Modern Marvels
Season 12 Episode 41 - Lube Job
From chariot wheels of ancient Egypt to hard disks in a computer to the wheels on a Mars rover, machinery can’t function without lubricants. And in today’s technology, there are a mind-boggling number of friction points that must be lubed, and a staggering number of lubricants– petroleum motor oils that keep car engines from burning up, synthetic greases that stay put in the zero gravity of space, and solid coatings that prevent eggs from sticking to a pan. We’ll see how this marvel of chemistry works and how it’s used. Peering into the future, we’ll behold a power generator that employs air as a lubricant, trains using magnetic levitation, which eliminates any need for lubrication, and bio-engineered vegetable oils that promise to take humanity back to one of its very first lubricants. From helping medieval windmills spin, to allowing robotic arms on planetary rovers to move, lubricants are crucial to the advance of technology and literally keep the wheels of progress turning.
Episodes in Season 12
Poison
44 min
Car Tech of the Future
44 min
The Arch
44 min
More Nature's Engineers
44 min
World's Biggest Machines 3
44 min
Blackbird Stealth
44 min
The Butcher
44 min
George Washington Carver Tech
44 min
Firefighting!: Extreme Conditions
44 min
Desert Tech
44 min
Sub Zero
44 min
The Great Bridge: 8 Miles of Steel
44 min
Howard Hughes Tech
44 min
Edwards Air Force Base
44 min
Taxidermy
44 min
SWAT
44 min
Deadliest Weapons
44 min
The Doomsday Clock
44 min
The Basement
44 min
Paint
44 min
Mega Movers
44 min
Punishment
44 min
Bricks
44 min
Glue
44 min
F/A-22 Raptor
44 min
Civil War Tech
44 min
Machines of D-Day
44 min
John Hancock Center
44 min
The Cape Cod Canal
44 min
Secret Japanese Aircraft of World War II
44 min
Future Tech
44 min
Edison Tech
44 min
Secrets of Soviet Space Disasters
44 min
Mountain Roads
44 min
Route 66
44 min
Cowboy Tech
44 min
Sewers
44 min
Challenger Tank
44 min
World's Biggest Machines 4
44 min
Dredging
44 min
Lube Job
44 min
Secret Luftwaffe Aircraft of World War II
44 min
The World's Fastest
44 min
The B-2 Stealth Bomber
44 min
High Risk: Helicopter Lineman
44 min
Wiring America
44 min
Nature Tech: Lightning
44 min
HMS Victory
44 min
Engineering an Empire: Rome
44 min
Coffee
44 min
Sugar
44 min
Cereal: History in a Bowl
44 min
F-117 Nighthawk Stealth
44 min
German Small Arms of World War II
44 min
The Auto Store
44 min
Secret Allied Aircraft of World War II
44 min
Engineering Disasters 17
44 min
Brewing
44 min
The Lumberyard
44 min
Da Vinci Tech
44 min
Custom Cars
44 min
More Hardware
44 min
Weird Weapons: The Allies
44 min
More Snack Food Tech
44 min
Walt Disney World
44 min
Nature Tech: Hurricanes
44 min
Private Collections
44 min
