[SCA-AS] Ancient Discoveries / Genghis Khan coming up

[mmagnusol]

By and large, the next two weeks on the History Channel will
have a lot to do with Bible History and Archaeology.
However, here are some of the non-Bible specific items
worth watching.

Magnus

Tuesday, April 3, 2007
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7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Da Vinci Tech.
Nearly 500 years after his death, Leonardo da Vinci still intrigues
us. Most people think of him as a great artist, but he was also a
remarkable scientist and inventor. His love of mechanics was
unparalleled and he filled his notebooks with pages of incredible
machines--from weapons of war to "Ships of the Skies", from submarines
and scuba suits to robots and an analogue computer...even contact
lenses and alarm clocks! How did a 15th-century man envision such
modern innovations? If we follow his plans, would any of his designs
work? We need wonder no more. With recent technological advances and
new materials, we're the first generation able to bring Leonardo's
drawings to life--to learn whether his "mechanical dreams" were
workable plans. We explore the fascinating intersection of his art,
science, and engineering marvels, and use them to offer insight into
this "Genius of Geniuses", who remains as elusive as Mona Lisa's
smile.

8-9pm -- Ancient Discoveries - 14 - Machines III
One thousand years ago, when Europe was still in the dark ages, China
was at the forefront of technology. We unveil the remarkable story of
how China created a myriad of ingenious devices including cosmic
machines able to collect data on the stars, hydraulic hammers,
water-controlled clocks, and mass production plants powered by water.
We visit a reconstruction of an ancient Chinese iron furnace to
unravel how the Chinese created a forty-ton iron artifact five
centuries before the West discovered cast-iron technology. Meet the
leading clay expert Professor Ye Hongming who has spent a lifetime
seeking to discover the secrets of how the ancient Chinese created
their vast terracotta army.

9-10pm -- Ancient Discoveries - Ships.
Lurking beneath Lake Nemi's blue waters lay the titans of Roman naval
engineering--the Nemi Ships. Titanic luxury liners of the ancient
world, they held inventions lost for thousands of years. But why were
they built? Were they Caligula's notorious floating pleasure
palaces--rife with excess and debauchery? Flagships of a giant sea
force? It took Mussolini's obsession with all things Roman to finally
prise the two wrecks from the depths of Lake Nemi near Rome. Using an
ancient Roman waterway, he drained the lake and rescued the ships, an
accomplishment captured on film that we access to illustrate this
astounding story. Sophisticated ancient technology discovered in the
boats transformed the understanding of Roman engineering overnight.
Yet by 1944, the adventure had turned sour and the retreating German
army torched the boats. We reveal the mysteries of the Nemi Ships and
the ancient technology that made them possible.

The Germans destroyed the ships when Italy surrendered to the Allies.
These ships were huge.  The Romans used hidden floating tenons to
hold their ship planks together. 


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Monday, April 16, 2007

10-11pm -- Digging for the Truth - Lost Empire of Genghis Khaan
Genghis Khan and his Mongol Horde created the largest land empire in
recorded history, and they did it in less than seventy years. How were
Genghis Khan and his army able to achieve this military dominance on
such a grand scale? What ultimately became of the great Empire of the
Khans? Join host Josh Bernstein as he builds a ger on the Mongolian
steppe, fires arrows from horseback like a Mongolian warrior, and uses
DNA science to trace the genetic legacy of the military genius,
Genghis Khan.
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Tuesday, April 17, 2007

9-10pm -- Ancient Discoveries - 10 - Robots
Is there any truth in the amazing and sensational idea that the
ancients had robotic devices? Heron and Philon would be the masters of
ancient robotic inventions including famous automatic devices such as
robotic temple doors and the automatic serving girl. Included in the
machines of the ceremonial halls of the Byzantine Emperor of 830 AD
are stories of a gold pear tree with singing birds, two lions which
roared whilst twisting their heads and several wild animals that
surrounded the throne roaring. Attempts will be made to reconstruct
some of these awe inspiring machines--and show for the first time that
the ancient engineers and inventors knew how to harness robotic
technology 2000 years ago.