Superhuman Tech Absolute Genius Super Tech with Dick & Dom

-This is...

-Absolute Genius.

Argh!

Come with us as we dive

into the wonderful world of technology.

This is mind-blowing!

Each show, we introduce you to geniuses whose inventions

-have changed the world for ever.

-Argh! Oh!

'We then take their tech and supersize it

'in our genius tech challenge.'

Dear, no!

'The question is - can we pull it off?'

Is this his brain?

'If you love gadgets, then strap yourself in.'

-It's genius.

-Absolute Genius.

Whoo!

Argh! Argh! Yeah!

On this show, we look at how technology has helped us

become superhuman.

From the ability to breathe underwater to having extra limbs.

Plus we'll be attempting to become indestructible superheroes

in our Genius Tech challenge.

Ow!

Today, we're going to find out how technology can turn YOU

into a superhero.

Get off that wall, Spider-Man.

-There's some new superheroes in town!

-Yeah!

-Who?

-Us, of course.

-Oh, yeah.

We're going to introduce you to three geniuses

and their inventions that can turn us into superheroes.

So strap yourself in as we enter the hi-octane world

of superhuman technology.

Us humans have always created inventions

to push our bodies to the absolute limit.

Whether it's being able to fly,

lift breathtaking weight or move at breakneck speed,

we're always striving to push the boundaries of our physical limits.

Which is exactly what our first genius did.

For centuries, we've been trying to breathe underwater.

But it wasn't until our first genius

used technology to make that possible.

Ladies and gentlemen, introducing to you Jacques Cousteau.

Bonjour, idiots!

IN FRENCH:

Exactly.

Before Cousteau got his thinking cap on,

deep-sea diving was a very different game.

Taking the plunge used to mean either being attached to the surface,

or using systems that recycled oxygen,

which could be very dangerous.

Cousteau dreamed of creating a truly free diving system,

allowing people to dive deeper

and stay down longer than was currently possible.

And when he met an engineer called Emile Gagnan,

they realized they could use technology from a car

to create a unique diving system

which would change the diving world forever.

And it was called the Aqua-lung. Genius.

Cousteau's invention totally changed the diving world.

The Aqua-lung meant that it was now easier and safer than ever

to explore the depths of the ocean.

But how does it work?

To find out how the Aqua-lung works,

we've got genius helper Ann Bevan.

She's been diving for over 40 years

and has thousands of dives under her belt.

-Hi, Ann.

-Hello.

-Nice to meet you. Hi, how are you?

Good to meet you, yeah.

So what was diving like before Cousteau's invention?

-Ah, well, if you start at the very beginning...

-Yeah.

-You just hold your breath.

-Hold our breath?

-Hold your breath.

THEY INHALE DEEPLY

-Yeah, I see.

-See the problem?

-You can run out quite quickly.

You don't stay down for very long - that's the problem.

And what about this? Is this the genius of Cousteau?

The genius of Cousteau is this here.

This is a special valve, OK?

And it works a bit like a cat flap.

If you can imagine a cat flap in front of your mouth,

when you breathe in, it opens the door - air comes in.

-Cat comes in.

-When you stop breathing, it shuts, OK,

and it doesn't let any more air in.

-OK. Got it, got it, got it.

-OK?

You just get the air that you need, get a breath.

And you're not wasting the air.

The Aqua-lung allowed divers to take in only as much oxygen

as they needed from a tank of compressed air.

It meant THEY controlled when they took the air, so less was wasted.

And they could stay beneath the surface for longer.

Shall we go and test out Cousteau's genius?

-Should do!

-Yeah, we should. Thanks, Ann.

-Thanks, Ann.

Excellent - take care!

Dick and I are about to get the superhuman power

of breathing under water.

Which will be handy, because to test out the tech, we'll need to dive

down six metres beneath the surface of this lake to retrieve a flag.

But who knew diving gear could be so tight?

DOM LAUGHS

I can't talk properly!

THEY LAUGH

Is it a good look?

Mais oui!

'Cousteau's technology allows us to breathe underwater,

'but as we've never dived in open waters,

'first, we'll need to train in the shallows.

'This lake is vast, deep and dark

'so I'm quite nervous.'

It's all right in the water.

Oh, I'm sure it'll...

That's it. Well done.

'We start off breathing with the Aqua-lung

'but out of water.'

Can you breathe in and out OK?

'And then getting more used to it

'by putting our faces under the surface.'

What we're going to do now - we're going to fully submerge.

'But as we dive down, I really don't like the feel of it

'and start to panic.'

Go on, then. Keep on the railing.

I've got your tank.

If you start thinking about being underwater, then you start

panicking about being underwater, because this is not normal -

you shouldn't be underwater.

'Speak for yourself, you big wuss bag!'

'Check me out! I'm like Neptune. I'm at one with the fish.'

-He's doing all right, though, isn't he?

-He's doing fine, yeah.

'Training complete, time for me to get out and get warm.'

It's heavy when you get out of the water, isn't it? Eh?

'Superhuman technology it may be -

'But open water diving isn't for me.'

All I'm doing is still thinking about what I've just been through.

'Looks like I'll be testing out the tech and retrieving the flag,

'on my own.'

Right, it's time to put the genius of Cousteau into practice.

Jess over there has a flag

which she's going to lower down to six metres.

-You've got to find that flag.

-Right.

-Easy as that.

-What d'you mean, "easy as that"?

It's all right for you to say that dressed in your civvies,

stood on the side having a cup of tea!

"As easy as that!"

I'll be watching from the comfort of the side of the lake.

All right, Jess? Can you drop the flag, please?

-Go get the flag.

-Bon Voyage, Dominic!

Bye bye, Dominic. Bye bye.

It's thanks to Cousteau's Aqua-lung that I'm able to breathe down here

for such a long time.

Thankfully, I'm being joined by a team of instructors.

He's been under for about five minutes now

but with that Aqua-lung, he could be under that water for half an hour.

You would never, ever be able to hold your breath for that long.

I think he's nearly all the way down now,

but will he be able to find the flag?

'After swimming around the murky depths

'for what feels like forever, suddenly I spot something.

'It's the flag.

'Come here, come here.

'Got it!'

Is this him? Are they here?

I think that's the flag.

Yes!

'Right, with that done, it's time for an Earl Grey.'

Good work.

MUFFLED SPEECH

So what was it like, going that deep?

-It actually became really calm and nice.

-Was it?

-Yes, very nice.

Dom, you are a natural!

The amazing thing is, as you experienced, we've just been

breathing underwater and, 70 years ago, this just wasn't possible.

It's all thanks to the genius of Cousteau.

J'adore mon Aqua-lung!

'Thanks to the genius of Cousteau,

'humans can easily now swim with the fishes

'and explore deeper than ever.'

'But not all inventions to make us superhuman have been so genius.

'Because it's now time for The Not So Genius Idea!'

If you have ever needed some more energy when out for a run

and you love tomatoes, well, fear not.

Because Japanese juice vendor Kagome teamed up with inventor Maywa Denki

and this was the result.

This piggy-back-inspired invention feeds the runner tomatoes on demand.

The thought process is that the tomatoes

give you much-needed antioxidants which are lost during running.

But, unsurprisingly, it never caught on.

So don't expect Mo Farah to be chomping on tomatoes

in the next London Marathon!

We're now well and truly on the road to becoming superheroes.

Thanks to the Aqua-lung, we can breathe underwater.

There are still loads of things we want to do,

but our bodies won't allow us to do them.

Like the ability to become indestructible.

For example, if I do this...

-it hurts.

-That really hurt!

You see? But thanks to our next genius,

Dick is going to be given the power of body armour.

Ladies and gentlemen, we give to you our second superhuman genius -

Stephanie Kwolek.

Behave, naughty boys!

What's she like?

Stephanie Kwolek was a scientist who, in the 1960s,

accidentally stumbled across a chemical

that was going to change the world.

Her discovery was initially dismissed by her peers,

but Stephanie knew she was onto something

and her persistence led to a material which was not only extremely light,

but five times stronger than steel.

And we called it Kevlar.

Kevlar was born and is now used in tonnes of products,

including bicycle tyres, aeroplanes and protective body armour,

like the vests worn by the police.

Before Kevlar, the only armour in existence was, well, armour really.

But the problem with it was, it was really, really heavy.

Isn't that right, medieval features?

Yes, it's very heavy - I'm not happy.

-Right, OK. But I am as protected as he is.

-Huh?

-Why? Cos I'm wearing Kevlar.

-How does that work, then?

-Oh, I dunno.

If only there was a damsel in distress that could help us.

-Well, Fran's here.

-Hello.

You ready?

'Meet Fran, our scientist friend

'who can explain things in a way even we can understand.'

-Oh!

-Oh, no, no, no!

'And she loves a good experiment.'

Exactly.

'Best of all, she pops up whenever we need her most.'

-Hello!

-Oh, hey, Fran!

Oh! That's better.

So, Fran, why was Stephanie's discovery of Kevlar so important?

Well, before Stephanie,

we didn't have great ways to protect ourselves.

Obviously, we could use metal plates like with your armour,

but they're quite heavy, aren't they?

Mm. Tell me about it.

With Kevlar, not only is it flexible, it's lightweight,

so it makes it much more practical.

Yeah, very practical, but surely...I mean, look at it.

-Yeah.

-It's not very thick, is it, Franny?

Well, the thing is, Dom, it's not about thickness.

It's about absorbing energy.

If you have a look here, right, we've got a bowl of water.

-This is water.

-And I've got a stone.

-Yes.

-If you drop it through...

goes right to the bottom.

It doesn't take much energy to go through it, but with Kevlar,

Kevlar takes a ridiculous amount of energy to go through.

A bit like our tub of sand here.

-Kevlar is absorbing the energy.

-Exactly.

Amazing. Now this was invented in the '60s - that was a long time ago.

Surely there's something that's come on the market

that's rivalled it since?

There's only one Kwolek!

Ah, well, I've got something that might.

Come with me and I'll show you.

Orange goo.

-Well, yes, but tell you what - feel it.

-What's it like?

It's like chewing gum or something.

Ah! Well, this is actually D30 and it was invented back in 1999

and it's used in some products that are already on the market.

But the really interesting and cool thing about this is,

-it's what's known as non-Newtonian fluid.

-What does that mean?

So, in this basic form, it runs like a liquid.

In there, it's really thick.

Yeah, so if you hit it with enough force, hard enough and quick enough,

then it all locks together and it acts like a solid.

It can absorb energy. Let me show you. Put your hand on the table.

That's it. I'll get a nice big bit. Let's put that on top of your hand.

Cos what I can do is I can get a hammer...

-Hey!

-Hold the phone.

-No, no, no.

Please don't try this at home, kids. This is science.

When I hit it, the particles within there

should lock together, make it act like a solid...

-What do you mean, "Should"?!

-..and absorb the impact.

Argh!

-Are you all right?

-No! I'm not all right!

-OK.

-Wah! Argh!

Oh. Amazing!

But this is not the only non-Newtonian fluid

that's out there.

There are some that you could even make in your kitchen.

I don't know about you, but this is really hitting the mark!

All we have to do is mix some water with cornflour.

And, pretty quickly, it's gooey.

Ah, I see. Now that's bizarre.

So we have made a non-Newtonian fluid.

-Can you see that I'm making a sort of ball?

-Yeah.

The moment I let it be and stop pushing on it so hard,

it's going to turn into a liquid.

-Are you ready?

-Go on, then.

-Oh!

-Franny!

'We've found about the genius behind Kevlar and, thanks to Fran,

'we know about the science behind liquids that can become solid.

'But, Fran being Fran, she's devised an elaborate experiment

'to demonstrate how non-Newtonian fluids can work on a big scale.'

So this is a little bit more,

but this is exactly the same stuff that we had over there.

-It's Oobleck.

-Oobleck.

It's just like a liquid if I don't push it

but if I punch it with this hand - it turns into a solid.

If you walk with enough force,

you should be able to walk all the way across the trough.

-Shall we do it?

-Do it. Think you're ready?

Go on, then. What, so - just run like this?

-Yeah. Exactly like that.

-Three, two, one - go.

-Yeah, do it!

-FRAN LAUGHS

-Amazing.

-I'm shocked!

-It worked.

-It did work.

-I didn't sink at all.

It was like running along a piece of wood.

That's because you were pushing down with your foot.

As you pushed down with your foot, it turned to a solid.

This stuff is amazing!

But the thing is, walking on Oobleck,

I think we can do better than that.

-I've got my bike.

-Right. You're going to cycle across it?

-Well, I thought it would be good if YOU cycled across it, Rich.

-Me?

Now these are controlled circumstances, aren't they, here?

We've got professionals. You can't see them,

but they're all around us. This is a controlled experiment, OK?

'I've just got to keep on moving, otherwise I'll sink.'

Go on, go on, go on.

Yay!

That's awesome.

'Even with a heavy bike, it reacts in the same way

'and the top layer turns into a solid, allowing Dick to ride across.'

After all that, my question is,

why aren't we using Oobleck for protective gear?

Well, Oobleck is ridiculously messy, isn't it, right?

But what we can do with D30 is we can form it into a foam,

so you end up with a foam that can be flexible and soft

when you don't apply much force, but hit it with enough force hard enough

and it turns into a solid and spreads out the force of an impact.

-Same results.

-Yeah.

-Different materials.

-And not as messy.

I think we should find out how strong this stuff is.

-Let's go and find out.

-Bye, Fran.

'Oobleck is pretty messy, but if you turn a non-Newtonian fluid

'into a foam, you have a pretty protective substance.'

But just how protective?

We'll be finding out later in the show

as we test having indestructible powers to the max.

We're coming to the end

of our journey through superhuman technology.

We've managed to breathe underwater.

-Well, I did. You freaked out and bottled it.

-Ahem.

And we've discovered materials that can make us have armour-plated skin.

But what about real cool superhero stuff - you know, like Iron Man?

For that, we will need our third and final genius, Mr Ralph Mosher.

Howdy, Partners!

-How do you do?

-Hello.

Back in the 1960s, America's Army wanted to create something

that would give a human super strength.

Our genius, Ralph Mosher, rose to the challenge

and built the world's first ever exoskeleton, the Hardiman.

This was like something from a science fiction film,

but it actually worked, allowing the user to lift

up to the equivalent of four adults.

Even though the Hardiman was the first exoskeleton,

they've come a long way since Mosher.

And scientists have found millions of really cool uses for them

to help us become superhuman.

So we've come here to the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

More commonly known as MIT, it's like a Hogwarts for tech heads.

Or a tech wort for hog heads!

Here at the labs at MIT, they're working on a number of exoskeletons

to give people greater strength and mobility.

Helping explain everything exoskeleton

is one of the world's best minds in the field -

Professor Harry Asada!

Professor Asada, nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.

-Hello, Professor.

Would you say that Mosher was very inspirational

in terms of your work you're doing today?

Yeah, it was not conceivable to put such a machine on the body

and he did.

Yeah, so that was the first big milestone in this area.

You can actually carry a much heavier object than you can carry.

Right? You can move things much more quickly.

Or you can reach something that you can't reach.

-Can we see that happening?

-Sure, sure.

-Right.

'The team at Professor Asada's lab

'are taking Mosher's genius to the next level

'and are using cutting-edge technology

'to give humans robotic limbs.'

'The robotic limbs mimic what my other hand is doing.

'If I clench my fist, it sends a message to the limbs to close.'

They're not even connected!

'If I open my hand, they open.'

I'm coming for ya!

'And this is all done wirelessly.'

-Try the bottle.

-I need a drink.

-Normally...

-You wouldn't be able to.

-Squeeze it here.

But, no, I've got a third limb.

So I'm going to...

Got it, got it, got it, got it. Is it a nice, tight grip?

Now...

-Drinkypoos?

-Yeah.

-Hey, Shazam!

'It's good for opening bottles, but it's better for this.'

Argh, argh! Oh!

Play nicely, boys! That's not a toy.

'And in the lab, they're not just working on robotic hands -

'they're looking at giving people extra legs and arms.'

Your legs are moving.

'So who knows what we humans could look like in the future.'

Thanks to the genius of Mosher,

we can now lift weight way heavier than we could before.

And even add limbs to our bodies to make us...well, just better!

The invention of the exoskeleton has definitely helped us

to become more superhuman and remember, this is just the start,

because this technology is always improving.

Mosher, you are an absolute genius!

Thanks, from yours truly.

In this episode, we've learnt that, through technology,

we can breathe underwater, have robotic limbs

and have our own personal body armour.

Thanks to the genius of Cousteau, Kwolek and Mosher,

we can become superhuman.

Which is what we're going to do in our Genius Tech challenge.

Someone like the Incredible Hulk can be indestructible

without even getting a scratch

and, thanks to D3O, we too can become indestructible.

Which is why we're going to become...

the world's first human wrecking balls!

Here's how it works. One of us will be attached to a swing.

And will be smashed into a series of different walls.

-Ouch!

-Well, not ouch,

because our wonderful technology will make us rock solid.

First up is the cardboard wall.

Next it's the plasterboard.

And finally, a concrete wall.

But who will be the human wrecking ball?

-Well, it's me. Again. Isn't it?

-Yes, dear.

Typical. This is technology versus immovable objects!

To turn Dom into a wrecking ball,

we've got stunt co-coordinator Simon to oversee the whole stunt.

So how is this going to make me superhuman?

Well, let's explain a little about the suit you're wearing.

Specifically designed for stuntmen, so all the key areas are protected,

So you've got the forearms, you've got the elbows,

you've got a little bit of part of the tricep, your shoulders.

So all of these pads that you mention on his body,

inside there there's D30, yeah?

-Yeah.

-And how's that going to work when he actually hits the wall?

On impact, they lock together to spread the impact over the pad.

So it just lessens the impact...

-..as opposed to stopping it.

-It's not stopping it.

Am I right in thinking as well,

that this isn't necessarily a tried-and-tested,

standard stunt to do?

This has been specially kind of made for this?

Well, we're still testing, so that's why we have you now!

-You're the guinea pig.

-You are the guinea pig today!

Oh, get on with it. You've got a protective suit, Dom!

'For safety reasons, before I have a go at smashing through these walls,

'stuntman Dion gives me an idea of what I'm up against.'

Right? That was easy enough.

Not a problem.

"Easy enough"? He's bust the whole thing. All the wood's come off.

Yeah, but look - you won't feel a thing!

'Well, talk is cheap.

'So it's time to get Dom into his harness...'

It can be a little bit tighter.

'..and make him a superhero!'

-Let's go for it!

-All right.

OK, let's do it.

'Cardboard first - an easy start.'

Lift him up.

-Here we go.

-Oi!

One second, did something snap? Aw, too late now.

Ooh! Oh! This is it!

-Easy!

-Easy.

-Yeah. Know what I'm saying?

-Not a problem.

All right. Don't break the set!

'OK, so I might not be the most graceful superhero.'

I've got to be honest - that was easy.

'Well, Dom might be confident now,

'but the second wall is much more difficult.

'This time - it's plasterboard.'

Cardboard was easy.

-It feels like a piece of wood.

-It's harder.

'Plasterboard is what some walls are made out of.'

-There's absolutely no give in it at all.

-No, you have to break it.

Brace yourself and the suit will protect you.

'I'll need EXTRA protection.

'Helmet and gloves - on.'

There's nothing we like better to see, is there,

than Dom being flung into hard walls!

Let's just hope he goes through it.

-OK, ten seconds.

-Here we go.

Ow! Wow!

-Cor...

-Yep?

-Yep.

It did it - it's all right, I'm alive.

'Dom gets through the wall unhurt, but this is only possible

'because the especially designed stunt suit protects him.'

-It wasn't an enjoyable experience.

-No.

But it was an interesting experience.

-Well, I've got something to tell you.

-What?

-We're going to up the ante.

-Up the ante?

-Bring on the next wall!

-Oh...

'The final challenge is the most dangerous yet - a concrete wall.

'This is the one that even the stunt team are worried about,

'as this has never been attempted before.'

Needs to be a bit higher.

-So that there's no impact with the head.

-Right.

'The seriousness of what's about to happen

'is starting to sink in.'

The thing that's making me feel worried,

is seeing how concerned, um...

all the stunt team are.

So it started off with everyone joking about,

you know, being fine with it, with the cardboard and plasterboard.

Now...it's kind of serious

and they're all looking a bit more apprehensive.

It's going to be quite an impact.

Otherwise, because if it's so tight, he'll just hit it,

cos I think everything will compress.

'Remember, we have a team of professionals monitoring

'what we're doing, not to mention a state-of-the-art stunt suit.

'Even trying this under these conditions is dangerous,

'so DON'T try this.'

Of all the things we've done on Absolute Genius over the four series,

this is the one I've got the most butterflies in my stomach.

I'm not looking for to it.

'This could be my biggest-ever challenge.'

'I've got to say, even I'm worried about my best mate on this one.

'If this goes wrong, Dom could get seriously hurt.'

-How are you feeling? How's it going?

-I'm so nervous!

Right...

Here goes nothing!

'It's time to fly into a concrete wall

'and trust that science and technology will protect me.'

Here we go.

My heart is beating so quick.

'I've been through cardboard...'

'..plasterboard...

'..and now this.'

Brace.

I'm all right!

I'm all right, I took out the whole wall.

'Amazing! Thanks to the stunt suit,

'Dom has managed to smash through a concrete wall

'without a scratch on him.

'And it's only possible because of our understanding of science.'

-Oh, my word! That was bizarre.

-How did it feel?

Not as bad as I'd psyched myself up for it to be.

'The smashed concrete bricks are proof.'

Thanks to the genius of technology, you now a superhero!

-Ugh!

-Covered in dust!

-Ugh...

'With the help of today's geniuses,

'we've been able to push beyond the boundaries

'of what our bodies can do.'

'Whether that's breathing underwater,

'wearing personal body armour or gaining extra limbs.'

'Now the impossible IS possible.'

On today's show, we have proved that being superhuman

is not just something you see in the movies.

Yeah, and it's all been thanks to our three geniuses.

-So thank you, Jacques Cousteau.

-Stephanie Kwolek.

-And Ralph Mosher.

-You're all...

-Absolute Genius!

HE LAUGHS

THEY LAUGH

Where's Rich gone?

-Oh, it's stopped!

-Argh!

A long line is a BURRRR!

I've got my fingers... ARGH!

Wow! His head's fallen off!

How did you find that? "Blew my head off!"

Ha-ha! You can't end it like that!