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Christmas observance by world's population incorporates trees, ornaments, lights, and treats made cheaper and safer through technology; explore Rockefeller Center preparations, Macy's holiday windows, UNICEF snowflake installation, and more.

Modern Marvels

Christmas Tech

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Tea ranks as world's second most popular drink with ancient origins; explore Lipton's Suffolk plant producing teabags, Charleston Plantation's cultivation, Boston Tea Party history, Clipper Ships bringing Chinese tea, and modern herbal varieties.

Snow forms through nucleation in storm clouds but faces pollution threats; explore Storm Peak Laboratory cloud research, Colorado ski resort snowmaking technology, avalanche rescue innovations, and Buffalo blizzard forecasting.

Snow

Examine industrial disasters including BP Refinery Texas City explosions killing workers, American Airlines flight crash circumstances, Times Beach Missouri dioxin contamination, NASA Skylab problems, and Praxair gas company fire.

Engineering Disasters 20

Wine remains culturally integral as Napoleon drowned sorrows and Jefferson became obsessed; modern consumption peaks with wines from Australia, Chile, South Africa using NASA aerial imaging technology for soil analysis and vine vigor assessment.

Wine

Breakfast technology slices, squeezes, sorts, and cooks to keep orange juice fresh and cereals flaked; explore USS Stennis meal preparation for sailors, Tyson bacon processing, Sunkist orange squeezing, and McDonald's McGriddle pancake production.

Breakfast Tech

The supermarket has become one of the great success stories of modern retailing; bar coding and other technological advancements; the psychology of the supermarket, including the store layout, lighting, music and aromas.

The Supermarket

Tobacco's ancient discovery and Andes cultivation leads to modern North Carolina farming and Dominican Republic Fuente cigar plantation; explore harvesting techniques, public health concerns with Surgeon General, and nicotine replacement therapies.

Tobacco

Strength measurement explores why some things are stronger than others; examine rope, tractor, diamond, tugboat, and plastic strength from Spectra fiber to Lexan, discovering where, how, and why strength matters in daily life applications.

World's Strongest

Distillation of spirits represents art, science, and vapor-water marriage in a billion-dollar business; visit brandy, liqueur, moonshine, and absinthe distilleries including Christian Brothers, Deep South moonshine, and French Courvoisier Cognac.

Distilleries 2

Ink, invented by Chinese around 3000BC, spread religious and war messages while setting people free and spelling out rights; from squid to soybeans, ancient texts to tattoos, ink tells stories, sells products, and solves crimes everywhere.

The evolution of the assembly line, which has produced billions of products, from toys to Boeing 747s, cheaply and quickly; Americans overcome prejudices toward blacks and women in factories during World War II; a family of auto assembly workers.

Assembly Lines

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Pirates terrorized high seas since before recorded history; at their 1700s power height, they influenced nations through England-Spain rivalry while bringing maritime technology innovations including modified ships for speed and power enhancement.

S12 E15 | Pirate Tech