21x02 - Powder Horns, Handcrafted Moulds, Perogies, Inner Tubes

[bunniefuu]

Narrator: in the digital world,
like the real one,

It helps to have
extra storage space.

An external hard drive stores
data separate from a computer

To expand storage capacity.

It also preserves memory.

So in the event
that the computer drive crashes,

All is not lost.



External hard drives
were the size of refrigerators.

Today,
they squeeze a lot more memory

Into drives
the size of chocolate bars.

On the hard-drive assembly line,
there's not a speck of dust.

An air-filtering system
sucks particles out of the air

To keep them
from contaminating the drive

And compromising its function.

Production starts
with the motor base.

An employee installs
a voice-coil magnet.

It's one of two
that will move the drive heads

To write information
on rotating disks.

They're called voice coils

Because they operate on the
same principle as loudspeakers.

Next, a robot places
one of the hard-drive disks

In the motor base.

A camera snaps a photo to send
information to guide the robot

So it positions
the disk exactly.

Another robot places
a round, metal spacer

At the center of the disk --

Again, relying on
the camera's eye for guidance.

It sets a second disk
on top of the spacer.

This is a two-disk hard drive,
but a drive can have several,

Depending on the amount
of storage needed.

A robot
locks the disks into place

With a stainless-steel clamp.

This next part
is a plastic ramp.

The ramp is a place
to park the disk-drive heads

When they're not engaged
in reading and writing data.

Those tiny heads
have been preassembled

To one end of the head arm.

They attach the other end
of the arm

To the lower voice coil
in the base

And then situate
the second voice coil above it.

To maintain
its squeaky-clean interior,

A robot inserts
a thin cotton filter.

This filter
will capture dust particles

In the event that some
infiltrate the hard drive.

A robot now places a metal cover
on the other side of the drive.

Another robot then screws
the cover to the motor base.

With the inner workings
now encased,

The hard drive can be moved
out of the air-filtered section

Of the factory.

A worker collects
the hard-drive assemblies

And slots them into a tote box.

Once a circuit board
has been added,

They transfer the hard drives
to a test chamber.

Behind the closed door
of the chamber,

A robot swings into action.

It plucks a hard drive
from the tote box

And plugs it into a test cell
to confirm that it's functional.

Outside, employees
go about their daily business,

As the robot methodically tests

Each hard drive
in the tote boxes.

Once a tote of drives
is confirmed to be operational,

The chamber ejects them

And a worker then does
a visual inspection of each one.

She looks for scratches

Or other damage
that could hinder its function.

There's another slightly
different system for testing.

In this one, the employee
places each drive on a conveyor

That delivers it
to a robot tester.

Having two tester systems
ensures that if one goes down,

They still have another one
to carry on.

After all, like humans,
robots are not infallible.

At the packing station now,

There's one last
visual inspection.

The employee scans
the drive's serial number

So its production can be traced
in the event of a problem later.

She then seals it in plastic.

This hard drive
is now ready to accept data

And ensure that someone
doesn't totally lose it

If their computer drive crashes.

Narrator: people have been
noshing on shrimp

Since the beginning of time,

But it hasn't always been
an easy catch.

Wild stocks
declined in the 20th century.

Shrimp farms emerged
to supply what nature couldn't.

Factories process the harvest,

Ensuring an abundance
of ready-to-eat shrimp

For the freezer.

Jumbo shrimp have long been big
on the c*ck circuit.

Today, it comes prepped
and frozen,

Complete with c*ck sauce.

Just unwrap and thaw.

Shrimp c*ck is one
of the many ready-to-eat dishes

Prepared at this factory
in thailand.

Fresh from the farm,

The shrimp undergoes
a quick cold-water rinse.

It then rides
a perforated conveyor.

Rinse water drains through
the holes in the conveyor

To keep the shrimp
from becoming soggy.

Still cool from the icy bath,
the curly crustaceans

Spill off the conveyor
into plastic baskets.

They weigh each basket

And then transfer the shrimp
to a larger tub.

To keep the chill on,

They add crushed ice
between loads.

A temperature of


Must be maintained
throughout processing,

Or quality will suffer.

It's now time for the
inevitable -- the deheading.

Using a metal tool
that's like an open thimble,

Workers pull the heads off the
shrimp with a few quick tugs.

The deheading line
is a long and busy one.

The headless shrimp
now travel to sizing rollers.

The space between the rollers
is narrow at first

And wider further down.

As the rollers spin, smaller
shrimp fall through first,

And the larger ones continue on
to fall through further down.

They accumulate in different
piles on conveyors below.

This separates the shrimp
into five size categories.

Out of the sorter,

An employee samples
the shrimp's temperature

To confirm that it remains
adequately chilled.

Deheaded and sorted by size,

These shrimp are now ready
to come out of their shells.

On the shelling line,

Some workers cut the tails off
and others leave them on,

Because there's a market
for both.

After they peel away the shell,

They cut out the digestive tract
that runs along the back.

It's often referred to as the
vein because it looks like one.

Workers on this line peel
and devein 800 shrimp an hour.

The shrimp then goes
to different prep zones.

At this one,

An employee dips tail-on shrimp
into an egg mixture

And then dredges them
in rice flour.

He sends them down the line
to the next worker.

He rolls the floured shrimp
in rice paper.

As you can see,
there's a bit of trick to this.

He moistens the edges of
the rice paper to seal the wrap.

The result is a spring-roll
appetizer that can be frozen

Until it's ready
to be cooked and served.

In another area, a worker
prepares a breaded recipe --

Again, using shrimp
with the tail still on.

This is finger food

And, with the tails on the
shrimp, will be easier to grip.

He soaks it in seasonings
and coats it in breadcrumbs.

Then he dips it in egg batter
and breads it again.

The second coating of crumbs

Will give the shrimp
extra crunch when fried.

The tray is now full, and
so it's over to the fry belt.

After a quick trip
through hot oil,

The breaded shrimp
is perfectly fried.

All the shrimp,
including this raw product,

Take a blustery ride
through a freezer.

Spread evenly
across the conveyor,

They freeze individually
rather than in big, icy clumps.

So you don't have to thaw a
whole bunch to get a few shrimp.

The frozen shrimp
falls into weigh stations.

At the correct amount,

The bottom opens
to release them.

An ice glaze will protect them
from freezer burn.

These frozen-shrimp products
are ready to leave the factory.

From the freezer to the oven
to your taste buds.

With all the prep work
done at the factory,

These frozen-shrimp products
are quite a treat.

Narrator: rice is an
integral part of the asian diet,

So it's not surprising to find
special storage vessels for it.

In thailand, the traditional
container is a rice box --

A covered jar
handwoven from bamboo

And often beautifully decorated.

They're also produced
as decorative items for export.

Thai rice boxes started out as
an ordinary household container

For cooked, sticky rice.

Today, they're
sought-after handicrafts,

Produced in a range of sizes
for storage of all kinds

Or simply for decoration.

Each box is handcrafted
from start to finish.

The artisan begins
with thin strips of bamboo.

He splits the strips
with his fingernail

To make them the width required
for the box size he's weaving.

He lines up the first few strips
on the floor

And holds them steady
with his foot

As he weaves strips crosswise
through them

In an under-one,
over-two sequence.

He continues weaving
this pattern

Until he produces
a square that's large enough

To form the base of the box.

He sprays the base with water
to soften up the bamboo.

This prevents the strips
from breaking

When he now bends them upward

To begin weaving
the sides of the box.

Once he's completed the sides,

He begins weaving
the box's neck,

Pulling the strips laterally
in a circular direction.

He alternates, folding one strip
upward, one strip downward.

He trims the downward strips,

Then inserts the ends
through the woven sides.

Next, pulling the strips
through the middle,

He fits a bamboo ring
over the outside of the neck,

Then another along
the inside of the neck,

Locking the remaining
upward strips in between.

This immobilizes the strips,

Eliminating any need
for nails or glue.

It also adds rigidity,

Reinforcing
the neck's round shape.

A quick trim
of the remaining strips,

And the box
is fully constructed.

He then makes a lid

Using the same materials
and technique.

Next, artisans coat
the outside of the box and lid

With a mixture
of chalk, glue, and sawdust.

They let the coating dry
in the sun for a day or two,

Until the surface becomes
hard and smooth like clay.

Now an artist gets to work,

First applying two base coats
of acrylic paint.

Once the base coats are dry,

She places the box
on a turntable

And applies a coat
of the background color.

Once that dries,
she begins outlining the design.

Then she fills in the design.

Once that's dry,
the fine details.

It's here that you see
the artistry emerge.

Once the artwork has dried,

They encircle the neck
with a band of rattan,

Then with strips of rattan,
tie the box to a wooden stand.

At the base of each corner,

They weave the rattan strips
into a decorative pattern.

Not only is this rice box
entirely handmade...

The artisans
never use templates,

Never take measurements.

They do it all by eye.

The inside of the box
remains bare.

The idea is to see the bamboo
and how skillfully it's woven.

It's a natural,
nontoxic surface,

Against which it's safe
to store rice.

Narrator: paper towels
were invented in the u.s.

In the 1920s.

The idea of a one-use,
disposable paper cloth

For cleaning and drying
proved popular.

And by 1931, paper towels
were being mass-marketed.

Today, a paper towel roll
is such a staple in the kitchen

That an attractive holder for it
is a must.

A paper towel
always comes in handy

To soak up a spill,
clean a surface,

Or simply dry wet hands.

The embossed pattern
is not just decoration --

It actually makes
the paper towel more absorbent

By creating liquid-suctioning
empty spaces

In between the towel's
two layers, called plies.

This brand is made from


Primarily white paper
obtained from office waste.

The paper goes into a large
machine called the pulper,

Which breaks it up into fibers,

Then blends those fibers
with water

To produce
a mushy substance called pulp.

A built-in filter removes
all the non-paper materials,

Such as plastic windows
from envelopes and staples.

The next machine removes the ink
by injecting the pulp with air.

The ink detaches
from the pulp fibers

And clings to the air bubbles,

Which rise to the top
and drain off.

The pulp goes through a press,
which, with a series of rollers,

Squeezes out the water.

A screw conveyor
then breaks up the pulp

And moves it
to the next station,

Which whitens it

With a peroxide-based
bleaching agent,

Then rinses it thoroughly
with clean water.

Next, and this is off limits
to the camera

For competitive reasons,

They apply
a chemical wet-strength agent,

Then form it into a sheet
of paper nearly eight feet wide.

The wet-strength agent,
as the term suggests,

Keeps the paper towel
intact when wet.

Without
this fortifying treatment,

Paper towels would be
as fragile as toilet paper.

After forming the paper,

The machine winds it up
into giant rolls.

These rolls will feed
the converting line,

The automated stations
which transform the paper

Into paper towels.

Two rolls feed the line
simultaneously,

Each providing one ply
of the two-ply paper towel.

But before the plies
hit the converting line,

The factory's quality-control
lab analyzes samples

In both the wet and dry state.

The testing machine
pulls both ends of the sample

Until it tears,

Measuring whether the paper
meets strength specifications.

On the converting line,

One ply travels under
an embossing roller,

Which presses a textured design
onto the paper.

Another roller then applies
a thin coat of glue

Onto the raised portions
of the pattern.

The next station lays
the embossed and glued ply

On top of the second
still-flat ply.

Then a fine-tooth knife
cuts the perforated lines,

Which will separate
the individual sheets

On the paper towel roll.

The next machine winds 100
sheets around a cardboard tube.

That's the length
of one paper towel roll.

A machine
called the accumulator

Transports these logs,
as they're called,

To the cutting station...

Where every 10 inches,
a rotating circular saw

Slices through four logs
simultaneously.

This divides each log

Into a dozen
finished paper towel rolls.

The next station groups
the rolls for packaging

Either by 6 or by 12.

The packaging machine
encases the group rolls

In printed plastic...

...then heat-seals the wrapping
closed.

Paper towel consumption
is highest in north america,

Where factories produce


If you have any comments
about the show,

Or if you'd like to suggest
topics for future shows,

Drop us a line at...