How Tech Works (2012–…): Season 2, Episode 10 - Episode #2.10 - full transcript
On this episode
of How Tech Works.
This armored van can stop
pretty much any weapon
that comes at it.
And its bulletproof windows
let you return fire
from inside the vehicle!
And this slab of ice
just might contain proof
of alien life on earth!
Hello, and welcome
to How Tech Works.
My name is I'm Basil Singer,
and you won't want to be
anywhere but right here
as we explore
the latest in science,
technology and
eye-popping vehicles.
What I'm talking
about is a motor bike
that is kitted out
for some jaw-dropping stunts.
and I'm talking about
the world's largest
man-made floating island.
But first, when it comes
to bulletproof vehicles,
an armored car known
as The Rhino
is on top of the game.
Rhinos are perfectly suited for
the military, secret service,
and for journalists in
war-torn countries.
And as you're about to see,
Rhinos have added yet another
trick to their repertoire.
They're considered
some of the toughest vehicles
in the world. Not very pretty,
but very effective.
They carry some of the
highest-ranking government
officials in the world through
the deadliest combat zones.
The Rhino Rider
vehicle in particular
has been subject to fire
from rifles high caliber rifles,
has been attacked by bomb laden
trucks, bomb laden cars,
have been attacked by
improvised explosive devices,
by mines and by just
about every weapon
the enemy has thrown at us.
Getting out in
one piece is number one goal.
I know from firsthand experience
why armored protection
is critical,
because I've been there.
I'm Charlie Massy and I'm
a marine in multiple tours
in Iraq and Afghanistan.
These days Charlie's
traded his fatigues for civvies
and he works closely with
Marty Miller and the army group.
Sending the latest of
of high tech armored trucks
into the line of fire
he knows so well.
That was great. I felt safe.
Marty's
seen action too,
and he knows that civilians
can sometimes get caught
in the cross fire.
We're producing armored kits
for a commercial client
in South East Asia
because the terrorists
are shooting their drivers
as they transport workers.
Homeland security to patrol
the border with Mexico,
courthouses.
In scary and very
real scenarios like that,
staying alive requires more
than just bulletproof steal.
The key is to blend in.
We camouflage the Armor
for two reasons.
We keep the population
from being unjustly concerned.
And also we tend not
to attract enemy fire.
Right now we're in our
typical passenger van
that we are going to
install our Armor in.
And by the time it's done,
you won't be able to
tell it's Armor plated.
It will look like your regular
passenger van.
We can give you 360
degrees of protection.
What that means is
the ceiling, the walls,
and the floor boards as well
as the front windshield,
all the glass
all the way around.
But this glass
is special.
It doesn't just stop bullets.
Set it in place.
Never before has the strength
of the glass equaled
the strength of the armor and
exceeded it in capability.
Because you can't shoot
out through armor,
and you can shoot out
through our glass.
It's called one-way
reverse fire bulletproof glass.
It's a major advancement
in that it gets,
it turns a victim into someone
who can protect themselves.
That's never happened
with ballistic glass before.
Meaning if you're
on the inside this glass
you're protected from gunfire.
But you can shoot back.
Okay this right
here is an AK 47.
this is the most commonly
used weapon
around the world right now.
Today they're
putting it to the test
at a shooting range
using AK 47s,
the gun of choice for bad guys.
There are more of these in
the hands of our enemies
than any other firearm.
Whether it's an enemy,
or drug dealer whatever.
Jeff Dixon
is a seven times
Florida State champion marksman.
I've heard of it before,
but I've actually never seen
the one way glass before,
but it sounds awesome.
From a typical
shooting distance of 15 meters,
Jeff's going to
fire at the glass
and then flip it over
to shoot the other side
that is if it's still intact.
So far, we've shot two shots
in there with the AK 47.
And we're getting ready to
shoot a 3rd shot into it.
Three shots later
and surprisingly it's
still pretty smooth.
What makes our glass
so unique, is we use a cold,
rather than a hot process,
to join acrylic, a very hard
substance with poly carbonate,
a more flexible substance
that contracts.
It's
that cold process
that prevents the glass from
deteriorating and yellowing.
Jeff's moved within
three meters of the target
using another powerful weapon.
This you would find in the hills
of Afghanistan right now.
This is a counter sniper rifle.
That we are currently using
to defend ourselves.
If this glass
sprays on impact,
it's going to come
straight at him.
That is unbelievable, I got
nothing back at me whatsoever.
No glass,
I didn't feel anything.
Exactly, we totally destroyed
the target behind it.
As
innovative as it is,
experience has taught
Marty one thing,
threats are constantly changing.
As the threats become,
we're going to have
to stay on top of it,
and continue to be
one step ahead.
I would remind you that
nothing on a battlefield
hasn't been destroyed
at some point
including unsinkable battleships
during World War Two
that are at the bottom
of the sea.
The trick is to stay
ahead of them.
For our next story
I want to introduce you
to a group of researchers
on the cutting edge
of polar science.
Polar science, that's right.
These guys are studying slabs
of ice from the coldest,
most remote corners
of our planet.
But it's not the ice itself
they're interested in.
They want to know
what's living inside.
Behind this
door lies the proof
that alien life can exist.
Chunks of polar ice sheets
recovered from thousands
of meters below the surface
some over a million years old
and all teaming with microbes.
We can take a piece
of ice that's 800,000 years old,
and melt it,
and micro-organisms are just
doing their thing right away.
John Priscu
is a micro-biologist
who thrives on the study
of extreme frigid environments.
For 30 years he's been trekking
to Antarctica for his research
in all in he's spent more than
five years of his life there.
I can still remember
my first time I ever went
I remember flying
down and I looked out
and as far as you could see
it was just this ocean of ice.
Before Priscu,
this was considered to be
a barren, lifeless landscape.
But in '98, he and his team
proved otherwise.
We saw these
micro-organisms in, in the ice!
They don't just exist there.
We find they're thriving in it.
But we realized that this is
when the task really began,
to prove it to the world,
and other skeptical scientists
that, there's life,
under 2.5 miles of ice.
When an ice core
arrives for examination
at Priscu's sub-zero lab,
this is the first place it goes.
We have
a special clean room.
And we work all garbed up
in Tyvex suits.
We are looking
for micro-organisms so
we don't want to introduce
organisms from our body
you know I mean we're dirty.
Inside this core
a small clump of sediment
is being uncovered.
Exactly the kind that
first peaked Priscu's curiosity.
I found right
where the dirt was,
had this big peak
of biological gases.
So we extracted DNA,
over about a two year period,
we were able to find
a whole ecosystem
that lives below
the surface of the ice.
Under the microscope,
that ecosystem comes to life.
What we're looking at here
is a microbial consortia,
that was living in the ice.
The red is a micro-alga
and bacteria fluoresce
is yellow-green.
So this phytoplankton
that can photosynthesize
is excreting organic matter,
and all these bacteria
are just like attacking it,
you know going like
"give me some food".
They group up
and this is a lifestyle
in an extreme environment.
Without doubt
Antarctica is extreme
in every way.
But what Priscu's found
is that life is much
easier under the ice.
And a recent discovery
by his team
could change the way
we look at ice forever.
Ice isn't really
just totally solid,
it's a bunch of crystals and
between crystals there're veins.
They're Crystal boundaries.
And in those boundaries,
there's liquid.
Now we're really zooming
in on this habitat
where these organisms live.
We're looking at
two ice crystals.
And in between there's
a crystal boundary, right here.
And these are bacteria moving
up through the boundary.
This is the habitat for life.
By Priscu's
calculations,
across the entire
Antarctic ice sheet,
this liquid vein network
could span hundreds
of thousands of kilometers
forming a massive
microbial superhighway.
We're starting
to come up with this picture
where bacteria are just swimming
all around through the ice.
With
findings like this,
it's no surprise that Priscu's
work attracts attention.
But recently one group
in particular has come knocking,
NASA.
There's five times more
habitable space beyond Earth,
in our Solar System
then there is on Earth.
narrator] Ice has already been
found on the surface of Mars,
and further afield entire icy
worlds have been discovered.
The one we focused
on is Europa.
Which is a moon around Jupiter.
It has an ice shell around it,
that's 10s of kilometers thick.
And then it has
an ocean under it.
With a specialized
robotic explorer
called Endurance,
NASA and Priscu
are prepping to take their
search for icy life
to the final frontier!
We would be in denial to,
believe there's not
life somewhere else,
in our solar system and beyond.
Based on what we know on earth.
For a scientist who's
really thinking outside-the-box,
thinking out-of-this-world
seems the logical next step.
Coming up on How Tech Works
these islands are engineered
to rise and fall
with the mighty Han River.
And this stunt-bike rider
makes it look easy.
Maybe a little too easy,
thanks to the tech specs
on his customized bike.
Welcome back to How Tech Works.
I'm Basil Singer.
And now we're off
to South Korea,
to catch up with
reporter Ziya Tong.
Ziya is exploring
some amazing islands
in the country's Han River.
Islands with bragging
rights like nowhere else.
You see, not only are
they the world's largest
artificial islands,
but they're also floating.
We all dream of having
our own private island.
Well, here on the banks of the
Han River in Seoul South Korea,
they've built a very
modern paradise.
A series of bridges
connect three massive structures
to form the world's largest
man-made floating island.
Each island floats on a giant
buoy that weighs around 2,000T.
The buoys and framework
of the buildings
were constructed on land
then air bags were used to lift
and roll the structures
into the river.
It's one thing to
float an island
but keeping it in place on
a river notorious for flooding
during Korea's monsoon season
is a whole different story.
Getting three islands to float
in place at the same time
was the most difficult challenge
so we use a GPS system.
Antennas
capture GPS signals
to simultaneously
control the position
of the three floating islands.
The signals give
location coordinates
for islands one, two, and three.
The system then uses winch
cables on each island
to automatically
adjust their position.
This is the first time this has
been done anywhere in the world.
Because of recent heavy rains
the islands have moved
from their original position.
When the river
floods after a storm
the bridges are disconnected for
safety and electricity is cut.
No electricity means
no GPS today,
so they'll have to move
these islands back into place
in a more traditional way.
They'll have to roll
up their sleeves
and move these
huge islands by hand.
Today Viva is out of position
1.64 meters to the South
and 0.45 meters to the North,
so it's time to reel her in.
As an extra safety precaution,
a diver goes in to check
the status of the cables
and mooring chains.
Each island is attached
with heavy chains
to 500 ton concrete blocks
at the bottom of the river bed.
Although they don't want
the islands to move,
there are some exceptions.
In extreme weather the
tension on the winch cables
is released to allow the islands
to float on their mooring chains
like a boat on an anchor.
Things are a lot easier
when mother nature plays nice
and the GPS can do all the work.
The GPS system works this way,
when the water level rises,
the winches let out cable.
When the water level goes down
the winches reel in cable,
keeping tension
to stay on station.
The island is not supposed
to move
left or right
or forwards or backwards.
It almost never happens.
They've got
the islands are back in place
but the ultimate test
is about to come
as Seoul experiences the
heaviest rains in over a century
the river rises from 2.7
meters to 11 meters.
The islands go into
survival mode.
Bridges are dismantled,
winch cables released
and the islands are free to
float and weather out the storm.
Before the flood we were
expecting the floating islands
would move five to six meters.
It turned out they moved
just three or four meters.
We succeeded and the
floating islands were safe.
Here at How Tech Works
we like to wrap up with
stories that are a bit wild,
or a bit weird,
or just a bit whacky.
And sometimes all three.
Which brings me to
the guy featured next.
Not only is Aaron Colton
a ridiculously talented,
prize-winning stunt-bike rider
who customizes his own bikes,
he's also still a teenager.
Hi I'm Aaron Colton.
"Streetbike Freestyler".
I turn and burn for a living.
They call me "The Kid".
Kid Colton came
screeching onto the scene
at the age of 15.
His fearless stunts
gained him fame,
at the XDL streetbike
free-styling championship.
I'm all about going fast,
making noise,
excitement, and having fun!
Unfortunately it all
came crashing down in 2009.
Aaron suffered a nasty spill.
And he was left with
a severely broken leg
and some serious
reevaluating of his future.
It was, hands down,
the worst experience of my life.
Now he's
back in the saddle,
or at least on top of it.
Trying to return to the top
of the competitive heap.
Motorcycles have been a
part of Aaron's life since,
well since he can remember.
But his interest
really started peaking
when his Dad took him out to
streetbike events as a teenager.
At age 13 in June,
I hopped on my first streetbike,
which was my dad's
bike at the time,
and that's kind of
when it all started.
I didn't really think I'd
catch on as fast as I did!
Within 45 minutes I was already
scraping the rear fender
which is a pretty big milestone
for people who ride
and do freestyle.
So the confidence
gained quickly.
Turned from slight
fear to confidence,
and that's where it all
kicked off.
And within
only two years
he was a streetbike champion.
It was pretty crazy, I had
this big old 4-grand check,
at you know 15 years old,
I was like "What am I
going to do with this?"
I mean I had no idea
what was going on.
It was a crazy experience.
The freestyle speed
bike isn't your typical chopper.
There are some awesome
modifications.
If we see a problem,
we don't try to work around
it we just change it!
The tank's too tall?
You can't sit on top of the tank
you can't grip the tank?
You dent it in!
There's no place to put
your foot in the back?
You cut a hole!
Instead of just trying
to beat around the bush,
they actually just modify it.
The foot
plane in the back
is probably the most
important development.
The leverage point here will
give you a ton of balance.
I can be no-hands,
and it's going down,
I just push and it
just comes right up.
That's part of the
physics of riding these things.
Yeah, physics is a class
I probably should've
gone to in school.
Right now,
he's putting in time
for a big upcoming
event in Monterrey.
Today I'll be practicing
some of the technical stuff
I've been lacking on, some
of the jumping combinations.
Having confidence and being
able to go instantly
into some of the harder tricks
like no-handed circles
is one of them.
He's also working
on another tough new trick,
the "180 Bunny Hop" is a
combination of a "Stoppie"
where the bike stops
up on the front wheel,
followed by a 180 hop
to complete the turn.
I think at Monterrey
I definitely
have a chance at a Top five,
and if I ride hard enough
I have a chance at a top three.
It's been
three years since Aaron
has won a major championship.
On account of his ugly wipe-out
in practice in late 2009.
A broken tibia, fibula,
and most of the ligaments
torn in his ankle and foot.
The accident really
got Aaron thinking.
There's a lot of guys
that are doing it for a living,
but only a few that
are making a living.
If I'm going make the choice
not going to college right now,
and actually doing
this for a living,
how am I going make that work?
Now he stages
shows all over the world.
I don't want to be
an entertainer for a living.
But I think for right now
it's going to get me
to that next level,
where I can do it for a living.
The injury in rehab,
and the focus on his shows,
has set him back just a bit
in the competition arena.
But now it's off to the next
event in the continuing process
of trying to
recapture the magic.
The competition
is tough in Monterrey.
Aaron's best event as usual,
are the Wheelie
and the Speed & Style Showdown.
"The Kid" takes
top spot in each.
But it's the individual
freestyle competition
that is the most prestigious
of all the events.
And Aaron finishes 6th.
When I'm riding in competition,
I'm riding for myself.
I'm not riding for the judges.
I'm not riding
for my fellow riders.
I'm riding for myself
and the crowd.
And while Aaron
does his "drifting",
"no-handies", and "stoppies"
for the crowds,
there's one place he'd rather
not ride his streetbike,
the street. In fact he
doesn't even have a license.
Hey, I have enough fun
doing what I'm doing,
that I don't really need
to be on the street.
Maybe if I settle down when
I get older or something
I'll get a street bike
and just trot around,
but for now I'm having a pretty
good time without a license,
having fun at what I'm doing.
That's it. No more
time I'm afraid.
Thank you very much for
watching How Tech Works.
I'm Basil Singer
and I'll see you next time.
of How Tech Works.
This armored van can stop
pretty much any weapon
that comes at it.
And its bulletproof windows
let you return fire
from inside the vehicle!
And this slab of ice
just might contain proof
of alien life on earth!
Hello, and welcome
to How Tech Works.
My name is I'm Basil Singer,
and you won't want to be
anywhere but right here
as we explore
the latest in science,
technology and
eye-popping vehicles.
What I'm talking
about is a motor bike
that is kitted out
for some jaw-dropping stunts.
and I'm talking about
the world's largest
man-made floating island.
But first, when it comes
to bulletproof vehicles,
an armored car known
as The Rhino
is on top of the game.
Rhinos are perfectly suited for
the military, secret service,
and for journalists in
war-torn countries.
And as you're about to see,
Rhinos have added yet another
trick to their repertoire.
They're considered
some of the toughest vehicles
in the world. Not very pretty,
but very effective.
They carry some of the
highest-ranking government
officials in the world through
the deadliest combat zones.
The Rhino Rider
vehicle in particular
has been subject to fire
from rifles high caliber rifles,
has been attacked by bomb laden
trucks, bomb laden cars,
have been attacked by
improvised explosive devices,
by mines and by just
about every weapon
the enemy has thrown at us.
Getting out in
one piece is number one goal.
I know from firsthand experience
why armored protection
is critical,
because I've been there.
I'm Charlie Massy and I'm
a marine in multiple tours
in Iraq and Afghanistan.
These days Charlie's
traded his fatigues for civvies
and he works closely with
Marty Miller and the army group.
Sending the latest of
of high tech armored trucks
into the line of fire
he knows so well.
That was great. I felt safe.
Marty's
seen action too,
and he knows that civilians
can sometimes get caught
in the cross fire.
We're producing armored kits
for a commercial client
in South East Asia
because the terrorists
are shooting their drivers
as they transport workers.
Homeland security to patrol
the border with Mexico,
courthouses.
In scary and very
real scenarios like that,
staying alive requires more
than just bulletproof steal.
The key is to blend in.
We camouflage the Armor
for two reasons.
We keep the population
from being unjustly concerned.
And also we tend not
to attract enemy fire.
Right now we're in our
typical passenger van
that we are going to
install our Armor in.
And by the time it's done,
you won't be able to
tell it's Armor plated.
It will look like your regular
passenger van.
We can give you 360
degrees of protection.
What that means is
the ceiling, the walls,
and the floor boards as well
as the front windshield,
all the glass
all the way around.
But this glass
is special.
It doesn't just stop bullets.
Set it in place.
Never before has the strength
of the glass equaled
the strength of the armor and
exceeded it in capability.
Because you can't shoot
out through armor,
and you can shoot out
through our glass.
It's called one-way
reverse fire bulletproof glass.
It's a major advancement
in that it gets,
it turns a victim into someone
who can protect themselves.
That's never happened
with ballistic glass before.
Meaning if you're
on the inside this glass
you're protected from gunfire.
But you can shoot back.
Okay this right
here is an AK 47.
this is the most commonly
used weapon
around the world right now.
Today they're
putting it to the test
at a shooting range
using AK 47s,
the gun of choice for bad guys.
There are more of these in
the hands of our enemies
than any other firearm.
Whether it's an enemy,
or drug dealer whatever.
Jeff Dixon
is a seven times
Florida State champion marksman.
I've heard of it before,
but I've actually never seen
the one way glass before,
but it sounds awesome.
From a typical
shooting distance of 15 meters,
Jeff's going to
fire at the glass
and then flip it over
to shoot the other side
that is if it's still intact.
So far, we've shot two shots
in there with the AK 47.
And we're getting ready to
shoot a 3rd shot into it.
Three shots later
and surprisingly it's
still pretty smooth.
What makes our glass
so unique, is we use a cold,
rather than a hot process,
to join acrylic, a very hard
substance with poly carbonate,
a more flexible substance
that contracts.
It's
that cold process
that prevents the glass from
deteriorating and yellowing.
Jeff's moved within
three meters of the target
using another powerful weapon.
This you would find in the hills
of Afghanistan right now.
This is a counter sniper rifle.
That we are currently using
to defend ourselves.
If this glass
sprays on impact,
it's going to come
straight at him.
That is unbelievable, I got
nothing back at me whatsoever.
No glass,
I didn't feel anything.
Exactly, we totally destroyed
the target behind it.
As
innovative as it is,
experience has taught
Marty one thing,
threats are constantly changing.
As the threats become,
we're going to have
to stay on top of it,
and continue to be
one step ahead.
I would remind you that
nothing on a battlefield
hasn't been destroyed
at some point
including unsinkable battleships
during World War Two
that are at the bottom
of the sea.
The trick is to stay
ahead of them.
For our next story
I want to introduce you
to a group of researchers
on the cutting edge
of polar science.
Polar science, that's right.
These guys are studying slabs
of ice from the coldest,
most remote corners
of our planet.
But it's not the ice itself
they're interested in.
They want to know
what's living inside.
Behind this
door lies the proof
that alien life can exist.
Chunks of polar ice sheets
recovered from thousands
of meters below the surface
some over a million years old
and all teaming with microbes.
We can take a piece
of ice that's 800,000 years old,
and melt it,
and micro-organisms are just
doing their thing right away.
John Priscu
is a micro-biologist
who thrives on the study
of extreme frigid environments.
For 30 years he's been trekking
to Antarctica for his research
in all in he's spent more than
five years of his life there.
I can still remember
my first time I ever went
I remember flying
down and I looked out
and as far as you could see
it was just this ocean of ice.
Before Priscu,
this was considered to be
a barren, lifeless landscape.
But in '98, he and his team
proved otherwise.
We saw these
micro-organisms in, in the ice!
They don't just exist there.
We find they're thriving in it.
But we realized that this is
when the task really began,
to prove it to the world,
and other skeptical scientists
that, there's life,
under 2.5 miles of ice.
When an ice core
arrives for examination
at Priscu's sub-zero lab,
this is the first place it goes.
We have
a special clean room.
And we work all garbed up
in Tyvex suits.
We are looking
for micro-organisms so
we don't want to introduce
organisms from our body
you know I mean we're dirty.
Inside this core
a small clump of sediment
is being uncovered.
Exactly the kind that
first peaked Priscu's curiosity.
I found right
where the dirt was,
had this big peak
of biological gases.
So we extracted DNA,
over about a two year period,
we were able to find
a whole ecosystem
that lives below
the surface of the ice.
Under the microscope,
that ecosystem comes to life.
What we're looking at here
is a microbial consortia,
that was living in the ice.
The red is a micro-alga
and bacteria fluoresce
is yellow-green.
So this phytoplankton
that can photosynthesize
is excreting organic matter,
and all these bacteria
are just like attacking it,
you know going like
"give me some food".
They group up
and this is a lifestyle
in an extreme environment.
Without doubt
Antarctica is extreme
in every way.
But what Priscu's found
is that life is much
easier under the ice.
And a recent discovery
by his team
could change the way
we look at ice forever.
Ice isn't really
just totally solid,
it's a bunch of crystals and
between crystals there're veins.
They're Crystal boundaries.
And in those boundaries,
there's liquid.
Now we're really zooming
in on this habitat
where these organisms live.
We're looking at
two ice crystals.
And in between there's
a crystal boundary, right here.
And these are bacteria moving
up through the boundary.
This is the habitat for life.
By Priscu's
calculations,
across the entire
Antarctic ice sheet,
this liquid vein network
could span hundreds
of thousands of kilometers
forming a massive
microbial superhighway.
We're starting
to come up with this picture
where bacteria are just swimming
all around through the ice.
With
findings like this,
it's no surprise that Priscu's
work attracts attention.
But recently one group
in particular has come knocking,
NASA.
There's five times more
habitable space beyond Earth,
in our Solar System
then there is on Earth.
narrator] Ice has already been
found on the surface of Mars,
and further afield entire icy
worlds have been discovered.
The one we focused
on is Europa.
Which is a moon around Jupiter.
It has an ice shell around it,
that's 10s of kilometers thick.
And then it has
an ocean under it.
With a specialized
robotic explorer
called Endurance,
NASA and Priscu
are prepping to take their
search for icy life
to the final frontier!
We would be in denial to,
believe there's not
life somewhere else,
in our solar system and beyond.
Based on what we know on earth.
For a scientist who's
really thinking outside-the-box,
thinking out-of-this-world
seems the logical next step.
Coming up on How Tech Works
these islands are engineered
to rise and fall
with the mighty Han River.
And this stunt-bike rider
makes it look easy.
Maybe a little too easy,
thanks to the tech specs
on his customized bike.
Welcome back to How Tech Works.
I'm Basil Singer.
And now we're off
to South Korea,
to catch up with
reporter Ziya Tong.
Ziya is exploring
some amazing islands
in the country's Han River.
Islands with bragging
rights like nowhere else.
You see, not only are
they the world's largest
artificial islands,
but they're also floating.
We all dream of having
our own private island.
Well, here on the banks of the
Han River in Seoul South Korea,
they've built a very
modern paradise.
A series of bridges
connect three massive structures
to form the world's largest
man-made floating island.
Each island floats on a giant
buoy that weighs around 2,000T.
The buoys and framework
of the buildings
were constructed on land
then air bags were used to lift
and roll the structures
into the river.
It's one thing to
float an island
but keeping it in place on
a river notorious for flooding
during Korea's monsoon season
is a whole different story.
Getting three islands to float
in place at the same time
was the most difficult challenge
so we use a GPS system.
Antennas
capture GPS signals
to simultaneously
control the position
of the three floating islands.
The signals give
location coordinates
for islands one, two, and three.
The system then uses winch
cables on each island
to automatically
adjust their position.
This is the first time this has
been done anywhere in the world.
Because of recent heavy rains
the islands have moved
from their original position.
When the river
floods after a storm
the bridges are disconnected for
safety and electricity is cut.
No electricity means
no GPS today,
so they'll have to move
these islands back into place
in a more traditional way.
They'll have to roll
up their sleeves
and move these
huge islands by hand.
Today Viva is out of position
1.64 meters to the South
and 0.45 meters to the North,
so it's time to reel her in.
As an extra safety precaution,
a diver goes in to check
the status of the cables
and mooring chains.
Each island is attached
with heavy chains
to 500 ton concrete blocks
at the bottom of the river bed.
Although they don't want
the islands to move,
there are some exceptions.
In extreme weather the
tension on the winch cables
is released to allow the islands
to float on their mooring chains
like a boat on an anchor.
Things are a lot easier
when mother nature plays nice
and the GPS can do all the work.
The GPS system works this way,
when the water level rises,
the winches let out cable.
When the water level goes down
the winches reel in cable,
keeping tension
to stay on station.
The island is not supposed
to move
left or right
or forwards or backwards.
It almost never happens.
They've got
the islands are back in place
but the ultimate test
is about to come
as Seoul experiences the
heaviest rains in over a century
the river rises from 2.7
meters to 11 meters.
The islands go into
survival mode.
Bridges are dismantled,
winch cables released
and the islands are free to
float and weather out the storm.
Before the flood we were
expecting the floating islands
would move five to six meters.
It turned out they moved
just three or four meters.
We succeeded and the
floating islands were safe.
Here at How Tech Works
we like to wrap up with
stories that are a bit wild,
or a bit weird,
or just a bit whacky.
And sometimes all three.
Which brings me to
the guy featured next.
Not only is Aaron Colton
a ridiculously talented,
prize-winning stunt-bike rider
who customizes his own bikes,
he's also still a teenager.
Hi I'm Aaron Colton.
"Streetbike Freestyler".
I turn and burn for a living.
They call me "The Kid".
Kid Colton came
screeching onto the scene
at the age of 15.
His fearless stunts
gained him fame,
at the XDL streetbike
free-styling championship.
I'm all about going fast,
making noise,
excitement, and having fun!
Unfortunately it all
came crashing down in 2009.
Aaron suffered a nasty spill.
And he was left with
a severely broken leg
and some serious
reevaluating of his future.
It was, hands down,
the worst experience of my life.
Now he's
back in the saddle,
or at least on top of it.
Trying to return to the top
of the competitive heap.
Motorcycles have been a
part of Aaron's life since,
well since he can remember.
But his interest
really started peaking
when his Dad took him out to
streetbike events as a teenager.
At age 13 in June,
I hopped on my first streetbike,
which was my dad's
bike at the time,
and that's kind of
when it all started.
I didn't really think I'd
catch on as fast as I did!
Within 45 minutes I was already
scraping the rear fender
which is a pretty big milestone
for people who ride
and do freestyle.
So the confidence
gained quickly.
Turned from slight
fear to confidence,
and that's where it all
kicked off.
And within
only two years
he was a streetbike champion.
It was pretty crazy, I had
this big old 4-grand check,
at you know 15 years old,
I was like "What am I
going to do with this?"
I mean I had no idea
what was going on.
It was a crazy experience.
The freestyle speed
bike isn't your typical chopper.
There are some awesome
modifications.
If we see a problem,
we don't try to work around
it we just change it!
The tank's too tall?
You can't sit on top of the tank
you can't grip the tank?
You dent it in!
There's no place to put
your foot in the back?
You cut a hole!
Instead of just trying
to beat around the bush,
they actually just modify it.
The foot
plane in the back
is probably the most
important development.
The leverage point here will
give you a ton of balance.
I can be no-hands,
and it's going down,
I just push and it
just comes right up.
That's part of the
physics of riding these things.
Yeah, physics is a class
I probably should've
gone to in school.
Right now,
he's putting in time
for a big upcoming
event in Monterrey.
Today I'll be practicing
some of the technical stuff
I've been lacking on, some
of the jumping combinations.
Having confidence and being
able to go instantly
into some of the harder tricks
like no-handed circles
is one of them.
He's also working
on another tough new trick,
the "180 Bunny Hop" is a
combination of a "Stoppie"
where the bike stops
up on the front wheel,
followed by a 180 hop
to complete the turn.
I think at Monterrey
I definitely
have a chance at a Top five,
and if I ride hard enough
I have a chance at a top three.
It's been
three years since Aaron
has won a major championship.
On account of his ugly wipe-out
in practice in late 2009.
A broken tibia, fibula,
and most of the ligaments
torn in his ankle and foot.
The accident really
got Aaron thinking.
There's a lot of guys
that are doing it for a living,
but only a few that
are making a living.
If I'm going make the choice
not going to college right now,
and actually doing
this for a living,
how am I going make that work?
Now he stages
shows all over the world.
I don't want to be
an entertainer for a living.
But I think for right now
it's going to get me
to that next level,
where I can do it for a living.
The injury in rehab,
and the focus on his shows,
has set him back just a bit
in the competition arena.
But now it's off to the next
event in the continuing process
of trying to
recapture the magic.
The competition
is tough in Monterrey.
Aaron's best event as usual,
are the Wheelie
and the Speed & Style Showdown.
"The Kid" takes
top spot in each.
But it's the individual
freestyle competition
that is the most prestigious
of all the events.
And Aaron finishes 6th.
When I'm riding in competition,
I'm riding for myself.
I'm not riding for the judges.
I'm not riding
for my fellow riders.
I'm riding for myself
and the crowd.
And while Aaron
does his "drifting",
"no-handies", and "stoppies"
for the crowds,
there's one place he'd rather
not ride his streetbike,
the street. In fact he
doesn't even have a license.
Hey, I have enough fun
doing what I'm doing,
that I don't really need
to be on the street.
Maybe if I settle down when
I get older or something
I'll get a street bike
and just trot around,
but for now I'm having a pretty
good time without a license,
having fun at what I'm doing.
That's it. No more
time I'm afraid.
Thank you very much for
watching How Tech Works.
I'm Basil Singer
and I'll see you next time.