Strangest Things (2021–2022): Season 2, Episode 10 - The Assassination Sphere - full transcript
NARRATOR: Can a sphere the size
of a pinhead be a murder weapon?
This weird tiny sphere
was found embedded
in the body of a dead man.
NARRATOR: Does this Medieval
machine predict the future?
It is said to have belonged
to a man that allegedly
predicted 9/11 or the rise of
Hitler centuries
before they happened.
NARRATOR:
And did this high-tech bird cage
really save the lives
of thousands?
It actually became illegal
to not use these birds.
NARRATOR:
These are the most remarkable
and mysterious objects on Earth,
hidden away in museums,
laboratories,
and storage rooms.
Now, new research
and technology can
get under their skin like
never before.
We can rebuild them,
pull them apart,
and zoom in
to reveal the unbelievable,
the ancient,
and the truly bizarre.
These are the world's
strangest things.
In London's Crime Museum
is a minute metal sphere,
just 7/100ths of an inch across.
AUERBACH:
This object is minuscule.
It's smaller
than the head of a pin.
But it's capable of
killing someone.
NARRATOR: It is the only
hard evidence of a crime
that has confounded police for
almost half a century.
Now, using
the latest technology,
we're bringing
this mysterious object to life.
This weird, tiny sphere
was found embedded
in the body of a dead man.
The sphere, at first glance,
looks really innocent,
but the devil is in
the details.
NARRATOR:
The sphere is made from two of
the rarest, most valuable
metals in the world.
It's covered in
tiny scratches,
but there are also these holes
that run through it.
NARRATOR: The holes
are just four times
the width of a human hair.
BENECKE: The two holes
meet in the middle,
so they form
a cross-shaped pattern.
What was inside?
NARRATOR: What are
the microscopic holes for?
Who made this
strange sphere?
And how does it become
the center of one
of the most bizarre true crime
stories of our time?
London, September 8th, 1978,
11 p.m.
49-year-old
Bulgarian playwright,
Georgi Markov is rushed
into St. James Hospital.
Markov is
really in a terrible state.
He's been complaining
of pain, nausea.
He's been vomiting,
he's got a really high fever.
He's had dizziness, and he's in
an awful lot of pain.
His white blood cell count
is sky high,
and it's just not making
any sense.
And on September 11th,
Markov suffers a cardiac arrest.
At 10:40 a.m.,
he's pronounced dead.
MARKS: The doctors give
the cause of death a septicemia,
which is blood poisoning
caused by bacteria
getting into the blood.
AUERBACH: That's really just
the doctor's best guess.
They are stumped.
They don't know what could
cause what was, at the time,
a perfectly healthy man to
decline so rapidly
and so dramatically.
NARRATOR: Before he dies,
Markov tells doctors that
he thinks he's the victim of
a hit.
Markov had defected
from Bulgaria
a decade earlier and
subsequently moved to England.
NARRATOR:
In Bulgaria,
he'd been an acclaimed
playwright and satirist.
But since moving to the U.K.,
he'd become one of
the Soviet-backed regime's
most prominent critics.
The ruler of Bulgaria,
Zhivkov, is a dictator.
This is not a man who's going
to tolerate contradiction,
dissent, or criticism.
NARRATOR: A potential
assassination gets
the British police's attention.
Scotland yard orders
an autopsy of Markov's body,
because they know
he's a Bulgarian defector,
and the circumstance of
his death are suspicious.
When they complete
their investigation,
they do find a tiny pinprick,
as if he had been injected
with something.
NARRATOR: They excise
the wound site and send it
to the U.K.'s top secret
biochemical weapons
research center,
Porton Down.
MARKS:
The team at Porton Down
slice through the flesh with
a scalpel, and it hits a tiny
metal sphere, which is only
7/100ths of an inch across.
NARRATOR:
This is that minute sphere,
magnified almost 1,000 times.
Could something so tiny really
be connected to Markov's death?
SELLA: We know that
there are all kinds of
poisonous metals out there,
whether it's mercury
or thallium, you know,
there's a whole series
of things in the periodic table
which are unquestionably bad
for you.
NARRATOR: So, is Markov
killed by toxic metal?
SELLA: The analysis
of this little sphere showed
that it consisted 90 percent
of platinum
and 10 percent of iridium,
and those two metals are in
a group in the periodic table,
which are referred to as
the noble metals.
These metals
are incredibly
chemically
and also biologically inert.
There's no way that the sphere
itself, on its own,
can explain the strange
death of Georgi Markov.
NARRATOR:
So what does kill Markov?
Two weeks after
the attack on Markov,
The British police receive
a call from the French
capital, Paris.
It turns out
that on August 26th,
2 weeks before
the Markov incident,
another Bulgarian defector,
a chap named Vladimir Kostov,
reports that, as he was exiting
a Paris metro station,
he felt
a stinging sensation in
his back.
NARRATOR: Kostov falls ill
with almost
exactly the same symptoms
as Markov.
But unlike Markov,
he survives.
AUERBACH: When doctors
investigate further,
they find something
very familiar --
a tiny pinprick in his back,
and in that pinprick,
a minuscule metal sphere.
On Tuesday, a metal object was
removed from the back of
Mr. Kostov, and our scientists
have now examined this,
and we're quite satisfied
it's identical in size
and composition.
NARRATOR:
Police are now convinced
the metal sphere kills Markoff.
So, it can only be
something contained within
the microscopic holes.
Whatever the substance was,
It was only a fifth
of a thousandth of a gram,
and that was enough
to kill a grown man.
BENECKE: Most of the chemical
agents known, for example,
cyanide or arsenic, need much
higher amounts of the chemical
compared to what
was seen in Markov.
So synthetic toxins could be
crossed off the list.
NARRATOR: There is just one
class of toxin that might fit.
The toxic substances that
are left are now biological
substances, for example,
those that you could extract
out of spiders, snakes,
plants or any other
biological living being.
NARRATOR:
And one biotoxin in particular
stands out from the rest.
BENECKE:
Inside of the holes
was a poison, which is very,
very dangerous and quite lethal.
NARRATOR:
And there is no antidote.
NARRATOR: British scientists
have finally identified
the poison concealed
inside the sphere
that kills Georgi Markov...
...ricin.
Ricin is really easy to get,
because it comes out of
castor oil beans,
and the oil itself is
not dangerous,
but the waste that remains
in huge amounts
contains the highly
toxic substance ricin.
NARRATOR: When ricin enters
the bloodstream,
it blocks cells from producing
essential proteins.
The reaction in the body is
rapid and extremely dangerous.
Ricin causes vomiting, a very
high white blood cell count,
fever, sweating,
abdominal pain.
This is all very typical for
poisoning, and since Markoff
had exactly those symptoms,
this is a clear sign that
he was poisoned with ricin.
NARRATOR: So why doesn't
Kostov die in Paris?
The French sphere turns out
to be identical
to the Markov sphere in all
respects except one.
The holes are not empty.
They contain tiny amounts of
a substance --
not poison, but something
quite innocuous...
wax.
NARRATOR: Investigators believe
the wax acts as a plug.
So the sphere itself is simply
the delivery mechanism for
this poison.
The poison is tucked away
inside, capped with wax.
NARRATOR: Until the sphere
enters the body.
SELLA: At that point,
it warms up
and releases the goods.
NARRATOR: Scientists suspect
that Kostov's survival
is dumb luck.
The sphere enters
part of his back
where there are fewer large
blood vessels.
So by the time the wax melts
and the poison starts to
circulate, his body
has begun to protect itself.
In Kostov's case, there was
blood clotting taking place,
and this prevented poison from
getting out of
the little sphere.
NARRATOR:
Markov is killed by a speck
of ricin contained
in this microscopic sphere.
But the truly
bizarre story is how
it gets into Markov in
the first place.
Before Markov dies, he tells
hospital staff a strange tale
that sounds like something out
of a John le Carre novel.
On the afternoon of
September 7th,
Markoff was on his way
to work at the BBC.
He crosses Waterloo Bridge,
and as he's waiting
at a bus station,
he feels a sharp jab in
his thigh.
He hears someone say,
"I'm sorry,"
looks around, and sees
a man he doesn't recognize
pick up an umbrella and step
into a cab and speed off.
Only hours later,
he starts to feel all
these terrible symptoms.
NARRATOR:
Is the umbrella a weapon?
There's no way to know, because
the umbrella and the suspect
have disappeared.
Within a year
of Markov's death,
the police case has stalled.
It is 10 more years
before they catch a break.
[indistinct shouting]
AUERBACH:
On the 10th of November 1989,
one day after the fall
of the Berlin Wall,
Zhivkov is ousted as
the dictator of Bulgaria,
communism there falls, and
the secrets start to tumble out.
Investigators exploring
the Communist Interior Ministry
make a startling discovery --
they stumble upon a stack of
these umbrellas modified
to fire tiny metal pellets.
NARRATOR: Now, investigators
know the umbrella gun is
real, and they understand
exactly how it works.
MARKS: This device looked like
any normal umbrella.
When you pushed the button
to open the umbrella,
it acted as a firing trigger,
and this released a gas stored
in the cylinder
in the stem of the umbrella.
The gas propels
the sphere with
enough force to pierce
through the flesh.
NARRATOR: The police now know
precisely how Markoff died.
The one thing they don't know
is who pulled the trigger.
There's a lot of people
who come under
suspicion as possibly being
the man with the umbrella.
NARRATOR:
Among them is a man thought to
be associated with
the Bulgarian government,
Francesco Gullino.
He's known to have made
several trips to London,
including one right around
the time of
Markov's assassination.
And it's also known that
he left for Rome the day after.
Evidence puts him at the right
place and the right time.
And Gullino is questioned by
the international police
in 1993.
NARRATOR: But the evidence is
circumstantial at best.
Gullino dies in August 2021.
Nobody has ever charged
with Markov's murder.
Even now, more than 40 years
after Markov's death,
the only solid evidence
we have of his assassination is
this strange metal sphere no
bigger than the head of a pin.
Whoever was ultimately
responsible for this attack,
one thing is certainly true --
sometimes, very,
very bad things come in very,
very small packages.
NARRATOR: At Oxford
University's History of
Science Museum is
an extraordinary device.
This elegant,
intricate contraption is
hundreds of years old,
and it straddles the borderlands
between science
and superstition.
We are still
trying to understand
how exactly they work.
NARRATOR: Now, using
the latest technology,
we are going to open up this
incredible instrument, layer by
layer, to uncover
its hidden secrets.
It measures nearly
8 inches across.
Intricately etched
plates and dials cover
both faces, and it changed
the way we look at the universe.
It can predict everything that
is going on in the heavens.
NARRATOR: But it was intended
for more than astronomy.
This one in particular has
a series of markings
and inscriptions
that indicate
that it was also
used in connection to medicine.
NARRATOR: But what makes
this device truly
special is the identity of
its owner,
[speaking German]
someone who is claimed to
have prophesied
world-changing events.
It is said to have belonged to
a man that allegedly
predicted 9/11 or the rise of
Hitler centuries before
they happen.
And this man was Nostradamus.
NARRATOR:
Experts believe this could be
the device Nostradamus used to
make his infamous
predictions.
Essentially,
it is a kind of
way of predicting what
the future is going to bring.
NARRATOR: What is
this extraordinary machine?
Is it really
a medical device?
Who is Nostradamus?
And can he really use this
to predict the future?
This beautiful device
is an astrolabe.
BALL: The face of
the astrolabe is a kind of
two-dimensional map of
the night sky.
Overhead,
there is this dome
of the night sky,
and it's projected
onto this flat sort of
two-dimensional system in
much the same way that
the surface of the Earth is
projected onto a flat surface
in an ordinary map.
ESCOLANO-POVEDA:
The name comes from the Greek,
so astrolabe means
the taker of the stars,
and it's a very nice image,
because you are
able to encompass the whole of
the universe with this tool
you can hold in your hands.
BALL: An astrolabe has various
moving parts that allows one to
predict the altitude of
a particular star above
the horizon at a particular time
and place of the year.
So it's really a device for
making sense of the night sky.
NARRATOR: But it's so much
more than that.
ESCOLANO-POVEDA: It could be
used to measure distances,
to calculate
the heights of buildings.
It could be used
to forecast tides.
ESCOLANO-POVEDA:
There were special astrolabes
that were used
for navigation.
One 10th century philosopher
suggested that there
were a thousand uses
for the astrolabe.
NARRATOR: This is one of
the most stunning in existence,
because it's not just
an astrolabe.
BALL: It's really
two devices in one.
NARRATOR: One face is
the star predicting astrolabe,
while the device on the opposite
face is for the planets.
BALL: This is called
an equatorium.
The planets are harder to
follow, because unlike
the stars,
they're moving much more.
That's, in fact,
what planet means.
It means wanderer.
These were --
seemed to be star-like objects
that wandered
around the sky.
It extends both into the past
and into the future.
So you can predict
really at any time in
the future where the planets
are going to be.
You can also project back into
the past to predict
where they were.
So really, this device gives
you, in one package, a way of
understanding and predicting
the movements of the entirety
of what you could see in
the night sky.
NARRATOR: An astrolabe
and an equatorium
in a single device
is virtually unheard of.
ESCOLANO-POVEDA:
That's really rare.
We only have three
that have come down to us,
and we are still
trying to understand
how exactly they work.
NARRATOR:
But one thing is clear --
this is
a high-precision instrument.
ESCOLANO-POVEDA This astrolabe
is not only really beautiful
and really breathtaking to look
at, but it's also very precise.
Very complex calculations go
into making all these scales,
all these different parts.
NARRATOR: But did this rare
and specialized piece
of equipment really belong to
the infamous Nostradamus?
We have very strong clues to
the identity of
the astrolabe's owner.
Records show the astrolabe
belonged to
a rich French family called
the d'Hautevilles,
and they had
a very famous neighbor.
ESCOLANO-POVEDA:
Nostradamus,
or Michel de Nostredame,
lived very close
to the d'Hauteville family for
the last 19 years of his life.
NARRATOR: Living in the same
small French town,
it's inevitable
these prominent citizens
would have known
each other well,
and when Nostradamus died,
it's thought the d'Hauteville
family may have acquired his
astrolabe.
They were certainly one of
the few families in the region
wealthy enough to have
bought it.
Another clue is inscribed
on the astrolabe itself.
ESCOLANO-POVEDA: We have
this inscription, iniciv morbi,
which means the onset of
sickness,
which would be used to
calculate the beginning
of fevers.
Fevers normally happen at
particular points
throughout the year,
and this would need to
be calculated.
NARRATOR: This rare inscription
regarding illness is
significant, because
Nostradamus is a doctor.
Nostradamus was a physician,
and he also had the economic
power at the end of his life
to acquire such a complex
and expensive instrument.
So if we put all
the pieces together,
there are many chances that
these astrolabe could have
actually belonged to
Nostradamus.
NARRATOR: But why does
a famous doctor need
a device that reads the stars
and planets?
In the Middle Ages,
astronomy and astrology are
an integral part of medicine.
There was a belief at that
time that there was
a correspondence between what
was happening in the heavens
and what was happening on Earth
and in the body.
Each one of the Zodiacal
constellations had particular
characteristics
that would transfer
those characteristics
to that part of the body.
So Aries got the head, Gemini
got the shoulders, and poor
Scorpio ended up with
the genitals.
NARRATOR: The Zodiac
constellations also
take the blame
for specific illnesses.
Pisces, Cancer,
and Capricorn
cause diseases involving
sores, scales, and fistulas.
While Sagittarius and Gemini
are responsible
for falling fits
or epileptic seizures.
NARRATOR: And planets have
their own unique role in
medieval medicine.
STEELE: Planets were in charge
of really rather
random collections of parts of
the human body.
For example, Saturn controls
the right ear and the spleen,
while Jupiter controls
the lungs and arteries, and
poor Mercury gets speech,
thought, and the buttocks.
NARRATOR:
So the astrolabe is a vital
diagnostic tool for a doctor
like Nostradamus.
ESCOLANO-POVEDA: Nostradamus
would use the astrolabe in order
to calculate the horoscope of
this person
and see where the sun,
the moon,
the planets, and the stars
were at the birth of
this particular person.
Secondly, the time
they got ill, as its
Zodiac characteristics
had to be assessed.
And thirdly, a decision would
need to be made about the best
day to try bleeding, bathing,
sweating, and so on based on
the locations and phases of
the moon in the Zodiac --
another job for
the equatorium.
NARRATOR: Nostradamus then
looks to the astrological sign
that rules over
the diagnosed disease.
STEELE: So Nostradamus
would have known that if
the problem was with the spine,
then the orbit
of the sun would have been
important, while if it was
the liver, then Jupiter
needed to be tracked,
all of which could be done
with his equatorium.
NARRATOR: All this seems a long
way from supposedly predicting
the rise of Hitler and
the assassination of JFK.
So what transforms Nostradamus
from a medic into a prophet?
And what does this strange
device have to do with it?
NARRATOR: In the 16th century,
Nostradamus works as
a physician, using
the astrolabe to treat patients.
But it's a bad time to
be a doctor.
STEELE: The continent
was ravaged by plague,
which was an incredibly
deadly disease.
And nobody knew
what caused it.
It seemed to strike without
apparent rhyme or reason.
NARRATOR: When Nostradamus's
wife and children are killed by
the plague, he begins to move
from medicine towards
the occult and his
infamous prophecies.
Nostradamus tried to find
a way of predicting what was
going to happen
so that he could
be ready for another
plague or another disaster.
NARRATOR:
He spends hours meditating.
He has hallucinations
or visions.
These inspire his prophecies,
which he then
refines with the predictions
of the astrolabe.
This ability to be able to say
at such and such a time
on such and such a day,
this planet will be here
and this star will be here,
this would have looked like
an astonishing,
almost a magical capability.
NARRATOR: The result is
his 10-volume
compendium of prophecies
called the Centuries.
But to avoid problems with
the powerful Catholic church,
Nostradamus deliberately
obscures his prophetic writing.
What he did was use
metaphorical language and also
words in different languages --
Latin, Greek -- in order to
predict the future,
but also to do it in,
like, a veiled way.
One example says,
"The great man
will be struck by
a thunderbolt,"
and this has been associated
with the murder of JFK.
But of course,
this is a very broad statement.
A great man could be any kind of
ruler, and a thunderbolt
could be a gunshot,
but it could also be a real
thunderbolt or any other kind
of violent event.
NARRATOR: Nostradamus is also
supposed to
have predicted
the rise of Hitler.
ESCOLANO-POVEDA:
One of these lines
says that
in the west of Europe,
a child born of poor parents
will rise,
but many people were born
from poor families
and then have obtained powers.
So the problem of using this
veiled language to present these
predictions is that you can
basically make them work
for everything.
NARRATOR:
But there is one prediction
Nostradamus doesn't obscure.
ESCOLANO-POVEDA: In the evening
prior to his death
in July 1st, 1566,
he said to his secretary that
he wouldn't be found alive in
the next morning, and then he
died the next day.
But of course, if you're going
to die during the night,
you probably
don't feel very well
in the evening of that day.
NARRATOR:
Debate over the accuracy of
Nostradamus's predictions
will run and run.
One thing we do know --
Nostradamus claims all
his prophecies are based
on astrological calculations
that he may have
made with this
astonishing astrolabe.
In a cabinet
at the Science Museum
in London sits
a very odd device.
It's such
a strange-looking contraption.
Does it do good
or does it do bad?
NARRATOR: It helped save
thousands of lives
all over the world.
This strange thing
was found in some
of the deepest, darkest holes
in the world.
And it proved to be
an incredibly
simple solution to
an industrial-sized problem.
NARRATOR: Now, using
the latest technology,
we are bringing this amazing
machine out of the darkness
and into the light.
Measuring around 10 inches tall
and 4 inches wide, this...
is the canary resuscitator.
This simple metal-framed
glass box changes the world.
It actually became illegal
to not use these birds.
NARRATOR: So what is
this strange device?
What inspires its creation?
How does it save
people's lives,
and why is there
a tiny bird inside?
In fact,
that tiny bird is crucial
to how this machine works.
MARKS: Essentially,
what you've got here is
the world's most
high-tech bird cage.
It's not so bad for the bird --
from inside it can see out,
it's got windows.
But the key thing about it is
that it's supposed to keep
the bird alive in a place
where the atmosphere
should kill it.
NARRATOR: 110 years ago,
the construction of this bird
cage is
cutting edge technology.
SOMARA: It's a very
engineering-focused device.
There are screws,
there are panes of glass,
and once the bird
is in the device,
it can't get out -- there's
a perforated metal grill.
NARRATOR: The perforated grill
inside the hinged
porthole is key to
its purpose.
SOMARA: So once
the porthole door is opened,
the surrounding air
rushes into that device.
The bird breathes in that air --
if there's something dangerous
in the air,
the bird will pass out,
and that's when you know
there's something wrong.
NARRATOR: The bird
can be saved by shutting
the airtight porthole,
isolating it from
the dangerous atmosphere.
And that's where the tank
on top comes in.
There's a thin metal pipe that
feeds oxygen into the space.
It's airtight,
and it's responsible
for resuscitating the bird.
It's almost like
a tiny space capsule
keeping that bird alive.
NARRATOR: It seems like
an awful lot of
trouble to go to
for a small bird.
In reality, this strange
contraption is a game changer.
But what is a canary doing
inside it in the first place?
NARRATOR: This bizarre
life-saving bird box plays
a vital role in the rise of
the modern world.
At the end of
the 19th century,
heavy industries are
sweeping all before them.
MARKS:
The world is powered by steam,
and steam, in turn,
is powered by coal.
So coal is really fundamental
to this new way of life.
NARRATOR: But the more coal
the world demands,
the more hazardous
coal mines become.
MARKS: It was a really
dangerous place to work.
You were at the mercy of
cave-ins.
There was big machinery,
they were using dynamite,
there were potentially floods.
NARRATOR: But the most feared
ways of dying are invisible.
The gases.
All of the toxic gases
are called damps,
based after the German word
dampf, meaning vapor.
There was almost
a superstitious fear with
the damps,
because different damps
killed people in different
and sinister ways.
NARRATOR: Fire damp,
the term used for
trapped flammable gasses,
is the most violent
SOMARA:
Fire damp is methane,
and you can imagine,
these coal miners
were walking around
with candle lamps.
Any naked flame would
just ignite that methane.
NARRATOR: White damp
is a more subtle
but equally deadly killer.
White damp is mostly
made up of carbon monoxide.
It's odorless,
colorless, tasteless,
and lethal.
STEELE: Every time
you're exposed to it,
a bit more of that
carbon monoxide
binds to your hemoglobin,
slowly occupying more and more
of the slots that are necessary
to carry oxygen
around your body.
And if enough of
those slots get filled,
you can die within minutes.
It's one of the most
dangerous gases in mining,
and one of the most
difficult to detect.
NARRATOR: In 1896,
57 men and 80 pit ponies
die in a single
incident in Wales.
Oxford physiologist
John Haldane is brought in
to investigate.
The bodies show
no signs of fatal injuries,
but they do have a familiar
pink tinge.
This pink tinge
to the skin is one
of the telltale signs of
carbon monoxide poisoning.
This demonstrated that
it was the white damp,
this silent killer
that had killed these men.
NARRATOR: Haldane
sets out to find a way
to detect carbon monoxide,
which is where
the canaries come in.
But why canaries?
In the late 19th century,
there's no machine capable of
detecting carbon monoxide.
But what about an animal?
Physiologist John Haldane
locks himself away in his lab,
searching for answers.
He studies mice and quickly
discovers they are up
to 20 times more sensitive to
carbon monoxide than humans.
Unfortunately,
there's a problem with mice.
And that problem is
they sleep a lot.
And that means if you see
a mouse that's not moving
in its little cage,
how do you know
whether it's suffering from
carbon monoxide poisoning
or just taking a nap?
NARRATOR: Birds turn out
to be much more promising.
They sit on their perch, and if
a bird falls off of its perch,
you know it's not sleeping,
but it's been overcome.
NARRATOR: And Haldane
discovers birds are even
more sensitive to
carbon monoxide than mice.
They've got a very advanced
respiratory system,
because birds have
an incredibly fast metabolism
for one simple reason --
they fly.
And flying expends an absolutely
huge amount of energy
per unit weight,
which means they have to
inhale huge amounts of oxygen
to power
all those chemical reactions
that allow them
to stay in the air.
That means they breathe a huge
amount more air per unit volume
than a human does,
and are therefore much more
susceptible to tiny
concentrations of
airborne toxins.
NARRATOR: There are literally
thousands of bird species.
So what is so special
about canaries?
Canaries sing,
particularly the male birds
are singing
almost constantly.
And let's face it,
when you're a miner,
you don't have a lot of time
to be watching over your bird.
You're too busy mining.
So that means that they might
just notice the canary
stops singing.
NARRATOR: Haldane's canaries
rapidly transform
the dangerous world of mining.
On February the 15th, 1901,
there's a devastating
mining accident in Fife,
and the mine becomes
flooded with carbon monoxide.
One of the survivors,
Archibald Ramsay,
went back in
to rescue other miners,
taking two canaries with him,
and afterwards, he said
definitively that it was
the canaries who kept him alive.
NARRATOR: This leads
to the slightly bizarre
situation of an actual
canary law.
MARKS: Haldane's findings about
canaries are considered
so important that, by 1911,
they actually pass a law in
parliament to say
you must take canaries into
the mines, and this isn't
confined to Britain.
Once people realize
how vital canaries are,
they become used all over
the world as a standard in
coal mining.
NARRATOR: By 1914,
canaries are saving the lives
of 800 men a year
in Britain alone.
But where does
the idea of building
a resuscitator
for them come from?
NARRATOR: For the beginning
of the 20th century,
the canary resuscitator is
a sophisticated piece
of technology.
It is the work of the British
engineering company,
Siebe Gorman.
STEELE: Siebe Gorman were
a company who specialized in
building diving helmets since
the 1830s, and that meant
they knew a lot about
the critical technologies to
building the resuscitator --
providing oxygen
and air-tight seals.
NARRATOR: And by the time they
build this canary resuscitator,
Siebe Gorman have already
developed expertise
in this kind of technology.
In 1902,
they actually built
a man-sized respirator
for mine rescue,
which bought the miner
about two hours working
in this toxic environment.
This same technology,
now called the Proto,
was also used in World War I for
any regions that suffered from
chemical weapons.
NARRATOR: The company's
expertise in respiration
and diving is obvious in the
construction of the device.
SOMARA: If you look carefully,
there are rubber seals on
the panes of glass
and the screws
that hold it
all together,
but also on the porthole door.
And that's exactly the same
kind of technology that's used
in diving equipment.
NARRATOR: This
diving technology makes
the resuscitator airtight.
As soon as the miner detected
that the bird was in some kind
of distress, the miner would
shut the porthole door,
sealing the air inside it.
They then open the valve to
the tank,
and all the toxic air
would be flushed out,
hopefully saving the bird.
NARRATOR: The black and white
paint on the tank indicates
that the contents are pure
oxygen rather than simply air,
and that is vital
to saving the tiny bird.
STEELE: The higher
the concentration of the oxygen,
the easier it is for your lungs,
even if they are in some kind
of trouble, to absorb enough to
keep the rest of
your body alive.
If you're a canary
who's just breathed in a bunch
of toxic gas,
then it's far safer
to be in
a high oxygen atmosphere,
and that gives you a fighting
chance of recovery.
NARRATOR: And on top of
the device is a final sign
of Siebe Gorman's expertise.
SOMARA: The oxygen in the tank
is highly pressurized,
and you can't let that level
of pressure into the device.
It would kill the bird.
So there's a small safety
valve that just bleeds
the pressure, making sure
that the bird is safe.
NARRATOR: But why go to all
this engineering cost
and effort just
to save a tiny bird?
[bird chirping]
Some suspect
the answer lies in
the relationship between
the miners and their canaries.
WEST: I think we should be
careful not to underestimate
the need
that human beings have,
that lots of animals have,
to form relationships
with other things.
We crave connection,
we crave interaction.
So if we interact with
anything long enough, we have
the potential to form some
kind of connection to it.
And if you have a canary in
a cage, and it's your canary,
and you're taking care
of it every day,
then on some level,
your brain becomes attached to
that canary, and you think,
well, I love this canary.
This is a very special canary.
This is a great canary.
This is my canary.
Perhaps this is the origin of
the resuscitator.
It's entirely possible that
canary resuscitators
were really a result
of the pressure from miners
to protect their friends.
NARRATOR: Canaries become
an instant fixture at
the side of coal miners
across the world.
But even these
much-loved birds
can't survive the march
of technology.
By the end of the 1980s,
coal mines everywhere are
retiring their canaries.
SOMARA: These birds were used
for 100 years down in
the mines, and then they were
replaced by little
electronic devices.
NARRATOR:
It's the end of the line
for the canary resuscitator.
MARKS: So after a century of
saving thousands of lives,
the canary resuscitator ended
up being a scuffed object in
a museum,
just a historical curiosity.
NARRATOR: The resuscitator
may have gone,
but the canaries it protected
have left their mark.
MARKS:
The memory of the canary in
the coal mine has
a long-lasting effect.
After 9/11, canary breeders
in New York were not able to
keep up with demand,
because people really wanted
that safety of having
the canary there
to warn about a potential
chemical attack.
And in 2003 in Baghdad,
canaries were in
really high demand for
the very same reason.
NARRATOR: And they've left
their mark on our language, too.
MARKS: Everyone knows
what the phrase
canary in the coal mine means.
It's become a shorthand for
warning of trouble ahead.
SOMARA: It's incredible
to think that that term
that we use so frequently
came from this idea of
canaries being so effective
in saving lives.
of a pinhead be a murder weapon?
This weird tiny sphere
was found embedded
in the body of a dead man.
NARRATOR: Does this Medieval
machine predict the future?
It is said to have belonged
to a man that allegedly
predicted 9/11 or the rise of
Hitler centuries
before they happened.
NARRATOR:
And did this high-tech bird cage
really save the lives
of thousands?
It actually became illegal
to not use these birds.
NARRATOR:
These are the most remarkable
and mysterious objects on Earth,
hidden away in museums,
laboratories,
and storage rooms.
Now, new research
and technology can
get under their skin like
never before.
We can rebuild them,
pull them apart,
and zoom in
to reveal the unbelievable,
the ancient,
and the truly bizarre.
These are the world's
strangest things.
In London's Crime Museum
is a minute metal sphere,
just 7/100ths of an inch across.
AUERBACH:
This object is minuscule.
It's smaller
than the head of a pin.
But it's capable of
killing someone.
NARRATOR: It is the only
hard evidence of a crime
that has confounded police for
almost half a century.
Now, using
the latest technology,
we're bringing
this mysterious object to life.
This weird, tiny sphere
was found embedded
in the body of a dead man.
The sphere, at first glance,
looks really innocent,
but the devil is in
the details.
NARRATOR:
The sphere is made from two of
the rarest, most valuable
metals in the world.
It's covered in
tiny scratches,
but there are also these holes
that run through it.
NARRATOR: The holes
are just four times
the width of a human hair.
BENECKE: The two holes
meet in the middle,
so they form
a cross-shaped pattern.
What was inside?
NARRATOR: What are
the microscopic holes for?
Who made this
strange sphere?
And how does it become
the center of one
of the most bizarre true crime
stories of our time?
London, September 8th, 1978,
11 p.m.
49-year-old
Bulgarian playwright,
Georgi Markov is rushed
into St. James Hospital.
Markov is
really in a terrible state.
He's been complaining
of pain, nausea.
He's been vomiting,
he's got a really high fever.
He's had dizziness, and he's in
an awful lot of pain.
His white blood cell count
is sky high,
and it's just not making
any sense.
And on September 11th,
Markov suffers a cardiac arrest.
At 10:40 a.m.,
he's pronounced dead.
MARKS: The doctors give
the cause of death a septicemia,
which is blood poisoning
caused by bacteria
getting into the blood.
AUERBACH: That's really just
the doctor's best guess.
They are stumped.
They don't know what could
cause what was, at the time,
a perfectly healthy man to
decline so rapidly
and so dramatically.
NARRATOR: Before he dies,
Markov tells doctors that
he thinks he's the victim of
a hit.
Markov had defected
from Bulgaria
a decade earlier and
subsequently moved to England.
NARRATOR:
In Bulgaria,
he'd been an acclaimed
playwright and satirist.
But since moving to the U.K.,
he'd become one of
the Soviet-backed regime's
most prominent critics.
The ruler of Bulgaria,
Zhivkov, is a dictator.
This is not a man who's going
to tolerate contradiction,
dissent, or criticism.
NARRATOR: A potential
assassination gets
the British police's attention.
Scotland yard orders
an autopsy of Markov's body,
because they know
he's a Bulgarian defector,
and the circumstance of
his death are suspicious.
When they complete
their investigation,
they do find a tiny pinprick,
as if he had been injected
with something.
NARRATOR: They excise
the wound site and send it
to the U.K.'s top secret
biochemical weapons
research center,
Porton Down.
MARKS:
The team at Porton Down
slice through the flesh with
a scalpel, and it hits a tiny
metal sphere, which is only
7/100ths of an inch across.
NARRATOR:
This is that minute sphere,
magnified almost 1,000 times.
Could something so tiny really
be connected to Markov's death?
SELLA: We know that
there are all kinds of
poisonous metals out there,
whether it's mercury
or thallium, you know,
there's a whole series
of things in the periodic table
which are unquestionably bad
for you.
NARRATOR: So, is Markov
killed by toxic metal?
SELLA: The analysis
of this little sphere showed
that it consisted 90 percent
of platinum
and 10 percent of iridium,
and those two metals are in
a group in the periodic table,
which are referred to as
the noble metals.
These metals
are incredibly
chemically
and also biologically inert.
There's no way that the sphere
itself, on its own,
can explain the strange
death of Georgi Markov.
NARRATOR:
So what does kill Markov?
Two weeks after
the attack on Markov,
The British police receive
a call from the French
capital, Paris.
It turns out
that on August 26th,
2 weeks before
the Markov incident,
another Bulgarian defector,
a chap named Vladimir Kostov,
reports that, as he was exiting
a Paris metro station,
he felt
a stinging sensation in
his back.
NARRATOR: Kostov falls ill
with almost
exactly the same symptoms
as Markov.
But unlike Markov,
he survives.
AUERBACH: When doctors
investigate further,
they find something
very familiar --
a tiny pinprick in his back,
and in that pinprick,
a minuscule metal sphere.
On Tuesday, a metal object was
removed from the back of
Mr. Kostov, and our scientists
have now examined this,
and we're quite satisfied
it's identical in size
and composition.
NARRATOR:
Police are now convinced
the metal sphere kills Markoff.
So, it can only be
something contained within
the microscopic holes.
Whatever the substance was,
It was only a fifth
of a thousandth of a gram,
and that was enough
to kill a grown man.
BENECKE: Most of the chemical
agents known, for example,
cyanide or arsenic, need much
higher amounts of the chemical
compared to what
was seen in Markov.
So synthetic toxins could be
crossed off the list.
NARRATOR: There is just one
class of toxin that might fit.
The toxic substances that
are left are now biological
substances, for example,
those that you could extract
out of spiders, snakes,
plants or any other
biological living being.
NARRATOR:
And one biotoxin in particular
stands out from the rest.
BENECKE:
Inside of the holes
was a poison, which is very,
very dangerous and quite lethal.
NARRATOR:
And there is no antidote.
NARRATOR: British scientists
have finally identified
the poison concealed
inside the sphere
that kills Georgi Markov...
...ricin.
Ricin is really easy to get,
because it comes out of
castor oil beans,
and the oil itself is
not dangerous,
but the waste that remains
in huge amounts
contains the highly
toxic substance ricin.
NARRATOR: When ricin enters
the bloodstream,
it blocks cells from producing
essential proteins.
The reaction in the body is
rapid and extremely dangerous.
Ricin causes vomiting, a very
high white blood cell count,
fever, sweating,
abdominal pain.
This is all very typical for
poisoning, and since Markoff
had exactly those symptoms,
this is a clear sign that
he was poisoned with ricin.
NARRATOR: So why doesn't
Kostov die in Paris?
The French sphere turns out
to be identical
to the Markov sphere in all
respects except one.
The holes are not empty.
They contain tiny amounts of
a substance --
not poison, but something
quite innocuous...
wax.
NARRATOR: Investigators believe
the wax acts as a plug.
So the sphere itself is simply
the delivery mechanism for
this poison.
The poison is tucked away
inside, capped with wax.
NARRATOR: Until the sphere
enters the body.
SELLA: At that point,
it warms up
and releases the goods.
NARRATOR: Scientists suspect
that Kostov's survival
is dumb luck.
The sphere enters
part of his back
where there are fewer large
blood vessels.
So by the time the wax melts
and the poison starts to
circulate, his body
has begun to protect itself.
In Kostov's case, there was
blood clotting taking place,
and this prevented poison from
getting out of
the little sphere.
NARRATOR:
Markov is killed by a speck
of ricin contained
in this microscopic sphere.
But the truly
bizarre story is how
it gets into Markov in
the first place.
Before Markov dies, he tells
hospital staff a strange tale
that sounds like something out
of a John le Carre novel.
On the afternoon of
September 7th,
Markoff was on his way
to work at the BBC.
He crosses Waterloo Bridge,
and as he's waiting
at a bus station,
he feels a sharp jab in
his thigh.
He hears someone say,
"I'm sorry,"
looks around, and sees
a man he doesn't recognize
pick up an umbrella and step
into a cab and speed off.
Only hours later,
he starts to feel all
these terrible symptoms.
NARRATOR:
Is the umbrella a weapon?
There's no way to know, because
the umbrella and the suspect
have disappeared.
Within a year
of Markov's death,
the police case has stalled.
It is 10 more years
before they catch a break.
[indistinct shouting]
AUERBACH:
On the 10th of November 1989,
one day after the fall
of the Berlin Wall,
Zhivkov is ousted as
the dictator of Bulgaria,
communism there falls, and
the secrets start to tumble out.
Investigators exploring
the Communist Interior Ministry
make a startling discovery --
they stumble upon a stack of
these umbrellas modified
to fire tiny metal pellets.
NARRATOR: Now, investigators
know the umbrella gun is
real, and they understand
exactly how it works.
MARKS: This device looked like
any normal umbrella.
When you pushed the button
to open the umbrella,
it acted as a firing trigger,
and this released a gas stored
in the cylinder
in the stem of the umbrella.
The gas propels
the sphere with
enough force to pierce
through the flesh.
NARRATOR: The police now know
precisely how Markoff died.
The one thing they don't know
is who pulled the trigger.
There's a lot of people
who come under
suspicion as possibly being
the man with the umbrella.
NARRATOR:
Among them is a man thought to
be associated with
the Bulgarian government,
Francesco Gullino.
He's known to have made
several trips to London,
including one right around
the time of
Markov's assassination.
And it's also known that
he left for Rome the day after.
Evidence puts him at the right
place and the right time.
And Gullino is questioned by
the international police
in 1993.
NARRATOR: But the evidence is
circumstantial at best.
Gullino dies in August 2021.
Nobody has ever charged
with Markov's murder.
Even now, more than 40 years
after Markov's death,
the only solid evidence
we have of his assassination is
this strange metal sphere no
bigger than the head of a pin.
Whoever was ultimately
responsible for this attack,
one thing is certainly true --
sometimes, very,
very bad things come in very,
very small packages.
NARRATOR: At Oxford
University's History of
Science Museum is
an extraordinary device.
This elegant,
intricate contraption is
hundreds of years old,
and it straddles the borderlands
between science
and superstition.
We are still
trying to understand
how exactly they work.
NARRATOR: Now, using
the latest technology,
we are going to open up this
incredible instrument, layer by
layer, to uncover
its hidden secrets.
It measures nearly
8 inches across.
Intricately etched
plates and dials cover
both faces, and it changed
the way we look at the universe.
It can predict everything that
is going on in the heavens.
NARRATOR: But it was intended
for more than astronomy.
This one in particular has
a series of markings
and inscriptions
that indicate
that it was also
used in connection to medicine.
NARRATOR: But what makes
this device truly
special is the identity of
its owner,
[speaking German]
someone who is claimed to
have prophesied
world-changing events.
It is said to have belonged to
a man that allegedly
predicted 9/11 or the rise of
Hitler centuries before
they happen.
And this man was Nostradamus.
NARRATOR:
Experts believe this could be
the device Nostradamus used to
make his infamous
predictions.
Essentially,
it is a kind of
way of predicting what
the future is going to bring.
NARRATOR: What is
this extraordinary machine?
Is it really
a medical device?
Who is Nostradamus?
And can he really use this
to predict the future?
This beautiful device
is an astrolabe.
BALL: The face of
the astrolabe is a kind of
two-dimensional map of
the night sky.
Overhead,
there is this dome
of the night sky,
and it's projected
onto this flat sort of
two-dimensional system in
much the same way that
the surface of the Earth is
projected onto a flat surface
in an ordinary map.
ESCOLANO-POVEDA:
The name comes from the Greek,
so astrolabe means
the taker of the stars,
and it's a very nice image,
because you are
able to encompass the whole of
the universe with this tool
you can hold in your hands.
BALL: An astrolabe has various
moving parts that allows one to
predict the altitude of
a particular star above
the horizon at a particular time
and place of the year.
So it's really a device for
making sense of the night sky.
NARRATOR: But it's so much
more than that.
ESCOLANO-POVEDA: It could be
used to measure distances,
to calculate
the heights of buildings.
It could be used
to forecast tides.
ESCOLANO-POVEDA:
There were special astrolabes
that were used
for navigation.
One 10th century philosopher
suggested that there
were a thousand uses
for the astrolabe.
NARRATOR: This is one of
the most stunning in existence,
because it's not just
an astrolabe.
BALL: It's really
two devices in one.
NARRATOR: One face is
the star predicting astrolabe,
while the device on the opposite
face is for the planets.
BALL: This is called
an equatorium.
The planets are harder to
follow, because unlike
the stars,
they're moving much more.
That's, in fact,
what planet means.
It means wanderer.
These were --
seemed to be star-like objects
that wandered
around the sky.
It extends both into the past
and into the future.
So you can predict
really at any time in
the future where the planets
are going to be.
You can also project back into
the past to predict
where they were.
So really, this device gives
you, in one package, a way of
understanding and predicting
the movements of the entirety
of what you could see in
the night sky.
NARRATOR: An astrolabe
and an equatorium
in a single device
is virtually unheard of.
ESCOLANO-POVEDA:
That's really rare.
We only have three
that have come down to us,
and we are still
trying to understand
how exactly they work.
NARRATOR:
But one thing is clear --
this is
a high-precision instrument.
ESCOLANO-POVEDA This astrolabe
is not only really beautiful
and really breathtaking to look
at, but it's also very precise.
Very complex calculations go
into making all these scales,
all these different parts.
NARRATOR: But did this rare
and specialized piece
of equipment really belong to
the infamous Nostradamus?
We have very strong clues to
the identity of
the astrolabe's owner.
Records show the astrolabe
belonged to
a rich French family called
the d'Hautevilles,
and they had
a very famous neighbor.
ESCOLANO-POVEDA:
Nostradamus,
or Michel de Nostredame,
lived very close
to the d'Hauteville family for
the last 19 years of his life.
NARRATOR: Living in the same
small French town,
it's inevitable
these prominent citizens
would have known
each other well,
and when Nostradamus died,
it's thought the d'Hauteville
family may have acquired his
astrolabe.
They were certainly one of
the few families in the region
wealthy enough to have
bought it.
Another clue is inscribed
on the astrolabe itself.
ESCOLANO-POVEDA: We have
this inscription, iniciv morbi,
which means the onset of
sickness,
which would be used to
calculate the beginning
of fevers.
Fevers normally happen at
particular points
throughout the year,
and this would need to
be calculated.
NARRATOR: This rare inscription
regarding illness is
significant, because
Nostradamus is a doctor.
Nostradamus was a physician,
and he also had the economic
power at the end of his life
to acquire such a complex
and expensive instrument.
So if we put all
the pieces together,
there are many chances that
these astrolabe could have
actually belonged to
Nostradamus.
NARRATOR: But why does
a famous doctor need
a device that reads the stars
and planets?
In the Middle Ages,
astronomy and astrology are
an integral part of medicine.
There was a belief at that
time that there was
a correspondence between what
was happening in the heavens
and what was happening on Earth
and in the body.
Each one of the Zodiacal
constellations had particular
characteristics
that would transfer
those characteristics
to that part of the body.
So Aries got the head, Gemini
got the shoulders, and poor
Scorpio ended up with
the genitals.
NARRATOR: The Zodiac
constellations also
take the blame
for specific illnesses.
Pisces, Cancer,
and Capricorn
cause diseases involving
sores, scales, and fistulas.
While Sagittarius and Gemini
are responsible
for falling fits
or epileptic seizures.
NARRATOR: And planets have
their own unique role in
medieval medicine.
STEELE: Planets were in charge
of really rather
random collections of parts of
the human body.
For example, Saturn controls
the right ear and the spleen,
while Jupiter controls
the lungs and arteries, and
poor Mercury gets speech,
thought, and the buttocks.
NARRATOR:
So the astrolabe is a vital
diagnostic tool for a doctor
like Nostradamus.
ESCOLANO-POVEDA: Nostradamus
would use the astrolabe in order
to calculate the horoscope of
this person
and see where the sun,
the moon,
the planets, and the stars
were at the birth of
this particular person.
Secondly, the time
they got ill, as its
Zodiac characteristics
had to be assessed.
And thirdly, a decision would
need to be made about the best
day to try bleeding, bathing,
sweating, and so on based on
the locations and phases of
the moon in the Zodiac --
another job for
the equatorium.
NARRATOR: Nostradamus then
looks to the astrological sign
that rules over
the diagnosed disease.
STEELE: So Nostradamus
would have known that if
the problem was with the spine,
then the orbit
of the sun would have been
important, while if it was
the liver, then Jupiter
needed to be tracked,
all of which could be done
with his equatorium.
NARRATOR: All this seems a long
way from supposedly predicting
the rise of Hitler and
the assassination of JFK.
So what transforms Nostradamus
from a medic into a prophet?
And what does this strange
device have to do with it?
NARRATOR: In the 16th century,
Nostradamus works as
a physician, using
the astrolabe to treat patients.
But it's a bad time to
be a doctor.
STEELE: The continent
was ravaged by plague,
which was an incredibly
deadly disease.
And nobody knew
what caused it.
It seemed to strike without
apparent rhyme or reason.
NARRATOR: When Nostradamus's
wife and children are killed by
the plague, he begins to move
from medicine towards
the occult and his
infamous prophecies.
Nostradamus tried to find
a way of predicting what was
going to happen
so that he could
be ready for another
plague or another disaster.
NARRATOR:
He spends hours meditating.
He has hallucinations
or visions.
These inspire his prophecies,
which he then
refines with the predictions
of the astrolabe.
This ability to be able to say
at such and such a time
on such and such a day,
this planet will be here
and this star will be here,
this would have looked like
an astonishing,
almost a magical capability.
NARRATOR: The result is
his 10-volume
compendium of prophecies
called the Centuries.
But to avoid problems with
the powerful Catholic church,
Nostradamus deliberately
obscures his prophetic writing.
What he did was use
metaphorical language and also
words in different languages --
Latin, Greek -- in order to
predict the future,
but also to do it in,
like, a veiled way.
One example says,
"The great man
will be struck by
a thunderbolt,"
and this has been associated
with the murder of JFK.
But of course,
this is a very broad statement.
A great man could be any kind of
ruler, and a thunderbolt
could be a gunshot,
but it could also be a real
thunderbolt or any other kind
of violent event.
NARRATOR: Nostradamus is also
supposed to
have predicted
the rise of Hitler.
ESCOLANO-POVEDA:
One of these lines
says that
in the west of Europe,
a child born of poor parents
will rise,
but many people were born
from poor families
and then have obtained powers.
So the problem of using this
veiled language to present these
predictions is that you can
basically make them work
for everything.
NARRATOR:
But there is one prediction
Nostradamus doesn't obscure.
ESCOLANO-POVEDA: In the evening
prior to his death
in July 1st, 1566,
he said to his secretary that
he wouldn't be found alive in
the next morning, and then he
died the next day.
But of course, if you're going
to die during the night,
you probably
don't feel very well
in the evening of that day.
NARRATOR:
Debate over the accuracy of
Nostradamus's predictions
will run and run.
One thing we do know --
Nostradamus claims all
his prophecies are based
on astrological calculations
that he may have
made with this
astonishing astrolabe.
In a cabinet
at the Science Museum
in London sits
a very odd device.
It's such
a strange-looking contraption.
Does it do good
or does it do bad?
NARRATOR: It helped save
thousands of lives
all over the world.
This strange thing
was found in some
of the deepest, darkest holes
in the world.
And it proved to be
an incredibly
simple solution to
an industrial-sized problem.
NARRATOR: Now, using
the latest technology,
we are bringing this amazing
machine out of the darkness
and into the light.
Measuring around 10 inches tall
and 4 inches wide, this...
is the canary resuscitator.
This simple metal-framed
glass box changes the world.
It actually became illegal
to not use these birds.
NARRATOR: So what is
this strange device?
What inspires its creation?
How does it save
people's lives,
and why is there
a tiny bird inside?
In fact,
that tiny bird is crucial
to how this machine works.
MARKS: Essentially,
what you've got here is
the world's most
high-tech bird cage.
It's not so bad for the bird --
from inside it can see out,
it's got windows.
But the key thing about it is
that it's supposed to keep
the bird alive in a place
where the atmosphere
should kill it.
NARRATOR: 110 years ago,
the construction of this bird
cage is
cutting edge technology.
SOMARA: It's a very
engineering-focused device.
There are screws,
there are panes of glass,
and once the bird
is in the device,
it can't get out -- there's
a perforated metal grill.
NARRATOR: The perforated grill
inside the hinged
porthole is key to
its purpose.
SOMARA: So once
the porthole door is opened,
the surrounding air
rushes into that device.
The bird breathes in that air --
if there's something dangerous
in the air,
the bird will pass out,
and that's when you know
there's something wrong.
NARRATOR: The bird
can be saved by shutting
the airtight porthole,
isolating it from
the dangerous atmosphere.
And that's where the tank
on top comes in.
There's a thin metal pipe that
feeds oxygen into the space.
It's airtight,
and it's responsible
for resuscitating the bird.
It's almost like
a tiny space capsule
keeping that bird alive.
NARRATOR: It seems like
an awful lot of
trouble to go to
for a small bird.
In reality, this strange
contraption is a game changer.
But what is a canary doing
inside it in the first place?
NARRATOR: This bizarre
life-saving bird box plays
a vital role in the rise of
the modern world.
At the end of
the 19th century,
heavy industries are
sweeping all before them.
MARKS:
The world is powered by steam,
and steam, in turn,
is powered by coal.
So coal is really fundamental
to this new way of life.
NARRATOR: But the more coal
the world demands,
the more hazardous
coal mines become.
MARKS: It was a really
dangerous place to work.
You were at the mercy of
cave-ins.
There was big machinery,
they were using dynamite,
there were potentially floods.
NARRATOR: But the most feared
ways of dying are invisible.
The gases.
All of the toxic gases
are called damps,
based after the German word
dampf, meaning vapor.
There was almost
a superstitious fear with
the damps,
because different damps
killed people in different
and sinister ways.
NARRATOR: Fire damp,
the term used for
trapped flammable gasses,
is the most violent
SOMARA:
Fire damp is methane,
and you can imagine,
these coal miners
were walking around
with candle lamps.
Any naked flame would
just ignite that methane.
NARRATOR: White damp
is a more subtle
but equally deadly killer.
White damp is mostly
made up of carbon monoxide.
It's odorless,
colorless, tasteless,
and lethal.
STEELE: Every time
you're exposed to it,
a bit more of that
carbon monoxide
binds to your hemoglobin,
slowly occupying more and more
of the slots that are necessary
to carry oxygen
around your body.
And if enough of
those slots get filled,
you can die within minutes.
It's one of the most
dangerous gases in mining,
and one of the most
difficult to detect.
NARRATOR: In 1896,
57 men and 80 pit ponies
die in a single
incident in Wales.
Oxford physiologist
John Haldane is brought in
to investigate.
The bodies show
no signs of fatal injuries,
but they do have a familiar
pink tinge.
This pink tinge
to the skin is one
of the telltale signs of
carbon monoxide poisoning.
This demonstrated that
it was the white damp,
this silent killer
that had killed these men.
NARRATOR: Haldane
sets out to find a way
to detect carbon monoxide,
which is where
the canaries come in.
But why canaries?
In the late 19th century,
there's no machine capable of
detecting carbon monoxide.
But what about an animal?
Physiologist John Haldane
locks himself away in his lab,
searching for answers.
He studies mice and quickly
discovers they are up
to 20 times more sensitive to
carbon monoxide than humans.
Unfortunately,
there's a problem with mice.
And that problem is
they sleep a lot.
And that means if you see
a mouse that's not moving
in its little cage,
how do you know
whether it's suffering from
carbon monoxide poisoning
or just taking a nap?
NARRATOR: Birds turn out
to be much more promising.
They sit on their perch, and if
a bird falls off of its perch,
you know it's not sleeping,
but it's been overcome.
NARRATOR: And Haldane
discovers birds are even
more sensitive to
carbon monoxide than mice.
They've got a very advanced
respiratory system,
because birds have
an incredibly fast metabolism
for one simple reason --
they fly.
And flying expends an absolutely
huge amount of energy
per unit weight,
which means they have to
inhale huge amounts of oxygen
to power
all those chemical reactions
that allow them
to stay in the air.
That means they breathe a huge
amount more air per unit volume
than a human does,
and are therefore much more
susceptible to tiny
concentrations of
airborne toxins.
NARRATOR: There are literally
thousands of bird species.
So what is so special
about canaries?
Canaries sing,
particularly the male birds
are singing
almost constantly.
And let's face it,
when you're a miner,
you don't have a lot of time
to be watching over your bird.
You're too busy mining.
So that means that they might
just notice the canary
stops singing.
NARRATOR: Haldane's canaries
rapidly transform
the dangerous world of mining.
On February the 15th, 1901,
there's a devastating
mining accident in Fife,
and the mine becomes
flooded with carbon monoxide.
One of the survivors,
Archibald Ramsay,
went back in
to rescue other miners,
taking two canaries with him,
and afterwards, he said
definitively that it was
the canaries who kept him alive.
NARRATOR: This leads
to the slightly bizarre
situation of an actual
canary law.
MARKS: Haldane's findings about
canaries are considered
so important that, by 1911,
they actually pass a law in
parliament to say
you must take canaries into
the mines, and this isn't
confined to Britain.
Once people realize
how vital canaries are,
they become used all over
the world as a standard in
coal mining.
NARRATOR: By 1914,
canaries are saving the lives
of 800 men a year
in Britain alone.
But where does
the idea of building
a resuscitator
for them come from?
NARRATOR: For the beginning
of the 20th century,
the canary resuscitator is
a sophisticated piece
of technology.
It is the work of the British
engineering company,
Siebe Gorman.
STEELE: Siebe Gorman were
a company who specialized in
building diving helmets since
the 1830s, and that meant
they knew a lot about
the critical technologies to
building the resuscitator --
providing oxygen
and air-tight seals.
NARRATOR: And by the time they
build this canary resuscitator,
Siebe Gorman have already
developed expertise
in this kind of technology.
In 1902,
they actually built
a man-sized respirator
for mine rescue,
which bought the miner
about two hours working
in this toxic environment.
This same technology,
now called the Proto,
was also used in World War I for
any regions that suffered from
chemical weapons.
NARRATOR: The company's
expertise in respiration
and diving is obvious in the
construction of the device.
SOMARA: If you look carefully,
there are rubber seals on
the panes of glass
and the screws
that hold it
all together,
but also on the porthole door.
And that's exactly the same
kind of technology that's used
in diving equipment.
NARRATOR: This
diving technology makes
the resuscitator airtight.
As soon as the miner detected
that the bird was in some kind
of distress, the miner would
shut the porthole door,
sealing the air inside it.
They then open the valve to
the tank,
and all the toxic air
would be flushed out,
hopefully saving the bird.
NARRATOR: The black and white
paint on the tank indicates
that the contents are pure
oxygen rather than simply air,
and that is vital
to saving the tiny bird.
STEELE: The higher
the concentration of the oxygen,
the easier it is for your lungs,
even if they are in some kind
of trouble, to absorb enough to
keep the rest of
your body alive.
If you're a canary
who's just breathed in a bunch
of toxic gas,
then it's far safer
to be in
a high oxygen atmosphere,
and that gives you a fighting
chance of recovery.
NARRATOR: And on top of
the device is a final sign
of Siebe Gorman's expertise.
SOMARA: The oxygen in the tank
is highly pressurized,
and you can't let that level
of pressure into the device.
It would kill the bird.
So there's a small safety
valve that just bleeds
the pressure, making sure
that the bird is safe.
NARRATOR: But why go to all
this engineering cost
and effort just
to save a tiny bird?
[bird chirping]
Some suspect
the answer lies in
the relationship between
the miners and their canaries.
WEST: I think we should be
careful not to underestimate
the need
that human beings have,
that lots of animals have,
to form relationships
with other things.
We crave connection,
we crave interaction.
So if we interact with
anything long enough, we have
the potential to form some
kind of connection to it.
And if you have a canary in
a cage, and it's your canary,
and you're taking care
of it every day,
then on some level,
your brain becomes attached to
that canary, and you think,
well, I love this canary.
This is a very special canary.
This is a great canary.
This is my canary.
Perhaps this is the origin of
the resuscitator.
It's entirely possible that
canary resuscitators
were really a result
of the pressure from miners
to protect their friends.
NARRATOR: Canaries become
an instant fixture at
the side of coal miners
across the world.
But even these
much-loved birds
can't survive the march
of technology.
By the end of the 1980s,
coal mines everywhere are
retiring their canaries.
SOMARA: These birds were used
for 100 years down in
the mines, and then they were
replaced by little
electronic devices.
NARRATOR:
It's the end of the line
for the canary resuscitator.
MARKS: So after a century of
saving thousands of lives,
the canary resuscitator ended
up being a scuffed object in
a museum,
just a historical curiosity.
NARRATOR: The resuscitator
may have gone,
but the canaries it protected
have left their mark.
MARKS:
The memory of the canary in
the coal mine has
a long-lasting effect.
After 9/11, canary breeders
in New York were not able to
keep up with demand,
because people really wanted
that safety of having
the canary there
to warn about a potential
chemical attack.
And in 2003 in Baghdad,
canaries were in
really high demand for
the very same reason.
NARRATOR: And they've left
their mark on our language, too.
MARKS: Everyone knows
what the phrase
canary in the coal mine means.
It's become a shorthand for
warning of trouble ahead.
SOMARA: It's incredible
to think that that term
that we use so frequently
came from this idea of
canaries being so effective
in saving lives.