All language subtitles for S17E07 - Speed Skates; Synthetic Rubber; Cocoa Beans; Bulk Chocolate (1080p AMZN WEB-DL x265 Garshasp)_track3_[eng]

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Narrator:
The first ice skates
Were invented

In northern europe
About a thousand years ago

When people began
Lacing animal bones to

The soles of their boots
To cross frozen water.

In 1592, a scotsman
Invented an iron skate blade,

And before long, the sport
Of speed skating took off.

These elite-level racing skates
Are produced by

A small company cofounded
By a canadian speed skater,

A three-time olympic medalist
In short track.

Every single pair
Is custom-made.

After measuring a skater's feet,

A technician applies layers
Of wet plaster bandages,

The same way one makes a cast
For a broken limb,

Only here, each foot cast
Is comprised of two parts.

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Each cast serves as
The first-stage mold

For a skate boot.

The plaster bandages take 5
To 10 minutes to harden and dry,

At which point the technician
Carefully removes the mold

One part at a time,

Then reassembles it
With elastic bands.

He surrounds the mold,
Called a negative, with sand.

He then pours liquid plaster
Into the negative

To produce a positive mold.

The sand provides
Counterpressure

So that the plaster
Can't push the walls outward

And distort their shape.

The plaster fully cures
In an hour or two,

At which point the negative mold
Can come off.

Then the technician mixes up
Some thicker plaster

Pigmented to make it easily
Visible against the dried,

White plaster.

He applies it in select areas,

Touching up imperfections and
Tweaking the shape of the mold.

He files the toes and the rest
Of the contours smooth,

Producing the final shape
Of the boot.

He labels the finished mold
With the skater's name

And puts it in the storeroom
Until it's time

To begin constructing
The skate boots.

Construction begins
With boot lining.

They staple a piece of
Genuine leather to the mold,

Pulling taut because
Any wrinkles in the lining

Would irritate
The skater's foot.

Next, they glue on
The various structural pieces,

Such as this ankle padding.

It's made of memory foam
So it gradually forms to

The skater's ankle
And holds the shape.

The next step
Is the most technically critical

Because it determines
The angle of the skate blade.

They apply a epoxy-resin putty
To the front and back

Of the sole and adhere two
Aluminum blade holders...

Then prop up the boot
As the putty dries

Over the next four hours or so.

Once the putty's hard,
They sand off the excess

To lighten the skate
And round out the remainder.

Then they begin constructing
The outside of the boot.

First, they layer pieces
Of carbon fiber,

A strong fabric commonly used

In high-performance
Sports products.

They tie the bottom piece
Around the blade holders

With strong thread

And bind the layers
With spray adhesive.

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Next, they slip a plastic bag
Over the boot...

Tie off the ends...

And vacuum out the air.

This tightly compresses
The layers of carbon fiber.

Now they inject resin,
A type of liquid plastic,

And distribute it evenly
Throughout the bag.

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The resin impregnates
The carbon fiber.

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After a couple of hours,
The resin dries and hardens,

Leaving the carbon-fiber boot
Stiff and durable.

Next, they glue on the outside
Of the boot, made of vinyl.

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Once the glue dries,

They remove the plaster mold

And stitch the vinyl in place.

They also take
A vinyl lace cover,

Sew one side of it to the boot,

And attach the other side
With a hook and loop fastener.

That way it hinges open
And closed

For lacing
And unlacing the skate.

The final step is to attach
The inline wheels,

Or steel blades,
To the blade holders.

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Narrator: synthetic rubber
Was invented in 1909,

But the technology languished
For a couple of decades.

A shortage of natural rubber
During world war ii

Spurred its development.

A kind of elastic plastic,
It was actually more resistant

To temperature extremes
Than natural rubber.

Synthetic rubber
Reinvented the wheel.

We're talking about
The rubber tire.

Tires for all kinds of vehicles
Are now made from it.

This manmade material
Is also used to make

Everything from garden hoses
To golf balls.

Manufacturing synthetic rubber
Is now a computerized process,

One that takes place
Under the watchful eye

Of a control-room operator.

He monitors numerous computer
Screens and live camera images.

The plant itself
Is 437 yards long.

There are a dozen or more
Enormous storage tanks

For the raw materials, as
Well as several reactor units.

The raw materials
Include a petroleum-based liquid

Called butadiene
And solvent called hexane.

They pipe these ingredients
Through columns

To boil off any residual water,
Essentially purifying them.

This is
A laboratory demonstration

Of what happens next.

They combine
The purified butadiene

And hexane and add a catalyst.

The catalyst triggers a reaction
That changes the chemistry.

The mix becomes polybutadiene,

A kind of synthetic rubber
Used to make tires.

Adding another catalyst
Stops the reaction

At just the right moment.

The white,
Milky liquid that exits the tank

Is synthetic rubber.

They now pump in chemicals
To tailor the rubber

For a specific use,
In this case tires.

The additives will increase
Traction and improve wear.

A mechanized whisk stirs
The additives

Into the liquid rubber.

They pipe
The synthetic concoction

Into insulated storage tanks.

Inside,
Pumps mix it constantly

So the additives
Don't settle on the bottom.

Here's a close-up look
At the liquid synthetic rubber

In a laboratory beaker.

It looks like
A big vanilla milkshake,

And it's about to be
Coagulated into crumbs.

Here's where it all happens.

This coagulation unit
Is like a big kettle.

They pipe in the liquid rubber,
A solvent mixture, and water.

As they boil off the solvent,

The rubber coagulates
Into crumbs the size of beans.

The water remains because
It has a higher boiling point.

The mix of water
And rubber crumbs

Bounces about in what's known as
The crumb tank

Until it's time
For more processing.

They then pump the mix
Into a rotary sieve.

As it spins,
It drains off the water.

They add more water
To cool the rubber crumbs.

The rubber and water mix
Gushes onto a conveyor

Which is a vibrating sieve.

As the crumbs bounce along,

The water drains off through the
Perforations in the conveyor.

The synthetic rubber
Is now a lot like wet snow.

Next,
It's into the lab,

Where they aim
A beam of infrared light

Through a sample
To analyze the microstructure.

If it's acceptable,
Production continues.

A screw-like mechanism
Presses the wet rubber crumbs

Against a metal plate
To squeeze out more moisture.

Another trip
On the next vibrating conveyor

Drains off droplets.

Then it's into a quivering,
Spiral conveyor.

As the synthetic rubber
Travels upwards on the spiral,

Hot air is piped in
From the side to dry it.

Now mostly devoid of moisture,
But still sticky,

The synthetic rubber crumbs
Head down a chute

And into a baler machine.

This machine uses pressure

To compress the crumbs
Into big bales.

The bales of synthetic rubber
Head down a conveyor

Towards a quality-control
Inspector.

This inspector examines them
For imperfections.

Once he gives them the okay,

They head to
The packaging station.

As they travel through
A curtain of plastic film,

Machinery heat-seals it
Around them.

These bales
Of synthetic rubber

Have taken about six hours
To manufacture.

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And this purely
Chemical creation

Isn't much different
From the real thing.

Like natural rubber,

It can be melted and shaped
Into many different things.

Soon, this batch
Will be turned into tires,

And that's when the synthetic
Rubber will really hit the road.

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Narrator:
Cocoa beans are the primary raw
Material for making chocolate.

They come from the fruit
Of the cocoa tree,

Native to central
And south america.

The ancient mayans
Would grind them up

To make a special beverage
For marriage ceremonies

And other rituals.

Today, cocoa is cultivated
In the rainforest areas

Of many countries
In the tropics.

These cocoa beans
From costa rica

Were cultivated without the use
Of chemical fertilizers,

Pesticides,
Or fungicides.

Farming cocoa organically
Requires meticulous care

And maintenance of the crop,
Along with grafting techniques

To help establish
Disease-tolerant tree varieties.

The farmer cuts a budwood,
A young branch about to bud,

From a healthy,
Productive tree

And grafts it onto
A sucker growing

From the base of a tree
Which is either diseased

Or old and unproductive.

She cuts a slot
At the top of the sucker,

Then wraps a plastic strip
Around the budwood

To hold in moisture
Until the graft takes.

Next, she cuts a pointed end
On the budwood

And inserts it into the slot
She made in the sucker.

Then she binds the union and
Covers it with a plastic bag.

Bagging protects the graft
Against two potential extremes,

Dehydration and excessive rain,
Which causes rot or fungus.

If the graft takes,

The union seals itself
In a month or even sooner.

Strategic pruning
Strengthens the tree

And keeps it growing low
And in a shape

That's easy to maintain
And harvest.

Before long,
Flowers begin to bud and bloom.

Tiny beetles
Pollinate the flowers,

After which tiny pods --
The tree's fruit --

Begin to emerge.

The pods grow and grow...

And gradually change color.

When the color transformation
Is complete,

They're ripe for harvest.

There are many varieties
Of cocoa trees,

With pods of different colors.

It generally takes
About five months

From first blooms
To pod maturity.

Come harvest time,
They collect only the pods

Which are undoubtedly ready.

If a pod isn't fully ripened,

The cocoa beans inside
Will be acidic and bitter.

They carefully cut the pod stem
Off the branch

Without damaging the tree
In the process.

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The pod's rind
Is a little over an inch thick.

It's rough and bumpy.

They hack it open with a machete
To remove the fruit inside.

The fruit is made of
A sweet, edible pulp

Encasing 30 to 50 large,
White seeds.

These are the cocoa beans.

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The beans and pulp
Go to the fermentation area,

Where workers lay them in boxes,
Or heaps,

And cover them
For four to six days.

As heat under the cover builds
Up, fermentation kicks in.

The natural sugars
Interact with oxygen,

The pulp slowly breaks down,
Liquefies, and drains away.

The color and chemical
Composition of the beans change,

And they become less acidic
And develop a chocolaty taste.

The next step is to
Dry the beans.

Workers spread them out
On big trays

And lay them out in the sun
For about a week.

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Here's what a cocoa bean
Is like wet...

Versus dried.

The dried beans now go
Through a selection process.

Workers examine them,
Removing pod remnants

And any beans with mold
Or other imperfections.

Beans which fail inspection
Are sold locally

At a lower price
Or go to the compost heap.

Beans that pass are weighed,
Bagged for export,

And sold to chocolate makers.

Depending on
The size of the beans,

Which varies according to
The cocoa-tree variety,

It takes about 300
To 600 cocoa beans

To produce one kilogram
Of chocolate.

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Narrator: chocolate owes its
Existence to the cocoa bean.

The ancient civilizations
Of mexico and central

And south america cultivated
This seed to make a drink.

The spanish conquest brought
This chocolate drink to europe,

But it wasn't until 1847
That a british company

Invented solid chocolate.

This factory makes chocolate
In various forms

And sells it to companies which
Manufacture chocolate products

For retail sale.

It also supplies
Chocolate components,

Such as cocoa powder
And cocoa butter.

Most of the cocoa beans arriving
Here come from west africa,

Which grows 70%
Of the world's crop.

A conveyor belt moves them
Through a cleaning system,

A series of sieves
That screen out twigs,

Stones,
And other debris.

Next stop is a micronizer,

A revolving drum
That heats the cocoa beans

To loosen their shells.

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Then they enter a shell-removing
Machine called a winnower.

Inside, successive rakes drag
The beans across screens,

Pulling off
Large pieces of shell.

Then a vacuum sucks away the
Remaining smaller pieces.

Removing the shell exposes
The inside of the cocoa bean,

Which is called the nib.

The factory will roast the nibs
To develop their flavor.

50%-plus of the nib is fat,
Which is cocoa butter.

To make chocolate,
They'll combine processed nibs,

Cocoa butter, and sugar,
Along with milk powder

If they're making
Milk chocolate.

First, the factory processes
The nibs by grinding them.

The heat and friction
Activate the cocoa butter,

Producing pure liquid chocolate
Called chocolate liquor.

The factory extracts
Some of the cocoa butter

To sell it separately
As chocolate-making ingredient

And to use for
In-house chocolate production

Along with other ingredients
In various proportions.

The dark-chocolate recipe,
For example,

Calls for more chocolate liquor,
Sugar, and cocoa butter,

But no milk powder.

The recipe for unsweetened
Chocolate contains no sugar.

The mixer blends the ingredients
To the consistency

Of a very thick cake batter.

The flavor is fine
By this point,

But the coarse texture
Needs to be smoothed out,

So the chocolate moves to
A refining machine,

Passing between
A set of five rollers

That reduce the particle size,

So much so that
Within just minutes,

The chocolate leaves the refiner
As a fine, dry powder.

But now it needs to be
Reliquefied,

So the next stop
Is a machine called a conch.

The friction and heat once again
Activate the cocoa butter,

Returning the powder
To a liquid state.

At this point,
They add more cocoa butter,

Enough to reduce
The viscosity to

The exact thickness they need --
Just a bit, for example,

If they're making
Chocolate chips

Or much more if they're making
A thin chocolate coating.

For chocolate chips,

The conch feeds a machine
Called a drop depositor.

As the name implies,

It deposits drops of chocolate
Onto a conveyor belt.

The nozzle trays
Are interchangeable,

So the machine can be set up to
Produce various sizes of chips,

Disks,
Or other shapes.

The chocolate chips,
Still warm and soft,

Enter a cooling tunnel...

Traveling for
About five minutes

Through several
Temperature zones,

Which vary between
30 and 50 degrees fahrenheit.

By the time the chips exit
The tunnel, they're hard.

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A conveyor belt then takes them
Through a metal detector,

A standard
Food-safety precaution.

The factory also produces
10-pound,

Bulk-format chocolate bars.

A depositor fills
Bar-shaped plastic molds.

The conveyor transfers them
To an elevator system,

Which moves through a cold room
For about two hours.

This constant motion ensures
Optimal air circulation,

Helping the cooling process.

Chocolate shrinks slightly
As it cools,

So the bars pop out
Of the molds easily.

To make the chocolate
Look as good as it tastes,

The factory cools,
Then reheats

The liquid chocolate
Before depositing it.

This process,
Called tempering,

Promotes the growth of the most
Stable cocoa-butter crystals,

Making the surface of the
Chocolate smooth and shiny.

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