S1 E1: Ice Resurfacer
Why are we all so mesmerized by this slow, clumsy-looking machine that resurfaces the ice between periods in a hockey game?
23 minutes
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The innovation and history of an invention, as well as the effects it has on today's world.
Why are we all so mesmerized by this slow, clumsy-looking machine that resurfaces the ice between periods in a hockey game?
23 minutes
The beauty and elegance of an experienced snowboarder would make us think that this sport has roots that go back far longer than 40 years.
23 minutes
From Inuit sleds that rode on rails made from frozen fish to the high-tech luge, that can scream downhill at 90 mph, the winter toboggan - in all its forms - has been the essential vehicle for moving things around in winter.
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Though most often associated with Canada, the snowmobile was in fact invented by Carl Eliason of Wisconsin in 1927. Mounted on runners, it was a basic machine, with parts taken from bicycles and a Model-T Ford.
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It all started in 1955 with two tin cans and a vacuum cleaner. The interest was to figure out how to reduce drag on ships as they plough through water.
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It is said that at one point in our life we will all use one. No longer just a seat on wheels, the modern wheelchair transforms its user into a space-age cyborg.
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They are the most common form of transportation in North America, although often taken for granted by their riders.
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Fifty years after the first Beaver and Otter bush planes came into service, and 37 years after the last one was built, almost 1,500 are still flying.
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Forty years ago it promised to be a passing fad that would end on the top shelf of a K-Mart toy section.
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The fastest can go 404.97 miles per hour. What began as a tub on wheels has evolved into a marvel of design and engineering.
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First invented as a 4th century toy for children in China, the idea of rotary flight didn't really take off for another 16 centuries.
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Canadian paddling guru Bill Mason once said, "First God created a canoe; then He created a country to go with it."
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Half boat, half car - the design of amphibious vehicles has challenged inventors since 1899. But the carboat has been a reality not only for James Bond.
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The first successful emulation of birds involved running down a hill with a lightweight glider, taking off into the air and gliding down.
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You are barreling down the track at 60 mph, taking hairpin turns and death-defying loops.
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Since 1817 when Baron von Drais invented a walking machine that would help him tour the royal gardens faster, humans have used bicycles as an easy way to get around.
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What do a sheep, a duck and a rooster have in common? They were the first passengers in Joseph and Etienne de Montgolfiers' wonderful invention in 1783.
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A hundred and ten years ago the Canadian Motor Syndicate unveiled a new line of electric motor transports expecting they'd sell like hot cakes.
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They began as heavy steam-powered monsters until, in 1919, Harry Ferguson mounted a mechanically operated plough on the back of a Model T Ford.
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The first steam engine locomotives of the industrial revolution maxed out at a top speed of 8 miles per hour, slower than we can run.
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NASCAR racer Tony Stewart is an enthusiast and rocker Neil Young wrote a song about his.
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Without them Ulysses would not have had an Odyssey, Columbus 'discovered' the New World, or Napoleon and Nelson fought the Battle of Trafalgar.
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The streetcar has been around since the 1820s when they were railed tram cars pulled by horses, mules, and even humans in an emergency.
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The open road, the purr of the engine under you. People have been modifying their bikes since Howard Roper invented a coal-powered, two-cylinder, steam-engine for his bicycle in 1867.
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Not for the claustrophobic, a submarine defies several laws of nature by allowing humans to live for weeks underwater, without natural air, water or light.
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The proliferation of modern long-distance air-travel can be credited to the jet engine.
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Twenty-six of them cross the U.S.-Canada border every minute, their work represents a $48 billion business in North America and driving one is the most popular job for Canadian males.
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Sirens, lights, and head-turning speeds, these 4-wheeled predators are some of the highest performing automobiles on the road.
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Skiing has reached a popularity and penetration far beyond the wildest dreams of its pioneers.
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It is a vehicle for which the mechanics and the amenities are equally essential to the experience.
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In the battle between ice and a ship there is no contest, most ships flee from ice. Icebreakers are the exception.
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Classified as Armored Fighting Vehicles, they are exactly as the name suggests.
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Over the years medical technicians have saved countless lives rushing to the scene in the ambulance.
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They are speedy urban subterranean creatures that have near total separation from other traffic.
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A typical oil tanker can carry approximately two million of barrels of oil.
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Much older than Disco, the first roller-skate rink opened in 1867 in Massachusetts.
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It has fins and can ride the waves as gracefully as the fish that live beneath it but there's no reason to run from the water, this thing doesn't bite.
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It can make kindling of your living room couch in under one minute. It is arguably one of the most indispensable vehicles in the city.
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Originally designed as a sturdier alternative to the tent, this enclosed piece of equipment with wheels has become the permanent home of people known as "full timers".
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Not so much a vehicle, more a way of life, the taxicab has been around at least since Julius Caesar arrived at the Rubicon in a hired cart in 49 BC.
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Ever wonder what it was like to drive at 230 mph three inches from the ground?
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They are lean, mean racing machines. Stock cars, named for their assembly-line origins, are not your typical automobiles.
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Flying horses, whirligigs, roundabouts, riding galleries, carry-us-alls, spinning jinnies, hobby horses, gallopers and of course, merry-go-rounds.
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Not so long ago, fresh fish was a luxury item enjoyed by the wealthy few who could afford to spend time at the seaside or pay to have fish delivered to them.
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They've salvaged space shuttles, explored sunken battleships, and searched for life on the deepest ocean floors.
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The problem of lifting heavy objects has occupied mankind since ancient times. In fact the first documentary evidence of a crane can be found in a bas-relief carving from a family tomb in Rome.
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Ultralights are some of the wackiest and most exhilarating aircraft ever invented. They developed during the 70s and 80s as a response to the high cost of recreational flying.
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Space: the final frontier. For thousands of years, we have gazed upon the cosmic expanse.
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We are a people on the move. Since homo erectus took his first upright steps, he has striven to make the act of walking easier and faster.
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Have you ever wondered just how they managed to build that tunnel under the English Channel or how they transport the huge quantities of oil-laced sand in the Alberta oil sands?
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