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Ancient Discoveries : Mega-Structures of the Deep Airs on Tuesday December 01 11:00 AM

Our modern day landscapes are littered with the remains of ancient superstructures. Now, cutting edge archaeology is beginning to reveal that this century's most exciting discoveries actually lie at the bottom of the ocean.

Ancient Discoveries : Mega-Structures of the Deep Airs on Tuesday December 01 05:00 PM

Our modern day landscapes are littered with the remains of ancient superstructures. Now, cutting edge archaeology is beginning to reveal that this century's most exciting discoveries actually lie at the bottom of the ocean.

Ancient Discoveries : The Ancient Mega-Fort Airs on Thursday December 03 10:00 PM

Holding off invasion and protecting its people, ancient civilizations came up with creative, efficient and effective means of self-protection and defense. Walk the grounds of the castle that helped create Great Britain and learn why it was such an impregnable fortress. Discover the invisible underground defensive systems of Cappadocia and how they proved so successful that it is the longest continually inhabited fortress in history. Test the ancient Mayan killer bee castle defenses, and release bees in an attack. Next, build a replica section of the ancient Roman fort of Alesia and discover whether the great general Julius Caesar could really have built 24 miles of defenses in just six weeks. Investigate the most impregnable walls in history--the multi-layered defenses of Constantinople, and discover the type of cannon that the sultan Mehmet used to finally destroy them in the great siege of 1453.

Ancient Discoveries : The Ancient Mega-Fort Airs on Friday December 04 02:00 AM

Holding off invasion and protecting its people, ancient civilizations came up with creative, efficient and effective means of self-protection and defense. Walk the grounds of the castle that helped create Great Britain and learn why it was such an impregnable fortress. Discover the invisible underground defensive systems of Cappadocia and how they proved so successful that it is the longest continually inhabited fortress in history. Test the ancient Mayan killer bee castle defenses, and release bees in an attack. Next, build a replica section of the ancient Roman fort of Alesia and discover whether the great general Julius Caesar could really have built 24 miles of defenses in just six weeks. Investigate the most impregnable walls in history--the multi-layered defenses of Constantinople, and discover the type of cannon that the sultan Mehmet used to finally destroy them in the great siege of 1453.

Ancient Discoveries : Airborne Assault Airs on Friday December 04 12:00 PM

Assault from the air didn't begin with the era of the airplane. Take a look back at early methods of airborne attack. The kite bomb was a medieval siege weapon that dropped bombs from a kite over cities. We'll build one and test it with startling new insights and success. Ancient bouncing bombs that actually skipped across water--the forerunners of the famous Dam Buster projectiles--terrorized shipping in Turkey in 1453. Learn the secrets of ancient China's whistling arrows--used by commanders to direct the flow of a battle. Investigate the world's earliest rocket-powered explosive missile from the ancient battlefields of China. Finally, in one of the most dramatic tests ever conducted, we'll build the earliest known successful parachute and drops a skydiver from 6,000 feet.

Ancient Discoveries : Airborne Assault Airs on Friday December 04 06:00 PM

Assault from the air didn't begin with the era of the airplane. Take a look back at early methods of airborne attack. The kite bomb was a medieval siege weapon that dropped bombs from a kite over cities. We'll build one and test it with startling new insights and success. Ancient bouncing bombs that actually skipped across water--the forerunners of the famous Dam Buster projectiles--terrorized shipping in Turkey in 1453. Learn the secrets of ancient China's whistling arrows--used by commanders to direct the flow of a battle. Investigate the world's earliest rocket-powered explosive missile from the ancient battlefields of China. Finally, in one of the most dramatic tests ever conducted, we'll build the earliest known successful parachute and drops a skydiver from 6,000 feet.

Ancient Discoveries : Ancient Secret Agents Airs on Thursday December 10 10:00 PM

Investigate the systems by which ancient intelligence services transmitted messages over thousands of miles--the fire beacon, the horse and the pigeon. This episode sets up a great race between these three systems to see which communicates the swiftest. Learn how ancient spies sent secret messages using invisible ink made of human sperm and how they wrote on the inside of a raw egg. Discover how Japan's covert assassins, the ninja, used more than darts and poisons--they were pretty good with explosives as well. Find out how a Roman James Bond used a suit made of cork to support him in full armor during a covert operation across a river.