Episode 7 Bang Goes the Theory

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

road network, any small random effect has a magnification on

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

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

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

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

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

advantages. You are not causing interruptions to the vehicles

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

huge bird-like shape around ourselves that hardly weighed

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

something the width of an eight- lane motorway demands engineering

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

causes it and is there any way of preventing it?

For thousands of people, a fairground waltzer will make you

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

willing volunteers. Rob Thomas has suffered with motion sickness all

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

There is a very fundamental important mechanism in the brain by

which breathing control mechanisms suppress the mechanisms of nausea.

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

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

relaxation. The research has enabled Michael to understand what

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

wondered whether humans have an internal compass we can use for

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

aerodynamic surface. There is something about it that still seems

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

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

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

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

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

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 48 seconds

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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