All language subtitles for The.UnBelievable.with.Dan.Aykroyd.S03E12.1080p.WEB.h264-EDITH_track3_[eng]

[Dan narrating]

[suspenseful music]

- Imagine a device so powerful

it could shake buildings

and your insides.

[suspenseful music]

- He's feeling better
than he has in years.

- Suddenly, he hops
off the platform

and makes a mad dash
for the bathroom.

- But unfortunately,

nature is a bit
faster than he is.

[tense suspenseful music]

- How about a
breakthrough appliance

that runs on pure
dog determination?

- Someone figures, "Why not
train a dog to run a spit?"

- It becomes an
indispensable kitchen device

but it is a terrible job.

- Turning for hours and hours.

- Or a mousetrap so deadly,

you need a permit to own it?

- When the rodent
eats the cheese,

it trips the spring,

and then the gun
shoots the mouse.

[tense dramatic music]
[gun banging]

- But the inventor's thinking

a little bit further.

[suspenseful music]

- These are the machines

so strange they are truly

"Unbelievable."

[suspenseful theme music]

The light bulb, the
phonograph, the film camera,

just a few iconic inventions
attributed to Thomas Edison,

but his most unbelievable
creation is a strange machine

you've probably never heard of.

[dramatic music]

- It's 1920.

It's a cold winter's night,

and a group of men are in

a darkened lab
testing a machine.

[electricity crackling]

- When Edison calls out,

somebody in the
room flips a switch.

[camera flash popping]

- On the other side of the room,

we have this photoelectric cell,

which is going to generate
a little bit of electricity

as soon as it's hit
by this beam of light.

Now if this
electricity ever stops,

they would know that something

had broken that beam of light.

[eerie dramatic music]

- The men in the room start
calling out people's names,

asking them to walk
through the light,

and the people that
they're calling,

[dramatic music]

they're all dead,

and this machine is
meant to detect ghosts.

[eerie dramatic music]

- [Dan] Speaking to the dead
might seem strange today,

but in the early 1900s,

it was all the rage
among society's elite.

- Towards the late 19th
century, early 20th century,

spiritualism really
rises in popularity,

and it becomes very accepted,

especially in
well-to-do society.

It almost becomes like
a symbol of your status

if you're having seance parties,

if you're inviting people over

to commune with the dead.

- Especially after World War I

when over 16 million
people perished,

people really turned to
spirituality in the hopes

of reconnecting with
departed loved ones.

- [Dan] While others
reach for crystal balls,

Edison grabs his toolkit.

[suspenseful music]

- Thomas Edison believes things

like our personality are
left behind when we die,

and he believes that these
bits of energy of us are

almost like a physical thing
that he calls entities.

- The thing is Edison doesn't
believe that some medium

or some really dramatic psychic,

who claims to be able to write

what's being said on the
other side, or Ouija boards,

he doesn't believe in any
of that theatricality.

He wants to find scientific
proof of the afterlife.

[tense music]

- So he designs a
machine that can detect

the presence of these entities

using a beam of light.
[camera flash popping]

- [Dan] Detection is
only the beginning.

Edison believes his unusual
invention can do more.

- The machine might even be able

to amplify these personalities

the same way that a phonograph

can amplify a person's voice.

We might even be
able to use this

to communicate

with the deceased.

[tense dramatic music]

- It kind of makes sense that
he would go down this path,

because his whole life
and what he's invented

has been built around the
idea of communication.

- [Dan] And true to form,

Edison doesn't keep
quiet about it for long.

By 1920, he's ready to
pull back the curtain.

- In an interview with
American Magazine,

Edison reveals that
he's been working

on this device for some time,

and that it's almost ready.

This causes an enormous
firestorm in the press.

- People are eager to see

and to see the results

of what they are dubbing

"Edison's Spirit Phone."

[dramatic music]

- [Dan] So what exactly
becomes of the Spirit Phone?

- Edison's tests
ultimately never reveal

any true scientific proof

of any spirit entities.

With no evidence,

no empirical data to back it up,

Edison stops sinking
money into it.

- He tries to bury the fact

that he built this machine,

but it is mentioned
in his diaries.

Unfortunately, nobody can ever
find the plans or schematics.

- Edison dies in 1931

and with him dies
the Spirit Phone.

[dramatic music]
[hammer tapping]

- [Dan] It may be lights
out for the ghost phone,

but not the idea behind it.

[dramatic music]

- These days there are machines

that measure
electromagnetic frequencies,

which are used to detect spirits

and whether or not they exist.

- This modern technology
is really another iteration

of the same thing that
Edison was trying to do.

[machine humming]

- As someone familiar with
ghost-detecting devices,

I will attest those things
can be pretty glitchy.

You could say the same
about an unusual machine

invented by Edison's
legendary rival Nicola Tesla,

a volatile gadget that has
an unexpected function.

[tense dramatic music]
[electricity crackling]

- In the 1890s,

genius inventor Nicola
Tesla is working on

new more efficient ways
of generating electricity.

[dramatic music]
[machine humming]

- The rotating
electrical generator

he finds is not very efficient,

so he decides to
invent a new version,

something oscillating,
goes up and down.

[suspenseful music]

- So basically it
works with an air-

or steam-powered
piston driving a coil

back and forth through
a magnetic field.

This happens on an
incredible frequency.

- This device does create a lot

of electricity very efficiently,

but it also produces an
enormous amount of vibration.

[dramatic music]
[building rumbling]

[objects rattling]

- The amount of
vibration is so immense,

not only does it
shake his building,

it shakes the
neighboring buildings,

so much so they think they're
experiencing an earthquake.

It soon gets the nickname
Tesla's Earthquake Machine.

- [Dan] As scary as
this is at first,

there seems to be
at least one upside.

[dramatic music]

- Tesla's team realizes

that if they stand on a
platform above the machine,

the vibrations get sent
throughout your whole body.

- These vibrations
feel really good.

Like they feel extra good.

- People who experience this
are having like laughing fits,

their mood changes,
and some people say

it actually improved
their health.

- Tesla, ever the
inventor, thinks,

"Hey, maybe this machine might

have applications in medicine.

Maybe it could
destroy cancer cells

or eliminate tuberculosis."

[light dramatic music]

- [Dan] It may even
be able to help

one of Tesla's famous friends,

who's suffering from
something much different.

[tense eerie music]

- In the 1890s,

Tesla becomes a good friend

with no other than Mark Twain.

[light dramatic music]

- When Tesla and Twain
meet at a dinner party,

a bromance quickly ensues.

[dramatic music]

- As they get closer,

Twain reveals the fact
that he's suffering

from a really
embarrassing problem.

He has insufferable...

constipation.

[dramatic music]

- Tesla tells Mark,

"I think I might have
something for you.

Go stand on that platform.

We're going to let
those vibrations

course through your body,

and we're going to see if we
can shake something loose."

[dramatic music]

- But Tesla gives Twain
a very frank warning,

"When I say get off the machine,

you get off the machine."

- So Twain agrees to all this.

He's like, "Yeah, no
problem. I got you."

Tesla fires up the vibrations,

[dramatic music]

and it gets to going.

[suspenseful music]

- Twain loves it.

He is eating it up.

He's euphoric.

He's feeling better
than he has in years.

- But sure enough
eventually Tesla's like,

"Yo, time. You got
to get off now."

And Twain is like,
"You're tripping, dude."

- Tesla starts getting
stern, he's like,

"Hey, come on, I said
it's time to get off.

You need to get
off of this thing."

Twain says, "No way,
I'm not stopping this."

- [Austin] Suddenly,
Twain feels a gurgling

in his intestines,

and he hops off the platform

and makes a mad dash
for the bathroom.

- But unfortunately,

[suspenseful music]

nature is a bit
faster than he is.

[dramatic music]

- On the upside, Tesla
did prove his theory.

[dramatic music]

Today vibration therapy

is proven in alleviating
constipation,

so much so that in 2023
the University of Georgia

invented a vibrating pill to
help disrupt constipation.

- The incident may have ruined
Twain's famous white suit,

but not his legendary
friendship with Tesla.

- Fifteen years before
the Imperial Walkers

of Star Wars graced
movie screens,

their strange real-life
inspiration gets its start

in a government lab.

[tense music]

- In the mid 1960s,

the U.S. military is looking

at tons of potential conflicts,

[helicopter whirring]

the jungles of Vietnam,

the deserts in the Middle East,

maybe even the moon,

and they need vehicles
that can really work

in any type of terrain.

- [Dan] For an
outside-the-box idea,

the military turns to
a mechanical engineer

from GE named Ralph Mosher.

- Mosher's work centered
on building robots

that humans could
operate from the inside,

so they amplified
the human strength

while still being able to
perform fine motor movements.

- Mosher is a pioneer
in hydraulic technology.

He develops these things

that give the human operator

an extension of their own body.

- Since the late 1950s,

Mosher has built a
number of robotic arms.

Like there's one that can
help a woman put her coat on,

which you can see in
this unsettling photo.

[light dramatic music]

- [Dan] Working with the
Department of Defense,

Mosher begins
applying his concepts

to create his most
ambitious project yet.

[light dramatic music]

- So he builds something
called the CAM,

the Cybernetic
Anthropomorphous Machine,

and everybody else calls
this 11-foot behemoth

"The Walking Truck."

- In the field of robotics,

this is one of the earliest
legitimate attempts

to mimic the walking motions
of a four-legged animal.

[dramatic music]

- Mosher's idea was to
more seamlessly connect

the operator with the
machines they were driving.

So the robot and the driver

were really linked together
physically in the cockpit.

[dramatic music]

- So not only does
it have the ability

to carry a ton of
cargo or troops,

it also has this sort of feeling

of like a super soldier.

[dramatic music]

- It can deadlift 500 pounds.

It can flip a car over.

It can carry around
knocked down tree trunks

like they're matchsticks,

so it's capable of
lifting and moving

in ways that the human
body just is not.

- Unfortunately,
the Walking Truck

can't seem to walk
out of the lab.

It's designed to go as
fast as 35 miles an hour,

but it can only get
up to about five,

and it is a resource hog.

It guzzles 50 gallons of
hydraulic fluid every minute.

You would almost have to
design a whole other vehicle

that just carries its
needs alongside it.

[suspenseful music]

- [Dan] While the Walking
Truck is officially shelved,

its menacing spirit lives on

in a galaxy far, far away.

[tense dramatic music]

- In the late 1970s,

the production team working
on the "Star Wars" sequel

"Empire Strikes Back" want some
sort of Imperial super vehicle

that can attack the
rebel stronghold

on the ice planet Hoth.

They turn to conventional tanks

that are being used at the time,

but they just don't seem right.

They're a little bit
dull, drab, and mundane.

- And then they come
across an artist's rendering

of this four-legged
Walking Truck,

and they decide that a
similar robot monster

would be a lot cooler.

- It's arguably the coolest
scene in "Star Wars" history.

- And really that Imperial
Walker is essentially

what the Walking
Truck started out as.

[dramatic cinematic music]

- A giant Walking Truck

that stomps over
anything in its way...

impressive.

But what if you need
to cross rugged terrain

without leaving
destruction in your wake?

Well, engineers have
that covered, too.

[tense dramatic music]

- This engineer
named William Albee

is lying face down on
the ground in the sand,

and here comes this 10,000 pound
truck headed right for him.

- William Albee doesn't move,

and before you know it,

[suspenseful theatrical music]

it drives right over him.

[bright theatrical music]

- After he's had five
tons on his back,

he just gets up smiling.

- [Dan] It may look like some
kind of crazy carnival trick,

but Albee is actually
demonstrating

his strange new
machine, the Rolligon.

- He has outfitted this
truck with these massive

low-pressure tires that
he has invented himself,

and they make it possible
for the vehicle to roll over

almost anything
without hurting it.

- [Dan] Surprisingly, the idea
for these innovative tires

takes shape during
Albee's honeymoon

[dramatic bass music]

23 years earlier.

[light gentle music]
[waves splashing softly]

- It's 1930, and he has

just married his wife Ruth,

and he decides that what
they're going to do is

take this 2,200-mile hike

across the very
harsh Alaskan tundra.

- [Dan] As Albee and
Ruth make their way

across the rugged landscape,

they spot something that
catches their attention.

- William actually sees a
group of Inuit fishermen

in a boat that is packed
with tons of fish.

- And instead of stopping

at the shore and
unloading the boat,

they do something
he doesn't expect.

They actually take
out these bladders

sort of balloons
made of seal hide,

and they start attaching them

to the underside of the boat.

And once they have
them all attached,

they just pull the boat,

and it kind of glides
across the snow.

- He's watching them
move with no machinery

what weighs over a
ton over rough terrain

using these bladders,

and he is hit with inspiration.

- [Dan] The Albees eventually
return to California,

and it takes William
another two decades

to perfect his radical concept

and build a prototype.

- Finally, he comes
up with the design.

It's a low-pressure bladder

similar to what the
Inuit were using,

but instead of making
it out of seal skin,

it's made out of
rubber and fabric.

[gentle music]

- He decides that the move

is going to be to
create one huge tire

that actually would span the
whole width of the vehicle

rather than one at each corner.

I mean, you can
almost think of it

like a big, soft steamroller.

So he finds a fabricator

to help him create
this gigantic tire,

and he mounts all of these
to a Dodge Power Wagon,

and thus the Rolligon is born.

[dramatic music]

- [Dan] The Rolligon turns
heads everywhere it goes,

even catching the
eye of the U.S. Army.

- William demos this
thing for the army,

and they pretty
quickly realize that

it can go on any
type of terrain.

This thing can even climb walls.

- The key to the technology

is these large, low-
pressure wheels.

They're filled to only about
five pounds per square inch.

Compare that to the
tires on your car.

They're typically 30 to
40 pounds per square inch.

- Because the tires are so
big and so low pressure,

they really just
adjust to the contour

of whatever the surface
is that it's driving on,

which also means it's less
likely to be punctured

because the air
pressure is so low.

[eerie dramatic music]

- [Dan] It looks like the
Rolligon could be a game changer

until a few major flaws bring
it to a screeching halt.

- The tires are very
expensive to produce.

In addition to that,

because of the size
of those tires,

the vehicle moves slowly.

It can achieve a maximum speed
of only 10 miles per hour,

and that's what kills it
as a military vehicle.

- While the Rolligon didn't
revolutionize military vehicles,

it did find a second life.

Today it's still used in
oil and gas exploration,

able to roll over
fragile tundra terrain

and the occasional
crew member on a dare.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson
famously wrote,

"Build a better mousetrap,

and the world will beat
a path to your door."

One man creates a
version that instead

has everyone running for cover.

[dramatic music]

- It's August 1882,

and a very interesting
patent hits the desk

of a Washington
D.C. patent clerk.

It's from a James A.
Williams of Fredonia, Texas.

It's billed as,

"Certain new and useful
improvements in pest control."

- [Dan] The new and
unusual improvementS?

A powerful Smith &
Wesson pistol cocked

and ready to blast its
unsuspecting victim.

[suspenseful music]

- There's an
elaborate explanation

of this trap in the
patent application,

which has a spring that's baited

set against a gun's trigger.

[gun clicking]
[suspenseful music]

- So when the rodent
eats the cheese,

it trips the spring,

which triggers the gun,

and then the gun
shoots the mouse.

[gunfire blasting]

- You might think it's overkill,

but the inventor is thinking
a little bit further.

He also notes that you can
apply it to a door or a window,

so this could trigger an
automatic firing device

that might get a
raccoon, a bear,

or perhaps a nosy person.

- Burglar alarms at the
time are just designed

to trigger a noise
whenever somebody trips it.

Williams points out that
he's the only inventor

that has invented
both a mouse trap

and a security system
that involves a gun.

- [Dan] The U.S.
Patent Office agrees

that Williams design
is, in fact, unique,

[light eerie music]

and approves his strange
mouse trap later that year,

just one day after Christmas.

[light eerie music]

- There's no record
of this device

actually being
produced or marketed.

However, this does
actually beg the question,

does his design actually work?

[eerie dramatic music]

- Flash forward 140 years

and YouTuber Shawn Woods decides

to remake Williams'
1882 mouse trap.

- [Shawn] Here I have my
Smith & Wesson .22 six shooter,

so I'm going to use
a blank cartridge.

They're designed for
driving nails into concrete,

so they provide
quite a shock blast.

- To avoid a gruesome
demonstration,

Williams sets his sights
on a orange not a rodent,

and the results are impressive.

[suspenseful music]

[gunfire blasting]

- [Shawn] And look
at right there.

That's going to do more than
enough damage to kill a rodent.

- I'm sure there's some
landlords of New York City

that want to give
this method a try,

but for now I think just
stick with the bodega cats.

[dramatic music]

- Clearly defending
one's home against pests

can drive us to
extreme measures,

but defending one's homeland
against an invading force

can inspire even more
unbelievable creations.

[ground rumbling]
[suspenseful music]

- It's the fall of 1916.

World War I has been
raging for two years,

but now they are dealing
with a new type of warfare

where bombs are dropped
on you from above.

[suspenseful music]

- [Dan] Not just by airplanes,

but by another terrifying
new aircraft, zeppelins.

And they're a big problem

for British Colonel
Alfred Rawlinson.

- Rawlinson commands
an anti-aircraft unit

that's based on the coast,

and the men under his command

they live under constant fear

that German zeppelin bombers

can appear at any time.

[dramatic music]

- Keep in mind that this is
long before radar was invented.

You can be surprised by
anything that you can't pick up

with your eyes or your ears.

[dramatic music]

- The problem with
the zeppelin bombers

is that they are stealthy.

The small motors
that propel them

don't create a lot of noise.

They also blend into
the natural environment.

They can disappear
into the haze,

and then if they pass over
your position at night,

by the time you hear them,
it's too late to fire on them.

[suspenseful music]

[explosion booming]

[flames crackling]

- [Dan] To combat this
terrifying new threat,

Rawlinson draws inspiration

from another relatively
new invention.

[tense dramatic music]

- The phonograph
or record player,

or the gramophone at the time,

was really starting to take off.

[tense dramatic music]

- And sound is projected
through the old phonograph

with physical amplification
using a flared horn.

The form of that horn does
indeed have the effect

of amplifying sound.

- [Dan] Not only does it
amplify sound coming out,

it can also amplify
sound going in.

- He comes up with the idea

of taking two gramophone horns

and mounting those to poles.

- It kind of makes
them look like

a really bizarre Mickey Mouse,

but the hope is you're
going to amplify the sound,

so you could pick up the
approach of these zeppelins

miles further than
you normally could.

- The system looks
absolutely ridiculous.

[tense music]

But guess what? It works.

[dramatic music]

- [Dan] Soon the idea
catches on around the globe

as each nation creates
its own version.

[dramatic music]

- The Czechs develop
a semi-mobile,

a one-man unit that
uses two large bowls,

attached to two tubes for sound,

but it's still not
agile or practical.

- [Dan] Japanese
and German soldiers

add a handy twist to
their bionic ears.

- There are these
giant ear tubas,

and they're connected
to a set of goggles.

- The idea is that you'll turn
your head toward the sound,

and you'll not only
be able to hear

but see the oncoming threat.

- The prize for the
largest portable system

goes to the Dutch,

who develop these
massive earphones

that attach to the
head of the operator.

To us today it looks
completely absurd

and ridiculous, but
to people at the time,

it's the cutting
edge of technology.

- [Dan] No matter how
big the ear tubas are,

there's still one key
issue in all of them.

They depend on the
soldier's hearing.

That's when Rawlinson
has an unexpected idea.

- Rawlinson puts in

a rather unusual
request in the military.

He says, "Can you find
me some blind men?"

Rawlinson explains that he wants

to put them on
listening stations,

and he wants to cash in on
the keen sense of hearing

that most blind people
will eventually develop.

- But Rawlinson's request
is even more specific.

He wants men that have
been blind since birth,

because he believes
that this will have

heightened their listening
abilities even further.

- Rawlinson's request is
approved by his superiors.

[dramatic music]

And it's kind of ironic that

they're utilizing blind
people to spot the enemy.

[gunfire blasting]

- The results are
mediocre at best,

but nevertheless, blind people

became an important
military asset

toward the end of
the First World War.

- All this is essentially
put aside in the late 1930s

with the invention of radar,

which makes this
whole operation moot,

but, of course, it does leave us

with some fantastic photographs.

[dramatic music]

- The war tuba may
hold the record

for the largest
hearing aid ever made,

but it's still not the
strangest machine out there.

- These days the
strength of our machines

is often measured in horsepower.

Back in 16th century England,

it was all about pup power.

[dramatic music]

- England during the 1500s,

people really
loved their roasts,

and, of course, true Brits
want their meat cooked

on an open flame on a spit,
which rotates the meat,

so that it's cooked evenly.

- But someone has
to do the turning.

It's mostly been young
boys assigned to the task

as they sweat profusely
and try not to overheat,

turning for hours and hours.

- It sounds like a terrible job.

[tense music]

It is a terrible job.

So they search for
a new solution.

- [Dan] While the job proves
to be too grueling for people,

kitchen workers
think it may not be

for a certain
four-legged companion.

[dramatic music]

- There are dogs who are bred

to do a ton of different tasks,

whether it's herding sheep

or tracking game or
warming up your lap.

So someone figures,

"Why not train a
dog to run a spit?"

- They develop an apparatus.

It's a wheel next to the spit

that turns it via
a chain pulley,

and the dog runs or
walks in the wheel.

It's a hamster wheel for a dog

to make sure that
your meat is cooked.

- [Dan] Eventually, a
special type of canine

is bred specifically
for the job.

It's called the Turnspit dog.

- It's a long dog with short

stubby legs and a cropped tail,

so the tail won't get
stuck in the wheel.

But the breed's most
important traits

are great endurance
and extreme obedience.

- As the Turnspit dog tradition

develops throughout the 1500s,

it becomes an indispensable
kitchen device.

They're called the kitchen
dog, the cooking dog,

or the "vernepator
cur" Latin for

"the dog that turns the wheel."

- [Dan] For centuries
Turnspit dogs

are a fixture in
kitchens across Britain,

[dramatic music]

until a new technology puts
these pups out of work.

- By the 1850s, fancy
automatic spit crankers

become a new status symbol
for those who can afford it.

Soon having a Turnspit dog

is seen as a sign of
being lower class.

- Eventually, the Turnspit
dog breed becomes extinct,

and the last Turnspit dog
named Whiskey was stuffed

and put on display
in a museum in Wales.

[light upbeat music]

- It's not just dogs that
should watch their backs.

Law enforcement
should also take note.

Strange machines may be
coming for their jobs.

[siren wailing]

[light guitar music]

[faint muffled chattering]

- It's 2024, and the
police in Lubbock

are looking for a man
that's out on parole.

They find out he's
staying at a motel,

so they send officers there,

but upon arrival to the door,

a gunshot rings out.

[gun fires]
[siren wailing]

They decide to retreat,

call in a SWAT team,

SWAT team arrives,

more shots break out.

[gunfire blasting]

- They don't want
to just go through

the door of the hotel room,

because of the high
likelihood of drawing fire

from the fugitive that's inside.

[siren wailing]

- [Dan] So they deploy
a different kind of cop,

the Lubbock Regional
Bomb Squad Robot.

[light dramatic music]

- Now most people are used

to seeing a bomb
disarming machine,

but the Lubbock robot can
do a lot more than that.

[suspenseful music]

- The robot
confronts the suspect

who immediately decides to throw

a sheet from the
motel over the robot,

and then he takes a shot at it.

[gun fires]

- But the robot is undeterred.

It just removes the sheet,

and then deploys tear gas.

[tear gas can hissing]

When the victim comes out

coughing and hacking
up his lungs,

the robot pins the suspect down

until he can be subdued by
the robot's human partners.

- [Dan] This type of encounter
is just the beginning.

While it may seem like something

out of a dystopian sci-fi movie,

[dramatic music]

real life robocops are starting

to take the streets
all over the world.

[upbeat midtempo music]

- So in Dubai,

they actually have
a five-foot tall

humanoid robocop that
can actually like

look for suspects using
facial recognition.

It can observe a
crime taking place,

and then it can actually
call in for backup.

- The robot's also
capable of assessing

an individual's emotional state

based on facial expressions.

So the robot can look at you

and see your angry, confused,

or frantic face and
respond accordingly.

- Ideally, these robots
would be able to respond

to situations without
the emotional impact

that police officers may have.

They're not fearing
for their lives,

so this is a safer
way of policing.

[dramatic rock music]

- Now Dubai actually
wants to roll out

a lot more of these.

They're hoping that by 2030,

25% of their police
force would be robocops.

- Dubai authorities
are quick to point out

that their future
robocops will be friendly

and will patrol unarmed,
which takes away the whole

glamour and grittiness of
the actual "Robocop" movies.

[dramatic music]
[machine humming]

- They might be unarmed,
polite, even helpful,

but good luck sweet
talking a robot cop

out of a speeding ticket.

- James Bond's
cars are legendary,

from deflecting bullets,

to firing cannons,

and even driving underwater,

but could any of these
movie-worthy machines

ever hit the road for real?

[dramatic music]

- In 1977, the James Bond film

"The Spy Who Loved
Me", is a huge hit,

and one of the
reasons is because of

the submarine car in the
movie, the Lotus Esprit S1.

[dramatic music]

But that's all movie magic,

because no one
actually had a car

that could drive on land

and then become a submarine.

- [Dan] That unforgettable car

may have been a special effect,

but for Swiss engineer
Frank Rinderknecht

it was something more.

- Frank starts his
company, Rinspeed,

two years after
the movie in 1979.

[suspenseful music]

He spends the next few decades

building concept cars,

but he just can't get
his mind off of this

submarine car that he
saw in the Bond movie.

- By the 2000s,

Frank's company is
quite successful,

and he feels he
has both the money

and the proper
expertise to finally

tackle and build
the submarine car.

[dramatic music]

- If you think about how a
car operates on the road,

it would be totally opposite
of that in the water.

You can't have a normal
engine that has an air intake,

because then you'd get
water in the engine

and the engine
would stop working.

- So he switches to
an electric motor.

Therefore, he can encase
it in a waterproof housing,

and the electric motor can
power the two propellers

and the jets needed to
maneuver the car underwater.

- [Dan] But generating
power underwater

isn't Frank's only challenge.

[dramatic music]

- The Bond car is portrayed
as a closed vehicle,

which takes a lot of weight

and a lot of strength to make

to keep the water out.

[engine revving]

- So to circumvent
these problems,

Frank decides that his car

has to be a convertible.

- Now you would
think a convertible

and a submarine would be
a terrible idea together,

but Frank thought of that.

That's why it's got a scuba mask

and an oxygen tank to
keep your breathing.

- [Dan] Finally, in 2008,

30 years and 1.5 million in
development expenses later,

Frank is able to unveil
his masterpiece, the sQuba.

[dramatic music]

- The sQuba when finished can
go 75 miles an hour on land,

and, yes,
[dramatic bass music]

you can drive it
right into the water.

[dramatic music]

When he introduces the sQuba,

he's got rich people all around

the world clamoring
saying, "I want one,"

but scaling up
production for a vehicle,

that cost him one and
a half million dollars

to make just one

is a massive
financial undertaking

that he's just not ready for.

- In the end, his company
gets a lot more notoriety,

because the sQuba car,
there's only the one.

[dramatic bass music]

- A slow-moving,
underwater convertible

may have its functions,

but winning a war
isn't one of them.

For that you need something
a little more nimble,

like this lethal
bit of Soviet tech

used to ice out the enemy.

[gunfire blasting]
[tense dramatic music]

- When the Nazis invade
Russia in June of 1941,

what becomes known as
Operation Barbarossa,

[gunfire blasting]

they're not expecting to
be there for a long time,

but famously they get bogged
down in the Russian winter

and they're not prepared.

- The Germans lack the supplies.

They lack the extreme cold
weather gear that they need

to fight a winter war
in the Soviet Union.

Then the Soviets launch a
counteroffensive against them.

[bomb blasting]

- [MJ] And famously they end up

losing this war of attrition.

- [Reporter] Here 27,000
Nazi soldiers died.

- [Dan] That victory
is not just thanks

to the home field advantage,

but to a strange machine

from the innovative
mind of Igor Sikorsky.

[dramatic drum music]

- Many know Igor Sikorsky

as the Ukrainian-born
inventor of the helicopter,

[helicopter blades rumbling]

but back in 1909,

Sikorsky is a young
20-year-old kid

basically tinkering
with toys in his garage.

He's fascinated
by the propeller.

- [Reporter] The motors sputter
and catch, weights drop.

- [MJ] Which was developed
by the Wright Brothers

only a few years earlier.

- [Reporter] The Wright
Brothers won immortality.

- He starts thinking about
what other kinds of vehicles

he can strap these
propellers to.

- [Dan] In no time, Sikorsky's
terrorizing pedestrians

on the snowy streets
of his hometown, Kyiv,

in the world's first
motorized sleigh.

- It works really well,
but motorized sleighs

aren't really a
necessity in World War I,

considering that the majority
of the war is trench warfare.

However, as we get
into the 1930s,

the Soviets realize, "We
could have use of this tech."

[gunfire blasting]

- [Dan] Inspired by
years of frozen combat,

[dramatic music]

the Soviets create the NKL-26,

better known as
the Combat Sleigh.

- This thing is covered in a
10-millimeter armor plating,

not to mention it's
got an airplane engine

attached to the back of it.

- It can travel at 45 miles
an hour across the snow.

Compare that to a typical
German tank that would've

plodded through the snow
at about 15 miles an hour.

That is a massive
advantage in a mobile war.

[gunfire blasting]
[tense dramatic music]

- And it's also muscular,

because it has that rotating
turret on top of it,

and inside the rotating
turret, you have a

7.62-by-54-millimeter rimmed
automatic weapon capable

of putting down very
effective machine gunfire.

[tense dramatic music]

- When the Nazis invade
the Soviet Union in 1941,

the Red Army brass
commissioned a building

of 4,000 of the NKL-26 units.

- And they're trying
to just deliver them

as fast as possible, so much so,

that they're even putting
children in factories

to manufacture these
sleighs at breakneck speed.

- [Dan] The NKL-26 may be
built by kids and look funny,

but the Nazis aren't laughing.

Their forces are repeatedly
hit with surprise attacks

by the Santa sleighs from Hell.

[suspenseful music]

- The combat sleigh
really proves

its effectiveness in
the Battle of Moscow

where everything is mired

in the wintery conditions.

The key with the combat sleigh

is that it doesn't
require roads.

So the Soviets can now
swarm their victims,

coming in from all
different directions.

It is a nightmare
for the Germans.

[gunfire blasting]
[suspenseful music]

- The Soviets just
dominate and decimate.

[suspenseful music]

- It's got to be a bizarre
scene to be sitting there

and watch these things
come in from all directions

and not just the sleighs,

but they're towing
ski-borne commandos,

who then break off and
assault your positions.

[engine humming]

- I think it's safe to
say that these Nazis

probably hoped that
they never ever saw

another combat sleigh for
the rest of their life.

[gentle music]
[engine rumbling]

- The combat sleighs live on

in a much less terrifying way.

They're used in Siberia,

not to deliver lead,

but to deliver mail.

- Most inventors who've
gotten rich creating

new machines follow
a basic principle:

Identify a consumer
need and fill it.

Now what about the
brave vanguards

who ignored that advice

and dared to invent machines
nobody ever asked for?

[dramatic music]
[crowd cheering]

- Running a marathon is

one of the most grueling
things you can do,

because marathoners are
facing extreme fatigue,

dehydration, muscle
cramp, injury

across a 26.2 mile race course.

- Over the course of a marathon,

a runner can burn as
much as 4,000 calories.

That's why you often see runners

eating those energy
gels, those Gu's,

or something like a banana

or an orange on the course.

[dramatic music]
[crowd cheering]

[crowd applauding]

- [Dan] Yet, in 2015,

a Japanese company
invents a bizarre machine

to supply a different
kind of fruit on the run.

[eerie dramatic music]

- Tomatan is a robotic
running apparatus created

by Japanese fruit and
vegetable company Kagome.

- The goal of this machine
is as the marathon runner

is running their race, it
will feed them tomatoes.

[eerie dramatic music]

- The machine holds six fresh
tomatoes in its magazine,

and with the push of a
button delivers the tomato

straight into the
runner's eating position.

- [Dan] The question
is why tomatoes?

[light dramatic music]

- Kagome is Japan's
largest supplier

of tomato products,
tomato juice and ketchup,

and they attest that
the tomato is a really

efficient way to provide
energy for runners.

- [Dan] So are tomatoes
actually a super food?

Maybe more so than you think.

- They do have vitamin K.

They have potassium,

which will help
with muscle fatigue.

They also give an
amazing hydration boost.

[light dramatic music]

- So maybe the Tomatan
is onto something.

It's an opportunity
for marathon runners

to consume a super food,

keeping them energized while

having it fed to them by robot.

But here's the problem.

Tomatan weighs 18 pounds.

- I know a lot of runners
who will go for anything

to shave an ounce off of
weight with carbon fiber shoes,

so I highly doubt an 18-
pound, tomato-feeding robot

is going to be in
their running regimen.

[light dramatic music]

- Is this the most efficient
way to eat a tomato on the go?

No. However, until somebody
comes up with a more efficient,

smaller robot that can feed
you bananas while on the go,

the Tomatan has no competition.

[dramatic bass music]

- If running's not your
thing, why not try a ride

where your feet don't even
have to touch the ground?

[engine humming]
[dramatic music]

- It's 1960 in London

at the Cycle and
Motorcycle Show,

and as trade shows go,

this one's kind of a dud

until the Americans show up.

[dramatic music]

- This American company,
Rhoades Incorporated

is showing off this new
space-age looking vehicle.

It has a bicycle seat
and it has handlebars,

but other than that, it
doesn't look cycley at all.

[eerie dramatic music]

- They start it up,

and things get even weirder.

[engine rumbling]

- [Dan] To the
amazement of the crowd,

the bizarre contraption is able

to float several
inches off the ground.

It's called the Hover Scooter.

[dramatic music]

- Rhoades builds it as a hybrid

of a scooter and a hovercraft,

and he builds it
just a few years

after the very first hovercraft

was demonstrated in England.

But they're big
military vehicles.

This is a small vehicle

that you could have at home.

[light dramatic music]

- It's a cool idea.

It's got a motorcycle engine

that actually turns the fan
that fills up the airbag,

and then it's basically
riding on this cushion of air.

[engine buzzing]

- But unfortunately,

the overwhelming impression
of everybody there

is that this thing
is just loud as hell.

[engine buzzing]

It takes so much power to
achieve that air cushion,

that the noise level
basically rivals

an airplane engine
or a helicopter.

- Now there's no way that anyone
would miss you riding this,

especially when
you hit the water,

because the noise
that this thing makes

would scare every fish to death.

- The Hover Scooter
is at one time slated

to be manufactured
by a UK company,

but that deal falls apart.

- And sadly, we never get the
chance to see a bunch of Brits

terrorizing people
in their local parks

on the Hover Scooter.

[engine buzzing]

[dramatic music]

- Whether it's an
earthquake machine

that caused a tremor in
Mark Twain's trousers,

a six-shooter mousetrap
that said, "Make my day,"

or a Soviet death sleigh,

these are the
machines so strange

they are truly
"Unbelievable."