An historical look at the technological engineering of the World Trade Center. The special was completed and the interviews took place before the tragic events of September 11, 2001. Rather than remake the program to reflect the horrors of that day, our program stands as an historical record to the wonder it once was–from the construction of this technological feat to the daily working of its complex system. The program offers some of the last interior footage of the Twin Towers.

Take an in-depth look at the most proven and reliable sources: solar, wind, geothermal, biofuels, and tidal power. From the experimental to the tried-and-true, renewable energy sources are overflowing with potential... just waiting to be exploited on a massive scale.

Backbones of worldwide economics, for centuries banks enabled the creation of wealth, and industry leaders became icons. But modern technology revolutionized the way banks do business, and the Internet insures they must adapt or disappear. From banking's early European origins to "e-banking", this is an hour you can't afford to miss!

Modern Marvels explores how the basic formula of cement, aggregate and water has changed the world. Concrete has enabled us to create everything from roads and runways to buildings and bridges. The program will explore the history as well as the future of this humble material?from the ancient Romans, who pioneered its use in their vast system of aqueducts, to modern engineers developing a bendable concrete more resistant to the destructive power of earthquakes.

Join us as we take a peek at the plumbing hiding behind your walls and snaking under the floors of your house. We’ll also meet the plumbing students who undergo rigorous training programs in specialized classrooms designed to give them hands on installation experience. We’ll also check out the latest in plumbing technology from waterfall showers to water conserving toilets. This episode of Modern Marvels will examine the past, present and future of the arteries of our civilization; plumbing.

The plane’s on the runway and revving up for our flight of power and whimsy. The panorama reveals some amazing machines–from vintage aircraft to homemade winged wonders to posh private jets. It’s a tale that merges technological progress and the fantasies of an unique type of person, who refuses to be grounded by earth’s surly bonds.

When police forces were born in the 1800s, British “bobbies” made due with a billy club. Public wariness and institutional resistance to change held back technological advances for much of the 20th century. But in the last decades, police have been swept up in a technological revolution that has transformed nearly all aspects of crime fighting.

In less than a century, the world went from dirt tracks to highways, from propeller planes to space travel, from sailboats to supertankers. And in the process, we have created a glut of traffic on roadways, railways, airways, and seaways–traffic that must be controlled, managed, and regulated. We’ll see how it’s done.

It traps a treasure of energy on the ocean floor, and confounds scientists still trying to solve why it’s so slippery. We’ll venture inside NASA’s Icing Research Tunnel in Ohio, and then it’s off to Salt Lake City’s Olympic Oval which boasts “the fastest ice on Earth.” Dive to the ocean floor to collect and analyze a unique form of ice called methane clathrates–cages of ice encasing pressurized natural gas. Scientists believe that if only one percent of the world’s ice-entrapped methane could be harvested, it would more than double our current supply of natural gas. Other highlights include the search for extraterrestrial ice and a trip inside the studio of a chainsaw-wielding artist as he sculpts a masterpiece.

The Maginot Line, a defensive string of large and small forts built during the years between World War I and World War II, was intended to forestall another invasion by aggressive Germany. Despite the Treaty of Versailles, France saw that it was only a matter of time before Germany would rise again and threaten France. News of northern neighbor Belgium’s neutrality left France with an exposed flank, which would ultimately be the Maginot Line’s weak point-the Germans were able to outflank the line almost entirely, readily conceding the Line’s impregnability while conquering the country.

Since the turn of the 20th century, designers have competed to build them faster, taller, and steeper. But as technology pushes the envelope with flips, weightlessness, and more g-force than a jet, how many thrills can the human body take?

“All hope abandon, ye who enter here!” This sentiment has permeated the masonry and clanging bars of prisons built throughout the ages. We’ll see how the philosophy and architecture of today’s American prisons emerged from the sewer cells and castles and dungeons of ancient Rome, medieval Europe, and 18th-century England.

Think man is unique within the animal kingdom? You might not after this hour that features an amazing collection of earth's non-human inhabitants that use tools, build intricate structures, create traps to capture prey, and perform complex procedures, including farming. From Egyptian vultures utilizing stones to crack open hard-shelled ostrich eggs to chimpanzees using a "tool kit" to extract termites from their nests, we learn that our ability to create tools is not exclusive. Other mammals create subterranean structures, including those prodigious diggers Prairie Dogs, and many animals and insects make devices to augment hunting, such as the Ogre-faced Spider that spins a small web to throw down on unsuspecting passersby. And we're not the only ones to work as a unified, multi-skilled force. Aphid-Raising Ants protect and care for herds of plant juice-sucking aphids that they "milk".

The history of the pump is chronicled. Pumps used in water distribution in Southern California - The Colorado River Aqueduct, a robotic cow-milking pump and a pump used in heart surgery.

In 1912, a headlight-maker and an auto magnate built the first cross-country road to spur the demand for new cars; 70 years and $125 billion later, the highway system had grown to 42,000 miles. Rare photographs and interviews tell the incredible story of the “paving of America”.

Join us as we span the history of one of the world’s most famous bridges, London’s Tower Bridge. The world’s largest bascule bridge (a counterweighted drawbridge), when it was erected in 1892, it became a postcard image of London. The famed gothic towers of this pioneering steel structure, sheathed in stone, are purely decorative.

When completed, China’s Three Gorges Dam will tower 607 feet in the air and weigh 40 Great Pyramids. Other than China’s Great Wall, it will be the only man-made object visible from the moon. Supporters see it as key to a new China, controlling floods and bringing hydroelectric power to one of its least-developed areas. Critics voice a litany of concerns–from environmental to flooding the spectacular area for which it’s named. We trace its story–from ancient flood control to current controversy.

Many rivers quenched the thirst of millions in the American west and around the world. Without these aqueducts, some of the earth’s largest cities would turn into gigantic ghost towns. Their technology has been in use for over two thousand years. But today these engineering marvels cost billions of dollars to build, requiring thousands of men to toil for years on end. Aqueducts have made some men famous and others fabulously wealthy. In Los Angeles one man’s vision took one hundred thousand men to complete and a great city was truly born. In Northern California the most famous conservationist of our time waged the political fight of his life in an attempt to save one of nature’s most spectacular valleys from San Francisco’s demand for more water.

The world’s largest concrete dam–and the largest concrete structure in the world–lies on the Columbia River in the State of Washington. B uilt in 1931, it is also one of the largest hydroelectric power plants in the world.

The remarkable story of how the landmark New York City skyscraper was constructed during the depths of the Depression. Requiring 10 million bricks and 60,000 tons of steel beams and using a revolutionary technique to hold the steel girders in place–hot rivets–the world’s tallest building was completed four months ahead of schedule.

From Stonehenge to the Hubble Telescope, man has always been a species of stargazers. Unforgettable film footage and expert accounts reveal the facts of astronomy’s most mind-boggling discoveries.

Today, race cars tear up the tracks at 300 m.p.h. Computers and space-age composite materials are as much as part of racing as the drivers. They’re fast, they’re thrilling, and they’ve gone high-tech. We’ll review the history of the innovations that led to today’s technological wonders.

One of the 20th century’s greatest scientists, George Washington Carver’s influence is still felt. Rising from slavery to become one of the world’s most respected and honored men, he devoted his life to understanding nature and the many uses for the simplest of plant life. His scientific research in the late 1800s produced agricultural innovations like crop rotation and composting. Part of the “chemurgist” movement that changed the rural economy, he found ingenious applications for the peanut, soybean, and sweet potato. At Tuskegee Institute, Dr. Carver invented more than 300 uses for the peanut, while convincing poor farmers to rotate cotton crops with things that would add nutrients to the soil. A visionary, Carver shared his knowledge free of charge, happy in his Tuskegee laboratory where he could use his gifts to help others.

Driven by the need for deep sea rescue and salvage capabilities, the US Navy Diving and Salvage Programs have gathered together a highly skilled team of divers, scientists and engineers, who have been involved in some of the most exciting and dangerous salvage operations ever undertaken.

Without it one third of us would starve. Modern Marvels: Fertilizer tours the places that harness the vital nutrients that enrich the soil...that grow the crops...that feed us.