The Worst Episodes of Modern Marvels

#1 Worst Episode
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4.5/10(12 votes)
#1 - Casino Technology
S6:E4712/13/1999
Place your bets and join us for an exciting spin through the history of the casino. We’ll go behind the neon lights, free drinks, and 24-hour gambling to see how the gaming industry has evolved from a simple house of cards to a high-tech multi-billion dollar industry.
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5.1/10(17 votes)
#2 - Mega Food Countdown
S19:E48/27/2013
Modern Marvels is going big, and counting down. We take the "best of" Modern Marvels and give you the MEGA Top 10 countdown. On this edition, the top ten guilty pleasures you just can't resist… America's Favorite Foods.
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5.7/10(24 votes)
#3 - Environmental Tech
S14:E21/24/2007
From the prairies of Saskatchewan to a Manhattan skyscraper we’ll see the 21st Century’s cutting-edge “green” technologies in action. New technologies such as carbon sequestration and bioremediation take on our most daunting environmental crises, from global warming and deforestation to nuclear waste.
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6.5/10(44 votes)
#4 - Nature's Engineers
S11:E113/31/2004
Towering skyscrapers buzzing with life, intricate tunnels connecting entire communities, mighty dams that tame the wildest rivers–this is construction animal style! Take a walk on the wild side as we investigate common creatures seemingly designed to alter their habitat and remake the world. Our ability to learn and capacity for abstract thought may separate us from beavers, honeybees, birds, termites, and spiders, but these engineers of nature remind us that we’re merely the latest in a long line.
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6.0/10(18 votes)
#5 - Acid
S14:E3510/1/2007
It is the most widely produced chemical in the world and possibly the most dangerous. Take a look at the many uses of acid. See how the military harnesses acid to make the explosive “Comp B-4.” Visit a sulfuric acid plant to see how acid can take the stain out of stainless steel and learn how it can be mixed to dissolve precious metal. At the Heinz vinegar plant discover why acid’s sour taste is sweet. Finally, learn how acid loving bacteria in Yellowstone National Park may hold the key to a biological industrial revolution and meet a mad scientist who will demonstrate how acid can hollow out a penny and turn a hot dog to sludge!
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5.9/10(16 votes)
#6 - Engineering Disasters 21
S14:E3710/25/2007
A steam pipe explosion rocks in Midtown Manhattan. In Boston's sections of a tunnel ceiling fall onto the roadway. And in Minnesota a bridge plunges into the Mississippi River.
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6.0/10(17 votes)
#7 - Freight Trains
S13:E429/20/2006
Explore the history of freight transportation from its humble beginnings as tramways in mines to complex system of rails that stretches to every corner of the nation.
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6.0/10(15 votes)
#8 - Commercial Jets
S8:E31/22/2001
Commercial Jets traces the evolution of commercial aviation from the stumbling beginnings of the De Havilland Comet to the wide-body rocket ships of today. This is the story of a high-tech worldwide competition among a field of high stakes players. Billion dollar deals ride on cutting-edge designs to carry more passengers father, faster and safer.
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6.0/10(15 votes)
#9 - Blackbird Stealth
S12:E62/4/2005
Designed in the late 1950s by aeronautical genius Kelly Johnson at the mysterious Skunkworks, the SR-71 Blackbird was the world’s first stealthy aircraft, designed to over-fly enemy territory with impunity while photographing 100,000 square miles in an hour. While serving six American presidents, it saw action on hot and cold war fronts alike. Interviews with crews and commanders, combined with unbelievable footage, put viewers in the cockpit of this amazing spy plane, flying at speeds of 2,000 miles per hour.
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6.3/10(21 votes)
#10 - Pocket Tools
S18:E411/7/2011
Teddy Roosevelt carried a revolver. The night they each died, Abraham Lincoln carried a $5 Confederate note and nine newspaper clippings, while John Wilkes Booth carried a candle and pictures of five women, including his fianc e. Why? Most people don't even think about it anymore. We simply put what we were carrying yesterday, and the day before that, back into our pockets. Do we really need everything we carry with us? In this hour we will take a look at the items we found in peoples' pockets all across America. Not cell phones, which everybody has, but more intimate items. Personal things…both valuable and cheap. Work aids…both simple and high-tech. Even food! And we'll not only see what they must have in their possession, but how some of it is made. Why does a search and rescue fireman carry a hockey puck? We'll also discover how they make and carry a "personal escape" bailout system.
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6.0/10(13 votes)
#11 - Apollo 13
S8:E41/29/2001
The Apollo 13 mission was intended to be a “routine” trip to the moon. But when an oxygen tank exploded, the spacecraft was crippled and its 3-man crew placed in mortal danger. The Lunar Module, intended for deployment on the moon’s surface, instead became a lifeboat. Scientists and engineers on earth fought a race against time to save the crew. We’ll examine the mission, which nearly ended in tragedy, but instead was a resounding success, and in some ways became NASA’s finest hour.
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6.1/10(14 votes)
#12 - Top Ten
S16:E196/17/2010
We can't live without them and yet they didn't even exist a couple of decades ago. We'll count down our list of the top ten technological innovations of the last generation. Have they made human existence exponentially better, or more fragmented and precarious? Tune in to find out what they are, and how they've impacted our lives.
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6.8/10(42 votes)
#13 - The Great Wall of China.
S4:E116/22/1997
Winding 6,000 kilometers through undulating mountains, it is said to be visible with the naked eye from the moon. But who called for the Great Wall's construction and how was it accomplished? Historians, engineers, and scientists explore one of the wonders of the ancient world.
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6.5/10(20 votes)
#14 - Shovels
S13:E135/3/2006
Man has always had a need to move large amounts of earth. In this episode, we profile the technological advances which have allowed shovels to become absolutely enormous, capable of carrying 200 tons of earth in one load today.
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6.3/10(15 votes)
#15 - Air Shows
S8:E269/4/2001
From barnstormers to Blue Angels, antique aircraft to supersonic jets, each year there are an astonishing 425 air shows in America alone, entertaining over 18-million spectators. From futuristic festivals to billion-dollar expos, we explore the world of amazing aerobatics and their ever-evolving aircraft and see how aviation technology has affected air shows–and how air shows have advanced aviation. Find out why these high-flying events are second only to baseball as America’s favorite family event.
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6.8/10(38 votes)
#16 - Offshore Oil Drilling
S6:E287/19/1999
Offshore drilling is one of the greaest technological dances mankind has ever attempted. From the very beginning of oil discovery, the oceans and their vast reserves became the ultimate frontier. For those willing to take the risk, the oceans offer unprecedented success and unimaginable failure.
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6.6/10(22 votes)
#17 - Gothic Cathedrals
S2:E63/19/1995
Built of stone and glass, persistence and prayer, gothic cathedrals are an epiphany of imagination and an articulation of joy. Featured are such masterpieces as Chartres, Notre Dame and the National Cathedral in Washington D.C.
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6.3/10(13 votes)
#18 - Breaking Point
S16:E63/2/2010
Frustrations are high in the Myers garage as Burt and Jason have a considerable amount of work to do on their cars after last week's race. The S & R garage is on easy street after a win by rookie Jonathan Brown and Puddin' invites the boys to a wine tasting to celebrate. A call from the Myers garage to S & R raises the tension level to a boiling point and the threat of violence hangs over the stadium. With everyone else distracted, will Tim Brown coast his way to another win this week?
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6.7/10(24 votes)
#19 - Remote Operated Vehicles
S7:E3310/25/2000
Remotely operated vehicles allow us to explore the mysteries of inner and outer space, provide firsthand glimpses of the horrors of nuclear disasters, and offer the vicarious thrill of flying planes or driving cars. From the first remote controlled vehicle, Nikola Tesla’s 1898 steam-powered boat, to underwater ROVs that locate sunken vessels and explore the ocean floor, to their use by NASA in the space program, we see how ROVs extend our range into worlds previously unreachable, unknown, or unsafe.
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6.6/10(19 votes)
#20 - High Tech Sex
S9:E5110/29/2002
Join us for a walk on the wild side of the history of sexual enhancement and contraception–from Cleopatra’s box of buzzing bees to 17th-century condoms to Internet sex and 21st-century holographic pornography! In an explicit exploration of the aphrodisiacs, drugs, contraceptives, toys, and cyber-tech innovations that have ushered in a brave new world of modern sexuality, we talk to sexologists and historians for ribald romp behind the bedroom’s closed doors.
Director:Unknown
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6.4/10(14 votes)
#21 - Mega Machine Countdown
S19:E27/23/2013
Modern Marvels is going big, and counting down. We take the "best of" Modern Marvels and give you the MEGA Top 10 countdown. On this edition: Awe-Inspiring Machines–featuring the top ten mightiest, strangest, and most unique innovations from our archives.
Director:Unknown
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6.2/10(11 votes)
#22 - The Railroads That Tamed the West
S3:E810/20/1995
The year was 1869 and America had just completed the greatest building achievement in its history–the Transcontinental Railroad. A thin ribbon of steel and wood now connected East and West. But the fledgling country now faced an even greater challenge–how to harness the awesome potential of the railroad to tame the still wide-open and wild West.
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6.3/10(12 votes)
#23 - Lead
S15:E176/16/2008
A versatile yet toxic metal, lead has served mankind for 6,000 years.
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6.5/10(15 votes)
#24 - Food: Cheese
S20:E22/28/2021
Things get cheesy when Adam Richman visits a central Pennsylvanian cheese maker with an award-winning mozzarella they insist on making the authentic Italian way. And you don’t have to tell grocery giant Kroger that cheese is big business–we see how they slice, shred and package over 2.5-million lbs. of cheese per week. Adam learns all the history, incredible facts, and amazing processes behind one of America’s most beloved foods!
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6.7/10(20 votes)
#25 - Wheat
S15:E278/21/2008
It feeds the world. See how harvesting crews brave months on the road, cutting thousands of acres, tour a pasta plant to see how special kinds of wheat becomes everything from spaghetti to rigatoni. Watch as grain is mashed into a thirst-quenching brew and finally visit a company that transforms wheat into plastic-like products.
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