Sat, Oct 7, 1995
In response to a viewer inquiry about how seeds become plants and trees, Beakman focuses on how they are spread by wind, water and other animals, including birds. However, worried the discussion won't be entertaining enough, Lester introduces a trio of clowns to liven up the show. Undaunted by the interruption, Beakman continues by explaining that some seeds can weigh as much as forty pounds before turning to germination: the sprouting of a plant or tree from a seed. Then, claiming they will do almost anything to grow towards light, he enlists Liza and Lester in demonstrating how seeds will even grow through a maze. In this episode's "Beakmania" segment, Beakman reveals the three most common human fears (fear of speaking before a large group; fear of heights; and fear of insects); that while gold is rare, it was one of the first metals to be discovered; and the correct pronunciation of the word Hawaii. In the "Beakman Challenge," Beakman asks Lester to blow up a balloon placed inside a plastic bottle. But, when Lester is unable to perform this seemingly simple task, Beakman explains that without a way to displace the air inside, it is impossible to inflate the balloon until a hole is provided to allow it to escape. Asked how bridges are built, Beakman begins with models of the four different types ?? the beam bridge; the cantilever bridge; the suspension bridge; and the arch bridge. After showing examples of each along with film of the famous 1940 collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, Beakman bravely employs some dangerous steel spikes to demonstrate that arch bridges really do work. Finally, Beakman concludes the show by explaining that bad breath is a result of germs growing inside the mouth.
Sat, Nov 4, 1995
After revealing that there are five hundred different species of meat?eating plants, Beakman gets some help from Professor Boring to answer a question about balance. After the professor dryly defines as it "a state of equilibrium or parity characterized by cancellation of all forces by equal opposing forces," Beakman becomes Balance Man, a strange visitor whose mission is to remind us that people and nature must stay in balance. Explaining that it is all about a relationship with gravity, Balance Man uses Lester, Liza and a seesaw to illustrate the center of gravity or balance point. Then, after Liza demonstrates the location of her own balance point and how it moves when she does, Beakman uses some wire, a piece of styrofoam, a cork and two old batteries in a demonstration of his own. In "Beakmania," Beakman reveals that hairs on the head grow for two to five years before falling out; that there is enough iron in the human body to make a rod strong enough to hold your weight; and that while a bowl of ice can cool you off, it also contains enough calories to keep you warm again later. Then, noting that it takes nearly one acre of timber to build a house, Liza hosts "Those Loud, Annoying Machines," featuring an explanation of how wood chippers really work. Turning to another viewer question, Beakman explains how plants and animals use camouflage to disguise themselves. Then, after Lester attempts to fool everyone with a disguise of his own, Beakman uses the Boguscope to show Liza how different animals ?? the sargassum fish, the European buff?tip moth, the peppered moth caterpillar and the monarch butterfly ?? use camouflage for protection. Then, after explaining that large animals such as the polar bear and zebras also use camouflage, Beakman concludes by explaining why scratching helps an itch.
Sat, Oct 28, 1995
After claiming that the average hurricane contains enough energy to power the United States for three years, a question about diamonds allows Beakman to discuss the special properties of one of the Earth's most plentiful and useful elements ?? carbon. However, after Professor Boring provides another boring definition, Liza asks that Beakman first explain the terms "element", "compound" and "carbon" before going any further. Then, after noting that carbon's versatility allows it to be present in gasoline, pencils and even people, he uses a beaker of sugar and some concentrated acid to make a long snake before concluding with an explanation of how carbon is turned into diamonds. Asked how traffic lights know when to change color, Beakman explains how they rely on a sensor beneath the road's surface. Then, after noting that a locomotive can move a ton of freight 279 miles on a single gallon of fuel, Beakman introduces "Cooking with Art" and its host, Art Burn, for a demonstration of how to bake ice cream without melting it. In response to a question about inventors and inventions, Beakman first explains how many inventions were really accidents before he conjures up one of the greatest inventors of all time, Thomas Alva Edison. Asked about his work, the young Edison then explains the five steps to making a successful invention ?? thinking of something people need; researching it; designing it; building it; and testing it. To demonstrate them, Beakman and Liza then set out to combine an electric toothbrush to an alarm clock to help prevent bad breath in the morning. Finally, after constructing a device that would make Rube Goldberg proud, Beakman concludes by revealing that the holes in Swiss cheese are the result of gas bubbles.
Sat, Sep 23, 1995
Asked why it is easy to stay balanced on a moving bicycle, Beakman uses the opportunity to explain the workings of the gyroscope. After calling on Professor Boring for a definition, Beakman simplifies matters by revealing that a gyroscope is something that spins on an axis, such as a spinning ice skater or the planet Earth. Although he uses a spinning coin to illustrate how a gyroscope resists having its axis tipped, Lester still refuses to believe, forcing Beakman into a pair of more powerful demonstrations using bicycle wheels which, he explains, are really just gyroscopes. Turning to "Beakmania," Beakman begins by explaining grey hair (lack of color?producing melanin); the frequency of dreams (usually four or five per night); and the lower range of human hearing (about 16 cycles per second). Moving on to another episode of "Those Disgusting Animals," Liza takes a look at the oval, flat?bodied insects of the family Blattidae, more commonly known as cockroaches. Then, with Lester as her unwilling subject, Liza explains why these little troublemakers are so resilient. Responding to a viewer's question about her father"s heart attack, Beakman begins by explaining how the heart pumps blood throughout the body in order to distribute food and oxygen. Noting that heart attacks result from a lack of food and oxygen getting to the cells in the heart, Beakman describes how this happens when the coronary arteries become too clogged to do their job. Then, comparing clogged arteries to a backed up sink, Beakman demonstrates how, like plumbers, doctors uses chemicals, tools and sometimes even replacements (heart bypass surgery) to keep them cleared. Finally, Beakman signs off after explaining that low fat diets and not smoking cigarettes are keys to a healthy heart.
Sat, Dec 2, 1995
Asked "who invented metal?", Beakman explains that while tin, copper and iron are occur naturally, steel is one which is man?made. Noting that efficient steel?making became possible in the 1800's, he then introduces steel magnate Andrew Carnegie to explain. After flaunting his enormous wealth, Carnegie shows how iron ore is melted to remove its oxygen and the remaining molten iron is used to make various kinds of steel. For "Beakmania," Beakman reveals the reason dogs walk in circles before lying down (watching for predators); the number of rivets in the Eiffel Tower (2.5 million); the number of stars visible in the clear night sky (three thousand); and that, pound for pound, a baby eats four times as much as an average adult. During the "Beakman Challenge," Lester brings on their old friend Scratchy the Chicken as Beakman asks his sidekick to make a piece of paper with only one side. Though Lester insists it cannot be done, Scratchy uses a strip of paper and some tape to construct a Mobius strip in answer to the challenge. Asked by a number of viewers about how cameras take pictures, Beakman first turns to Professor Boring for a definition of photography before using the Boguscope to reveal the inner?workings of a simple camera. Moving on to film, Beakman describes its photosensitive emulsion as he takes his friends into the darkroom for a hands on demonstration of how photographs are developed. Finally, after producing an unflattering picture of Lester, Beakman wraps up the show with an explanation of finger snapping.
Sat, Nov 18, 1995
Responding to several questions about the Sun, Beakman gives Lester a try at an answer until his feral friend gets the facts wrong. Stepping in to save the day, Beakman notes that the sun is the source of all the Earth's energy and that, without it, the planet we live on would probably not exist. Explaining how the solar system works, he then demonstrates how the Earth's rotation produces day and night and reveals that the interior harbors a thermonuclear reaction which generates temperatures of 27 million degrees Fahrenheit! The "Beakmania" segment begins with Beakman's answers to questions like "Who invented the raisin?" (ancient Egyptians); and "How many hot dogs to Americans eat?" (5 billion each summer). Then, turning to "Cooking With Art," host Art Burn demonstrates how to make a simple solar cooker that will bake a potato on a sunny day. Asked how caterpillars change into butterflies and tadpoles become frogs, Beakman explains the process of metamorphosis. Noting that unlike direct development, where animals are born looking like miniature versions of their adult selves, creatures which metamorphose look nothing like adults when they are born. Beginning with frogs, he demonstrates how they are born as tadpoles and, upon losing their gills for lungs and growing legs, are transformed into frogs. Turning to the butterfly, Beakman shows its life cycle, beginning as an egg, which successively metamorphoses into a larva (the caterpillar), a pupa and a chrysalis before finally emerging as a fully formed butterfly. Finally, after Lester allows himself to be used in a humiliating demonstration of a butterfly's life cycle, Beakman reveals why it is that you cannot tickle yourself.
Sat, Oct 14, 1995
When asked to explain how a vacuum cleaner works, Beakman begins by correcting Lester's misconception, noting that dirt is pushed, not sucked, inside. After Professor Boring defines a vacuum as "a space relatively empty of matter," Beakman uses a bell jar device and a marshmallow in a messy demonstration of how a difference in pressure causes air to move from the area of higher pressure to where it is lower. He then points out that, as a result of this pressure difference, the moving air pushes material along with it, just like what happens with a household vacuum cleaner. In "Beakmania," Beakman reveals the difference between the black soil in Kansas (organically rich) and the red soil of Oklahoma (iron rich); the size of the Great Wall of China (3,925 miles long and 25 feet high); and that walruses can't stand the color red. Moving along to her segment on health, Doctor Liza discusses the common cold and what to do about it. After discussing the virus' various symptoms, Liza recommends that plenty of rest and lots of fluids be augmented with good hygiene to promote a speedy recovery. Turning to a question about how cotton balls and sheep are used to make clothing, Beakman explains that spinning and weaving cloth was first used about 6,000 years ago in ancient Egypt and Babylon. Beginning with cotton, he then shows its journey from the fields where it is grown, picked, cleaned and baled, to the textile mills where it is spun into yarn on spinning frames and then woven into cloth on large computer controlled looms before being made into all kinds of clothing. Then, after using the Boguscope for a microscopic look at weaving, he introduces his special guest, Sheila the Sheep, for a look at wool. Finally, as Lester is giving Sheila a shearing, Beakman describes how sheep's wool is processed much like cotton before being made into clothing before concluding with some facts and myths about the Bermuda Triangle.
Sat, Dec 9, 1995
Asked about snow, Beakman uses a large block of ice and a pitcher of water to demonstrate water's three states ?? solid, liquid and gas ?? before explaining how they work together in the rain cycle. Noting that snow forms when water vapor in very cold clouds gathers around microscopic ice nuclei, he claims that no two snowflakes are alike. To demonstrate this fact, Beakman and his friends catch some snowflakes on a piece of black paper for closer examination with a magnifying glass. For "Beakmania," Beakman notes that the yo?yo was invented in the Philippine Islands; that the shortest name of a place is the French town of Y; and that the world's largest cat is the Siberian Tiger. In the "Liza Challenge," Lester is dared to blow a ping pong ball out of a small funnel. When he is unable to do it, Liza explains that, because of Bernoulli's Principle, blowing on the funnel actually reduces the air pressure around the ball, causing it to be pushed into, rather than out of, the funnel. Asked why giraffes have long necks, Beakman explains that it is because of a process known as natural selection. Called in to help, guest Charles Darwin notes that giraffes with the longest necks were better able to get the food they needed from taller trees, making it easier for them to survive over their shorter?necked counterparts. As this characteristic was passed down through their generations, giraffes with long necks dominated while those with short necks eventually died out. Continuing with the explanation, Beakman points out other that many species have experienced a similar evolution, pointing to the pepper moth and the alligator snapping turtle as just two examples.
Sat, Nov 25, 1995
Asked about sleep, Beakman calls on Rip Van Winkle for help. After noting that during sleep, muscles relax and the heart rate and breathing both slow down, Rip describes the four stages of sleep. The first, lasting about ten minutes, is very light with enough awareness to even answer questions. The second stage, lasting approximately half an hour, is characterized by a lack of awareness of the surroundings and scattered thoughts. Stage three brings on total relaxation of the muscles and can include some tossing and turning for ten to twenty minutes. Stage four, or delta sleep, is the deepest state of all and lasts about twenty minutes. When Liza points out that these fall way short of a full night, Beakman explains that the remainder is generally spent in REM sleep (for Rapid Eye Movement), drifting between stages and characterized by dreams. During "Beakmania," Beakman reveals that chewing gum does not take seven years to digest; that zebras are black with white stripes; and that a dense fog fifty feet deep and covering a hundred square miles contains only about three gallons of water. For the "Beakman Challenge," Lester is asked to make one jar disappear by placing it inside of another. When he cannot do it, Beakman shows how, by filling the larger jar with a dense fluid like glycerine, the light rays travelling through the pair of jars are not refracted as much, making the inner jar seem invisible. Asked why some noises are louder than others, Professor Boring explains that it is because of amplification ?? "the process of increasing the magnitude of a variable quality without changing any other quality." Using the Boguscope, Beakman shows how sound energy travels in waves created by the vibration of material objects. As an example, he uses the vibration of vocal chords disturbing the air around them.
Sat, Sep 16, 1995
Asked about geysers and hot springs, Beakman explains that they are the result of water heated by molten rock deep within the Earth's interior. In addition to producing geothermal energy, he notes that hot springs are thought by many to relieve painful diseases like arthritis and rheumatism. On the other hand, geysers are hot springs which periodically shoot steaming hot water into the air with explosive force, such as Yellowstone National Park's Old Faithful. Beakman concludes his explanation with a working model of a geyser and a look at the dynamic forces behind them. During "Beakmania," Beakman reveals that pure animal fat is used as a flavoring in canned beans; that Canada has more lakes than the rest of the world combined; the name of the world's loudest insect (the Cicada); and that the typical American consumes about a ton of food and drink each year. Then, "Cooking With Art" host Art Burn demonstrates how to make homemade ink using a tea bag, iron tablets and water. Asked by a pair of viewers about why we "pee", Beakman uses the opportunity to take a trip inside the body for a look at the kidneys ?? the organs responsible for cleaning impurities from the blood. Using a coffee filter and a pitcher of dirty water, he demonstrates just how the kidneys perform this vital function. Finally, after explaining that an average person passes about one and a half quarts of urine each day, Beakman describes the ancient Greek's unusual method of testing for excess sugar (i.e. diabetes).
Sat, Sep 30, 1995
In response to a trio of viewers interested in the differences between alligators and crocodiles, Beakman begins by explaining that they are both reptiles. Turning to alligators, he first notes that the biggest ones can be as long as eighteen feet and weigh as much as one thousand pounds. As Liza points out that alligators have stocky legs and rounded snouts, Beakman reveals that they rarely attack people and demonstrates how easily their jaws can be held shut once closed. On crocodiles, he says they are much more aggressive than their alligator cousins, and that the largest on record was longer than a school bus and weighed more then 6 refrigerators! He then points out that crocodiles are slimmer, have pointed snouts and are lighter colored than alligators. For "Beakmania", Beakman reveals how locks work (tumblers); how long it takes blood to circulate around the body (60 seconds); and how to tell the age of a clam (by counting the rings on its shell). In another installment of "Those Disgusting Animals," Liza gets to Lester when she reveals that mosquitoes transmit diseases like malaria and yellow fever. Noting that only female mosquitoes bite to get blood to nourish the eggs inside their bodies, she goes on to describe how their needle?like proboscis does the job. Turning to a question about robots, Beakman defines the three basic types ?? repetitive task robots which do the same thing over and over; the autonomous robot which can operate with no human control; and the remote controlled robot which needs someone in charge in order to work. After describing some of the basic functions performed by each, including space exploration and fire fighting, Beakman closes the show with an explanation of how a nerve in the roof of the mouth that is connected to the forehead is responsible for the headache caused by eating ice cream too fast.
Sat, Oct 21, 1995
After receiving a number of questions regarding crabs and lobsters, Beakman begins with the fact that they are both crustaceans. Noting that there are more then 30,000 varieties, including barnacles and shrimp, Beakman says that their skeletons, located on the outside of their bodies, are made of chitin, a material similar to finger and toenails. He then goes on to explain how, in addition to shedding these skeleton for new ones as they grow, crustaceans can also grow new limbs after losing one. Finally, Beakman explains that crustaceans range in size from the giant spider crab to the tiny pea crab. During his "Beakmania" segment, Beakman reveals that ancient Egyptians trained baboons to work as waiters, and that starfish have no brains. Then, Lester visits the doctor's office to complain about his itchy feet. Diagnosing his condition as Tinea, or athlete's foot, Dr. Bendover explains that it is a fungus which grows on dirty feet. After recommending washing and a more frequent change of socks, she notes that there are medicines which can also be used to control the condition. Moving on to his next question, Beakman is asked about a Swiss scientist whose discoveries about air pressure eventually led to the invention of the airplane. Called on to explain, Daniel Bernoulli reveals his famous principle, which states that fast moving air has less internal pressure that slow moving air. Demonstrating by blowing across the top of a piece of paper, Bernoulli shows it rises due to the higher air pressure underneath. Then, after seeing how Bernoulli's Principle causes a pair of balloons to actually move together when you blow in between them, Beakman enlists his friends in a pair of demonstrations that can be done at home.