Episode 7 Bang Goes the Theory


Episode 7

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Tonight on Bang we are taking a journey across London on one of the

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largest bus networks in the world to find out why travel can be such

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a nightmare. We will be sitting in some horrendous traffic jams so you

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don't have to. We find out what causes motion sickness. And how to

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overcome it. If you were watching last week, Jem will rise above all

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your traffic nightmares - he is building his pedal-powered plane.

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Now to those traffic jams. Commuters sit in them for hours.

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There are almost 500,000 kilometres of road across the UK. It is plenty

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of room for all of our 30 million cars if only we would spread

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ourselves out. We don't. Every day, millions of us need to squeeze on

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to the same few bits of tarmac for the same few minutes of the day. As

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the traffic begins to slow, you get your two kinds of drivers - those

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who are happy to sit in one lane and the others that are nipping in-

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and-out of lanes every time a small gap develops. Does that short-term

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gain benefit your overall journey or are you better off to just stay

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put? Research on this subject has been carried out. We thought we

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would put it to the test with two volunteers of very different

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temperaments. Behind us is some traffic that is building up to a

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traffic jam that lasts for about an hour all the way around this road

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to East London. You will sit in it! No! Your challenge is to stay in

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the middle lane and you cannot move out of the lane no matter how many

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times people honk at you. Dallas, YOU have permission to change lanes.

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Do not cause an accident. I will be careful. Are you ready? Yes.

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Gentlemen, start your engines. We will have no problems spotting the

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guys in these and to help us time their journeys, we have fitted a

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GPS tracker to each car. Where is the ignition? Let's do that. Let's

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do that! Bye. So, based on our experiment, what do you think is

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going to happen? I would be surprised if Dallas doesn't get

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there first. To be honest, I can't see Yan winning. I would be more

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surprised if he has gained much time in doing so. I'm living the

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dream. I'm going into the outside lane. If you are accelerating all

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the time, you are going quicker. What happens is a few seconds later

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you will end up braking. Bored with this lane now. So I'll move across.

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Doing science, sorry! You have a tiny advantage, but how does that

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affect the rest of the traffic behind you? When you have got a

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volume of traffic which is very close to the maximum capacity of a

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road network, any small random effect has a magnification on

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everybody else. It is usually called "chaos". That lane is moving

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faster. All of this... That lane is going faster! It causes people

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behind you to brake, that causes them to brake, a ripple effect and

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it is slowing everything down? one has beeped me yet! I have been

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staying in the middle lane at the speed limit. That has two

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advantages. You are not causing interruptions to the vehicles

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behind you. Currently in the outside lane, but changing to the

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middle. You will gain a minute or two, I guess, and end up a lot more

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stressed. And probably thinking was the trouble worth it? I am sure

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this is the right car park. OK, that is just over - that just took

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under an hour-and-a-half. Let's give Liz a call. She is probably

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home by now. Hello? It is me. I think I have won. I'm in the car

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park and no-one else is here. right, that sounds good. Were you

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at any point being really dangerous? I was being really,

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really careful. I was weaving in- and-out but I didn't speed. Did you

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get "road rage" at any point? minor "road rage". I'm wondering

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how far behind you Yan is. When you were driving along and changing

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lanes, did most people sit quietly? Or were other people trying to do

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the same thing as you? When ever you are stuck in traffic, you have

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always got that dilemma - there's Yan! Hang on, I will run up and see

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Yan! And the result? After a stressful hour and 20 minutes of

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lane switching, Dallas has gained just four minutes and 41 seconds.

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Listen, boys, thank you for being good sports and for sitting in

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traffic. See you soon. See you later. So if you are impatient like

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Dallas, spare a thought for all the people you slow down as you

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celebrate the minutes it's saved you. Or you could try to avoid the

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traffic altogether. Always one for an extreme challenge, that is

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exactly what Jem has been working When you watch birds fly, they make

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it look so easy. Who of us have never wished we could do what they

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do? We are at least three times the weight of even the heaviest flying

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birds and it is likely that no creature that heavy has ever flown

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using muscle power alone. It would take a lot of power to get a person

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up into the air. How much power? Well, it turns out that we might

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just have enough within our own muscles if only we could build a

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huge bird-like shape around ourselves that hardly weighed

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anything at all. Many people have taken on that challenge. Very few

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have succeeded. Most of them took years of work, often by whole teams

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of engineers, and they were flown by super-fit cyclists. Now, I'm

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fairly fit and my two mates and I have made a lot of odd stuff.

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Designing and building an aircraft in eight weeks is almost ludicrous.

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Hello. First, I put my idea to one of the few people alive who have

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flown under their own power. Thank you for listening. Bye.

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He did proper laugh at us! It is like he thought it was a crank call.

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But then, when I explained our plan and where we are at and how we are

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thinking of allocating money in the time, he seems to think that it is

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time, he seems to think that it is not impossible.

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Very few human-powered aircraft designs ever work. If we are going

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to stand a chance of getting something into the skies with our

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limited time and resources, I have got to try and learn as much as

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possible from every success and failure there has ever been. Now,

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the striking thing about any aircraft that's looked likely to

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take off is the sheer size of its wings. They have to be vast! Making

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something the width of an eight- lane motorway demands engineering

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at its most delicate. That also means it is permanently on the edge

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of total failure. What I need is a material that's really light and

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really strong - carbon fibre. It is essentially just string, but five

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times lighter and one-and-a-half times the strength of steel. That

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is amazing. Right. I'm properly convinced that carbon fibre is

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exceptionally strong. The thing is just like any other string, it's

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only strong in one direction. It is absolutely rubbish in any other way.

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Yet you want to make rigid structural components out of it,

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things that are strong enough to be a wing. You can make solid objects

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from ordinary string, tightly coiled, then glued together, it

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makes a sturdy-looking tube. Until I bend it. Notice the strong stuff,

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the string, hasn't broken. The glue that I used has. It was a very good

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glue, similar to that you would use for gluing together carbon fibre.

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The way you wind it makes all the difference, Chris-crossing gives

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good all-round strength. It is a far, far better-wound beam. Even

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better, I can create a combination of patterns using the strength of

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the string in different directions. It is this adaptability that makes

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carbon fibre so useful. There we go. That is totally working. I've gone

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and made a really strong beam out of string. Now all I need to do is

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apply the same thinking to the beam that is going to make up the

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structural element of my wing. To wind, glue and bake carbon fibre on

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that scale I've come to a team who specialise in making masts for

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enormous racing yachts. We have each down our calculations, but it

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is a first for both of us. This could still be a horribly expensive

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mistake. This is a very big moment. We have spent practically all our

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money on these. These are going to be almost like the bones within the

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wing. These have to take the entire lift-load of the aeroplane. They

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are the heaviest part of the plane. We have tried to make them as light

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and as structurally efficient as possible. If for any reason I have

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miscalculated that, the wings will fall off the plane or the plane

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will be too heavy to fly. We are going to load them up with 60 two-

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litre bottles of water. This is only strong in one direction. That

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is the direction to lift the whole thing. So if this twists for any

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reason while we are loading it up, snap, it's all gone. All our money,

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If it wants to go, it will want to go suddenly. Be ready. Oh. That's

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starting to go. It's going towards you. It is going... Lower it down,

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Jem. With only 50 bottles lifted, it starts to twist. We have no

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choice but to abandon the test. I have a feeling if we rush this and

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it twists, it will just break, and that is finished. Now I'm nervous.

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I want to see how close to breaking those wings are going to be. There

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is a fair bit of strain in that. With our only spare piece of wing,

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I am going to simulate the forces I think it will take in flight. If it

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can take 25 kilos of water along its length and half my weight on

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the end, then by my calculations it should at least survive take-off.

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The question is how much more can it take? The worst case scenario

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for any experimental aircraft is the wings fall off. You haven't a

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prayer. In our case, I'm more worried the wings will snap. They

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are only just strong enough for the job that they are doing. I'm going

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to stand on the scales, pull down on the end, that should simulate

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quite nicely the effect of all the rest of the wing. I will look at my

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weight go down and I will know how much is going on there. 35 kilos.

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That's almost all my weight! Oh! That was practically another 70

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kilos. I will have to calculate very carefully how that corresponds

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to an in-flight condition. Five times one and I was putting 75...

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Oh! We are close to breaking point. There is not a huge margin for

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error. I'm going to have to treat these wings carefully which means a

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smooth flight and no crash-landings. It is time to learn how to fly.

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Back to more unpleasant aspects of travel - motion sickness. What

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causes it and is there any way of preventing it?

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For thousands of people, a fairground waltzer will make you

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feel unwell. What is it about ferries, coaches and fairground

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attractions that make us go green? I know a man who can explain all.

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First, I will go around this thing again! Motion sickness is still a

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bit of a mystery. One theory is we associate dizziness with the

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symptoms of poisoning so we vomit to try and get the poison out. One

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man has spent his entire career trying to understand it so I have

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come to get his take on it. classic situation which makes us

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motion sick is if we are in a vehicle that moves up-and-down,

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side to side every five seconds which is typically the motion of a

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which is typically the motion of a cross-Channel ferry. The second

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reason is if we find ourselves in a situation which we term a conflict

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situation, the classic one is trying to read a newspaper in the

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back of a car, so there is a conflict saying we are moving about

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in the car and the vision which says we are locked into this visual

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environment. You put those two together and you are sick? Yes.

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Michael's research makes use of an interesting bit of apparatus and

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willing volunteers. Rob Thomas has suffered with motion sickness all

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his life. And as an RNLI lifeboatman in North Wales that can

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be a problem. The first time I remember it is when I was a child.

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There was a 16-hour ferry ride... Were you? Oh yes. The ferry was

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delayed for 24 hours and I was sick when the boat was still in the

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harbour. How is this chair going to help? We will try and teach him a

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method which he can use himself to stop feeling motion sick. Rob has

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tried a number of remedies but with no success. Do you rate any of

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these? Do they work? Or is it all up here? Many of these alternative

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remedies are medicines in their own rights. Ginger is a known anti-

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imflam tri. None have been shown to -- inflammatory. None have been

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shown to be effective. How does this chair work? We will rotate you.

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Then we will tilt you to a off-axis position but you are still rotating

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and we find this is a motion that makes people motion sick. We have

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to strap you in now, OK? First, we gauge Rob's natural tolerance

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levels. He can tell us how bad he feels on a scale of one to five and

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as soon as he reaches three, we will stop the torture. He is now

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tilted by six degrees, he is now 17 degrees. How do you feel? He is on

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two. He is on three. That was three minutes... Tilt back to vertical

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and slow down. Three minutes 27 and Rob's reached his limit. He clearly

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feels pretty rough and it is time for a recovery break. And time for

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Rob to try the professor's anti- nausea technique. This is what you

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do. During the motion, I want you to focus on breathing regularly,

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feeling yourself breathing in and relaxing, focusing all the time on

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that sensation of breathing in and the relaxation as you breathe out.

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How does this breathing technique stop the nausea from setting in?

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There is a very fundamental important mechanism in the brain by

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which breathing control mechanisms suppress the mechanisms of nausea.

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If you are breathing and you vomit at the same time, you would breathe

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in your vomit. It seems so simple but there is more to this than

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relaxation. The research has enabled Michael to understand what

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is going on inside Rob's body as the nausea kicks in. Start your

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controlled breathing now. 17 degrees. You are coming up to two

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minutes. Please indicate, how do you feel? OK, he is holding two

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fingers. Last time, Rob only lasted three-and-a-half minutes. His

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nausea's already at level two. If it gets any worse, we will have to

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stop again. Now coming up to three minutes. How do you feel, Rob?

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That's still a two. We are coming up to five minutes. Rob, how do you

:18:49.:18:59.
:18:59.:19:02.

feel? OK, we got three. OK. Stop. How are you feeling? The end result

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still the same. But not as severe. The good news is you didn't get

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there for a lot longer. Five minutes 39 seconds? That is really

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good. Almost double the tolerance. Hopefully, it is less of an

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obstacle when I'm in the lifeboat. It is what I wanted out of today.

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feel sick watching that! You should not be sitting next to me on this

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bus. If you get sick on me... will try my best! Coming up: Dr Yan

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with the brain-teaser for you to try. This week, it is about wearing

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a helmet back to front, or something? People have often

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wondered whether humans have an internal compass we can use for

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navigation. That is what I am trying to find out. If you try and

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walk in a straight line, but without being able to see anything

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at all, then where do you end up? To the right? To the left? Straight

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ahead or back where you started? Thank you very much. If you need

:20:04.:20:11.

the answer to that, go to: Whilst there, you can get this free

:20:11.:20:17.

poster with lots of information about the series. Follow the links

:20:17.:20:27.
:20:27.:20:27.

Thank you. We have only gone a couple of miles in two hours.

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Luckily, our journey stops here. Jem's is only beginning.

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We have finally started to build our aeroplane. It is essentially a

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bicycle with wings about the size bicycle with wings about the size

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of those on a Boeing 737. If you saw the last programme, you will

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know I can produce the power to fly my plane. But have I got enough to

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take off? And how long will I last? That's not my only worry. If this

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takes off, I will need to figure out how to fly a plane at the same

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time as peddling flat out. My home- made simulator is the nearest that

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I have ever come to flying a plane. It is time I tried it for real.

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Just reaching 3,000 feet now. I will release. The wings on this

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glider look huge, but the ones on our aircraft need to be bigger. I'm

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not sure I'm ready for this. For a novice like me, flying and

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breathing is hard enough. Imagine how it will be when I am pedalling

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flat out and using totally home- made controls. Now, I'm not hoping

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to climb to the clouds, but if all goes to plan, skimming just above

:21:59.:22:03.

this very runway in our own man- powered plane would be an

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astonishing result. Time's up. We have a rare window of good weather

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ahead so we are packing up everything we have built so far and

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moving very carefully to the airfield. This is where we will

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assemble the plane for the first time. We have attracted quite a

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crowd, including some eminent figures of the world of aviation.

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This is bigger news than I thought. Most of the experts around here

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like the look of it and seem to think it's going to take off. I on

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the other hand am far less sure. There is one last delicate job -

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wrapping a super-light skin over the wings. It is double-thick

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clingfilm and once you have ironed out the creases it makes a perfect

:22:55.:22:58.

aerodynamic surface. There is something about it that still seems

:22:58.:23:08.
:23:08.:23:14.

This is it. It is fairly simple, really. I sit here. I pedal with

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everything I've got down here. That then turns this sprocket that turns

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that propellor. That provides all the thrust we can manage to drive

:23:26.:23:31.

this massive wing through the air. When that happens, hopefully the

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wing diverts enough air downwards to push me and the whole plane

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Apology for the loss of subtitles for 48 seconds

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It is my first chance to try out the steering. The controls are just

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tiny levers with elastic bands to give a bit of feel. Like a remote-

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controlled plane, there is one for up-and-down and one for left and

:24:42.:24:51.

right. Everything else is down to brute force and gut feeling. Here

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goes. I know one false move could be catastrophic and when I stop,

:24:56.:25:01.

the plane could topple and shatter. The wings are curving as planned,

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the curves are needed to reduce the amount of roll and they are holding.

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My steering and my speed just aren't good enough. No flight. Not

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this time. I didn't really give it full power because I was

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disconcerted by the way the aircraft was leaning. I was trying

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to get the hang of the control. We are going to go again. I give it

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loads more welly. Keep the power going! It is still not enough and

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all I can think about is saving those wings for another attempt. I

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just pedalled as fast as I could, I tried to keep the plane steady. It

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was running out and I jumped off so I didn't damage the plane. And I

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didn't quite manage to pull that off. It is a reminder of how

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fragile this thing is. There is more major damage at least. Next

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time I will have the courage to cling on when it stops and hope the

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wings can take my weight. For now, it is back to rebuild my broken

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plane and reflect on my efforts so far. Until I get to a certain speed,

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about 12 or 13mph, my control surface, my tail and rudder, they

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don't do very much. There is not enough wind going over them for

:26:24.:26:30.

them to work particularly well, so I've got very little control at

:26:31.:26:34.

low-speed. Consequently, it starts leaning and there is precious

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little I can do about it. There is only an hour or so left before the

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airfield opens. But the good news is the wind is picking up. The head

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wind helps and... Go! I don't know, maybe more experienced pilots would

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be soaring over the treetops at this point. If I put everything

:26:58.:27:07.

into this, I hope I will get the control I need. With each run, I

:27:07.:27:17.
:27:17.:27:28.

get faster and faster. OK, I'm good (BLEEP)

:27:28.:27:36.

I'm on. When you first go up, you have no idea what to do. Oh my God,

:27:36.:27:42.

I've left the ground! Now I want to stay off the ground. It is amazing!

:27:42.:27:47.

I'm going to go and do it again. I feel the more I do this the better

:27:47.:27:52.

I will get. There is only enough time for one last attempt before

:27:52.:28:02.
:28:02.:28:23.

We've flown a bicycle. Under human power. The ground disappeared. Then

:28:23.:28:33.
:28:33.:28:38.

Apparently, the Wright Brothers' first flight was 12 seconds. I'm

:28:38.:28:44.

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