
00:00:21,200 --> 00:00:23,210
Find out how a damaged delivery led

11
00:00:23,210 --> 00:00:25,150
to America becoming a superpower.

12
00:00:27,510 --> 00:00:29,750
What looked like a disaster

13
00:00:29,750 --> 00:00:31,990
now has turned into an opportunity.

14
00:00:32,920 --> 00:00:36,000
And learn how a mysterious disappearing gas

15
00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:39,020
led to well pretty much everything else.

16
00:00:39,020 --> 00:00:41,690
And he says, oh, that's interesting.

17
00:00:42,570 --> 00:00:44,570
"Oops I Changed the World."

18
00:00:46,950 --> 00:00:50,890
Today almost 70% of American households have pets.

19
00:00:52,130 --> 00:00:54,270
And the most popular is the dog

20
00:00:56,300 --> 00:00:58,410
with over 63 million homes

21
00:00:58,410 --> 00:00:59,580
having at least one.

22
00:01:00,510 --> 00:01:03,170
So I can't be alone in wondering,

23
00:01:03,170 --> 00:01:04,260
does your pet seem

24
00:01:04,260 --> 00:01:06,980
to have strange psychic powers?

25
00:01:06,980 --> 00:01:07,920
So I was opening a can

26
00:01:07,920 --> 00:01:09,500
of dog food the other day

27
00:01:09,500 --> 00:01:11,660
and as soon as I touched

28
00:01:11,660 --> 00:01:14,030
that can to the opener,

29
00:01:17,610 --> 00:01:19,110
is it reading my mind?

30
00:01:19,110 --> 00:01:21,170
Stranger still, pets manage

31
00:01:21,170 --> 00:01:23,660
to mysteriously disappear whenever you try

32
00:01:23,660 --> 00:01:25,150
to take them to the vets.

33
00:01:26,510 --> 00:01:29,110
No, they're not telepathic,

34
00:01:29,110 --> 00:01:31,570
they're reacting to a fascinating impulse

35
00:01:31,570 --> 00:01:33,740
first discovered in 1890

36
00:01:33,740 --> 00:01:36,570
by a Russian scientist called Ivan Pavlov.

37
00:01:40,590 --> 00:01:42,350
Russia in the 1890s is

38
00:01:42,350 --> 00:01:43,620
ruled by the czar

39
00:01:43,620 --> 00:01:44,670
and if you're rich,

40
00:01:44,670 --> 00:01:46,530
if you're a prince or a duke,

41
00:01:46,530 --> 00:01:48,420
it's absolutely marvelous.

42
00:01:48,420 --> 00:01:50,950
You're leading a sumptuous lifestyle.

43
00:01:52,690 --> 00:01:55,120
But for 99% of Russians either

44
00:01:55,120 --> 00:01:57,080
on the land or in the factories,

45
00:01:57,080 --> 00:01:58,780
it's really pretty miserable.

46
00:02:01,010 --> 00:02:03,130
During the 1890s in Russia,

47
00:02:03,130 --> 00:02:04,550
there was famine,

48
00:02:04,550 --> 00:02:06,120
lots of political tensions.

49
00:02:07,020 --> 00:02:08,470
It's a dictatorship.

50
00:02:08,470 --> 00:02:09,990
There's a secret police

51
00:02:09,990 --> 00:02:11,920
and you're itching for a revolution.

52
00:02:13,370 --> 00:02:14,390
It was in this world

53
00:02:14,390 --> 00:02:15,730
that Pavlov was starting

54
00:02:15,730 --> 00:02:17,550
to make his mark.

55
00:02:18,470 --> 00:02:19,970
Ivan Pavlov is working in

56
00:02:19,970 --> 00:02:22,730
a physiology department studying digestion.

57
00:02:24,490 --> 00:02:26,940
Saliva is basically step one

58
00:02:26,940 --> 00:02:28,320
in your digestive system.

59
00:02:28,320 --> 00:02:29,280
When you put that

60
00:02:29,280 --> 00:02:31,110
tasty food into your mouth,

61
00:02:31,110 --> 00:02:33,270
your saliva basically gets to work

62
00:02:33,270 --> 00:02:36,240
because it contains something called amylase,

63
00:02:36,240 --> 00:02:38,300
a digestive enzyme

64
00:02:38,300 --> 00:02:40,930
which breaks starches down into sugar.

65
00:02:42,390 --> 00:02:43,750
That's why you salivate

66
00:02:43,750 --> 00:02:45,400
when you smell a delicious pizza.

67
00:02:46,260 --> 00:02:47,960
Which is why Pavlov decides

68
00:02:47,960 --> 00:02:50,020
to focus his research on digestion

69
00:02:50,020 --> 00:02:53,270
on saliva specifically, dog saliva.

70
00:02:56,560 --> 00:02:59,230
He puts a vial next to their mouths

71
00:02:59,230 --> 00:03:00,310
and puts a bit of food

72
00:03:00,310 --> 00:03:01,500
in front of them.

73
00:03:01,500 --> 00:03:03,090
When the dog starts to salivate,

74
00:03:03,090 --> 00:03:04,440
he takes a bit of their drool,

75
00:03:04,440 --> 00:03:07,060
puts it in the vial and documents it.

76
00:03:08,310 --> 00:03:10,810
Pavlov's work isn't exactly glamorous

77
00:03:11,920 --> 00:03:12,750
but it's all worth it

78
00:03:12,750 --> 00:03:14,980
when he stumbles across something remarkable.

79
00:03:16,740 --> 00:03:19,100
He notices that the dogs are salivating

80
00:03:19,100 --> 00:03:22,360
before the food is ever in their presence.

81
00:03:22,360 --> 00:03:23,690
And he starts to wonder,

82
00:03:23,690 --> 00:03:25,080
why are the dogs drooling

83
00:03:25,080 --> 00:03:26,780
if they don't see the food?

84
00:03:26,780 --> 00:03:27,860
Maybe they already know

85
00:03:27,860 --> 00:03:29,740
what time the food's gonna come

86
00:03:29,740 --> 00:03:31,190
so they're anticipating it.

87
00:03:32,280 --> 00:03:34,560
He realizes something weird

88
00:03:34,560 --> 00:03:35,670
is going on here.

89
00:03:35,670 --> 00:03:37,950
It's the oops moment for Pavlov.

90
00:03:40,660 --> 00:03:42,530
So it got him thinking

91
00:03:42,530 --> 00:03:44,390
and it got him experimenting.

92
00:03:50,430 --> 00:03:53,670
First he exposes the dogs to a buzzer

93
00:03:53,670 --> 00:03:54,620
and they hear the buzzer

94
00:03:54,620 --> 00:03:56,310
and of course they don't salivate.

95
00:03:56,310 --> 00:03:57,850
Then he gives them some food.

96
00:03:57,850 --> 00:03:59,320
Well, of course they salivate.

97
00:03:59,320 --> 00:04:00,440
Then he gives them the buzzer

98
00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:01,970
and the food together.

99
00:04:01,970 --> 00:04:03,950
And he keeps doing this and doing this.

100
00:04:03,950 --> 00:04:06,540
Eventually he takes away the food

101
00:04:06,540 --> 00:04:09,280
and he just exposes them to the buzzer.

102
00:04:09,280 --> 00:04:11,610
At that point, the buzzer alone is

103
00:04:11,610 --> 00:04:14,990
enough to cause the dogs to copiously salivate.

104
00:04:14,990 --> 00:04:16,230
And it's not a decision

105
00:04:16,230 --> 00:04:17,530
the dogs are making,

106
00:04:17,530 --> 00:04:19,190
it happens, their salivary glands

107
00:04:19,190 --> 00:04:20,450
just pump out saliva

108
00:04:20,450 --> 00:04:21,350
when they hear the buzzer.

109
00:04:21,350 --> 00:04:22,260
It's automatic.

110
00:04:25,860 --> 00:04:27,470
Now, aha, buzzers,

111
00:04:27,470 --> 00:04:28,680
you may be saying.

112
00:04:28,680 --> 00:04:30,550
That's right buzzer.

113
00:04:30,550 --> 00:04:31,800
While people usually talk

114
00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:34,940
about Pavlov using bells, he never did.

115
00:04:34,940 --> 00:04:36,430
He needed to precisely measure

116
00:04:36,430 --> 00:04:38,230
the duration of his stimulus

117
00:04:38,230 --> 00:04:39,390
so he used buzzers

118
00:04:39,390 --> 00:04:42,020
and metronomes but never bells.

119
00:04:42,020 --> 00:04:43,330
Clearly, if he had to use bells,

120
00:04:43,330 --> 00:04:45,060
he'd have never ended up

121
00:04:45,060 --> 00:04:46,260
winning the Nobel Prize.

122
00:04:50,620 --> 00:04:51,950
What's happened is

123
00:04:51,950 --> 00:04:53,400
that the dogs have learned

124
00:04:53,400 --> 00:04:54,950
to associate the sound

125
00:04:54,950 --> 00:04:57,530
of that buzzer with getting food.

126
00:04:57,530 --> 00:04:58,360
What he found is

127
00:04:58,360 --> 00:04:59,390
that he could get salivation

128
00:04:59,390 --> 00:05:00,790
to happen in the presence

129
00:05:00,790 --> 00:05:01,870
of any old stimulus.

130
00:05:01,870 --> 00:05:03,140
And it was the foundation of

131
00:05:03,140 --> 00:05:05,260
what he called classical conditioning.

132
00:05:07,670 --> 00:05:09,310
Watching dogs drool,

133
00:05:09,310 --> 00:05:11,250
Pavlov has uncovered the cogs,

134
00:05:11,250 --> 00:05:13,170
motors, and motivation

135
00:05:13,170 --> 00:05:15,380
of a powerful subconscious mechanism

136
00:05:15,380 --> 00:05:17,130
hidden inside the animal brain.

137
00:05:22,940 --> 00:05:24,530
Now Pavlov has, well,

138
00:05:24,530 --> 00:05:26,720
unfortunately, a bit of a dark side.

139
00:05:26,720 --> 00:05:27,750
And one of the things

140
00:05:27,750 --> 00:05:29,270
he did was he tried

141
00:05:29,270 --> 00:05:31,450
to get conditional responses in dogs

142
00:05:31,450 --> 00:05:34,150
where they were absolutely terrified of something.

143
00:05:34,150 --> 00:05:35,030
He would do things

144
00:05:35,030 --> 00:05:37,040
like push dogs downstairs

145
00:05:37,040 --> 00:05:39,250
to see if they could associate stairs

146
00:05:39,250 --> 00:05:41,240
with an immediate fear response.

147
00:05:42,390 --> 00:05:44,160
If you're thinking,

148
00:05:44,160 --> 00:05:45,210
I can't believe they gave

149
00:05:45,210 --> 00:05:47,250
this dog botherer a Nobel Prize,

150
00:05:47,250 --> 00:05:50,080
then I've got some bad news for you.

151
00:05:50,080 --> 00:05:51,750
It gets worse.

152
00:05:51,750 --> 00:05:53,610
Now you're really gonna hate Pavlov

153
00:05:53,610 --> 00:05:55,550
because not only does he experiment

154
00:05:55,550 --> 00:05:57,070
on cats and dogs,

155
00:05:57,070 --> 00:05:59,150
he also goes to the local orphanage

156
00:05:59,150 --> 00:06:01,650
to find some candidates for experiments.

157
00:06:02,490 --> 00:06:03,780
There were no ethical committees

158
00:06:03,780 --> 00:06:05,310
back then on these things.

159
00:06:05,310 --> 00:06:08,040
And he would feed food like sweets

160
00:06:08,040 --> 00:06:10,930
or bad tasting sweets to orphans

161
00:06:10,930 --> 00:06:13,470
to get these physiological responses.

162
00:06:17,190 --> 00:06:18,770
So all of this activity

163
00:06:18,770 --> 00:06:21,010
by Pavlov and his successors may

164
00:06:21,010 --> 00:06:24,270
seem incredibly cruel but let's remember

165
00:06:24,270 --> 00:06:25,990
that it did shine a light

166
00:06:25,990 --> 00:06:27,750
on the inner workings

167
00:06:27,750 --> 00:06:30,260
of the animal and the human brain.

168
00:06:31,160 --> 00:06:33,050
Since then scientists have built

169
00:06:33,050 --> 00:06:35,840
on Pavlov's research to teach humans

170
00:06:35,840 --> 00:06:37,810
how to overcome their phobias,

171
00:06:37,810 --> 00:06:39,970
pigs how to play video games.

172
00:06:39,970 --> 00:06:40,970
The final level

173
00:06:40,970 --> 00:06:42,660
of this game is much harder

174
00:06:44,720 --> 00:06:46,570
Dogs to detect diseases,

175
00:06:47,940 --> 00:06:49,390
bees to play football,

176
00:06:52,680 --> 00:06:54,420
elephants to sniff out landmines,

177
00:06:56,340 --> 00:06:59,230
and pigeons to fly American missiles.

178
00:06:59,230 --> 00:07:01,800
During World War II pigeons were used

179
00:07:01,800 --> 00:07:03,150
in a training technique

180
00:07:03,150 --> 00:07:04,970
where they would put their beak

181
00:07:04,970 --> 00:07:07,560
against a screen to tap for targets.

182
00:07:13,500 --> 00:07:15,060
And the idea is that

183
00:07:15,060 --> 00:07:16,030
that would actually be able

184
00:07:16,030 --> 00:07:17,850
to shift the way that the missile went.

185
00:07:17,850 --> 00:07:19,270
This is before computers.

186
00:07:19,270 --> 00:07:22,380
This is like pigeon computer.

187
00:07:22,380 --> 00:07:24,770
It didn't actually come to fruition,

188
00:07:24,770 --> 00:07:26,010
but it was the start

189
00:07:26,010 --> 00:07:27,830
of a whole field of research.

190
00:07:31,410 --> 00:07:34,270
Pavlov's accidental discovery shines a light,

191
00:07:34,270 --> 00:07:36,740
not just on animal behavior,

192
00:07:36,740 --> 00:07:39,100
but also on the unexplored mechanics

193
00:07:39,100 --> 00:07:40,360
of the human brain.

194
00:07:41,610 --> 00:07:43,760
He found that the same basic system

195
00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:45,250
of expectation and reward

196
00:07:45,250 --> 00:07:48,180
that rules animals rules us too.

197
00:07:48,180 --> 00:07:50,480
Are you my kind of guy?

198
00:07:50,480 --> 00:07:53,680
My kind of guy drinks Ballantine Ale.

199
00:07:53,680 --> 00:07:54,710
It's brewed with a little

200
00:07:54,710 --> 00:07:57,130
more courage for a taste you can feel.

201
00:07:58,550 --> 00:08:00,440
This revelation was soon seized

202
00:08:00,440 --> 00:08:02,390
upon by wily companies

203
00:08:02,390 --> 00:08:03,770
intent on using it

204
00:08:03,770 --> 00:08:06,150
to make us spend, spend, spend.

205
00:08:08,500 --> 00:08:09,330
Yes for smoking

206
00:08:09,330 --> 00:08:10,220
that you're bound to like,

207
00:08:10,220 --> 00:08:12,330
you just can't beat a Lucky Strike.

208
00:08:14,110 --> 00:08:16,600
Since the 1930s Coca-Cola has

209
00:08:16,600 --> 00:08:18,570
launched advertising campaigns

210
00:08:18,570 --> 00:08:20,590
around the Christmas period.

211
00:08:20,590 --> 00:08:22,920
We all get that happy, jolly feeling

212
00:08:22,920 --> 00:08:25,810
when we see the fat man in the red suit.

213
00:08:25,810 --> 00:08:27,700
So Coca-Cola cemented

214
00:08:27,700 --> 00:08:29,480
in our minds effectively

215
00:08:29,480 --> 00:08:31,930
that this fat jolly man should

216
00:08:31,930 --> 00:08:34,540
be associated with the lovely feelings

217
00:08:34,540 --> 00:08:36,000
that oh, perhaps you could get

218
00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:38,020
from something like a Coca-Cola.

219
00:08:47,130 --> 00:08:48,060
It's the feeling of Christmas,

220
00:08:48,060 --> 00:08:49,660
the feeling of happiness.

221
00:08:49,660 --> 00:08:50,980
And because of that,

222
00:08:50,980 --> 00:08:51,810
it's why people want

223
00:08:51,810 --> 00:08:53,560
to buy Coca-Cola all year round.

224
00:08:53,560 --> 00:08:55,060
And so associating that

225
00:08:55,060 --> 00:08:57,190
with your product from a company point

226
00:08:57,190 --> 00:08:58,700
of view was a no-brainer.

227
00:09:00,570 --> 00:09:02,320
But you don't need to be

228
00:09:02,320 --> 00:09:04,850
a Mad Men style advertising executive

229
00:09:04,850 --> 00:09:07,330
to use these tricks to manipulate people.

230
00:09:09,240 --> 00:09:10,880
These warm associations can

231
00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:12,350
be used by any of us.

232
00:09:12,350 --> 00:09:14,510
You just need to know the triggers.

233
00:09:14,510 --> 00:09:16,230
Having just sold my parents' house,

234
00:09:16,230 --> 00:09:18,790
I can tell you that either baking bread

235
00:09:18,790 --> 00:09:20,580
or making lots of coffee

236
00:09:20,580 --> 00:09:22,400
makes prospective buyers just

237
00:09:22,400 --> 00:09:23,920
that little more inclined

238
00:09:23,920 --> 00:09:26,300
to say yes, I'll take it.

239
00:09:31,280 --> 00:09:32,680
How can any creature

240
00:09:32,680 --> 00:09:34,300
that can make a space rocket

241
00:09:34,300 --> 00:09:35,480
or even a wrist watch

242
00:09:35,480 --> 00:09:37,530
still be so primitive,

243
00:09:37,530 --> 00:09:39,000
so easy to manipulate?

244
00:09:45,230 --> 00:09:47,430
When we think of American adverts,

245
00:09:47,430 --> 00:09:48,720
you think of the pinup women

246
00:09:48,720 --> 00:09:50,390
and how they market cars.

247
00:09:50,390 --> 00:09:53,130
They'd always have this beautiful woman

248
00:09:53,130 --> 00:09:55,370
who was there to draw the attention

249
00:09:55,370 --> 00:09:57,330
of the male viewers

250
00:09:57,330 --> 00:09:59,410
and to associate it with the car.

251
00:09:59,410 --> 00:10:02,550
The association of sex and cars is

252
00:10:02,550 --> 00:10:05,800
all about creating an unstoppable desire

253
00:10:05,800 --> 00:10:07,750
to own that product.

254
00:10:10,290 --> 00:10:12,710
Of course, it isn't just selling products

255
00:10:12,710 --> 00:10:15,310
that Pavlov's discoveries transformed.

256
00:10:15,310 --> 00:10:17,270
Classical conditioning's been harnessed

257
00:10:17,270 --> 00:10:20,150
by social media very effectively.

258
00:10:20,150 --> 00:10:22,170
More recent research has even shown

259
00:10:22,170 --> 00:10:23,260
that we get literally

260
00:10:23,260 --> 00:10:25,120
a rush of endorphins

261
00:10:25,120 --> 00:10:26,770
when we hear the ping

262
00:10:26,770 --> 00:10:27,600
that tells us that

263
00:10:27,600 --> 00:10:30,180
our social media post has been liked.

264
00:10:32,310 --> 00:10:34,850
It's almost like the social media companies have

265
00:10:34,850 --> 00:10:37,330
taken a page from Pavlov and are

266
00:10:37,330 --> 00:10:40,430
intentionally conditioning our responses.

267
00:10:41,760 --> 00:10:42,590
That little rush

268
00:10:42,590 --> 00:10:44,110
we get is enough to train

269
00:10:44,110 --> 00:10:46,190
the reward centers in our brains.

270
00:10:48,440 --> 00:10:49,790
There's all these associations

271
00:10:49,790 --> 00:10:50,850
that we subconsciously have

272
00:10:50,850 --> 00:10:51,680
and that's all

273
00:10:51,680 --> 00:10:54,050
a part of behavioral psychology.

274
00:10:54,050 --> 00:10:56,120
But it's not all bad news.

275
00:10:56,120 --> 00:10:57,580
This understanding of what

276
00:10:57,580 --> 00:10:59,990
makes us tick has also enabled people

277
00:10:59,990 --> 00:11:02,420
to live better, more manageable lives.

278
00:11:02,420 --> 00:11:06,310
People with anxiety will be thanking Pavlov

279
00:11:06,310 --> 00:11:08,140
because the whole science

280
00:11:08,140 --> 00:11:10,720
of cognitive behavioral therapy

281
00:11:10,720 --> 00:11:13,460
is about unlearning those responses

282
00:11:13,460 --> 00:11:15,750
that people with anxiety often have

283
00:11:15,750 --> 00:11:17,560
where they have a response

284
00:11:17,560 --> 00:11:18,800
that really doesn't fit

285
00:11:18,800 --> 00:11:21,340
what's going on in the outside world.

286
00:11:21,340 --> 00:11:23,580
So it's through Pavlov

287
00:11:23,580 --> 00:11:24,410
that we're able

288
00:11:24,410 --> 00:11:26,120
to get people to unlearn

289
00:11:26,120 --> 00:11:28,450
those essentially irrational responses.

290
00:11:28,450 --> 00:11:29,990
So there you have it,

291
00:11:29,990 --> 00:11:31,540
whether it's instinctively reaching

292
00:11:31,540 --> 00:11:32,440
for your cell phone

293
00:11:32,440 --> 00:11:33,570
when you hear a beep.

294
00:11:34,710 --> 00:11:35,910
Wait a minute.

295
00:11:35,910 --> 00:11:37,300
I gotta get this.

296
00:11:37,300 --> 00:11:39,300
Ooh, Greg's lunch looks good.

297
00:11:39,300 --> 00:11:41,120
That's making me drool.

298
00:11:41,120 --> 00:11:42,470
Curing our anxieties

299
00:11:42,470 --> 00:11:43,620
or making us feel

300
00:11:43,620 --> 00:11:45,970
unnecessary feelings for products,

301
00:11:45,970 --> 00:11:47,420
we can thank Pavlov

302
00:11:47,420 --> 00:11:49,210
and his accidental discovery

303
00:11:49,210 --> 00:11:50,990
for enabling us to understand

304
00:11:50,990 --> 00:11:52,960
the inner workings of our brains.

305
00:12:00,830 --> 00:12:02,340
Still to come,

306
00:12:02,340 --> 00:12:04,410
an accident in a munitions lab

307
00:12:04,410 --> 00:12:06,510
that has explosive consequences.

308
00:12:07,860 --> 00:12:10,720
I'd been absolutely terrified.

309
00:12:10,720 --> 00:12:12,930
And we find out

310
00:12:12,930 --> 00:12:13,760
how a Hollywood A-lister

311
00:12:13,760 --> 00:12:15,700
accidentally invents the modern world.

312
00:12:15,700 --> 00:12:17,100
This is about serendipity.

313
00:12:18,410 --> 00:12:20,300
But first a quick question,

314
00:12:20,300 --> 00:12:22,180
what links your fridge...

315
00:12:22,180 --> 00:12:24,050
The world's tallest bridge.

316
00:12:24,990 --> 00:12:26,340
And this.

317
00:12:26,340 --> 00:12:28,990
The answer is Teflon,

318
00:12:28,990 --> 00:12:30,610
an accidental invention with

319
00:12:30,610 --> 00:12:32,100
a world changing impact.

320
00:12:34,710 --> 00:12:36,840
But first to set the scene...

321
00:12:36,840 --> 00:12:38,450
When a world that had plodded

322
00:12:38,450 --> 00:12:40,540
down the centuries suddenly found out

323
00:12:40,540 --> 00:12:42,060
how to use a force

324
00:12:42,060 --> 00:12:43,700
that had waited to go to work

325
00:12:43,700 --> 00:12:46,510
since before the daybreak of history.

326
00:12:46,510 --> 00:12:48,570
By the mid 1920s,

327
00:12:48,570 --> 00:12:51,140
60% of American homes have electricity.

328
00:12:53,470 --> 00:12:54,620
For the middle classes,

329
00:12:54,620 --> 00:12:55,990
this heralds the dawn

330
00:12:55,990 --> 00:12:58,020
of the electrical appliance,

331
00:12:58,020 --> 00:13:00,830
full of promise to make housework easier.

332
00:13:09,460 --> 00:13:11,040
First came the vacuum cleaner

333
00:13:14,320 --> 00:13:15,770
and then the washing machine.

334
00:13:16,810 --> 00:13:18,850
Maybe my tie's caught in the ringer.

335
00:13:20,540 --> 00:13:22,720
And then the big one.

336
00:13:22,720 --> 00:13:25,190
In 1927, General Electric actually

337
00:13:25,190 --> 00:13:27,500
launches the first domestic refrigerator.

338
00:13:27,500 --> 00:13:28,440
But the thing is,

339
00:13:28,440 --> 00:13:31,910
it costs $7,000 in today's money.

340
00:13:31,910 --> 00:13:33,010
I love cold food as much

341
00:13:33,010 --> 00:13:34,170
as the next person

342
00:13:34,170 --> 00:13:35,270
but not that much.

343
00:13:39,580 --> 00:13:41,320
Enter Roy Plunkett,

344
00:13:41,320 --> 00:13:43,590
a poor farm boy from Ohio

345
00:13:43,590 --> 00:13:46,130
who has dreams of becoming a scientist.

346
00:13:46,130 --> 00:13:48,230
So Roy graduates from college

347
00:13:48,230 --> 00:13:49,610
in the Great Depression.

348
00:13:49,610 --> 00:13:52,540
And he goes home to his parents' farm.

349
00:13:52,540 --> 00:13:53,790
This is a time

350
00:13:53,790 --> 00:13:56,030
when America is on its knees.

351
00:13:56,030 --> 00:13:58,560
He's dying to study chemistry

352
00:13:58,560 --> 00:14:01,270
but it's just, it seems impossible.

353
00:14:01,270 --> 00:14:03,180
His dad says I don't have two pennies

354
00:14:03,180 --> 00:14:05,770
to rub together, but there's this guy

355
00:14:05,770 --> 00:14:08,720
down the road who owes me 15 bucks.

356
00:14:08,720 --> 00:14:09,550
Now in those days,

357
00:14:09,550 --> 00:14:11,070
that was a lot of money.

358
00:14:11,070 --> 00:14:12,530
And so he says to Roy,

359
00:14:12,530 --> 00:14:14,220
if you can go talk him out of it,

360
00:14:14,220 --> 00:14:15,710
you can keep it.

361
00:14:15,710 --> 00:14:17,270
So Roy wanders off to go

362
00:14:17,270 --> 00:14:20,070
and see this guy and somehow manages

363
00:14:20,070 --> 00:14:23,390
to weedle the $15 out of him.

364
00:14:23,390 --> 00:14:25,160
And that's enough to get him

365
00:14:25,160 --> 00:14:26,810
to a high university

366
00:14:26,810 --> 00:14:28,340
to go and study for a Ph.D.

367
00:14:30,370 --> 00:14:32,290
While Roy's away studying,

368
00:14:32,290 --> 00:14:34,990
the price drops for domestic refrigerators.

369
00:14:34,990 --> 00:14:36,510
And they're suddenly within the grasp

370
00:14:36,510 --> 00:14:39,030
of the average American household.

371
00:14:39,030 --> 00:14:40,600
The refrigerator in the kitchen

372
00:14:40,600 --> 00:14:42,360
is a kind of cooling device.

373
00:14:42,360 --> 00:14:44,780
A basic principle of refrigeration is

374
00:14:44,780 --> 00:14:47,240
that cold is the absence of heat.

375
00:14:47,240 --> 00:14:48,970
Refrigerators become a little bit

376
00:14:48,970 --> 00:14:50,830
more accessible but they use a lot

377
00:14:50,830 --> 00:14:52,940
of chemicals and refrigerants

378
00:14:52,940 --> 00:14:54,820
that are actually quite toxic

379
00:14:55,760 --> 00:14:58,300
so it's kind of a health hazard.

380
00:14:58,300 --> 00:14:59,480
Those cooling coils

381
00:14:59,480 --> 00:15:00,810
are filled with gases

382
00:15:00,810 --> 00:15:03,140
including ammonia and ether.

383
00:15:03,140 --> 00:15:05,950
As the liquid boils inside the tubing,

384
00:15:05,950 --> 00:15:08,450
it removes heat from the refrigerator.

385
00:15:08,450 --> 00:15:10,010
Which works well

386
00:15:10,010 --> 00:15:11,050
until there's a leak.

387
00:15:11,050 --> 00:15:12,540
So there's only one little problem

388
00:15:12,540 --> 00:15:14,710
with the early fridges and that is

389
00:15:14,710 --> 00:15:16,560
that they could be completely deadly.

390
00:15:17,730 --> 00:15:19,110
When a leaky fridge kills

391
00:15:19,110 --> 00:15:21,330
a whole family as they sleep,

392
00:15:21,330 --> 00:15:23,160
some of the biggest brains in the world,

393
00:15:23,160 --> 00:15:24,900
focus on finding a safe way

394
00:15:24,900 --> 00:15:26,290
to keep food cool.

395
00:15:28,650 --> 00:15:30,290
Incredibly one of the people

396
00:15:30,290 --> 00:15:32,010
who gets onto the case is

397
00:15:32,010 --> 00:15:34,540
none other than Albert Einstein.

398
00:15:34,540 --> 00:15:37,080
And he's fresh from getting a Nobel Prize

399
00:15:37,080 --> 00:15:39,550
for the theory of relativity.

400
00:15:39,550 --> 00:15:40,380
Now he turns that

401
00:15:40,380 --> 00:15:42,350
great planet sized brain

402
00:15:42,350 --> 00:15:44,390
of his to fridges.

403
00:15:44,390 --> 00:15:46,800
Einstein develops his own fridge

404
00:15:46,800 --> 00:15:48,570
that didn't have really any moving parts

405
00:15:48,570 --> 00:15:50,640
and actually used a heat source.

406
00:15:50,640 --> 00:15:52,770
There is his name on the patent

407
00:15:52,770 --> 00:15:55,480
but while it's understandably clever,

408
00:15:55,480 --> 00:15:57,940
it wasn't without its own issues.

409
00:15:57,940 --> 00:15:59,470
He managed to invent a fridge

410
00:15:59,470 --> 00:16:02,090
that was inefficient, noisy,

411
00:16:02,090 --> 00:16:04,230
and never really took off.

412
00:16:04,230 --> 00:16:05,800
Actually Tony, because there are

413
00:16:05,800 --> 00:16:07,730
no moving parts to go wrong,

414
00:16:07,730 --> 00:16:09,560
Einstein's fridge is still used

415
00:16:09,560 --> 00:16:11,800
inside nuclear reactors today.

416
00:16:11,800 --> 00:16:12,670
But you're right,

417
00:16:12,670 --> 00:16:14,270
it was never a domestic success.

418
00:16:20,840 --> 00:16:21,830
At this point,

419
00:16:21,830 --> 00:16:23,970
Roy Plunkett gains his Ph.D.

420
00:16:27,050 --> 00:16:28,910
and starts to look for a job.

421
00:16:28,910 --> 00:16:30,440
Perhaps you've considered the idea

422
00:16:30,440 --> 00:16:33,330
of working for a chemical company.

423
00:16:33,330 --> 00:16:35,900
That's great advice and Roy takes it,

424
00:16:35,900 --> 00:16:37,150
joining one of the giants

425
00:16:37,150 --> 00:16:38,470
of the chemical industry.

426
00:16:40,370 --> 00:16:41,630
His new job is

427
00:16:41,630 --> 00:16:43,500
to find a way of making fridges

428
00:16:43,500 --> 00:16:45,620
both safer and cheaper.

429
00:16:45,620 --> 00:16:48,280
Around this time, a rival company ended up

430
00:16:48,280 --> 00:16:50,220
developing a new type of refrigerant

431
00:16:50,220 --> 00:16:52,060
that was actually safer to use.

432
00:16:52,060 --> 00:16:54,040
So in response, Roy started working

433
00:16:54,040 --> 00:16:56,710
with a similar compound known as tetrafluoroethylene.

434
00:16:57,570 --> 00:16:59,270
Tetra, oh, hang on.

435
00:17:00,250 --> 00:17:02,780
Tetrafluoro, no that's not it.

436
00:17:02,780 --> 00:17:04,160
Tetrafluoroethylene?

437
00:17:06,230 --> 00:17:08,580
This is mercifully shortened to TFE

438
00:17:08,580 --> 00:17:09,790
and he's creating a lot

439
00:17:09,790 --> 00:17:12,020
of that gas to experiment with

440
00:17:12,020 --> 00:17:14,240
to find that safe refrigerant.

441
00:17:14,240 --> 00:17:16,810
Roy stores his gas in iron cylinders

442
00:17:16,810 --> 00:17:19,520
where it's frozen and compressed.

443
00:17:19,520 --> 00:17:21,440
The next morning, he turns up at the lab,

444
00:17:21,440 --> 00:17:23,290
he opens a cylinder,

445
00:17:23,290 --> 00:17:25,770
and nothing comes out, zilch.

446
00:17:26,780 --> 00:17:28,980
He keeps turning, the tap comes off

447
00:17:28,980 --> 00:17:30,440
and there's nothing coming

448
00:17:30,440 --> 00:17:31,540
out of the cylinders.

449
00:17:33,030 --> 00:17:35,960
A normal human like me would say,

450
00:17:35,960 --> 00:17:37,460
well, I must have screwed up.

451
00:17:37,460 --> 00:17:38,610
I'll have to do it all over again.

452
00:17:38,610 --> 00:17:41,590
Somehow I must have let this gas escape.

453
00:17:42,610 --> 00:17:44,910
But Roy is really sharp and he says,

454
00:17:44,910 --> 00:17:47,050
let me weigh the whole thing first

455
00:17:47,050 --> 00:17:50,180
in case somehow the gas is still there.

456
00:17:50,180 --> 00:17:51,530
Like he's really thinking

457
00:17:51,530 --> 00:17:52,470
outside of the box.

458
00:17:52,470 --> 00:17:54,530
And it turns out when he weighs it,

459
00:17:54,530 --> 00:17:56,080
it weighs the same as it would

460
00:17:56,080 --> 00:17:57,940
if it were full of gas.

461
00:17:57,940 --> 00:17:59,240
Roy decides to cut one

462
00:17:59,240 --> 00:18:00,380
of the cylinders open.

463
00:18:04,340 --> 00:18:07,210
And what he finds inside is amazing.

464
00:18:07,210 --> 00:18:08,470
In the cylinder

465
00:18:08,470 --> 00:18:10,300
is a strange white powder.

466
00:18:11,950 --> 00:18:14,380
The gas has polymerized

467
00:18:14,380 --> 00:18:18,120
into this powdery white solid.

468
00:18:18,120 --> 00:18:21,510
And he says, oh, that's interesting.

469
00:18:21,510 --> 00:18:22,740
The combination of the iron

470
00:18:22,740 --> 00:18:24,690
and the cold has caused the gas

471
00:18:24,690 --> 00:18:25,860
to form a polymer.

472
00:18:27,030 --> 00:18:29,000
The iron walls of the container acted

473
00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:30,970
as a catalyst to allow the gas

474
00:18:30,970 --> 00:18:34,100
to link together with itself essentially.

475
00:18:34,100 --> 00:18:35,400
And this was not thought

476
00:18:35,400 --> 00:18:37,690
to be possible but here it was.

477
00:18:38,550 --> 00:18:40,310
Several of the smaller molecules

478
00:18:40,310 --> 00:18:42,730
are combining to form larger molecules.

479
00:18:43,590 --> 00:18:45,310
The result is a material

480
00:18:45,310 --> 00:18:47,790
of the same chemical composition

481
00:18:47,790 --> 00:18:50,290
but with entirely different physical properties.

482
00:18:52,050 --> 00:18:53,410
Those properties depend on

483
00:18:53,410 --> 00:18:55,200
what molecules are bonded

484
00:18:55,200 --> 00:18:56,970
and how long those bonds are.

485
00:18:57,830 --> 00:19:00,860
Some polymers bend and bounce like rubber,

486
00:19:00,860 --> 00:19:03,320
others are see-through like glass.

487
00:19:03,320 --> 00:19:05,690
The powder that Roy's discovered appears

488
00:19:05,690 --> 00:19:07,330
to do nothing at all.

489
00:19:07,330 --> 00:19:08,920
So it's this kind of strange,

490
00:19:08,920 --> 00:19:10,430
sort of slippery substance.

491
00:19:10,430 --> 00:19:11,600
It turns out that it's

492
00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:13,010
more inert than sand.

493
00:19:13,010 --> 00:19:14,820
It won't really react with other things.

494
00:19:14,820 --> 00:19:16,400
It won't react with acid.

495
00:19:16,400 --> 00:19:19,230
It therefore might be totally useless

496
00:19:19,230 --> 00:19:21,530
or perhaps the opposite.

497
00:19:21,530 --> 00:19:22,710
You may think

498
00:19:22,710 --> 00:19:23,830
that a slippery substance

499
00:19:23,830 --> 00:19:27,080
that doesn't react isn't very exciting

500
00:19:27,080 --> 00:19:28,190
but you'd be wrong.

501
00:19:28,190 --> 00:19:30,290
He realized that it had kind

502
00:19:30,290 --> 00:19:32,160
of anti-superpowers if you will,

503
00:19:32,160 --> 00:19:34,670
it didn't react with anything.

504
00:19:34,670 --> 00:19:36,780
All the magical nonstick properties

505
00:19:36,780 --> 00:19:38,620
of Plunkett's new material come

506
00:19:38,620 --> 00:19:40,660
from its molecular structure.

507
00:19:40,660 --> 00:19:43,630
So Roy has just accidentally invented

508
00:19:43,630 --> 00:19:45,700
polytetrafluoroethylene.

509
00:19:45,700 --> 00:19:49,060
So we've gone from TFE to PTFE.

510
00:19:49,060 --> 00:19:51,540
It's this long chain of carbon,

511
00:19:51,540 --> 00:19:53,910
but it's surrounded by fluorine atoms,

512
00:19:53,910 --> 00:19:55,540
and they're interacting so strongly

513
00:19:55,540 --> 00:19:56,680
with that carbon backbone

514
00:19:56,680 --> 00:19:57,510
that they don't want

515
00:19:57,510 --> 00:19:58,800
to interact with anything else.

516
00:19:58,800 --> 00:20:00,900
So they make this big, long caterpillar,

517
00:20:00,900 --> 00:20:02,780
but it's like the caterpillar's wearing armor.

518
00:20:02,780 --> 00:20:04,130
Nothing can get to it

519
00:20:04,130 --> 00:20:06,620
and it won't stick to anything else.

520
00:20:06,620 --> 00:20:09,370
So whether you bake or broil or stew,

521
00:20:09,370 --> 00:20:11,800
the Frigidaire Kitchen does it all for you.

522
00:20:12,870 --> 00:20:14,780
Roy's invention of PTFE

523
00:20:14,780 --> 00:20:16,180
never did help with fridges.

524
00:20:19,450 --> 00:20:21,750
But Du Pont wondered can this substance

525
00:20:21,750 --> 00:20:23,620
that doesn't react with anything be put

526
00:20:23,620 --> 00:20:25,160
to some useful purpose.

527
00:20:27,190 --> 00:20:29,880
Plunkett's material which they trademark as Teflon

528
00:20:32,620 --> 00:20:34,910
becomes the go-to nonstick coating

529
00:20:34,910 --> 00:20:36,430
for machine metal parts

530
00:20:36,430 --> 00:20:37,950
in industrial processes.

531
00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:41,020
But Du Pont is reluctant

532
00:20:41,020 --> 00:20:42,880
to sell their product to the public

533
00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:44,700
until they're absolutely sure

534
00:20:44,700 --> 00:20:46,440
it's safe in untrained hands.

535
00:20:48,150 --> 00:20:49,940
But while they hesitate,

536
00:20:49,940 --> 00:20:51,820
others aren't quite so cautious.

537
00:20:53,930 --> 00:20:56,330
So now we go to la belle France.

538
00:20:56,330 --> 00:20:57,300
There is an engineer

539
00:20:57,300 --> 00:20:59,430
over there called Marc Gregoire.

540
00:20:59,430 --> 00:21:00,620
Marc's day job is

541
00:21:00,620 --> 00:21:02,940
in an aerospace research lab

542
00:21:02,940 --> 00:21:03,950
which is how he manages

543
00:21:03,950 --> 00:21:05,580
to get his hands on some Teflon.

544
00:21:06,940 --> 00:21:09,390
Marc puts it on his fishing tackle

545
00:21:09,390 --> 00:21:11,930
so the line won't bind.

546
00:21:11,930 --> 00:21:13,240
And his wife says to him one day,

547
00:21:13,240 --> 00:21:14,070
what are you doing?

548
00:21:14,070 --> 00:21:15,840
He says, well, it doesn't stick to anything.

549
00:21:15,840 --> 00:21:16,670
And she says, well,

550
00:21:16,670 --> 00:21:18,630
how about doing something useful with that

551
00:21:18,630 --> 00:21:20,670
like putting it on my pots and pans?

552
00:21:21,980 --> 00:21:23,950
Marc figures out that if you actually

553
00:21:23,950 --> 00:21:26,400
etch the aluminum with acid,

554
00:21:26,400 --> 00:21:28,040
it develops these pores,

555
00:21:28,040 --> 00:21:29,270
these kind of grooves

556
00:21:29,270 --> 00:21:30,640
where you then are able

557
00:21:31,490 --> 00:21:33,210
to fill in that area

558
00:21:33,210 --> 00:21:35,190
with the Teflon powder

559
00:21:35,190 --> 00:21:37,120
at the right temperature.

560
00:21:37,120 --> 00:21:39,300
This is what then can produce the

561
00:21:39,300 --> 00:21:41,350
right surface for the frying pan.

562
00:21:42,530 --> 00:21:43,440
The pans are

563
00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:45,470
wildly popular in France

564
00:21:45,470 --> 00:21:46,820
but American retailers are

565
00:21:46,820 --> 00:21:48,300
yet to be convinced.

566
00:21:48,300 --> 00:21:49,950
In fact, nobody wants

567
00:21:49,950 --> 00:21:51,390
to sell the pans at all

568
00:21:51,390 --> 00:21:53,810
until Macy's decides to take a punt.

569
00:21:55,220 --> 00:21:56,580
Macy's takes 200 of

570
00:21:56,580 --> 00:21:58,210
these nonstick pans and sells

571
00:21:58,210 --> 00:22:00,090
all of them in just two days

572
00:22:00,090 --> 00:22:01,750
and that's during a snowstorm.

573
00:22:01,750 --> 00:22:03,220
I don't even go out when it rains.

574
00:22:03,220 --> 00:22:04,940
So people are battling through the weather

575
00:22:04,940 --> 00:22:06,930
just to get these nonstick pans.

576
00:22:06,930 --> 00:22:08,150
That's the real moment of change

577
00:22:08,150 --> 00:22:10,050
when people buy into this product.

578
00:22:10,050 --> 00:22:12,320
Cookies won't stick to Teflon.

579
00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:15,370
Even oatmeal won't stick to Teflon.

580
00:22:15,370 --> 00:22:17,640
I don't think anything sticks to Teflon.

581
00:22:18,490 --> 00:22:20,640
Since then more than 1 billion pans

582
00:22:20,640 --> 00:22:22,170
have been sold worldwide

583
00:22:22,170 --> 00:22:24,350
revolutionizing cooking as we know it.

584
00:22:24,350 --> 00:22:25,350
And I know I've contributed

585
00:22:25,350 --> 00:22:27,410
at least three or four to that number.

586
00:22:27,410 --> 00:22:28,960
And outside of the kitchen,

587
00:22:28,960 --> 00:22:31,930
Teflon has continued to fuel innovation

588
00:22:31,930 --> 00:22:33,670
in some unexpected ways.

589
00:22:37,560 --> 00:22:40,310
This is the Millau Viaduct,

590
00:22:40,310 --> 00:22:42,850
the tallest road bridge in the world.

591
00:22:42,850 --> 00:22:46,550
Built in 2004, this 8,000 foot long,

592
00:22:46,550 --> 00:22:48,330
mega structure is taller

593
00:22:48,330 --> 00:22:50,650
than the Eiffel tower and considered one

594
00:22:50,650 --> 00:22:52,910
of engineering's greatest achievements.

595
00:22:54,760 --> 00:22:57,120
This viaduct is so tall

596
00:22:57,120 --> 00:23:00,170
that you can literally drive above the clouds.

597
00:23:00,170 --> 00:23:02,590
So why was Teflon important here?

598
00:23:02,590 --> 00:23:05,020
Well, there were no cranes big enough

599
00:23:05,020 --> 00:23:06,500
to help build this bridge

600
00:23:06,500 --> 00:23:07,790
by taking one section

601
00:23:07,790 --> 00:23:08,620
and bringing it out

602
00:23:08,620 --> 00:23:10,020
to the end of the other.

603
00:23:10,020 --> 00:23:12,000
These big, heavy pieces of road

604
00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:14,440
that had to be slotted in place would

605
00:23:14,440 --> 00:23:15,890
just have too much friction

606
00:23:15,890 --> 00:23:17,070
if you were to push them

607
00:23:17,070 --> 00:23:19,320
without something slick in between.

608
00:23:19,320 --> 00:23:20,910
But the use of the Teflon wedges

609
00:23:20,910 --> 00:23:23,340
and a hydraulic pump behind them meant

610
00:23:23,340 --> 00:23:24,170
that they could just

611
00:23:24,170 --> 00:23:25,000
be moved right along

612
00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:26,260
and slotted into place.

613
00:23:27,550 --> 00:23:28,730
So an invention

614
00:23:28,730 --> 00:23:30,170
from a company whose name is

615
00:23:30,170 --> 00:23:31,850
French for bridge played

616
00:23:31,850 --> 00:23:35,280
a crucial part in building this French bridge.

617
00:23:35,280 --> 00:23:36,140
Impressive.

618
00:23:37,700 --> 00:23:39,660
A journey that previously took three hours

619
00:23:39,660 --> 00:23:41,370
now only takes 10 minutes.

620
00:23:41,370 --> 00:23:43,110
So imagine the impact that's had

621
00:23:43,110 --> 00:23:44,460
on families and businesses.

622
00:23:46,270 --> 00:23:49,210
In fact, Plunkett's accidental discovery

623
00:23:49,210 --> 00:23:51,210
has been so successful that

624
00:23:51,210 --> 00:23:52,600
there's almost no aspects

625
00:23:52,600 --> 00:23:54,650
of our lives untouched by it.

626
00:23:54,650 --> 00:23:55,480
Carpet.

627
00:23:55,480 --> 00:23:56,420
Cars.

628
00:23:56,420 --> 00:23:57,250
Furniture.

629
00:23:57,250 --> 00:23:58,080
Clothing.

630
00:23:58,080 --> 00:23:58,910
Light bulbs.

631
00:23:58,910 --> 00:23:59,750
Paint.

632
00:23:59,750 --> 00:24:00,580
Windshield wipers.

633
00:24:00,580 --> 00:24:02,460
Cables, artificial limbs.

634
00:24:02,460 --> 00:24:03,320
Nail polish.

635
00:24:03,320 --> 00:24:04,410
Wow, Teflon.

636
00:24:04,410 --> 00:24:06,790
Yep and your dentures too.

637
00:24:06,790 --> 00:24:08,500
It's everywhere on this planet

638
00:24:08,500 --> 00:24:11,640
and also everywhere we've been off it too.

639
00:24:11,640 --> 00:24:14,020
It's been used in outer space.

640
00:24:14,020 --> 00:24:15,900
Four computers now have primary control

641
00:24:15,900 --> 00:24:17,500
of critical vehicle functions.

642
00:24:17,500 --> 00:24:18,870
It's particularly useful

643
00:24:18,870 --> 00:24:19,870
in the Mars Rover

644
00:24:19,870 --> 00:24:21,550
because the material can undergo

645
00:24:21,550 --> 00:24:24,240
extreme changes in temperature without reacting.

646
00:24:24,240 --> 00:24:27,580
Mars has these huge sand storms going on.

647
00:24:27,580 --> 00:24:28,980
The Mars Rovers are mainly

648
00:24:28,980 --> 00:24:30,670
powered by solar panels.

649
00:24:30,670 --> 00:24:32,600
If they're covered in sand,

650
00:24:32,600 --> 00:24:33,980
the Rover can die.

651
00:24:33,980 --> 00:24:36,220
And so if you have Teflon

652
00:24:36,220 --> 00:24:38,190
that actually can protect the Rover

653
00:24:38,190 --> 00:24:40,450
from getting piled with sand

654
00:24:40,450 --> 00:24:44,770
and extend the Rover's life.

655
00:24:44,770 --> 00:24:47,630
Strong, lightweight, and long lasting,

656
00:24:47,630 --> 00:24:49,800
it must have a sticking point somewhere.

657
00:24:49,800 --> 00:24:51,120
So if you're thinking

658
00:24:51,120 --> 00:24:53,170
that maybe Teflon being everywhere

659
00:24:53,170 --> 00:24:54,650
might have a downside,

660
00:24:54,650 --> 00:24:56,750
well, give yourself a star

661
00:24:56,750 --> 00:24:58,700
because the gases that we use

662
00:24:58,700 --> 00:25:02,050
to make Teflon, PFOA, have been found

663
00:25:02,050 --> 00:25:05,570
contaminating everybody and everything.

664
00:25:05,570 --> 00:25:07,370
We now estimate that nearly

665
00:25:07,370 --> 00:25:09,170
every human on the planet has some

666
00:25:09,170 --> 00:25:10,910
of this stuff inside of them

667
00:25:10,910 --> 00:25:13,010
even babies in the womb.

668
00:25:14,970 --> 00:25:16,650
We're finding it in food chains,

669
00:25:16,650 --> 00:25:17,480
we're finding it

670
00:25:17,480 --> 00:25:19,240
in animals and in plants.

671
00:25:19,240 --> 00:25:20,120
We know that this

672
00:25:20,120 --> 00:25:21,640
can cause some cancers.

673
00:25:21,640 --> 00:25:23,800
What other effects it might have

674
00:25:23,800 --> 00:25:25,290
are still being discovered.

675
00:25:26,990 --> 00:25:28,180
That's how we are as humans.

676
00:25:28,180 --> 00:25:30,160
We're curious and we're inventors

677
00:25:30,160 --> 00:25:33,990
but until we thoroughly understand applications

678
00:25:33,990 --> 00:25:36,250
and inventions or discoveries,

679
00:25:36,250 --> 00:25:37,080
I think we should be

680
00:25:37,080 --> 00:25:39,550
more conscious and hesitant.

681
00:25:43,710 --> 00:25:44,650
So on balance,

682
00:25:44,650 --> 00:25:46,960
how do we judge Plunkett's discovery?

683
00:25:46,960 --> 00:25:48,610
In one sense, we don't know the

684
00:25:48,610 --> 00:25:50,750
full effects of Teflon on our health

685
00:25:50,750 --> 00:25:52,030
and on the environment.

686
00:25:52,030 --> 00:25:53,270
But in another sense,

687
00:25:53,270 --> 00:25:54,550
we certainly know that it's led

688
00:25:54,550 --> 00:25:56,680
to all sorts of incredible inventions

689
00:25:56,680 --> 00:25:57,610
that have really improved

690
00:25:57,610 --> 00:25:59,590
our quality of life.

691
00:25:59,590 --> 00:26:01,630
For myself, I'm glad I don't have

692
00:26:01,630 --> 00:26:03,630
to spend my evening scrubbing pans.

693
00:26:10,730 --> 00:26:12,610
Coming up, the woman

694
00:26:12,610 --> 00:26:14,690
who invented the future.

695
00:26:14,690 --> 00:26:16,760
We wouldn't have Bluetooth,

696
00:26:16,760 --> 00:26:19,780
driverless cars, cell phones, or GPS.

697
00:26:20,750 --> 00:26:21,680
But first...

698
00:26:24,360 --> 00:26:26,900
Chinese monks discovered gunpowder

699
00:26:26,900 --> 00:26:29,070
while looking for the elixir of life.

700
00:26:29,070 --> 00:26:30,590
So somehow, while looking

701
00:26:30,590 --> 00:26:32,330
for the secret of eternal life,

702
00:26:32,330 --> 00:26:33,200
they actually found out

703
00:26:33,200 --> 00:26:34,600
how to kill a lot of people.

704
00:26:36,900 --> 00:26:39,620
Gunpowder is first used in fireworks.

705
00:26:40,970 --> 00:26:42,340
But it's quickly adapted

706
00:26:42,340 --> 00:26:45,150
for rifles, cannons, grenades,

707
00:26:45,150 --> 00:26:47,480
and now forms the basis of almost

708
00:26:47,480 --> 00:26:49,740
every new military weapon to date.

709
00:26:55,590 --> 00:26:57,110
Before the arrival of gunpowder,

710
00:26:57,110 --> 00:26:59,440
people could hide behind castle walls

711
00:26:59,440 --> 00:27:01,380
and just ignore the enemy outside.

712
00:27:02,580 --> 00:27:03,920
But with gunpowder,

713
00:27:03,920 --> 00:27:06,240
the castle walls came tumbling down.

714
00:27:08,880 --> 00:27:09,800
The only problem was

715
00:27:09,800 --> 00:27:10,740
it left an awful lot

716
00:27:10,740 --> 00:27:12,220
of smoke on the battlefield.

717
00:27:14,570 --> 00:27:16,100
It's the 1800s

718
00:27:16,100 --> 00:27:18,080
and something's about to be discovered

719
00:27:18,080 --> 00:27:19,430
that will blow gunpowder

720
00:27:19,430 --> 00:27:20,380
out of the water...

721
00:27:22,520 --> 00:27:23,350
dynamite.

722
00:27:26,670 --> 00:27:29,500
Our story begins in 1833

723
00:27:29,500 --> 00:27:30,850
with the birth of the founder

724
00:27:30,850 --> 00:27:33,490
of the Nobel Prize, Alfred Nobel.

725
00:27:36,290 --> 00:27:37,850
Alfred is born into a family

726
00:27:37,850 --> 00:27:41,440
of engineers, inventors, and scientists.

727
00:27:41,440 --> 00:27:43,070
Alfred grew up in

728
00:27:43,070 --> 00:27:44,640
quite a dynamic family.

729
00:27:44,640 --> 00:27:46,880
His father was the chief inventor

730
00:27:46,880 --> 00:27:48,630
and they had a factory in Russia

731
00:27:48,630 --> 00:27:50,910
where they made mines for the military.

732
00:27:55,810 --> 00:27:57,660
Alfred and his brothers were schooled

733
00:27:57,660 --> 00:28:00,190
like crazy from an early age.

734
00:28:00,190 --> 00:28:03,580
Each of them learned five languages,

735
00:28:03,580 --> 00:28:07,580
English, German, French, Swedish, and Russian.

736
00:28:09,540 --> 00:28:11,980
Soon Alfred is jet-setting across the globe

737
00:28:11,980 --> 00:28:14,350
and he's getting a world class education

738
00:28:14,350 --> 00:28:16,140
from the brightest and the best

739
00:28:16,140 --> 00:28:17,350
wherever they may be.

740
00:28:18,970 --> 00:28:21,030
Well, maybe not jet-setting.

741
00:28:21,030 --> 00:28:23,060
This is the 1800s after all.

742
00:28:25,830 --> 00:28:27,400
So meanwhile, around this time

743
00:28:27,400 --> 00:28:29,330
down at the University of Turin,

744
00:28:29,330 --> 00:28:30,650
a certain professor,

745
00:28:30,650 --> 00:28:33,020
Ascanio Sobrero is carrying

746
00:28:33,020 --> 00:28:35,570
out some interesting experiments.

747
00:28:37,420 --> 00:28:39,480
He adds glycerol to a mixture

748
00:28:39,480 --> 00:28:41,790
of nitric and sulfuric acid.

749
00:28:41,790 --> 00:28:43,030
And the result is...

750
00:28:43,030 --> 00:28:43,860
Boom.

751
00:28:48,770 --> 00:28:50,920
He's invented nitroglycerine.

752
00:28:50,920 --> 00:28:52,210
It's an oily substance

753
00:28:52,210 --> 00:28:54,770
that's more explosive than gunpowder

754
00:28:54,770 --> 00:28:56,710
bearing in mind gunpowder has

755
00:28:56,710 --> 00:28:58,830
been used for hundreds of years.

756
00:28:58,830 --> 00:29:01,540
It's just an amazing discovery.

757
00:29:01,540 --> 00:29:03,590
Explosions happen

758
00:29:03,590 --> 00:29:04,530
when a huge amount

759
00:29:04,530 --> 00:29:05,950
of energy is being released

760
00:29:05,950 --> 00:29:07,620
in a short space of time

761
00:29:07,620 --> 00:29:09,940
but exactly how that happens,

762
00:29:09,940 --> 00:29:12,870
differs depending on the type of explosive.

763
00:29:12,870 --> 00:29:15,210
Gunpowder is what's known

764
00:29:15,210 --> 00:29:16,830
as a low explosive.

765
00:29:16,830 --> 00:29:18,780
It relies on combustion

766
00:29:18,780 --> 00:29:20,920
to generate a quick release of energy.

767
00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:21,750
Have you ever tried

768
00:29:21,750 --> 00:29:23,360
to smother out a firework?

769
00:29:25,160 --> 00:29:26,040
Yeah, you can't.

770
00:29:26,040 --> 00:29:27,690
And that's because the oxygen is

771
00:29:27,690 --> 00:29:29,790
already inside that gunpowder.

772
00:29:29,790 --> 00:29:31,550
The carbon and the sulfur inside

773
00:29:31,550 --> 00:29:33,840
of the powder takes up the oxygen

774
00:29:33,840 --> 00:29:35,760
and converts it to gases.

775
00:29:36,790 --> 00:29:38,170
The pressure that creates

776
00:29:38,170 --> 00:29:39,850
and the heat gives you

777
00:29:39,850 --> 00:29:42,420
that lovely combustive quality.

778
00:29:43,970 --> 00:29:45,570
Nitroglycerin on the other hand

779
00:29:45,570 --> 00:29:46,900
is a high explosive.

780
00:29:46,900 --> 00:29:48,710
When those molecules break apart

781
00:29:48,710 --> 00:29:51,620
in that nitroglycerin and convert to gases,

782
00:29:51,620 --> 00:29:54,350
those gases take up 1,200 times

783
00:29:54,350 --> 00:29:55,960
the volume of the liquids

784
00:29:55,960 --> 00:29:58,970
so there's a rapid increase in pressure

785
00:29:58,970 --> 00:30:00,900
and that's what creates the explosion.

786
00:30:12,400 --> 00:30:14,320
The problem with nitroglycerin is

787
00:30:14,320 --> 00:30:16,580
that it only takes a small knock

788
00:30:16,580 --> 00:30:18,210
to set it off.

789
00:30:18,210 --> 00:30:20,220
So Ascanio Sobrero had

790
00:30:20,220 --> 00:30:21,050
to spend a lot

791
00:30:21,050 --> 00:30:24,150
of time being very careful.

792
00:30:24,150 --> 00:30:26,230
But unfortunately for him,

793
00:30:26,230 --> 00:30:28,330
he wasn't quite careful enough.

794
00:30:32,610 --> 00:30:34,260
Ascanio suffers

795
00:30:34,260 --> 00:30:36,970
lifelong scars from the accident.

796
00:30:36,970 --> 00:30:39,330
He's terrified of what he's created

797
00:30:39,330 --> 00:30:41,100
and tries to keep it a secret.

798
00:30:43,540 --> 00:30:45,140
Alfred Nobel must have had

799
00:30:45,140 --> 00:30:46,080
his ears to the ground

800
00:30:46,080 --> 00:30:48,840
because he soon gets wind of nitroglycerine.

801
00:30:50,750 --> 00:30:51,830
Alfred learns of it

802
00:30:51,830 --> 00:30:53,870
when his old chemistry tutor comes over

803
00:30:53,870 --> 00:30:55,560
to him in his dad's house,

804
00:30:55,560 --> 00:30:57,690
puts a small drop of it on a table,

805
00:30:57,690 --> 00:30:59,040
and hits it with a hammer.

806
00:31:02,710 --> 00:31:05,040
Alfred and his dad are inspired.

807
00:31:06,220 --> 00:31:08,650
As we know, the chemical is pretty unstable.

808
00:31:08,650 --> 00:31:10,770
Alfred sets a mission to himself.

809
00:31:10,770 --> 00:31:13,340
He wants to contain the substance

810
00:31:13,340 --> 00:31:14,340
so he and his father

811
00:31:14,340 --> 00:31:17,050
start to conduct experiments.

812
00:31:17,050 --> 00:31:19,800
But as Ascanio Sobrero's learned,

813
00:31:19,800 --> 00:31:22,350
nitroglycerine is so unstable

814
00:31:22,350 --> 00:31:24,050
that even the slightest jolt

815
00:31:24,050 --> 00:31:26,350
or friction can cause it to detonate.

816
00:31:26,350 --> 00:31:29,640
Ultimately, there is a major disaster.

817
00:31:29,640 --> 00:31:32,480
An explosion at Alfred's dad's factory

818
00:31:32,480 --> 00:31:33,840
kills several workers

819
00:31:33,840 --> 00:31:35,520
and his younger brother.

820
00:31:37,880 --> 00:31:40,110
After the death of his brother,

821
00:31:40,110 --> 00:31:41,200
there's an obituary that appears in

822
00:31:41,200 --> 00:31:44,960
enough newspaper of Alfred mistakenly.

823
00:31:44,960 --> 00:31:46,410
Now the obituary says

824
00:31:46,410 --> 00:31:49,110
that the master of death is dead.

825
00:31:49,110 --> 00:31:51,140
Alfred reads this and thinks,

826
00:31:51,140 --> 00:31:52,180
oh my God, this is

827
00:31:52,180 --> 00:31:53,970
how I'm going to be remembered.

828
00:32:01,210 --> 00:32:03,400
And he resolves then to become a man

829
00:32:03,400 --> 00:32:05,870
of peace and not a man of war.

830
00:32:05,870 --> 00:32:07,620
Despite all this,

831
00:32:07,620 --> 00:32:09,550
Alfred goes on to manufacture

832
00:32:09,550 --> 00:32:13,100
and sell nitroglycerine on an industrial scale

833
00:32:13,100 --> 00:32:14,460
while at the same time,

834
00:32:14,460 --> 00:32:15,510
he's looking for a way

835
00:32:15,510 --> 00:32:17,120
to make it safer to handle.

836
00:32:18,150 --> 00:32:20,280
But something strange begins to happen.

837
00:32:20,280 --> 00:32:22,870
Nitroglycerine has some really weird effects

838
00:32:22,870 --> 00:32:25,110
on Nobel's factory workers.

839
00:32:25,110 --> 00:32:27,150
So the ones who are really healthy

840
00:32:27,150 --> 00:32:29,020
complained of headaches during the week,

841
00:32:29,020 --> 00:32:30,940
that then disappeared when they were

842
00:32:30,940 --> 00:32:32,820
off work at the weekends.

843
00:32:32,820 --> 00:32:34,320
The ones who had heart problems,

844
00:32:34,320 --> 00:32:36,290
however said that their condition

845
00:32:36,290 --> 00:32:37,980
actually got better during the week

846
00:32:37,980 --> 00:32:38,970
when they were at work

847
00:32:38,970 --> 00:32:41,420
and then got worse again at the weekend.

848
00:32:41,420 --> 00:32:42,770
It turns out

849
00:32:42,770 --> 00:32:45,300
the nitric oxide in nitroglycerine

850
00:32:45,300 --> 00:32:48,200
is a powerful vasodilator which helps

851
00:32:48,200 --> 00:32:50,000
anyone with high blood pressure.

852
00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:51,630
The veins around the heart dilate

853
00:32:51,630 --> 00:32:53,750
which makes blood flow a lot easier.

854
00:33:01,220 --> 00:33:02,650
However, if you're healthy,

855
00:33:02,650 --> 00:33:05,260
that's gonna give you a splitting headache.

856
00:33:05,260 --> 00:33:06,630
So local physicians thought

857
00:33:06,630 --> 00:33:08,150
they'd found a wonder cure

858
00:33:08,150 --> 00:33:09,700
for these medical problems

859
00:33:09,700 --> 00:33:12,960
and were prescribing nitroglycerine based products

860
00:33:12,960 --> 00:33:14,370
but they had absolutely

861
00:33:14,370 --> 00:33:16,290
no idea how it was working.

862
00:33:17,610 --> 00:33:19,410
By now, nitroglycerine is

863
00:33:19,410 --> 00:33:21,600
being mass-produced and sold.

864
00:33:21,600 --> 00:33:24,540
The trouble is it's still highly unstable

865
00:33:24,540 --> 00:33:25,370
and there are more

866
00:33:25,370 --> 00:33:27,370
and more accidental explosions.

867
00:33:34,430 --> 00:33:36,280
Alfred reckons that if he mixes

868
00:33:36,280 --> 00:33:38,810
the nitroglycerin with another substance,

869
00:33:38,810 --> 00:33:40,370
perhaps he can make it safer

870
00:33:40,370 --> 00:33:42,040
to handle and more stable.

871
00:33:43,040 --> 00:33:44,810
So he tries charcoal.

872
00:33:47,990 --> 00:33:48,930
Sawdust.

873
00:33:54,420 --> 00:33:55,920
He tries cement.

874
00:33:59,750 --> 00:34:02,190
Nothing he tries works.

875
00:34:02,190 --> 00:34:04,680
Then one day when Alfred's at the factory,

876
00:34:04,680 --> 00:34:06,330
there's a terrifying accident.

877
00:34:11,130 --> 00:34:12,610
Inside of a crate,

878
00:34:12,610 --> 00:34:15,520
a container of nitroglycerin has leaked out.

879
00:34:15,520 --> 00:34:19,020
This looks like an incredibly dangerous situation.

880
00:34:19,020 --> 00:34:20,230
If I'd been Alfred Nobel,

881
00:34:20,230 --> 00:34:22,500
I'd have been absolutely terrified.

882
00:34:23,500 --> 00:34:25,310
But he discovers that it

883
00:34:25,310 --> 00:34:26,690
can handle that crate

884
00:34:26,690 --> 00:34:28,680
and it does not explode.

885
00:34:28,680 --> 00:34:31,530
This man clearly has nerves of steel.

886
00:34:32,430 --> 00:34:34,180
But why is this nitroglycerine

887
00:34:34,180 --> 00:34:35,690
suddenly safe to handle?

888
00:34:36,800 --> 00:34:38,930
Alfred recognized that what looked

889
00:34:38,930 --> 00:34:41,120
like a disaster now has

890
00:34:41,120 --> 00:34:43,360
turned into an opportunity.

891
00:34:43,360 --> 00:34:45,000
This factory was different

892
00:34:45,000 --> 00:34:46,370
from his other factories

893
00:34:46,370 --> 00:34:49,830
because the other factories used sawdust

894
00:34:49,830 --> 00:34:51,020
to contain the packages,

895
00:34:51,020 --> 00:34:51,850
sort of the way that we

896
00:34:51,850 --> 00:34:53,870
use bubble wrap in packaging today.

897
00:34:55,940 --> 00:34:57,560
But this factory used

898
00:34:57,560 --> 00:35:00,070
a white clay-like substance instead.

899
00:35:00,070 --> 00:35:02,120
And it was many times more absorbent

900
00:35:02,120 --> 00:35:04,700
than the other materials that were used.

901
00:35:04,700 --> 00:35:05,810
That earth used

902
00:35:05,810 --> 00:35:08,980
for packaging is rich in white peat.

903
00:35:11,400 --> 00:35:12,230
Of all the materials

904
00:35:12,230 --> 00:35:13,160
that could have been used,

905
00:35:13,160 --> 00:35:15,290
this turns out to be fantastic.

906
00:35:15,290 --> 00:35:16,940
It's highly absorbent.

907
00:35:16,940 --> 00:35:19,140
It's much better than sawdust.

908
00:35:19,140 --> 00:35:21,000
But even better than that.

909
00:35:21,000 --> 00:35:22,750
It won't explode

910
00:35:22,750 --> 00:35:24,830
unless it's ignited by a charge.

911
00:35:24,830 --> 00:35:26,220
So Nobel has chanced

912
00:35:26,220 --> 00:35:28,930
upon an ideal solution to the problem.

913
00:35:30,720 --> 00:35:33,520
So Mr. Nerves of Steel is excited.

914
00:35:33,520 --> 00:35:34,760
He might have finally

915
00:35:34,760 --> 00:35:36,080
found the right ingredient

916
00:35:36,080 --> 00:35:37,690
to make his explosive safe.

917
00:35:37,690 --> 00:35:39,550
But Alfred starts to experiment

918
00:35:39,550 --> 00:35:41,000
to make this an actual,

919
00:35:41,000 --> 00:35:43,130
practical product that can be used.

920
00:35:43,130 --> 00:35:43,970
I mean this is exactly

921
00:35:43,970 --> 00:35:46,220
what Alfred Nobel's been looking for,

922
00:35:46,220 --> 00:35:49,300
a safe way to handle nitroglycerin.

923
00:35:49,300 --> 00:35:52,430
By mixing it with this local white peat,

924
00:35:52,430 --> 00:35:54,100
it's safe to handle

925
00:35:54,100 --> 00:35:56,690
and it explodes when you want it to.

926
00:35:56,690 --> 00:35:57,790
He gets the white peat,

927
00:35:57,790 --> 00:36:00,180
dips it in nitroglycerine,

928
00:36:00,180 --> 00:36:02,080
and then wraps it in paper.

929
00:36:03,060 --> 00:36:03,890
Dynamite.

930
00:36:05,920 --> 00:36:07,660
This new explosive

931
00:36:07,660 --> 00:36:10,420
changes America almost overnight.

932
00:36:14,580 --> 00:36:16,260
So the Industrial Revolution is

933
00:36:16,260 --> 00:36:18,490
full steam ahead at this time

934
00:36:18,490 --> 00:36:20,310
and what it needs is minerals.

935
00:36:20,310 --> 00:36:21,310
It needs coal.

936
00:36:21,310 --> 00:36:23,350
It needs iron and that has

937
00:36:23,350 --> 00:36:25,200
to be extracted from the earth.

938
00:36:25,200 --> 00:36:27,250
And it's thanks to Alfred Nobel

939
00:36:27,250 --> 00:36:29,110
that it's a lot easier to get

940
00:36:29,110 --> 00:36:30,850
to those precious minerals.

941
00:36:39,230 --> 00:36:42,650
Dynamite is a catalyst for incredible change.

942
00:36:42,650 --> 00:36:44,130
America is able to blast

943
00:36:44,130 --> 00:36:45,960
through rock more efficiently.

944
00:36:45,960 --> 00:36:48,550
And the mining industry explodes

945
00:36:48,550 --> 00:36:50,510
extracting minerals and metals

946
00:36:50,510 --> 00:36:52,990
like copper, coal, and iron,

947
00:36:52,990 --> 00:36:55,340
100 times faster than before.

948
00:37:02,390 --> 00:37:04,030
Minerals of course are used

949
00:37:04,030 --> 00:37:05,690
everywhere in our modern day lives

950
00:37:05,690 --> 00:37:08,210
from our telephones to toothpaste,

951
00:37:08,210 --> 00:37:09,630
even talcum powder.

952
00:37:09,630 --> 00:37:11,970
Every day in the United States,

953
00:37:11,970 --> 00:37:14,790
35 million paperclips are purchased

954
00:37:14,790 --> 00:37:17,360
and 4 million light bulbs,

955
00:37:17,360 --> 00:37:19,190
all made of minerals.

956
00:37:19,190 --> 00:37:20,690
Speaking of light bulbs,

957
00:37:20,690 --> 00:37:22,230
thanks to dynamite, we've been able

958
00:37:22,230 --> 00:37:24,030
to mine all the copper that's needed

959
00:37:24,030 --> 00:37:25,450
to lay the thousands of miles

960
00:37:25,450 --> 00:37:27,300
of electrical cable in all our homes.

961
00:37:31,880 --> 00:37:33,160
And without dynamite,

962
00:37:33,160 --> 00:37:35,340
the Hoover Dam wouldn't have been built,

963
00:37:35,340 --> 00:37:36,910
helping to create the electricity

964
00:37:36,910 --> 00:37:38,490
to power those light bulbs,

965
00:37:38,490 --> 00:37:40,870
TVs, and everything else.

966
00:37:40,870 --> 00:37:44,400
The Hoover Dam has 17 electric generators,

967
00:37:44,400 --> 00:37:46,410
each one able to supply

968
00:37:46,410 --> 00:37:48,920
energy to 100,000 homes.

969
00:37:50,300 --> 00:37:51,710
At the time it was built,

970
00:37:51,710 --> 00:37:52,970
the Hoover Dam was the

971
00:37:52,970 --> 00:37:54,910
largest dam in the world.

972
00:37:54,910 --> 00:37:57,630
It's 726 feet high.

973
00:37:57,630 --> 00:37:59,790
For perspective, that's taller

974
00:37:59,790 --> 00:38:01,870
than the Washington Monument in D.C.

975
00:38:03,960 --> 00:38:05,760
And there is enough concrete

976
00:38:05,760 --> 00:38:07,040
in the Hoover Dam

977
00:38:07,040 --> 00:38:09,770
to build a four foot wide sidewalk

978
00:38:09,770 --> 00:38:11,710
around the entire earth

979
00:38:11,710 --> 00:38:13,080
at its widest point.

980
00:38:15,360 --> 00:38:16,790
That's huge.

981
00:38:16,790 --> 00:38:18,240
It certainly is.

982
00:38:20,320 --> 00:38:22,470
By 1890, America is the world's

983
00:38:22,470 --> 00:38:25,240
most productive economy producing twice

984
00:38:25,240 --> 00:38:27,930
as much as its closest competitor, Britain.

985
00:38:29,920 --> 00:38:32,840
So thanks to a carelessly handled shipping crate,

986
00:38:32,840 --> 00:38:34,410
Alfred Nobel invented a new type

987
00:38:34,410 --> 00:38:36,570
of explosive that changed the world

988
00:38:36,570 --> 00:38:39,110
and helped America to become a superpower.

989
00:38:48,020 --> 00:38:50,550
Every time you use GPS in the car,

990
00:38:50,550 --> 00:38:52,050
every time you use

991
00:38:52,050 --> 00:38:53,290
your internet on the go.

992
00:38:54,230 --> 00:38:55,500
Sorry, what?

993
00:38:56,450 --> 00:38:57,400
I was just saying

994
00:38:57,400 --> 00:38:58,350
that every time you pair

995
00:38:58,350 --> 00:39:00,000
with a Bluetooth speaker,

996
00:39:00,000 --> 00:39:01,550
you're using a technology

997
00:39:01,550 --> 00:39:03,350
accidentally invented by one

998
00:39:03,350 --> 00:39:04,740
of the most famous stars

999
00:39:04,740 --> 00:39:06,200
of Hollywood's Golden Age.

1000
00:39:07,660 --> 00:39:08,690
Yes, you've seen her before,

1001
00:39:08,690 --> 00:39:10,120
but somehow we didn't think you'd mind

1002
00:39:10,120 --> 00:39:12,320
another look at Hedy Lamarr.

1003
00:39:12,320 --> 00:39:13,920
This story is a little bit different.

1004
00:39:13,920 --> 00:39:16,410
There's no accidental spillages or knocks.

1005
00:39:16,410 --> 00:39:18,260
This is about serendipity

1006
00:39:18,260 --> 00:39:20,380
and an awesome female inventor.

1007
00:39:21,570 --> 00:39:23,040
It's the 1930s

1008
00:39:23,040 --> 00:39:24,830
and we are in Austria.

1009
00:39:24,830 --> 00:39:26,580
We're now recovering from World War I.

1010
00:39:26,580 --> 00:39:29,230
We're in the Great Depression.

1011
00:39:29,230 --> 00:39:30,560
There's quite a lot

1012
00:39:30,560 --> 00:39:33,170
of political tension in Europe.

1013
00:39:34,090 --> 00:39:35,850
Hitler gains power.

1014
00:39:35,850 --> 00:39:38,590
He is gaining a lot of a following.

1015
00:39:38,590 --> 00:39:40,230
And despite all this political tension

1016
00:39:40,230 --> 00:39:41,820
that's happening around the world,

1017
00:39:41,820 --> 00:39:43,780
there's this blossoming actress

1018
00:39:43,780 --> 00:39:46,700
and engineer named Hedy Lamarr.

1019
00:39:46,700 --> 00:39:48,970
She's bold, she's brave,

1020
00:39:48,970 --> 00:39:50,480
and she's brilliant.

1021
00:39:50,480 --> 00:39:52,020
In fact, it's rumored

1022
00:39:52,020 --> 00:39:53,430
that at the age of five,

1023
00:39:53,430 --> 00:39:55,540
she took apart a mechanical toy

1024
00:39:55,540 --> 00:39:58,060
and then put it all back together.

1025
00:39:58,060 --> 00:39:59,380
That's amazing.

1026
00:39:59,380 --> 00:40:01,980
She's appeared in a lot of European films.

1027
00:40:01,980 --> 00:40:04,570
And with that, she gets a lot of admirers.

1028
00:40:04,570 --> 00:40:06,980
And eventually she catches the attention

1029
00:40:06,980 --> 00:40:09,600
of one of the richest men in Europe,

1030
00:40:10,680 --> 00:40:12,850
an Austrian named Mandl.

1031
00:40:12,850 --> 00:40:15,170
Mandl succeeds in charming Lamarr

1032
00:40:15,170 --> 00:40:17,210
and they get married in 1933

1033
00:40:18,150 --> 00:40:19,610
but this isn't the case

1034
00:40:19,610 --> 00:40:21,440
of happily ever after.

1035
00:40:21,440 --> 00:40:24,830
Her husband is a controlling, jealous maniac.

1036
00:40:24,830 --> 00:40:26,410
He stops her from acting

1037
00:40:26,410 --> 00:40:28,750
and he forces her to become a housewife.

1038
00:40:28,750 --> 00:40:30,920
What she does with her time instead is

1039
00:40:30,920 --> 00:40:32,730
host dinner parties for him

1040
00:40:32,730 --> 00:40:34,100
and his business friends.

1041
00:40:35,150 --> 00:40:36,180
And she ends up really

1042
00:40:36,180 --> 00:40:37,330
just being under kind

1043
00:40:37,330 --> 00:40:39,060
of like a house arrest.

1044
00:40:42,400 --> 00:40:43,330
If you're thinking

1045
00:40:43,330 --> 00:40:45,110
that Mandl sounds like a nasty bit

1046
00:40:45,110 --> 00:40:47,480
of work then you'd be right.

1047
00:40:47,480 --> 00:40:49,020
Mandl has the nickname,

1048
00:40:49,020 --> 00:40:50,540
the merchant of death.

1049
00:40:50,540 --> 00:40:52,100
He's an arms dealer.

1050
00:40:52,100 --> 00:40:54,220
He has ties to Hitler and Mussolini.

1051
00:40:55,270 --> 00:40:56,920
Hedy is able to listen in on some

1052
00:40:56,920 --> 00:41:00,130
of the most important conversations about weapons.

1053
00:41:00,130 --> 00:41:01,480
They all happen in her house

1054
00:41:01,480 --> 00:41:02,530
and because she's a woman

1055
00:41:02,530 --> 00:41:05,270
and married to Mandl, they speak freely.

1056
00:41:06,130 --> 00:41:07,400
Then one day,

1057
00:41:07,400 --> 00:41:09,660
Lamarr makes her great escape.

1058
00:41:09,660 --> 00:41:11,290
She comes up with a cunning plan

1059
00:41:11,290 --> 00:41:13,010
that would finally grant her freedom

1060
00:41:13,010 --> 00:41:14,570
from her abusive marriage.

1061
00:41:15,450 --> 00:41:16,470
She slips the maid

1062
00:41:16,470 --> 00:41:17,800
some sleeping pills,

1063
00:41:17,800 --> 00:41:19,300
slips out the servant's entrance

1064
00:41:19,300 --> 00:41:20,950
with nothing but the clothes on her back

1065
00:41:20,950 --> 00:41:23,070
and some money and small jewels

1066
00:41:23,070 --> 00:41:25,590
that she can stuff in a small purse.

1067
00:41:25,590 --> 00:41:27,230
She gets out of Austria,

1068
00:41:27,230 --> 00:41:28,610
makes her way to Paris,

1069
00:41:28,610 --> 00:41:30,310
and eventually to London.

1070
00:41:30,310 --> 00:41:31,670
Then she's free.

1071
00:41:31,670 --> 00:41:33,040
From there Lamarr makes

1072
00:41:33,040 --> 00:41:34,900
her way across to America

1073
00:41:34,900 --> 00:41:37,520
where she uses her charm and determination

1074
00:41:37,520 --> 00:41:40,500
to strike a lucrative deal with MGM Studios.

1075
00:41:40,500 --> 00:41:42,080
She rises to stardom.

1076
00:41:42,080 --> 00:41:44,190
She co-stars with Judy Garland.

1077
00:41:44,190 --> 00:41:46,680
She has two Oscar nominated films.

1078
00:41:47,580 --> 00:41:49,460
But Hedy Lamarr has more

1079
00:41:49,460 --> 00:41:52,080
than just one incredible talent.

1080
00:41:52,080 --> 00:41:53,680
Hedy was not just a brilliant actress,

1081
00:41:53,680 --> 00:41:55,290
she's an engineer at heart.

1082
00:41:56,260 --> 00:41:58,080
She's carrying out experiments

1083
00:41:58,080 --> 00:42:00,750
even in her trailer when she's offset

1084
00:42:00,750 --> 00:42:02,090
during the shooting of movies.

1085
00:42:02,090 --> 00:42:04,080
Hedy loved solving problems

1086
00:42:04,080 --> 00:42:05,510
so she starts inventing

1087
00:42:05,510 --> 00:42:06,800
all sorts of things.

1088
00:42:06,800 --> 00:42:08,240
She invents a new

1089
00:42:08,240 --> 00:42:10,860
traffic control system for traffic lights,

1090
00:42:10,860 --> 00:42:12,980
a glow in the dark dog collar.

1091
00:42:14,480 --> 00:42:15,310
She even comes up

1092
00:42:15,310 --> 00:42:16,830
with a way to improve airplanes,

1093
00:42:16,830 --> 00:42:20,440
making them more aerodynamic and therefore faster.

1094
00:42:20,440 --> 00:42:21,290
Let's keep in mind,

1095
00:42:21,290 --> 00:42:22,230
she's never earned

1096
00:42:22,230 --> 00:42:23,910
a degree in engineering.

1097
00:42:23,910 --> 00:42:25,230
She hasn't learned

1098
00:42:25,230 --> 00:42:26,830
or been technically trained

1099
00:42:26,830 --> 00:42:28,920
in these aspects of physics.

1100
00:42:28,920 --> 00:42:30,930
And yet she has transformed

1101
00:42:30,930 --> 00:42:32,570
so much of our technology.

1102
00:42:35,750 --> 00:42:37,680
Hedy's inventions don't stop there.

1103
00:42:37,680 --> 00:42:39,390
Germany invades Poland

1104
00:42:39,390 --> 00:42:40,740
and Warsaw is bombed.

1105
00:42:42,030 --> 00:42:44,930
Not long after World War II breaks out,

1106
00:42:44,930 --> 00:42:46,350
she comes up with the design

1107
00:42:46,350 --> 00:42:49,410
that she hopes could help defeat Hitler.

1108
00:42:49,410 --> 00:42:52,200
The Nazis have a choke hold around Europe

1109
00:42:52,200 --> 00:42:54,670
and things aren't looking good for the Allies.

1110
00:42:54,670 --> 00:42:56,270
Being a beautiful film star,

1111
00:42:56,270 --> 00:42:58,550
she's rolled out into fundraising.

1112
00:42:58,550 --> 00:42:59,540
Hundreds of millions

1113
00:42:59,540 --> 00:43:01,710
of dollars of war bonds have been sold

1114
00:43:01,710 --> 00:43:03,600
as a result of the personal appeals

1115
00:43:03,600 --> 00:43:05,700
of America's most appealing personalities.

1116
00:43:06,590 --> 00:43:10,780
And she actually raises $25 million.

1117
00:43:10,780 --> 00:43:14,190
In today's dollars, that's 380 million

1118
00:43:14,190 --> 00:43:16,210
but for her that's not enough.

1119
00:43:16,210 --> 00:43:18,430
That's not really what she wants to do.

1120
00:43:18,430 --> 00:43:19,850
She wants to do more.

1121
00:43:21,370 --> 00:43:22,800
Hedy wants to use

1122
00:43:22,800 --> 00:43:25,310
her brains not her beauty.

1123
00:43:25,310 --> 00:43:27,240
She's determined to invent something

1124
00:43:27,240 --> 00:43:30,370
that will undermine the Nazi U-boat tactical advantage.

1125
00:43:31,870 --> 00:43:33,550
Hitler's U-boats strike

1126
00:43:33,550 --> 00:43:35,890
desperately sinking six ships in one week.

1127
00:43:35,890 --> 00:43:37,550
These two seamen were wounded,

1128
00:43:37,550 --> 00:43:39,570
46 shipmates lost their lives.

1129
00:43:39,570 --> 00:43:41,320
Now at the start of World War II,

1130
00:43:41,320 --> 00:43:43,560
German U-boats are wreaking havoc.

1131
00:43:43,560 --> 00:43:45,760
They're operating with near impunity

1132
00:43:45,760 --> 00:43:47,170
and they are ruthless.

1133
00:43:49,870 --> 00:43:52,660
They're not only taking down boats

1134
00:43:52,660 --> 00:43:53,540
that are coming in

1135
00:43:53,540 --> 00:43:55,860
with supplies going into the UK

1136
00:43:55,860 --> 00:43:56,710
but they're also taking

1137
00:43:56,710 --> 00:43:59,760
down boats of Jewish refugees trying

1138
00:43:59,760 --> 00:44:02,280
to escape and get to safety.

1139
00:44:02,280 --> 00:44:04,620
When Hedy was married to Mandl,

1140
00:44:04,620 --> 00:44:05,800
she had been at the table

1141
00:44:05,800 --> 00:44:07,630
when top Nazis were talking

1142
00:44:07,630 --> 00:44:09,080
about how these U-boats

1143
00:44:09,080 --> 00:44:11,120
defend themselves against threats.

1144
00:44:11,120 --> 00:44:11,950
One thing she remembers

1145
00:44:11,950 --> 00:44:14,580
specifically is how torpedoes work.

1146
00:44:15,730 --> 00:44:16,690
Part of the reason

1147
00:44:16,690 --> 00:44:19,080
that German U-boats are so successful is

1148
00:44:19,080 --> 00:44:20,480
because they have the technology

1149
00:44:20,480 --> 00:44:23,180
to jam the signal of oncoming torpedoes

1150
00:44:23,180 --> 00:44:26,240
which are controlled using radio waves.

1151
00:44:26,240 --> 00:44:28,250
Because if you know the frequency,

1152
00:44:28,250 --> 00:44:30,100
you could dial in on that frequency,

1153
00:44:30,100 --> 00:44:31,570
identify what it is,

1154
00:44:31,570 --> 00:44:33,100
and then block it.

1155
00:44:43,370 --> 00:44:44,610
But thanks to

1156
00:44:44,610 --> 00:44:47,010
an unexpected source of inspiration,

1157
00:44:47,010 --> 00:44:48,990
Hedy comes up with a brilliant idea

1158
00:44:48,990 --> 00:44:51,130
of countering this and it all starts

1159
00:44:51,130 --> 00:44:53,060
when she meets a composer

1160
00:44:53,060 --> 00:44:55,060
at a Hollywood party.

1161
00:44:55,060 --> 00:44:57,130
Hedy meets a guy named George.

1162
00:44:57,130 --> 00:44:58,910
George has composed a song

1163
00:44:58,910 --> 00:45:02,950
that requires 16 pianos playing simultaneously.

1164
00:45:02,950 --> 00:45:04,180
To people at the time,

1165
00:45:04,180 --> 00:45:05,900
it looks like magic

1166
00:45:05,900 --> 00:45:09,070
but actually his system is quite simple.

1167
00:45:09,070 --> 00:45:11,100
George's Ballet Mecanique

1168
00:45:11,100 --> 00:45:13,860
has 16 player pianos synchronized

1169
00:45:13,860 --> 00:45:15,280
so they all play together.

1170
00:45:15,280 --> 00:45:17,100
The piano roll has holes in it.

1171
00:45:17,100 --> 00:45:18,830
These holes tell the piano

1172
00:45:18,830 --> 00:45:20,650
when to play each notes.

1173
00:45:20,650 --> 00:45:22,420
The piano's able to play the music

1174
00:45:22,420 --> 00:45:24,960
without any human interaction.

1175
00:45:24,960 --> 00:45:27,440
Hedy's inspired by this wondering

1176
00:45:27,440 --> 00:45:29,340
if a similar technology could be used

1177
00:45:29,340 --> 00:45:31,980
to prevent Nazi torpedo jamming

1178
00:45:31,980 --> 00:45:33,250
but rather than the tune

1179
00:45:33,250 --> 00:45:35,050
switching between the pianos,

1180
00:45:35,050 --> 00:45:36,040
it would be the signal

1181
00:45:36,040 --> 00:45:38,090
that's jumping between radio frequencies.

1182
00:45:40,770 --> 00:45:42,870
Hedy and George work together

1183
00:45:42,870 --> 00:45:44,350
and they design a system

1184
00:45:44,350 --> 00:45:46,600
that uses 88 frequencies

1185
00:45:46,600 --> 00:45:48,320
which happens to be the number

1186
00:45:48,320 --> 00:45:49,980
of notes on a piano.

1187
00:45:49,980 --> 00:45:51,880
And with these 88 frequencies,

1188
00:45:51,880 --> 00:45:52,710
they would do something

1189
00:45:52,710 --> 00:45:54,590
known as frequency-hopping.

1190
00:45:54,590 --> 00:45:55,450
So you would go

1191
00:45:55,450 --> 00:45:57,150
from one frequency to another,

1192
00:45:57,150 --> 00:45:59,280
without it getting interrupted.

1193
00:45:59,280 --> 00:46:00,510
And this was a great technique

1194
00:46:00,510 --> 00:46:03,620
because there is a higher probability

1195
00:46:03,620 --> 00:46:06,180
of well, not being detected.

1196
00:46:06,180 --> 00:46:07,010
This would allow

1197
00:46:07,010 --> 00:46:08,900
a high altitude observation plane

1198
00:46:08,900 --> 00:46:11,000
to steer the radio controlled torpedoes

1199
00:46:11,000 --> 00:46:12,150
without interference.

1200
00:46:16,010 --> 00:46:17,320
Hedy and George offer

1201
00:46:17,320 --> 00:46:19,320
their new invention to the U.S. military

1202
00:46:21,480 --> 00:46:23,000
who promptly turn it down.

1203
00:46:24,060 --> 00:46:25,670
What a bunch of idiots.

1204
00:46:25,670 --> 00:46:28,630
Hedy said that her beauty was her curse

1205
00:46:28,630 --> 00:46:31,240
because the American military did

1206
00:46:31,240 --> 00:46:32,540
not take her seriously

1207
00:46:32,540 --> 00:46:34,460
and they did not pick up her invention.

1208
00:46:34,460 --> 00:46:36,510
Luckily they found another way

1209
00:46:36,510 --> 00:46:38,060
to defeat the German U-boats.

1210
00:46:38,060 --> 00:46:40,600
But Hedy isn't done yet.

1211
00:46:40,600 --> 00:46:42,800
Fast forward to 1962,

1212
00:46:42,800 --> 00:46:45,040
the Cold War is reaching its climax.

1213
00:46:46,900 --> 00:46:48,920
Good evening my fellow citizens,

1214
00:46:48,920 --> 00:46:52,580
unmistakable evidence has established the fact

1215
00:46:52,580 --> 00:46:56,020
that a series of offensive missile sites

1216
00:46:56,020 --> 00:46:57,420
is now in preparation

1217
00:46:57,420 --> 00:46:58,980
on the island of Cuba.

1218
00:47:02,090 --> 00:47:03,560
The Cuban Missile Crisis

1219
00:47:03,560 --> 00:47:05,210
was the closest human beings have

1220
00:47:05,210 --> 00:47:07,910
ever come to all out nuclear war

1221
00:47:07,910 --> 00:47:11,050
between two powerful nuclear powered nations.

1222
00:47:11,050 --> 00:47:12,970
We were on the brink.

1223
00:47:14,420 --> 00:47:15,970
Cuba allows the Soviets

1224
00:47:15,970 --> 00:47:18,320
to build a military base on their island,

1225
00:47:18,320 --> 00:47:19,650
putting nuclear missiles

1226
00:47:19,650 --> 00:47:21,740
within range of mainland America.

1227
00:47:27,920 --> 00:47:29,810
Ships and aircraft of all services

1228
00:47:29,810 --> 00:47:31,160
kept watch over thousands

1229
00:47:31,160 --> 00:47:32,890
of square miles of ocean.

1230
00:47:32,890 --> 00:47:34,750
All sightings were relayed swiftly

1231
00:47:34,750 --> 00:47:36,090
to sink land at Norfolk.

1232
00:47:37,740 --> 00:47:39,640
And so what JFK initiates

1233
00:47:39,640 --> 00:47:41,670
with the U.S. Navy is basically

1234
00:47:41,670 --> 00:47:43,150
putting kind of like a barrier

1235
00:47:43,150 --> 00:47:45,970
so that no other Russian ships

1236
00:47:45,970 --> 00:47:47,570
or submarines can come in

1237
00:47:47,570 --> 00:47:49,350
to bring in more missiles.

1238
00:47:49,350 --> 00:47:51,420
Unbeknownst to Lamarr,

1239
00:47:51,420 --> 00:47:54,610
these ships are secretly using her invention.

1240
00:47:54,610 --> 00:47:56,650
The American submarines that participated

1241
00:47:56,650 --> 00:47:58,080
in a naval blockade

1242
00:47:58,080 --> 00:48:00,310
use Hedy's technology in order

1243
00:48:00,310 --> 00:48:01,930
to have secret communications

1244
00:48:01,930 --> 00:48:03,730
that could not be spied upon.

1245
00:48:03,730 --> 00:48:05,430
And also they use it

1246
00:48:05,430 --> 00:48:07,750
exactly like Hedy had recommended.

1247
00:48:07,750 --> 00:48:09,410
Their torpedoes used this

1248
00:48:09,410 --> 00:48:11,930
frequency-hopping technique in order

1249
00:48:11,930 --> 00:48:13,660
so that they could not be blocked.

1250
00:48:13,660 --> 00:48:15,110
So the Russians knew this

1251
00:48:15,110 --> 00:48:16,830
and the blockade worked.

1252
00:48:16,830 --> 00:48:19,700
One week later, Premier Khrushchev

1253
00:48:19,700 --> 00:48:21,010
issued a new order calling

1254
00:48:21,010 --> 00:48:23,010
for the return of the weapons to Russia.

1255
00:48:26,060 --> 00:48:27,350
In a way, her inventions

1256
00:48:27,350 --> 00:48:28,710
helped end the Cold War.

1257
00:48:28,710 --> 00:48:30,660
Finally, Hedy's invention was

1258
00:48:30,660 --> 00:48:32,280
being put to use.

1259
00:48:32,280 --> 00:48:33,350
Without credit to her,

1260
00:48:33,350 --> 00:48:34,540
without paying her,

1261
00:48:34,540 --> 00:48:36,750
and without her even knowing.

1262
00:48:36,750 --> 00:48:37,970
What happens next is

1263
00:48:37,970 --> 00:48:40,920
so far removed from Hedy's original idea

1264
00:48:40,920 --> 00:48:42,250
that it's inconceivable

1265
00:48:42,250 --> 00:48:43,960
anyone could have foreseen it.

1266
00:48:46,550 --> 00:48:49,210
It's 1971 and we're in Hawaii.

1267
00:48:50,110 --> 00:48:51,820
A team of computer scientists are

1268
00:48:51,820 --> 00:48:53,400
on the verge of changing the world

1269
00:48:53,400 --> 00:48:54,360
as we know it.

1270
00:48:55,270 --> 00:48:56,780
The University of Hawaii is

1271
00:48:56,780 --> 00:48:58,300
working on a system

1272
00:48:58,300 --> 00:49:00,200
to connect multiple computers together

1273
00:49:00,200 --> 00:49:03,420
simultaneously but without using cables.

1274
00:49:03,420 --> 00:49:04,940
They get a system together

1275
00:49:04,940 --> 00:49:07,580
where they can connect seven computers

1276
00:49:07,580 --> 00:49:10,260
using a high-frequency radio signal.

1277
00:49:10,260 --> 00:49:11,690
However, they're only able

1278
00:49:11,690 --> 00:49:14,070
to send one message at a time.

1279
00:49:14,070 --> 00:49:15,600
Enter again, Hedy Lamarr's

1280
00:49:15,600 --> 00:49:17,310
frequency-hopping invention.

1281
00:49:17,310 --> 00:49:18,580
Using Hedy's technology,

1282
00:49:18,580 --> 00:49:20,720
multiple computers can now communicate

1283
00:49:20,720 --> 00:49:22,530
with each other at the same time.

1284
00:49:22,530 --> 00:49:24,510
This was the first wireless network

1285
00:49:24,510 --> 00:49:26,360
or as we call it, Wi-Fi.

1286
00:49:28,220 --> 00:49:30,550
Wi-Fi has completely changed our world.

1287
00:49:32,220 --> 00:49:34,470
Products in our homes are connected by Wi-Fi.

1288
00:49:38,190 --> 00:49:39,340
Walking through an airport

1289
00:49:39,340 --> 00:49:40,950
and being able to check emails

1290
00:49:40,950 --> 00:49:41,920
or let's admit it,

1291
00:49:41,920 --> 00:49:43,060
maybe checking the amount

1292
00:49:43,060 --> 00:49:44,980
of likes we got on our most recent post

1293
00:49:44,980 --> 00:49:46,590
on Instagram or Twitter.

1294
00:49:46,590 --> 00:49:49,570
Wi-Fi has completely innovated

1295
00:49:49,570 --> 00:49:51,440
and disrupted humanity.

1296
00:49:51,440 --> 00:49:52,450
For all I know you might

1297
00:49:52,450 --> 00:49:53,600
be watching me right now

1298
00:49:53,600 --> 00:49:55,470
on a Wi-Fi connected device.

1299
00:49:55,470 --> 00:49:56,960
Lucky you.

1300
00:49:56,960 --> 00:49:59,220
The freedom it's afforded us is immense.

1301
00:49:59,220 --> 00:50:00,650
And it's completely changed

1302
00:50:00,650 --> 00:50:02,810
how people communicate, interact,

1303
00:50:02,810 --> 00:50:07,310
socialize, and form relationships.

1304
00:50:07,310 --> 00:50:10,700
About 40% of Americans have met

1305
00:50:10,700 --> 00:50:13,630
their partner through the internet.

1306
00:50:13,630 --> 00:50:15,940
That first message was probably

1307
00:50:15,940 --> 00:50:18,280
thanks to a Wi-Fi signal.

1308
00:50:18,280 --> 00:50:19,960
Wi-Fi has even changed how we work.

1309
00:50:19,960 --> 00:50:21,430
We don't even have to go to work.

1310
00:50:21,430 --> 00:50:23,820
We can work from our couch, from our bedroom,

1311
00:50:23,820 --> 00:50:25,590
from the beach, from the garden,

1312
00:50:26,600 --> 00:50:28,320
or even while sitting on a train

1313
00:50:28,320 --> 00:50:30,410
riding across the country.

1314
00:50:30,410 --> 00:50:32,410
Frequency-hopping is instrumental

1315
00:50:32,410 --> 00:50:34,180
not just in Wi-Fi,

1316
00:50:34,180 --> 00:50:37,640
but also in a whole host of modern technology.

1317
00:50:37,640 --> 00:50:39,700
We wouldn't have Bluetooth,

1318
00:50:39,700 --> 00:50:42,740
driverless cars, cell phones, or GPS.

1319
00:50:42,740 --> 00:50:44,000
It's completely transformed

1320
00:50:44,000 --> 00:50:46,140
so many other aspects of our lives.

1321
00:50:46,140 --> 00:50:48,630
From smartphones to smart homes,

1322
00:50:48,630 --> 00:50:51,500
digital assistance to streaming services.

1323
00:50:51,500 --> 00:50:52,740
Hedy Lamarr could never have

1324
00:50:52,740 --> 00:50:54,230
realized it at the time,

1325
00:50:54,230 --> 00:50:56,720
but her invention designed to beat Hitler

1326
00:50:56,720 --> 00:50:59,180
helped to save us from nuclear disaster

1327
00:50:59,180 --> 00:51:00,680
and then took over the world.

1328
00:51:01,700 --> 00:51:04,260
We really should be thanking this woman

1329
00:51:04,260 --> 00:51:07,150
who just completely transformed everything.

1330
00:51:07,150 --> 00:51:08,540
Hedy Lamarr is a name

1331
00:51:08,540 --> 00:51:09,770
that I hope everybody is

1332
00:51:09,770 --> 00:51:11,110
now going to remember.

1333
00:51:16,210 --> 00:51:19,460
(upbeat music playing)