Original subtitles

[narrator] On this episode of How Tech Works,

we'll find out what happens,

when you add an engine to rollerblades.

What a blast!

And they say that wine gets better with age,

but what would you say,

to a beer that took 65 million years to make?

Cheers!

[intro music]

Hello there, and welcome to another awe-inspiring edition

of How Tech Works. My name is Dr. Basil Singer.

And you're really going to get a caffeine kick

out of today's show.

especially when you get a whiff of the fine cup of coffee,

roasted by mother nature herself.

There you are.

[narrator] And a 1000 tiny mirrors.

Intrigued? Stick around.

But first, speaking of enjoyable beverages,

one of life's pleasures to be sure,

is a fine pint of ale or lager, am I right?

Of course I am. So in the name of... ‘research’,

How Tech Works, travels to Northern California,

to sample a beer that goes back, way back.

[narrator] Breathing life into a prehistoric amber?

It sounds like the makings of a Hollywood blockbuster.

Microorganisms are immortal. They don't have a death gene.

[narrator] Turns out,

it’s also the makings of a California brew-master.

This beer is really unique. Period.

[narrator] In fact,

fossil fuels is the newest “Oldest” beer in the world,

brewed with yeast

extracted from 45 million year old fossilized tree resin.

This is no ordinary yeast.

[man] It's out of control!

This does things I've never seen before!

We call it, 'The Mother of all Yeasts'.

[narrator] Raul Cano is a microbiologist.

He’s been trying to bring ancient micro-organisms,

back to life since the 90’s.

Work like his was actually the inspiration

for the Jurassic Park Hollywood movies.

But this script starts when Cano got his hands on

a particular batch of amber,

from a period just 20 million years

after the dinosaur extinction.

We were very interested in learning,

about life on this planet,

and the remarkable ability of microorganisms to survive.

[narrator] Even for 45 million years,

it’s the amber that provides the perfect long-term storage.

He extracts the micro-organisms from the amber,

and puts them in a solution to help them grow.

He expected to find microbes,

that could be used for new antibiotic drugs.

But then he stumbled across some yeast cultures.

Once we were able to isolate them,

we wanted to know, what are they good for?

[narrator] Fellow microbiologist Chip Lambert,

figured there might be a very ‘palatable’ result,

if they tried brewing it up.

Some of the yeast strains looked similar brewer yeast.

And so the immediate question was,

'What would happen if you grew beer with it?’

So now, this is how we start the batch.

[narrator] Raul gave it a try in his own kitchen.

So I prepared a malt extract,

and from the malt extract,

I inoculated the pure culture of the yeast,

and went through the process of home-brewing,

and it tasted very, adequate.

I wouldn’t say great, but very adequate.

[narrator] But it was clear,

that something good was bubbling to the surface.

Now time to get it in the hands of a professional.

Enter Peter Hackett.

He was willing to give it a whirl at his Brew-pub,

Stumptown, not far from Napa.

Here I was actually afforded an opportunity,

to do something that was just, just crazy!

And so yeah,

I of course would have been crazy not to have taken it.

[narrator] When the first batch was brewed?

Wow! Just wow.

With this kind of fruity 'gingerness',

it was, not only was it a great tasting beer,

but it was, it was also,

unlike any beer I've ever had before!

Yeah, I was over the moon!

[narrator] And so was Raul.

My initial reaction was you know feeling of euphoria.

It's because, really I'd been working at this for ten years,

and never knowing for sure whether our discovery was useful

[narrator] The proof of concept was there.

The beer is a good one, but Peter would now step back.

My role with fossil fuels,

was very much just play with the yeast,

see if we could get it to work,

see if we could knock out a beer that was tasty,

and see what the response was to it among beer-drinkers.

[narrator] Raul and Chip moved the operation east to Manteca,

to Manteca and the Kelley Brothers Brewing Company.

I asked Joe if he would be interested in brewing beer,

with a 45 million year old strain of yeast.

And I thought, 'Oh God', you know what,

another someone I'm not sure about,

do I want to waste my time?

Joe was very skeptical. [chuckles]

The hardest part about what they were telling me,

was, '45 million years'.

One, how do you know it's 45 million years old,

and two, now is it going to take over the world,

if I put it in my fermenters?

Soon as I opened that container up,

I had this huge clove of banana.

Very aromatic.

So we brewed our wheat.

It was a dominant, unbelievable, kind of a reaction.

This yeast, for some reason, propagates so quickly,

and it's just like piranha!

These doors are latched down,

and little vibration we've never had that ever happen before.

It's an incredible thing to see.

And you come in in the morning,

and it looked like it's been snowing.

Over the entire floor!

[narrator] And yes, it's tasty, and it is safe.

These microorganisms are actually quite young.

45 million years is trivial.

When you look at the fact that microorganisms,

have been around for two and a half billion years.

[narrator] But how do you convince those,

that are still skeptical of drinking something with yeast,

that’s almost as old as dinosaurs?

There's two ways:

One is to assure them that,

there's really not much of a difference,

the other is of course pull my tail out and waggle it,

and say, 'I’ve been drinking it for two years,

and nothing strange has happened to me!'

[narrator] Meanwhile fossil fuels will continue to evolve.

And India Pale Ale,

will be joining the wheat beer and the pale ale.

[narrator] And according to Cano,

this all proves that we should never underestimate,

the resiliency of life on this planet.

Or the human desire to unearth a good beer.

I love yeast. It says so on my shirt.

But now, something a little more, modern.

Our next story features a chap who was getting tired,

of constantly pushing his kids around on roller skates.

And who can blame him really.

His solution sounds remarkably simple: Just add an engine!

But does it work? Is it safe?

And what the heck do you call this this thing anyway?

The result is a strange cross,

between a dirt bike and a unicycle.

My friends, I give you, 'The FlyRad'.

[whimsical music]

[narrator] For many in Germany,

the weekend means heading outside.

For Thomas Rank, there's only one way to go.

[Thomas] The FlyRad is a brand new vehicle,

and it’s also an, exciting sports device.

[narrator] It’s a strange cross,

between a dirt bike and a unicycle.

I think it’s great!

[narrator] Wherever Thomas takes it,

the attention is close behind.

[Thomas] People are all excited.

They wonder what is coming,

and most of them do not see the first moment,

how it functions. How you can move at all with that thing.

[steel grinding]

[narrator] The FlyRad story began about six years ago,

in Thomas’s small shop.

An idea that came from a tiring summer,

of pushing his daughter on her in-line skates.

[Thomas] Children do not have enough power to go up hills,

on in-line skates.

So I thought it would be a good idea to invent something.

Where you have more power, and can go up,

with in-line skates easily.

[narrator] His background as a tool-maker,

gave him the skills he needed.

And within a year, he had a working prototype.

It is built of ordinary parts from an electro scooter.

And, this FlyRad, was chain driven.

Here you can see it was just an ordinary unicycle saddle,

and it worked pretty good,

and the front part, actually what lays on the legs,

is a round foam.

[narrator] The handbrake and throttle,

also came from a scooter.

Along with its lead-acid batteries.

[Thomas]Here you can see the size.

They are very, very big, and very, very heavy.

[energetic music]

[narrator] Six years on,

Thomas has improved his design a lot.

Larger moto-cross leg pads,

make the ride much more comfy.

So does the new sportier seat.

A lithium iron battery cuts the weight significantly.

But the biggest breakthrough is the motor.

The most important difference,

compared to the old FlyRad,

is the hub motor.

The motor is completely integrated into that back wheel,

the hub motor has a lot more traction,

and also a better speed.

Compared to the old chain drive.

[upbeat music]

[narrator] Out on the road,

that 500watt motor can reach speeds of 20 miles an hour.

Even hills are handled with ease.

It has a lot of torque,

and this mountain is not a problem at all.

[narrator] With years of FlyRad test rides under his belt,

Thomas has gotten pretty good.

But his driving record isn’t flawless.

I dropped over once but the legs and everything is fine.

[narrator] As for his daughter,

her 350 watt kid’s version tops out at about 13 miles an hour,

but she still loves it.

I’m proud of my daddy that he made this for me,

and I have a lot of fun with my friends too.

I love it. It’s like street surfing.

[narrator] So far just 10 FlyRads have hit the street.

That’s all this one man assembly line can produce.

But there are signs, that might soon change.

Especially after the Inventions Convention,

we get so many emails and everybody’s interested.

Young people, older people.

Everybody wants to know what a FlyRad is.

Don’t go anywhere.

there’s lots more How Tech Works coming your way.

[intro music]

Welcome back to How Tech Works.

I’m Dr. Basil Singer.

And now I’ve got a very hot addition,

to an already extremely cool line-up.

It’s about two brothers.

And their love for roasting things in the sun.

Yup, they have turned their pyro-tendencies,

into a thriving roast coffee business.

[upbeat music]

[narrator] As the sun rises over Pueblo Colorado,

Dave Harktop is working on something to perk you up.

[blows]

Hot enough for a good cup of coffee.

[narrator] Dave and his brother Mike,

have created The Solar Roast Coffee Company.

- How about you make me a latte? - Shut your little mouth.

Bacon two, it's hot, be careful please.

[narrator] The idea came to them,

while living with their parents in Oregon.

So we ended up as you do at your parent’s house,

you go out for beer.

And I just said I want to roast coffee.

And I’d been taking like science and physics classes for fun,

at the community college.

And was way into solar power.

And thought well maybe I can build something,

we can use for a business.

We named our machines Helios. Helios is the Greek sun god.

[narrator] Their first model,

looked more like a ‘found art’ project.

But the concept was sound.

The only problem,

not a lot of sun in Southern Oregon.

So the guys packed up their latest version,

of the roaster and moved to sunny Pueblo Colorado.

This is the Helios 3 Solar Coffee Roaster.

We put the unroasted or green coffee into this funnel,

and it pours into the top of the coffee roasting drum.

Which turns around like a clothes dryer.

It keeps the coffee spinning,

and not sticking so it roasts evenly.

So if you look at the front of the coffee roaster,

you can see there’s an incredibly bright spot of light.

This is where all of the spots of light,

from about 120 mirrors are focused.

So you see the spot of light focused on just a branch,

is hot enough to build a wood fire.

Or in our case its hot enough to roast coffee.

And all that energy is just coming from the sun.

We’re not having to burn fuel.

We’re not having to plug anything in.

We’re out in the middle of a field.

It takes about one hour of exposure,

to bring this whole thing up to temperature the first time.

We go clear up to about 550 degrees.

[narrator] The guys can now roast,

over 300 kilograms of coffee in a day.

But this unusual activity,

in the middle of the field was making a few locals nervous.

They didn’t really know what it was.

They just thought it was a solar death ray.

Now that was just some unique individuals,

in Pueblo county zoning.

Who were convinced we were going to like nuke the whole region,

with solar!

So clearly we’re coming to like level the whole region.

I mean that’s obviously what we intend to do.

[upbeat music]

[narrator] After a number of town meetings,

the locals got used to the idea and since then,

Mike and Dave have been working side by side like perfect--

[Dave] A bit of a show off isn’t he?

[narrator] brothers.

Um, well I don’t know do you have a brother?

It’s uh, it’s uh. It’s fun. We have a good time.

We have a good time most of the time.

No. No! He destroys my coffee!

He makes machines that make wonderful coffee,

but the man can’t brew a pot to save his life.

I can make a latte.

[narrator] Dave may wreck coffee,

but Mike may be the most dangerous.

Yeah I almost burnt my mom and dad’s garage down,

with the first one.

The problem is it’s focused sunlight,

and then it’s only really focused to one point.

And the whole machine slipped one day,

it slipped off and it melted the siding of my parent’s garage.

After trying, not trying but nearly burning,

the parents garage down, we moved to Pueblo.

We don’t have a garage so it’s fine now.

[narrator] The guys now have a coffee-house,

a drive-through,

-There you are. -Thanks a lot.

Thanks for coming.

[narrator] and lots of online orders to fill,

but their latest project is being installed,

on the roof of the coffee shop.

The energy will be converted for the roaster,

to fire up in the shop,

and any energy left over, will go back into the grid.

I don’t like being a taker.

I want to be a producer. A provider.

I’ve always liked burning stuff with a magnifying glass,

so it kind of translates,

from some of my earliest childhood memories.

[narrator] From torching things as kids,

to building a coffee empire,

these brothers are invested in each other.

Like it or hate it.

My brother's always there with me every day.

Ordinarily you’d put the milk in first.

I know that. Just thought I’d change it up.

[narrator] These two certainly aren’t making a solar death ray,

but they are building a strong cult of solar coffee fanatics,

one latte at a time.

And finally, the Harrier Jump Jet is famous,

for combining what helicopters and fighter jets do best,

in one impressive package.

And it makes it one of the most iconic,

military vehicles ever built.

Getting the chance to pilot one,

isn’t something the Joe gets to do.

But here on How Tech Works,

when it comes to extreme adventures,

our motto is: Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

[energetic music]

[narrator] Take a good look.

The landing you are about to witness,

is 30 years in the making.

The challenge? Getting this airplane, to do this:

Transition from flight to a hover, and then land.

The ability to take off and land vertically,

are the Harrier Jump Jet’s signature moves.

They are also Ewald Schuster’s key hurdles.

[Ewald] It could stall, it may not have enough power,

due to the altitude and the heat up here.

I could come in and it could end up sinking very quick,

even at full throttle.

[narrator] Crashing is a real possibility.

We have to risk everything.

So if we are at the point to fly,

it is at the point of risking everything.

[narrator] Ewald has been obsessed,

with the Harrier Jump Jet for far too long,

to let fear ground him.

I was around age nine. I went to an air show,

over Lake Ontario and I saw a Harrier there,

and I just thought to myself that is what I have to do.

[narrator] So today his focus,

is on bringing in this baby smoothly.

Doesn’t mean he isn’t worried though.

[Ewald] Checking the wind.

Well, I've never done it before.

So I don't know, we'll see, we'll know in a few minutes.

[narrator] Oh and maybe I didn’t mention,

the plane Ewald is piloting, is a model Jump Jet.

[Ewald] So the model it's 1/6th scale.

90 inch fuselage, 60 inch wingspan.

Major components really are the engine,

with the 4 rotating nozzles.

It has all the puffer jets, just like the full-sized has.

One in each wing tip,

one in the nose and two in the tail.

And that is what controls it in the hover.

[Ewald] Is it centered?

[woman] Yeah.

[narrator] Getting his model to perform like the real thing,

has been a 30 year war against gravity.

So you’ve got to see this.

This was a nozzle I made when I was 13 years old.

This was for the first attempt of the Harrier,

that I made.

That was just a little 25 sized-ducted fan,

and a light fuselage.

This was one of the nozzles that was on that airplane.

For some reason it never got thrown out and I still have it.

[narrator] That battle has come at great cost.

7, 8 thousand dollars a year for the last 14 years.

[narrator] Caused him physical pain.

I have really bad tendinitis now in my arms,

and shoulders because of all the sanding.

I can't do it anymore.

[narrator] And raised more than a few questions,

about his sanity.

"Only those who see the invisible can do the impossible"

It's kind of what keeps me going.

[narrator] With a finished Harrier model,

ready to take flight,

I’m pretty nervous,

but I’ve got to get it done sooner or later.

[narrator] Ewald is finally winning.

All the key components are there and working.

It's just a matter of pushing that throttle forward,

and moving those nozzles forward.

[narrator] At least that's he hopes to prove,

with today’s landing.

[Ewald] It has to be done properly.

If not I just won't be happy with it.

[narrator] First he's got to wait for the fog to clear.

[Ewald] The grey color of that airplane will camouflage itself,

in there pretty good,

and if I don't have visual sight of it, it is over.

[narrator] And his nerves to settle.

Alright, let's do it.

[narrator] Then just like that, he’s ready.

So we are going to take off from left to right.

We are going to fly around the other end of the field,

the far side of the field and if it trims out okay,

we'll go to the other end,

put the nozzles down, and we'll go for it right away.

[zooms off]

[narrator] After a conventional take-off,

the countdown begins.

All eyes are on the sky as the aircraft circles smoothly.

Ewald is hard to read.

He brings the Harrier in,

he's attempting the hover,

there we go, nose up a bit, coming down, oh and crashes.

It was actually pretty good.

Everything is still okay with it.

[narrator] Ewald is actually quite happy with that,

because there’s no expensive damage done.

So it is just the outrigger that broke off,

and bent landing gear and that's it.

[narrator] And the plane performed.

It flew great, it actually flew real nicely,

just not sure why it pitched up,

I am just going to have to be more aggressive next time.

Once the nozzles are down just put more down elevator,

open up the rear puffers to keep the nose down.

[narrator] Quit now? Not a chance.

Yes that was actually pretty good.

So it lives for another flight at least.

One more, hopefully more, but we can have one anyway.

[narrator] Go on then. Ewald! Ewald! Where are you going?

Ewald! Come back! Oh do it again, please Ewald?

[groans] Back to the workshop!

Unfortunately that is it for today.

Thanks very much for watching, How Tech Works.

Until next time, I’m Basil Singer.

[ending music]