Episode 2 Richard Hammond's Blast Lab

But how hard can this be? We're both scientists.

Eh, plug the monitor cable

into the other socket on the back of the computer.

ELECTRICAL BUZZING

EXPLOSION

Ah... No, no, it's worked, it's fixed.

Well done! You did it. Have a seat. You'll be fine.

Hello, I'm Richard Hammond. This is my Blast Lab!

CHEERING

I called it that because when things go wrong, and they do, sometimes,

you will often hear me shout, "Blast!"

In a moment or two,

we'll be meeting two teams of budding young scientists,

who'll be taking part in scientific challenges and contests

here in my secret lab.

Although, now I've told you it's secret, it's no longer a secret.

Oh, blast!

Unfortunately, my SAS protection force

can't be here to guard the lab today,

because they're attending extra classes in flower arranging.

They don't want to miss a lesson cos it'll spoil the course.

But never mind, because I've made arrangements of my own.

She's an expert in ninjitsu - my nan.

She can break a brick clean in half with her head,

which is quite useful for cutting the cakes that she bakes.

She is, of course, my Ninja Nan!

CHEERING

Ninja Nan. Thank you for standing in.

Yes, she looks fragile. She is, in fact, a fully trained ninja.

KUNG-FU MOVIE SOUND EFFECTS

See?

Nan, if you'd like to make your way through security and get settled in.

Nan? Turn it up!

Thank you. If you'd like to make your way into security.

Thank you, very much, indeed. There she goes. Look at her move.

She's so tough, she eats that cereal with the lion on the front of it.

Not the flakes, the actual lion bit!

Ninja Nan, are you settled into security yet?

Oh, lab rat's in the chair. She's not going to...

No, she didn't like that. Sorry, lab rat.

Sorry. She can get settled in now and be ready to guard us all.

It's a great feeling of security that you get, knowing she's there.

We shall now meet the teams

who are trying to get into my lab today.

Come on out!

They say they're the Yellow Team, but we don't know.

We can't be too careful. This is a top secret lab

so I've got some security checks.

First of all, identify yourselves by name.

-Lewis.

-Louisa.

-Harry.

Lewis, Louisa, Harry. Yes, that all checks out fine.

"Hidden Talent".

It says here that you can all dance. Can you?

ALL: Yes.

Prove it.

Yeah, well... I'd say that was...

Do you know, I can almost hear the music, watching that.

Nearly.

Yeah, I would say that's a dance routine going on there

and it's a grand finish.

You're cleared through security. Come in!

CHEERING

Sorry, Yellow Team. I can't be too careful.

People want to get in here.

Got to make sure. Where are you all from?

Essex! And we are Teamtastic Fantastic!

You've got your own name!

You don't need it. You're the Yellow Team.

Lovely to have you here. Now we're gonna meet the bunch of people

who claim to be your opposition.

They say they're the Reds.

CHEERING

Hold it there. They've only got as far as security.

They're not past Ninja Nan, because...

Well, I don't know who you are yet. You haven't proved it.

For security, your names, please,

so I can check them off the list.

-Robert.

-Jenny.

-Ollie.

Yeah, Robert, Jenny, Ollie, that checks out.

Ollie, I've got your name here.

Under "Hidden Talent", it says break-dancing.

-Yeah.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-Prove it.

-OK.

Yeah, I'd say that was a bit of break-dancing.

You're cleared through security. Come into the Blast Lab.

CHEERING

I believe you.

Welcome to the lab. Where are you all from?

Devon. And we're the Explosive Loonies.

Clever name, but useless. You're the Red Team and that's that.

Lovely to have you here, though. These are our teams.

It's time for them to go and get settled in, ready to play round one.

Away you go, go and get comfortable.

To help us out I'd like to introduce a friend of mine.

He is the thinking man's Rolls-Royce

and the gullible man's Ferrari.

It is Oliver!

CHEERING

He may look old and rusty... Well, he is old and rusty,

but you always know where you are with Oliver.

Actually, even that isn't strictly true,

because I've taken his sat nav out,

and replaced it with a hi-tech Fact Nav system.

The only thing is, because I fitted it, it doesn't always work.

A lot of the facts in there are incorrect.

So it's up to my two teams to decide which are true and which are false.

Oliver will then give us the real answer.

-If it's true, he'll do this...

-HORNS BLARE

-And if it's false, he'll do this...

-SHIP'S HORN BOOMS

OK, teams, this is your first chance to earn points in Blast Lab.

Reds, you're going first.

Here is your fact. You have to tell me if this is true or false.

Recycling one aluminium can

saves enough energy to power a television for three hours.

Is that true or false?

Have a chat, have a talk. Talk about it.

THEY WHISPER

Audience, what do we think? True or false?

AUDIENCE: True!

Most, well, nearly all... I saw a few mind changes down here.

I'm not sure. That's what the audience think.

Don't just do what they say.

They don't always know everything. You're the experts.

-We've worked it out.

-What are you going to say?

-True.

-True.

-Yeah.

-OK.

Oliver, is it true or false?

-HORNS BLARE

-It's true!

That's a point for the Red Team straight away. Well done.

Recycling aluminium saves 95% of the energy used to make it from scratch,

but that doesn't take into account,

you've to transport the aluminium,

or collect the cans - it's a complicated thing to work out.

But aluminium can be recycled again and again and again -

reprocessing doesn't damage it. See?

That's new stuff you didn't know. Yellows, time for your science fact.

Here it comes. You have to tell me, is this true or false?

Most meteors and meteoroids

are the size of a small car.

Such as, for instance...

Oliver. Is that true or false?

Have a think between you.

Audience, what do we reckon, is that true or false?

AUDIENCE SHOUTS

We're splitting the audience. There's a load of false there,

a load of true. I reckon it's about half and half.

Have we come up with an answer?

-False.

-You reckon it's false. Does anybody know the answer to this,

did anybody have any information?

-ALL: No, we just voted.

-You voted?

I like that. It's a team decision.

You're agreed, false. Oliver, is it true or false? Tell us.

-SHIP'S HORN BOOMS

-It is false.

That means a point to the Yellows as well!

CHEERING

Most meteoroid particles are small,

ranging from a small grain of sand to a pea-sized pebble.

They don't sound exciting when you say that.

You think of them crashing to earth. Argh! And it's a small...pea.

Not as dramatic, really. Not very good for films.

Right, the third question. This one isn't a true or false.

This is the one I want you to answer.

Write your answers on the boards.

Have a good think first. Here comes the question.

The Atlantic Ocean is increasing in width every year,

but by how much?

Audience, anybody here got a clue? Any idea about that?

I can come and ask you,

using one of my inventions that I made here in the lab. It's a boot,

I know, rather a stylish item, but it's combined with a microphone.

Very, very hi-tech, and it works.

-A kilometre?

-I'm not going to answer. Any ideas?

-Three metres?

-Three metres. I'm thinking I might give...

the audience and the teams a clue...

by telling you that the answer is going to be in centimetres.

Audience, what do you reckon?

-Seven centimetres?

-OK, any other ideas? Anybody else?

-No, anybody got a clue? We have...

-50cm?

You're just naming numbers! OK.

Well, we have stumped the audience.

I don't think I've seen that happen before.

Teams, have you written an answer down?

Yellows, you've agreed an answer. Reds, have you agreed an answer?

-ALL: Yes.

-OK.

Show us your answers.

The Atlantic Ocean increases in width every year by...

the Reds say 90 centimetres. The Yellows say 100 centimetres.

We're both going for round about the metre mark.

I can tell you the real answer is 3 centimetres every year -

the Reds take the points!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

The score is 2-1 to the Reds after the first round.

CHEERING

That's all to come. Right now it is time for Mini Science.

This is a round where our teams

use ordinary, boring household objects

to conduct extraordinary scientific experiments.

To help with this,

I wanted to bring back my old science teacher from school.

So I invented a time machine, and it worked!

A bit too well as it turned out,

because she came back as a 10-year-old.

I'm talking, of course, of our Mini Miss!

CHEERING

You really are my science teacher from school?

Oh, yes, I spent seven years trying to drum science

into your little brain, Richard.

It was a horrendous experience.

-Sorry about that one, Miss.

-I won't forget that in a hurry.

Sorry, Miss. It's time for Mini Science.

-What are we doing today?

-We're looking at the Archimedes principle.

This means that for something to float

-it has to displace its weight in the water.

-OK.

The size and weight of an object determines whether it will do this,

-or not.

-Miss, can I demonstrate this?

-Yes.

-I've worked something out here.

I have here some modelling clay that I've formed into a shape.

Now this I put in the tank here.

It floats.

What it's doing is what the Archimedes principle says -

it's displacing, pushing away an amount of water that,

if you took that amount of water,

would weigh more than the lump of modelling clay.

It's the shape that's doing it.

If I change the shape, and turn it into just a lump,

this is the same modelling clay, it weighs the same as before.

The only thing that's changed is the shape,

and the way that will work in the water. It sinks immediately.

It's no longer pushing away, displacing an amount of water

that's equal, or more than, what it weighs.

-That's correct, isn't it, Miss?

-Yes.

-I worked that out myself.

The teams are going to test different objects to see if they sink or float.

They have six objects to choose from.

They are a small orange, a magnifying glass,

a tennis racquet, a rolling pin, a melon and a sieve.

The teams have to take it in turns to choose objects

which they think will float, and test them by dropping them in the water.

OK, so that's the game, teams.

You've got six objects in front of you. Those are between you all.

Each team chooses an object.

You then bring it over here to Archimedes' very own bath

that we have here in the Blast Lab, and put it in.

Then it's the moment of truth, we'll see if it floats.

The winning team is the team to choose

the number of objects that float.

-Reds, you're ahead right now on points.

-Yup.

So you get to choose whether you go first or second.

I'll give you time to think about that.

-Reds, are you going first or second?

-ALL: First.

You're going first. OK, well, step up,

look at the six objects.

-Reds, made your decision?

-ALL: Yes.

Which object are you going with?

-The sieve.

-This mesh here.

Lab rat, in you come, please. Let's mark this up for the Reds.

If we have that marked,

Reds, step forward to Archimedes' bath, and let's see if it floats.

This is our first of six objects. Jenny, good luck.

That didn't work at all, did it?

Bad luck! If you would like to go back. Yellows, your turn next.

Probably the surprising thing here is just how much water weighs.

Heavy old stuff, water, so that shape needs to be a shape

that will push away quite a lot of it...

when the object itself doesn't weigh that much.

It's about shape and weight.

Yellows, made your mind up?

-Yes.

-Reds, you can't choose your object till they have.

This is really heavy.

Do you want to go? We'll go with the rolling pin.

The rolling pin? Lab rat, let's have this marked up for the Yellow Team.

-OK, Lewis.

-Go on, Lewis!

Archimedes' very own bath. Take your time. Take your time.

Are we ready? Here we go. Audience, will it float?

Yes, it does.

You can see it is displacing water that weighs more than it. Right!

Yellows, you're one up. Reds, it's your turn to pick an object.

You've already chosen?

-ALL: Yeah.

-Is that a tangerine or a satsuma?

-I don't know.

-I don't know either. It's one of those.

Lab rat, can we have that marked?

Oh, no!

-That's not worked at all, has it?

-No.

Maybe it will float back up?

Swim little tangerine! No, it's...sunk. Bad luck.

Back to your team. Yellows, have you made your decision?

Magnifying glass.

Why do you think it will float?

I think it's like, if you half it, it's symmetrical,

-and it will balance the weight out.

-It is symmetrical, yes.

It's symmetrical that way.

Lab rat, let's have this marked up.

Yellows, if you get this,

if you think about it - there's six objects -

so if this one floats, you've won.

This is a decider.

If this floats, the Yellow Team has won.

If not, we'll have to find out... OK, you see,

it didn't even look like it would float.

Bad luck, Yellows. That then weighing more

than the amount of water it displaces, and sinking.

Right, Reds, you need this one.

It'll keep you in the game. Have you made your mind up?

-Yep.

-Yep.

-What you going with?

-ALL: The melon.

-Who's gonna do it?

-Me!

Robert. You're feeling brave, happy to volunteer. Lab rat,

can we mark this up for the Red Team, please?

The Reds, then, need this to stay in the game.

They lose this, it's all over.

So this is another critical, critical moment.

You need this to stay in the game.

Oh! Oh, ah! Hang on!

-It floats.

-I would say that was floating!

Reds, you're still in the game, well done.

I think why not.

So Yellows, would you like to choose

the tennis racquet, the tennis racquet, or the tennis racquet?

I think we'll go with the tennis racquet.

I think that's a brilliant idea. Well chosen.

Lab rat, can we mark it up, please?

If this floats, you've won the game.

You take the point. If it sinks, it's a draw.

It doesn't make any difference. No points.

Let's not put it top of that.

Let's keep this clear. You need a clear bit of the bath. Good luck.

And it's floating. Yellow Team wins...

-CHEERING

-..and takes the point.

Well done! But it is surprising to see

which materials float, and which ones don't.

That has got me thinking,

could my lab rats make a boat out of something you wouldn't expect?

I don't know...cardboard.

Location, the picturesque county of Warwickshire.

The aim, to construct a boat out of cardboard, and make it float.

Obviously, rivers can be extremely dangerous. Never try this yourself.

At Blast Lab, we take health and safety very seriously,

so we've got a highly trained lifeguard close to hand.

# Some people stand in the darkness

# Afraid to step into the light... #

Under Ninja Nan's strict supervision,

the lab rats set about turning a pile of ordinary cardboard boxes

into what looks a bit like a boat.

The reason boats float

can be explained by the Archimedes principle.

For our boat to float, it needs to displace, which means push aside,

a volume of water that's the same, or more, as the weight of the boat.

However, this usually relies on the boat

being made of a waterproof material,

like metal, plastic, or painted wood, not cardboard.

# Sail away, sail away, sail away... #

In any case, their cardboard boat is now finished,

and all that's left to do is launch it, jump in,

and see if it floats.

# Sail away, sail away, sail away... #

Hold the experiment right there!

The scores right now are a draw, 2-all,

so I think there's another point in this. I'll ask you a question,

both teams. Let's see how you do for this extra point.

And the question is this -

will the cardboard boat that the lab rats built

float for...five minutes with two lab rats in it?

Have a think, have a chat. Have a think.

Audience, what do you reckon? I'm gonna come and talk to you,

using my amazing microphone boot.

It could be for sale in shops near you very soon.

-Any idea? Whisper.

-No.

-No, right!

No, because the two lab rats will weigh more than the boat,

-and the boat will sink.

-You think, according to Archimedes,

it won't be able to displace water equal to its own weight,

and it'll sink. You think Archimedes will defeat their boat.

-Anybody else?

-I think it might sink,

because the Sellotape they stuck it with might lose its stickiness.

-The sticky tape won't be sticky?

-No.

-Oh. It'll fall apart?

-Yes.

You think the tape's going to let go,

you think Archimedes is going to defeat them, and it'll sink?

OK. A range of theories from the audience.

This is a brilliant invention. It's a boot.

Teams, have you both come up with answers? Have you agreed?

You all agree, Yellows, Reds, agree on your answer?

The spokesperson is going to be Oliver and Lewis

to give your answers, so you can't change them.

Oliver, what is your answer, do you think it will or not? As a team...

We think it's going to float.

You think it'll float for five minutes with two lab rats.

-Yellows?

-We think it's going to float as well.

Both teams could cancel out the point,

and we'll go on to the next round as a draw. Let's see what happens.

Remember, these are nautically trained lab rats.

Don't try this yourself.

And, incredibly, it does float!

And our lab rats are able to cruise the open seas with ease.

It worked! It actually floated,

which I think is worth a round of applause for the lab rats, actually.

-CHEERING

-Enough. Let's not overdo it.

They are lab rats. Not too much praise for them.

But it did work, so a point to both teams.

The scores are 3-all, time for us to move on to the final round.

For that, both teams, you need to change into your protective outfits.

Go and get ready, away you go.

While they do that,

it's worth sharing, audience, yeah, it worked for five minutes...

but then it turns out there are a few problems

associated with making a boat out of cardboard.

Nothing lasts for ever.

The cardboard begins to weaken, and leak water into the boat.

And before long,

we have a genuine case of lab rats leaving the sinking ship.

And Ninja Nan's long since gone.

She's home watching Strictly Come Dancing,

so it's up to the lab rats to save themselves. Yeah, you see,

you leave them on their own, they have an idea,

and that's where it gets them.

Right, it's time to move on to the Messy Messy Mess Test.

Which today is the gungy bungee, featuring my Blast Lab catapults.

I did originally design and build these

for airborne cat transportation,

but it really didn't work. Here's the game, then.

Teams, you've got to get as many of these pods

featuring the names of prizes on them across the tank.

This being Blast Lab, there is, of course, a twist.

You may have noticed a team member from each team

standing in the tank of hideous, unnameable gunge.

You all right in there? Comfortable? Good.

You'll notice tape stretched across the tank.

This is for your own safety,

because I spotted something moving in there earlier on.

Big, really big!

A lot of teeth. So this tape, I'm sure, will keep it back.

Do not go past that tape, all right?

Beyond that, at the other end of the tank, is the prize zone.

That's your target, teams.

You've got to get as many of these prize pods, using the catapult,

across the tank, past the opposing team member,

and into the prize zone.

The team to get the most prize pods into the prize zone

will get to take home all the prizes written on them.

The losing team will have to blow theirs up. It's just the way of it.

OK? As it's a draw right now, scores are even,

you're both starting at the same time.

You have some time to get as many prize pods across the tank

and into the prize zone as you can. That some time starts...

now!

Away we go with both teams starting at the same time.

Yellows first to get the prize pod to the catapult.

AUDIENCE: Yellow! Yellow!

Like any artillery,

it takes time to zone in and find your target.

Right now, I think they're getting the range, checking the elevation,

and the Reds have got the first prize pod in the prize zone.

Ooh, another one for the Reds

just makes its way into the prize zone.

The Yellows still trying to find their range,

but in goes another for the Reds. Look at that.

The Yellows getting an amazing amount of height on that shot.

Some great deflection work going on

from the Red Team player in the pool.

Another one was about to land in the prize zone, but they batted it away.

It's mean, taking pleasure from that,

but I did!

The Yellows still not quite finding the range.

However, Harry, the Yellow blocker,

is really lobbing the prize pods back to the firer.

Good tactics, that.

And, yes, it's working,

as another prize pod goes in for the Yellow Team.

The Reds look to be ahead,

but the Yellows are starting to come back into this.

And, yes, another one drops into the prize zone for the Yellows.

And another!

It could be anybody's, this game.

There's firing prize pods, blocking, unspeakable gunge.

It's all going on in there.

I think the only thing that will decide this

is my some time random indicator invention,

which, by my calculations, should be...

soon.

-KLAXON

-Game's over! Game's over!

Everybody stop right where you are.

That made quite a mess in my lab. Yeah.

Let's find out which team has won.

Down to the prize zone, my two lab rats have been counting them up.

OK, lab rat here, how many for the Yellow Team?

Four prize pods for the Yellows.

And for the Reds, how many have we got? Eight for the Reds!

That means the Reds are the winners!

-CHEERING

-Well done, Reds.

Sorry, Yellows.

Let's find out, Reds, what you've won.

Ninja Nan, ready?

You get a super cricket kit...

CHEERING

..a science magic set...

a lunar eclipse bedroom light,

a Disgusting Digestion kit...

an MP3 player...

a Horrible Science book...

a brainteaser jigsaw...

an electromagic kit. There!

Those are your prizes, Reds, all coming home with you.

Yellows, this is the less than easy bit for you.

This is what you would have won.

An electromagic kit.

-AUDIENCE: Aww.

-Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Cricket kit, would have been nice.

-Yeah, MP3 player.

-AUDIENCE: Aww.

You'd have liked that.

-Lunar eclipse bedroom light.

-AUDIENCE: Aww!

And instead of taking them home, the Yellows are going to blow them up -

time for Bidet Goes Bang!

Well, it's that time again.

Here we all are, Red Team looking quite happy, actually,

if I can see you past the enormous pile of prizes. Well done, Reds.

You played very well. Very well. Yellows, how are you feeling?

ALL: Disappointed.

Yeah. yeah. That's the sort of mood I'm getting off all three of you.

-What went wrong in that game, then?

-I just think...

we could have done better at the aiming.

It's not easy, is it?

You've got to aim, get the right power... Still, never mind

because, well, here we are.

Before I moved my exploding bidet down here into the lab,

it used to make a real mess of the ensuite,

but now it's here, I can use it as much as I like. So here we go.

Your prizes are in there and ready.

-Who's pushing the plunger?

-ALL: All of us.

You'll share the blame. I think that's best.

Step forward and lift the plunger up into the firing position.

Lift it up... There you go. Right, we're all going to count you down.

Ready?

ALL: Five, four, three...

two...one!

EXPLOSION

Yup! Sorry, Yellows. That's it for another show.

We learned about buoyancy.

Remember, if you want to test things that float,

it is probably best to steer clear of your mum's best china.

Oh, I don't know! See you next time.

CHEERING

Blast Lab was recorded before a live studio audience.

No lab rat was harmed during the filming,

except the work experience one.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

E-mail [email protected]