Seriously Amazing Objects (2013–…): Season 2, Episode 1 - Tools - full transcript
When the odds
are stacked against them...
I can't believe
the population was down to 20.
Survivors inspire us.
It flew over 200 missions--
more than any american airplane
During the whole course
of the war.
Fighting for every advantage...
There's a sniper
in the bush now.
Don't get shot.
Overcoming adversity...
You want me to
talk about kites?
There's a war on,
for heaven's sakes!
They beat the odds.
They're survivors.
This is the smithsonian.
And this.
She is the best artist
of all time.
And this...
No way.
A hundred million artifacts.
Thousands of visitors a day.
My goodness!
And some lucky folks
are about to be surprised.
Real fast.
When we invite them
behind the scenes...
- It's a beard.
- It's a beard?
To see some
seriously amazing objects.
This is where
the magic happens.
Hi, I'm xavier carnegie.
And this is
the air and space museum's
Udvar-hazy center--
Home to more than
170 iconic planes,
Including one that survived
world war ii against all odds.
Wow!
Check out these planes.
Yeah, they're
really something.
Well, if you're interested
in this kind of stuff,
Would you like to maybe
go on a little adventure with me
If you have the time,
See some stuff
behind the scenes?
That would be incredible.
I would love that. Yes, please.
- No, really.
- Yeah, that sounds great.
Come with me.
What's your name?
- I'm jake.
- Jake, I'm x.
I think you're really
going to like this.
Hi, jake, I'm jeremy,
And I curate the world war ii
aircraft collection
Here at the museum.
I have something
really special to show you.
Jake has always been
fascinated by the military.
Today we're bringing him
behind the scenes
At the restoration hangar
Where conservationists
are working on some of america's
Most prized aerial artifacts,
Including one plane
that bears witness
To one of the bloodiest
conflicts in human history.
So, what we have here
is flak-bait,
A truly exceptional artifact.
In 1943, the world is at war.
Hitler's blitzkrieg
through europe
Has left cities ravaged
And civilians
fleeing for their lives.
American
workers are building the ships,
And the ships
are delivering the goods.
American manufacturing
is in overdrive,
Supplying the front lines
with ships, tanks, and planes
As fast as possible.
Flak-bait rolls off
the assembly line
And into action
in April of 1943.
It's a true survivor
of the air war over europe
During world war ii.
It flew over 200 missions--
More than any american airplane
During the whole course
of the war.
How many missions would
an average b-26 fly like this?
15, 20 missions most.
Maybe 50?
And so this is 200,
for this particular airplane.
Flak-bait
is a martin b-26 marauder,
A speedy medium-range bomber,
Designed to fly
into enemy territory,
Drop its payload,
and quickly escape.
But that speed and agility
comes at a cost.
Early b-26s
had deadly accident rates
At takeoff and landing.
Better engineering and training
Help the bomber overcome
its early nickname:
Widow-maker.
And eventually, more than
5,000 bombers are built.
Flak-bait.
How did it get that name?
Well, the original pilot,
The leader of the crew,
His name's jim farrell,
the "boss."
He took the combination
of the german word
For anti-aircraft artillery,
"flak,"
And put it together with
The nickname
for his dog back home,
"flea bait,"
And came up with flak-bait.
Acquired by
the air and space museum
After the war,
Flak-bait's forward fuselage
went on display in 1976,
While the rest of the plane
remained in crates
Scattered throughout
storage facilities.
In 2014, the entire plane,
Made up of the nose, bomb bay,
and tail sections,
Along with countless crates
full of parts,
Moved to the restoration hangar
in order to be made whole.
I can't help notice
all of the paintings--
The ducks, the bombs.
What's the meaning
of all that?
There are 200 bombs
That indicate each
of the 200 missions,
Between July 1943
and April 1945.
But you also have
a swastika here,
And that's for
the confirmed aerial kill
From the tail gunner
at the rear of the airplane.
And these are decoy
or diversion missions
To divert the enemy away
So another unit could
hit the real target.
I see one
black bomb back there.
That's right.
The black bomb indicates
One of the night missions
that flak-bait flew.
Just keep hitting the enemy
round the clock.
But all those missions
Put flak-bait in the crosshairs
of enemy firepower.
It has more than
a thousand patched holes--
Most from
anti-aircraft artillery
That could have
brought the plane down
Or killed a crew member.
Flak-bait is covered
in all these patches
On the outside of the airplane,
But if you look right here,
you can see these rods.
They follow the trajectory
Of flak traveling up through
the inside of the airplane
Through the bulkheads.
That's a lot of damage
In addition to what's already on
the outside of the airplane.
Fleets 1,500 strong
Thunder across the channel
through flak.
Despite more than
1,000 flak hits,
Which were repaired
between missions,
Not a single crew member died,
And flak-bait never crashed.
And that's one reason
Conservationists are working
to preserve flak-bait
Just as it was
when it was decommissioned.
All those patched holes
and the worn-out paint
Tell an epic story.
What major battles
of world war ii
Did flak-bait take part in?
So, we can show you
something right here
That tells that story very well
on the artifact.
Wow.
D- day, early afternoon.
The ninth air force troop
carrier command base in England.
Do you see those
vertical, faint white stripes?
Yeah, barely.
Those are
the d-day invasion stripes,
Or what's left of them
on flak-bait.
Continuous trains
of transports and gliders
Stretch for miles
over the channel.
D-day,
codenamed operation overlord,
Is the largest land, air,
and sea invasion in history,
Designed to drive german forces
out of western europe
By taking and securing
the beaches of normandy.
Battle planes
of the american air force
Shuttle back and forth
to our footholds in normandy.
With 5,000 sea vessels,
More than 11,000 aircraft,
And 156,000 troops,
Allied forces expect heavy
resistance from the germans
And worry about friendly fire.
So just on the eve of d-day,
All the allied aircraft taking
part in the d-day invasion
Have alternating
white and black stripes
Painted on the tops
and bottoms of the wings
And the tops and bottoms
of the fuselage.
These stripes tell
allied gunners on the ground
And friendly aircraft above,
Don't shoot.
Flak-bait flies
two missions on d-day,
Helping allied forces gain
a strategic foothold in europe.
As allied troops press
their newly won advantage,
Factories in the u.S.
Work overtime
To support the war effort.
Thousands in the air now.
Tens of thousands on the way.
We've invited
world war ii veteran bud gahs
To join the conversation.
- Hi, bud.
- Hi.
He worked
in the baltimore factory
That built flak-bait.
His job was to install
the pre-built gun turret,
A rotating compartment with
two.50-caliber machine guns.
And you were at martin's
in the spring of 1943, right?
Yeah, I maybe could have
put this one in there.
I was working there at 17,
And right out of high school.
And I always loved airplanes,
and I thought, well, you know,
This is great.
I got paid 50 cents an hour,
But I would have paid them
for letting me work there.
After installing the turret,
Bud made sure
it was working properly.
He knew that
the air gunner was responsible
For protecting the lives
of the men on board.
Actually, at the end,
We were doing two to three
airplanes a day,
And I was doing all of them.
Bud worked
in the baltimore factory
For a year and a half,
Then he was drafted by the army
And landed in europe in 1944.
There, bud and flak-bait
both fought
In one of the deadliest battles
ever waged by the u.S. Army.
At the battle of the bulge,
this was in and I was in,
And I'd look up at all
these planes passing over,
And, it was quite moving.
So I was kind of proud of that.
Months later,
the allies are victorious,
Thanks to millions of troops
on the front lines
And the men and women supporting
the war effort at home.
- Thank you, bud.
- You're welcome.
It's an honor to meet you
and learn from you.
And you, too, jeremy.
This has really been a treat.
Yeah. What a great, great
part of our history.
Flak-bait bears
hundreds of battle scars
From only four years of action.
Our next object looks brand-new,
But it's nearly 700 years old.
Samurai--
The armor, the sword, the honor.
That's what usually
comes to mind
When we think
about these warriors,
But there's one particular part
of a samurai's training
That has nothing to do
with warfare.
Let me see if I can find
some folks who know what it is.
There's a very important ritual
that's associated with samurai
But has nothing to do
with warfare.
The utensils that
they used to do this,
Sometimes they prized them as
much as they did their swords.
What do you think that might be?
Thanksgiving-type meal
with like family or something.
I'm thinking some type of
food or beverage going on here.
Would it be
to see the emperor?
You have to pick now.
You have to be strong in this.
Maybe tea, perhaps?
Ok, good.
Well, I'm glad, I'm glad--
what's your name, man?
- My name's amir.
- Amir, I'm x, man.
Amir is a fashion
entrepreneur by day
And a lyft driver by night.
He's planning a trip to japan,
So something tells me
He's going to love
what we have to show him.
Welcome to the freer
and the sackler galleries.
Wow, thank you.
Curator louise cort
Is excited to show off one of
the museum's star artifacts.
You ever been
in museum storage before?
Never.
This is a first.
Good.
I'm excited about it.
I am, too.
I've got something
special to show you.
Wow! I'm excited.
Here we are
in the store room.
- Nice.
- Come on in.
Very cool.
Amir might be wondering
Why we dragged him back here
to see a brown jar.
But this jar has
a very unusual tale to tell.
Jars like this
Were made in southern china
by the thousands...
- Wow.
- Every day.
These were like the tupperware
of their time.
These ordinary jars
were mass-produced in china
To transport goods across
Asia's thriving trade routes.
Most didn't survive the journey.
But this jar made it to japan
in the late 1300s
And was put to use
storing a valuable delicacy--
Tea.
Around that time,
Tea drinking had become
an extremely important ritual
In the upper reaches
of japanese society.
This was a custom
that was practiced
In particular
by the ruling warrior class.
The people we know
sometimes as samurai
Were the ones who,
as the rulers of the country,
Popularized the drinking of tea.
The samurai
embraced tea drinking
As a cultured dimension to their
personas as military conquerors.
And they turned it
into a competition.
They practiced it
Much like many people
practice drinking wine today--
They test the aroma
and compare the flavor
And try to guess
where the wine was made.
So there were
tea drinking contests
In the 14th century.
Tea drinking contests.
Wow.
And they'd have to write down
Which plantation they thought
the tea had been grown in.
What would happen if you
didn't guess that tea correctly?
Did they walk around
with swords?
Were there any swords?
'cause I would be a little
nervous to guess these teas
With samurais around.
I'd be like, you have to put
the swords down before...
The swords were outside.
They were not dressed
in their armor.
Ok. Very cool.
Over time,
Tea drinking became
less of a contest
And more of an art form.
Tea jars became
the most revered objects
For display in tea ceremonies.
This particular jar
Became the prized possession
Of japan's wealthiest
and most powerful men.
By the 16th century,
it became so famous,
It was even given a name:
Chigusa.
Not every jar
for storing tea leaves
Would get a name.
Only the jars
that everyone agreed
Were really very handsome.
Wealthy admirers
wrote about chigusa
In diaries dating back
to the 16th century.
The tea diaries tell us
all of the aspects of the jar
That people enjoyed.
They liked the grooves
around the neck,
They liked
the shape of the lugs,
They liked this rounded
shape of the body,
They liked the texture
of the glaze
And how it ran down,
And how at the bottom
you can see
This beautiful rough red clay.
Wow.
So, how rare is this jar?
What makes chigusa
really special
Is that it has
all of the other accoutrements
That came with it,
That were made for it
by all of its owners over time.
The way this survives
is very, very rare indeed.
Yes.
For its wealthy owners,
Dressing chigusa brought beauty
To an otherwise
simple stoneware jar.
All of these
objects right here...
Belong to this jar.
Belong to this jar?
This was a netted
silk macramé bag.
The jar fits into this.
Cords are tied around
the neck of the jar...
These are part of a set of cords
that would be used...
When the jar was on display.
This is a little handbook
Of the shapes
of the ornamental knots.
And even more amazing--
All of these accessories
and more
Come in one little box.
What?
The jar fits in the bottom.
All of the other accessories
fit in the top part.
And then this box
goes into that box,
And that box goes into that box.
That's a lot of boxes.
In 2009,
chigusa came up for auction,
And louise knew
she wanted it for the museum.
This seemingly plain jar
with an extraordinary life
Commanded a hefty price.
It was about $600,000.
Wow!
But it's definitely worth it.
Well, we felt so.
The chinese workers
who made chigusa 700 years ago
Would probably be astounded
by its survival story.
It's almost like a...
Like a rare stamp.
Yes.
It wasn't meant
to be like,
It was just a total accident
that that happened,
And now look at it...
Here it is.
700-some odd years later
in the smithsonian.
- Pretty cool.
- Exactly.
I like it, I like it.
Even a tea jar
can show us how so much depends
On the way we look at things.
Let's who can find what's hidden
right in front of them.
I'm going to show you
some pictures, ok?
Ok.
I want to see if you can find
What's hidden in this picture.
No.
Is it...
Right here?
Is this it?
Is this it here?
Keep looking.
This is tricky.
I'll give you a hint.
It's......
- Wow!
- You see it?
I see it.
Alright.
How about this one?
Take a look.
- Here?
- No.
You're not even warm.
No.
It's nothing...I can't--
Look towards the bottom.
No.
Can you find
more than one?
I guessed.
Can you find the frog?
- I think I found it.
- Where is it?
It's either a weird lump,
Or it's a frog.
No, you got it.
That's great.
You're an expert at this.
How'd you get that so quick?
Turns out grace was
a natural history curator
At a museum in new zealand.
Do you wanna
go on an adventure
And see something cool?
- Yeah.
- Yeah? Come with me.
We're taking grace
To discover the surprising
origin of military camouflage.
Hi, grace.
It's nice to meet you.
Do you know who
the father of camouflage is?
No, no,
I have no idea actually.
He's an artist from america
Named abbott handerson thayer,
Who lived during the last part
of the 19th century
Into the 20th century.
Thayer was
a sought-after portrait artist,
Whose paintings
of winged women and children
Captivated the american public.
But his real passion
was nature...
And camouflage.
In fact, I'm curious to know
Whether or not you can
figure out what animal
Is in fact camouflaged
in this painting?
So, I actually thought
it was a parrot at first.
But it's a peacock, right?
Thayer's peacock in the woods
Was his favorite example
Of a theory he called
disruptive coloration.
And so he used this
as his proof of concept to say,
If a peacock can disappear
into the woods,
As brilliantly colored
as it is...
Yeah.
Then all
animals' coloration
Must be in some way protective.
Thayer became obsessed,
Abandoning his lucrative career
as a portrait artist
To devote himself
to studying how camouflage
Helps animals survive
in the wild.
In 1909,
he published his theories
In a controversial
but groundbreaking book.
Thayer got a lot of traction
With the scientific community
at first.
The problem he ran into
Was that he kind of
over-theorized the idea
That all coloration
is protective,
Forgetting for a moment
That sometimes it's a matter
of sexual display
Or predatory, "don't eat me,
I'm poisonous."
Right.
Thayer's harshest critic
Was president
theodore roosevelt,
An avid hunter
and conservationist.
One of the things
that roosevelt thought
Was that thayer
was not very scientific,
And the two of them started
an epic multi-decade battle.
Roosevelt
ridiculed thayer's theories,
Causing thayer's ideas
to be dismissed
By the scientific community.
But as world war I
broke out across europe,
Thayer was convinced
He had important advice
for military leaders.
We've invited timothy o'neill,
An expert
in military camouflage,
To share his insights
on what happened next.
Eleanor; you've never actually
seen thayer's work in person?
I've never seen the originals.
So this is a real pleasure.
It sounded like his ideas
Were a little bit dismissed
at the time.
Well, history
is strange that way.
His first principles--
Countershading, ruption,
mimicry-- are quite valid.
They were exactly right.
He developed them
in a scientific way
By deductive reasoning,
By observing things in nature,
Hypothesizing a reason for them,
And then verifying them.
Since roosevelt
had criticized thayer,
The u.S. Military
was unreceptive to his ideas.
But warfare was changing.
Infantry weapons
became accurate at long range.
Rifles had a higher
rate of fire.
At that point, it was useful
to be able to hide,
And that's when camouflage
started to be important.
Thayer used paintings
And cut-out silhouettes
of soldiers
To prove how
his coloration theories
Could help conceal soldiers
and ships at sea.
The british navy was the first
To adapt thayer's
disruption theory,
Creating what's now called
the dazzle pattern,
Dramatically reducing attacks by
german u-boats in world war I.
By the end of the war,
The u.S. Military
also adopted the pattern.
But thayer never received
the recognition he craved
During his lifetime.
It would take decades
For the military
to finally acknowledge
The revolutionary nature
of his camouflage theories.
So, do you think
thayer's ideas
Are still valid today
for camouflage?
Absolutely.
What we've done
in the time since
Is apply science that thayer
didn't have available
To improve and expand
his basic principles.
Now that grace has
learned about thayer's theories,
We invite her
and her boyfriend alex
To put them to the test.
How are you guys doing?
I'm sergeant cochran.
- Hi, I'm alex.
- I'm grace.
I heard you've been
learning about abbott thayer?
Today we're actually going to go
over the practical exercise
Of camouflage
techniques and patterns
That we employ
in the united states army
And play a little game
of hide and seek
Between the two of you.
Grace is about to learn
the camouflage techniques
Critical to
a military sniper's training
And survival on the battlefield.
What is
the most likely direction
From which the enemy fire
might come?
You're done.
And we have a little bit more
to go with you.
Face and hands.
- Ok.
- Alright.
Striping and blotching
Are the two primary techniques
that we use
In order to conceal ourselves.
So that's
just like thayer's
Disruptive patterning, actually.
That's exactly right.
It's disrupting what your brain
sees to make it blend.
That's actually
really amazing.
Your face actually
looks flatter.
You look like
a 2-d painting now.
The point isn't
to look like anything.
It's to make the brain think
that nothing is there.
So how much higher
are my chances of survival
If I'm wearing this?
We're aiming for concealment.
Concealment allows you to
maneuver without being seen.
Alright, so you're about done.
So you ready to win the greatest
game of hide and seek?
- I am so ready.
- Alright.
And now grace is ready
to be a sniper in the bush.
- How ya doin', alex?
- I'm ready.
So, your girlfriend
is watching you right now.
Ok.
She's somewhere between here
And that tree down the middle.
You have to find her
before you get there.
Ok.
Do you have any advice?
She's a sniper
in the bush now.
Don't get shot.
This is terrifying.
If alex doesn't find grace
Before he gets within 15 feet,
He's a goner.
It was really exciting
Because I could hear him
getting closer and closer,
And then I could see his feet,
And I was like, ok,
I'm so ready to pounce,
I'm so ready to go.
- Gotcha.
- My gosh!
Had alex been an enemy,
Grace would have definitely
survived this encounter.
Man! That's amazing!
Yeah, I'm one
with the forest now.
I legitimately can't believe
How hard it was to find grace.
Like it is one of those things
Where you kind of imagine,
it's gonna be a challenge,
But I did not see her
until she like jumped out at me.
It was incredible.
We would imagine
that abbott thayer,
Who fought to have
his theories accepted,
Would think
it's pretty incredible, too.
Camouflage has helped save lives
by blending in.
For millions of years,
Our next objects have survived
by showing off.
Hey, guys, these flowers are
really beautiful, aren't they?
They're incredible, yeah.
Beautiful, I'm telling you.
Can you guess what fruit
comes from an orchid?
A cashew nut?
There's a fruit
that comes from an orchid?
You wouldn't normally
think of it as a fruit.
Like a tomato,
'cause there's the debate
over tomatoes...
Is it a dragon fruit?
That's not it.
Think of ice cream.
Chocolate?
Chocolate?
You're almost
on the right track.
Vanilla bean.
You got that
right off the bat.
How'd you get that so quick?
I worked for
a beverage company in atlanta.
And that was one of
our main ingredients.
The vanilla orchid
was first cultivated in mexico
1,000 years ago.
Spanish explorers
brought it back to europe,
And by the 1700s,
Vanilla ice cream was quite
the rage in french society.
Today, it's one of the most
popular flavors in the world.
I'm excited about it.
We've invited paul
To visit
the smithsonian greenhouses
Just outside
of washington, d.C.,
To see a vanilla plant up close.
So come and see
The vanilla
I wanted to show you.
Awesome.
Unfortunately,
not blooming today.
But it bloomed like crazy
a couple weeks ago,
And these are the fruits
that we made.
Wow, this is awesome.
I've never seen
the actual vine in person.
I've worked with vanilla beans
for so long
With the previous company
I worked with.
Is the orchid itself,
is it a very large flower?
It's a pretty big flower,
And very lovely.
Unfortunately, it only
lasts a day, each flower,
At least on
this particular species.
As europeans were going
crazy for vanilla in the 1800s,
Many people tried to grow
the orchid outside of mexico.
But they encountered
a huge problem.
These were brought
as cuttings to madagascar,
Planted there,
And there was
no natural pollinator.
They actually have to
hand-pollinate every flower.
Hand-pollinate?
An enslaved child
named edmond albius
Figured out
how to hand-pollinate
The vanilla orchid,
And the vanilla boom took off.
To this day,
they have to climb up on ladders
And hand-pollinate the flower.
Wow.
That is really labor-intensive.
It is,
And that's part of the reason
why they're so expensive.
Very expensive ingredient
In a lot of food processes.
The company
I worked for previously,
A soft drink company,
We got vanilla beans
shipped in from madagascar.
And one small box,
About, I'd say,
24 inches by 12 inches high,
Was $30,000.
- $30,000?
- Yes.
Wow, I had no idea.
Orchids are the largest
And most diverse family
of flowering plants.
The smithsonian has
more than 8,000 specimens
In its collection.
I feel like
I'm on a jungle walk.
I know. I tell ya.
Yeah, some of the plants
get really overgrown.
Look at this.
This is awesome.
In case you're wondering,
that bad smell...
That's bad.
That is really rank.
We're in the middle
of bulbophyllum season.
Just like
the famous corpse plant,
They're trying to attract
carrion flies,
So they smell like rotting meat.
So much better.
Part of the whole m.O.
Of orchids
Is to engage
in mimicry and deception.
And what we're looking at here,
You know, these flowers
are really spidery, right?
The female wasps see
these flowers from a distance,
And they think,
I can lay my eggs
On one of those spiders
over there.
They come to the flower,
Realize that it's
actually not a spider,
But in the meantime,
As they've been wandering
around on the flower,
They end up taking
the pollen with them.
Charles darwin was fascinated
With the variety and
adaptability of orchids.
He viewed them
as the ultimate survivors.
But today,
The fate of many
orchid species is at stake.
This is a barkeria.
It's a pretty rare plant
from mexico.
One of its relatives grows in
just one small field in mexico.
Wow.
And all it would take
Is some jerk going around
on a four-wheel drive
Having a joy ride
To take out
the entire population,
And these things are not
all of that well protected.
What else
kind of contributes
To the danger
to some of these orchids?
Well, there's
lots of dangers.
A real problem
throughout most of the world
Is deforestation.
Right.
Because most of the orchids
growing in trees
Need forest habitat,
And they need wild places,
And they need
natural pollinators,
So when humans come in
and deforest the land,
Their habitat is gone.
Climate change
is another problem.
Probably
the biggest risk of all
Because these orchids are stuck.
You know, plants in general
are stuck where they are.
They can't get up
and move.
An animal can't migrate.
Right.
Today, more than half
of the orchid species
In north america are endangered.
Smithsonian researchers
Are helping to lead
conservation efforts
Across the continent.
And with many rare plants
in their greenhouses,
They needed a survival plan
close to home, too.
We've identified 400 plants
That we feel are critical
to our collection--
10 percent of those
that are like super-critical.
The rarest ones?
The rarest
and the most valuable,
The most educational.
That's really our main purpose
at the smithsonian,
Is the diffusion of knowledge.
Beautiful. Really.
And with their ongoing efforts,
The smithsonian is committed
to the survival
Of one of the world's oldest and
most important plant families.
Tom, I just want
to thank you so much
For allowing me to come here
And see all these
beautiful orchids.
I've never seen so many
in one place.
And, x, thank you
for bringing me.
So much, thank you.
It's a pleasure
to share them,
And we're very, very happy
to have you.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Those reflectors
are an amazing idea
To safeguard the orchids.
Our next object
Is another super simple
but super smart idea
To help defeat
a dangerous enemy.
Let's see who knows
their world war ii history.
I want to ask you guys
a question
About this japanese zero.
Do you know,
during world war ii,
How many planes on average
Would the japanese zero
shoot down
Before it was destroyed?
I'd take a guess at 4.
They were much superior
than the american planes.
Any other ideas?
No clue.
Um...
Begin...I guess 5.
I'd say probably, 3.
But you're both too low.
Take a wild guess of...12.
Why do you say 12?
I know they shot down
a lot of american planes.
They did shoot down
a lot of american planes.
As a matter of fact,
The kill ratio
was about 12 to 1.
- Holy cow.
- 12 to 1. You got it.
What's your name, man?
Jeff.
Turns out,
Jeff built a lot of
model world war ii planes
As a kid growing up
in providence, rhode island.
So I send him
to meet curator tom crouch...
Welcome!
Who has an unusual
world war ii object in storage.
This is the paul garber
Preservation, storage,
and restoration facility.
And it's where we store
a lot of the objects
That the public sees
in the museum.
Is this a rocket engine?
Yep, a rocket engine.
And there's a centrifugal flow
jet engine back there.
Jeff, can you give me
a hand with this?
Now, can you guess what this is?
Is this a zero?
Right.
The mitsubishi a6m zero.
You can see
the big meatballs on the wings
That identify it.
Named for the last digit
In the imperial year
that it was built--2600--
The japanese zero
Is the deadliest fighter plane
to come off an assembly line.
It flew an impressive
350 miles an hour
At 20,000 feet,
And with an extra fuel tank,
Traveled further
than any other fighter plane.
But what truly
terrorized the allies
Was its maneuverability.
American and allied
fighter planes and gunners
Couldn't zero in on the zero.
In an April 1942 battle
With well-trained english pilots
over sri lanka,
36 zeroes took on
60 british aircraft
And shot down 27 of them,
With the loss
of just a single zero.
So, how was
this kite used?
Well, the navy
had a terrible problem
Training their
anti-aircraft gunners to shoot
At these maneuverable airplanes
dancing around the sky.
Then an extraordinary man
came up with the notion
Of doing a kite
that would be maneuverable
So that somebody could
dance it around the sky
While the gunners
practice shooting at it.
That extraordinary man
was paul e. Garber,
A lifelong model-builder
and kite-maker
Who served as a navy commander
in world war ii.
Paul believed
he could build a kite
To help defeat
the deadly japanese zero.
He just had to prove it.
How did he convince
the navy into this program?
When he first came
to an admiral with the idea,
The admiral's reaction was,
you want me to talk about kites?
There's a war on,
for heaven's sakes!
But paul got them to the roof of
the navy building on the mall,
And he took
one of these early kites
And wrote the admiral's
first name in the sky--
The kite was that maneuverable--
And that was enough
to win the navy's approval
To begin
the target kite project.
Paul patented his design
And launched
a navy training program
That took kite flying
to new heights.
Navy target kites
are designed to serve
As maneuverable aerial targets
for gunnery training,
Especially from ships.
The 5-foot kites
were soon deployed
On navy ships around the world.
So, how does this work?
So, the person
on the ground is doing
Is controlling this bar,
And that controls this,
The rudder down here.
And the rudder
is what makes it possible
To maneuver the kite.
Navy seamen trained
to fly target kites.
We thought jeff
would enjoy a chance
To try his hand
at kite flying, too.
- Hi, jeff.
- Nice to meet you
I'm rick.
So how does this work?
How do you control this thing?
This is a dual line kite.
These lines are completely even,
And if you pull on them evenly,
This kite's going to lift
straight up.
If I pull on one of these
a little more than the other,
It's gonna want to turn.
So at this point,
All we need is some wind,
pressure in the sail.
That kite is gonna go straight.
World war ii target kites
Are larger than ours
And use a heavy reel strapped to
a shoulder harness for support.
The assistant looks
around the side of the kite
To get the word from
the operator for the takeoff.
The kite quickly rises
to its zenith
And is let out to a range
of about 250 yards.
There, an experienced operator
Rotates and turns,
Directing the kite
to perform aerial acrobatics
As the ship's gunners
take in target practice.
Rick shows us some of those
same acrobatics with his kite.
Now, see I'm going to
pull that one line.
And I'm not gonna release it,
I'm just gonna keep pulling it.
And it's going to keep turning
the same direction.
I'm watching him,
and he's got so much skill
And having so much fun.
I wanted to be a part of that.
- Your turn.
- My turn.
Jeff.
Aaah...With the wind.
Here it goes.
We're enjoying the challenge,
But 70 years ago,
Navy crewmen knew this was
a life and death skill.
With practice,
An operator could perform
the same types of moves
That rick has perfected.
And that gave the gunners
a chance to test their skills
To see who could shoot
more holes in the kite.
So, what was the result
of this program?
Did the gunner accuracy improve?
It did improve.
And mr. Garber
loved to tell the story
About the time in the pacific
When a ship's crew was doing
Anti-aircraft practice
on a kite
At the very moment
when the japanese
Appeared to attack the ship.
All the officer in charge
had to do
Was say, "shift aim from
the kites to the planes,"
And they were all set to go
right into action.
Shooting down
the japanese zero
And saving the ship.
Paul garber's kites end up
in the air and space museum.
And garber lands here as well,
As its first curator.
Not bad.
You're already getting it.
Jeff, it turns out,
Finally masters
a dual line kite.
When the wind was right,
it felt great.
I could feel the wind,
And there was almost
a zen quality to it.
It must have been great training
for the gunners
And an important contribution
to the war effort
By paul garber.
Who would have thought
that kites could help win a war?
Our next visitor is about
to have a special encounter
With an animal
that is fighting to survive.
We've invited beth
To join smithsonian biologist
adrienne crosier
For a trip to meet some
very special newcomers.
Animal programs,
Adrienne to cheetahs.
We are coming through the gate.
You have cheetahs
in virginia?
We have actually quite
a few cheetahs in virginia.
At the smithsonian
conservation biology institute
Outside washington, d.C.,
Scientists study and breed
More than 20 species
of endangered animals.
Just to give you an update
On what's going on
with our cheetahs,
At the end of March,
We actually had
two litters born.
Within five days of each other.
The new cubs
are an important addition
To a declining population.
Those cats
are a genetic resource
To help support
the cats in the wild.
A hundred years ago,
There were more than
100,000 cheetahs
Throughout the world.
The population has declined
more than 90% since then,
And scientists are concerned
That cheetahs are racing
towards extinction.
The biggest challenge
for cheetahs in the wild
Is the loss of habitat.
But human development
isn't the only threat.
Cheetahs are
genetically similar,
Which makes them
highly susceptible
To numerous diseases
and health challenges.
Cheetahs, as a species,
They all have equally bad
semen and sperm quality,
Which resulted from them
almost going extinct
During the last ice age.
What?
The population got down to...
Ok.
They think
maybe 20 individuals.
My gosh!
It was the same time period
When a lot of other species
did go extinct.
The cheetahs survived.
There's very few of them,
So they had a very reduced
genetic base at that point
To rebound from.
Adrienne manages
The north american
species survival plan
For cheetahs.
We follow a stud book
Which goes back
many, many decades.
We make very careful
genetic matches
Based on family lines
and who's related to who,
And then we try to follow
those genetic matches,
But a lot of that also has to do
with the cheetah behavior.
Cheetah females
are finicky breeders.
They may reject the most
genetically desirable male.
On top of that,
Their biology is irregular,
Making it challenging
for scientists to know
When they are ready to breed.
Given the challenges,
The size of these
most recent litters
Was unexpected.
So far, everything seems
to be going great.
So, how do you feel
about doing some food prep
For our cheetahs?
I'd love to.
Great!
Keepers feed
the cheetahs twice a day.
So, here's a pair
of gloves for you.
This meal is for hope
and her 8-week-old cubs.
So, this is the meat
that's thawed
And ready to use for today.
Great.
How are you with handling meat?
Are you comfortable with that?
I'm a...A vegan.
Goodness. Ok.
Yeah, so this is
a little different for you.
It's been a long time,
But, um,
as long as the cats need it,
I'm here for them.
Well, the cats
are strict carnivores.
No veggie wraps?
Strict requirements.
No, no veggie wraps for them.
No hummus on pita.
And we're going to weigh out
a bowl for hope and her cubs.
Now, she gets 2660
Because she has those five cubs
That are starting
to eat meat now.
My god, that's a lot.
And how is this different from
like what they eat in the wild?
Cheetahs will only eat something
That's freshly killed.
Alright, let's go and see
If hope will bring her cubs up
to eat today.
I hope she does.
Can't wait to meet them.
Come on in.
And we're going to go...
Yeah, right over here.
So, this handle
Will open the gate
in the back of that yard.
Ok.
So, I'm going to call mom
And try to get her to come up
and bring the cub.
Come on, hope!
Come on, hope!
Hope eventually comes up to eat,
But leaves her cubs behind.
In the wild,
females will leave their cubs
For up to 48 hours to hunt.
At six months, they teach
their cubs the art of the kill.
But here in human care,
there's no live prey.
These cubs would never
survive in the wild.
You see 'em?
Hopefully they are
right here in the grass.
After hope finishes eating,
Adrienne and beth track her
back to her cubs.
Hello!
My gosh, they're so cute.
I see them running up
and jumping on their mom.
Aw, they're very curious.
Were they natural born?
Yes, so this was
a natural breeding.
This is the first litter
for this mother.
Her cubs are all
growing really well.
You can see they're all
really curious and interested.
So, how are
these cubs important
To the survival of the species?
So, every cub that we produce
In our population in human care
Are what we call
insurance population.
We have a very good
gene diversity,
We have very good demography,
So we have lots of males
and females of various ages.
We just need to be better
About reproducing the animals
that we have.
Before this
breeding program began,
Only two litters of cheetah cubs
had ever been born at the zoo.
Every new cub adds diversity
into the human care population,
And that makes the species
stronger for the future.
I can't believe that
the population was down to 20,
But we know it's possible
to go from this small, back up.
It's definitely possible.
The cheetah was a robust
population of a hundred thousand
Not that long ago,
So I'm very hopeful
we can get the species
Back to that
in the near future.
It was so wonderful
to meet adrienne,
Who is doing such great work.
But honestly, seeing those
little baby cubs and their mom,
And playing and kind of acting
sort of like my cat acts...
Just made me now wish I could
just take one home.
But obviously I can't.
It was wonderful.
It was such a great experience.
It's inspiring to know
That the future of the cheetahs
is looking good.
We love stories of survivors
Because they teach us
to be resilient...
Observant,
And ingenious.
The stories
these amazing objects tell
Remind us that
when we take the best ideas
And work together,
It seems like anything
can be possible.
are stacked against them...
I can't believe
the population was down to 20.
Survivors inspire us.
It flew over 200 missions--
more than any american airplane
During the whole course
of the war.
Fighting for every advantage...
There's a sniper
in the bush now.
Don't get shot.
Overcoming adversity...
You want me to
talk about kites?
There's a war on,
for heaven's sakes!
They beat the odds.
They're survivors.
This is the smithsonian.
And this.
She is the best artist
of all time.
And this...
No way.
A hundred million artifacts.
Thousands of visitors a day.
My goodness!
And some lucky folks
are about to be surprised.
Real fast.
When we invite them
behind the scenes...
- It's a beard.
- It's a beard?
To see some
seriously amazing objects.
This is where
the magic happens.
Hi, I'm xavier carnegie.
And this is
the air and space museum's
Udvar-hazy center--
Home to more than
170 iconic planes,
Including one that survived
world war ii against all odds.
Wow!
Check out these planes.
Yeah, they're
really something.
Well, if you're interested
in this kind of stuff,
Would you like to maybe
go on a little adventure with me
If you have the time,
See some stuff
behind the scenes?
That would be incredible.
I would love that. Yes, please.
- No, really.
- Yeah, that sounds great.
Come with me.
What's your name?
- I'm jake.
- Jake, I'm x.
I think you're really
going to like this.
Hi, jake, I'm jeremy,
And I curate the world war ii
aircraft collection
Here at the museum.
I have something
really special to show you.
Jake has always been
fascinated by the military.
Today we're bringing him
behind the scenes
At the restoration hangar
Where conservationists
are working on some of america's
Most prized aerial artifacts,
Including one plane
that bears witness
To one of the bloodiest
conflicts in human history.
So, what we have here
is flak-bait,
A truly exceptional artifact.
In 1943, the world is at war.
Hitler's blitzkrieg
through europe
Has left cities ravaged
And civilians
fleeing for their lives.
American
workers are building the ships,
And the ships
are delivering the goods.
American manufacturing
is in overdrive,
Supplying the front lines
with ships, tanks, and planes
As fast as possible.
Flak-bait rolls off
the assembly line
And into action
in April of 1943.
It's a true survivor
of the air war over europe
During world war ii.
It flew over 200 missions--
More than any american airplane
During the whole course
of the war.
How many missions would
an average b-26 fly like this?
15, 20 missions most.
Maybe 50?
And so this is 200,
for this particular airplane.
Flak-bait
is a martin b-26 marauder,
A speedy medium-range bomber,
Designed to fly
into enemy territory,
Drop its payload,
and quickly escape.
But that speed and agility
comes at a cost.
Early b-26s
had deadly accident rates
At takeoff and landing.
Better engineering and training
Help the bomber overcome
its early nickname:
Widow-maker.
And eventually, more than
5,000 bombers are built.
Flak-bait.
How did it get that name?
Well, the original pilot,
The leader of the crew,
His name's jim farrell,
the "boss."
He took the combination
of the german word
For anti-aircraft artillery,
"flak,"
And put it together with
The nickname
for his dog back home,
"flea bait,"
And came up with flak-bait.
Acquired by
the air and space museum
After the war,
Flak-bait's forward fuselage
went on display in 1976,
While the rest of the plane
remained in crates
Scattered throughout
storage facilities.
In 2014, the entire plane,
Made up of the nose, bomb bay,
and tail sections,
Along with countless crates
full of parts,
Moved to the restoration hangar
in order to be made whole.
I can't help notice
all of the paintings--
The ducks, the bombs.
What's the meaning
of all that?
There are 200 bombs
That indicate each
of the 200 missions,
Between July 1943
and April 1945.
But you also have
a swastika here,
And that's for
the confirmed aerial kill
From the tail gunner
at the rear of the airplane.
And these are decoy
or diversion missions
To divert the enemy away
So another unit could
hit the real target.
I see one
black bomb back there.
That's right.
The black bomb indicates
One of the night missions
that flak-bait flew.
Just keep hitting the enemy
round the clock.
But all those missions
Put flak-bait in the crosshairs
of enemy firepower.
It has more than
a thousand patched holes--
Most from
anti-aircraft artillery
That could have
brought the plane down
Or killed a crew member.
Flak-bait is covered
in all these patches
On the outside of the airplane,
But if you look right here,
you can see these rods.
They follow the trajectory
Of flak traveling up through
the inside of the airplane
Through the bulkheads.
That's a lot of damage
In addition to what's already on
the outside of the airplane.
Fleets 1,500 strong
Thunder across the channel
through flak.
Despite more than
1,000 flak hits,
Which were repaired
between missions,
Not a single crew member died,
And flak-bait never crashed.
And that's one reason
Conservationists are working
to preserve flak-bait
Just as it was
when it was decommissioned.
All those patched holes
and the worn-out paint
Tell an epic story.
What major battles
of world war ii
Did flak-bait take part in?
So, we can show you
something right here
That tells that story very well
on the artifact.
Wow.
D- day, early afternoon.
The ninth air force troop
carrier command base in England.
Do you see those
vertical, faint white stripes?
Yeah, barely.
Those are
the d-day invasion stripes,
Or what's left of them
on flak-bait.
Continuous trains
of transports and gliders
Stretch for miles
over the channel.
D-day,
codenamed operation overlord,
Is the largest land, air,
and sea invasion in history,
Designed to drive german forces
out of western europe
By taking and securing
the beaches of normandy.
Battle planes
of the american air force
Shuttle back and forth
to our footholds in normandy.
With 5,000 sea vessels,
More than 11,000 aircraft,
And 156,000 troops,
Allied forces expect heavy
resistance from the germans
And worry about friendly fire.
So just on the eve of d-day,
All the allied aircraft taking
part in the d-day invasion
Have alternating
white and black stripes
Painted on the tops
and bottoms of the wings
And the tops and bottoms
of the fuselage.
These stripes tell
allied gunners on the ground
And friendly aircraft above,
Don't shoot.
Flak-bait flies
two missions on d-day,
Helping allied forces gain
a strategic foothold in europe.
As allied troops press
their newly won advantage,
Factories in the u.S.
Work overtime
To support the war effort.
Thousands in the air now.
Tens of thousands on the way.
We've invited
world war ii veteran bud gahs
To join the conversation.
- Hi, bud.
- Hi.
He worked
in the baltimore factory
That built flak-bait.
His job was to install
the pre-built gun turret,
A rotating compartment with
two.50-caliber machine guns.
And you were at martin's
in the spring of 1943, right?
Yeah, I maybe could have
put this one in there.
I was working there at 17,
And right out of high school.
And I always loved airplanes,
and I thought, well, you know,
This is great.
I got paid 50 cents an hour,
But I would have paid them
for letting me work there.
After installing the turret,
Bud made sure
it was working properly.
He knew that
the air gunner was responsible
For protecting the lives
of the men on board.
Actually, at the end,
We were doing two to three
airplanes a day,
And I was doing all of them.
Bud worked
in the baltimore factory
For a year and a half,
Then he was drafted by the army
And landed in europe in 1944.
There, bud and flak-bait
both fought
In one of the deadliest battles
ever waged by the u.S. Army.
At the battle of the bulge,
this was in and I was in,
And I'd look up at all
these planes passing over,
And, it was quite moving.
So I was kind of proud of that.
Months later,
the allies are victorious,
Thanks to millions of troops
on the front lines
And the men and women supporting
the war effort at home.
- Thank you, bud.
- You're welcome.
It's an honor to meet you
and learn from you.
And you, too, jeremy.
This has really been a treat.
Yeah. What a great, great
part of our history.
Flak-bait bears
hundreds of battle scars
From only four years of action.
Our next object looks brand-new,
But it's nearly 700 years old.
Samurai--
The armor, the sword, the honor.
That's what usually
comes to mind
When we think
about these warriors,
But there's one particular part
of a samurai's training
That has nothing to do
with warfare.
Let me see if I can find
some folks who know what it is.
There's a very important ritual
that's associated with samurai
But has nothing to do
with warfare.
The utensils that
they used to do this,
Sometimes they prized them as
much as they did their swords.
What do you think that might be?
Thanksgiving-type meal
with like family or something.
I'm thinking some type of
food or beverage going on here.
Would it be
to see the emperor?
You have to pick now.
You have to be strong in this.
Maybe tea, perhaps?
Ok, good.
Well, I'm glad, I'm glad--
what's your name, man?
- My name's amir.
- Amir, I'm x, man.
Amir is a fashion
entrepreneur by day
And a lyft driver by night.
He's planning a trip to japan,
So something tells me
He's going to love
what we have to show him.
Welcome to the freer
and the sackler galleries.
Wow, thank you.
Curator louise cort
Is excited to show off one of
the museum's star artifacts.
You ever been
in museum storage before?
Never.
This is a first.
Good.
I'm excited about it.
I am, too.
I've got something
special to show you.
Wow! I'm excited.
Here we are
in the store room.
- Nice.
- Come on in.
Very cool.
Amir might be wondering
Why we dragged him back here
to see a brown jar.
But this jar has
a very unusual tale to tell.
Jars like this
Were made in southern china
by the thousands...
- Wow.
- Every day.
These were like the tupperware
of their time.
These ordinary jars
were mass-produced in china
To transport goods across
Asia's thriving trade routes.
Most didn't survive the journey.
But this jar made it to japan
in the late 1300s
And was put to use
storing a valuable delicacy--
Tea.
Around that time,
Tea drinking had become
an extremely important ritual
In the upper reaches
of japanese society.
This was a custom
that was practiced
In particular
by the ruling warrior class.
The people we know
sometimes as samurai
Were the ones who,
as the rulers of the country,
Popularized the drinking of tea.
The samurai
embraced tea drinking
As a cultured dimension to their
personas as military conquerors.
And they turned it
into a competition.
They practiced it
Much like many people
practice drinking wine today--
They test the aroma
and compare the flavor
And try to guess
where the wine was made.
So there were
tea drinking contests
In the 14th century.
Tea drinking contests.
Wow.
And they'd have to write down
Which plantation they thought
the tea had been grown in.
What would happen if you
didn't guess that tea correctly?
Did they walk around
with swords?
Were there any swords?
'cause I would be a little
nervous to guess these teas
With samurais around.
I'd be like, you have to put
the swords down before...
The swords were outside.
They were not dressed
in their armor.
Ok. Very cool.
Over time,
Tea drinking became
less of a contest
And more of an art form.
Tea jars became
the most revered objects
For display in tea ceremonies.
This particular jar
Became the prized possession
Of japan's wealthiest
and most powerful men.
By the 16th century,
it became so famous,
It was even given a name:
Chigusa.
Not every jar
for storing tea leaves
Would get a name.
Only the jars
that everyone agreed
Were really very handsome.
Wealthy admirers
wrote about chigusa
In diaries dating back
to the 16th century.
The tea diaries tell us
all of the aspects of the jar
That people enjoyed.
They liked the grooves
around the neck,
They liked
the shape of the lugs,
They liked this rounded
shape of the body,
They liked the texture
of the glaze
And how it ran down,
And how at the bottom
you can see
This beautiful rough red clay.
Wow.
So, how rare is this jar?
What makes chigusa
really special
Is that it has
all of the other accoutrements
That came with it,
That were made for it
by all of its owners over time.
The way this survives
is very, very rare indeed.
Yes.
For its wealthy owners,
Dressing chigusa brought beauty
To an otherwise
simple stoneware jar.
All of these
objects right here...
Belong to this jar.
Belong to this jar?
This was a netted
silk macramé bag.
The jar fits into this.
Cords are tied around
the neck of the jar...
These are part of a set of cords
that would be used...
When the jar was on display.
This is a little handbook
Of the shapes
of the ornamental knots.
And even more amazing--
All of these accessories
and more
Come in one little box.
What?
The jar fits in the bottom.
All of the other accessories
fit in the top part.
And then this box
goes into that box,
And that box goes into that box.
That's a lot of boxes.
In 2009,
chigusa came up for auction,
And louise knew
she wanted it for the museum.
This seemingly plain jar
with an extraordinary life
Commanded a hefty price.
It was about $600,000.
Wow!
But it's definitely worth it.
Well, we felt so.
The chinese workers
who made chigusa 700 years ago
Would probably be astounded
by its survival story.
It's almost like a...
Like a rare stamp.
Yes.
It wasn't meant
to be like,
It was just a total accident
that that happened,
And now look at it...
Here it is.
700-some odd years later
in the smithsonian.
- Pretty cool.
- Exactly.
I like it, I like it.
Even a tea jar
can show us how so much depends
On the way we look at things.
Let's who can find what's hidden
right in front of them.
I'm going to show you
some pictures, ok?
Ok.
I want to see if you can find
What's hidden in this picture.
No.
Is it...
Right here?
Is this it?
Is this it here?
Keep looking.
This is tricky.
I'll give you a hint.
It's......
- Wow!
- You see it?
I see it.
Alright.
How about this one?
Take a look.
- Here?
- No.
You're not even warm.
No.
It's nothing...I can't--
Look towards the bottom.
No.
Can you find
more than one?
I guessed.
Can you find the frog?
- I think I found it.
- Where is it?
It's either a weird lump,
Or it's a frog.
No, you got it.
That's great.
You're an expert at this.
How'd you get that so quick?
Turns out grace was
a natural history curator
At a museum in new zealand.
Do you wanna
go on an adventure
And see something cool?
- Yeah.
- Yeah? Come with me.
We're taking grace
To discover the surprising
origin of military camouflage.
Hi, grace.
It's nice to meet you.
Do you know who
the father of camouflage is?
No, no,
I have no idea actually.
He's an artist from america
Named abbott handerson thayer,
Who lived during the last part
of the 19th century
Into the 20th century.
Thayer was
a sought-after portrait artist,
Whose paintings
of winged women and children
Captivated the american public.
But his real passion
was nature...
And camouflage.
In fact, I'm curious to know
Whether or not you can
figure out what animal
Is in fact camouflaged
in this painting?
So, I actually thought
it was a parrot at first.
But it's a peacock, right?
Thayer's peacock in the woods
Was his favorite example
Of a theory he called
disruptive coloration.
And so he used this
as his proof of concept to say,
If a peacock can disappear
into the woods,
As brilliantly colored
as it is...
Yeah.
Then all
animals' coloration
Must be in some way protective.
Thayer became obsessed,
Abandoning his lucrative career
as a portrait artist
To devote himself
to studying how camouflage
Helps animals survive
in the wild.
In 1909,
he published his theories
In a controversial
but groundbreaking book.
Thayer got a lot of traction
With the scientific community
at first.
The problem he ran into
Was that he kind of
over-theorized the idea
That all coloration
is protective,
Forgetting for a moment
That sometimes it's a matter
of sexual display
Or predatory, "don't eat me,
I'm poisonous."
Right.
Thayer's harshest critic
Was president
theodore roosevelt,
An avid hunter
and conservationist.
One of the things
that roosevelt thought
Was that thayer
was not very scientific,
And the two of them started
an epic multi-decade battle.
Roosevelt
ridiculed thayer's theories,
Causing thayer's ideas
to be dismissed
By the scientific community.
But as world war I
broke out across europe,
Thayer was convinced
He had important advice
for military leaders.
We've invited timothy o'neill,
An expert
in military camouflage,
To share his insights
on what happened next.
Eleanor; you've never actually
seen thayer's work in person?
I've never seen the originals.
So this is a real pleasure.
It sounded like his ideas
Were a little bit dismissed
at the time.
Well, history
is strange that way.
His first principles--
Countershading, ruption,
mimicry-- are quite valid.
They were exactly right.
He developed them
in a scientific way
By deductive reasoning,
By observing things in nature,
Hypothesizing a reason for them,
And then verifying them.
Since roosevelt
had criticized thayer,
The u.S. Military
was unreceptive to his ideas.
But warfare was changing.
Infantry weapons
became accurate at long range.
Rifles had a higher
rate of fire.
At that point, it was useful
to be able to hide,
And that's when camouflage
started to be important.
Thayer used paintings
And cut-out silhouettes
of soldiers
To prove how
his coloration theories
Could help conceal soldiers
and ships at sea.
The british navy was the first
To adapt thayer's
disruption theory,
Creating what's now called
the dazzle pattern,
Dramatically reducing attacks by
german u-boats in world war I.
By the end of the war,
The u.S. Military
also adopted the pattern.
But thayer never received
the recognition he craved
During his lifetime.
It would take decades
For the military
to finally acknowledge
The revolutionary nature
of his camouflage theories.
So, do you think
thayer's ideas
Are still valid today
for camouflage?
Absolutely.
What we've done
in the time since
Is apply science that thayer
didn't have available
To improve and expand
his basic principles.
Now that grace has
learned about thayer's theories,
We invite her
and her boyfriend alex
To put them to the test.
How are you guys doing?
I'm sergeant cochran.
- Hi, I'm alex.
- I'm grace.
I heard you've been
learning about abbott thayer?
Today we're actually going to go
over the practical exercise
Of camouflage
techniques and patterns
That we employ
in the united states army
And play a little game
of hide and seek
Between the two of you.
Grace is about to learn
the camouflage techniques
Critical to
a military sniper's training
And survival on the battlefield.
What is
the most likely direction
From which the enemy fire
might come?
You're done.
And we have a little bit more
to go with you.
Face and hands.
- Ok.
- Alright.
Striping and blotching
Are the two primary techniques
that we use
In order to conceal ourselves.
So that's
just like thayer's
Disruptive patterning, actually.
That's exactly right.
It's disrupting what your brain
sees to make it blend.
That's actually
really amazing.
Your face actually
looks flatter.
You look like
a 2-d painting now.
The point isn't
to look like anything.
It's to make the brain think
that nothing is there.
So how much higher
are my chances of survival
If I'm wearing this?
We're aiming for concealment.
Concealment allows you to
maneuver without being seen.
Alright, so you're about done.
So you ready to win the greatest
game of hide and seek?
- I am so ready.
- Alright.
And now grace is ready
to be a sniper in the bush.
- How ya doin', alex?
- I'm ready.
So, your girlfriend
is watching you right now.
Ok.
She's somewhere between here
And that tree down the middle.
You have to find her
before you get there.
Ok.
Do you have any advice?
She's a sniper
in the bush now.
Don't get shot.
This is terrifying.
If alex doesn't find grace
Before he gets within 15 feet,
He's a goner.
It was really exciting
Because I could hear him
getting closer and closer,
And then I could see his feet,
And I was like, ok,
I'm so ready to pounce,
I'm so ready to go.
- Gotcha.
- My gosh!
Had alex been an enemy,
Grace would have definitely
survived this encounter.
Man! That's amazing!
Yeah, I'm one
with the forest now.
I legitimately can't believe
How hard it was to find grace.
Like it is one of those things
Where you kind of imagine,
it's gonna be a challenge,
But I did not see her
until she like jumped out at me.
It was incredible.
We would imagine
that abbott thayer,
Who fought to have
his theories accepted,
Would think
it's pretty incredible, too.
Camouflage has helped save lives
by blending in.
For millions of years,
Our next objects have survived
by showing off.
Hey, guys, these flowers are
really beautiful, aren't they?
They're incredible, yeah.
Beautiful, I'm telling you.
Can you guess what fruit
comes from an orchid?
A cashew nut?
There's a fruit
that comes from an orchid?
You wouldn't normally
think of it as a fruit.
Like a tomato,
'cause there's the debate
over tomatoes...
Is it a dragon fruit?
That's not it.
Think of ice cream.
Chocolate?
Chocolate?
You're almost
on the right track.
Vanilla bean.
You got that
right off the bat.
How'd you get that so quick?
I worked for
a beverage company in atlanta.
And that was one of
our main ingredients.
The vanilla orchid
was first cultivated in mexico
1,000 years ago.
Spanish explorers
brought it back to europe,
And by the 1700s,
Vanilla ice cream was quite
the rage in french society.
Today, it's one of the most
popular flavors in the world.
I'm excited about it.
We've invited paul
To visit
the smithsonian greenhouses
Just outside
of washington, d.C.,
To see a vanilla plant up close.
So come and see
The vanilla
I wanted to show you.
Awesome.
Unfortunately,
not blooming today.
But it bloomed like crazy
a couple weeks ago,
And these are the fruits
that we made.
Wow, this is awesome.
I've never seen
the actual vine in person.
I've worked with vanilla beans
for so long
With the previous company
I worked with.
Is the orchid itself,
is it a very large flower?
It's a pretty big flower,
And very lovely.
Unfortunately, it only
lasts a day, each flower,
At least on
this particular species.
As europeans were going
crazy for vanilla in the 1800s,
Many people tried to grow
the orchid outside of mexico.
But they encountered
a huge problem.
These were brought
as cuttings to madagascar,
Planted there,
And there was
no natural pollinator.
They actually have to
hand-pollinate every flower.
Hand-pollinate?
An enslaved child
named edmond albius
Figured out
how to hand-pollinate
The vanilla orchid,
And the vanilla boom took off.
To this day,
they have to climb up on ladders
And hand-pollinate the flower.
Wow.
That is really labor-intensive.
It is,
And that's part of the reason
why they're so expensive.
Very expensive ingredient
In a lot of food processes.
The company
I worked for previously,
A soft drink company,
We got vanilla beans
shipped in from madagascar.
And one small box,
About, I'd say,
24 inches by 12 inches high,
Was $30,000.
- $30,000?
- Yes.
Wow, I had no idea.
Orchids are the largest
And most diverse family
of flowering plants.
The smithsonian has
more than 8,000 specimens
In its collection.
I feel like
I'm on a jungle walk.
I know. I tell ya.
Yeah, some of the plants
get really overgrown.
Look at this.
This is awesome.
In case you're wondering,
that bad smell...
That's bad.
That is really rank.
We're in the middle
of bulbophyllum season.
Just like
the famous corpse plant,
They're trying to attract
carrion flies,
So they smell like rotting meat.
So much better.
Part of the whole m.O.
Of orchids
Is to engage
in mimicry and deception.
And what we're looking at here,
You know, these flowers
are really spidery, right?
The female wasps see
these flowers from a distance,
And they think,
I can lay my eggs
On one of those spiders
over there.
They come to the flower,
Realize that it's
actually not a spider,
But in the meantime,
As they've been wandering
around on the flower,
They end up taking
the pollen with them.
Charles darwin was fascinated
With the variety and
adaptability of orchids.
He viewed them
as the ultimate survivors.
But today,
The fate of many
orchid species is at stake.
This is a barkeria.
It's a pretty rare plant
from mexico.
One of its relatives grows in
just one small field in mexico.
Wow.
And all it would take
Is some jerk going around
on a four-wheel drive
Having a joy ride
To take out
the entire population,
And these things are not
all of that well protected.
What else
kind of contributes
To the danger
to some of these orchids?
Well, there's
lots of dangers.
A real problem
throughout most of the world
Is deforestation.
Right.
Because most of the orchids
growing in trees
Need forest habitat,
And they need wild places,
And they need
natural pollinators,
So when humans come in
and deforest the land,
Their habitat is gone.
Climate change
is another problem.
Probably
the biggest risk of all
Because these orchids are stuck.
You know, plants in general
are stuck where they are.
They can't get up
and move.
An animal can't migrate.
Right.
Today, more than half
of the orchid species
In north america are endangered.
Smithsonian researchers
Are helping to lead
conservation efforts
Across the continent.
And with many rare plants
in their greenhouses,
They needed a survival plan
close to home, too.
We've identified 400 plants
That we feel are critical
to our collection--
10 percent of those
that are like super-critical.
The rarest ones?
The rarest
and the most valuable,
The most educational.
That's really our main purpose
at the smithsonian,
Is the diffusion of knowledge.
Beautiful. Really.
And with their ongoing efforts,
The smithsonian is committed
to the survival
Of one of the world's oldest and
most important plant families.
Tom, I just want
to thank you so much
For allowing me to come here
And see all these
beautiful orchids.
I've never seen so many
in one place.
And, x, thank you
for bringing me.
So much, thank you.
It's a pleasure
to share them,
And we're very, very happy
to have you.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Those reflectors
are an amazing idea
To safeguard the orchids.
Our next object
Is another super simple
but super smart idea
To help defeat
a dangerous enemy.
Let's see who knows
their world war ii history.
I want to ask you guys
a question
About this japanese zero.
Do you know,
during world war ii,
How many planes on average
Would the japanese zero
shoot down
Before it was destroyed?
I'd take a guess at 4.
They were much superior
than the american planes.
Any other ideas?
No clue.
Um...
Begin...I guess 5.
I'd say probably, 3.
But you're both too low.
Take a wild guess of...12.
Why do you say 12?
I know they shot down
a lot of american planes.
They did shoot down
a lot of american planes.
As a matter of fact,
The kill ratio
was about 12 to 1.
- Holy cow.
- 12 to 1. You got it.
What's your name, man?
Jeff.
Turns out,
Jeff built a lot of
model world war ii planes
As a kid growing up
in providence, rhode island.
So I send him
to meet curator tom crouch...
Welcome!
Who has an unusual
world war ii object in storage.
This is the paul garber
Preservation, storage,
and restoration facility.
And it's where we store
a lot of the objects
That the public sees
in the museum.
Is this a rocket engine?
Yep, a rocket engine.
And there's a centrifugal flow
jet engine back there.
Jeff, can you give me
a hand with this?
Now, can you guess what this is?
Is this a zero?
Right.
The mitsubishi a6m zero.
You can see
the big meatballs on the wings
That identify it.
Named for the last digit
In the imperial year
that it was built--2600--
The japanese zero
Is the deadliest fighter plane
to come off an assembly line.
It flew an impressive
350 miles an hour
At 20,000 feet,
And with an extra fuel tank,
Traveled further
than any other fighter plane.
But what truly
terrorized the allies
Was its maneuverability.
American and allied
fighter planes and gunners
Couldn't zero in on the zero.
In an April 1942 battle
With well-trained english pilots
over sri lanka,
36 zeroes took on
60 british aircraft
And shot down 27 of them,
With the loss
of just a single zero.
So, how was
this kite used?
Well, the navy
had a terrible problem
Training their
anti-aircraft gunners to shoot
At these maneuverable airplanes
dancing around the sky.
Then an extraordinary man
came up with the notion
Of doing a kite
that would be maneuverable
So that somebody could
dance it around the sky
While the gunners
practice shooting at it.
That extraordinary man
was paul e. Garber,
A lifelong model-builder
and kite-maker
Who served as a navy commander
in world war ii.
Paul believed
he could build a kite
To help defeat
the deadly japanese zero.
He just had to prove it.
How did he convince
the navy into this program?
When he first came
to an admiral with the idea,
The admiral's reaction was,
you want me to talk about kites?
There's a war on,
for heaven's sakes!
But paul got them to the roof of
the navy building on the mall,
And he took
one of these early kites
And wrote the admiral's
first name in the sky--
The kite was that maneuverable--
And that was enough
to win the navy's approval
To begin
the target kite project.
Paul patented his design
And launched
a navy training program
That took kite flying
to new heights.
Navy target kites
are designed to serve
As maneuverable aerial targets
for gunnery training,
Especially from ships.
The 5-foot kites
were soon deployed
On navy ships around the world.
So, how does this work?
So, the person
on the ground is doing
Is controlling this bar,
And that controls this,
The rudder down here.
And the rudder
is what makes it possible
To maneuver the kite.
Navy seamen trained
to fly target kites.
We thought jeff
would enjoy a chance
To try his hand
at kite flying, too.
- Hi, jeff.
- Nice to meet you
I'm rick.
So how does this work?
How do you control this thing?
This is a dual line kite.
These lines are completely even,
And if you pull on them evenly,
This kite's going to lift
straight up.
If I pull on one of these
a little more than the other,
It's gonna want to turn.
So at this point,
All we need is some wind,
pressure in the sail.
That kite is gonna go straight.
World war ii target kites
Are larger than ours
And use a heavy reel strapped to
a shoulder harness for support.
The assistant looks
around the side of the kite
To get the word from
the operator for the takeoff.
The kite quickly rises
to its zenith
And is let out to a range
of about 250 yards.
There, an experienced operator
Rotates and turns,
Directing the kite
to perform aerial acrobatics
As the ship's gunners
take in target practice.
Rick shows us some of those
same acrobatics with his kite.
Now, see I'm going to
pull that one line.
And I'm not gonna release it,
I'm just gonna keep pulling it.
And it's going to keep turning
the same direction.
I'm watching him,
and he's got so much skill
And having so much fun.
I wanted to be a part of that.
- Your turn.
- My turn.
Jeff.
Aaah...With the wind.
Here it goes.
We're enjoying the challenge,
But 70 years ago,
Navy crewmen knew this was
a life and death skill.
With practice,
An operator could perform
the same types of moves
That rick has perfected.
And that gave the gunners
a chance to test their skills
To see who could shoot
more holes in the kite.
So, what was the result
of this program?
Did the gunner accuracy improve?
It did improve.
And mr. Garber
loved to tell the story
About the time in the pacific
When a ship's crew was doing
Anti-aircraft practice
on a kite
At the very moment
when the japanese
Appeared to attack the ship.
All the officer in charge
had to do
Was say, "shift aim from
the kites to the planes,"
And they were all set to go
right into action.
Shooting down
the japanese zero
And saving the ship.
Paul garber's kites end up
in the air and space museum.
And garber lands here as well,
As its first curator.
Not bad.
You're already getting it.
Jeff, it turns out,
Finally masters
a dual line kite.
When the wind was right,
it felt great.
I could feel the wind,
And there was almost
a zen quality to it.
It must have been great training
for the gunners
And an important contribution
to the war effort
By paul garber.
Who would have thought
that kites could help win a war?
Our next visitor is about
to have a special encounter
With an animal
that is fighting to survive.
We've invited beth
To join smithsonian biologist
adrienne crosier
For a trip to meet some
very special newcomers.
Animal programs,
Adrienne to cheetahs.
We are coming through the gate.
You have cheetahs
in virginia?
We have actually quite
a few cheetahs in virginia.
At the smithsonian
conservation biology institute
Outside washington, d.C.,
Scientists study and breed
More than 20 species
of endangered animals.
Just to give you an update
On what's going on
with our cheetahs,
At the end of March,
We actually had
two litters born.
Within five days of each other.
The new cubs
are an important addition
To a declining population.
Those cats
are a genetic resource
To help support
the cats in the wild.
A hundred years ago,
There were more than
100,000 cheetahs
Throughout the world.
The population has declined
more than 90% since then,
And scientists are concerned
That cheetahs are racing
towards extinction.
The biggest challenge
for cheetahs in the wild
Is the loss of habitat.
But human development
isn't the only threat.
Cheetahs are
genetically similar,
Which makes them
highly susceptible
To numerous diseases
and health challenges.
Cheetahs, as a species,
They all have equally bad
semen and sperm quality,
Which resulted from them
almost going extinct
During the last ice age.
What?
The population got down to...
Ok.
They think
maybe 20 individuals.
My gosh!
It was the same time period
When a lot of other species
did go extinct.
The cheetahs survived.
There's very few of them,
So they had a very reduced
genetic base at that point
To rebound from.
Adrienne manages
The north american
species survival plan
For cheetahs.
We follow a stud book
Which goes back
many, many decades.
We make very careful
genetic matches
Based on family lines
and who's related to who,
And then we try to follow
those genetic matches,
But a lot of that also has to do
with the cheetah behavior.
Cheetah females
are finicky breeders.
They may reject the most
genetically desirable male.
On top of that,
Their biology is irregular,
Making it challenging
for scientists to know
When they are ready to breed.
Given the challenges,
The size of these
most recent litters
Was unexpected.
So far, everything seems
to be going great.
So, how do you feel
about doing some food prep
For our cheetahs?
I'd love to.
Great!
Keepers feed
the cheetahs twice a day.
So, here's a pair
of gloves for you.
This meal is for hope
and her 8-week-old cubs.
So, this is the meat
that's thawed
And ready to use for today.
Great.
How are you with handling meat?
Are you comfortable with that?
I'm a...A vegan.
Goodness. Ok.
Yeah, so this is
a little different for you.
It's been a long time,
But, um,
as long as the cats need it,
I'm here for them.
Well, the cats
are strict carnivores.
No veggie wraps?
Strict requirements.
No, no veggie wraps for them.
No hummus on pita.
And we're going to weigh out
a bowl for hope and her cubs.
Now, she gets 2660
Because she has those five cubs
That are starting
to eat meat now.
My god, that's a lot.
And how is this different from
like what they eat in the wild?
Cheetahs will only eat something
That's freshly killed.
Alright, let's go and see
If hope will bring her cubs up
to eat today.
I hope she does.
Can't wait to meet them.
Come on in.
And we're going to go...
Yeah, right over here.
So, this handle
Will open the gate
in the back of that yard.
Ok.
So, I'm going to call mom
And try to get her to come up
and bring the cub.
Come on, hope!
Come on, hope!
Hope eventually comes up to eat,
But leaves her cubs behind.
In the wild,
females will leave their cubs
For up to 48 hours to hunt.
At six months, they teach
their cubs the art of the kill.
But here in human care,
there's no live prey.
These cubs would never
survive in the wild.
You see 'em?
Hopefully they are
right here in the grass.
After hope finishes eating,
Adrienne and beth track her
back to her cubs.
Hello!
My gosh, they're so cute.
I see them running up
and jumping on their mom.
Aw, they're very curious.
Were they natural born?
Yes, so this was
a natural breeding.
This is the first litter
for this mother.
Her cubs are all
growing really well.
You can see they're all
really curious and interested.
So, how are
these cubs important
To the survival of the species?
So, every cub that we produce
In our population in human care
Are what we call
insurance population.
We have a very good
gene diversity,
We have very good demography,
So we have lots of males
and females of various ages.
We just need to be better
About reproducing the animals
that we have.
Before this
breeding program began,
Only two litters of cheetah cubs
had ever been born at the zoo.
Every new cub adds diversity
into the human care population,
And that makes the species
stronger for the future.
I can't believe that
the population was down to 20,
But we know it's possible
to go from this small, back up.
It's definitely possible.
The cheetah was a robust
population of a hundred thousand
Not that long ago,
So I'm very hopeful
we can get the species
Back to that
in the near future.
It was so wonderful
to meet adrienne,
Who is doing such great work.
But honestly, seeing those
little baby cubs and their mom,
And playing and kind of acting
sort of like my cat acts...
Just made me now wish I could
just take one home.
But obviously I can't.
It was wonderful.
It was such a great experience.
It's inspiring to know
That the future of the cheetahs
is looking good.
We love stories of survivors
Because they teach us
to be resilient...
Observant,
And ingenious.
The stories
these amazing objects tell
Remind us that
when we take the best ideas
And work together,
It seems like anything
can be possible.