The History Channel

Size does matter. We'll size up the biggest of machines, and their smallest counterparts. First we go to France to find out what goes into assembling the world's largest jetliner, the Airbus A380. Then, fly with microjet pilots in the world's smallest jets. Witness a race between a huge Boss Hoss 425 horsepower motorcycle and an 18 inch tall pocket bike. Take the world's smallest production car for a ride and see just how many choir members we can fit into a super-sized limousine. See a mammoth Caterpillar front loader in action, in an open pit coal mine, and dig up the backyard with a loader that's no bigger than a lawnmower. Finally, walk inside an enormous diesel engine powering an 80,000 ton container ship and eyeball a tiny one driving a five pound model airplane.

Don't look now--but there's a lot more to your walls than you'd ever imagine. Take a penetrating look inside something we consider utterly mundane, and uncover a surprising and sometimes shocking world. A computer-managed home in Colorado showcases the high tech gadgetry destined to inhabit every wall in the future. At the headquarters of Orkin in Atlanta, a network of walls with cutouts and Plexiglas windows reveal how pests and creepy crawlies of all kinds can congregate in huge numbers inside our homes. In Washington, scientists at Underwriters Labs play with fire in the name of research, investigating how our walls can keep us safe--or expose us to a fiery death. And in Los Angeles, a security company demonstrates innovative new technology that can "see" through walls--detecting motion, heat, breathing, even heartbeats.

With the ironic motto "Peace is our Profession", the Strategic Air Command was in charge of US nuclear forces from 1946 to 1992. SAC was the ultimate Cold War military machine, at its height controlling thousands of nuclear weapons, planes, and missiles, and boasting over a quarter-million personnel. We travel to the Strategic Air and Space Museum, located 20 miles from SAC's old headquarters in Nebraska, and walk through the cavernous bomb bay of SAC's workhorse, the B-52 Bomber.

Every aspect of our lives involves pressure. It's what puts the bubbles in soft drinks, propels shaving cream from its can, cools the contents of your refrigerator, and causes volcanoes to erupt. But when pressure suddenly changes, you better look out! Rapid pressure changes can be as violent as explosions. And variable atmospheric pressure? We call that the weather.

Celebrate the animal that helped man change the world--the horse. Take a look behind-the-scenes at the thoroughbred racing industry in Lexington, Kentucky. Visit state-of-the-art veterinary clinics and breeding farms that provide everything from arthroscopic surgery to "bachelor-padded" breeding sheds. See how a Colorado prison proves that both wild horses and inmates change for the better when paired up as part of a Mustang protection program. Learn the different ways that cultures have used horses throughout the ages and finally, see why French Canadian connoisseurs think horse tenderloin means fine dining.

It strikes without warning and kills in an instant. We fear its might even as we use it to save a life. Explore the electric shock in its numerous forms. Visit a modern day taser factor, uncovering the history behind these devices. Deconstruct a lightening bolt, which can travel up to 100,000 miles per second, and listen to the shocking tales from survivors of lightening strikes. From fences to eels, to the electric chair, we reveal the jolting truth about the electric shock.

According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, the aging U.S. infrastructure is in danger of collapse. Learn about a company in Missouri that uses a trench-less technology to rebuild corroded sewer pipes from the inside out while engineers at General Motors Proving Grounds lead the battle against corrosive road de-icing salts. See how a bioreactor in Florida turns mountains of garbage methane gas. Finally, discover how the tiny termite is teaching us how to turn agricultural waste into ethanol at a fraction of the current cost.

Nikola Tesla's bizarre vision of the future brought him failure, but his genius electrified the world. Travel to Niagara Falls, where in 1893, Tesla installed his new system of Alternating Electrical Current known as AC--the same power we use today. Uncover the forgotten ruins of Tesla's dream experiment---a huge tower on Long Island Sound he hoped would wirelessly power the world. Radar, death rays, invisibility devices and earthquake machines: Tesla claimed to have created them all. More than 100 years ago Tesla foresaw the need for alternative energies like geothermal and solar.

Get ready to examine points of failure in ultra slow motion. Watch drivers crash cars and trucks at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety to find their breaking points, and to find the breaking points of the crash dummies inside. At Underwriter's Laboratories, fire rounds at bullet proof glass until it breaks, and see how long it will take experts to breach a safe using more and more powerful tools. Watch as lithium-ion batteries catch fire and blow up at Sandia National Laboratories. At Arizona State University, find the breaking points of steel, concrete--even Kevlar jet engine containment systems. See how a bike helmet guards against the skull reaching its breaking point, then fire high-speed projectiles at Oakley's sport glasses and military grade goggles to see if they survive. And at Black Diamond, scale a rock face with a professional climber to find the breaking point of the carabineers and chalks upon which his very life depends.

Today's world has troubles unique to its time in history, from the global financial crisis to technological meltdowns to full scale, computerized global war. Observing the convergence of such events, contemporary prophets have begun to emerge from obscurity to suggest that these conditions might be signs of the demise of the modern world. These men are historians as well, using all manner of information and patterns from the past to provide context for where we are going. Their predictions interpret the current state of affairs in our world as evidence that the America we know may come to an end. The men proposing these ideas are not crackpots living on the streets of New York; they are intelligent, learned men who come armed with the evidence to back up their claims.

December 21, 2012: a prophetic date delivered in stone by the ancient Maya. Revered by scientists for their extremely accurate calendars, the Maya are also known for their mysterious ability to predict unsettling events so many are taking the December date seriously. On this date a rare galactic alignment will take place and coincidentally, as the alignment happens, our sun will be entering its most violent solar storm cycle. And, all of this comes at a time when scientists believe Earth s magnetic defense shield, which protects us from dangerous solar radiation, may be compromised. Our planet may become paralyzed. People are heeding the warning and getting prepared, including a group of everyday Americans learning how to fend for themselves and live off the grid.

Few names conjure as much mystery as that of Timbuktu. For centuries, Europeans heard legends of a mythical city in the heart of the Sahara, the source of endless caravans of gold. But it took 500 years to find it, and by then the glory was gone. Host Hunter Ellis combs the deserts of Timbuktu to find the source of its great power, wealth, and mystery.

Informational programming.

Informational programming.

Informational programming.

Informational programming.

This is the true story behind one of the most notorious names from the Golden Age of the Wild West. Who was "Billy the Kid"? A cold-blooded killer who murdered 21 men? Or an orphaned teenager driven to revenge the death of the only man who offered him a place to belong? Welcome to gang warfare--Wild West style.

Celebrate the animal that helped man change the world--the horse. Take a look behind-the-scenes at the thoroughbred racing industry in Lexington, Kentucky. Visit state-of-the-art veterinary clinics and breeding farms that provide everything from arthroscopic surgery to "bachelor-padded" breeding sheds. See how a Colorado prison proves that both wild horses and inmates change for the better when paired up as part of a Mustang protection program. Learn the different ways that cultures have used horses throughout the ages and finally, see why French Canadian connoisseurs think horse tenderloin means fine dining.

It strikes without warning and kills in an instant. We fear its might even as we use it to save a life. Explore the electric shock in its numerous forms. Visit a modern day taser factor, uncovering the history behind these devices. Deconstruct a lightening bolt, which can travel up to 100,000 miles per second, and listen to the shocking tales from survivors of lightening strikes. From fences to eels, to the electric chair, we reveal the jolting truth about the electric shock.

According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, the aging U.S. infrastructure is in danger of collapse. Learn about a company in Missouri that uses a trench-less technology to rebuild corroded sewer pipes from the inside out while engineers at General Motors Proving Grounds lead the battle against corrosive road de-icing salts. See how a bioreactor in Florida turns mountains of garbage methane gas. Finally, discover how the tiny termite is teaching us how to turn agricultural waste into ethanol at a fraction of the current cost.

Nikola Tesla's bizarre vision of the future brought him failure, but his genius electrified the world. Travel to Niagara Falls, where in 1893, Tesla installed his new system of Alternating Electrical Current known as AC--the same power we use today. Uncover the forgotten ruins of Tesla's dream experiment---a huge tower on Long Island Sound he hoped would wirelessly power the world. Radar, death rays, invisibility devices and earthquake machines: Tesla claimed to have created them all. More than 100 years ago Tesla foresaw the need for alternative energies like geothermal and solar.