Beakman’s World - Season 1 Episode 2

Responding to a question about why people who live on the bottom of the Earth don't fall off, Beakman launches into a messy exposition on gravity. Using three toothpicks, a bottle cap and half a watermelon, he demonstrates how people on different parts of the globe perceive its top and bottom based on their own unique perspectives. With the use of his Boguscope, a device that gives a special look at things hard to see, Beakman shows that, while gravity can be counterbalanced, it cannot be defied. In "Beak-Mania," Beakman fields questions about the world's most remarkable fish (the Plaice), the animal that lays the biggest egg (the ostrich), and the amount of ice in Antarctica. Then, asked whether all objects fall at the same rate, Beakman recreates a famous experiment first done by Galileo from atop the Tower of Pisa. Using an eggplant and a piece of paper, Beakman proves that, in the absence of air resistance, they will fall equally as fast due to the Earth's gravitational pull. Portraying one of the giants of physics, Sir Isaac Newton, Beakman addresses an inquiry about why seat belts are necessary when riding in a moving vehicle. Explaining that objects at rest only move if something makes them start, Beakman uses a collection of eggs, toilet paper tubes, a large piece of cardboard and a broom to show how a chain reaction puts things in motion. Then, with a crash dummy and a car, he demonstrates how objects in motion will only stop if they are stopped by some outside force, underscoring the importance of seat belts in the process.