Modern Marvels

This is the story of the Columbia, the first shuttle to fly to outer space, from inception to tragic demise in January 2003.

All aboard the nostalgia express as we explore the toys of our youth. We talk with collectors and visit companies that make electric trains, Matchbox Cars, GI Joe action figures, and LEGO Bricks.

Constructed as tombs for ancient pharaohs, over 100 pyramids remain in Egypt. Built during a span of well over 1,000 years, they stand as cultural and engineering marvels of staggering proportions.

Join us for a salute to the dreamers and schemers who brought the world an odd assortment of flawed ideas.

New Orleans' Lake Pontchartrain Causeway is an engineering marvel: Two ribbons of concrete-at nearly 23.87 and 23.88 miles long each-form the world's longest automobile bridge.

Precision-guided munitions and smart bombs have been around for awhile. Join us for the underground history of smart bombs, and a glimpse into the future of precision weapons.

A spectacular roadway some 120 miles long, the Overseas Highway links mainland Florida with the Florida Keys, and contains 51 bridges, including the Seven-Mile Bridge. Explore its history and design.

From 'safe' bullets that stop hijackers but leave aircraft unscathed to bullets that chain-saw through steel and 'smart' bullets computer-programmed to hit a target, examine the evolution of bullets.

They constitute the very essence of the modern world.

The challenge: Move millions of soldiers and tons of cargo halfway around the world and into the thick of action. How? Use the biggest ships, the widest planes, and the strongest trucks.

Car-crash technology has led to safer roads and cars. Find out if computers and radar can prevent everything from fender-benders to pile-ups.

Come into the woods and join us as we explore today's cutting-edge, controversial logging industry-a world striving to protect nature while also devouring it.

Toxic traffic is everywhere! From wooden crates filled with explosives to HAZMAT containers of nuclear waste, we shadow dangerous cargo.

Termites, mosquitoes, rats, mice, ants and cockroaches have spread disease and death for millions of years. We trace pest control from humble ancient beginnings to today's Integrated Pest Management.

Welcome aboard the Titanic. The ship, lauded for its technological advances, tragically sank on its maiden voyage due to an iceberg collision, resulting in over 1,500 lives lost.

Traveling between 135 and 190 miles per hour, bullet trains have an astonishingly high safety record. And discover magnetic levitation, which can move passenger trains 345 miles per hour and beyond!