All language subtitles for How.Tech.Works.S02E04.WEBRip.x264-ION10

[electronic music]

[narrator] On this episode
of How Tech Works,

we'll take to the air in Germany
aboard this very old plane

with incredible
state of the art capabilities.

And... we'll visit the world's
largest wooden structure,

the Metropol Parasol in Seville.

[intro music]

Hello,
and welcome to How Tech Works,

the show that takes you
behind the scenes

of some of the coolest gadgets
and gear from around the world.

I'm Dr. Basil Singer,

[narrator] and this week,

we're going to travel
from the ridiculous,

as in ridiculously
high-speed racecars,

to the sublime tech advances

of a brain-controlled
wheelchair.

But first,
to Seville in Spain,

where the summertime
temperatures

can reach over 40°C.

In response to this,

a team of over 100
architects and engineers

have come up with a plan
to shade the city.

But with what?

A giant umbrella, of course.

Have a look.

[soft vibrant music]

[narrator]
In the heart of Seville,

near buildings that date back
more than 500 years,

a dramatic new structure
casts its shadow

over the 21st Century.

This is the Metropol Parasol.

Towering four stories
above the city space,

it's one of the largest wooden
structures in the world,

let alone Spain.

It's the only
one of its kind.

Anywhere.

[speaking Spanish]

[speaking Spanish]

[narrator]
It's also controversial.

Some people believe that
the wood can't take the heat.

That's where
the experts come in.

The Metropol Parasol
is the product

of more than six years effort.

The combined brain power
of 16 architects,

25 engineers,

and more than 100
construction specialists.

It started with Seville's
own vision.

The city wanted to transform
an empty downtown square

into something lively.

They wanted to bring back
the market place

that was originally
there in the 70s.

They also wanted
to revitalize and rejuvenate

the urban square
and the public space around it.

[narrator] You can actually
see the design inspiration

in the nearby trees.

[man] Large trees...

growing in many
of the squares in Seville.

And of course,
the main idea for producing

large shading elements
is that Seville is a hot town.

[narrator]
The locals have nicknamed

these giant structures
'Mushrooms',

and for practical reasons,
they're made of wood.

[man] Wood is very flexible.

You can shape it
in every form you want,

it's very lively.

It costs almost nothing
if you compare it

with steel or concrete.

It's lightweight,

the shading elements
are more self-weight,

[man] they're more a sculpture
than actually a structure.

So, the self-weight
is very important.

And timber is the material

with the best self-weight
to strength ratio.

[narrator] It is strong.

[man] The wood is a normal wood,
it's pine,

but it's coming from Finland
because in Finland it's cold.

So, the wood is growing much
more slowly than here in Spain.

So, the wood is harder.

[narrator]
So, those are advantages,

but if you look around,
there's a reason

that none of the other
buildings are made of wood.

[man]
From an engineering aspect,

and for the architectural
solution,

timber was perfect.
We're all very happy.

But of course, it's not so easy
and straight forward.

Timber has certain problems that
you have to solve along the way.

[narrator] All the wood
is pre-dried so it won't shrink,

and it's treated
for insects and mold,

but there's
a much bigger threat.

[man]
The temperature in Seville,

it gets very hot.

[narrator]
Forty degrees Celsius or more,

how do you protect wood
from that kind of heat,

especially if you want it to
hold up for at least a century?

The architects we're using
this and the last project...

[narrator] They've covered
the entire structure

with a long-lasting
polyurethane coating.

That means it won't expand
or contract like exposed wood.

That's one part
of the heat-proofing.

[man] The main challenge
for timber structures

are the connection details,
the joints.

[narrator]
Three-thousand connections

under a lot of heat-stress.

If they fail,
the building fails.

So, the team spent weeks
at the drawing board

to come up with something
that could hold up to the sun.

[man] I travelled...

at least once a month
to Germany

or they came to Madrid,
and we talked about...

one month, two month,

how we can find
the solution for the union.

[narrator]
Together, they developed

an innovative steel rod design.

Each of these fasteners
is secured in the structure

with a special glue
that can take the heat.

The glue is proved
up to 80 degrees.

[narrator]
So, the sun's taken care of,

along with anything else

that the sky
can throw at the building,

including wind and lightning.

[man] There's a network
of lightning protection

formed by lightning rods
at the perimeter

[man] through these cables,

and then it's grounded
in the basement.

[narrator] There's one final
structural challenge

which was discovered years ago
when the site was excavated.

[man] They found roman ruins.

[narrator] The team has built
a subterranean museum

by placing all the supporting
pylons around the ancient site.

Aside from providing
the essential shade

in the heat of the midday sun,

the Metropol Parasol
is now a lot more.

I'm thrilled, finally,
to see this result.

[man] Not only have we been able
to see how a 2D design on paper

and a computer has sprung
them to life,

but also to see the broad

public acceptance
of the project.

Downstairs, the new museum
for the Roman ruins.

The market place, which has
come back after 30 years.

And how generally, the square
and the plaza are used.

[narrator] And it's breathed
new life into the old town.

Here at How Tech Works,

we love stories
about flying things

such as rockets and spaceships.

In other words,

stories about the future
of flying tech.

However,
our next story takes us

to an aircraft museum
in Germany,

where reporter Dan Riskin
checks out one very old plane

with some jaw-dropping
capabilities!

[soft vibrant music]

[engine rumbling quietly]

This is one of the world's
first STOL aircraft.

That's S-T-O-L.

It stands for
short takeoff and landing.

In the mid '30s,
the Germans needed a plane

that could takeoff
and land anywhere,

and this was the result.
It's called The Storch.

This thing can takeoff in less
distance than a hockey rink.

[Dan]
The Storch is legendary.

An observation plane and people
mover on the battlefield,

the design is over 70 years old.

Even today, aircraft
engineers are wowed by it.

Today, the museum's pilot
is going to take it up,

and maybe me, too.

[woman]
My name is Brigitte Koch.

My job is keeping
the whole business here running,

[Brigitte]
teacher of a flying school,

and perform with
the aircraft in air shows.

[electronic music]

[Dan] Alright, well let's
see this thing take off.

Here we go.

[electronic music continues]

[man] Look how slow
it's hanging there!

[Brigitte] It's just, you know,
a fantastic version of flying.

It's slow,
you can have a good watch

from the aircraft
to the outside.

And it's just, you know,

nothing to compare
with other aircrafts I'm flying.

[Dan] It looks like
it's totally holding still.

I mean,
I could ride my bike that fast.

[Dan] The Storch famously
needs only 20 meters to land.

But it's windy today,

so, Brigitte takes care
on her approach.

A gust could crash the plane.

She speeds up a bit and takes
a longer distance to land.

Still impressive, though,
about a hockey rink's length.

So, why is this
called The Storch?

First of all,
because of the great wings

-with a great span.
-Yeah.

And the second thing
is because of its learning gear.

-[Dan] Okay.
-Inside here,

-you have a shock absorber.
-Uh-huh.

And when you land,
it's getting depressed,

and after you take off,

the gear falls down
about half a meter.

It's just, you know,
hanging around.

-[Dan] Like a stork's legs?
-Yeah.

Yeah!
Do you want to go for a ride?

Uh, yeah.
Yeah, I really do. [laughs]

-Well then, let's take her out.
-[Dan] OK, Let's go.

[Dan] Good.

Alright, let's do this!

[electronic music]

[Dan] Now,
despite my brave face,

I'm actually really nervous

because this is not exactly
a new airplane.

[laughs]

-Everything's all right?
-Yeah, I think so.

[Brigitte laughs]

All right.

[exhales deeply]

So, how old is this plane?

[Brigitte] Forty-six build.

-[Dan] It was built in 1946?
-[Brigitte] Yeah.

[Dan] It's clearly a very
old airplane.

So, it's that balance between

"Well, it hasn't crashed yet,
so maybe it's safe,"

and "This thing's awfully old,
so maybe it is going to crash."

-[Brigitte] OK, ready?
-Yeah, let's do it.

[Dan] Right away,
it's a very different feeling.

The windows come around you,

so you can look down
out of the plane.

[Brigitte] And off we go!

[Dan] The plane turns
and faces the runway,

and starts accelerating.
It gets a lot louder.

It just... goes at car-speed
and takes off.

It's crazy.

[engine accelerating]

[laughing] Whoa!

That's nuts!

[cheers]

[Dan]
As the plane's flying around,

you're looking out the window,
you're looking down,

and as it makes tight turns,
you can just look straight down.

[Dan] You can see the world

in a way you don't
normally see it

when you're going really
fast in a normal airplane.

It gives you a very different
view of the world.

[Dan] The plane's going only
60 kilometers an hour.

Wow.

[Dan] OK,
we just slowed down a lot.

[laughs]

[Brigitte] Like what you see?

Yeah, we're barely moving!

[Dan]
The plane's going so slowly

that when it banks into a turn,

instead of feeling yourself
pushed into the floor,

you sort of feel like you're
just going to fall out the side.

You're not going that fast.

It's a very different feeling
from a normal airplane.

[Dan] And then,
as it comes around

and you come in
for that landing,

the engine dies right down,
and you're going slowly!

Wow.

[Dan] When you're landing,
those wheels just punch.

I mean,
you see them stretch up,

you hear them,
you feel them,

but it's still
a gentle landing.

[Dan] It's almost like it's got
knees that are catching you.

- That's ridiculous. [laughs]
-[Brigitte] Did you see?

-[Brigitte] Did you see?
-You just stopped like nothing.

[narrator] I'm glad to be back
on the ground,

but flying a legend
has been an amazing experience.

The Storch,
it's a ride like no other.

[upbeat music]

Coming up on How Tech Works...

[narrator] It looks like
a wheelchair, and it is,

but this wheelchair
is controlled by brain power.

And...

Reporter Alan Nursall scores
some great trackside seats

to measure the force and power
of the Top Fuel dragster.

[electronic music]

Welcome back to How Tech Works,

I'm Basil Singer.

Now, I'm sure you all
recognize and appreciate

the creative power
of imagination.

The ability to dream and design
is the inspiration behind

all sorts of
technological advances.

But...

what if your thoughts were
literally able to control

the things that your body can't?

I'm talking about
extreme mind control,

and I present to you,
a team of garage-gurus

who are putting that
concept to good use.

[house music]

[narrator]
You've seen this before.

[man] Is it easy to drive it?

Yeah, it's quite easy.

[narrator] Joystick,
a skilled driver... freedom.

And then I can just
turn around here.

[narrator] But what happens if
your mobility is so compromised

you can't manipulate a joystick?

Able-bodied neuro-engineer
Tom Carlson

is literally taxing his brain
for a way around that.

[Tom] This is an EEG cap,

and we have an array
of electrodes

which we will place on my head.

And these electrodes
will be going over

the motor cortex region.

[narrator]
He's part of a team developing

a mind-controlled wheelchair.

[Tom] We want the wheelchair
to help people

that can't drive
with a joystick.

So, particularly, severely
motor-impaired patients.

Tetraplegics, paraplegics,
ALS patients.

[narrator] Today, they're
prepping for a test drive.

So, we just put the cap on...

like that.

[narrator]
By making sure their system

detects his brain signals.

To be successful,

the technology has to not only
interpret thoughts...

The EEG signals are very,
very small,

just a matter of microdots.

[Tom] So, we need to have this
super conductive gel

to increase the signal.

[narrator]
...but also to instruct

the wheelchair to seamlessly
carry them out.

[Tom] I'm now going to
plug the pre-amplifier

into the amplifier.

[narrator] That requires
two intelligence systems.

First, this is
the brain computer interface

which Tom is configuring.

It records brain activity.

[Tom] Each one of these lines
represents a signal

coming from one of
the electrodes.

And what we see is that
they're all following

a similar kind of pattern,
which is good.

If I blink my eyes now,

you can see a big change.

So, that's a muscular
artifact that's being picked up.

[narrator]
To move left or right,

Tom will need to stay focused

and imagine moving his
corresponding hand.

[man] The main difficulty
we are facing

is analyzing the brain signals,

because the brain signals
we are recording

is a combination
of thousands of activities

that are going on in our brain.

[Tom] I focus on the screen,

and I'm moving the cursor

just by imagining
moving my hands.

[narrator]
Tweezing those commands

from all of that brain activity
is the team's big breakthrough.

Tom's left-right signals
are coming through clearly.

Time to plug into part two
of this system,

the wheelchair.

[Tom]
EEG network is active there.

And over here...

I have the wheelchair network.
Good.

I'm going to get
nice and comfortable

in the wheelchair now. [laughs]

[narrator] In addition to being
hooked up to his brain signals,

the wheelchair
also has ten sonar senses

and two web cams.

And with them, it can detect
and avoid obstacles.

So, now you can see I've got
the feedback on my screen here

[Tom] with exactly what
the wheelchair sees

as an obstacle or not.

[narrator] And finally,
it's time to get rolling.

A big breath
to clear distractions...

[inhales and exhales deeply]

Okay.

[narrator] And...

He's going nowhere.

Oh, dear.

I need to figure out
exactly what's going on.

[narrator] Remember, in order
for the wheelchair to move,

two independent systems
have to each do their own job

and then work as one,

and that isn't quite happening.

[Tom] I know, I know, yep.

[narrator]
Great, it's a quick fix,

a simple programming glitch,

and now,
the two systems are talking.

Tom focuses...

and he's off!

Okay, so, I'll go through
the doorway this time.

[narrator] Watch what happens
when he directs the wheelchair

towards this cluttered doorway.

Notice those adjustments?

That's the chair
sensing the obstacles

and correcting for them
automatically.

Here, the chair stops to avoid
hitting this guy's legs.

And when it receives
a new command from Tom,

it starts moving.

They call it 'shared control',

and it's an important
safety feature.

A few more tight squeezes...

and things are running as hoped.

[Tom]
So, this is the shared control

stopping me in front
of any obstacles.

[narrator]
This wheelchair technology

is still in early days,
but the team is confident

that they're moving
in the right direction.

Last but not least,
some describe the feeling

of standing beside the launch
of a Top Fuel dragster

is a handshake from the gods.

The raw power assault
on the senses is off the charts!

But that's not going to stop
our reporter, Alan Nursall,

from trying to get
up close and personal.

This week, Alan is trackside
to feel the power firsthand.

Ladies and gentlemen,

start your ridiculously
loud engines!

[loud acceleration]

[screeching]

[rock music]

Mike, what's it like
driving a Top Fuel dragster?

You want to know
what it feels like

to drive an 8000 plus
horsepower dragster?

Eight-thousand horsepower,
yeah?

Well, I'll tell you what,
we'll go to the starting line...

and we'll leave, and we'll
see whether you'll man up

-to the job or not.
-[laughs]

[roaring acceleration]

[Mike] It's a rush, like,

the only way you can
experience it is to do it.

[loud acceleration]

I want to turn this into
a bit of an experience for us.

[Alan]
So, I've got some instruments

that'll allow us to experience

the raw power
of your Top Fuel dragster.

[Alan] So, while you drive,

Deb and I are going to enjoy
some trackside special seating.

[Mike] I think you're
going to be surprised

on the concussion that this
8000 horsepower makes

when it leaves
the starting line.

-The worst--
-If you're not prepared,

-you will jump.
-[Tom laughs]

-I would--
-[Mike] Foot off the ground.

I was thinking more terrified,
actually,

-than surprised.
-Well, that's my job

being terrified. [laughs]

[shouting over loud engine]
Close enough to the tracks?

Yes!

[acceleration]

[shouting]
I had to really use my influence

to get these great seats!

[Deb] Do you realize
what's going to happen

when that car leaves?

[Alan] Well, that's what
we're here to find out!

[tire screeching]

[Alan]
So, we've got a sound meter,

a seismograph.

We've got a bunch of different
ways of measuring the vibration

and the power we're going
to get from the dragster!

I don't know if everything's
going to stay up there

once he takes off.

[soft vibrant music]

[engine heavy rumbling]

[soft vibrant music continues]

[rumbling continues]

[music continues]

[roaring acceleration]

[crowd cheering]

Guys, that was off the scale.
That was just amazing!

[Alan] Debbie, what did you
think about our trackside date?

That was the worst
date I've ever had, I think.

[laughs]

-It was probably the loudest!
-The loudest, yeah.

[loud acceleration]

[Alan] We had stuff jumping
all over the table.

It's like everything
inside you just moves,

and the ground shakes,
and you can't help but jump.

[Alan] To get some perspective,
to try to give us some sense

of how loud it is and what
the concussion feels like,

we had some instrumentation.

We had our seismometer
that just swung like crazy

as the vibrations
in the table were picked up,

and it just went off the scale.

[Alan] Mike, you also told me...

how high my sound meter will go.

"It will go to 126 decibels."

[Alan] Decibels being
a standard measurement of sound.

It's a measure of the strength
of the pressure wave,

[Alan]
and you went well beyond that.

Apparently you need
a bigger seismometer.

[laughs]

[Alan]
A hundred and thirty decibels

is the threshold for pain.

A jet at about 30 meters
is about 150 decibels.

[Alan] You might have come close

to the neighborhood
of 140 decibels.

Certainly beyond
the threshold of pain.

A jackhammer...

from one meter distance,
is about 100 decibels.

[Alan] That means the actual
physical pressure waves

coming off the dragster
are 30-35 times more powerful

than a jackhammer at one meter.

-So, let's not sit
-[Debbie laughing]

at the starting line like that,
too close.

Let's move back
a few meters next time, OK?

Yeah.

You've been enjoying
How Tech Works.

I'm Basil Singer,
and I'll see you next time!

[ending music]