Beakman's World

- Season 2

(1993)

In response to a curious viewer in Missouri, Beakman begins his second season with an explanation of how submarines work. Noting that they can be over six hundred feet long, Beakman explains that subs operate by controlling their buoyancy, changing their density by taking on water which allows them to rise and sink in water. After demonstrating the different densities of wood, coins and water, he then goes on to make a simple homemade submarine, using a plastic soda bottle, a balloon, some rubber tubing, straws, tape, coins and rubber bands. In the "Beakman Challenge,...

Asked how the heart pumps blood through the body, Beakman begins by comparing the human body to an apartment building noting that, like apartments which rely on internal systems for things like air and energy, the body's cells are provided with their air, water and food by blood flowing through a network of arteries, veins and capillaries. With the aid of his x?ray viewing lamp, he then goes on to show how the heart's two upper and two lower chambers work like a pump and circulate blood throughout the body. Explaining that smaller animals require more blood to be ...

Asked by a curious viewer about batteries, Beakman begins by describing the two basic parts common to all types of batteries ?? a pair of metal electrodes and a chemical electrolyte. With the aid of Balance Man, he shows how electrolytes create a chemical reaction with the battery's electrodes before being brought back into balance by setting up a loop of electricity. Then, using coils of copper and magnesium as electrodes, Beakman makes some simple batteries to power a clock using common electrolytes such as salt water and lemon juice. In "Beakmania," Beakman reveals...

Asked how underwater tunnels are made, Beakman uses a large aquarium to demonstrate how they can be built at the surface, lowered into the water and buried. After employing a hamster to show that his model actually works, Beakman describes a second method which uses a large machine to dig beneath the seabed, and reports how one such tunnel is being built under the English Channel to connect England and France. For "Beakmania," Beakman reveals the name of the oldest living species on Earth (a type of sea snail), the size of a molecule (very small!), and that "O" is the...

In response to a Massachusetts viewer's inquiry about bats, Beakman notes they are mammals, not birds, and their wings are actually hands with thin membranes of skin stretched between long fingers. Claiming they sleep upside down because it takes less energy, he goes on to explain that, contrary to popular myth, bats actually have good eyesight. Then, aided by Dr. Patricia Brown, Beakman explains how bats are able to hunt at night using sound to build a picture of their environment, or echolocation. During "Beakmania," Beakman notes that the longest living animal was ...

Questioned as to why the sky is blue, Beakman calls on Roy G. Biv to explain that white light is actually composed of a spectrum of colors which are scattered by gas molecules and other particles in the earth's atmosphere. Because higher frequencies of light (like blue) are scattered more and, thus, are more visible than those at the lower end of the spectrum (like red and orange), Biv points out that the sky appears to be blue. Finally, after explaining that light travelling through more of the atmosphere when the sun is closer to the horizon results in more red and ...

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Asked what doctors are looking for during a checkup, Beakman enlists Liza as a nurse and his brother, Meekman, as the patient for a routine physical examination. Though Meekman is worried about what is to come, the doctor assures him that everything will be fine and proceeds to check his throat, teeth, gums, tongue and tonsils with the aid of a tongue depressor. Then, with an otoscope, the doctor examines Meekman's ears and, using a ophthalmoscope, his eyes and brain. After a look at his nose with a nasal spectrum, the doctor completes Meekman's exam by checking his ...

Asked why the moon is sometimes half and sometimes full, Beakman begins by explaining the Earth's 500 million year old satellite is our closest neighbor, orbiting the planet at 2,300 miles per hour. Noting that the moon doesn't actually shine, but instead reflects the sun's light, Beakman enlists Liza, Lester, and a big spotlight to show how these phases are caused by the Earth's position relative to the moon. Then, asked by Liza why the moon has craters, Beakman uses a flour?filled bathtub and a large rock to demonstrate how impact craters are formed. During "...

Responding to an inquiry about video games, Beakman notes they are actually computers and goes on to describe their necessary component parts ?? the use of the keyboard, joystick or mouse as an input device; how microprocessors act as their "brains"; how output devices like monitors and printers give information to the user; and why programs are needed to give the game its' operating instructions. Reluctantly agreeing to place himself in a dunk tank, Beakman enlists Lester and Liza to demonstrate how these components act together to make video games work. For "...

When a fan asks what makes thunder and lightning, Beakman enlists Liza in a few simple demonstrations to explain static electricity. Revealing that lightning is caused by the neutralization of enormous positive and negative electrical charges between the top and bottom of a cloud, Beakman then uses a metal bowl, polyethylene putty, and a metal can lid to show how lightning can be created at home. Turning to thunder, he notes it is the sound of the shock wave created as lightning heats the air. After "Beakmania" fields questions about fish that live out of water (...

While attempting to answer a question about the size of the universe, Beakman is visited by the famous statesman, inventor and scientist, Benjamin Franklin. Reincarnated as a stand up comic, Franklin gives a historical account of some of his most famous inventions, including the Franklin stove and his kite flying experiment, which proved that lightning is actually electricity. Then, after explaining his invention of the lightning rod, he quickly lists some other accomplishments, including the rocking chair and bifocal glasses. In "Beakmania," Beakman explains why ...

Asked for facts about ants, Beakman begins by revealing that not only do they release a chemical to provide a trail for other ants to follow, but that they can also lift fifty times their own weight. After describing the three parts of an ant's body ?? the head, the trunk and the metasoma ?? Beakman takes Lester on a tour of an ant farm for a look at how these insects live. Explaining how their colonies are constructed and describing some human?like behavior exhibited by ants, including the planting and gathering of crops and keeping servants to do their work, Beakman...

Calling on the Three Stooges to help demonstrate pain, Beakman and Liza explain how 15 million individual nerve cells called neurons produce reactions which transmit messages to and from the brain and all over the body. Then, after Lester painfully demonstrates the small delay between when a message is sent and when it is received, Beakman shows how these pain messages travel along the spinal cord causing reactions known as reflexes. After explaining how pain acts to warn the body, Beakman then shows how swelling is caused by fluids rushing into the injured area and ...

After receiving a number of inquiries about construction equipment, Beakman takes the opportunity to explain how hydraulics give these machines their strength. Starting with the fact that liquids cannot be compressed or squeezed to make them smaller, he uses a pair of large syringes to demonstrate Pascal's Principle ?? that pressure applied to an enclosed fluid is transmitted to every portion of the walls of its container. Then, using a pair of plexiglass cylinders, he shows how this principle gives Liza a mechanical advantage which allows her to lift Lester with ...

Asked how to make an electric motor, Beakman begins by explaining that they are devices which change electrical energy into mechanical power in order to do work. Then, after describing how they employ one magnet pushing and pulling on another magnet, Beakman shows how a "D" cell battery, a refrigerator magnet, some wire, a pair of large paper clips and an empty toilet paper tube can be assembled into a simple electric motor. After demonstrating that his homemade device does, in fact, work, Beakman notes that similar devices are used in electric trains and fans. During...

Asked about the difference between frogs and toads, Beakman explains that these two amphibians are hatched as small aquatic larvae called tadpoles. Noting that they undergo a change into air?breathing animals, Beakman uses time lapse photography to show this amazing metamorphosis. Then, after explaining how both hunt using long, sticky tongues, Beakman explains that while frogs live in or near water, toads are mostly land dwellers. Finally, Beakman dispels the myth about frogs and warts as he presents the world's largest frog ?? the Goliath frog from West?Central ...

Asked by an Ohio fan about money, Beakman calls on Dap, the Chap from Yap, whose island's residents use large stones for currency. After Dap explains how the idea for money grew out of difficulties with a simple barter system, Beakman notes that the U.S. Mint produces fifteen billion coins each year, while the Bureau of Printing and Engraving prints an average of twenty?three million paper bills every day. Then, demonstrating how counterfeiting is made difficult, Beakman shows how bills are given distinctive, difficult?to?copy markings. For "Beakmania," Beakman takes ...

Asked about garbage, Beakman begins by noting that Americans throw away about almost half a million tons of trash each day, including, forty?eight million disposable diapers, twenty thousand TV's and forty?three thousand tons of food. Explaining that garbage generally ends up in landfill or being incinerated, Beakman encourages everyone to "reduce" (use less of anything when possible), "reuse" (use, things more than once when you can) and "recycle" (return materials that can be reclaimed). However, as Beakman notes, hazardous materials such as car batteries need to be...

Responding to an inquiry about skyscrapers, Beakman explains that the first of these tall buildings was constructed in Chicago in 1855. Then, after recounting a history which took them from a modest ten stories to a dizzying 102 in less than fifty years, Beakman reveals the engineering secrets behind their success, including deep foundations and steel skeletons. Finally, Beakman notes that the world's tallest building, the Sears Tower in Chicago, stands 110 stories (1,454 feet) tall. While Beakman reveals that crabs have the ability to grow a new leg after losing one,...

Asked about sharks, Beakman notes that among the 350 different kinds, the smallest is the Spined Pygmy shark at just ten inches long, while the largest in the forty foot, 32,000 pound Whale shark. While claiming that few are a threat to humans, Beakman reveals that the Great White shark is the most dangerous of all, that sharks wear their teeth out and quickly grow replacements, and that they must always stay in motion to keep their blood circulating. Then, after Beakman presents a live Leopard shark to his friends, he explains that sharks are so sensitive as to be ...

Asked how molds form on bread, Beakman begins by explaining that they are fungi, a family of plant?like organisms that lack chlorophyll. Listing their four types ?- mushrooms, mildews, molds and yeasts ?? Beakman and Liza describe the tube?like structures (hyphae) which weave together into larger webs (mycelium). Then, noting how their lack of mobility requires them to live on their food (like bread), Liza reveals that molds like penicillin save millions of lives each year by eating harmful bacteria, while Beakman claims that the world's largest living organism is a ...

When a viewer expresses exasperation over understanding the concept of momentum, Beakman first calls on Professor Boring, who says it is "the product of a body's mass and its linear velocity." Hoping to improve on this definition, Beakman notes that an object's momentum depends both upon how fast it is moving and how much it weighs, and then uses a bowling ball and a baseball each rolling down a pair of identical ramps to demonstrate. But, showing the results can be changed by altering velocity, he proves that the baseball's momentum can be increased by propelling it ...

Responding to a question about hay fever, Beakman begins by explaining that this common affliction is an allergy ?? a reaction which the body has to foreign substances (known as allergens). Noting that allergens enter the body in a variety of ways, including breathing, eating and insect bites, Beakman takes a closer look at pollen. Showing how it is absorbed via the nose and mouth, he goes on to explain how the body's immunesystem first produces antibodies to fight pollen's allergens, and then histamines to cause sneezing to expel them. Then, after describing symptoms...

Asked by several viewers about snakes, Beakman starts by explaining that they are reptiles who can sometimes go for a year between meals. Noting that their skin is actually quite dry, Beakman shows how snakes swallow prey much larger than themselves, and how they use their tongue's keen sense of smell to compensate for their poor eyesight. Then, after claiming that the South American Anaconda can grow as large as thirty feet long and weigh up to 500 pounds, Beakman is joined by Lester and Liza in a musical tribute to these reptiles. Asked why we have seasons, Beakman ...

When a viewer asks about tornadoes, Beakman begins by demonstrating a popular household version ?? the vacuum cleaner. Calling on the Boguscope, he then shows how a critical combination of hot air, cold air and the jet stream creates just the right conditions to spawn a tornado. Noting that these wind storms can carry objects such as cars for hundreds of yards, Beakman shows off his own tornado generator as well as how a model of these storms can be made using a pair of plastic soda bottles. After revealing that oils in flower petals cause them to smell, that the ...