This countdown special goes gaga over gizmos--celebrating the most amazing gadgets Modern Marvels has ever featured. Our top ten contenders run the gamut from the indispensable to the insane...from golden oldies to newfangled novelties...all of them showcasing the wonder of human ingenuity. We'll unveil the secrets inside one of the 1910s' most iconic thingamajigs, reveal why an electronic doodad from the '90s was once considered a threat to national security, and rediscover the forgotten marvel created by Benjamin Franklin. Our number 1 pick: a household gadget reinvented so many times that it's inspired more than 4,500 unique patents.

This countdown special kisses the conventional goodbye, raiding the Modern Marvels archives for the most bizarre wonders we've ever presented. Our top ten contenders demonstrate that the inside scoop on innovation often lies outside the norm. You'll be scratching your head at the weird assortment of oddities--technologies ranging from a gooey slime that could be a terrorist's worst nightmare...to an exacting art form requiring the help of millions of ravenous beetles. The final destination at number 1: a device so strange and destructive that its inventor allegedly destroyed it to avert a catastrophe.

Size does matter. We'll size up the biggest of machines, and their smallest counterparts. First we go to France to find out what goes into assembling the world's largest jetliner, the Airbus A380. Then, fly with microjet pilots in the world's smallest jets. Witness a race between a huge Boss Hoss 425 horsepower motorcycle and an 18 inch tall pocket bike. Take the world's smallest production car for a ride and see just how many choir members we can fit into a super-sized limousine. See a mammoth Caterpillar front loader in action, in an open pit coal mine, and dig up the backyard with a loader that's no bigger than a lawnmower. Finally, walk inside an enormous diesel engine powering an 80,000 ton container ship and eyeball a tiny one driving a five pound model airplane.

The variety of jobs in America is endless--but some have to be seen to be believed. Our countdown of the top ten most fascinating jobs from our archives proves how daring and innovative the American worker can be. A nationwide quest finds amazing jobholders in the wild blue yonder and the depths of a secret underworld...in occupations ranging from the daffy to the dangerous to the downright creepy. And at the end of our journey, we find two business partners performing a job so perilous that one misstep can be deadly.

It has been said that necessity is the mother of all invention--but that is not always the case. Some strange machines are built for sheer spectacle, some a glimpse into the future or even the past, while others are just plain...Weird. Take a look at machines that specialize in high functionality and low practicality, prompting two very important questions: What is it and...how do I get one? An Alaskan navigates the Juneau waters with his homemade submarine. A California company shocks local beach bums with their fully submersible "shark boats." We'll also meet a bicep-curling robot that's built to save lives; scale a mountain with a 21st century Batman-esque rope ascender; witness an engineered, forty-foot vortex of fire known as the Flame Tornado; and hit the backcountry trails with a snowboard-motorcycle hybrid inspired by a shopping cart.

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: Speed. It's a pure adrenaline rush as we race the top 10 fastest marvels we've featured down to the speediest of all.

Join us for a look at the biggest, heaviest, tallest, longest, meanest machines on the planet! We'll see what these monsters do and how they operate, and how they're designed and assembled. Machines investigated include the largest draglines, excavators used in mining; the biggest dump truck; a front-end loader with an 80-ton bucket and the largest tires of any vehicle; the cruise ship, The Voyager of the Seas; a 240-foot tall wind generator; and a fusion reaction machine the size of a football field.

Giant robots on the factory floor and in outer space. A floating fortress that's home to 6,000 military personnel, which is almost as long as the Empire State Building is tall. And a diesel engine with 108,000 horsepower. (You read that right.) These giants must be seen to be believed! In this episode, we travel over land and sea to find these and more of the biggest, baddest, most audacious feats of engineering in the world.

This countdown special goes gaga over gizmos--celebrating the most amazing gadgets Modern Marvels has ever featured. Our top ten contenders run the gamut from the indispensable to the insane...from golden oldies to newfangled novelties...all of them showcasing the wonder of human ingenuity. We'll unveil the secrets inside one of the 1910s' most iconic thingamajigs, reveal why an electronic doodad from the '90s was once considered a threat to national security, and rediscover the forgotten marvel created by Benjamin Franklin. Our number 1 pick: a household gadget reinvented so many times that it's inspired more than 4,500 unique patents.

This countdown special kisses the conventional goodbye, raiding the Modern Marvels archives for the most bizarre wonders we've ever presented. Our top ten contenders demonstrate that the inside scoop on innovation often lies outside the norm. You'll be scratching your head at the weird assortment of oddities--technologies ranging from a gooey slime that could be a terrorist's worst nightmare...to an exacting art form requiring the help of millions of ravenous beetles. The final destination at number 1: a device so strange and destructive that its inventor allegedly destroyed it to avert a catastrophe.

Size does matter. We'll size up the biggest of machines, and their smallest counterparts. First we go to France to find out what goes into assembling the world's largest jetliner, the Airbus A380. Then, fly with microjet pilots in the world's smallest jets. Witness a race between a huge Boss Hoss 425 horsepower motorcycle and an 18 inch tall pocket bike. Take the world's smallest production car for a ride and see just how many choir members we can fit into a super-sized limousine. See a mammoth Caterpillar front loader in action, in an open pit coal mine, and dig up the backyard with a loader that's no bigger than a lawnmower. Finally, walk inside an enormous diesel engine powering an 80,000 ton container ship and eyeball a tiny one driving a five pound model airplane.

The variety of jobs in America is endless--but some have to be seen to be believed. Our countdown of the top ten most fascinating jobs from our archives proves how daring and innovative the American worker can be. A nationwide quest finds amazing jobholders in the wild blue yonder and the depths of a secret underworld...in occupations ranging from the daffy to the dangerous to the downright creepy. And at the end of our journey, we find two business partners performing a job so perilous that one misstep can be deadly.

It has been said that necessity is the mother of all invention--but that is not always the case. Some strange machines are built for sheer spectacle, some a glimpse into the future or even the past, while others are just plain...Weird. Take a look at machines that specialize in high functionality and low practicality, prompting two very important questions: What is it and...how do I get one? An Alaskan navigates the Juneau waters with his homemade submarine. A California company shocks local beach bums with their fully submersible "shark boats." We'll also meet a bicep-curling robot that's built to save lives; scale a mountain with a 21st century Batman-esque rope ascender; witness an engineered, forty-foot vortex of fire known as the Flame Tornado; and hit the backcountry trails with a snowboard-motorcycle hybrid inspired by a shopping cart.

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: Speed. It's a pure adrenaline rush as we race the top 10 fastest marvels we've featured down to the speediest of all.

Join us for a look at the biggest, heaviest, tallest, longest, meanest machines on the planet! We'll see what these monsters do and how they operate, and how they're designed and assembled. Machines investigated include the largest draglines, excavators used in mining; the biggest dump truck; a front-end loader with an 80-ton bucket and the largest tires of any vehicle; the cruise ship, The Voyager of the Seas; a 240-foot tall wind generator; and a fusion reaction machine the size of a football field.

Giant robots on the factory floor and in outer space. A floating fortress that's home to 6,000 military personnel, which is almost as long as the Empire State Building is tall. And a diesel engine with 108,000 horsepower. (You read that right.) These giants must be seen to be believed! In this episode, we travel over land and sea to find these and more of the biggest, baddest, most audacious feats of engineering in the world.

This countdown special goes gaga over gizmos--celebrating the most amazing gadgets Modern Marvels has ever featured. Our top ten contenders run the gamut from the indispensable to the insane...from golden oldies to newfangled novelties...all of them showcasing the wonder of human ingenuity. We'll unveil the secrets inside one of the 1910s' most iconic thingamajigs, reveal why an electronic doodad from the '90s was once considered a threat to national security, and rediscover the forgotten marvel created by Benjamin Franklin. Our number 1 pick: a household gadget reinvented so many times that it's inspired more than 4,500 unique patents.

This countdown special kisses the conventional goodbye, raiding the Modern Marvels archives for the most bizarre wonders we've ever presented. Our top ten contenders demonstrate that the inside scoop on innovation often lies outside the norm. You'll be scratching your head at the weird assortment of oddities--technologies ranging from a gooey slime that could be a terrorist's worst nightmare...to an exacting art form requiring the help of millions of ravenous beetles. The final destination at number 1: a device so strange and destructive that its inventor allegedly destroyed it to avert a catastrophe.

Size does matter. We'll size up the biggest of machines, and their smallest counterparts. First we go to France to find out what goes into assembling the world's largest jetliner, the Airbus A380. Then, fly with microjet pilots in the world's smallest jets. Witness a race between a huge Boss Hoss 425 horsepower motorcycle and an 18 inch tall pocket bike. Take the world's smallest production car for a ride and see just how many choir members we can fit into a super-sized limousine. See a mammoth Caterpillar front loader in action, in an open pit coal mine, and dig up the backyard with a loader that's no bigger than a lawnmower. Finally, walk inside an enormous diesel engine powering an 80,000 ton container ship and eyeball a tiny one driving a five pound model airplane.

The variety of jobs in America is endless--but some have to be seen to be believed. Our countdown of the top ten most fascinating jobs from our archives proves how daring and innovative the American worker can be. A nationwide quest finds amazing jobholders in the wild blue yonder and the depths of a secret underworld...in occupations ranging from the daffy to the dangerous to the downright creepy. And at the end of our journey, we find two business partners performing a job so perilous that one misstep can be deadly.

It has been said that necessity is the mother of all invention--but that is not always the case. Some strange machines are built for sheer spectacle, some a glimpse into the future or even the past, while others are just plain...Weird. Take a look at machines that specialize in high functionality and low practicality, prompting two very important questions: What is it and...how do I get one? An Alaskan navigates the Juneau waters with his homemade submarine. A California company shocks local beach bums with their fully submersible "shark boats." We'll also meet a bicep-curling robot that's built to save lives; scale a mountain with a 21st century Batman-esque rope ascender; witness an engineered, forty-foot vortex of fire known as the Flame Tornado; and hit the backcountry trails with a snowboard-motorcycle hybrid inspired by a shopping cart.

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: Speed. It's a pure adrenaline rush as we race the top 10 fastest marvels we've featured down to the speediest of all.

Join us for a look at the biggest, heaviest, tallest, longest, meanest machines on the planet! We'll see what these monsters do and how they operate, and how they're designed and assembled. Machines investigated include the largest draglines, excavators used in mining; the biggest dump truck; a front-end loader with an 80-ton bucket and the largest tires of any vehicle; the cruise ship, The Voyager of the Seas; a 240-foot tall wind generator; and a fusion reaction machine the size of a football field.

Giant robots on the factory floor and in outer space. A floating fortress that's home to 6,000 military personnel, which is almost as long as the Empire State Building is tall. And a diesel engine with 108,000 horsepower. (You read that right.) These giants must be seen to be believed! In this episode, we travel over land and sea to find these and more of the biggest, baddest, most audacious feats of engineering in the world.