All language subtitles for How.Tech.Works.S02E12.WEBRip.x264-ION10

[narrator] On this episode
of How Tech Works.

Take a spin on these
tricked out wheelchairs,

like you've never seen before.

And this massive
construction site in Abu Dhabi

is on target to become one
of the world's largest ports.

[man] If there's a bigger one
out there,

we don't know where it is.

[intro music]

Hello. I am Basil Singer

and you are watching
How Tech Works,

the show that is brimming
with cool stories

of science and technology
from around the planet.

Today you're in
for one thrill ride show.

We're jetting upside down
in this whale of a water slide

and we're trying not to lose
the map or the steering wheel

in this life-sized simulation
of driver distractions.

But first...
sometimes able-bodied people

take for granted
some of the things in life

that physically-challenged
people can't normally enjoy.

Like walking, cycling,
swimming...

uh... flame-throwing.

Okay... that last one
may sound extreme.

But the inventor
in this next story

has one very "fired-up"
imagination.

[upbeat music]

[narrator] This isn't
your ordinary wheelchair.

I don't think
anybody's gonna mess

with a disabled person driving
something like this, do you?

[narrator] Yes, everything
created here at Greathouse Labs

is made to grab attention.

And there's nothing ordinary
about any of it.

They pop wheelies,
they shoot fire,

they're not normal.

You want normal, there's
plenty of normal out there.

[chuckles]

[narrator]
There's always something cool

under construction,
at Greathouse Labs.

I'm Lance Greathouse,
and I'm a builder.

[narrator] More than anything,
Lance builds dreams.

Specially-built wheelchairs

that offer a new-found freedom
for their occupants.

It all started for Lance

when his brother Brent,
his best friend,

became ill
with Parkinson's disease.

He died eight years ago.

He used to be
a big strapping guy,

champion racquetball player,
motorcycle rider.

And ended up being fed
with a spoon.

It's pretty hard seeing
someone go out that way.

[narrator]
Lance got the idea to build

the tricked-out wheelchairs
in an effort to help Brent.

[Lance] I saw my brother,

how people treated him
differently in his wheelchair.

So I built him a really
cool looking wheelchair

with big tires on it.
And the transformation,

the way people treated him,
was completely different.

It went from pity to like,
"Wow, dude, that's awesome."

I just saw how it changed,
it changed everything.

[narrator]
Brent may be gone now,

but every day
he inspires Lance.

I want his legacy
to live on,

and it does live on
through my work.

Actually, my brother
was a much better fabricator

and designer
than I could ever be.

Unfortunately,
he lost his abilities,

and he's gone now.

[Lance] I think about him
every day,

and all my work
is dedicated to my brother.

[narrator] Now, Lance's goal
is to build custom wheelchairs

for everyone.

[Lance] I wanna make
one of a kind chairs,

for one of a kind people.

Right now they've one wheelchair
that fits everybody.

I wanna make a wheelchair
for each person's personality.

[upbeat music]

This is the Dr. Evil Chair.

Complete functional wheelchair
with mp3 player,

sirens, horns, lights...
beer holder...

Everything
anybody needs in a wheelchair.

[narrator] In fact,
he has a whole fleet

of tricked-out rides.

With attachments
like rocket-launchers,

rotating turrets,
and fake machine-guns...

[Lance]
The Dr. Strangelove Chair,

it works just like
a regular wheelchair.

But it also has a turret.

You can drive it
like an Abrams tank,

any direction.

[narrator] So just how exactly

does he come up
with these things?

Let's just say, with Lance,
there's no shortage of ideas.

People say they're bored.

I don't know how
anybody's ever bored.

I have so many ideas
and so many things I wanna do.

I just don't have the time.

I like building things
that are different.

I don't like normal things.

I guess having a childhood
where I grew up watching sci-fi,

Jules Verne, Lost in Space...

[narrator] And he just builds
them out of junk.

[Lance] One man's junk
is another guy's treasure.

There's no junk here,
it's all good stuff.

My wife might have a different
opinion. [chuckles]

But to me, it's all treasure.

[narrator] He's even
convinced his neighbors

to leave any spare parts
they find, at his gate.

[Lance] I think I've a good eye
for looking at things,

and saying
"This could be this or that",

and meld them together.

Same size, perfect.

My friends are going
"I've never seen anybody

so excited about
a universal joint." [chuckles]

I find all the parts,
get 'em in a pile,

and then just start building.
I don't draw, I just start.

I don't wanna waste a step
by taking time

to draw something.
I already have it up here.

[narrator
Lance has certainly created

a number of off-the-wall gadgets
over the years.

[Lance]
Would you like a beverage?

[narrator] But by far
he gets the most satisfaction

out of donating
his specialty wheelchairs.

[Lance] There's nothing like

giving a chair to someone
that can't afford one.

The look on their face
is hard to explain.

[narrator] His friend Ryan
is confined to a wheelchair,

and he knows the value
of a tricked-out ride.

Having a wheelchair
that's made for having fun

rather than made
for medical purposes

is very liberating,
and very fun,

and you definitely
get a lot of attention that way.

Every physically challenged
person I've seen

says "Dude,
you're on the right path."

This is what we want.
We want something different.

It doesn't have to be
so serious all the time.

[narrator] For now, Lance
is doing it all non-profit,

on the side.

But someday,
he'd like to have the means

to be able to do this full-time
and to leave his own legacy.

I wanna leave this world knowing

that I left it a little better
than I found it.

That I wasn't here
just trying to make money,

but actually trying
to do something constructive

for other people.

I'm doing what my brother
no longer can.

Next up, we're off
to an enormous port

and industrial zone
in the United Arab Emirates.

And while we've come to expect

super-sized engineering
from the U.A.E.

this particular port,
the size of a small country,

is a little bit different.

It all has to do with
where it's being built.

[machines screeching]

[narrator] This is
what it takes to build a giant.

A forest of cranes...

[upbeat music]

an army of workers...

and a sea of cement.

But words
just don't do it justice

and at ground level

you don't get a sense
of its scale.

But have a look at the plan.

This is Kizad.

The Khalifa industrial zone
in Abu Dhabi.

It's 420 square kilometers
when it's fully developed out

and let's put that
into perspective

That's two thirds
the size of Singapore.

It's two thirds
the size of Toronto.

So this is almost
a small country in scale.

[narrator] When it is finished
the deep water port

will handle two
million containers a year

and 12 million tons.

And that's just
phase one of five.

[man] And to contrast that
with Abu Dhabi's existing port,

that's four times
bigger from day one.

[narrator] There'll be a range
of industries here.

Served by roads...

a brand new railroad...

and three nearby airports.

What does it cost?

[man] 7.2 billion dollars.

[narrator] Is it the largest
industrial zone in the world?

That's a great question.

If there's a bigger one
out there,

we don't know where it is.

[soft vibrant music]

[narrator
Kizad is made of sediments

dragged from the sea.

Had we been here two years ago,

we'd have been bobbing around
in the ocean right now.

[narrator] Listen to how much
they brought up

to make the port island.

[upbeat music]

[man] 20,000 Olympic classes
swimming pools.

[narrator]
And the industrial zone...

[man] We've had to raise
over 20 square kilometers

by about two meters,
the size of a big tall guy.

[narrator]
And all that dredging

causes turbidity
and milky water is a problem

for the silt-sensitive
neighbors.

You see, Kizad sits
next to a desalination plant

and the largest coral reef
in the Arabian gulf.

It is already battered
by high water temperatures

and steep salinity.

Silt could smother
photosynthesis and kill the reef

But they saw that coming up

and have several ways
to stop the silt.

Their environment manager
takes us out to see them.

[environment manager]
What we're looking at here

is basically the inside of the
environmental breakwater,

which is about
seven kilometers wall

that was built to protect
the environment around the port.

Like an arm basically.

During the construction,
it stops any sediments or silt

from traveling across
to the neighboring reef.

[narrator] The other side
of the breakwater

is more open to waves.

So its outer layer
is protected with accropodes.

[environment manager]
These are specially designed

and molded concrete blocks.

As you see
they're interlocking,

so you are using the weight

as well as
the interlocking power

of these things
to stay in place.

So when a wave hits,
it breaks this

and then
it dissipates the energy.

[narrator] They chose to build
the port far from shore dredging

and five kilometers away
from those sensitive spots.

Instead of solid causeways
they built bridges.

They are the country's first
and third longest.

Keeping watch
are two coral scientists.

[soft uplifting music]

They first dove on the reef
well before construction.

And now the company
brings them in

once every four months.

On this outing
they are happy to see

a lot of young fish.
A sign of a healthy reef.

We haven't noticed any major
drops in coral coverage

or coral density
and we take it from that

that the reef
is in good shape.

It shows we can build
such a large construction

and with appropriate measures
and investment

we can keep that construction
from impacting the reef.

[upbeat music]

[narrator] By the time
the first ship arrived

that investment was huge.

154 million pounds
for the breakwater alone.

[man] It was a non-negotiable
part of the deal.

[narrator] Well into the future

that investment
will serve Kizad well.

Because even normal operations
will stir up silt.

This is a case
of great engineering

that's worked
and it's protected

a national asset
for generations to come.

[narrator] When Kizad is fully
finished it's gonna be a giant.

But as you see,
it is a gentle giant.

Coming up on How Tech Works.

[narrator] We test the limits
of dangerous driver distraction.

And we go deep inside the world

of extreme
waterslide technology.

Welcome back to How Tech Works.
I'm Basil Singer.

Now distractions while driving
can be extremely dangerous,

and they're pushing some drivers
to unsafe limits

on the motorways
all over the world.

Especially with the prevalence
of mobile phones

and other hand-held devices.

At a university in Florida,

with the help
of a "virtual" truck,

they're uncovering
stunning new information

about driver distraction.

Not to mention
some pretty scary habits.

[narrator
A weaving 18-wheeler.

[Ron] We're killing
40-thousand a year.

[narrator] Every driver's
nightmare.

Twenty five
to thirty five percent

of the fatalities
occurring in the U.S.

are either directly
or indirectly related

to distracted driving.

[narrator] A text,

or even a complicated
maneuver on the road

is enough to put any vehicle
on the hard shoulder.

[Ron] Distracted driving
is three times more serious

in terms of distraction
than drunk driving.

And that's a big a-ha.

[narrator] Ron Tarr is taking
the issue to the next level.

As a simulation expert

at the University
of Central Florida,

he's determined to find out
what throws riggers off.

[Ron]
Ted can you go ahead and dial

the last number
in your phone please.

I'm not unrealistic enough
to believe that people

are going to stop
using their cell phones

because Americans
live by their phones.

But if we can raise
their awareness

and start having an effect,
even at the 10 percent level

it will hopefully save lives
and reduce accidents.

[narrator] One driver
who welcomes the research

is Ted Price.

[Ted] Well my father
was a truck driver

and I've always been
intrigued by trucks.

[narrator]
Ted's been hauling 18-wheels

for more than 20 years.

He's now teaching
rules of the road

to a new generation
of gadget craved drivers.

Ways that we are teaching
students

is ideally not using
the cell phone

but if the cell phone
has to be used,

get a hands free device.

[narrator] It's time to put

the new driving simulator
to the test.

[Ron] What we're going
to do today

is we're going to take Ted

and put him through
a few scenarios

to find out exactly
how we can record

what's going on
in terms of distractions.

[narrator]
Instead of an engine,

a computer interface

and sensors attached
to hydraulics.

All on this real truck cab.

[Ron] Alright, driver's ready,
scenario starting.

[engine starting]

In this scenario we have
the driver going through

the work zone arena.

Which is
the external distraction.

And we're going to add
the internal distraction.

[phone ringing]
We're going to listen

as the driver interacts.

Hello.

[Scott] Hey ted this is Scott,
how are you doing?

Hello Scott.

[narrator] From the control
room, a series of questions.

All designed to tie-up
Ted's attention.

[Ron] What you can see
is the driver is wavering a bit.

An indication of distraction.

Put some rain on him.

What we can do
is add weather effects

as we go through the process
that further complicates

the driver's situation.

[Scott] Ted,
can you go ahead and dial

the last number in your
phone, please?

[Ron] Now this is
an internal distraction

but it's a different
specific task

where the driver needs
to manipulate the instrument

instead of just answering it.

[Ted speaking indistinctly]

[Ron] He's going into
the work zone now,

so let's watch
and see how he does.

[upbeat music]

Finished the distraction,
get him back on track

Hit snow.

Now there's a distraction
for Orlando

[narrator] Even with snow
flying in this virtual world

Ted keeps his grip.

[Ron]
Ted is a real steady driver,

He's got lots of experience.

We threw additional distractions
on him and he stayed solid.

We had a couple
that were not so good.

They tended
to be really affected

by the distractions.
And in the post interview

uh... they reported
that they would probably

not be using the phone
in the future.

[narrator] Ron's findings
don't stop here.

This kind of research is pushing

dashboard distractions
off the road.

Last up it's time to call
on the services

of our fearless reporter,
Mark Miller.

You see,
Mark is a guy who can access

some pretty cool
behind-the-scenes stuff.

Plus,
he loves to play test pilot.

So when the folks
at the world's first

indoor upside down
waterslide came calling,

Mark answered.

You heard me right: indoor
upside down waterslide.

Take it away, Mark.

[narrator] The race to build
the ultimate thrill ride

is being turned up a notch.

[metal sparking]

This is Whitewater West
in Vancouver.

They specialize in terror.

[screams]

Their engineering philosophy...
the scarier the ride,

the more people
will want to ride it.

[screams]
But there is a catch.

[man] Anyone can come up with
a ride that's safe but boring.

Likewise they can come up
with a ride

that is very exciting,
but not safe.

Where White Waters
technical expertise really lies

is finding that peak

where you have got
the maximum...

[water splash]
...fun.

The maximum excitement

without compromising safety
at all.

[narrator] Today they're trying
to hit that maximum peak.

Testing something
that no indoor water park

has ever attempted before...

a full loop.

For years water slide builders
have been chasing

roller coaster engineers
where loops are possible

because of seat belts
and sophisticated restraints.

But slides like this
are about to change all that.

This is what White Water
and West Edmonton Mall

call their baby.

He's going
to be our first rider.

[narrator] If it works

and if I can survive
the test runs,

it will be opened to the public.

[Claudio] Okay, ready to launch.

[narrator] The world's first
indoor looping water slide.

The aqua loop.

[robotic voice counting down]

[Mark screaming]

[narrator] Today I'm part
of a team of a half dozen people

working out the bugs.

[water splashing]

[Mark coughs]

You gotta screw driver
to do the uh...

[narrator]
Claudio Barrera has been here

since early this morning.

[Claudio] Ya, I could ask
for a little bit of filler here.

[narrator] Checking

and re-checking
the safety systems.

[Claudio] They're infrared.

[narrator] From motion sensors
that tell operators

when a rider has passed by...

And that will let us know
that the ride's now empty

and we're safe to start
launching the next person.

[narrator] to the escape hatch

used if a rider
doesn't build up enough speed

to get around the loop.

You have the person come out,
you help them out,

the key is in the door

so you can't reactivate
the system anymore.

Uh.̇.. ya,
we're connected back up.

[beep and click]

[narrator]
From the moment you step

into the launch capsule,

you know
this is no kiddie slide.

The ride starts
with a free fall...

[machine] One...

[narrator] to build up
enough speed

to get you over the loop.

But unlike
conventional water slides

where a river of water
helps propel riders downhill,

the loop meant
the traditional river of water

simply wouldn't work.

The water won't go
as high as the rider will.

[narrator] The solution
was a series of spray nozzles

throughout the loop.

[Claudio] So these spray nozzles
going up the loop here

are pretty much
the only source of lubrication

that you have for the slide,

for the uphill trajectory
on the aqua loop.

[water running]

[narrator] Once over the top
of the loop,

it's another near
free fall to the finish area...

[water splashing]

where the only tool
they have to slow a rider down

from 50 kilometers an hour is,
you guessed it, water.

[Claudio] And that's a very
critical item.

Is our hydraulic jump.

You know that is our brake

and if we don't have the brake
where we want it,

we don't want anybody
coming close to the end.

[narrator] Getting the water
right in the finish area

is a delicate balance.
Too much water and...

You could actually get injured

just by slamming
into a water wall.

[narrator] But not enough water
could send a rider rocketing off

the end of the slippery ride
and onto the concrete.

[Claudio] You want to get them
into thick water

and braking
before they get to the end.

[tweaking]

[narrator]
Getting this tweaked

is the last thing
that needs to be done

before the ride can be opened.

Just give it a sec to equalize,
I'll let you know though, ok?

[narrator] The water depth here
is controlled by a dam.

[Mark] Do you want the water
deeper, the shim comes up?

[Claudio] Correct. We'll just
put thicker shims in there.

And that will move the sort
of move this water brake

so to speak back further?

[Claudio] Yes, so it's one
of the two variables

we get to play with.

We get to play
with the weir height

and we get to play
with the water flow.

Ok, so now
we're sending Mark down.

[narrator]
This is no free ride.

[Mark screaming]

[narrator] The moment
I exit the aqua loop,

Claudio wants information.

[Claudio] So how did that feel?

Oh, it was awesome.
There's no bumps, nothing.

[Claudio] It was smooth
all the way down?

Smooth all the way down.

And how did it feel
when you came

into the shutdown lane?

Did you feel the transition
as being abrupt or--

-No.
-Did you notice it even?

You know it's funny,
actually uh

I had a bit of water in my face
on that last corner

so I might have closed my eyes.

I actually
didn't even notice I...

I knew I stopped
but I don't think I noticed.

I didn't feel
like I hit anything.

I didn't feel anything abrupt,
I didn't feel a break.

[Claudio] Right, great.
No that's perfect.

[narrator]
By the end of the day,

the aqua loop gets signed off
by the test pilots

and the engineers.

-[Claudio] How was that?
-That was awesome.

-[Claudio] How did it feel?
-Crazy.

[upbeat music]

That's it for now,

thank you very much
for watching How Tech Works.

I'm Basil Singer
and I'll see you next time.

[ending music]