They hold just about everything--Containers. We follow a day-in-the-life of a steel freight container from port to port and see how standard containers can be transported by ship, train, or truck while looking into new technology and security measures being used today. We visit a Georgia Pacific plant to see how raw materials are processed in a state-of-the-art plant. We also visit the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, an underground container used for extraordinary amounts of vital product. The containers that hold the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve are actually underground salt domes. In a visit to Bryan Mound, Texas, one of four locations housing the SPR, we learn how the caverns within the salt domes are created and how the oil contained in these caverns actually benefits from this type of storage. We also check out silos that were necessary for farmers' progress. And finally, we sip from metal cans, which revolutionized the food and beverage industry.

Fire--we have learned to create and control it, but have yet to tame it? It's alive--it breathes, feeds, and grows. Fire is behind essentially every component of the modern world and has spawned entire industries. We'll feature great feats in pyrotechnology, or the intentional use and control of fire by humans--from the massive 8-story fire-breathing boilers that create steam heat for downtown Philadelphia, to the nearly 2,000 degree flames that create electricity at a biomass plant. From the massive coal-fired locomotives that powered us across the continent, to the rocket engines that took us to the moon, we'll cover what fire is, how we have learned to create and harness it, and its behavior with various fuel sources. At a match factory, we see how the seeds of fire are made and explore the significance of this seemingly simple innovation. We also take a look at the important role that fire has played in technological advances as well as warfare.

Cotton's journey from dirt to shirt; cotton's ancient origins.

Debris causes workers to plunge 200 feet; Salton Sea; China's Sunjiawan coal mine.

Boxed chocolates as See's Candy; Schimpff's Confectionery; Jelly Belly; salt-water taffy pullers.

The agri-tech and genetic engineering behind nuts.

45min | Aired on Dec 28, 2013 | TV-PG | CC

The levees and water-pumping system of New Orleans.

Sometime at the dawn of civilization, animal hides were rubbed down with animal fat, making them more flexible, durable, and malleable. By the 5th Century BC, this'tanning process expanded to include vegetable and tree oil washes, creating what's now known as'leather --one of man's most reliable and versatile products. Without advances in leather shoes, the Romans could never have marched to the Tigris; nor could the Pilgrims have survived winters in Plymouth. Today, leather is a staple of our daily lives. Modern tanners have devised techniques to make leather more versatile, colorful, and luxurious than ever. We visit modern tanneries of conventional cowhide leather, and explore the more exotic leathers made from alligator, snakes, and even sting-ray. And we'll examine the race of modern science to create synthetic leathers that are supposedly more convenient in today's fast-paced life. We'll see how leather binds us to the past in an unparalleled way.

The Edmund Fitzgerald; Boeing 737 crashes; nuclear disasters; oil storage facility.

44min | Aired on Mar 22, 2006 | TV-PG | CC

The past, present and future of insulation technology.

California's borax mines; steam shovel; the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Tunnel-boring machines; robotic drills; hand-held power drills.

Celebrating technological breakthroughs and man-made wonders.

45min | Aired on May 24, 2006 | TV-PG | CC

The inventions of Ben Franklin.

Copper, uranium, chromium, lead, nickel and zinc.

The improvement of technology and how it has made engines more efficient.

Famous barbecue cook-offs; long-established barbecue restaurants.

Pirates use firearms, swords and navigational equipment.

45min | Aired on Jul 09, 2006 | TV-PG | CC

Wind tunnel; flight simulators; mining machine; IMAX technology.

45min | Aired on Jul 26, 2006 | TV-PG | CC

Egyptian mummies.

From collapsing floodwalls in New Orleans to high-tech mechanical storm surge barriers in Europe, we'll explore the 2,500-year history of keeping rivers and tides at bay by erecting levees. To get a lesson on how levees are built and why they fail, we'll climb atop Sacramento, California's crumbling river levees to see evidence of erosion that portends a New Orleans-level disaster. In stark contrast are the ingeniously engineered levees and dikes holding back tidal waters in the Netherlands. Their success inspired other mechanized flood barriers on both the River Thames outside London and one currently under construction near the sinking city of Venice, Italy. We'll also take a look at the hard lessons learned when levees are breached. In New Orleans, we'll see what the US Army Corps of Engineers is doing to protect the Crescent City from future hurricane seasons.

The transfer, consumption and search for water.

45min | Aired on Sep 06, 2006 | TV-PG | CC

The history and uses of copper.

In the young 21st Century, two realizations are dawning on the world's population: we are hopelessly dependent on petroleum, which is only going to get more expensive; and global warming, caused mainly by our burning of fossil fuels, will impact civilization in ways that we're only beginning to grasp. Stepping in to fight both of these massive problems are the rapidly evolving technologies that harness renewable energy. We will see how air, water, earth, and fire are transformed into clean, reliable sources of heat, electricity, and even automobile fuel. We'll take an in-depth look at the most proven and reliable sources: solar, wind, geothermal, biofuels, and tidal power. From the experimental to the tried-and-true, renewable energy sources are overflowing with potential... just waiting to be exploited on a massive scale. And unlike fossil fuels, they'll always be there.

The history and development of freight trains.

The industries responsible for the development of the assembly line.

44min | Aired on Sep 23, 2006 | TV-PG | CC

Invented by the Chinese in about 3000BC, it spread the word of God and war. It set us free and spelled out our rights. It tells stories, sells products and solves crimes. It's ink and it's everywhere! From squid to soybeans, from ancient text to awesome tattoos, join us as we dip into the well for the scoop on ink.

The Christian Brothers distillery; working moonshine still; Jade absinthe distillery.

The Foss Maritime tugboat; Spectra rope; diamond; polycarbonate plastic.

Explore the legacy of the F-14 fighter jet, one of America's greatest aerial weapons ever built. Witness first hand the last F-14 catapult launches and arrested trap landings aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt. Hear what the aviators and sailors, who have flown and maintained this iconic aircraft over the years, have to say about its long lived active duty career.

1h 8min | Aired on Nov 01, 2006 | TV-PG | CC

The harvesting and cultivation of tobacco.

45min | Aired on Nov 08, 2006 | TV-PG | CC

From Alexander Graham Bell's crude creation to today's high-speed wireless networks, explore the past, present and future of the telephone.

44min | Aired on Sep 15, 1996 | TV-PG | CC

Safeway's distribution center; supermarket pioneers and the chains they created.

45min | Aired on Nov 15, 2006 | TV-PG | CC

France's Moet vineyards and La Tour d'Argent.

High-tech harvesting.

BP's Texas City refinery; airline crash; NASA's Skylab.

The benefits and perils of snow.

The Lipton tea plant; the 127-acre Charleston Tea Plantation in South Carolina; the history of tea.

44min | Aired on Dec 13, 2006 | TV-PG | CC

Tree preparation at Rockefeller Center.