How Tech Works (2012–…): Season 1, Episode 5 - Episode #1.5 - full transcript
On this episode
of How Tech Works,
we'll find out what happens,
when you add an engine
to rollerblades.
What a blast!
And they say that wine
gets better with age,
but what would you say,
to a beer that took 65 million
years to make?
Cheers!
Hello there, and welcome to
another awe-inspiring edition
of How Tech Works.
My name is Dr. Basil Singer.
And you're really going
to get a caffeine kick
out of today's show.
especially when you get a whiff
of the fine cup of coffee,
roasted by mother
nature herself.
There you are.
And
a 1000 tiny mirrors.
Intrigued? Stick around.
But first, speaking
of enjoyable beverages,
one of life's
pleasures to be sure,
is a fine pint of ale
or lager, am I right?
Of course I am. So in the name
of... ‘research',
How Tech Works,
travels to Northern California,
to sample a beer that
goes back, way back.
Breathing life
into a prehistoric amber?
It sounds like the makings
of a Hollywood blockbuster.
Microorganisms are immortal.
They don't have a death gene.
Turns out,
it's also the makings of
a California brew-master.
This beer is really unique.
Period.
In fact,
fossil fuels is the newest
"Oldest" beer in the world,
brewed with yeast
extracted from 45 million
year old fossilized tree resin.
This is no ordinary yeast.
It's out of control!
This does things I've
never seen before!
We call it,
'The Mother of all Yeasts'.
Raul Cano
is a microbiologist.
He's been trying to bring
ancient micro-organisms,
back to life since the 90's.
Work like his was
actually the inspiration
for the Jurassic Park
Hollywood movies.
But this script starts when
Cano got his hands on
a particular batch of amber,
from a period just
20 million years
after the dinosaur extinction.
We were very interested
in learning,
about life on this planet,
and the remarkable ability
of microorganisms to survive.
Even for
45 million years,
it's the amber that provides
the perfect long-term storage.
He extracts the micro-organisms
from the amber,
and puts them in a solution
to help them grow.
He expected to find microbes,
that could be used
for new antibiotic drugs.
But then he stumbled across
some yeast cultures.
Once we were able
to isolate them,
we wanted to know,
what are they good for?
Fellow
microbiologist Chip Lambert,
figured there might be
a very ‘palatable' result,
if they tried brewing it up.
Some of the yeast strains
looked similar brewer yeast.
And so the immediate
question was,
'What would happen if
you grew beer with it?'
So now, this is how
we start the batch.
Raul gave it
a try in his own kitchen.
So I prepared a malt extract,
and from the malt extract,
I inoculated
the pure culture of the yeast,
and went through
the process of home-brewing,
and it tasted very, adequate.
I wouldn't say great,
but very adequate.
But it was clear,
that something good
was bubbling to the surface.
Now time to get it in
the hands of a professional.
Enter Peter Hackett.
He was willing to give it
a whirl at his Brew-pub,
Stumptown, not far from Napa.
Here I was actually
afforded an opportunity,
to do something
that was just, just crazy!
And so yeah,
I of course would have been
crazy not to have taken it.
When the first
batch was brewed?
Wow! Just wow.
With this kind of
fruity 'gingerness',
it was, not only was it
a great tasting beer,
but it was, it was also,
unlike any beer I've
ever had before!
Yeah, I was over the moon!
And so was Raul.
My initial reaction was you know
feeling of euphoria.
It's because, really I'd been
working at this for ten years,
and never knowing for sure
whether our discovery was useful
The proof
of concept was there.
The beer is a good one,
but Peter would now step back.
My role with fossil fuels,
was very much just
play with the yeast,
see if we could get it to work,
see if we could knock out
a beer that was tasty,
and see what the response
was to it among beer-drinkers.
Raul and Chip moved
the operation east to Manteca,
to Manteca and the Kelley
Brothers Brewing Company.
I asked Joe if he would be
interested in brewing beer,
with a 45 million year old
strain of yeast.
And I thought, 'God',
you know what,
another someone
I'm not sure about,
do I want to waste my time?
Joe was very skeptical.
The hardest part about
what they were telling me,
was, '45 million years'.
One, how do you know it's
45 million years old,
and two, now is it going
to take over the world,
if I put it in my fermenters?
Soon as I opened
that container up,
I had this huge clove of banana.
Very aromatic.
So we brewed our wheat.
It was a dominant, unbelievable,
kind of a reaction.
This yeast, for some reason,
propagates so quickly,
and it's just like piranha!
These doors are latched down,
and little vibration we've never
had that ever happen before.
It's an incredible thing to see.
And you come in in the morning,
and it looked like
it's been snowing.
Over the entire floor!
And yes,
it's tasty, and it is safe.
These microorganisms
are actually quite young.
45 million years is trivial.
When you look at the fact
that microorganisms,
have been around for two
and a half billion years.
But how
do you convince those,
that are still skeptical of
drinking something with yeast,
that's almost as old
as dinosaurs?
There's two ways:
One is to assure them that,
there's really not
much of a difference,
the other is of course
pull my tail out and waggle it,
and say, 'I've been drinking
it for two years,
and nothing strange
has happened to me!'
Meanwhile fossil
fuels will continue to evolve.
And India Pale Ale,
will be joining the wheat
beer and the pale ale.
And
according to Cano,
this all proves that we should
never underestimate,
the resiliency of
life on this planet.
Or the human desire
to unearth a good beer.
I love yeast.
It says so on my shirt.
But now, something
a little more, modern.
Our next story features
a chap who was getting tired,
of constantly pushing his kids
around on roller skates.
And who can blame him really.
His solution sounds remarkably
simple: Just add an engine!
But does it work? Is it safe?
And what the heck do you call
this this thing anyway?
The result is a strange cross,
between a dirt bike
and a unicycle.
My friends, I give you,
'The FlyRad'.
For many in Germany,
the weekend means
heading outside.
For Thomas Rank,
there's only one way to go.
The FlyRad is
a brand new vehicle,
and it's also an,
exciting sports device.
It's a strange cross,
between a dirt bike
and a unicycle.
I think it's great!
Wherever
Thomas takes it,
the attention is close behind.
People
are all excited.
They wonder what is coming,
and most of them do not
see the first moment,
how it functions. How you can
move at all with that thing.
The FlyRad story
began about six years ago,
in Thomas's small shop.
An idea that came
from a tiring summer,
of pushing his daughter
on her in-line skates.
Children do not have
enough power to go up hills,
on in-line skates.
So I thought it would be
a good idea to invent something.
Where you have more power,
and can go up,
with in-line skates easily.
His background
as a tool-maker,
gave him the skills he needed.
And within a year,
he had a working prototype.
It is built of ordinary parts
from an electro scooter.
And, this FlyRad,
was chain driven.
Here you can see it was just
an ordinary unicycle saddle,
and it worked pretty good,
and the front part,
actually what lays on the legs,
is a round foam.
The handbrake
and throttle,
also came from a scooter.
Along with its
lead-acid batteries.
Here you can
see the size.
They are very, very big,
and very, very heavy.
Six years on,
Thomas has improved
his design a lot.
Larger moto-cross leg pads,
make the ride much more comfy.
So does the new sportier seat.
A lithium iron battery cuts
the weight significantly.
But the biggest breakthrough
is the motor.
The most important difference,
compared to the old FlyRad,
is the hub motor.
The motor is completely
integrated into that back wheel,
the hub motor has
a lot more traction,
and also a better speed.
Compared to the old chain drive.
Out on the road,
that 500watt motor can reach
speeds of 20 miles an hour.
Even hills are handled
with ease.
It has a lot of torque,
and this mountain
is not a problem at all.
With years of FlyRad
test rides under his belt,
Thomas has gotten pretty good.
But his driving record
isn't flawless.
I dropped over once but
the legs and everything is fine.
As for his daughter,
her 350 watt kid's version tops
out at about 13 miles an hour,
but she still loves it.
I'm proud of my daddy
that he made this for me,
and I have a lot of fun
with my friends too.
I love it.
It's like street surfing.
So far just 10
FlyRads have hit the street.
That's all this one man
assembly line can produce.
But there are signs,
that might soon change.
Especially after
the Inventions Convention,
we get so many emails
and everybody's interested.
Young people, older people.
Everybody wants
to know what a FlyRad is.
Don't go anywhere.
there's lots more How Tech Works
coming your way.
Welcome back to How Tech Works.
I'm Dr. Basil Singer.
And now I've got
a very hot addition,
to an already
extremely cool line-up.
It's about two brothers.
And their love for roasting
things in the sun.
Yup, they have turned
their pyro-tendencies,
into a thriving
roast coffee business.
As the sun rises
over Pueblo Colorado,
Dave Harktop is working
on something to perk you up.
Hot enough for
a good cup of coffee.
Dave and
his brother Mike,
have created
The Solar Roast Coffee Company.
- How about you make me a latte?
- Shut your little mouth.
Bacon two, it's hot,
be careful please.
The idea
came to them,
while living with
their parents in Oregon.
So we ended up as you do
at your parent's house,
you go out for beer.
And I just said I want
to roast coffee.
And I'd been taking like science
and physics classes for fun,
at the community college.
And was way into solar power.
And thought well maybe
I can build something,
we can use for a business.
We named our machines Helios.
Helios is the Greek sun god.
Their first model,
looked more like a
‘found art' project.
But the concept was sound.
The only problem,
not a lot of sun
in Southern Oregon.
So the guys packed up
their latest version,
of the roaster and moved
to sunny Pueblo Colorado.
This is the Helios 3
Solar Coffee Roaster.
We put the unroasted or
green coffee into this funnel,
and it pours into the top
of the coffee roasting drum.
Which turns around
like a clothes dryer.
It keeps the coffee spinning,
and not sticking
so it roasts evenly.
So if you look at the front
of the coffee roaster,
you can see there's an
incredibly bright spot of light.
This is where all
of the spots of light,
from about 120 mirrors
are focused.
So you see the spot of light
focused on just a branch,
is hot enough
to build a wood fire.
Or in our case its hot
enough to roast coffee.
And all that energy is just
coming from the sun.
We're not having to burn fuel.
We're not having
to plug anything in.
We're out in the
middle of a field.
It takes about one hour
of exposure,
to bring this whole thing up
to temperature the first time.
We go clear up to
about 550 degrees.
The guys
can now roast,
over 300 kilograms
of coffee in a day.
But this unusual activity,
in the middle of the field
was making a few locals nervous.
They didn't really
know what it was.
They just thought it
was a solar death ray.
Now that was just
some unique individuals,
in Pueblo county zoning.
Who were convinced we were going
to like nuke the whole region,
with solar!
So clearly we're coming
to like level the whole region.
I mean that's obviously
what we intend to do.
After a number
of town meetings,
the locals got used to
the idea and since then,
Mike and Dave have been working
side by side like perfect--
A bit of a show off
isn't he?
brothers.
Um, well I don't know
do you have a brother?
It's it's It's fun.
We have a good time.
We have a good time
most of the time.
No. No! He destroys my coffee!
He makes machines
that make wonderful coffee,
but the man can't brew
a pot to save his life.
I can make a latte.
Dave
may wreck coffee,
but Mike may be
the most dangerous.
Yeah I almost burnt my mom
and dad's garage down,
with the first one.
The problem is it's
focused sunlight,
and then it's only really
focused to one point.
And the whole machine
slipped one day,
it slipped off and it melted the
siding of my parent's garage.
After trying, not trying
but nearly burning,
the parents garage down,
we moved to Pueblo.
We don't have a garage
so it's fine now.
The guys now
have a coffee-house,
a drive-through,
-There you are.
-Thanks a lot.
Thanks for coming.
and lots of
online orders to fill,
but their latest project
is being installed,
on the roof of the coffee shop.
The energy will be
converted for the roaster,
to fire up in the shop,
and any energy left over,
will go back into the grid.
I don't like being a taker.
I want to be a producer.
A provider.
I've always liked burning stuff
with a magnifying glass,
so it kind of translates,
from some of my earliest
childhood memories.
From torching
things as kids,
to building a coffee empire,
these brothers are invested
in each other.
Like it or hate it.
My brother's always
there with me every day.
Ordinarily you'd put
the milk in first.
I know that.
Just thought I'd change it up.
These two certainly
aren't making a solar death ray,
but they are building a strong
cult of solar coffee fanatics,
one latte at a time.
And finally,
the Harrier Jump Jet is famous,
for combining what helicopters
and fighter jets do best,
in one impressive package.
And it makes it one
of the most iconic,
military vehicles ever built.
Getting the chance to pilot one,
isn't something
the Joe gets to do.
But here on How Tech Works,
when it comes to
extreme adventures,
Where there's
a will, there's a way.
Take a good look.
The landing you are
about to witness,
is 30 years in the making.
The challenge? Getting
this airplane, to do this:
Transition from flight
to a hover, and then land.
The ability to take off
and land vertically,
are the Harrier Jump
Jet's signature moves.
They are also Ewald Schuster's
key hurdles.
It could stall,
it may not have enough power,
due to the altitude
and the heat up here.
I could come in and it could
end up sinking very quick,
even at full throttle.
Crashing
is a real possibility.
We have to risk everything.
So if we are
at the point to fly,
it is at the point of
risking everything.
Ewald
has been obsessed,
with the Harrier Jump Jet
for far too long,
to let fear ground him.
I was around age nine.
I went to an air show,
over Lake Ontario
and I saw a Harrier there,
and I just thought to myself
that is what I have to do.
So today his focus,
is on bringing in
this baby smoothly.
Doesn't mean he isn't
worried though.
Checking the wind.
Well, I've never done it before.
So I don't know, we'll see,
we'll know in a few minutes.
And maybe
I didn't mention,
the plane Ewald is piloting,
is a model Jump Jet.
So the model
it's 1/6th scale.
90 inch fuselage,
60 inch wingspan.
Major components
really are the engine,
with the 4 rotating nozzles.
It has all the puffer jets,
just like the full-sized has.
One in each wing tip,
one in the nose
and two in the tail.
And that is what controls
it in the hover.
Is it centered?
Yeah.
Getting his model
to perform like the real thing,
has been a 30 year
war against gravity.
So you've got to see this.
This was a nozzle I made
when I was 13 years old.
This was for the first
attempt of the Harrier,
that I made.
That was just a little
25 sized-ducted fan,
and a light fuselage.
This was one of the nozzles
that was on that airplane.
For some reason it never got
thrown out and I still have it.
That battle
has come at great cost.
7, 8 thousand dollars a year
for the last 14 years.
Caused
him physical pain.
I have really bad
tendinitis now in my arms,
and shoulders because
of all the sanding.
I can't do it anymore.
And raised
more than a few questions,
about his sanity.
"Only those who see the
invisible can do the impossible"
It's kind of what
keeps me going.
With a finished
Harrier model,
ready to take flight,
I'm pretty nervous,
but I've got to get it
done sooner or later.
Ewald
is finally winning.
All the key components
are there and working.
It's just a matter of pushing
that throttle forward,
and moving
those nozzles forward.
At least that's
he hopes to prove,
with today's landing.
It has to
be done properly.
If not I just won't
be happy with it.
First he's got
to wait for the fog to clear.
The grey color of that
airplane will camouflage itself,
in there pretty good,
and if I don't have
visual sight of it, it is over.
And his nerves
to settle.
Alright, let's do it.
Then just like that,
he's ready.
So we are going to take
off from left to right.
We are going to fly around
the other end of the field,
the far side of the field
and if it trims out okay,
we'll go to the other end,
put the nozzles down,
and we'll go for it right away.
After a conventional
take-off,
the countdown begins.
All eyes are on the sky as
the aircraft circles smoothly.
Ewald is hard to read.
He brings the Harrier in,
he's attempting the hover,
there we go, nose up a bit,
coming down, and crashes.
It was actually pretty good.
Everything is still okay
with it.
Ewald is actually
quite happy with that,
because there's no
expensive damage done.
So it is just the outrigger
that broke off,
and bent landing
gear and that's it.
And the plane
performed.
It flew great, it actually
flew real nicely,
just not sure why it pitched up,
I am just going to have to be
more aggressive next time.
Once the nozzles are down
just put more down elevator,
open up the rear puffers
to keep the nose down.
Quit now?
Not a chance.
Yes that was actually
pretty good.
So it lives for another
flight at least.
One more, hopefully more,
but we can have one anyway.
Go on then. Ewald!
Ewald! Where are you going?
Ewald! Come back!
Do it again, please Ewald?
Back to the workshop!
Unfortunately that
is it for today.
Thanks very much for watching,
How Tech Works.
Until next time,
I'm Basil Singer.
of How Tech Works,
we'll find out what happens,
when you add an engine
to rollerblades.
What a blast!
And they say that wine
gets better with age,
but what would you say,
to a beer that took 65 million
years to make?
Cheers!
Hello there, and welcome to
another awe-inspiring edition
of How Tech Works.
My name is Dr. Basil Singer.
And you're really going
to get a caffeine kick
out of today's show.
especially when you get a whiff
of the fine cup of coffee,
roasted by mother
nature herself.
There you are.
And
a 1000 tiny mirrors.
Intrigued? Stick around.
But first, speaking
of enjoyable beverages,
one of life's
pleasures to be sure,
is a fine pint of ale
or lager, am I right?
Of course I am. So in the name
of... ‘research',
How Tech Works,
travels to Northern California,
to sample a beer that
goes back, way back.
Breathing life
into a prehistoric amber?
It sounds like the makings
of a Hollywood blockbuster.
Microorganisms are immortal.
They don't have a death gene.
Turns out,
it's also the makings of
a California brew-master.
This beer is really unique.
Period.
In fact,
fossil fuels is the newest
"Oldest" beer in the world,
brewed with yeast
extracted from 45 million
year old fossilized tree resin.
This is no ordinary yeast.
It's out of control!
This does things I've
never seen before!
We call it,
'The Mother of all Yeasts'.
Raul Cano
is a microbiologist.
He's been trying to bring
ancient micro-organisms,
back to life since the 90's.
Work like his was
actually the inspiration
for the Jurassic Park
Hollywood movies.
But this script starts when
Cano got his hands on
a particular batch of amber,
from a period just
20 million years
after the dinosaur extinction.
We were very interested
in learning,
about life on this planet,
and the remarkable ability
of microorganisms to survive.
Even for
45 million years,
it's the amber that provides
the perfect long-term storage.
He extracts the micro-organisms
from the amber,
and puts them in a solution
to help them grow.
He expected to find microbes,
that could be used
for new antibiotic drugs.
But then he stumbled across
some yeast cultures.
Once we were able
to isolate them,
we wanted to know,
what are they good for?
Fellow
microbiologist Chip Lambert,
figured there might be
a very ‘palatable' result,
if they tried brewing it up.
Some of the yeast strains
looked similar brewer yeast.
And so the immediate
question was,
'What would happen if
you grew beer with it?'
So now, this is how
we start the batch.
Raul gave it
a try in his own kitchen.
So I prepared a malt extract,
and from the malt extract,
I inoculated
the pure culture of the yeast,
and went through
the process of home-brewing,
and it tasted very, adequate.
I wouldn't say great,
but very adequate.
But it was clear,
that something good
was bubbling to the surface.
Now time to get it in
the hands of a professional.
Enter Peter Hackett.
He was willing to give it
a whirl at his Brew-pub,
Stumptown, not far from Napa.
Here I was actually
afforded an opportunity,
to do something
that was just, just crazy!
And so yeah,
I of course would have been
crazy not to have taken it.
When the first
batch was brewed?
Wow! Just wow.
With this kind of
fruity 'gingerness',
it was, not only was it
a great tasting beer,
but it was, it was also,
unlike any beer I've
ever had before!
Yeah, I was over the moon!
And so was Raul.
My initial reaction was you know
feeling of euphoria.
It's because, really I'd been
working at this for ten years,
and never knowing for sure
whether our discovery was useful
The proof
of concept was there.
The beer is a good one,
but Peter would now step back.
My role with fossil fuels,
was very much just
play with the yeast,
see if we could get it to work,
see if we could knock out
a beer that was tasty,
and see what the response
was to it among beer-drinkers.
Raul and Chip moved
the operation east to Manteca,
to Manteca and the Kelley
Brothers Brewing Company.
I asked Joe if he would be
interested in brewing beer,
with a 45 million year old
strain of yeast.
And I thought, 'God',
you know what,
another someone
I'm not sure about,
do I want to waste my time?
Joe was very skeptical.
The hardest part about
what they were telling me,
was, '45 million years'.
One, how do you know it's
45 million years old,
and two, now is it going
to take over the world,
if I put it in my fermenters?
Soon as I opened
that container up,
I had this huge clove of banana.
Very aromatic.
So we brewed our wheat.
It was a dominant, unbelievable,
kind of a reaction.
This yeast, for some reason,
propagates so quickly,
and it's just like piranha!
These doors are latched down,
and little vibration we've never
had that ever happen before.
It's an incredible thing to see.
And you come in in the morning,
and it looked like
it's been snowing.
Over the entire floor!
And yes,
it's tasty, and it is safe.
These microorganisms
are actually quite young.
45 million years is trivial.
When you look at the fact
that microorganisms,
have been around for two
and a half billion years.
But how
do you convince those,
that are still skeptical of
drinking something with yeast,
that's almost as old
as dinosaurs?
There's two ways:
One is to assure them that,
there's really not
much of a difference,
the other is of course
pull my tail out and waggle it,
and say, 'I've been drinking
it for two years,
and nothing strange
has happened to me!'
Meanwhile fossil
fuels will continue to evolve.
And India Pale Ale,
will be joining the wheat
beer and the pale ale.
And
according to Cano,
this all proves that we should
never underestimate,
the resiliency of
life on this planet.
Or the human desire
to unearth a good beer.
I love yeast.
It says so on my shirt.
But now, something
a little more, modern.
Our next story features
a chap who was getting tired,
of constantly pushing his kids
around on roller skates.
And who can blame him really.
His solution sounds remarkably
simple: Just add an engine!
But does it work? Is it safe?
And what the heck do you call
this this thing anyway?
The result is a strange cross,
between a dirt bike
and a unicycle.
My friends, I give you,
'The FlyRad'.
For many in Germany,
the weekend means
heading outside.
For Thomas Rank,
there's only one way to go.
The FlyRad is
a brand new vehicle,
and it's also an,
exciting sports device.
It's a strange cross,
between a dirt bike
and a unicycle.
I think it's great!
Wherever
Thomas takes it,
the attention is close behind.
People
are all excited.
They wonder what is coming,
and most of them do not
see the first moment,
how it functions. How you can
move at all with that thing.
The FlyRad story
began about six years ago,
in Thomas's small shop.
An idea that came
from a tiring summer,
of pushing his daughter
on her in-line skates.
Children do not have
enough power to go up hills,
on in-line skates.
So I thought it would be
a good idea to invent something.
Where you have more power,
and can go up,
with in-line skates easily.
His background
as a tool-maker,
gave him the skills he needed.
And within a year,
he had a working prototype.
It is built of ordinary parts
from an electro scooter.
And, this FlyRad,
was chain driven.
Here you can see it was just
an ordinary unicycle saddle,
and it worked pretty good,
and the front part,
actually what lays on the legs,
is a round foam.
The handbrake
and throttle,
also came from a scooter.
Along with its
lead-acid batteries.
Here you can
see the size.
They are very, very big,
and very, very heavy.
Six years on,
Thomas has improved
his design a lot.
Larger moto-cross leg pads,
make the ride much more comfy.
So does the new sportier seat.
A lithium iron battery cuts
the weight significantly.
But the biggest breakthrough
is the motor.
The most important difference,
compared to the old FlyRad,
is the hub motor.
The motor is completely
integrated into that back wheel,
the hub motor has
a lot more traction,
and also a better speed.
Compared to the old chain drive.
Out on the road,
that 500watt motor can reach
speeds of 20 miles an hour.
Even hills are handled
with ease.
It has a lot of torque,
and this mountain
is not a problem at all.
With years of FlyRad
test rides under his belt,
Thomas has gotten pretty good.
But his driving record
isn't flawless.
I dropped over once but
the legs and everything is fine.
As for his daughter,
her 350 watt kid's version tops
out at about 13 miles an hour,
but she still loves it.
I'm proud of my daddy
that he made this for me,
and I have a lot of fun
with my friends too.
I love it.
It's like street surfing.
So far just 10
FlyRads have hit the street.
That's all this one man
assembly line can produce.
But there are signs,
that might soon change.
Especially after
the Inventions Convention,
we get so many emails
and everybody's interested.
Young people, older people.
Everybody wants
to know what a FlyRad is.
Don't go anywhere.
there's lots more How Tech Works
coming your way.
Welcome back to How Tech Works.
I'm Dr. Basil Singer.
And now I've got
a very hot addition,
to an already
extremely cool line-up.
It's about two brothers.
And their love for roasting
things in the sun.
Yup, they have turned
their pyro-tendencies,
into a thriving
roast coffee business.
As the sun rises
over Pueblo Colorado,
Dave Harktop is working
on something to perk you up.
Hot enough for
a good cup of coffee.
Dave and
his brother Mike,
have created
The Solar Roast Coffee Company.
- How about you make me a latte?
- Shut your little mouth.
Bacon two, it's hot,
be careful please.
The idea
came to them,
while living with
their parents in Oregon.
So we ended up as you do
at your parent's house,
you go out for beer.
And I just said I want
to roast coffee.
And I'd been taking like science
and physics classes for fun,
at the community college.
And was way into solar power.
And thought well maybe
I can build something,
we can use for a business.
We named our machines Helios.
Helios is the Greek sun god.
Their first model,
looked more like a
‘found art' project.
But the concept was sound.
The only problem,
not a lot of sun
in Southern Oregon.
So the guys packed up
their latest version,
of the roaster and moved
to sunny Pueblo Colorado.
This is the Helios 3
Solar Coffee Roaster.
We put the unroasted or
green coffee into this funnel,
and it pours into the top
of the coffee roasting drum.
Which turns around
like a clothes dryer.
It keeps the coffee spinning,
and not sticking
so it roasts evenly.
So if you look at the front
of the coffee roaster,
you can see there's an
incredibly bright spot of light.
This is where all
of the spots of light,
from about 120 mirrors
are focused.
So you see the spot of light
focused on just a branch,
is hot enough
to build a wood fire.
Or in our case its hot
enough to roast coffee.
And all that energy is just
coming from the sun.
We're not having to burn fuel.
We're not having
to plug anything in.
We're out in the
middle of a field.
It takes about one hour
of exposure,
to bring this whole thing up
to temperature the first time.
We go clear up to
about 550 degrees.
The guys
can now roast,
over 300 kilograms
of coffee in a day.
But this unusual activity,
in the middle of the field
was making a few locals nervous.
They didn't really
know what it was.
They just thought it
was a solar death ray.
Now that was just
some unique individuals,
in Pueblo county zoning.
Who were convinced we were going
to like nuke the whole region,
with solar!
So clearly we're coming
to like level the whole region.
I mean that's obviously
what we intend to do.
After a number
of town meetings,
the locals got used to
the idea and since then,
Mike and Dave have been working
side by side like perfect--
A bit of a show off
isn't he?
brothers.
Um, well I don't know
do you have a brother?
It's it's It's fun.
We have a good time.
We have a good time
most of the time.
No. No! He destroys my coffee!
He makes machines
that make wonderful coffee,
but the man can't brew
a pot to save his life.
I can make a latte.
Dave
may wreck coffee,
but Mike may be
the most dangerous.
Yeah I almost burnt my mom
and dad's garage down,
with the first one.
The problem is it's
focused sunlight,
and then it's only really
focused to one point.
And the whole machine
slipped one day,
it slipped off and it melted the
siding of my parent's garage.
After trying, not trying
but nearly burning,
the parents garage down,
we moved to Pueblo.
We don't have a garage
so it's fine now.
The guys now
have a coffee-house,
a drive-through,
-There you are.
-Thanks a lot.
Thanks for coming.
and lots of
online orders to fill,
but their latest project
is being installed,
on the roof of the coffee shop.
The energy will be
converted for the roaster,
to fire up in the shop,
and any energy left over,
will go back into the grid.
I don't like being a taker.
I want to be a producer.
A provider.
I've always liked burning stuff
with a magnifying glass,
so it kind of translates,
from some of my earliest
childhood memories.
From torching
things as kids,
to building a coffee empire,
these brothers are invested
in each other.
Like it or hate it.
My brother's always
there with me every day.
Ordinarily you'd put
the milk in first.
I know that.
Just thought I'd change it up.
These two certainly
aren't making a solar death ray,
but they are building a strong
cult of solar coffee fanatics,
one latte at a time.
And finally,
the Harrier Jump Jet is famous,
for combining what helicopters
and fighter jets do best,
in one impressive package.
And it makes it one
of the most iconic,
military vehicles ever built.
Getting the chance to pilot one,
isn't something
the Joe gets to do.
But here on How Tech Works,
when it comes to
extreme adventures,
Where there's
a will, there's a way.
Take a good look.
The landing you are
about to witness,
is 30 years in the making.
The challenge? Getting
this airplane, to do this:
Transition from flight
to a hover, and then land.
The ability to take off
and land vertically,
are the Harrier Jump
Jet's signature moves.
They are also Ewald Schuster's
key hurdles.
It could stall,
it may not have enough power,
due to the altitude
and the heat up here.
I could come in and it could
end up sinking very quick,
even at full throttle.
Crashing
is a real possibility.
We have to risk everything.
So if we are
at the point to fly,
it is at the point of
risking everything.
Ewald
has been obsessed,
with the Harrier Jump Jet
for far too long,
to let fear ground him.
I was around age nine.
I went to an air show,
over Lake Ontario
and I saw a Harrier there,
and I just thought to myself
that is what I have to do.
So today his focus,
is on bringing in
this baby smoothly.
Doesn't mean he isn't
worried though.
Checking the wind.
Well, I've never done it before.
So I don't know, we'll see,
we'll know in a few minutes.
And maybe
I didn't mention,
the plane Ewald is piloting,
is a model Jump Jet.
So the model
it's 1/6th scale.
90 inch fuselage,
60 inch wingspan.
Major components
really are the engine,
with the 4 rotating nozzles.
It has all the puffer jets,
just like the full-sized has.
One in each wing tip,
one in the nose
and two in the tail.
And that is what controls
it in the hover.
Is it centered?
Yeah.
Getting his model
to perform like the real thing,
has been a 30 year
war against gravity.
So you've got to see this.
This was a nozzle I made
when I was 13 years old.
This was for the first
attempt of the Harrier,
that I made.
That was just a little
25 sized-ducted fan,
and a light fuselage.
This was one of the nozzles
that was on that airplane.
For some reason it never got
thrown out and I still have it.
That battle
has come at great cost.
7, 8 thousand dollars a year
for the last 14 years.
Caused
him physical pain.
I have really bad
tendinitis now in my arms,
and shoulders because
of all the sanding.
I can't do it anymore.
And raised
more than a few questions,
about his sanity.
"Only those who see the
invisible can do the impossible"
It's kind of what
keeps me going.
With a finished
Harrier model,
ready to take flight,
I'm pretty nervous,
but I've got to get it
done sooner or later.
Ewald
is finally winning.
All the key components
are there and working.
It's just a matter of pushing
that throttle forward,
and moving
those nozzles forward.
At least that's
he hopes to prove,
with today's landing.
It has to
be done properly.
If not I just won't
be happy with it.
First he's got
to wait for the fog to clear.
The grey color of that
airplane will camouflage itself,
in there pretty good,
and if I don't have
visual sight of it, it is over.
And his nerves
to settle.
Alright, let's do it.
Then just like that,
he's ready.
So we are going to take
off from left to right.
We are going to fly around
the other end of the field,
the far side of the field
and if it trims out okay,
we'll go to the other end,
put the nozzles down,
and we'll go for it right away.
After a conventional
take-off,
the countdown begins.
All eyes are on the sky as
the aircraft circles smoothly.
Ewald is hard to read.
He brings the Harrier in,
he's attempting the hover,
there we go, nose up a bit,
coming down, and crashes.
It was actually pretty good.
Everything is still okay
with it.
Ewald is actually
quite happy with that,
because there's no
expensive damage done.
So it is just the outrigger
that broke off,
and bent landing
gear and that's it.
And the plane
performed.
It flew great, it actually
flew real nicely,
just not sure why it pitched up,
I am just going to have to be
more aggressive next time.
Once the nozzles are down
just put more down elevator,
open up the rear puffers
to keep the nose down.
Quit now?
Not a chance.
Yes that was actually
pretty good.
So it lives for another
flight at least.
One more, hopefully more,
but we can have one anyway.
Go on then. Ewald!
Ewald! Where are you going?
Ewald! Come back!
Do it again, please Ewald?
Back to the workshop!
Unfortunately that
is it for today.
Thanks very much for watching,
How Tech Works.
Until next time,
I'm Basil Singer.