All language subtitles for How.Tech.Works.S02E01.WEBRip.x264-ION10

[narrator] On this episode of
"How Tech Works"

we're taking "Reduce, Re-use,
and Recycle"

to a whole new level
with jumbo jet airplanes.

[intro music]

Hello, and welcome
to "How Tech Works"

the show that is jam-packed
with the latest gear and gadgets

from the world of science
and technology.

I'm Basil Singer.

On this episode,

we’ll take our best shot with
the world’s most accomplished

slingshot hobbyist.

And...

we’ll get an ultra-high-speed
chemistry lesson

with the man who fuels
these dragsters.

But first!

Repainting commercial airplanes

is one way to give them
a new lease on life.

But eventually, all planes
come to the end of the road.

Or should I say, runway.

And when that happens,
it’s time to recycle them.

So off we go to Southern England

to check out a rather
interesting recycling facility.

[gentle pastoral music]

[narrator] Tiny Cotswold Airport

is a destination no plane wants
on its flight plan.

Because when a plane lands here,
it never leaves.

[machinery grinding]
[hard rock music]

[narrator] This is
Air Salvage International,

a place where perfectly good
airplanes get ripped to pieces.

[Bradley] This is a Boeing 747.

It’s a 400 series,
so it’s a fairly large aircraft.

When it flies in,
it’s around 200 tons.

Then by the time we’re finished,
it’s weighing around about 100.

[narrator] Everything of value
is stripped.

The engines,
all of the avionic items,

everything from the cockpit,
the seats...

air conditioning, hydraulics,
flying controls.

Nearly 2 000 parts.

They’ll be sent away.
They’ll be tested...

made sure they’re
perfectly air-worthy.

And then they’ll be installed
onto other aircraft.

[upbeat music]

[narrator] That means
the next plane you fly on

might have
a used aileron, engine,

or even its landing gear
salvaged from this one.

Let’s go up inside.
[music continues]

[narrator] This plane
is just 20 years old.

A month ago it was flying
passengers around the world.

It’s worth ten million dollars
to an airline.

Bradley values it
a little differently.

The aircraft is worth more
as spare parts than it is...

as a flying aircraft.

Already we’ve taken all
of the instrumentation.

These were the high value items.

Still left to come out
are the seats...

ten thousand dollars a piece,

and the screens.

They're anything between 25 000
and 50 000 dollars a piece.

[narrator] Bradley hopes
it'll all add up

to 20 million dollars.

The bits we don’t use
are the overhead lockers,

the insulation, the sidewall
panels, floor boards...

the toilets.

[narrator] After that,
nothing remains

but the aluminum body
and wings.

[hard rock music]

Today we’re going to take
the wings off three aircraft...

and then chew up the rest
and put it in the bin.

[narrator]
For that, they call in Andy.

My job?

Disposal of most
of the aircraft:

airframes and what have you.

[narrator]
The strongest part of a plane

is the metal that attaches
the engines to the wing,

and the wing to the body.

Just in 25 minutes.

It’s off.

That signals the start
of a busy day.

It’s dangerous work.
[grinding]

Inside this wing
is the fuel tank.

And cutting through metal
makes sparks.

One of the tanks on the A320
hasn’t been drained properly.

[indistinct chatter]

[Andy] That means now we’ve got
to climb inside the inboard hull

through the flap
to drain them out

when they should have been
piddle drained.

[narrator] Meanwhile,
work on the 737 continues.

With both wings off,
it’s time for the digger.

[Andy] We’ve done
all the cutting we can do now.

Now we’re going to go
and finish it off with the...

excavator.

[machinery grinding]
[upbeat music]

[narrator]
Now, it’s back to the cutting.

While the surface
of a plane is soft,

the skeleton underneath
is much more of a challenge.

It’s all ally.
Just top skin ally.

There’s some...
tough old bolts in here.

All these bolts.
We try and miss these.

We try to get our cut lines
to go between them.

Because they’re a mix
of steel and Titanium.

[grinding]
[narrator] In the final minutes,

Bradley salvages
a few more windows.

Then it’s time
to finish the job.

[Andy] Shall we?

-Yeah.
-Yeah. We do use the machine.

[heavy metal music]

[narrator] One bite at a time,
the three massive passenger jets

are transformed into
a tangled mountain of scrap.

Even the reinforced joints
between the wing and body

can’t withstand
Andy’s punishing attack.

[noisy banging]
It’s going pretty well.

It's over half way
through the day.

Shouldn’t be too long
before we’re done.

[narrator] The last thing to go
is the tail section.

[Bradley] All of this metal
will end up going to a...

scrap yard up north.

They fragment it, and then
it could be coke cans,

alloy wheels...
Anything you can imagine.

[narrator]
And this is the final chance

to squeeze value
out of these planes.

The 35 tons of aluminum
littering the yard

will bring in 15 000 dollars.

[upbeat music]

A couple of lorries in tomorrow,
and we’ll get rid of that.

[narrator] Because the only way
these planes will ever leave

the Cotswold Airport, is
on the back of a flatbed truck.

[gentle music]

Think of this this next story as
a primer in all things parkour.

For those of you unfamiliar
with the term,

"parkour" is also known
as “free running."

It’s an urban sport that
involves jumping over walls,

flying from one roof to another,

and pulling off
impressive stunts

using only your own
body strength.

Well, we go now to a parkour
group in Los Angeles

called “Team Tempest”

that decided to open
a free-running gym

for the masses.

You’re going to flip
when you see the results.

[upbeat music]

[narrator] While you’ve probably
never heard of Gabe Nunez

and his Team Tempest pals,
you’ve probably seen them.

[Gabe] "You don’t mess with
the Zohan" with Adam Sandler,

"Expendables"
with Sylvester Stallone,

television shows such as
"Heroes", or "House."

And I've been able to do
music videos

like 3 Doors Down,
"It's not my time."

[narrator] Using only
their arms, legs

and fearlessness
to propel themselves,

they jump, flip, dive
and fly through the air.

[Gabe]
The most difficult thing...

that I’ve learned how to do...

is... a 360 precision
onto a railing.

Jumping from one railing,
with a 360 spin,

and landing on another railing
a certain distance away.

Just so you know,
this is not normal.

Nobody else that I know
can do it as well as he can.

He's ridiculous actually.

It's way harder
than he makes it look.

And that’s kind of my...

I would say
my favorite trick to do.

Or my favorite technique to do.

And it's also probably the one
I’m the most scared of.

We are at the infamous
ninja warrior warped wall

inside the academy,

and we’re going to try
to make it to the top.

It’s the same one as in Japan,

and of the 30 or so athletes
that make it that far...

only five or six
actually make it up.

[narrator]
They make it look so easy.

But, for these guys,
free running

is about far more than having
their name in lights.

[Gabe] You don’t have to be able
to do a front flip

off a nine foot wall in order
to be called a free runner.

You just have to be able
to experiment

with your own body
and your environment.

And... be willing to explore
your boundaries and your limits.

And that to us is what
free running is all about.

[narrator] It has its roots
in the urban jungle

where obstacles are seen
as mere challenges

to jump higher or vault further.

And until now, it was something
you learned on your own,

by trial and error.

[Gabe] The academy was built

to take the most exciting parts
of the outdoor world...

that are used for free running
and parkour

to train getting over obstacles.

[narrator]
Creating a one-of-a-kind gym

required a one-of-a-kind
designer. Nate Wessel

is one of the hottest
course builders in the world.

[Nate] I do so many different
kinds of things, like,

with design I do things
for skateboarding, BMX,

snowboarding... motocross.

In general I'm kind of a...

stunt coordinator/designer/
ramp builder.

[narrator] And this is one
of his craziest designs,

a mega ramp for pro-bmxer,
Travis Pastrana.

[Nate] It's pretty much
one of my favorite things

I’ve ever done.

I got to pull out
a lot of ideas that...

I’ve never been able to do.

Some of my favorite things
on this ramp

are how the whole thing
is incorporated as one piece,

where, on his front doorstep,

is where this ram
actually starts at his house.

And you come down
an entire hill,

and there’s a concrete path
jumping a huge jump

over the entire ramp.

You hit an 18-foot tall
quarter pipe, and you come back,

and then you can go up
into the ramp from there.

Basically this whole ramp
can be ridden...

hundred different ways.

Nate Wessel clearly knows
BMX ramps,

but a parkour gym
is another matter.

[Nate] I would say the biggest
challenges and differences I had

between BMX
and the parkour thing

were I know BMX and I know
what decisions to make

when a problem arises
and with parkour...

I just needed
a little bit more consulting

because the only things
I didn’t understand

were how high certain obstacles
needed to be,

and the gaps between them.

[vibrant upbeat music]

Here we have gymnastics floor,
it’s a spring floor.

One really cool thing
about bathrooms there,

we built couple of levels
on the bathrooms

so you can jump of. And this
is a foam pit here.

And there’s a high bar
on the foam pit

so you can swing and do a bunch
of stuff and land in the foam.

Along with the foam pit,
we have trampoline.

My favorite obstacle
in the entire building

is what they call
the David Bell Wall.

It's supposed to imitate
a parking structure

with stairs up and down.

[sawing]

[narrator] A couple of months
of planning...

then building...

And Tempest Free Running Academy
is ready.

[Nate] Instead of just jumping
over a plywood wall or...

grinding a plywood ledge,

or making it look
like a skate park,

what I try to do is make it look
like it's either art,

or make it look like
it's part of the city.

[Gabe] The response
we’ve gotten so far

since the opening
of the academy...

actually even since before...

since we put out the video
of the academy,

we've had a huge response.

Positively overwhelming is how
I like to describe it.

I think it's the first time

people have seen
their dreams realized.

And for us it's the same.

[narrator]
It’s an adult playground

that beginners and pros
can flip, jump,

and train in 365 days a year.

Because even the pros need
to keep challenging themselves.

[Gabe] The three things
I would tell somebody

that are very important to the
practice of free running...

would be...

One: You have to be...

constantly willing to strengthen
and maintain your body.

[fast uplifting music]

Two: You have to always
be willing to progress

and try new things.

Three: You have to learn
to listen to your gut.

[narrator] And if your gut
is telling you to walk,

that’s okay too.

We’ll be right back with more
“How Tech Works.”

[futuristic music]

Welcome back to
“How Tech Works.”

I’m Basil Singer.

Now the fellow at the center
of this next story is...

how do it put it... protected

for just about any kind
of battle.

His weapon of choice?
The slingshot.

Now I know what you might
be thinking.

But his creations are hardly
the stuff of childhood toys.

Meet Jörg, a full-grown man
and YouTube sensation,

also known
as the slingshot guru.

[tranquil sounds]

[narrator] Burgkunstadt.

A sleepy little town
of six thousand people.

It’s really quiet here.

But one of its residents...
is making an impact.

[thudding]

Hello and welcome
to the Slingshot Channel.

[thwacks]
Now, time for the bone crusher.

[thwacks]

Let’s look at that
in slow motion.

[slow whooshing]

[Jörg] The Slingshot Channel

is just my personal
YouTube channel,

which deals exclusively about
rubber-operated weapons.

I designed a stake that
can be shot from a slingshot.

[thudding]

I never expected it
to be that big

but now I have more than
seven million views

and have about
20 000 subscribers.

And the growth rate
is phenomenal.

If it continues this way,
then I will probably...

then one day be able to have
my old television show.

[narrator] Viewers challenge him
to make elaborate slingshots.

[Jörg] I'm going to show you
one of the craziest slingshots

I’ve ever made.

It's a machete-shooting
slingshot.

This time you won’t see me
shooting in a T-shirt

because that happened.

[thudding]

[narrator] Jörg’s day job is
managing an electronics company.

But today is a day off.

He’s working on a new challenge
from a viewer.

[Jörg] That's a slingshot
that fires iPhones.

We are going to test fire
real iPhones at a few targets.

And in the end we're going
to find creative ways

how to destroy it.
[chuckles]

This pouch has been designed
to hold the iPhone.

And it is holding it in place
with rubber...

so that it's not falling out.

[twangs]
[exciting music]

By the way, this is a dummy
iPhone. It’s the real deal.

It is simply too expensive
for me

to fire iPhones
during the test phase.

[rattling]

The hobby gives me
total freedom.

I have no boss that tells me:

"Now do this, do this,
and now do that."

When I wake up and want
to do a beautiful slingshot,

then I make
a beautiful slingshot.

When I wake up and want to do
a crazy slingshot,

then I do a crazy one.

[narrator]
No point watching paint dry.

Time to show off
some slingshots.

[Jörg] A slingshot
is a converter

for your muscle energy,
for your muscle power.

When you draw out
the slingshot bands...

then you invest energy into it,
and when you release,

what you get is kinetic energy.

This is the most basic slingshot
you can possibly make.

It is made from a standard
Y-shaped tree branch.

And I attached bands that are
made from training bands.

That is a band for gymnastics.

[narrator]
The ammo is huge ball bearings.

[thud]

They’re stopped
by an old toolbox

that’s seen a lot of abuse.

Slingshots can be
very dangerous.

They can be dangerous
to the shooter

if you do not take
the necessary precautions.

And of course, if you hit
someone with a slingshot,

that can be fatal.

This is ballistic gelatin.

And it emulates the behavior
of human flesh.

So you get an idea about
how heavy that impact was.

[thud echoing]

[narrator] And now
the heavy artillery.

[Jörg] Someone challenged me
on the internet... and said:

"Why don’t you go ahead
and build a slingshot

that is fully automatic."

And I thought very hard
about this,

and came up with
the Gatling idea.

[narrator] The paint is dry
on the iPhone launcher.

[Jörg] Now it is ready
for shooting.

First we are going to test
how much pain it could inflict

if we shoot it against
a ballistic gelatin block.

The goal is to attract as many
people on YouTube as possible.

[narrator] The iPhone
will probably tumble,

so Jörg shoots close up.

[elastic stretching]

[thuds]

Oh, it is still working.

It obviously... hit the target
with a lot of energy

because it toppled the entire
block of ballistic gelatin over.

[narrator] The next target is...
not quite so soft.

Let’s make sure this is not
my everyday phone.

No, it’s not.

No SIM card,

because I don’t think
it's going to survive this.

Everybody ready?

Okay! Fire!

[elastic stretching]
[thuds]

So I always wanted to know how
an iPhone looks from the inside.

[chuckles]
Now I know.

Rest in peace!
[laughs]

[narrator] Jörg still has
one more old iPhone.

[Jörg] I love destroying things.

[thwacks]

So it looks like someone
really wanted to dial the nine.

It dented the entire back side
as well.

But the funny thing is
it's still working.

[narrator] IT’s time
to edit the video and upload it.

[Jörg] I'm excited.
YouTube is going to love it.

[narrator] There’s a good chance
that this one...

[explosion echoes]
will be a hit.

And finally.

In the world of high-speed
race cars,

nitro methane is the fuel
of choice

that sends these
8000 horsepower machines

down the track
at blistering speeds.

Our fearless reporter,
Alan Nursall,

goes to the track for a hands-on
demo of this explosive fuel.

[engines roaring]

-And what do we have here?
-Nitro Methane-CH3NO2.

This is the fuel that makes
that thing go?

[revving]

The biggest thing
that really makes it fast

is it’s 66% oxygen.

[upbeat music]

CH3NO2. And it’s the 02
that makes it go.

So the beauty of this fuel,
the thing that makes it special,

is that it supplies
some of its own oxygen.

As you know from racing,

the air is the hardest thing
to get in the engine.

It's easy to squirt fuel
in there.

It’s hard to get the engine
to have air in it.

That’s what makes it
such a good motor fuel,

is that we can put like...

tons more oxygen into the engine
in liquid form

than we can in gas form
of what’s around us.

[Alan] Now you want me to do
something crazy with this.

[Jim] If you strike a match
and just drop a match in it,

after it’s burning,
it will just put it out.

-Really?
-[mechanic] Yup!

-[Alan] Can I trust you?
-Sure.

-[Alan chuckles]
-[Jim] Famous last words.

[Alan] I just want to be
straight on this.

You, the experienced crew chief,

are telling me to put
a lit match into the fuel

that makes that thing
go 350 miles an hour.

[Jim] Just toss it in there.

[Alan] It went out!

Yup, that’s what
it’s supposed to do.

It's not very flammable,
just powerful.

[Alan] That’s not
what I expected at all.

I'm going to try it
one more time.

Throw it onto the nitro methane.

[upbeat music]

-No burning!
-Nope.

[Alan] Jim, what happened?

[Jim] The liquid nitro
put the match out

because liquid nitro
will not burn.

Nitro won’t evaporate as easily
like gasoline

and turn into vapor.

And as you know in gasoline,

even liquid gasoline
doesn’t burn.

Only the vapor burns because
it has to mix with oxygen.

And, as far as the capabilities
for it to explode,

it needs to have compression
or a concussion to set it off.

To actually squeeze the oxygen
out of it to help it go.

Because as soon as the oxygen
starts to come out of it,

then it will go
and it'll go big.

Okay. So...

there’s a lot of compression
and concussion

inside a top fuel engine.
[engine roaring].

[Jim] Oh yes sir, it will get
cylinder pressure high enough

that it will push the heads up
right up off the block.

So, is there a way
to get this nitro methane

to give us a little explosion?

The old guys in the old days,
I call them the old guys,

the guys that ran in the sixties
and stuff,

they use to take the beer lids
or pop bottle lid,

you know the little tin lid?

And they’d get the nitro
in and get it burning,

and get it going really hot,
then hit it with a hammer,

and it’d go POW
like a fire cracker.

We can attempt to do that here.

We’re gonna put a little bit
in this water bottle cap,

and we’re going to light it
and get it hot,

and when it’s boiling,

we’re going to take this hammer
and act like a piston.

We’re going to slap that burning
nitro and it’s going to go POW.

[upbeat music]

[bangs]

[Alan] That was a bang.

[bangs]

It vaporized it.

Yup, because it melted
the thing.

Jim, that was crazy.

We got a real sharp bang.

I felt the Nitro.

It blew out on me.
I could feel it.

Because when it blows up,
it’s some pretty violent stuff.

[Alan]
So when you add compression,

you get a great explosion.

[Jim] You get it lit
and you compress it,

and it will explode.

And it’s a fairly big explosion
for the amount of it there is.

This is actually a solvent.

The biggest use for this
in the world

is to fertilize strawberries.

So if you eat strawberries,
you eat nitro.

Thanks for the chemistry lesson.
That’s very cool stuff.

Thank you so much for watching
“How Tech Works.”

I’m Basil singer.
See you next time.

[futuristic music]