Story

When cultures develop literacy, science, and language, codes emerge spontaneously; explore the rich history of secret symbolic communication from Egyptian hieroglyphics to Caesar's encryption, wartime codebreakers, and cyberspace.

From elaborate elite training facilities to GPS-guided air drops, to revolutionary high-tech tents and fire-retardant uniforms, the episode explores the science and technology of building, operating and protecting a base in a war zone.

Experts design materials that can catch gunfire.

Strange weapons of the past and present include Japanese ninja claws, microwavelike rays, lasers, robots, the "puke light," and a super slippery substance.

To defend the corporate high-rise buildings and those who work and live in them, an army of scientists, engineers and security advisors set out on the vital mission to develop technologies to keep corporate America safe against terrorist attack.

The construction of a terrorist-proof safe room, and how windows might someday act as biological weapons detectors; what technology can do to protect civilians, and how they can use technology to protect themselves.

Perhaps the most important and yet least recognized aspect of warfare is battlefield engineering; battlefield engineers lay the groundwork, quite literally, for the battle to come.

Holiday treasures disappear in a post-apocalyptic world; fireworks factories explode; Christmas tree farms grow out of control; real reindeer must adapt or die; vacation icons fall.

Apocalyptic devastation unfolds in the skies; history's most important airplanes are grounded; Air Force One sustains an explosive malfunction; a swarm of locusts devastates the Midwest; a mysterious cargo on a satellite could change the universe.

Massive waves of destruction threaten everything left behind by mankind in a post-apocalyptic world; U.S. cities face flooding as levees fail; famous paintings meet a tragic fate; a unique roof feature of the Sydney Opera House leads to its collapse.

Destructive waters overtake the world; rain floods New Orleans again; Seattle's Space Needle succumbs to corrosion; Dubai's space-age structures are done in by humidity.

Toxins and chemicals are unleashed in a world without people; deadly gases turn lakes and rivers into acid; without mankind's help, Niagara Falls has a surprising fate.

Monuments and homes of the world's leaders come under attack; the White House, Monticello and Versailles have varying fates; the bodies of Mao Zedong and Ulysses S. Grant are shrouded in mystery.

The fate of mankind's food; destructive forces turn supermarkets into breeding grounds for insects and rodents; some foods last forever; Da Vinci's artwork "The Last Supper" suffers due to an unusual paint ingredient.

The underground world undergoes devastating changes; geothermal power plants buckle under the strain of superheated steam; America's former nuclear military command center comes under attack; 400 million animals overrun a town.

Holiday treasures disappear in a post-apocalyptic world; fireworks factories explode; Christmas tree farms grow out of control; real reindeer must adapt or die; vacation icons fall.

Apocalyptic devastation unfolds in the skies; history's most important airplanes are grounded; Air Force One sustains an explosive malfunction; a swarm of locusts devastates the Midwest; a mysterious cargo on a satellite could change the universe.

Massive waves of destruction threaten everything left behind by mankind in a post-apocalyptic world; U.S. cities face flooding as levees fail; famous paintings meet a tragic fate; a unique roof feature of the Sydney Opera House leads to its collapse.

Destructive waters overtake the world; rain floods New Orleans again; Seattle's Space Needle succumbs to corrosion; Dubai's space-age structures are done in by humidity.

Toxins and chemicals are unleashed in a world without people; deadly gases turn lakes and rivers into acid; without mankind's help, Niagara Falls has a surprising fate.

Monuments and homes of the world's leaders come under attack; the White House, Monticello and Versailles have varying fates; the bodies of Mao Zedong and Ulysses S. Grant are shrouded in mystery.

The fate of mankind's food; destructive forces turn supermarkets into breeding grounds for insects and rodents; some foods last forever; Da Vinci's artwork "The Last Supper" suffers due to an unusual paint ingredient.

The underground world undergoes devastating changes; geothermal power plants buckle under the strain of superheated steam; America's former nuclear military command center comes under attack; 400 million animals overrun a town.

Holiday treasures disappear in a post-apocalyptic world; fireworks factories explode; Christmas tree farms grow out of control; real reindeer must adapt or die; vacation icons fall.