1
00:00:07,173 --> 00:00:10,343
DAVID POGUE:
Why do bombs go boom?

2
00:00:10,376 --> 00:00:12,311
You have created fire!

3
00:00:12,344 --> 00:00:13,379
I could feel that puppy!

4
00:00:13,412 --> 00:00:16,149
How much gold is
in 400 tons of dirt?

5
00:00:16,182 --> 00:00:17,917
MIKE LASSITER:
There's about a million
and a half dollars there.

6
00:00:17,950 --> 00:00:19,786
Oh, man!

7
00:00:19,819 --> 00:00:20,987
What's that gorilla doing there?

8
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POGUE:
And how come rare earths,

9
00:00:23,122 --> 00:00:25,525
the metals that make
our gadgets go,

10
00:00:25,558 --> 00:00:27,126
aren't that rare at all?

11
00:00:27,159 --> 00:00:28,261
Watch out with the hammer.
What are you... ?

12
00:00:28,294 --> 00:00:30,229
Oh yeah, cerium, lanthanum,
praseodymium.

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POGUE:
We live in a world of incredible
material variety.

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00:00:34,633 --> 00:00:35,835
Yet everything we know--

15
00:00:35,868 --> 00:00:39,472
the stars, the planets,
and life itself--

16
00:00:39,505 --> 00:00:42,842
comes from about 90 basic
building blocks.

17
00:00:42,875 --> 00:00:44,410
You have a periodic table
table!

18
00:00:44,443 --> 00:00:49,048
All right here
on this remarkable chart:

19
00:00:49,081 --> 00:00:52,618
the periodic table
of the elements.

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00:00:52,651 --> 00:00:54,821
It's a story that begins
with the Big Bang

21
00:00:54,854 --> 00:00:56,923
and eventually leads to us.

22
00:00:56,956 --> 00:00:59,192
And we're made almost entirely

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of just a handful
of ingredients,

24
00:01:01,861 --> 00:01:06,899
including one that burns with
secret fire inside us all.

25
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Join me as I explore the basic
building blocks of the universe.

26
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(explosion)

27
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Oh!

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From some of the most common,
like oxygen...

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How do you feel
at this stage?

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POGUE:
...to the least--

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man-made elements that last
only fractions of a second.

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Strange metals
with repellant powers.

33
00:01:23,549 --> 00:01:24,817
And you're saying that this
will repel the sharks.

34
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Oh my gosh!

35
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Ugh!

36
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Poisonous gases...

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Isn't chlorine deadly?

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MAN:
Absolutely.

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POGUE:
...in stuff we eat every day.

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And now we can even see
what they're made of.

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The dots are actual atoms?

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If you're like me,

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you care about the elements
and how they go together.

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Oh, the humanity!

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Because more than ever...

46
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Incoming neutron!

47
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... matter matters.

48
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Copper is king.

49
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Commodities!
Copper at 80 cents a pound!

50
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Can we crack the code...

51
00:01:52,945 --> 00:01:54,113
(bell rings)

52
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...to build the world
of the future?

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Join me on my hunt
for the elements.

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Right now, on NOVA.

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POGUE:
Far from prying eyes,
the ground erupts.

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Heavy equipment moving millions
of tons of earth

57
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in search of... something.

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A secret deep underground.

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I'm David Pogue.

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I've managed to talk my way
into this hidden lair.

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Probably almost a mile
from where we first came in.

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POGUE:
Boy, I hope I can talk
my way out.

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MAN: This area here
has been back-filled.

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POGUE:
They tell me that so much money
flows out of this place,

65
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it's like a gold mine.

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Wait a minute...

67
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It is a gold mine!

68
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But where's the gold?

69
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It turns out that nature
has concealed

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thousands of pounds of the stuff

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under billions
of cubic feet of earth.

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By digging, these guys are
hoping to strike it rich.

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But that's not why I'm here.

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I'm on a quest to understand

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the basic building blocks
of everyday matter.

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They're called
the elements.

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These symbols represent
the atoms

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that make up every single thing
in our universe.

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118 unique substances arranged
on an amazing chart

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that reveals their
hidden secrets

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to anyone who knows
how to read it.

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It's a journey that dives deep
into the metals of civilization,

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marvels at the mysteries
of the extremely reactive,

84
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reveals hidden powers,

85
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and harnesses secrets of life,

86
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from hydrogen

87
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to uranium and beyond.

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I'm starting with one
of humanity's

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first elemental loves:

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gold.

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Symbol: Au.

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Like all elements,
gold is an atom

93
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that gets its identity
from tiny particles--

94
00:04:22,828 --> 00:04:25,898
positively charged protons
in the nucleus

95
00:04:25,931 --> 00:04:30,836
balanced by negatively charged
electrons all around,

96
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plus neutrons,
which have no charge at all.

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Gold has been sought
since ancient times,

98
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yet all the gold ever mined
would fit into a single cube

99
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about 60 feet on a side.

100
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Gold is unique among the metals.

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It doesn't rust or tarnish.

102
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It's virtually indestructible,
yet also soft and malleable.

103
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It was a sacred material
to ancient people.

104
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And it's never lost its luster.

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The problem is, it's exceedingly
rare stuff in the earth's crust,

106
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and it's getting harder to find
all the time.

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Here at the Cortez Mine
in Nevada,

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high-tech prospectors
are moving mountains,

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closing in from above
and below.

110
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This rock face is about a
quarter mile below the surface.

111
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And according to John Taule,
it's loaded with gold.

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Somewhere...

113
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And what would it
look like?

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Like yellow, metallic streaks
in the walls?

115
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No, it's really hard
to tell from the rock,

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because it's microscopic,
you can't see the gold.

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The gold is microscopic?

118
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Yes, you can't see it
with the naked eye.

119
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So we're way past the days

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of finding big gold nuggets
sticking out of the wall, going,

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"Hey Bob, I got one here!"

122
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We're past that now, huh?

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That's correct.

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POGUE:
Which raises a question:

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if the gold is invisible
to the naked eye,

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how do they even know if they're
digging in the right place?

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That's where Gayle Fitzwater
and the assay team come in.

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Every day, she receives hundreds
of samples of earth

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taken from the mine.

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Her job is to figure out

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how much gold is
in them there rocks.

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To get at the color,
it has to be crushed...

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Do you want ice cream
with this?

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... shuffled like
a deck of cards...

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I think I've seen one of these
machines at Starbucks.

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... then pulverized to the
consistency of baby powder.

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I don't see any more rocks
in here.

138
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But the bad news is, I don't see
any gold in here, either.

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The good news is that
we haven't finished.

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There may be still gold
hiding in the mix.

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The sample, mixed with
a lead oxide powder,

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goes into a furnace
heated to 2,000 degrees.

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It's a 500-year-old process
called a fire assay.

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Using extreme heat, gold atoms
are gradually coaxed away

145
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from the powdered rock.

146
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So after all
that pulverizing

147
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and crushing and weighing
and firing,

148
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what we're left with is this,
these little teacups?

149
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What you're going to be able
to see in here

150
00:07:22,341 --> 00:07:24,977
is a gold bead
that was recovered

151
00:07:25,010 --> 00:07:28,013
from that sample
that you crushed.

152
00:07:28,046 --> 00:07:29,548
Um, no.

153
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Okay, come on.

154
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This is like the emperor's
new teacup.

155
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There's nothing in here except
that little tiny piece of dust.

156
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That's a piece
of gold.

157
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That actually weighs
about a half a milligram.

158
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So all that work gave you only
a half a milligram of gold?

159
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It equals out

160
00:07:46,598 --> 00:07:48,067
to about one ounce per ton.

161
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An ounce of gold
for every ton of rock?

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That's right, and...

163
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That's a terrible
business!

164
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You'll never make
any money.

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FITZWATER:
When you went in the mine

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and you were able to see
the trucks that we had,

167
00:08:01,747 --> 00:08:04,683
those are 400-ton haul packs.

168
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If you had 400 tons of material
at one ounce per ton...

169
00:08:06,885 --> 00:08:13,092
400 tons and one ounce of gold
for each ton.

170
00:08:13,125 --> 00:08:17,963
At that rate, that's 25 pounds
of gold for every truck.

171
00:08:17,996 --> 00:08:20,666
And at $1,800 an ounce...

172
00:08:20,699 --> 00:08:22,868
$1,800 times...

173
00:08:22,901 --> 00:08:26,105
$720,000 a truck!

174
00:08:27,372 --> 00:08:29,308
This is a fantastic
business!

175
00:08:29,341 --> 00:08:30,643
How do I get in on this?

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POGUE:
Turns out that an ounce per ton

177
00:08:33,745 --> 00:08:37,016
is pretty much optimal
for the underground mine.

178
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The surface mine produces less,
about half an ounce per ton.

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To see what it takes

180
00:08:44,856 --> 00:08:47,426
to get something bigger
than that tiny bead,

181
00:08:47,459 --> 00:08:50,896
I visit the processing plant
where the ore ends up.

182
00:08:50,929 --> 00:08:53,098
Just another day in
the gold refinery.

183
00:08:53,131 --> 00:08:57,469
Here too, extraction begins
with crushing

184
00:08:57,502 --> 00:09:00,940
in these huge tumblers.

185
00:09:00,973 --> 00:09:02,841
And that sets the stage
for the trickiest step:

186
00:09:02,874 --> 00:09:07,780
coaxing the microscopic gold out
of the rocky ore.

187
00:09:07,813 --> 00:09:11,951
About three quarters
of the elements are metals.

188
00:09:11,984 --> 00:09:15,688
And gold is one of the most
standoffish.

189
00:09:15,721 --> 00:09:19,391
How an atom reacts chemically
depends on how willing it is

190
00:09:19,424 --> 00:09:21,660
to share electrons with others.

191
00:09:21,693 --> 00:09:24,830
And gold is not very social.

192
00:09:24,863 --> 00:09:26,432
Like Greta Garbo,

193
00:09:26,465 --> 00:09:29,234
(uses German accent):
it wants to be alone.

194
00:09:29,267 --> 00:09:32,538
So do other so-called
noble metals--

195
00:09:32,571 --> 00:09:38,110
silver, platinum, palladium,
osmium and iridium--

196
00:09:38,143 --> 00:09:40,546
all located in the same
quiet neighborhood

197
00:09:40,579 --> 00:09:42,214
of the periodic table.

198
00:09:42,247 --> 00:09:45,751
Using cyanide to react
with the gold

199
00:09:45,784 --> 00:09:47,586
allows them to gradually reduce

200
00:09:47,619 --> 00:09:51,957
40,000 gallon tanks
of pulverized sludge...

201
00:09:51,990 --> 00:09:53,392
to this.

202
00:09:53,425 --> 00:09:56,228
Three trays full of... mud?

203
00:09:56,261 --> 00:09:58,430
But there's not gold
in here, is there?

204
00:09:58,463 --> 00:10:00,566
There's a little bit of carbon
that's mixed in with this

205
00:10:00,599 --> 00:10:02,134
that's changed
the color on it.

206
00:10:02,167 --> 00:10:04,003
But I assure you that when we
melt it and pour it down, Dave,

207
00:10:04,036 --> 00:10:05,371
we're going to have gold.

208
00:10:05,404 --> 00:10:07,973
All right, and how much gold--
like, how many gold bars--

209
00:10:08,006 --> 00:10:09,642
will this array make?

210
00:10:09,675 --> 00:10:12,244
This should produce
about a bar and a half.

211
00:10:12,277 --> 00:10:14,613
All right,
and all derived

212
00:10:14,646 --> 00:10:18,617
from one 40,000-gallon batch
of solution?

213
00:10:18,650 --> 00:10:19,718
Right.

214
00:10:19,751 --> 00:10:21,620
So, 40,000 gallons got
distilled down to this,

215
00:10:21,653 --> 00:10:23,656
and that will get distilled down
to a bar and a half?

216
00:10:23,689 --> 00:10:23,689
Right, exactly.

217
00:10:23,689 --> 00:10:25,257
Wow.

218
00:10:25,290 --> 00:10:30,062
POGUE:
The golden mud goes into
a 2,000-degree induction furnace

219
00:10:30,095 --> 00:10:33,465
along with a white powder
called flux,

220
00:10:33,498 --> 00:10:35,634
chemicals that prevent
the molten gold

221
00:10:35,667 --> 00:10:38,838
from reacting with
or sticking to anything.

222
00:10:46,578 --> 00:10:49,081
This is the first time
an outsider

223
00:10:49,114 --> 00:10:51,217
has been allowed to pour gold.

224
00:10:54,820 --> 00:10:57,589
Just call me King Midas.

225
00:10:57,622 --> 00:11:00,059
I'm not sure they entirely know
what they're doing,

226
00:11:00,092 --> 00:11:03,429
but they are going
to let me pour the gold

227
00:11:03,462 --> 00:11:05,330
into a gold bar mold.

228
00:11:05,363 --> 00:11:09,068
If it goes over 70 pounds,
it's a reject.

229
00:11:09,101 --> 00:11:10,569
They'll have to throw it away

230
00:11:10,602 --> 00:11:12,771
or just let me take it home
in my luggage.

231
00:11:12,804 --> 00:11:18,444
So, you know, I'll...
I'll do my best not to spill.

232
00:11:18,477 --> 00:11:21,513
There's a lot of money
at stake here.

233
00:11:21,546 --> 00:11:23,615
Here it comes.

234
00:11:23,648 --> 00:11:25,617
Hot gold.

235
00:11:25,650 --> 00:11:27,453
Get your hot gold here.

236
00:11:33,125 --> 00:11:34,526
Right there.

237
00:11:34,559 --> 00:11:37,763
It's a gold bar,
ladies and gentlemen.

238
00:11:37,796 --> 00:11:38,897
It's been my pleasure.

239
00:11:38,930 --> 00:11:40,066
See you next week!

240
00:11:42,367 --> 00:11:46,271
Perfect job.

241
00:11:46,304 --> 00:11:49,875
Final steps:
cool and clean the bars.

242
00:11:52,077 --> 00:11:55,147
Stamp them with their unique
serial numbers

243
00:11:55,180 --> 00:11:58,084
and their weights.

244
00:12:00,719 --> 00:12:02,421
So this is it,
the proverbial gold bars.

245
00:12:02,454 --> 00:12:03,555
And you know what?

246
00:12:03,588 --> 00:12:04,790
They're still warm.

247
00:12:04,823 --> 00:12:06,225
They're still warm,
hot off the press.

248
00:12:06,258 --> 00:12:07,359
Can I pick one of these up?

249
00:12:07,392 --> 00:12:09,294
It's not may I,
it's can I.

250
00:12:09,327 --> 00:12:11,196
Oh man!

251
00:12:11,229 --> 00:12:12,598
This thing...

252
00:12:12,631 --> 00:12:14,399
So this is, what, 70 pounds?

253
00:12:14,432 --> 00:12:15,267
It's about 60 pounds.

254
00:12:15,300 --> 00:12:16,268
60 pounds?

255
00:12:16,301 --> 00:12:16,935
Yes.

256
00:12:16,968 --> 00:12:18,070
Oh, it's nothing.

257
00:12:18,103 --> 00:12:19,838
And about how much
value here?

258
00:12:19,871 --> 00:12:22,307
There is about a million-
and-a-half dollars there, Dave.

259
00:12:22,340 --> 00:12:23,876
Oh, man.

260
00:12:23,909 --> 00:12:26,378
Mike, what's that gorilla
doing there?

261
00:12:26,411 --> 00:12:27,479
(laughs)

262
00:12:27,512 --> 00:12:30,415
POGUE:
They're deceptively heavy.

263
00:12:30,448 --> 00:12:33,418
Only a few natural elements
have greater density than gold:

264
00:12:33,451 --> 00:12:37,823
rhenium, platinum,
iridium, and osmium.

265
00:12:37,856 --> 00:12:40,425
Mike tells me
that each bar represents

266
00:12:40,458 --> 00:12:42,661
about a million pounds of rock

267
00:12:42,694 --> 00:12:45,864
that had to be moved
and processed.

268
00:12:45,897 --> 00:12:49,201
Eight bars, 12 million dollars

269
00:12:49,234 --> 00:12:51,804
sitting on this unassuming
little table.

270
00:12:51,837 --> 00:12:55,174
What a transformation.

271
00:12:55,207 --> 00:12:58,043
Of all the elements
that touch our lives,

272
00:12:58,076 --> 00:12:59,845
nothing drives humankind

273
00:12:59,878 --> 00:13:03,448
to acts of love or destruction
like gold.

274
00:13:03,481 --> 00:13:07,019
It is perhaps the most emotional
of the elements.

275
00:13:07,052 --> 00:13:10,455
But two rows above gold
is another metal of antiquity

276
00:13:10,488 --> 00:13:15,027
that looms large in our lives:
copper.

277
00:13:15,060 --> 00:13:17,429
Symbol: Cu.

278
00:13:17,462 --> 00:13:19,198
Atomic number: 29.

279
00:13:19,231 --> 00:13:23,168
29 protons, 29 electrons.

280
00:13:23,201 --> 00:13:26,605
The ancients first learned
how to heat rocks

281
00:13:26,638 --> 00:13:32,244
to extract copper
at least 7,000 years ago.

282
00:13:36,615 --> 00:13:39,151
And today, it's one of the most
widely bought and sold metals

283
00:13:39,184 --> 00:13:41,387
in the world.

284
00:13:44,222 --> 00:13:46,091
The New York Mercantile Exchange

285
00:13:46,124 --> 00:13:48,894
is a vital hub
in the global metals market.

286
00:13:52,330 --> 00:13:55,201
Which is pretty good news
for me.

287
00:13:58,737 --> 00:13:59,972
At least, I thought so...

288
00:14:00,005 --> 00:14:03,275
Sorry sir, you can't
come in with this.

289
00:14:03,308 --> 00:14:05,010
I thought this is
a copper exchange.

290
00:14:05,043 --> 00:14:06,445
I'm here to exchange
some copper.

291
00:14:06,478 --> 00:14:07,980
I'm sorry, that's not allowed
on the floor,

292
00:14:08,013 --> 00:14:08,947
you can't come in with this.

293
00:14:08,980 --> 00:14:10,316
Seriously?

294
00:14:13,952 --> 00:14:17,289
The only business that they're
willing to do here

295
00:14:17,322 --> 00:14:19,992
is to buy or sell
copper futures.

296
00:14:20,025 --> 00:14:22,261
Like who would fall for that?

297
00:14:22,294 --> 00:14:23,962
ANTHONY GRISANTI:
Oh, this is an old,
old business.

298
00:14:23,995 --> 00:14:27,165
This goes back to the 1800s,
the late 1800s,

299
00:14:27,198 --> 00:14:28,934
where farmers were looking,
actually,

300
00:14:28,967 --> 00:14:31,336
for money to plant
their next year's crops.

301
00:14:31,369 --> 00:14:33,872
So what the farmers would do is
they would say, for example,

302
00:14:33,905 --> 00:14:36,441
"David, you loan me
some money," okay,

303
00:14:36,474 --> 00:14:38,710
"and then in the future,
I will sell you that crop

304
00:14:38,743 --> 00:14:40,913
that I planted
for this amount of dollars."

305
00:14:40,946 --> 00:14:42,648
Eighteen and a half...

306
00:14:42,681 --> 00:14:44,049
So what I'm doing is,

307
00:14:44,082 --> 00:14:47,619
I'm selling you the right
to buy or sell my future crops.

308
00:14:47,652 --> 00:14:50,689
POGUE:
So this crazy hi-tech thing

309
00:14:50,722 --> 00:14:52,324
began as a glorified
farmers market.

310
00:14:54,259 --> 00:14:56,895
In fact, this exchange
in New York

311
00:14:56,928 --> 00:15:00,832
started as a butter and cheese
exchange on Harrison Street.

312
00:15:00,865 --> 00:15:03,869
Is it safe to say there's
no cheese pit here somewhere?

313
00:15:03,902 --> 00:15:06,071
Uh, gruyere, gruyere,
cheddar, cheddar!

314
00:15:06,104 --> 00:15:07,873
David, you have to go
to Chicago for that.

315
00:15:07,906 --> 00:15:09,207
They still do that?

316
00:15:09,240 --> 00:15:11,176
Yeah, they still trade
agricultural products.

317
00:15:11,209 --> 00:15:14,413
(shouting)

318
00:15:14,446 --> 00:15:16,882
I would think that there would
be trading markets like this

319
00:15:16,915 --> 00:15:18,984
for gold, and silver,
and platinum,

320
00:15:19,017 --> 00:15:20,585
and things that
are valuable.

321
00:15:20,618 --> 00:15:21,954
But copper?

322
00:15:21,987 --> 00:15:23,655
Come on, it's like pennies,
it's like...

323
00:15:23,688 --> 00:15:25,590
Copper is king, okay?

324
00:15:25,623 --> 00:15:26,992
Copper is used for everything.

325
00:15:27,025 --> 00:15:28,827
It's a really vital metal.

326
00:15:28,860 --> 00:15:32,297
We use it for infrastructure,
we use it for electronic goods.

327
00:15:32,330 --> 00:15:33,899
I can hardly think of anything

328
00:15:33,932 --> 00:15:37,769
that doesn't have either a tiny
bit of copper or lots of copper.

329
00:15:37,802 --> 00:15:38,704
I love copper.

330
00:15:38,737 --> 00:15:38,737
I do, I do.

331
00:15:38,737 --> 00:15:40,205
I'm getting that.

332
00:15:40,238 --> 00:15:44,643
POGUE:
Harriet tells me that the copper
market is huge.

333
00:15:44,676 --> 00:15:47,546
Traders in New York,
London, and Shanghai

334
00:15:47,579 --> 00:15:51,516
buy and sell more than
20 million tons a year.

335
00:15:51,549 --> 00:15:56,555
Copper is in wire,
electronics and computer chips,

336
00:15:56,588 --> 00:15:59,825
plumbing and other building
materials.

337
00:15:59,858 --> 00:16:03,061
It's so important that the rise
and fall of copper prices

338
00:16:03,094 --> 00:16:07,099
provide a snapshot of the health
of the entire world economy.

339
00:16:07,132 --> 00:16:10,569
When times are bad,
copper prices tumble.

340
00:16:10,602 --> 00:16:13,438
And when times are good,
they soar.

341
00:16:13,471 --> 00:16:15,874
Some say it should be called
Dr. Copper,

342
00:16:15,907 --> 00:16:19,945
because it's the only metal
with a Ph.D. in economics.

343
00:16:19,978 --> 00:16:22,614
Copper has been prized
for millennia

344
00:16:22,647 --> 00:16:24,783
for its unique properties.

345
00:16:24,816 --> 00:16:28,387
It conducts electricity better
than any metal except silver.

346
00:16:28,420 --> 00:16:32,124
It's malleable and has
a moderate melting temperature.

347
00:16:32,157 --> 00:16:35,527
It even scares away bacteria.

348
00:16:35,560 --> 00:16:38,997
(shouting)

349
00:16:39,030 --> 00:16:42,901
These guys can trade
their copper futures.

350
00:16:42,934 --> 00:16:46,405
I've got to unload
my copper today.

351
00:16:46,438 --> 00:16:47,973
Commodities!

352
00:16:48,006 --> 00:16:50,108
Get your commodities!

353
00:16:50,141 --> 00:16:52,477
Got copper at 80 cents a pound.

354
00:16:52,510 --> 00:16:53,979
Anybody?

355
00:16:54,012 --> 00:16:55,514
Anybody?

356
00:17:03,121 --> 00:17:05,590
Copper alone is
impressive stuff.

357
00:17:05,623 --> 00:17:07,159
But when ancient metallurgists

358
00:17:07,192 --> 00:17:09,561
combined it
with another element,

359
00:17:09,594 --> 00:17:11,830
they invented
a much tougher material

360
00:17:11,863 --> 00:17:14,032
that went on to conquer
the world.

361
00:17:14,065 --> 00:17:16,435
That secret ingredient?

362
00:17:16,468 --> 00:17:17,903
Tin.

363
00:17:17,936 --> 00:17:19,638
Symbol: Sn.

364
00:17:19,671 --> 00:17:21,807
Atomic Number: 50.

365
00:17:21,840 --> 00:17:24,543
50 protons and 50 electrons.

366
00:17:24,576 --> 00:17:29,448
Tin added in small amounts
to copper makes bronze,

367
00:17:29,481 --> 00:17:32,017
the first man-made metal alloy.

368
00:17:32,050 --> 00:17:35,020
Bronze helped to spur
global trade.

369
00:17:35,053 --> 00:17:37,622
And once forged into tools
and weapons,

370
00:17:37,655 --> 00:17:41,726
it played a defining role
in the empires of antiquity.

371
00:17:41,759 --> 00:17:45,931
Bronze named an entire age
of human civilization.

372
00:17:45,964 --> 00:17:47,632
(bell ringing)

373
00:17:47,665 --> 00:17:50,135
And even today,
it's still hanging around.

374
00:17:55,974 --> 00:17:58,777
This is the Verdin Company,

375
00:17:58,810 --> 00:18:04,249
a 170-year-old family-run
business in Cincinnati, Ohio.

376
00:18:04,282 --> 00:18:09,721
I'm here because they're about
to cast several bells.

377
00:18:09,754 --> 00:18:13,058
Even with all the other
modern materials available,

378
00:18:13,091 --> 00:18:15,560
they still choose bronze.

379
00:18:15,593 --> 00:18:17,896
I want to know why.

380
00:18:17,929 --> 00:18:22,501
Hasn't something better come
along after all these years?

381
00:18:22,534 --> 00:18:26,838
Ralph Jung offers to make
the case for bronze.

382
00:18:26,871 --> 00:18:29,241
This is our pattern
that we're gonna use

383
00:18:29,274 --> 00:18:31,409
to actually make the form
in the sand.

384
00:18:31,442 --> 00:18:32,777
So this looks like
a finished bell.

385
00:18:32,810 --> 00:18:32,810
This isn't a bell?

386
00:18:32,810 --> 00:18:34,112
Yes, it does.

387
00:18:34,145 --> 00:18:35,647
This is just
the pattern, yes.

388
00:18:35,680 --> 00:18:38,450
It's made out of aluminum,
so it's real easy to handle.

389
00:18:38,483 --> 00:18:39,618
Well, what's wrong
with that?

390
00:18:39,651 --> 00:18:40,652
Aluminum's good.

391
00:18:40,685 --> 00:18:41,887
Aluminum doesn't rust,
Aluminum's light...

392
00:18:41,920 --> 00:18:42,988
You're right,
it doesn't.

393
00:18:43,021 --> 00:18:44,055
Why don't you make the bells
out of this?

394
00:18:44,088 --> 00:18:45,791
Well, the sound.

395
00:18:48,493 --> 00:18:50,095
It doesn't have
that lasting ring.

396
00:18:50,128 --> 00:18:51,663
And it just...

397
00:18:51,696 --> 00:18:52,764
You don't like
how that sounds?

398
00:18:52,797 --> 00:18:53,899
Not really.

399
00:18:53,932 --> 00:18:55,834
It sounds kinda
tinny, also.

400
00:18:55,867 --> 00:18:56,968
Thanks a lot, buddy.

401
00:18:57,001 --> 00:18:58,069
Well, you know...

402
00:18:58,102 --> 00:19:00,005
I practiced.

403
00:19:00,038 --> 00:19:02,307
We'll show you what
a real bell sounds like.

404
00:19:02,340 --> 00:19:04,142
POGUE:
The quality of the sound

405
00:19:04,175 --> 00:19:07,179
depends on the atomic structure
of the material.

406
00:19:07,212 --> 00:19:09,614
In pure metals,
the atoms are arranged

407
00:19:09,647 --> 00:19:11,917
in orderly rows and columns.

408
00:19:11,950 --> 00:19:14,653
Each atom gives up
some of its electrons

409
00:19:14,686 --> 00:19:16,621
to create a kind of sea

410
00:19:16,654 --> 00:19:19,591
of these randomly-moving
charged particles.

411
00:19:19,624 --> 00:19:21,860
It's these free-flowing
electrons

412
00:19:21,893 --> 00:19:23,995
that make metals conductive.

413
00:19:24,028 --> 00:19:25,630
When placed in a circuit,

414
00:19:25,663 --> 00:19:27,832
the negatively charged
particles line up

415
00:19:27,865 --> 00:19:30,702
and flow as an electric current.

416
00:19:31,336 --> 00:19:33,238
The sea of electrons

417
00:19:33,271 --> 00:19:36,441
also creates flexible
metallic bonds among the atoms.

418
00:19:36,474 --> 00:19:39,878
In copper, they can slide past
each other easily,

419
00:19:39,911 --> 00:19:43,381
which makes it relatively soft
and easy-to-dent.

420
00:19:43,414 --> 00:19:46,084
Not right for a bell.

421
00:19:46,117 --> 00:19:49,421
That's why Verdin
uses stiffer stuff.

422
00:19:49,454 --> 00:19:51,089
JUNG:
So we'll put this down
into here...

423
00:19:51,122 --> 00:19:56,027
POGUE:
Ralph places the form into
a circular steel sleeve,

424
00:19:56,060 --> 00:20:00,065
then fills the space around it
with a mixture of sand and epoxy

425
00:20:00,098 --> 00:20:04,903
to withstand the searing heat
of the hot metal.

426
00:20:04,936 --> 00:20:06,738
When this company started,

427
00:20:06,771 --> 00:20:09,207
they used a mixture
of horsehair, manure,

428
00:20:09,240 --> 00:20:11,109
and just about anything else

429
00:20:11,142 --> 00:20:14,512
that would hold a shape
without burning.

430
00:20:14,545 --> 00:20:18,383
But the goal was the same:
to create a hollow shape

431
00:20:18,416 --> 00:20:21,920
that follows the inner and outer
perimeter of the bell.

432
00:20:21,953 --> 00:20:26,858
Once he removes the aluminum
and joins the two halves,

433
00:20:26,891 --> 00:20:30,562
a bell-shaped space
remains on the inside,

434
00:20:30,595 --> 00:20:34,532
ready to accept
the molten bronze.

435
00:20:34,565 --> 00:20:35,867
And what we have
here, David,

436
00:20:35,900 --> 00:20:39,004
is the bronze ingots that we use
to put in the furnace.

437
00:20:39,037 --> 00:20:40,772
As you can see,
they're...

438
00:20:40,805 --> 00:20:42,574
they've got a little bit
of heft to them.

439
00:20:42,607 --> 00:20:43,775
Yeah, it's like...

440
00:20:43,808 --> 00:20:45,243
They average
about 20 pounds.

441
00:20:45,276 --> 00:20:46,711
That's a...
that's a mixture, actually,

442
00:20:46,744 --> 00:20:49,347
of 80% copper
and 20% tin.

443
00:20:49,380 --> 00:20:52,884
And what we have here is
the tin in a raw form.

444
00:20:52,917 --> 00:20:54,519
This is how it comes out
of the ground.

445
00:20:54,552 --> 00:20:54,552
This is from Malaysia.

446
00:20:54,552 --> 00:20:56,254
Okay.

447
00:20:56,287 --> 00:20:58,356
And we have
a chunk of copper

448
00:20:58,389 --> 00:21:00,058
the way it comes out
of the ground.

449
00:21:00,091 --> 00:21:01,726
And that's from
South Africa.

450
00:21:01,759 --> 00:21:03,461
So that's the recipe
for bronze.

451
00:21:03,494 --> 00:21:04,896
Exactly.

452
00:21:04,929 --> 00:21:06,865
So you've got copper
plus tin equals bronze.

453
00:21:06,898 --> 00:21:09,267
Equals bronze, yeah.

454
00:21:09,300 --> 00:21:11,036
Why couldn't you use one of
those metals by themselves?

455
00:21:11,069 --> 00:21:12,937
Why don't you make bells
out of just copper?

456
00:21:12,970 --> 00:21:14,539
If it was all copper,

457
00:21:14,572 --> 00:21:16,241
it would first of all
be too soft,

458
00:21:16,274 --> 00:21:19,644
and we wouldn't get that sound
that we want from a bell.

459
00:21:19,677 --> 00:21:23,915
Tin with copper
gives us that hardness.

460
00:21:23,948 --> 00:21:27,085
POGUE:
Adding tin to copper
during melting

461
00:21:27,118 --> 00:21:29,921
changes the properties
of the metal.

462
00:21:29,954 --> 00:21:31,423
The larger tin atoms

463
00:21:31,456 --> 00:21:33,591
restrict the movement
of the copper atoms,

464
00:21:33,624 --> 00:21:38,530
making the material harder.

465
00:21:38,563 --> 00:21:40,965
A blow causes the atoms
to vibrate,

466
00:21:40,998 --> 00:21:44,302
but the tin prevents them from
moving too far out of position.

467
00:21:44,335 --> 00:21:46,571
Tin is good for a bell,

468
00:21:46,604 --> 00:21:48,940
but only in the right
proportion.

469
00:21:48,973 --> 00:21:53,311
This is what can happen if
the amount of tin isn't right.

470
00:21:53,344 --> 00:21:57,182
No one is certain why
the Liberty Bell cracked,

471
00:21:57,215 --> 00:22:01,086
but a chemical analysis
indicated there was too much tin

472
00:22:01,119 --> 00:22:05,056
and perhaps other impurities
in the bronze.

473
00:22:05,089 --> 00:22:06,524
The crack could have been caused

474
00:22:06,557 --> 00:22:09,694
by the way the atoms
were arranged within the metal.

475
00:22:09,727 --> 00:22:13,231
Too much tin, and the copper
atoms can't move at all.

476
00:22:13,264 --> 00:22:16,835
One good whack, and...

477
00:22:19,237 --> 00:22:21,339
When the bronze has reached
the proper temperature--

478
00:22:21,372 --> 00:22:28,146
2,200 degrees Fahrenheit--
it's time to pour.

479
00:22:28,179 --> 00:22:30,081
Is there any, uh, danger
involved in this process?

480
00:22:30,114 --> 00:22:35,020
Well, if you consider getting
burned a danger, yes, there is.

481
00:22:38,489 --> 00:22:42,193
POGUE:
During the pour,
speed is of the essence.

482
00:22:42,226 --> 00:22:44,028
If the metal is allowed to cool,

483
00:22:44,061 --> 00:22:48,900
flaws could develop,
ruining the bell.

484
00:22:48,933 --> 00:22:51,169
Even though the foundry
has the technology

485
00:22:51,202 --> 00:22:53,872
to precisely control
the temperature,

486
00:22:53,905 --> 00:22:59,144
and Ralph and his team have
decades of experience,

487
00:22:59,177 --> 00:23:00,678
bronze remains unpredictable.

488
00:23:00,711 --> 00:23:07,886
Out of every hundred bells
they pour, 20 or 30 will fail.

489
00:23:10,721 --> 00:23:11,890
That was quite a process.

490
00:23:11,923 --> 00:23:13,458
I appreciate your letting me
help out like that.

491
00:23:13,491 --> 00:23:16,795
JUNG:
I think we got three successful
bells out of this,

492
00:23:16,828 --> 00:23:18,630
but anything can go wrong.

493
00:23:18,663 --> 00:23:22,567
So you just don't know until
after you open up the molds

494
00:23:22,600 --> 00:23:25,837
and see what you've got.

495
00:23:27,071 --> 00:23:29,808
(roosters crowing)

496
00:23:29,841 --> 00:23:33,711
The bells have to cool
for 24 hours,

497
00:23:33,744 --> 00:23:36,381
so it's the next day
before we can find out

498
00:23:36,414 --> 00:23:40,452
if they'll be making music
or ending up as scrap.

499
00:23:40,485 --> 00:23:42,620
So what am I gonna
see inside?

500
00:23:42,653 --> 00:23:46,391
A gleaming chrome,
silver magnificent church bell

501
00:23:46,424 --> 00:23:47,592
ready for hanging?

502
00:23:47,625 --> 00:23:49,394
Actually no,
you're gonna see...

503
00:23:49,427 --> 00:23:53,298
I like to refer to them
as a newborn baby.

504
00:23:53,331 --> 00:23:56,768
They come out kind of ugly
and not so pretty,

505
00:23:56,801 --> 00:23:58,837
but they clean up really well.

506
00:23:58,870 --> 00:24:04,776
(humming "Also Sprach
Zarathustra" by Strauss)

507
00:24:04,809 --> 00:24:05,877
Wow, I can feel...

508
00:24:05,910 --> 00:24:07,946
I can feel waves of heat
coming off of this.

509
00:24:07,979 --> 00:24:09,380
Yes, it's still quite warm.

510
00:24:09,413 --> 00:24:10,482
Is it... is it touchable?

511
00:24:10,515 --> 00:24:11,549
Yes, it's touchable.

512
00:24:11,582 --> 00:24:13,084
Ow!

513
00:24:13,117 --> 00:24:14,853
Speak for yourself, dude.

514
00:24:14,886 --> 00:24:18,389
POGUE:
And what happens to a carefully
crafted sand mold?

515
00:24:18,422 --> 00:24:23,394
It's history.

516
00:24:23,427 --> 00:24:26,464
Is this an actual bell that you
can actually sell to somebody?

517
00:24:26,497 --> 00:24:28,233
Oh, yes, yes,
we're gonna...

518
00:24:28,266 --> 00:24:29,334
This will be
on the market very soon.

519
00:24:29,367 --> 00:24:33,404
So I really do need
to not chip it.

520
00:24:33,437 --> 00:24:37,108
That would be good.

521
00:24:48,653 --> 00:24:50,922
So what about all this
black sooty stuff?

522
00:24:50,955 --> 00:24:54,225
So that's going to have
to be cleaned off of there.

523
00:24:54,258 --> 00:24:56,160
You got some kind of big
hydraulic... ?

524
00:24:56,193 --> 00:24:59,264
Actually no,
I got this.

525
00:25:15,179 --> 00:25:17,248
Well, that was
a big waste of time.

526
00:25:17,281 --> 00:25:19,617
You missed a big spot
over here.

527
00:25:19,650 --> 00:25:22,754
I guess that's okay
for a rookie.

528
00:25:22,787 --> 00:25:24,889
Well, thank you
so much, Ralph.

529
00:25:24,922 --> 00:25:27,358
POGUE:
And now for the moment
of truth.

530
00:25:27,391 --> 00:25:30,962
Will this bell
be good enough to sing?

531
00:25:30,995 --> 00:25:32,063
What time is it?

532
00:25:32,096 --> 00:25:33,331
Time to celebrate

533
00:25:33,364 --> 00:25:36,501
the millennia-old tradition
of bronze.

534
00:25:36,534 --> 00:25:38,603
(bell rings clearly)

535
00:25:38,636 --> 00:25:41,306
Our bell resonates
with a beautiful tone,

536
00:25:41,339 --> 00:25:44,242
and it takes many seconds
for the note to die out

537
00:25:44,275 --> 00:25:48,813
thanks to the interplay
between copper and tin.

538
00:25:48,846 --> 00:25:50,782
Even the best bell makers

539
00:25:50,815 --> 00:25:54,319
can't know whether their bronze
will be too stiff, or too soft,

540
00:25:54,352 --> 00:25:56,921
until they pour a bell
and strike it.

541
00:25:56,954 --> 00:25:58,356
I wonder, though,

542
00:25:58,389 --> 00:26:01,526
if there's a more scientific way
to evaluate the metal.

543
00:26:03,694 --> 00:26:06,164
To find out, I'm taking
a piece of it

544
00:26:06,197 --> 00:26:09,100
to David Muller
at Cornell University.

545
00:26:09,133 --> 00:26:10,969
He's offered to show me

546
00:26:11,002 --> 00:26:16,608
how the atoms in our bronze
stack up... literally.

547
00:26:16,641 --> 00:26:18,643
I brought you a couple
of hunks of bronze,

548
00:26:18,676 --> 00:26:20,445
one of which was knocked off
of a bell when it was done

549
00:26:20,478 --> 00:26:22,714
and one of which
is unpoured.

550
00:26:22,747 --> 00:26:24,849
And I wouldn't mind
taking a look at these

551
00:26:24,882 --> 00:26:26,084
under your magic
microscope.

552
00:26:26,117 --> 00:26:27,585
Okay.

553
00:26:27,618 --> 00:26:29,420
Now, this is actually
a lot of material.

554
00:26:29,453 --> 00:26:31,389
I need an area about
the size of a farm,

555
00:26:31,422 --> 00:26:33,524
and you've given me the whole
of the United States.

556
00:26:33,557 --> 00:26:35,293
So we're gonna cut it down
a little bit.

557
00:26:39,330 --> 00:26:40,365
MULLER:
Now watch out, it's hot.

558
00:26:40,398 --> 00:26:42,367
It's what? Ow!

559
00:26:42,400 --> 00:26:44,669
POGUE:
First, a polishing wheel
gives the bronze

560
00:26:44,702 --> 00:26:45,870
a mirror-like finish.

561
00:26:45,903 --> 00:26:48,206
Then the sample is inserted

562
00:26:48,239 --> 00:26:50,908
into a powerful electron
microscope.

563
00:26:50,941 --> 00:26:54,078
David tells me that when
we reach full magnification,

564
00:26:54,111 --> 00:26:58,483
we will have images of
the actual atoms in the bronze,

565
00:26:58,516 --> 00:27:00,952
something few people
have ever seen.

566
00:27:00,985 --> 00:27:03,755
Frankly, it seems
a little farfetched.

567
00:27:03,788 --> 00:27:05,156
So what's in there right now?

568
00:27:05,189 --> 00:27:06,557
What are we looking at?

569
00:27:06,590 --> 00:27:08,826
So we have a piece of the bronze
that we cut earlier,

570
00:27:08,859 --> 00:27:10,294
very similar to this one.

571
00:27:10,327 --> 00:27:11,596
Now, I have to say,

572
00:27:11,629 --> 00:27:13,498
this microscope is not
especially impressive.

573
00:27:13,531 --> 00:27:16,367
I mean, I'm seeing
the entire circle,

574
00:27:16,400 --> 00:27:18,436
like I'm just wearing a pair
of reading glasses or something.

575
00:27:18,469 --> 00:27:20,672
MULLER:
This is like having
a map of the United States,

576
00:27:20,705 --> 00:27:22,707
and eventually
we want to zoom in,

577
00:27:22,740 --> 00:27:25,943
and we wanna pick out one car
parked somewhere in the U.S.

578
00:27:25,976 --> 00:27:31,883
POGUE:
We'll have to zoom in a hundred
million times to see an atom.

579
00:27:31,916 --> 00:27:33,685
To understand the scale,

580
00:27:33,718 --> 00:27:35,920
imagine if I were
floating in space

581
00:27:35,953 --> 00:27:38,056
2,000 miles above the Earth,

582
00:27:38,089 --> 00:27:40,058
looking down
at the United States.

583
00:27:40,091 --> 00:27:42,593
Zooming in a hundred
million times

584
00:27:42,626 --> 00:27:45,463
would allow me to pick out
not just a car,

585
00:27:45,496 --> 00:27:50,168
but a bug crawling in the grass
next to it.

586
00:27:50,201 --> 00:27:51,035
So we can zoom in from here?

587
00:27:51,068 --> 00:27:52,003
Absolutely.

588
00:27:52,036 --> 00:27:53,371
How do you do that?

589
00:27:53,404 --> 00:27:55,106
So there's the zoom button.

590
00:27:55,139 --> 00:27:57,341
POGUE:
The big knob labeled
"Magnification"?

591
00:27:57,374 --> 00:27:58,943
MULLER:
Absolutely.

592
00:27:58,976 --> 00:28:02,580
So crank up the mag and let's
see what happens as you zoom in.

593
00:28:02,613 --> 00:28:04,115
POGUE:
Wait!

594
00:28:04,148 --> 00:28:05,817
I see a little tiny
cartoon sign

595
00:28:05,850 --> 00:28:08,720
that says,
"Welcome to Whoville!"

596
00:28:08,753 --> 00:28:14,358
POGUE:
To see atoms, we need to find
an interesting region to sample.

597
00:28:14,391 --> 00:28:17,161
Now it's starting to look like
an alien surface.

598
00:28:17,194 --> 00:28:18,329
MULLER:
Right.

599
00:28:18,362 --> 00:28:19,997
Now what we're actually
starting to see

600
00:28:20,030 --> 00:28:23,801
is the microstructure
of the grains in that bronze.

601
00:28:23,834 --> 00:28:25,570
And the brighter colors

602
00:28:25,603 --> 00:28:27,839
are things that
contain more tin.

603
00:28:27,872 --> 00:28:30,108
And the things with less tin

604
00:28:30,141 --> 00:28:31,375
are the things
that are slightly darker.

605
00:28:31,408 --> 00:28:33,277
Oh my gosh,
that is so cool.

606
00:28:33,310 --> 00:28:36,981
POGUE:
The microscopic structure
of metals is not uniform.

607
00:28:37,014 --> 00:28:40,518
Small features called grains
become visible.

608
00:28:40,551 --> 00:28:43,488
Boundaries between grains
are actually defects

609
00:28:43,521 --> 00:28:46,724
in the orderly arrangement
of the atoms.

610
00:28:46,757 --> 00:28:49,594
So you can't see atoms
with this microscope.

611
00:28:49,627 --> 00:28:51,796
We can get almost all the way
there, but not quite.

612
00:28:51,829 --> 00:28:53,097
Okay.

613
00:28:53,130 --> 00:28:56,100
And to look at atoms, we're
gonna need a bigger machine.

614
00:28:56,133 --> 00:28:57,168
Do you have one?

615
00:28:57,201 --> 00:28:58,803
We certainly do.

616
00:28:58,836 --> 00:29:00,538
This huge thing?

617
00:29:00,571 --> 00:29:03,741
This giant room-size thing
in a shipping container?

618
00:29:03,774 --> 00:29:07,912
And why is it draped
in shipping crate material?

619
00:29:07,945 --> 00:29:09,714
Those are acoustic blankets.

620
00:29:09,747 --> 00:29:12,717
They are meant to absorb
and reflect sound

621
00:29:12,750 --> 00:29:15,086
because the microscope itself
is so sensitive

622
00:29:15,119 --> 00:29:16,454
that if you were to talk,

623
00:29:16,487 --> 00:29:18,890
just the pressure wave
from your voice is gonna...

624
00:29:18,923 --> 00:29:21,425
is gonna give enough
mechanical vibration

625
00:29:21,458 --> 00:29:23,561
to shake this thing around.

626
00:29:23,594 --> 00:29:26,764
We only have to shake things by
an atom for the image to vanish.

627
00:29:26,797 --> 00:29:28,132
So our little piece of bronze

628
00:29:28,165 --> 00:29:31,068
that we've dug out
of the first machine

629
00:29:31,101 --> 00:29:33,171
is now the little
black disc there?

630
00:29:33,204 --> 00:29:34,906
Well, that's the three-
millimeter support disc.

631
00:29:34,939 --> 00:29:37,141
The actual bronze chip itself

632
00:29:37,174 --> 00:29:39,277
is about a hundredth
the thickness of a human hair.

633
00:29:39,310 --> 00:29:41,579
It's too small
for us to see,

634
00:29:41,612 --> 00:29:43,347
so we have to mount it
on a carrier grid

635
00:29:43,380 --> 00:29:44,582
so we can handle it.

636
00:29:44,615 --> 00:29:46,083
Oh, so you've essentially
put it on a little plate.

637
00:29:46,116 --> 00:29:47,351
That's right.

638
00:29:47,384 --> 00:29:49,287
Are you telling me that
I can see individual atoms

639
00:29:49,320 --> 00:29:51,355
of my piece of bell?

640
00:29:51,388 --> 00:29:53,124
That's correct.

641
00:29:53,157 --> 00:29:56,727
POGUE:
Scientists have understood
since the early 20th century

642
00:29:56,760 --> 00:29:58,963
that metals are crystals.

643
00:29:58,996 --> 00:30:02,033
That is, they have an orderly
arrangement of atoms.

644
00:30:02,066 --> 00:30:05,036
By bombarding samples
with x-rays,

645
00:30:05,069 --> 00:30:07,538
they were able to create
shadowy images

646
00:30:07,571 --> 00:30:09,640
of that crystal structure.

647
00:30:09,673 --> 00:30:12,877
But the idea that we might
one day see actual atoms

648
00:30:12,910 --> 00:30:15,012
was beyond imagination.

649
00:30:15,045 --> 00:30:18,182
If David's microscope
is powerful enough,

650
00:30:18,215 --> 00:30:20,585
we should see regular rows
of copper atoms

651
00:30:20,618 --> 00:30:23,754
with tin atoms packed
in between.

652
00:30:23,787 --> 00:30:25,523
Or so the theory predicts.

653
00:30:25,556 --> 00:30:26,424
The dots are atoms?

654
00:30:26,457 --> 00:30:28,292
That's right.

655
00:30:28,325 --> 00:30:29,927
Each individual dot
is an atom.

656
00:30:29,960 --> 00:30:33,264
We are seeing actual atoms
of my little bell piece?

657
00:30:33,297 --> 00:30:36,167
MULLER:
The bright ones,
those are the tin atoms,

658
00:30:36,200 --> 00:30:39,704
and the slightly darker ones,
those are the copper atoms.

659
00:30:39,737 --> 00:30:41,606
And isn't it kind of like
a mind-blower

660
00:30:41,639 --> 00:30:45,476
that we're actually looking
at actual atoms?

661
00:30:45,509 --> 00:30:48,679
I mean, isn't this a historic
technological achievement?

662
00:30:48,712 --> 00:30:51,048
Every time people see
that for the first time,

663
00:30:51,081 --> 00:30:52,183
they get really excited.

664
00:30:52,216 --> 00:30:57,588
POGUE:
To actually see atoms-- amazing!

665
00:30:57,621 --> 00:30:59,957
Well, what can we learn
about this?

666
00:30:59,990 --> 00:31:01,058
Like, for one thing,

667
00:31:01,091 --> 00:31:02,426
I notice they're really,
really grid-like.

668
00:31:02,459 --> 00:31:06,130
They're like a little aerial
photo of a planned community.

669
00:31:06,163 --> 00:31:09,100
That's actually the stacking
of the atoms in the material.

670
00:31:09,133 --> 00:31:10,701
The pattern that
it orders into,

671
00:31:10,734 --> 00:31:12,837
that is the crystal
structure directly.

672
00:31:12,870 --> 00:31:15,973
POGUE:
David tells me we got
very lucky.

673
00:31:16,006 --> 00:31:19,110
The atoms in our bronze
are unusually well-ordered.

674
00:31:19,143 --> 00:31:24,282
Our bell makers must be
true masters of their craft.

675
00:31:24,315 --> 00:31:25,316
Well, thanks for my tour

676
00:31:25,349 --> 00:31:27,018
into the...
to the unseen

677
00:31:27,051 --> 00:31:29,020
and to what used to be
the purely theoretical.

678
00:31:29,053 --> 00:31:32,323
I can't believe I can now put on
my resume that I've seen atoms.

679
00:31:32,356 --> 00:31:33,658
Thanks for the tour.

680
00:31:33,691 --> 00:31:35,026
It was a pleasure.

681
00:31:35,059 --> 00:31:38,229
POGUE:
This amazing ability
to see atoms

682
00:31:38,262 --> 00:31:40,398
has opened up new worlds
for scientists.

683
00:31:40,431 --> 00:31:43,601
Muller's lab has
successfully captured

684
00:31:43,634 --> 00:31:49,974
many other images of atoms
in gold and computer chips,

685
00:31:50,007 --> 00:31:56,480
oxygen, powerful magnets,
and even glass.

686
00:31:56,513 --> 00:31:59,750
But even so, they've barely
scratched the surface

687
00:31:59,783 --> 00:32:01,185
because they can discern

688
00:32:01,218 --> 00:32:04,755
only the outermost boundaries
around atoms.

689
00:32:04,788 --> 00:32:08,125
The interior is 10,000 times
smaller.

690
00:32:08,158 --> 00:32:12,029
If the outer boundary
of a hydrogen atom,

691
00:32:12,062 --> 00:32:13,698
where the electron is found,

692
00:32:13,731 --> 00:32:18,169
were enlarged to be two miles
wide, about the size of a city,

693
00:32:18,202 --> 00:32:20,404
the single proton in its nucleus

694
00:32:20,437 --> 00:32:22,640
would be the size
of a golf ball.

695
00:32:22,673 --> 00:32:26,177
It's here we find elements
at their most elemental,

696
00:32:26,210 --> 00:32:28,679
because every nucleus
contains protons

697
00:32:28,712 --> 00:32:30,481
and it's the number of protons

698
00:32:30,514 --> 00:32:33,884
that determines what kind
of element the atom is.

699
00:32:33,917 --> 00:32:36,087
One proton is hydrogen.

700
00:32:37,855 --> 00:32:40,191
Two protons, helium.

701
00:32:41,125 --> 00:32:42,927
Three protons, lithium.

702
00:32:42,960 --> 00:32:45,730
Four protons, beryllium.

703
00:32:45,763 --> 00:32:50,601
All the way up to element 118,
with 118 protons.

704
00:32:50,634 --> 00:32:53,771
The number of protons is called
the atomic number,

705
00:32:53,804 --> 00:32:56,674
and it's the fundamental
organizing principle

706
00:32:56,707 --> 00:32:58,743
of every table of the elements.

707
00:32:58,776 --> 00:33:01,078
Including this one.

708
00:33:01,111 --> 00:33:03,347
Wow, this is cool.

709
00:33:03,380 --> 00:33:06,017
You have a periodic table
table!

710
00:33:06,050 --> 00:33:08,119
THEO GRAY:
Well, it's called
the periodic table,

711
00:33:08,152 --> 00:33:09,720
why do people keep putting them
on the wall?

712
00:33:09,753 --> 00:33:13,124
POGUE:
Every high school student
has seen the elements chart

713
00:33:13,157 --> 00:33:16,727
but author Theo Gray's version
is unique--

714
00:33:16,760 --> 00:33:19,930
handmade, with each element's
identity card

715
00:33:19,963 --> 00:33:23,768
meticulously carved
into the wood.

716
00:33:23,801 --> 00:33:26,203
But I have to say I've never
completely gotten it, right?

717
00:33:26,236 --> 00:33:28,139
They're filled with stats
and figures

718
00:33:28,172 --> 00:33:30,207
that don't make any sense
to the ordinary person.

719
00:33:30,240 --> 00:33:31,375
Theo gives me a refresher.

720
00:33:31,408 --> 00:33:34,011
You've got the name
of the element.

721
00:33:34,044 --> 00:33:35,713
You've got the atomic symbol.

722
00:33:35,746 --> 00:33:36,814
Ca for calcium.

723
00:33:36,847 --> 00:33:38,149
Calcium.

724
00:33:38,182 --> 00:33:39,550
Uh, you've got
the atomic number,

725
00:33:39,583 --> 00:33:41,085
which is the number of protons

726
00:33:41,118 --> 00:33:43,154
in the nucleus of each atom
of that element.

727
00:33:43,187 --> 00:33:45,589
It's probably the most important
thing on this tile.

728
00:33:45,622 --> 00:33:46,524
So where's gold?

729
00:33:46,557 --> 00:33:47,625
Gold's right there,
number 79.

730
00:33:47,658 --> 00:33:49,527
Okay, so here's
a classic example.

731
00:33:49,560 --> 00:33:52,763
They would do much better
with marketing this table

732
00:33:52,796 --> 00:33:54,532
if the name
and the symbol matched.

733
00:33:54,565 --> 00:33:57,535
Gold doesn't even have
"Au" in it.

734
00:33:57,568 --> 00:34:00,037
The symbol is based on
the Latin name, aurum.

735
00:34:00,070 --> 00:34:02,573
And if you think about it,
the name of each element

736
00:34:02,606 --> 00:34:04,275
is the least important piece
of information

737
00:34:04,308 --> 00:34:05,576
you could possibly have.

738
00:34:05,609 --> 00:34:06,911
What matters about elements

739
00:34:06,944 --> 00:34:08,679
is that they are real
physical substances

740
00:34:08,712 --> 00:34:10,581
with properties and things
you can do with them.

741
00:34:10,614 --> 00:34:15,453
POGUE:
Theo makes the point by putting
me in touch with the real deal.

742
00:34:15,486 --> 00:34:17,254
Oh...

743
00:34:17,287 --> 00:34:20,057
I see what you've done.

744
00:34:20,090 --> 00:34:22,026
To make the entire table
less abstract,

745
00:34:22,059 --> 00:34:23,227
he invites me to lay out

746
00:34:23,260 --> 00:34:27,098
the rest of his collection
of pure elements.

747
00:34:33,604 --> 00:34:36,574
Well, this is really
pretty amazing.

748
00:34:36,607 --> 00:34:39,944
This is a visual representation
of every single element

749
00:34:39,977 --> 00:34:41,745
that makes up this entire planet
and everything on it.

750
00:34:41,778 --> 00:34:45,516
POGUE:
Then Theo reminds me
of something I'd forgotten.

751
00:34:45,549 --> 00:34:47,384
As we can clearly see,

752
00:34:47,417 --> 00:34:51,622
more than 70% of the elements
on the table are metals--

753
00:34:51,655 --> 00:34:54,125
shiny, malleable materials
that conduct electricity.

754
00:34:54,158 --> 00:34:55,893
GRAY:
There's sort of
a diagonal line here.

755
00:34:55,926 --> 00:34:57,728
Everything from here on over,

756
00:34:57,761 --> 00:35:00,664
including the bottom part,
is all metals.

757
00:35:00,697 --> 00:35:03,200
Everything from here on over
is non-metals.

758
00:35:03,233 --> 00:35:04,668
And down the middle

759
00:35:04,701 --> 00:35:06,737
are these kind of halfway
in between things

760
00:35:06,770 --> 00:35:08,873
which include, for example,
semiconductors.

761
00:35:08,906 --> 00:35:08,906
Like silicon.

762
00:35:08,906 --> 00:35:10,040
Silicon, right.

763
00:35:10,073 --> 00:35:12,877
I have to say,
many of these elements

764
00:35:12,910 --> 00:35:14,478
look the way
you would think--

765
00:35:14,511 --> 00:35:16,280
gold looks like gold,
silver looks like silver--

766
00:35:16,313 --> 00:35:17,548
but not all of them.

767
00:35:17,581 --> 00:35:20,484
The one I was looking at
in particular was calcium.

768
00:35:20,517 --> 00:35:21,585
Most people probably
think of calcium

769
00:35:21,618 --> 00:35:22,786
as white and chalky,
you know.

770
00:35:22,819 --> 00:35:25,055
It's bone, it's chalk,

771
00:35:25,088 --> 00:35:26,790
it's, uh, it's milk.

772
00:35:26,823 --> 00:35:29,793
But this is a silver,
shiny metal.

773
00:35:29,826 --> 00:35:31,929
POGUE:
This is when Theo's collection

774
00:35:31,962 --> 00:35:33,831
starts to get really
interesting:

775
00:35:33,864 --> 00:35:37,902
when he pairs the pure elements
with their more familiar forms.

776
00:35:37,935 --> 00:35:40,271
Like pure calcium metal

777
00:35:40,304 --> 00:35:43,607
combine with other elements
to make bone.

778
00:35:43,640 --> 00:35:46,477
Bismuth, in stomach medicine.

779
00:35:46,510 --> 00:35:50,814
Bromine, in soda.

780
00:35:50,847 --> 00:35:52,716
And even this element,

781
00:35:52,749 --> 00:35:55,853
hiding out
in collectible Fiesta ware.

782
00:35:55,886 --> 00:36:00,291
This bowl from the 1930s gets
its orange color from uranium,

783
00:36:00,324 --> 00:36:03,827
and it's actually dangerously
radioactive.

784
00:36:03,860 --> 00:36:06,664
Theo's table and his
remarkable collection

785
00:36:06,697 --> 00:36:08,566
make a powerful point.

786
00:36:08,599 --> 00:36:10,668
From about 90 elements
found on earth,

787
00:36:10,701 --> 00:36:14,238
nature and man have derived
millions of different substances

788
00:36:14,271 --> 00:36:16,240
that make our world.

789
00:36:16,273 --> 00:36:19,476
But to me, there's something
even more amazing:

790
00:36:19,509 --> 00:36:22,680
the table organizes the elements
by atomic number--

791
00:36:22,713 --> 00:36:26,250
that is, the number of protons
in each atom.

792
00:36:26,283 --> 00:36:28,319
Yet the table's creator--

793
00:36:28,352 --> 00:36:30,888
a 19th-century Russian
chemistry professor

794
00:36:30,921 --> 00:36:33,190
named Dmitri Mendeleev--

795
00:36:33,223 --> 00:36:36,827
knew nothing about protons
or atomic numbers.

796
00:36:36,860 --> 00:36:40,998
Even the atom itself
hadn't been discovered.

797
00:36:41,031 --> 00:36:45,169
To understand how he cracked
the code of the table,

798
00:36:45,202 --> 00:36:49,473
I've come to St. Petersburg,
Russia, to the State University

799
00:36:49,506 --> 00:36:52,476
and to Mendeleev's apartment
and office.

800
00:36:52,509 --> 00:36:55,946
In the late 1860s,
at this very desk,

801
00:36:55,979 --> 00:36:57,715
Mendeleev set out to discover

802
00:36:57,748 --> 00:37:01,518
the underlying order
to the elements.

803
00:37:01,551 --> 00:37:03,420
In one often-repeated story,

804
00:37:03,453 --> 00:37:07,558
Mendeleev is said to have
created 63 cards,

805
00:37:07,591 --> 00:37:10,894
one for each of the elements
known at the time.

806
00:37:10,927 --> 00:37:13,097
He distinguished them
not by atomic number,

807
00:37:13,130 --> 00:37:15,899
but by atomic weight.

808
00:37:15,932 --> 00:37:17,768
So he didn't know
about atoms,

809
00:37:17,801 --> 00:37:19,837
but isn't this
the atomic weight?

810
00:37:19,870 --> 00:37:22,606
How does he know the weight
if he doesn't know about atoms?

811
00:37:22,639 --> 00:37:26,243
(speaking Russian)

812
00:37:26,276 --> 00:37:31,715
(translated):
It's not in grams
or pounds or kilograms.

813
00:37:31,748 --> 00:37:34,551
In the 19th century,
they did it like this.

814
00:37:34,584 --> 00:37:37,254
They compared the weights
of different elements

815
00:37:37,287 --> 00:37:39,089
to the lightest, hydrogen.

816
00:37:39,122 --> 00:37:40,324
So when they say oxygen is 16,

817
00:37:40,357 --> 00:37:45,296
that means 16 times
the weight of hydrogen.

818
00:37:45,329 --> 00:37:49,300
POGUE:
19th-century scientists
relied on relative weight

819
00:37:49,333 --> 00:37:51,502
to order the elements.

820
00:37:51,535 --> 00:37:53,971
Imagine if you have
two containers,

821
00:37:54,004 --> 00:37:57,074
one full of red marbles,
one full of blue marbles.

822
00:37:57,107 --> 00:37:59,843
If both contain the same number
of marbles,

823
00:37:59,876 --> 00:38:02,813
but the blue container
weighs twice as much,

824
00:38:02,846 --> 00:38:05,983
you can infer that the blue
marbles weigh twice as much

825
00:38:06,016 --> 00:38:07,651
as the red marbles,

826
00:38:07,684 --> 00:38:10,187
even if you can't see
the marbles at all.

827
00:38:10,220 --> 00:38:13,290
Early chemists devised
clever ways

828
00:38:13,323 --> 00:38:16,794
of calculating the weights
of elements-- even gases--

829
00:38:16,827 --> 00:38:21,598
relative to the lightest one:
hydrogen.

830
00:38:21,631 --> 00:38:23,100
So the chemists knew
that different elements

831
00:38:23,133 --> 00:38:24,568
have different weights.

832
00:38:24,601 --> 00:38:27,438
But why not just
one big line forever?

833
00:38:27,471 --> 00:38:31,375
(translated):
Mendeleev decided that he would
arrange them by weight,

834
00:38:31,408 --> 00:38:35,079
but also by family.

835
00:38:35,112 --> 00:38:37,481
POGUE:
This is one of Mendeleev's
charts.

836
00:38:37,514 --> 00:38:41,285
You can see hydrogen sticking
out just as it does today.

837
00:38:41,318 --> 00:38:44,388
The families he knew are
now arranged in columns.

838
00:38:44,421 --> 00:38:48,992
This one has the metals--
lithium, sodium, and potassium--

839
00:38:49,025 --> 00:38:51,261
that explode in water.

840
00:38:51,294 --> 00:38:53,864
Next door, calcium
and magnesium,

841
00:38:53,897 --> 00:38:56,233
which also react with water.

842
00:38:56,266 --> 00:38:59,370
This big block in the middle are
metals that are safe to handle,

843
00:38:59,403 --> 00:39:03,107
like nickel,
iron, zinc, and gold.

844
00:39:03,140 --> 00:39:07,344
As we go to the right, the
elements become less metallic.

845
00:39:07,377 --> 00:39:10,914
These columns are headed
by boron, carbon, and nitrogen.

846
00:39:10,947 --> 00:39:12,750
In this neighborhood,

847
00:39:12,783 --> 00:39:15,753
some elements conduct
electricity, some don't,

848
00:39:15,786 --> 00:39:18,155
and some can't make up
their minds.

849
00:39:18,188 --> 00:39:20,624
But next door
is a more volatile crowd,

850
00:39:20,657 --> 00:39:23,594
headed by oxygen and fluorine.

851
00:39:23,627 --> 00:39:27,698
The table gets its shape from
the properties of the elements,

852
00:39:27,731 --> 00:39:31,769
like relative weight,
conductivity, and reactivity.

853
00:39:31,802 --> 00:39:35,773
It's true today as it was
in Mendeleev's time.

854
00:39:35,806 --> 00:39:37,941
Though his chart displayed

855
00:39:37,974 --> 00:39:40,511
only the 63 elements known
at the time,

856
00:39:40,544 --> 00:39:43,714
his understanding of the family
properties was so strong

857
00:39:43,747 --> 00:39:46,683
he was able to leave gaps
in his chart,

858
00:39:46,716 --> 00:39:51,321
bold predictions of elements
yet to be discovered.

859
00:39:51,354 --> 00:39:53,857
And when they were eventually
found, they proved

860
00:39:53,890 --> 00:39:56,760
completely consistent
with his descriptions.

861
00:39:56,793 --> 00:39:59,763
Mendeleev lived until 1907,

862
00:39:59,796 --> 00:40:02,666
long enough to see
three gaps filled

863
00:40:02,699 --> 00:40:07,070
by the discoveries of scandium,
gallium, and germanium.

864
00:40:07,103 --> 00:40:11,241
Since his death, dozens of new
elements have been discovered.

865
00:40:11,274 --> 00:40:12,709
And, incredibly,

866
00:40:12,742 --> 00:40:15,746
his chart perfectly
accommodates all of them,

867
00:40:15,779 --> 00:40:18,348
including an entire group
that fits neatly

868
00:40:18,381 --> 00:40:20,217
onto the end of the table:

869
00:40:20,250 --> 00:40:22,286
the noble gases.

870
00:40:22,319 --> 00:40:24,721
Where does that term
"noble gases" come from?

871
00:40:24,754 --> 00:40:26,657
Are they nobility?

872
00:40:26,690 --> 00:40:28,158
Do they rush
to rescue maidens?

873
00:40:28,191 --> 00:40:29,893
No, you're thinking
of heroes.

874
00:40:29,926 --> 00:40:31,595
They are like nobility
in the sense that

875
00:40:31,628 --> 00:40:33,030
they don't mix
with the riff-raff.

876
00:40:33,063 --> 00:40:35,299
They don't like to react
with any other elements.

877
00:40:35,332 --> 00:40:38,135
By and large, it's not possible
to form compounds with them.

878
00:40:38,168 --> 00:40:40,938
Well, it's a shame for your
collection that they're gases,

879
00:40:40,971 --> 00:40:43,707
because you've got
big blanks here.

880
00:40:43,740 --> 00:40:47,144
Oh, ho-ho-ho!

881
00:40:47,177 --> 00:40:49,680
POGUE:
The noble gases,
like neon and argon,

882
00:40:49,713 --> 00:40:52,416
pose a problem for chemists
who prefer their elements

883
00:40:52,449 --> 00:40:55,552
to join forces
and react with each other.

884
00:40:55,585 --> 00:40:58,155
You can run an electric current
through them,

885
00:40:58,188 --> 00:41:01,158
excite their electrons,
and get pretty colors--

886
00:41:01,191 --> 00:41:03,327
which is how neon lights work--

887
00:41:03,360 --> 00:41:05,162
but the noble gases don't react.

888
00:41:05,195 --> 00:41:09,399
They pretty much refuse
to combine with other elements.

889
00:41:09,432 --> 00:41:11,335
GRAY:
Being an inert gas,
being unwilling to mix

890
00:41:11,368 --> 00:41:13,303
with the other elements,
react with them--

891
00:41:13,336 --> 00:41:15,038
this is a very clear-cut
distinction

892
00:41:15,071 --> 00:41:16,807
that sets apart
this particular column

893
00:41:16,840 --> 00:41:18,742
from all the others
in the periodic table.

894
00:41:18,775 --> 00:41:21,378
POGUE:
So why are these guys so aloof?

895
00:41:21,411 --> 00:41:22,913
As it turns out,

896
00:41:22,946 --> 00:41:26,183
protons may determine
the identity of an element,

897
00:41:26,216 --> 00:41:29,119
but electrons rule
its reactivity.

898
00:41:29,152 --> 00:41:32,289
And reactivity is a shell game.

899
00:41:32,322 --> 00:41:34,592
Here's how the game is played.

900
00:41:35,592 --> 00:41:38,161
Imagine that these balls
are electrons

901
00:41:38,194 --> 00:41:40,163
and the target is an atom.

902
00:41:40,196 --> 00:41:44,735
Electrons don't just pile on
around the nucleus.

903
00:41:44,768 --> 00:41:46,069
As with skee ball,

904
00:41:46,102 --> 00:41:48,872
where you land relative
to the center counts.

905
00:41:48,905 --> 00:41:50,707
Oh come on!

906
00:41:50,740 --> 00:41:52,576
The electrons take up positions

907
00:41:52,609 --> 00:41:56,313
in what can be thought of
as concentric shells.

908
00:41:56,346 --> 00:42:00,150
The first shell maxes out
at just two electrons.

909
00:42:00,183 --> 00:42:02,085
The next holds eight,

910
00:42:02,118 --> 00:42:04,688
then it goes up to eighteen.

911
00:42:04,721 --> 00:42:07,190
An atom with eight electrons
in its outer shell

912
00:42:07,223 --> 00:42:10,694
makes one happy,
satisfied atom.

913
00:42:10,727 --> 00:42:12,829
And noble gases
come pre-equipped

914
00:42:12,862 --> 00:42:16,733
with completely
satisfied shells.

915
00:42:16,766 --> 00:42:18,135
And is this the only column
like that?

916
00:42:18,168 --> 00:42:19,169
It's the only column

917
00:42:19,202 --> 00:42:21,171
where all the shells
are completely filled.

918
00:42:21,204 --> 00:42:25,175
POGUE:
But what about the column just
before those stable noble gases?

919
00:42:25,208 --> 00:42:27,477
They're called the halogens.

920
00:42:27,510 --> 00:42:29,012
They have an outer shell

921
00:42:29,045 --> 00:42:31,848
that needs just one more
electron to be full.

922
00:42:31,881 --> 00:42:35,018
And they'll grab it
any way they can.

923
00:42:35,051 --> 00:42:37,354
The group includes fluorine
and bromine,

924
00:42:37,387 --> 00:42:41,692
but the most notorious
is chlorine--

925
00:42:41,725 --> 00:42:46,997
17 protons
surrounded by 17 electrons,

926
00:42:47,030 --> 00:42:50,767
arranged in three shells
of two, eight, and seven,

927
00:42:50,800 --> 00:42:53,036
one short of being full.

928
00:42:53,069 --> 00:42:54,771
It's that extra electron

929
00:42:54,804 --> 00:42:56,940
chlorine will get
any way it can,

930
00:42:56,973 --> 00:42:59,777
sometimes with violent results.

931
00:43:01,011 --> 00:43:03,146
That's why chlorine gas was used

932
00:43:03,179 --> 00:43:07,117
as a deadly poison
in World War One.

933
00:43:07,150 --> 00:43:09,286
Chlorine, I mean,
this is nasty stuff.

934
00:43:09,319 --> 00:43:12,022
This will take electrons
from kittens.

935
00:43:12,055 --> 00:43:14,458
It'll go and steal an electron
off the water in your lungs

936
00:43:14,491 --> 00:43:17,461
and turn into
hydrochloric acid

937
00:43:17,494 --> 00:43:19,363
because it really wants
an electron.

938
00:43:19,396 --> 00:43:21,398
Yeah, maybe I'll leave that
where it was.

939
00:43:21,431 --> 00:43:23,100
Now, if you go
the other direction,

940
00:43:23,133 --> 00:43:24,868
you end up with
the alkali metals.

941
00:43:24,901 --> 00:43:27,771
POGUE:
The alkali metals
are the first column.

942
00:43:27,804 --> 00:43:30,340
Each of them has full shells

943
00:43:30,373 --> 00:43:34,444
plus one extra electron sitting
in a new, outer shell.

944
00:43:34,477 --> 00:43:38,715
They have familiar names like
lithium, sodium, and potassium.

945
00:43:38,748 --> 00:43:42,486
And they all want to get rid of
that single, lonely electron

946
00:43:42,519 --> 00:43:44,521
any way they can.

947
00:43:44,554 --> 00:43:47,090
So those on that end
of the table all have one extra.

948
00:43:47,123 --> 00:43:49,660
This column all has
one too few.

949
00:43:49,693 --> 00:43:51,294
I shudder to ask what happens

950
00:43:51,327 --> 00:43:52,796
if you put those two alone
in a room.

951
00:43:52,829 --> 00:43:55,132
I happen to have a place where
we might be able to do that.

952
00:43:55,165 --> 00:43:57,234
Am I invited?

953
00:43:57,267 --> 00:43:59,403
Please, come to my lair.

954
00:43:59,436 --> 00:44:02,205
POGUE:
Turns out there's more
to my friend Theo

955
00:44:02,238 --> 00:44:04,341
than mere love of table.

956
00:44:04,374 --> 00:44:08,211
He's also got a deep love
of chemical reactions,

957
00:44:08,244 --> 00:44:12,649
and a very remote location where
he's free to indulge it.

958
00:44:12,682 --> 00:44:14,951
Okay, they told me you were
outstanding in your field,

959
00:44:14,984 --> 00:44:16,186
but this is ridiculous.

960
00:44:16,219 --> 00:44:17,921
Yeah, well,
you know the secret

961
00:44:17,954 --> 00:44:22,192
to a good mad scientist's lair:
no neighbors.

962
00:44:22,225 --> 00:44:24,695
POGUE:
Theo has an infectious attitude

963
00:44:24,728 --> 00:44:26,963
toward the most
reactive elements...

964
00:44:26,996 --> 00:44:28,331
Nice!

965
00:44:28,364 --> 00:44:30,734
...which reminds me
of a snake handler's affection

966
00:44:30,767 --> 00:44:33,036
for his most venomous pets.

967
00:44:33,069 --> 00:44:34,071
Oh!

968
00:44:34,104 --> 00:44:36,807
Oh, the humanity!

969
00:44:41,211 --> 00:44:43,413
POGUE:
And one of his favorite
temperamental friends?

970
00:44:43,446 --> 00:44:44,748
Sodium.

971
00:44:44,781 --> 00:44:46,917
Symbol: Na.

972
00:44:46,950 --> 00:44:49,219
11 protons and 11 electrons

973
00:44:49,252 --> 00:44:54,124
arranged in shells
as two, eight, and one.

974
00:44:54,157 --> 00:44:56,193
Sodium is an alkali metal.

975
00:44:56,226 --> 00:44:58,795
Like all the elements
in this group,

976
00:44:58,828 --> 00:45:02,933
it's desperate to get rid
of that extra electron.

977
00:45:02,966 --> 00:45:04,000
If you cut it quickly...

978
00:45:04,033 --> 00:45:05,202
I should see
some silvery...

979
00:45:05,235 --> 00:45:07,104
... you should see
a silvery surface inside.

980
00:45:07,137 --> 00:45:08,438
Indeed.

981
00:45:08,471 --> 00:45:09,840
Wow.

982
00:45:09,873 --> 00:45:12,275
POGUE:
It slices like cheese,
but it's actually a soft metal.

983
00:45:12,308 --> 00:45:14,411
Theo's offered to put on

984
00:45:14,444 --> 00:45:17,180
one of his favorite
sodium demonstrations.

985
00:45:17,213 --> 00:45:21,685
What happens when the pure
element dumps its outer electron

986
00:45:21,718 --> 00:45:24,888
in a violent altercation
with ordinary water?

987
00:45:24,921 --> 00:45:26,790
He insists we wait
until nightfall,

988
00:45:26,823 --> 00:45:29,559
when the reaction will be
most spectacular.

989
00:45:29,592 --> 00:45:33,063
Kids, do not try this at home!

990
00:45:33,096 --> 00:45:34,898
The whole purpose
of this contraption

991
00:45:34,931 --> 00:45:37,067
is just to dump it
into the bucket of water?

992
00:45:37,100 --> 00:45:38,568
Yeah, this is a sodium-dumping
machine.

993
00:45:38,601 --> 00:45:39,870
(laughs)

994
00:45:39,903 --> 00:45:41,972
All right,
let's give this a try.

995
00:45:42,005 --> 00:45:43,507
Here we go!

996
00:45:46,743 --> 00:45:47,410
Nice...

997
00:45:47,443 --> 00:45:47,443
(explosion)

998
00:45:47,443 --> 00:45:48,979
Oh!

999
00:45:51,881 --> 00:45:53,483
POGUE:
What we're seeing is
what happens

1000
00:45:53,516 --> 00:45:58,221
when sodium's extra electron
tears apart water molecules,

1001
00:45:58,254 --> 00:46:03,226
releasing flammable hydrogen
gas-- the H in H2O--

1002
00:46:03,259 --> 00:46:05,462
which explodes when it mixes
with air.

1003
00:46:08,231 --> 00:46:11,168
The next day,
Theo takes it up a notch.

1004
00:46:11,201 --> 00:46:14,871
As if sodium plus water
weren't violent enough,

1005
00:46:14,904 --> 00:46:17,808
now he wants to combine
the same deadly sodium

1006
00:46:17,841 --> 00:46:20,510
with another lethal element:

1007
00:46:20,543 --> 00:46:23,814
chlorine, one of the halogens.

1008
00:46:23,847 --> 00:46:25,615
The result, he claims,

1009
00:46:25,648 --> 00:46:32,222
will be a tasty flavoring
for a net full of popcorn.

1010
00:46:32,255 --> 00:46:33,890
Isn't chlorine
deadly poison?

1011
00:46:33,923 --> 00:46:35,158
Absolutely.

1012
00:46:35,191 --> 00:46:36,593
I mean, chlorine,
chlorine...

1013
00:46:36,626 --> 00:46:38,295
they used it as a poison gas
in World War I.

1014
00:46:38,328 --> 00:46:40,397
POGUE:
It'll be perfectly safe

1015
00:46:40,430 --> 00:46:42,465
when these two deadly
ingredients combine.

1016
00:46:42,498 --> 00:46:43,533
I didn't say that.

1017
00:46:43,566 --> 00:46:45,202
I said that
after they're combined,

1018
00:46:45,235 --> 00:46:46,503
the result is perfectly safe.

1019
00:46:46,536 --> 00:46:48,605
The actual process
of combining them

1020
00:46:48,638 --> 00:46:50,841
is fraught with
difficulties.

1021
00:46:50,874 --> 00:46:53,977
Okay, and that's why we're
dressed up like miners here.

1022
00:46:56,980 --> 00:47:00,383
POGUE:
First, a hunk of sodium
in a dry metal bowl.

1023
00:47:00,416 --> 00:47:03,253
Then, a jet of pure chlorine.

1024
00:47:05,088 --> 00:47:07,224
Surprisingly, no explosion.

1025
00:47:07,257 --> 00:47:11,061
Somehow, when these two bad boys
of the periodic table

1026
00:47:11,094 --> 00:47:13,864
come together,
they calm down.

1027
00:47:15,632 --> 00:47:19,402
At the atomic level,
sodium, an alkali metal,

1028
00:47:19,435 --> 00:47:21,805
had an electron it didn't want,

1029
00:47:21,838 --> 00:47:26,309
and chlorine, a halogen, wants
desperately to grab an electron.

1030
00:47:26,342 --> 00:47:28,245
Once the handoff was complete,

1031
00:47:28,278 --> 00:47:31,014
both atoms wound up
with full shells,

1032
00:47:31,047 --> 00:47:34,117
making them stable and able
to join together

1033
00:47:34,150 --> 00:47:36,920
to form a crystal compound
we can't live without:

1034
00:47:36,953 --> 00:47:39,055
sodium chloride.

1035
00:47:39,088 --> 00:47:40,457
Table salt.

1036
00:47:40,490 --> 00:47:43,159
Now I don't exactly see, like,
a pile of salt anywhere.

1037
00:47:43,192 --> 00:47:44,961
No, the salt, most of it
went up in the smoke.

1038
00:47:44,994 --> 00:47:47,497
That is, it went
in the popcorn.

1039
00:47:49,966 --> 00:47:51,001
It tastes like salt.

1040
00:47:51,034 --> 00:47:51,835
The good stuff.

1041
00:47:51,868 --> 00:47:51,868
Fresh.

1042
00:47:51,868 --> 00:47:52,869
Fresh salt.

1043
00:47:52,902 --> 00:47:54,638
Only the freshest salt
at Theo's farm.

1044
00:47:54,671 --> 00:48:00,610
POGUE:
Theo's backyard reactions have
given me a crucial insight.

1045
00:48:00,643 --> 00:48:02,846
How elements come together
to form compounds

1046
00:48:02,879 --> 00:48:04,881
is all about electrons.

1047
00:48:04,914 --> 00:48:07,751
Which brings me to one
of the most notorious

1048
00:48:07,784 --> 00:48:10,086
electron hounds on the table:

1049
00:48:10,119 --> 00:48:10,820
oxygen.

1050
00:48:10,853 --> 00:48:12,923
Symbol: O.

1051
00:48:12,956 --> 00:48:15,392
Eight protons, eight electrons.

1052
00:48:15,425 --> 00:48:18,695
It wants eight electrons
to complete its outer shell,

1053
00:48:18,728 --> 00:48:20,764
but it has only six.

1054
00:48:20,797 --> 00:48:23,800
So it's always on the prowl
for two more.

1055
00:48:23,833 --> 00:48:25,669
And it's more determined

1056
00:48:25,702 --> 00:48:28,238
than almost any other element
on the table.

1057
00:48:28,271 --> 00:48:32,842
To get a first-hand look
at oxygen's lust for electrons,

1058
00:48:32,875 --> 00:48:36,313
I've traveled to the Energetic
Materials Research

1059
00:48:36,346 --> 00:48:39,349
and Testing Center
at New Mexico Tech,

1060
00:48:39,382 --> 00:48:42,252
where the business of violent
reactions is booming.

1061
00:48:48,858 --> 00:48:52,762
What he has here in the rear is
four pounds of C4.

1062
00:48:52,795 --> 00:48:55,799
Four pounds?

1063
00:48:55,832 --> 00:48:58,168
POGUE:
It's a deadly serious business
for researchers who study

1064
00:48:58,201 --> 00:49:02,138
improvised explosive devices--
IEDs.

1065
00:49:02,171 --> 00:49:04,541
By adding the 5/16ths nuts,
now we have something

1066
00:49:04,574 --> 00:49:05,742
that's going to get
propelled out of here

1067
00:49:05,775 --> 00:49:07,177
at a few thousand feet
per second.

1068
00:49:07,210 --> 00:49:10,947
POGUE:
They have a wide variety
of explosives on hand.

1069
00:49:10,980 --> 00:49:16,519
On a typical day, they might
blow up a suicide vest,

1070
00:49:16,552 --> 00:49:20,056
a few pipe bombs,

1071
00:49:20,089 --> 00:49:25,195
and a briefcase bomb.

1072
00:49:25,228 --> 00:49:27,163
Tim Collister's job is

1073
00:49:27,196 --> 00:49:29,399
to train law enforcement
and fire professionals

1074
00:49:29,432 --> 00:49:32,502
how to deal with these
dangerous weapons.

1075
00:49:32,535 --> 00:49:36,406
But today,
I'm his only student.

1076
00:49:36,439 --> 00:49:38,308
We're going to set off
one of the most powerful

1077
00:49:38,341 --> 00:49:40,110
off-the-shelf explosives
there is:

1078
00:49:40,143 --> 00:49:45,849
in the trunk of this car,
300 pounds of ANFO,

1079
00:49:45,882 --> 00:49:49,185
unassuming white pellets
that contain enough oxygen,

1080
00:49:49,218 --> 00:49:51,888
as well as nitrogen
and hydrogen,

1081
00:49:51,921 --> 00:49:54,858
to turn this car
into a scrap heap.

1082
00:49:54,891 --> 00:49:57,193
Basically, it's
a fertilizer bomb.

1083
00:49:57,226 --> 00:50:00,230
This is not something
I'm going to soon forget.

1084
00:50:00,263 --> 00:50:01,064
No, you're not.

1085
00:50:01,097 --> 00:50:03,934
COLLISTER:
Three, two, one.

1086
00:50:14,243 --> 00:50:17,147
POGUE:
Hundreds of pounds
of solid explosive,

1087
00:50:17,180 --> 00:50:19,382
transformed in a millionth
of a second

1088
00:50:19,415 --> 00:50:22,886
into an infernal ball
of superheated gas,

1089
00:50:22,919 --> 00:50:27,257
expanding at more than ten times
the speed of sound.

1090
00:50:27,290 --> 00:50:31,227
A devastating chemical reaction,
yet many times smaller

1091
00:50:31,260 --> 00:50:34,764
than the most notorious
ANFO bomb ever detonated.

1092
00:50:34,797 --> 00:50:41,204
In 1995, over 4,000 pounds of
ANFO loaded into a rented truck

1093
00:50:41,237 --> 00:50:43,740
destroyed the Federal Building
in Oklahoma City,

1094
00:50:43,773 --> 00:50:47,610
killing and injuring
hundreds of people.

1095
00:50:47,643 --> 00:50:50,680
It's incredibly
destructive stuff.

1096
00:50:50,713 --> 00:50:52,182
How does it work?

1097
00:50:52,215 --> 00:50:53,983
I don't know about you,

1098
00:50:54,016 --> 00:50:56,152
but I am not seeing
much car over there.

1099
00:50:56,185 --> 00:50:59,355
That's 'cause there's
not much car left, David.

1100
00:50:59,388 --> 00:51:02,459
POGUE:
To find out, I turn to the lab's
chief research chemist,

1101
00:51:02,492 --> 00:51:03,660
Christa Hockensmith.

1102
00:51:03,693 --> 00:51:06,396
The tires are
still there.

1103
00:51:06,429 --> 00:51:09,199
POGUE:
She's an expert in the chemistry
of explosives.

1104
00:51:09,232 --> 00:51:10,567
Wow.

1105
00:51:10,600 --> 00:51:12,802
HOCKENSMITH:
Whoo, doesn't smell
so good, does it?

1106
00:51:12,835 --> 00:51:13,903
No.

1107
00:51:13,936 --> 00:51:15,638
You know, we thought
maybe the engine

1108
00:51:15,671 --> 00:51:17,841
would become a projectile
to come hurtling out.

1109
00:51:17,874 --> 00:51:21,478
The engine did not leave,
but the entire car did!

1110
00:51:21,511 --> 00:51:22,545
This whole front half...

1111
00:51:22,578 --> 00:51:24,647
and the car used to be parked
over there!

1112
00:51:24,680 --> 00:51:25,682
POGUE:
With her help...

1113
00:51:25,715 --> 00:51:27,584
Ah, look at this!

1114
00:51:27,617 --> 00:51:29,085
...I'm going to conduct

1115
00:51:29,118 --> 00:51:30,820
a forensic investigation
of the blast site.

1116
00:51:30,853 --> 00:51:31,855
Cadillac.

1117
00:51:31,888 --> 00:51:33,756
POGUE:
But there's not much left.

1118
00:51:33,789 --> 00:51:36,459
What kind of evidence
can you derive from this?

1119
00:51:36,492 --> 00:51:37,760
I mean, the car is
totally decimated.

1120
00:51:37,793 --> 00:51:41,731
No, we can do good work
on finding out

1121
00:51:41,764 --> 00:51:48,271
what caused this explosion
with the magic swabs.

1122
00:51:48,304 --> 00:51:51,341
POGUE:
We know what was
in the bomb...

1123
00:51:51,374 --> 00:51:52,542
I'm getting the hang
of this now.

1124
00:51:52,575 --> 00:51:54,410
Yeah, you are,
you're getting good.

1125
00:51:54,443 --> 00:51:56,279
POGUE:
...but in an actual
criminal investigation,

1126
00:51:56,312 --> 00:51:57,881
this work is vital.

1127
00:51:57,914 --> 00:51:59,449
We're not picking up
only filth.

1128
00:51:59,482 --> 00:52:02,218
What we're picking up is what
the bomb was made with.

1129
00:52:02,251 --> 00:52:03,753
You think there's going
to be traces

1130
00:52:03,786 --> 00:52:04,787
even on this fragment?

1131
00:52:04,820 --> 00:52:06,623
Not if you stick
your fingers on it, no.

1132
00:52:06,656 --> 00:52:09,225
But otherwise, yes.

1133
00:52:09,258 --> 00:52:10,793
What you're gonna find is--

1134
00:52:10,826 --> 00:52:12,328
when we take these
back to the lab--

1135
00:52:12,361 --> 00:52:14,264
that we'll be able
to tell

1136
00:52:14,297 --> 00:52:16,466
what elements were present
in the bomb.

1137
00:52:16,499 --> 00:52:19,569
POGUE:
So much energy
released so quickly...

1138
00:52:19,602 --> 00:52:21,337
did oxygen have a role?

1139
00:52:21,370 --> 00:52:22,772
Still runs!

1140
00:52:25,107 --> 00:52:27,710
So, David, what did you think
of that car bomb?

1141
00:52:27,743 --> 00:52:29,445
Wicked cool.

1142
00:52:29,478 --> 00:52:30,547
Yes, it was.

1143
00:52:30,580 --> 00:52:31,648
You have the luckiest job
in the world.

1144
00:52:31,681 --> 00:52:32,482
You got the swab?

1145
00:52:32,515 --> 00:52:32,515
Here's your swab.

1146
00:52:32,515 --> 00:52:33,917
Okay.

1147
00:52:33,950 --> 00:52:37,020
Christa instructs me to dip
the pad into purified water...

1148
00:52:37,053 --> 00:52:38,621
You can shake
this up.

1149
00:52:38,654 --> 00:52:39,989
Like that?

1150
00:52:40,022 --> 00:52:41,524
...to dissolve
any chemical traces

1151
00:52:41,557 --> 00:52:43,059
recovered from the debris.

1152
00:52:43,092 --> 00:52:46,262
Covered with paper pulp?

1153
00:52:46,295 --> 00:52:48,364
No, covered
with nasty.

1154
00:52:48,397 --> 00:52:49,499
There you are.

1155
00:52:49,532 --> 00:52:51,034
You go like this?

1156
00:52:51,067 --> 00:52:52,435
Shall I suck it up?

1157
00:52:52,468 --> 00:52:54,003
Please.

1158
00:52:54,036 --> 00:52:56,873
That's plenty.

1159
00:52:56,906 --> 00:52:58,041
Okay.

1160
00:52:58,074 --> 00:53:00,643
Stick it right back into
the ion chromatograph.

1161
00:53:00,676 --> 00:53:02,712
Okay, you'll just feel
a little pinch...

1162
00:53:02,745 --> 00:53:04,581
POGUE:
The ion chromatograph

1163
00:53:04,614 --> 00:53:07,584
looks for positively
or negatively charged molecules

1164
00:53:07,617 --> 00:53:10,954
called ions in the residue,

1165
00:53:10,987 --> 00:53:13,089
fragments of the original
chemical explosive.

1166
00:53:13,122 --> 00:53:15,024
Well, there appears to be
a spike right here

1167
00:53:15,057 --> 00:53:16,092
at number three.

1168
00:53:16,125 --> 00:53:17,060
There sure does.

1169
00:53:17,093 --> 00:53:20,029
What use is this analysis?

1170
00:53:20,062 --> 00:53:22,198
Can you tell
the State Department

1171
00:53:22,231 --> 00:53:23,399
where the bomb came from?

1172
00:53:23,432 --> 00:53:24,801
I can.

1173
00:53:24,834 --> 00:53:25,902
Really?

1174
00:53:25,935 --> 00:53:26,803
And have you?

1175
00:53:26,836 --> 00:53:28,571
Do they bring you...?

1176
00:53:28,604 --> 00:53:29,606
I can't talk about that.

1177
00:53:29,639 --> 00:53:30,640
You can just say
yes or no.

1178
00:53:30,673 --> 00:53:31,774
You can wink.

1179
00:53:31,807 --> 00:53:33,443
No, I can't.

1180
00:53:33,476 --> 00:53:36,012
POGUE:
Different elements
show up as spikes

1181
00:53:36,045 --> 00:53:38,314
in different locations
on the graph.

1182
00:53:38,347 --> 00:53:41,117
Christa tells me this spike
indicates that oxygen

1183
00:53:41,150 --> 00:53:45,922
is at work here, contained
in molecules called nitrates.

1184
00:53:45,955 --> 00:53:48,625
Nitrates consist
of three oxygen atoms

1185
00:53:48,658 --> 00:53:51,427
bound to a central
nitrogen atom.

1186
00:53:51,460 --> 00:53:52,895
To set off the bomb,

1187
00:53:52,928 --> 00:53:56,366
an initial spark of heat
breaks those bonds.

1188
00:53:56,399 --> 00:53:59,802
Once set free, oxygen rushes
away from the nitrogen

1189
00:53:59,835 --> 00:54:02,171
to combine with the elements
it prefers--

1190
00:54:02,204 --> 00:54:05,742
carbon, hydrogen,
and even other oxygen atoms--

1191
00:54:05,775 --> 00:54:08,878
leaving the nitrogen to pair up
with each other.

1192
00:54:08,911 --> 00:54:11,247
Every time atoms form
a new bond,

1193
00:54:11,280 --> 00:54:13,383
the reaction releases energy.

1194
00:54:13,416 --> 00:54:16,786
And that's what powers
the explosion.

1195
00:54:20,656 --> 00:54:24,360
But, in fact, we see similar
oxygen reactions every day.

1196
00:54:24,393 --> 00:54:26,429
Like ordinary fire.

1197
00:54:26,462 --> 00:54:28,665
The heat of this flame
is generated

1198
00:54:28,698 --> 00:54:33,970
when carbon atoms in the wick
bond with oxygen in the air.

1199
00:54:34,003 --> 00:54:39,676
Or rust, a very slow reaction
when iron and oxygen combine.

1200
00:54:39,709 --> 00:54:44,514
Oxygen makes engines rev,
rockets roar.

1201
00:54:44,547 --> 00:54:46,549
And in exactly the same way,

1202
00:54:46,582 --> 00:54:49,385
oxygen reacts
with the food we eat,

1203
00:54:49,418 --> 00:54:53,289
releasing energy
like countless tiny fires

1204
00:54:53,322 --> 00:54:57,226
burning in our cells,
keeping us alive.

1205
00:54:57,259 --> 00:54:59,729
All of these combustion
reactions

1206
00:54:59,762 --> 00:55:01,698
are essentially the same.

1207
00:55:01,731 --> 00:55:04,167
The only difference is speed.

1208
00:55:04,200 --> 00:55:09,639
So how do you speed up a fire
to create an explosion?

1209
00:55:09,672 --> 00:55:11,607
You regulate
the amount of oxygen

1210
00:55:11,640 --> 00:55:15,378
and how closely it's packed
together with other elements.

1211
00:55:15,411 --> 00:55:19,315
As a final demonstration,
Christa wants to show me

1212
00:55:19,348 --> 00:55:22,785
how chemists have learned to
control the speed of combustion.

1213
00:55:22,818 --> 00:55:25,755
She has arranged the use
of a high-speed camera

1214
00:55:25,788 --> 00:55:29,158
to record several different
types of explosives.

1215
00:55:29,191 --> 00:55:30,827
We take cover.

1216
00:55:30,860 --> 00:55:31,861
Bunker.

1217
00:55:31,894 --> 00:55:33,263
Bunker.

1218
00:55:38,334 --> 00:55:42,939
POGUE:
The first demonstration
will be ordinary gunpowder.

1219
00:55:42,972 --> 00:55:44,640
So pure gunpowder
is our first test here, right?

1220
00:55:44,673 --> 00:55:47,210
Yes, this is
a smokeless powder.

1221
00:55:47,243 --> 00:55:48,478
Whoa!

1222
00:55:48,511 --> 00:55:50,480
Nicely done!

1223
00:55:50,513 --> 00:55:55,184
It was quick, but it wasn't
blisteringly quick.

1224
00:55:55,217 --> 00:55:57,353
POGUE:
The gunpowder contains
its own oxygen,

1225
00:55:57,386 --> 00:55:59,922
but it's in a mixture
of powdered chemicals

1226
00:55:59,955 --> 00:56:04,093
held far away from the carbon
it needs to bond with.

1227
00:56:04,126 --> 00:56:06,229
But when they finally find
their partners,

1228
00:56:06,262 --> 00:56:10,299
the new bonds they form
release lots of energy.

1229
00:56:10,332 --> 00:56:13,803
Gunpowder is a relatively
slow explosive.

1230
00:56:13,836 --> 00:56:15,872
That's why it's used in guns.

1231
00:56:15,905 --> 00:56:18,608
It creates enough force
to fire a projectile,

1232
00:56:18,641 --> 00:56:22,879
but not enough
to damage the barrel.

1233
00:56:22,912 --> 00:56:24,547
So you're saying there
must be explosives that...

1234
00:56:24,580 --> 00:56:25,915
We're going to get faster
and faster.

1235
00:56:25,948 --> 00:56:29,719
POGUE:
Next is an emulsion
gel explosive.

1236
00:56:29,752 --> 00:56:32,121
Its main ingredient
is ammonium nitrate,

1237
00:56:32,154 --> 00:56:34,824
the same stuff
that blew up the car.

1238
00:56:34,857 --> 00:56:37,059
A lot more oxygen
and a lot of nitrogen

1239
00:56:37,092 --> 00:56:39,695
packed very closely together
in a liquid.

1240
00:56:39,728 --> 00:56:41,564
MAN:
Three... two... one.

1241
00:56:41,597 --> 00:56:42,698
(explosion)

1242
00:56:42,731 --> 00:56:44,534
POGUE:
Oh, jeez!

1243
00:56:44,567 --> 00:56:46,335
Man, I could feel
that puppy through here.

1244
00:56:46,368 --> 00:56:49,439
This is a high explosive.

1245
00:56:49,472 --> 00:56:51,107
It generates a shock wave

1246
00:56:51,140 --> 00:56:54,143
that moves faster
than the speed of sound.

1247
00:56:54,176 --> 00:56:56,846
In this explosive, oxygen,
hydrogen and nitrogen

1248
00:56:56,879 --> 00:56:58,347
are so close together

1249
00:56:58,380 --> 00:57:00,650
they lose no time
finding new partners

1250
00:57:00,683 --> 00:57:04,086
and making new bonds
that release energy.

1251
00:57:04,119 --> 00:57:09,258
The final demonstration
is one pound of C4--

1252
00:57:09,291 --> 00:57:11,894
a military-grade high explosive

1253
00:57:11,927 --> 00:57:14,197
which burns fast enough
to cut steel.

1254
00:57:14,230 --> 00:57:17,934
MAN:
Five, four,
three, two, one.

1255
00:57:17,967 --> 00:57:18,868
(explosion)

1256
00:57:18,901 --> 00:57:20,169
POGUE:
Oh, jeez!

1257
00:57:20,202 --> 00:57:21,971
There's nothing to see.

1258
00:57:22,004 --> 00:57:25,608
It was there, and it was gone!

1259
00:57:25,641 --> 00:57:29,479
C4 assembles oxygen, nitrogen,
hydrogen and carbon

1260
00:57:29,512 --> 00:57:32,248
in high concentration--
close together,

1261
00:57:32,281 --> 00:57:34,150
all on a big molecule,

1262
00:57:34,183 --> 00:57:38,221
so the speed of the reaction
is blisteringly fast.

1263
00:57:38,254 --> 00:57:41,657
And that gives me an idea.

1264
00:57:41,690 --> 00:57:46,095
Maybe C4 can help me exorcise
a personal demon.

1265
00:57:46,128 --> 00:57:47,129
What can I say?

1266
00:57:47,162 --> 00:57:48,531
I have issues.

1267
00:57:48,564 --> 00:57:49,732
Quite frankly, Christa,

1268
00:57:49,765 --> 00:57:51,200
I've been looking forward
to this one the most.

1269
00:57:51,233 --> 00:57:53,202
I am with you 100%.

1270
00:57:53,235 --> 00:57:53,970
Clown...

1271
00:57:54,003 --> 00:57:55,171
Let's do it to the clown.

1272
00:57:55,204 --> 00:57:56,873
Let's do it
to the clown!

1273
00:57:56,906 --> 00:57:58,508
MAN:
Three, two, one.

1274
00:58:00,943 --> 00:58:02,278
(Pogue laughing)

1275
00:58:02,311 --> 00:58:03,446
Okay!

1276
00:58:03,479 --> 00:58:05,314
Well, the world is minus one
clown

1277
00:58:05,347 --> 00:58:07,884
and I am out of therapy.

1278
00:58:11,820 --> 00:58:14,056
POGUE:
The oxygen that powers
all those explosions

1279
00:58:14,089 --> 00:58:17,193
makes up 21% of our atmosphere.

1280
00:58:17,226 --> 00:58:20,763
It's the most abundant element
in the earth's crust.

1281
00:58:20,796 --> 00:58:22,632
It's also a big part of us.

1282
00:58:22,665 --> 00:58:24,700
Which makes me wonder.

1283
00:58:24,733 --> 00:58:27,603
What other elements
make life possible?

1284
00:58:27,636 --> 00:58:30,339
What, for example, is in me?

1285
00:58:30,372 --> 00:58:32,642
What's in a David?

1286
00:58:32,675 --> 00:58:37,246
Amazingly, I'm mostly made
of just six elements:

1287
00:58:37,279 --> 00:58:39,515
nonmetals, mainly
from a small neighborhood

1288
00:58:39,548 --> 00:58:41,684
on the periodic table--

1289
00:58:41,717 --> 00:58:43,819
carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen,

1290
00:58:43,852 --> 00:58:47,256
oxygen, phosphorus, sulfur.

1291
00:58:47,289 --> 00:58:52,094
Or, as some prefer
to call them, CHNOPS.

1292
00:58:52,127 --> 00:58:55,998
These are the elements that form
the basis of all living things,

1293
00:58:56,031 --> 00:58:58,367
from the most primitive bacteria

1294
00:58:58,400 --> 00:59:00,770
to the largest creatures
on earth.

1295
00:59:00,803 --> 00:59:03,139
It seems incredible
that so much diversity

1296
00:59:03,172 --> 00:59:06,042
could spring
from such a tiny list.

1297
00:59:06,075 --> 00:59:10,546
But what I don't get is,
why these six?

1298
00:59:10,579 --> 00:59:13,416
Why CHNOPS?

1299
00:59:13,449 --> 00:59:14,550
Professor?

1300
00:59:14,583 --> 00:59:15,484
Yeah?

1301
00:59:15,517 --> 00:59:16,652
Sorry, I'm late
for class.

1302
00:59:16,685 --> 00:59:19,055
POGUE:
Chemistry professor
Christine Thomas

1303
00:59:19,088 --> 00:59:21,123
at Brandeis University

1304
00:59:21,156 --> 00:59:24,627
has agreed to help me understand
what makes me tick.

1305
00:59:24,660 --> 00:59:28,364
I was told that you can help me
understand C-H-N-O-P-S, CHNOPS.

1306
00:59:28,397 --> 00:59:29,498
The elements of life.

1307
00:59:29,531 --> 00:59:31,067
CHNOPS?

1308
00:59:31,100 --> 00:59:33,169
POGUE:
Better than that, she's going
to show me the actual elements

1309
00:59:33,202 --> 00:59:36,439
in the actual quantities
that are in me.

1310
00:59:36,472 --> 00:59:38,240
But I don't get how.

1311
00:59:38,273 --> 00:59:41,310
I've prepared for you
a CHNOPPING list.

1312
00:59:41,343 --> 00:59:41,343
A CHNOPPING list.

1313
00:59:41,343 --> 00:59:43,179
(laughs)

1314
00:59:43,212 --> 00:59:44,280
You'll have to show me this.

1315
00:59:44,313 --> 00:59:46,882
POGUE:
Where do you go to find
the elements

1316
00:59:46,915 --> 00:59:49,785
that make up a 185-pound man?

1317
00:59:49,818 --> 00:59:50,853
Isn't it a little weird

1318
00:59:50,886 --> 00:59:53,122
that we're shopping
for the elements of life

1319
00:59:53,155 --> 00:59:54,724
at a hardware store?

1320
00:59:54,757 --> 00:59:56,359
Does seem a little
strange at first.

1321
00:59:56,392 --> 01:00:00,529
POGUE:
But in fact, they're all here
in these aisles

1322
01:00:00,562 --> 01:00:03,966
starting with C-- carbon.

1323
01:00:03,999 --> 01:00:06,168
All right, charcoal,
right over here.

1324
01:00:06,201 --> 01:00:08,237
POGUE:
Charcoal?

1325
01:00:08,270 --> 01:00:11,540
I don't think of the human body
being made of charcoal.

1326
01:00:11,573 --> 01:00:14,276
Oh, it's made of carbon,
and... you know, just trust me.

1327
01:00:14,309 --> 01:00:16,045
Hydrogen?

1328
01:00:16,078 --> 01:00:17,213
Yup, that's next.

1329
01:00:17,246 --> 01:00:20,082
We're going to get it
right here, in water.

1330
01:00:20,115 --> 01:00:22,852
In fact, we're going to get
both hydrogen and oxygen

1331
01:00:22,885 --> 01:00:24,086
all in one place.

1332
01:00:24,119 --> 01:00:26,989
So next on the list
is nitrogen.

1333
01:00:27,022 --> 01:00:28,190
This is fertilizer.

1334
01:00:28,223 --> 01:00:29,859
It is, and fertilizer,
as it turns out,

1335
01:00:29,892 --> 01:00:32,261
has a lot of nitrogen in it,
just like you.

1336
01:00:32,294 --> 01:00:34,530
I've been told I'm
full of... never mind.

1337
01:00:34,563 --> 01:00:37,033
POGUE:
Next is phosphorus.

1338
01:00:37,066 --> 01:00:38,901
I'm not seeing phosphorus.

1339
01:00:38,934 --> 01:00:40,836
There's in fact phosphorus
in these matches.

1340
01:00:40,869 --> 01:00:42,138
You're probably going to need

1341
01:00:42,171 --> 01:00:44,574
probably all of the matches
that they have here.

1342
01:00:46,508 --> 01:00:47,476
There you go!

1343
01:00:47,509 --> 01:00:50,413
Oh, that ought to do.

1344
01:00:54,216 --> 01:00:55,317
Hi there.

1345
01:00:55,350 --> 01:00:56,786
How are you?

1346
01:00:56,819 --> 01:00:58,487
Just a couple things.

1347
01:00:58,520 --> 01:01:00,857
We're having a couple people
over for grill.

1348
01:01:07,129 --> 01:01:09,965
168 bucks?!

1349
01:01:09,998 --> 01:01:13,536
All the vital elements in this
magnificent body, 168 bucks?

1350
01:01:13,569 --> 01:01:14,971
Yup, that's it.

1351
01:01:19,041 --> 01:01:22,812
POGUE:
So you're telling me that
our hardware store haul here

1352
01:01:22,845 --> 01:01:24,413
actually is representative

1353
01:01:24,446 --> 01:01:26,716
of the CHNOPS elements
in all life?

1354
01:01:26,749 --> 01:01:28,250
And roughly in the right
proportions?

1355
01:01:28,283 --> 01:01:30,853
POGUE:
Christine tells me
we did pretty well,

1356
01:01:30,886 --> 01:01:32,755
but we didn't quite nail it.

1357
01:01:32,788 --> 01:01:35,725
We're still missing most
of the phosphorus we need.

1358
01:01:35,758 --> 01:01:38,260
Luckily, she knows
where to get some,

1359
01:01:38,293 --> 01:01:42,131
thanks to a discovery
by a 17th-century alchemist

1360
01:01:42,164 --> 01:01:44,667
named Hennig Brandt.

1361
01:01:44,700 --> 01:01:47,069
Brandt was looking
for precious gold

1362
01:01:47,102 --> 01:01:49,972
and he thought he might find it
in a bodily fluid

1363
01:01:50,005 --> 01:01:52,541
that looks golden indeed.

1364
01:01:52,574 --> 01:01:53,476
All right.

1365
01:01:53,509 --> 01:01:55,144
So we gotta get some...
some urine

1366
01:01:55,177 --> 01:01:57,546
and we can, we can get
phosphorus from it.

1367
01:01:57,579 --> 01:01:59,815
Actually, you're going
to provide a urine sample

1368
01:01:59,848 --> 01:02:00,883
for us to study.

1369
01:02:00,916 --> 01:02:03,953
POGUE:
Okay, anything for science.

1370
01:02:13,362 --> 01:02:17,032
Turns out the amount
of phosphorus

1371
01:02:17,065 --> 01:02:18,834
in my sample is microscopic.

1372
01:02:18,867 --> 01:02:24,306
We're going to need a lot more,
so back to the stable.

1373
01:02:24,339 --> 01:02:25,508
(horse whinnies)

1374
01:02:27,009 --> 01:02:28,811
(sloshing)

1375
01:03:01,643 --> 01:03:05,080
Centuries ago, Hennig Brandt
had to collect gallons of urine

1376
01:03:05,113 --> 01:03:06,582
for his experiment.

1377
01:03:09,685 --> 01:03:11,420
(stream flowing)

1378
01:03:27,169 --> 01:03:28,170
Wow.

1379
01:03:28,203 --> 01:03:29,972
I didn't think
you had it in you.

1380
01:03:30,005 --> 01:03:31,040
Very funny.

1381
01:03:31,073 --> 01:03:32,474
It was a lot of work, frankly.

1382
01:03:32,507 --> 01:03:36,111
POGUE:
The next step requires
a concentrated sludge,

1383
01:03:36,144 --> 01:03:38,347
which is urine
minus most of the water.

1384
01:03:38,380 --> 01:03:42,051
Brandt's early process
caused the phosphorus

1385
01:03:42,084 --> 01:03:43,752
to rise as a vapor,

1386
01:03:43,785 --> 01:03:46,055
which Christine directs
safely into water

1387
01:03:46,088 --> 01:03:50,159
because phosphorus is
dangerously reactive in the air.

1388
01:03:50,192 --> 01:03:51,393
While that's underway,

1389
01:03:51,426 --> 01:03:53,829
it's time to get the lowdown
on the stuff we bought.

1390
01:03:53,862 --> 01:03:55,064
Starting with...

1391
01:03:55,097 --> 01:03:56,632
Carbon.

1392
01:03:56,665 --> 01:04:00,369
Six protons, six electrons
in two shells.

1393
01:04:00,402 --> 01:04:04,273
Its pure forms include graphite,
diamond, buckyballs,

1394
01:04:04,306 --> 01:04:07,710
nanotubes and graphene.

1395
01:04:07,743 --> 01:04:08,911
You mean charcoal?

1396
01:04:08,944 --> 01:04:10,779
Well, we bought charcoal
to represent carbon

1397
01:04:10,812 --> 01:04:12,982
because it's made up
of mostly carbon.

1398
01:04:13,015 --> 01:04:15,951
Carbon in its elemental form
looks like this graphite here,

1399
01:04:15,984 --> 01:04:17,386
like you'd find on the inside
of a pencil.

1400
01:04:17,419 --> 01:04:20,222
What charcoal is mostly is just
leftover, say, burnt wood.

1401
01:04:20,255 --> 01:04:24,293
When wood burns,
what's eventually left over

1402
01:04:24,326 --> 01:04:28,998
looks an awful lot like
this charcoal, or this carbon.

1403
01:04:29,031 --> 01:04:31,967
POGUE:
And the stuff in charcoal
happens to be the foundation

1404
01:04:32,000 --> 01:04:34,436
of all life on Earth.

1405
01:04:34,469 --> 01:04:36,438
And for good reason.

1406
01:04:36,471 --> 01:04:37,773
Carbon is the backbone
of living things

1407
01:04:37,806 --> 01:04:39,541
because since it can bond
to itself,

1408
01:04:39,574 --> 01:04:41,543
it can form these long chains
of molecules.

1409
01:04:41,576 --> 01:04:45,080
POGUE:
Long chains can form
because every carbon atom

1410
01:04:45,113 --> 01:04:47,983
needs four electrons
to fill its outer shell,

1411
01:04:48,016 --> 01:04:51,520
which means it's eager to bond
with up to four others,

1412
01:04:51,553 --> 01:04:53,856
even carbon atoms.

1413
01:04:53,889 --> 01:04:56,659
Virtually all long molecules
in the body

1414
01:04:56,692 --> 01:04:59,662
are built around carbon.

1415
01:04:59,695 --> 01:05:01,397
Your body's about 18% carbon,

1416
01:05:01,430 --> 01:05:03,899
which for you
would be 33.3 pounds.

1417
01:05:03,932 --> 01:05:05,234
Which is equivalent to

1418
01:05:05,267 --> 01:05:06,802
about two-and-a-half bags
of charcoal here.

1419
01:05:06,835 --> 01:05:08,137
All right, so next
we have nitrogen.

1420
01:05:08,170 --> 01:05:10,072
We do.

1421
01:05:10,105 --> 01:05:11,674
For this you bought
fertilizer.

1422
01:05:11,707 --> 01:05:13,309
Right, so fertilizer
is made up

1423
01:05:13,342 --> 01:05:14,977
of a very large
percentage of nitrogen

1424
01:05:15,010 --> 01:05:17,846
because plants actually
use nitrogen as food.

1425
01:05:17,879 --> 01:05:20,716
So how much actual nitrogen
is in a guy like me?

1426
01:05:20,749 --> 01:05:22,918
So your body's about
three percent nitrogen,

1427
01:05:22,951 --> 01:05:25,554
so in your case
that's 5.6 pounds.

1428
01:05:25,587 --> 01:05:27,423
Okay, hydrogen and oxygen.

1429
01:05:27,456 --> 01:05:30,559
You have these tiles
stacked side by side.

1430
01:05:30,592 --> 01:05:32,695
Hydrogen and oxygen.

1431
01:05:32,728 --> 01:05:33,862
H2O in water.

1432
01:05:33,895 --> 01:05:35,164
A twofer!

1433
01:05:35,197 --> 01:05:38,867
Hydrogen and oxygen can actually
be separated from water

1434
01:05:38,900 --> 01:05:40,269
using a little bit
of electricity.

1435
01:05:40,302 --> 01:05:43,172
POGUE:
Electric current breaks up
the water molecule.

1436
01:05:43,205 --> 01:05:46,475
The result is these tiny bubbles
of hydrogen gas.

1437
01:05:46,508 --> 01:05:49,511
Turns out they're really
quite volatile.

1438
01:05:49,544 --> 01:05:50,312
Ooh!

1439
01:05:50,345 --> 01:05:51,480
(laughs)

1440
01:05:51,513 --> 01:05:53,382
POGUE:
What the electric current
accomplished

1441
01:05:53,415 --> 01:05:56,385
by separating water
into hydrogen and oxygen

1442
01:05:56,418 --> 01:05:59,355
a simple flame
put back together again.

1443
01:05:59,388 --> 01:06:02,157
THOMAS:
Now notice what you see on here,
it's a little cloudy, right?

1444
01:06:02,190 --> 01:06:05,928
POGUE:
That little foggy spot on the
test tube is brand new water

1445
01:06:05,961 --> 01:06:10,399
made just now by burning
hydrogen and oxygen.

1446
01:06:10,432 --> 01:06:14,036
Hydrogen is the lightest atom
in the universe.

1447
01:06:14,069 --> 01:06:16,505
So even though there are more
hydrogen atoms in me

1448
01:06:16,538 --> 01:06:20,809
than any other kind, it adds up
to only about 18 pounds.

1449
01:06:20,842 --> 01:06:23,645
Next, oxygen, also in water.

1450
01:06:23,678 --> 01:06:28,117
Of course, I know how much fire
likes pure oxygen.

1451
01:06:28,150 --> 01:06:32,821
So why don't you go ahead and
light this twig here on fire.

1452
01:06:32,854 --> 01:06:36,592
When you see it starting to
glow, go ahead and blow it out.

1453
01:06:39,628 --> 01:06:40,763
Whoa!

1454
01:06:40,796 --> 01:06:43,932
You have created fire!

1455
01:06:43,965 --> 01:06:47,202
Okay, so how much oxygen
is in me?

1456
01:06:47,235 --> 01:06:50,105
In a person's body,
there's 65% oxygen.

1457
01:06:50,138 --> 01:06:52,841
Actually, in your body
would equate to 120 pounds.

1458
01:06:52,874 --> 01:06:54,009
That makes it sound like

1459
01:06:54,042 --> 01:06:56,378
I'm a Macy's Thanksgiving
balloon or something.

1460
01:06:56,411 --> 01:06:58,480
POGUE:
But as Christine
has already demonstrated,

1461
01:06:58,513 --> 01:07:02,618
it's not in me as a gas,
it's in all that water.

1462
01:07:02,651 --> 01:07:04,753
And this brings us to P.

1463
01:07:04,786 --> 01:07:06,955
I mean, of course,
P as in phosphorus.

1464
01:07:06,988 --> 01:07:11,894
POGUE:
Hot phosphorus vapor when cooled
in water turns into a solid.

1465
01:07:11,927 --> 01:07:13,395
THOMAS:
Yes.

1466
01:07:13,428 --> 01:07:15,964
We've actually condensed it here
as a nice chunky, white solid.

1467
01:07:15,997 --> 01:07:17,900
Phosphorus is
actually involved

1468
01:07:17,933 --> 01:07:20,002
in something really
important called ATP,

1469
01:07:20,035 --> 01:07:23,038
which is the molecule that
all cells use for energy.

1470
01:07:23,071 --> 01:07:25,908
POGUE:
Altogether, phosphorus
makes up about one percent

1471
01:07:25,941 --> 01:07:28,343
of my six-foot-two-inch body.

1472
01:07:28,376 --> 01:07:31,046
Phosphorus was
the first element isolated

1473
01:07:31,079 --> 01:07:32,414
from a living creature.

1474
01:07:32,447 --> 01:07:35,250
And it must have surprised
Brandt.

1475
01:07:35,283 --> 01:07:37,486
Exposed to air, it glows,

1476
01:07:37,519 --> 01:07:41,323
creating what he described
as "cold fire."

1477
01:07:41,356 --> 01:07:46,495
This chemical glow is what we
mean today by phosphorescence.

1478
01:07:46,528 --> 01:07:48,363
And when burned in oxygen,

1479
01:07:48,396 --> 01:07:51,033
it generates a spectacular
pulsing display

1480
01:07:51,066 --> 01:07:53,702
called a phosphorus sun.

1481
01:07:53,735 --> 01:07:57,005
No wonder it's used to provide
energy in our bodies.

1482
01:07:57,038 --> 01:07:59,641
And to think
where it came from.

1483
01:07:59,674 --> 01:08:01,076
(horse whinnies)

1484
01:08:01,109 --> 01:08:04,413
There's just one thing left
on our CHNOPPING list: sulfur.

1485
01:08:04,446 --> 01:08:05,581
POGUE:
I don't get it.

1486
01:08:05,614 --> 01:08:07,316
What does a tire
have to do with sulfur?

1487
01:08:07,349 --> 01:08:09,718
So there's a very small fraction
of sulfur in this tire,

1488
01:08:09,751 --> 01:08:10,886
and as it turns out,

1489
01:08:10,919 --> 01:08:12,921
there's the same amount
of sulfur in this one tire

1490
01:08:12,954 --> 01:08:15,657
as there is
in a 185-pound David.

1491
01:08:15,690 --> 01:08:16,792
Which is about how much?

1492
01:08:16,825 --> 01:08:18,293
Which is about half a pound.

1493
01:08:18,326 --> 01:08:22,231
POGUE:
Altogether, just those six
CHNOPS elements

1494
01:08:22,264 --> 01:08:25,501
make up 97%
of the weight of my body.

1495
01:08:25,534 --> 01:08:27,970
But what about
the other three percent?

1496
01:08:28,003 --> 01:08:30,672
And so whatever is left over
in those different beings

1497
01:08:30,705 --> 01:08:33,208
must be what differentiates
one from the next.

1498
01:08:33,241 --> 01:08:35,344
Right, there's what's called
the trace elements.

1499
01:08:35,377 --> 01:08:37,813
And the person that would be
better to talk to about those

1500
01:08:37,846 --> 01:08:39,348
might be someone
that's interested

1501
01:08:39,381 --> 01:08:42,184
in maybe sports medicine
or professional athletes.

1502
01:08:42,217 --> 01:08:44,553
Let's see,
who could tell us

1503
01:08:44,586 --> 01:08:47,923
about sports,
athletes and elements?

1504
01:08:47,956 --> 01:08:50,159
Who could tell us?

1505
01:08:51,393 --> 01:08:53,529
POGUE:
Hey, are you Lindsay?

1506
01:08:53,562 --> 01:08:54,396
Yeah, I'm Lindsay.

1507
01:08:54,429 --> 01:08:55,264
David.

1508
01:08:55,297 --> 01:08:56,398
Nice to meet you, David.

1509
01:08:56,431 --> 01:08:57,766
Welcome to the Gatorade
Sports Science Institute.

1510
01:08:57,799 --> 01:08:59,334
Gatorade Sports
Science Institute.

1511
01:08:59,367 --> 01:09:01,970
I know you guys are involved
with elements in the body

1512
01:09:02,003 --> 01:09:03,772
and athlete performance.

1513
01:09:03,805 --> 01:09:07,176
I actually am very concerned
with these things too.

1514
01:09:07,209 --> 01:09:09,411
In fact, every morning,
I take supplements.

1515
01:09:09,444 --> 01:09:11,580
I use organic elements,

1516
01:09:11,613 --> 01:09:13,582
I make my own.

1517
01:09:13,615 --> 01:09:16,084
Um, calcium, very important.

1518
01:09:16,117 --> 01:09:17,586
Sometimes I...

1519
01:09:19,788 --> 01:09:21,690
Sometimes I'll mix it up,
get a little chalk.

1520
01:09:21,723 --> 01:09:23,625
It might look
like soap to you,

1521
01:09:23,658 --> 01:09:26,495
but it's a fine source
of potassium.

1522
01:09:28,263 --> 01:09:29,164
Iron,

1523
01:09:29,197 --> 01:09:31,567
zinc,

1524
01:09:31,600 --> 01:09:33,702
magnesium...

1525
01:09:33,735 --> 01:09:36,672
I like to think of this as
an excellent source of sodium.

1526
01:09:38,340 --> 01:09:39,575
And this is it every morning.

1527
01:09:39,608 --> 01:09:41,610
You know, it doesn't
taste fantastic,

1528
01:09:41,643 --> 01:09:44,079
but wow, is it good for me!

1529
01:09:46,181 --> 01:09:48,050
Am I going about this
the right way?

1530
01:09:48,083 --> 01:09:50,886
Actually, David,
there's a better way
to get your elements,

1531
01:09:50,919 --> 01:09:53,055
such as calcium, iron,
magnesium,

1532
01:09:53,088 --> 01:09:54,957
in your daily food intake.

1533
01:09:54,990 --> 01:09:58,427
But this is organic
free-range!

1534
01:09:58,460 --> 01:10:02,231
POGUE:
I'm curious to know how my body
uses those trace elements.

1535
01:10:02,264 --> 01:10:03,899
But first, a battery of tests

1536
01:10:03,932 --> 01:10:07,703
to determine what kind
of shape I'm in.

1537
01:10:07,736 --> 01:10:09,004
Once I've been poked...

1538
01:10:09,037 --> 01:10:11,173
Go ahead and take all
of your clothes off.

1539
01:10:11,206 --> 01:10:11,940
Okay.

1540
01:10:11,973 --> 01:10:12,741
POGUE:
...weighed...

1541
01:10:12,774 --> 01:10:14,510
David, I said
all your clothes.

1542
01:10:16,244 --> 01:10:17,312
POGUE:
...measured...

1543
01:10:17,345 --> 01:10:19,281
and scanned--

1544
01:10:19,314 --> 01:10:21,149
and by the way,
in the real world,

1545
01:10:21,182 --> 01:10:22,818
this costs some serious money--

1546
01:10:22,851 --> 01:10:27,422
she puts me on a treadmill
to measure my oxygen use,

1547
01:10:27,455 --> 01:10:30,425
which could be impaired
if I have an iron deficiency.

1548
01:10:30,458 --> 01:10:31,393
Okay, and start.

1549
01:10:31,426 --> 01:10:34,396
We'll get to a nice comfy
walking pace.

1550
01:10:34,429 --> 01:10:36,898
15 seconds, we're going
to increase the speed.

1551
01:10:36,931 --> 01:10:41,537
Okay, David, what's your
rating of perceived exertion?

1552
01:10:44,706 --> 01:10:46,608
Keep pushing.

1553
01:10:46,641 --> 01:10:49,344
Okay, David, how do you
feel at this stage?

1554
01:10:49,377 --> 01:10:50,545
15?

1555
01:10:50,578 --> 01:10:51,713
Where you at now?

1556
01:10:51,746 --> 01:10:53,949
He's at an 18, okay.

1557
01:10:53,982 --> 01:10:56,218
Ten more seconds,
hard as you can.

1558
01:10:56,251 --> 01:10:57,252
You can do it.

1559
01:10:57,285 --> 01:10:58,387
Got any more left?

1560
01:10:58,420 --> 01:11:00,255
Okay, okay,
go ahead and stretch,

1561
01:11:00,288 --> 01:11:01,690
go ahead and grab
onto the railing.

1562
01:11:03,591 --> 01:11:05,427
That's good,
that's good.

1563
01:11:05,460 --> 01:11:07,562
POGUE:
Next, a sweat test.

1564
01:11:07,595 --> 01:11:08,764
Okay.

1565
01:11:14,602 --> 01:11:15,504
All the way down, good.

1566
01:11:15,537 --> 01:11:17,472
Lock out at the top.

1567
01:11:17,505 --> 01:11:20,008
This is how OSHA
violations happen.

1568
01:11:20,041 --> 01:11:22,711
You know, if you play
this video in opposite way,

1569
01:11:22,744 --> 01:11:24,846
it will look like
I'm really running.

1570
01:11:24,879 --> 01:11:26,114
Thank you, sir.

1571
01:11:26,147 --> 01:11:26,882
It's been a pleasure.

1572
01:11:26,915 --> 01:11:28,116
Go train somebody else.

1573
01:11:28,149 --> 01:11:29,551
We're just getting
warmed up.

1574
01:11:29,584 --> 01:11:31,153
(laughs)

1575
01:11:31,186 --> 01:11:33,188
POGUE:
Unfortunately,
he wasn't joking.

1576
01:11:33,221 --> 01:11:35,390
Now they're ready to start
the actual test.

1577
01:11:35,423 --> 01:11:37,659
These patches
will collect my sweat,

1578
01:11:37,692 --> 01:11:39,895
which in turn will tell Lindsay

1579
01:11:39,928 --> 01:11:43,932
how much of the trace elements
I'm losing from my body.

1580
01:11:43,965 --> 01:11:45,434
I feel like an old tire.

1581
01:11:45,467 --> 01:11:46,668
Here we go,
ready, go!

1582
01:11:46,701 --> 01:11:48,303
Shouldn't you have a mower
attachment, at least?

1583
01:11:48,336 --> 01:11:50,372
Come on, drive it,
let's go.

1584
01:11:50,405 --> 01:11:51,440
Come on,
stay lower.

1585
01:11:51,473 --> 01:11:52,641
Use your butt,
use your glutes.

1586
01:11:52,674 --> 01:11:55,777
Finish it, finish it!

1587
01:11:55,810 --> 01:11:57,512
All the way down,
all the way up.

1588
01:11:57,545 --> 01:11:58,980
Like that?

1589
01:11:59,013 --> 01:12:00,248
There you go.

1590
01:12:00,281 --> 01:12:01,616
A little higher, a little
higher, let's go.

1591
01:12:01,649 --> 01:12:02,884
I'm going to start calling you
names in a minute.

1592
01:12:02,917 --> 01:12:04,086
Let's go.

1593
01:12:04,119 --> 01:12:05,153
Oh my God.

1594
01:12:05,186 --> 01:12:06,521
Keep going, keep going...
that was two.

1595
01:12:06,554 --> 01:12:07,856
Third-grade girls
can get ten.

1596
01:12:07,889 --> 01:12:08,590
(laughs)

1597
01:12:08,623 --> 01:12:09,792
Let's go, keep going.

1598
01:12:11,960 --> 01:12:13,462
Excellent job.

1599
01:12:13,495 --> 01:12:14,463
Yeah, great job.

1600
01:12:14,496 --> 01:12:15,530
I have sweaty pads.

1601
01:12:15,563 --> 01:12:16,398
That's right.

1602
01:12:16,431 --> 01:12:17,699
Come and get 'em!

1603
01:12:17,732 --> 01:12:21,136
POGUE:
So the purpose of all this
was to measure

1604
01:12:21,169 --> 01:12:22,571
what electrolytes
and salts and stuff

1605
01:12:22,604 --> 01:12:24,139
were leaking out of my sweat,
right?

1606
01:12:24,172 --> 01:12:26,508
And why exactly
do we care?

1607
01:12:26,541 --> 01:12:28,844
Why do you care in the
athletes you train here?

1608
01:12:28,877 --> 01:12:32,247
What we want to prevent
is athletes cramping,

1609
01:12:32,280 --> 01:12:33,448
affecting their performance,

1610
01:12:33,481 --> 01:12:35,150
not only in practices
but also in games.

1611
01:12:35,183 --> 01:12:37,753
So you could be properly
hydrated and still get cramps.

1612
01:12:37,786 --> 01:12:38,587
Correct.

1613
01:12:38,620 --> 01:12:39,654
Well, thanks
for the education

1614
01:12:39,687 --> 01:12:40,956
and thanks
for the workout, Coach.

1615
01:12:40,989 --> 01:12:42,023
You got it,
anytime, Dave.

1616
01:12:42,056 --> 01:12:44,493
POGUE:
And now for the results.

1617
01:12:44,526 --> 01:12:47,996
My bone density test: normal.

1618
01:12:48,029 --> 01:12:49,064
Plenty of calcium in me.

1619
01:12:49,097 --> 01:12:50,665
BAKER:
So you have nice,
strong bones.

1620
01:12:50,698 --> 01:12:55,137
So that means that my morning
ritual of consuming calcium

1621
01:12:55,170 --> 01:12:56,705
seems to be working.

1622
01:12:56,738 --> 01:12:59,941
It is working, however,
I would suggest dairy products

1623
01:12:59,974 --> 01:13:02,310
to get your calcium
instead of seashells.

1624
01:13:02,343 --> 01:13:06,181
POGUE:
The treadmill: not so good.

1625
01:13:06,214 --> 01:13:08,617
For your age
and compared to other males,

1626
01:13:08,650 --> 01:13:11,086
you're in about
the 30th percentile.

1627
01:13:11,119 --> 01:13:12,220
That's low.

1628
01:13:12,253 --> 01:13:13,221
It's low.

1629
01:13:13,254 --> 01:13:14,356
It's below average.

1630
01:13:14,389 --> 01:13:16,358
POGUE:
This could mean
one of two things.

1631
01:13:16,391 --> 01:13:18,660
Either I might have
an iron deficiency--

1632
01:13:18,693 --> 01:13:21,430
so my blood isn't carrying
enough oxygen--

1633
01:13:21,463 --> 01:13:23,565
or I'm really out of shape.

1634
01:13:23,598 --> 01:13:28,837
And my blood test showed
I'm not iron deficient, so...

1635
01:13:28,870 --> 01:13:30,205
Well, what about
the other elements?

1636
01:13:30,238 --> 01:13:31,006
What do they do?

1637
01:13:31,039 --> 01:13:32,174
Zinc?

1638
01:13:32,207 --> 01:13:35,177
Zinc is important
for energy metabolism.

1639
01:13:35,210 --> 01:13:36,311
Potassium?

1640
01:13:36,344 --> 01:13:37,546
Potassium is an important part

1641
01:13:37,579 --> 01:13:39,614
of nervous system function.

1642
01:13:39,647 --> 01:13:41,016
Magnesium?

1643
01:13:41,049 --> 01:13:41,049
Energy metabolism.

1644
01:13:41,049 --> 01:13:42,617
Okay.

1645
01:13:42,650 --> 01:13:45,687
And finally,
what about sodium?

1646
01:13:45,720 --> 01:13:48,490
So sodium is important
for nervous system function.

1647
01:13:48,523 --> 01:13:50,058
That's why we did that test
on you today.

1648
01:13:50,091 --> 01:13:53,061
POGUE:
Luckily, my test results
were normal.

1649
01:13:53,094 --> 01:13:56,231
I may have been sweating a lot
out on that field,

1650
01:13:56,264 --> 01:13:59,301
but I sweat like a champ.

1651
01:13:59,334 --> 01:14:02,938
In total, the human body uses
more than 25 elements

1652
01:14:02,971 --> 01:14:06,308
in ways and quantities
that are unique to us.

1653
01:14:06,341 --> 01:14:09,144
Not every living thing
does it the same way.

1654
01:14:09,177 --> 01:14:10,879
Take oxygen.

1655
01:14:10,912 --> 01:14:13,315
We love the stuff,
can't live without it.

1656
01:14:13,348 --> 01:14:15,450
But it wasn't always this way.

1657
01:14:15,483 --> 01:14:19,221
When life began, conditions
were very different on earth.

1658
01:14:19,254 --> 01:14:22,390
To begin with,
there was no oxygen in the air.

1659
01:14:22,423 --> 01:14:26,595
To learn what put
the "O" in our at-MO-sphere,

1660
01:14:26,628 --> 01:14:29,364
I've traveled
to Yellowstone National Park.

1661
01:14:29,397 --> 01:14:32,367
David Ward has spent
his professional life

1662
01:14:32,400 --> 01:14:35,770
studying the earth's
most ancient organisms.

1663
01:14:35,803 --> 01:14:37,572
So, Dave, you're
a microbe expert, I hear.

1664
01:14:37,605 --> 01:14:38,740
I am.

1665
01:14:38,773 --> 01:14:40,242
I am a microbial biologist.

1666
01:14:40,275 --> 01:14:41,977
I study microorganisms.

1667
01:14:42,010 --> 01:14:46,114
And, uh, I'm particularly
interested in how they evolved.

1668
01:14:46,147 --> 01:14:47,782
Well, when you say
the earliest ones,

1669
01:14:47,815 --> 01:14:49,150
how old are we
talking about?

1670
01:14:49,183 --> 01:14:51,486
We're talking three,
four billion years ago.

1671
01:14:51,519 --> 01:14:56,424
POGUE:
Yellowstone sits atop
the largest volcanic system

1672
01:14:56,457 --> 01:14:58,860
in North America.

1673
01:14:58,893 --> 01:15:01,930
That unusual geology creates
hot, poisonous pools

1674
01:15:01,963 --> 01:15:06,868
that Ward sees as a window
into the past.

1675
01:15:06,901 --> 01:15:08,169
You've installed
a hot tub here.

1676
01:15:08,202 --> 01:15:10,305
POGUE:
The park permits Ward
to collect samples

1677
01:15:10,338 --> 01:15:12,574
from these protected
environments.

1678
01:15:12,607 --> 01:15:13,608
So this is you.

1679
01:15:13,641 --> 01:15:14,543
This is your
office, huh?

1680
01:15:14,576 --> 01:15:15,443
Yeah.

1681
01:15:15,476 --> 01:15:16,478
Now, you are not
actually allowed

1682
01:15:16,511 --> 01:15:17,579
to be inside
the rocks there.

1683
01:15:17,612 --> 01:15:19,981
You have to have special...
a sampling permit.

1684
01:15:20,014 --> 01:15:21,783
You stay here,
and I'll go on across.

1685
01:15:21,816 --> 01:15:23,985
Let me know if you need a bottle
of water or something!

1686
01:15:24,018 --> 01:15:24,886
(chuckles)

1687
01:15:24,919 --> 01:15:26,521
What is that gizmo
you have there?

1688
01:15:26,554 --> 01:15:30,058
This is a thermistor,
takes temperature.

1689
01:15:30,091 --> 01:15:31,927
Oh, we call that
a thermometer.

1690
01:15:31,960 --> 01:15:34,229
You know, scientists have
to have fancy words for things.

1691
01:15:34,262 --> 01:15:36,431
POGUE:
Scientists think that in order

1692
01:15:36,464 --> 01:15:38,433
to get the energy
they needed to live,

1693
01:15:38,466 --> 01:15:40,735
some of the earliest
forms of life

1694
01:15:40,768 --> 01:15:42,871
required extremely hot water

1695
01:15:42,904 --> 01:15:46,375
mixed with elements like
hydrogen, sulfur and iron.

1696
01:15:49,577 --> 01:15:51,479
But as the planet cooled,

1697
01:15:51,512 --> 01:15:54,249
another ancient microorganism
evolved and changed everything.

1698
01:15:54,282 --> 01:15:57,953
They are called cyanobacteria,

1699
01:15:57,986 --> 01:16:01,423
but we know them
as blue-green algae.

1700
01:16:01,456 --> 01:16:04,693
They found a way to get their
energy from light and water,

1701
01:16:04,726 --> 01:16:08,763
releasing oxygen as a byproduct,
just like modern plants do.

1702
01:16:08,796 --> 01:16:12,000
The evolution of cyanobacteria
set the stage

1703
01:16:12,033 --> 01:16:15,036
for all the plant
and animal life that followed.

1704
01:16:15,069 --> 01:16:17,472
And in fact,
you can see that clearly here.

1705
01:16:17,505 --> 01:16:19,841
You can see this orange
to brown transition.

1706
01:16:19,874 --> 01:16:21,309
Yeah.

1707
01:16:21,342 --> 01:16:23,545
And, you know,
this is one set of species,

1708
01:16:23,578 --> 01:16:27,248
and then there's another,
and then finally this third.

1709
01:16:27,281 --> 01:16:28,817
POGUE:
Dave Ward offers to introduce me

1710
01:16:28,850 --> 01:16:31,219
to one of my oldest
living relatives

1711
01:16:31,252 --> 01:16:34,322
with the help of
an ordinary drinking straw.

1712
01:16:34,355 --> 01:16:36,257
WARD:
And we'll take
a sample here.

1713
01:16:36,290 --> 01:16:38,627
This is the real high-tech part.

1714
01:16:38,660 --> 01:16:41,229
I use my high-tech soda straw.

1715
01:16:41,262 --> 01:16:42,797
(both laugh)

1716
01:16:42,830 --> 01:16:49,504
Just take aim
and push the straw in,

1717
01:16:49,537 --> 01:16:51,906
and just immerse it
into the liquid nitrogen.

1718
01:16:51,939 --> 01:16:53,975
Wow, snap-frozen
for freshness, huh?

1719
01:16:54,008 --> 01:16:54,809
Yup.

1720
01:16:54,842 --> 01:16:56,177
POGUE:
The different colors

1721
01:16:56,210 --> 01:16:58,480
are actually different species
of microorganism.

1722
01:16:58,513 --> 01:17:02,817
Back at his lab,
Ward prepares the sample.

1723
01:17:02,850 --> 01:17:03,785
There we go.

1724
01:17:03,818 --> 01:17:05,220
POGUE:
Here in the layers,

1725
01:17:05,253 --> 01:17:07,756
we can see different species
living together

1726
01:17:07,789 --> 01:17:11,593
separated by hundreds of
millions of years of evolution.

1727
01:17:11,626 --> 01:17:14,963
The thin, greenish layer
on the top is cyanobacteria,

1728
01:17:14,996 --> 01:17:16,998
situated at the best spot

1729
01:17:17,031 --> 01:17:21,236
to find light, water
and carbon dioxide for growth.

1730
01:17:21,269 --> 01:17:26,341
And in the history of life,
it's the cyanobacteria and us

1731
01:17:26,374 --> 01:17:28,143
that truly came out on top.

1732
01:17:28,176 --> 01:17:30,011
Take a peek here, Dave.

1733
01:17:30,044 --> 01:17:32,647
POGUE:
As they spread out
of the volcanic pools

1734
01:17:32,680 --> 01:17:34,382
and colonized the planet,

1735
01:17:34,415 --> 01:17:39,320
these tiny organisms pumped out
more and more oxygen.

1736
01:17:39,353 --> 01:17:41,890
For a few hundred million years,

1737
01:17:41,923 --> 01:17:45,226
oxygen simply reacted with the
metals in the earth's crust,

1738
01:17:45,259 --> 01:17:48,496
and the planet slowly rusted.

1739
01:17:48,529 --> 01:17:50,932
But eventually the oxygen began
to build up in the atmosphere.

1740
01:17:50,965 --> 01:17:54,636
And those little bugs
are still hard at work today.

1741
01:17:54,669 --> 01:17:57,305
WARD:
These little critters that
are making half of the oxygen

1742
01:17:57,338 --> 01:18:00,442
that all of the things requiring
oxygen breathe today.

1743
01:18:00,475 --> 01:18:04,412
So they're still at work
making all of this oxygen.

1744
01:18:04,445 --> 01:18:10,685
POGUE:
These microbes changed the face
of an entire planet.

1745
01:18:10,718 --> 01:18:12,854
But where did
the elements of life,

1746
01:18:12,887 --> 01:18:16,958
and all the other elements,
come from in the first place?

1747
01:18:16,991 --> 01:18:21,196
Let's start at the very
beginning, with hydrogen.

1748
01:18:21,229 --> 01:18:24,099
One proton and one electron.

1749
01:18:24,132 --> 01:18:28,636
Around 90% of all the atoms
in the universe are hydrogen,

1750
01:18:28,669 --> 01:18:32,207
and they were all made
by the Big Bang

1751
01:18:32,240 --> 01:18:34,642
more than 13 billion years ago.

1752
01:18:34,675 --> 01:18:37,645
But where did things go
from there?

1753
01:18:37,678 --> 01:18:41,649
The answer is in the stars,
like our own sun,

1754
01:18:41,682 --> 01:18:43,852
a seething cauldron of hot gas

1755
01:18:43,885 --> 01:18:45,787
constantly turning
hydrogen atoms

1756
01:18:45,820 --> 01:18:48,923
into element number two:
helium.

1757
01:18:48,956 --> 01:18:50,959
It's a process called fusion.

1758
01:18:50,992 --> 01:18:53,595
And now scientists

1759
01:18:53,628 --> 01:18:55,697
at the National Ignition
Facility in California

1760
01:18:55,730 --> 01:18:58,600
are actually trying to recreate
that solar process

1761
01:18:58,633 --> 01:19:00,301
here on earth.

1762
01:19:00,334 --> 01:19:04,172
If they can make it practical--
and that's a big "if"--

1763
01:19:04,205 --> 01:19:07,008
they could unlock a new source
of limitless, clean energy.

1764
01:19:07,041 --> 01:19:10,178
ED MOSES:
So the world is going
to be using more energy.

1765
01:19:10,211 --> 01:19:12,580
POGUE:
Ed Moses is a physicist
who's leading the effort.

1766
01:19:12,613 --> 01:19:15,183
And his raw material
is hydrogen,

1767
01:19:15,216 --> 01:19:18,386
the smallest and the oldest
element in the universe.

1768
01:19:18,419 --> 01:19:20,522
MOSES:
Around 30 seconds
after the Big Bang,

1769
01:19:20,555 --> 01:19:22,757
all that hydrogen appeared.

1770
01:19:22,790 --> 01:19:23,691
From the Big Bang?

1771
01:19:23,724 --> 01:19:24,659
From the Big Bang.

1772
01:19:24,692 --> 01:19:26,327
It sort of has an infinite life.

1773
01:19:26,360 --> 01:19:29,531
So we, when we, you know,
drink a glass of water,

1774
01:19:29,564 --> 01:19:31,599
are sampling the Big Bang.

1775
01:19:31,632 --> 01:19:34,068
POGUE:
Fusion forces two hydrogen atoms

1776
01:19:34,101 --> 01:19:36,905
to merge into a single
helium atom.

1777
01:19:36,938 --> 01:19:38,339
Pound for pound,

1778
01:19:38,372 --> 01:19:41,576
it's the most energetic reaction
in the cosmos.

1779
01:19:41,609 --> 01:19:44,212
And that's what his facility
would like to reproduce.

1780
01:19:44,245 --> 01:19:46,347
We crash them together,
and what happens is

1781
01:19:46,380 --> 01:19:51,953
we turn mass into energy,
just like Einstein told us.

1782
01:19:51,986 --> 01:19:54,756
POGUE:
To do this, Ed's team focuses

1783
01:19:54,789 --> 01:19:58,760
192 of the world's
most powerful laser beams

1784
01:19:58,793 --> 01:20:03,331
onto a bb-sized capsule
containing hydrogen atoms.

1785
01:20:03,364 --> 01:20:05,533
This fuses them
into helium atoms

1786
01:20:05,566 --> 01:20:10,505
and releases a 100-million-
degree pulse of energy.

1787
01:20:10,538 --> 01:20:14,008
The goal is to create
a sustained fusion reaction,

1788
01:20:14,041 --> 01:20:18,046
but right now it lasts only
a billionth of a second.

1789
01:20:18,079 --> 01:20:20,748
Stars create helium throughout
their long lives,

1790
01:20:20,781 --> 01:20:22,116
but in their old age,

1791
01:20:22,149 --> 01:20:25,520
they run low on hydrogen
and begin to fuse helium,

1792
01:20:25,553 --> 01:20:28,857
creating larger
and larger elements.

1793
01:20:28,890 --> 01:20:31,826
And you'll start walking up
the periodic table,

1794
01:20:31,859 --> 01:20:34,362
making more and more elements.

1795
01:20:34,395 --> 01:20:35,763
First you made helium;

1796
01:20:35,796 --> 01:20:39,334
then you'll make lithium
and beryllium and boron.

1797
01:20:39,367 --> 01:20:43,271
And you can do this
all the way up to iron.

1798
01:20:43,304 --> 01:20:48,810
POGUE:
By the time it's fusing iron,
a star is in its death throes.

1799
01:20:48,843 --> 01:20:51,946
It begins to collapse,
and if it's massive enough,

1800
01:20:51,979 --> 01:20:54,549
that collapse leads
to a powerful explosion

1801
01:20:54,582 --> 01:20:58,386
called a supernova.

1802
01:20:58,419 --> 01:21:00,121
In that intense flash,

1803
01:21:00,154 --> 01:21:03,491
the supernova creates elements
heavier than iron,

1804
01:21:03,524 --> 01:21:06,094
launching them all
into the cosmos,

1805
01:21:06,127 --> 01:21:10,398
creating the raw materials
of planets and of life.

1806
01:21:10,431 --> 01:21:13,368
And now we're using
those raw materials

1807
01:21:13,401 --> 01:21:15,303
to shape our civilization,

1808
01:21:15,336 --> 01:21:18,573
with elements like silicon--

1809
01:21:18,606 --> 01:21:21,509
14 protons, 14 electrons,

1810
01:21:21,542 --> 01:21:25,747
the second most abundant element
in the earth's rocky crust.

1811
01:21:25,780 --> 01:21:29,284
A member of one of the smallest
neighborhoods on the table,

1812
01:21:29,317 --> 01:21:31,719
the semiconductors.

1813
01:21:31,752 --> 01:21:33,488
When most people
think of silicon,

1814
01:21:33,521 --> 01:21:36,424
they think of computer chips
and the information age.

1815
01:21:36,457 --> 01:21:39,794
But its most familiar form
is actually in this.

1816
01:21:41,562 --> 01:21:42,797
For more than 5,000 years,

1817
01:21:42,830 --> 01:21:47,869
silicon glass has brought light
and beauty to our lives.

1818
01:21:47,902 --> 01:21:50,104
Today, scientists
are re-engineering

1819
01:21:50,137 --> 01:21:53,708
this ancient material
atom by atom

1820
01:21:53,741 --> 01:21:55,877
here at Corning
in upstate New York.

1821
01:21:55,910 --> 01:21:57,345
PETER BOCKO:
You know, David,

1822
01:21:57,378 --> 01:22:01,616
this place looks and sounds
like a blacksmith shop,

1823
01:22:01,649 --> 01:22:03,718
but actually it's
a scientific laboratory.

1824
01:22:03,751 --> 01:22:05,019
POGUE:
They're fiddling around

1825
01:22:05,052 --> 01:22:06,387
with various combinations
of elements,

1826
01:22:06,420 --> 01:22:06,420
seeing what kind of glass
comes out.

1827
01:22:06,420 --> 01:22:08,256
That's right, yeah.

1828
01:22:08,289 --> 01:22:11,559
POGUE:
They tell me it all starts
with ordinary sand,

1829
01:22:11,592 --> 01:22:14,996
which is made of a combination
of silicon and oxygen.

1830
01:22:15,029 --> 01:22:18,132
But sand is opaque, isn't it?

1831
01:22:18,165 --> 01:22:21,536
It turns out it's much more
glasslike than I thought.

1832
01:22:21,569 --> 01:22:26,674
BOCKO:
Under magnification, sand looks
like little tiny glass jewels

1833
01:22:26,707 --> 01:22:29,010
that are essentially
transparent.

1834
01:22:29,043 --> 01:22:30,778
POGUE:
So the light's coming
from underneath

1835
01:22:30,811 --> 01:22:32,947
these grains of sand and
shining right through them?

1836
01:22:32,980 --> 01:22:35,516
Yep, and you know, it shows
that it's transparent.

1837
01:22:35,549 --> 01:22:37,418
POGUE:
That is so weird.

1838
01:22:37,451 --> 01:22:40,755
POGUE:
Melting sand and then
allowing it to cool

1839
01:22:40,788 --> 01:22:42,924
begins to turn it into glass.

1840
01:22:42,957 --> 01:22:44,759
Feels like thick,
heavy vinyl.

1841
01:22:44,792 --> 01:22:47,595
POGUE:
Glass is surprisingly strong.

1842
01:22:47,628 --> 01:22:50,164
It can withstand a lot
of crushing force.

1843
01:22:50,197 --> 01:22:52,834
But it's also very brittle.

1844
01:22:52,867 --> 01:22:56,904
Is there any way to get
around that weakness?

1845
01:22:56,937 --> 01:23:01,776
BOCKO:
What the scientists do is
they can tailor the glass

1846
01:23:01,809 --> 01:23:05,446
by adding other things
other than the sand

1847
01:23:05,479 --> 01:23:08,716
to engineer the properties
they want to into the glass.

1848
01:23:08,749 --> 01:23:11,652
Should I worry that my gloves
are on fire?

1849
01:23:11,685 --> 01:23:14,555
POGUE:
Changing the 5,000-year-old
recipe for glass

1850
01:23:14,588 --> 01:23:17,558
has led to a new form they call
Gorilla Glass,

1851
01:23:17,591 --> 01:23:21,229
and you can probably guess
why they named it that.

1852
01:23:21,262 --> 01:23:22,597
Something that we call
a drop test.

1853
01:23:22,630 --> 01:23:25,166
With the glass, uh,
is in a frame,

1854
01:23:25,199 --> 01:23:27,935
like we have a piece
of Gorilla Glass in this.

1855
01:23:27,968 --> 01:23:29,103
And the ball is dropped

1856
01:23:29,136 --> 01:23:30,271
from a height of one meter.

1857
01:23:30,304 --> 01:23:32,373
How thick is this piece
of glass?

1858
01:23:32,406 --> 01:23:33,841
This is 0.7 millimeters.

1859
01:23:33,874 --> 01:23:34,876
Not even a millimeter?

1860
01:23:34,909 --> 01:23:36,010
Not even
a millimeter thick.

1861
01:23:36,043 --> 01:23:36,944
We're going to drop
four pounds on that?

1862
01:23:36,977 --> 01:23:37,845
That's right.

1863
01:23:37,878 --> 01:23:39,781
David, this is
our hail gun.

1864
01:23:39,814 --> 01:23:43,584
It shoots a ball of ice
at 60 to 70 miles an hour.

1865
01:23:43,617 --> 01:23:46,554
Ready, aim, hail!

1866
01:23:47,755 --> 01:23:51,592
So this is a sample
of our special glass.

1867
01:23:51,625 --> 01:23:53,161
This is plastic, dude.

1868
01:23:53,194 --> 01:23:54,762
I can make a paper
airplane out of this.

1869
01:23:54,795 --> 01:23:56,097
Yeah, yeah.

1870
01:23:59,266 --> 01:24:00,234
It didn't break.

1871
01:24:00,267 --> 01:24:02,236
Oh my gosh, it's going
to fold it in half.

1872
01:24:02,269 --> 01:24:03,471
BOCKO:
There's a lot
of bend to it.

1873
01:24:03,504 --> 01:24:05,073
POGUE:
Ready, aim, fire!

1874
01:24:05,106 --> 01:24:09,377
POGUE:
The secret behind these weirdly
durable forms of glass

1875
01:24:09,410 --> 01:24:12,113
is engineering
on the atomic scale.

1876
01:24:12,146 --> 01:24:13,414
Sweet!

1877
01:24:13,447 --> 01:24:14,549
Clearly it worked.

1878
01:24:14,582 --> 01:24:16,451
The 70-mile-an-hour
golf-ball-sized hail

1879
01:24:16,484 --> 01:24:18,119
did absolutely nothing to it.

1880
01:24:18,152 --> 01:24:21,122
The glassmakers have learned
how to precisely place

1881
01:24:21,155 --> 01:24:23,257
minute amounts of metal atoms--

1882
01:24:23,290 --> 01:24:26,127
like sodium, potassium,
and aluminum--

1883
01:24:26,160 --> 01:24:28,429
among the silicon atoms.

1884
01:24:28,462 --> 01:24:32,900
The result is hard yet flexible,
and scratch resistant.

1885
01:24:32,933 --> 01:24:33,968
No!

1886
01:24:34,001 --> 01:24:35,703
But is it really glass?

1887
01:24:35,736 --> 01:24:37,605
You maintain that this is
not, in fact, plastic,

1888
01:24:37,638 --> 01:24:37,638
that this is
actually glass.

1889
01:24:37,638 --> 01:24:39,674
Mm-hmm, yup.

1890
01:24:39,707 --> 01:24:42,477
But yet very strong,
within reason.

1891
01:24:42,510 --> 01:24:44,912
There is no such thing
as an unbreakable glass.

1892
01:24:44,945 --> 01:24:44,945
It is a glass...

1893
01:24:44,945 --> 01:24:46,214
Oh!

1894
01:24:46,247 --> 01:24:46,247
Oh!

1895
01:24:46,247 --> 01:24:48,082
It is a glass...

1896
01:24:48,115 --> 01:24:50,418
So there are limits.

1897
01:24:50,451 --> 01:24:56,390
POGUE:
These days we need strong glass
for lenses, fiber optics

1898
01:24:56,423 --> 01:24:58,726
and screens of all sizes.

1899
01:24:58,759 --> 01:25:01,028
Hey, I'm on TV!

1900
01:25:01,061 --> 01:25:03,665
But silicon's work
is not yet done.

1901
01:25:05,132 --> 01:25:09,137
Because underneath the glass,
there's a lot more silicon

1902
01:25:09,170 --> 01:25:12,006
in the guts
of all those electronics.

1903
01:25:12,039 --> 01:25:15,743
Silicon is the standard bearer
of the semiconductors,

1904
01:25:15,776 --> 01:25:19,013
materials that change
from free-flowing conductors

1905
01:25:19,046 --> 01:25:21,415
to nonflowing insulators

1906
01:25:21,448 --> 01:25:24,652
when we simply zap them
with an electric current.

1907
01:25:24,685 --> 01:25:27,021
Switches made out
of semiconductors

1908
01:25:27,054 --> 01:25:28,823
made computers possible.

1909
01:25:28,856 --> 01:25:31,225
But lately, when it comes
to high tech,

1910
01:25:31,258 --> 01:25:33,694
there's a new family
on the block:

1911
01:25:33,727 --> 01:25:36,297
the rare earths.

1912
01:25:36,330 --> 01:25:40,535
15 elements located
near the bottom of the table.

1913
01:25:40,568 --> 01:25:42,637
And in my job as
a technology writer,

1914
01:25:42,670 --> 01:25:44,872
there's one rare earth
that interests me

1915
01:25:44,905 --> 01:25:45,873
more than any other:

1916
01:25:45,906 --> 01:25:47,775
neodymium.

1917
01:25:47,808 --> 01:25:52,146
It's the key ingredient in the
world's strongest magnets.

1918
01:25:52,179 --> 01:25:54,849
They're critical to computers,
cell phones,

1919
01:25:54,882 --> 01:26:00,288
hybrid cars, wind turbines,
even tiny earbuds.

1920
01:26:00,321 --> 01:26:03,090
Without neodymium, we'd be sunk.

1921
01:26:03,123 --> 01:26:04,825
So that raises a question:

1922
01:26:04,858 --> 01:26:06,394
if they're in everything,

1923
01:26:06,427 --> 01:26:08,429
how come they're called
"rare" earths?

1924
01:26:08,462 --> 01:26:12,133
The best place to find out
is at the source.

1925
01:26:12,166 --> 01:26:16,671
John Burba is the chief
technology officer at Molycorp.

1926
01:26:16,704 --> 01:26:19,273
He's overseeing
a billion-dollar operation

1927
01:26:19,306 --> 01:26:24,712
to bring this 50-year-old mine
into the 21st century.

1928
01:26:24,745 --> 01:26:26,914
So how many rare earth mines
like this are there

1929
01:26:26,947 --> 01:26:27,982
in the United States?

1930
01:26:28,015 --> 01:26:29,016
One.

1931
01:26:29,049 --> 01:26:30,151
This is it?

1932
01:26:30,184 --> 01:26:31,719
This is it.

1933
01:26:31,752 --> 01:26:34,889
POGUE:
One mine in the United States,

1934
01:26:34,922 --> 01:26:37,725
and John tells me it's not even
fully operational yet.

1935
01:26:37,758 --> 01:26:39,227
So...

1936
01:26:39,260 --> 01:26:41,596
Where do rare earth minerals
come from in the world?

1937
01:26:41,629 --> 01:26:43,998
The majority of it
comes from China.

1938
01:26:44,031 --> 01:26:45,333
What kind of majority?

1939
01:26:45,366 --> 01:26:46,701
Like 98%.

1940
01:26:46,734 --> 01:26:48,703
98% of these minerals
come from China?

1941
01:26:48,736 --> 01:26:49,904
Yes.

1942
01:26:49,937 --> 01:26:52,039
POGUE:
Then he breaks the news

1943
01:26:52,072 --> 01:26:54,442
that the Chinese government
has been limiting the export

1944
01:26:54,475 --> 01:26:57,912
of these strategically
important elements.

1945
01:26:57,945 --> 01:26:59,814
Seems like the fate
of the free world

1946
01:26:59,847 --> 01:27:01,148
could be riding on these rocks.

1947
01:27:01,181 --> 01:27:04,719
I'd better get some of my own
while the gettin' is good.

1948
01:27:04,752 --> 01:27:06,921
But look for stuff
like this.

1949
01:27:06,954 --> 01:27:09,123
We'll find out how good
a geologist you are.

1950
01:27:09,156 --> 01:27:10,191
This reddish stuff?

1951
01:27:10,224 --> 01:27:11,359
Yeah.

1952
01:27:11,392 --> 01:27:12,526
This is a hunk
of... what?

1953
01:27:12,559 --> 01:27:14,362
Barite, barium sulfate,

1954
01:27:14,395 --> 01:27:16,264
it's got some
monazite in it.

1955
01:27:16,297 --> 01:27:17,832
They are naturally
occurring crystals

1956
01:27:17,865 --> 01:27:18,766
that contain the elements.

1957
01:27:18,799 --> 01:27:20,635
So can I get a few more
of these?

1958
01:27:20,668 --> 01:27:22,737
Yeah, just look
for stuff that's similar.

1959
01:27:22,770 --> 01:27:23,871
You know what, John?

1960
01:27:23,904 --> 01:27:25,873
I like these two a lot.

1961
01:27:25,906 --> 01:27:27,208
I can't decide.

1962
01:27:27,241 --> 01:27:29,243
It's an either/
"ore" situation.

1963
01:27:29,276 --> 01:27:30,511
(laughs)

1964
01:27:30,544 --> 01:27:34,282
So how can I find out which
elements are in this hunk?

1965
01:27:34,315 --> 01:27:38,219
POGUE:
Molycorp's facility is still
under construction.

1966
01:27:38,252 --> 01:27:40,354
So to find out
what's in my rocks,

1967
01:27:40,387 --> 01:27:42,223
he suggests I take them
to the world's

1968
01:27:42,256 --> 01:27:48,096
premier rare earth research lab
in Ames, Iowa.

1969
01:27:50,230 --> 01:27:52,366
We'll be there soon.

1970
01:27:52,399 --> 01:27:54,435
I'm dying to know what
I've got my hands on.

1971
01:27:54,468 --> 01:27:57,505
A pinch of praseodymium,
perhaps?

1972
01:27:57,538 --> 01:27:59,507
A whole pound of holmium?

1973
01:27:59,540 --> 01:28:02,109
A thimbleful of thulium?

1974
01:28:02,142 --> 01:28:06,047
Or, dare I hope,
magnet-making neodymium?

1975
01:28:06,080 --> 01:28:08,683
If anyone can extract
all the precious neodymium

1976
01:28:08,716 --> 01:28:11,152
from my rocks,
it's these guys.

1977
01:28:11,185 --> 01:28:12,753
David, I've been
expecting you.

1978
01:28:12,786 --> 01:28:13,754
Good to see you.

1979
01:28:13,787 --> 01:28:14,722
David Pogue,
how are you?

1980
01:28:14,755 --> 01:28:15,756
Yes, sir, yes, sir.

1981
01:28:15,789 --> 01:28:16,924
I see you brought
the ore with you.

1982
01:28:16,957 --> 01:28:18,359
I brought this all the way
from California.

1983
01:28:18,392 --> 01:28:19,260
All the way,
all right!

1984
01:28:19,293 --> 01:28:20,328
I carried it by hand.

1985
01:28:20,361 --> 01:28:21,362
Uh-huh.

1986
01:28:21,395 --> 01:28:22,663
Because, you know,
it's rare earth...

1987
01:28:22,696 --> 01:28:23,831
It's rare earth.

1988
01:28:23,864 --> 01:28:25,533
...ore, and I didn't want
anything to happen.

1989
01:28:25,566 --> 01:28:28,035
I didn't check it,
I didn't put it in the overhead.

1990
01:28:28,068 --> 01:28:29,603
I think I've got
some beautiful samples.

1991
01:28:29,636 --> 01:28:30,604
Oh, yeah.

1992
01:28:30,637 --> 01:28:31,706
There's this mine
in California,

1993
01:28:31,739 --> 01:28:32,573
the largest one
in the United States.

1994
01:28:32,606 --> 01:28:34,408
Look at the size
of this one.

1995
01:28:34,441 --> 01:28:34,441
I think this one's
my favorite.

1996
01:28:34,441 --> 01:28:36,344
Oh, yeah.

1997
01:28:36,377 --> 01:28:38,045
I thought if we
brought it here to Ames Lab,

1998
01:28:38,078 --> 01:28:39,246
I thought you could, uh,

1999
01:28:39,279 --> 01:28:40,548
do a little chemical analysis
on it and tell me...

2000
01:28:40,581 --> 01:28:41,615
We certainly can.

2001
01:28:41,648 --> 01:28:43,317
We'll take your
favorite one and...

2002
01:28:43,350 --> 01:28:44,218
Watch out with the hammer.

2003
01:28:44,251 --> 01:28:45,553
What are you... ?

2004
01:28:45,586 --> 01:28:47,321
There we go, that's
a good piece right there.

2005
01:28:47,354 --> 01:28:49,590
That's all we're going to need
for the chemical analysis,

2006
01:28:49,623 --> 01:28:51,225
so the rest of this
we'll just...

2007
01:28:51,258 --> 01:28:52,259
Yeah, but...

2008
01:28:52,292 --> 01:28:53,894
...throw it right here
in the trash.

2009
01:28:53,927 --> 01:28:55,830
But that's, that's rare... ah!

2010
01:28:55,863 --> 01:28:57,098
California!

2011
01:28:57,131 --> 01:29:00,501
POGUE:
The truth is,
rare earths are not rare.

2012
01:29:00,534 --> 01:29:03,671
They're just notoriously hard
to separate.

2013
01:29:03,704 --> 01:29:06,240
The problem is,
at an atomic level,

2014
01:29:06,273 --> 01:29:09,276
the rare earth elements
all look weirdly alike.

2015
01:29:09,309 --> 01:29:11,912
Moving from element to element

2016
01:29:11,945 --> 01:29:14,014
along a row
of the periodic table

2017
01:29:14,047 --> 01:29:18,719
adds a proton to the nucleus and
an electron to the outer shell.

2018
01:29:18,752 --> 01:29:20,454
But in the rare earths,

2019
01:29:20,487 --> 01:29:24,191
the new electron disappears
into an unfilled inner shell.

2020
01:29:24,224 --> 01:29:26,293
The result?

2021
01:29:26,326 --> 01:29:29,964
15 atoms that all have identical
outer electron shells,

2022
01:29:29,997 --> 01:29:33,567
making them virtually
indistinguishable chemically.

2023
01:29:33,600 --> 01:29:35,236
But what about my rocks?

2024
01:29:35,269 --> 01:29:37,104
Okay, David, the ore
that you brought us,

2025
01:29:37,137 --> 01:29:38,372
the rocks that look like this,

2026
01:29:38,405 --> 01:29:41,075
we analyzed those,
and this is what we found.

2027
01:29:41,108 --> 01:29:42,243
We found major components

2028
01:29:42,276 --> 01:29:46,680
of cerium, lanthanum
and praseodymium.

2029
01:29:46,713 --> 01:29:48,282
POGUE:
But no neodymium.

2030
01:29:48,315 --> 01:29:51,619
Apparently, my rocks
are neo free.

2031
01:29:51,652 --> 01:29:53,587
But there was some good news.

2032
01:29:53,620 --> 01:29:58,526
The ore I brought in contained
a whopping 20% rare earth oxide.

2033
01:29:58,559 --> 01:30:01,228
Molycorp may soon be able

2034
01:30:01,261 --> 01:30:05,933
to take a big bite out
of China's near monopoly.

2035
01:30:05,966 --> 01:30:08,469
Before I head out, though,

2036
01:30:08,502 --> 01:30:10,838
there's one more lab
I'm determined to visit.

2037
01:30:10,871 --> 01:30:13,541
So David, would you be
interested in seeing

2038
01:30:13,574 --> 01:30:15,309
a rare earth magnet?

2039
01:30:15,342 --> 01:30:18,279
POGUE:
Paul is one of the lab's
top magnet guys.

2040
01:30:18,312 --> 01:30:20,481
This is a rare
earth magnet.

2041
01:30:20,514 --> 01:30:22,850
This is actually neodymium,
iron and boron.

2042
01:30:22,883 --> 01:30:25,419
This is about 150 grams

2043
01:30:25,452 --> 01:30:28,756
of the world's highest
purity neodymium.

2044
01:30:28,789 --> 01:30:32,092
POGUE:
Neodymium magnets are
a bit of a misnomer.

2045
01:30:32,125 --> 01:30:35,696
They're really iron magnets
with a pinch of neodymium added

2046
01:30:35,729 --> 01:30:38,766
like a powerful spice
to make them stronger,

2047
01:30:38,799 --> 01:30:43,571
plus a few boron atoms to help
hold everything in place.

2048
01:30:43,604 --> 01:30:44,738
You grow these?

2049
01:30:44,771 --> 01:30:46,607
You don't dig these out
of the ore somehow?

2050
01:30:46,640 --> 01:30:48,309
No, no, no,
these don't exist in nature.

2051
01:30:48,342 --> 01:30:50,845
These are things that we have
to combine and cook

2052
01:30:50,878 --> 01:30:52,746
in the same way
that huevos rancheros

2053
01:30:52,779 --> 01:30:54,148
doesn't exist in nature.

2054
01:30:54,181 --> 01:30:55,316
It has to be put together.

2055
01:30:55,349 --> 01:30:58,252
POGUE:
Paul's lab is like
a dieter's kitchen,

2056
01:30:58,285 --> 01:31:01,922
satisfying a hunger
for powerful magnetic crystals

2057
01:31:01,955 --> 01:31:05,960
while reducing the amount of
neodymium needed in the recipe.

2058
01:31:05,993 --> 01:31:09,530
And he's just about to whip up
a fresh batch.

2059
01:31:09,563 --> 01:31:12,633
The main ingredient
is ordinary iron.

2060
01:31:12,666 --> 01:31:13,934
Iron makes magnets...

2061
01:31:13,967 --> 01:31:15,302
CANFIELD:
There you go!

2062
01:31:15,335 --> 01:31:17,638
...but adding neodymium
makes magnets on steroids.

2063
01:31:17,671 --> 01:31:19,173
Here's how you make a magnet.

2064
01:31:19,206 --> 01:31:21,642
First, all the solid ingredients

2065
01:31:21,675 --> 01:31:25,412
are sealed into a quartz tube
to be melted together.

2066
01:31:25,445 --> 01:31:27,882
David Pogue: Scientist!

2067
01:31:27,915 --> 01:31:30,251
After some time in the furnace,

2068
01:31:30,284 --> 01:31:33,821
tiny magnetic crystals have
formed in the melted iron.

2069
01:31:33,854 --> 01:31:35,890
2,000 degree...
oh, my gosh!

2070
01:31:35,923 --> 01:31:37,558
It's like threading
a needle!

2071
01:31:37,591 --> 01:31:40,928
The next step is to separate
the solids from the liquid.

2072
01:31:40,961 --> 01:31:43,664
One, two, three,
dump it in, slam the lid.

2073
01:31:43,697 --> 01:31:46,367
They put the centrifuge
on the floor for safety

2074
01:31:46,400 --> 01:31:49,336
in case anything goes wrong
with the super-hot vial.

2075
01:31:49,369 --> 01:31:50,504
We turn it off.

2076
01:31:50,537 --> 01:31:52,506
That lets you open it up.

2077
01:31:52,539 --> 01:31:55,976
And we can take it out.

2078
01:31:56,009 --> 01:31:58,913
We have single crystals
of the neodymium iron boron

2079
01:31:58,946 --> 01:32:00,981
separated
from the extra liquid,

2080
01:32:01,014 --> 01:32:04,952
which the centrifuge separated
with the ten to 100 G's.

2081
01:32:04,985 --> 01:32:07,488
POGUE:
The result of all this cooking
and spinning?

2082
01:32:07,521 --> 01:32:12,092
A powerful magnet that uses
less neodymium, we hope.

2083
01:32:12,125 --> 01:32:13,627
It sounds like
you're saying

2084
01:32:13,660 --> 01:32:15,729
you're trying to use as little
of the rare earth as possible.

2085
01:32:15,762 --> 01:32:16,730
Absolutely.

2086
01:32:16,763 --> 01:32:17,998
Why?

2087
01:32:18,031 --> 01:32:19,800
'Cause I thought rare earths
aren't really that rare.

2088
01:32:19,833 --> 01:32:22,736
The rare earths are not rare,
but they're hard to separate.

2089
01:32:22,769 --> 01:32:24,972
And that's part
of the expense.

2090
01:32:25,005 --> 01:32:28,609
POGUE:
Even with Paul's help,
it looks like rare earths

2091
01:32:28,642 --> 01:32:32,713
are going to remain in short
supply, at least for now.

2092
01:32:32,746 --> 01:32:34,782
Partly because scientists
continue to find

2093
01:32:34,815 --> 01:32:38,385
surprising new ways
to use these strange metals.

2094
01:32:38,418 --> 01:32:41,922
Like marine biologist and
conservationist Patrick Rice.

2095
01:32:41,955 --> 01:32:44,258
If he has anything to say
about it,

2096
01:32:44,291 --> 01:32:48,262
rare earths may be coming soon
to a fish hook near you.

2097
01:32:48,295 --> 01:32:49,930
Ah, is this your little
kiddie pool

2098
01:32:49,963 --> 01:32:51,398
where you bring
the children to swim?

2099
01:32:51,431 --> 01:32:53,767
This is our little tank here
where we have, um,

2100
01:32:53,800 --> 01:32:54,969
a couple little bonnet
head sharks

2101
01:32:55,002 --> 01:32:57,571
and a little nurse shark
in here.

2102
01:32:57,604 --> 01:33:00,307
POGUE:
Rice was searching for the next
great shark repellent

2103
01:33:00,340 --> 01:33:02,276
when he made
an accidental discovery

2104
01:33:02,309 --> 01:33:06,513
that looks like it'll be good
news for both man and fish.

2105
01:33:06,546 --> 01:33:09,016
RICE:
We had sharks
in a tank like this,

2106
01:33:09,049 --> 01:33:10,684
and a pump broke
on one of our tanks,

2107
01:33:10,717 --> 01:33:12,186
and so we were playing
with these magnets

2108
01:33:12,219 --> 01:33:13,654
and we put the magnets
down by the tank

2109
01:33:13,687 --> 01:33:15,089
to go fix the pump,

2110
01:33:15,122 --> 01:33:18,225
and when we put the magnet by
the tank, the sharks took off.

2111
01:33:18,258 --> 01:33:21,095
POGUE:
Somehow, the sharks
inside the tank

2112
01:33:21,128 --> 01:33:24,064
sensed the presence of magnets
outside the tank,

2113
01:33:24,097 --> 01:33:26,667
and when they did,
they voted with their fins.

2114
01:33:29,036 --> 01:33:32,172
Patrick offers to demonstrate
the weird repulsive effect.

2115
01:33:32,205 --> 01:33:36,110
He hands me a case
of super-strong magnets.

2116
01:33:36,143 --> 01:33:39,880
So this is full of actual
regular, old refrigerator...

2117
01:33:39,913 --> 01:33:42,116
Oh, yeah, more than
refrigerator magnets.

2118
01:33:42,149 --> 01:33:43,884
That's right,
that's right.

2119
01:33:43,917 --> 01:33:46,654
And you're saying that this
will somehow repel the sharks?

2120
01:33:46,687 --> 01:33:49,990
Okay, here comes
a little guy.

2121
01:33:50,023 --> 01:33:51,325
That's a little nurse shark,
it might work for him.

2122
01:33:51,358 --> 01:33:52,760
Tell me when he
gets over here.

2123
01:33:52,793 --> 01:33:54,361
All right,
three, two, one.

2124
01:33:54,394 --> 01:33:57,231
Oh, my gosh, it's like you
dropped that thing on his head.

2125
01:33:57,264 --> 01:33:58,432
RICE:
Yeah, you saw it, huh?

2126
01:33:58,465 --> 01:34:00,167
Yeah, he's like,
dun dun dun, wow!

2127
01:34:00,200 --> 01:34:01,268
He whipped out of there.

2128
01:34:01,301 --> 01:34:02,269
Right, exactly.

2129
01:34:02,302 --> 01:34:04,571
POGUE:
The shark can't see the magnet,

2130
01:34:04,604 --> 01:34:06,674
but it obviously feels
the effect.

2131
01:34:06,707 --> 01:34:07,708
And it's not happy.

2132
01:34:07,741 --> 01:34:11,612
One, two, three, now.

2133
01:34:11,645 --> 01:34:13,013
Boom, you got him.

2134
01:34:13,046 --> 01:34:13,046
Really?

2135
01:34:13,046 --> 01:34:14,715
Yeah, you got him.

2136
01:34:14,748 --> 01:34:14,748
That's crazy.

2137
01:34:14,748 --> 01:34:16,083
Isn't it amazing?

2138
01:34:16,116 --> 01:34:18,952
POGUE:
Patrick thought he could somehow
use this effect

2139
01:34:18,985 --> 01:34:22,456
to save sharks from being
inadvertently caught

2140
01:34:22,489 --> 01:34:24,158
by commercial fishermen.

2141
01:34:24,191 --> 01:34:27,995
But there was, so to speak,
a catch.

2142
01:34:28,028 --> 01:34:30,397
We put the magnet right above
the hook on the line.

2143
01:34:30,430 --> 01:34:32,433
And what was happening was
the hooks were swinging around

2144
01:34:32,466 --> 01:34:33,734
and getting caught
on the magnets.

2145
01:34:33,767 --> 01:34:34,635
That would happen.

2146
01:34:34,668 --> 01:34:35,869
So it wasn't catching
any sharks,

2147
01:34:35,902 --> 01:34:37,805
but it wasn't catching
anything else either.

2148
01:34:37,838 --> 01:34:40,374
POGUE:
But he wasn't willing
to give up.

2149
01:34:40,407 --> 01:34:43,243
He decided he needed to find
the weakest possible magnet

2150
01:34:43,276 --> 01:34:46,380
that would still affect sharks.

2151
01:34:46,413 --> 01:34:48,716
The first step was to create
a baseline for comparison

2152
01:34:48,749 --> 01:34:52,352
by exposing sharks
to nonmagnetic materials.

2153
01:34:52,385 --> 01:34:55,522
He offers to recreate
his experiment.

2154
01:34:55,555 --> 01:34:57,157
You know, I don't have
insurance for this.

2155
01:34:57,190 --> 01:34:59,159
Be careful.
It might be slippery.

2156
01:34:59,192 --> 01:35:00,928
You're warning me
about the slipperiness?

2157
01:35:00,961 --> 01:35:02,863
Dude, there's
three sharks in here!

2158
01:35:02,896 --> 01:35:04,732
RICE:
No, but they're nice.

2159
01:35:04,765 --> 01:35:07,301
Okay, I just want to say, for
the record, that I'm standing

2160
01:35:07,334 --> 01:35:08,736
in a tank full of sharks.

2161
01:35:08,769 --> 01:35:09,870
That's correct.

2162
01:35:09,903 --> 01:35:12,640
This is like Jaws 7:
The Kiddie Pool.

2163
01:35:14,341 --> 01:35:17,277
POGUE:
Step one: capture a shark.

2164
01:35:17,310 --> 01:35:19,813
Dude, you just caught
a shark with your bare hands!

2165
01:35:19,846 --> 01:35:22,950
POGUE:
Then flip the shark
upside down,

2166
01:35:22,983 --> 01:35:27,020
which induces a trance state
called tonic immobility.

2167
01:35:27,053 --> 01:35:28,388
Once the shark is calm,

2168
01:35:28,421 --> 01:35:30,657
we test its reaction

2169
01:35:30,690 --> 01:35:33,360
to a piece of ordinary,
nonmagnetic lead.

2170
01:35:33,393 --> 01:35:36,063
Would you like me to just conk
her on the head with this?

2171
01:35:36,096 --> 01:35:37,531
Cover up her eyes.

2172
01:35:37,564 --> 01:35:39,867
So it's not
a visual thing.

2173
01:35:39,900 --> 01:35:43,403
POGUE:
Using a shield to make sure that
the shark can't see the metal,

2174
01:35:43,436 --> 01:35:45,372
I bring it close.

2175
01:35:45,405 --> 01:35:46,974
No reaction.

2176
01:35:47,007 --> 01:35:47,808
None at all.

2177
01:35:47,841 --> 01:35:48,976
POGUE:
As expected.

2178
01:35:49,009 --> 01:35:51,779
Next, a nonmagnetic
piece of samarium,

2179
01:35:51,812 --> 01:35:53,614
a rare earth element.

2180
01:35:53,647 --> 01:35:56,416
The expectation was that
because it's nonmagnetic,

2181
01:35:56,449 --> 01:35:57,985
there would be no reaction.

2182
01:35:58,018 --> 01:35:59,787
Oh, man!

2183
01:35:59,820 --> 01:36:01,355
She didn't like that
at all.

2184
01:36:01,388 --> 01:36:02,956
This is like
kryptonite for sharks!

2185
01:36:02,989 --> 01:36:03,891
Yes, it is.

2186
01:36:03,924 --> 01:36:04,858
Wow, that's amazing.

2187
01:36:04,891 --> 01:36:06,994
It just woke her up
and drove her crazy.

2188
01:36:07,027 --> 01:36:08,195
Yep.

2189
01:36:08,228 --> 01:36:11,465
So the idea is you could make
what out of this stuff?

2190
01:36:11,498 --> 01:36:13,066
Well, the idea is that
it's not magnetic,

2191
01:36:13,099 --> 01:36:14,935
so we could potentially
incorporate it

2192
01:36:14,968 --> 01:36:16,069
into a fishing hook.

2193
01:36:16,102 --> 01:36:19,306
And then you got something
that repels sharks

2194
01:36:19,339 --> 01:36:22,309
but doesn't have
the magnetic properties,

2195
01:36:22,342 --> 01:36:25,479
so it won't tangle the gear
and stuff like that.

2196
01:36:25,512 --> 01:36:27,748
POGUE:
The discovery
that nonmagnetic rare earths

2197
01:36:27,781 --> 01:36:31,718
have a repellent effect
on sharks was a complete fluke.

2198
01:36:31,751 --> 01:36:34,788
And it works with other
rare earth metals as well.

2199
01:36:34,821 --> 01:36:36,690
But why?

2200
01:36:36,723 --> 01:36:40,928
What do sharks have against
these particular elements?

2201
01:36:40,961 --> 01:36:42,529
We believe it's creating
a little electric shock.

2202
01:36:42,562 --> 01:36:43,797
A little electric shock?

2203
01:36:43,830 --> 01:36:44,898
Yeah, yeah.

2204
01:36:44,931 --> 01:36:45,866
A shark shock.

2205
01:36:45,899 --> 01:36:47,201
A shark shocker.

2206
01:36:47,234 --> 01:36:48,402
POGUE:
Patrick demonstrates
using a beaker of seawater,

2207
01:36:48,435 --> 01:36:53,507
a piece of samarium, a voltmeter
and an actual shark fin.

2208
01:36:53,540 --> 01:36:55,342
(singing Jaws theme):
Bum bum, bum bum,
bum bum, bum bum...

2209
01:36:55,375 --> 01:36:57,311
POGUE:
When he submerges the samarium

2210
01:36:57,344 --> 01:36:59,179
and the shark fin
in the seawater,

2211
01:36:59,212 --> 01:37:01,949
an electric current flows.

2212
01:37:01,982 --> 01:37:03,250
Whoa!

2213
01:37:03,283 --> 01:37:04,184
Oh, my God.

2214
01:37:04,217 --> 01:37:05,485
That's almost
a D-size battery.

2215
01:37:05,518 --> 01:37:07,721
Did we just make,
in effect, a battery?

2216
01:37:07,754 --> 01:37:08,789
Correct.

2217
01:37:08,822 --> 01:37:12,059
POGUE:
As a group, the rare earths

2218
01:37:12,092 --> 01:37:15,362
give up their outer electrons
very easily.

2219
01:37:15,395 --> 01:37:16,597
In the salt water,

2220
01:37:16,630 --> 01:37:18,999
samarium atoms break free
of the metal disk

2221
01:37:19,032 --> 01:37:22,169
and give up one or more
of their outer electrons.

2222
01:37:22,202 --> 01:37:25,005
The atoms become
positively charged

2223
01:37:25,038 --> 01:37:27,207
and are attracted
to the shark fin,

2224
01:37:27,240 --> 01:37:29,276
which, like many
biological materials,

2225
01:37:29,309 --> 01:37:32,179
has a slight negative charge.

2226
01:37:32,212 --> 01:37:34,047
The movement
of the charged atoms

2227
01:37:34,080 --> 01:37:35,415
creates an electric current.

2228
01:37:35,448 --> 01:37:37,417
Wow, that's some real juice
flowing in there.

2229
01:37:37,450 --> 01:37:39,152
Just like in a battery.

2230
01:37:39,185 --> 01:37:40,787
It's a complete
closed circuit,

2231
01:37:40,820 --> 01:37:42,055
and the voltmeter's
measuring that.

2232
01:37:42,088 --> 01:37:42,088
That's pretty amazing.

2233
01:37:42,088 --> 01:37:43,590
Yeah.

2234
01:37:43,623 --> 01:37:47,494
POGUE:
But is the effect
actually strong enough

2235
01:37:47,527 --> 01:37:49,563
to put a shark off its meal?

2236
01:37:49,596 --> 01:37:50,964
So we've just done
our little test...

2237
01:37:50,997 --> 01:37:52,633
POGUE:
There's one final experiment
we can run to find out.

2238
01:37:52,666 --> 01:37:54,301
What we're going
to do now...

2239
01:37:54,334 --> 01:37:55,602
Whoa!

2240
01:37:55,635 --> 01:37:56,503
Thank you.

2241
01:37:56,536 --> 01:37:57,504
You're welcome.

2242
01:37:57,537 --> 01:37:58,939
That was just for
the blooper reel.

2243
01:37:58,972 --> 01:38:00,340
We like to get
some material...

2244
01:38:00,373 --> 01:38:02,309
POGUE:
As I was saying,

2245
01:38:02,342 --> 01:38:06,413
there's one final experiment
we can run to find out.

2246
01:38:06,446 --> 01:38:08,115
What we're going
to do here is

2247
01:38:08,148 --> 01:38:10,517
a little experiment
we've never done before.

2248
01:38:10,550 --> 01:38:13,020
You haven't done
this before?

2249
01:38:13,053 --> 01:38:14,354
We haven't done
this before.

2250
01:38:14,387 --> 01:38:16,423
You waited until there was
a national TV camera rolling?

2251
01:38:16,456 --> 01:38:18,292
(whistling)

2252
01:38:18,325 --> 01:38:20,527
POGUE:
There's a nine-foot lemon shark
in this lagoon,

2253
01:38:20,560 --> 01:38:22,729
and it's lunchtime.

2254
01:38:22,762 --> 01:38:24,965
Now for the test.

2255
01:38:24,998 --> 01:38:28,435
We're going to suspend
two identical pieces of tuna.

2256
01:38:28,468 --> 01:38:30,604
One will hang below a piece
of lead--

2257
01:38:30,637 --> 01:38:32,005
that's our control--

2258
01:38:32,038 --> 01:38:35,075
the other under a piece
of samarium.

2259
01:38:35,108 --> 01:38:36,076
You go ahead and
put it out there.

2260
01:38:36,109 --> 01:38:36,677
Really?

2261
01:38:36,710 --> 01:38:37,411
Yup.

2262
01:38:37,444 --> 01:38:38,378
Lower her down.

2263
01:38:38,411 --> 01:38:39,613
POGUE:
If the test is successful,

2264
01:38:39,646 --> 01:38:42,482
the shark should avoid
the samarium-tainted meal,

2265
01:38:42,515 --> 01:38:45,452
but not the food near the lead.

2266
01:38:45,485 --> 01:38:46,887
RICE:
Here she comes.

2267
01:38:46,920 --> 01:38:48,522
POGUE:
Oh, she didn't
like it at all.

2268
01:38:48,555 --> 01:38:50,590
She was aiming right at it
and she was like, ugh!

2269
01:38:50,623 --> 01:38:52,159
RICE:
That was
an excellent response.

2270
01:38:52,192 --> 01:38:55,229
Notice the other fish-- it
doesn't have any effect on them.

2271
01:38:56,930 --> 01:38:59,066
Okay, wait a minute,
now she's going for the lead.

2272
01:38:59,099 --> 01:39:01,635
RICE:
So there's the control.

2273
01:39:01,668 --> 01:39:03,170
POGUE:
And she loves the lead one!

2274
01:39:03,203 --> 01:39:06,873
RICE:
No problem on the control,
so that's awesome.

2275
01:39:06,906 --> 01:39:09,343
POGUE:
Since making this remarkable
discovery,

2276
01:39:09,376 --> 01:39:11,678
Patrick has experimented
with designs

2277
01:39:11,711 --> 01:39:13,347
for shark-repelling
fishing hooks,

2278
01:39:13,380 --> 01:39:16,416
and he's seen some
promising results.

2279
01:39:16,449 --> 01:39:18,518
The last experiment we did,
we put out 46,000 hooks

2280
01:39:18,551 --> 01:39:20,320
and we reduced
shark by-catch by 27%.

2281
01:39:20,353 --> 01:39:22,823
POGUE:
Get your fresh chum here!

2282
01:39:22,856 --> 01:39:25,058
POGUE:
Shark zapping is just
the latest entry

2283
01:39:25,091 --> 01:39:28,395
in the growing list of curious
rare earth abilities.

2284
01:39:28,428 --> 01:39:32,833
But perhaps the real shocker
is that these 15 elements

2285
01:39:32,866 --> 01:39:35,202
were so long misunderstood,

2286
01:39:35,235 --> 01:39:39,806
their identities masked by their
identical outer electron shells.

2287
01:39:39,839 --> 01:39:43,844
But those aren't the only atoms
hiding from view.

2288
01:39:43,877 --> 01:39:46,279
Scientists now know
that most elements

2289
01:39:46,312 --> 01:39:48,382
come in more than one version.

2290
01:39:48,415 --> 01:39:51,718
The different versions
are called isotopes.

2291
01:39:51,751 --> 01:39:55,322
Consider carbon,
the backbone of life.

2292
01:39:55,355 --> 01:39:58,692
It has three natural isotopes,
or versions.

2293
01:39:58,725 --> 01:40:01,762
Each has six protons
and six electrons--

2294
01:40:01,795 --> 01:40:03,930
that's what makes
them all carbon.

2295
01:40:03,963 --> 01:40:05,732
The difference between them is

2296
01:40:05,765 --> 01:40:07,968
the number of neutrons
in the nucleus.

2297
01:40:08,001 --> 01:40:10,771
Neutrons are electrically
neutral particles

2298
01:40:10,804 --> 01:40:13,707
that act as glue
to hold atoms together.

2299
01:40:13,740 --> 01:40:18,278
What we think of as normal
carbon is called carbon-12,

2300
01:40:18,311 --> 01:40:21,748
six protons plus six neutrons.

2301
01:40:21,781 --> 01:40:25,886
But about one percent of carbon
atoms have an extra neutron,

2302
01:40:25,919 --> 01:40:27,587
giving them seven.

2303
01:40:27,620 --> 01:40:30,390
They're called carbon-13.

2304
01:40:30,423 --> 01:40:33,960
And about one in a million
have eight neutrons--

2305
01:40:33,993 --> 01:40:36,163
that's carbon-14.

2306
01:40:36,196 --> 01:40:38,432
And that rare version of carbon

2307
01:40:38,465 --> 01:40:42,436
has proven to be a crucial tool
for unlocking the past.

2308
01:40:45,038 --> 01:40:48,875
Several times a year,
scientist Scott Stine travels

2309
01:40:48,908 --> 01:40:52,679
to the shores of Mono Lake
near Yosemite National Park.

2310
01:40:52,712 --> 01:40:55,215
So this, then,
is Mono Lake.

2311
01:40:55,248 --> 01:40:56,450
Mono Lake, yeah.

2312
01:40:56,483 --> 01:40:59,219
Right here at the foot
of the Sierra Nevada.

2313
01:40:59,252 --> 01:41:02,989
POGUE:
He's studying the long history
of droughts in California,

2314
01:41:03,022 --> 01:41:05,292
trying to determine
how frequently they occur

2315
01:41:05,325 --> 01:41:07,594
and how long they last.

2316
01:41:07,627 --> 01:41:11,198
Over the millennia, the water
level has risen and fallen

2317
01:41:11,231 --> 01:41:14,768
as the area has cycled between
wet periods and dry times.

2318
01:41:14,801 --> 01:41:17,704
So that sandy area
should be the level?

2319
01:41:17,737 --> 01:41:19,806
STINE:
During times when
the climate was dry,

2320
01:41:19,839 --> 01:41:22,375
Mono Lake dropped down,
exposed the shore lands

2321
01:41:22,408 --> 01:41:24,878
and allowed trees
and shrubs to grow.

2322
01:41:24,911 --> 01:41:28,381
POGUE:
When the dry periods ended
and the water level rose,

2323
01:41:28,414 --> 01:41:32,519
the trees drowned,
marking the end of the droughts.

2324
01:41:32,552 --> 01:41:35,255
Since then, the remains
of those trees

2325
01:41:35,288 --> 01:41:39,226
have been well-preserved
by the arid climate.

2326
01:41:39,259 --> 01:41:41,995
These droughts were
long persistent.

2327
01:41:42,028 --> 01:41:44,197
POGUE:
To determine how long ago
these droughts occurred,

2328
01:41:44,230 --> 01:41:48,435
Scott is using carbon-14
to date the trees.

2329
01:41:48,468 --> 01:41:51,538
Unlike the other natural
isotopes of carbon,

2330
01:41:51,571 --> 01:41:54,808
carbon-14 is unstable.

2331
01:41:54,841 --> 01:41:58,044
Over time, its atoms begin
to deteriorate.

2332
01:41:58,077 --> 01:42:00,847
One of its neutrons
turns into a proton

2333
01:42:00,880 --> 01:42:03,316
and spits out an electron.

2334
01:42:03,349 --> 01:42:06,219
Now with seven protons
instead of six,

2335
01:42:06,252 --> 01:42:09,055
it's turned into nitrogen.

2336
01:42:09,088 --> 01:42:11,925
That process is called
radioactive decay,

2337
01:42:11,958 --> 01:42:14,861
and scientists know exactly
how long it will take

2338
01:42:14,894 --> 01:42:20,066
for half of any amount
of carbon-14 to decay away.

2339
01:42:20,099 --> 01:42:24,104
Scientists call that time
its half-life.

2340
01:42:24,137 --> 01:42:27,107
Living things
constantly replenish

2341
01:42:27,140 --> 01:42:28,742
the carbon in their bodies--

2342
01:42:28,775 --> 01:42:32,112
animals from food,

2343
01:42:32,145 --> 01:42:34,181
plants from the atmosphere.

2344
01:42:34,214 --> 01:42:37,450
But after death,
that process stops.

2345
01:42:37,483 --> 01:42:40,420
The amount of carbon-12 stays
the same,

2346
01:42:40,453 --> 01:42:45,592
but the carbon-14 decays away
at a constant rate,

2347
01:42:45,625 --> 01:42:49,362
making carbon-14
a ticking atomic clock.

2348
01:42:49,395 --> 01:42:52,365
To know how long ago
this ancient tree died,

2349
01:42:52,398 --> 01:42:56,703
we just need to count the carbon
atoms in a small sample.

2350
01:42:56,736 --> 01:42:58,138
Piece of cake!

2351
01:42:58,171 --> 01:42:59,472
If you're this guy.

2352
01:42:59,505 --> 01:43:02,209
Now, these are fragments
of the tree stumps at Mono Lake,

2353
01:43:02,242 --> 01:43:05,545
and I understand that you are
the master of carbon dating.

2354
01:43:05,578 --> 01:43:09,683
POGUE:
Physicist Tom Brown works
in the carbon-dating program

2355
01:43:09,716 --> 01:43:12,352
at Lawrence Livermore
National Laboratory.

2356
01:43:12,385 --> 01:43:13,687
In fact, if I'm not mistaken,

2357
01:43:13,720 --> 01:43:15,922
carbon dating
actually preexisted

2358
01:43:15,955 --> 01:43:17,324
before Internet dating.

2359
01:43:17,357 --> 01:43:18,858
Very much.

2360
01:43:18,891 --> 01:43:24,798
POGUE:
Carbon-14 can be used to date
samples up to 40,000 years old.

2361
01:43:24,831 --> 01:43:27,400
It's been used to find the ages
of many Egyptian mummies

2362
01:43:27,433 --> 01:43:31,004
and other ancient artifacts.

2363
01:43:31,037 --> 01:43:34,241
So how does wood fare
with carbon dating?

2364
01:43:34,274 --> 01:43:36,243
Intact wood is very good
material to date.

2365
01:43:36,276 --> 01:43:39,946
It retains the carbon
from when that material died

2366
01:43:39,979 --> 01:43:42,148
and we're able to extract
and purify it

2367
01:43:42,181 --> 01:43:44,918
and get a really good material
for dating.

2368
01:43:44,951 --> 01:43:47,454
POGUE:
Tom needs only a small amount
of wood.

2369
01:43:47,487 --> 01:43:50,190
Even this tiny sample
is overkill.

2370
01:43:50,223 --> 01:43:54,928
A lab technician cleans it
and reduces it to a fine powder.

2371
01:43:54,961 --> 01:43:58,965
Oh, man, this huge thing?

2372
01:43:58,998 --> 01:44:01,568
This is your
Carbon-Dater-Matic 3000?

2373
01:44:01,601 --> 01:44:05,171
POGUE:
The actual counting of the atoms
takes place here,

2374
01:44:05,204 --> 01:44:07,707
in the carbon-dating
accelerator.

2375
01:44:07,740 --> 01:44:10,877
I see you bought
the camping version.

2376
01:44:10,910 --> 01:44:12,846
BROWN:
We have our one milligram of
carbon from the woodchip sample

2377
01:44:12,879 --> 01:44:15,215
basically in that hole.

2378
01:44:15,248 --> 01:44:16,483
In that tiny little hole?

2379
01:44:16,516 --> 01:44:18,051
That's where the one
milligram of carbon is

2380
01:44:18,084 --> 01:44:19,085
from that sample.

2381
01:44:19,118 --> 01:44:20,353
Not a lot of wood chips.

2382
01:44:20,386 --> 01:44:24,691
We put about 64 of these holders
in one of these wheels.

2383
01:44:24,724 --> 01:44:26,059
POGUE:
The accelerator applies

2384
01:44:26,092 --> 01:44:28,495
a powerful electric charge
to the atoms--

2385
01:44:28,528 --> 01:44:30,030
basically lightning--

2386
01:44:30,063 --> 01:44:32,932
giving them the speed
and energy they need

2387
01:44:32,965 --> 01:44:35,669
to hit a detector
with enough force to be counted.

2388
01:44:35,702 --> 01:44:37,771
BROWN:
The ratio of the carbon-14 ions

2389
01:44:37,804 --> 01:44:41,474
to the amount of carbon-12
in the sample

2390
01:44:41,507 --> 01:44:43,810
tells us how old
the sample is.

2391
01:44:43,843 --> 01:44:47,013
The fewer the carbon-14s,
the older it is?

2392
01:44:47,046 --> 01:44:47,881
Yes.

2393
01:44:47,914 --> 01:44:49,983
POGUE:
With his accelerator,

2394
01:44:50,016 --> 01:44:54,020
Tom calculates that our tree
died about 150 years ago.

2395
01:44:54,053 --> 01:44:57,357
That must have been when
California's last drought ended,

2396
01:44:57,390 --> 01:44:59,192
a key piece of information

2397
01:44:59,225 --> 01:45:02,362
for understanding
the region's climate cycles.

2398
01:45:02,395 --> 01:45:06,333
Carbon-14 has helped open up
deep insights into the past,

2399
01:45:06,366 --> 01:45:09,636
but it's just one of hundreds
of radioactive isotopes--

2400
01:45:09,669 --> 01:45:12,038
that is, elements that decay.

2401
01:45:12,071 --> 01:45:14,274
In fact, at the bottom
of the periodic table,

2402
01:45:14,307 --> 01:45:17,510
beginning with number 84,
polonium,

2403
01:45:17,543 --> 01:45:21,348
all of the elements and their
isotopes are radioactive,

2404
01:45:21,381 --> 01:45:24,684
including the element that
stands for both the promise

2405
01:45:24,717 --> 01:45:26,820
and the peril of radioactivity:

2406
01:45:26,853 --> 01:45:28,755
uranium.

2407
01:45:28,788 --> 01:45:35,362
92 protons, 92 electrons
and 146 neutrons.

2408
01:45:35,395 --> 01:45:37,464
Before the nuclear age,

2409
01:45:37,497 --> 01:45:41,234
uranium was thought to be
the end of the periodic table.

2410
01:45:41,267 --> 01:45:43,203
But in the last 70 years,

2411
01:45:43,236 --> 01:45:45,438
scientists have
left nature behind

2412
01:45:45,471 --> 01:45:49,542
and created 26 new elements.

2413
01:45:49,575 --> 01:45:51,978
The age of man-made atoms

2414
01:45:52,011 --> 01:45:54,381
began in the first half
of the 20th century,

2415
01:45:54,414 --> 01:45:57,083
when researchers began
bombarding elements

2416
01:45:57,116 --> 01:45:59,185
with neutrons.

2417
01:45:59,218 --> 01:46:01,454
Sometimes the neutron
is simply absorbed,

2418
01:46:01,487 --> 01:46:03,923
creating a new isotope.

2419
01:46:03,956 --> 01:46:07,427
But sometimes the nucleus
can't take the punishment.

2420
01:46:07,460 --> 01:46:11,464
It becomes unstable and splits
into two smaller atoms

2421
01:46:11,497 --> 01:46:14,200
in a powerful reaction
called fission

2422
01:46:14,233 --> 01:46:17,337
that releases
large amounts of energy.

2423
01:46:17,370 --> 01:46:20,240
To learn more,
I've come to the Nuclear Museum

2424
01:46:20,273 --> 01:46:22,242
in Albuquerque, New Mexico...

2425
01:46:22,275 --> 01:46:24,310
MATT DENNIS:
Yeah, this is a mad
science project.

2426
01:46:24,343 --> 01:46:26,579
...where atomic scientist
Matt Dennis

2427
01:46:26,612 --> 01:46:29,649
has offered to demonstrate
how a nuclear reactor works.

2428
01:46:29,682 --> 01:46:31,618
D'oh!

2429
01:46:31,651 --> 01:46:33,453
You guys make a lot of jokes
about "Gone Fission?"

2430
01:46:33,486 --> 01:46:35,121
I actually have
an atomic shirt

2431
01:46:35,154 --> 01:46:36,856
that says something
to that effect, so yes.

2432
01:46:36,889 --> 01:46:38,391
I knew that! I knew that!

2433
01:46:38,424 --> 01:46:39,793
Okay, now,
to the naked eye,

2434
01:46:39,826 --> 01:46:42,095
this looks exactly
like a nuclear reactor.

2435
01:46:42,128 --> 01:46:44,864
(Klaxon horn blows)

2436
01:46:44,897 --> 01:46:49,068
DENNIS:
The similarities are the
mousetraps are uranium atoms

2437
01:46:49,101 --> 01:46:52,038
and the white ping-pong balls
are neutrons,

2438
01:46:52,071 --> 01:46:54,674
which you use one to start
a chain reaction.

2439
01:46:54,707 --> 01:46:59,078
POGUE:
In a reactor, one neutron splits
a uranium atom,

2440
01:46:59,111 --> 01:47:02,949
which releases energy
and two or three more neutrons,

2441
01:47:02,982 --> 01:47:05,218
which in turn split more atoms,

2442
01:47:05,251 --> 01:47:07,687
releasing more neutrons
and so on,

2443
01:47:07,720 --> 01:47:10,156
causing a chain reaction.

2444
01:47:10,189 --> 01:47:12,459
So you get more
and more neutrons,

2445
01:47:12,492 --> 01:47:14,394
and thus the chain reaction
keeps going.

2446
01:47:14,427 --> 01:47:16,062
All right,
ladies and jelly-spoons

2447
01:47:16,095 --> 01:47:18,465
here goes the orange
ping-pong ball.

2448
01:47:18,498 --> 01:47:22,135
This evening's role, you'll be
portraying the neutron.

2449
01:47:22,168 --> 01:47:23,736
All right,
I just drop it in here?

2450
01:47:23,769 --> 01:47:25,071
Any old place?

2451
01:47:25,104 --> 01:47:27,140
Just drop it in right there,
we'll start the chain reaction.

2452
01:47:27,173 --> 01:47:29,376
Incoming neutron!

2453
01:47:33,412 --> 01:47:35,381
(laughs)

2454
01:47:35,414 --> 01:47:37,884
I'm sorry, Matt,
the camera wasn't rolling.

2455
01:47:37,917 --> 01:47:39,252
Can you set
that up again?

2456
01:47:39,285 --> 01:47:43,790
POGUE:
From a single neutron,
an escalating response.

2457
01:47:43,823 --> 01:47:47,126
Our mousetrap reactor
doesn't have many atoms,

2458
01:47:47,159 --> 01:47:49,629
so the reaction dies quickly.

2459
01:47:49,662 --> 01:47:51,831
But pack enough fissionable
uranium atoms

2460
01:47:51,864 --> 01:47:53,500
closely enough together

2461
01:47:53,533 --> 01:47:57,303
and the whole thing can get
out of hand pretty fast.

2462
01:47:57,336 --> 01:48:00,207
And sometimes that's the point.

2463
01:48:02,041 --> 01:48:04,978
This museum has the world's
largest public collection

2464
01:48:05,011 --> 01:48:09,682
of artifacts that chronicle
the dark side of nuclear energy.

2465
01:48:09,715 --> 01:48:12,118
JAMES WALTHER:
And so that's a Trident
Z-3 up there.

2466
01:48:12,151 --> 01:48:13,753
POGUE:
That's huge.

2467
01:48:13,786 --> 01:48:15,355
You guys are just
surrounded by bombs.

2468
01:48:15,388 --> 01:48:17,190
I feel like a kid
in a death store.

2469
01:48:17,223 --> 01:48:21,828
POGUE:
In 1945, the U.S. developed
two atomic weapons.

2470
01:48:21,861 --> 01:48:23,997
Both were used against Japan.

2471
01:48:24,030 --> 01:48:28,535
The first was fueled by
an isotope called uranium-235.

2472
01:48:28,568 --> 01:48:30,470
That bomb was called Little Boy.

2473
01:48:30,503 --> 01:48:32,505
This is the
Little Boy bomb.

2474
01:48:32,538 --> 01:48:33,473
This is the...

2475
01:48:33,506 --> 01:48:34,541
This is it?

2476
01:48:34,574 --> 01:48:35,842
I guess I shouldn't
bump it then, huh?

2477
01:48:35,875 --> 01:48:37,544
Well, it's a current...
concurrent copy.

2478
01:48:37,577 --> 01:48:38,845
This is just like it.

2479
01:48:38,878 --> 01:48:41,514
Inside this big case
was a gun barrel

2480
01:48:41,547 --> 01:48:43,449
and high explosives
on the ends

2481
01:48:43,482 --> 01:48:47,153
to push the two pieces
of enriched uranium together

2482
01:48:47,186 --> 01:48:48,354
at supersonic speed.

2483
01:48:48,387 --> 01:48:51,658
POGUE:
The military made
only one uranium bomb,

2484
01:48:51,691 --> 01:48:56,896
because separating rare U-235
from the more common U-238,

2485
01:48:56,929 --> 01:48:59,098
which doesn't work
in fission reactions,

2486
01:48:59,131 --> 01:49:00,633
is a very difficult process.

2487
01:49:00,666 --> 01:49:05,572
So for the second bomb,
called Fat Man,

2488
01:49:05,605 --> 01:49:08,474
they used an entirely
different element:

2489
01:49:08,507 --> 01:49:10,143
plutonium--

2490
01:49:10,176 --> 01:49:14,748
94 protons, 94 electrons,
and 150 neutrons.

2491
01:49:17,416 --> 01:49:21,154
Plutonium was the first
man-made element.

2492
01:49:21,187 --> 01:49:25,858
It was identified in 1940
by chemist Glenn Seaborg,

2493
01:49:25,891 --> 01:49:29,696
when he bombarded uranium atoms
with protons and neutrons

2494
01:49:29,729 --> 01:49:33,566
until some of them stuck.

2495
01:49:33,599 --> 01:49:35,969
Over his long career,
Seaborg went on

2496
01:49:36,002 --> 01:49:41,674
to isolate or create
nine more man-made elements,

2497
01:49:41,707 --> 01:49:45,111
including Americium,
which is in minute quantities

2498
01:49:45,144 --> 01:49:49,649
in the smoke alarms
in our homes.

2499
01:49:49,682 --> 01:49:51,751
He pushed the end
of the periodic table

2500
01:49:51,784 --> 01:49:54,821
all the way to element 106,

2501
01:49:54,854 --> 01:49:58,591
which is called Seaborgium
in his honor.

2502
01:49:58,624 --> 01:50:00,460
I started out, uh,
here at the laboratory

2503
01:50:00,493 --> 01:50:02,462
using these counters
quite frequently...

2504
01:50:02,495 --> 01:50:05,164
POGUE:
Ken Moody is a chemist
at Lawrence Livermore Lab.

2505
01:50:05,197 --> 01:50:08,468
But he developed a love
of big fat juicy atoms

2506
01:50:08,501 --> 01:50:13,239
as a graduate student
in Seaborg's lab in the 1970s.

2507
01:50:13,272 --> 01:50:16,743
Afterwards, his first job was
analyzing radioactive debris

2508
01:50:16,776 --> 01:50:20,213
produced by underground
nuclear weapon tests.

2509
01:50:20,246 --> 01:50:22,215
And it was our job
to go pick samples

2510
01:50:22,248 --> 01:50:23,750
and tell the physicists
how well this device had worked.

2511
01:50:23,783 --> 01:50:25,051
POGUE:
I think I'm smart
enough to know

2512
01:50:25,084 --> 01:50:27,086
that those fragments
would probably be radioactive.

2513
01:50:27,119 --> 01:50:27,887
Yes.

2514
01:50:27,920 --> 01:50:29,188
Would they not
be dangerous?

2515
01:50:29,221 --> 01:50:33,059
Uh, well, we didn't carry 'em
around in our pockets.

2516
01:50:33,092 --> 01:50:34,727
POGUE:
Since the end of the cold war,

2517
01:50:34,760 --> 01:50:38,464
Ken's goal has been to expand
the periodic table.

2518
01:50:38,497 --> 01:50:40,366
He's teamed up
with a Russian lab,

2519
01:50:40,399 --> 01:50:42,335
and together they've succeeded

2520
01:50:42,368 --> 01:50:46,639
in creating six new elements
in this cyclotron.

2521
01:50:46,672 --> 01:50:48,141
But there's a hitch.

2522
01:50:48,174 --> 01:50:50,476
They've only made
a few atoms of each,

2523
01:50:50,509 --> 01:50:52,111
and they're all so unstable,

2524
01:50:52,144 --> 01:50:56,049
they decay away almost as soon
as they come into existence.

2525
01:50:56,082 --> 01:50:58,284
POGUE:
With all due respect,

2526
01:50:58,317 --> 01:51:00,920
none of the six elements
that you've discovered

2527
01:51:00,953 --> 01:51:02,655
are actually in the world
right now.

2528
01:51:02,688 --> 01:51:03,790
That's correct.

2529
01:51:03,823 --> 01:51:05,258
So do they count?

2530
01:51:05,291 --> 01:51:07,527
Doesn't sound like much,
but for a chemist,

2531
01:51:07,560 --> 01:51:09,195
a ten-second activity

2532
01:51:09,228 --> 01:51:11,330
actually allows you
to do something with it,

2533
01:51:11,363 --> 01:51:13,766
but it isn't enough that you can
put it in a bottle

2534
01:51:13,799 --> 01:51:17,170
and put it on the mantelpiece
and admire it the next day.

2535
01:51:17,203 --> 01:51:20,840
POGUE:
Still, Ken has high hopes
for the future.

2536
01:51:20,873 --> 01:51:22,308
He believes that somewhere

2537
01:51:22,341 --> 01:51:24,911
beyond today's
largest man-made elements,

2538
01:51:24,944 --> 01:51:27,113
scientists will find an island
of stability

2539
01:51:27,146 --> 01:51:29,549
on the periodic table

2540
01:51:29,582 --> 01:51:33,152
where some super-large atoms
will be both stable and useful,

2541
01:51:33,185 --> 01:51:37,323
perhaps satisfying the needs
of our future civilization.

2542
01:51:37,356 --> 01:51:39,258
It's amazing to think

2543
01:51:39,291 --> 01:51:41,794
that something as complex
as the physical universe

2544
01:51:41,827 --> 01:51:44,864
can be put on a single chart.

2545
01:51:44,897 --> 01:51:47,233
And from about
90 basic elements,

2546
01:51:47,266 --> 01:51:50,236
man and nature have teamed up

2547
01:51:50,269 --> 01:51:54,540
to create the incredible variety
of stuff in our lives.

2548
01:51:54,573 --> 01:51:56,876
And the story is far from over.

2549
01:51:56,909 --> 01:51:59,545
As scientists continue to hunt
the secrets of the elements,

2550
01:51:59,578 --> 01:52:03,015
what new understanding
and technologies will follow

2551
01:52:03,048 --> 01:52:06,252
can only be imagined.